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WHALE NEWS
We're always keeping an eye out for whales in the news. Below are a few recent news items we found interesting. To discuss the news items below, or any whale or marine environmental issues, be sure to check out our Whale Talk page, a free message board dedicated to all things whales.

03/11/10
Former New Zealand PM calls for whaling compromise - http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au

A former prime minister of New Zealand has called for a compromise on whaling.

Relations between Australia, New Zealand and Japan are strained over Japan's whale hunts in the Southern Ocean.

Geoffrey Palmer told a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in the United States that an agreement on whaling must be made now, because no attempt will be made again for 20 years.

The IWC is meeting in Florida to discuss the proposal from Chile that would see whaling countries allowed to openly hunt whales, despite the moratorium on commercial whaling that's been in place since 1986.

In exchange, the proposal aims to reduce the total number of whales killed, with the IWC overseeing the catch.

So far, neither Japan nor Australia, the two countries which traditionally lead the debate on either side, seem happy with the compromise.

Erica Martin, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in the Asia Pacific, told Asia Pacific any country that is serious about conservation can not agree to any kind of compromise package where whaling is not phased down to zero.

"It's not so much a deal or a package yet, it is a draft that is currently being discussed in Florida. It essentially ties up whales into a great big ribbon, hands them on a platter and hands them to the whaling nations," she said.

"It will see a legitimisation of scientific whaling and a return to the bad old days of whaling."

Ms Martin said Australia had put forward another proposal attempting to move the IWC into the future to with a focus on conservation instead of whaling.

"What has to happen is some serious negotiation and we have to see an end to whaling. It is something that belongs in the past. there is no future in whaling. There is an incredibly big future in whale watching, which will bring all sorts of benefits and I think you don't need to look any further than Australia to see that."
more

03/07/10
SeaWorld review to study how close is too close for a killer-whale trainer - OrlandoSentinel.com

As SeaWorld and the team of outside experts it has assembled comb through the company's safety policies following last week's fatal killer-whale accident, they face an important question: How close is too close for the trainers who work with the company's biggest orca?

SeaWorld has long restricted its trainers from swimming with Tilikum, the 6-ton killer whale that pulled trainer Dawn Brancheau to her death last week. But it does allow them to work with the animal from shallow ledges built into the sides of its tanks.

What's more, SeaWorld also permits trainers to lie down in that shallow water with Tilikum and other orcas — provided, officials say, the trainers maintain adequate distance from the animals.

"The proximity of where you were next to the animal played a big part of that [policy]," said Chuck Tompkins, corporate curator for animal behavior and training for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Brancheau, 40, was lying on one of those ledges last Wednesday afternoon when Tilikum suddenly took her long ponytail in his jaws, pulled her into his tank and drowned her.

Video taken by tourists moments before the tragedy show the veteran trainer lying on her stomach, partially submerged, while Tilikum's head bobs just beyond the ledge in deeper water. The two appear nearly face to face.

While SeaWorld resumed its killer-whale performances three days after the accident, trainers remain prohibited from entering the water with the animals while the company and representatives from other marine parks and aquariums review existing safety procedures. SeaWorld's policy of allowing trainers to work with Tilikum from tank ledges is among the items under examination.

SeaWorld says it will also keep Tilikum out of any performances until that review is complete. Tompkins said SeaWorld expects it to be done within the next two to three weeks.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are also investigating the accident. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a site inspection.

SeaWorld Orlando's orca complex has multiple tanks. The underwater ledges built into those tanks range from as little as 2 inches deep to as much as 4 feet deep.
The ledge that Brancheau was on at the time of the accident was between 3 and 5 inches deep. It was roughly 60 feet long and about 10 feet wide, Tompkins said.

Working from the submerged platforms can help SeaWorld trainers better assess a killer whale's behavior as they interact with the animal, Tompkins said. "It enables you to be at the whale's level," he said.

Both current and former SeaWorld officials say the company has long considered working with the killer whales from the ledges a form of "dry" interaction with its orcas. The reason: Even though the trainers are technically in the water, they are still in a position where they can more easily retreat if they see any signs that the animal is about to stop following directions.

That distinction is why Brancheau and other trainers were allowed to work with Tilikum from the underwater decks, even though they were forbidden from fully entering the water with him. The swimming prohibition is one of the specific protocols SeaWorld has developed for working with Tilikum, who is twice as large as the next-biggest killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando and has been linked to two deaths before Brancheau's.

The rules for lying down in the water with the orcas are less concrete. There are no set criteria for when it is or isn't allowed; instead, Tompkins said, trainers are supposed to consider factors such as the orca's proximity to them before getting off their feet.

Lying down is a much more vulnerable position, because it takes longer for a trainer to get out of the way in an emergency.

Before leaving their feet, Tompkins said, trainers must evaluate "where you are, what animal you are with, how you lay down, where you lay down, the distance by which you lay down, how many animals are in the pool."

Former killer-whale trainers say it appears from video recordings that Brancheau may have put herself in too vulnerable of a position with Tilikum.

"When I was there, all I can say is I would not have allowed that, to lie down next to Tilikum that close to his mouth," said Thad Lacinak, the former vice president and corporate curator of animal training for Busch Entertainment Corp., the company's name before it was sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev to the Blackstone Group last year.

Whenever a trainer is working with Tilikum, SeaWorld's policies require a second trainer to act as a spotter, who, similar to an airplane co-pilot, can point out mistakes and respond if something goes wrong. SeaWorld said a spotter was watching Brancheau at the time of the accident from about 12 to 15 feet away.

Lacinak said Brancheau, like the rest of SeaWorld's killer-whale trainers, understood and accepted the risks involved in working with the predators. "It's no different than a race-car driver and NASCAR," he said. "We understand what the risks are because we love what we do." more

03/04/10
Dolphin Cognitive Abilities Raise Ethical Questions, Says Emory Neuroscientist - Science Daily

Emory University neuroscientist Lori Marino will speak on the anatomical basis of dolphin intelligence at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference
"Many modern dolphin brains are significantly larger than our own and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for body size," Marino says.

A leading expert in the neuroanatomy of dolphins and whales, Marino will appear as part of a panel discussing these findings and their ethical and policy implications.

Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex intelligence, she says, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more convoluted than our own, extensive insular and cingulated regions, and highly differentiated cellular regions.

"Dolphins are sophisticated, self-aware, highly intelligent beings with individual personalities, autonomy and an inner life. They are vulnerable to tremendous suffering and psychological trauma," Marino says.

The growing industry of capturing and confining dolphins to perform in marine parks or to swim with tourists at resorts needs to be reconsidered, she says.

"Our current knowledge of dolphin brain complexity and intelligence suggests that these practices are potentially psychologically harmful to dolphins and present a misinformed picture of their natural intellectual capacities," Marino says.

Marino worked on a 2001 study that showed that dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror -- a finding that indicates self-awareness similar to that seen in higher primates and elephants. more

03/01/10
Australia rejects new IWC whaling proposal - Japan Times

A new International Whaling Commission proposal that would effectively see Japan resume commercial whaling in exchange for a reduction in its catch quota, "falls well short of what Australia could agree to," a spokesman for the country's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Australia will instead present an alternative proposal that would include "the complete phasing out of whaling in the Southern Ocean within a reasonable period of time," the spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said, adding the Australian proposal will be submitted to the IWC in the "near future."

Presenting the new IWC proposal Monday, Cristian Maquieira, chairman of the commission, laid out plans that would enable Japan to continue to hunt whales in Antarctic waters and Japanese coastal waters if it agreed to suspend its scientific research whaling for 10 years. Specific details on whale quotas are yet to be agreed upon.

However, a Japanese government source earlier said Japan will continue to conduct its research whaling under a new framework should the proposal be approved.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu told reporters in Tokyo that Japan would agree to hold negotiations on the new proposal.

The IWC is now seeking to advance discussions on the proposal at intersessional and working group meetings scheduled to be held in the United States in March.

With both Japan and Australia forming part of the 12-member working group, reaching agreement ahead of the commission's annual meeting in Morocco this June is likely to be a challenge.

Australia, a staunch antiwhaling nation, earlier threatened to take Japan to the International Court of Justice should it fail to cease whaling in the Antarctic Ocean by the beginning of the next season, this November.

During his recent trip to Australia, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said the legal threat made by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last Friday was "regrettable."

Should the IWC proposal be approved, it is likely to be in place by November.

Japan kills hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters close to Australia and New Zealand each year, in the name of scientific research.
more

02/24/10
Australia Sets Japan Nov Deadline To Halt Whaling - PLANETARK

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday set Japan a November deadline to stop Southern Ocean whaling or face an international legal challenge to its yearly cull, while Tokyo called for calm dialogue.

Whaling has been a sticky issue between the two major trading partners, though both governments in the past have vowed not to let it affect ties. Rudd made his comments on the eve of a visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.

Rudd said that while Australia preferred to find a diplomatic solution to its standoff with Tokyo over the annual whale cull near Antarctica, it was serious about a threat made two years ago to challenge the hunt in an international court.

"If that fails, then we will initiate court action before the commencement of the whaling season in November 2010. That's the bottom line and we're very clear to the Japanese, that's what we intend to do," he told Australian television.

Environmentalists have accused Rudd of backpedaling on threats of an International Court of Justice whaling challenge to avoid damaging Australia's $58 billion trade ties with Japan, and so-far slow progress on a free trade deal.

"Prime Minister (Rudd) spoke carefully, saying 'only if it cannot be solved through dialogue' ... Solving this through dialogue is the basic line and I do not think we have major differences," Okada told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Japan and Australia have very important friendly ties and I would like to discuss this calmly through those ties."

Some legal experts say the cull breaches international laws such as the Antarctic Treaty System. A court challenge would lead to so-called provisional orders for Japan to immediately halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan still culls whales for what is says is for research.

Tokyo has lodged a protest with New Zealand's government over a collision last month between an anti-whaling protest boat and a Japanese whaler which caused the activist vessel to sink.

The hard-line Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's skipper is being held on board a whaling ship and may face charges in Japan after boarding it at sea to lodge a protest on February 15.

Okada begins a two-day visit to Australia on Saturday and is to hold talks with Rudd and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on whaling, security and stalled free trade pact negotiations with Canberra. more

02/19/10
Dolphin Cognitive Abilities Raise Ethical Questions, Says Emory Neuroscientist - Science Daily

Emory University neuroscientist Lori Marino will speak on the anatomical basis of dolphin intelligence at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference (AAAS) in San Diego, on Feb. 21, 2010.

"Many modern dolphin brains are significantly larger than our own and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for body size," Marino says.

A leading expert in the neuroanatomy of dolphins and whales, Marino will appear as part of a panel discussing these findings and their ethical and policy implications.

Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex intelligence, she says, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more convoluted than our own, extensive insular and cingulated regions, and highly differentiated cellular regions.

"Dolphins are sophisticated, self-aware, highly intelligent beings with individual personalities, autonomy and an inner life. They are vulnerable to tremendous suffering and psychological trauma," Marino says.

The growing industry of capturing and confining dolphins to perform in marine parks or to swim with tourists at resorts needs to be reconsidered, she says.

"Our current knowledge of dolphin brain complexity and intelligence suggests that these practices are potentially psychologically harmful to dolphins and present a misinformed picture of their natural intellectual capacities," Marino says.

Marino worked on a 2001 study that showed that dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror -- a finding that indicates self-awareness similar to that seen in higher primates and elephants. more

02/16/10
Past whale populations may have been massive - mothernaturenetwork

When it comes to whales, that guess has become even more complex thanks to DNA research that shows numbers of pre-hunt populations may be vastly underestimated. Research indicates modern estimates of a 'normal' population may be way off. It's only been since 1986 that a ban on whaling has allowed populations to slowly recover — but already discussions are underway to potentially allow some whaling to continue. Such a decision would be based on old estimates of population, mostly conducted by people working for the International Whaling Commission. Rules in place say that certain species may be considered for hunting again once their levels climb back to 54 percent of pre-hunting populations.

However, the controversial genetic research published in 2003 by Stephen Palumbi and Joe Roman of Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station calls the IWC's numbers into question. From New Scientist,

The IWC believed that before large-scale whaling began, the North Atlantic was home to about 20,000 humpback whales. With a current population of about 10,000 and rising, this meant that under the 54-percent rule, hunting could soon resume. But Roman and Palumbi estimated the pre-exploitation population was more than 20 times as great, at 240,000. Globally, they suggested, there may have once been 1.5 million humpbacks, rather than the 100,000 estimated by the IWC.

Obviously, those numbers blow the IWC's estimates out of the water and would mean recovery is the extremely early stages — something pro-whaling nations are not so interested in hearing. Further adding scrutiny to the IWC's science has been the discovery of "cooked" logbooks from nations like the Soviet Union. According to New Scientist, from 1959 to 1961, Soviet whaling fleets killed 25,000 humpback whales in the Southern Ocean, while reporting a catch of just 2,710 to the IWC. The number of whales brought home also probably does not equal the number killed at sea, says Roman. Many often escape from whalers only to die of their harpoon injuries later — or are hit by ships, snagged in nets, etc.

All of this points to the scenario that whales, at one point, were the dominant species in the oceans. Mass-scale harvesting not only decimated their populations, but also shifted entire ecosystems. Continued research on what is healthy for the sea in terms of numbers — and not just hunting — will be crucial for these gentle giants going forward. more

02/12/10
Japan anger over Sea Shepherd 'attack' on whaling ship - BBC

Japanese officials have reacted angrily to an attack on one of its whaling ships by Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activists in the Antarctic.

Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said the group threw butyric acid - made from rancid butter - at the ship, mildly injuring three crew members.

But Sea Shepherd said no injuries were reported in the clash.

Japan has six whaling vessels in the Antarctic, which is allowed under the rules of international whaling.

Whalers and activists regularly clash during the whale-hunting season.

The latest clash reportedly lasted for several hours and involved two Sea Shepherd vessels and four whaling ships.

Japan said three Japanese crew members suffered mild face and eye injuries from the acid.

Mr Akamatsu said he was glad the whalers had not been seriously hurt in the incident but that he was "filled with great anger" over the incident.

'Great anger'

In a statement on its website, Sea Shepherd said it had fired warning flares when three of the whalers attempted to destroy one of its helicopters with a water cannon.

THE LEGALITIES OF WHALING
Objection - A country formally objects to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium, declaring itself exempt. Example: Norway
Scientific - A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits'; any IWC member can do this. Example: Japan
Aboriginal - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. Example: Alaskan Inupiat

The group said it then launched a small boat from its ship, the Steve Irwin, and "annoyed the harpoon vessels with rotten butter bomb attacks".

It said the substance, which it has used on previous occasions, was unpleasant but harmless.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said the group had prevented any whaling from taking place for the past week.

"Our goal now is to make it two weeks and then three weeks. We will not tolerate the death of a single whale," he said.

The clash comes a week after Sea Shepherd said its ship Bob Barker had been "intentionally rammed" and damaged by a whaler.

In January, the group said its hi-tech speedboat the Ady Gil had been severely damaged after being rammed by a whaler.

Japan says its annual hunt is for scientific purposes and that it catches mostly minke whales, which are not an endangered species. more

02/06/10
Ships collide as whale war hots up - smh.com.au

HOSTILITIES broke out between Japanese whalers and conservation group Sea Shepherd in the Antarctic yesterday, where the two sides collided in their first meeting since the sinking of the Ady Gil.

The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker collided with the stern of the whale chaser Yushin Maru No. 3, leaving a metre-long gash in the side of the activists' vessel, the group's leader, Paul Watson, said last night.

He said the Bob Barker had been in close pursuit of the whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru but was being circled by four other vessels of the fleet.

Despite the damage, the 1200- tonne Bob Barker was keeping up its pursuit of the Nisshin Maru, which was headed towards the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory, about 200 kilometres east of Australia's Mawson station.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research said the Bob Barker kept approaching dangerously close to the stern of the Nisshin Maru, and its fleet was ''making efforts to shake off the Bob Barker''. Sea Shepherd activists repeatedly fired a high-powered laser device against Nisshin Maru crew, the institute said in a statement.

Sea Shepherd said the whalers were using water cannon and acoustic devices against them.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Garrett repeated calls for restraint by all parties.

''The Southern Ocean is a dangerous and inhospitable part of the world,'' he said.

The collision happened hours after the Bob Barker's crew sighted the Nisshin Maru, which Sea Shepherd had tried to locate after the sinking of the Ady Gil, south of Tasmania, a month ago. The 16-tonne fast trimaran sank after a collision with the fleet's security ship, Shonan Maru No. 2, endangering the lives of six crew.

The activists found the fleet again off Cape Darnley, about 5000 kilometres south-west of Perth. Rich in marine life, the waters around this cape are inside an Australian whale sanctuary not recognised by Japan.

The Institute of Cetacean Research said the Nisshin Maru had been drifting overnight in preparation for the next morning's ''research'' when it was attacked by the Bob Barker.

The Australian Customs and Fisheries patrol ship Oceanic Viking is believed to be in the region.

Captain Watson, who is on the way to the scene aboard the Steve Irwin, said he was confident the Bob Barker was capable of holding its own against the chaser ships.

''I don't see how we can lose them now,'' he said. ''And if we can stay on their tail, we will stop them whaling for a month or more.''
more

02/02/10
Aussie, NZ scientists prep for whale research trek to disprove Japan's argument - http://www.japantoday.com

SYDNEY —
Scientists from Australia and New Zealand are to set out on a whale research expedition to the Antarctic on Monday in an effort to disprove Japan’s argument that whales must be killed to be studied.

The results of the six-week expedition are central to the whaling debate because Japan is allowed to kill whales provided it’s for research. Still, no matter what the outcome, both sides acknowledge it will likely do little to change Japan’s support for whaling.

“You can always come up with some question that will require an animal to be killed for something or other,” said Nick Gales, the expedition’s chief scientist and leader of the Australian Antarctic Division’s Australian Marine Mammal Center. “But the question is whether that is a critical issue for the management and conservation of whales.”

Japan is permitted to hunt whales in Antarctica under what it says is a scientific program allowed by the International Whaling Commission, despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Japan sends a whaling fleet to the Antarctic each year to hunt hundreds of mostly minke whales, which are not an endangered species. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan, which critics say is the real reason for the hunts.

Last year, several anti-whaling nations came together to form the Southern Ocean Research Partnership, an effort to promote non-lethal whale research in the hopes of eventually seeking an IWC ban on whaling for scientific study. Several countries including Brazil, Italy and the United States have signed onto the partnership, which has scheduled a series of research expeditions.

Monday’s voyage is the group’s first, and will take the scientists from the New Zealand capital, Wellington, to the Ross Sea off Antarctica, where Japan’s annual hunt is also ongoing. There, the researchers will use darts to remove bits of tissue for biopsy sampling and will conduct satellite tracking and acoustic surveys to collect data on the movement of whales, population genetics and how the creatures interact with the sea ice ecosystem.

Gales said he’s confident his team can prove that whales don’t need to be killed to be studied. But he acknowledges Japan will likely continue to argue that fatal testing is necessary, no matter what the findings.

Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research, which overseas the annual Japanese hunt, says there are many critical pieces of information about whales that can only be achieved by killing the animals.

Such information includes age data, which is determined by studying the whale’s ear bone, and reproductive data, which requires the examination of a whale’s uterus—tests that would be impossible to perform on a live whale, said Glenn Inwood, the New Zealand-based spokesman for the Japanese institute.

Inwood said he has no doubt that the Australia and New Zealand researchers will conclude from their expedition that whales can be studied without killing them. But that won’t change the difference in opinions on the subject between Japan and anti-whalers, he said.

“What it comes down to is a different philosophical point of view,” Inwood said. “If you don’t want to hunt whales at all, you are going to be able to achieve the data you want and say you can get a lot of data with non-lethal research. If you want to hunt whales in a manner that is purely sustainable, then you’re going to need data that can only be obtained through lethal research.”

While the non-lethal expedition aims to discredit Japan’s whaling claims, other conservation groups take more direct action by confronting and harassing the Japanese fleet.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which sends ships to Antarctica each season to try to stop the hunt, has mixed feelings about the effectiveness of the expedition.

While the voyage is a positive step in the fight against whaling, it still doesn’t go far enough, said Sea Shepherd Deputy CEO Chuck Swift.

“I unfortunately am not optimistic about Japan doing the right thing in this case,” Swift told The Associated Press by satellite phone from the Antarctic, where his group is still pursuing the whalers—an effort portrayed on the Animal Planet TV series “Whale Wars.” “If we want to effect change and get the Japanese illegal whaling operations to shut down, we need to do things like direct intervention.”

This season’s confrontation between the group and the whalers has been particularly aggressive, with the conservationists losing one of their ships in a collision with a whaling vessel. Both sides blamed each other for the crash, which occurred as the Sea Shepherd’s Ady Gil harassed the Japanese fleet.

Despite the escalating tension between both sides, Gales refuses to give up hope that Japan will one day reconsider the necessity of the hunt.

“We sincerely hope that Japan will be a part of this research partnership,” he said. “In time.”
more

01/28/10
50 whales saved, 15 die as port rescue pays off - http://www.stuff.co.nz/

New Zealand
The survivors in a pod of about 50 whales stranded in a bay near Christchurch yesterday appear to have made it safely back to sea, with those monitoring the situation reporting no sign of them this morning.

Residents of a tiny Banks Peninsula settlement saved a pod of whales beached in a mass stranding.

Port Levy residents and holidaymakers worked in cold seas and calf-high mud for four hours yesterday to refloat the whales after the village woke to find over 60 pilot whales had run aground on the foreshore.

Fifteen females and calves died, but the rescuers managed to refloat and save about 50 whales.

"It did look pretty hopeless. Luckily the tide was coming in. We pushed, pulled, lifted and squeezed and got them out," said Richard Barnett, a farmer and Port Levy resident for 45 years.

Word of the stranding spread quickly throughout the tiny Banks Peninsula settlement and about 80 people came down to the beach yesterday from 7.30am.

"There were children. Everyone was out there doing their bit. Everyone who lives here or were on holiday here were out there as well."

Crusaders rugby team assistant coach Mark Hammett, holidaying at a family bach, was one of the first on the scene.

The whales presented an "eerie" sight, he said.

Some thrashed about and some lay still while the calves, "the baby ones", were crying and yelling for help.

"It sounded like they were scared."

It was "amazing" to see the community rally – keeping the whales cool and upright and keeping their blowholes clear.

Barnett said the pod first entered the bay on Saturday night.

Resident Victoria Howden said the sight of the bay full of whales was "spectacular".

"They looked like they were on a feeding frenzy. Then they got a bit stupid and came in a bit close."

About 8pm five whales became stranded on a sand bar.

Barnett and three others were able to refloat them about 11pm.

"The rest of them were thrashing around in the shallows but they managed to get themselves back out."

Barnett said it was tragic to wake up yesterday to see the entire pod of over 60 whales beached in the bay.

Harvey Taylor, who has lived in Port Levy for 20 years, said everybody just seemed to do the right thing.

There were two or three people per whale, bathing them in water until the high tide returned and they were able to attempt to refloat the creatures.

Annabel Barnett, 16, said it was satisfying to be able to save most of the whales. "Some people got quite attached to their whale," she said.

Mark Simpson of Project Jonah, a marine mammal rescue organisation which had 15 volunteers at the stranding, praised the efforts of the locals.

The whales were successfully led back out to sea around 11am, helped by some boats.

A Department of Conservation boat herded the whales out to the Lyttelton Heads.

Simpson said it was difficult to know exactly what attracted the whales into the bay, but they were probably chasing fish or squid.

The bay was shallow and its sandy bottom meant the whales' sonar did not work well.

Pilot whale strandings were a regular occurrence in New Zealand and the one in Port Levy was the third in the country this year. However, it was uncommon for Banks Peninsula, he said.
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There have been a couple of single strandings in recent years but not pods. Two whales were already buried at Port Levy from previous strandings.

It was not known why the 15 females and calves died, but marine specialist Emma Beatson, of the Auckland University of Technology, would do an autopsy on the whales today.

Simpson said whales often became stressed when in the shallows. They had a thick layer of blubber and needed to be in deep water to keep cool.

"They will literally cook from the inside out."

Kaumatua Charlie Crofts said he blessed the dead whales yesterday and they would be buried on the beach after the autopsy. more

01/26/10
Japanese Whalers: Sixty-year-old Bob Barker Attacks Whaling Ship Shonan Maru No. 2 - underwatertimes.com

Japanese whalers have accused the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of carrying out attacks on whaling ship Shonan Maru No. 2 based from the Bob Barker, an aging 1950's-era vessel.

The text of Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research press release follows:

The Japanese research vessel Shonan Maru No. 2, which has been monitoring Sea Shepherd activities in the Antarctic was subject to attack today by the Bob Barker, a 1950-built vessel sent to the Antarctic by the antiwhaling group.

The Bob Barker attack started at about 2030JST and lasted until 2220JST. The Bob Barker deployed a zodiac boat repeated times toward the Shonan Maru No. 2. Activists onboard the zodiac boat repeatedly hurled smoke bombs and deployed ropes aiming to disable the Japanese vessel’s rudder and propeller.

The Bob Barker started moving again and the Shonan Maru No. 2 has restarted its monitoring of the antiwhaling vessel. Neither injuries to the Japanese crew nor damage to the Shonan Maru No. 2 resulted from the Bob Barker attack.

Following the 6 January collision and resulting disablement of the Ady Gil, by 8 January early morning the Bob Barker had abandoned and left adrift the fuel-leaking New Zealand watercraft in order to look out for the other Japanese whale research vessels.

The Shonan Maru No. 2 has been actively following and monitoring the Bob Barker ever since. Photographs and video of the incidents in the Antarctic can be seen at: < href="http://www.icrwhale.org/gpandsea.htm" target="_blank">http://www.icrwhale.org/gpandsea.htm more

01/24/10
Genetic Analysis Disputes Increase in Antarctic Minke Whales - Science Daily

A new genetic analysis of Antarctic minke whales concludes that population of these smaller baleen whales have not increased as a result of the intensive hunting of other larger whales -- countering arguments by advocates of commercial whaling who want to "cull" minke whales.

Antarctic minke whales are among the few species of baleen whales not decimated by commercial whaling during the 20th century, and some scientists have hypothesized that their large numbers are hampering the recovery of deleted species, such as blue, fin and humpback, which may compete for krill.

This "Krill Surplus Hypothesis" postulates that the killing of some two million whales in the Southern Ocean during the early- and mid-20th century resulted in an enormous surplus of krill, benefiting the remaining predators, including Antarctic minke whales.

But the new analysis, published in the journal Molecular Ecology, estimates that contemporary populations of minke whales are not "unusually abundant" in comparison with their historic numbers. Using a novel genomic approach, the scientists were able to calculate the long-term population size of Antarctic minkes as roughly 670,000 individuals -- which is similar to estimates of current population size from sighting surveys.

"Some scientists involved in the International Whaling Commission have suggested that Antarctic minke whales have increased three-fold to eight-fold over the last century because of the lack of competition for krill," said Scott Baker, a whale geneticist at Oregon State University and associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at OSU. "But until now, there has been little evidence to help judge what historic populations of minke whales actually were.

"Our study clearly shows that minke whales today have a great deal of genetic diversity, which reflects a long history of large and relatively stable population size," he added.

Along with Kristen Ruegg and Steve Palumbi of Stanford University, Baker and OSU postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Jackson analyzed genomic DNA from 52 samples of minke whale meat purchased in Japanese markets. The whales had been killed during Japan's controversial "scientific whaling" program in the Antarctic. By amplifying and sequencing a large number of genes, the scientists were able to estimate the historic range of population sizes necessary to produce and maintain the levels of genetic diversity found in the individual minke whales they tested.

"This genomic approach is a significant advance over most previous studies, which have examined diversity using only a handful of genetic markers," Baker said.

Funding for the research was provided by a grant from the Lenfest Ocean Program and the Marsden Fund of the New Zealand Royal Society.

The Southern Ocean is one of the world's largest and most productive ecosystems and in the 20th century went through what Baker called "one of the most dramatic 'experiments' in ecosystem modification ever conducted." The elimination of nearly all of the largest whales -- such as the blue, fin and humpback -- removed a huge portion of the biomass of predators in the ecosystem and changed the dynamics of predator-prey relationships.

Blue whales were reduced to about 1-2 percent of their previous numbers; fin whales to about 2-3 percent; and humpbacks to less than 5 percent. "The overall loss of large whales was staggering," Baker said.

"It is possible that the removal of the larger whales would have meant more food for minkes," Baker said, "but we don't know much about the historic abundance of krill and whether the different whale species competed for it in the same places, or at the same time. It is possible that there might have been enough krill for all species prior to whaling."

The scientists also say that current minke whale populations may be limited by other factors, including changes in sea ice cover.

"The bottom line is that the Krill Surplus Hypothesis does not appear to be valid in relation to minke whales and increasing hunting based solely on the assumption that minke whales are out-competing other large whale species would be a dubious strategy," Baker said. more

01/18/10
Sea Shepherd: Japanese dumped fuel in ocean - http://tvnz.co.nz

Anti-whale protesters have accused Japanese whalers of dumping fuel into the sea to make it look like contamination from the New Zealand protest vessel Ady Gil.

The former Earthrace trimaran sank under tow last week after a collision with a ship from the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean last Wednesday.

Each side has blamed the other for the collision which is being investigated by Maritime New Zealand.

Ady Gil's Auckland skipper Peter Bethune and his crew were rescued by another protest ship from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson has accused the Japanese of trying to kill the crew of Ady Gil and has complained to New Zealand and Australian police.

He said on Tuesday he had yet to learn if the skipper of the Japanese ship, Shonan Maru 2, would be charged.

However, he said the Japanese had discharged fuel when Ady Gil sank to make it look like contamination. more

01/14/10
Whaling delegates 'fed up' with Japanese - smh.com.au

MARATHON diplomatic talks the Rudd Government is relying on to avert legal action over whaling are going nowhere, according to an insider.

Japan wanted to continue ''scientific'' whaling in exchange for a token cut in the number of whales it kills, Jose Truda Palazzo, Brazil's former representative on the International Whaling Commission told The Age.

''This is the worst possible deal, as it not only lets the slaughter in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary continue, but also legitimises the Japanese abuse of right,'' he said.

In reply, anti-whaling nations such as Australia must refuse to yield ground, he said.

The Rudd Government is under pressure from the Coalition and the Greens to bring international legal action against Japan following hostilities between whalers and Sea Shepherd protesters in the Southern Ocean that led to the sinking of the support vessel Ady Gil.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Tuesday that legal action was an option, but that diplomatic efforts had not yet been exhausted.

Now, in a rare view of the IWC's closed meetings, Mr Truda Palazzo said many delegates were fed up with Japan's refusal to co-operate.

''[Japan] just sits there and says nothing until someone comes up with a specific proposal either to shut down scientific whaling or reduce numbers caught,'' he said.

''Then they say, 'It is not acceptable to us', and shut up again. Two years of this is starting to get on people's nerves.''

There have been 10 rounds of IWC emergency meetings to find a solution to the deadlock since 2007, most closed to non-government organisations and the media. The next is due later this month in Honolulu.

Mr Truda Palazzo is speaking out now after being dropped from his country's IWC delegation for criticising President Luiz Da Silva's domestic environmental policies.

Mr Truda Palazzo said Japan was proposing a cut of 200 to 500 whales from its scientific quota, which now takes 1535 whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

''While foreign affairs lawyers seem to be reluctant, I hear many IWC commissioners hoping strongly that Australia takes Japan to the International Court of Justice,'' Mr Truda Palazzo said.

But this view contrasts with the official statement in December by IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira, who said he was pleased with progress after the last round of talks in Seattle.

''Discussions are ongoing and I believe they could serve as a basis of a way forward for the IWC that will more effectively conserve whales and manage the whaling that is happening in our oceans,'' Mr Maquieira said.

In Japan's only public comment, IWC commissioner Akira Nakamae rejected suggestions its failure to reach agreement by last June's deadline was due to his country's intransigence.

''We were meant to make some kind of compromise … but some parties are not making any concession, and then making it almost impossible to carry out scientific whaling,'' he told the IWC's annual meeting.

The Rudd Government is refusing to comment on the talks, or allow media access to its special envoy on whale conservation, Sandy Hollway.

Mr Hollway's work has cost taxpayers more than $500,000 so far, according to Senate budget estimates obtained by Liberal senator Simon Birmingham.
more

01/11/10
Australia Presses Japan On Whaling Safety - http://planetark.org

The futuristic anti-whaling protest boat struck by a Japanese harpoon vessel near Antarctica finally sank on Friday, prompting Australia to voice official concern about safety in the remote Southern Ocean.

Senior diplomats in Tokyo made "high-level representations" about safety in Antarctica's frigid waters. They also raised concerns about "spy flights" organized by Japanese whalers from Australian airports to track and foil protesters, Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

Canberra, he said, was also keeping open the option of an international legal challenge to Japanese whaling if diplomatic negotiations with Tokyo failed to reach an outcome.

"If we don't see substantial and significant achievement in respect of those negotiations, and if we don't see it by the time the International Whaling Commission meets in June ... then the consideration of legal action will be one that will be fully in front of us," Garrett told reporters in Sydney.

The hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's powerboat Ady Gil sank after having its bow sheared off in a collision with the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2.

Each side has blamed the other for the incident in which one crewman aboard the protest vessel was injured.

"We strongly protest actions that obstruct the course of Japanese vessels, or those that threaten lives and properties and are extremely dangerous," Japanese foreign minister Katsuya Okada told a news conference on Friday, adding it may be necessary to talk with other governments to prevent this from happening again.

The $1.5 million trimaran had floated in the Southern Ocean for two days as anti-whaling protesters tried to tow it to safety at a French Antarctic research base.

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson said the Japanese whalers ignored all distress calls after the boat was crippled, with the six crew picked up by a second Sea Shepherd boat nearby.

BACKPEDALLING

Environmentalists accuse Australia's center-left Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of backpedaling on threats of an International Court of Justice whaling challenge to avoid damaging Australia's $58 billion trade relationship with Japan.

Some legal experts believe the Japanese cull is in breach of international laws including the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

"The prime minister is very clear that legal action is firmly in front of us," Garrett said. A court challenge would lead to so-called provisional orders for Japan to immediately halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.

Japan's government-backed whaling fleet aims to harpoon up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, classified as endangered, in the Southern Ocean during the current Southern Hemisphere summer.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan still culls whales saying it is for research purposes.

Tokyo has lodged a protest with New Zealand's government over the collision, accusing the Ady Gil of suddenly slowing in front of the whaler, causing the collision. Video pictures show the activists shining laser pointers at the Japanese crew.

Shonan Maru has found among Ady Gil's drifting articles four 80 cm-long (31 inches) crossbow bolts that could hurt or kill if they hit people, an official at Japan's Fisheries Agency said.

Both Australia and New Zealand have launched inquiries into the clash and appealed for calm on both sides.

Confrontations between whalers and opponents have become an annual feature of the hunt in Antarctic waters claimed by Australia but not recognized as Australian by Japan. more

01/08/10
Water, wastewater and wetlands - Mass DEP

A solid success story for MassDEP is the Wetland Circuit Rider Program. Established by the Wetlands and Waterways Program, Circuit Riders promote fair, consistent and environmentally sound wetland permitting by the 351 local conservation commissions in the state. Circuit Riders accomplish these goals by offering technical, administrative, and regulatory assistance on numerous wetland topics to hundreds of commissions, municipal boards, and consultants each year. The program has become a leading State resource for answering regulatory and technical wetlands questions and has received overwhelming support and praise for the Circuit Riders' fair and consistent responses to questions and unparalleled professional outreach work from conservation commissions, municipal staff, and the regulated community alike.

Commissions should look for upcoming training opportunities here, through their regional circuit rider, or by contacting Alice Smith, Wetlands Circuit Rider Coordinator, by phone 617.292.5854 or by email: alice.smith@state.ma.us.
more

01/05/10
Male humpback whales favor enormous females - newspostonline.com

A new study has found that male humpback whales favor the largest females. Female humpback whales are usually larger than males to begin with, measuring up to around 50 feet long and weighing approximately 79,000 pounds. ”While obesity is understandably a serious problem in humans, it is interesting to find that in some of the largest animals ever to exist, bigger is indeed better. Thus size does matter!” lead author Adam Pack, an assistant professor of psychology and biology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, told Discovery News. Pack, who is also the co-founder and vice president of The Dolphin Institute, and his research team made the determination after studying courting humpback whales for five consecutive years in the waters of the Auau, Kalohi and Pailolo channels off West Maui. In winter and spring months, the whales assemble on shallow banks and along coastal areas for breeding and calving. Since females produce a single calf every two to three years on average, and not all females migrate to breeding grounds, males usually far outnumber females at the sites. Interested males serve as “escorts” for their female of choice, swimming in close proximity to her and, if present, her calf. The males all gravitated to the largest females, sometimes engaging in dangerous fights to win and maintain the coveted escort position. ”The principal escort’’s defensive behaviors include visual displays, such as lunging through the water with ventral throat grooves expanded, making the whale look visually larger, to screens of bubbles expelled from the blowhole or mouth, to chases and physical strikes, sometimes drawing blood from a rival,” Pack explained. The researchers next measured each whale using both a hand-held sonar device and mathematical calculations based on angle of view and distance. The scientists even donned snorkeler gear and swam around, and underneath, the courting whales. Fitness appears to be behind the whales” fondness for fat and long bodies, since the researchers also discovered that the largest females also produced the biggest calves. Since whales depend upon stored body fat to support their metabolic requirements, particularly during the winter, the extra heft is necessary for their survival, promoting greater reproductive success and aiding females in the nursing of their offspring. more

01/02/10
Prosecute Japanese whalers: opposition - brisbanetimes.com.au

Japan can no longer claim it hunts whales for scientific reasons and Australia should prosecute it in the international courts, says the federal opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt.

Japanese whalers have begun their annual hunt, with a quota of 935 minke whales, 20 fin whales and 50 humpbacks.

Last week, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said diplomatic efforts with Japan to put an end to the practice were continuing.

He said that if progress wasn't made Australia would look at taking judicial action.

