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. 08/29/10 Blue whale season one of best ever off Southern California - http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com Blue whales, graceful and gargantuan, are so abundant off Southern California that it seems the entire population has taken up residence between Santa Barbara and Dana Point. That's not true, of course. About 2,000 blue whales utilize California waters each summer -- part of a global population of about 10,000 -- and not all of them are in Southland waters. But there are perhaps hundreds of the world's largest mammals gorging on shrimp-like krill in what represents the most impressive local showing of the great leviathans in recent history. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society researcher, said blue whales are being spotted in unusually large numbers from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. On Wednesday one of her whale-watching volunteers told her she saw the tall blows of at least 30 blue whales from White Point on the peninsula. "She was hysterical," recalled Schulman-Janiger, who arrived at the point at dusk and saw 10 blue whales before sunset. (Schulman-Janiger will be part of a three-hour excursion Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. aboard the 90-foot Spirit out of San Pedro. She says those interested in joining the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium trip, for $30, can reserve a spot by calling 310-548-7562.) Passengers aboard whale-watch boats out of Long Beach, Newport Beach and Dana Point have experienced close encounters with the mammals as they feed at or close to the surface on krill, which abounds in dense concentrations thanks partly to the unusually cold water off the Southland coast. (A single blue whale can consume four tons of krill per day.) Passengers aboard the Christopher out of Harbor Cruises in Long Beach on Wednesday saw 28 blue whales on the morning trip and 33 on the afternoon excursion. Such numbers are hard to believe but they're true. Dana Wharf Whale-watching logged a count of 64 blue whales last week, along with 12 fin whales and two minke whales. Since Monday passengers from the Dana Point landing have seen 17 blue whales and five fin whales. The Dana Wharf operation is one of only a few Southland sportfishing businesses devoting some of its effort to full-time whale-watching. With fishing so poor and blue whales having become regular summertime visitors to Southland waters these past few years, it's a wonder more landings aren't following suit. more 08/25/10 Massive artificial reef grows like wild - http://www.signonsandiego.com/news A major initiative to boost sea life appears to be paying off in the coastal waters near San Clemente, where power companies spent $46 million to build what is touted as the nation’s largest artificial reef. Large beds of giant brown kelp are thriving in the artificial reef built off the coast of San Clemente north of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Growth of the kelp forest at the Wheeler North Reef is a sign that the artificial reef is thriving. Large beds of giant brown kelp are thriving in the artificial reef built off the coast of San Clemente north of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Independent monitoring by scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara shows that the reef reached nine of 14 benchmarks during its first year of operations. Power company officials said Wednesday they are poised to meet the other standards, perhaps this year. The Wheeler North Reef is part of a piecemeal strategy by ocean advocates for using artificial reefs to boost habitat for marine creatures, improve fishing and provide more opportunities for divers. It was required by the California Coastal Commission to make up for the ecological damage done by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in North County, which is owned by Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Riverside. On Wednesday, Edison showed off the giant kelp forest that has grown over the past several months and highlighted the first UCSB monitoring report. Kelp forests sometimes are called the “rain forests of the sea” because they support hundreds of species of marine life. “We are really well on the way to having duplicated a very complex ecosystem on a large scale,” said David Kay, head of environmental projects for the company. “You look offshore and you see this massive area of kelp canopy floating on the surface. … This is an amazing accomplishment.” As he talked, the 174-acre reef spread out below a company helicopter for about two miles south of the San Clemente pier. From the air, it’s obvious where Edison placed boulders at depths of about 30 feet because wavy tendrils of brown kelp — anchored to the rocks below — carpet the ocean’s surface like giant strands of hair. A few fishing boats bobbed in the gentle swells at the edge of the shimmering marine forest while seabirds rested and fed on the matted kelp. Before the artificial reef was constructed, “Nothing was there,” Kay said. “You don’t have to be a scientist to say kelp density turned out pretty good.” Ecologist Stephen Schroeter of UCSB’s Marine Science Institute was more reserved, but his assessment was upbeat. “They have done a really nice job,” said Schroeter, part of the reef monitoring team that regularly dives at the site. “It looks like it’s on a hopeful trajectory.” He said some of the unmet benchmarks may prove challenging, particularly one that sets the amount of fish in the reef by weight. The goal is 28 tons; only 16 tons were observed in the first year. Despite the positive trendline, Schroeter urged caution about the widespread use of a similar approach. “There may in fact be other places where artificial reefs may be a very useful mitigation measure, and we are learning important lessons about how you might want to go about doing that,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s a recipe for making kelp up and down the coast.” The roots of the Wheeler North Reef go back to 1974 when the California Coastal Commission issued a development permit for units 2 and 3 of the nuclear plant. Years of monitoring led to new permit conditions to make up for ecological harm done by the plant. They include restoration of the San Dieguito marsh, financing of a marine fish hatchery and construction of an artificial reef to replace kelp beds harmed by the plant. The reactors are cooled by a system that each day takes in the volume of seawater equal to one square mile 14 feet deep, according to a UCSB analysis. The water is heated by the plant and released through pipes in the ocean. The discharge plume has redistributed sediment, decreasing the amount of light that reaches the kelp growing directly offshore of the plant. UCSB researchers said cloudy water offshore caused a substantial reduction in the kelp forest, resulting in losses of fish and invertebrates. The new reef is north of the nuclear plant near San Clemente. It started in 1999 as a 22.4-acre experimental project designed to guide construction of a larger reef. “We don’t want to have to go back and redo things,” said Kay at Edison. The rocks, quarried at Catalina Island, are roughly the size of medicine balls and scattered in a single layer on the sand, not piled on top of each other. Kay said the goal was to create a dynamic ecosystem in which the boulders are jostled during storms so they can clear out patches of old-growth kelp and create a natural mosaic. “To get giant kelp coming back generation after generation, there always needs to be bare rock on the reef, and you are only going to get that if you have an unstable reef,” he said. So far, the rocks have performed as Kay hoped. The first of UCSB’s annual reports said the rocks were not sinking into the sand — a possible threat to the reef. It also said that fish abundance and diversity at Wheeler North was similar to or greater than natural reefs nearby. The study team didn’t find evidence of invasive species harming the reef. “Generally, things are going well,” said Susan Hansch, chief deputy director at the Coastal Commission. “The kelp is flourishing.” She warned that Edison is not in the clear yet. “They are going to be monitoring and responsible for these mitigation sites for a long time,” she said. Kay is hopeful that the reef will meet all its performance targets this year without additional intervention by Edison. The company is responsible for the reef for at least 40 years, though Kay expects it to last for centuries. “It goes on its own at this point,” he said. “We are just watching it grow.” more 08/22/10 White whale Migaloo spotted off Cairns Australia - http://www.cairns.com.au Migaloo was spotted on Saturday about 2km from Green Island slowly travelling south. The famous whale enjoyed clear skies and low winds and dived repeatedly into the blue depths before surfacing every 10 to 15 minutes GBR Helicopter Group director Deborah Ross said the footage taken by cinematographer David Farmer and pilot Chris Rose, of Chris Rose Flying Films, would be given to the BBC, which is producing a documentary on Migaloo. "We’ve made it a professional goal to make sure we get Migaloo recorded so we can help protect him because he is so precious," she said. "This is the first time Migaloo has been filmed anywhere professionally in the world. "It’s about Migaloo and it’s all about the fact we were able to get the footage in Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef." Ms Ross, who has worked in the tourism industry for 28 years, said the day was a career milestone for her. "I cried. I was so happy," she said. "He was at play in the tropical waters. He was just rolling around having a lovely time." About 70 Reef Magic Cruises passengers were treated to the rare sight. Reef Magic Cruises owner Tim North said its whale watching vessel spent about five hours with Migaloo on Saturday. "It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up when you’re with him," he said. Reef Magic worker Jenna Marino was thrilled to see her first whale. "He was pure snow white," she said. "People were amazed. They thought they were the luckiest people alive." For more information visit..... http://www.migaloowhale.org/ more 08/20/10 WHOI finds Gulf of Mexico oil plume - capecodtimes.com The BP oil well blowout created a plume of oil deep below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said yesterday. In June, the Cape scientists' state-of-the-art mapping, tracking and analysis defined a plume that was at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the Gulf's surface, according to research they published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Science, The research makes such undersea plumes a reality rather than a theory, the scientists said, and also rules out that the plume came from natural seeping of oil from the Gulf's seafloor. "There's very little known about oil in the subsurface," Christopher Reddy, a WHOI marine geochemist, oil spill expert and study co-author, said during a teleconference yesterday. "If you had asked me if I would see oil below the surface, I would have said, 'No, doesn't oil float?'" The 10-day WHOI research expedition started June 19, two months after BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers. After the explosion, oil billowed from the ocean floor for three months before the well was capped a month ago. The blowout created the largest offshore oil spill in history, the WHOI researchers said in their article. The discovery of the plume, which is 1.2 miles wide and 650 feet high, shows oil from the spill "is persisting for longer periods than we would have expected," Richard Camilli, chief scientist of the expedition and lead author of the Science article, said in a WHOI press release. "Many people speculated that subsurface oil droplets were being easily biodegraded. Well, we didn't find that. We found it was still there." The WHOI research adds solid, tantalizing but as yet inconclusive data to an ongoing dispute over where the spilled oil is now and potential long-term effects on marine life. In yesterday's teleconference, the WHOI scientists repeatedly refused to be drawn into the dispute. Until more of WHOI's water samples are analyzed, "We can't say much about (the oil's) bioactivity or toxicity," Camilli said, adding that the research goal was simply to try to find a plume and define its behavior. In their article, the WHOI researchers wrote it may be many months before deep-sea microbes use up enough oxygen as they feed on the oil to threaten Gulf fisheries. That jibes with what some wildlife officials told The Associated Press this week. Since it's unclear how much oil might still be in the Gulf, the wildlife officials warned that significant problems could surface later. How much oil is in the gulf? Wednesday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco said she stands by the conclusions of a government report that found 74 percent of the oil had been captured, burned, skimmed, evaporated, dissolved or dispersed. Government researchers believe the rest is on or just below the surface of the Gulf, has washed ashore or is buried in the sand, according to The Associated Press. Lubchenco did add a caveat: "We know that oil is out there. It is diluted. Dilute and dispersed does not mean benign." So far, wildlife rescuer workers say sea turtle and bird populations have suffered less damage than originally projected. Since April 30, rescuers have found 522 turtles dead, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and they have recovered 444 oiled turtles found alive, according to The Associated Press. The marine reptiles are being rehabilitated and returned to unpolluted waters. The unparalleled chance to study an oil spill of this magnitude attracted three National Science Foundation grants, which were approved in two days, for the WHOI expedition in June. The foundation's research vessel Endeavor, operated by the University of Rhode Island, was the ship used in the expedition. Many questions remain New scientific tools made studying the plume in detail possible, the researchers said. They used a special mass spectrometer — small enough to fit into a shoebox — that could identify minute amounts of petroleum chemical compounds in sea water instantly, which helped to outline the plume. The mass spectrometer was carried by an autonomous underwater vehicle, dubbed Sentry, that zigzagged through the plume, which looked like clear spring water, Reddy said. The WHOI scientists acknowledge there are many unanswered questions about underwater oil plumes in the Gulf. Researchers still don't know why the plume discovered in June was stable — hanging in the water at that specific depth. It may have to do with the chemical dispersants used at the ruptured well-head or the water temperature at that depth. The scientists don't know whether there are other large plumes, or even what happened to the plume discovered in June. They also found no "dead zones," as other scientists predicted, where there was so little oxygen that almost no marine life could survive. WHOI geochemist Benjamin Van Mooy said if oxygen samples don't show that microbes are rapidly consuming the oil, the hydrocarbons could persist for some time and be carried for considerable distances. more 08/18/10 Underwater Oil in Gulf Poses Threats - DiscoveryNews Marine scientists are disputing claims by government officials that the Gulf oil spill is diminishing and does not pose a risk to Florida and the rest of the East Coast. They believe the oil may have been pushed underwater -- and still poses a serious and lurking threat to fish and other marine life. "Just because you don't see it on the surface or on the coast, it doesn't mean there isn't a problem," said Felicia Coleman, director of the coastal marine laboratory at Florida State University. "I want to know what's happening with dispersants and dispersed oil. If there are large plumes of oil underwater we might not be able to see for some time." On July 27, NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco released a statement that "the coast remains clear" for southern Florida, the Florida Keys and the Eastern Seaboard. "With the flow stopped and the loop current a considerable distance away, the light sheen remaining on the Gulf's surface will continue to biodegrade and disperse, but will not travel far," Lubchenco said. State officials have re-opened some coastal fishing grounds, and BP has also started redeploying some of its boom along the Gulf coast, raising fears among some local officials that it is abandoning the clean-up effort. But other ocean scientists say it's too early to declare victory. They point to new estimates that the BP well actually spewed out 206 million gallons of oil since April 20, making it larger than the previous biggest spill, the Ixtoc I blowout in 1979 that resulted in 135 million gallons. In fact, Larry McKinney knows from experience that oil can resurface when you least expect it. That's what happened when he was a young scientist working on the Ixtoc spill. "There are so many parallels," said McKinney, now director of the Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi. McKinney said that similar dispersants were used to break up the Ixtoc oil, which later washed ashore onto Texas beaches. Now, McKinney says he worries that the BP oil could bind with sediment particles and sink to the sea floor. That will make it tougher for microbes to decompose the oil. "It's a race," McKinney said. "Can the microbial activity eat up the oil before it mixes with sediments and sinks?" McKinney is concerned that there could be a significant amount of oil coating the continental shelf. McKinney said he believes that as a result, the oil spill may have increased the size of the so-called "dead zone" of oxygen-starved water off the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Much of the dead zone -- which is toxic to all marine life -- is caused by agricultural runoff from Midwest farms flowing out the Mississippi River. Researchers at the Louisiana Marine Consortium announced Monday that the annual zone now is the size of the state of Massachusetts and is the largest in 25 years. Consortium researchers were hesitant to blame the BP spill, but McKinney and others say the oil increased microbial activity, and robbed the ocean of oxygen. "BP used a lot of dispersant and the oil went someplace," McKinney said. "If you have that going on, there's no way that you cannot reduce oxygen levels as the result of that activity." Paul Anastas, assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, defended BP's use of dispersants. While there may be negative effects underwater, the goal was to protect coastal wetlands. "Once it makes it to shore," Anastas said Monday, "there's more of an impact on sensitive ecosystems that is extremely difficult to clean up." more 08/13/10 Blue Whales Align the Pitch of Their Songs With Extreme Accuracy, Study Finds - Science Daily Blue whales are able to synchronize the pitch of their calls with an extremely high level of accuracy, and a very slim margin of error from call to call, according to a new study of the blue whale population in the eastern North Pacific. Results were published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The authors suggest that the uniform pitch used by blue whale populations could allow individual whales to locate potential mates by swimming toward them or away from them. "Blue whales in a given population have been observed to align their pitch to a common value, but we have now been able to determine just how accurately they are able to do so," said Roger Bland, professor of physics at San Francisco State University. Bland and colleagues analyzed recordings of 4,378 blue whale songs, off the California coast, and focused on the whales' B calls -- the long, sad moan that typically forms the second half of the blue whale song that is specific to the eastern North Pacific population. They found that the whales all produce the B call at the same pitch, at a frequency of 16.02 Hz, exactly four octaves below middle C. "We found that blue whales are capable of very fine control over the pitch of their call -- both in reproducing their call at the same pitch every time and in synchronizing their pitch with others," Bland said. The study found a remarkably small variation in pitch from call to call. In musical terms, the half-tone change of pitch between the notes C and C Sharp is a 6 percent increase in pitch, whereas the variation observed between the blue whale's B calls was a 0.5 percent change in pitch. The authors suggest that there may be an adaptive advantage to the whales tuning into a common pitch. "If whales are so super accurate in always calling at the exact same pitch, then it's possible that they could be able to detect tiny shifts in other whales' calls caused by the Doppler shift," Bland said. The Doppler shift is the apparent increase or decrease in pitch that is heard when the source of sound is moving toward or away from an individual, for example the change in pitch heard when a vehicle with a siren passes by. Previous research has suggested that the blue whale song is produced only by males, and appears to be sung when the whales are traveling. "Given that blue whales can travel up to 5 meters per second, it's feasible that females could locate calling males by listening for the changes in the male's pitch," Bland said. Underwater recordings were captured at the Pioneer Seamount Underwater Observatory, 50 miles off the California coast, over a three-month period in 2001. The study's results are consistent with recent research suggesting that blue whales across the world have decreased their pitch over the last few decades. "We found the frequency of the B call to be 16 Hz in 2001, which fits well with the downward trending curve that has been observed in previous research." Bland co-authored the paper with Michael D. Hoffman, a former student at SF State, and Newell Garfield, professor of geosciences and director of the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies at SF State. more 08/09/10 Species Spotter for Whale Watch trips - Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary Marine Mammals: The following species have been known to make appearances in sanctuary waters. Some are more regularly seen than others. All of these baleen whales, except the Minke, are listed as endangered. Baleen Whales: • Fin whale • North Atlantic Right Whale • Humpback Whale • Sei Whale • Minke Whale Tooth Whales • Atlantic White sided dolphin • Common dolphin • Harbor porpoise • Long finned piolet whale Pinnipeds • Gray seal • Harbor Seal Fishes Although many of the sanctuary’s fish are found close to the sea floor, several species occasionally swim at or near the surface. • American Sand Lance • Atlantic Bluefin Tuna • Basking Shark • Ocean Sunfish Sea Turtles These reptiles are usually seen during the summer and early fall in the sanctuary, moving to warmer waters during the winter. If waters cool too soon or the turtles migrate too slowly they may become hypothermic. Cold- shocked turtles often wash up on Cape Cod beaches. • Kemp’s Ridley • Leatherback • Loggerhead Seabirds Numerous seabirds come to the sanctuary to feast on the rich supply of zooplankton and fish. Some visit Stellwagen Bank in the summer and head south in the winter months; others spend winters here and return to northern climates in the summer; and some us the area as a stopover point on their migrations. This list contains birds that might be encountered dring the summer. • Great Shearwater • Manx Shearwater • Sooty Shearwater • Wilsons Storm Petrel • Northern Gannet • Red Phalarope • Red necked Phalarope • Double Crested Cormorant • Great Black backed gull • Herring Gull • Laughing Gull • Common Tern • Least Tern • Roseate Tern • Northern Fulmar • Parasitic Jaeger • Pomarine Jaeger more 08/08/10 Endangered North Atlantic right whale population rising as ship strikes drop - Canadaeast HALIFAX - Measures meant to stem the demise of one of the world's most endangered marine mammals appear to be working as the population of North Atlantic right whales rises slightly and deaths linked to ship strikes level off. A scientist who studies the large, lumbering animals says preliminary numbers suggest initiatives in the United States and Canada that divert ships around areas