News Reports - 1999
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Date: Fri, 01 Jan, 1999
Stranded Whales Believed to have Left
Nelson, [New Zealand] - A pod of stranded pilot whales rescued yesterday near Farewell Spit has swum into deeper water, much to the relief of Department of Conservation staff.
The whales, 20 survivors of a pod of 28 which beached on Wednesday 8km from the base of the spit, were refloated yesterday morning on the high tide.
A plane search over the bay at dawn today failed to find the whales so it was believed they had swum away, DOC service manager Hans Stoffregen said.
The last time they were seen was 6.30pm yesterday.
Rescuers were pleased, and it was their efforts which had saved most of the whales, Mr Stoffregen said.
The first attempt by DOC staff and around 60 helpers to refloat the whales on Wednesday afternoon failed.
Eight of the original pod died after becoming beached.
But in the second attempt early yesterday, their work to straighten the whales and rock to get them orientated had paid off, he said.
Three boats then herded the whales out to sea and prevented them swimming back to shore.
"Two or three whales took off and the rest followed," he said.
Tired rescuers had returned to the base of the spit mid-morning still uncertain of the success of their work.
However around 11.30am DOC officer Kaye Stark, who had been managing the rescue, radioed the news that the whales were swimming away from the beach.
DOC staff working on the rescue were delighted when the pod began swimming away from the shore.
The department had special sound equipment on standby at the scene in case the whales beached again.
The whales that died were adults, which found it harder than the young ones to survive on the beach, he said.
The largest of the dead whales was 5.2m long.
There was a possibility of the whales beaching themselves again, but it was a case of just waiting and seeing, DOC conservator for Nelson-Marlborough Neil Clifton said.
Date: Fri, 01 Jan, 1999
Dramatic Changes in Bering Sea Ecosystem
Scientists are seeking wide review, distribution of data via Internet
Many rarely observed conditions occurred in the Bering Sea during the summers of 1997 and 1998, including extensive die-offs of seabirds, rare algal blooms, unanticipated low salmon runs, warmer than usual ocean temperatures, and altered ocean currents and atmospheric conditions. These changes prompted scientists from NOAA, the federal agency that protects and predicts the nation's marine resources and atmospheric environment, to convene an international workshop in Seattle, Wash.
"People whose livelihood depends on the Bering Sea need to know if these are fleeting anomalies or persistent large-scale changes," said James Balsiger, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
"Scientists want to determine the cause of these unusual conditions and their portent for the future of this national resource."
The eastern Bering Sea provides almost half of the fish and shellfish caught in the United States. Most of the catch comes from the continental shelf, a broad, shallow area larger than the state of California, that borders Alaska's western coast. Besides producing abundant fish and shellfish, the shelf also supports large numbers of resident and migratory birds and marine mammals.
A prominent theme of the workshop was the implication of recent environmental changes on the management of living marine resources. Reports from those attending the workshop will now be available via the Internet for a broader review and comment by U.S. and world environmental scientists.
"We wanted to bring together scientists, environmentalists, administrators, resource managers, native Alaskans, representatives of the fishing industry, and others at this crucial time," said Eddie Bernard, director of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.
"During the workshop, more than 75 participants shared information, proposed reasons for these environmental changes, and suggested future research needs. They also discussed ways to use Internet technology to report news and facilitate communication."
Workshop participants reported information related to the environmental occurrences. Atmospheric processes in 1997, partially in response to El Nino, caused clearer skies, calmer seas, and warmer sea temperatures than normal in the eastern Bering Sea.
"The warmest water temperatures ever recorded on the eastern Bering Sea shelf occurred during the summer of 1997," said Phyllis Stabeno, an oceanographer at the Seattle lab.
The most striking event was the appearance of extensive areas of milky, aquamarine water over most of the shelf in 1997. The water's unusual color was caused by a massive bloom of coccolithophores (a type of nontoxic, microscopic marine plant). These blooms have never before been observed in the Bering Sea for extended periods. The coccolithophores replaced the normal summer plankton community. This replacement made profound, but not well understood, effects on the rest of the food chain. Despite different atmospheric conditions in 1998, the bloom recurred.
Other recent changes in the ecosystem included unprecedented mortality of short-tailed shearwaters and unsuccessful reproduction rates for kittiwakes (both common seabirds frequenting the area during summer). Salmon runs were far below expected levels. The fish were smaller than average, and traditional migratory patterns seemed altered. There was an unusual sighting of Pacific white-sided dolphins in Bristol Bay, and large numbers of baleen whales appeared on the shelf. Taken together, these events show how responsive the ecosystem is to climate and suggest that climate change would have a strong effect on the ecosystem.
Although these unusual conditions did not seem to have an immediate effect on the groundfish of the area, they may impact future abundance. NOAA Fisheries surveys in 1997 and 1998 located fewer young-of-the-year pollock than in previous years. However, other studies conducted in 1998 suggest that young pollock, in fact, were quite abundant but located further onto the shelf than usual. This displacement could derive from transport of pollock larvae northeastward from their spawning area due to windy conditions during spring. Ramifications of these recent changes won't be known for several years until the young pollock mature into adult fish and are harvested.
An important task is to determine linkages between the unusual conditions and the Bering Sea's bountiful resources of salmon and pollock. Workshop participants agreed that focused, long-term, integrated research is needed, and recommended the recently written Draft Science Plan for the Bering Sea Ecosystem. Incorporating traditional knowledge from native communities into the information available to research programs is also vital, scientists acknowledged. Participants discussed the challenge of preserving the diverse populations of fish, marine mammals, and birds in this highly variable environment.
NOAA scientists are seeking review and input from scientists throughout the globe. A summary of the workshop will be available December 31 on the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean web site: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov. A chat room for timely exchange of information will be incorporated into the web site, as recommended by workshop participants. For general Bering Sea information, including the Draft Science Plan for the Bering Sea Ecosystem, please consult the web site.
For specific information, contact Allen Macklin, FOCI Coordinator,
NOAA/PMEL, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Wash.
98115-0070, 206-526-6798 (voice), 206-526-6485 (fax), macklin@pmel.noaa.gov (e-mail).
Date: Wed, 06 Jan, 1999
1998 was Florida manatees' third worst year ever
By Patricia Zengerle
MIAMI, (Reuters) - Fewer manatees perished in Florida's waters in 1998 than during either of the two previous years, but last year still went down as the third-deadliest on record for the endangered sea cow, state researchers said on Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said 231 manatees died in the state last year, including 66 that were killed after being struck by a boat or other watercraft.
Manatees -- the leathery skinned, vegetarian, marine mammals that average 10 feet (3 metres) in length and 1,000 pounds (450 kg) in weight -- have lived in the warm waters of Florida for at least 45 million years, scientists say.
Though manatees have no natural enemies in the wild, experts have been concerned about their survival because they reproduce slowly and often are killed by speeding boats as the animals come to the surface in canals, rivers and lagoons. Many others are crushed by canal floodgates or fall victim to disease and cold weather.
"Perhaps we need more manatee speed zones (where boats must travel slowly). There could be many factors, but obviously, it is a human-caused factor," said Leigh Demateis, spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection's Marine Research Institute.
Experts estimated that only about 2,400 manatees live in Florida's waters. The manatee is classified as an endangered species.
The second-deadliest year on record was 1997, with 242 manatees killed, 54 from collisions with watercraft.
The previous year was the worst ever for the gentle animals. In 1996, 415 manatees died in Florida, 149 in an unprecedented incident caused by ingesting brevetoxin, a poison released by red tide algae, biologists said. Sixty manatees were killed in collisions with watercraft that year.
In 1998, there were no manatee deaths linked to red tide.
"We are disappointed that watercraft-related mortalities continue to increase," David Arnold, chief of the Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Protected Species Management, said in a statement.
"We continue to believe, however, that our efforts are making a difference. We see the continued support of Florida's citizens as the key to the recovery of the species."
Researchers also said there were 12 U.S. manatee deaths outside of Florida in 1998, the highest total ever. The overwhelming majority of manatees in the United States live in Florida waters.
Date: Thu, 07 Jan, 1999
Alarm By A Delay In The Arrival Of Migrating Gray Whales
By Michael Christie
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican environmentalists said Thursday they were alarmed by a delay in the arrival of migrating gray whales and feared world climate changes could be jeopardizing the survival of the giant mammals.
The "Grupo de los Cien" (Group of One Hundred) ecological body said only a third -- around 10 -- of the usual number of gray whales had turned up at their winter sanctuary off the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.
"One gray whale arrived on Nov. 7 and since then hardly any. The first whale was very early and the others are very late," said Homero Aridjis, the poet and ecologist who heads the Group of One Hundred.
Aridjis said global warming could be the culprit, noting that last year was the warmest year on record for the world's oceans.
"There has been an undeniable change in the global climate and it's possible this has had an impact on the migratory patterns of the whales," Aridjis told Reuters.
Every winter, gray whales migrate 6,200 miles from the freezing Arctic Ocean to warmer sanctuaries in Baja California Sur's San Ignacio lagoon in northwestern Mexico and the surrounding El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, one of the largest wildlife refuges in Latin America.
The first usually arrive in December and remain for about four months, breeding and feeding. But that seems to have changed this year for reasons environmentalists said were unclear, but probably related to climate change.
Bruce Mate, an expert in marine mammals, said in a statement from the Group of One Hundred that "we have never seen the migration begin so late."
At the end of December, a team led by Mate flew over the coastline of Oregon in the U.S. Pacific Northwest without sighting a single whale. The statement said scientific teams monitoring the coast of Washington state also observed the same
phenomenon.
At the same time, the Group of One Hundred said Alaskan newspapers reported hundreds of whales off the coast of the Kodiak Archipelago, which was "very abnormal" for this time of year.
Hunted to the brink of extinction by the 1940s, gray whales now have recovered to number an estimated 24,000, experts said.
But Aridjis said "alarming" changes to the environment were occurring in the seas through which the whales swim. In the Bering Sea, for example, he said investigators had reported deaths of marine animals and unusually high amounts of algae.
He added that North American salmon populations were falling sharply while their migration patterns also appeared to be changing.
Mexican television broadcaster Televisa reported Wednesday that whales had been sighted off the Mexican Pacific tourist resort of Acapulco, believed to be the first time whales had traveled so far south.
Aridjis said the whales had been too far away to identify the species and it was not known whether they were gray whales.
Date: Fri, 08 Jan, 1999
Dolphins May Have Been Our Ancestors
Johannesburg (Mail and Guardian)
Characteristics that distinguish us from apes may have been forced on our ancestors by the presence of water, writes Ruben Mowszowski.
If the proponents of a revolutionary theory of human origins are correct, our ancestors abandoned the trees not for the savannah, but for the water - and humans share more physical traits with dolphins than with= apes.
The 3,5-million-year-old Australopithecine fossil found recently in Sterkfontein and billed as our ancestor is to be the subject of an opening talk at the World Congress of Archaeology in Cape Town this week.
Inevitably the question will be asked: in what kind of environment did this 1,2m-tall ancestor of ours live?
A mural in the Sterkfontein tearoom makes it quite clear. A group of hominids holed up in a cave is beating off another group apparently intent on moving in, if not actually devouring them. The cave is located in the middle of savannah grassland.
But evidence which has been accumulating since the discovery in the 1970s of the Australopithecus fossil nicknamed Lucy indicates that the environment in which the Australopithecines and the earlier Ardipithecus ramidus lived and died was not savannah but tropical forest.
This means that the story of how our ancestors developed the characteristics that distinguish us from the apes will have to change.
The version most of us know is called the savannah hypothesis and it goes like this: a change in climate shrunk the forests and expanded the savannah, forcing a branch of tree-living apes into the open, so they stood up.
The recently discovered 4,5-million- year-old partly bipedal Ardipithecus ramidus lived not in dry savannah, but in a forest. This means that the human origins story has to be rewritten.
At the recent Dual 98 Congress on Palaeontology and Human Biology one of the delegates was Elaine Morgan. The non-scientist author of The Descent of Women put the female gender back into the evolutionary story in the 1970s.
For the past 27 years she has been promoting an alternative hypothesis on human origins which was put forward by scientist Alistair Hardy in 1960. Hardy noticed that humans share certain physiological attributes with aquatic mammals. It occurred to him that bipedalism might have been an adaptation to an environment that had become not dry, but wet.
Hardy was advised by his academic mentors not to pursue the subject for fear of damaging his career. In the savannah hypothesis palaeontology already had a "good enough" story to explain bipedalism.
The image of our ancestors coming down from trees, emerging stooped from the primeval damp forest and striding out into the open grasslands to become erect humans is a vision of humankind triumphant. It finds biblical expression in the story of our expulsion from Eden.
Who wants ancestors who stood up just so that they could breathe? Hardy let the theory lie for the sake of his career. Morgan took it up and gave it the provocative name "aquatic ape theory" and it might have been ignored for longer if the savannah hypothesis had not begun to fail.
In 1995, the eminent South African palaeontologist Phillip Tobias delivered a lecture to the University of London. Foot bones from Sterkfontein, he said, showed there was an "arboreal element" in the life of the hominids whose fossils were found there. His conclusion: the relatively scrubby trees one would find in savannah would not have been adequate for the size of australopithecines.
New findings of fossil animals, plants and pollen and recent evidence by way of the 4,5-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus fossil, he said, indicated that hominids were upright before the forest shrunk, before they got big brained. End of hypothesis.
Not entirely. There are all sorts of theories still being offered that seek to explain our physiological peculiarities as adaptations to the savannah environment.
Standing on two legs, for instance, is said to reduce exposure to the sun at noon (though critics say any sensible hominid would be lying under a tree at that time) and to keep our overheated brain away from the hot ground. An older theory is that our ancestors needed to free their arms in order to reach food and carry it home, after which they progressed to throwing stones at predatory animals or, as the Sterkfontein mural shows, at each other.
None of these is particularly convincing. It seems like palaeontology has reached one of those difficult moments which science must every now and then face, when cherished beliefs that underpin established frameworks collapse.
Tobias has recognised that moment. "All the former savannah supporters (including myself) must swallow our earlier words in the light of the new results from the early hominid deposits ... And the savannah hypothesis is washed out ... if savannah is eliminated as a primary cause or selective advantage of bipedalism, then we are back to square one and have to try to find consensus on some other primary cause," he said in his London lecture. Significant words that lead us to Hardy and Morgan's world of flooded forests where apes who live both on the ground and in the trees have to adapt to a wet environment or die.
Which is why Morgan, who has been out in the cold for 30 years, is now, at Tobias's invitation, taking her place on the rostrum in front of the brightest brains in evolutionary science.
Morgan says that the adaptations that distinguish us from the our closest primate cousins were forced on our ancestors by the presence of water. That, for a couple of million years, which is not very long as these things are measured, our ancestors lived like sea otters in a semi- aquatic environment.
The aquatic hypothesis suggests that nakedness, bipedalism and many other distinctly human adaptations evolved long before our ancestors moved onto the savannah. It is founded on the observation that a number of the features that characterise our physiology, "though rare or unique among land mammals, are common in aquatic ones".
A feature of the aquatic ape hypothesis is that it deals with a large number of physiological and structural features, the best-known of which is bipedalism. Morgan says perpendicular gait has many disadvantages. It is slower, unstable, needs to be learned and exposes vulnerable organs to attack.
"Only some powerful pressure could have induced our ancestors to adopt a way of walking for which they were initially so ill-suited," she says.We are still suffering the consequences of this adaptation in the form of backaches, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, hernias and difficult childbirths.
Morgan points out that all the other primates that stand up on occasion have a habitat that is wet rather than dry. The proboscis monkey, which stands very readily, lives in mangrove swamps. The habitat of the bonobo, which - like dolphins, beavers, sea otters and humans - mates face to face, includes a seasonally flooded forest.
She says "the only animal that ever evolved a pelvis like ours, suitable for bipedalism, was the long-extinct Oreopithecus - known as the swamp ape". Then there is our nakedness. The only other mammals which are naked are swimmers like the whale and dolphin, wallowers like the hippopotamus and pig, and animals like the elephant and rhinoceros, which, she says, "bear traces of a watery past".
Human hair direction (we are naked by virtue of thinner hair, rather than fewer hair follicles) occurs in whorls corresponding to the movement of water against a swimming body. In all the other apes it points downward.= Humans are the fattest primate. We have 10 times as many fat cells in our body as any other animal of similar size. Unlike other primates, our children are born fat with a large proportion of white fat which is good for insulation and buoyancy but not for energy.