But Mr Hunt said the federal government had repeatedly pledged to end diplomatic efforts to stop Japan whaling in Australian waters and to prosecute, but had not acted.

Mr Hunt on Tuesday said that legal action should now be taken after Japan's admission its whaling is for food, not scientific reasons, which he said clearly breached the International Whaling Commission's rules.

In an interview with the ABC earlier this month, Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said eating whale meat was an important part of Japanese culture.

"We have a tradition here in Japan of eating whale meat," Mr Okada said.

He added the government had no plan to change its policy on whaling.

Mr Hunt said the federal opposition did not think there was a need for a policy review "at this point in time".

"There is now no question that Japan is in breach of its international legal obligations and there is, therefore, a duty for Australia to take action, send a ship, a non-military vessel to observe, collect, monitor, capture the incidents and take it forward through the international legal process," he said.

Mr Hunt said the Australian government should send a ship now to gather the evidence, which would send the message worldwide that whaling continues unabated.

"We should proceed and we should proceed quickly," he said.

"Let's take real steps to protect these great whales."
more

01/02/10
Prosecute Japanese whalers: opposition - brisbanetimes.com.au

12/30/09
'Acid', cannons used in whale battle - http://au.news.yahoo.com

A Japanese whaling boat and the Steve Irwin have clashed again in the Southern Ocean, with claims of acid attacks and water cannon being used.

The Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No.2 says it was subject to an acid attack by the Steve Irwin yesterday morning.

In a statement released by The Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese claim the Steve Irwin crew shone green lasers at their boat just after 11am, used water cannons and threw bottles containing butyric-acid.

Butyric acid is usually found in rancid butter.

Shonan Maru No.2 retaliated with water cannon.

"The activists repeatedly irradiated hand-held green laser devices toward the Japanese crew and hurled bottles containing butyric acid. Five or six of these bottles hit the Japanese vessel's deck," the statement said.

"The Institute of Cetacean Research strongly condemns the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society dangerous and violent actions against Japan's whale research vessels in the Antarctic in repeated disregard of the IWC consensus criticism and demand for self-restraint."

Sea Shepherd, the conservation group responsible for the Steve Irwin, said the Shonan Maru No.2 had been following them for eleven days.

A statement from Sea Shepherd confirmed the water cannon fight and said nobody was injured in the attack.

"It is ridiculous to accuse the Steve Irwin of attacking the Shonan Maru No.2. The Japanese vessel is much faster. The crew of the Steve Irwin has been trying to get the Shonan Maru No.2 off their trail for 11 days," it said.

"The Shonan Maru No.2 set off the collision alert system 14 times as it chased and circled the Steve Irwin."

Captain Paul Watson told thewest.com.au today the ‘acid’ was stink bombs the crew threw at the Japanese in a bid to “annoy them”.

“We’re trying to lose these guys but we can’t because they’re too fast,” he said. “We have stink bombs, not acid. It’s about as acidic as beer.

“They make it sound like we’re throwing sulphuric acid. If you look at it, orange juice is citric acid. Butyric acid is rotten butter. We’re defending ourselves but there’s no possible way we could attack these guys.”

Sea Shepherd also claims the Shonan Maru No.2 gave false information to Australian authorities when it docked in Fremantle in 2007.

The Steve Irwin met up with the Ady Gil early this morning to transfer materials and crew.

The Ady Gil, painted with radar deflective paint, is a stealth boat that was sent to the Antarctic to do the materials changeover and help the Steve Irwin lose the Shonan Maru No.2

Taking advantage of two hours of relative darkness, the crew of the Ady Gil did a quick transfer of materials and crew, and then the Steve Irwin headed off leaving the Ady Gil to harass and slow down the Japanese vessel.

During the encounter, both the Ady Gil and Shonan Maru No. 2 each achieved speeds over 20 knots in two-metre swells.

Capt. Watson said the Steve Irwin was on its way to Macquarie Island to continue its search for the Japanese whalers and lose the Shonan Maru No.2.

He said the boat was on schedule and did not typically find the whalers until the first week of January. more

12/30/09
'Acid', cannons used in whale battle - http://au.news.yahoo.com

12/28/09
Entangled humpback whale rescued - StarBulletin.com

It's turning out to be a busy season for whale rescuers in Hawaii.

On Christmas Day, marine experts freed a juvenile humpback whale entangled in what is believed to be fishing gear a couple miles south of Lahaina.

It was the second entangled humpback rescued in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary this month.

About 12:15 p.m., the tour boat Napili Explorer noticed the whale acting strangely, creating more white water than usual about two miles south of Lahaina, said Ed Lyman, marine mammal response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Several boats stayed about 90 minutes to keep track of the 35-foot whale, which appeared to have been hit by a boat.

The rescuers discovered the whale's tail was entangled in fishing line less than half an inch thick that trailed some 60 feet behind the calf. The line sliced into the animal's blubber, causing a 6- to 8-inch-deep gash near the tail blade and threatening the animal's life, Lyman said.

Beneath the tail, officials noticed the whale pulling a small anchor usually used for sedentary fishing gear, such as gill nets.

Whale lice covered the animal's wound, indicating poor health. Because of the type of line and the condition of the wound, Lyman estimated the whale became entangled more than a month ago and swam with the line from Alaska, more than 2,500 miles away.

But the whale, believed to be a male about 2 years old, still appeared to be in good shape and not emaciated.

Lyman and David Mattila, science rescue adviser, piloted a 17-foot inflatable boat about two feet behind the whale and grabbed onto the entangled line. As the whale pulled the boat, the men used a 10-foot pole with a hook knife and made six cuts to the line.

As the sun set at about 5:30 p.m., Lyman made the final cut and the whale swam away.

He had cut some line beneath the whale's tail, but couldn't tell if the anchor came off.

"We definitely got a lot of gear off the whale and definitely increased its chances of survival," Lyman said.

On Christmas Eve, NOAA received a report of an entangled whale off Oahu's north shore, but the whale swam away by the time officials arrived.

Lyman said the whale they freed could have been the same animal.

The sanctuary's first whale rescue this month involved a yearling that was seen a couple miles off Maui on Dec. 1. The rescue lasted nearly a week, but the yearling was freed and swam away with two adult whales.

more

12/25/09
Australian Fossil Unlocks Secrets to the Origin of Whales - Science Daily

Museum Victoria palaeobiologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald has made groundbreaking discoveries into the origin of baleen whales, based on a 25-million-year-old fossil found near Torquay in Victoria, Australia.

Dr Fitzgerald's study, which is published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, is centred on Mammalodon colliveri, a primitive toothed baleen whale, one of a group of whales that includes the largest animal ever to have lived, the blue whale. Although Mammalodon was discovered in 1932 and named in 1939, it has remained relatively unknown until now.

"Through study of Mammalodon, I hypothesise that it was a bottom-feeding mud-sucker that may have used its tongue and short, blunt snout to suck small prey from sand and mud on the seafloor. This indicates early and varied experimentation in the evolution of baleen whales," explained Dr Fitzgerald.

The research conducted by Dr Fitzgerald supports Charles Darwin's speculation in The Origin of Species, that some of the earliest baleen whales may have been suction feeders, and that their mud grubbing served as a precursor to the filter feeding of today's giants of the deep.

Although Mammalodon had a total body length of about 3 metres, it was a bizarre early offshoot from the lineage leading to the 30 metre long blue whale. The new research shows that Mammalodon is a dwarf, having evolved into a relatively tiny form from larger ancestors.

Mammalodon belongs to the same family as Janjucetus hunderi, fossils of which were also found in 25 million year old Oligocene rocks near Torquay in Victoria. This family is unique to south east Australia, their fossils only being discovered in Victoria. "Clearly the seas off southern Australia were a cradle for the evolution of a variety of tiny, weird whales that seem to have lived nowhere else," said Dr Fitzgerald. more

12/22/09
It's another boy! Second beluga whale born at Shedd Aquarium - Chicago Sun Times

Naya, one of the Shedd’s beluga whales, gave birth to a male calf at 2:25 p.m. Sunday. The young whale joins his half-brother, who was born Dec. 14 to beluga whale Puiji at the aquarium.

Both Puiji and Naya’s calves were fathered by the 2,200-pound beluga whale Naluark.

After eight hours of labor starting at 6 a.m. Sunday, Naya stopped contracting, said Melissa Kruth, Shedd spokeswoman. About 20 Shedd staffers entered the medical pool around 2 p.m. to help guide the calf out of his mother.

“It’s similar to what you would see in a human delivery room,” Kruth said. “We had to physically help bring the calf into the world.”

Kruth said the calf and mother were reintroduced this morning, but the calf had not yet nursed.

“This assisted birth put all of our research, knowledge and experience of beluga births to the test, and we are pleased at the successful outcome,” said Ken Ramirez, senior vice president of animal collections and training, in a statement. “Without our physical intervention, this calf might not be with us today.” more

12/19/09
Japanese harpoon whaling talks - smh.com.au

Anti-whaling crusaders Sea Shepherd have done more to disrupt Japanese whaling than talkfests.

The first harpoon of this year's whaling season has been fired, and it was shot by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.

Like the grenade-tipped harpoons his whalers shoot in the Antarctic, it left its target bloodied and flailing. Still alive, but barely.

Okada's weapon was his words, and his hit was on peace talks that were hoped to bridge the global whaling divide.

Now the question is: how can countries like Australia honestly keep these International Whaling Commission talks going?

Okada was speaking in his first interview with Australian correspondents in Tokyo since the new Democratic Party of Japan came to power promising broad reform.

He was asked straight out whether Japan was reviewing its whaling policy, and did not equivocate in reply. "We do not think that there is a need for a policy review at this point of time."

Oh really? Then what about these IWC meetings that have dragged diplomats around the world in the past three years, largely at Japan's behest?

If Tokyo has decided there is no need to change, it's time for other countries involved, like Australia, to stop the sham.

The timing of Okada's statement is critical. The Japanese whaling fleet is due to arrive in the Antarctic this week to begin its self-awarded "scientific" kill quota of up to 935 minke whales, and 50 fin whales. The fleet also still has on its books a quota of 50 humpback whales from stocks that breed in Australia's tropical north and summer in the Antarctic.

Laughably, Japan says it will continue to suspend this humpback quota "as long as progress is being made in the discussions on the future of the IWC". That's the same talks it's just shot to pieces.

Since the Rudd Government came to power promising to stop Japan's Southern Ocean whaling, 1236 minkes and one fin whale have been killed there.

Dozens have been taken inside a whale sanctuary declared off the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory, and that's where the fleet will hunt again for much of this summer.

Outrageously for those who believe such tasks should really be up to an elected government, the anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherd, can claim to have prevented more kills than the Australian Government. Weeks of whaling have been lost to Sea Shepherd harassment.

The little that has leaked from the IWC peace talks shows almost no sign of concession by Japan. The last we know is that it refused to budge below a 650 minke whale quota in the Antarctic — or just 29 fewer than it actually took last summer.

Now, thanks to Okada, there is no reason to hold out hope on the diplomatic route.

Australia does have the weaponry, however, to stop Antarctic whaling. Among it is video footage shot by Australian Customs officers in early 2008 as evidence for a potential international legal action.

Some say the chances of Australia's legal success at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, or the International Court of Justice, are not great. But sometimes things are just worth a try.

And not only would the whalers of Japan hate to have their work graphically exposed in a neutral court. Whaling's horrors would reach more of the good and gentle Japanese people. more

12/16/09
Australia 'Seriously' Considering Whaling Challenge - Planet Ark

CANBERRA - An international legal challenge to Japan's yearly whale hunt near Antarctica is being seriously considered by Australia, with the controversial cull set to begin in weeks, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Friday.

Japan's new center-left government has promised to continue its annual scientific research whaling program and said on Friday there was no intention to review the policy, which has attracted widespread diplomatic and environmental condemnation.

"We don't accept Japan's premise of so-called scientific whaling," Rudd told local radio in Melbourne.

"We, if we cannot resolve this matter diplomatically, will take international legal action. I'm serious about it, I would prefer to deal with it diplomatically, but if we cannot get there, that's the alternative course of action," Rudd said.

Rudd's center-left government has been accused of backpedaling on previous threats of an International Court of Justice challenge to avoid damaging Australia's Japan trade relationship and glacial negotiations on a free trade pact.

A court challenge would lead to so-called provisional orders for Japan to immediately halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.

"A country like Japan is quite law-abiding. I doubt very much whether a country like Japan would risk ignoring a binding ruling by a leading international court," Australian international law expert Don Rothwell told Reuters.

Some legal experts believe the Japanese cull is in breach of several international laws and treaties, including the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Japan's whaling fleet has left harbor and is en route to the Southern Ocean to harpoon up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, classified as endangered.

Anti-whaling activists have promised to disrupt the hunt. The hardline Sea Shepherd group was to leave an Australian port on Friday, joined by a New Zealand world record-holding powerboat, adding more speed to disruption efforts.

"We do not condone, indeed we condemn, dangerous or violent activities, by any of the parties involved, be it demonstrators or whalers," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith said in a statement.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty. But the Japanese have continued to cull whales for research and to monitor their impact on fish stocks, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations like Australia, Britain and New Zealand.

Japan was Australia's top export destination in 2008, with two-way trade worth $58 billion. Canberra also maintained a $25 billion trade surplus on the back of coal and iron ore exports.

Australia and Japan also signed in 2007 a security pact strengthening military co-operation, striking Japan's first defense agreement with a country other than the United States.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama came to power in August promising a shift in Japan's domestic and international policies, but Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said that did not include the annual whale cull.

"We have a tradition here in Japan of eating whale meat," Okada told Australian radio. "We do not think there is a need for a policy review at this point in time. I think we should try to discuss it without emotion and in a very calm way."

Australia has previously sent a customs ship to Antarctica to gather evidence for an international court challenge.

"We've tried to work our way through this diplomatically with the Japanese government. That's run into some obvious obstacles," Rudd said.

Japan maintains whaling is a cultural tradition and while most Japanese do not eat whale meat on a regular basis, many are indifferent to accusations that hunting the creatures is cruel.
more

12/14/09
NZ, Netherlands protest start of whaling season - nzherald.co.nz

New Zealand Australia and the Netherlands have issued a joint statement, calling for "responsible behaviour" as Japan begins its whaling season in Antarctica.

The joint communique said the three nations remained "resolute in our opposition to the so-called scientific whaling" but condemned "dangerous or violent activities" by whalers and protesters.

"The Southern Ocean is a remote and inhospitable region where the risk of adverse incidents is high and the capacity for rescue or assistance is low. Our Governments jointly call upon all parties to exercise restraint and to ensure that safety at sea is the highest priority," the communique said.

The statement, issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, said the three countries would be using diplomacy and the International Whaling Commission to fight for whale conservation.

The Japanese whaling fleet has recently left Japan for the Southern Ocean while the protest group, the Sea Shepherd, set sail in the Steve Irwin from Australia yesterday.

Greenpeace is not sending a vessel to the Southern Ocean.

Greenpeace New Zealand oceans campaigner Karli Thomas said the organisation will be campaigning for an end to whaling in Japan by taking a case to the Japanese Supreme Court. more

12/09/09
Bizarre Lives of Bone-Eating Worms - ScienceDaily

It sounds like a classic horror story -- eyeless, mouthless worms lurk in the dark, settling onto dead animals and sending out green "roots" to devour their bones. In fact, such worms do exist in the deep sea. They were first discovered in 2002 by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), who were using a robot submarine to explore Monterey Canyon. But that wasn't the end of the story. After "planting" several dead whales on the seafloor, a team of biologists recently announced that as many as 15 different species of boneworms may live in Monterey Bay alone.

After years of study, the researchers have begun to piece together the bizarre story of the boneworms, all of which are in the genus Osedax. The worms start out as microscopic larvae, drifting through the darkness of the deep sea. At some point they encounter a large dead animal on the seafloor. It may be a whale, an elephant seal, or even the carcass of a cow that washed out to sea during a storm. Following chemical cues, the tiny larvae settle down onto the bones of the dead animal.
Once settled, the boneworms grow quickly, like weeds after a rain. One end of each worm develops feathery palps, which extract oxygen from seawater. The other end of the worm develops root-like appendages that grow down into the bone. Bacteria within these roots are believed to digest proteins and perhaps lipids within the bones, providing nutrition for the worms.
Soon the worms become sexually mature. Strangely enough, they all become females. Additional microscopic larvae continue to settle in the area. Some of these larvae land on the palps of the female worms. These develop into male worms. But they never grow large enough to be seen by the naked eye. Somehow these microscopic male worms find their way into the tube that surrounds the female's body. Dozens of them share this space, not eating at all, but releasing sperm that fertilize the female's eggs. Eventually the female worm sends thousands of fertilized eggs out into the surrounding water, and the cycle begins again.
Dr. Robert Vrijenhoek, an evolutionary biologist at MBARI, has been fascinated with these worms ever since he and his colleagues first discovered their unusual lifestyles and bizarre reproductive habits. Vrijenhoek has been trying to find out how widespread and genetically diverse these worms are. He would also like to know how they manage to find and colonize the bones of dead whales in the vast, pitch-black expanse of the deep seafloor.
Between 2004 and 2008, Vrijenhoek's research team towed five dead whales off of Monterey Bay beaches and sank them at different depths within Monterey Canyon. Every few months, coauthor Shannon Johnson and others on the team would send one of MBARI's remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) down to study the worms and other animals that had colonized the whale carcasses.
To their surprise, the different whale carcasses yielded different types of boneworms. One whale carcass hosted three or four different types of worms. After examining all of the worms, coauthor Greg Rouse concluded that most of them were entirely new to science. The researchers also discovered that the worms would colonize cow-bones placed on the seafloor, which showed that the worms were not limited to feeding on dead whales.
In their recent paper in the journal BMC Biology, Vrijenhoek and his coauthors describe the results of extensive DNA analyses on all the different types of Osedax worms that have been discovered so far (including two species found off Sweden and Japan). This work suggests that these worms could belong to as many as 17 different species, most of which have yet to be named. None of the worms appear to interbreed, despite the fact that some of them grow side by side.
Based on their appearance and similarities in their DNA, the researchers divided the boneworms into several groups. Some of the worms have feathery palps, which may be red, pink, striped, or even greenish in color. Others have bare palps. One type of boneworm has no palps at all. Its body forms a single, long, tapering tube, which curls at the end like a pig's tail. This worm has evolved to live in the seafloor sediment near a dead whale. It sends long, fibrous "roots" into the mud, presumably in search of fragments of bone on which to feed.
Knowing how fast the DNA of these worms changes (mutates) over time, the researchers can calculate how long it has been since worms in the genus Osedax first evolved as a distinct group. Using one possible estimate of mutation rates, the researchers hypothesized that this group could have evolved about 45 million years ago -- about the time the first large open-ocean whales show up in the fossil record. Alternatively, the worms may have evolved more slowly, which would suggest that the genus is much older, and first evolved about 130 million years ago. If this second estimate is correct, the worms could have feasted on the bones of immense sea-going reptiles during the age of the dinosaurs.
Eventually the researchers will give all these new worms their own species names. First, however, they must collect enough samples of each possible species for additional laboratory analysis and distribution to type-specimen collections. Like a classic horror story, the macabre saga of the boneworms will continue to thrill marine biologists for years to come.
This research was sponsored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. more

12/04/09
Humpback Whale Entangled in Rope Off Hawaii Coast - foxnews.com

A juvenile humpback whale entangled in hundreds of feet of heavy rope off the Hawaii coast was being tracked by marine experts Wednesday.

"The entanglement is life-threatening," said Ed Lyman, marine mammal response manager for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. "It's in the mouth, and it's over the body. It's yellow, polypropylene line, pretty heavy gauge, and it's several hundred feet of line on the animal."

A location transmitter was attached to the rope Tuesday after earlier rescue efforts failed because of rough water in the channel between Maui and Molokai, Lyman said.

"If the whale stays nearby and the weather cooperates, we can mount another effort," he said.

Lyman estimated the whale was tangled in 400 to 500 feet of rope that trailed in two long knotted strands. He estimated the whale is between 2 and 5 years old, and about 30 to 35 feet long.

The effort to save the whale began Tuesday after a Pacific Whale Foundation tour boat spotted the mammal about 3 miles off Maui. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter also helped monitor the whale, he said.

The foundation has "a large fleet of boats, so they're great first-responders," Lyman said. "They do a lot of reporting, and they stood by this whale for a long time. Big brownie points on that, a big help."

Boaters were cautioned not to get too close, especially behind the tangled animal. Some boaters who have done so in the past have gotten their propellers caught in ropes.

"They get a Nantucket sleigh ride the wrong way," Lyman said, referring to whaling boats being dragged by harpooned whales.

The marine sanctuary, which was created by Congress in 1992 to protect humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaii, lies within the shallow warm waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands. more

12/02/09
Garrett 'disappointed' at whaling tour -

AUSTRALIA has again expressed disappointment at Japan's failure to swap harpoons for science, as it embarks on its annual whaling hunt.

Four Japanese ships left port today for the Southern Ocean, where it plans to kill an unspecified number of fin whales, humpbacks and minkes for so-called scientific research.

There is a world-wide moratorium on commercial whaling, but Japan hunts whales under the banner of research.

Australia was deeply disappointed to see the Japanese government condone yet another annual slaughter, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

"The Australian Government has said repeatedly that we do not have to kill whales to study them," he said.

"Japan has the opportunity to swap harpoons for science this summer."

He invited the Japanese to get involved in a joint Australian and New Zealand whale research program, with the first voyage kicking off in 2010 as part of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership. It is non-lethal.

Mr Garrett said the Government was making an unprecedented effort to persuade Japan to stop the killing of whales, including the appointment of a special envoy.

The Government has committed $32 million to non-lethal whale research.

But with the Japanese ships already headed south, opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said the government had failed to back up its election promise to hold the Japanese to account.

"This is the third summer of whaling since (Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd and Peter Garrett led Australians to believe they would stop the practice," he said.

"Their promised international court action goes down as one of the biggest broken promises of this government."

But Mr Garrett said the Government had delivered on the promise, which was to collect evidence for possible legal action.

"That option remains on the table," he said.

The Government was also working through other reforms, including giving greater powers to the International Whaling Commission "to make it a conservation-focused organisation, not one that simply counts dead whales".

"We will continue to pull out all stops in our diplomatic and other efforts," Mr Garrett said.

Japan issued its own permits for the slaughter of 950 whales in the 2008/2009 season.
It has not yet applied for permits this year. more

11/28/09
Whale-Sized Genetic Study Largest Ever For Southern Hemisphere Humpbacks - Science Daily

After 15 years of research in the waters of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and an international coalition of organizations have unveiled the largest genetic study of humpback whale populations ever conducted in the Southern Hemisphere.

By analyzing DNA samples from more than 1,500 whales, researchers can now peer into the population dynamics and relatedness of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales as never before, and help inform management decisions in the sometimes politically charged realm of whale conservation.

The results of the massive analysis appear in PLoS ONE, an interactive open-access journal for scientific and medical research. Other contributors to the study include: Columbia University; University of Pretoria; Environment Study of Oman; Instituto Baleia Jubarta and PURCS (Brazil); University of Cape Town; Marine and Coastal Management (South Africa); Faculdade de Biociências; Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (Gabon); Association Megaptera (France); Université de La Rochelle (France).

"Humpback whales are perhaps the most studied species of great whale in the Northern Hemisphere, but many of the interactions among Southern Hemisphere populations are still poorly understood," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program and lead author of the study. "This research illustrates the vast potential of genetic analyses to uncover the mysteries of how humpbacks travel and form populations in the southern ocean basins."

So little is known about southern ocean basin humpbacks that researchers initially used old whaling records for insights into whale population boundaries.

Researchers collected skin samples from 1,527 whales from fourteen sampling sites from the Southwestern and Southeastern Atlantic Ocean, and the Southwestern and Northern Indian Oceans. The populations are known as Breeding Stocks A (Southwest Atlantic Ocean), B (Southeast Atlantic Ocean), C (Southwest Indian Ocean), and X (Northern Indian Ocean), based on information amassed and designated by the International Whaling Commission, including data from 19th and 20th Centuries commercial whaling.

The scientists collected samples from living whales with biopsy darts fired from crossbows. The darts harmlessly bounce off the marine mammals as they surface to breathe. Samples came also from skin which is continually sloughed off by the animals and collected by the research teams.

Once collected, the samples were brought to the lab at the AMNH Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics and examined through a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which "amplifies" specific regions of DNA which then can be used to statistically inform researchers about gene flow between populations. The research team specifically focused on mitochondrial DNA, which is passed through maternal lines of a population, in order to measure interchange between groups.

The findings so far have revealed:

1. The highest rate of gene flow between populations is between whales that breed on either side of the African continent (Breeding Stocks B and C), with an estimated one or two reproductively active whales every year swimming from one ocean to join whales in another breeding ground. Authors of the current study previously identified the same individual whale in both Atlantic and Indian Ocean breeding grounds at different times, the first recorded instance of a humpback whale traveling between these two oceans.
2. A lower rate of gene flow between humpbacks breeding on opposite sides of the Atlantic (one population along coastal Brazil and the other along the coast of Southern Africa). While no individual whales have been detected traveling across the Southern Atlantic to both breeding grounds, genetic similarities reveal a slight degree of populations interacting. Interestingly, an examination of humpback whale songs between the two populations are similar, another hint at interchange between the two groups, most likely in the whales' feeding grounds in Antarctic waters.
3. Breeding Stock X, which inhabits the northern Indian Ocean off the Arabian Peninsula, numbers fewer than 200 whales and is the most distinct in terms of genetics and migratory behavior. Unlike the other humpback populations, it is non-migratory and only distantly related to the nearest group of humpbacks (which breed off Madagascar and the eastern coast of Southern Africa). As a small, insular group, the "X" population is unique and therefore a conservation priority.

In addition to examining the population boundaries of humpbacks in the Southern Hemisphere, the study also gives scientists some insight into the mysterious and mercurial nature of marine ecosystems, with currents, water depth, and other unseen factors serving as shifting conduits and barriers between marine populations and ecosystems.

On an interesting historical note, Rosenbaum and his co-authors used old whaling records to guide their research on whale populations. One set of charts—titled "The Distribution of Certain Whales as Shown by Logbook Records from American Whale Ships"—was compiled by Charles Townsend of the New York Zoological Society (now WCS) and recorded the locations of more than 50,000 whale captures (including humpback whales) between 1761-1920. According to the charts, many humpback whales were captured in the Gulf of Guinea, Southeastern African and northeastern Madagascar, the same locations where humpbacks congregate today. "Townsend was attempting to identify distribution and possible boundaries between whale populations or 'breeding stocks,'" noted Rosenbaum. "We're still trying to answer the same question with molecular technology in concert with whaling logbook records."

"Understanding the needs of humpbacks and other whale species can be challenging in terms of direct observations of these animals in the wild. Molecular technology gives us a window into the lives of whales that can help us understand the ecological forces shaping their movements and distribution," added Rosenbaum. "We can also use our findings to inform management decisions for a species that is only now beginning to recover from centuries of commercial whaling."

The humpback whale is a baleen whale that grows up to approximately 50 feet in length. The species has distinctively long pectoral fins and a head with knobs on the top and lower jaw. The humpback is also known for its acrobatics (such as full body breaching) and haunting songs, typically sung by males and possibly a mating behavior. The slow-swimming species was hunted commercially until the International Whaling Commission protected the species globally in 1966. Current estimates for humpback whale numbers are widely debated. While they are recovering, total population sizes may only perhaps be a small percent of the original global population.

This study was generously supported by The Eppley Foundation For Research, Flora Family Foundation, and Lenfest Ocean Program. more

11/22/09
Mysterious object found on Jersey shore could be whale bone - daily record

Is it a whale bone or something else dredged up from the ocean floor?

That is the question locals, including a marine biologist at Sandy Hook, found themselves ruminating over Sunday afternoon after a roughly 5-foot-long object was discovered washed up on the beach behind watering hole Donovan's Reef.

Beachcomber and Sea Bright resident Susie Markson gets credit for first spotting the cement-gray-colored long object as she walked along the borough beachfront around 2 p.m.

Markson eventually dragged the object, which measures about 2 feet across, up from the beach to right behind Donovan's.

"It's become quite the topic of conversation here," said Theresa Bowler, owner of Donovan's Reef.

On Sunday afternoon nearly 40 people had a look at the object, with some having their pictures taken with it.

"Everybody is trying to figure out what it is," Bowler said.

One area expert thinks he knows.

"It's part of a whale and could be a (piece) of whale skull," said Dave Grant, a marine biologist and director of the Brookdale Community College Ocean Institute at Sandy Hook, who just happened to be riding a bike through the borough Sunday.

A spokesman from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine said it had not been notified about the find until contacted by the Asbury Park Press, but confirmed it is the organization with the authority to remove and examine the specimen.

Borough police could not release any information about the object. more

11/16/09
Scientist honored for whale-saving efforts - cape cod times

Think of someone powerful enough to move a shipping lane: to alter the path of behemoth tankers and freighters coming into Boston from Africa, Canada and South America, representing an international industry.

You are probably thinking of someone with serious political or legal clout — or both.

But in a side street in East Wareham, in a historic part of town near the Agawam River, a whole other kind of person has been at work on that lane, to prevent ship strikes of whales: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary scientist and research coordinator David Wiley.

On Thursday, Wiley, 56, will receive the U.S. Commerce Department's highest award for distinguished service, the Gold Medal. The award recognizes his leadership in groundbreaking research including the relocation in July 2007 of a 5-mile-wide shipping lane within the sanctuary — using a set of more subtle skills, like scientific acumen, an understanding of human nature, the patience to bring doubters along with logical arguments and even a bit of old-fashioned pleasantry.

(And, for the record, the width of the lane was also reduced to 4 miles, Wiley said.)

"He can understand all sides of an issue," said Mason Weinrich, executive director of the Whale Center of New England, who worked directly with Wiley on the shipping lane issue. "He has a good analyst mind, and he's a super-nice person. If he asks you for something, it's hard to say no, because you know something's behind it."

That's lucky for the whales.

A unique ecosystem

The sanctuary is an 842-square-mile stretch of ocean and underwater environment between Cape Ann and Cape Cod where marine mammals feed seasonally. The sanctuary is also home to 30 species of seabirds, more than 60 species of fish and hundreds of marine invertebrates and plants.

But the sanctuary is also the prime crossing ground for ships coming into Boston. They make about 3,400 trips across the sanctuary waters each year. The heaviest traffic comes from points south, through a designated shipping lane off the coast of Cape Cod, Wiley said.

Before the lane was moved in 2007, there were one or two reported ship strikes each year in the sanctuary area and likely a few more that went unreported, Wiley said. That was too many, he said. The whales are humpbacks, fin whales and the most endangered, North American right whales, he said.

To try to reduce the strikes, Wiley and his staff studied whale distribution data from whale-watch boats working in the sanctuary to map out where the whales are generally. Then they studied ship locations based on on-board tracking monitors. From that, Wiley and his staff identified an "ecological hole," an area the whales seem to avoid and where the ships could potentially go.

Going the extra mile

To convince the shippers, Wiley went further, though, explaining through an analysis of ocean currents and the ocean floor why the whales seemed to congregate in certain areas.

Then, he drove from the sanctuary office in Scituate once a month for about six months in 2004 and 2005 to persuade the shippers — with an array of options on a PowerPoint presentation — to move their lane to a more dog-legged entry across the sanctuary water, several miles northeast of the existing lane. It added anywhere from nine to 22 minutes to the trip, depending on a ship's speed, Wiley said.

"He took a powerful initiative to engage a problem that has been troubling us — we who work with whales — for a long time," said Charles Mayo, director of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies right whale habitat studies.

Moving the shipping lane won't eliminate ship strikes, Wiley said, but the risk has been reduced by 81 percent. It will take a few years to see how many strikes are actually eliminated. But he was characteristically low-key, crediting federal officials and a handful of nonprofit groups for their help, and mentioning other issues that still need to be addressed.

"It's no more complex than any of it," Wiley said. more

11/14/09
Blue whales reclaim old feeding grounds -

BLUE whales, the world’s largest animals, are reappearing in parts of the oceans where hunting once wiped them out, signalling that they may finally be returning from the brink of extinction.

Marine scientists have recorded the animals roaming migratory routes and feeding grounds in the Pacific from which they had vanished for much of the past six decades.

Research also suggests that the Antarctic population of blue whales may now be growing at 6% a year. In the Atlantic, sightings are also increasing.

“The overall numbers are still tiny compared with the original populations before whaling started, but the trend is at last in the right direction,” said John Calambokidis, a marine scientist whose research on whale movements and populations has just been published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.

Blue whales, which can exceed 100ft in length and weigh up to 200 tons, were once common, with an estimated global population of between 350,000 and 400,000 in 1900.

Previously, they had not been targeted by whalers because they were too large and fast for the ships and harpoons available.

After the invention of steam-powered whaling ships and exploding harpoons, fleets came to favour blue whales because a single animal could provide 120 barrels of valuable oil along with vast amounts of meat. The animals’ tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant.

By the 1960s, when blue whale hunting was banned, there were only around 5,000 animals left.

For most of the past five decades since then, blue whale numbers have hardly changed.

This has baffled most researchers, because other species such as humpbacks saw populations surge once they were protected. Some researchers feared blue whales might become extinct.

One problem was that the remaining blue whales seemed to have split into separate populations whose numbers risked being too small to be viable. In the Pacific, these included one group in the Gulf of Alaska and another off California.

Calambokidis tracked these groups using photo-identification to spot individual blue whales from fin shapes and other markings. In recent years, however, he was surprised to see the populations growing and mingling.

“This may represent a return to a migration pattern that existed in earlier periods for the eastern north Pacific blue whale population,” he said.

One reason for the increase in sightings could be growing competition for food on existing routes, driving whales further afield. Alternatively, changes in ocean currents may have shifted the concentrations of krill, the tiny shrimp-like animals on which blue whales feed.

Either change would force the animals to start moving around more, recolonising the same migratory routes and feeding grounds favoured by earlier generations.

Other researchers have recorded similar trends. Richard Sears, founder of the Mingan Island Cetacean Study in Canada, who studies blue whale populations in the north Atlantic, said sightings there had risen in the past few years.

About 200 animals have been recorded in the eastern Atlantic and 440 in the west, including large numbers off Iceland. These are likely to be just a fraction of the total.

Sears is cautiously optimistic, but warns that the increase in sightings may be partly due to more people looking for whales. “There is still no room for complacency,” he said.

There may be a more sinister reason for the failure of whale numbers to recover after the ban was imposed. Files handed to the International Whaling Commission by Alexey Yablokov, environmental adviser to Boris Yeltsin, the Russian president from 1991-9, showed that the Soviet Union illicitly killed more than 9,000 blue whales from the time of the ban until 1972.

Dan Bortolotti, author of Wild Blue, a new book looking at blue whale populations worldwide, said: “These revelations go some way towards explaining why blue whale populations stayed low for so long.

“It also suggests that they may now have a chance to recover — but only if the ban on hunting all large whales stays in place.” more

11/11/09
Whale watching can be good for the environment - Yahoo news

New research suggests people who have close encounters with marine animals care more about the environment afterwards.

The University of the Queensland is studying how people are affected after coming into contact with a whale, turtle or dolphin.

Senior research fellow Dr Jan Packer says up to seven per cent of people made changes to their environment after visiting places such as the turtle rookery in Mon Repos near Bundaberg or whale watching at Hervey Bay in southern Queensland.

"Some people will take it a little further and start to reflect on their role in relation to the animals and the responsibility to look after the environment," she said.

Dr Packer says she is surprised by the response given that most of these contacts last only an hour or two.

"It was not really expected that they're going to have a really long term impact," she said.

"So the fact that people were reporting four months after the experience that they had made real changes to their behaviour as a result of what happened is quite encouraging." more

11/11/09
Whale watching can be good for the environment - Yahoo news

11/06/09
Research Tracks Whales By Listening To Sounds - Science Daily

Researchers have developed a new tool to help them study endangered whales -- autonomous hydrophones that can be deployed in the ocean to record the unique clicks, pulses and calls of different whale species.

Those efforts are leading to some surprising findings, including the discovery by a team of researchers of rare right whales swimming in the Gulf of Alaska.

"There has been only one confirmed sighting of a right whale in the Gulf of Alaska since 1980, so discovering them is not only surprising, it is fairly significant," said David K. Mellinger, an assistant professor at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. "We picked up the sounds of one whale off Kodiak Island, and several others in deep water, which is also something of a surprise, since most right whale sightings have been near-shore."

Results of these and five years of studies have been published in the January 2006 issue of the journal BioScience. Mellinger said scientists have been able to use the hydrophones to distinguish sounds made by different whale species. And some species, he added, have different "dialects" depending on where they are from. Blue whales off the Pacific Northwest sound different than populations of blue whales that live in the western Pacific Ocean, and those sound different from populations of blue whales off Antarctica.

And they all sound different than the blue whales off Chile.

"The whales in the eastern Pacific have a very low-pitched pulsed sound, followed by a tone," Mellinger said. "Other populations use different combinations of pulses, tones and pitches. The difference is really striking, but we don't know if it is tied to genetics, or some other reason.

"There are also some hybrid sounds that are rare," he added. "We don't know if they are part of a common 'language' that different populations of whales use to communicate with each other, or if they come from a confused juvenile who hasn't completely learned the complexities of communicating."

Scientists began hearing whale sounds several years ago on a U.S. Navy hydrophone network. The hydrophone system -- called the Sound Surveillance System, or SOSUS -- was used by the Navy during the Cold War to monitor submarine activity in the northern Pacific Ocean. As the Cold War ebbed, these and other military assets were offered to civilian researchers performing environmental studies.

Another Oregon State researcher, Christopher Fox, first received permission from the Navy to use the hydrophones at his laboratory at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center to listen for undersea earthquakes -- a program now directed by Robert Dziak.

While listening for earthquakes, the OSU researchers begin picking up sounds of ships, marine landslides -- and whales. An engineer at the center, Haru Matsumoto, then developed an autonomous hydrophone that can be deployed independently and Mellinger's colleagues placed seven of these instruments in the Gulf of Alaska about five years ago. The hydrophones can pick up right whale sounds from about 40 kilometers away -- and even farther, if the waters are shallow and the terrain even.