where the mammals have been spotted could be slowing their decline. "I think the ship-strike problem has been reduced," said Amy Knowlton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston. "Certainly they're much better protected from ship strikes than they ever have been, so we're hopeful that the number of mortalities from that sort of thing will reduce." Knowlton, who will study the whales for the next two months in the Bay of Fundy, said they could be seeing signs that regulations on speed and ship routing are having a beneficial effect. In the U.S., a federal rule introduced in late 2008 forced ships of a certain size to slow down as they pass through areas along the eastern seaboard that are part of the migratory route of the whales. The initiative, which was 10 years in the making, requires ships to reduce their speeds to about 19 kilometres an hour at certain times of the year when the whales are heading south to breed or north to feed. It's estimated about two are killed every year when they are hit by boats that cruise through their transit route, which stretches from breeding grounds off Florida and Georgia and up to the Bay of Fundy, where many feed in the summer months. The creatures, which can measure up to 18 metres in length, travel slowly and close to the surface, putting the world's remaining 430 right whales at risk of being rammed by large container ships. In 2003, Canada re-routed some shipping lanes around the animal's migratory path and, in 2008, implemented a voluntary area to be avoided near the Roseway Basin south of Nova Scotia. Knowlton said there has been one fatality linked to a ship strike since 2008, a reduction that could signal new hope for the species. "It seems like something could have shifted," she said. "We're looking at the numbers of right whales and other large whale species to see if there has been a reduction in the number of animals that are ship struck." But while scientists are cautiously optimistic the ship measures are helping, they say whales are still dying from entanglements in fishing line. Michael Moore, a research scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, said one of two whales found dead last month in U.S. waters appears to have died months after becoming entangled in fishing gear. Moore did a necropsy on the adult male that had rope wrapped around its flippers and head, which can cause a painful death up to five months after the initial entanglement. "In terms of the animal welfare aspect, it's a pretty brutal way to go," he said. Several humpback whales were spotted with fishing gear on them weeks ago off Cape Cod. Knowlton said the calving rates are also raising hopes for the species, which was almost hunted to extinction centuries ago. Nineteen calves were born this year compared to the average of 11 in the 1980s and '90s. But, she says the species is known to have fluctuating pregnancy rates and the numbers could fall again. more 07/30/10 Stellwagen decline began long ago - capecodtimes.com Early explorers marveled at the abundance of marine life in Cape waters, but a new report released yesterday paints a picture of the decline of many species over hundreds of years in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, just a few miles to the north. Scientists Stefan H. Claesson and Andrew A. Rosenberg mined ancient accounts, along with fishermen logbooks, fishermen interviews, recorded landings, research cruises and other historical documents for the report of the sanctuary, which covers 842 square miles of ocean from the waters north of Province­town up to Cape Ann. Key findings * Halibut, swordfish and other top predators were overfished to commercial extinction in the late 19th and 20th centuries. * Landings of important commercial species declined by nearly 50 percent over the past 100 years. * Nearshore fish and those inhabiting smaller geological outcrops were significantly deteriorated by around 1800. * Diversity of bottom-dwelling species in the western Gulf of Maine appears to have declined significantly over past 100 years. * To view the report go to: http://stellwagen.noaa.gov/library/pdfs/sbnms_mhe_report.pdf After three years of research, the report assesses the relative health and historical conditions of Stellwagen, designated a national marine sanctuary in 1992. Produced by the Gulf of Maine Cod Project at the University of New Hampshire, the report depicts a vastly depleted resource. "We are (fishing) on the remnants. A fraction of the previous population," said Rosenberg, former director of the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Region. What the report also showed was the amazing resilience of marine species, said Craig MacDonald, the superintendent of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. "The conclusions they draw reverberate across the Gulf of Maine, that things have changed dramatically," MacDonald said yesterday. "But the report also offers hope for recovery that goes beyond current expectations. There's a very good chance (Stellwagen Bank) can become more than we think it can. That's the positive message of this report." Although Stellwagen Bank supports a rich diversity of life including 22 species of marine mammals, 53 species of seabirds, more than 80 species of fishes and hundreds of species of marine invertebrates, the report shows that the range of species and their numbers were much greater centuries ago than today. "In five or six hours "» we had pestered our ship so with Cod fish, that we threw numbers of them over-board again" wrote English explorer John Brereton in 1602. In 1614, John Smith, on his way to Virginia, echoed his countryman's praise, noting that cod, cusk, halibut, mackerel, skate and other fish were plentiful close to shore and in relatively shallow water. A fleet of sailing vessels using only hooks caught 70,000 metric tons of cod in the Gulf of Maine in one year in the 1800s, Rosenberg pointed out, while a highly mechanized modern fleet using sophisticated technology catches just 3,000 metric tons today. But the rapid recovery of haddock and sea scallop stocks after large-scale Georges Bank closures in 1994 also gave researchers hope, Rosenberg said. The sanctuary recently released its first management plan since 1993 that sets up action plans to identify threats, research needs and look for ways to develop consensus. They may have a tough go with fishermen who previously have painted attempts to restrict or ban fishing from Stellwagen as reneging on a promise made to them when the sanctuary was created. MacDonald doesn't see the need for a total ban on fishing to help restore sanctuary resources. He believes that adapting fishing practices to be more environmentally responsible is the way to go. He would like to set aside portions of the sanctuary as no-fishing zones to help determine how long it takes marine habitats to recover from damage incurred by dragging nets and heavy scallop dredges. The NMFS has already closed 22 percent of the sanctuary to all fishing as part of the Western Gulf of Maine Closure Area. But that area is not as diverse in habitat types as the bank itself. He noted that the relatively simple cobble type of rocky habitat has taken seven years to develop the type of flora and fauna that offers some shelter for marine species. Recovery for more fragile habitats could take decades, he said. MacDonald said the sanctuary has already begun the process of building some consensus on protections. Assistant Superintendent Benjamin Cowie-Haskell sits on several key New England Fishery Management Council habitat committees. more 07/28/10 NOAA AGENCES ADRESSING ISSUE OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IN LOCAL WATERS - NOAA You’ve probably heard about the issue of global warming, but do you know about the other carbon problem? The steadily increasing volume of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is not only exacerbating the greenhouse effect and raising global temperatures, but it’s also increasing ocean acidity. This change in the acidity of seawater may have far-reaching effects on life in the ocean – and by extension, the entire planet. To better understand what is happening in our waters, Congress passed the Federal Oceanic Acidification Research and Monitoring Act in early 2009. Three agencies have been tasked with implementing this act – NOAA, NASA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). NOAA’s role is to: 1. Establish a long-term monitoring program, 2. Develop strategies to adapt to these changes, 3. Provide education and outreach programs, and 4. Support research that studies ocean acidification effects on ecosystems and the impacts these changes will have on society and the economy. The major idea is that if we can expect certain changes, we can prepare for them and not be blind-sided. If an ecosystem becomes more acidic, perhaps other stressors like extra nutrients or pollution can be reduced to help ease the impact. If acidity levels vary over time and space, human uses, such as shellfish farming, may have to accommodate these new natural cycles. The sanctuary is now working with NOAA’s Fisheries Service northeast office in the development of a regional plan. One key element for the sanctuary is the establishment of Stellwagen Bank as a sentinel site in the monitoring program. Ocean Chemistry 101 There’s an old chemistry class adage that says, “Do as you ought’ a, add acid to water.” That slogan was intended to keep students safe from splashes and acid burns. Today the slogan could be revised to fit a new global safety issue –“Do as we ought’ a, reduce CO2 in seawater.” This reduction is necessary to slow the process of Ocean acidification. Ocean Acidification Chemical Reactions CO2 (atmos) – CO2 (aqueous) H2O (water) + CO2 (carbon dioxide) --H2CO3 (carbonic acid) H2CO3 --H+ + HCO3 (bicarbonate) H+ + HCO3 ---2H+ + CO3 (carbonate) Ca + CO3 ---CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) Over the past century and a half, a vast amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere has entered the ocean. On average, the ocean absorbs about 25% of all the carbon dioxide we emit from the burning of fossil fuels and land use changes, such as burning and decay. A recent article in the journal Nature claims 2.3 billion tons of CO2 were absorbed in 2008 alone. The chemical reaction that CO2 undergoes in the ocean is detailed above. Carbon dioxide moves from the atmosphere into the water at the ocean’s surface. As the CO2 concentration increases in seawater, it reacts quickly with water to form carbonic acid. The acid dissociates to form a hydrogen ion and bicarbonate Ion. Most of the resulting hydrogen ions react with carbonate ions to produce more bicarbonate ions. As a result, more CO2 in the water increases the amount of hydrogen ions; thereby increasing acidity and decreasing the number of carbonate ions. Scientific measurements show that since the mid-1800s (the start of the Industrial Revolution) Ocean acidity has increased by 30%. Recent changes are even more rapid. This rate of change in ocean acidity is many times faster than any changes discovered over the last 55 million years. The reduction in carbonate ions can have detrimental Effects for many animals, such as clams, mussels and oysters and many forms of zooplankton and phytoplankton. The calcium carbonate that makes up the shells and skeletons is formed by a reaction of calcium and carbonate ions. Delicate coral reefs, now under so many pressures, ranging from warming waters to pollution, would be at significant risk. These harmful Effects can be likened to a marine version of osteoporosis. Not only would shells not grow, but also with increasing acidity some may start to dissolve. The ramifications of more acidic ocean water in the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary are still unknown. The projected change in pH (acidity) is a big question. Researchers believe that ocean acidification may be heightened in the higher latitudes – the Polar Regions – and upwelling areas, some of the areas with the most productive fisheries. Denser, colder water is more efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide. More acidic waters may show changes in sound transmission, thereby affecting whales and other vocalizing animals, or it may affect the ways predators find their prey. The only given is that ocean acidification is presently happening and the marine science community is very concerned. How Acidic is the Ocean? Scientists use the pH scale to measure how acid or basic a solution is - 7 are neutral, more than 7 is basic and less than 7 is acidic. It may seem counter-intuitive, but if more hydrogen ions are in solution, the pH goes down and the solution is more acidic. Since the pH scale is logarithmic, a one-point drop means a 10-fold increase in acidity. The ocean is basically basic (pH 8.0-8.3). Ocean acidity varies from place to place depending on upwelling and other inputs. Fresh water is neutral at 7. The more acidic a solution is the lower it’s number, e.g., milk (6), tomato (4), lemon juice (2), battery acid (0). In reverse, the more basic an item, the higher its number, e.g., baking soda (9), ammonia (11), oven cleaner (13), and sodium hydroxide (14). Historically, ocean water has been slightly basic, but relatively constant over millions of years. Monitoring has shown that seawater pH has gotten more acidic since the start of the industrial revolution more 07/24/10 Horseshoe crab decline 'alarming' - capecodtimes.com WELLFLEET — University of Massachusetts graduate student Sarah Martinez is careful about drawing non-scientific conclusions about her horseshoe crab research. But, after four years doing population surveys on these dinosaur-age survivors, Martinez, who hails from Yarmouth, can't help herself. "We both grew up on Cape Cod," Martinez said of herself and fellow graduate student Katherine Terkanian, who is from Wellfleet. "I remember there being more as a kid." Dan McKiernan, deputy director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said state officials believe the combined evidence of spawning surveys such as those conducted by Martinez and Terkanian, as well as trawling surveys, are showing a decline in the state's horseshoe crab population. When spawning surveys turned up few or no crabs at some known spawning sites, McKiernan said state officials worried that they may be managing crabs the wrong way — that it may be just as important where fishermen harvest horseshoe crabs as how many they catch. "On known spawning beaches, some of these findings appeared to be alarming," McKiernan said. Largely ignored by both fishery managers and the public for decades, horseshoe crabs hit the news in 1998, when birders worried that a vital link in the ocean food chain was being severed by fishermen harvesting horseshoe crabs for use as bait. Migrating shorebirds, particularly in the Delaware Bay area, depended on crab eggs for nourishment in their long South American migration. Conservation efforts By 2000, both the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham banned the harvest of horseshoe crabs for bait and medical use. Horseshoe crab blood produces a vital medical product that can detect contamination in medical devices such as surgical implants. The Division of Marine Fisheries also set strict limits on how many of the crabs could be caught. This year, the agency instituted new regulations to guard against localized depletion by protecting spawning crabs that gather in large groups on beaches around the full moon in late April through early July. Fishermen catching crabs for bait and for the medical industry, by taking advantage of these natural aggregations, could, in theory, wipe out a local population. There has already been some research showing that there may be at least four genetically distinct horseshoe crab populations from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. The Division of Marine Fisheries co-sponsored some of Martinez and Terkanian's research at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The pair has used radio tracking of individual crabs and analysis of genetic samples to determine whether there are even more genetically distinct crab populations in smaller water bodies such as Wellfleet Harbor and the Nauset estuary system. Looking for answers With $50,000 in federal Sea Grant funding, the graduate students fixed radio transmitters on 75 horseshoe crabs this spring in Chatham waters around Stage Harbor, Monomoy and South Beach. They then placed 22 thermos-sized radio receivers moored in large tubs of cement around the area. Each transmitter emits a distinct signal that is caught by the receivers on the crabs and stored. Researchers then go out and download information from the receivers to a laptop computer to study the crabs' movements. One goal of the research is to determine whether the crabs in each locality mix, or remain separated, during the two-year lifespan of the batteries powering the transmitters. This kind of research helps the Division of Marine Fisheries determine whether the agency needs to craft regulations to protect groups of crabs that stay in one particular area, or whether crabs from other areas just move in and replace those that fishermen catch. Terkanian is collecting genetic samples from crabs in Wellfleet, Stage Harbor, Duxbury Bay, the Nauset estuary, and Pleasant Bay to determine whether there is any interbreeding. She is still looking for funding to complete the analysis of genetic samples that could show that discrete groups don't intermingle. more 07/22/10 Whale meat restaurants top 100 in Ulsan, Korea - Korea Times Ulsan is the place to be if you are craving a plate of whale meat. The number of restaurants offering the dish in the southeastern metropolitan city has increased sharply over the past year, exceeding 100, the city government said Sunday. The figure is up nearly four times from a year earlier and the highest since the International Whaling Commission adopted a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. City officials say minke whale is the main item on the market. Catching whales for commercial purposes is banned around the world unless they are caught accidentally in fishing nets. Korea is one of the countries strictly prohibiting the catching of the endangered species for profit. However, whale meat is a traditional local delicacy for people living in the city. A 6-meter-long whale usually sells for 25 million won ($21,000) when demand is high and supply is short. An illegally caught one sells for about 16 million won on the black market. Illegal trading of the endangered species is the reason behind the mushrooming restaurants selling whale meat. As a result, environmental groups are calling for the government to monitor illegal hunting and trading more tightly. more 07/19/10 Protecting Whales Focus of NOAA, Industry Program for Tour Boat Operators - NOAA Recognizing businesses that discourage the harassment of whales in the wild and promote good stewardship is one of the goals of Whale SENSE, a voluntary education and recognition program that encourages whale-watch tour operators from Maine to Virginia to practice responsible viewing. The program was developed last year by NOAA Fisheries Service, Northeast Region and NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and several New England commercial whale watching companies. The United States has the largest whale watching industry in the world, and whale watch vessels often play important roles in reporting and standing by injured, sick, and entangled animals or those struck by ships until help arrives. All whales are protected under federal laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act, that safeguard them from being injured, killed, or harassed and having their natural behaviors interrupted. The public wants to view these animals in their natural habitat, and will find tour companies that value education and responsible whale watching very attractive," said Allison Rosner, a biologist with NOAA Fisheries Service’s Office of Protected Resources and the Whale SENSE program coordinator for NOAA. "Whale SENSE highlights those companies operating in an environmentally responsible manner and are role models for the rest of the fleet," said Craig MacDonald, Superintendent of the Sanctuary. According to a report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the whale watching industry contributed nearly $1 billion to the nation's economy in 2008. "With the threat of commercial whaling once again a reality, it is critically important to show the world that whale watching, not whaling, is the best future for us, and for the whales," said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist for the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. Companies participating in Whale SENSE agree to minimize negative impacts of whales by engaging in responsible viewing practices, by providing customers with a high standard of education, and by promoting ocean stewardship and conservation. To become a Whale SENSE participant, company vessel operators and the naturalists who narrate tours are required to attend annual training on safe operations and whale ecology. Through these workshops, companies learn more about passenger education, whale watching guidelines and regulations, and good marine stewardship practices. Once a participant company has completed the program, it is granted full use of the Whale SENSE logo and becomes listed on the Whale SENSE website. “Dolphin Fleet is proud to be a part in the Whale SENSE program, so we can show our staff’s commitment to educating the public while safely navigating around the marine life we visit,” said Steve Miliken of Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch in Provincetown, Mass. “Participating in this program helps us to improve awareness of the whale watching guidelines within the Northeast whale watching community and give our patrons the opportunity to understand the importance of protecting the whales we see.” Massachusetts-based Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises, Dolphin Fleet, Captain John Boats and Massachusetts Bay Lines are among those companies participating in Whale SENSE. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach is also a participant. “We hope participation will grow as the whale-watching community recognizes the value of engaging in education, conservation and stewardship,” Rosner said. “It’s a win-win situation for the companies, for the public, and most of all, for the whales.” # # # NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitat through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public. 