Morgan thinks it is an adaptation that protected babies that had fallen out of trees. As with most aquatic animals, but unlike other primates, our fat is present all year and is stored, not deep within the body, but under the skin where it serves as an insular layer. The only other mammals that store fat in this way are aquatic, like dolphins, seals and hippos.
Humans are the only primates which have the ability to hold their breath voluntarily. The only other mammals able to do this are aquatic, like seals and dolphins. The descent of the larynx that occurs in the human infant at about three months is an adaptation that allows air to be gulped in large quantities through the mouth. The only other mammals that have a descended larynx are the sea lion and the dugong.
"Without voluntary breath control, it is very unlikely that we could have learned to speak," says Morgan.
We have larger brains than any other ape. The mammal with the largest proportionate brain size after humans is, of course, the dolphin - a terrestrial animal that returned to the sea.
Morgan's scenario for these evolutionary adaptations is based on known geological events. About six million years ago, the low-lying section of land near the Red Sea known as the Afar triangle (where Lucy was found) was flooded and became the Sea of Afar. Some hominids, she says, would have been isolated on islands, others would have found themselves having to survive in flooded forests, among marshes and swamps.
Rapid speciation, such as occurred in the change from ape into hominid, Morgan says, "is almost invariably a sign that one population from a species has become isolated by a geographical barrier such as a stretch of water. Survivors of such massive flooding would have been forced into adapting."
When the sea became landlocked and evaporated their descendants would have followed the waterways of the Great Rift Valley upstream, towards the south, and emerged, as at Sterkfontein, erect, with no body hair, the ability to hold their breath and with a descended larynx, ready to speak.
Tobias's invitation to Morgan to speak at a congress of professionals has brought her inside the walls of the citadel, and scientific evolutionary theory, in so far as human origins are concerned, might never be the same.
Date: Sat, 09 Jan, 1999
Injured Sperm Whale Dies Near Whakatane, NZ
Rotorua, [New Zealand] - Department of Conservation (DOC) staff could only watch as an injured sperm whale drifted onto the beach at Coastlands, northeast of Whakatane, and died yesterday.
The 30-ton whale rolled back and forth with the tide near the water's edge, until it eventually died just before 5pm.
DOC staff dragged the carcass on to the beach last night, where it was buried this morning. DOC officer Matt Cook said the largest digger that could be found had been used to dig the whale's grave.
Ngati Awa had worked closely with DOC since the whale's beaching but no claim had been made for its bones to be returned to local iwi.
Whakatane field control supervisor Wayne Price said the sperm whale had a large abscess near the base of the tail where it could have been wrapped in a fishing line or slapped by the propeller of a large ocean-going boat.
The whale also had extensive sunburn along its back and marks on the body where it could have been attacked by sharks, Mr Price said.
The whale, thought to be only a couple of years old, was showing no sign of distress and it was decided to let it die naturally rather than attempt to euthanase it, he said.
Sperm whales travel in small family pods with only half a dozen members. However, Mr Price said pods of sperm whales do not beach together when one of their members is injured although they do try and stay with the injured whale and were probably still in the area.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan, 1999
Ministry to seek ban on Greenpeace
The Daily Yomiuri
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has decided to demand that Greenpeace members be banned from articipating in an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, it was learned Monday. The ministry plans to present its proposal based on a December incident, in which members of the environmental conservation group chained the propeller of two Japanese whaling research vessels in protest of its activities. This is the first time Japan has planned to take action against antiwhaling groups.
A Greenpeace spokesperson criticized the government's ignorance of an international trend, in which nongovernmental organizations have increased their influence on national policies.
En route to the Antarctic Ocean to fish minke whales for research purposes, whaling research vessel Nisshin Maru and support ship Kyo Maru No. 1 on Nov. 19 reportedly docked at Noumea port in New Caledonia, after a fire started on board Nisshin Maru north east of Australia.
According to the Fisheries Agency, on Dec. 7, several Greenpeace activists illegally boarded the two ships to disable them from leaving the port through various acts of protest, including tying themselves to whaling guns and chaining propellers.
The agency considers these actions as a sort of terrorism. Kyodo Senpaku, the company that owns the ships, has expressed anger. "The ship's crew, who were exhausted after extinguishing the fire, had further anguish (the protest) inflicted on them," a company spokesperson said. "I am infuriated by these wanton acts," Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said.
The proposal recommends prohibiting the organization from participating in an annual IWC meeting that will be held in Caribbean island of Grenada in May. Japanese whaling research vessels often encounter antiwhaling boats. According to the Fisheries Agency, a similar decision has been made in the past, in which members of another conservation group that sunk a Norwegian whaling ship were regarded as terrorists and consequently shut out from a IWC meeting.
About 80 nongovernmental organizations from around the world participate as observers in annual IWC meetings, in which 40 signatory nations of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling discuss natural resource management issues, such whaling quotas.
Chairing nation Ireland, vice chair Sweden, and Mexico and Japan will begin meetings mid-January before the convention convenes in May. During the preliminary meeting, Japan plans to report Greenpeace's actions and demand that the organization be prohibited from attending the May conference.
Based in Amsterdam, Greenpeace is an international conservation group that has a total of about 3 million members from 27 countries. Members support antiwhaling activities and claim that whaling research vessels act as a front for the whaling industry.
"We have a policy of nonviolent protests," said Sanae Shida, director of Greenpeace Japan, whose headquarters are in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.
"The Nisshin Maru protesters did not harm anyone or destroy anything."
"Both governments and nongovernmental organizations have become more influential in recent environmental issues," Shida said.
In reference to the government's demand to prohibit the group from attending the IWC meeting, Shida added,
"We do not accept the government's intention to repress environmental organizations simply because it feels threatened by us."
Date: Thu, 14 Jan, 1999
Japan's Whalers Sneak to Sea
Greenpeace researchers in Japan have determined that Japan's whaling factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, and her fleet of catchers, departed secretly for the Antarctic earlier this week to catch hundreds of whales for a bogus 'research' program which has been repeatedly condemned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
"The objective of this program is not to provide scientific information about whales," said Greenpeace campaigner John Frizell.
"It is to provide whale meat for the markets in Japan."
The stealthy departure contrasts with the elaborate sendoff given to the fleet by the whaling industry on its previous departure in November, 1998.
All of the 'research' catch will be sold on the open market in Japan. Last year's catch brought over US$30 million at the wholesale level and retailed for at least twice as much.
On Nov 19, 1998 the Nisshin Maru caught fire while en route to the Antarctic and had to enter harbour in Noumea, New Caledonia, before returning to Japan for repairs. While in Noumea, the whalers were the
subject of a non violent demonstration by Greenpeace.
The loss of time due to the fire means that it is no longer possible to cover the area described in the proposal for research used to justify the hunt. Australia and the US have called on Japan not to send the factory vessel back to Antarctic in the current season.
In 1998 the owners of the factory ship invested over US$ 12 million in a new catcher boat to modernise the whaling fleet.
"It is economic necessity, not scientific interest that has driven this return to the Antarctic," said Frizell.
"The fleet was not carrying insurance against loss of income and the whalers stand to lose over US$30 million if they do not catch any whales, a loss they cannot afford after their heavy investment last year."
Japan's whaling will be conducted within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary which was established by the IWC in 1994 with a vote of 23 in favour and 1 opposed. Japan is the only country which does not recognise the sanctuary.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Sanae Shida - Greenpeace Japan - 00 81 3 5351 5400
Date: Thu, 14 Jan, 1999
Tourists Rescue Stranded Dolphin
Oamaru, [New Zealand] - A quiet morning at the Moeraki boulders, 40km south of Oamaru turned into the adventure of a lifetime for a group of German tourists. They rescued a distressed dolphin that was beached near the boulders -- a prominent North Otago tourist attraction.
Freelance photo-journalist Martin Mueller was photographing the boulders at about 8am for a German publication about New Zealand.
He was approached by local farmer Judy Foley, who was riding her horse along the beach. She asked Mr Mueller if he liked dolphins. He said: "Yes. Why?"
Mrs Foley told him she had found one stranded on the beach. It was about 200 metres north of the boulders, and about 70 metres above the water line.
Mr Mueller said he went to the Moeraki Boulders Restaurant to get help, then went back to the dolphin.
"It was obviously in distress. It was making little squeaky noises," he said.
Judging by the dolphin's distance from the sea, Mr Mueller guessed it had come in on the high tide during the night and had been lying on the beach for several hours.
"Early morning drizzle helped it survive," he said.
The dolphin. It had two cuts, each about 2.5cm long, under one fin. There was also some blood around one eye, which Mr Mueller suspected was caused by a bird attack in the early hours of the morning.
He asked Mrs Foley for the blanket from under her horse's saddle. He soaked it in the sea and draped it over the dolphin to try to lower its body temperature.
Three German tourists then arrived on the scene. Andreas and Sabine Vogt had stayed the night at Moeraki in their campervan, and had met up with a compatriot named Patrick, who was on a cycling tour.
Mr Vogt said the dolphin was "making very different noises". Its eyes were weeping and its skin was very hot. They thought it was dying.
"It was lucky the sky was cloudy rather than sunny," Mr Vogt said.
They took off their sweatshirts and t-shirts, wet them, and put them on the dolphin to keep it cool.
Another group of people arrived -- local farmers who had brought buckets and a large canvas.
The rescuers wet the dolphin and manoeuvred it carefully onto the canvas. The men then dragged it towards the sea.
Mrs Vogt was stroking the dolphin and making soothing noises. She said it seemed to work, because the dolphin became quieter. Its heart was pounding rapidly and it was crying, she said.
It was hard work getting the dolphin across the beach. Mr Mueller estimated it weighed 250kg to 300kg, but Mr Vogt, a power lifter, said it would have been 180kg. It was about two metres long.
When they got the dolphin to the water, it didn't want to swim. They waded in deeper, until the water was up to their necks. Mr Vogt said they moved its tail up and down in imitation of a swimming motion.
Mr Mueller said the dolphin seemed confused for about 30 seconds, then swam off until all they could see was the dorsal fin disappearing into the distance.
The rescue party was elated and took photographs of everyone giving the thumbs up. Mr Vogt said they went back into the sea for a swim, hoping the dolphin would still be there and swim with them. But there was no sign of it.
"It's nice that it had a good outcome," Mr Mueller said.
"I don't think it will be in too much trouble. I think it will survive."
The Vogts said the rescue was the highlight of their New Zealand holiday.
Date: Tue, 19 Jan, 1999
Greenpeace Fights Expulsion from IWC
Canberra, [Australia] AAP - Greenpeace today said it would fight a bid by Japan to expel it from attending International Whaling Commission meetings as an observer.
In a statement today Greenpeace Oceans campaigner Denise Boyd said a closed meeting today and tomorrow at the UK headquarters of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was expected to consider a proposal by Japan for Greenpeace to be barred from future IWC meetings.
"Greenpeace demands that the IWC rejects the Japanese government's proposal," Ms Boyd said.
"Trying to stifle criticism from Greenpeace will not legitimise Japan's whaling program in the eyes of the international community."
Greenpeace has attended IWC meetings as an observer since 1977, and Ms Boyd said the bid came because Greenpeace focused international criticism on Japanese whaling.
Recently tensions had heightened within the IWC over Japanese whaling for what it says are scientific reasons, there have also been pressures for the IWC to consider its international restrictions and bans on whaling.
"It is preposterous for the Japanese government to try to stop Greenpeace attending because it doesn't like the fact that we are drawing attention to the illegitimacy of its scientific whaling program," Ms Boyd said.
She said IWC scientists had concluded Japan's program was not required for management of whales and she said its objective was not to provide scientific information with the whole catch from the program sold commercially.
Ms Boyd said Japan's move to bar Greenpeace from the IWC had been revealed by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Simbun, which reported the move was in reaction to a Greenpeace protest against two Japanese whaling ships in New Caledonia last month.
"The whaling vessels involved in the protest are now on their way to the Antarctic to hunt in the Southern Ocean, which is recognised by the rest of the world as a whale sanctuary," Ms Boyd said.
Date: Tue, 19 Jan, 1999
South Pacific: Japan tries to sink whale sanctuary
MELBOURNE, Australia, (IPS) - Japan's government is attempting to scuttle an Australian plan to create a new sanctuary for whales in the South Pacific, say environmentalists and Australian government officials.
The plan, which has won the island states' backing, is viewed by many experts as a crucial step to protecting the ocean's whale populations, many of whose species which have been hunted close to extinction.
But for Japan, which has opposed previous attempts to create whale sanctuaries, the South Pacific sanctuary would be yet another blow to its battered whaling industry, one of the last large-scale commercial whaling operations in the world.
The conflict is expected to heat up in the coming weeks. Japan's annual Antarctic whaling expedition, which arrived off Australia's coast this week, is en route to polar waters in time to take the industry's quota of 440 minke whales before the end of summer.
According to the environment organization Greenpeace, Japan's government is lobbying small island states on the whaling industry body, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to resist the Australian initiative. The small island states are susceptible to economic pressure from Tokyo.
"The Japanese government so far seems to be the only country to oppose the plan," says Greenpeace's ocean campaigner, Denise Boyd. "Why? Because Japan wants to keep its whaling industry alive.
Australia's IWC representative, Howard Beasey, was unavailable for comment but was recently quoted in the media as acknowledging that Japanese opposition was causing difficulties for the plan.
The Australian initiative won the backing of South Pacific island states at the last South Pacific Forum meeting, held in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, in August.
The South Pacific is used by a variety of whale species for calving, calf rearing and mating, including the blue whale, one of the most endangered species.
Australian environment minister Robert Hill claimed at the time that the sanctuary was crucial to protect "whale populations, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, (which) have been reduced to dangerously close to extinction".
Hill claimed the plan, which would not affect the existing traditional cultural uses of whale products in South Pacific nations, would also bring economic benefits in the form of increased tourism dollars from whale watching.
Although the planned boundaries have not yet been set, discussions around the idea have involved countries as far away as Palau in northern Micronesia and French Polynesia.
The plan would connect with already existing whale sanctuaries covering the entire Indian Ocean and the Southern Oceans surrounding Antarctica. There are also moves for whale sanctuaries covering the Caribbean and South Atlantic Oceans.
"The Japanese government is not only opposed to the South Pacific plan, but to all whale sanctuaries," says Boyd.
"It is looking at the big picture, and sees that the more whale sanctuaries get up, the more isolated its whaling industry will be."
"In particular, if all of these sanctuaries get up and join with the Indian Ocean, that would basically mean that the entire Southern Hemisphere would be a whale sanctuary," she explains.
She claimed Japan had embarked on a strategy of attempting to "buy the votes" of the small IWC states in South Pacific and Caribbean states to get them to support Tokyo's opposition to the Australian plan, through financial aid packages and other "incentives" provided by the country's whaling industry.
At the last South Pacific Forum meeting, Japan also argued the sanctuary would be damaging for South Pacific states, by allowing whale numbers to get out of control, hence increasing competitions for fish resources. Experts say this argument is false.
Japan's refusal to recognize existing whale sanctuaries has further fueled the whaling controversy.
The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, which completely surrounds Antarctica, was agreed upon by the IWC in 1994 by a vote of 23-1, with only Japan opposing the plan.
Japan's whaling industry sets itself a quota of 540 minke whales annually, 440 of which are taken from waters in the South Ocean sanctuary, and the remainder from the north Pacific.
The only other IWC member actively engaged in commercial whaling is Norway, which catches an estimated 600 whales in the North Sea every year.
Japan's reason for continuing its whaling industry, that its annual Southern Ocean whaling expedition is for scientific study, has been universally condemned as false.
Japan's fishing industry is no stranger to using science to cloak controversial commercial activities.
Earlier this year when an international regulatory body decided against increasing the quota for the critically endangered southern blue fin tuna, Japan announced a "scientific fishing" program and caught 1,400 tonnes of the fish in addition to its quota.
The most recent IWC meeting last year formally noted "the grave concerns of eminent members of the international scientific community over the continuation of lethal whale research programs," saying that the results of Japan's Antarctic program are not required for the management of whales.
"It is economic necessity, not scientific interest that has driven this return to the Antarctic," says Boyd.
"It is to provide whale meat for the markets in Japan."