Using those hydrophones, Mellinger discovered a number of sperm whales living in the Gulf of Alaska in the winter. The hydrophones picked up almost half as many whale sounds as in the summer -- indicating a surprisingly robust "off-season" population.

"There are a handful of records of people spotting sperm whales in the region -- and they're all in the summer," Mellinger said. "Likewise, all of the historic whaling records are from the summer. The Gulf of Alaska is not a place you want to be in the winter. But apparently, sperm whales don't mind."

Other researchers participating in the study include Sue Moore, NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Center in Seattle; Kathleen M. Stafford, an OSU graduate now at the University of Washington; and John A. Hildebrand, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

This spring, the researchers plan to deploy three more hydrophones in the Bering Sea next to a series of long-duration NOAA moorings. They will analyze possible connections between the appearance of the whales and ocean conditions. "We'll look at water temperature, salinity and even chlorophyll growth," Mellinger said. "Ultimately, what we hope is to be able to identify a certain water mass and know that it will lead to chlorophyll growth and an abundance of plankton, and that the whales will soon appear."
more

11/02/09
Whales Are Polite Conversationalists: Rhythms Can Be Spotted In Ocean's Chatter - Science Daily

What do a West African drummer and a sperm whale have in common? According to some reports, they can both spot rhythms in the chatter of an ocean crowded with the calls of marine mammals -- a feat impossible for the untrained human ear.

Now a group of marine biologists at the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center has developed a tool that can spot these rhythms and identify individual animals. Their results, which will be presented at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) next week in San Antonio, suggest that whales make a specific effort to keep their calls from overlapping.

George Ioup at the University of New Orleans and colleagues have developed a way to analyze calls produced by marine mammals. Their technique, which follows principles similar to how the human ear picks out a voice at a crowded cocktail party, groups similar-sounding clicks to isolate the calls of individual animals.

Natalia Sidorovskaia of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and colleagues have discovered that whales change the intervals between these echolocating clicks in a way that seems to prevent cluttering the echoes from these calls.

"In other words, whales are polite listeners; they do not interrupt each other," writes Sidorovskaia. She suspects that this communication strategy would allow groups of whales to explore their environment faster and more efficiently. more

10/28/09
Blue whale washes ashore in Northern California - http://www.sfgate.com

A 70-foot, female blue whale that officials believe was struck by a ship has washed ashore on the Northern California coast in what scientists are calling a rare occurrence.

The whale was first spotted on shore near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County on Monday night, hours after an ocean survey vessel reported hitting a whale a few miles away, said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine fisheries service.

Blue whales are the world's largest mammals.

Students from California State University, Humboldt, examined the whale's massive body Tuesday as it lay on its side in a rocky cove.

"I was personally jazzed just to see the animal," said Thor Holmes, a lecturer in mammology at the school. He has examined other whale species that washed ashore but never a blue whale.

The whale had two gashes on its back — at least one of which was deep enough to cut through the blubber down to the vertebral column, Holmes said. It otherwise appeared to be in good health.

It's unusual for blue whales to wash ashore, Cordaro said. Last week, another blue whale washed up in Monterey County after being hit by a ship.

Before that, the last time a blue whale washed onto a California beach was 2007.

The whales are "usually far offshore, deep water animals," Cordaro said.

Although blue whales are considered endangered, experts say they have recently made a comeback and now number several thousand.

Some blue whales feed in the waters off Central and Northern California this time of year then migrate elsewhere to breed, said Dawn Goley, an associate professor of zoology at the Humboldt campus.

Researchers have taken skin and blubber samples from the beached animal to see what contaminants it may have been exposed to and what population group it comes from.
more

10/27/09
Epic humpback whale battle filmed - BBC

The greatest battle of all...

It is the greatest animal battle on the planet, and it has finally been caught on camera.
A BBC natural history crew has filmed the "humpback whale heat run", where 15m long, 40 tonne male whales fight it out to mate with even larger females.
During the first complete sequence of this behaviour ever captured, the male humpbacks swim at high speed behind the female, violently jostling for access.
The collisions between the males can be violent enough to kill.
The footage was recorded for the BBC natural history series Life.

It's the closest we're ever going to get to dinosaurs fighting
Life producer Ted Oakes
"Even though this is one of the most common of the large whales, very little is known about its actual sexual behaviour," says Life producer Dr Ted Oakes.
"One of the most interesting things is that humpbacks have never been seen to mate."
But what has been filmed is the epic battle between males to get mating access to the female whales.
Up to 40 males swim behind a single female at speeds of up to ten knots, each jostling to obtain a dominant position.
"It's the closest we're ever going to get to dinosaurs fighting. It's the largest battle in the animal kingdom and it feels like something out of Jurassic Park," says Dr Oakes.
Migrate to mate
Most humpback whales spend their summers feeding in polar regions.
During the winter, they migrate thousands of miles to warmer tropical waters.
While there is little food in the tropics, females move there to give birth, as the warmer water helps smaller baby whales better regulate their body temperature.
Males follow the females to the tropics, hoping to find mates.
Check out the video at....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8318000/8318182.stm more

10/25/09
Japan catches 59 whales for 'research' - http://www.stuff.co.nz

Japan says it has caught 59 whales - one short of the maximum allowed by international guidelines - under a research programme that critics say is a cover for commercial whaling.

The annual expedition off the port city of Kushiro ended over the weekend after harvesting 59 minke whales, the Fisheries Agency said in a statement. A maximum of 60 is allowed under the research programme authorised by the International Whaling Commission.

Japan and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing for the IWC to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts amid arguments over the number of whales left in the world's oceans.

Japan also annually hunts about 1000 whales in the Antarctic Ocean and the northwest Pacific Ocean under an IWC research programme.

Critics say the expeditions are a cover for commercial whaling because the harvest is sold to market for consumption.

As in previous years, the Fisheries Agency said the hunt off Hokkaido was aimed at studying the whales' feeding patterns and their effect on fish stocks. Findings will be presented at next year's meeting of the IWC.

During the 12-day expedition, whalers caught 36 male whales and 23 females, the agency said.

Examination of their stomach contents found that the minkes most commonly fed on pollack, krill and anchovy in the research area, about 80km off the coast of Kushiro in the Pacific Ocean, it said.

Kushiro is 895km northeast of Tokyo. more

10/23/09
Blue Whale Beached -- Flipper to be Amputated? - cape cod times

The apparent victim of a ship collision, a dead 70-foot (20-meter) blue whale washed ashore in a forbidding northern California cove this week.

Though unable to move the blue whale, scientists and students are leaping at the research opportunity, scrambling down rock faces to take tissue samples and eventually one of the 11-foot-long (3.5-meter-long) flippers.

Though relatively infrequent off California until recent years, ship collisions are "the number one human threat to blue whales," according to marine biologist Joe Cordaro of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.

This week's collision, he said, marks the second time this year that a ship off California has fatally wounded a blue whale.

The world's largest animals, blue whales can grow to about a hundred feet (30 meters) long—about the length of a space shuttle. Listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the whales are said to face a very high risk of extinction in the wild, largely due to heavy hunting prior to a 1966 ban.

On Monday, Cordaro received a report from a ship mapping the seafloor for the fisheries service. The researchers had "felt a shudder underneath the ship" about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from shore.

Soon after, a whale surfaced, bleeding profusely, Cordaro said. Several hours later, the beached blue whale was spotted near the city of Fort Bragg.

Given the evidence—timing, location, a fresh propeller wound—Cordaro said, "I don't think there's any doubt" that the mapping ship is the culprit.

"I'm as sorry as anybody that that animal perished," said Humboldt State University mammologist Thor Holmes (pictured above atop the whale). But to find "a fresh, female blue whale in a place that's accessible—that is amazing."

On Tuesday, Holmes and two students drove several hours to study the blue whale.

After he'd scrambled down the "scary" rock faces, he told the eager students to stay put for their own safety. "Man, I knew from the looks on their faces there was an insurrection brewing," he said. The others eventually found another, wetter way around.

On the shore, the researchers took blubber samples, which Holmes expects will shed light on the whale's pre-collision health.

"Just the fact that the whale has a good, thick blubber layer," he said, "shows it was a really, really healthy animal."

The blue whale will be left on the Fort Bragg beach, the National Marine Fisheries Service's Cordaro said. Given the cove's inaccessibility to vehicles, he added, "That whale ain't going anywhere."

But researchers are planning more tests, including an amputation of one of the blue whale's flippers this week—a potential windfall for an ongoing Humboldt State study comparing the limbs of cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

The university is also sending more students to examine the rare specimen, and a dermatologist at Humboldt is hoping to secure hair follicles for study.

For Holmes, the specimen holds great scientific promise, but also serves as a painful reminder of humanity's role in the blue whale's rarity.

"The presence of that animal on the beach," he said, "is another sign that we're malefactors on this planet." more

10/21/09
Massive killer whale pod sighted - news.bbc.co.uk

A massive pod of up to 50 killer whales has been filmed for the first time off the coast of Scotland by a BBC crew.

Gordon Buchanan, presenter of BBC Autumnwatch, filmed the group from a fishing boat in the North Sea.

The killer whales are filmed approaching the fishing boat and feeding on mackerel that escape the fishing nets.

The tenacious behaviour reveals an unlikely alliance between fishermen and predators of fish.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca), otherwise called orcas, live in family groups called pods and occur in British waters.

As the largest member of the dolphin family, killer whales are known for their intelligence and range of hunting behaviours.

The pod of killer whales caught on camera belong to a family group that has developed a particular hunting strategy; following mackerel fishermen and feeding on fish that escape their nets.

As the nets are brought to the surface and into the boat, the killer whales approach and come alongside, giving fishermen and the BBC Autumnwatch team a grandstand view of the pod in action.

The killer whales pick of any escaping mackerel and also feed off scraps as the nets are later lowered back into the water to be washed clean.

Fisherman's friend

Scientists first documented this behaviour in the 1980s and fishermen in Scotland have seen the behaviour develop since.

"They are pretty quick to cotton on, and it's something they are doing all around the world where there is a big fishery," says Mr Andy Foote of the University of Aberdeen, a marine scientist advising the BBC Autumnwatch team.

"But what's great about this one, is they aren't viewed as a pest, they are just going after mackerel that are stuck in the nets or escaping and they don't take any of the fishermen's catch," he says.

"They don't damage the nets or get stuck in the nets, there is a benefit for both parties and the fishermen are really fond of the killer whales."

Whale family

Pods of killer whales can include up to 200 individuals, due to the abundance of food provided by the fishing boats.
Killer whale
Tenacious predator

The mackerel-loving killer whales are thought to be a distinct family, unrelated to killer whales found in Shetland or others that hunt herring off Iceland.

The group follows the migration of mackerel from the Norwegian sea, past Shetland and down the west coast of Ireland and Britain possibly as far as the Portuguese coast.

The killer whales that feed on mackerel have been found to have very worn down teeth as a result of their feeding behaviour.

Scientists believe it is a result of how they suck up the fish one at a time. The suction, along with the abrasive nature of salt water, wears their teeth down.

Similarly worn teeth are also seen in other suction feeders such as sperm whales.

Gordon Buchanan presenter and cameraman on the BBC series Autumnwatch has been living aboard the working fishing boat with one other BBC colleague in an effort to capture the killer whales on film.

In his blog he tells how he was lucky to encounter the massive pod. more

10/18/09
High-tech stealth trimaran joins war against whaling - nzherald.co.nz

Black carbon paint makes boat virtually invisible to radar systems on other ships

The record-breaking powerboat Earthrace has taken on a black look to protest against Japanese whalers in some of the world's most dangerous waters late this year.

The 24m trimaran powerboat has special paint which deflects radar waves, meaning it can sneak up on Japanese whalers almost unseen in the Southern Ocean.

"It is like a stealth boat," said skipper Pete Bethune, who skippered Earthrace last year when it became the fastest powerboat to circumnavigate the globe.

The black carbon paint makes it virtually invisible to radar systems on other ships.

The boat has also been fitted with a broadband radar which cannot be detected by other vessels.

Mr Bethune would not say if they would run without navigation lights in an attempt to get close to the Japanese whalers.

"You do what you have got to do."

He said Earthrace was being bought by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and would join the ship Steve Irwin on a three-month mission to protest against the Japanese whaling programme.

Conditions in the Southern Ocean for the protest voyage would be "brutal", Mr Bethune said, but Earthrace was a tough boat and well proven in heavy seas.

It had had an additional 500kg of Kevlar added to the hull beneath the waterline to strengthen it for possible contact with sea ice.

Mr Bethune said he expected waves up to 12m high during the three-day voyage to the Southern Ocean from Perth. Earthrace would not follow Sea Shepherd tactics and try to ram Japanese whalers.

"We need different tactics. I can't tell you what they are. But we will stir things up down there. We are well resourced."

Mr Bethune said his concern was for the safety of his crew and boat. "We are going down there to mess with some Japanese who are extremely pissed off. They believe they have got a right to continue taking these whales and we believe they haven't."

Earthrace is due to leave Auckland at the end of the month for Perth and will sail for the Southern Ocean on December 7. more

10/16/09
Green spaces 'improve health' - BBC

The best health benefits come from living less than a kilometre (0.62miles) from a green space

There is more evidence that living near a 'green space' has health benefits.

Research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health says the impact is particularly noticeable in reducing rates of mental ill health.

The annual rates of 15 out of 24 major physical diseases were also significantly lower among those living closer to green spaces.

One environmental expert said the study confirmed that green spaces create 'oases' of improved health around them.

The researchers from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam looked at the health records of 350,000 people registered with 195 family doctors across the Netherlands.

Only people who had been registered with their GP for longer than 12 months were included because the study assumed this was the minimum amount of time people would have to live in an environment before any effect of it would be noticeable.

Health impact

The percentages of green space within a one and three kilometre (0.62 and 1.86 miles) radius of their home were calculated using their postcode.

On average, green space accounted for 42% of the residential area within one kilometre (0.62 miles) radius and almost 61% within a three kilometre (1.86 miles) radius of people's homes.

DISEASES THAT BENEFIT MOST FROM GREEN SPACES
Coronary heart disease
Neck, shoulder, back, wrist and hand complaints
Depression and anxiety
Diabetes
Respiratory infections and asthma
Migraine and vertigo
Stomach bugs and urinary tract infections
Unexplained physical symptoms

And the annual rates for 24 diseases in 7 different categories were calculated.

The health benefits for most of the diseases were only seen when the greenery was within a one kilometre ( 0.62 miles ) radius of the home.

The exceptions to this were anxiety disorders, infectious diseases of the digestive system and medically unexplained physical symptoms which were seen to benefit even when the green spaces were within three kilometres of the home.

The biggest impact was on anxiety disorders and depression.

Anxiety disorders

The annual prevalence of anxiety disorders for those living in a residential area containing 10% of green space within a one kilometre (0.62 miles) radius of their home was 26 per 1000 whereas for those living in an area containing 90% of green space it was 18 per 1000.

For depression the rates were 32 per 1000 for the people in the more built up areas and 24 per 1000 for those in the greener areas.

At least part of this 'oasis' effect probably reflects changes in air quality
Professor Barbara Maher, Lancaster Environment Centre

The researchers also showed that this relation was strongest for children younger than 12.

They were 21% less likely to suffer from depression in the greener areas.

Two unexpected findings were that the greener spaces did not show benefits for high blood pressure and that the relation appeared stronger for people aged 46 to 65 than for the elderly.

The researchers think the green spaces help recovery from stress and offer greater opportunities for social contacts.

They say the free physical exercise and better air quality could also contribute.

Dr Jolanda Maas of the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said: "It clearly shows that green spaces are not just a luxury but they relate directly to diseases and the way people feel in their living environments."

"Most of the diseases which are related to green spaces are diseases which are highly prevalent and costly to treat so policy makers need to realise that this is something they may be able to diminish with green spaces."

Professor Barbara Maher of the Lancaster Environment Centre said the study confirmed that green spaces create oases of improved health around them especially for children.

She said: "At least part of this 'oasis' effect probably reflects changes in air quality.

"Anything that reduces our exposure to the modern-day 'cocktail' of atmospheric pollutants has got to be a good thing." more

10/15/09
Lovely bubbly! Beluga whales are the ocean's cleverest creatures, but they aren't above a spot of fun - dailymail.uk

With their white, plastic-smooth skin and bulbous foreheads, Beluga whales certainly look extraordinary. And their behaviour is just as compelling.

They can enjoy nothing more than blowing bubbles. First, one puffs out a huge gust of air from its blow-hole to make a doughnut-shaped ring, then it rolls underneath the bubble, kisses it with the tip of its nose and glides over it. It's like an elegant underwater dance.

The Beluga (the name is Russian for 'white one') is one of three living in Shimane Aquarium in Japan. Their playfulness makes them popular with visitors - of the 10,000 creatures in this aquarium, the whales are among the biggest attractions.

And no wonder: at their shows, the trio dance, nod their heads in unison, catch a ball in their mouths and jump through hoops. They can even blow bubbles at the same time.

To accomplish all these feats, it helps that Belugas can tilt their heads up and down and side to side at right angles - just like humans.

And while they chug through the water at a sluggish 2 to 5mph, their mental power more than makes up for their slowness. Scientists don't really know why Belugas - like their fellow marine mammals, the dolphins - are fond of blowing bubbles and then chasing them. But it's likely that, just like children, they simply enjoy messing about.

The Beluga or White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic species of cetacean. The Beluga is a highly sociable creature. Groups of males may number in the hundreds, but mothers with calves generally mix in slightly smaller groups. When pods do aggregate in estuaries, they may number in the thousands

Some scientists have called Belugas the most intelligent creatures on earth. But don't confuse that large forehead with a huge brain.

It is actually filled with a lump of wax, which is thought to help the whales communicate. In fact, they are so talkative - using chirps, squeals and squeaks - that their nickname is 'the canary of the sea'.

There are around 100,000 Belugas in the wild, swimming in the frosty Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas, and they can live for many decades.

Their size ranges somewhere between 13ft and 20ft, about the same length as a minibus. And they weigh a hefty 3,000lb. Babies - or calves - are a comparatively teeny 3ft-long and instead of having sleek, creamy-coloured skin, they are slate grey and wrinkly until they mature.

The calves are also notable because of how much they love to lark around. 'Belugas are incredibly sociable and love playing in groups,' says whale expert Philip Hoare. 'They're amazing to watch because they're always playful.'
more

10/13/09
Seismic bangs 'block' whale calls - BBC

Scientists have turned up new evidence showing that ocean noise can affect the communication of whales.

Studying blue whales off the eastern Canadian coast, they found the animals changed their vocalisations in response to an underwater seismic survey.

The survey was conducted using gear considered to have a low impact.

Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the researchers say this is the first evidence that whales will increase calls in response to underwater noise.

At this site, on a feeding ground, the whales make frequent calls of just a few seconds' duration, rather than the long "songs" that can be heard across vast tracts of ocean.

"The calls are used for short-range communication within a range of a few hundred metres," said Lucia Di Iorio, based at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

"And the frequency band they use is exactly where the main energy of those seismic pulses is located," she told BBC News.

Initially, Dr Di Iorio's group tried to persuade the Canadian university conducting the seismic survey to co-operate in the research, and to give details of where and when the underwater bangs were being produced.

That attempt failing, the scientists recorded the pulses with an array of detectors mounted on the sea bed in the St Lawrence Estuary.

The detectors also recorded the blue whales' calls, which are thought to be associated with feeding and socialising.

Information gap…..

On days with seismic surveys, the whales made two-and-half-times more calls than on days without.

The ratio was the same when the recordings were analysed in blocks of 10 minutes; survey noise induced more than a doubling of calls.

The researchers suggest the whales are having to "repeat information", as some of the calls are blocked or degraded by the seismic bangs.

"Our research doesn't say anything about whether this increase in call rate is negative for the animals, but of course it's not positive and it may be stressful," said Dr Di Iorio.

This survey was carried out using "sparkers", devices that generate a bang from an electrical discharge between two electrodes.

Sparkers produce sounds quieter than the ones generated by airguns, another technique engineers use for underwater surveys.

"It's used [here] because it's thought to have a lower impact on marine life," said Dr Di Iorio.

"But we should definitely reconsider these things, because clearly it's not only the sound level that's important; and one thing might be not to do the test when there are lots of whales around."

Gray area…..

A number of recent reports have highlighted the increase in ocean noise brought about by humanity's use of the oceans, in particular shipping.

One study indicated that the level of background noise from ships' propellers was doubling every decade in the Pacific Ocean.

Conservation groups are raising the issue because many marine animals, including whales and dolphins, use sound to communicate and to hunt.

The sharp sounds of seismic surveys are a particular concern. Engineers use very sharp, very loud bangs because these produce the clearest images of geological structures below the sea floor.

The surveys are typically used to map oil and gas deposits.

Earlier this year, companies involved in the Sakhalin Energy consortium agreed to suspend seismic work after seeing evidence that it was driving the critically endangered western gray whale, of which only about 130 remain, away from its summer feeding ground.
more

10/10/09
RISING OCEAN ACIDITY: “The other carbon problem” - cape cod times

What happens if there is no more ”shell” in shellfish?
A new documentary on Discovery’s Green network, Acid Test: The global challenge of Ocean Acidification explores this and other questions to ocean acidification, a little know but potentially disastrous consequence of global warming.
Known by some scientists as “the other carbon problem”, the increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (caused by the burning of fossil fuels) also have been absorbed into the world’s oceans during the past 200 years, the documentary says. The oceans cover 705 of the planet’s surface.
The additional carbon not only warms the oceans, but it is also radically transforming their chemistry, says Lisa Suatoni of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which produced the film. As the carbon reacts with the seawater, it’s rapidly making the water more acidic.
How Rapidly? “Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the Industrial Revolution,” Suatoni says . She says that oceanic carbon dioxide may double again by the end of this century.
“This may challenge life on a scale that has not happened for tens of millions of years,” narrator Sigourney Weaver says in the film.
The increased acidity corrodes seashells and thousands of species build shells around them to live. “It removes the building block for producing shells,” says Steve Palumbi of Stanford University. “ A lot of organisms may not be able to survive.”
But is the fear of ocean acidification overblown? Perhaps, say the authors of a study published in May in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
The authors of the study led by Rebecca Gooding of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, dispute the belief that ocean acidification harms all marine life forms and urged that caution should be taken when examining “overgeneralized predictions.”
In addition to a battery of top ocean acidification scientists, including leadig expert Ken Caldiera of the Carnegie Institution of Science, Acid Test infuses some regular-guy perspective from commercial fisherman Bruce Steele. He warns that ocean acidity puts many prime shellfish species at risk -- such as oysters, lobsters and Dungeness crabs—all of which he and his fellow shellfisherman depend on for their livelihood.
“Either we change what we are doing on land or it will have profound effects on fisheries as we know it,” he says.
The film also touches on the world’s coral reefs, which can be damaged by ocean acidification as well as rising water temperature.

more

10/08/09
Getting A Leg Up On Whale And Dolphin Evolution: New Comprehensive Analysis Sheds Light On The Origin Of Cetaceans - Science Daily

When the ancestors of living cetaceans—whales, dolphins and porpoises—first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the larger hoofed animal group. But what happened first, a change from a plant-based diet to a carnivorous diet, or the loss of their ability to walk?

A new paper published this week in PLoS ONE resolves this debate using a massive data set of the morphology, behavior, and genetics of living and fossil relatives. Cetacean ancestors probably moved into water before changing their diet (and their teeth) to include carnivory; Indohyus, a 48-million year-old semi-aquatic herbivore, and hippos fall closest to cetaceans when the evolutionary relationships of the larger group are reconstructed.

"If you only had living taxa to figure out relationships within this group of animals, you would miss a large amount of diversity and part of the picture of what is going on," says Michelle Spaulding, lead author of the study and a graduate student affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. "Indohyus is interesting because this fossil combines an herbivore's dentition with adaptations such as ear bones that are adapted for hearing under water and are traditionally associated with whales only."

The origin of whales, dolphins, and porpoises—with their highly modified legs and lack of hair—has long been a quandary for mammalogists. About 60 years ago, researchers first suggested that cetaceans were related to plant-eating ungulates, specifically to even-toed, artiodactyl mammals like sheep, antelope and pigs. In other words, carnivorous killer whales and fish-eating dolphins were argued to fit close to the herbivorous hoofed animal group. More recent genetic research found that among artiodactyls, hippos are the cetaceans' closest living relatives.

Because no one would ever link hippos and whales based on their appearance, fossil evidence became an important way to determine the precise evolutionary steps that cetacean ancestors took. Traditionally, the origin of whales was linked to the mesonychids, an extinct group of carnivores that had singly-hoofed toes. The recent discovery of Indohyus, a clearly water-adapted herbivore, complicates this picture (as new fossils often do) because of ear bones similar to those of modern cetaceans, which are theorized to help the animal have heard better while under the water.

To tease apart different potential evolutionary histories (whether carnivory or water adaptations occurred first; the mesonychid or Indohyus relatedness ideas), Spaulding and colleagues mapped the evolutionary relationships among more than 80 living and fossil taxa (in other words, species and/or genera). These taxa were scored for 661 morphological and behavioral characters (such as presence of hair or the shape of and ankle bone). Forty-nine new DNA sequences from five nuclear genes were also added to the mix of more than 47,000 characters; both morphological and genetic data build on previous analyses by authors Maureen O'Leary of Stony Brook University and John Gatesy of University of California at Riverside. In addition, Indohyus, carnivores (dogs and cats), and an archaic group of meat-eating mammals called creodonts were included.

The team found that the least complex evolutionary tree places Indohyus and similar fossils close to whales, while mesonychids are more distantly related. Hippos remain the closest living relatives. These results suggest that cetacean ancestors transitioned to water before becoming carnivorous but that the meat-eating diet developed while these ancestors could still walk on land.

"How do you put flesh and movement onto a fossil?" asks author O'Leary. "The earliest stem whale probably ate prey in water while still being able to walk on land. Indohyus has some adaptations for hearing under water but also ate plants, while Ambulocetus (a walking whale that lived about 50 million years ago) seems to have been carnivorous."

"There is deep conflict in the evolutionary tree," says Spaulding. "The backbone of the tree is robust and stable, but you have these fairly large clades that move around relative to this backbone(Indohyus and mesonychids) We need to really re-examine characters carefully and see what suite of traits are the truly derived in different taxa to fully resolve this tree."

This research was funded by separate National Science Foundation grants to all three authors. more

10/06/09
Protected whales found in Japan’s supermarkets - http://www.sciencenews.org

Many of us get a feeling of satisfaction when we learn that governments or international bodies have issued regulations to protect imperiled wildlife. Such as whales. Then we encounter a paper like the one in the October Animal Conservation that snaps us out of our complacency. Its new data drive home once more that rules have value only if they’ll be enforced.

The new paper by Vimoksalehi Lukoschek of the University of California, Irvine, and her colleagues involves minke whales living off of Japan and Korea. The smallest type of filter-feeding baleen whales with pleated throats, adult minkes typically reach a length of 26 feet and weigh in at 10 tons. But the stat that matters most is their market value — perhaps $10,000 (U.S.) per adult.

Although there has been a moratorium on hunting whales since 1986, caveats exist. For instance, the International Whaling Commission, former whaling nations that imposed the ban, allows for “scientific whaling,” a misnomer by any definition of science. Japan, the only nation that still carries out this practice, allows the harvest of up to 160 north Pacific minke whales per year. However, they’re only supposed to come from a relatively healthy population known as the O stock. An already-hammered J stock has protected status under the IWC, meaning that its population should be totally off limits to whalers.

A second caveat involves whales that may be netted inadvertently by fishing fleets. When commercial fishers haul in nontargeted species — known as bycatch — those off-limits fish usually cannot be sold. Prohibiting their sale serves to discourage practices that foster bycatch.

Ironically, when that netted bycatch involves whales, some nations — notably Japan and Korea — allow their fishers to kill and sell the animals. Such a policy “provides an incentive to promote, rather than reduce, any net entanglement,” notes Lukoschek. “In this regard,” the marine ecologist argues, “the bycatch of whales in Japan and Korea is more like an unregulated commercial hunt than an incidental or illegal fishery.”

But that wouldn’t be a big deal if the minke bycatch were small. Lukoschek and her colleagues now offer data indicating it’s anything but.

For more than a decade, members of her team — including conservation geneticist C. Scott Baker of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute — have been periodically sampling whale-meat products from stores, markets and restaurants in Korea and Japan. Both nations have a long heritage of eating whales.

In the new analysis, the researchers performed DNA fingerprinting on nearly 1,200 Japanese whale products that had been purchased between December 1997 and June 2004. Genetics confirmed that roughly 250 samples came from north Pacific minkes. (The rest came from 25 other species of whales and related cetaceans. And there was one woefully mislabeled product. Its contents: horse meat.)

Not only could the new genetic analyses identify whale tissue by species, but in some instances they could even differentiate which community of a particular species a landed whale had come from. For instance, J-stock minkes versus O stock animals.

And that’s what these researchers homed in on for their new paper. In theory, there should be no J-stock whales, since Japan’s scientific whaling had no permits for animals from this depleted stock. In fact, the new paper reports, 46 percent of Japan’s marketplace minke meat has been coming from J-stock whales.

That reflects the coastal fishing and “scientific” whaling, Baker concludes, because the J stock tends to prefer coastal waters to living on the high seas.

“Until recently — literally until June — Japan had pretty much denied that J-stock whales were found along its Pacific coast,” Baker says. “But it’s quite clear now, from their own work, which they’ve reported [at the IWC meeting’s scientific sessions] — but not published — that they are taking a high proportion of J-stock in their large ‘scientific’ hunt.” He adds that despite this, Japan has not made any direct efforts to limit its coastal whaling.

One impetus for his team’s new analysis was to see if a 2001 policy shift in Japan spiked J-stock harvests. Prior to that year, fishers could not legally sell to commercial firms any bycatch minkes. They were supposed to be destroyed or sold locally, and then reported to national authorities. Official figures indicated that through the 1990s, about 20 to 30 minkes were taken as bycatch in Japan. After 2001, however, bycatch whales could be marketed commercially — and suddenly yearly minke bycatch tallies jumped to between 89 and 137 animals.

The new Animal Conservation analysis reports finding no corresponding spike in the share of minkes — or the proportion of J-stock minkes — in commercial whale-meat products after 2001. Lukoschek’s team now concludes that similarly large numbers of J-stock animals were harvested before Japan’s shift in bycatch policy: Those earlier-netted animals were merely sold on the black market, Lukoschek suspects, where they “entered into the complex supply chain of commercial whale meat in Japan.”

An earlier analysis of the situation based on 81 products turned up evidence that just 31 percent of minke meat in Japan came from protected J-stock whales. At that rate, estimates had indicated this population of animals could go extinct within just a few decades. (Its current population size remains unknown, but probably is well under 14,000 — potentially far under that, Baker observes.)

The latest, far bigger study’s finding that J-stock animals account for 46 percent of Japan’s minke food products is, therefore, considerably more disturbing.

The Korean bycatch “is quite high too," Baker notes. "It’s been as high as 160 a year.” And he points out that a five-year analysis of Korean whale harvests, which his team published two years ago, “suggested that the reported bycatch was about half of the true take. And that’s almost certainly due to directed, illegal hunting.”

Which isn’t good for a species that was ostensibly hands-off to all in the first place.

In a commentary that also ran in the October Animal Conservation, Andrew Read of Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C., used polite language to lambast Japan’s official whaling program. Its putative “scientific” activities — which have killed more than 10,000 minkes since the whaling ban went into effect — “do not conform to the basic norms of science, such as hypothesis testing," he says, "and are not necessary to manage whale populations.” Indeed, he argues, “There is no effective international or domestic oversight to ensure that these catches are either sustainable or necessary.”

So, we find, these toothless whales are being protected by regs that also lack teeth. What hope is there for them?

“We’ve been providing our data to the IWC every year,” Baker says, “and the Japanese didn’t pay much attention — until they realized [the data] were going to be published in an international journal.”

“The Japanese are responsive to international pressure,” he observes. For instance, he says that their reporting of bycatch and landings by the so-called scientific whalers “appears to be getting closer to the true take. “ What’s also needed, he argues, is official government collection — and international reporting — of regional J- vs. O-stock landings.

And, of course, ending altogether that pointless licensed whaling in the name of science or anything else.

In fact, Baker says, Japan’s begun lobbying the IWC for permission to do commercial coastal whaling, perhaps in place of “scientific” whaling. And that rankles him and other conservationists, of course, because the hammered J stock would likely bear the brunt of this hunt. more

10/01/09
"Whale Poop" indicates sea life changes - cape cod times

A humpback whale that suddenly rose out of the water and splashed down near the Farallon Islands provided a research vessel full of scientists with a surprising bonanza of research data.

"Whale poop!" shouted several researchers in unison, as biologists scrambled to collect the floating reddish specimens Saturday as part of a comprehensive study of the ocean's ecology off the Northern California coast.

The color of the whale excrement meant that the huge creature had been feeding mostly on a tiny shrimp-like crustacean called krill instead of fish and anchovies, its preferred food in recent decades. It is a change in diet that several bird species at the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge are unable to make, according to researchers in a joint ocean survey by the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and PRBO Conservation Science.

As a result, colonies of fish-eating cormorants, seagulls and murres failed to breed this year on the Farallon Islands. Over the past few months, dozens of dead birds and even sea lions have been found on local beaches.

Anchovies have disappeared, and scientists don't know why. The researchers on the vessel believe that, in their absence, birds and mammals like humpback whales that eat krill are thriving while the ones that are eating only fish are in trouble, and the whale excrement served as evidence.

"We've had an extraordinary number of dead animals," said Jan Roletto, the research coordinator for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "It seems to be that the animals that suffered the most were the animals that forage on anchovies."

Brandt's cormorants, a black bird with white plumes that can dive as deep as 300 feet for its prey, did not produce any chicks this year on the Farallones or on Alcatraz. That's compared with 15,000 chicks in 2007.
Breeding fails

For the anchovy-loving bird, it was the first complete breeding failure in 40 years during a year without El Niño conditions so far, according to scientists at PRBO, formerly known as the Point Reyes Bird Observatory.

Western gulls and common murres produced about one-seventh of the number of chicks they normally hatch. Researchers on the Farallones reported an increase in predation on the chicks that were produced, mainly because the parents were too far away looking for food.

Beachgoers probably noticed the death toll. Six to eight times the normal number of dead cormorants and sea lions were found on Bay Area beaches in May, June and July, according to researchers. The death toll in each case involves birds and marine mammals that prey on anchovies and other fish.

The deaths and breeding failures are all the more troubling because there appears to be plenty of krill, rockfish and other prey species to feed the seagoing birds and mammals.

Jaime Jahncke, the director of marine ecology for PRBO, said common murres had previous breeding failures in 1982-83 and in 1991-92, but both times the problems were linked to El Niño, a weather condition associated with warmer ocean temperatures and atmospheric conditions that cause heavy storms. Although forecasters say an El Niño is forming in the tropics, it has not yet hit California, Jahncke said.
No explanation

"I don't know what it means, but it's not good," Jahncke said. "There are a lot of changes happening, and none of them have a clear explanation."

Seagoing birds and mammals near the Farallon Islands depend on krill, anchovies and other prey that are attracted to conditions produced when cold, deep ocean currents bounce off the underwater outcropping called the Cordell Bank, forcing nutrients upward. The nutrients are most abundant during the transition from winter to spring.

Spring arrives an average of 20 days earlier than it did in 1970, Jahncke said. There has also been an increase in the strength of the upwellings over the past two decades, he said.

Apart from the lack of anchovies, that is probably a good thing.

The team of scientists on the boat spotted several blue whales before the humpback put on its show.

The abundance of blue whales, which feed almost exclusively on krill, and the evidence provided by the humpback made it clear that there is plenty of krill in the ocean.

"Whales primarily over the last decade have been feeding on fish," said Lisa Etherington, the research coordinator for the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. "The last couple of years they've been feeding on krill. We don't know why."
Wild fluctuations

Jahncke said salmon smolt also feed on krill, a fact that may or may not help the beleaguered Central Coast chinook. The Cassin's auklet, a small, chunky seabird that feeds on krill, had above-average nesting success this year.

But wild fluctuations are now almost normal, according to the researchers, who are concerned that the El Niño predicted for next year will cause a further decline in the numbers of birds.

more

09/29/09
Feds reviewing humpback whale endangered status - cape cod times

The federal government is considering taking the humpback whale off the endangered species list in response to data showing the population of the massive marine mammal has been steadily growing in recent decades.

Known for their acrobatic leaps from the sea and complex singing patterns, humpback whales were nearly hunted to extinction for their oil and meat by industrial-sized whaling ships well through the middle of the 20th century. But the species has been bouncing back since an international ban on their commercial whaling in 1966.

"Humpbacks by and large are an example of a species that in most places seems to be doing very well, despite our earlier efforts to exterminate them," said Phillip Clapham, a senior whale biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The government is required by law to review the endangered species status of an animal or plant if it receives "significant new information." The National Marine Fisheries Service, a NOAA agency, received results last year from an extensive study showing that the North Pacific humpback population has been growing 4 to 7 percent a year in recent decades.

Public comment is being accepted until Oct. 13 on the upcoming review, which is expected to take less than a year. It's the first review for humpbacks since 1999.

A panel of scientists will then study the data and produce a scientific report on their analysis in late spring or early summer. It's unclear what the decision on delisting the humback will be.

"I don't know where the humpback people are going to come out," said David Cottingham, who heads the marine mammal and sea turtle conservation division at the Fisheries Service. "It would be premature to talk about it."

Some environmental groups are already opposing the possibility of a delisting.

Miyoko Sakashita, the ocean programs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said that ongoing climate change and ocean acidification are emerging threats that may hurt humpback whales.

"Ocean conditions are changing so rapidly right now that it would probably be hasty to delist the humpbacks," Sakashita said.

Ralph Reeves, who chairs the cetacean specialist group at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said the U.S. should remove humpbacks from the list if populations have sufficiently recovered.

He said conservationists must "be prepared and willing to embrace success" if they're to maintain what he called a "meaningful" endangered species program.

"The whole process, the credibility of it, depends on telling people that things are really bad when they're really bad and tell people that they aren't so bad when they aren't so bad," Reeves said.