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. Visit us at http://www.noaa.gov or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/noaa.lubchenco. more 07/15/10 Ship tracking system helps protect vessels, whales. - Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary Ship identification and tracking system, intended to improve ship safety and national security has a new role in helping to protect great whales through the efforts of sanctuary staff. Called the automatic identification system or AIS the safety program is administered by the US coast guard in this nation and by the international Maritime organization globally. Most large ships greater than 300 gross tons are required to use this technology. In this system, shipboard transponders send continuously updated tracking data, allowing receiving stations and other AIS equipped ships to identify local conservation programs to protect endangered whales. Warnings about the presence of North Atlantic right whales are now sent via AIS to liquid national gas tankers and NOAA is working to expand this program to other large ships. If you have visited the Cape Cod National Seashore province lands Visitor center or the tower at halibut point state park in Rockport, you may have seen one of these AIS antennae. A third antennae sits atop the sanctuaries head quarters building in situate. Together they provide full VHF coverage for Boston Harbor, Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays the sanctuary and beyond. Ship tracking system helps protect vessels, whales. Ship identification and tracking system, intended to improve ship safety and national security has a new role in helping to protect great whales through the efforts of sanctuary staff. Called the automatic identification system or AIS the safety program is administered by the US coast guard in this nation and by the international Maritime organization globally. Most large ships greater than 300 gross tons are required to use this technology. In this system, shipboard transponders send continuously updated tracking data, allowing receiving stations and other AIS equipped ships to identify local conservation programs to protect endangered whales. Warnings about the presence of North Atlantic right whales are now sent via AIS to liquid national gas tankers and NOAA is working to expand this program to other large ships. If you have visited the Cape Cod National Seashore province lands Visitor center or the tower at halibut point state park in Rockport, you may have seen one of these AIS antennae. A third antennae sits atop the sanctuaries head quarters building in situate. Together they provide full VHF coverage for Boston Harbor, Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays the sanctuary and beyond. Ship tracking system helps protect vessels, whales. Ship identification and tracking system, intended to improve ship safety and national security has a new role in helping to protect great whales through the efforts of sanctuary staff. Called the automatic identification system or AIS the safety program is administered by the US coast guard in this nation and by the international Maritime organization globally. Most large ships greater than 300 gross tons are required to use this technology. In this system, shipboard transponders send continuously updated tracking data, allowing receiving stations and other AIS equipped ships to identify local conservation programs to protect endangered whales. Warnings about the presence of North Atlantic right whales are now sent via AIS to liquid national gas tankers and NOAA is working to expand this program to other large ships. If you have visited the Cape Cod National Seashore province lands Visitor center or the tower at halibut point state park in Rockport, you may have seen one of these AIS antennae. A third antennae sits atop the sanctuaries head quarters building in situate. Together they provide full VHF coverage for Boston Harbor, Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays the sanctuary and beyond. more 07/13/10 Listening to Soundings in the Sanctuary. . Stellwagen Bank - Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary A research team studies a noisy sea Sailors, whalers, fisherman and scientists have long known that animals in the ocean make sounds. In the dim aquatic environment where vision doesn’t get you very far marine mammals have come to rely on their voices as a means of navigating, finding food, looking for mates and maintaining contact. These sounds range from very low frequency of blue whales to extremely rapid and high frequency clicks of harbor porpoises and everything in between. One species, the humpback whale, produces long complex songs that rival the calls of land-based songbirds in beauty and complexity. Those songs can be heard for miles. Some fish species like codfish and haddock make short grunt like sounds that are only audible to their neighbors. Humans also generate sound in the ocean. The rumbles of ship engines, the pings of fish finders and the blasts of seismic exploration are making the ocean an extremely noisy place. This cacophony has become worrisome to a lot of marine biologists who believe that the noise produced by human activities has the potential to interfere with marine animal communication. With its diverse array of human activities and animals, Stellwagen Bank national marine sanctuary has become a prime site for marine acoustic studies. Scientists have opportunities to both see and listen in on our aquatic neighbors as well as to measure the noise produced by humans. For the past several years’ sanctuary scientists have been engaged in collaborative research project to map low frequency noise throughout sanctuary waters and to quantify both the sources of anthropogenic or man made noise as well as the vocal behavior of local animals. Recordings are collected using specialized devices called autonomous acoustic recording units developed by Cornell University. These instruments can record sounds continuously for several months at a time. The sanctuary research team has been deploying on them and around Stellwagen Bank year round since 2006. The data from these recorders are yielding some interesting results. Scientists have been able to measure the noise levels produced large commercial vessels and can estimate ranges over which the sound travels. The recorders have yielded information about the distribution and vocal behavior of right, humpback fin and minke whales within sanctuary waters and researchers are listening in on fish as well. A collaborative team ahs started estimating the rangers over which different species of marine mammals can communicate with one and other and how these may change during human activities. BY combining all of this information scientists are starting to paint a picture of the sounds cape of the Stellwagen bank sanctuary. Listening to Soundings in the Sanctuary A research team studies a noisy sea Sailors, whalers, fisherman and scientists have long known that animals in the ocean make sounds. In the dim aquatic environment where vision doesn’t get you very far marine mammals have come to rely on their voices as a means of navigating, finding food, looking for mates and maintaining contact. These sounds range from very low frequency of blue whales to extremely rapid and high frequency clicks of harbor porpoises and everything in between. One species, the humpback whale, produces long complex songs that rival the calls of land-based songbirds in beauty and complexity. Those songs can be heard for miles. Some fish species like codfish and haddock make short grunt like sounds that are only audible to their neighbors. Humans also generate sound in the ocean. The rumbles of ship engines, the pings of fish finders and the blasts of seismic exploration are making the ocean an extremely noisy place. This cacophony has become worrisome to a lot of marine biologists who believe that the noise produced by human activities has the potential to interfere with marine animal communication. With its diverse array of human activities and animals, Stellwagen Bank national marine sanctuary has become a prime site for marine acoustic studies. Scientists have opportunities to both see and listen in on our aquatic neighbors as well as to measure the noise produced by humans. For the past several years’ sanctuary scientists have been engaged in collaborative research project to map low frequency noise throughout sanctuary waters and to quantify both the sources of anthropogenic or man made noise as well as the vocal behavior of local animals. Recordings are collected using specialized devices called autonomous acoustic recording units developed by Cornell University. These instruments can record sounds continuously for several months at a time. The sanctuary research team has been deploying on them and around Stellwagen Bank year round since 2006. The data from these recorders are yielding some interesting results. Scientists have been able to measure the noise levels produced large commercial vessels and can estimate ranges over which the sound travels. The recorders have yielded information about the distribution and vocal behavior of right, humpback fin and minke whales within sanctuary waters and researchers are listening in on fish as well. A collaborative team ahs started estimating the rangers over which different species of marine mammals can communicate with one and other and how these may change during human activities. BY combining all of this information scientists are starting to paint a picture of the sounds cape of the Stellwagen bank sanctuary. more 07/11/10 Giant Whale-Eating Whale Found - DiscoveryNews The massive skull and jaw of a 13-million-year-old sperm whale has been discovered eroding from the windblown sands of a coastal desert of Peru. The extinct cousin of the modern sperm whale is the first fossil to rival modern sperm whales in size -- although this is a very different beast, say whale evolution experts. "We could see it from very far," said paleontologist Olivier Lambert of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France, who led the team which found the fossil. The giant 3-meter (10-foot) skull of what's been dubbed Leviathan melvillei (in honor of the author of "Moby Dick") was found with teeth in its top and bottom jaws up to 36 centimeters (14 inches) long. The discovery is reported in the July 1 issue of the journal Nature. Living sperm whales have teeth only in their lower jaws and are specialized to feed on giant squid, Lambert explained. They suck down squid like large spaghetti noodles rather than catch the prey with their teeth. The much toothier fossil sperm whales, however, may have eaten more like a outsized-orca, or killer whale: chomping great big bites out of its prey. "These are very unusual attributes," said cetacea evolution expert Ewan Fordyce of the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It's remarkably big. That is unexpected." Another sign that this ancient whale had a killer bite is the large hole in the skull to accommodate a large jaw muscle. "This was a hunting predator that took chunks out of prey," said Fordyce. It most likely fed on baleen whales, Lambert and his colleagues report, and lived in the same waters as the monster-sized shark called Carcharocles megalodon. To learn more about its eating habits, Fordyce said it would be useful to look at the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth. If the wear lines are horizontal, it probably sucked in prey like today's whales. But if the wear lines are vertical, it would suggest a biter, like the orca. "Many fossil sperm whales have been found in the past," said Lambert. "Most have been much smaller than modern sperm whales." There have also been discoveries of isolated large sperm whale teeth fossils before, said Lambert. Those made it clear to researchers there was a bigger animal out there waiting to be found. And now they have found it. "I think it's a great advance," said Fordyce of the discovery. The fossil appears to also be a distant relative of today's sperm whales, said Fordyce, rather than a direct ancestor. more 07/07/10 Smallest Whale Population Identified - DiscoveryNews Only 30 eastern North Pacific right whales are left on the planet, making it the world’s smallest population of whales, according to a paper published in this week’s Royal Society Biology Letters. Scientists believe 19th century whaling and recent illegal catches by the USSR led to this whale’s dramatic downfall. Reports from the mid 1800’s suggest that these whales once numbered at least 23,000 from North America to the Okhotsk Sea and Japan. Surveys now suggest that only around eight female and 20-22 male eastern North Pacific right whales are left. “With such small numbers, and so few females, we cannot predict whether this population will increase or decrease,” lead author Paul Wade told Discovery News. “It could go either way. Under ideal conditions, a right whale population could increase by at least a few percent per year, but probably not such a small population like this.” These whales are very large marine mammals, with some growing to 60 feet in length. They mostly feed on small crustaceans known as copepods. Due to the whale’s size and other considerations, humans cannot breed them and other big baleen species. Wade, a research biologist at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and his colleagues used several different methods, including DNA analysis and photo-identification surveys, to count the eastern North Pacific right whales. The estimates all came to very similar conclusions, all pointing to around 30. The whale’s precarious status today, according to the authors, “is a direct consequence of uncontrolled and illegal whaling, and highlights the past failure of international management to prevent such abuses.” Wade added that the whales were “pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal Soviet catches in the 1960’s, and that this was a failure of monitoring and enforcement under the IWC (International Whaling Commission).” This year’s IWC annual meeting in Paris has failed to conclude with a new deal that could further protect many species. Wade and his team believe that “any negotiation needs to include strict monitoring, including independent genetic sampling of markets, to prove the meat being sold comes from legitimate sources.” Ship strikes, disturbance from seismic activities and entanglement in fishing gear further threaten the eastern North Pacific right whales. Howard Rosenbaum, a researcher for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Museum of Natural History, believes the North Pacific right whale is “one of the most endangered of all great whale species.” Five years ago, Rosenbaum and others conducted DNA studies that proved right whales consist of three genetically distinct populations: North Pacific right whales, for which the eastern group is a subset; North Atlantic right whales; and Southern right whales. Western North Pacific right whales are also at risk of extinction, but there is no reliable estimate of their numbers now. The second smallest whale population may be the critically endangered western population of grey whales. They are estimated to be at about 100. Wade and his team think the eastern North Pacific right whales “may be on par with other relict populations decimated by whaling for which there is a similar rarity of sightings, such as bowhead whales near Svalbard, right whales in the eastern North Atlantic or right whales in Chile and Peru.” One additional problem faced by the eastern North Pacific right whale is lack of public exposure. The few that are still alive live in a remote area, so they are out of human sight, and therefore out of mind in terms of a push to save them. “So public attention of the plight of this population has not occurred at least partially due to that, which we think is too bad,” Wade said from a ship in the central Aleutian Islands, where he is conducting more whale surveys. more 07/04/10 The Mathematics of Menopause, WHales and Humans - Sarah Reed Among long-lived animals, scientists have found only three species that undergo menopause: humans, short-finned pilot whales, and resident killer whales. What makes these species so special? A new study finds that it all comes down to their unique social structures. Menopause occurs when the ovaries are depleted of eggs, marking the end of female fertility. But evolution favors the production of offspring, so why would some species abandon reproduction? Some researchers have argued for the "grandmother hypothesis." The idea is that an older woman who devotes herself to caring for her grandchildren benefits from the survival of her genes more than she would if she continued to bear children. If she continued reproducing in old age, then she would risk dying during childbirth or while young offspring are still dependent on her. Human beings are more disposed toward menopause than are other species. That's because, according to a recent study by evolutionary biologists Rufus Johnstone of the University of Cambridge and Michael Cant of the University of Exeter, both in the United Kingdom, women have historically left their family groups after marrying. This placed them in a new family, meaning it was beneficial to care for their own children at first (because they were more genetically related to them than they were to the rest of the family) and to care for their grandchildren later (when more of their genes made it into the family group). But this scenario can't explain why short-finned pilot whales and resident killer whales are also menopausal, as neither gender leaves the family group to join a mate. Instead, males and females return to their respective family pods after mating with whales from other pods—an arrangement unique in the mammalian kingdom. In the new study, Johnstone and Cant used a mathematical model to analyze the kinship dynamics in a population with this mating pattern. They found that this unusual mating scenario led to an increase in the number of individuals that a female is related to in her group as she ages—a trend that favors younger breeders and older child-rearing helpers. And that sets the stage for menopause to evolve, the team will report online tomorrow in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers saw the same trend when they applied the model to the mating pattern of humans societies in which a female leaves home to join her husband's family. This is also an unusual social structure, as in most other social mammals it is the male who leaves home. Evolutionary biologist Thomas Kirkwood of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom isn't convinced that strong conclusions about the evolution of menopause can be drawn from a mathematical model that predicts relatedness within a species. "It doesn't show how the presence or absence of the menopause affects Darwinian fitness," how successful an individual is in passing on his or her genes to future generations, "which is the all-important evolutionary yardstick." more 06/26/10 IWC debates scrapping ineffective ban on whaling - brisbanetimes.com.au The International Whaling Commission began its most important meeting in decades debating whether to scrap an ineffective 25-year ban on commercial hunting and instead allow for limited whaling under a more enforceable regime. Though environmental groups say the 1986 moratorium has been one of the most successful animal conservation measures in history, it has failed to prevent Japan, Norway and Iceland from killing hundreds of whales each year in defiance of the commission. A proposal before the 88-member commission would allow the three countries limited whaling in exchange for removing their rogue status and imposing a 10-year period of international monitoring. Advertisement: Story continues below The proposal's author, IWC Chairman Cristian Maquieira, has said it would save about 5000 whales over 10 years, though he was not attending this week's meeting due to illness. Allowing for limited hunting might also reduce the harassment by conservationists trying to disrupt whale hunts - sometimes leading to violent clashes at sea. Within minutes of opening the annual conference on Monday, the commission's deputy chairman, Anthony Liverpool, adjourned the open sessions for two days to give pro- and anti-whaling countries a chance to discuss whether a compromise was possible. The suspension of the normal agenda was unprecedented in recent decades, and reflected the contentiousness of the proposal to lift the ban. The meeting ends Friday. Environmentalists attending as observers denounced the move to hold closed-door negotiations. Calling it "fundamentally unacceptable", Wendy Elliott of WWF International said all the preparations for the meeting were held in secret, and "now is the moment to open up a transparent and honest discussion". Many commission members oppose sanctioning any whale hunting at all. Others might agree to a deal that imposed tough conditions to protect the most endangered species and that demanded Japan halt its forays into the Antarctic Whaling Sanctuary, where some 80 per cent of the oceans' whales go to feed. Many commission members also want international sales of whale meat halted. "We want two things: we want to save more whales, and we want a whaling commission that functions well," Dutch delegate Marianne Wuite said. The future of the 65-year-old commission has been undermined by its inability to stop Japan, Norway and Iceland from hunting whales. In 1994 it declared the Antarctic off-limits, but Japan objected to the sanctuary, and the commission has no mechanism to ensure compliance or enforce its rules. Making matters more complicated, the commission's original 1946 rules allow for member countries to claim exemptions to commission decisions. Japan conducts its hunting under a clause allowing the killing of whales for scientific research, although nearly all the meat goes to the commercial market. The proposal would do away with exemptions and require whaling countries to agree to abide by the rules. They would outfit their whaling ships with satellite monitors, letting international observers track their movements and activities. If a country hunts more than its quota, that quota would be lowered in subsequent years. Currently, more than 1000 whales are killed each year, with nearly 2000 killed in the peak year of 2006, the Pew Environmental Group said. "Japan is the key," said Susan Lieberman, director of Pew's whale conservation program. "The question is whether Japan is going to compromise or not." She said Japan might be coaxed to stop whaling in the southern sanctuary - an expensive and highly subsidised industry - if it won international recognition of its right to hunt whales off its coast. "If this were purely economic, they wouldn't be whaling in the Antarctic," she said. The United States has said it favours a deal, but says the proposed quotas are too high. The European Union says it wants to maintain the moratorium, but it also has indicated it would look at a deal that calls for a phasing out of hunting over several years. more 06/24/10 Stellwagen Bank officials craft new management plan - cape cod times The Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is considered a jewel of New England coastal waters. Its 842-square-mile ecosystem is about three times more productive than the Gulf of Maine and twice as productive as Georges Bank, with over 575 known species of animals. But it is also extremely vulnerable, bisected by one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and the location of one of the nation's most valuable fishing grounds. It is also close to a major population center, metropolitan Boston, and is considered one of the world's great whale-watching venues. Given that level of demand, many breathed a sigh of relief when, after a decade of waiting, sanctuary officials released their first management plan last week that lays out how to address the various threats to its continued health. Instead of proposing new regulations that could be enacted to protect the sanctuary, the new plan sets up so-called action plans that identify the threats, the needs for research and consensus building, as well as the agencies that should be involved in any future regulations. Peter Auster, a member of the sanctuary's advisory council and the science director at the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut, is encouraged that the management plan moved beyond the usual stakeholders — such as the fishing industry, shipping interests, and whale-watching businesses — to involve the public. "It opens the door, and shines a light on these discussions," he said. Although she is one of many experts who still have to digest the more than 400-page plan, advisory council member Priscilla Brooks, who is also director of the Ocean Conservation Program at the Conservation Law Foundation, has read enough to believe the plan doesn't go far enough. "At a brief glance, it's evident that little has changed from the draft document," she said yesterday. "We would have liked to have seen a much stronger management plan." Brooks believed the management plan should have included proposals for new regulations. Instead she noted that most recommendations are for research, investigation and monitoring. "The plan is really a plan for a plan," she said. "Obviously, they wanted to go very, very slowly." The first half of the document spells out many of the threats that beset the sanctuary. Fishing, for example, touches every square inch of the sanctuary and is considered one of the primary occupations jeopardizing the ecosystem, including destruction of bottom habitat such as the sand and rock formations where fish find shelter. But the sanctuary cannot ban fishing unless it goes through a lengthy process that changes its founding documentation, the agreement reached between federal, state and other stakeholders that established the sanctuary in 1992. It can, however, suggest changes to the New England Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service that can be adopted to alter fishing