Japan's whaling industry sponsored its first annual whale meat tasting festival in northern Japan in November 1998. Organizers say that the meat from the festival came from minke whales, which according to the Japanese government are caught for "scientific" purposes then later sold to wholesalers.
Covert DNA testing of whale products on sale in Japan, and reported to the IWC, has uncovered meat not only from minke whales but also from protected species such as humpbacks, orcas and even the rare blue whale, critics say.
Boyd adds that Japan's whale industry stands to lose nearly $30 million if it does not catch any whales, after a year of heavy nvestment last year.
In 1998, the industry launched the first new whaler built by Japan in 26 years, an event described by the Japanese press as "a symbol for the reopening of whaling".
Date: Sat, 23 Jan, 1999
Bid To Save Stranded Dolphins
Nelson, NZ - One of five bottlenose dolphins stranded in Blind Channel near Nelson's Rabbit Island this morning died, but others were being attended to by Department of Conservation staff.
Nelson Department of Conservation spokesman Andrew Macalister said five dolphins were stranded in the channel between Rabbit Island and Tahunanui Back Beach.
Department staff were covering the four surviving dolphins with sheets to deflect sun and keep them wet.
Mr Macalister said it was hoped to refloat the dolphins as the tide got higher today.
Staff were alerted to the stranding by police at 6.30am, said Alan White, the department's community relations manager.
Department staff planned to accompany the dolphins out of the channel by boat, to ensure they did not get stranded again.
Date: Mon, 25 Jan, 1999
Stranded Dolphins Rescued near Nelson
Nelson, NZ - Rescuers walked out of the water on Saturday with smiles on their faces after refloating four dolphins stranded in the Blind Channel, about 1km off the back beach of the Nelson suburb of Tahunanui.
Five bottlenose dolphins were stuck at low tide on a sand bar in the channel. One of the dolphins was already dead when Department of Conservation (DOC) staff reached it.
A member of the public alerted DOC to the stranded mammals shortly before 7am on Saturday, DOC marine specialist Andrew Baxter said.
Three staff members swam across the channel to the dolphins.
They established that one of the dolphins had died some time before and the other four were distressed, but showed no signs of injury.
Mr Baxter said it was likely the dead one was ill or got into trouble first, and when the other four followed they became stranded.
The dolphins were covered with wet sheets to protect them from the sun and keep them moist, Mr Baxter said.
Department staff and volunteers continued to comfort the dolphins until the water level rose with the tide.
Eleven DOC staff members and some Nelson Surf Lifesaving Club members finally refloated the four dolphins shortly after 11am. They headed out into Tasman Bay.
Tissue and organ samples were taken from the dead dolphin and sent to Massey University for research purposes, Mr Baxter said.
The dolphin was then buried.
Four dolphins, believed to be the ones rescued on Saturday, were seen near Tahunanui Beach yesterday afternoon, he said.
Date: Wed, 27 Jan, 1999
DNA Fingerprinting Identifies Whale Meat in Japan as Endangered
Scientists have used DNA fingerprinting to prove that whale meat sold in Japan comes from endangered animals, an accusation that Japan has rejected in the past.
Although the meat's sale is not prohibited by treaties that ban most whaling and regulate the trade in endangered animal products, conservationists say the genetic results demonstrate that current whaling laws are not working.
"Loopholes in the regulatory network are large enough for protected whales to slip through," said Frank Cipriano, co-author of the Harvard study to be published Thursday in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature.
"The DNA technology can help the whaling industry regulate itself to prevent illegal meat from entering commercial markets."
Harvard biologists who sequenced the DNA in samples from whale meat sold in Osaka, Japan, for the first time have traced a meat sample to an individual whale _ in this case, a rare blue-fin hybrid that was killed off the coast of Iceland in 1989.
The hunt apparently was legal because the Iceland-registered vessel held a permit to take whales from unspecified species for scientific research. Their meat can be sold, although the International Whaling Commission recommends it go to local markets.
Although the commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, Japan and other nations have secured scientific exceptions to continue hunting about 1,000 whales annually. But they are restricted to more plentiful species.
In 1993, Harvard's Cipriano and co-author Stephen R. Palumbi were among a group of researchers who surreptitiously sampled whale meat from sushi restaurants and supermarket freezers in Japan and South Korea. Using less specific genetic comparisons, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand reported last year that the meat samples were from 30 individual whales. Many were rare species, they said.
Japan's national whaling agency rejected the Auckland report as scientifically flawed. If markets were selling endangered whale meat, the incidents were isolated, officials said.
Since then, the Harvard group continued to test the samples with more precise methods.
The rare hybrid whale meat being sold in Osaka, known as sample no. 26, was among the whales sequenced in 1993. No. 26 was killed in June 1989 near Hvalfjordur, Iceland. A rare male hybrid - its father was a fin-whale and mother a blue-whale - it was one of four such hybrids documented since 1983.
Although a second treaty, the U.N. Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, prohibits international trade in rare animal products, Iceland had not signed the treaty. That made it legal for Japan to import the hybrid blue-fin meat despite its very rare status.
"Every step was technically legal, even if it was not in the spirit of the law," Cipriano said
"That's why they call them loopholes."
Environmental groups point to the Harvard study as proof that whaling nations such as Japan are primarily interested in satisfying demand for an exotic, expensive delicacy, despite signing conservation treaties.
"It raises legitimate concerns about the willingness and the ability of the Japanese to enforce their agreements," said Roger McManus, president of the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C.
Whales are the planet's largest mammals, and many species have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Their meat is prized by some cultures, and their blubber and bones have been processed into soap, oils and other products.
Copyright 1999 AP News Service.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan, 1999
Bottle-Nosed Dolphins Found Dead In Thai Waters
Bangkok, (Reuters) - Eleven bottle-nosed dolphins have been found dead off southern Thailand, puzzling local residents and environmentalists, a fisheries official said on Thursday.
Six of the protected marine species were found beached on Libong island early on Wednesday and five were found at sea, the official told Reuters.
Six of the dead dolphins had been sent to the Phuket Marine Biotech Centre to determine the cause of death, he said.
The dolphins, each weighing around 50-60kg and measuring about 1.8 metres, were all males.
"It is rare and strange to find dolphins this young and strong dying" in such large numbers, said Supoj Chantrapornsilp, head of the Phuket centre.
Several hundred bottle-nosed dolphins live in waters off the Andaman Islands and in the Thai Gulf.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan, 1999
DNA Identifies Whale Meat In Japan As Endangered
By Joseph B Verrengia of the Associated Press
New York, (AP) - Scientists have used DNA fingerprinting to prove that whale meat sold in Japan comes from endangered animals, an accusation that Japan has rejected in the past.
Although the meat's sale is not prohibited by treaties that ban most whaling and regulate the trade in endangered animal products, conservationists say the genetic results demonstrate that current whaling laws are not working.
"Loopholes in the regulatory network are large enough for protected whales to slip through," said Frank Cipriano, co-author of the Harvard study to be published tomorrow in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature.
"The DNA technology can help the whaling industry regulate itself to prevent illegal meat from entering commercial markets."
Harvard biologists who sequenced the DNA in samples from whale meat sold in Osaka, Japan, for the first time have traced a meat sample to an individual whale - in this case, a rare blue-fin hybrid that was killed off the coast of Iceland in 1989.
The hunt apparently was legal because the Iceland-registered vessel held a permit to take whales from unspecified species for scientific research. Their meat can be sold, although the International Whaling Commission recommends it go to local markets.
Although the commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, Japan and other nations have secured scientific exceptions to continue hunting about 1000 whales annually. But they are restricted to more plentiful species.
In 1993, Harvard's Cipriano and co-author Stephen R Palumbi were among a group of researchers who surreptitiously sampled whale meat from sushi restaurants and supermarket freezers in Japan and South Korea.
Using less specific genetic comparisons, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand reported last year that the meat samples were from 30 individual whales. Many were rare species, they said.
Japan's national whaling agency rejected the Auckland report as scientifically flawed. If markets were selling endangered whale meat, the incidents were isolated, officials said.
Since then, the Harvard group continued to test the samples with more precise methods.
The rare hybrid whale meat being sold in Osaka, known as sample no 26, was among the whales sequenced in 1993.
No 26 was killed in June 1989 near Hvalfjordur, Iceland. A rare male hybrid - its father was a fin-whale and mother a blue-whale - it was one of four such hybrids documented since 1983.
Although a second treaty, the UN Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, prohibits international trade in rare animal products, Iceland had not signed the treaty.
That made it legal for Japan to import the hybrid blue-fin meat despite its very rare status.
"Every step was technically legal, even if it was not in the spirit of the law," Cipriano said.
"That's why they call them loopholes."
Environmental groups point to the Harvard study as proof that whaling nations such as Japan are primarily interested in satisfying demand for an exotic, expensive delicacy, despite signing conservation treaties.
"It raises legitimate concerns about the willingness and the ability of the Japanese to enforce their agreements," said Roger McManus, president of the Centre for Marine Conservation in Washington, DC.
Whales are the planet's largest mammals, and many species have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Their meat is prized by some cultures, and their blubber and bones have been processed into soap, oils and other products.
Date: Sat, 30 Jan, 1999
DNA Samples Link Raw Meat To Protected Whale
London, (Reuters) - American scientists have traced the life of a protected blue whale from its birth in the North Atlantic in 1965 to its sale as raw meat in a Japanese store nearly 30 years later.
Apart from the feat of tracking the life of one of nature's most intriguing creatures, they showed that the whale had been sold for profit at a time when a global moratorium should have prevented it being killed except for scientific purposes.
Frank Cipriano and Stephen Palumbi, of the Centre for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics at Harvard University, used genetic sequences to match the meat with samples taken years before from the whale itself.
"Whale number 26 was killed under a programme of scientific whaling in which member nations can issue themselves 'special permits' for the lethal take of an unlimited number of whales," the researchers said in a letter to the science journal Nature on Wednesday. They believe their results are proof that a comprehensive genetic monitoring programme would help to control whaling, and particularly the commercial sale of whales killed under scientific permits.
"We have shown that loopholes in the current regulatory network are large enough for protected whales to slip through," the scientists added.
The genetic sequence of the whale meat bought in an Osaka department store was identical to the sequence of whale 26 found in a genetic database. Further tests confirmed the meat could only have come from whale 26.
The researchers know whale 26 was conceived in the North Atlantic in 1964 and born the following year.
The scientists said that by the time he was 24 years old he was 21.5m long and sterile.
Despite the International Whaling Commission moratorium that came into effect in 1986, he was harpooned on June 29, 1989 near Hvalfjordur, Iceland, under a scientific whaling permit issued by Iceland.
"The use of similar genetic tools will allow new management efforts to focus on the individual, rather than the species or stock, allowing particular whales to be tracked from fishery to market, and to distinguish individual 'legal' whales from all the others," the scientists added.
Date: Mon, 01 Feb, 1999
Right Whales Found Nearly Extinct
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- The dwindling number of right whales spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida is further evidence that the most endangered of the big whales is on the brink of disaster, scientists say.
Only two mothers and their calves have been spotted this winter off the coasts of Georgia and north Florida. Normally, several mother-calf pairs and single whales have been seen by January. More than two dozen visited the area last year.
"It's very scary," said Chris Slay of the New England Aquarium, a researcher who tracks whales for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The slow, shallow-diving whales indigenous to the North Atlantic Ocean became known as the "right" whale to kill during whaling times because they were easy to harpoon and floated a long time after death.
Researchers say the El Nino-La Nina weather cycle of last year could be partly to blame, disturbing the deep ocean currents and making it more difficult for the whales to find food and each other.
Experts say no right whales have been killed by ships during the past two migrations.
Worldwide, their numbers have dwindled to between 350 to 400. Researchers say the 1999-2000 mating season could be critical for the species' future.
Date: Tue, 02 Feb, 1999
Whale Numbers Are Not Right
The Associated Press
Scientists Expected to See More Off Southeast Coast
SAVANNAH, Ga., -- Six Scientists say the dwindling number of right whales spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida is further evidence that the most endangered of the big whales is on the brink of disaster.
Only two mothers and their calves have been spotted this winter off the coasts of Georgia and north Florida. Normally, several mother-calf pairs and single whales have been seen by January. More than two dozen visited the area last year.
Easy to Kill
"It's very scary," said Chris Slay of the New England Aquarium, a researcher who tracks whales for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The slow, shallow-diving whales indigenous to the North Atlantic Ocean became known as the "right" whale to kill during whaling times because they were easy to harpoon and floated a long time after death.
Researchers say the El Nino-La Nina weather cycle of last year could be partly to blame, disturbing the deep ocean currents and making it more difficult for the whales to find food and each other.
Experts say no right whales have been killed by ships during the past two migrations.
Worldwide, their numbers have dwindled to between 350 to 400.
Researchers say the 1999-2000 mating season could be critical for the speciesе future.
Date: Wed, 03 Feb, 1999
More Action Needed To Protect NZ Dolphins
Dunedin, -- More action was needed to protect New Zealand's threatened hector's dolphin species, Otago University zoologist Liz Slooten said today.
Many of the dolphins died each year, caught accidentally in gill nets.
Dr Slooten and Dr Steve Dawson, an Otago University senior lecturer in zoology, have undertaken pioneering research on the dolphins.
The scientists are devoting this summer to continuing a survey of New Zealand's only endemic dolphin species, off the Canterbury and Otago-Southland coasts.
Their first systematic survey of the dolphins, undertaken in 1984-1985, contributed to the creation of the country's first marine mammal sanctuary around Banks Peninsula in 1988.
They sold their Macandrew Bay house in 1997 and bought the Catalyst, a 17m-long catamaran which is being used to carry out the latest survey of dolphin numbers.
The scientists had been due to leave Port Chalmers on Saturday but bad weather delayed departure, which is now expected early this week.
Dr Slooten, a former president of the Marine Sciences Society, said gill net restrictions at the sanctuary had proved positive.
"The sanctuary had helped halve the dolphin death toll off the Canterbury and North Otago coasts," she said in an interview.
However, it had been a "total shock" to learn last year that 25 of the dolphins had been killed in the area between Motunau, north of the peninsula, and the coast off Oamaru.
The death rate was unsustainable, well exceeding the species' two percent annual maximum birth rate, and also exceeding internationally accepted norms.
Conservation Minister Nick Smith and conservation groups had last year voiced concern about the problems, which were also acknowledged in commercial fishing circles.
Recreational gill netting was contributing to the deaths and New Zealand was one of only a few developed countries which allowed this method for recreation.
Restricting recreational netting, extending the Banks Peninsula sanctuary, and creating other sanctuaries were possible reforms.
"Stationing more observers on commercial gill net boats would also be a positive step," she said.
Date: Wed, 03 Feb, 1999
Endangered Right Whales Unusually Scarce Off US Coast
Savannah, Georgia, (AP) - The dwindling number of right whales spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida is further evidence that the most endangered of the big whales is on the brink of disaster, scientists say.
Only two mothers and their calves have been spotted this winter off the coasts of Georgia and north Florida. Normally, several mother-calf pairs and single whales have been seen by January. More than two dozen visited the area last year.
"It's very scary," said Chris Slay of the New England Aquarium, a researcher who tracks whales for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The slow, shallow-diving whales indigenous to the North Atlantic Ocean became known as the "right" whale to kill during whaling times because they were easy to harpoon and floated a long time after death.
Researchers say the El Nino-La Nina weather cycle of last year could be partly to blame, disturbing the deep ocean currents and making it more difficult for the whales to find food and each other.
Experts say no right whales have been killed by ships during the past two migrations.
Worldwide, their numbers have dwindled to between 350 to 400. Researchers say the 1999-2000 mating season could be critical for the species' future.
Date: Wed, 03 Feb, 1999
White Dolphins Found in East China Sea
FUZHOU (XINHUA) - Fishermen in east China's Fujian Province recently observed shoals of white dolphins in the East China Sea.
Early last month, Lin Guoqing, a local aquatics expert, observed white dolphins feeding on large yellow croakers weighing an estimated 500 kilogram.
One or two of the dolphins, white or grey, have been spotted at various times in the area over the past 10 years, according to a local fisherman.
But this is the first time shoals of the animal were observed, and local fishermen estimated that lack of food in the deep sea during winter forced the hungry dolphins to attack the yellow croakers raised by the fishermen.