There are now an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 humpbacks in the North Pacific, up from just 1,400 in the mid-1960s.

An early 1990s survey of humpbacks in the North Atlantic showed the population there was some 10,600. The results of a follow-up to that study, expected by the end of the year, are likely to show this population has grown, too.

The global humpback population is estimated to be about 60,000, according to the Swiss-based Conservation of Nature union.

Helping the humpbacks is that they reproduce once every two to three years, as opposed to every three to five years for other whale species. They also have a diverse diet, including krill and herring, capelin and other fish.

"They feed on a lot of different kinds of things, so they're adaptable," Clapham said. "They seem to be a resilient species generally with a lot of options."

There are some subpopulations of humpbacks, however, that aren't as robust. A South Pacific group that feeds in the Antarctic and then migrates to the warm waters off New Caledonia, Samoa and Tonga to breed and calve isn't doing as well.

Whale experts say this is because commercial whaling, and later, illegal whaling by the Soviet Union, shrunk this population so dramatically that it's had a harder time recovering.

There are also humpback populations about which relatively little is known. These include humpbacks that spend the winter in waters off southern Japan and the Philippines and the summer near Russia's Far East coast.

This group also appears to be relatively small, with only about 1,000 whales.

There is a chance the review could lead to the removal of healthier subpopulations from the endangered species list while other groups that are still at risk could be left on.

Something similar happened in 1994 when the federal government removed a U.S. West Coast population of the gray whale from the endangered species list but left on the list a separate population of gray whale that lives off Russia's Pacific coast.

The U.S. doesn't have authority over species management in the waters of other nations, but it may prosecute U.S. citizens and corporations that violate U.S. endangered species law overseas. more

09/27/09
Iceland plans big whalemeat trade - BBC

The company behind Iceland's fin whaling industry is planning a huge export of whalemeat to Japan.

This summer, Hvalur hf caught 125 fins - a huge expansion on previous years.

The company's owner says he will export as much as 1,500 tonnes to Japan. This would substantially increase the amount of whalemeat in the Japanese market.

The export would be legal because these nations are exempt from the global ban on trading whalemeat, but conservation groups doubt its commercial viability.

Last year, Hvalur hf exported about 65 tonnes of whalemeat to Japan, a consignment that owner Kristjan Loftsson described as a "loss-leader".

But following this year's huge catch, he believes the next one can make money.

"We'll get a good price - we're intending to make a profit, that's for sure," he said.

Mr Loftsson said he had now suspended fin whaling for this season, having caught 125 from a quota of 150.

The remaining 25 can be carried over into next year's hunting season.

This compares with a total of seven caught in the previous three years.

The fin is globally listed as an endangered species, though Icelandic marine scientists maintain stocks are big enough locally to sustain a hunt of this size.

EU centre

New quotas were controversially set by the government of Geir Haarde just before it left office in January.

The new left-green coalition government has promised to review the situation, but has so far chosen not to revoke the five-year quotas set by its predecessor.

Johanna Sigurdardottir's government is to review whaling policy

The government has formally applied to join the EU, and it is entirely possible that the EU would demand an end to whaling as a condition of Iceland's entry.

The application still has to be endorsed in a referendum - and some conservationists believe Mr Loftsson is using whaling as a way to lobby against EU membership.

"I think he is holding Icelandic politicians hostages to fortune," said Arni Finnsson of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association (INCA).

"He's saying that 'unless I can do this, you would be denying Iceland $40m in export income' - and how can you argue against that if you're a politician?"

The $40m figure was cited by the Fisheries Ministry under Mr Haarde's government, said Mr Finnsson, as being the size of the potential annual export market.

Election issue?

Along with other conservation organisations, INCA is adamantly opposed to trading in whalemeat, which they see as something with the potential to increase hunting in various parts of the world.

The trade is generally banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

THE LEGALITIES OF WHALING
Objection - A country formally objects to the IWC moratorium, declaring itself exempt. Example: Norway
Scientific - A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits'; any IWC member can do this. Example: Japan
Aboriginal - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. Example: Alaskan Inupiat

But Iceland and Japan - along with a handful of other countries - lodged reservations, as the treaty permits, and so are exempt.

Conservation groups doubt that such a huge export of meat to Japan can be profitable.

A consignment of anything approaching 1,500 tonnes would mark a major expansion of the amount of meat available on the Japanese market each year.

The exact tonnage caught by Japan's whale and dolphin hunts varies each year, but 4,000 tonnes would be a reasonable ballpark figure.

Conservationists have raised the possibility that Japan's new government will re-address its whaling policies.

But Yukio Hatoyama's pre-election position appears close to that of his predecessor, holding scientific whaling to be a sovereign right and promoting the resumption of commercial whaling on abundant stocks.

Fresh supplies

Hunting for the much smaller minke whales in Icelandic waters, meanwhile, will probably end next week, with 80 caught so far.

"This is our best year yet - we're very happy about that," said Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, head of the minke whalers' association.

"We didn't start freezing any meat before around 15th/20th August - we sold it all fresh - now we're just freezing so we have something for restaurants and stores over the winter."

Mr Jonsson said the minke whalers were also interested in exporting if the fin whale consignment proved successful. more

09/26/09
Wind farms 'displace' rare birds - BBC

Some of Scotland's rarest birds are being displaced by wind turbine developments, a study has suggested.

Hen harriers and golden plovers were among the birds found to be breeding in fewer numbers close to wind farm sites.

RSPB Scotland, which part-funded the study, said the findings showed turbines should not be sited near vulnerable bird populations.

The research, newly published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, looked at 12 upland wind energy sites in the UK.

The distribution of birds across each wind farm was compared with that on similar nearby sites without turbines.

Seven species - buzzard, hen harrier, golden plover, snipe, curlew, wheatear and meadow pipit - were found less frequently than would be expected close to the turbines.

RSPB Scotland said breeding densities of these species were reduced by between 15% and 53%, within 500m of the turbines.

However, lead author James Pearce-Higgins, senior conservation scientist with RSPB Scotland, said the displacing of species could extend as far as 800m.

He said: "There is an urgent need to combat climate change, and renewable energy sources, such as wind farms, will play an important part in this.

"However, it is also important to fully understand the consequences of such development, to ensure that they are properly planned and sited.

"That is why we conducted this research which to our knowledge is the first multi-site assessment of the effect of wind farms on a wide range of upland bird species."

Andy Douse, ornithological policy and advice manager with Scottish Natural Heritage, said it was an outstanding piece of research.

He said: "SNH welcome the publication of this important paper, it provides us with unequivocal evidence of both the nature and scale of bird displacement at operational wind farms.

"It will allow us to make better, more informed assessments of proposed wind farms in future and so reduce some of the uncertainty that has existed about potential impacts."

The research was funded by RSPB Scotland, the Scottish government, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Mountaineering Trust. more

09/22/09
Rare giant squid captured by sperm whale researchers in Gulf of Mexico - http://www.nola.com

Looking something like an alien being from the movie "Independence Day," the 19 1/2-foot-long, 103-pound giant squid pulled from 1,500 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico recently is helping marine scientists better understand the eating habits of sperm whales.

Biologists with the Minerals Management Service are attempting to identify the fish and squid species preferred by the estimated 1,665 sperm whales that call the Gulf their home, said MMS research biologist Deborah Epperson.

During a recent cruise to study the movements of Gulf sperm whales, which are genetically distinct and smaller than sperm whales found in other oceans, the scientists conducted tests on a new trawl net designed to sample fish and squid in the deep water where the huge whales graze.

"We know that elsewhere, they eat squid and fish, but we really don’t know what they eat in the Gulf," Epperson said.

The unusual find — only the second giant squid found whole in the Gulf — was caught during the test trawl. Photos of the specimen were sent to experts who confirmed it was Architeuthis -- the scientific name for giant squid -- and the squid itself was sent to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History for further study.

The first giant squid on record in the Gulf was found in 1954, floating on the water’s surface, Epperson said. However, giant squid have been found in the stomachs of sperm whales that have beached on the Gulf shoreline, she said.

But they’re considered a rare treat for the whales, as they’re more likely to have feasted on smaller, more common squid species.
giant-squid. The knowledge will help federal officials understand how to protect those species, and thus protect the endangered whales.

This specimen could be considered middling in size. Giant squid have been known to reach 60 feet long from the crown of the mantle to the end of the tentacles. Most range from 18 feet to 40 feet long.

The MMS is researching the feeding habits of the sperm whale as part of its duties regulating oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf, where there are about 4,000 offshore oil platforms and 25,000 miles of active oil and gas pipeline on the sea floor.

"We can’t investigate potential impacts on the whales unless we know what they prey on," she said. Thus the research on the "scattering layer" — the layer of water containing fish and other life that shows up in sonic soundings similar to those used by recreational fishers.

Research indicates that the Gulf sperm whale subspecies can sustain no more than an average 2.8 human-caused deaths each year without threatening its recovery to a non-endangered status.

Last year, the agency released the results of a six-year, $9.3 million study of the effects of oil and gas exploration seismic survey noise on the whales, that concluded using seismic airguns far away from the whales would cause little problem.

But the study also showed that some whales feeding deep beneath the surface reduced their own acoustic searches for food when the airguns were used too close to them. The result was an agreement by the oil and gas industry to shut down seismic surveys when airguns came within 1/3 mile of whales in the Gulf.

The oil and gas platforms, and exploration for more petroleum, are found in the same area along the continental shelf and Mississippi Canyon — off the river’s mouth — that the behemoths tend to congregate to feed.

That area seems to be targeted by the whales because the nutrients carried offshore by the river water cascade into the Gulf’s deeper waters offshore, where they provide the energy necessary for the food web that sustains the whales’ prey, Epperson said. The whales also like the contours and other features of the deepwater area, she said.

"They travel the continental slope back and forth like a mass exodus to Gulf Shores," Epperson said.

During a 60-day research cruise in February and March, scientists will again use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Gordon Gunter to identify the species in underwater areas frequented by the whales, she said.

"We’ll end up with a species list and all kinds of data on what that layer (of fish and other species) is composed of," she said. more

09/20/09
Fundy right whale numbers rebound Record number of calves born this year - cbc.ca

Thirty years of conservation efforts in the Bay of Fundy appear to be paying off for the North Atlantic right whale, one of the rarest large mammals on earth, scientists say.

The species, once headed for extinction, is experiencing a baby boom, with 39 calves born this year, and 37 of them surviving.

That's the largest number documented since researchers from Boston's New England Aquarium started monitoring the whales in the Bay, off the basin of Grand Manan, N.B. The previous record was 31, set in 2001.

"I'd like to think we're moving towards a success story, of right whales being a success story in conservation," said Dr. Moira Brown, a Canadian biologist, who is leading the research team.

The goal is to help keep the right whales safe by documenting how many there are using photographs and an online database, tracking their habits and movements.
Endangered species

Right whales are born off the coast of Florida during the winter months, then head toward the Bay of Fundy, which serves as their summer home and most important feeding grounds.

Biologist Yann Guilbault, who works with the Canadian Whale Institute in Campobello, is encouraged. Every new whale gives him hope, he said.

"It makes you feel like you might be doing something to help their species recover."
Dr. Moira Brown is leading a research team from Boston's New England Aquarium, trying to protect the North Atlantic right whale. There are only about 400 right whales left on Earth, making them one of the most endangered and closely watched species on earth, said Brown.

They are so rare that researchers identify each one not only by a number, but also a nickname.

Each whale has unique patterns of growth on its skin called callosities, which make it identifiable, explained Brown.

Some of them, such as the one called Houdini, also have other recognizable markings, she said.

"He's got scratches down the sides," from being trapped in fishing gear.

It has been illegal to hunt the right whale since 1935, but tangles in fishing gear and ship strikes continue to threaten the species, said Brown.

Conservationists have spent years lobbying to protect them and recently got shipping lanes changed through some areas where the whales congregate, such as the Bay of Fundy.

The federal government is also considering imposing fishing gear restrictions, such as lines that lie along the ocean floor, which could help reduce the chance of whales or other mammals from getting entangled, said Brown.

Despite these successes, there's still a long way to go to get right whales off the endangered list, she said.

"Really our challenge for the next 10 years is to continue to monitor the species to see if we're right. Have we made a difference?"
more

09/17/09
THE RULES OF WHALE NAMING - Stewellagen Bank

Whale researchers and naturalists around New England know their whales- in fact, they even know the local humpback whales by name. Since the early 1970’s, humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank and elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine have been catalogued, not only with formal identification numbers, but with names. Originally done informally at the beginning of each whale watching/research season, the whale naming process has now become standardized with special rules for name selection.
A whale will receive a name if it is an adult who has never been seen before, or if it has been sighted as a calf and has returned (this could be a year or more after that first sighting). The reason why calves are not named is that their pigmentation has not stabilized, and these whales, and these whales can look quite different as they mature.
Humpback names are generally based on the natural pigmentation and scars on the dorsal sides of their flukes (the two parts of the tail). The pigmentation ranges from all white to all black, with a variety of patterns in between. Scars appear black on white backgrounds, and white on dark pigmented skin. Each humpback name is unique - to date, there are more than 1700 names in the catalog.
Rules for whale naming included:
1) Names cannot be gender specific (in most cases researchers do not know the sex of the animal, and it would be strange to have a boy named “Sue”.
2) Whales cannot be named after real people, therefore no “George Washington”.
3) Whale names should be based on the patterns on the flukes, although occasionally the whale will be named for marks on the dorsal fin or for its genealogy (the 11 know calves of “Salt”, the sanctuary’s matriarch, have all been named after condiments or types of salt).
4) Names should be short and easy to understand and say – especially important for naturalists on board whale watch vessels.
more

09/15/09
Humpback whale found dead in Thames - The Guardian

A juvenile male humpback whale has been found dead in the Thames near Dartford Bridge, Kent, the first ever to be stranded in the river.
The 9.5m (28ft) carcass of the humpback had been spotted by members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) off Gravesend on Thursday, who had initially guessed it was a minke whale, but no further sightings were reported until the animal was found dead on Saturday. It was subsequently recovered by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat.
A postmortem examination indicated the whale had died of starvation, and was estimated to be about two years old. Rob Deaville, zoologist at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said: "Once [whales] get into the river system it is very difficult for them to get out again. Further tests are still pending and may provide additional information about what happened to this whale."
Humpback whales, which are found in seas around the world, usually grow to 12-15m. The shorter length of the Thames whale plus postmortem findings led the scientists to conclude it was a young animal.
Deaville said the whale may have been confused by the topography of the Thames and ambient noise, or because it was sick or because climate change caused shift of the routes - vast migrations.
In January 2006 a bottlenose whale died while being rescued from the Thames but this was the first time a humpback whale had been found in the river. Deaville said: "We were slapping ourselves in astonishment. There have only been 12 strandings of humpback whales in the UK in the past 20 years. This is an incredibly unusual event." The last humpback whale found stranded around the UK coastline was in 2007 at Port Talbot in Wales.
"Although it's obviously a sad outcome in this instance, the postmortem examination has given us a rare opportunity to examine a truly extraordinary animal at close quarters," said Deaville. "Information gathered through examinations like these will hopefully help further our understanding of such animals and also help contribute to improving their conservation status."
Strandings can also provide an insight into diseases, environmental contaminant levels, reproductive patterns, diet and other aspects of the health of cetacean populations in the seas around the UK's coasts.
more

09/15/09
Humpback whale found dead in Thames - The Guardian

09/14/09
Australia urged to lobby Japan on whaling - http://news.xinhuanet.com/english

The Australian government must act quickly to take advantage of the change of leadership in Japan to end whale hunting, Greenpeace activist Toru Suzuki told reporters on Tuesday.

In August, Japanese voters ended more than 50 years of conservative rule by electing the center-left Democratic Party led by Yukio Hatoyama who is expected to become prime minister.

The new Japanese leadership has no policy to end whaling at this stage.

However, Suzuki believes the change is a chance for Australia to increase dialogue, rather than take legal action in an international court.

"The Australian government and the Japanese government are starting from a sort of clean sheet so if you bring the international court situation right now, it's like a one way deal," he said.

"It is a very unique window of opportunity."

The Rudd government has repeatedly refused to rule out taking legal action against Japan, but maintains its preference is for a diplomatic resolution. more

09/13/09
Sounds From the Sea Acoustical Oceanographers Record Noises in the Deep - Science Daily

Manmade and natural sounds, from boat engines to rainfall, sound different below the sea surface. To study their impact of noise on marine life, scientists are submerging devices called Passive Aquatic Listeners, or PALs, at depths of up to hundreds of meters deep in oceans around the globe. PALs could also help track whales and other marine life.

What do boats, whales and rainfall sound like from underneath the surface of the sea? How does it affect everything that lives down there?

Jeffrey Nystuen, a physical and acoustical oceanographer at University of Washington in Seattle developed PALs, or Passive Aquatic Listeners.

"By listening passively to the underwater sound field, we learn a lot about the environment," Nystuen tells DBIS.

Researchers submerge PALs from 10 to hundreds of meters below the sea's surface. They record a few seconds of sound about every 10 minutes. Nystuen says: "You can listen for bubbles. You can listen for whales. You can listen for ships and sonars."

PALs have been submerged at locations around the world and are in place for one year. The recordings can help scientists measure wind speed or rainfall at sea -- and learn more about the wildlife. They can also help biologists identify when and where there are large groups of whales and other marine life.

Other scientists say the impacts of man-made sounds on the marine environment are of a concern and passive acoustic monitoring is a valuable tool.

BACKGROUND: Physical oceanographer Jeff Nyustuen is giving scientists and managers a way to sift through and identify the sounds present in various marine ecosystems. Passive Aquatic Listeners (PALS) are devices that sink ten to thousands of meters below the water surface and are set to listen for a few seconds every few minutes. PALs can identify sounds coming from such things as ships, whales, volcanic eruptions, rainfall and breaking waves. The result is a record of all the noise and its intensity in the ocean environment, which can help biologists sort out what levels of noise go unnoticed, or can cause harm to marine mammals, for example.

HOW IT WORKS: PALs don't try to record every single sound in the ocean. That would take too much memory. Instead, Nyusten is developing software that allows the PALs to sift through the racket, identify and sort sound sources by frequencies as they are received.

ABOUT SOUND: Sound waves are pressure waves: the result of a vibrating object that creates a disturbance in the surrounding air. For instance, when the telephone rings, the ringer vibrates very quickly, sending energy radiating outward through the air. These vibrations disturb the molecules that make up the air. The air molecules push closer together as the object moves one way ý an effect known as compression -- and then create a space between themselves and the vibrating object as it moves the other way, called rarefaction. The motion disturbs the neighboring molecules in turn, creating an outward ripple effect, much like a stone cast in a quiet pond will cause waves to ripple outward from the spot where the stone hit.

WHAT'S YOUR FREQUENCY? All sound waves have wavelength and frequency. The distance between compressions determines the wavelength. Objects that vibrate very quickly create short wavelengths because there is very little space between the compressions, creating a high-pitched sound. Objects that vibrate very slowly create long wavelengths because the compressions are spaced further apart. This creates a low-pitched sound. Frequency measures how many crests, or compressions, occur within one second; the measurement of this speed of vibration is called a Hertz, and 1 Hertz is equivalent to 1 vibration per second. Pitch simply means those frequencies within the range of human hearing (from about 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz). The faster the rate of vibration, the higher the pitch; the slower the rate of vibration, the lower the pitch.

SOUND SENSE: Bats emit a series of ultrasonic pulses that bounce off objects in its environment. How long it takes for the sound to be reflected back to the bat indicates how close (or far) a given object might be, enabling the bat to orient itself as it flies, and to detect food. Modern sonar technology is based on the same principle. The more feedback the bat receives, in terms of incoming reflections, the more accurately it can pinpoint a given object's location That's why the rate of the ultrasonic calls increases as the bat nears its prey, climaxing into a "feeding buzz" as the bat locks in on its target and prepares to strike. In contrast, whales appear to use sounds (or "songs") to communicate, emitting a complex sequence of low moans, high squeals and clicking noises that can last as long as 30 minutes. The songs appear to be related to mating cycles.

STOP THAT RACKET: Noise cancellation tries to block the unwanted sound at its source, rather than merely trying to prevent it from entering our ears. If we add two waves together, and the peaks of one line up with the valleys of the other, they will cancel each other out. Digital signal processors (DSPs) are microelectronic devices that determine which sound wave is required to cancel the unwanted sound wave (noise). It then creates that sound and amplifies it through speakers or headphones. The end result is near silence. Most cell phones, CD players, and hearing aids now contain one or more DSP devices. more

09/11/09
Whales dead, dolphins saved as hunt resumes - http://www.smh.com.au

THE hotly contested small cetacean kill has resumed in the Japanese coastal town of Taiji, the focus of the documentary The Cove, but dolphins' lives were spared.

About 100 bottlenose dolphins and 50 pilot whales were caught in the drive hunt, a Wakayama prefectural official, Yasushi Shimamura, said yesterday.

A fisheries co-operative spokesman told Agence France-Presse the hunters planned to sell about 50 dolphins to aquariums and release the remainder back to the sea.

All the pilot whales, slightly larger than dolphins, appeared to have been slaughtered. The fisheries spokesman said whale meat would be sold for human consumption.

Pilot whales were the focus of a protest in Taiji by the Australian film star Isabel Lucas and the group Surfers for Cetaceans. They were beaten away with poles by local fishermen when they paddled their boards out to hold a vigil among the trapped animals in 2007.

Wednesday's drive hunt, in which fishermen herded the animals into a netted coastline, happened two days after a US campaigner, Ric O'Barry, central figure of the documentary, left town.

The fisheries co-operative spokesman denied that the dolphins were released because of protests.
more

09/06/09
Migaloo, the albino, spotted on Qld north coast - http://www.whitsundaytimes.com.au

MIGALOO has starred in another whale sighting off Queensland's north coast on his annual migration north to breed in warmer waters.

The albino whale was sighted between Hardy Reef and Shute Harbour in the Whitsundays on Tuesday.

The skipper of Fantasea cruises' vessel Wonder stopped nearby as the Migaloo delighted spectators for about half an hour.

"He (the skipper) hovered around for about half an hour so that all the guests on board could have a look," a Fantasea spokeswoman said.

"And it's the first time Migaloo's been spotted this season in the Whitsundays we believe."

more

09/05/09
Climate Change: Pushing Species To The Brink - Science Daily

Thirty-five percent of the world’s birds, 52 percent of amphibians and 71 percent of warm-water reef-building corals are likely to be particularly susceptible to climate change, the first results of an IUCN study have revealed.

The report identified more than 90 biological traits which are believed to make species most susceptible to climate change. It found that 3,438 of the world’s 9,856 bird species have at least one out of 11 traits that could make them susceptible to climate change.

Albatross, penguin, petrel and shearwater families are all likely to be susceptible to climate change, while heron and egret families, and osprey, kite, hawk and eagle families are among those least likely to be susceptible to climate change.

“This is the first time that a systematic assessments of species’ susceptibility to climate change has been attempted,” says Wendy Foden, of IUCN’s Species Programme. “Climate change is already happening, but conservation decision makers currently have very little guidance on which species are going to be the worst affected.”

The study found 3,217 of the 6,222 amphibians in the world are likely to be susceptible to climate change. Three salamander families are could be particularly susceptible, while 80-100 percent of Seychelles frogs and Indian Burrowing Frogs, Australian ground frogs, horned toads and glassfrog families were assessed as susceptible.

Specialized habitat requirements, such as species with water-dependant larvae, and those unable to disperse due to barriers such as large water bodies or human-transformed habitats are most at risk.

The report found that 566 of 799 warm-water reef-building coral species are likely to be susceptible to the impacts of climate change. The Acroporidae family, including staghorn corals, had particularly high numbers of susceptible species, while the Fungiidae family, including mushroom corals, and the Mussidae family, including some brain corals, possess relatively few.

Coral species qualified due to their sensitivity to increases in temperature, sedimentation and physical damage from storms and cyclones. Poor dispersal ability and colonization potential were used as a further important indicators.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 32 percent of amphibians are threatened with extinction. Of these, 75 percent are susceptible to climate change while 41 percent of non-threatened species are susceptible to climate change. For birds, the overall percentage of those threatened with extinction is lower – 12 percent. However, 80 percent of those are susceptible to climate change.

“There is a large overlap between threatened and climate change susceptible amphibian and bird species,” says Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Head of IUCN Species Programme. “Climate change may cause a sharp rise in the risk and rate of extinction of currently threatened species. But we also want to highlight species which are currently not threatened but are likely to become so as climate change impacts intensify. By doing this we hope to promote preemptive and more effective conservation action.” more

09/03/09
Norway Whale Catches Fall To Lowest In A Decade - REUTERS

Norway's whale catches are set to fall to the lowest in more than a decade in 2009, a decline blamed by the industry on financial problems and by environmentalists on dwindling demand for the meat.

"The total number of whales ... caught so far is 481. We expect to catch 3-4 more," Svein Ove Haugland, deputy director of the Norwegian Fishermen's Sales Organization which handles the meat.

A final catch of 485 minke whales in the summertime season that ends on August 31 would make 2009 the first year with a catch below 500 since 2000, when 487 were harpooned, and the lowest since 388 in 1996.

The haul of minke whales, which Oslo says are plentiful in the North Atlantic, is far below this year's quota of 885. Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993 despite a ban by the International Whaling Commission.

Haugland said that financial problems for industrial processing plants, which led to a brief suspension of hunts in June, were a main cause of the fall.

"The bottleneck is the whaling industry and the distribution system. That is the main issue. Demand for whale meat is comparable to what we've had in recent years," Haugland said.

But environmental group Greenpeace said ever fewer Norwegians eat whale meat.

"The Norwegian market for whale meat is in decline, as elsewhere on the planet," said Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace. "The Norwegian government should phase out whaling."

In 2004, parliament voted to raise quotas "considerably" -- whalers took that to mean a return to an average of 1,800 whales caught in the 1960s-70s. Since 1993, however, the peak year for whale catches was 647 in 2003.

In a supermarket in central Oslo, there is no sign that a relative shortage of whale meat has driven up prices.

Frozen whale meat is on sale for 130 Norwegian crowns ($21.58) a kilo, comparable to prices for frozen salmon or cod and far cheaper than beef or reindeer. more

09/02/09
Endangered whales breeding off Tasmania - http://www.abc.net.au

There is further confirmation that endangered southern right whales are returning to calve and nurse in Tasmanian waters.

Southern right whales calved and nursed their young in large numbers in Tasmanian waters until the early 1800s, when they were hunted to near extinction.

Two weeks ago a biologist photographed a mother and her calf in sheltered waters off Swansea, on Tasmania's east coast.

Now biologist David Pemberton says a Victorian whale expert has confirmed the calf was born one or two days before the photo, and that the mother had been in the area for at least three days.

Mr Pemberton says an abalone diver has also seen a southern right whale give birth off Tasmania's wild west coast.

"There's some neat little bays hidden there and these animals go so close to shore when they are birthing and nursing that they find these little quiet spots - and that's what we're after," he said. more

08/31/09
Seismic testing threatens West Coast whales: lawsuit - CBC News

The blue whale population on the West Coast is on the rise, according to researchers who photographed this one off Bodega Bay, Calif. The blue whale population on the West Coast is on the rise, according to researchers.

Federal government lawyers are asking the Federal Court to toss out a legal attempt by a coalition of environmental groups to stop a U.S. research vessel from doing controversial seismic testing off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The ongoing campaign resumed in Federal Court in Ottawa on Tuesday with an injunction application from the environmental law organization Ecojustice, which is representing several groups opposed to the research.

Columbia University researchers want to spend a month mapping the sub-surface of the sea floor where earthquake-causing tectonic plates diverge.

'We're seeking to turn this ship around, to uphold Canadian environmental laws and to prevent whale harassment in Canadian waters.'—Lara Tessaro, lawyer for Ecojustice

But Ecojustice says the ship's 36-gun towed seismic array would send 180-decibel blasts into the water every couple of minutes, which would create a noise as loud as an army artillery piece going off.

The proposed seismic tests would threaten endangered whales in the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents — a protected Canadian marine area about 250 kilometres off the coast of British Columbia, according to Ecojustice.

The ship Marcus Langseth set sail from the northern Oregon coast on Saturday, said Kori Brus, communications director for Ecojustice.

But in court on Tuesday, lawyers for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Ottawa demanded and received various "mitigation measures" from Columbia University last week before granting permission for the research to begin.

The ship, which produces 3-D images of seabeds for geological research, has reduced the maximum sound level of seismic charges from 180 to 160 decibels.

It will also have a number of federally approved observers who will ensure no marine mammals such as whales are within 7.7 kilometres of the blasts.

The government argued the changes make the injunction application out of date and unreflective of what is actually taking place this week some 250 kilometres off Vancouver Island.
Harassing whales illegal

The Ecojustice lawsuit alleges that Canada's minister of foreign affairs cannot grant clearance to a foreign vessel that will harass marine mammals in violation of Canadian law.

"In Canada, it is illegal to disturb and harass whales and dolphins," said Ecojustice staff lawyer Lara Tessaro.

"The reason marine protected areas exist is to keep harmful activities from occurring in special areas that protect the animals living there, including endangered species like blue whales.

"We're seeking to turn this ship around, to uphold Canadian environmental laws and to prevent whale harassment in Canadian waters." more

08/31/09
Seismic testing threatens West Coast whales: lawsuit - CBC News

08/28/09
ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news and science breakthroughs -- updated daily Science News Share Blog Cite Print Email Bookmark Norway, Japan Prop Up Whaling Industry With Taxpayer Money, Report Finds - Science Daily

The governments of Norway and Japan are using taxpayer money to subsidize their unprofitable whaling industries, according to a first-time analysis of the economics of whaling.

The report, "Sink or Swim: The Economics of Whaling Today" found that Norway and Japan provide commercial whalers with huge government subsidies—even though killing whales is unlikely to ever be profitable without taxpayer support.

"In this time of global economic crisis, the use of valuable tax dollars to prop up what is basically an economically unviable industry, is neither strategic, sustainable, nor an appropriate use of limited government funds," said Dr Susan Lieberman, Species Programme Director, WWF International.

The analysis considers a range of direct and indirect costs associated with whaling and the processing and marketing of whale products, such as whale meat. Researchers conclude that these costs, combined with declining demand for whale meat and the risk of negative impacts such as trade or tourism boycotts, make commercial whaling unlikely to produce benefits for either country's economies or taxpayers.

In Norway, for example, the government since 1992 has spent more than US$4.9 million on public information, public relations, and lobbying campaigns to garner support for its whaling and seal hunting industries, according to the report. In addition, government subsidies for the whaling industry have equaled almost half of the gross value of all whale meat landings made through the Rafisklaget, the Norwegian Fishermen's Sales Organisation.

The report notes similar use of taxpayer funds by Japan. During the 2008-09 season, the Japanese whaling industry, for example, needed US$12 million in taxpayer money just to break even. Overall, Japanese subsidies for whaling amount to US$164 million since 1988.

Other major findings in the report include:

* Wholesale prices of whale meat per kg in Japan have been falling since 1994, starting at just over $30/kg in 1994, and declining to $16.40 in 2006.
* Norway has spent an additional US$10.5 million covering the costs of an inspection programme from 1993 until 2006, when it was scrapped due to the losses it was causing the country's whalers. Japan and Norway, in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling, kill up to 2,000 whales a year, exploiting loopholes in the IWC's founding treaty that allow whaling under 'objection' to management decisions (Norway) and "scientific" whaling for research purposes (Japan).
* Ahead of the 61st IWC meeting next week, researchers point out that killing more whales likely would hurt whale-watching and tourism, trade, and the international image of Norway and Japan – impacts which would far outweigh any economic benefits of whaling.

"It is clear that whaling is heavily subsidised at present," the report states. "In both Japan and Norway, substantial funds are made available to prop up an operation which would otherwise be commercially marginal at best, and most likely loss making."

"Norway and Japan are hurting tourism, a potential growth industry in both countries in order to spend millions of dollars obtaining whale meat, the sale of which makes no profit," said Sue Fisher, WDCS US Policy Director. "How much longer are they going to keep wasting their taxpayer's money?"

The analysis was conducted by independent economists eftec and commissioned by WWF and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. more

08/26/09
New Sub "War" Range May Harm Rare Whales, Critics Say - National Geographic

After considering several candidates, the U.S. Navy announced last week that it will build its latest submarine warfare training facility in the waters off Jacksonville, Florida.

But even though the site won't open until 2014, the new tenant is already having trouble with its neighbors.

That's because the chosen site for the Undersea Warfare Training Range is just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the only known calving grounds of the North Atlantic right whale.

Only about 300 to 350 North Atlantic right whales remain. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered, meaning it faces a "very high risk of extinction in the wild."

Several advocacy groups are contesting the Navy's choice, saying that the project could prove disastrous to the whales.

"For these right whales, it's hard to imagine a worse location," said Taryn Kiekow, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an "environmental action group."

The Navy counters that an environmental impact statement has already been carried out, and the site has approval from the U.S. government's National Marine Fisheries Service.

"The biological opinion concluded the construction and operation of the range will not jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species in the area—that includes right whales," said Jim Lecky, director for the service's office of protected resources.

"[The study] also concludes that [the range] wouldn't adversely impact or destroy critical habitat, and the right whale is the only species that has critical habitat near the area." more

08/23/09
Ancient Whale Gave Birth on Land - Discovery

A rare fossil of an ancient whale with a fetus still inside reveals that its species -- an ancestor to modern whales -- gave birth on land 47.5 million years ago, according to a paper published in the online journal PLoS.

The discovery, along with prior fossil finds, suggests the first whale ancestors were full-time land dwellers that might have been related to the early relatives of hoofed animals, such as sheep and cattle.

Maiacetus inuus, meaning "mother whale," represents an intermediate evolutionary stage. It lived at the land-sea interface and often moved back and forth between the two environments in what is Pakistan today.

It looked like an improbable cross between a cow, whale, shark, alligator and sea lion.

"Maiacetus was a long-snouted, short-haired mammal with short limbs, webbed hands and feet retaining small hooves on some fingers and toes, and it had a thick, long tail," lead author Philip Gingerich said.

Gingerich, a University of Michigan paleontologist, added that the whale "was a foot-powered swimmer and probably lived like a sea lion, spending part of the day or night resting on land and part of the day or night searching for food in the sea."

The fetus was positioned for a "head-first" delivery like land animals, but unlike modern whales. This provides the biggest clue that the species gave birth on land.

The fetus also had a well-developed set of teeth, suggesting it "would be able to get up and move shortly after birth, probably having to keep up with its mother, learning to feed and escape predators," Gingerich said, adding that it would've had to defend itself against very large sharks. He and his colleagues were stunned to find such a rare fossil, the first ever of its kind.

"To be honest, I never expected to be able to find a whale about to give birth," he said. They also found an 8.5-foot male of the same species at the site.

Since the male whale was only moderately larger than the female, the researchers suspect males of this species didn't control territories or command harems.

Ewan Fordyce, head of the Department of Geology at the University of Osago in New Zealand, said, "The convincing presence of a fetus makes this a most important find."

"Fetuses are rarely reported for fossil land mammals," he explained, "and as far as I know, this is the first such case for a whale or, for that matter, any fossil marine mammal."

Fordyce added that the findings are timely, given the forthcoming 200th anniversary of British naturalist Charles Darwin's birth, which occurred on February 12, 1809.

"Darwin would have reveled in such evidence for a major shift in the fossil record," Fordyce explained, referring to the whale's dramatic transition from land to sea.

more

08/21/09
White whale Migaloo back in Far North - The Cairns Post, Australia

MIGALOO might have a tumour but that did not stop him reaching the tropics, with the beloved white whale surfacing yesterday near Port Douglas.

Not seen since 2007, Migaloo – bigger than a truck and iridescent white – made his annual migration north past Cairns unnoticed.

Greg Kaufman, from the Pacific Whale Foundation, said his old friend, estimated to be in his mid 20s, was looking well and "doing all the things whales should be doing" but warned the famous humpback may have a tumour.

"He’s got a lump on the side of his head, which we think might be a tumour," Mr Kaufman said.

"It isn’t uncommon for animals with albinism – it is also guessed he may have a low sperm count but we really don’t know enough about him or his habits to know whether he is mating.

"He was swimming fine and blowing every three to four minutes and doing everything whales should be doing so we don’t think he is sick.

"We’ve also noticed his left flank is covered with a rust coloured algae, known as diatoms – all whales have it but it is more noticeable on Migaloo because of his colour."

Have you spotted Migaloo? Help track his trail by telling us where you saw him. Share your story.

Mr Kaufman said Migaloo yesterday appeared to be heading southeast from Snapper Island, possibly heading out to the Reef.

"He is all by himself this time and is being pretty elusive today, though he is swimming pretty close, in about 65ft (19.8m) of water," he said.

"We think he was doing about 4-5 knots and once they are en route, they seem to stick with that."

Mr Kaufman, who is currently undertaking research off the coast of Port Douglas, was among the group to first spot Migaloo off the coast of Byron Bay in 1991 and took a photo of the famed mammal to Aboriginal elders who named him Migaloo – meaning "White Fella’.

The big fella was first seen off Snapper Island by a fishing boat yesterday morning, and word quickly spread.

John Rumney of the boat Phoenix spotted Migaloo at 4.30pm yesterday while on their way out to film a documentary at Osprey Reef.

"A lot of the dive boats must have spotted him today because they were all just stopped nearby," he said.

"I’ve never seen Migaloo and I’ve been up here for 30 years so it is just such an amazing and special experience for literally hundreds of people to have seen him today – he was just breaching and cruising along slowly quite close to the other boats.

"The first thing we saw was just a shimmering blue – it was amazing."

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree executive officer Doug Ryan said the multiple sightings had invigorated the industry to put serious thought into future whale watching ventures in the region.

"What more could you want then sitting on a boat watching whales in this beautiful tropical surround?" he said.

more

08/19/09
Small Fish Detect Big Problems Environmental Scientists Use Fish Behavior To Monitor Water Quality - Science Daily

Researchers are using bluegills to detect industrial and agricultural spills in water supplies. Changes in the environment cause the fishes' behavior and breathing patterns to change. Electrodes are placed inside the tanks that contain the fish and water from a nearby water supply, and they set off an alarm if conditions inside the tank change.