practices that are harmful to Stellwagen's ecosystem. The management plan does seem to be edging up to just such a proposal — decrying the damage done by bottom trawling with nets and scallop dredges, and suggesting that sanctuary officials may try to move toward what they describe as environmentally responsible fishing methods. Brooks said more regulations could have been proposed given the evidence that average vessel speeds on whale-watch boats had doubled both from 1980 to 1987 and again from 1998 to 2004, and that the non-compliance rate with NOAA whale-watch guidelines was 78 percent. Speed is the primary factor in the severity of injury and possible mortality when a ship hits a whale. "In terms of specificity, some of it is just gearing up," said Richard Delaney, director of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. "If nothing else, it breaks the logjam the sanctuary has been in and gives them the mandate to pursue scientific and management priorities." Delaney said the management plan is responsive to issues identified in the sanctuary's own environmental health index report card of 2006, which gave Stellwagen poor marks in controlling fishing impacts on habitat, on a decline in biodiversity, and for overall human impacts on marine populations. Sanctuary superintendent Craig MacDonald said the management plan could not propose new regulations or it would risk a delay of two to three years because environmental impact statements and public hearings would have been required under federal law. He said the document does point out the areas where regulations are most likely forthcoming, including greater protection for historic shipwrecks, improved management of vessels around whales, a commercial prohibition on a sand lance fishery, and zoning of some areas of Stellwagen as no-take zones for research. MacDonald also said the time was right to negotiate with fishermen over how to protect bottom habitat, adding the establishment of an environmentally sustainable fishery on Stellwagen has at least a measure of support among fishermen. Other potential impacts addressed in the report include the laying of underwater cables and pipelines, noise from ocean construction and vessels, and coastal pollution. more 06/21/10 Japan, Pacific nations deny whaling bribery claims - http://www.abc.net.au/news Japan, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati have denied trading cash and favours for votes in support of Tokyo on whaling. Britain's The Sunday Times reported that officials from St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Guinea and Ivory Coast were willing to discuss selling their votes at the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The newspaper said officials had voted with the pro-whaling bloc because of Japanese aid, or because they were offered inducements including cash, call-girls and funding to attend whaling meetings. The report emerged ahead of a crucial IWC meeting in Morocco next week where a compromise proposal will be put forward to end a 24-year-old moratorium on commercial whaling. Limited whaling would be allowed, although numbers permitted to be killed would be cut sharply from current levels progressively over the next decade. Japan today denied the claims in the Sunday Times. "It is a fact that Japan as a country never pays money to buy votes for the IWC," said a Japanese Fisheries Agency official who declined to be named. Asked about the allegation Japan had paid for call girls for envoys, the official said: "I cannot believe anything like that". Each country "makes their own decision" on how to vote at the IWC, he said. "There are many countries that support the sustainable use of whales. Japan's aid for countries is provided regardless of their support for whaling." 'Not for sale' Marshall Islands foreign minister John Silk said on Wednesday that the newspaper had falsified or distorted information. "The Marshall Islands' vote at the IWC is not for sale", he said in a statement. "The Marshall Islands is a sovereign nation and as such, determines its own government policies. "The Marshall Islands' policy on whaling is not based on the aid from Japan or any other country." The Sunday Times said its reporters posed as representatives of a fictional Swiss billionaire who was offering an aid package to persuade the countries to shift to the anti-whaling camp at next week's IWC meeting. In a reported transcript of an exchange between a reporter and Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority official Doreen deBrum, she confirmed the country's vote in support of Japan was related to aid. "We support Japan because of what they give us," she was quoted as saying, although she later denied this when the newspaper revealed its purpose. The secretary of Kiribati's ministry for fisheries and marine resources and development, Ribanataaket Awira, said Japan did pay for Kiribati to attend a recent meeting of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations in Barcelona, Spain. However, he says New Zealand, Australia and the United Nations have also helped pay for trips to important meetings in the past, but this has never influenced Kiribati's vote. "The relationship we have with Japan is based on our fishing bilateral arrangement which we have had with them for over 30 years," he said. "So the aid that we receive from Japan is part of that arrangement and it has nothing to do with whaling." Officials from Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have also denied the allegations. more 06/19/10 Whale Poop Cleans the Environment - DiscoveryNews Whale waste is rich in iron so it stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, which then serve as carbon traps that remove some 400,000 estimated tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year. * New research shows that sperm whale waste stimulates carbon removal from the environment. * Since carbon has been linked to greenhouse gases, sperm whales likely reduce global warming. * Other marine mammals probably also help to remove carbon from the environment. Whale and other marine animals could help to offset greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity. Click on the photo to see more images of whales doing their part to help the environment -- if you dare. Sperm whale waste isn't much to look at -- a diarrhea-like substance with a few squid beaks floating around -- but new research has found it removes carbon from the atmosphere, helping to offset greenhouse gases that have been tied to global warming. Sperm whales in the Southern Ocean release 220,462 tons of carbon when they exhale carbon dioxide at the water's surface, but their poo stimulates the drawdown of 440,925 tons of carbon, according to the research, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B. These ocean giants and certain other marine mammals may therefore be among the most environmentally beneficial animals on the planet. "If Southern Ocean sperm whales were at their historic levels, meaning their population size before whaling, we would have an extra 2 million tonnes (2,204,623 tons) of carbon being removed from our atmosphere each and every year," lead author Trisha Lavery Told Discovery News. Lavery, a marine biologist at Flinders University of South Australia, and her colleagues explained how the cleaning process works. It begins with sperm whales feeding on squid and fish, their favorite prey, deep in the ocean. The whales then return to the water's surface to relieve themselves. "They do this because they shut down their non-crucial biological functions when they dive," Lavery said. "So it's only when they come to the surface to rest that they defecate." Their waste comes out as a giant liquid plume (save for the undigested squid beaks) that showers over minute aquatic plant "seed stocks," which she said are "just floating around waiting for nutrients so they can use them to grow and reproduce." The whale poo provides these nutrients, functioning as a natural fertilizer. The plants -- phytoplankton -- take up carbon from the ocean as they grow. Through the entire life and death cycle of these plants, the carbon then stays "trapped" for centuries to millennium. more 06/15/10 Prosecutors seek jail for Bethune, anti-whaling activist - nzherald.co.nz Japanese prosecutors yesterday demanded two years in prison for New Zealand anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune on trial for assault and charges relating to his boarding of a harpoon ship in Antarctic waters. Bethune, 45, of Auckland, is accused of causing chemical burns to the face of a whaler with a rancid butter stink bomb and four other charges. Chemical burns to the face of a 24-year-old whaler were "clearly caused by rancid butter fired by the defendant", prosecutors said. "The impact of rancid butter and its toxic nature is clear from past studies, and our investigations found that the ship's floor was discoloured where the rancid butter hit. "It's clear that the acid was highly concentrated." Bethune was detained in February after he boarded the Japanese fleet's security ship the Shonan Maru II during its annual cull of the sea mammals. He was a member of the US-based anti-whaling organisation the Sea Shepherd Society when his powerboat the Ady Gil sank after a collision with the Shonan Maru II, and Bethune wanted to make a citizen's arrest of its captain and charge him for the sunken boat. On trial in Tokyo, Bethune has pleaded guilty to four charges including trespassing, vandalism and holding a knife, which he used to cut netting as he climbed on to the ship from a jet ski, but he has denied the assault charge. Japan hunts whales under a loophole to an international moratorium that allows killing of the ocean giants for "scientific research". Meanwhile, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says kicking Bethune off its anti-whaling campaign may actually help his court case in Japan. Closing arguments in the Japanese court case against Bethune are being held in Tokyo District Court and the US-based Sea Shepherd group yesterday defended its expulsion of Bethune, saying the decision upholds a nonviolence policy and may help him gain leniency in court. The Associated Press reported that Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson acknowledged the group received some criticism after its decision last week to kick out the New Zealander for having a bow and arrow with him while aboard the Ady Gil, which he said was a violation of policy. The group, which often has scuffles with whalers, claims that its policy is "aggressive but nonviolent". Mr Watson said in a statement that the group would continue to help cover Bethune's legal fees for his trial in Tokyo. Mr Watson also denied the charge by Japanese prosecutors that he had ordered Bethune to climb on to the Shonan Maru 2. He said the decision to expel him was "taken out of necessity both for Captain Bethune and for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society". With Bethune telling the court that he doesn't plan to return to Sea Shepherd's campaigns, the judge will be more likely to release him, Mr Watson said. "Sea Shepherd is focused on getting Bethune out of a Japanese prison." Bethune's wife Sharyn earlier this week criticised the Sea Shepherd decision. Nevertheless, her husband remained positive that he would get a suspended sentence and be out of Japan by early July. When he got back from Japan he would probably take six months off to finish writing his book and spend some time with his kids, she said. After that he would probably return to conservation work, "just probably not with the Sea Shepherd", she said. more 06/13/10 Controversial Japan whaling fleet sets goal of 260 animals - dailycaller A Japanese research whaling fleet left port Wednesday on a mission to catch 260 whales by the end of August in an effort to research the creature's feeding patterns, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported. Three harpoon and two research ships with more than 200 crew members left from different ports in Japan and are being sent by the Institute of Cetacean Research, which conducts the research whaling activities under the authority of Japan's Fisheries Agency. Japan's whaling has drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocacy groups, who claim it involves the cruel slaughter of whales so that meat can be sold in markets and restaurants. Japan has hunted up to 1,000 whales in the Antarctic annually, according to the International Whaling Commission. Officials in Japan say their hunts are permitted under rules prohibit commercial whaling but allow whaling for scientific reasons - including lethal force for research purposes. But Australia has taken the controversial issue a step further - asking an international court to weigh in on Japan's whale-hunting practices. "We want to see an end to whales being killed in the name of science," Peter Garrett, Australia's environmental protection minister, told reporters. Their bid may be boosted by the statements from two former Japanese whalers who told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Foreign Correspondent" show that there is systemic embezzling aboard the whaling vessels. The men told ABC that whaling ship crew members often take hundreds of pounds of meat from the whales and often sell it or eat it themselves. "First, when the ship returns to Japan and arrives in the port, a transport truck is waiting. The crewmen will then pack the whale meat they stole into a cardboard box. One person carried off 500 to 600 kilograms," one man told ABC. If the claims are true, it would undermine Japan's assertions that its main purpose for whaling is research - not the reselling of meat. An official with the Institute of Cetacean Research said they recognize the anger some people have over whaling practices but insist the work they do is for research. They know like in similar years they will face threats of protests or problems at sea - especially since the film "The Cove" which explores the issue has gone mainstream. Australia's lawsuit, and the Japanese trip, comes as an anti-whaling activist faces charges including assault and trespassing in a Japanese court. Prosecutors allege that Peter Bethune, an environmental activist from New Zealand, threw butyric acid at a whaling ship, jumped aboard and attempted to make a citizen's arrest of the captain. Bethune has pleaded guilty to all charges except assault. He testified Monday that he did not intend to hurt anyone. A verdict is expected later this month. Still, despite protests and threats, the research center says they will continue on with their trip as normal. "You can't tell what antiwhaling groups would do," one official told Japan's Kyodo News Agency according to a Japan Times report. "We will be more careful than ever." more 06/10/10 Pierce Brosnan - Brosnan Attacks Obama Over Whales Promise - contactmusic.com PIERCE BROSNAN is taking aim at U.S. leader PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA in a new public service announcement for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. In the PSA, the former 007 reminds Obama of promises he made about protecting sea-life when he was a presidential candidate. Brosnan says, "As a candidate, you promised to end illegal whaling, and we applauded your leadership, but recent reports reveal your administration supports an international proposal, which gives Japan, Iceland and Norway the license to kill whales." The famous marine conservationist recently narrated Disney documentary Oceans - a film with a powerful message. Brosnan is now urging U.S. government officials to take a stronger stand against whale hunting in international waters. Brosnan wants Obama and other leaders to take a no-tolerance policy: "They (U.S. government) seem to be in favour of allowing Japan and Norway to go out and hunt whales again. It means they can go out there and start killing whales. It's in moratorium so it's not determined how many they can kill. Normally, there's no justification for killing these creatures. Scientifically, there's no justification. So if you want to do something about stopping the possible slaughter of whales, then you have to pick up the phone and call The White House." And the movie star hopes his new nature film will encourage youngsters to fight to save the world's whales. more 06/08/10 How Whales Have Changed Over 35 Million Years - Science Daily Whales are remarkably diverse, with 84 living species of dramatically different sizes and more than 400 other species that have gone extinct, including some that lived partly on land. Why are there so many whale species, with so much diversity in body size? To answer that, UCLA evolutionary biologists and a colleague used molecular and computational techniques to look back 35 million years, when the ancestor of all living whales appeared, to analyze the evolutionary tempo of modern whale species and probe how fast whales changed their shape and body size. They have provided the first test of an old idea about why whales show such rich diversity. "Whales represent the most spectacularly successful invasion of oceans by a mammalian lineage," said Michael Alfaro, UCLA assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and senior author of the new study, which was published this month in the early online edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B and will appear at a later date in the journal's print edition. "They are often at the top of the food chain and are major players in whatever ecosystem they are in. They are the biggest animals that have ever lived. Cetaceans (which include whales, as well as dolphins and porpoises) are the mammals that can go to the deepest depths in the oceans. "Biologists have debated whether some key evolutionary feature early in their history allowed whales to rapidly expand in number and form," Alfaro said. "Sonar, large brains, baleen (a structure found in the largest species for filtering small animals from sea water) and complex sociality have all been suggested as triggers for a diversification, or radiation, of this group that has been assumed to be rapid. However, the tempo -- the actual rate of the unfolding of the cetacean radiation -- has never been critically examined before. Our study is the first to test the idea that evolution in early whales was explosively fast." One explanation for whale diversity is simply that they have been accumulating species and evolving differences in shape as a function of time. The more time that goes by, the more cetacean species one would expect, and the more variation in body size one would expect to see in them. "Instead, what we found is that very early in their history, whales went their separate ways from the standpoint of size, and probably ecology," Alfaro said. "This pattern provides some support for the explosive radiation hypothesis. It is consistent with the idea that some key traits opened up new ways of being 'whale-like' to the earliest ancestors of modern cetaceans, and that these ancestors evolved to fill them. Once these forms became established, they remained." Species diversification and variations in body size were established early in the evolution of whales, Alfaro and his colleagues report. Large whales, small whales and medium-sized whales all appeared early in the history of whales, with the large whales eating mostly plankton, small whales eating fish and medium-sized whales eating squid. "Those differences were probably in place by 25 million years ago at the latest, and for many millions of years, they have not changed very much," said the study's lead author, Graham Slater, a National Science Foundation-funded UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Alfaro's laboratory. "It's as if whales split things up at the beginning and went their separate ways. The distribution of whale body size and diet still corresponds to these early splits." "The shape of variation that we see in modern whales today is the result of partitioning of body sizes early on in their history," Alfaro said. "Whatever conditions allowed modern whales to persist allowed them to evolve into unique, disparate modes of life, and those niches largely have been maintained throughout most of their history. "We could have found that the main whale lineages over time each experimented with being large, small and medium-sized and that all the dietary forms appeared throughout their evolution, or that whales started out medium-sized and the largest and smallest ones appeared more recently -- but the data show none of that. Instead, we find that the differences today were apparent very early on." Killer whales are an exception, having become larger over the last 10 million years, Alfaro and Slater said. Killer whales are unusual in that they eat mammals, including other whales. "If we look at rates of body-size evolution throughout the whale family tree, the rate of body-size evolution in the killer whale is the fastest," Slater said. "It came from the size of a dolphin you would see at SeaWorld about 10 million years ago and grew substantially." Whales range in size from the largest animal known to have ever existed, the blue whale, which is more than 100 feet long, to small species that are about the size of a dog and can get caught in fishermen's nets, Slater said. Alfaro and Slater do not find evidence for rapid whale diversification, but extinctions may have made it difficult to detect early rapid diversification. Whales are about 55 million years old, but the first group of whales to take to water is extinct, Alfaro said. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the rapid appearance and diversification of modern whales, which coincided with the extinction of the primitive whales. Before the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, there were large marine reptiles in the oceans that went extinct. When the earliest whales first went into the oceans some 55 million years ago, they had essentially no competitors, Alfaro and Slater noted. These primitive whales ranged in size from several feet to 65 feet long and looked similar to land animals, Slater said. They all fed on fish; the earliest whales did not dive deep down to catch squid. Alfaro's laboratory uses many techniques, including the analysis of DNA sequences, computational techniques and the fossil record to analytically test ideas about when major groups appear and when they become dominant. He and his research team integrate information from the fossil record with novel computational methods of analysis. "We are interested in understanding the causes of biodiversity," Alfaro said. "If we really want to understand species diversity, the number of species in any given group and how the variation in body size came to be, this paper points out that we will need to rely on more of a collaboration between paleontologists and molecular biologists to detect possible changes in the rate at which new species came into existence," Slater said. The analytical tools for integrating the fossil data with the molecular data are just being developed, said Alfaro, whose research is bridging the divide. Co-authors on the Proceedings of the Royal Society B study are Samantha Price, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis, and Francesco Santini, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Alfaro's laboratory. more 06/06/10 Caribbean credibility at stake in IWC vote - Jamacian Observer When people around the world think of whale-hunting nations, the Caribbean is the last place that crosses their minds. Yet, the governments of Suriname and the six independent members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are in a pivotal position to end or continue a moratorium on commercial whaling that has been in place for 24 years. There is no benefit for these Caribbean countries if commercial whaling is resumed since none of them are commercial whalers. But they are members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which is likely to face a vote on whether or not to abandon the ban on commercial whaling when its 88 members meet in Morocco from June 21. Several authoritative reports suggest that Japan pays the membership fees of Suriname and OECS governments to the IWC and also pays the costs of their delegates' attendance at IWC meetings, directing how they vote. In return, these countries get fisheries complexes from Japan. A United Nations Environmental Programme publication, Caribbean Currents, put the issue in the following stark terms: "It currently appears that not only are whales in danger, but so are the autonomy and self-determination of Caribbean nations". If, at the June meeting of the IWC, the seven Caribbean countries side with Japan, Norway and Iceland -- the only three remaining nations that favour commercial whaling -- they could help to open the armoury on whales and resume a slaughter that the world has resisted for almost three decades. In the process, they could damage their tourism image in the world as an eco-friendly area. Since 1992, all the Caribbean members of the IWC have consistently voted in favour of repealing the moratorium until 2008 when Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt declared that his Government would no longer be doing so. In 2009, he repeated that his Government "will not renege on that commitment of staying clear of voting for whaling". However, Suriname and the other OECS members of the IWC -- St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Kitts and Nevis -- have continued to vote with Japan, the most aggressive of the three remaining countries that favour commercial whaling. All eyes are on the Dominica Government to see whether it sticks to its commitment despite the fact that Japanese officials have been active in OECS countries in the past few weeks. This renewed Japanese activity has caused Caribbean business people and Caribbean environmentalists to argue publicly that it is not in the interest of the OECS countries to continue to support Japan's whaling position. Caribwhale, an organisation of Caribbean tourism business people and their employees, has recently urged the governments of Suriname and the OECS not to vote for a resumption of commercial whaling since the region has a thriving whale-watching industry as part of its tourism product. "Dead whales", they said, "are no good to the Caribbean; live ones bring revenues and employment from the whale-watching industry". This call was followed by an appeal by the Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness (ECCEA), a grouping of Caribbean environmentalists, who wrote to the OECS representatives to the IWC and their heads of government, saying: "Commercial and 'scientific' whaling do not serve a Caribbean purpose." Suriname and the members of the OECS owe Japan nothing, particularly as the balance of trade between them is entirely in Japan's favour year after year. Japan's aid for fisheries complexes is far less than the millions of dollars spent every year by the Caribbean countries on imports of Japanese motor vehicles, computers, printers, cameras, outboard motors, and agricultural equipment. What is more, Japan has shown little concern for the Caribbean, repeatedly ignoring protests from Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government over the shipment of Japanese nuclear waste through the Caribbean Sea. One accident, however small, would destroy the fragile ecology of the Caribbean Sea and destroy Caribbean economies. As far as the whale-watching industry in the OECS countries is concerned, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada are already earning millions of dollars from it. The potential exists for an equally thriving business in St Kitts-Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. But if Suriname and members of the OECS support any form of commercial whaling at the upcoming IWC meeting, they will harpoon this possibility. Supporters of the proposition at the IWC to legitimise whale catches by Japan and others argue that it will reduce the number of whales that are killed. However, leading world environmentalists refute this claim, saying the proposition as worded will open the floodgates to unrestrained commercial whaling. Among these respected environmentalists is Dr Justin Cooke, who represents the International Union for the Conservation of Nature on the IWC Scientific Committee. In testimony to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, he described the proposed deal as a "scam". He testified that "the true nature of the scam only dawned on me after reading the text several times. And even then, only with the benefit of many years of experience with IWC procedures that enables me to relate such a text to how it would actually be implemented in practice. Those without the benefit of such experience will find it even harder to discern what the text really implies and to spot the scam". Several IWC Latin American members, known as the Buenos Aires Group and comprising Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay, also strongly oppose the proposition before the IWC. Joined by non-IWC members Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela, the group stated that they will propose at the IWC meeting that "over a period of 10 years... there must be a significant and increasing reduction of quotas (catch limits)... until lethal research is completely eliminated". Just as the Latin American nations have done, there is every reason why, in making their decision on how to vote at the IWC, the governments of Suriname and the OECS should listen to a range of voices beyond the Japanese. Such voices should include environmental experts and their own business people and workers who make a living and earn sustainable revenues for their countries from whale watching. Caribbean economies are small and in need of help, but such help should be genuine and concerned with sustainable development. Large industrialised nations, such as Japan, should not be taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of small countries to advance their own agenda. And, when they do, Caribbean countries should reject it in their own interests, or they will never assert their independence or command respect as sovereign nations. For Suriname and the OECS governments, the IWC vote will be about more than the fate of whales; it will also be about their international reputation. more 06/01/10 Japan Defies Australia on Whaling - nytimes.com Japan rebuffed a threat by Australia to take Tokyo to court over its whaling in the Antarctic, saying on Friday that the annual hunts were permitted under international law and accusing the Australian government of exploiting the issue for political gain. Australia said it will take Japan to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to argue that Japanese whaling expeditions violate international obligations and a quarter-century moratorium on commercial whaling. The legal action against its major trading partner underlines the Australian government’s “commitment to bring to an end Japan’s program of so-called scientific whaling” in the southern waters, Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Attorney General Robert McClelland said in a joint statement. “We want to see an end to whales being killed in the name of science in the Southern Ocean,” Mr. Garrett said. But Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said Tokyo was unfazed. “Scientific whaling is recognized” under international law, he told a group of reporters in Tokyo, referring to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which authorizes the use of special permits to kill whales for scientific purposes. The International Whaling Commission, which currently has 88 nations as members, banned commercial whaling in 1986, although some native and aboriginal groups are permitted to hunt whales for food. Norway and Iceland have since objected to the moratorium and continue to hunt whales. International law also allows whaling for scientific purposes, and Japan uses this codicil to license its deep-water whalers. “The Japanese have seized on that loophole and stretched it beyond all recognition,” said Steve Shallhorn, head of Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Last season, Japan killed about 500 whales in the Antarctic, and about 300 in the Pacific. Some Japanese towns also engage in coastal whaling and dolphin hunts. “I do not wish to harm Japan-Australia relations over all, but I hope to assert that what’s wrong is wrong,” Mr. Akamatsu said. He also suggested that the Australian government was using the issue to drum up domestic political support. “There will be general elections in Australia in the fall, and the Labor administration faces an uphill road,” he said, adding “that is also probably behind” Australia’s actions. The Australian action also comes just three weeks before a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Morocco where the scientific-whaling issue will again be debated. “Certainly this action has upped the ante from the Australian government,” said Reece Turner, an anti-whaling campaigner for Greenpeace. “But we need to ensure that Australia is not dealt out of the negotiations and that a deal doesn’t slip through that would legitimize whaling in the Southern Ocean.” Japan’s annual whale hunt — which typically begins in November or December — has come under attack from conservationists in recent years, with vessels from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society sometimes clashing violently at sea with the whaling fleet. The Sea Shepherd group also has sharply criticized Mr. Garrett and the Australian government for not pressing the Japanese hard enough on a whaling ban. But on Friday, Sea Shepherd’s Australian director said his group was optimistic about the threatened legal action. “Sea Shepherd commends the Australian government for living up to its pre-election promise, and for having the guts to stand up to the Japanese whalers,” said the director, Jeff Hansen. On Thursday, Peter Bethune, a New Zealander with the Sea Shepherd group, pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court to charges that included trespassing and the destruction of property during an incident on a Japanese whaling boat in February. Mr. Bethune had surreptitiously boarded the whaler to present its captain with a $3 million bill for damages caused by an earlier collision with Mr. Bethune’s Sea Shepherd boat, the Ady Gil, which was harassing the whaler at sea. Mr. Bethune was held on board the whaler and arrested when the boat docked in Japan. Mr. Bethune, 45, could face up to 15 years in prison. more 05/30/10 Take a Big Gulp: U of G biologists study the way whales strain fish from seawater - University of Guelph Baleen whales are among the largest creatures on the planet. To learn more about how their unusual feeding structure helps sustain the mammals’ enormous size, two Guelph biologists needed to get a close-up — really close-up — view. Prof. Doug Fudge, Integrative Biology, and Lawrence Szewciw, who completed a zoology master’s degree in 2009, worked with Guelph physicist Diane de Kerckhove to study the keratin-based feeding filter in baleen whales. Unlike toothed whales such as dolphins, baleen whales use comb-like plates in their upper jaw to strain fish and crustaceans from huge gulps of seawater. In a paper published online in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the U of G scientists show how calcium helps stiffen the keratin that makes up baleen. They’ve also helped to solve the puzzle of how whales immersed continuously in seawater can stiffen keratin that normally requires air-drying to harden into nail, hair, horn and other structures in land animals. Szewciw is lead author. Another co-author is Geoff Grime at the University of Surrey Ion Beam Centre in the United Kingdom, where de Kerckhove analyzed fingernail-sized samples of the substance. Keratin proteins are arranged inside baleen cells as intermediate filaments. Hanging like a curtain from the animal’s upper jaw, baleen plates are frayed along their ends into tapered bristles that sieve prey from the water. Baleen whales — including the blue whale, the largest animal on Earth — typically eat fish and shrimp-like crustaceans called krill. Szewciw’s extensive mechanical tests in the lab showed that calcium salts like the ones found in bone lend reinforcement to baleen. And Sei whale baleen showed more calcification than that of two other species they studied. That makes sense, says Fudge. Unlike the minke and humpback, the sei whale feeds on millimetre-long plankton such as copepods. It needs fine but tough baleen bristles able to stand up to whale-sized forces. “Calcification allows the bristles to be thin without compromising their ability to stand up to the water flowing past them,” says Fudge. Remove calcium from sei baleen, he adds, and the material loses about half of its stiffness. To look at the calcium salts within baleen cells, he and Szewciw used light microscopes and electron microscopes. But they needed more sensitive equipment to get a detailed picture of the ratio of calcium and other elements. That’s when they turned to de Kerckhove. She uses instruments to bombard samples with streams of protons to measure trace elements. This year, de Kerckhove is completing installation of a high-resolution proton microprobe in the MacNaughton Building that will be the only one of its kind in Canada. But when she started working with Fudge three years ago, she still needed to travel to Surrey’s ion beam facility. Using PIXE (proton-induced X-ray emission) analysis, she mapped the locations of calcium, phosphorus and sulphur in the material and determined relative amounts of each element. In all three whale species, these elements are distributed in characteristic ways. “This is the first time calcification has been shown in different areas of the baleen plate,” says Szewciw. Adds de Kerckhove: “It’s fascinating how nature has found the best and optimal way of using these mineral resources.” more 05/24/10 SeaWorld has 2 pregnant orcas - OrlandoSentinel.com Two killer whales at SeaWorld Orlando are pregnant, with one due in a matter of weeks. SeaWorld says it expects Taima, a 20-year-old orca, will give birth to her fourth calf later this month or in early June. And it says Katina, a 32-year-old orca, is expected to have her seventh calf in late October. The father in both pregnancies is Tilikum, the 12,000-pound male orca who in February drowned a SeaWorld killer-whale trainer in a violent episode in front of park guests. Should the births be successful, they would push the number of orcas at SeaWorld Orlando to 10. Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, which also operates parks in California and Texas, says it has had 26 successful killer-whale births in company history, beginning with Katina's first calf in 1985. "It is definitely one of our indicators of a healthy population when they are breeding easily and regularly," said Dr. Chris Dold, SeaWorld Parks' vice president of veterinary services. It is also a reminder of the value of Tilikum, a prodigious breeder who has sired 13 calves since SeaWorld acquired him in 1992 at a time when marine parks had to abandon efforts to capture orcas from the wild. Some SeaWorld critics say that breeding prowess is why SeaWorld has continued to hold on to Tilikum, who is the largest killer whale in captivity and who has a violent history. The animal has been linked to three human deaths in 19 years, the most recent of which occurred Feb. 24, when Tilikum grabbed veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau by her hair, pulled her under water and drowned her. Tilikum is one of three breeding males in SeaWorld's corporate collection. The company has one at each of its marine parks. SeaWorld says it would continue to care for Tilikum even if he were not a successful breeder. "I think it sort of belittles his existence to suggest he's just around as a breeding male," Dold said. Orcas have roughly 17-month gestational periods, so both pregnancies predated the Brancheau tragedy. Dold said veterinarians have been monitoring both pregnancies with monthly ultrasounds and will continue to closely monitor the birth process through several important steps. Those include delivery, nursing and the early bonding between calf and mother that occurs during the first 30 days of the baby's life, a period in which the animals will be watched 24 hours a day. It will likely be several weeks after the babies are born before they appear in public. "Once we feel confident that things are moving forward in a progressive manner, then and only then do we begin to start to talk about when and where folks will be able to see that mom-and-calf pair," Dold said. more 05/19/10 Uncertainty Buffets Japan’s Whaling Fleet - nytimes.com AYUKAWAHAMA, Japan — This small harbor on Japan’s northern coast, where whaling boats sit docked with harpoon guns proudly displayed, and shops sell carvings made from the ivorylike teeth of sperm whales, might seem to be an unlikely place to find opponents of the nation’s contested Antarctic whaling. Enlarge This Image Shiho Fukada for The New York Times Yet, local residents are breaking long-held taboos to speak out against the government-run Antarctic hunts, which they say invite international criticism that threatens the much more limited coastal hunts by people in this traditional whaling town. “The research whaling in the Antarctic is not about protecting culture,” said Ichio Ishimori, a city councilman in Ishinomaki, of which Ayukawahama is a part. The Japanese government is facing renewed pressures at home and abroad to drastically scale back its so-called research whaling. Yet, Tokyo seems paralyzed by the same combination of nationalist passions and entrenched bureaucratic interests that have previously blocked any action to limit the three-decade-old whaling program. “We’re entering a new period on the whaling issue, but we don’t know what it means yet,” said Shohei Yonemoto, a professor of environmental policy at the University of Tokyo. Clearly, the pressures for change are stronger than ever. The United States and other anti-whaling countries are currently working on a deal that would close loopholes in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling in exchange for allowing the main whaling nations — Japan, Norway and Iceland — to resume much more limited commercial hunts. They hope for an agreement during the next meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Morocco in June. Whaling experts and environmentalists were also encouraged when the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took charge last year determined to eradicate exactly the sort of outdated, bureaucratic programs that whaling represents. Tokyo seemed to hint at a compromise in March when the agriculture minister, Hirotaka Akamatsu, whose ministry oversees research whaling, said that Japan was willing to kill fewer whales. But whaling’s opponents and supporters alike in Japan say that it remains politically difficult for Tokyo to accept large reductions in its whale hunts. While few Japanese these days actually eat whale, criticism of the whale hunts has long been resented here as a form of Western cultural imperialism. During the long tenure of the Liberal Democratic Party, whaling was one of the sacred cows of Japanese politics, embraced by a group of nationalist lawmakers within the party who saw it as a rare issue where Tokyo could appeal to conservatives by waving the flag and saying no to Washington. The question now is whether Mr. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan, which swept aside the Liberal Democratic Party in last summer’s elections, will include whaling in its promised housecleaning of Japan’s postwar order. While there is also a group of pro-whaling lawmakers in the new governing party, it is much smaller, with just a few active members. However, the leader of the group, Tadamasa Kodaira, said in an interview that the Democratic Party was firmly committed to research whaling. Last summer, the party’s election platform included promises to seek a resumption of commercial whaling, though it did not specifically mention the government-run research program. In an interview, Mr. Kodaira said he recognized that Japan’s whaling industry had shrunk to just a few hundred jobs, mostly paid for by the government. However, he said that the recent aggressive actions of foreign environmental groups like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has clashed with Japanese whaling ships near the Antarctic, had fanned popular ire, making it impossible for Tokyo to compromise now. “We can’t change now because it would look like giving in,” said Mr. Kodaira, a lawmaker from the northern island of Hokkaido. “Will we have to give up tuna next?” So far, the Democratic Party has left the program untouched. In November, Japan’s whaling fleet left for the Antarctic as scheduled, returning this month with a catch of 507 minke and fin whales, well below the planned take of up to 985 whales, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The ministry blamed the shortfall on the Sea Shepherd society’s obstructions. Officials said that one reason the program remained hard to cut was that its budget was so small: only $86 million, of which only $17 million is paid for by the government in cash or zero-interest loans, according to a freelance journalist, Junko Sakuma, who has written extensively about whaling. The rest comes from the sale of whale meat, mostly that of the nonendangered minke whales. The New York Times Ayukawahama's whaling fleet is allowed to kill 60 whales. That means anyone trying to cut the program would risk a huge political outcry from nationalists for only marginal budget savings, all of which creates a huge incentive to do nothing. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, one of the most secretive ministries in Japan’s powerful central bureaucracy, has also fiercely resisted any efforts to shrink the program. Among its crucial weapons have been Japanese journalists, who enjoy close ties with the ministry and have tended to dutifully report its claims that research whaling defends Japan’s traditional culture. Whaling experts say the real reason the ministry wants to keep the program alive is to secure cushy retirement jobs for ministry officials, a common practice that is widely criticized. A study last year by the Democratic Party showed that the Institute of Cetacean Research, a ministry-controlled agency that oversees the research whaling program, reserves jobs for at least five former ministry officials, including one earning an annual salary of more than $130,000. Kyodo Senpaku, a government-owned company that operates the whaling fleet, hires another one. “Research whaling claims to be protecting science and culture, but it is really just protecting bureaucratic self-interest,” said Atsushi Ishii, a professor of environmental politics at Tohoku University in Sendai. The ministry declined repeated interview requests. Even its proponents concede that the only real purpose of research whaling is to sustain the shrinking whaling industry, even though much of the meat piles up uneaten in freezers and the last private company dropped out of the Antarctic hunt four years ago. That, in turn, has led to a new round of criticism over the program’s failure to fulfill its own goals of preserving Japan’s whaling industry and traditional whaling culture. Japan’s coastal whaling is based in four small ports where whale has long been a traditional food item, unlike much of the rest of Japan, where it was added to the menu only after World War II. One of the four is Ayukawahama, in Miyagi Prefecture, a sleepy port of some 4,600 mostly graying residents. On a recent morning, crews prepared the two identical blue-and-white whaling ships for an annual monthlong hunt in nearby waters, where they are allowed to kill 60 whales, mainly minke. Local residents said Tokyo should negotiate with the International Whaling Commission to allow them to double the size of the coastal hunt, even if it meant giving up the Antarctic program. “Antarctic whaling does nothing to help this town,” said Yukitaka Chijimatsu, 82, who owns a small shop along the docks where he sells brooches and cellphone straps made from the teeth of sperm whales. Other local residents said that with fewer people eating whale, the days were numbered for all kinds of whaling and that the government should just let it naturally disappear. “Japan doesn’t like being told what to do,” said Isao Kondo, 83, who retired near here after a career as a manager at the Japan Whaling Company, now defunct. “But like it or not, whaling is dying.” more 05/12/10 Environmentalists' fury at global watchdog's call to legalise whaling - MailOnline Environmentalists have reacted with fury today after the International Whaling Commission proposed allowing the first legal commercial whale hunts in 25 years. The move would end an outright ban that had many exceptions. Japan, Norway and Iceland continued whaling under those exceptions. The proposal released late last night would replace the ban with strict quotas and would let the group strictly monitor all whaling. wellington The proposal is an attempted compromise between whaling nations and others such as the U.S. and Australia, which have long been staunchly opposed to whaling. But it will not please environmentalists, who have already criticised the proposal. They say it could lead to an eventual return to the large-scale whaling of the past, which devastated many species. The commission argues that allowing whaling under strict quotas would be an improvement to the current hunts, over which it has no control. The proposal allows 400 minke whales to be hunted in the Antarctic each year for five years, then lowers that limit to 200 for the next five years. It also allows limited hunts of other species, including fin, bowhead and grey whales in specific regions. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the IWC's proposal does not deliver what New Zealand wants - that it must be significantly better than the status quo and meet the country's commitment to end whaling in the southern ocean. 'The catch limits proposed in the southern ocean are unrealistic. The proposal to include (endangered) fin whales in the southern ocean is inflammatory. New Zealanders will not accept this,' he said in a statement. On the front lawn of New Zealand's Parliament, about 100 Greenpeace anti-whaling protesters Friday held black whale-tail placards aloft with 'RIP?' written across them in white letters. Greenpeace New Zealand executive director Bunny McDiarmid condemned the plan. 'If it doesn't lead to an end of whaling, particularly of commercial whaling and whaling in the southern ocean whale sanctuary, it's not good enough,' Ms McDiarmid said. 'Reaching a deal will require that countries on both sides of the divide suffer some pain - but at the moment the proposal that's on the table looks as though the whales are carrying most of the pain,' she said. The IWC is preparing for a general meeting in June, on which it will debate and vote on the proposal. In February, an earlier proposal included a return to commercial whaling, but had few specifics. The three main whaling nations - Japan, Norway and Iceland - annually kill about 3,000 whales, 10 times as many as in 1993. more 05/11/10 100 pilot whales run off course to Scotland - HeraldScotland A group of about 100 pilot whales ran off course yesterday by swimming into the shallow Moray Firth, causing an “amazing and unique” spectacle. The cetaceans, which grow up to 20 feet long, frolicked in the water off Cromarty, miles away from the deep waters around Faroe, Iceland and Shetland where they usually are found. The dark coloured blackfish, which live in groups of about 10 to 30, though big pods with 100 or more are seen before, were spotted off the Sutors of Cromarty by Sarah Pern, who was taking tourists out on a dolphin-watching boat trip. The Cromarty-based Eco-ventures owner recognised the breed and knew immediately that she was dealing with a unique sighting. She therefore invited some researchers from Aberdeen University’s nearby Lighthouse field station to come along on the afternoon trip, so they could confirm the sighting and figure out where the whales came from. We’ve been studying dolphins here for about 20 years and have never seen pilot whales this far inshore Barbara Cheney Researcher Barbara Cheney was able to identify them as long-finned pilot whales. The pilot whale, also known as blackfish, is part of the oceanic dolphin family, although their behaviour is closer to that of the larger whales. There are two species of pilot whales – the long-finned pilot whale and the short-finned pilot whale. Lifespan is about 45 years in males and 60 years in females for both species. Ms Cheney said her own research suggested there had been only five recorded sightings of pilot whales between the ’60s and the mid-90s in the Moray Firth – all relatively far offshore. She said: “We’ve been studying dolphins here for about 20 years and have never seen pilot whales this far inshore. “Normally the average size is about 20ft. To see so many of them, so close to shore was quite unique. “It’s really difficult to say where they will go to in the next couple of days because they’re such an unusual thing. “When we were out with them we were there for half an hour and they certainly didn’t seem to be going anywhere.” Pilot whales can be involved in mass strandings because of their social nature, but Ms Cheney said the Moray Firth specimens did not appear distressed. She added: “When we were there they were sky-hopping, putting their heads out of the water. The youngsters were playing around.” more 05/08/10 1st grey whale in 100 years spotted in Howe Sound - CBC news The grey whale was spotted in Howe Sound, north of Vancouver. A grey whale spotted feeding in Howe Sound north of Vancouver in recent days is a sign that efforts to restore the area's natural ecosystem are working, according to the chief of the Squamish First Nation. Conservationists first noticed the whale feeding at the mouth of the Squamish River last week and photographed it over the weekend. Chief Bill Williams, who heads up the nine communities that make up the Squamish First Nation, which stretches from North Vancouver to the northern part of Howe Sound, says history has not been kind to the grey whale, which was once common on the coast of B.C. The recent sighting is thought to be the first time in more than a 100 years a grey whale has been spotted in the area. "Grey whales used to inhabit the Howe Sound area up until 1880," Williams said. "But then between 1880 and 1900, they were hunted mercilessly by the Hudson's Bay Company, and they were all killed off in that 20-year stretch. So, they basically never came back. But now, they're starting to come back. It is thanks to a 20-year effort by local conservationists to rehabilitate the natural habitat of the area that the whales are beginning to return, said Williams. The return of the grey whale to Howe Sound shows how successful environmental programs can be if time and resources are devoted to them, Williams said. Grey whales have become more common on the West Coast in recent years as the population recovers from years of whaling, which ended in the 1970s. In 2007, a grey whale was spotted swimming up the Fraser River in Vancouver. more 05/02/10 Right whales in Block Island sound - cape cod times Cape Cod— Right whale surveyors have sighted nearly 100 North Atlantic right whales feeding in Rhode Island Sound, the largest group ever documented in those waters. The area is between Martha's Vineyard and Block Island. It is a boom that corresponds to a "very quick" decrease in the last two weeks of right whales in Cape Cod Bay and east of Cape Cod, said Ruth Leeney of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies yesterday. A federally sponsored survey team based at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole saw 98 whales, including a mother and calf, on Tuesday. The team first noticed a smooth spot of the surface of the water known as a "flukeprint," a telltale sign of the presence of whales. The team counted 38 whales, thinking that was the entire lot. But then over the next six hours, they found another 60, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Woods Hole surveyors are part of a year-round federal program to document endangered North Atlantic right whales along the Northeast coast. There are about 300 to 400 in the North Atlantic region. The North Atlantic right whale is considered endangered under federal laws. The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies also conducts aerial surveys of North Atlantic right whales for the federal government, but that program is limited to the bay and east of Cape Cod. It is also a seasonal aerial survey, which is currently in progress. About two weeks ago, the center's survey team counted between 60 and 70 right whales in Cape Cod Bay, which was the peak so far of the season, Leeney said. But as of Tuesday, the count in the bay was down to 11. On Wednesday, the team counted 28 right whales east of Cape Cod. The aerial surveys are conducted to photograph right whales for a regional database, to track the animals and also help analyze the health of individual whales, Leeney said. more 04/28/10 Dolphin Cognitive Abilities Raise Ethical Questions, Says Emory Neuroscientist - Science Daily Emory University neuroscientist Lori Marino spoke 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 04/25/10 History's haven: A week in a 19th-century house in Cape Cod's Barnstable - Washington Post History's haven: Barnstable, Mass. A Cape Cod house, a family's legacy and a famous writer's beginnings: Travel journalist William Powers takes a week's trip to a 19th-century house in the Cape Cod town of Barnstable. "Barnstable?" my friend exclaimed over cups of coffee at a Lower Manhattan cafe. "Be sure to bring a white suit and an attitude." I was heading off for a week's vacation in a 19th-century house in the Cape Cod town of Barnstable. (The house has a name, of course: "Packet Mail.") I'm not entirely new to the Cape Cod universe. Growing up in a New York City suburb, I windsurfed off Wellfleet during high school summers and escaped to Provincetown B&Bs during college at Brown. Even so, Barnstable and Packet Mail sounded classy and historic enough to make me feel intimidated. Historians speculate that the Mayflower would have chosen Barnstable over Plymouth as a landing place -- had the crew spotted its well-protected harbor. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland summered there. Even more famously, the Kennedys still live in their compound in nearby Hyannis Port. This was John F. Kennedy's summer home during his administration, and the last residence of Sen. Ted Kennedy. We all know about Cape Cod and its wealthy Yankee liberals. But the Cape has also fostered an eclectic mix of artists, bohemians and writers. Back around 1950, tourists came to Provincetown to rub elbows with Tennessee Williams and Norman Mailer while watching Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg compete for John Dos Passos's former fiancee, who would eventually ditch them both for folk singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Yes, all this happened in little old P-town. Around the same time, down in the quieter village of Barnstable, another writer arrived on a far less glamorous mission: to manage America's first Saab dealership. Over the next few years, he would live a stone's throw from Packet Mail -- the house where I'd be staying -- failing miserably at selling cars and writing some of the most famous and controversial fiction of the 20th century. His name was Kurt Vonnegut. At first glance, Packet Mail doesn't look extraordinary. Yellow clapboard, trimmed in white, a two-story Federal-style home. But take several steps to the house's left or right, and you see its history layering through all the extensions it has accumulated since it was built in 1829, right back to the barn and to the "corn crib" retreat at the far back of the lawn. Indoors, I felt immediately at ease. Packet Mail's rambling arrangement of rooms and winding and hidden stairways take you back to a time when houses were as idiosyncratic as the people who custom-built them. I looked out the back window in the final room on the second floor and gazed all the way across Barnstable Harbor toward the lighthouse on Sandy Neck, that seven-mile spit of land that hid this harbor so well from the Pilgrims. I was so enchanted that I temporarily forgot I wasn't alone. I heard a floorboard creak and turned to see my blond, green-eyed friend, Melissa. Though Packet Mail is available for rent through Vacation Rentals by Owner on the Web, I wasn't renting it. I was Melissa's guest. And she was no monthly tenant. Melissa Crane Draper is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Matthias Hinckley, the man who built the place. The name Packet Mail is after the ship that Hinckley captained to and fro across Cape Cod Bay, delivering mail from Boston. It has remained in direct family ownership since the day it was built. Looking at Melissa surfaced some of the "elite radical" paradox I'd experienced just up the road as an undergraduate at Brown. Though an Ivy and the country's seventh-oldest university, its affluence blends with radical politics -- witness President Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy, chained to CIA agents to protest their recruiting on campus. Melissa's parents grew up spending summers on the Cape, her father and brother were Princeton men, and she's a Dartmouth alum. Yet now, at 32, she had just returned from five years in Bolivia where -- with Che Guevara gusto -- she had selflessly drawn a peasant's salary and served as a close informal adviser to Casimira Rodriguez, a leader of Bolivia's domestic workers and the country's first Quechua indian minister of justice in the leftist Evo Morales government. She'd contributed to and co-edited a book titled "Dignity and Defiance," about why Bolivia has so fiercely challenged the policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. But Melissa wasn't speaking truth to power at the moment. She looked more Marcia Brady than Amy Carter, in her cloud-white running shoes and shorts. "I'm taking you on a run down Rendezvous Lane," she said. What came next was a dive into a pool of distilled U.S. history. As we raced through the old maritime village of Barnstable, I tried to catch glimpses of what had brought Vonnegut here in the first place. He had arrived on the eve of an urban flight that would lead to an unprecedented real estate boom on the Cape. Over the years, Vonnegut heaped scorn on the developers who ushered in wealthy newcomers, even though they were in many ways drawn to the same things he was: seclusion, beaches and small-town life. Perhaps the most beautifully written account of Barnstable is Vonnegut's short story "Where I Live," which opens up his 1968 collection "Welcome to the Monkey House." We're introduced to the town through the eyes of a traveling encyclopedia salesman. With unmistakable satire, Vonnegut expresses his affection for Barnstable by highlighting all the ways in which it disappoints this shallow urbanite. For Vonnegut, Barnstable's resistance to developers and commerce made it the last outpost against the usurpers -- that class of Northeastern elites whose takeover would forever link Cape Cod with the regal image of the Kennedys. As much as Melissa's family resembled these, they had one exceptional difference: They were true natives. As the two of us ran, I began to recognize Vonnegut's Barnstable. We passed the Georgian-style Daniel Davis House, filled with maritime, Colonial and Native American artifacts, and the adjacent Sturgis Library; the building, from 1644, is the oldest in the country to house a public library. When Vonnegut's salesman shows up here, he's perplexed to find that its most recent Britannica is from 1938. We jogged past the next stop in this salesman's bogus journey: the Barnstable Yacht Club. "He wanted a martini, wondered if a nonmember could get service at the bar," Vonnegut wrote. "He was appalled to discover that the club was nothing but a shack fourteen feet wide and thirty feet long, a touch of the Ozarks in Massachusetts." Considering the prestige one would expect to find in Cape Cod today, the club is just as underwhelming as it was then, if not more so. I smiled to myself, relishing with Vonnegut the perfect irony of a historical structure that disappoints increasingly as the years go by. We ran on, the sky above Barnstable Harbor opening up through the gray clouds above the Sandy Neck lighthouse. We looped around Rendezvous Lane, and by the time we got back to Packet Mail, I was bent over and gasping for breath. From the other side of old Route 6A, the yellow house rose in front of us, and Melissa calmly gestured to the back of Packet Mail's west lawn. "My parents were married there," she said. "Kurt Vonnegut was at the wedding." Then she pointed to the family tomb in the northwest corner of Lothrop Hill Cemetery, across the road from Packet Mail. I noticed two things. First, that there were hundreds of tombstones in the cemetery. And second, that Melissa's family tomb was at the very front. "So that's where you'll be someday," I said, receiving a well-deserved glare for the quip. Our good weather was short-lived. The next four days were increasingly cloudy and chilly. But Melissa and I had our laptops -- those little slave drivers -- to keep us busy with work via Packet Mail's WiFi. The rain pattering on the roof, the bay invisible through the fog, I rewrote a piece of my next book while Melissa fomented Andean revolution through viral e-mail communiques zapped south. We lunched one day at a sandwich shop in Barnstable Village and overheard a heated debate about -- what else? -- the Kennedys. One guy was arguing that the Kennedys are right to oppose offshore wind farms. "If you can see them from the Cape, it hurts tourism," he insisted. The other disagreed vehemently, saying that global warming made those kinds of bourgeois aesthetic considerations moot. "Plus the wind turbine construction and maintenance will bring jobs to Barnstable." "Jobs to Barnstable" sounded a bit like "snow to the Eskimos" to me. Median household annual income in 2007 was $59,365, about 20 percent higher than the national average. But there is unemployment, as I found out while talking to a former fisherman later that afternoon. He told me that overfishing and pollution have choked the livelihoods out of Barnstable Harbor and its environs. He'd reluctantly joined the local environmental crowd, following the legacy of Vonnegut. Speaking of the 2004 presidential contest between George W. Bush and John Kerry, for instance, Vonnegut said that "no matter which one wins, we will have a Skull and Bones President at a time when entire vertebrate species, because of how we have poisoned the topsoil, the waters and the atmosphere, are becoming, hey presto, nothing but skulls and bones." This is consistent with the role Vonnegut played again and again: prophet of the harbor, grouchy as any old Yank in the village, further distancing himself from the polished compromises of the Democratic elite, whose new candidate just happened to be another senator from Massachusetts, mentored by a Kennedy. The next night, Barnstable's weather grew as cold and bleak as the Nantucket of "Moby-Dick." I wondered, through the gloom, how much Vonnegut's hardboiled cynicism had been linked to his past. Captured by the Nazis during World War II, he survived the firebombing of Dresden -- which he later described as "carnage unfathomable" -- while being held in an underground detention facility that his captors referred to as Slaughterhouse Five. It would become the title of perhaps his most famous novel, and he'd revisit these experiences throughout his career. After he was freed by the Red Army in 1945, Vonnegut returned home to find that his mother, Edith, had committed suicide on Mother's Day in 1944. Vonnegut himself attempted suicide in 1981. The next day, our last on the Cape, the sun finally peeked through. I needed a break from the dreariness -- as atmospheric as it was -- of old houses and Vonnegut. Melissa and I drove down 6A all the way to the very fist-tip of the Cape Cod "arm": the artsy colony of Provincetown. Like Barnstable, Provincetown still lives up to the place it holds in American literature: a vibrant playground for artists and any open-minded person who wants to catch some waves. In this former stomping ground of Ginsberg and Williams, gay and lesbian couples now walk hand-in-hand past cheery houses where rainbow flags hang alongside the Stars and Stripes. We walked past the historic Unitarian church, where the billboard out front read "Celebration of Same Sex Marriage Today." Okay, maybe it's not as bohemian as it was back then. That now-familiar feel of elite liberalism was everywhere, even in our South African lunch spot: the Karoo Kafe. Malaysian, Indian, Dutch and African flavors combined for such a cosmopolitan experience that you could almost forget that you were in New England. The flair and spice of Provincetown contrasted with the languid gloom of my time at Packet Mail. My picture of old Barnstable had increasingly fused with the image from Vonnegut's story: one that "exists for itself, not for passersby." I wondered whether I had missed something. I got a chance to see Barnstable in a different light exactly two months later. It was July 4, and American independence was overshadowed by two other celebrations at Packet Mail: the 180th anniversary of the house and the stateside celebration of the wedding of Melissa's only sibling, Matthew (a New York lawyer) to Corinne (a British lawyer). Matthew is from an 11-generation Barnstable Cape Cod family, and his bride-to-be hails from Barnstaple, England. So, Matthew's ancestors had sailed here to the Cape centuries back, and now Corinne had come across the Atlantic to marry one of her own. Packet Mail shone bright yellow in the summer sun. Instead of a gray, cold place with just Melissa and me, it was filled with a hundred of her relatives. Cranes and Drapers laughed playing croquet on the lawn. Shouts came from others indoors as Serena defeated Venus at Wimbledon. Some of Melissa's cousins suited up to wade into Barnstable Harbor to clam for the evening's feasts, while I rigged up a windsurfer with another of her cousins and raced him across Wequaquet Lake. It took me back to when I'd done this as a kid, but the winds were higher this time. I leaned back and felt a current of air surge behind me, and I went flying along in brilliant summer glory once again. That night Matthew and Corinne "married." The church wedding was still to come, near her home in the original Barnstaple, but the speeches were so moving, it felt as though no other ceremony was necessary. Far from the WASPiness you might expect, Melissa's relatives and friends included an aunt married to an African American man and their biracial kids; straights and gays; a Forbes heir and a famished bohemian. One guest mused aloud over family history: of her long line of ancestors, stretching back to Matthias Hinckley, who won a legendary packet-ship race from Barnstable to Boston. Then she described Melissa's parents being married in that same spot three decades ago -- Vonnegut looking on, perhaps smoking the unfiltered Pall Malls he favored ("a classy way to commit suicide," he wryly called them). Later, a guest lit candles under cream-colored paper lanterns that took flight like mini-hot-air balloons. Up over Packet Mail they floated -- harmlessly -- over Barnstable Harbor and Sandy Neck, eastward, toward the Old World, and -- do you know? -- as they drifted away, becoming burning specks in the sky, they reminded me of Asteroid 25399 Vonnegut, named in Kurt's honor. For better or worse, this was a vision of modern Cape Cod culture. Like Provincetown and the days of old, it was a community with an aura of genuine vitality, partly because it remained deeply connected to the history of a place. I sensed that if Vonnegut had been present at this wedding -- and in some ways, he was -- no one would have taken his wisecracks too seriously. more 04/24/10 Orcas Are More Than One Species, Gene Study Shows - Reuters They may all look similar, but killer whales, also known as orcas, include several distinct species, according to genetic evidence published on Thursday. Tissue samples from 139 killer whales from around the world point to at least three distinct species, the researchers report in the journal Genome Research. Researchers had suspected this may be the case -- the distinctive black-and-white or gray-and-white mammals have subtle differences in their markings and also in feeding behavior. Orcas as a group are not considered an endangered species, but some designated populations of the predators are. A new species designation could change this and affect conservation efforts. One of the newly designated species preys on seals in