Date: Sat, 06 Feb, 1999
Dolphin's Shotgun Killing Sickens Conservations
Regular National
Auckland, -- The discovery of a dolphin, apparently killed at close range by a shotgun blast, has sickened conservationists and fishermen.
Geoff Thomas, a fishing columnist for The New Zealand Herald, said he found the dolphin, with what looked like a shotgun wound to the head, floating midway between Auckland and Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
The protected marine mammal also had a gaping chunk out of its lower body, possibly caused by a killer whale or shark.
The carcass was left in the water, leaving the Department of Conservation without strong evidence that it was shot, and rumours circulating that fishermen were responsible.
But conservationists, scientists, fishermen and the department believe if the dolphin was shot, it is more likely the culprit is a twisted individual.
Date: Tue, 09 Feb, 1999
More Humpback Whales Than Previously Estimated: STUDY
Boston, (AP) - A six-year, six-nation study found almost twice as many humpback whales in the Atlantic Ocean as scientists had previously believed were there.
But the biologists warn that the higher estimate may be largely the result of better ways of counting rather than an indication the endangered species is making a comeback.
"The new population estimate is the first step in a long and careful process of assessing the population before we can decide if the species is out of the woods," David Mattila of the Centre for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, which conceived the project, told The Boston Globe.
The international team of researchers estimated there are 10,600 humpback whales between Norway in the north and the West Indies in the south. During the 1980s, the estimate was 5505.
The researchers from the US, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and the Dominican Republic used sophisticated photography and genetic analysis in making the new estimate.
The animals are hard to track and can travel hundreds of miles a day.
Researchers went to the whales' breeding grounds in the West Indies and five major feeding areas, including the Gulf of Maine.
The scientists spent 666 days at sea in 1992 and 1993 and took photographs of 4207 whale flukes and got 2327 skin samples.
David Morin, a biologist at the Cetacean Research Unit in Gloucester, said there almost certainly are more humpbacks in the North Atlantic after decades of protecting them from hunters.
Researchers now want to determine how fast the whale population is growing and the severity of such threats as entanglements in fishing gear, ship collisions and water pollution.
Date: Mon, 15 Feb, 1999
Whales Flourishing Off the Coast of Virginia Beach
Nature enthusiasts not disappointed during recent whale watching trips
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., /PRNewswire/ -- The giant mammals of the deep are back and very active in their natural habitat off the Virginia Beach coast. Visitors and local residents alike who ride the ocean waves aboard one of the Virginia Marine Science Museum's Winter Wildlife and Whale Watching boat trips find themselves part of a wintery adventure sure to raise "goosebumps" when one of these great creatures is spotted. Adventurers have observed a myriad of behaviors including feeding, flipper-slapping, lobtailing, and partial and full breaches. Over the past couple of weeks sightings of fin whales and juvenile humpbacks have been especially frequent, with passengers on recent trips seeing whales over 90% of the time.
A plentiful food supply of anchovy, menhaden and other small fish off the coast of Virginia Beach make the area an annual winter feeding ground for the whales, and now is a good time to observe these endangered marine mammals. The Virginia Marine Science Museum takes full advantage of the whales migratory habits by offering its Winter Wildlife and Whale Watching boat trips four days per week through March 7th, or until the whales migrate from the area.
Date: Tue, 16 Feb, 1999
INTERVIEW: Inuit chief fears whaling war with Greenpeace
By Peter Starck
NUUK, (Reuters) - The indigenous Inuit people living in the Arctic might soon face yet another fight with environment group Greenpeace, the leader of an Inuit lobby said on Tuesday.
Aqqaluk Lynge, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) grouping indigenous people in Greenland, the United States, Canada and Russia, told Reuters he feared a possible Greenpeace initiative could destroy non-commercial whaling, an important source of food for many Inuits.
The ICC has obtained what it calls a confidential Greenpeace memorandum, which indicates that the green lobby may aim to portray whaling nations as "environmental criminals before the newly established world court."
Such a campaign could "bring the whale issue to a new level of world concern and completely destroy all scientific and indigenous whaling," the document said.
"If it (the memorandum) is authentic, another fight is going to be started. We are afraid of a new war against us," Lynge said in an interview.
He recalled how campaigns in the early 1980s by Greenpeace and animal rights groups had nearly wiped out the Inuit seal hunting tradition.
Enrolling famous figureheads such as former French actress Brigitte Bardot, the lobbies managed to convince the United States and European Union governments to impose still existing bans on seal product imports.
Lynge said the Inuit had never used the cruel seal hunting methods employed by settlers in Newfoundland.
Greenpeace visited the Arctic later in the 1980s and expressed regret over the impact of its campaign, Lynge noted.
"But that does not help when a traditional hunter has lost his skills and cannot feed his family any more," he said.
Environment policies in the Arctic should not be dictated by far-away governments lending their ear to influential green "terrorists and extremists," but instead draw on the experience of the indigenous people, Lynge said.
"We have lived here for thousands of years as guardians of the environment. We don't need city people to tell us how to live up here and what to do with our environment, how to use our living resources," he said.
Date: Fri, 19 Feb, 1999
Small Makah Force will Keep the Peace
by Jesse Hamilton, Peninsula Daily News
Neah Bay--Makah Tribal Police Chief Lionel Ahdunko said his small force is still preparing to keep the peace during the planned whale hunt.
But Ahdunko won't be available late in April because he must face trial on 1997 felony charges from his time as chief of the Washoe Tribe's police in Nevada.
"I'm too busy up here to even worry about that," he said Thursday.
Ahdunko turned himself in to US marshals when the whaling issue was at its emotional height in November.
A minor traffic accident in his past could mean the possibility of time in jal because it resulted in two counts of making false statements.
Information was distributed by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society--the main protest group battling the plan to kill gray whales. The probe is about a Bureau of Indian Affairs investigation finding Ahdunko had allegedly falsified the report of a traffic accident he was in. He had also been accused by investigators of having one of his officers back up his story.
Ahdunko was driving a patrol car when he was involved in an accident. The item of contention: he claimed to have been on duty at the time.
Though damage was about $250, Ahdunko faces an April 27 trial in Reno to respond to how he handled the situation.
Federal agencies and courts have jurisdiction over tribal criminal matters.
The Makah Tribal Council expresses support for the police chief. Chairman Ben Johnson Jr. said the council knew about Ahdunko's past, but members only cared about his plans for the tribe's small department.
"We never did have a problem with it," Johnson said. "Just people trying to raise Cain and cause troubles."
Ahdunko said he's focusing on his job rather than the trial two months and two states away.
"I've got more important issues to worry about than the Reno issue."
Date: Fri, 19 Feb, 1999
Three Whales Die In Mexican Breeding Lagoon
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Three adult gray whales have washed up dead at the Magdalena Bay breeding lagoon in northwestern Mexico, television news said Thursday.
Televisa showed footage of biologists at the port of San Carlos in the southern reaches of the Magdalena lagoon hacking into the whales' giant bodies for post-mortem examinations.
It was not known what caused the deaths, nor whether any pregnant females were among the dead.
Magdalena Bay is one of three major lagoons traditionally used by the whales for breeding in Mexico's northwestern Baja California Sur state.
Two other whales were discovered dead on the coast of Mexico's western Sinaloa state earlier this year, Televisa said.
Biologists are concerned that too many whales are being found beached in shallow waters or dying during the crucial breeding period of their life cycle.
"This is not normal," said Homero Aridjis, poet and president of the Group of 100, a leading ecological body in Mexico.
"In general you don't see them dead, and this implies something is disturbing them, possibly climate change or changes in (water) temperature or pollution in their waters."
Each year the majority of the world's remaining gray whale population sets off on a 6,200 mile (10,000 km) migration from Arctic seas to a handful of warm water lagoons on Mexico's Baja California peninsula to breed and give birth.
The whales arrived late in Mexico this year, their departure from the northern Bering Sea, between Alaska and Siberia, delayed possibly by climatic factors, ecologists say.
Cases of beaching or outright deaths have been reported this year in Sonora, Baja California and Nayarit states, all in Mexico's west, he added.
"Each week we hear of more beachings or deaths, and they are traveling very far south, something is disturbing them in their migratory route, in their patterns," Aridjis said.
"We are very concerned, and there has been no investigation of the reasons."
Only a handful of the barnacle-encrusted gray whales had arrived in December, when normally hundreds are found in Mexico's warm water lagoons. Most arrived during January instead.
LINKS
Conservation And Development In The Gray Whale Lagoons Of Baja California Sur, Mexico
Campaign to Save the Gray Whale Nursery
Date: Fri, 19 Feb, 1999
Colombia Stowaways Say Dolphins Saved Their Lives
Bogota, (Reuters) - Two Colombian stowaways said dolphins saved their lives after a ship's crew tossed them overboard into the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean.
The crew discovered the pair less than a day after setting sail from northern Colombia and flipped a coin to decide their fate, local media reported on Thursday.
Washington Caicedo and Elkin Sandoval, both 22, were picked up by a small fishing vessel on Wednesday after swimming and treading water for more than 36 hours.
"They threw us into the sea and we began to swim. Dolphins surrounded us as if they were protecting us from the sharks," Caicedo told the respected El Espectador newspaper.
Caicedo said he and his companion had hidden aboard the foreign-flagged ship at Puerto Nueva Guajira, a port in the remote northern Guajira peninsula, hoping to reach the United States.
"The crew wouldn't listen to us. They spoke a strange language."
"They looked at us, laughed and started to flip a coin. Then they threw us into the sea," Caicedo said, adding that a third stowaway drowned.
Ships' captains face hefty fines and even imprisonment if stowaways are found aboard their vessels.
Date: Fri, 19 Feb, 1999
Greenpeace Denies Has Scheme To End Inuit Whaling
Amsterdam, (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace on Friday denied Inuit allegations that it was hatching a scheme to destroy all scientific and indigenous whaling and emphasised that it was opposed only to commercial hunting.
A lobby group for the indigenous Inuit people living in the Arctic told Reuters earlier this week it had obtained a confidential Greenpeace memorandum which indicated the group planned to portray whaling nations as "environmental criminals before the newly established world court".
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) said such a campaign could destroy non-commercial whaling, an important source of food for many Inuits.
Greenpeace said on Friday this was not its position and no such memorandum existed.
"The memorandum was not authentic; it did not originate from Greenpeace," Executive Director Thilo Bode said in a statement.
"Greenpeace opposes commercial whaling. We have never opposed the non-commercial whaling done by native people. We have no plans to change this," he added.
At the International Whaling Conference in May, Greenpeace said it would support proposals to establish international whaling sanctuaries where commercial whaling is prohibited.
Greenpeace said it would oppose any expansion of Norwegian commercial whaling and what it described as Japan's "disguised" commercial whaling. Greenpeace says Japan's 500 killings are not for scientific research as the meat is sold on the open market.
Date: Sun, 21 Feb, 1999
Drug Trade Threat to Gray Whales
BBC News - An environmental group in Mexico says it suspects the increasing number of deaths of gray whales along the country's Pacific coast could be due to poisoning by a chemical used by drug traffickers.
The Group of 100, made up of writers, poets and other Mexican personalities, called for an urgent investigation into the unexplained deaths of seven whales off the coastal states of Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California Sur.
Group leader Homer Aridjis said the whales may have died due to pollution from mining operations in the area or from NK-19, a fluorescent chemical containing cyanide used by drug-traffickers to mark drop-points in the sea for aircraft carrying drug cargoes.
He noted that whales had also died in unusual numbers in 1995 and 1997.
"This greatly alarms us, above all we have to know whether it's due to NK-19 or to pollution of their habitat," the ecologist said.
A team from the organisation is to inspect the region to promote a campaign to save the whales.
The gray whale is thought to have fully recovered from a period of decline in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was registered as endangered by the US Government.
But environmentalists are concerned that a big nursery in Baja California, the Laguna San Ignacio, may be threatened by plans by Mitsubishi for a big saltworks.
Every winter, thousands of California Gray Whales migrate from the Arctic Ocean to the waters off Mexico's west coast, where they breed, give birth, and raise their calves.
Date: Sun, 21 Feb, 1999
Mexico Ecologists Demand Dead Whale Investigation
Mexico City, (Reuters) - Mexican environmentalists asked the government on Saturday to investigate the unusually high number of deaths among gray whales near their traditional breeding grounds in the country's northwest.
The Group of 100 ecological body noted that seven whales were found dead in "inexplicable circumstances" in one week at the whales' winter warm water sanctuary off the coasts of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa and Sonora states.
"The whales make for one of the most beautiful attractions in nature at this time of year, but this joy is being spoiled by the fact that whales are found dead every day," said Homero Aridjis, the poet and ecologist who heads the Group of 100.
The whales migrate 10,000km every winter from the frozen Arctic Ocean to warmer breeding grounds in Baja California Sur's San Ignacio lagoon and the El Vizcaino biosphere, one of the largest wildlife reserves in Latin America.
Mexican television news in recent days has shown images of veterinary surgeons hacking away at the 9m bodies of beached whales while performing autopsies.
Aridjis said the whales may have died due to pollution from mining operations in the area or from NK-19, a fluorescent chemical containing cyanide used by drug-traffickers to mark drop-points in the sea for aircraft carrying drug cargoes.
He noted that whales had also died in unusual numbers in 1995 and 1997.
"This greatly alarms us, above all we have to know whether it's due to NK-19 or to pollution of their habitat," Aridjis added.
Date: Thu, 25 Feb, 1999
Charges Pending for Makah Officer
by Jesse Hamilton, Peninsula Daily News
The county prosecuting attorney plans to accuse a Makah tribal police officer of assault in the Neah Bay whaling protest last fall.
Officer Eric Svenson will face one or two charges of fourth-degree assault stemming from arrests Nov. l, said Chris Shea, prosecuting attorney.
"I'm obviously not very happy about it," Svenson said.
"It's pretty tough getting summonsed to court for doing your job."
Svenson, a senior officer in the small reservation police force, met members of international Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as they came ashore during a clash between tribal members and anti-whaling protesters in boats.
The society was the most vocal group protesting the planned hunt last year.
Svenson stopped a member of Sea Shepherd and forced him to the ground as he walked up the marina boat ramp. The man, Ken Nichols, then rose from ground in the pack of Makah, media and police, blood dripping from his forehead.
Claiming the Sea Shepherd members trespassed, Svenson also arrested the group's international director, Lisa Distefano, when she stepped onto a dock to accept a dinner invitation from tribal elder Alberta "Binky" Thompson.
Distefano claimed Svenson used unnecessary force in arresting her. She and Nichols were released when tribal police handed them over to sheriff's deputies.
Svenson, who just worked on a couple cases with county deputies, said he hadn't been told about the charge. He said FBI officials had told him the issue was dead.
"Nobody called me," he said.
"To me, there shouldn't be any charge."
He expressed anger Wednesday, asking if the charge meant he isn't allowed to arrest non-Indians.
A Makah attorney contacted Shea, suggesting a possible jurisdictional conflict with a county court charging an officer who works under federal orders.
Shea said that suggestion is being considered now, though the case will proceed.
Svenson's boss, Police Chief Lionel Ahdunko, hadn't heard about the charge, either.
"I have no response at all," he said.
"If this is going to be handled in the courts, I think that's where we'll keep it."
Fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor, is the lowest form of assault. Svenson will be summonsed to appear in district court -- not arrested.
Shea said he would work on the charging documents Wednesday night, though he couldn't say whether they'd definitely be filed today.
The Makah Tribal Council had no official response to the case, though Chairman Ben Johnson Jr. said, "We're pretty upset with what's happening here."
Date: Fri, 26 Feb, 1999
Mysterious whale deaths increase in Mexico
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - The number of gray whales that have mysteriously died off the Mexican coast since January has risen to 16, officials in the northwestern state of Baja California Sur said Friday.
But as long as they see no direct evidence of human interference, authorities dismiss ecologists' concerns and maintain that the whales died of natural causes.
"We have found 12 in the northern zone ... and four in the Magdalena Bay breeding lagoon," said Alfredo Bermudez, deputy director for the environment at the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries in La Paz, capital of Baja California Sur state.
Environmentalists have expressed concerned about what they say is an unusually high number of fatalities in "inexplicable circumstances" among the gray whales this year.
The giant mammals migrate some 6,200 miles from Arctic seas to a handful of warm water lagoons off Mexico's Baja California peninsula to breed between December and March.