Do you know where your water comes from? Tap water comes from many different sources. Before it gets to the faucet, tater treatment plants clean up water from lakes, rivers and reservoirs, but it can still get contaminated by industrial and agricultural spills.

Lt. Col. Matt Schofield, an environmental scientist at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research in Fort Detrick, Md., says, "Everybody drinks water, and the question of whether or not there's a contaminant or a toxic substance in the water is very real."

According to U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research biologist Tom Shedd, when there are changes in water quality, there are changes in fish behavior.

Now to help make sure your water is safe, environmental scientists are using something that lives in the water to monitor it closely -- fish! In a new early warning system called IAC 1090 or the "intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System," bluegills are signal of toxins in our water.

Eight fish sit in chambers submersed in water from a nearby water supply. If pollutants are present, the fish will change their breathing patterns. Electrodes in each chamber monitor any changes. If six fish are stressed, an alarm goes off.

Shedd says at that moment they don't necessarily know what is the contaminant or the stressor to the fishes, but you know that it's there. The fish have reacted to two farming spills. Officials were able to prevent any toxins from getting into drinking water.

To protect the fish, each fish is replaced with a newer, younger fish after spending three weeks monitoring water supplies. The system, originally developed by the Army for the Army, is now available commercially to cities and towns and is currently being used in New York, San Francisco, and Washington.

"The fish system is a common sense, logical way to monitor for water quality," Shedd says, helping to keep their water -- and yours -- safe.

BACKGROUND: Bluegill fish are keeping vigil over the Washington region's water supplies, and might be able to save millions of lives in the event of a terrorist attack. They are a key component of a new early-warning water-monitoring device that electronically analyzes the behavior of eight captive bluegills to detect the presence of chemical toxins or other contaminants. The system, called IAC 1090 Intelligent Aquatic Biomonitoring System, is also being used in New York City and San Francisco.

HOW IT WORKS: The biomonitoring system resembles a luggage trunk outfitted with cables and tubes, and hooked up to a monitor. Eight juvenile bluegills swim in a row of solitary compartments, submerged in piped-in water and separated from the others by a pane of frosted glass. Electrodes attached to each compartment convey data about the fish's movements and breathing patterns to a computer. When the fish use muscles to breathe, the action sends a low-level electrical pulse through the water that can be detected by the electrodes.

Fish cough by flexing their gills to get rid of unwanted particles, like grains of sand, from their breathing passages. If the fish shows signs of distress in response to something in the water by coughing or increased activity, the system automatically trips an alarm, takes samples, and summons authorities by email and pager so that they can investigate whether there is a threat to humans. The cost of the system is between $45,000 and $110,000.

ABOUT BLUEGILLS: The bluegill is a freshwater fish native to much of North America, from Quebec to northern Mexico, and is the state fish of Illinois. Its name comes from the bright blue-colored edging along its gills. Bluegills are popular game fish, chiefly caught at dawn and dusk. They subsist on small invertebrates and very small fish. The bluegill is able to elude predators by hiding in submerged tree stumps and to survive for weeks without food. Bluegills are also extremely sensitive to minute changes in the source water quality, and they are also quite sedentary, making them ideal candidates for the IAC 1090 system. more

08/16/09
Human Language And Dolphin Movement Patterns Show Similarities In Brevity - Science Daily

Two researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom have shown for the first time that the law of brevity in human language, according to which the most frequently-used words tend to be the shortest, also extends to other animal species. The scientists have shown that dolphins are more likely to make simpler movements at the water surface.
ychology

"Patterns of dolphin behaviour at the surface obey the same law of brevity as human language, with both seeking out the simplest and most efficient codes", Ramón Ferrer i Cancho, co-author of the study published in the journal Complexity and a researcher in the Department of Languages and IT Systems at the UPC, tells SINC. The law of brevity, proposed by the American philologist George K. Zipf, along with others, shows that the most frequently-used words are the shortest ones.

Ferrer i Cancho, together with the scientist David Lusseau from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland (although they actually carried out this study while working at the Universities of Barcelona and Dalhousie in Canada, respectively) have shown that when dolphins move on the surface of the water they tend to perform the most simple movements, in the same way that humans tend to use words made up of less letters when they are speaking or writing, in so-called "linguistic economy".

The research study includes the case of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The most-used word is the three-letter article "the", while other larger ones, such as "responsibilities" are hardly found at all. Among bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand, the researchers looked at their behaviour patterns at the surface of the water. Each pattern is made up of up to four basic units.

So, the "tail slap" pattern is made up of the units "slap", "tail" and "two", while the "spy hop" pattern is made up of the units "stop", "expose" and "head", and the "side flop" pattern" comprises "leap" and "side", and the "tail-stock dive" only involves the "dorsal arch" unit.

In total, the scientists counted more than 30 patterns of behaviour and their related units, and have shown that dolphins carry out more behaviour patterns made up of just one unit, while those involving four units are used less frequently.

"The results show that the simple and efficient behaviour strategies of dolphins are similar to those used by humans with words, and are the same as those used, for example, when we reduce the size of a photographic or video image in order to save space", says Ferrer.

The researcher says that studies such as this one show that human language is based on the same principles as those governing biological systems, "which leads us to the conclusion that the traditional barriers between disciplines should be removed".
more

08/13/09
WEBSITES OF MARINE/OCEAN INTEREST - Hyannis Whale Watcher

WEBSITES OF MARINE/OCEAN INTEREST

http://stellwagen.noaa.gov

http://youtube.com/user/SBNMS

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov

http://listenforwhales.org

http://marinelife.noaa.gov

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/yos

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/welcome.html

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch

http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/stellwagen/stellwagenbank.html

http://earth.google.com/ocean

http://whalesense.org more

08/11/09
Failed rescue: 2 beached whales die off Fla. shore - cape cod times

Rescuers failed in a frantic bid to save a mother whale and her baby after the pair ran aground off a South Florida beach Monday as hundreds looked on, many in tears. Neither animal survived despite efforts to keep them alive with moist towels and umbrellas to protect their drying skin from the scorching sun.

A team of marine mammal specialists tried to save the distressed whales after they became trapped in shallow waters at Hollywood beach, just north of Miami. The mother died and the calf had to be euthanized, authorities said.

Swimmers spotted the whales around 1 p.m. in waist-deep water and tried to encourage them to head back toward deeper water. The whales briefly swam away, but returned and headed toward the beach.

The mother - which experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration identified as a beaked whale - was about 10 to 12 feet long. The calf was about half her size.

Some placed towels on the whales trying to keep them moist, and volunteers waded into the water and held umbrellas over the animals in hopes of further shielding them from the sun as a summertime crowd of about 300 tourists and residents looked at the somber scene.

After the mother died, the calf was brought next to her and euthanized by a NOAA marine mammal specialist.

"I have tears in my eyes," said Eileen Vulpis of Coral Springs. "Everyone here is upset, everyone really thought they were going to try to save the baby."

Blair Mase, a stranding coordinator for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, said beaked whales normally do not survive in captivity, and that the calf would have been unable to live without its mother.

Dozens of people with video and still cameras waded into the water, trying to get closer to the whales as authorities kept others back behind yellow police tape. A police helicopter hovered nearby.

Experts will perform necropsies on both whales, Mase said.

Mase said whales can beach themselves for a variety of reasons, including climate conditions, disorientation after hearing a loud noise, sickness and parasites.

There are normally one or two so-called "beaching events" of beaked whales a year in South Florida, according to NOAA experts. But they noted it's still traumatic for beachgoers to witness.

Some in the crowd were parents trying to explain what was happening to their young children.

"Whales tear at our heartstrings," said Mase.

more

08/10/09
Exxon ignores calls from 50,000 people to stop threatening rare whales - panda.org

“The Western Gray Whale population is at great risk of extinction. It is imperative that all oil companies operating in its feeding area acknowledge the effects of their operations on the whales, which have just arrived to feed for the summer, and immediately halt all damaging industrial activities until the whales have left.”

ExxonMobil has ignored a petition from more than 50,000 people demanding the oil and gas giant and several other companies suspend activities that harm the Western gray whale, one of the world’s most critically endangered whales.

The thousands of signatures from around the world were delivered on petitions to the CEO of ExxonMobil in Irving, Texas, and Exxon’s Moscow headquarters, just as the first whales arrived at their summer feeding grounds – the area of Exxon’s Sakhalin I oil and gas project – at northeast Sakhalin Island, in the Russian Far East.

Despite requests from Pacific Environment and WWF to deliver a response within a two week deadline, Exxon remained silent.

The petition urges Exxon, Rosneft, and other oil companies operating in the area to suspend all oil and gas development activities near the critically endangered Western gray whale’s annual feeding habitat off the coast of Sakhalin Island, and calls for the creation of the Sakhalin Marine Federal Wildlife Reserve.

“The Western gray whale population is at great risk of extinction,” said Aleksey Knizhnikov, Oil & Gas Environmental Policy Officer, WWF-Russia. “It is imperative that all oil companies operating in its feeding area acknowledge the effects of their operations on the whales, which have just arrived to feed for the summer, and immediately halt all damaging industrial activities until the whales have left.”

There are only about 130 Western gray whales remaining, including just 25 breeding females. These whales feed only in the summer and autumn, and their primary feeding area lies in and adjacent to Exxon’s Sakhalin-1 project in the Piltun Bay area.

The Western gray whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP), composed of 11 prominent international scientists, met in April with representatives from Shell and Sakhalin Energy, as well as WWF and Pacific Environment to discuss how oil and gas development is affecting the whales’ main annual feeding area off the Sakhalin Island. The WGWAP reiterated their urgent plea for a moratorium on industrial activities carried out by oil and gas companies that are expected to disturb Western gray whales in and near their primary summer/autumn feeding season (July through October).

Scientists on the panel have called for the moratorium following a large decrease in the number of whales in their annual feeding area near the shore during a period of loud industrial activity in the summer of 2008, including a seismic survey. This is significant because if the whales are displaced from this primary annual feeding area, they may have less success surviving and reproducing.

“Noise from oil and gas development is displacing the whales from their main annual feeding area,” said Leigh Henry, Program Officer, WWF. “Any disturbances or additional stresses on the Western Gray Whale could push the already critically endangered population closer toward extinction.”

Sakhalin II project sponsors, including Shell, Gazprom, and other companies heeded scientists’ warnings and postponed the seismic surveying they had planned for 2009. However, Exxon, Rosneft, and others have so far refused to amend their summer 2009 construction and extraction plans in and around Piltun Bay.

“Immediate action is needed,” says Doug Norlen, Policy Director for Pacific Environment. “Over 50,000 people have joined scientists in calling on these companies to stop their potentially destructive activities at Sakhalin Island and every single one of these people will be watching to see if these companies do the right thing for the Western Gray Whale.”

more

08/07/09
Love Songs Of Bowhead Whales: Whales Sings With 'More Than One Voice' - Science Daily

It wasn’t that many years ago that the bowhead whale was written off as extinct in the waters around Greenland and especially in Disko Bay in northwest Greenland where University of Copenhagen has its Arctic Field Station.

But now the situation has changed and adult bowhead whales, which can grow up to 18 metres long and weigh 100 tons, have returned to the bay. This is probably because global warming has opened up the Northwest Passage, making it ice free at certain times of the year for the first time in 125,000 years. This gives bowhead whales from the northern Pacific a chance to reach Disko Bay and mate with the small local population.

Hydrophones have revealed that the whales have developed very sophisticated songs that are used to attract a mate and thereby ensure the species’ survival.

”Whale song is not a new phenomenon. But the special thing about the bowhead whale’s song is that they sometimes sing with 'more than one voice'. They produce two different songs or sounds, which are then mixed together. This has not been seen in other baleen whales. It turns out that bowhead whales change their songs from year to year and never repeat songs from previous years. I.e. the whales have a new repertoire each year – presumably as part of the eternal struggle to obtain a mate,” said Outi Maria Tervo, PhD student and current scientific leader and the university’s field station in the town of Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn) on Disko Island.

Her studies of the love songs of bowhead whales have just been chosen to be presented at large international conference on marine mammals later this year in Canada. At the same time the A.P. Møller fund has chosen to support the project with 1.8 million Danish kroner over a three year period.

“The bowhead whale is in the same weight class as fin whales and blue whales but they produce much more complicated songs, at higher frequencies, between 100 and 2000 hertz – cycles per second. At the same time the question arises whether the changes in their song repertoire are due to bowhead whales being so sophisticated that they change their songs from year to year in order to constantly attract and mate with new partners and thereby spread their genes. The bowhead whale is the only species of 'singing' whale where the gender of the singers has not yet been established,” says Outi Maria Tervo who now has a serious opportunity to study bowhead whales via different types of hydrophones, thanks to donations from amongst others the A.P. Møller fund. more

08/01/09
Fish for dinner: Overfishing easing in some areas - cape cod times

Crabcakes and fish sticks won't be disappearing after all. Two years after a study warned that overfishing could cause a collapse in the world's seafood stocks by 2048, an update says the tide is turning, at least in some areas.

"This paper shows that our oceans are not a lost cause," said Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, lead author of both reports. "I'm somewhat more hopeful ... than what we were seeing two years ago."

It's personal as well as scientific.

"I have actually given thought to whether I will be hosting a seafood party then," Worm said, meaning 2048.

Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington challenged Worm's original report, leading the two - plus 19 other researchers - to launch the study that led to the new findings. They're being published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

The news isn't all good.

Of 10 areas of the world that were studied, significant overfishing continues in three, but steps have been taken to curb excesses in five others, Hilborn and Worm report. The other two were not a problem in either study.

Hilborn noted that 63 percent of fish stocks remain below desired levels. It takes time to rebuild after steps are taken to reduce the catch.

Rebecca Goldburg, director of Marine Science at the Pew Environment Group, commented that "two scientists who once held opposing views about the state of ocean fisheries now agree about the significance of global fisheries declines and the solutions needed to reverse these trends. If fishery managers worldwide heed these important scientific findings, then we have an extraordinary opportunity to restore ocean fisheries."

Michael Fogarty of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted a dramatic recovery of haddock on Georges Bank, off New England, as well as improvements in redfish, scallop and other fish. But still others, such as cod and flounder, remain vulnerable, he said at a briefing.

"We feel confident that the tide of overexploitation can be reversed on a global basis," Fogarty said, citing such steps as exclusion areas, changes in fishing gear, assignments of rights to harvest and incentives for fishers to take a long-term view.

Two areas, Alaska and New Zealand, have led the world in terms of management success by not waiting until drastic measures are needed to conserve, the report said. These areas were not a problem in either study.

Regions where excess exploitation has halted are Iceland, southern Australia, the Northeast U.S., the Newfoundland-Labrador area and the California Current, which flows south along the U.S. West Coast.

Still being overfished, the report said, are the North and Baltic seas and the Bay of Biscay region.

A newly developing problem is the movement of major fishing efforts to the developing world, with foreign fleets operating off east and west Africa under access agreements with local governments. These fleets compete with local fishers and almost all the fish they catch is taken to industrialized countries.

"The prognosis for Africa is not nearly as good as it is for wealthier areas," commented Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Mombasa, Kenya.

"Prior to this study, evaluations of the status of world fish stocks and communities were based on catch records for lack of a better alternative. Results were controversial because catch trends may not give an accurate picture of the trends in fish abundance," Ana Parma of Centro Nacional Patagonico in Argentina, said in a statement.

"This is the first exhaustive attempt to assemble the best-available data on the status of marine fisheries and trends in exploitation rates," she said. The new analysis includes catch data, stock assessments, scientific trawl surveys, small-scale fishery data and computer modeling results.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

A separate study, also in Science, reports that researchers have successfully restored populations of native oysters to the Chesapeake Bay.

The local oyster population had collapsed after years of overfishing. Researchers launched the restoration effort in 2004, constructing artificial reefs in protected areas of the Great Wicomico River in Virginia.

The oysters are thriving in these areas, demonstrating how similar recovery efforts might work elsewhere, according to the researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary.

That research was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

more

07/30/09
Jellyfish help to stir the ocean - BBC

Jellyfish help to stir up the ocean as they move, researchers have found.

Using a green dye, scientists showed how the animals' umbrella-shaped bodies were a key factor in this mixing.

The distribution of heat, nutrients and chemicals helps maintain the marine environment and has an important influence on global climate.

Reporting in the journal Nature, the researchers said that marine animals of many shapes and sizes contributed to ocean turbulence.

Charles Darwin, grandson of the famous British naturalist, first discovered that animals stir up the oceans more than 50 years ago.

The influence of this "biogenic" or "Darwinian" mixing on the ocean environment has been under debate since then.

The wind and tides play a big part in mixing the oceans, but this study suggests that the role of biogenic mixing could be more significant than previously thought.

The research showed how small creatures - as well as very large sea mammals - create turbulence.

"This is important because the other proposed mechanism was simply that large animals stirred up the water as they swam," explained lead author John Dabiri from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

He and his colleague Kakani Kaija showed exactly how jellyfish, which were between one and 10cm in diameter, "dragged water around" as they moved, demonstrating the effect by squirting a dye in front of the creatures.

But, Dr Dabiri explained, the jellyfish were unlikely to be the "primary ocean mixers".

"Crustaceans - like copepods and krill - are likely the primary biogenic mixers, because there are so many of them," he explained. "We used jellyfish here, because of their uniform shape - and because they were relatively easy to study."

The principle behind the effect, Dr Dabiri explained, was aerodynamics. "When the animal is at depth, it will carry some of the colder, deeper water with it as it migrates upwards," he said.

"The shape of the animal is important, because the more streamlined it is, the less of a disturbance it causes. So a bullet-shaped animal will carry less water with it than a flatter, saucer-shaped animal."

Jonathan Sharples, principal researcher from the UK's Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory told BBC News that this mechanism was likely to be important in specific areas where there was a high density of marine life.

"In warmer surface water there are virtually no nutrients, and the transport of nutrients from the bottom water is very important for the single-cell plants that live there," he said.

"But much of the open ocean is like desert," he added, "and the density of these animals is unlikely to be sufficient (to cause mixing)."

The next step, Dr Dabiri said, was to find out where in the ocean, the phenomenon of biogenic mixing has the biggest effect.
more

07/26/09
Get spit on by whale: $200 - suntimes.com

Tori Sheppard got spit on Tuesday -- and she loved it.

The 16-year-old from Grayslake was one of the first members of the public to take part in the Shedd Aquarium's new Beluga Encounter................

Details

What: Beluga Encounter

Where: Shedd Aquarium

Cost: $200 ($175 for members)

When: 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Restrictions: Participants must be at least 5 feet tall. Children ages 10 to 15 must be accompanied by a paying adult.

For reservations or more information: Call (312) 692-2730 or go to sheddaquarium.org/ extraordinary

"Who doesn't love beluga spit?'' said Sheppard, who hopes to study marine biology when she goes to college next year.

Sheppard spent a half hour Tuesday in a new 90,000-gallon tank created in the recent remodeling of the Shedd's Oceanarium. The 16-foot-deep tank has an area where trainers and participants can walk waist deep in the water, allowing whales to swim within inches of them.

The encounters cost $200 and include an additional hour meeting with trainers and learning about the whales. Shedd officials said the encounter program is one of only two offered in the United States.

"It's a very unusual opportunity,'' said Ken Ramirez, the Shedd's senior vice president for animal collections and training. "The animals enjoy it, and the people enjoy it.''

Shortly after entering the 50-degree water in chest-high waders, Sheppard -- who was given the encounter as a birthday present from her grandmother -- volunteered to get a face full of spit. The "spitting'' was a demonstration of how belugas hunt for fish. They shoot mouthfuls of water at fish underwater, which helps uncover pray at the bottom of the ocean.

The spit was courtesy of Kayavak, a nearly 10-year-old, 1,000-pound female beluga born at the Shedd. Kayavak loves to have her soft, smooth skin rubbed -- she appears almost dog-like in how much human interaction she craves. Ramirez, constantly feeding her small fish, talks to her in a cutesy voice like any pet owner would use; the whale responds to hand signals and whistles and will swim to a special shape trainers have assigned to each of the aquarium's seven whales (Kayavak's looks like a large bow tie).

Kayavak also likes her tongue scratched, which Sheppard and four other participants Tuesday were encouraged to do. In the wild, belugas are known to swish mouthfuls of sand around their mouths; Ramirez said the scratching appears to simulate that.

Belugas also show off other behaviors for participants, such as "singing'' some of the more than 1,000 sounds they can make from a blowhole. If people don't want to get spit on, they still might get a face full of wet air, exhaled through a blowhole, or a head-butt. Or the whales might playfully glide up next to them.

Participants don't have to worry about hurting the belugas, officials said. Participants get careful instructions for interacting with the whales, must remove jewelry and wash hands. Ramirez said very few human illnesses can affect the whales, which interact with trainers every day anyway. And Shedd staff keeps a close eye on everyone.

The whales "are used to having people being around,'' Ramirez said. more

07/23/09
Cape divers watched by a whale - cape cod times

Cape Cod Ma.
Members of a diving group looking for shipwrecks about nine miles off the Chatham coast on Sunday say they interacted with a 25-foot minke whale for over an hour.

Even in places with a booming whale-watching industry like the Cape, whales remain aloof, usually seen from a distance. On Sunday, a local diving group got an unusually close eyeful at one such whale in the waters nine miles east of Chatham.

The four divers and one crew member — Jerry Cronin, Bryan Burnham, Jodi Burnham and Don Sack — encountered a 25-foot adult minke whale at the end of a drift and lobster-hunting expedition when it swam close to Cronin's 23-foot boat "Wreck Hunter."

"The biggest thing I've ever seen diving is an occasional seal, and it usually leaves quickly," said Marstons Mills resident Bryan Burnham, a plumber and 22-year veteran diver. "This whale was totally interacting with us."

The minke whale, recognizable by a distinct white band on each flipper, circled the boat for over an hour, "turning over on its side when it came close like it didn't want to whack us off," said Cronin of Marstons Mills, a retired military man who now works as a diving instructor.

Cronin used up one oxygen tank observing the whale underwater; Kyle Burnham, 17, jumped into the water in his underwear to get a closer look.

The whale "chirped like it was asking us 'Hey, who are you guys?'" Bryan Burnham said. "It wasn't ever aggressive. It was just curious and took an interest in us."

He said the whale seemed to communicate with them, chirping whenever Burnham grunted underwater.

The divers typically explore shipwrecks off the Cape's coast, and this is their first close encounter with a whale.

"It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen," said Jodi Burnham. "I don't think I'll ever see something like that again."

more

07/21/09
Norway, Japan Prop Up Whaling Industry With Taxpayer Money, Report Finds - Science Daily

07/19/09
Military sonar may throw whales off course - http://www.news.com.au

MILITARY sonar could make the celebrated white whale Migaloo lose direction on her annual northern migration, says a leading documentary filmmaker.

David Bradbury, whose films include The Last Whale and Frontline on War, joined about 50 protesters around Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton yesterday to protest against the Talisman Sabre war games.

The games involving up to 30,000 mainly American and Australian troops include today's live firing exercise believed to include a ship-to-shore bombardment.

Bradbury says the northern migration which has included Migaloo could be seriously affected by high powered sonar used in the exercise.

"It just seems to be a crazy time to hold a military exercise (in the middle of the whale migration)," Bradbury said.

Environmentalists across the world have condemned the use of high intensity sonar in the marine environment because of its effect on whales and dolphins who use echolocation to travel and find food.

Whale researcher Peter Harrison, of Southern Cross University, has told the ABC that records show humpback whales had been recorded at Shoalwater Bay.

Less than two weeks ago the rare albino humpback known as Migaloo was spotted from the Gold Coast, heading north. While the military has repeatedly given assurances it takes care not to unnecessarily have an impact on the marine environment, Bradbury said it's virtually impossible to quarantine any marine animal.

"This stuff travels thousands of kilometres an hour through the water," he said.

"A whale is not sending out a signal saying: 'Guys, I'm coming through at 1400 hours tomorrow with a calf'."

The protest has been peaceful in what could be a reflection of the age of protesters.

June Norman, 68, was arrested for refusing to move from a road block while Frank Vavasour, 58, was yesterday detained by police for trying to climb a security fence at the military base. Mr Vavasour, who said he was participating in "creative non-violence resistance" against the military operation, said police and defence authorities were "very professional, very nice actually".

The American Defence publication Stars and Stripes said the biennial exercise which runs until the last week of July, includes thousands of US sailors and marines from Japan.

Stars and Stripes noted the Queensland coast has a large amount of protected forests and nature areas.

"The Talisman Sabre exercise has drawn criticism in the past from environmentalists who worry military operations will spoil local habitats," it said. more

07/17/09
Dolphins Get A Lift From Delta Wing Technology - Science Daily

We can only marvel at the way that dolphins, whales and porpoises scythe through water. Their finlike flippers seem perfectly adapted for maximum aquatic agility. However, no one had ever analysed how the animals' flippers interact with water; the hydrodynamic lift that they generate, the drag that they experience or their hydrodynamic efficiency. Laurens Howle and Paul Weber from Duke University teamed up with Mark Murray from the United States Naval Academy and Frank Fish from West Chester University, to find out more about the hydrodynamics of whale and dolphin flippers.

They publish their finding that some dolphins' fins generate lift in the same way as delta wing aircraft in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Using Computer tomography scanning of the fins of seven different species ranging from the slow swimming Amazon River dolphin and pygmy sperm whale to the super-fast striped dolphin, the team made scaled models of the flippers of each species. Then they measured the lift and drag experienced by the flipper at inclinations ranging from -45deg. to +45deg. in a flow tunnel running at a speed that would have been the equivalent of 2m/s for the full scale fin.

Comparing the lift and drag coefficients that the team calculated for each flipper at different inclination angles, they found that the flippers behave like modern engineered aerofoils. Defining the flippers' shapes as triangular, swept pointed or swept rounded, the team used computer simulations of the fluid flows around the flippers and found that sweptback flippers generate lift like modern delta wing aircraft. Calculating the flippers' efficiencies, the team found that the bottle nose dolphin's triangular flippers are the most efficient while the harbour porpoise and Atlantic white-sided dolphin's fins were the least efficient.

Commenting that environmental and performance factors probably play a significant role in the evolution of dolphin and whale flipper shapes and their hydrodynamics, Howle and his colleagues are keen to find out more about the link between the flippers' performances and the environment that whales and dolphins negotiate on a daily basis. more

07/15/09
'Bycatch' Whaling A Growing Threat To Coastal Whales - Science Daily

Scientists are warning that a new form of unregulated whaling has emerged along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea, where the commercial sale of whales killed as fisheries "bycatch" is threatening coastal stocks of minke whales and other protected species.

Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, says DNA analysis of whale-meat products sold in Japanese markets suggests that the number of whales actually killed through this "bycatch whaling" may be equal to that killed through Japan's scientific whaling program – about 150 annually from each source.

Baker, a cetacean expert, and Vimoksalehi Lukoscheck of the University of California-Irvine presented their findings at the recent scientific meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Portugal. Their study found that nearly 46 percent of the minke whale products they examined in Japanese markets originated from a coastal population, which has distinct genetic characteristics, and is protected by international agreements.

Their conclusion: As many as 150 whales came from the coastal population through commercial bycatch whaling, and another 150 were taken from an open ocean population through Japan's scientific whaling. In some past years, Japan only reported about 19 minke whales killed through bycatch, though that number has increased recently as new regulations governing commercial bycatch have been adopted, Baker said.

Japan is now seeking IWC agreement to initiate a small coastal whaling program, a proposal which Baker says should be scrutinized carefully because of the uncertainty of the actual catch and the need to determine appropriate population counts to sustain the distinct stocks.

Whales are occasionally killed in entanglements with fishing nets and the deaths of large whales are reported by most member nations of the IWC. Japan and South Korea are the only countries that allow the commercial sale of products killed as "incidental bycatch." The sheer number of whales represented by whale-meat products on the market suggests that both countries have an inordinate amount of bycatch, Baker said.

"The sale of bycatch alone supports a lucrative trade in whale meat at markets in some Korean coastal cities, where the wholesale price of an adult minke whale can reach as high as $100,000," Baker said. "Given these financial incentives, you have to wonder how many of these whales are, in fact, killed intentionally."

In Japan, whale-meat products enter into the commercial supply chain that supports the nationwide distribution of whale and dolphin products for human consumption, including products from scientific whaling. However, Baker and his colleagues have developed genetic methods for identifying the species of whale-meat products and determining how many individual whales may actually have been killed.

Baker said bycatch whaling also serves as a cover for illegal hunting, but the level at which it occurs is unknown. In January 2008, Korean police launched an investigation into organized illegal whaling in the port town of Ulsan, he said, reportedly seizing 50 tons of minke whale meat.

Other protected species of large whales detected in market surveys include humpbacks whales, fin whales, Bryde's whales and critically endangered western gray whales. The entanglement and death of western or Asian gray whales is of particular concern given the extremely small size of this endangered populations, which is estimated at only 100 individuals.

It will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Animal Conservation. more

07/13/09
Seabed mining threat to humpback whales - http://www.news.com.au

Austraila....

SEABED mining off the NSW coast could drive away humpback whales - and the $300 million whale watching industry - councils and environmentalists said yesterday.

Whale migration paths sit squarely in the way of drilling and air gun blasts trying to find coal reserves under the ocean in a plan awaiting Federal Government approval.

Miners are seeking to explore 6000 sq/km of seabed coal deposits in Commonwealth waters stretching from Newcastle to Wollongong.

If enough coal is found, an experimental method would be used to convert it to gas and pipe it away.

But coastal councils, whale experts and conservationists have called for a total ban on all offshore mining.

Managing director Richard Sealy of Energy Future Pty Limited, a subsidiary of East Coast Minerals NL, said the company would not construct rigs within sight of the horizon.

"I have no idea of where humpback whales migrate," he said.

"But perhaps those councillors would not like to drive around in cars or live in nice warm houses."

Australian Marine Conservation Society director Darren Kindleysides, a whale expert, said the protected species could be blinded and deafened by the noise of exploration.

"They fire a huge underwater air gun - the noise is louder than a jumbo jet taking off - and they measure the way it bounces back to find coal," Mr Kindleysides said.

Wally Franklin of The Oceania Project said research showed that mining stressed whales and could lead to whales beaching themselves.

Mining would stress dolphins, sperm whales, killer whales and whale calves, sensitive to noise.

The final plans are before Federal Natural Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, awaiting his final approval.

Community Environment Network chairman John Asquith said the threat of coal, gas, oil and sand mining had plagued the coast for several years.

"The marine environment is getting a hammering. It's nothing the Central Coast or the beaches of Sydney will want," he said.

"People on the coast either fish, swim or surf. It's why they live here."

Wyong, Newcastle, Gosford and Lake Macquarie councils are driving a letter campaign to Primary Industry Minister Ian MacDonald, hoping he will pressure his Federal counterparts to end the underwater mining.

more

07/11/09
Navy ship sonar 'could threaten whales' - http://www.abc.net.au/

Peace activists say migrating whales could be endangered by a military exercise off the central Queensland coast.

The joint United States Australian Exercise Talisman Sabre is underway, with thousands of troops expected to move into Shoalwater Bay, north of Rockhampton, over the coming week.

Denis Doherty from the Anti-Bases campaign says sonar devices used by Naval ships could harm whales.

"It has, in a number of cases, driven whales ashore and made them beach themselves because they get disorientated by the sound," he said.

"The sound is many millions of times amplified by their hearing and so they panic and just do something silly like beaching themselves."

But Defence spokesman Brigadier Bob Brown says the use of sonar is limited to reduce impacts on marine life, and it is used well away from migration routes.

"We have done quite a lot of research conducted by Defence to get a better understanding of where those migratory routes are and where the aggregations are," he said.

"So the first thing we do is try and avoid those naturally. Most of the major maritime activities on Talisman Sabre will be well beyond the reef out to sea." more

07/07/09
Migaloo the white whale returns - Daily Telegraph

MIGALOO, the famous white whale, has been spotted off the New South Wales mid-north coast and could soon be in Queensland waters, where hefty new fines apply to anyone who gets too close.

Queensland has declared Migaloo a special-interest whale, which means no one can bring a boat or jet ski closer than 500 metres or fly an aircraft within 2000 feet of the humpback.

Environment Minister Kate Jones said anyone found in breach of these conditions faces a fine of up to $16,500.

For other whales, the limits are 100 metres for a boat and 300 metres for jet skis and the like. In these cases, a maximum penalty of $12,000 applies.

"Migaloo has been declared a special-interest whale, granting him more space to swim up the Queensland coast," Ms Jones said.

"The whale-watching regulations are there to protect the whales, but also to protect people from these huge, unpredictable mammals.

"Adult humpbacks can weigh more than a fully-loaded semi-trailer so you need to stay out of their way."

She said a white whale believed to be Migaloo was sighted off Tacking Point at Port Macquarie and is expected to be in Queensland waters this week.

The first reported sighting of Migaloo was in 1991 off Byron Bay, when he was three to five years old.

His unusual colouring makes him easy to track.

In winter humpbacks migrate north to warm tropical waters, where females give birth.

They return south to their Antarctic feeding grounds in spring.
more

06/28/09
Editorial: A Non-Ban on Whaling - New York Times

At this point in its troubled history, it appears that the main function of the International Whaling Commission, which met last week on the Portuguese island of Madeira, is to ensure its own survival — and with it, the survival of a 40-year-old loophole-ridden “ban” on commercial whaling that is not really a ban at all.

Only a few seagoing nations kill whales; Japan, Iceland and Norway are the most important. Japan exploits a loophole that allows killing whales for scientific research. Iceland and Norway simply ignore the ban, without penalty. Most other nations are opposed to whaling, yet the lobbying to grant more exceptions continues.

This year, Greenland, with heavy backing from Denmark, asked permission to kill 50 endangered humpback whales over the next five years. A decision was postponed until the next meeting. The commission and its members should use the time to think not only about Greenland’s request but about the treaty itself — and whether the time has come to ban all whaling for any purpose.

Greenland said it wanted the endangered humpbacks for aboriginal subsistence — to feed its indigenous population. Minor exceptions to the ban have in fact been granted for subsistence and cultural hunting. But in Denmark’s case, as conservation groups rightly noted, this was thinly disguised cover for commercial whaling.

Indeed, the monetary value of whales — as much as $100,000 for a single minke whale — almost guarantees that they will be sold commercially, whether they’re killed for “research” or subsistence. Meanwhile, the appetite to resume open, aboveboard commercial whaling grows stronger, especially as whale numbers — though they remain far below historic levels — recover.

The commission’s fear is that renegotiating or eliminating the exceptions will cause the original agreement to unravel, possibly leading to the destruction of the group and the full-scale resumption of commercial whaling. But the issue here is not the survival of a bureaucracy but the survival of the whales, which face a range of new threats, from habitat loss to climate change.

The commission’s nonwhaling members, the United States included, should press for a complete ban.
more

06/26/09
Scientists warn of emerging form of unregulated whaling in Asia - Christian Science Monitor

It’s tough being a whale these days.

The International Whaling Commission has just wrapped up its annual meeting in Portugal with a whaling ban still intact, but with fissures deepening between the save-the-whales crowd and countries such as Japan, which wants to see commercial whaling reinstated, at least on a limited basis.

It’s enough to prompt the commission’s new chairman to suggest that the 53-year-old organization may need to rethink its purpose. Cristian Maquieira, the new chairman, told the Associated Press:

“We have to re-establish a consensus on what the IWC is and should do, and there are at least two contradictory perceptions to answer that question.”

And along comes a new study suggesting that Japan’s fishing operations are taking far more minke whales a year as by-catch than the Japanese government is officially reporting. Based on DNA samples taken from commercially sold whale meat, a team from Oregon State University and the University of California at Irvine estimate that by-catch takes in 150 whales a year on average — about the same number the Japanese government officially acknowledges taking in its own scientific whaling program.

Researchers suspect the high numbers of minke by-catch may be more than accidental. Japan and South Korea are the only two IWC members that allow whales snagged as by-catch to be sold commercially.

Adult minkes can fetch upwards of $100,000 apiece, according to Scott Baker, associate director of Oregon State’s Marine Mammal Institute, who led the study. With that kind of “green” as a lure, “you have to wonder how many of these whales are in fact killed intentionally.”

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Animal Conservation, focuses on two species of minke whales — species that are virtually identical to the eye, but not to DNA analysis. The by-catch problem appears to center on a species that tends to hug the coast, and so gets caught in vast fishing nets set out there.

In theory, these populations are protected through international agreements.

Indeed, Japan is interested in beginning commercial whaling along its coast. Yet for all the “research” the country has conducted on whales, no reliable estimates exist for the size of the populations around the islands. So no one has a good baseline from which to try to manage the minke stocks, Dr. Baker said during a phone chat.

He and his colleagues note that any international monitoring for compliance is tough because Japan so far resists making its genetic data base for whales available. Currently, Baker says, DNA techniques can tell you what type of whale has ended up in a tin. But without access to the full DNA data base, which bears information on individual whales that have been harvested, enforcement is tough. Presumably if DNA analysis identifies whale meat whose genetic information is not in the data base, you’ve got evidence for unregulated or unreported whaling.

The team recommends that Japan make those data available, perhaps at a central repository at the IWC. And it recommends that thorough surveys begin — including gathering genetic information on the whales — to better understand what’s really out there.

“We think this stock is under considerable threat,” Baker says. “It would be pretty tragic to have a stock go essentially extinct or become locally extirpated while there’s presumably a moratorium on whaling. But that is what may well be occurring.”

Oh yes, and Baker and his colleague urge that when gathering the DNA from the whales, make sure it comes from tissue samples from living whales, and not from whales killed for this “scientific” purpose. more

06/24/09
Norway suspends whaling in mid-season - REUTERS

Norway has suspended whaling in the middle of its hunting season because industry demand has been satisfied.

Japan, Norway and Iceland do not recognise a global ban on whaling. Norwegian whalers kill the minke whale that is not threatened with extinction under a strict quota system.

Less than half of Norway's annual quota of 855 minke whales has been caught, down from the levels a year ago when the industry also failed to fill its allotted total. The summertime season normally runs until August.