the Antarctic while another eats fish, said Phillip Morin of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, who led the research. His team sequenced the DNA from the whales' mitochondria, a part of the cell that holds just a portion of the DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down with very few changes from mother to offspring. New sequencing methods finally made it possible to do so, Morin said in a statement. "The genetic makeup of mitochondria in killer whales, like other cetaceans, changes very little over time, which makes it difficult to detect any differentiation in recently evolved species without looking at the entire genome," he said. "But by using a relatively new method called highly parallel sequencing to map the entire genome of the cell's mitochondria from a worldwide sample of killer whales, we were able to see clear differences among the species." The 139 whales whose DNA was sequenced came from the North Pacific, the North Atlantic and Antarctica. The genetic evidence suggests two different species in Antarctica and also separates out mammal-eating "transient" killer whales in the North Pacific. Other types of orca may also be separate species or subspecies, but it will take additional analysis to be sure, the researchers said. NOAA has designated a population of killer whales that lives in the Pacific off the coast of Washington state as endangered. ( more 04/24/10 Orcas Are More Than One Species, Gene Study Shows - Reuters They may all look similar, but killer whales, also known as orcas, include several distinct species, according to genetic evidence published on Thursday. Tissue samples from 139 killer whales from around the world point to at least three distinct species, the researchers report in the journal Genome Research. Researchers had suspected this may be the case -- the distinctive black-and-white or gray-and-white mammals have subtle differences in their markings and also in feeding behavior. Orcas as a group are not considered an endangered species, but some designated populations of the predators are. A new species designation could change this and affect conservation efforts. One of the newly designated species preys on seals in the Antarctic while another eats fish, said Phillip Morin of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, who led the research. His team sequenced the DNA from the whales' mitochondria, a part of the cell that holds just a portion of the DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down with very few changes from mother to offspring. New sequencing methods finally made it possible to do so, Morin said in a statement. "The genetic makeup of mitochondria in killer whales, like other cetaceans, changes very little over time, which makes it difficult to detect any differentiation in recently evolved species without looking at the entire genome," he said. "But by using a relatively new method called highly parallel sequencing to map the entire genome of the cell's mitochondria from a worldwide sample of killer whales, we were able to see clear differences among the species." The 139 whales whose DNA was sequenced came from the North Pacific, the North Atlantic and Antarctica. The genetic evidence suggests two different species in Antarctica and also separates out mammal-eating "transient" killer whales in the North Pacific. Other types of orca may also be separate species or subspecies, but it will take additional analysis to be sure, the researchers said. NOAA has designated a population of killer whales that lives in the Pacific off the coast of Washington state as endangered. ( more 04/21/10 Something's Wrong With Right Whales - Science Daily A few years ago, right whales began washing up on the shores of Argentina's Patagonian coast. So far, researchers have counted a total of 308 dead whales since 2005. These right whales in the waters around Peninsula Valdés are amidst the largest die-off of great whales ever recorded. Whatever is killing them remains unknown. About 88 percent of the whale deaths were calves that were less than three months old. Curiously, many of the corpses had unusually thin layers of blubber. The deceased calves found comprise almost a third of all right whale calve sightings in the last 5 years. In 2009, the Scientific Committee of the IWC identified the die-off as a management priority. "Península Valdés is one of the most important calving and nursing grounds for the species found throughout the Southern Hemisphere," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, director of the WCS's Ocean Giants Program and a member of the IWC's Scientific Committee. "By working with the government of Argentina, the Province of Chubut, the IWC, and our diverse team of experts and specialists, we can increase our chances of solving this mystery, the critical next step to ensuring a future for this population of southern right whales." This week a team of whale and health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society joined experts from other organizations at a workshop to try to solve this perplexing problem. The International Whaling Commission sponsored the workshop, which convened in Puerto Madryn. "We need to critically examine possible causes for this increase in calf mortality so we can begin to explore possible solutions," said Dr. Marcela Uhart, associate director of WCS's Global Health Program and one of the early founders of the program that discovered the whale deaths. "Finding the cause may require an expansion of monitoring activities to include the vast feeding grounds for the species." Around one-third of the estimated population of right whales in the Southern Hemisphere use the protected bays of Península Valdés (a World Heritage Site) as a calving and nursing habitat between the months of June and December. The southern right whale is one of the world's great conservation success stories. Unlike the North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales (both of which number in the low hundreds), southern rights have managed to rebound from centuries of commercial whaling, with populations growing at approximately 7 percent annually since 1970. Growing up to 55 feet in length and weighing up to 60 tons, the southern right whale is now the most abundant species of right whale in the world. But ensuring their long-term survival may require solving this issue quickly. These charismatic animals are also the focus of a thriving eco-tourism industry along Argentina's Patagonian coast. The workshop participants will consider many hypotheses on the cause or causes of the calf deaths. Possible explanations might include biotoxins, disease, environmental factors at their nursing grounds, and potential variations in prey availability at the whales' distant feeding grounds. more 04/17/10 Whaling debate rages on as Japanese fleet returns to port - nzherald.co.nz A Japanese protestor raises a protest sign during a rally against the Sea Shepherd activist group. Photo / AP Expand A Japanese protestor raises a protest sign during a rally against the Sea Shepherd activist group. Photo / AP A Japanese protestor raises a protest sign during a rally against the Sea Shepherd activist group. Photo / AP Shrink A Japanese protestor raises a protest sign during a rally against the Sea Shepherd activist group. Photo / AP Japanese media have highlighted the scars on Japan's whaling fleet left by clashes with protesters as the vessels returned to port this week, while the country's internet users are increasingly inflamed by what they say is racism behind the whaling debate. The fleet spent three months in the Southern Ocean before returning on Monday with a catch of 506 minke whales and one fin whale - just half its expected haul. New Zealand anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune climbed on board a ship after a series of high seas clashes and had already arrived in Tokyo. He has been charged by the district public prosecutor for trespass, possession of a weapon, injury to persons, damage to property and obstructing the passage of a vessel. Two of Japan's top television stations, TBS and NTV, led their reports on the fleet's return with images of its main ship's hull splattered with red marks from protesters' paint bombs. They followed this with footage of nets torn by Bethune when he climbed on board. They both described the marks as "raw" (namanamashii) evidence of violent clashes in the Southern Ocean. The state broadcasting service, NHK, featured whaling fleet leader Shigetoshi Nishiwaki speaking at a press conference, where he said he was furious about repeated disruptions by protesters. "The activists say they want to protect the ocean, but they don't care about leaking oil or leaving pieces of a broken ship behind," Mr Nishiwaki said, referring to Bethune's boat Ady Gil, which was disabled after colliding with a whaling ship. On Japanese online discussion board 2channel - which gets more than two million posts every day - discussions about whaling repeatedly made reference to an assault in Tokoroa last year, where a Japanese-born boy was bullied for being a "whale muncher" and almost died in Waikato Hospital. Many posters argued that anti-whaling protests were racially-motivated and ill-informed, complaining that western countries were targeting Japan more than Norway and Iceland. Discussions about Bethune focused on his eating habits while captive on a Japanese ship: news reports in Japan had quoted crew saying Bethune happily ate fish up to three times a day and likely had a better diet in captivity than while with the vegan Sea Shepherd protest group. more 04/13/10 Rodeo Bull Goes Head-to-Head With Zoo Dolphins in a Study of Balance - Science Daily Dolphins, whales and porpoises have extraordinarily small balance organs, and scientists have long wondered why. Now a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has contradicted a leading theory, which held that the animals moved their heads so vigorously that they had to have smaller, less responsive balance organs to avoid overwhelming their senses. Working with a Midwestern zoo and a local rancher, the researchers, led by Timothy E. Hullar, MD, a Washington University ear, nose and throat specialist at Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, directly measured the head movements of dolphins and compared them with those of a closely related land animal -- a rodeo bull. Cattle have much larger balance organs than dolphins, yet the tests showed that both species had similar head motions. The findings will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Hullar says the results deepen our understanding of the role of balance systems, including those of people. Much of an animal's or person's balance is controlled by the semicircular canals located in the inner ear. Even though a bottlenose dolphin is about 8 feet long, its semicircular canals are as tiny as those of the average mouse, an animal that could comfortably ride on the tip of the dolphin's nose. "About 35 million years ago, the ancestors of whales and dolphins went from a terrestrial habitat to an aquatic habitat," says Hullar, assistant professor of otolaryngology and of anatomy and neurobiology. "During this evolutionary process, their semicircular canals got smaller and smaller. The scientific thinking has been that since the canals measure head motion, something must have changed a lot in how these animals move their heads." Hullar points out that the general trend is for vertebrate semicircular canals to be proportional to body size. Since dolphin canals are so much smaller than the rule suggests they should be, perhaps, scientists thought, dolphins move so much that a large balance organ would be too sensitive to work properly. Dolphin trainers at the Indianapolis Zoo agreed to work with Hullar and Benjamin M. Kandel, a Yeshiva University undergraduate student conducting summer research in Hullar's lab, to measure dolphin head movement to test this hypothesis. "They were glad to help because zoo dolphins aren't there just to entertain but also to help educate us about the species," says Hullar, who is also on the faculty of the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences of the Central Institute for the Deaf at Washington University School of Medicine. "They trained their dolphins to carry in their mouths a plastic pipe that contained a gyroscope and recording device so we could precisely measure their motion. Our study is the first to directly measure the head motion of dolphins." Next, the researchers had to find a land animal to match the dolphins. Two-toed animals such as pigs, camels and hippopotamuses are closely related to dolphins. So are cattle. So when one of Hullar's patients turned out to be a rancher, Hullar asked him if he had any bulls he could work with. He didn't, but he put Hullar in touch with a neighbor who raised bulls for the rodeo circuit. "I called him, and he said 'come on down' and directed me to his ranch in southeastern Missouri -- part of the directions included making a left turn at the second chicken house," Hullar says. "He and his assistants duct-taped the gyroscope to the bull's horns and let him into the ring." As the bull bucked and trotted around the ring, the device recorded its head movements. When the researchers went back to the lab and analyzed their data, they found the speed of the bull's head motions while trotting was remarkably similar to that of the dolphins' while swimming. The speed of the bull's head motions during bucking was like the dolphins' when they spun in the water. "A few years ago, our lab was the first to record the nerve signals in mouse balance systems, and we showed that the smaller an animal's semicircular canal, the less sensitive it is," Hullar says. "Smaller canals, such as dolphins', would provide the animal with less information about motion. A dolphin's head is certainly large enough to hold a larger balance system, and because we've found their small canals aren't related to head motion, the question as to why they are so small remains open." Hullar will continue to try to answer this question by looking at the nerves that are linked to balance systems to see if the explanation lies in some aspect of nerve transmission or brain processing. In addition, he is working to build experimental models of semicircular canals using computer programs so he can test the effect of various movements on their function. Funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one of the National Institutes of Health, supported this research. more 04/09/10 NZ whaling decision flawed, says Garrett - http://www.abc.net.au Australia's Federal Government says it is very concerned by New Zealand's compromise proposal with Japan to allow a set number of whales to be killed. New Zealand has agreed to a plan that would give whaling countries the right to kill 1,500 whales a year, and its whaling commissioner plans to put forward the proposal at international talks in June. But Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says Australia will strongly argue its case for a blanket ban on hunting. Mr Garrett says New Zealand's proposal would destroy the moratorium on commercial whaling. "We think it's flawed and we're particularly concerned that it legitimises commercial whaling," he said. "That's why we're very concerned about a proposal of this kind being put forward by any country, including New Zealand. "This proposal effectively destroys the moratorium on commercial whaling that has been held together by like-minded nations, including Australia and New Zealand, for many years. "We don't see merit in a proposal which is just about numbers, but which would see whales killed in order that others wouldn't be." New Zealand's whaling commissioner and former prime minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, says the plan is the only way to control large numbers of whales being hunted. "The problem here is that there is no effective international control over the number of whales that are being killed," he said. "If that could be secured, that would be very good. An emotional attachment to a moratorium that isn't working is not in my view realistic." Unpopular decision Sir Geoffrey concedes whaling is an emotional issue. He says accepting the plan will not be a popular decision but it has to be done. "I've been the whaling commissioner for eight years and it's the only issue I've ever been involved in where people at the golf club say, 'now what are you doing to the Japanese this week?'" he said. "There's a great deal of unhappiness in New Zealand about killing whales. But the truth of the matter is that not all cultures or all nations see that issue the same way. "And because of that you have to arrive at an international accommodation. We have a treaty; it's defective. Over time, we think it could be fixed." Japan, Norway and Iceland are currently allowed to kill 3,000 whales each year. The proposal New Zealand supports would halve that quota. The New Zealand government says there would be checks and balances in place to ensure the whaling nations do not exceed the new quota. The international adviser to New Zealand's foreign minister, Gerard Van Bohemen, says the deal is similar to already-implemented fishery agreements. "The agreement is that if you take whales under this arrangement, you don't take them any other way, and it's supplemented with monetary and supervision requirements of the same sort that apply to fishery agreements," he said. Blanket ban But environment groups in New Zealand are outraged, saying the plan legitimises commercial whaling. Greenpeace's Karli Thomas wants the New Zealand government to take a tougher stance, more like Australia. "We're not against the idea of using diplomacy to try and get out of the difficult situation that the International Whaling Commission is in but we're extremely concerned about the draft document," she said. "The idea of capping a figure and - at the same time as perhaps reducing the number of whales killed - also trading away the greatest protections that the whales have is extremely worrying to us." Australian conservation groups want a blanket ban on all whaling. Nicola Beynon from Humane Society International says New Zealand is selling out. "There's been a ban on commercial whaling since 1986 and the New Zealand government is promoting a return to commercial whaling now," she said. "It would be a disaster for whale conservation and the New Zealand people need to be shouting at their government to back away from this compromise." While Japan and New Zealand are doing deals on catching whales, there is no deal being done to free an anti-whaling activist. New Zealander Peter Bethune was already facing charges of trespassing on a whaling ship in the Southern Ocean. Now he is likely to face another charge of injuring a crew man. more 04/07/10 Rodeo Bull Goes Head-to-Head With Zoo Dolphins in a Study of Balance - science Daily Dolphins, whales and porpoises have extraordinarily small balance organs, and scientists have long wondered why. Now a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has contradicted a leading theory, which held that the animals moved their heads so vigorously that they had to have smaller, less responsive balance organs to avoid overwhelming their senses. Working with a Midwestern zoo and a local rancher, the researchers, led by Timothy E. Hullar, MD, a Washington University ear, nose and throat specialist at Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, directly measured the head movements of dolphins and compared them with those of a closely related land animal -- a rodeo bull. Cattle have much larger balance organs than dolphins, yet the tests showed that both species had similar head motions. The findings will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Hullar says the results deepen our understanding of the role of balance systems, including those of people. Much of an animal's or person's balance is controlled by the semicircular canals located in the inner ear. Even though a bottlenose dolphin is about 8 feet long, its semicircular canals are as tiny as those of the average mouse, an animal that could comfortably ride on the tip of the dolphin's nose. "About 35 million years ago, the ancestors of whales and dolphins went from a terrestrial habitat to an aquatic habitat," says Hullar, assistant professor of otolaryngology and of anatomy and neurobiology. "During this evolutionary process, their semicircular canals got smaller and smaller. The scientific thinking has been that since the canals measure head motion, something must have changed a lot in how these animals move their heads." Hullar points out that the general trend is for vertebrate semicircular canals to be proportional to body size. Since dolphin canals are so much smaller than the rule suggests they should be, perhaps, scientists thought, dolphins move so much that a large balance organ would be too sensitive to work properly. Dolphin trainers at the Indianapolis Zoo agreed to work with Hullar and Benjamin M. Kandel, a Yeshiva University undergraduate student conducting summer research in Hullar's lab, to measure dolphin head movement to test this hypothesis. "They were glad to help because zoo dolphins aren't there just to entertain but also to help educate us about the species," says Hullar, who is also on the faculty of the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences of the Central Institute for the Deaf at Washington University School of Medicine. "They trained their dolphins to carry in their mouths a plastic pipe that contained a gyroscope and recording device so we could precisely measure their motion. Our study is the first to directly measure the head motion of dolphins." Next, the researchers had to find a land animal to match the dolphins. Two-toed animals such as pigs, camels and hippopotamuses are closely related to dolphins. So are cattle. So when one of Hullar's patients turned out to be a rancher, Hullar asked him if he had any bulls he could work with. He didn't, but he put Hullar in touch with a neighbor who raised bulls for the rodeo circuit. "I called him, and he said 'come on down' and directed me to his ranch in southeastern Missouri -- part of the directions included making a left turn at the second chicken house," Hullar says. "He and his assistants duct-taped the gyroscope to the bull's horns and let him into the ring." As the bull bucked and trotted around the ring, the device recorded its head movements. When the researchers went back to the lab and analyzed their data, they found the speed of the bull's head motions while trotting was remarkably similar to that of the dolphins' while swimming. The speed of the bull's head motions during bucking was like the dolphins' when they spun in the water. "A few years ago, our lab was the first to record the nerve signals in mouse balance systems, and we showed that the smaller an animal's semicircular canal, the less sensitive it is," Hullar says. "Smaller canals, such as dolphins', would provide the animal with less information about motion. A dolphin's head is certainly large enough to hold a larger balance system, and because we've found their small canals aren't related to head motion, the question as to why they are so small remains open." Hullar will continue to try to answer this question by looking at the nerves that are linked to balance systems to see if the explanation lies in some aspect of nerve transmission or brain processing. In addition, he is working to build experimental models of semicircular canals using computer programs so he can test the effect of various movements on their function. Funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one of the National Institutes of Health, supported this research. more 04/04/10 Scientist shares great white shark insight - cape cod times Cape Cod: On Labor Day weekend last year, Chatham became a real-life scene out of the movie "Jaws" when about 12 great white sharks roamed the coastline feasting on the abundant population of gray seals. Beaches closed and the international media descended on a beautiful holiday weekend that had been tinged with fear. The situation was unsettling for many people on the Cape, but state Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Greg Skomal rejoiced. "I've had great white envy for most of my career," Skomal said yesterday at the 15th Annual Cape Cod Natural History