Ecologists fear the whales are dying because of pollution or the presence of a fluorescent chemical containing cyanide, known as Natural Killer 19 (NK-19), which drug traffickers use to mark drop points in the sea for aircraft carrying drug cargoes. They have asked the government to investigate.
Officials say the number of deaths is within annual averages, but they concede there has been no thorough study of the mortality rate at all three main breeding lagoons.
The deputy director of the Regional Center for Fishing Research, Georgina Gluyas, said there were no comparative statistics for whale mortality at Magdalena Bay.
"There is an average mortality level of between 10 and 15 whales a year, but there have been cases of more than 20 and even up to 40," said Bermudez in a telephone interview, without specifying in which zones.
Mainly calves were among the dead, followed by young whales and adults, he said. But he added that none of the dead whales examined so far showed any sign of violence, illness or evidence of human interference.
Instead, he said most died after being beached in shallow waters on the edges of the lagoons, some of which lie within the region's 63,000-acre Vizcaina wildlife sanctuary, the largest biosphere
reserve in Latin America. Ecologists, however, said want to know why those beachings are occurring.
Officials do not rule out the possibility of more deaths.
"I don't want to say that that (16) is the total number that will die this season, because the season is still continuing and it is probable there will be more beachings," he said.
The Mexican government has neither the resources nor the infrastructure to attempt rescues of the grays, which can weigh up to 30 ton and can measure in length.
Date: Fri, 26 Feb, 1999
Salt Industry May Threaten Gray Whale Lagoon
By Caroline Brothers of Reuters
Lopez Mateos, Mexico, (Reuters) - Twenty launches bob beside a wooden pier, awaiting their small cargoes of travellers who crossed hundreds of miles of cactus-studded desert to experience one of the great ecological wonders of the world.
The visitors are met by a string of souvenir stalls hawking mother-of-pearl trinkets and by taco stands clustered along a strip of unpromising seawater enclosed by wind-thrashed dunes.
This village in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California Sur, at the tip of the world's longest peninsula jutting 1700km into the Pacific Ocean, is a gateway to one of Earth's preeminent whale-watching sites.
But ecologists say the whales' epic migration to these age-old breeding grounds could be in danger if plans for a huge new salt plant go ahead.
Each year, most of the world's remaining gray whale population journeys some 10,000km from Alaskan seas to a handful of warm water lagoons strung along this arid finger of land where they return annually to breed and calve.
Setting out from Lopez Mateos at the mouth of the grays' southernmost breeding lagoon at Magdalena Bay, small boats with a handful of passengers skim the waterway, cutting motors as they approach in deference to the whales' sensitive hearing.
Barnacle-encrusted grays surface for air so close to the launches they can sometimes be patted. Others practice rollovers or "spyhopping" -- exuberant leaps out of the sea before crashing down with a giant splash in what could be a courtship ritual -- or a whale's idea of a good time.
"There must be 200 whales in the bay at the moment," said Ramon Ramirez, a boat captain standing on the dock surveying the start of this 70km stretch of shallow seawater sheltered from the wintry Pacific by a narrow island of dunes.
Boatmen in this tiny village are relieved. The grays arrived late this year and hardly any appeared last year. Scientists say the El Nino weather phenomenon made waters warmer and whales scarcer as they kept to deeper seas, sparking fears they might miss a breeding year entirely.
Pushed to the brink of extinction by whalers twice in 150 years, the gray whale now may be at risk once again in a fresh battle between industry and ecology.
Three stretches on the west coast of the Baja California peninsula -- Guerrero Negro and the Ojo de Liebre Lagoons in the El Vizcaino Biosphere reserve, San Ignacio Lagoon further south in the same reserve, and southernmost Magdalena Bay -- are the gray whale's major calving waters.
But they share their nursery grounds with a 20,000ha open-air saltworks located on the edge of both Ojo de Liebre Lagoon and Guerrero Negro, named after the whaling vessel "Black Warrior" that was wrecked there in 1858.
The Salt Exportation Company (Essa), jointly owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and the Mexican government, is planning a second plant at the edge of the San Ignacio Lagoon in the heart of the biosphere sanctuary -- at 25,550ha Latin America's largest wildlife reserve.
Ecologists vehemently oppose the plan, saying it will wreck the biosphere zone and pose unacceptable risks to the whales.
"This is a very, very special place, which the Mexican government and the international community have recognised should be protected," said Jacob Scherr, director of international programmes for the Natural Resources Defence Council in Washington.
"We're drawing a line in the sand and saying you don't build a major industrial facility, which is going to draw thousands of new people into this area, and not expect to degrade and destroy it over time."
Essa says it will expand its salt activities only if scientific reviews show them to be environmentally sound. It argues that harvesting salt by solar evaporation is both natural and sustainable.
But ecologists point to the infrastructure the industry requires, and what happens when things go wrong. The danger of spills, the problem of waste, the flooding of 260sq km for the evaporation works, building both canals and a 2km jetty for the new salt plant will ravage the delicate wildlife sanctuary, they say.
Scientists are carrying out a second study of the plant's likely environmental impact but state and federal authorities, who derive a huge chunk of revenue from the plant, are already saying they have no objections.
Leonel Cota Montano, elected governor of Baja California Sur this month, told Reuters in an interview he had no plans to block the project. "Absolutely not," he said.
"There is no damage to the environment ... I am totally reassured."
But Juan Carlos Cantu, co-ordinator of biodiversity campaigns for environmental group Greenpeace in Mexico, disagreed. He said the building of a long jetty at Guerrero Negro had silted up the lagoon to such an extent that whales stayed away for a decade.
Spills of toxic brine, a byproduct of the saltworks full of heavy metals and salt 300 times the sea's concentration, killed turtles, fish and crustaceans in Ojo de Liebre in December 1997 and May 1988, ecologists say. Another batch of protected turtles died this January.
"If it is capable of killing turtles it is capable of killing whale calves," Cantu said. Essa denies responsibility.
Investigators at the Guerrero Negro Lagoon also discovered hundreds of discarded batteries from the buoys marking salt shipping channels leaching chemicals onto the sea floor. "They found about 300 of them," Cantu said.
"They'd been throwing them in for years and years."
Fuel leaks from collisions of salt cargo ships also remain a risk. And whales have been found with their tails sliced through by ships' propellers.
But Cota, who begins his six-year term as governor in April, was adamant that the salt industry and the whales could coexist in peace. "There is no conflict," he said.
"Each year more whales come to the existing salt area -- last year we had 1800 whales in all, and that's a 40-year record. There is no danger. I am totally reassured."
Date: Fri, 26 Feb, 1999
Scientists Aim For Whale Sanctuary
Auckland, (NZPA) - Scientists meeting in Auckland this week are looking for new insights into the lives of humpback whales and building the case for a South Pacific whale sanctuary.
After being hunted almost to extinction, the humpbacks have been slow to recover.
Humpbacks migrate through New Zealand waters after leaving Antarctic to spend the South Pacific winter around Niue, New Caledonia and Samoa. However, they are known as Tongan humpbacks because they congregate in mainly Tongan waters to breed from June to November.
The whales were hunted close to extinction from a population of about 10,000 in pre-whaling days. By the 1960s, when most countries including New Zealand stopped the slaughter, they numbered about 500.
While humpbacks migrating along the east coast of Australia and breeding off the Great Barrier Reef are recovering well, Tongan humpbacks are not.
The scientists at the University of Auckland, including Jacqui Greaves from New Caledonia, have been using photographs of humpback tails to determine the breeding population of the whales in the South Pacific.
University whale expert Scott Baker said humpbacks were difficult to study but, in their tropical breeding grounds, they were found close to shore for several months.
Work by the South Pacific humpback whale project was providing results. Over five years, 126 individual humpbanks have been identified.
New Zealand's commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, Jim McLay, said there was an urgent need to extend international protection to whale breeding areas in the South Pacific.
The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary protected whale feeding grounds around Antarctic and included New Zealand waters, he said. However through a loop hole in IWC rules, Japan continues to slaughter minke whales for scientific research, a practice regarded as unjustified by most countries.
The Japanese whaling fleet is believed to be back in the Southern Ocean sanctuary after the start to the season was delayed due to a fire on its mother ship, the Nisshin Maru late last year.
Date: Fri, 26 Feb, 1999
24 WHALE DEATHS ALONG NORTHERN MEXICO RAISE QUESTIONS
Nine gray whales have been found dead near the mammals' annual breeding grounds in Mexico's Magdalena Bay along the Pacific coast.
Investigators are attempting to determine the cause of the deaths. On 2/20, a Mexico City environmental organization, the Group of 100, "charged that a cyanide-based chemical used by smugglers to mark drug shipment points could be to blame" and "urged the government to investigate" (AP/Contra Costa [CA] Times, 2/22).
Natural Killer-19 is released by the flares drug smugglers use to light waters at drop points (Agence France- Presse/Miami Herald, 2/21).
Other cases of "beaching or outright deaths" of migrating whales have been reported in the Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California and Nayarit. Group of 100 President Homero Aridjis:
"Each week we hear of more beachings or deaths. ... We are very concerned, and there has been no investigation of the reasons" (Reuters/Los Angeles Times, 2/18).
Date: Mon, 01 Mar, 1999
Dead Seals Join Dead Whales In Mexican Eco Mystery
Mexico City, (Reuters) - The decomposing bodies of 180 seals have been discovered in the Gulf of California, adding to the mystery of large numbers of gray whale deaths off the coast of Mexico, ecologists and newspapers said on Sunday.
The dead seals were found a week ago washed up near the island of San Jorge in the northern part of the Gulf of California, offshore from the northwestern state of Sonora.
In addition, another dead gray whale was found beached on the shores of the state of Sinaloa, slightly farther south, bringing to at least 17 the numbers of the massive mammals which have died since January, Reforma newspaper reported.
The Group of 100 environmental body, headed by Mexican poet Homero Aridjis, urged authorities to investigate the deaths of the whales and the seals.
"Even before carrying out any analysis, the authorities automatically declare that the deaths are due to natural causes," the group complained in a statement.
Tissue samples from the whales and seals must be studied to establish whether human interference can be ruled out, the environmentalists said.
Alfredo Bermudez, an official with the Environment Ministry in the state of Baja California Sur, recently said the deaths of whales and seals in the Gulf of California may be caused by Natural Killer 19.
A fluorescent chemical used by drug smugglers to mark narcotics dropped off in the water, NK-19 contains deadly cyanide.
The Group of 100 asked authorities to investigate whether other whale deaths in lagoons on the Baja California peninsula's Pacific Coast might be caused by nearby saltworks.
Weighing up to 30 tonnes and measuring 20m in length, gray whales migrate some 10,000km from Arctic seas to a handful of warm water lagoons on the Baja California peninsula to breed between December and March.
Many of the lagoons are near or in the region's 25,550ha Vizcaina wildlife sanctuary, the largest biosphere reserve in Latin America.
Date: Tue, 02 Mar, 1999
Makah Officer Charged with Assault
by Jesse Hamilton, PDN
Neah Bay -- A Makah tribal police officer is scheduled to appear in Forks District Court next week to answer accusations he assaulted two anti-whaling demonstrators last fall.
The Clallam County prosecuting attorney's office Monday filed two counts of fourth-degree assault -- the lowest type of assault, classified as a gross misdemeanor -- against Officer Eric Svenson. Svenson will appear before District Court Judge Susan Owens Monday.
On Nov 1, Svenson arrested Ken Nichols and Lisa Distefano, two members of the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, when they stepped off boats onto Makah property at the Neah Bay Marina.
Nichols and Distefano did so at the height of a chaotic day, marked by rock-throwing and shouted insults as the Makah lashed out at animal-rights activists who oppose the tribe's plans -- which were ultimately unsuccessful -- to hunt a California gray whale.
The tribe plans a new whale hunt this spring.
Svenson said he was doing his job, detaining trespassers. But during the protest, Undersheriff Joe Martin was in charge of a multi-agency task force standing by if the Makah police needed help.
Martin's investigators used media video tapes as evidence of Svenson's actions that day.
"We've seen them from mutiple angles," Martin said.
The undersheriff described Nichols as having walked up a boat ramp and stopped just before Svenson threw his arm around the Sea Shepherd member's neck.
"Next thing we know, he's going down on the concrete," Martin said of Nichols.
"And he comes up bloody."
Distefano claimed Svenson twisted her wrist and arm. She claimed that he used unnecessary force, and we agreed," Martin said.
"He arrested two non-Indians."
While there was a Makah tribal ordinance barring activists from landing on the reservation, tribal police have jurisdiction over only tribal members.
Tribal officers are allowed only to detain non-Indians in order to pass them to law-enforcement officers from the proper jurisdiction.
"He has no authority," Martin said of Svenson.
"It wasn't necessary, either."
Svenson was at home Monday in the middle of a vacation.
"Heck of a way to wreck my vacation," he said, although he had no other comment on the charges.
His tribal council bosses had nothing to say Monday either.
"At this time, we're going to hold off on an official statement," said Keith Johnson, a council member.
The sheriff's department forwarded evidence to the Makah Tribal Police against tribal members who threw rocks and fired fish hooks with slingshots at protest vessels.
Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson, who led protesters in a months-long watch of the Makah's planned fall whale hunt, said he was disappointed those who threw rocks were not charged.
"I don't think it's particularly fair that Svenson's the fall guy for this," he said.
"But we do feel that his treatment of both Lisa Distefano and Ken Nichols was both uncalled-for and unnecessary."
Of the assault charges, he said "It just seems to me that this is a way of trying to satisfy our complaints with the least amount of political impact."
"The fact is that I've got to pay the $2,500 in damages to the SIRENIAN."
The SIRENIAN is a 95-foot former Coast Guard vessel, one of two Sea Shepherd vessles that were in Neah Bay harbor. Its windows were broken in the barrage from the reservation.
"There were an awful lot of individuals involved in committing illegal acts that day," Watson said.
Date: Wed, 03 Mar, 1999
Greenpeace Chases Pirates in Waters off Australia
Sydney/Southern Ocean 48 23S, 71 26E (near Kerguelen Island), -- Greenpeace today found a pirate ship fishing illegally for Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean.*
The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, which has six Australians on board, has just found an unmarked pirate fishing vessel inside the French Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 45 nm northeast of Cape Digby on the sub-Antarctic island of Kerguelen, south west of Australia. The vessel initially did not respond to radio calls from Greenpeace and hauled in its fishing gear. It is now steaming full speed east with the Arctic Sunrise one nautical mile behind in hot pursuit.
The international environmental group sent its icebreaker, the MV Arctic Sunrise, to the Southern Ocean to document and expose illegal fishing for toothfish in order to protect the fragile waters of this remote marine wilderness and expose the pirate fishing problem.
"We did not campaign to protect Antarctica so its surrounding ocean could be plundered by pirate fishers," said Denise Boyd, Greenpeace campaigner on board the Arctic Sunrise. "If CCAMLR Governments are serious about protecting the Southern Ocean they must stop talking about stopping the illegal toothfish fishery and take effective action against the pirates today."
Greenpeace called on the international fisheries body responsible for the management of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica - CCAMLR (Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) - to take immediate action to end the pirate's plunder.
In some areas up to 90% of the total toothfish catch is taken by illegal and unregulated longliners. In 1997 the total illegal catch of toothfish was around 100,000 tonnes with a value of over US$500 million. This represents more than half of all toothfish sold to consumers around the world each year.
CCAMLR scientists predict that, if illegal fishing continues at the present rate, the toothfish will be commercially extinct in less than three years.
The Patagonian Toothfish is an important part of the Southern Ocean's fragile ecosystem. Its sudden demise could have serious implications for the biodiversity of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
The toothfish grows slowly and to more than two metres long. It can live for 50 years and does not breed until it is at least 10 years old. It lives in deep waters (from 300 to 3,500 metres) and is found on seamounts and continental shelves around most sub-Antarctic islands. Like many deep-sea species, little is known about the toothfish. It is known that it is part of the sperm whale's diet and scientists estimate that it comprises up to 98% of the elephant seal's fish diet.
"We have travelled to this isolated location in order to expose the pirate fishing that is irreversibly destroying the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Today's findings show the need for urgent action to stop the pirate's swath of destruction through the Southern Ocean," said Boyd. "We urge CCAMLR officials to take immediate action and so to demonstrate their commitment to the protection of this pristine area."
Last week the Australian Government located an illegal vessel fishing for toothfish on the high seas.