"We have ordered the halt because we have enough whale meat on vessels compared to what the whaling industry needs," said Svein Ove Haugland, a spokesman for the Norwegian Fishermen's Sales Organisation, on Wednesday.

"If the processing industry finds out they need more whale then we might open up (for hunting) again," he told Reuters.

Whaling opponents say consumer demand for the meat is falling, a view disputed by Norwegian whalers.

"It's quite likely that it was not enough demand because very few people eat whale meat," said Truls Gulowsen from Greenpeace Norway. "The continuing trend in declining demand will hopefully close the industry, which retains political support even though it lost its economic significance long ago."

Whaling in Norway has powerful political backers who view the issue in terms of sovereign rights in territorial waters.

Bjoern Bendiksen, chairman of the Norwegian whalers' union, said temporary stops in whaling were "quite normal". Many processing plants were having problems due to the financial crisis and not because of any lack of demand, he said.

"Such stops happen very often. Unfortunately it is happening now when whale buyers have less money due to the financial crisis," he told Reuters by telephone.

Bendiksen said the stop in commercial whaling could last "from a week to two weeks, or maybe a bit longer because of the Norwegian holiday season" which continues through most of July.

Norway catches whales in the waters of the North, Norwegian and Barents seas as well as around its north Atlantic islands between Europe and Greenland.

The International Whaling Commission is holding an annual meeting on the Portuguese island of Madeira this week to review the future of whaling.
more

06/21/09
Plans to hunt humpback whales - Agence France-Presse

PLANS to resume the hunting of humpback whales, protected by a moratorium introduced more than 40 years ago, came under fire from environmentalists today, ahead of a key meeting.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, intends to ask a summit on Tuesday to grant it permission to hunt a quota of 50 humpbacks over five years.

"Denmark is lobbying intensely, with the support of Sweden, to build a European consensus in favour of Greenland's proposal," WDCS spokesman Nicolas Entrup said in Lisbon.

"The WDCS urges member states and the Czech presidency (of the European Union) not to put at risk the EU's reputation for commitment to the conservation of the world's whales."

The humpback was a major target of hunters and its population fell dramatically before a moratorium was introduced in 1966.

Greenland will make its request at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which kicks off on Tuesday on the Portuguese island of Madeira, the WDCS said.

There are 85 countries in the IWC, which has for some years been trying to come to a new compromise on whale hunting and conservation.

Iceland and Norway are the only two countries in the world that authorise commercial whaling.

Japan officially hunts whales for scientific purposes, which are contested by opponents, and the whale meat is sold for consumption.
more

06/16/09
Giant blue whale killed in a tragic collision with a ship - DailyMail

, this is the unbelievable sight of
The body of the giant blue whale was found by researchers from Oregon State University in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California floating belly up in the Pacific, the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth - killed by a passing ship.

They came across the carcass while out in their small research vessel, the Pacific Storm, operated by the university's Marine Mammal Institute.
blue whale

Researchers believe the whale may have been hit by a cargo ship in the busy shipping lanes coming out of the city of Los Angeles. Staff at the university have not yet been reached for comment.

This whale must be roughly 22 metres long.

The Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute is well-known for its research on blue whales, even participating in a documentary with National Geographic on the subject.

Blue whales are the largest animal ever to have lived - even larger than the dinosaurs.

They are a sub-species of baleen whale, feeding mainly on krill, that can grow to up to 30 metres long, and weigh 100-150 tonnes.

Their mouths could hold up to 100 people, and their hearts are the size of a small car.

They are long-lived, also, with an average lifespan of 110 years. The blue whale is also one of the largest animals in the sea, capable of making noises as loud as a jet engine - though at frequencies too low for a human being to hear.

The majestic creatures live in all oceans of the world, though they are predominantly found in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and just above Antarctica.

By the 1960s they were classified as being on the brink of extinction, and they are still on the endangered list - making the tragic loss of this one all the more poignant. more

06/12/09
Net injury 'disables' minke whale - BBC

An injured minke whale has provided a unique insight into the dangers posed to marine animals by fishing gear.

The minke whale was spotted off the coast of Quebec, Canada, with a huge scar around its throat thought to be caused by floating rope.

What's more, it fed in a way never before recorded for minke whales, probably in response to its injury.

The sighting is one of the first to detail the handicaps that can be caused to animals that become entangled.

Earth News reports the development as part of a series of articles highlighting the dangers fishing nets pose to marine animals.

Previously, we described how fishing nets are strangling dolphins to death in the Adriatic.

Now marine biologist Brian Kot of the University of California and colleagues working for the Mingan Island Cetacean Study non-profit research organisation have published details in Marine Mammal Science of a minke whale that has been badly scarred by fishing gear.

Spotted of the coast of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, Quebec, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, the minke whale had a deep laceration running the circumference of its feeding pouch, from near its throat up both sides of its head close to each eye.

The cut ran through the whale's skin and into its blubber, in parts exposing the muscle underneath.

"The width of the laceration was very similar to the ropes from crab pots that are set by fishermen in my study area," says Kot.
Injured minke whale seen off the coast of Quebec, Canada

Crab pots set on the seafloor are baited and held by a rope leading up to the surface, which is attached to a buoy. Often a series of cages are connected by floating ropes that are thought to entangle whales.

Kot and his team observed and videoed the injured minke feeding on schools of capelin for over 80 minutes.

An analysis of the video showed that the minke, which lunged into the fish schools 50 times, had no problem accelerating into each lunge.

But the whale often breached in a way never before recorded among minkes.

On 18 of the 50 lunges, the whale breached at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees to the surface, feeding on its right side only, as can be seen in the picture above.

It would then rotate in the air to land upright on its chin. The researchers never saw the whale breach from its left side, or spin in mid air to land on its left. The whale was also unable to distend its feeding pouch as far as other healthy whales.

"The injury seemed to affect the expansion of the ventral pouch and I noticed a unique lunge-feeding behaviour that has not been previously described in the scientific literature," says Kot.

Despite often seeing the same whales repeatedly in his study area in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Kot has not seen the injured minke whale again, so he doesn't know what long-term impact the wounds had.
Injured minke whale seen off the coast of Quebec, Canada

"We really don't know what happened to it. Perhaps the injured animal left the area and survived or perished some time in the future."

However, the sighting of the minke whale is valuable as it's "one of the first to show the effect of an entanglement-like injury in a live animal," says Kot.

By some estimates, fishing gear poses the greatest threat to whales.

Yet little is actually known about the impact fishing that gear has on the survival of these ocean giants.

In particular, almost nothing is known about the non-lethal impact caused by entanglement injuries.

"Cetacean entanglements involving various kinds of fishing gear have been a global concern for many years," says Kot.

"However, with the steadily increasing demand for food, fishing pressure in the world's oceans has increased the amount of gear that whales can potentially encounter."

And many coastal fisheries operate exactly where the smaller and more vulnerable species of whale and dolphin range.

"Some of the largest whales, such as blue or fin, can sometimes free themselves from entanglements due to their size and strength," Kot explains. "Smaller whales like minke likely don't have this ability."

And most small whales that do get trapped probably drown and sink, never to be found by anyone, including the fishermen who own the net, he says.
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06/09/09
Prehistoric Whale Discovered On The West Coast Of Sweden - Science Daily

The skeleton of a whale that died around 10,000 years ago has been found in connection with the extension of the E6 motorway in Strömstad. The whale bones are now being examined by researchers at the University of Gothenburg who, among other things, want to ascertain whether the find is the mystical "Swedenborg whale".

There are currently four species of right whale. What is particularly interesting is that the size and shape of the whale bones resemble those of a fifth species: the mystical "Swedenborg whale", first described by the scientist Emmanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century.

"Bones from what is believed to be Swedenborg's right whale have previously been found in western Sweden. However, determining the species of whale bones found in earth is complicated and there is no definitive conclusion on whether the whale actually existed, it could equally well be a myth," says zoologist Thomas Dahlgren and his colleague Leif Jonsson.

To determine the species of whale that has been found Thomas Dahlgren has conducted DNA tests that are to be analysed in conjunction with researchers at the Natural History Museum in London. The whale bones are interesting in several respects. The fragments of bone were collected in a clay deposit and remains of marine organisms that today are also endangered species were found around them.

"The hunt for the large whale species, which led to the extinction of the Atlantic grey whale and perhaps the Swedenborg whale, may also have caused the extinction of a large number of species that are dependent on whale carcasses for their survival," says Thomas Dahlgren.

The whale bones are thought to be around 10,000 years old and were found 75 metres above sea level, but in a site that at that time was located out on the coast. It is conjectured that the bones have been preserved for such a long time as they were surrounded by fine, oxygen-free clay. The largest whale bone, approximately 2.5 metres long, is part of a jawbone. Among the smaller bones is a vertebra. Discussions are underway on whether the bones can be put in order and potentially put on public display.

The whale species is believed to have existed in the North Sea from the period when the inland ice melted until about 8,000 years ago, and subsequently to have died out. Ten collections of bones from the species have been found in the west of Sweden. However, there is speculation that the bones have been mistaken for other species, and that the Swedenborg whale never existed. Source: Swedish National Encyclopedia more

06/05/09
Whale Wars - Eco-Terrorism as Reality TV - The Huffington Post

Tonight begins the second season of "Whale Wars" in which a scruffy band of eco-crusaders, the Sea Shepherds, go to war against the evil whaling ships, by any means necessary. The reviews for the first season were great. Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times writes: "Whale Wars splashes across the increasingly exhausted genre of people-at-work reality series like icy seawater, jolting you awake with a frothy, briny burst of -- well, you get the idea. This is one spunky show."

What's not to like? The show is action on the high seas; ocean combat to save the whales! Everyone likes whales. I like whales. Who doesn't like whales? What great television for those bored with shows about fishing off Alaska, Ice Road Truckers or the Real Housewives of Duluth!

So what is the problem with "Whale Wars"? The problem is that it is cheap exploitation in praise of what is nothing less than eco-terrorism. It is the glorification of vigilantism on the high seas. And oh, by the way, the Sea Shepherds do almost nothing to protect the whales where they really do need protection.

While "Whale Wars" presents a simplistic case of us against them, the noble environmentalists against the evil whalers, the reality, of course, is not so black and white. By international agreement with the International Whaling Commission, the Japanese were allowed to kill up to a nine hundred minke whales and fifty fin whales in 2007/2008 in the Antarctic ocean for "research purposes." Critics claim that this is thinly disguised commercial whaling. Whatever it may be, minke whales, in particular, are not considered to be particularly threatened. Estimates have placed the minke population in the Southern Hemisphere in the range of 200,000-416,700 whales.

Negotiating international agreements may not make for rousing "reality TV" but it has made a significant difference in actually "saving the whales."

The Sea Shepherds on "Whale Wars" are abolitionist animal rights activists. They believe that every whale is sacred and should be preserved. On this basis, they justify aggressively interfering with and attempting to disable whaling ships in international waters, including pelting the ships with bottles containing butyric acid, which recently injured four Japanese crew members. Their zealotry is strongly reminiscent of anti-abortion extremists. (Both groups share a fondness for butyric acid attacks.) The Sea Shepherds also attempt to maneuver Zodiac boats in between the whalers and their prey. More seriously, they have taken to ramming Japanese whalers with their ship, the Steve Irwin. (They deny this but several videos of the Irwin ramming a whaler are widely available.) Members of the Sea Shepherds have also boarded whalers at sea and in one case the Sea Shepherds interfered with the search and rescue of a Japanese sailor washed overboard. (The Sea Shepherds deny they interfered but that is not the opinion of those conducting the search and rescue.)

The Sea Shepherds fly the Jolly Roger flag of piracy. I think that they should be more accurately described as eco-terrorists.

''You don't beg criminals to stop doing what they're doing,'' Mr. Watson said in the first episode last season. ''You intervene, and you physically and aggressively shut them down.'' Of course the whalers, whatever you may think of their activities, are operating legally. It is Watson and the Sea Shepherds who are the criminals.

And where are these self-described pirates or eco-terrorists, call them what you will, based? In Friday Harbor, Washington. Given their arguably illegal and dangerous antics, I am surprised that the group, as well as the producers of the television show and the Animal Planet Network have not been swamped in lawsuits.

But do the Sea Shepherds make a difference? Not in any significant way. The WWF estimates that 90% of non-natural whale deaths are due to collisions with ships, followed by "by-catch," whales becoming caught in nets, and then lastly, by fishing. Only this week, an oil tanker bound for Valdez apparently collided with a humpback whale and dragged the carcass into the harbor on the bow of the ship. Special shipping lanes have been set up off Cape Cod to reduce collisions between ships and the extremely endangered northern right whales, which migrate through the area. It is hoped that these collisions will be reduced by an estimated 74% during the migratory season. Changes in shipping lanes around the world and the development of new technologies are making a real difference in reducing the number of whales who die needlessly, which also does not make for entertaining television.

In the end, "Whale Wars" is a highly dangerous sideshow, which may make for diverting "reality TV" for the couch-bound, but has nothing meaningful to do with "saving the whales."

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06/03/09
Belly of the whale - cape cod times

The strange story of Chatham gill netter Robert Eldridge and the humpback whale poses the letter of the law against the spirit of the law. When legal disposition comes, it will reveal a lot about how fishermen and fish-law enforcers work together.

Or don't.

Eldridge was 19 miles south of Chatham July 10 when the humpback got tangled in the gear off his vessel Unicorn. The crew spent 20 or 30 minutes getting the net or lines off the whale, and it swam away, apparently unhurt.

Charges were lodged against Eldridge in U.S. District Court in Boston in March. He pled not guilty April 1 to "knowingly and unlawfully" engaging in the "take" of a humpback. It's a misdemeanor, with up to a year of jail and probation, but a whopping $100,000 maximum fine.

Despite the apparent happy ending for the whale, both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act prohibit the "taking" of marine mammals and effectively prohibit people from interacting with them in any way without a federal license. Under the MMPA, "take" means "to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or attempt to..."

The Commercial Fisheries News reported that the Eldridge complaint cites the ESA definition of "take" to mean "harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in such conduct."

That sounds bad, but very few details of the actual incident have come out in court papers or from the parties involved. Fellow fisherman John Our told the Times that Eldridge is "a great fisherman and a highly respected captain who doesn't deserve the slander that he is getting out of all of this. The whole thing is a joke."

The Commercial Fisheries News talked to Andy Cohen, special agent for the northeast region of the National Marine Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement. He said only that his office investigates all marine mammal incidents but sends only "cases involving intentional or reckless takings or takings that result from negligence" to the U.S. attorney.

So what did Eldridge allegedly do?

Early published reports said there was an "observer" on board. Sometimes fisheries agents or scientists go out to observe methods and assess bycatch. Was this person the source of the complaint? Was Eldridge warned about the law but did his own untangling anyway instead of calling in some licensed group like the Center for Coastal Studies? Did he express a contemptuous attitude toward the rules?

And another wrinkle: Eldridge can be charged under the negligence clause just for setting his gill nets in a place whales are feeding. Our, who was nearby, said there were many whales in the area that day.

The irony is that many commercial fishermen have taken the training — been there, got the T shirt — and are licensed by the NMFS to do mammal rescue. This makes perfect sense, since they are on the scene and know best how their gear behaves in water, under load, and where its weak point might be. Their gear is expensive — they don't want it destroyed.

For their part, NMFS regulators and enforcers are always battling to maintain authority over fishermen, a generally independent lot who chafe under any rules. Is the Eldridge case intended to send a message?

More details will come out when the case is heard. Then we can better judge whether the letter of the law or the spirit of the law should prevail. more

05/30/09
Earthrace may take on whalers - Taranaki Daily News

Japanese whaling ships could be the next target for New Zealand seafarer Pete Bethune and his world record-setting boat Earthrace.

Mr Bethune says he and the distinctive powerboat could become part of environmental organisation Sea Shepherd's fleet battling the whalers in the Southern Ocean after Earthrace finishes its world tour in Hamilton in three weeks.

"That's the most likely scenario but it's not 100 per cent yet," he told the Taranaki Daily News in New Plymouth yesterday. "To go down there would be pretty cool."

Sea Shepherd has become well known in recent years for its skirmishes with Japanese whaling ships.

Last year, its boat Steve Irwin chased the whaling fleet for more than 3000 kilometres, and the organisation claimed to have saved the lives of 305 whales.

For the past three years, Mr Bethune and Earthrace have been fighting a different environmental battle promoting the use of sustainable biofuel. Last year, the 100 per cent biofuel-powered trimaran smashed the round the world speed record, knocking almost two weeks off the old record with a time of 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.

Since then a worldwide promotional tour has given more than 180,000 people the chance to look over the boat.

Back in New Zealand since February, Earthrace's odyssey finishes at Fieldays in Hamilton next month.

"I've lived the dream on this boat," Mr Bethune said.

"I've had the best times of my life on this boat and the worst times of my life.

"I've been treated like a king and treated like a pauper."

Mr Bethune and Earthrace hit the headlines when they were detained in Guatemala after an accident killed a local fisherman, but he said other standout memories included wakeboarding on Loch Ness, diving in the Pacific and Caribbean, surviving more than a dozen storms at sea and brushes with Colombian pirates.

"Would I do it again? I would," he said.

"To get to work on something you really believe in most of us go through life without any chance to do that."

But Mr Bethune said the world tour following the record-setting voyage became much bigger than he had expected and had come at the cost of time with his family.

Now he's looking forward to a break and says joining the Sea Shepherd fleet would not be as demanding on his time.

"It's hit and run 10 weeks and it's all over, not three years like this has been."

His other option is to sell the boat.

As the tour draws to a close, Mr Bethune gave the Government a serve over biofuel legislation.

A Labour law making it compulsory for oil companies to mix biofuels into petrol and diesel was passed last September.
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Mr Bethune said the legislation was a positive move, even though it came late in Labour's final term and wasn't revolutionary in its scope.

When National scrapped the law just three months later as one of its first acts in office, Mr Bethune was heartbroken.

"It kind of made me wonder if what you do even matters," he said.

"For biofuels to be viable they've got to be compulsory.

"Governments need to show a bit of backbone and spine and ours have been a bit backwards in that area.

"At the moment, New Zealand is the only country in the OECD that doesn't have biofuel available to consumers.

"Consumers are receptive but the oil companies hate it."

Earthrace, Mr Bethune and five other crew members are in New Plymouth until this evening.

The boat is open for public viewing today from 10am until 5pm and costs adults $5, children $2.50 and families $10. Money raised goes to the Taranaki Coastguard. more

05/26/09
Whale washes ashore in Provincetown - cape cod times

The swollen tongue looked like a giant balloon protruding from the mouth of the dead, juvenile finback whale that washed up at Herring Cove Beach Thursday afternoon.

The young finback, a federally listed endangered species, washed up at about 3:30 p.m. yesterday, said C.T. Harry, assistant stranding coordinator for the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s marine mammal rescue and research program.
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Due to the powerful winds and surf, animal researchers were not able to get close enough last night to get an idea of what may have killed the whale, or even how big it is.

As of Thursday night, researches estimated the carcass to be 40-feet long and weighing 10 tons. The dead animal’s tongue, swollen by the gas created in the decomposition process, is “pretty massive,” Harry added.

Early Friday morning, researchers plan to beat the 10 a.m. high tide to get a better look at the marine mammal’s remains. But lacking the proper equipment to haul it off the beach immediately, there are no plans to do a full necropsy. “You don’t want an open carcass on the beach on a busy weekend,” Harry said. more

05/24/09
Whale chief says Japan must compromise - France 24

The outgoing head of the International Whaling Commission voiced regret Wednesday that his controversial drive to reach a compromise had failed, and said Japan needed to cede more ground.

William Hogarth steps down as both US delegate and the head of the deeply divided world whaling body after a meeting next month in Portugal, where he doubted any major progress would be reached.

The biologist, appointed by former president George W. Bush, faced heated questions at a congressional hearing from members of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party who accuse him of surrendering too much to Japan.

Pressed by the panel, Hogarth said that Japan -- which kills whales under a loophole in a global moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants -- had not put enough on the table.

"The US does not think that it's a reasonable proposal whatsoever," Hogarth said.

"I think that if Japan is not willing to discuss (further), then I do not see any future for any resolution to this issue."

Hogarth, who is also dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science, spearheaded a series of closed-door negotiations with Japan and other nations.

Japan offered to reduce but not end its annual Antarctic hunts which infuriate whale-loving Australia and New Zealand, participants say. Japan has also pushed for the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, to accept whaling off its coasts.

"I am very disappointed that I'm leaving the chairmanship and the US commission with the IWC (while) still killing lots of whales, doing scientific whaling and that we just can't seem to resolve it," Hogarth said.

However, Hogarth said his efforts brought civility to the IWC, where annual meetings had long been showdowns between pro- and anti-whaling nations.

Under a compromise brokered by Hogarth, Japan agreed in 2007 to suspend plans to expand its hunt to include humpback whales -- beloved by Australian whale-watchers -- for the first time in decades.

Japan says that whaling is its tradition and accuses Western nations of cultural insensitivity.

Norway and Iceland are the only nations that hunt whales in open defiance of the 1986 IWC moratorium.
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05/22/09
Endangered right whales found where there were none - Economic Times

Scientists have documented the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales with the help of underwater hydrophones that can
pick up sounds from hundreds of kilometres away.

The discovery is particularly important because it is in an area where these whales were thought to be extinct and one that may be opened to shipping if the melting of polar ice continues, as expected, said researchers.

Scientists from Oregon State University (OSU) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are unsure of exactly how many whales were in the region, which is off the southern tip of Greenland and site of an important 19th-century whaling area called Cape Farewell Ground.

But they recorded more than 2,000 right whale vocalisations in the region from July through December of 2007.

"The technology has enabled us to identify an important unstudied habitat for endangered right whales and raises the possibility that... a remnant of a central or eastern Atlantic stock of right whales still exists and might be viable," said David Mellinger, assistant professor at OSU Hatfield Marine Science Centre in Newport and chief project scientist.

"We don't know how many right whales there were in the area," Mellinger added. "They aren't individually distinctive in their vocalisations. But we did hear right whales at three widely spaced sites on the same day, so the absolute minimum is three. Even that number is significant because the entire population is estimated to be only 300 to 400 whales."

Only two right whales have been sighted in the last 50 years at Cape Farewell Ground, where they had been hunted to near extinction prior to the adoption of protective measures, said an OSU release.

The results were presented this week at the Acoustical Society of America in Portland, Oregon.
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05/20/09
Blue Whales Re-establishing Former Migration Patterns - Science

The planet’s largest animal may be returning to pre-whaling feeding grounds. Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965.

In the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science, researchers from Cascadia Research Collective in Washington state, NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in California, and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans identified 15 separate cases where blue whales were seen off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska. Four of the whales were identified as animals previously observed off the coast of California, suggesting a re-establishment of a historical migration pattern.

Researchers made this identification by comparing photographs of blue whales taken in the north Pacific Ocean since 1997 with a library of nearly two thousand photographs of blue whales off the West Coast. A positive match was determined based on pigmentation patterns in skin color and shape of the dorsal fin.

Blue whales were severely depleted during commercial whaling activities during the early 1900’s in the north Pacific and along the West Coast as far south as Baja California.

Formerly large populations of blue whales in the north Pacific never rebounded after commercial whaling ended while those animals off southern California have apparently fared much better.

Scientists are still not certain exactly why blue whales are now beginning to migrate from southern California to the north Pacific Ocean although changing ocean conditions may have shifted their primary food source of krill further north.

Blue whales are thought to be the largest animal ever to have existed on earth, reaching lengths of nearly 100 feet. They were nearly hunted to extinction throughout the world and are currently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and as endangered on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. There are an estimated 5,000 to 12,000 animals remaining today, with the largest population of approximately 2,000 off the U.S. West Coast. more

05/18/09
Inuit whalers want Ottawa to reopen the minke whale hunt - cnews

Inuit whalers in northern Quebec are pushing Ottawa to reopen the minke whale hunt, a subsistence harvest they say will make up for tightening quotas on their preferred catch - beluga.

The president of the hunters' association in Nunavik said the flesh of the swift-swimming minke was a key part of the local diet until the federal government abolished the hunt in 1972.

"We're trying to revive our traditional culture," Paulusie Novalinga said from his home in the Hudson Bay community of Puvirnituq.

"We're hunters, we live off the land - we're part of the land."

Nunavik's marine wildlife board will submit the request to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said Stas Olpinski, a scientific adviser to Makivik Corp., the body that oversees political, social and economic development in the region.

"There's an interest, certainly, in the meat," Olpinski said.

"There's also an interest, vis-a-vis the hunt, because of reduced numbers of beluga whales that are available to Inuit in Nunavik."

For years, Nunavik whalers have disputed beluga quotas set by the federal Fisheries Department, which has indicated the white whale's numbers are in decline.

DFO reduced catch limits for northern Quebec from 360 beluga in 2001 to 165 in 2006. Last year's quota for Nunavik was 174.

But the Inuit say the icy waters off their shores are full of beluga, which provide oil as well as a rubbery, dinner-table delicacy for locals.

Because most of the Inuit diet comes from hunting, trapping and fishing, the hunts should not be limited, Novalinga said.

"We don't enjoy killing wildlife, but we need to," said Novalinga, whose organization represents 5,000 hunters. "That's our food."

He said minke flesh, which he once sampled during a trip to Greenland, is a delicious alternative.

"It's very good meat - rich, nutritious, full of iron," he said, adding that minkes are abundant in Nunavik waters.

The whales, which can grow to nine metres in length and weigh up to 14 tons, are among the world's smallest baleen whales.

A 2008 global stock assessment by the International Conservation Union's Red List of Endangered Species categorized the common minke whale as a species of "least concern."

Stefan Romberg, a resource management officer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said minkes are currently harvested in Norway, Iceland, Japan and Greenland.

In Canada, only subsistence hunts for narwhal, bowhead and beluga are permitted.

"If DFO receives a formal request, it will be reviewed and a decision will be made with respect to a licence," Romberg wrote in an email.

Still, some northern Quebecers remain skeptical of opening a harvest they're not familiar with.

Johnny Oovaut, mayor of the seaside village of Quaqtaq and an elected member of Nunavik's regional government, said minkes were never hunted in his community.

"We've always been wary of strange foods," said Oovaut, whose town is on the coast of the Hudson Strait.

Instead, he wants Ottawa to loosen restrictions on beluga and leave management of the mammal up to the Inuit - the way it was for thousands of years.

"Personally, I think they should mind their own business," Oovaut said of the federal Fisheries Department.

"We have our own set of rules." more

05/14/09
Blue Whales Re-establishing Former Migration Patterns - Science Daily

05/11/09
First Right Whale Sedation Enables Disentanglement Effort - Science Daily

For the first time ever, rescuers used a new sedation delivery system to help free an entangled North Atlantic right whale. The new system was developed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in collaboration with NOAA and the Univ. of Florida and the Univ. of Wisconsin veterinary schools to make the animals more approachable by rescue boats.

On Friday, March 6, 2009, for the first time ever, a North Atlantic right whale that had been severely entangled in fishing gear, was administered a sedation mixture that made it possible for rescuers to remove 90 percent of the entanglement.

The rescue involved the efforts of a multi-institutional team including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), NOAA Fisheries, which manages the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network based at the Provincetown (MA) Center for Coastal Studies, the University of Florida’s Aquatic Animal Health Program, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Coastwise Consulting Group.

Team members on four boats assisted by an aerial survey plane worked for two days to free the animal. Eventually they succeeded in injecting the 40-foot, 40,000-pound whale with a mixture of sedatives that allowed them to cut away the gear that wrapped around the animal’s head.

The new sedation delivery system built by Trevor Austin of Paxarms New Zealand, comprises a 12-inch needle and a syringe driven by compressed air, which injects the drug into the whale’s muscle.

“This tool enhances fishing gear removal from entangled whales and minimizes the added stress from repeated boat approaches to the animals,” said Michael Moore, a veterinarian and research biologist at WHOI. Moore has led the investigation into chemical and physical tools to facilitate and enhance the safety of large whale restraint during efforts to remove entangling fishing gear. “It’s gratifying to have successfully employed this new technique.”

North Atlantic right whales are frequently entangled in fixed fishing gear, especially from the trap and gillnet fisheries. Many of them eventually disentangle themselves, but some entanglements persist for months, at times resulting in a slow and presumably very painful death.

Whale avoidance of boats attempting disentanglement is a major limit to successful resolution of complex cases. Over the past 10 years WHOI, in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries and two veterinary schools at the University of Florida and the University of Wisconsin have developed a sedation system to slow the animals and make them more approachable by rescue boats.

“The typical success rate for freeing right whales from fishing gear is about 50 percent due largely in part to the difficulties in getting close enough to cut the entangling gear,” said Jamison Smith, NOAA’s East Coast project leader for whale disentanglement. “We hope this new technique can improve the overall safety of the operations as well improve the chances of the whales’s survival.”

The animal (New England Aquarium catalog No: 3311) was first sighted entangled east of Brunswick, Ga., on Jan. 14, 2009, by the Georgia Wildlife Trust aerial survey team, which noted multiple lengths of heavy line cutting in to the whale’s upper jaw and left lip and trailing behind the animal. It was tagged with a telemetry buoy by the Georgia DNR to allow it to be tracked.

A disentanglement attempt by FWC, GA-DNR, Coastwise Consulting, University of Florida, NOAA and WHOI was made on Jan. 22, east of Amelia Island, Fla., but the whale evaded all attempts to cut the lines. On Jan. 23 further disentanglement attempts were made, with the addition of a sedation dose, delivered by remote syringe and needle with no success.

The dose given appeared to make the animal feel less pain, but was not sedated enough to be more approachable. Further disentanglement attempts by GA-DNR and Coastwise Consulting failed on Feb. 1.

On March 5 the disentanglement team made another attempt, this time increasing the dosage used on Jan. 23. The sedative appeared to cause the whale to take shallower, more frequent breaths, but the animal continued to evade the boat’s attempts to approach it. On Friday, March 6, a further increase in the dose resulted in a marked switch from the expected evasiveness. An hour after injection of sedatives, the animal no longer evaded boat approaches, but instead tolerated repeated close approaches by a disentanglement boat to allow removal of 90 percent of the remaining rope. Veterinarians on the team calculated the dosage based on experience sedating animals in captivity, starting low through the clinical range until they found a safe and effective level.

“Our prior experience with using these drugs safely in dolphins, beluga whales, killer whales and other species gave us the initial levels of sedatives to start with,” said Mike Walsh a veterinarian and associate director of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine’s Aquatic Animal Health program.

“Our first attempts with sedatives in a previous animal were not as promising as hoped so we moved on to another sedative combination that has helped clinicians to get access to animals that may be less cooperative,” Walsh said. “This technique may greatly expand the options for the disentanglement teams dealing with these severely compromised whales, and the whales themselves. It is very exciting to be able to see it have an effect in an animal so large.”

The animal remains in very poor condition and has a guarded prognosis, but the disentanglement will give it a better chance for survival.

The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered great whale, with a population of less than 400. Human activity—particularly ship collisions and entanglement in commercial fishing gear—is the most common cause of North Atlantic right whale deaths.

“This use of sedatives in a large free-ranging whale is novel and an exciting new tool in the large whale disentanglement toolbox,” said Moore. “However, it does not address the underlying problem of how to enable fixed-gear fisheries to pursue a profitable business, without jeopardizing the survival of endangered species such as the North Atlantic right whale.” more

05/09/09
Dolphins Maintain Round-the-clock Visual Vigilance - Science Daily

Dolphins have a clever trick for overcoming sleep deprivation. Sam Ridgway from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program explains that they are able to send half of their brains to sleep while the other half remains conscious. What is more, the mammals seem to be able to remain continually vigilant for sounds for days on end. All of this made Ridgway and his colleagues from San Diego and Tel Aviv wonder whether the dolphins' unrelenting auditory vigilance tired them and took a toll on the animals' other senses?

Ridgway and his team set about testing two dolphins' acoustic and visual vigilance over a 5 day period to find out how well they functioned after days without a break.

First Ridgway and his colleagues, Mandy Keogh, Mark Todd and Tricia Kamolnick, trained two dolphins to respond to a 1.5 s beep sounded randomly against a background of 0.5 s beeps every 30 s. Ridgway explains that the sounds were low enough for the dolphins to barely notice them as they swam through their enclosure, but the animals sprung into action every time they heard the 1.5 s tone, even after listening to the sounds for 5 days without a break. Their auditory vigilance remained as sharp as it had been 5 days earlier.

Next Allen Goldblatt and Don Carder designed a visual stimulus to test the dolphins' vigilance while they continued listening to the repetitive beeps. Knowing that the dolphins' binocular vision is limited because their eyes are situated on opposite sides of their heads, Kamolnick trained one of the dolphins, SAY, to recognise two shapes (either three horizontal red bars or one vertical green bar) with her right eye before training her to recognise the same shapes with the left eye, reasoning that if half of her brain was asleep during testing, the dolphin would only see the shapes through the eye connected to the conscious half of the brain.

But the team were in for a surprise when they began training SAY's left eye. She already recognised the shapes, even though her left eye had not seen them previously. Ridgway explains that the information must be transferred between the two brain hemispheres and suspects that the dolphin's inter-hemispheric commissures, which connects the two halves, may transfer the visual information.

Having trained both dolphins to recognise the shapes, the hard part began: monitoring and rewarding the dolphins continually over a 5 day period while the team tested the animals' responses to both the sound and visual stimuli. Amazingly, even after 5 days of listening out for 1.5 s beeps amongst the 0.5 s beep background, the dolphins were still responding as accurately as they had done at the beginning of the experiment.

The team also enticed the dolphins into a bay at night where they could be shown the horizontal and vertical bar shapes, and found that the dolphins were as sharp at the end of the 120 hour experiment as they had been at the beginning. And when the team checked the dolphins' blood for physical signs of sleep deprivation, they couldn't find any. After 5 days of unbroken vigilance the dolphins were in much better shape than the scientists. more

05/03/09
Curious minke whales intrigued by mankind on Barrier Reef - couriermail.com.au

THE Great Barrier Reef has emerged as the global place of choice for swimming with whales as dwarf minke whales become more curious.

Latest research, to be released today, shows the minkes, on their annual courtship migration to the reef, appear to be as intrigued by mankind as we are by them.

The reef off far north Queensland is the only place where whales approach humans.

"There is nothing like this phenomena anywhere in the world," said Alastair Birtles, who has headed a 13-year study into dwarf minke whales.

"It is world-class and unique to only this region," said the James Cook University researcher, co-author of a study entitled Who's Watching Whom?.

"These are some of the biggest creatures in the sea that are very fast, very agile and can leap from the water like a dolphin.

"But when they swim up and look you in the eye, sometimes from just 10cm away, it can be a very moving and emotional experience.

"Some might call it spiritual, otherworldly or cosmic, but their fascination with humans is something to behold."

New findings into the relatively unknown dwarf minke whale, which grows to 8m and five tonnes, show that on average they swim within 7m of swimmers, interacting for nearly three hours at a time.

The social animals, in the same genus (balaenoptera) as the mightiest animals on the planet including the blue whale, are drawn to large groups of snorkellers, show recognition of some familiar divers, and even follow dive boats to the next site to continue the interaction.

One popular whale, named Pavlova after the famous Russian ballerina, likes to entertain by pirouetting on her tail in front of onlookers.

The whale breeding season peaks in June/July. Last year, 350 individual whales were spotted on the Ribbon Reef system, north of Port Douglas.

The findings, to be presented at a peak scientific conference in Townsville today, coincide with calls from tourist operators for more permits to exploit the phenomenon.

They say strict code-of-conduct rules and the latest research supports opening up the world-exclusive drawcard "in a time of economic hardship". more

04/29/09
Western Gray Whales Get a Break From Noisy Oil Development - ENS

An oil and gas consortium has agreed to suspend this summer's planned seismic testing off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, the only feeding area for the critically endangered Western gray whale.

The decision by Sakhalin Energy, which is developing the Sakhalin II project, followed a recommendation today by an international scientific panel to halt further noisy seismic testing in the whales' feeding area near Piltun Bay on the western edge of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The agreement was reached during a meeting of the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel today in Geneva.

Convened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the 11-member panel of scientists met this week with representatives of Shell, Sakhalin Energy, Russian government officials, project lenders and environmental NGOs to review the most recent science on the whales.

The Western gray whale is one of the world’s most endangered whale populations. These whales feed only in the summer at the very time and place used by oil and gas companies to conduct their development activities before severe winter weather again closes in around the northeastern part of the oil-rich Sakhalin shelf.

While Sakhalin Energy has agreed to a moratorium on seismic exploration near Piltun Bay this summer, that does not mean that the feeding ground will be quiet enough for the whales to eat and for mothers to teach their calves to forage near the mouth of the bay.

Other energy companies that have not joined in the panel process are continuing with their noisy development activities.

Said Aleksey Knizhnikov from WWF-Russia, "Major international giants BP and Exxon have completely ignored pleas to join the panel, disregarded advice on how to mitigate the impacts of their activities, and refused to provide even basic information on what their activities are in the region."

ExxonMobil holds 30 interest in the nearby Sakhalin-1 Project with other investors from Russia, Japan and India.

BP holds an interest in nearby Sakhalin V.

In a report issued today based on a multi-year photo record of the whales, the advisory panel identified two main feeding areas in proximity to the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin II oil and gas development projects - a nearshore feeding area adjacent to Piltun Bay, and an offshore area, east of Niyskiy Bay. Gray whales utilize these feeding areas during the ice-free season. More recently, western gray whales have also been identified feeding on the southeast coast of the Kamchatka peninsula.

The western Pacific population of gray whale, Esrichtiius robustus, is one of only two surviving populations of this species. Both populations were brought near to extinction by commercial whaling, but the eastern Pacific population, which migrates annually between Mexico and Alaska, has recovered and now numbers about 20,000 animals.

By comparison, the western Pacific population, which is believed to migrate between eastern Russia and China, is estimated at about 130 individuals, with only 25-35 reproductive females.

New research presented by the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel shows "a significant decline in sightings and behavior changes of the whales in their primary feeding area near Piltun Bay," the scientific panel said.

Oil and gas exploration activities in the area appear to have displaced the whales to deeper areas offshore, making it more difficult for whale calves to feed. Since the Western gray whale only feeds in the summertime, such displacement could be devastating to the struggling whale population.