Conference at Cape Cod Community College. He lives on Martha's Vineyard and has only had rare glimpses of great whites so close to home. But the arrival of the great whites last summer created a new opportunity for the biologist to put pop-up satellite transmitting tags on five of the beasts. At yesterday's conference, he presented the results of his research from the satellite tags along with other biologists' research about seal populations. Skomol's research indicates last summer's shark sightings were no flukes. The data on two of the satellite tags that have been retrieved reveals both Cape sharks headed straight to Florida after leaving the Cape coast in September. They stayed close to shore along the continental shelf, mostly avoiding deeper water. Both tags popped to the surface near Jacksonville, Fla., indicating the sharks stayed within a few miles of each other, Skomal said. The satellite tag data also could indicate the sharks are following feeding patterns that take them to Florida, where they can eat dolphin, porpoise and dead whale carcasses, then bring them back to the Cape in the summer, when they can find thousands of seals off the coast of Monomoy and Muskeget Island off Nantucket. Hunting by humans caused the Cape's once thriving seal population to plummet in the 17th century, Skomal said. The seals became protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, but the pinniped population didn't start coming back until the 1990s, he said. On Muskeget Island, Skomal said, barely a pup was born in 1991. But in 2008, more than 2,000 pups began their lives on Muskeget, he said. "That's a lot of seals," Skomal said. The great white sharks observed off Chatham, he said, may be going through a dietary shift, with a growing reliance on the seals off the Northeast coastline. Muskeget Island and Monomoy are the primary seal colonies off the New England coast, he said. The most common question Skomal gets is whether there will there be more great white sharks in Cape waters this summer. Historical research indicates a stable seal population brings in more sharks, he said, which means great white sharks are likely to continue to ply local waters in the summer. Less than five confirmed sightings of great white sharks in Massachusetts waters were recorded in 1999, Skomol said. In 2008, he said there were more than 20 sightings. more 04/04/10 Scientist shares great white shark insight - Cape Cod: On Labor Day weekend last year, Chatham became a real-life scene out of the movie "Jaws" when about 12 great white sharks roamed the coastline feasting on the abundant population of gray seals. Beaches closed and the international media descended on a beautiful holiday weekend that had been tinged with fear. The situation was unsettling for many people on the Cape, but state Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Greg Skomal rejoiced. "I've had great white envy for most of my career," Skomal said yesterday at the 15th Annual Cape Cod Natural History Conference at Cape Cod Community College. He lives on Martha's Vineyard and has only had rare glimpses of great whites so close to home. But the arrival of the great whites last summer created a new opportunity for the biologist to put pop-up satellite transmitting tags on five of the beasts. At yesterday's conference, he presented the results of his research from the satellite tags along with other biologists' research about seal populations. Skomol's research indicates last summer's shark sightings were no flukes. The data on two of the satellite tags that have been retrieved reveals both Cape sharks headed straight to Florida after leaving the Cape coast in September. They stayed close to shore along the continental shelf, mostly avoiding deeper water. Both tags popped to the surface near Jacksonville, Fla., indicating the sharks stayed within a few miles of each other, Skomal said. The satellite tag data also could indicate the sharks are following feeding patterns that take them to Florida, where they can eat dolphin, porpoise and dead whale carcasses, then bring them back to the Cape in the summer, when they can find thousands of seals off the coast of Monomoy and Muskeget Island off Nantucket. Hunting by humans caused the Cape's once thriving seal population to plummet in the 17th century, Skomal said. The seals became protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, but the pinniped population didn't start coming back until the 1990s, he said. On Muskeget Island, Skomal said, barely a pup was born in 1991. But in 2008, more than 2,000 pups began their lives on Muskeget, he said. "That's a lot of seals," Skomal said. The great white sharks observed off Chatham, he said, may be going through a dietary shift, with a growing reliance on the seals off the Northeast coastline. Muskeget Island and Monomoy are the primary seal colonies off the New England coast, he said. The most common question Skomal gets is whether there will there be more great white sharks in Cape waters this summer. Historical research indicates a stable seal population brings in more sharks, he said, which means great white sharks are likely to continue to ply local waters in the summer. Less than five confirmed sightings of great white sharks in Massachusetts waters were recorded in 1999, Skomol said. In 2008, he said there were more than 20 sightings. more 04/02/10 Rescued dolphins sighted off Cape Cod - cape cod times Four dolphins that were rescued and released in mid-March were sighted a week later in a group of about 200 dolphins, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The four dolphins sighted after the rescue were among nine Atlantic white-sided dolphins that IFAW rescuers retrieved from the muck of Drummer's Cove and Logy Bay in Wellfleet Harbor on March 12 and March 13. The dolphins, including one fitted with a satellite tag, were released from Herring Cove in Provincetown. A few days later, IFAW and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies tracked the satellite signal to the southern edge of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Using binoculars, observers could see red tags, marking rescued Wellfleet dolphins, on four of the marine mammals that were swimming strongly and feeding during dives, IFAW spokesman Chris Cutter said yesterday. The sighting of the rescued dolphins is evidence that IFAW will use to challenge a federal policy that requires the euthanization of a dolphin or whale that strands alone, regardless of the animal's health. One of four dolphins sighted released itself after stranding in Wellfleet and was able to rejoin other dolphins. The federal euthanization policy assumes that a dolphin or whale, without the protection of a pod, has a poor chance of survival, Cutter said. IFAW has federal permission to release such healthy single animals and study their survival rate. "This gives new hope for stranded dolphins not only on Cape Cod, but around the globe," said Katie Moore, IFAW marine mammal rescue and research program manager. With improved medical examinations and supportive care, survival rates for mass stranded dolphins and whales have increased from 14 percent in 2004 to more than 50 percent in 2009, according to IFAW. more 03/29/10 Whales can be researched without being killed: scientists - http://english.cctv.com New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) ship Tangaroa arrived back in Wellington Port on Monday with 18 scientists from New Zealand, Australia and France after a trip to the Southern ocean to investigate whale activity. The international scientific team returned with data showing whales can be researched without being killed. It was the world's largest, non-lethal whale research expedition and it returned with a range of new information that would help future marine mammal conservation, the New Zealand Press Association reported on Monday. The six-week expedition collected more than 60 biopsy samples, took many photo-identifications of humpback whales and acoustics data. The scientists also placed 30 satellite tags on humpback whales to provide movement data on the feeding grounds and migration routes back to the tropical breeding areas in winter. The scientific team said it would analyze the data over the next two months to get a clearer picture on a "range of important conservation science issues such as whale movement and feeding behavior, defining migratory routes, and mixing patterns between different breeding populations". Research from the voyage would be presented to the International Whaling Commission meeting in June in Morocco. The expedition was the first major project under the Southern Ocean Research Partnership formed last year. The expedition also set out to disprove Japan's claim whales had to be killed for research. more 03/24/10 Scientists watch whale's birth near Navy training range off Northeast Florida - jacksonville.com Scientists surveying the area near a planned Navy training range said Tuesday they witnessed an endangered right whale giving birth off the Northeast Florida coast. It was only the second time a right whale's birth has been seen and studied, and it gave researchers new insights into the lives of some of the world's most endangered mammals. It also gave hope to environmental groups that sued to stop the Navy's plans. Amazed researchers in a small plane lingered for nearly a half-hour Saturday as a whale that scientists knew as Derecha churned the ocean surface east of Vilano Beach and dove underwater, replaced at the surface minutes later by her newborn. The discovery was made within several miles of the rectangular patch of sea the Navy selected last year for construction of an undersea warfare range. The exact distance wasn't clear, but appeared to be somewhere near 10 miles. "It was near the box ... [but] drawing a line in the ocean is a difficult thing," said William McLellan, a University of North Carolina-Wilmington research associate overseeing Navy-financed survey work done with Duke University. The Florida-Georgia coast is the only known calving ground for right whales, which gather each winter after traveling from New England and Canada. From a total population of about 450, more than 100 whales migrated to the area this winter. Environmental advocates, who have warned that ship traffic and sonar use at the training range could imperil the whales, said the discovery reinforces their concerns. "The Navy needs to go back to square one and reconsider," said Sharon Young, marine issues field director for the Humane Society of the United States. The group is one of several that sued in January to challenge the training range plans. "This birth, which is just the most amazing thing, ought to give us pause," said Young, a former marine scientist. Although whales are usually reported in shallow waters closer to shore, the Navy's range project manager said some were expected to be in and around the training area. "The fact that there's a birth was something a little unexpected. We all agree it's a good thing," said Jene Nissen, the project manager. He said the discovery would become part of a body of research that will factor into decisions about use of the range that is planned about 50 nautical miles - 58 miles - east of Jacksonville. The Navy plans to install hundreds of devices on the ocean floor that can track vessels during combat training involving ships, submarines, helicopters and planes. The Navy weighed a series of East Coast sites before settling on Jacksonville last year, despite lingering questions from environmental agencies. In doing so, the Navy adopted a two-step permitting process, committing to building the range at a cost of about $100 million and then seeking new permitting in a few years before actually using it. The Wilmington-Duke research team began air and sea surveys last year to document the presence of sea turtles and marine mammals, including a variety of whales and dolphins, near the training area. Since the surveys started 15 months ago, the crews had not spotted a single right whale until Saturday, McLellan said. With sun shining brightly about 10:20 a.m., scientists saw a distant splash in the ocean, which turned out to be Derecha. Flying closer, they photographed the whale at length, trying to record unique markings they would use to identify her. Abruptly, the whale dove and stayed underwater for several minutes, McLellan said. Then a stain of red appeared in the water. "A few minutes later, up pops the calf," McLellan said. As the plane circled, the calf took sputtering breaths, edged away from its mother, then rejoined Derecha and gradually rested on top of her, he said. With the survey plane running low on fuel, a team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came in as replacements and lingered over the area, watching mother and calf swim and rest at the surface. Nearly 90 minutes of the whale's labor and interactions with her newborn were photographed, McLellan said. Coming five years after the only other record of a whale birth, the documentation offers a trove of new insights into how whales behave. "We've already got a scientific paper we're starting to block out," McLellan said. more 03/20/10 Watch Humpbacks Mating - Discovery Channel Sunday night Discovery Channel will premier their new series LIFE, patterned after its very successful Planet Earth. For whale watchers, the highlight will be a sequence involving the mating of humpback whales. This is an experience which you do not want to miss! Enjoy. more 03/18/10 Curious whales give boost to Mexican fishermen - http://www.telegraph.co.uk When the massive, barnacle-spotted head of a Pacific gray whale slid alongside Pachico Mayoral's wooden boat, he nervously reached out to touch it. Like other fishermen, he usually beat his boat with a stick to try to frighten the giant mammals away, but for once he hesitated. "The whale insisted, going from one side of the boat to the other, and at one point I was curious and, very gently, I stroked the whale's face. And nothing happened. It stayed calm," Mayoral said, driving a boat of tourists across the San Ignacio lagoon 40 years later. Mayoral's first encounter with a friendly whale began the development of a small-scale whale watching industry in the remote spot off Mexico's northwest Baja California peninsula, where gray whales breed and nurse their calves each year after migrating thousands of miles from Canada and Alaska. "The whales came to us, we didn't come to them," said the thin 68 year-old, a smile spreading across his weathered face. Mayoral and his family run one of seven rustic base camps, using eco-tourism practices, such as solar and wind power and compost toilets, which welcome up to 3,000 visitors in a whale-watching season lasting around three months at the start of each year. Their camp ironically lies at the site that locals say was used by whalers to fry blubber, when grey whales were killed for commercial uses in the 19th century. Although a debate rages among some whaling nations about whether to begin limited hunting again, the Pacific gray whales have been protected since 1947, and are at the centre of a growing whale-watching industry. Their numbers dropped by a third, from around 26,000, however, in the decades prior to the late 1990s. Scientists say that the decline was caused by melting Arctic ice affecting their food chains, which include small fish, crustaceans, squid and other tiny organisms. But the adaptable species, which has been around for some 120,000 years, is on the rise again. At the peak of the whale-watching period, in February and March, boats carrying excited tourists stream along the wildlife-rich lagoon, following trails of spouting water. Many whales, which can weigh up to 40 metric tons and measure up to 14 meters (46 feet), glide right by, but a few curious ones approach the boats, sometimes joined by playful calves. The whale-watching companies work together, along with scientists and ecologists, to regulate their activities, with measures such as limiting the boats on the water and the areas where they can operate. Their practices did not appear to disturb the natural behavior of the whales, according to Steve Schwartz, a marine biologist who has been studying the lagoon for more than 30 years. "Their biggest threat these days is basically habitat loss and that's because of development," Schwartz said. Activists recently celebrated a 10-year victory that saw Mexico's government drop plans, made with Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, to build the world's largest salt evaporation plant nearby. They are pushing for more small-scale eco-tourism around the lagoon, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. "We realise that just because this area is a natural park it doesn't mean that a multinational corporation can't come in and buy it up because under Mexican law the land is still privately owned, or collectively owned," said Serge Dedina, the executive director of the Wild Coast ecological group. The group, along with other environmentalists, has built alliances with small landowners around the lagoon, and is seeking to put federal land under national park service jurisdiction, as well as advising ecotourism operators. Not all locals have yet seen the benefits of the ecotourism drive, however, and some complain they are waiting for promised assistance. Fisherman who lead whale-watching trips still struggle to survive for the rest of the year. Mayoral remains enthusiastic about his trips onto the lagoon, however, more than 40 years after his first encounter with a whale. "Am I afraid now? No, not at all," he said as he steered a fishing boat full of tourists across the lagoon. "I wish I could swim with them." "If we treat this resource well, who knows how long we'll have it for?" more 03/15/10 Your Chilean Sea Bass Dinner Deprives Killer Whales - wired.com A one-of-a-kind killer whale population appears to be threatened by human appetites for Antarctic toothfish, better known to restaurant-goers as Chilean Sea Bass. As fishing fleets patrol their waters, catching what was their primary source of food, the whales are vanishing. It’s not certain whether they’ve only moved on, or are dying out, or both. But something is happening, with potentially dark implications for Earth’s last pristine ecosystem. “There’s been a dramatic disappearance of the whales,” said biologist David Ainley of ecological consulting firm H.T. Harvey and Associates, and co-author of a March Aquatic Mammals article on the whales’ disappearance. “We think they’re having a harder time trying to find food. Whether that leads to population decrease, hopefully we won’t find out. But we will find out, if it continues.” Antarctic killer whales form two types of populations, known to researchers as ecotype-B and ecotype-C. While the former resemble killer whales found elsewhere, ecotype-C whales are much smaller, with different markings and a tendency to gather in especially large groups. Many researchers now consider them a distinct species. Dubbed Ross Sea killer whales, ecotype-C whales are found only in the Ross Sea, an expanse of water off Antarctica’s southern coast, flanking the France-sized Ross Ice Shelf. Many scientists consider the region to be the last pristine ecosystem on Earth, the only remaining piece of pre-industrial nature. The Ross Sea, however, isn’t what it used to be. About 25 years ago, North American diners discovered the Chilean Sea Bass, the market-friendly name of the Patagonian toothfish. It is a large, codlike Southern Ocean fish that lives for a half century, breeds infrequently and is both tasty and easy to cook, and its populations were soon devastated. Fishing fleets moved into the Ross Sea, searching for its close relative, the Antarctic toothfish. Antarctic toothfish are now called Chilean Sea Bass, too. They’re thought to be the primary food of Ross Sea killer whales, which were described as common by the first Antarctic explorers and subsequent visitors. Just a few years ago, boats headed into the McMurdo research station on Ross Island were “literally surrounded by killer whales out toward the horizon,” write the Aquatic Mammal researchers. Not any more. Though ecotype-B whale sightings have remained steady, Ross Sea killer whale sightings are down by two-thirds in the last five years, and big groups no longer gather. “We don’t know for sure what this means. But we do know that they eat the toothfish, and we know that the toothfish industry has taken off in the last 10 years,” said study co-author Grant Ballard, a Point Reyes Bird Observatory biologist. If the whales have moved elsewhere in search of food, there is no guarantee of success. Other, smaller fish can be harder to catch, making them an inefficient source of nourishment. Even if other food is available, the whales may not eat it. Hunting is a behavioral tradition — even, arguably, a culture — for these highly social animals, and not easily changed. In a possibly analogous situation from the northeast Pacific, a population of historically salmon-eating killer whales appears doomed by the fishes’ decline, though seals and sea lions are an abundant alternative source of prey. After more than a decade of studying penguins, Ballard said he’s yet to see a Ross Sea killer whale eat one. “I was hoping I’d see them eating one, and it never happened. There are plenty of penguins around for them to eat,” he said. “The arrows point at this type of killer whale being a toothfish eater, and not knowing how to change.” How long Antarctic toothfish can survive human pressures is an open question. After just a couple decades of modern fishing, Patagonian toothfish were mostly gone. They bred too slowly to keep up with losses. Even in areas where fishing has ceased, the Patagonian toothfish, and other local deep-sea species fished during the 20th century’s latter half, have not come back. Like the cod of North Atlantic, they appear to have hit some sort of tipping point beyond which recovery may not be possible. “The fact that these stocks haven’t recovered suggests that some ecological mechanism has been turned off, that the ocean has changed in the meantime, to the extent that the fish can’t recover,” Ainley said. Should Antarctic toothfish and Ross Sea killer whales vanish, the ecological impacts could be profound. Existing at the center of marine food webs, such high-level predators are important to regulating ecosystems. In their absence, food webs take different shapes. That’s what appears to have happened in the western North Atlantic. With cod fished to near-extinction, it’s now dominated by small fishes and crabs. As a stopgap solution, Ainley and Ballard want diners to avoid Chilean Sea Bass, though that strategy did not save the Patagonian toothfish. Despite attempts to educate the public, Chilean Sea Bass remained a popular menu item in upscale American restaurants. Their greater wish is for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the international body charged with protecting the continent, to declare the Ross Sea a protected area, off-limits to all fishing. That’s not just sentimental enviromentalism, but economic practicality, Ainley said. “If you have areas with no fishing, it ensures that there will still be fishes caught around the edges of the reserve. Protecting the Ross Sea could probably ensure the continuation of that fishery. Otherwise, it’s going to go economically extinct,” he said. But Ballard is more idealistic. “We’re talking about the last pristine ecosystem. It’s important to have one of them left,” he said. “Going forward, people won’t have reference points to what we used to have. We’ll get used to a more and more degraded Earth. And I think we’re running into that here. It’s the last stand.” more 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. Ad Feedback 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 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 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 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 12/28/09 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 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 11/06/09 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 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 09/14/09 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 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 08/28/09 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 fis