For information:
Denise Boyd, Greenpeace International, on board the Arctic Sunrise ++873 1302577, Rupert Posner (Media) (02) 9263 0342 or 0411 179 529.
Stills available.
* Note to editors: 'Illegal' or 'pirate' fishing means 'illegal, unregulated and unreported' fishing.
Technically, 'illegal' only applies to fishing in breach of national regulations within a coastal state's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while 'unregulated' covers fishing without proper authorisation within the CCAMLR area, including the high seas beyond EEZs.
Date: Wed, 03 Mar, 1999
Newborn Pygmy Sperm Whale Put Down
Brisbane, (AAP) - An around-the-clock effort to save a newborn pygmy sperm whale ended on Queensland's Gold Coast when the animal was put down.
Sea World marine sciences manager Trevor Long said the one-week-old calf's condition deteriorated and it began regurgitating its food, forcing Sea World and National Parks and Wildlife staff to euthanase it.
The whale was taken to Sea World last Thursday after it was found washed up on Patches Beach, south of Ballina.
"This calf was so young, underweight and undernourished, it didn't have much to fight with," Mr Long said.
Sea World and National Parks and Wildlife staff had been working around the clock to save the calf, feeding it a formula designed for young mammals and treating it with antibiotics before taking the decision to put the animal down.
It is not known why the baby was separated from its mother and why it was in such shallow waters.
The species of whale is not usually found this side of the continental shelf.
Date: Fri, 05 Mar, 1999
Dolphin Deaths An Embarrassment, Says Researcher
Regular National
Dunedin, -- Hector's dolphin deaths are becoming an international embarrassment for New Zealand, according to University of Otago zoologist Liz Slooten.
Dr Slooten and fellow Otago zoologist Steve Dawson last month completed a detailed survey of dolphin numbers off the Otago-Southland coast.
The results, part of a national study by the scientists, will be included in the first draft population management plan for the native dolphins, now being prepared for DOC.
The hector's dolphin is New Zealand's only endemic dolphin species and also the world's only marine dolphin species officially listed as endangered.
Conservation Minister Nick Smith last year voiced concern about continuing dolphin deaths in gill-netting by-catches on the New Zealand coast.
Six dolphin bodies were recovered from some of the gill-net boats operating north and south of the Banks Peninsula marine mammal sanctuary during the 1997-1998 summer.
Dr Slooten said New Zealand was a strong international supporter of the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, which included all South Island waters and aimed to protect whales from hunting.
Japan continues to hunt minke whales for claimed "scientific" purposes within the zone.
Ironically, only a few thousand of the hector's dolphins had survived and they were found only in New Zealand waters, but were excluded from whale sanctuary protection, she said in an interview.
The continuing deaths of hector's dolphins in New Zealand by-catches had not escaped senior Japanese officials at the International Whaling Commission.
Dr Slooten, who is environmental science director at Otago University and a member of the commission's scientific committee, said the dolphin deaths were an international embarrassment.
Population studies showed that the Banks Peninsula dolphin sanctuary had helped protect the dolphin but more protection was needed elsewhere.
Scientists estimated that hector's dolphin numbers had reduced between a third and a half since gill-netting was introduced in the 1960s.
Drs Slooten and Dawson have carried out post-mortem studies on 116 Hector's dolphins between 1985 and last year. Most were believed to have died accidentally in gill nets.
Date: Sun, 07 Mar, 1999
The Taiji Three
by Paul Spong
I recently spent 15 days in Japan, and I am writing this to pass on bits of news and impressions. During my visit, I saw all three survivors from the capture of orcas at Taiji two years ago. All looked to be in fairly good condition now, especially the female being held at the Taiji Whale Museum. She looked great... energetic and alert, breath and body full, dorsal fin still straight.
She is in the largest part of the lagoon at TWM... it's about 130m across, flushed by sea water (there are fish, plants, sand and rocks, the depth varies but is sufficient for her to dive on one side, disappear from view and surface on the other). She had two dolphins for company and was breathing synchronously with one of them. I'm not sure why, but she has not been put together with the other orca, Nami chan, though she spends time facing Nami chan's enclosure.
She was hungry, even after feeding, and appears hooked on fish now (you'll recall that she is a transient orca, i.e. was previously accustomed to eating marine mammals).
She is not performing (is being used for "research"). The other two survivors are not performing yet either, though the female at Izu Mito Sea Paradise is clearly on display, as she is in the same pool as Tanouk (now called Yamato). They looked to be in about the same condition to me, i.e. both maybe ok but not as good as the TWM female. The dorsal fins of both are bending.
The IMSP female seemed active, was definitely hungry even after feeding (picking up scraps of fish off the bottom). Her body looks ok but isn't quite as full as the TWM female. She seemed alert, was interested in the spectators, though not as intently so as the TWM female.
The male at SAW was confined in a tank about 8m square, behind the show tank. There's another connected space about 8m x 15m beside it. Those two spaces hold 4 orcas, including the male Goro, who's dorsal fin is now completely bent over.
The Taiji survivor at SAW isn't performing yet (may soon be) though he is receiving "husbandry" training (e.g. to provide urine samples). When I saw him, he was mostly swimming in circles with fairly typical respiration patterns (long dive followed by several shorter ones). When he stopped swimming he arched his body rhythmically several times in a manner that was reminiscent of the TWM female two years ago, 6 weeks after capture. In any event, he looked ok (maybe about as ok as an orca is in a tiny concrete tank) and his breathing sounded ok. He was hungry after feeding too.
My overall impression was that all three Taiji survivors are likely to live for some time... meaning there's still a chance of returning them to the ocean and their family. That chance is very slim at the moment, but given the enthusiastic reaction to Keiko's story, will certainly improve when Keiko finally connects with his family.
Contact: Paul Spong - Email: orcalab@island.net
Date: Tue, 09 Mar, 1999
An open letter to all Indian Nations
I once was proud to say I have indian blood in me. Now as the Makah's have gone to a decision of killing, I am ashamed of it!
I can no longer stand behind any Indian decisions, after the stupidity of the Makah's choice of total ignorance of the history of the indians to defend nature, and to do only what was necessary to survive.
Indian integrity is now non-existent, at the hands of Makah actions. I call ALL native American Indians, from our entire continent, to denounce the Makah's actions.
As I see it, this is the beginning of the downfall of the integrity of all Indian Nations. One bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and in many ways. The Makah's have started the spoil.
All Indians must come together to speak out, in peaceful ways against the choice the Makah's have made. It is not only destructive to all Indians, it is also the dumbest decision I have ever heard made. There will be loss of life, for the Makah's, as they are showing the lack of know how and ability to do this, and can not come to an agreement on how, or if or even why.
All the great Indians of the past choose to represent those things in rituals which were done by forefathers, rather than to do the actual hunts. Whale hunting in the fashion in which the Makah's plan (about the only thing they have agreed on is using a canoe), is at the very least "Stupid". We have many books and records of whale hunts and the results, with ships being destroyed by whales, many lives being lost, and with this decision it seems it can only have been thought up by a bunch of drunks sitting around bragging, and without any knowledge.
To prove this, we must look at the history of the whaling Indians. They in no way went unskilled on a whale hunt, all were forced to hunt smaller fish in the same fashion to gain the skill for many years before being allowed out on a whale hunt! Today's Makah's never hunted whales, this destroys the integrity of the Indian knowledge for all Indians.
It would be my choice to use a large boat to tow a whale model along a shoreline, with groups in canoes staging the event close enough to shore to be seen and observed by all who choose to watch. This In my eyes, eyes of years and of wisdom, is the only option.
Now is the time for all Indians to publicly denounce this activity, or to sit back and be grouped into it and loose your integrity!
J. Veggin Sr.
Date: Wed, 10 Mar, 1999
Mexico Under Fire Over Pollution
By Adolfo Garza Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) Dozens of dead sea turtles. A decomposing gray whale lying on the sand. And hundreds of fish asphyxiated by the tainted water around them.
Environmentalists charge a salt plant on the Baja California Peninsula run by the Mexican government in a joint venture with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. killed the animals with discharges of brine.
Now President Ernesto Zedillo's government is under fire from local and U.S environmental groups that claim it has failed to prosecute alleged environmental crimes by the salt company in which it owns a majority stake.
And the government's position is likely to come under even more scrutiny in June when the salt company, known by its initials as ESSA, submits a proposal to expand to another coastal lagoon.
"This is a company that simply isn't supervised by any environmental authority in Mexico," said Homero Aridjis, a poet and leading environmental activist.
A criminal complaint filed Wednesday by three environmental organizations in Mexico and endorsed by two U.S. groups accuses ESSA of causing widespread damage to a reserve that shelters gray whales and sea turtles on the Baja California Peninsula.
The company makes salt by evaporating seawater in salt flats near the ocean. Brine extremely salty water is a byproduct. Marine animals can be affected by sudden changes in the salinity of ocean water. The complaint marks the latest chapter in a five-year battle that pits the seawater-evaporation plant against environmentalists, a fight that has put the Mexican government in a touchy position.
By law, the government is obligated to protect the reserve. But activists say the government has failed to pursue violations at the plant, even after they were reported by a government-appointed environmental prosecutor.
"We are extremely concerned by the attitude of the government and the Environment Secretariat," said Martha Delgado, head of the United Environmental Groups, one of the plaintiffs. "These are very serious irregularities."
Images of dead sea turtles and gray whales, taped by local fishermen and shown Wednesday to reporters, have become commonplace due to the Mexican government's lax enforcement of environmental laws, activists said.
Much of the evidence included in Wednesday's complaint about sea turtle deaths was originally collected by a government-appointed federal prosecutor for environmental protection, but the agency has taken no action against ESSA.
Eduardo Canto, a spokesman for the environmental protection prosecutor, denied any conflict of interest in the ESSA case and said authorities were still investigating.
In a press release, ESSA denied it had made any discharges, a claim that contradicts the government's report.
The environmentalists contend authorities have failed to conduct a criminal investigation into the effects of ESSA's discharges, even though prosecutors are obliged to do so by law, and the alleged crimes are considered felonies.
Alberto Perez, a Greenpeace representative, said the government's lack of action was an act of "criminal negligence."
Two U.S. groups, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined with Greenpeace-Mexico and dozens of Mexican environmental groups in presenting Wednesday's complaint to the attorney general.
Plans by ESSA to build another, similar plant in a lagoon farther south on the peninsula have sparked greater concern by environmentalists. The lagoon is part of the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, which was declared a U.N. World Heritage Site in 1994.
The groups are concerned with the possible effects on the gray whale, which annually migrates from the Arctic waters of the Bering Sea to mate and give birth in the warm waters of the peninsula. Many dead whales have been found in the area recently.
"The fish that the whales eat are being killed by the discharges," Delgado said.
"The whales may simply be starving to death."
Date: Wed, 10 Mar, 1999
Japanese To Capture Live Orcas From Lofoten
Norwegian Newspaper "Nordlys"
Translated by: Anton Krag, Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge (The Norwegian Federation for Animal Protection)
Tromsø: A group of Japanese want to capture six killer whales and send them by air to an amusement park in Japan. The probable place of capture is Lofoten and Vesterålen.
The Norwegian Trade Council has helped the Japanese to get started. A delegation of 4 people is to arrive in Norway next week with a hectic programme. They are to investigate if it is possible to import live orcas to Japan.
A large aquarium is under construction in Nagoy, which is to be ready in the year 2001. This is where the whales will be placed if all goes as planned. The Japanese will have meetings with the Norwegian Ministery of Fisheries, research institutions and whalers.
Richard Pedersen from, the Norwegian Trade Council, has organised the meeting for the Japanese.
"They are coming to find out if Norwegian laws and regulation will allow success. It is most likely that the orcas will be captured from Vesterålen in Lofoten. The transport distance is not particularly long from an airport in the North of Norway, with the same Aeroflot cargo planes that send salmon."
Neither the Ministery of Fisheries, nor the Ministery of Enviroment, are particularly happy with the problems they face.
"The authorities have been rather reserved, but say that in theory it is not impossible. The whalers have assured us that it is not unfeasable to catch orcas", says Pedersen.
The Japanese will be going to Lofoten to meet whaler Jan Kristiansen. Steinar Bastesen is also to meet the Japanese.
"Nets, seditives or cornering them in a fjord can be techniques used to catch the whales", says Bastesen.
"Orcas have never been caught alive in Norway before."
Date: Thu, 11 Mar, 1999
Iceland Parliament votes to resume whaling
The Iceland Review
Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, yesterday voted in favour of resuming whaling and the government will now be asked to prepare the way for this event as soon as possible, thus ending the 16-year ban.
After much debate, the proposal was passed with 37 in favour, 7 against and 12 abstaining, the voting going across party lines.
Emphasis was laid on Iceland's sovereign right to utilise the whale stock in its territorial waters in accordance with international commitments on the sustainable utilisation of live resources. The proposal is regarded as in no way contravening the Althingi's resolution of 2 February 1983 not to protest against the International Whaling Commission's ban on whaling.
The new parliamentary resolution calls for whaling to be carried out on the basis of scientific research with advice from the Marine Research Institute, under government supervision. The government's preparations will involve promoting Iceland's cause among its main trading partners, and the cost of the campaign will come out of public funds.
Copyright © The Iceland Review - http://www.icenews.is
Date: Fri, 12 Mar, 1999
Iceland Parliament Votes to Resume Whaling
STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) - Iceland's parliament has voted to start whaling again and asked the government to prepare for a resumption by next year, ending a 10-year ban, a senior government official said on Friday.
The parliamentary resolution, passed on Wednesday, is certain to outrage environmentalists, but underlines the fiercely independent North Atlantic island's determination to fish the seas however it sees fit.
"Parliament gave the green light for the resumption of whaling in Iceland," the official, who asked not to be named, said by phone from Reykjavik. The government will now start working on the resolution, he said.
The resolution urges a resumption of whaling as soon as possible, upholds Iceland's sovereign right to harvest its resources, calls on the government to implement the decision, and assumes whaling will start no later than 2000.
Supporters of the resolution, which cut across party lines, were determined to show that Iceland had the right to exploit the resources in its waters as much as it thinks necessary.
Although the booming economy has diversified in recent years, fishing is still the dominant industry, accounting for 75-80 percent of exported goods.
Whaling is also a traditional way of life, and was important commercially, accounting for two percent of exports at its peak.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) decided in 1982 to ban whaling amid concern that many whale species were endangered. Whaling stopped from 1985, although Iceland continued some scientific whaling until 1989.
Iceland went along with the ban because it thought it was temporary, but left the IWC in 1992.
Whale stocks are now growing -- threatening, according to some Icelanders, the fish stocks on which the island depends -- and some species, such as the minke whale, are not threatened with extinction, they say.
"These stocks we're talking about are not endangered but are listed for political reasons," the official said.
Iceland, with a population of only 275,000, is too small to absorb many whales, so much of the meat will be exported.
Iceland feels it is free to trade in whalemeat as it is no longer a member of the IWC, and is not a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Nordic neighbour Norway resumed whaling in 1993, although it does not allow international trade in whalemeat, and is campaigning for minke whales to be removed from CITES.
Opponents of whaling fear a resumption could hurt Iceland's tourist industry, where whale-watching is a growing sector, boosted by the return last year of Keiko, the killer whale which starred in the film Free Willy.
It could also lead to calls for a consumer boycott of Icelandic goods in other countries, especially fish products.
Icelandic officials concede that whaling is opposed not only because some species are endangered, but because many people have an emotional attachment to whales.
But they fear a ban on whaling could eventually spread to other species on which the island depends.
"We live from killing animals -- we're fishing all day," said the official.
"If we don't fight back this could become a general trend for other species as well."
Date: Fri, 12 Mar, 1999
Iceland's Politics of Whaling
The Iceland Review
A new Gallup poll reveals that approximately three fourths of Icelanders are in favour of resuming whaling. This is along the lines of previous surveys and is definitely one of the deciding factors behind the parliament Althingi's decision to pass a resolution earlier this week calling for the resumption of whaling at the earliest opportunity.
The sensitive matter is now in the hands of the government, which has stated that before whaling is permitted the ground must be prepared and Iceland's position explained among the main trading partners. The interests at stake are high: Icelanders sell large quantities of fish to Germany, the UK, the US and France, all of which are strongly opposed to whaling. Not so subtle threats have come from retailers in Germany, saying that if Iceland were to whale again they would pull Icelandic goods from their stores. Two of the Iceland's largest companies, Icelandair and Icelandic Freezing Plants Corporation, have warned against the repercussions of the resumption of whaling and the Tourist Board has also asked the authorities to proceed with care.