"WWF lauds the responsible and forward looking approach taken by Sakhalin Energy in heeding this call from the panel," said Knizhnikov. "The results seen today demonstrate that collaborative science based initiatives like this panel process can succeed – even on issues as complex as oil and gas development."

Doug Norlen from Pacific Environment, an international NGO that has monitored Sakhalin oil and gas projects for over a decade, called on BP, Exxon and the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft to "abandon their reckless plans that threaten the western gray whales with extinction."
Western gray whale in Piltun Bay (Photo courtesy Sakhalin-1)

"Exxon is conducting acoustically loud pile driving, thrusting huge columns into the ground to build their facility at the exact time and place that the whales should be feeding," Norlen told ENS. "If you scare the Western gray whales off that place, the frightening thing is that they can go a whole year without proper feeding habitat."

"While we got a good outcome for this year from Sakhalin Energy, Exxon, BP and Rosneft are derelict in their responsibility to engage with science and independent scientists," Norlen said. "If there were an international court for environmental crimes, the executives of these companies would be in prison."

ExxonMobil holds 30 interest in the Sakhalin-1 Project, which includes three offshore fields and is one of the largest single foreign direct investments in Russia.

Operated by Exxon Neftegas Limited, the investors in the project include affiliates of Rosneft, RN-Astra (8.5%) and Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (11.5%); the Japanese consortium SODECO (30%); and the Indian state-owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd. (20%).

On its website, the Sakhalin-1 Consortium says its support of the gray whale population research program amounted to US$17 million between 1997 and 2007, expanded the knowledge base about the species, and involved prominent Russian and Western whale scientists.

Sakhalin I says the project is "committed to ongoing support of the gray whale research program and continues to work with Russian marine research institutes and the industry to study the population, behavior and habitat use by the whales, as well as characterize the natural environment including ambient sound."

BP is involved in the Sakhalin V project

Norlen called the scientific panel's recommendations "absolutely precedent setting."

"It is precedent setting because," he said, "it means that if other companies such as Exxon, BP and Rosneft do not begin to cooperate with this process and do not abide by the moratorium, they will be complict in driving the Western gray whale closer to extinction." more

04/27/09
Is The Hippopotamus The Closest Living Relative To The Whale? - Science Daily

Hippos spend lots of time in the water and now it turns out (or researchers argue), they are the closest living relative to whales. It also turns out, the two are swimming in a bit of controversy.

Jessica Theodor, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, and her colleague Jonathan Geisler, associate professor at Georgia Southern University are disputing a recent study that creates a different family tree for the hippo.

That research was published in Nature in December 2007 by J. G. M. Thewissen, a professor at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, and his colleagues. Thewissen says that whales are more closely linked to an extinct pig-like animal, often known as India's pig or Indohyus, while hippos are closely related to living pigs.

But this isn't accurate according to Theodor.

"What Thewissen is saying is that Indohyus is the closest relative of whales - and we agree. Where we think he is wrong, is that he is saying that that hippos are more closely related to true pigs than they are to whales," says Theodor. "This contradicts most of the data from DNA from the last 12 or 13 years. Those data place hippos as the closest living relative to whales."

She says Thewissen did not use DNA evidence, instead used fossil evidence alone to create a family tree and reach the conclusion that hippos have more in common with pigs than whales.

"And the reason their tree is so different is simple: by excluding all the DNA information they left out all the data that shows a strong relationship between whales and hippos."

Theodor's rebuttal of Thewissen's work will appear in Nature on Thursday, March 19.

The controversy began after the new fossil of Indohyus, was discovered and written about by Thewissen and his group. This animal lived around 48 million years ago, lived in the water and fed on land.

When biologists study family trees, they traditionally rely on morphology, in other words, the shape of bones. More recently, the DNA revolution means that scientists can use DNA data as another tool to reconstruct family trees, but DNA data can't be used all the time because DNA is not available for most fossils.

"In order to get the best understanding, researchers combine the two sources of data in a single analysis. But what Thewissen and his group did, was leave one of the major ones out," says Theodor.

Before the widespread use of DNA data, hippos had been thought to be closely related to pigs, but DNA data show that whales are closely related to hippos. Geisler and Theodor argue that leaving out the DNA data not only ignores important information, it implies that the evolution of swimming evolved independently in hippos and whales, when it may have evolved only once in a common ancestor. more

04/24/09
WWF: Energy giants ignore pleas to help save whales - inthenews.co.uk

Two of the world's biggest energy companies are refusing to cooperate with a major consultation aimed at protecting some of the world's most endangered whales, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) claims.

BP and Exxon have failed to reply to invitations from the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP) to join the discussions over how to minimise the danger to gray whales off Sakhalin Island, in far-east Russia, an area with extensive oil and gas reserves.

BP, however, say they have little to contribute as their activities in the region are "very insignificant" compared with Shell and Exxon.
Experts estimate only 155 gray whales are thought to remain in the wild, just 25 of which are breeding females.

Observers are adamant the number of gray whales in Sakhalin area is declining. Sakhalin Energy (a subsidiary of Russian giant Gazprom) and Shell have entered into negotiations with the WGWAP about the need to protect the whales' feeding environment.

Heather Sohl, WWF species officer said: "The continuing refusal of BP, Exxon and (Russian company) Rosneft to even consider joining other parties on the gray whale advisory panel is hampering conservation efforts and the flow of information - with potentially disastrous consequences for the whales.

"On the one hand, we have Shell and Gazprom at least looking at their plans to see if impacts on whales can be reduced and on the other hand we have BP, Exxon and Rosneft not even telling scientists what their plans are."

BP's work in the region is carried out by Russian company Elvary Neftegaz. A BP spokesman said: "You cannot compare the work of Elvary Neftegaz with the ventures Shell and Exxon are involved in. These activities are very insignificant and we would not have any useful data to contribute to the advisory panel at this time."

A spokesman for Exxon said: "Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL) has co-sponsored a successful western gray whale monitoring program since 1997. This program is conducted by prominent Russian and international whale scientists. Based on these multi-year cooperative efforts, ENL has not observed any evidence that Sakhalin-1 project activities are adversely impacting the western gray whale population or their habitat in any measurable way.

"WGWAP was specifically established to provide advisory services on a contractual basis to the Sakhalin II development of Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. ENL and the Sakhalin-1 consortium are not a party to this agreement." more

04/17/09
DNA Used To Study Migration Of Threatened Whale Sharks - Science Daily

Whale sharks -- giants of the fish world that strike terror only among tiny creatures like the plankton and krill they eat -- are imperiled by over-fishing of the species in parts of its ocean range.

That threat is underscored in a new study from geneticists led by Jennifer Schmidt, University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of biological sciences, reported online April 7 in the journal PLoS One.

Schmidt and her colleagues studied the DNA of 68 whale sharks from 11 locations across the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean Sea -- an area that covers most of the shark's known range. Results showed little genetic variation between the populations, which indicates migration and interbreeding among far-flung populations of the big fish.

"Our data show that whale sharks found in different oceans are genetically quite similar, which means that animals move and interbreed between populations," said Schmidt. "From a conservation standpoint, it means that whale sharks in protected waters cannot be assumed to stay in those waters, but may move into areas where they may be in danger."

A tropical fish that can grow 50 feet or longer and weigh over 20 tons, a whale shark's range can span oceans. They do not breed until they are about 25 to 30 years old, so it will take a long time for the species to recover from recent population declines.

Whale sharks are listed as threatened, but not every country protects them. The large animals are especially prized by fishermen for meat and fins used in soup.

Little is known about the shark's biology, perhaps because they have been studied primarily near shore, while mature animals may breed and give birth out in the open ocean. Nor is much known about neonatal or juvenile sharks, including where they grow to maturity, or how and when they move between regions. That has made devising effective conservation efforts a problem.

"The only real threat to whale sharks is us," said Schmidt. "To design proper conservation plans, we need to understand the sharks' lifestyle. We can only protect their habitat if we know what habitat they use."

Schmidt credits some countries for closing whale shark fisheries and hopes that efforts such as ecotourism programs, which sometimes include swims with the gentle giants, may prove an attractive economic alternative to fishing.

With the money brought in by well-managed ecotourism programs, Schmidt said, "people in many countries have come to realize that whale sharks are more valuable alive than dead."

The research was funded by UIC and the Shark Research Institute in Princeton, N.J.

Other authors of the report include Marie Levine, executive director of the Shark Research Institute; Mary Ashley, professor of biological sciences at UIC; and Kevin Feldheim, director of the Pritzker Laboratory at the Field Museum in Chicago. more

04/15/09
In global dispute, one man is at center of the 'Whale Wars' - Taiwan News

It's not easy being the point man for the International Whaling Commission. Trying to mediate 84 nations embroiled in a political dispute takes time away from the real issue: the whales.

When William Hogarth was elected to chair the world's whaling regulatory body in 2006, relations between delegates had grown so rancorous that meetings would erupt into childish shouting matches. Factions accused one another of lying. Petty insults flew, coffee breaks were painfully quiet and few attended evening receptions.

"It's just very tense over whales," the soft-spoken University of South Florida dean said.

Decades after the height of the commercial whaling industry, negotiations between pro and anti-whaling countries are stalemated. Japan continues to kill whales for "scientific research" and is reluctant to reduce the number it takes from the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Anti-whaling nations want them stopped.

The battle plays out annually in the Arctic waters, where seafaring activists clash with Japanese ships. The two have become so combative that they are the subject of an Animal Planet reality show, aptly titled "Whale Wars."

Hogarth now finds himself at the center of the controversy. A biologist who has managed fisheries throughout his career, the 70-year-old is shaking things up, bringing in outside conflict resolution experts and working toward a compromise that has riled both sides and brought calls for his resignation.

"I did it in the best faith," Hogarth said. "I've done what I think is right. I would love to leave with my job in June as chair thinking that I made a difference in the IWC and made it better for the whale populations, made it better for future management and whale conservation."

The native Virginian started off studying wahoo and striped bass, large, steely fish that were popular among recreational fishermen in the South. He followed their life cycle in streams and in the oceans off North Carolina, where he became director of the state's Division of Marine Fisheries in 1986.

Hogarth describes himself as a conservationist at heart. Through the years, he's been at the helm of disputes involving countless species. Turtles. Red snappers. Shark. Few have escaped his watch, first as a state director and later as an administrator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"It's hard to manage fisheries because you're affecting people's livelihoods and then it just gets into the politics," he said over a recent lunch. "It's sort of like, 'Manage it, but not in my backyard.'"

In North Carolina, where commercial fishermen raked in millions from shrimp, flounder and weakfish, any discussion about fishing regulations generated heated debate. To address overfishing, Hogarth spearheaded a moratorium on all fishing licenses. The reaction?

"People were yelling and screaming," said Robert V. Lucas, who was chair at the state's Marine Fisheries Commission at the time. "There were people who said, 'It's about time, that this should be done, it's out of hand.'

"And there were other people saying, 'This is like communism,'" he recalled.

It was, perhaps, an early lesson in negotiating the political waters of fisheries management. In the end, the moratorium went through. But it didn't win Hogarth any political clout.

He resigned shortly thereafter. Within months, though, he was working as a biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"The irony is he actually wanted to solve some of these problems, and by trying to solve them it really cost him his job," said Bruce Freeman, who became division director several months after Hogarth resigned.

The International Whaling Commission was created in 1946 at a time when commercial whaling had driven many large baleen species to near extinction. To conserve and rebuild their numbers, delegates agreed to protections for individual species, and later a moratorium on commercial whaling.

From the start, the 1986 whaling ban created a rift between nations with a history of hunting and eating whales and those that had come to view them as an intelligent and sacred species. Some nations filed objections; aboriginal populations like the Alaskan Eskimos were still granted a limited catch, and Japan continued to kill the mammals under an exemption allowing nations to issue permits for scientific research.

Pro-whaling countries believe many species are plentiful enough to continue hunting them; minke whales - those largely hunted by Japan in the Antarctic - are estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands. Others, like the North Atlantic right whale, have barely recovered, numbering just a few hundred at most.

Those tensions surface every year at IWC meetings. Among diplomatic circles, the whaling commission has a reputation for being particularly contentious. The U.S. has been accused of having a double standard - allowing Alaskan Aborigines to hunt but refusing to support Japanese whaling. Japan, meanwhile, is accused of using the scientific whaling exemption as a guise for continued commercial whaling hunt, as the meat is sold for consumption.

The result has been years of heated meetings, filled with yelling and name calling. Sir Geoffrey Palmer of the New Zealand delegation described it as an "absolutely poisonous atmosphere."

Hogarth was reluctant to take the job. He was, after all, already chair of The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and a NOAA administrator, two big jobs.

"I'd heard enough about the IWC to know it would be very difficult to change," he said. "That people were pretty headstrong about the way they felt. It's basically a one-issue commission. You believe in whaling or you don't."

But Hogarth came on board and took a laid-back approach that appears to have started the thaw of icy relations between delegates. First, he decided he needed help to address some of the perennial issues facing the commission, whaling by scientific permit among them.

Last year, he consulted an outside expert, who recommended Alvaro de Soto, a Peruvian diplomat who'd served at the United Nations for more than two decades, helping to broker peace in El Salvador in the early '90s and serving as the Middle East envoy before his retirement. Commission members had viewed Alvaro as being impartial.

Alvaro advised the commission to meet in a smaller working group: 84 nations were far too many to hold productive negotiations.

In February, Hogarth and Alvaro issued a report proposing that Japan be permitted to conduct limited coastal whaling off its shores in exchange for reductions in the Southern Ocean. The idea has generated considerable criticism.

"This is sort of like saying to bank robbers, 'We're going to allow you to rob the banks in the North but you really have to cut down on your robberies in the South,'" said activist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Hogarth hasn't endorsed it yet, and the Obama administration has signaled it will take a tough stance on whales.

"The United States continues to view the commercial whaling moratorium as a necessary conservation measure and believes that lethal scientific whaling is unnecessary in modern whale conservation management," White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley said a statement.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Paul Kline has called for Hogarth's resignation.

"It doesn't reflect the sentiment of Americans and the position of our new administration," he said of the proposal.

Hogarth expects to resign in June after the commission's annual meeting.

Even if a settlement isn't reached, members say he's helped move them in the right direction. For the first time in many years, delegates are talking civilly. At a recent meeting in Florida, members actually attended an evening reception Hogarth arranged at a restaurant.

The days of yelling seem to be behind them - for now, anyway. more

04/10/09
Maine lobstermen chafe at rope ban to help whales - kentucky.com

Frank Thompson was among the scores of unhappy lobstermen who delivered millions of feet of rope to a warehouse in this fishing community.

He said the fishing rope piled high in his pickup truck and trailer was still good, except for one thing: Come Sunday, it will be illegal.

A new federal regulation, years in the works, outlaws the use of floating rope that connects millions of lobster traps on the ocean bottom and sometimes entangles endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Marine scientists and conservationists say using rope that sinks will make the whales less prone to getting snagged as they lumber through the Gulf of Maine each spring and summer.

Lobstermen such as Thompson, who lives on the island of Vinalhaven, say the rule will increase costs and do little, if anything, to help whales. They claim the regulation is overkill and could make lobstermen as endangered as the whales.

"They're slowly driving us out of the lobster business, aren't they?" a grim-faced Thompson said last week.

Whale advocates maintain the rule is a vital tool to protect right whales. Five cases have been documented in recent years of the whales getting tangled in gear set by Maine lobstermen, said Vicki Cornish, of the Washington, D.C.-based Ocean Conservancy group.

"They're always at risk because there are such low numbers," Cornish said.

The North Atlantic right whale was severely overharvested through the 19th century by aboriginal and commercial whalers who found them easy targets because they're slow swimmers and their high fat content makes them float after they die. There are now an estimated 300 to 400.

The whales, which are about 50 feet long and weigh up to 70 tons as adults, live along the Eastern Seaboard. They migrate each year between breeding grounds off Florida and Georgia to summer feeding grounds off New England and the Canadian Maritimes.

They've long been protected from commercial whaling, but they still face threats from ship collisions and fishing gear entanglements.

To protect them, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set speed limits for ships 65 feet or longer in areas where they breed, feed and migrate.

Last fall, East Coast fishermen who use certain types of nets were required to use sinking rope to reduce entanglements. On Sunday, thousands of lobstermen and other trap fishermen from Maine to the Southeast have to do the same.

Nowhere will the impact be greater than in Maine, home to nearly 6,000 licensed lobstermen and an estimated 3 million traps.

Lobsters are caught in traps strung together on the ocean bottom and attached to buoys on each end. When floating lines are used to connect the traps, they form arcs of rope that can entangle whales. Sinking rope avoids that problem.

In preparation for the new rule, lobstermen have been getting rid of tens of millions of feet of floating rope and replacing it with sinking rope as they get ready to set their traps in the cold ocean waters in the coming weeks for the lobster season.

Government grants that are available to buy back the old rope have cushioned the financial blow. But fishermen say they'll still have to spend thousands of dollars each on the new rope. And they say the timing couldn't be worse: When the economy melted down last fall, lobster prices fell to levels not seen in decades, putting lobstermen on shaky financial footing.

Fishermen say the sinking rope is more expensive than floating rope and won't last as long because it sits on the ocean bottom, where it scrapes and snags on rocks. And because the rope is prone to break, lobstermen say they'll lose traps.

Thompson said he was unimpressed with the sinking rope after experimenting with it over the winter while fishing 50 miles offshore.

He said he can't help being frustrated: He's never seen a right whale in his 43 years on the water, but he'll have to spend more than $40,000 on new rope for traps fished from his two boats.

"We have not endangered the whale," he said, "but we're paying the price."

Supporters of the new rule say there's no denying the statistics. Between 2002 and 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Service confirmed 25 gear entanglements and 15 ship collisions involving right whales along the Eastern Seaboard.

This past winter, marine officials said they found off the Georgia and Florida coasts five entangled right whales, one of which was caught in lobster gear from Canadian waters.

The Ocean Conservancy's Cornish said whales encounter a spider web of lines off Maine created by the traps. The rules already give Maine lobstermen a break by exempting large portions of the ocean close to shore, and if anything, they should be stronger, she said.

"I'm not jumping up and down with joy, because I think (the fisheries service) missed the ball on where the sinking-line requirements should apply," Cornish said. "The whales that got entangled in Maine state waters are still at risk from floating lines in those exact same areas."
more

04/05/09
Court rejects suit to better protect blue whales - http://www.sandiego6.com

An environmental group has lost a lawsuit that would have forced the U.S. Coast Guard to better protect blue whales after several were killed by ships in the Santa Barbara Channel off Southern California.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney rejected an argument by the Center for Biological Diversity that the Coast Guard should consider the Endangered Species Act when it regulates ship traffic. Chesney issued a summary judgment Monday in San Francisco.

The suit was filed after at least three of the endangered mammals were hit by ships in 2007.

The group argued that the Coast Guard should consult with National Marine Fisheries Service scientists to make sure the actions it takes to regulate ship traffic don't harm whales. more

04/02/09
Huge Population Of Rare Dolphins Discovered -

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has just announced the discovery of a huge population of rare dolphins in South Asia—but warns that the population is threatened by climate change and fishing nets.

Using rigorous scientific techniques, WCS researchers estimate that nearly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, which are related to orcas or killer whales, were found living in freshwater regions of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest and adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal—an area where little marine mammal research has taken place up to this point. Prior to this study, the largest known populations of Irrawaddy dolphins numbered in the low hundreds or less.

Each discovery of Irrawaddy dolphins is important because scientists do not know how many remain on the planet. In 2008, they were listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List based on population declines in known populations.

The results of the study were announced today at the First International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas in Maui, Hawaii and published in the Winter issue of the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Authors of the study include Brian D. Smith, Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli, and Samantha Strindberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society, along with Benazir Ahmed of Chittagong University in Bangladesh.

“With all the news about freshwater environments and state of the Oceans, WCS’s discovery that a thriving population of Irrawaddy dolphins exists in Bangladesh gives us hope for protecting this and other endangered species and their important habitats,” said Dr. Steven E. Sanderson, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “WCS is committed to conservation of these iconic marine species from dolphins, sea turtles, sharks to the largest whales.”

“This discovery gives us great hope that there is a future for Irrawaddy dolphins,” said Brian D. Smith, the study’s lead author. “Bangladesh clearly serves as an important sanctuary for Irrawaddy dolphins, and conservation in this region should be a top priority.”

Despite finding this extraordinarily large population, the study’s authors warn that the dolphins are becoming increasingly threatened by accidental entanglement in fishing nets. During the study, researchers encountered two dolphins that had become entangled and subsequently drowned in fishing nets—a common occurrence according to local fishermen.

In a second paper, published in the March/April issue of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem, Smith and his coauthors report the additional long-term threat to the dolphin population of declining freshwater supplies, caused by upstream water diversion in India, coupled with sea-level rise due to climate change. These circumstances also threaten Ganges River dolphins, an endangered species with a range that overlaps with that of the Irrawaddy dolphins’ in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The recent likely extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, is a potent reminder of how vulnerable freshwater dolphins are to extinction via the impacts of humans.

The Irrawaddy dolphin grows to some 2 to 2.5 meters in length (6.5 to 8 feet) and frequents large rivers, estuaries, and freshwater lagoons in South and Southeast Asia. In Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady River, these dolphins are known for “cooperative fishing” with humans, where the animals voluntarily herd schools of fish toward fishing boats and awaiting nets. With the aid of dolphins, fishermen can increase the size of their catches up to threefold. The dolphins appear to benefit from this relationship by easily preying on the cornered fish and those that fall out of the net as the fishermen pull it from the water. In 2006, WCS helped establish a protected area along the Ayeyarwady River to conserve this critically endangered mammal population.

WCS is currently working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Bangladesh on plans for establishing a protected area network for both Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Funding is critical to sustaining these activities along with WCS’s long-term efforts to study the effects of climate change on this habitat, support sustainable fishing practices, and develop local ecotourism projects.

Support for this study has been provided in part by the Kerzner Marine Foundation and Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK). This study was also funded in part by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. The Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has also supported WCS efforts as part of a regional program for cetacean conservation in the Bay of Bengal.

The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. more

03/31/09
Hundreds of killer whales seen in Gulf of Mexico - Star-Telegram.com

It was a fish story that even veteran boat captains found fascinating: As many as 200 killer whales feeding on tuna in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"It was like being at Sea World because they'd come right up to the boat," said Eddie Hall, captain of the Shady Lady, the 60-foot charter boat that spotted the shiny black sea beasts with white eye patches and undersides. "It was pretty neat."

It was also hard for some skeptics to believe: Orcas, as killer whales are also known, typically are thought to live in cold water and eat seals.

But Hall's description of what he saw last Oct. 31 was no tall tale: A government biologist who saw video taken from Hall's boat confirmed the captain had spotted the creatures. And last week that same scientist, Keith Mullin, explained at a public meeting in Orange Beach, Ala., that yes, contrary to common perceptions, killer whales really do live in the Gulf, far from land.

Mullin, whose outfit has been working for years to get an accurate count of the Gulf's whale population, said it may be time to dramatically increase estimates on how many killer whales are lurking in the deep waters off the Gulf Coast. He's taking part in a research expedition this summer that could determine if his hunch is right.

Scientists believe the whales have been in the Gulf for years, Mullin said, and that their presence - though startling to some anglers - isn't a sign of climate change or other manmade condition. Their relatively small population and the speed at which pods move make them difficult to count, which could have led to lower estimates.

"I've got good records of them in the Caribbean. We see them almost exclusively in deep water, 600 feet and more," Mullin said. "I think they've always been there. It's just in the last 15 to 20 years that we've been trying to study them."

Hall told The Associated Press on Monday that the Shady Lady was 95 miles off the coast of Alabama when anglers and crew saw scores of the marine mammals feeding near an offshore rig in water more than a mile deep.

"There were four different pods. We estimated there were about 200 maximum. One pod had 75 in it," said Hall, who runs charters out of Zeke's Landing in Orange Beach, about 40 miles east of Mobile.

People on the boat took video and photos, including some with the offshore rig in the background to identify their location. But Hall said they got laughed off the dock when they returned.

"It was a joke because no one would believe us," he said.

Hall sent photos and video to Gary Finch, whose Fairhope-based Gary Finch Outdoors company produces a syndicated fishing and hunting television show. Finch then showed them to Mullin, who works at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, Miss., an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that researches marine life.

Mullin didn't have to look twice: Hall was right about seeing killer whales, although he couldn't tell by the video how many were near Hall's boat, he said in an interview with AP.

The Shady Lady sighting "created a stir" over killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico, Mullin said; about 80 people attended the informational meeting he held in Orange Beach last week.

Gulf orcas are just like the ones that live in cold water, Mullin said, save for their diet of dolphin and tuna instead of seals. Male killer whales average 20 feet in length and weigh as much as 12,000 pounds, but females are smaller.

Fifteen groups of killer whales have been sighted in the Gulf since deep-water surveys began in 1992, he said. Past estimates have varied widely, from a low of 49 to a high of 277 living in the Gulf north of a line extending from Key West, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas.

The actual number of killer whales in the Gulf could be closer to 500, Mullin said, and a two-month expedition this summer could help nail down an answer. The trip was planned independently of the boat's sighting, he said.

Either way, Hall's glad Mullin's outfit is involved. He knew what he saw, but he was still happy to get confirmation that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. more

03/30/09
Rescued whale later found dead in Australia - SFGate

One of four whales that survived a mass stranding in southwest Australia was found dead Thursday not far from where it had been released back to sea, the state government said.

The juvenile pilot whale was one of 11 trucked overland from the original beaching site and helped back to sea Tuesday morning. One returned to shore immediately and died. A day later, six whales ended up on a beach just miles (kilometers) away. Three died, and three were shot by veterinarians who said the animals were weak and deteriorating rapidly.

Officials hope the remaining three rescued whales are safe at sea.

"I'm hoping that the other whales, the three remaining whales that were released on Tuesday, are quite a bit stronger and will be able to survive," said John Carter, a spokesman for the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation.

He said a surveillance flight would look for the whales Friday morning.

The whales were part of a group of about 90 whales and five bottlenose dolphins that became stranded on a beach in Western Australia state early Monday. Most of the animals died there.

This week's mass beaching was the fifth in Australia in as many months; nearly 500 whales have died.

Scientists say the types of whales that beach themselves are extremely social groups that will follow pod members into danger. But they cannot explain what draws the deep-sea animals so close to shore.

There are a number of possible theories, including that the whales could be chasing prey, or that their navigational sonar could be hindered by undersea geomagnetic factors such as iron ore deposits or even submarine sonars.

Once stranded, a whale out of water is likely to die of overheating or when its organs are crushed by its own body weight after leaving the buoyancy of water.

The mass strandings occur most often in the island state of Tasmania, in Australia's southeast, and in Western Australia.
more

03/27/09
Right whales flocking to Cape waters - cape cod times

Early spring has brought a record number of North Atlantic right whales to Cape Cod Bay.

An aerial survey done last week by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies indicated there were 60 right whales swimming in the bay, chowing down on the buffet of zooplankton in the waters offshore.

That's six times the number of the endangered whales surveyors saw last year at this time.

The sightings have been well off-shore, according to Kate Longley of the center's aerial survey program.

"We have had the richest early season that we've ever had," said the center's right whale habitat specialist, Charles "Stormy" Mayo.

In the early season, right whales feed on a winter type of zooplankton. The tiny organisms form in waters far north of Cape Cod and float with the currents into the bay. And this year's crop of whale food has been especially plentiful, Mayo said.

But it's too early to tell whether the whales will remain until the late spring like they did last year.

Last April, 70 to 100 of the large marine mammals arrived in Cape waters, drawing visitors from near and far to watch the feast. The flurry prompted state officials to issue mariner warnings in an effort to avoid ship strikes and entanglements. Many of last year's hungry whales frolicked and fed near the shoreline.

The combination of two types of zooplankton — winter and spring versions — produced a potent stew last year. That may occur again this year.

"We're really the beneficiaries of a regional richness," Mayo added. "There are lots of subtleties and complexities that we don't full understand."

This early swell of right whales comes in the first year of a new federal law benefiting the mammal. The law sets seasonal limits on the speeds of large ships along the Atlantic Ocean coast to prevent whales from being hit.

In Cape Cod Bay, the law limits ships longer than 65 feet to 10 knots from Jan. 1 through May 15. The same limit is in effect off Race Point Light from March 1 through April 30.

The boon also coincides with a record of 39 right whale calf births this year, said Mason Weinrich of the Whale Center of New England. The calves were born in waters off the states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The number of confirmed right whale deaths has declined as well, to 2 last year, said Teri Frady of the National Marine Fisheries Science Center.

Experts estimate there are only about 300 to 400 North Atlantic right whales left in the world. more

03/25/09
Humpback whale spotted in Hong Kong waters - www.iol.co.za

Hong Kong - A large humpback whale has been spotted swimming close to Hong Kong's famous harbour in what's believed to be the first sighting of the species in the territory's waters.

Local television footage showed the whale surfacing in Hong Kong's East Lamma Channel leading into the city's Victoria Harbour, exhaling through its blowhole and raising its tail fin.

Hong Kong authorities say it's the first time a humpback whale has been spotted in Hong Kong waters.

"From observations it's healthy and we'll continue to monitor it," Jolly Choi, a spokesperson for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, said on Wednesday.

The whale, estimated to be 10m long, has already drawn a number of whale-watching boat trips since it was first spotted on Monday.

Some experts have warned the bustling harbour's heavy maritime traffic could pose a risk to the seemingly lost mammal.

"I'm quite optimistic that it can swim back out to the open seas," said Samuel Hung, the director of the Hong Kong Cetacean Research Project. more

03/24/09
Stranded whales returned to sea off SW Australia - Australia

The whales that have been beaching themselves in Australia in recent months are from extremely social species, known to follow pod members into danger.

That may help explain why the animals accompany each other in what turns into a mass beaching, but as Australian officials work to rescue survivors from the latest group to strand itself, scientists still cannot explain what draws the deep-sea animals so close to shore in the first place.

"What makes them strand is still mysterious," said Mark Hindell, a whale researcher at University of Tasmania's School of Zoology.

"There are as many different reasons for strandings as there are strandings. There are so many factors, you need so many things to line up in order for a stranding to occur," he said.

Five large pods, totaling more than 500 animals, have beached themselves in Australia since November, with most of them dying.

The latest group — 87 long-finned pilot whales and five bottlenose dolphins — stranded on a beach in Western Australia state Monday. Before rescuers could respond, more than 70 whales and one dolphin had died.

By Tuesday evening, 14 whales and four dolphins had been helped back to sea — some of them after being trucked overland to a beach with deeper, calmer waters.

As usual, there was no explanation for why the whales ended up on that beach.

"In certain years the whales will be closer to land and more available to strand," Hindell said. "But the big question is, why they are coming so close?"

Scientists have offered some theories: The whales may be chased by predators such as killer whales, or they could be following prey themselves. The sonar they use to navigate the dark seas could be hindered by natural geomagnetic factors such as iron ore deposits. They may swim into an area where sandbars or peninsulas block their exit. Or they may follow one ill or injured pod member and refuse to leave it.

Human activity such as undersea exploration for petroleum or the sonar of submarines also can interfere with whale and dolphin navigation.

Whatever the reason, once one animal heads for the dangerous shallows, the rest are likely to follow.

"Certain species of whales are more prone to mass strandings because the social bonds between them are incredibly strong," said Mike Bossley of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "If one animal is in trouble, the others won't leave him."

Pilot whales and sperm whales, both particularly social species, have been stranding themselves on Australian coastlines since last November.

Out of about 520 beached whales, more than 470 have died. Some are battered by rocks and surf, while others die of dehydration and overheating, while still others have their organs crushed by their own body weight after leaving the weightlessness of water.

The mass strandings occur most often in the island state of Tasmania, in Australia's southeast, and in Western Australia.

Marine researcher Karen Evans said the timing is right for an increase in beachings. In 2004 she co-authored a study concluding that beachings peak in a 10-year cycle linked to climate changes in the oceans.

"We're in a peak period now," said Evans, of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. "What happens in that period is the climate factors increase the prey field near the shore, forcing whales closer to shore and thereby increasing the probability that they will strand."

She said the research did not provide a direct reason for strandings, but that it did show a cycle dating back to the 1920s that could help state governments prepare resources for peak periods of beachings. more

03/20/09
Some fear Navy sonar may harm Fla.'s right whales - Modesto Bee

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. -- In the blue-green surf, 11 endangered North Atlantic right whales surface, jump and shoot mist high into the air through their blow holes.

Dozens of motorists pull over on A1A and grab their cameras and binoculars as the whales frolic in three groups near this north Florida town's pier.

"It's a good day," whale researcher Jim Hain said as he watched through binoculars from a restaurant's top deck.

But this picture postcard scene is at the center of the latest debate over how to balance the protection of marine mammals with the military's need to use sonar for training.

The right whale is among the world's most endangered mammals. Hain and other researchers believe there are only about 300 to 350 of them remaining and a loss of some breeding females could be devastating.

Until now, their biggest threat has been ship strikes and entanglement in fishing lines. But researchers worry a new threat may be lurking in the waters off northwest Florida and south Georgia where the whales come each year from the North Atlantic to give birth - two Navy sonar projects.

The National Marine Fisheries Service just approved the Navy's plan to do sonar training along the Eastern Seaboard - the right whales' habitat - but requires it to take precautions to protect the whales and other marine animals.

The Navy also wants to locate an anti-submarine warfare training range on 75 miles off the north Florida coast. Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and Mayport Naval Station are nearby. The facility, the Navy says, would enable it to train in a shallow-water environment. The affect on marine mammals would be negligible, the Navy said.

But environmentalists argue that mid-frequency active sonar can disrupt whale feeding patterns, and in the most extreme cases can kill whales by causing them to beach themselves. Scientists don't fully know how it hurts whales.

"In proposing to locate the training range just outside of this federally designated right whale critical habitat, the Navy ignores or turns a willful blind eye to the various risks posed by its activities," said Catherine Wannamaker, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Atlanta.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are also concerned about the sonar. Florida has asked the Navy to cancel the project or at least close the range from mid-October to mid-April. That's the period the whales are in the area.

Environmental groups and the Navy have been at odds for years over sonar, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a Southern California case in November that military training was more important than protecting whales.

After that ruling, the Navy and the Natural Resources Defense Council settled over the use of sonar in Hawaii. It requires the Navy to continue research on how sonar affects whales and other marine animals, but does not require sailors to adopt additional measures when they use sonar.

A federal study determined Navy sonar tests likely caused the deaths of six beaked whales in the Bahamas in 2000. A necropsy determined the whales had bled heavily near their ears. The report said the wounds would not be fatal but could make the animals disoriented and beach themselves.

Armed with a constantly ringing cell phone, a walkie talkie, a clipboard with whale sightings and cameras with long lenses, Hain has made an annual pilgrimage each January for 19 years, for his study of the whales as they return. He works with a team of about 200 volunteers and the Marineland Right Whale Project who come to the shore to spot the elusive whales and their calves.

A quiet twin-engine, slow-flying aircraft is used to photograph the whales, which can be individually identified by the white markings or "callosities" on their heads and tracked.

"The thing we've learned, but we sort of knew ahead of time, is their variability," said Hain, a senior scientist with Associated Scientists at Woods Hole, Mass. "These whales have individual characteristics and preferences."

It has been a good season for the right whales. Researchers have spotted 39 calves and mothers, the highest number recorded in about two decades of watching, and about 100 juveniles and sub-adults of the 165 whales spotted. They received their name because they were considered the right whales for whalers to pursue. They range from 45 to 55 feet and can weigh up to 70 tons. As baleen whales, they have plates to filter small crustaceans from the water instead of teeth. They swim close to shore, are slow and float when dead.

The species takes about 10 years to reach sexual maturity and some females may be 20 before having their first calf. Hain estimates the whales have a 65-year or longer lifespan.

Volunteer Becky Bush sighted the group of right whales off Flagler Beach. Like many of the watchers, she spends hours scanning the waters. She is thrilled when one is spotted and was amazed to see 11 at once.

"It's so addictive. There are so few of them," she said.

For now, Hain is reluctant to jump into the fray over the Navy's proposed anti-sub training range, which will take several years of study before it's built.

"We look at the science and we look at what the facts tell us and we submit our comments based on that," he said. "There is no point in commenting until we have some facts on the table."
more

03/17/09
Man and Whales: Changing Views Through Time at the museum - New Bedford Whaling Museum

Join us at the New Bedford Whaling Museum tomorrow night for:

Man and Whales: Changing Views Through Time
Lecture #4
Flensing / Rendering – Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6:30 p.m.
Presenters: Rob Ellis, Gare Reid and Michael Moore

Whaling voyages were well planned business operations. Quick, efficient flensing and rendering of the captured whales was a critical activity that followed an accepted, precise pattern of cutting and processing. Presently, when a dead whale is found on a beach or near shore, necropsy teams get to their tasks with a similar eye to procedure and quick action. The major difference, naturally, is that the focus is now maximum data collection rather than maximum collection of product.

Then: Rob Ellis, former Curator, and Gare Reid, former Deputy Director at the Kendall Whaling Museum have experience recovering samples from beached whales and subsequently ‘trying out’ whale blubber. They will share both direct and historical knowledge on this topic.

Now: Michael Moore, Senior Research Specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has led or conducted dozens of whale necropsies; three of these involve whales whose skeletons hang in the Whaling Museum. He’ll explain how and why dead whales are critical sources of information about the individuals and their respective species.

Free to WM members, $5 for general public.

more

03/15/09
First Right Whale Sedation Enables Disentanglement Effort - Science Daily

03/13/09
Baby Blue Whale Caught on Film Underwater - National Geographic News

A baby blue whale filmed off Costa Rica may be the first to have been photographed underwater and adds to evidence that a blue whale hot spot in the Pacific Ocean is a birthing ground for the endangered species.

During a January 2008 expedition to the "Dome"—a warm-water region that draws blue whales from hundreds of miles away—the researchers had begun to lose hope of finding a calf. Then two telltale spouts began erupting at the sea surface.

"Oh, tell me that one of them is a small blow, please," Bruce Mate, of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, says in the documentary.