This is an election year and in the current climate very few politicians are going to come out and state publicly that they are afraid of "exercising their sovereign right to utilise all marine resources." At the same time, the parliamentary resolution is written in such a way that no time limit is imposed on how long it will take to prepare for the resumption of whaling. This will allow the government to stall (which it is expected to do) and it is, therefore, highly unlikely that whaling will be permitted in the near future.
Copyright © The Iceland Review - http://www.icenews.is
Date: Tue, 16 Mar, 1999
All Australian Whales Now Under Protection List
CANBERRA, XINHUA - All of Australia's whale species are now protected by the Australian law following Monday's announcement that the Sei and Fin whales have gained legislative protection.
Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill said the decision would add impetus to Australia's push for a global whale sanctuary at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Oman in May.
It is expected that whaling countries like Japan will oppose such a sanctuary at the meeting.
"Our efforts to conserve our own whales strengthen our push for a global whale sanctuary," Hill said in a statement.
Listing the Sei and Fin whales as vulnerable species under the Endangered Species Act, which meant they could not be killed, traded or moved and that the Australian federal government must develop recovery plans for them, was the most effective way to ensure their survival, he said.
"Australia's populations of the Sei whale have declined by 75 percent in the past 40 years alone, and there are estimated to be only 25,000 of this species of whale remaining," the minister said.
"Populations of the Fin whale have seen an even greater decline in numbers. They were originally estimated at 500,000 prior to the 1960s and have been depleted to a mere 25,000."
Date: Wed, 17 Mar, 1999
Marine Resources Committee opposes the upcoming Makah Whale Hunt
From Washington Citizen's Coastal Alliance
The Washington Citizens’s Coastal Alliance (WCCA) appeared before the Marine Resources Committee of San Juan County, Washington, on March 17, 1999, at the San Juan County courthouse in Friday Harbor.
The WCCA asked the Marine Resources Committee to adopt a resolution opposing the upcoming Makah whale hunt, as well as to support protective efforts on behalf of gray whales in the waters of Washington state.
WCCA representatives pointed out to the Committee that the Makah hunt has not been approved by the International Whaling Commission, the possibility of whales being shot in local waters would have an adverse effect on the local tourist-based economy, and stated that if the Makah are allowed the opportunity to hunt whales in Washington, the very real possibility exists that widespread whaling throughtout the world may resume.
The Committee decided to take action, and voted unanimously (8-0) to adopt a resolution opposing the Makah hunt. The matter will now be presented to the Board of County Commissioners of San Juan County at a meeting March 23, 1999 at 10:00 am for final approval by the County Commissioners.
All local residents (and others) are encouraged to attend the March 23 meeting to express their support of this resolution. For more information.
Contact Dan Spomer - Email: dano@rockisland.com
Date: Wed, 17 Mar, 1999
Boats, Planes Fail To Find Rare Whales Stranded Yesterday
Auckland, -- Searchers in boats and an aircraft today failed to find any sign of two extremely rare arnoux's beaked whales which stranded at Pollen Island, in the Upper Waitemata Harbour, yesterday.
The male and female, both 8m long, which normally inhabit deep waters around Antarctica, floated free on Monday unaided. One had previously stranded at Duder's Point, at Umupuia, near Clevedon, last Thursday.
A Department of Conservation marine protection officer, Chris Roberts, said the whale which stranded last week had a 1.5m gash on its back, probably caused by a boat.
The two whales were probably disorientated by the shallow harbour and not used to tides, he said. But they could be feeding on fish or shellfish from the bottom although squid makes up their normal diet.
The fact that the whales were not seen today might be good news or they might have stranded again and been hidden by mangroves.
Mr Roberts said the aerial search could not cover all parts of the Upper Waitemata Harbour because of air traffic using the air force base at Hobsonville.
Anybody seeing the whales should contact the department or Project Jonah.
"People in boats should take care around them, too," Mr Roberts said.
"The whales tend to stay on the surface for a couple of minutes resting. Then they dive for anything between five minutes and half an hour. It's very easy for a boat to run over them."
Only three sightings of the whales have previously been observed at sea. In 150 years, 36 strandings of arnoux's beaked whales have been recorded in New Zealand, with only a handful more occurring elsewhere around the world.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar, 1999
Greenpeace Blames Mexico Whale Deaths On Pollution
By Dan Trotta of Reuters
Mexico City, March 15 Reuters - Large numbers of whale deaths off Mexico's coasts were most likely caused by humans polluting the seas, but the real answer may never be known due to government foot-dragging, environmentalists said on Monday.
Mexico has recorded at least four massive die-offs of whales and other marine mammals since 1993, the latest occurring in recent weeks in the Gulf of California between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland coast.
Greenpeace said 29 gray whales and at least 200 sea lions died a couple of weeks ago. Last week, another environmental organisation, Group of 100, reported 50 gray whale deaths, but it considered a larger area, including the Pacific coast.
"Without a doubt, if an in-depth study was done like one we are suggesting today, we would find that the Gulf of California is a real cocktail of pollutants," Roberto Lopez, a Greenpeace spokesman, told a news conference.
Since chemicals such as agricultural fertilisers and pesticides were passed to mammals through the food chain, humans were also at risk from eating seafood, Greenpeace said.
The government environmental prosecutor, Profepa, is investigating the deaths. Past Profepa necropsies showed them to be caused by natural causes or from a fluorescent chemical called NK-19 used by drug traffickers to mark spots at sea where they drop cocaine packets.
But Greenpeace said that Profepa failed to consider the impact of tons (tonnes) of pesticides and industrial chemicals poured into the oceans, many making their way to sea as runoff.
The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortes, is bordered by a number of agricultural states whose fields are bombarded with chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Profepa spokesman Eduardo Canto dismissed the Greenpeace claim, saying his office was motivated strictly by science and would not conceal evidence.
"Never. We have no reason to,'' he told Reuters.
Juan Carlos Cantu, who heads the biodiversity programme for Greenpeace in Mexico, said toxins were accumulated in the body fat of whales, dolphins and sea lions. During food shortages, the animals draw on their fat reserves, poisoning themselves with chemicals that damage their immune systems.
The result is that much like humans with Aids, the animals die of diseases they could otherwise fend off. The problem, Greenpeace charges, is that Profepa has failed to uncover the underlying cause.
Cantu likened it to an Aids patient dying of tuberculosis and doctors determining that to be the cause of death without mentioning Aids.
"Each time there are massive deaths, our authorities come out saying it was the famous NK-19 or red tide or natural causes," Cantu said.
"But they never do a complete study. It's absurd. You'd have to fill the Gulf of California with this substance (NK-19)" to have such a mortal effect.
Red tide occurs when a microorganism called dinoflagellates discolours patches of ocean water and endangers marine life.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar, 1999
Eastern North Pacific Gray Whales Continue To Rebound
from Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The population of eastern North Pacific gray whales continues to rebound, all but assuring the Makah Indians the right to hunt again as their ancestors did some 70 years ago.
The latest estimates, released yesterday, put the number of gray whales at 26,600, according to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.
The estimate was presented in a review required by the Endangered Species Act following the gray whales' removal from the endangered species list in 1994.
The first day of a two-day review of gray whale research yesterday involved nearly 30 representatives from conservation groups and U.S. and Mexican government agencies. Many have been keeping tabs since the 1960s on the whales' migrations between Alaska and Mexico.
The task group will recommend continuing monitoring for another five years, ending the monitoring, or reclassifying the whales' status.
Gray whales have been at the center of a controversy between environmental rights and native rights since they were removed from the endangered species listing in 1994. The Makahs, whose religion and culture are tied to whale hunting, then invoked their 1855 treaty rights to resume hunting the animals.
The Makahs set out last October to hunt whales in a cedar canoe armed with a hand-thrown harpoon and high-caliber rifle, required by authorities to ensure a quick kill, but to date have killed none of the animals.
While tribal politics played a role in delaying the hunt, so did the failure of migrating whales to appear off Cape Flattery by late November or early December, before foul winter weather set in.
Whale observers yesterday said the southbound migration happened about three weeks later than usual. Indications are that it also happened farther offshore than the typical northbound migration.
"We saw them start to migrate in the first part of December, and then didn't see them," said Bruce Mate of Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center.
"What happened is that the animals seemed to make up for lost time, and there were groups farther offshore than usual."
Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the American Cetacean Society said last year's whale count off California was the highest since 1987. Observations indicate that the whales migrate in pulses, or cluster patterns, she said.
John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia waded into the controversy between whale protesters and Makah over "migratory" whales, which the Makah are allowed to hunt, and "residential" whales, which tend to remain in one area to feed, and which the tribe cannot hunt.
Studies in 1996, 1997 and 1998 indicate those animals that seem to hang around do have "site fidelity," but also have a broader range of movement. Among so-called residents identified off the Washington coast, one has been spotted near Sitka, Alaska, two off Northern California, five off Oregon, while more than 40 others move freely between areas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, off the Washington coast, and off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.
"These animals could be in many areas we haven't searched in past years," he said.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar, 1999
Whale Watchers Keep Lookout For Rare Whales
Auckland, (NZPA) - Whale watchers scoured Auckland's misty Waitemata Harbour today for two rare whales which they say are in danger of stranding again and dying.
One of the two 8m arnoux's beaked whales which stranded on mud flats in the upper harbour for four hours yesterday has a bad gash on its back and the Department of Conservation believes it may have been hit by a boat.
However, after refloating late yesterday afternoon the whales stayed in the harbour but have yet to be found today, DOC spokesman Chris Roberts said.
Several boats with whale rescue pontoons had been on standby in case the whales stranded again and needed to be rescued.
Beaked whale expert Anton van Helden, from the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, said the whales normally stayed around the Ross Sea in Antarctica but there had been numerous strandings around the New Zealand coast.
He said that should the worst happen and one of the whales was to die, it would give scientists a rare opportunity to study the whales.
"We have very limited knowledge of them. There is very little known about them," Mr van Helden said.
It was difficult to say why they had travelled so far up the harbour. They might have been chasing fish or become disoriented.
The whales were named after a French scientist in 1856 when the first example of the species was recovered from the New Zealand coast.
Since the first stranding on the Otago Peninsula in 1840, there have been 38 strandings of arnoux's beaked whales.
Date: Thu, 18 Mar, 1999
Boatie Admits Running Over Rare Whale
Manukau, -- A launch driver has admitted he ran over one of the two rare Arnoux's beaked whales stranded off Auckland on Monday.
Aucklanders were amazed to see the whales on Tuesday after they beached themselves on a sandbar near Point Chevalier, on Waitemata Harbour.
One of the whales appeared to have been injured by a boat's propeller.
This was confirmed today by Project Jonah chairwoman Sue McCarthny, who said a launch driver ran over one of the whales on Friday. Both of the whales managed to swim clear when the tide came in. They were reported yesterday to be swimming off Kawau Island in Hauraki Gulf and heading north.
"They looked well and healthy," Ms McCarthny said.
"Perhaps they needed a little bit of R and R in Auckland Harbour and then headed off again."
Yesterday's sighting eliminated fears that the two would beach themselves again.
Date: Thu, 18 Mar, 1999
Mexico Saltworks Hits Back At Ecologists On Whales
Regular International
Mexico City, (Reuters) - A giant saltworks operating in a sensitive wildlife reserve in Mexico's northwest hit back at ecologists on Wednesday, saying there was no proof it had caused the deaths of turtles and gray whales nearby.
Greenpeace Mexico and 50 Mexican environmental groups filed a criminal complaint against salt company Exportadora de Sal (ESSA) a week ago, blaming it for the deaths of 94 protected sea turtles between the end of 1997 and early 1999.
Last week they also suggested ESSA may have been behind the mystery deaths of 21 migratory gray whales in two of three main whale breeding lagoons where the saltworks operates.
But on Wednesday ESSA, 49 percent owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and 51 percent owned by the Mexican government, said statements this week by Mexican environmental authorities showed there was not enough evidence to link it with the turtle deaths.
It also quoted the same authority as saying there was no connection between the whale deaths and any changes in the salinity of the seawater. Ecologists fear ESSA may have killed the whales by releasing hyper-concentrated brine, its principle by-product, into the sea.
"Attempts by groups of activists to create a link that does not exist with Exportadora de Sal are reprehensible," ESSA said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Furthermore, they show the absence of any real concern for the well-being of the whales, trying to put responsibility on an institution that is not responsible at the price of genuine efforts to discover the true causes."
The gray whale migrates some 10,000 km from the Bering Sea to warm water lagoons of Mexico's northwestern Baja California Sur state to breed and give birth.
But this year a total of 50 have washed up dead on Mexican shores. Authorities have given no clear explanation for the deaths, and ecologists are demanding an investigation.
ESSA, however, denies releasing any brine into the lagoons and says the ecologists are pursuing a smear campaign against it. ESSA says its operations are clean and environmentally friendly and says it is being unjustly targeted.
Ecologists question ESSA plans to open a second saltworks on San Ignacio lagoon, in the heart of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.
Date: Mon, 22 Mar, 1999
Dolphins Stranded On Kangaroo Island
Regular International
Adelaide, (AAP) - About 50 dolphins were found stranded today on the beach and in shallow water at Nepean Bay on the northern side of Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
Local police and National Parks and Wildlife officers were to head any rescue operation, police said.
A spokesman said it was not known if any or all of the dolphins were dead or injured.
A local resident told ABC radio that volunteers in the area were trying to keep the dolphins wet by covering them with sheets.
Andrew Eastick said they were grouped close together but there was no immediate indication on what prompted the stranding.
He said the dolphins did not appear particularly distressed but with the tide on the way out the mammals would have to remain on the sand for several hours before attempts could be made to help them back to sea.
Date: Mon, 22 Mar, 1999
Stranded Dolphins To Be Returned To Sea At High Tide
Regular International
Adelaide, (AAP) - Forty-eight dolphins stranded on a Kangaroo Island beach today are being kept wet and out of the sun until they can be returned to the sea at high tide tonight.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Country Fire Service (CFS) are coordinating the rescue of the dolphins, who became stranded this morning at Nepean Bay, on the northern side of the island.
NPWS director Alan Holmes said a veterinary surgeon and marine mammal experts from the South Australian Museum and the RSPCA were travelling to Nepean Bay to ensure the dolphins were kept healthy until high tide about 6pm (CDT) (2030 NZT).
"What may have happened is that a young animal who's just been playing around and just got a little bit too far inshore and it's become distressed and other animals are attracted ... that may well have been the reason," Mr Holmes told ABC Radio.
"High tide is 6 o'clock to 7 o'clock this evening. If all goes to plan we will keep the animals comfortable until then (high tide) and assist them off the tide then."
Mr Holmes said the dolphins had been wrapped in wet hessian and dozens of volunteers were helping to keep them under shade and wet.
Date: Tue, 23 Mar, 1999
Hopes Now High For Safety Of Rescued Dolphins
Adelaide, (AAP) - Volunteers and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff planned to return to Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island south of here this morning to ensure there was no repeat of yesterday's stranding of a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins.
NPWS vet Deb Kelly said it was hoped the 47 dolphins that survived the incident would now return to sea.
She said it appeared the rescue operation had been a success and there was no reason to believe, at this stage, that the mammals would rebeach themselves.
But boats would be used to monitor the pod this morning with quick action to be taken if any dolphins started heading for the shore.
Of the 48 dolphins that became stranded yesterday morning only one, a large female, died and Dr Kelly said it was possible there was something wrong with her before she beached herself.
Because of the communal nature of dolphins it was likely the other members of the pod followed the sick female into shore.
The pod was found at sunrise yesterday and in a rescue effort co-ordinated by the NPWS and the Country Fire Service, about 80 volunteers kept the dolphins wet and under shade with the aim of floating them back to sea at high tide.
However, fears for their survival grew throughout the morning and a frontloader and slings were brought in to carry the dolphins 300m across sand to shallow water.
They were then guided out to sea by fishing boats dragging nets to keep them from returning to the beach.
Dr Kelly said the rescue effort had some luck with prevailing conditions and the discovery of the dolphins only about an hour after they got into trouble.
She said the help of so many locals was also critical.