One of the spouts did turn out to be that of a calf, which approached the research boat—surprising the scientists, given blue whale mothers' protective reputations.

A photographer and videographer dived in and soon had the visual evidence needed to identify the whale as a baby blue.

Averaging 25 feet (7.6 meters) long at birth, blue whale babies nurse for about seven months until they double in size. Gaining about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) a day, they are the biggest babies ever known to have roamed the Earth.

Blue whales were heavily hunted until a worldwide ban in 1966. Today they are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, meaning they face a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Migration Mystery

By comparing new and old photos of blue whale spot patterns—which can be as distinct, in their way, as human fingerprints—expedition member John Calambokidis later identified the Dome mother as a summer resident of California's Channel Islands. The researchers speculate that mother and baby returned to the islands, rich with krill but fraught with danger from increasing shipping traffic.

The destinations of other whales at the Dome remain a mystery—unfortunately for conservationists looking to safeguard blue whale migration routes.

On a previous trip, researchers had found that more than 75 percent of the whales at the Dome were from the U.S. West Coast. But the recent expedition found only 25 percent.

"It caught us by surprise," Calambokidis told National Geographic News. A whale expert from the Cascadia Research Collective in Washington State, Calambokidis has received funding from National Geographic's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

The Dome's importance to the struggling species, though, is no mystery.

"We're quite confident now that this is one of the very, very important areas for blue whales in the entire world," Mate said. more

03/08/09
SISTER SANCTUARIES TO PROTECT ENDANGERED WHALES AT BOTH ENDS OF ANNUAL MIGRATION - NOAA

United States and Dominican Republic Partner in Historic Conservation Effort

NOAA established a "sister sanctuary" arrangement between the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts and the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic, two marine protected areas 1,500 miles apart that provide conservation programs for the same population of humpback whales.

The initiative is the world's first sister sanctuary linkage protecting an endangered migratory marine mammal species on both ends of its range. Both sanctuaries provide critical support for the same population of around 900 whales, which spend spring and summer in the rich feeding grounds of Stellwagen Bank before heading south to the warmer waters of the Dominican Republic in late fall to mate and give birth to their young. The sister sanctuary agreement was designed to enhance coordination in management efforts between the two sanctuaries and help improve humpback whale recovery in the north Atlantic.

NOAA image of humpback whale migration route between the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic."Long-term research tells us that the same individuals that summer off New England spend their winters off the Dominican Republic," said NOAA Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary superintendent Craig MacDonald. "Coordinating management and research across these habitats moves us several steps closer to ensuring the health of this endangered species."

As sister sanctuaries, the two sites will explore new avenues for collaborative management efforts, including joint research, monitoring, education and capacity building programs. The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program anticipates that the relationship will be crucial to future protection of the north Atlantic humpback whale population, as well as to the development of further cooperative agreements.

"The sister sanctuary relationship will play a powerful role in protecting endangered humpback whales, and the opportunity for international cooperation in marine conservation is invaluable," said Daniel J. Basta, NOAA sanctuary program director. "This agreement has the potential to improve our scientific knowledge, enhance our management ability and increase the program's visibility—benefits that extend far beyond the sanctuaries involved."

NOAA image of humpback whale in the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary with a bubble net, which are often employed to contain schools of small fish, like sand lance. The whale then comes up through the net to catch the fish.The official memorandum of understanding to create the sister sanctuary relationship was signed by Basta and Maximiliano Puig, minister for the environment and natural resources for the Dominican Republic. The sister sanctuary agreement goes into effect immediately and establishes the cooperation guidelines for the next five years.

"This conservation action is important as a model for the wider Caribbean region," said Puig. "Our sanctuary was the first marine mammal sanctuary established in the region, and it continues to lead by example. Our broadest mandate is to engender a new discussion in our society about the importance of marine mammals, the oceans in which they live and our responsibility as ocean stewards."

NOAA image of humpback whale in the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which can engulf massive amounts of water as it feeds in the sanctuary.The NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 842 square miles of ocean, stretching between Cape Ann and Cape Cod offshore of Massachusetts. Renowned for its scenic beauty and remarkable productivity, the sanctuary supports a rich assortment of marine life, including marine mammals, more than 30 species of seabirds, more than 60 species of fishes, and hundreds of marine invertebrates and plants.

The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program seeks to increase the public awareness of America's marine resources and maritime heritage by conducting scientific research, monitoring, exploration and educational programs. Today, the sanctuary program manages 13 national marine sanctuaries and one marine national monument that together encompass more than 150,000 square miles of America's ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources.

In October 1986, the "Silver Bank Humpback Whale Sanctuary" was established in the Dominican Republic to protect the mating, calving and nursery grounds of humpback whales. In 1996, the sanctuary was extended to include Navidad Bank and part of Samana Bay, covering the three main humpback breeding grounds in Dominican waters. At this time the sanctuary was renamed Santuaria de Mamiferos Marinos de la Republica Dominicana (Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic), or SMMRD in Spanish. Today, the SMMRD protects all marine mammals within its 19,438-square-mile area. Within the sanctuary, Silver Bank, located approximately 50 miles northeast of the Dominican Republic coast in the Caribbean Sea, represents the densest concentration of humpbacks found in the north Atlantic.

Created in the year 2000 by the merger of more than ten institutions, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is one of the young ministries of the Dominican Republic. Its mission is to protect and manage the country's environment and natural resources with the objective of reaching sustainable development. Every year, during the humpback whale observation period of January to March, the ministry establishes an agreement with local and governmental institutions to promote tourism, marine and business activities within the sanctuary that do not affect the habitat and reproductive cycle of the mammals. This initiative is the result of the ministry's policy for an open, democratic and participative management based on the cooperation and strategic alliances between the state, local communities, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects. more

03/03/09
Rescuers struggle to free stranded whales and dolphins in Tasmania - L A Times

Rescuers in Tasmania managed to save 48 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins who'd become stranded on Naracoopa Beach.

194 whales and dolphins were beached; only 54 whales and seven dolphins were still alive when the rescue effort began. The Telegraph reports:

The whales were saved by trenches dug in the sand that allowed water to surround them, as volunteers doused the animals with water and draped them in wet fabric to keep cool.

Groups of volunteers used stretchers to lug dolphins into the shallows, and other officials used small boats and a jet ski to pull whales out to sea.

Rescuers were hopeful they would stay away from the shore.

"It's too early to say yet, but it's been a very, very positive day," Shelley Davison, a Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Australian officials reported today that all but one of the rescued animals were now swimming in deep water.

"It has been a great result. We have stabilised the whale which came back to the beach and are waiting for a change in the weather this afternoon to see if the animal is strong enough and the conditions are right for another rescue effort to be made,'' Parks and Wildlife senior ranger Chris Arthur told the Mercury.

Whales and dolphins stranded in TasmaniaThe Mercury describes the rescue effort:

Among the volunteers was Jemma Blomhoff, who left her King Island home with four-month-old daughter Jordyn early yesterday, taking along friend Helen Morgan.

"When I heard, I grabbed some buckets. Jordyn was still in her pyjamas," said Ms Blomhoff, 22.

"I've never seen anything like it. It was awful, but it was good.

"They told us to find one [animal] and stick to it. Ours was a dolphin. We just tipped water over him continuously. When the water was on his face he would lift his face and open his blowhole as if he was really enjoying it.

"They took him to the water in the carrier and when they put him back, he went silly. They had to hold him so he could get some strength back. He was lifting his tail. It was excellent. So it had a happy ending."

Mass strandings of whales are not uncommon in Australia and New Zealand, for reasons not entirely clear to researchers. One theory is a disturbance to the whales' echo-location systems, perhaps caused by human activity. more

03/01/09
Fishermen, scientists try to develop gear that won't entangle whales - canadaeast.com

Canadian scientists and fishermen are trying to develop lobster gear that won't harm endangered whales at a time when entanglements are at record highs and U.S. environmentalists are exerting pressure to ban conventional fishing lines.

Fishermen in Nova Scotia have been experimenting with so-called sinking or weighted rope between their lobster traps in a bid to reduce the risk of ensnaring whales, particularly rare North Atlantic right whales, in their lines.

Hubert Saulnier, a lobster fisherman in the Bay of Fundy where many of the massive mammals go to feed in the summer, has been using the line for almost a year and monitoring it with underwater sensors.

He said it can still rise up in the bay's powerful currents and wrap around a whale, which may end up posing more of a danger to them because the line is so heavy it could make it more difficult for them to get free.

"That rope is probably not the right solution at this time," he said from Saulnierville on the province's southwest coast.

"We are being proactive now and if there are any solutions out there that work we would definitely act upon them."

The assessment comes after a controversial decision in the United States to phase in bans of the "floating" lines attached to lobster traps, which hook onto a line of traps on the ocean floor and rise straight up through the water column to the surface.

The lines are thought to be one of the greatest threats to the North Atlantic right whales, whose population has dwindled to only 400 since they were hunted to near extinction in the 1700s.

They can wrap around their mouths and prevent them from eating, keep them tied to the bottom so they drown or cause an infection that can eventually kill them.

Ship strikes are the other major source of mortality for the 17-metre creatures, which journey from their breeding grounds off Georgia and Florida to the Bay of Fundy in June.

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration in the States issued a bulletin last week stating there have been five entanglements in the last few months, a record that is more than double the average rate.

Gear on one of the whales has been proven to be Canadian, while officials haven't determined the source of the other lines that remain snared around two whales. The others have managed to wriggle free or were disentangled.

Moira Brown, a leading right whale researcher, said it's clear the animals are getting fetched up in Canadian gear, but she's not convinced mandating the elimination of the commonly used floating lines is the best way to go.

"It is complicated and there are no easy answers," she said from the New England Aquarium.

"In Canada I think it's very easy to suggest we follow suit with what's going on in U.S....but just blindly going ahead and banning groundlines is just reactive."

Following lengthy legal battles with environmental groups, the U.S. government implemented a ban on floating lines for gillnets and for lobster traps, with the latter ban taking effect this April.

Fishermen in Maine have decried the decision, saying the weighted lines are expensive, not as durable, contain environmental toxins and aren't entirely effective because they rise up in the water.

Canadian Fisheries officials say they're not considering a ban on the floating lines, but are looking instead at alternate gear types and simple avoidance of areas where the whales have been seen by fishermen or Fisheries spotter planes.

Gus van Helvoort, director of the fisheries and aquaculture branch, said the department has provided the weighted lines to some fishermen like Saulnier, but that they haven't determined whether it's effective.

"We're investigating the effectiveness of weighted gear because we know it's being introduced in the U.S., but we also hear there's a fair bit discussion that it doesn't quite work," he said, adding that the department is spending about $30,000 on gear research,

"There has been no discussion of a ban."

All said that more research should be done to determine where the line entangling whales originated. Saulnier is headed to the States next month to examine line pulled from whales and see if it's Canadian, based on markings.

"We have to start trying to identify where the most problematic areas are," said Saulnier, who once helped pull 58 traps, 8 anchors and many balloons off a humpback whale.
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02/25/09
Volunteers, scientists guard endangered whales - CNN

Glenn Wood and several other retirees lean on a wood rail on the second story balcony of the Golden Lion Café -- a beachside pub and restaurant in northern Florida.
Glenn Wood, 68, has been searching for right whales for five years as a volunteer.

Glenn Wood, 68, has been searching for right whales for five years as a volunteer.

It's 8 a.m., so no one's here for French fries or beer-battered fish. As the group gazes out into the ocean sunrise, they're scanning for North Atlantic right whales.

Wearing whale earrings, a flipper necklace and a blue windbreaker that says "Whale Watch Survey Team" on the back, Wood says she's been coming to this spot -- the highest lookout point in the area -- to search for whales once a week for at least five years.

Each new calf the group spots gives her hope that the right whale -- a highly endangered and often-overlooked species -- will recover.

"Slowly, slowly they must be growing" in numbers, said Wood, 68. "I do feel like we're helping this. We're hopeful."

And for once, scientists say they share Wood's optimism.

At least 32 new right whale calves -- more than ever recorded -- have been observed this season off the coasts of Georgia and Florida, where the whales migrate to give birth between late November and March. Only about 400 members of the species exist, and the massive mammal is thought to be the most endangered of all the large whales.

Each birth is seen as a miracle of sorts -- a potential key to the survival of a species that has been through many tough years.

Right whales were named by their hunters who once said they were the "right whale" to kill. When they were harpooned, the chubby whales floated to the surface of the water. That made them both profitable and easy to hunt.

The whales -- which can grow to 70 tons, or the weight of more than a dozen elephants -- are difficult to spot in the water because of their jet-black appearance and lack of dorsal fins.

That has made them susceptible to humans in another way: They're often hit by ships.

Usually, one or two right whales are killed each year by collisions with ships. No deaths from ship collisions have been recorded so far this calving season.

The whale's followers say a new rule that requires large ships to slow down to 10 knots as they cruise through the whales' habitat seems to be helping. So does a large network of eyes -- like Wood's -- that scan for the school-bus size whales and alert ship captains, cruise lines, airplanes, Navy submarines and others to the whales' whereabouts.

Every morning during calving season, volunteers armed with binoculars and whale-related handouts troll up and down the Florida coast -- climbing to balconies and zipping up elevators to the top floors of high-rise condos and retirement communities -- to look for whales.

Above them and to the north, small planes filled with scientists mow neat grid lines over the Atlantic. When they spot a whale, they circle at 1,000 feet and hang out an open window to shoot photos with a long-range zoom lens.

Researchers in rubber boats use crossbows to dart the newborn whales and take tissue samples for clues about the species' genetic makeup and individual family trees. Meet the scientists and volunteers who protect the whales »

Since 1980, the New England Aquarium has used photos of the distinctive patterns on the whales' heads -- along with their scars from collisions with ships -- to identify the whales and assemble their family trees. Each whale is assigned a four-digit number in a catalogue, and many have names.

Drawings of all this season's new moms are tacked to an upstairs wall in the New England Aquarium's ocean-side research house in Fernandina Beach, Florida, up the coast from Jacksonville. Workers know the moms and their stories the same way FBI agents memorize the faces of their most-wanted suspects. Meet five of the scientists' favorite right whales »

Off the top of her head, assistant scientist Monica Zani can tell you that a whale named Baldy, her calf, No. 1503, and 1503's calf, Boomerang, all gave birth this season.

"Yeah ... they're busy," she said.

From a computer in front of the wall of whales, Zani collects sighting locations and sends out e-mails, text messages and pager alerts with the subject line "WHALE ALERT." The messages give out the exact coordinates of the whales so ships won't hit them.

Another threat is on the horizon, though.

Further north, some whales have become entangled in fishing ropes and lobster traps. Such entanglements are frequently fatal. The ropes restrict the whales' movements and dig into their skin, causing deep wounds and infections.

There have been efforts to change some fishing equipment to protect the whales, but researchers say they've already seen five entangled whales in the Southeast this year -- more than ever. Usually only one or two whales are found entangled each winter, they said.

The entanglements make some scientists temper their hopes for the future of the species.

"Four hundred animals is not a vibrant, thriving population -- it's one that's very close to the edge," said Amy Knowlton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium. "And so I think we need to keep monitoring what's happening from year to year, understand how they die, and really stay focused on the fact that this is a population that's not out of the woods by any means."

Barb Zoodsma, a right whale biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the high number of births this year can be "nothing but good news."

Still, she said, the entanglement trend is troubling.

"The fate of this species can turn on a dime, so we need to ride the wave of good news right now, but we also need to remain vigilant for threats that are on the horizon," Zoodsma said.

Katie Jackson, a marine mammal biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is part of a team that tries to disentangle these whales before their wounds become fatal.

Riding in a small, inflatable boat, the scientists toss grappling hooks at the fishing ropes that ensnare the whales. Once they grab hold, they throw jackknives at the ropes to try to cut the whales loose.

It's dangerous work and the whales often swim away as fast as they can. Of the five entangled whales spotted this season, scientists have only been able to free three, Jackson said.

One of the failed attempts was directed at whale No. 3311, named Bridle because it has a rope stuck through its mouth like a bridled horse. If Bridle isn't disentangled, he likely will die, Jackson said.

But for the moment, right whale enthusiasts seem focused on the species' apparent rebound.

Wood, the whale watcher, said many Florida residents are unaware of the school-bus sized creatures just off the shore.

"In this area people are always amazed that Florida has whales at all, so we try to educate the populace," she said. "When people drive by and see people with binoculars looking at the ocean they do wonder what we're doing."

The more people know about the whales, the more they'll be inclined to protect them, she said.

She says the right whale is a bit of a hard sell because of its awkward appearance. Researchers say the right whale is overshadowed by more glamorous whales, like the humpback.

But Wood loves the whales and their stories even if, as she says, they're "not cute."
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She thrives on the excitement of helping an underdog species recover.

"Since I started working on this we went from 350 to now closer to 400 whales," she said more

02/21/09
Environmental study finds killer whales can suffer from loss of salmon off West Coast - Contra Costa Times

California's thirst is helping drive an endangered population of West Coast killer whales toward extinction, federal biologists have concluded.

The southern resident killer whale population, which numbers 83, spends much of its time in Puget Sound, but since 2000 many of them have been spotted off the California coast as far south as Monterey Bay.

In a draft scientific report, biologists conclude the damage that water operations are doing to California's salmon populations is enough to threaten the orcas' existence because the water mammals depend on salmon for food. Federal officials confirmed the conclusions of the report to MediaNews on Friday; the data have not been released.

"It does point to the interconnected nature (of problems in the Delta)," said Maria Rea, the Sacramento, Calif., area office supervisor for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The findings, contained in a draft report by the agency's scientists, could elevate public support for environmental protection in the Delta, where the conflict between environmental advocates and water users has centered on Delta smelt, a nondescript fish that grows a couple of inches long and smells like cucumbers.

"People have a hard time looking at the Delta smelt for its own sake," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "If it's Shamu, that's a different thing."

Biologists last month reported tentatively that pumping water out of the Delta threatens to drive spring-run chinook salmon and winter-run chinook salmon to extinction.

The orca study found the loss of those fish could leave whales at times with patches of ocean that lack food, Rea said.

In addition, the reliance on hatchery-raised salmon in other salmon runs makes that food source vulnerable to disruption, she said. Hatchery fish lose the natural genetic diversity that is helpful in recovering from attacks of disease or changes in environmental conditions.

As a result, the regulatory hammer of the Endangered Species Act could be used much more aggressively to fix problems plaguing the state's most valuable salmon run, according to Grader.

The Sacramento River fall-run chinook salmon, the backbone of the commercial salmon fishery, collapsed last year. Although the run is not endangered, its collapse led to the unprecedented closure of the fishing season. Grader said regulators could use the tough law to protect fall-run salmon, not because it merits the law's protection by itself but because it provides food for the endangered orcas.

"We are still evaluating fall-run and how they fit into the picture," Rea said.

Orcas are the most widely distributed whale in the world and live in all kinds of ocean habitat. Some populations roam the oceans but resident populations, like the southern resident whales in Puget Sound, tend to stay closer to home.

The southern resident orcas' diet is almost entirely salmon and about 80 percent is chinook salmon, said Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash.

The 83 Puget Sound orcas eat about 500,000 salmon a year, he said.

"In these U.S. waters, those Sacramento River salmon would be critical," Balcomb said.

In winter, the whales move out into the ocean and swim up and down the coast in search of food, a search that in the last seven years has brought two of the three pods as far south as Monterey. Balcomb said that in recent years California's salmon have been an important food source for the whales for six to eight weeks a year.
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02/18/09
Fishermen - not whales as claimed by Japan - are the cause of fisheries depletion - mongabay.com

New analysis looks at the question: Do whales and humans compete for fish?

Fishermen calling for a resumption of whaling to restore commercial fish stocks are taking the wrong approach, argue researchers writing in the journal Science.

Analyzing data on fish catch and whale abundance off the coast of northwestern Africa and the Caribbean, Leah R. Gerber and colleagues show that fishermen remove far more fish than whales consume, undermining the agreement by whaling nations that whales are driving depletion of fisheries.

"Today, the majority of fish stocks and many whale populations are seriously depleted, but most available evidence points toward human overexploitation as the root of the problem," write the authors. "When developing tropical countries are encouraged to focus on the notion that 'whales eat fish,' they risk being diverted from addressing the real problems that their own fisheries face, primarily, overexploitation of their marine resources by distant-water fleets."

The authors recommend applying ecosystem management concepts to managing whale populations and argue that science, rather than politics, should be an integral component of these discussions.

"Couched in terms of 'ecosystem management,' whaling countries, including Japan, advocate the culling of whales as a solution to recover overexploited fish stocks and to increase fishery yield. Some developing countries, which may benefit economically and politically by supporting pro-whaling nations at the International Whaling Commission, have also supported the 'whales-eat-fish' assertion."

"An effort must be made to actively engage scientists and managers from countries that support Japan’s claims to help them investigate this issue within an ecosystem context in their own regions. In many cases, fisheries officers in tropical areas, such as the Caribbean, do not necessarily believe the whales-eat-fish arguments. Rather, the arguments are endorsed for reasons related to their aid relationship with Japan, especially in the fisheries sector."

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02/15/09
Mother Whales Teach Babies Where To Eat: Can Southern Right Whales Adapt If Food Becomes Scarce? - Science Daily

University of Utah biologists discovered that young "right whales" learn from their mothers where to eat, raising concern about their ability to find new places to feed if Earth's changing climate disrupts their traditional dining areas.

"A primary concern is, what are whales going to do with global warming, which may change the location and abundance of their prey?" asks Vicky Rowntree, research associate professor of biology and a coauthor of the new study. "Can they adapt if they learn from their mother where to feed – or will they die?"

Previous research by Rowntree and colleagues showed that when climate oscillations increase sea temperatures, southern right whales give birth to fewer calves because the warm water reduces the abundance of krill, which are small, shrimp-like crustaceans eaten by the whales.

The new study – scheduled for publication in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Molecular Ecology – used genetic and chemical isotope evidence to show that mothers teach their calves where to go for food.

"Southern right whales consume enormous amounts of food and have to travel vast distances to find adequate amounts of small prey," says study coauthor Jon Seger, professor of biology at the University of Utah. "This study shows that mothers teach their babies in the first year of life where to go to feed in the immensity of the ocean."

The study tracked how whales are related by analyzing maternal DNA, and then compared that with dietary information obtained by characterizing different forms or isotopes of chemical elements in their skin. The two techniques – which the researchers say they used together for the first time – allowed the scientists to determine that whale mothers, their offspring and other extended family members eat in the same place.

"North Atlantic right whales feed in similar patterns and scientists have access to their feeding areas, but we don't know where South Atlantic whales are feeding, so we had to use a combination of techniques to track this down," says Luciano Valenzuela, a postdoctoral researcher in biology who led the study as part of his doctoral thesis at Utah.

The study's other coauthor was Mariano Sironi, scientific director of the Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas (Institute for the Conservation of Whales) in Argentina.

Related Whales 'Chow Down' Together

For 38 years, Rowntree and colleagues have followed a group of southern right whales that migrate for three months each year to their calving area at Argentina's Península Valdés, "which is as far south of the equator as we are north of the equator here in Salt Lake City," says Rowntree, who also directs the right whale program at the Ocean Alliance's Whale Conservation Institute.

Adult southern right whales are up to 50 feet long, and their calves are about 20 feet long and weigh a ton at birth.

The whales migrate to their calving grounds in winter, when they fast, and give birth in early spring. Three months later, they travel long distances in the South Atlantic to feed for the remainder of the year on krill and on other crustaceans named copepods. Rowntree calls it "a huge chow down."

Whaling records from the 1800s and 1900s suggested southern right whales had six main feeding areas in the South Atlantic. However, scientists do not know where most of the whales feed now.

Rather than searching for right whale feeding grounds visually – an enormous if not impossible task given the lack of ship traffic in the vast South Atlantic – the scientists took a novel approach. During September and October of 2003 through 2006, Valenzuela collected small skin samples using a punch device that doesn't harm the animals.

"The skin sample is a little bigger than the size of a pencil eraser," Rowntree says.

From the skin samples, Valenzuela analyzed mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from the mother. The DNA revealed family relationships among whales. The researchers were able to distinguish individual whales by the patterns of whitish, callous-like material on their heads.

The skin samples also were analyzed for different forms or isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. The isotopes, which are present in food, are deposited in different tissues of the body after consumption. Food from any given location has a unique isotope "signature." That made it possible to determine which whales fed in the same place without actually knowing where the feeding areas were.

Together, the DNA and isotope data revealed which whales were related and where each animal fed.

"The main result is that individuals from particular families have very specific isotope pattern showing that animals from specific lineages feed in the same area," Valenzuela says.

Because the DNA was mitochondrial, which is passed only from mothers to offspring, the findings indicate mother whales teach their calves where to feed.

The study was funded by Ocean Alliance's Whale Conservation Institute and the Canadian Whale Institute. more

02/11/09
Whale shark sightings on rise in Gulf of Mexico - SunHerald.com

NEW ORLEANS -- It was such an unusual sight that the commercial fishing crew in the northern Gulf of Mexico took an hour out of their work day to count the whale sharks swimming around and even rubbing their sandpaper-like backs against the boat.

The crew stopped at 44 to avoid double-counting the dark-bodied fish, some up to 50 feet long, opening and closing their wide mouths as they vacuumed in plankton, fish eggs or small fish southwest of Morgan City, La.

It was the largest sighting in a record year for a study of the world's largest fish that began in 2002 at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Miss.

"As far as your eye could see in every direction, you just saw fish after fish after fish after fish," said David Wesley Underwood of Pensacola, Fla., a deckhand on his uncle's boat, the Norman B.

That pod, seen in June and reported Jan. 29 to USM scientists, was among 70 sightings of at least one whale shark during 2008 - by far the largest number for the project.

"We're getting the word out," said lead researcher Eric Hoffmayer. He depends on non-scientist spotters because the sharks are seen most frequently where the water turns sharply from shallow to deep, and trips out there are expensive.

About two-thirds of the sightings have been within 100 miles of the Mississippi River's mouth.

Hoffmayer believes the sharks are attracted by plankton blooms fed by fertilizer and other nutrients in the river water - the same phenomenon that creates an oxygen-depleted dead zone closer inshore every summer.

Hoffmayer worries, however, that the sharks may be swallowing poison along with the plankton. "What about all the other chemicals that are being washed out with all this runoff?" he said.

Researchers plan to look into that. First, they need a handle on how many sharks are swimming around the northern Gulf, where they come from, and where they're going.

The one whale shark tagged last year in the northern Gulf was 260 miles south, in Mexican water, and more than a mile underwater, at 6,000 feet - probably the lowest the species has been recorded - when the electronic tag popped off, Hoffmayer said.

Little is known about whale sharks, including where they go after they leave gathering places near Australia and Yucatan, or where they give birth to their pups.

Although they were added last year to the World Conservation Union's "red list" of threatened species, the Australian research indicates that - unlike most sharks, which are declining sharply - whale sharks appear to be increasing off Western Australia, said Jason Holmberg of Portland, Ore., information architect of the Ecocean Whale Shark Photo-identification Library.

They are a warm-water fish and all sightings in the Gulf of Mexico have been between April and November, with most from June through October - roughly corresponding to the seasonal heating of Gulf waters that feeds hurricanes.

It's possible the increased numbers around the river's mouth are just a fluke, because that's where most of the spotters are.

Hoffmayer doesn't think that is the case. To find out, researchers are recruiting watchers along the Gulf from Texas to Florida.

"They may have found a new and important aggregation point," said Holmberg, who is an adjunct research associate with Murdoch University in Western Australia. He is not a biologist, but analyzes population statistics for the Australian project.

Even before the Norman B's Capt. Russell Underwood called, Hoffmayer had received 68 sightings for 2008, more than in all six previous years combined. On Jan. 30, an offshore oil worker reported the 70th, from November.

"He saw one of our posters in a safety room at whatever rig he was at," Hoffmayer said.

The posters are one way he spreads the word about his search for data. He also goes to an annual safety meeting for helicopter pilots who fly over the Gulf and is trying to establish better ties with offshore oil rig workers.

Besides Hoffmayer's project, in 2003, the Georgia Aquarium and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., began working with Mexico's National Commission on Protected Natural Areas to tag whale sharks off Yucatan, where an estimated 1,500 feed each summer.

It's the largest known gathering, with estimates of 500 to 3,000, said Bob Hueter, director of Mote's Center for Shark Research.

"We really think 500 is low," he said. "We've had images of as many as 75 whale sharks in one photo."

In the northern Gulf, they're more spread out. Two-thirds of those seen last year were single sharks, with 21 sightings of two or more. A few groups of 100 or more have been reported over the years.

The worldwide population may be as high as 500,000, "which sounds like a big number, but when you're talking about fish, it's not a big number at all," Hueter said.

A Coast Guard report of a whale shark in Mississippi Sound was one of the nearest inshore last year, and fits the idea the fish come for plankton nourished by riverborne nitrates and phosphates.

It showed up after the Army Corps of Engineers opened a spillway northwest of New Orleans, pouring river water into Lake Pontchartrain to avert the chance that high water might batter the river levees and endanger New Orleans.

The release created an algae bloom intense enough to create a "dead zone" of oxygen-depleted water like the much larger one that forms every year off Louisiana, and the shark was "right up where the plankton blooms would have been," Hoffmayer said.

Skipper Russell Underwood has offered his boat for a week-long study trip of the sharks in June, to see if the same large group shows up in the same area as he spotted last year. The Gulf has given him a good living, he said.

"Maybe I can give something back."
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02/09/09
Sea Shepherd’s pursuit of whalers enters fifth day - thewest.com.au

Conservation group Sea Shepherd has entered day five of its pursuit of Japanese whaling ships in the Ross Sea.

The group’s ship, the Steve Irwin, is currently sailing through the Ross Sea with good visibility and minimal wind, Captain Paul Watson reports.

“The fleet we can see includes the factory ship Nisshin Maru and the three harpoon vessels Yushin Maru No.1, Yushin Maru No.2 and Yushin Maru No.3,” Capt. Watson said in his latest update.

Today, the crew will launch two small boats and a helicopter to once again harass the fleet and to warn them once more to leave the area of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, Mr Watson said.

“This will be the fifth day without any whales being killed,” he said.

“We have informed the Japanese whaling fleet that we will not tolerate a single whale being killed and we will respond very aggressively to any attempted murder of a cetacean,” he said.

Mr Watson also reports that the ship’s fuel and water reserves were at 75 per cent allowing the crew “plenty more days” to continue their pursuit.

Tension between Sea Shepherd and the whalers appears to have escalated in recent days, with the conservation society accusing crew onboard the whaling ships of throwing solid lead and brass balls at its crew.

Sea Shepherd has also accused the whalers of firing a military grad long range acoustical device, which can cause permanent hearing damage. more

02/07/09
Japan digs in heels on whaling proposal - theage.com.au

JAPAN will reject any proposal by the International Whaling Commission that halts research whaling in the Antarctic, making it unlikely that a compromise plan to open limited coastal whaling would work.

Under the proposal, which the Rudd Government has tentatively supported, Japan's minke whale hunt under scientific permit would be reduced by 20 per cent each year for five years, and hunting of humpback and fin whales would stop.

The phase-out is a key component of a package drawn from talks with a small group of IWC countries, including Australia, in the hope of breaking the deadlock between pro and anti-whaling countries.

But Japan said it wasn't good enough. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba said: "We cannot accept a proposal that discontinues our research hunting."

Greenpeace said yesterday that although there should be an immediate end, the proposed phase-out in the Antarctic could be a big step in whale conservation.

Asked whether Australia might agree to a phase-out, Environment Minister Peter Garrett's spokesman said the Government was not aware of any formal proposal by Japan to reduce the number of whales it targeted in the Southern Ocean.

But he said Mr Garrett's view was that any reduction in the number of whales targeted by Japan would be a welcome step towards ending all commercial whaling, including so-called "scientific" whaling.

Greenpeace International said in a statement from Amsterdam that whaling should cease in the IWC's Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. "But if a phase-out was implemented directly after the IWC meeting in Madeira this coming June and was properly enforced and monitored, then it would be a big step towards whale conservation, as well as the protection of pristine Antarctic waters," the statement said.

The IWC package, released publicly for the first time yesterday, confirms reports in The Age of the phase-out option, as well as a second option to continue "scientific" whaling inside yet-to-be-determined limits.

It also confirms that Japan would gain permission for a new kill off its coast, but scraps a planned straight exchange between reduced Antarctic whaling and increases in the North Pacific hunt.

However, it also waters down plans for a new South Atlantic Sanctuary for whales, to give the protection only a five-year life.

Released by the IWC before a negotiating session on the future of the organisation in March, the package was developed at the request of its US chairman, Bill Hogarth, a Bush administration appointee.

It has sparked increased pressure by environmentalists on the Obama Administration to step in and reject appeasement of Japan.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said the package was a one-way compromise that would let Japan effectively lift the global moratorium on commercial whaling.

"The Australian Government was in the room when this plan was drafted," IFAW campaigns manager Darren Kindleysides said. "The Australian Government must now be clear on exactly what action will be taken to ensure this deeply flawed proposal proceeds no further than the recycling bin."

Humane Society International said if the Rudd Government was sticking to its long-held anti-whaling policy it should immediately reject the compromises outlined in the package.

Meanwhile, in the Antarctic, Sea Shepherd was pursuing the whaling factory ship, Nisshin Maru, which was heading south, into the Ross Sea.

"The seas are rough, the weather cold and we still are hitting patches of ice," said Sea Shepherd's leader, Paul Watson.

"The destination of the Nisshin Maru is unknown. They may just be trying to run us out of fuel."
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02/05/09
IWC mulls whaling trade-off / May permit Japan to hold coastal hunts if certain conditions met - DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE

The International Whaling Commission announced a draft proposal Monday that would allow Japan to resume limited small-scale whaling in its coastal waters.

The IWC will discuss the proposal to allow Japan to resume the practice of hunting for minke whales at a meeting in Rome from March 9 to 11. Japan ceased hunting of minke and other small whales in 1988.

The proposal, however, comes with strict conditions. These include a requirement that meat from whales caught in the coastal water hunts must be consumed domestically, and Japan must report to the IWC annually on matters such as the number of whales it has caught and whaling conditions.

It is anticipated, however, that Australia and other antiwhaling nations will oppose the proposal, making it unclear whether it will pass.

The proposal was put together by IWC Chairman William Hogarth, an American, and an IWC working committee as a springboard for future discussion.

The IWC has been rendered dysfunctional because it has split into two camps of pro- and antiwhaling member nations. The two sides have not had effective discussions.

The proposal is believed to be aimed at breaking this deadlock.

According to the proposal, coastal hunting of mink whales, which Japan had demanded be allowed to resume, would be permitted using small whaling ships of up to 48 tons over the next five years from four specified whaling bases--Taijicho in Wakayama Prefecture; Abashiri in Hokkaido; the Ayukawa district in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture; and the Wada district in Minami-Boso, Chiba Prefecture.

Japan has a quota of 1,300 whales for its research expeditions in large 700-ton class whaling ships in the Antarctic Ocean and other waters.

The ships catch minke, finback, humpback and other whales.

Two suggestions have been set down in the proposal. The first is to gradually phase out research whaling over the next five years. The second is to continue research whaling under fixed quotas over the next five years.

At the IWC meeting in Rome, the focus likely will be on scaling back research whaling as a condition for Japan for resuming whale hunting in its coastal waters.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed Tuesday that any conditions imposed for the resumption of coastal whaling must permit Japan to continue research whaling.

"We won't be surprised if [the proposal] is a demand to stop research whaling," Ishiba told reporters at a press conference following a Cabinet meeting. more

02/01/09
New Breeding Ground For Endangered Whales? High Numbers Of Right Whales Seen In Gulf Of Maine - Science Daily

ScienceDaily: Your source for the

A large number of North Atlantic right whales have been seen in the Gulf of Maine in recent days, leading right whale researchers at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center to believe they have identified a wintering ground and potentially a breeding ground for this endangered species.

The NEFSC’s aerial survey team saw 44 individual right whales on Dec. 3 in the Jordan Basin area, located about 70 miles south of Bar Harbor, Maine. Weather permitting, the team regularly surveys the waters from Maine to Long Island and offshore 150 miles to the Hague Line (the U.S.-Canadian border), an area about 25,000 square nautical miles.

“We’re excited because seeing 44 right whales together in the Gulf of Maine is a record for the winter months, when daily observations of three to five animals are much more common,” said Tim Cole, who heads the team. “Right whales are baleen whales, and in the winter spend a lot of time diving for food deep in the water column. Seeing so many of them at the surface when we are flying over an area is a bit of luck.”

Just a few days later, on Dec. 6, the team observed only three right whales on Cashes Ledge, about 80 miles east of Gloucester, Mass. Cole says the whales are known to be in the region, but actually seeing them on any given aerial survey is unpredictable. On Dec. 14, the team saw 41 right whales just west of Jordan Basin.

An estimated 100 female North Atlantic right whales head south in winter to give birth in the waters off Florida and Georgia, but little is known about where other individual right whales in the population go in winter, largely due to difficult surveying conditions.

Given the large geographical area over which North Atlantic right whales can occur, Cole and NEFSC colleagues developed an aerial grid system a few years ago for the Gulf of Maine and waters around Cape Cod to ensure complete coverage of the region. The grid resulted in consistent surveys of areas infrequently surveyed in the past, like Jordan Basin and the Great South Channel, and have shown that whales congregate in certain areas at certain times.

With a population estimated to be about 325 whales, knowing where the whales are at any time is critical to protect them. Finding an aggregation of whales can trigger a management action affording protection, such as slowing ship speeds in the vicinity of the whales. On Dec. 9, new federal speed rules for large ships went into effect to reduce ship strikes, to which North Atlantic right whales are particularly vulnerable.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. more

01/29/09
Whale protectors off to war - the mercury.com.au

ANTI-WHALING activists left Hobart yesterday with one thought in mind: "Every day we are away, whales die."

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship the Steve Irwin returned to Hobart to refuel on Saturday after spending more than a month chasing the whaling fleet in brutal Antarctic conditions.

They left yesterday to resume their campaign of "harassment and disruption" against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

"We shut them down for three solid weeks and when we return we intend to add another four weeks to their downtime," Se