"Everything was in our favour, it was just terrific how the whole community pitched in," Dr Kelly said.
Date: Tue, 23 Mar, 1999
Dolphin Rescue Hailed A Success Despite One Death
By Sherrill Nixon of AAP
Adelaide, (AAP) - Despite the death of one dolphin, rescuers today hailed as a success a nine-hour operation in which 47 dolphins stranded on a Kangaroo Island beach were returned to sea.
The pod of 48 bottle-nosed dolphins was found stranded on the beach at Nepean Bay, on the northern side of Kangaroo Island off the South Australian coast, at sunrise this morning.
Under a rescue effort co-ordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Country Fire Service, about 80 volunteers kept the dolphins wet and under shade with the aim of floating them back to sea at high tide about 6pm.
Veterinary experts from the NPWS, the South Australian Museum and the RSPCA were at Nepean Bay to ensure the animals did not become distressed throughout the ordeal.
But when a large male dolphin died late morning and another male dolphin became critically ill, the NPWS decided to return the animals to water as soon as possible.
Volunteers used a front-end loader and slings to carry the dolphins 300m across sand to shallow water, before the dolphins were guided out to sea by fishing boats dragging nets to keep them from returning to the beach.
NPWS director Allan Holmes said the pod reformed and swam into deeper water by mid-afternoon, where the sickest dolphins appeared to recover quickly.
He said the dead dolphin might have been the cause of the stranding, with a theory that it was ill and moved to shallow water to help it breathe, then called for assistance from the others when it became beached.
NPWS officers would now monitor the dolphins' progress amid concerns that they could again become stranded if the other ill dolphin returned to the beach.
"But this has been an excellent result because for a little while there, it didn't look so good when animals were starting to become distressed and looking so ill," Mr Holmes told AAP.
"I thought we might have lost a number. But you really couldn't get a better result."
Mr Holmes said SA Museum marine mammal expert Catherine Kemper believed it was the first major stranding of bottle-nosed dolphins and had found it unusual for the animals to be travelling in such large numbers.
Date: Tue, 23 Mar, 1999
Stranded Dolphins Die On Kangaroo Island
Regular International
Adelaide, (AAP) - A small number of dolphins from a pod of about 50 stranded on a Kangaroo Island beach died today as volunteers raced to return them to the sea.
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) director Allan Holmes said fewer than five of the common dolphins, although he could not be exact, had died after becoming beached this morning when the tide went out.
The NPWS and Country Fire Service are coordinating the rescue at Nepean Bay, on the northern side of Kangaroo Island.
Mr Holmes said about 80 volunteers were now trying to move the surviving dolphins into the water, instead of waiting until high tide this evening carried them back to sea.
"A small number of the dolphins have died late this morning," Mr Holmes told AAP.
"As a result of that, the strategy has changed from waiting for the high tide to trying to move as best we can some into deeper water now."
Mr Holmes said the death of the dolphins did not augur well for the operation, and he expected other dolphins to die this afternoon.
Experts do not know why the stranding occurred, but one theory is that the leader of the pod was ill and moved to shallow water to help it breathe, but became stuck and called for assistance from the other dolphins.
Two veterinary surgeons and dolphin experts from the South Australian Museum and the RSPCA are at the scene.
Date: Thu, 01 Apr, 1999
Songs of the Humpback - Unique Sounds Round Up Meals
ABCNEWS.com
There's one sure-fire way to tell if humpback whales are anywhere near the research vessel Evolution: Vicki Beaver's head will be in the water.
Beaver, assistant director of the Alaska Whale Foundation, just can't resist sticking her head into the chilly waters of Southeast Alaska's Chatham Strait to listen to the haunting songs of the humpback.
"I love the whales, she says. What the whales are doing is incredible." What the whales are doing is uttering sounds that range from moaning to shrieking, all part of a bizarre eating ritual that is extraordinary in the animal world.
Current research by the foundation indicates that the song of the humpback plays a crucial role in how these great creatures round up schools of herring during the brief period each year when they must eat enough to sustain them for months.
"Some of the songs are melancholy," says Fred Sharpe, founder and director of the foundation.
"Year after year we hear this richly wonderful harmonic sound coming out in long phrases. It brings tears to your eyes."
In an effort to understand the purpose of the songs, Sharpe and Beaver recently took a bunch of herring to their school, Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. They played recordings of the songs to the herring in an environment where they could watch their behavior.
"It turns out that herring have very, very sensitive hearing," Sharpe says. Exhibiting signs of fear, the agitated herring clustered together and "accelerated their speed," apparently trying to escape the sounds.
If you listen to recordings of the songs, it will not be hard to understand why. One particular whale, called Screamer, makes a sound that can best be described as a bone-chilling shriek.
"It's really gut-wrenching," Sharpe says.
He believes the whales use the sounds to "school up" the herring into tight groups. Meanwhile, other whales create a corral of bubbles around the herring, providing what amounts to a fish net. The whales, answering another song that may be akin to a dinner bell, sweep up from below and lunge toward the surface, engulfing the trapped herring.
The songs probably serve other purposes as well, such as verbal orders to other whales.
"Maybe they're kind of calling out plays, or calling out who needs to be where," Beaver says. Or even summoning others to the dinner table.
Whatever the purpose, there's probably nothing subtle about it. The sound is so loud that if it were in air and not water, it would probably blow out human eardrums, Sharpe says.
The sounds vary so much from one whale to another that often it is possible to identify the specific whale that is making the racket. But Brett Spellman, a researcher who also skippers the Evolution, is carrying it one step further.
Spellman is conducting computerized acoustical studies to match each whale with its specific sound, adding one more means of identifying members of the pod with as much reliability as a fingerprint.
Sharpe has listened to the sounds so much he thinks he knows which whales are saying what.
"There's a lot of snorting and bellyaching about who's getting the most fish," he says at one point as a recording echoes across the decks of the Evolution.
"That's Squeaky Gate," he says of one whale with a distinct sound. "He only comes in at the end."
The sound of the whales is interrupted briefly by a series of guttural belches, sounding surprisingly like the Russian "Song of the Volga Boatmen."
"Those are sea lions," Sharpe says. "They love to harass the whales."
The sensitive hydrophones even pick up the sounds of the whales lunging toward the surface, creating mayhem for the herring. Then it grows silent. A whale flipper is heard smashing against the surface of the water, almost like a victory dance. And then there is the unmistakable sound of birds, circling the kill, waiting for the leftovers.
"It's very beautiful, isn't it," says Sharpe.
"Year after year we hear this richly wonderful harmonic sound coming out in long phrases. It brings tears to your eyes" - Fred Sharpe, founder of the Alaska Whale Foundation.
Copyright © 1999 ABC News
Date: Mon, 05 Apr, 1999
Baby Dolphin Stabbed to Death off Adelaide Beach
Adelaide, AAP - A dead baby dolphin washed up on an Adelaide beach on Saturday appeared to have been stabbed to death, a dolphin expert said today.
Australian Dolphin Research Foundation scientist Mike Bossley said an initial examination of the bottle-nosed dolphin, found at the western coastal suburb of Semaphore, suggested it was deliberately killed.
"It appears somebody was in a boat going along and the dolphin came in to ride on the bow waves," Dr Bossley told AAP.
"It rolled on its side to make eye contact and while it was on its side the person leaned over with a long blade or spear and stabbed it in the side."
Dr Bossley said there was a stab wound on each side of the dolphin's body which showed the blade had been long enough to make it right through the dolphin and it was almost certainly not a spear gun.
He said the dolphin was only about three months old and 1.3 metres long.
"I have no idea whatsoever why someone would do this. Sometimes you might think that perhaps it would be caught in a fishing net but there was no indication of that," Dr Bossley said.
"You couldn't see any signs or evidence of the dolphin having been caught in a net, it looks like somebody just wanted to kill a dolphin."
The death followed the shootings of three other bottle-nosed dolphins in the area last year.
A police investigation to find those responsible has so far been unsuccessful.
Dr Bossley said he had no way of knowing whether the latest dolphin killing was linked to last year's attacks but the method was different.
He said an autopsy would probably be conducted next week by South Australian Museum curator of mammals Cath Kemper and that national parks and wildlife officers had started an investigation.
Dr Bossley said the offence of attacking dolphins carried a $A40,000 ($NZ48,000) fine.
Date: Tue, 06 Apr, 1999
Blue Whale Drops in for a Snack
Melbourne, AAP - A blue whale, the biggest animal in the world, dropped in for a feed in the waters off Victoria's south-west coast today.
The whale was spotted off the coast of Port Fairy this afternoon and was thought to be feeding on krill, Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokesman Ian Westhorpe said.
"There have been a lot of blooms of krill seen in close ... it appeared to be feeding," he said.
The whale was swimming around in circles and lunging through the surface, which was ``fairly rare'', he said.
The blue whale, largest animal in the world, can measure between 25 and 30 metres in length and weigh up to 80 tonnes.
Mr Westhorpe said blue whales had been rare in the area until the past five years.
Another was spotted about six weeks ago and fishermen had reported seeing them coming in closer to the coast around Portland and Port Campbell, he said.
Date: Fri, 09 Apr, 1999
Whale Watchers Meet in Húsavík
The providers of whale-watching tours around the coast of Iceland met in Húsavík at the end of last month. Asbjörn Björgvinsson, who runs the Húsavík Whale Centre, led this first joint meeting of the thriving industry. Sponsored by the district of Húsavík, the Marine Research Institute, the Museum of Natural History, the Ministry of Transportation, tourism authorities and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, it drew a crowd of 26, representing 15 firms and institutions.
In addition to lectures, the participants discussed a variety of issues relating to the fast-growing whale-watching industry, such as safety of passengers and whales. Although most believe that the resumption of whaling will hurt whale watching, they did not pass a resolution on the matter since a final decision has not been taken yet on whether and when whaling will be allowed to resume.
The Iceland Review http://www.icenews.is/
Date: Fri, 09 Apr, 1999
Japan wants Whale Sanctuary Scrapped
Wellington, - A Japanese proposal to abolish the Southern Ocean whaling sanctuary is seen as a bid to stop the establishment of a new South Pacific sanctuary, says International Whaling Commission (IWC) delegate Jim McLay.
At next month's IWC meeting in Grenada, West Indies, the Japanese will propose scrapping the southern sanctuary agreed to only five years ago.
However, it needs a three-quarters majority to succeed and New Zealand authorities are optimistic it will fail to obtain this.
"We certainly will very, very strongly oppose any move to abolish the sanctuary," said Mr McLay.
New Zealand had support from other anti-whaling countries such as Australia, the United States and Britain.
"In fact, I suppose this is probably a strategic move (by Japan) to head off a proposal to establish a South Pacific sanctuary which would add on to the Southern Sanctuary," he said.
World Wildlife Fund for Nature New Zealand (WWF-NZ) scientist Simon Towle agreed. He also thought an abolition vote was likely to fail.
"But I think people should be aware that they are trying to do it," he said.
Japan could count on the other main whaling country, Norway, and probably one or two of the Eastern block countries.
It had also provided extensive overseas aid to a number of small countries and the "quid pro quo" for that was obvious support at international forums such as the IWC, said Mr Towle.
However, he thought the South Pacific proposal had a chance of succeeding. The sanctuary would extend the feeding grounds of whales as well as cover important breeding grounds and other species not part of the Southern Ocean sanctuary.
"Given that virtually every single government in the Pacific except Japan has supported it, it's more than likely to get the nod."
Mr Towle has just returned from a visit to Japan where, he said, their position on whaling essentially related to sustainability. Their argument was that if there was sustainable fishing and sustainable forestry, there should be sustainable whaling.
"They simply don't distinguish between fish or trees or whales."
WWF-International has just launched a worldwide petition to be presented to the IWC objecting to "scientific" whaling by the Japanese and supporting the South Pacific proposal.
Date: Tue, 20 Apr, 1999
Washington Scientists look into Spate of Whale Deaths
By Doug Esser - The Associated Press
SEATTLE - Seven gray whales have turned up dead in Washington's waters so far this year, and marine mammal experts in Seattle are trying to determine if there is reason to be worried.
"I have to admit they're coming at rapid clip, the past few. It's got me concerned," said John Calambokidis with Cascadia Research, a nonprofit organization in Olympia.
There are an unusually high number of gray whales in Puget Sound - 25 or more, Calambokidis said. He speculates the whales are hungry after their winter in Mexican waters and are detouring to Puget Sound to find something to eat before they continue north to Alaska.
"Some of these deaths make me think what we're having is animals not in good condition - unhealthy animals not able to make it," he said.
The dead whales often are juveniles who haven't been feeding well, said National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman. A dozen or more gray whale deaths a year in Washington waters are not unusual, Gorman said. And they usually come in the spring.
The spring migration of 26,600 whales along the West Coast is under way, with many females and calves still to come. Marine mammal experts met Monday to share information, consider whether a problem exists, and make plans for examining carcasses, Gorman said.
"There doesn't seem to be any cause for alarm but we're certainly going to be on the lookout," Gorman said Monday night after the meeting.
He added the scientists agreed one of the animals should be examined when it comes ashore, if possible. But Gorman added plans are only in a preliminary stage.
Two new dead whales were found floating in Puget Sound on Monday, in addition to the one found at Kingston on Sunday and one at Everett last week, Calambokidis said. There was one near Westport earlier this month and one in January and one in February, also on the Pacific coast, he said.
In addition to the dead whales, Gorman received a report of a whale struggling Sunday night in about 3 feet of water at Holmes Harbor on Whidbey Island.
Whale experts in Mexico reported that 52 gray whales died in the Baja California birthing lagoons, the most since 1980.
Some biologists speculate the population may be unhealthy because of a food shortage in the Bering Sea, where the whales spend their summers. Others think whales may have migrated farther south because the Pacific Ocean was colder than normal near Mexico.
In the past century, whalers hunted gray whales almost to extinction. But the population rebounded and is no longer endangered.
That was one reason the Makah Indians at the northwest tip of the Washington coast decided it was safe to resume traditional whaling. They are still planning to kill a gray whale for the first time in more than 70 years, as a way of reviving tribal culture.
Date: Wed, 21 Apr, 1999
Gray Whales Dying Ashore
By Jonathan Dube - ABCNEWS.com
SEATTLE - Visitors to the Seattle Aquarium were startled recently when a voice on the loudspeaker suggested they view the whale. You see, the Seattle Aquarium doesn't have a whale.
But when the visitors headed outside to the pier, they saw a whale of a tourist: a California gray whale, about 35 feet long, cruising by downtown.
"The tourists assembled and got excited and shrieked," says Leo Shaw, a whale expert with the aquarium.
Hours later, a few piers south, Dave Black looked out his office window at the ferry terminal and saw a spout of water from Elliott Bay.
"He was not more than a 9-iron away from the railing," says Black, the ferry operations manager.
"He was just doing what whales do, lazily floating, not in any hurry to go anywhere. He seemed to be enjoying downtown Seattle."
Two other gray whales were spotted that day, one by the northern end of downtown and one by the southern side. Local whale researchers say about two dozen whales are chilling out these days in Puget Sound, an 80-mile arm of the Pacific Ocean that surrounds Seattle.
It's not unusual for a few of the migratory mammals to pass through Puget Sound on their way to the feeding waters off the coast of Alaska. In fact, spotting gray whales on their journey north is popular among tourists. But researchers can't recall a time when this many whales have hung out in the sound at once. On top of that, an unusually high number of whale carcasses have been washing up along the Pacific Coast. More than 50 dead gray whales have been found this year along the Mexican coast, about a dozen gray whales have died along the California coast, and seven have washed ashore in Washington recently - including four in Puget Sound in the past week.
All of which leads researchers to speculate that the gray whale population may have outgrown its food supply. The National Marine Fisheries Service recently reported that the gray whale population is now a healthy 26,635 - higher than has ever been recorded. Fifty years ago the population had been hunted to fewer than 2,000 after whalers discovered they made easy targets amid the shallow breeding lagoons of Baja California. Commercial whaling was banned in 1951 and the gray whale earned endangered species status in 1973; the whale population has been growing ever since. By 1994 the population had reached more than 20,000, the level it was believed to be at before hunting, and so the gray whale was removed from the endangered species list.
With so many whales out there, it's likely the ones in Puget Sound are looking for new food sources. It's also possible, though, that there is simply a food shortage this year, perhaps as a result of La Ni–a. Gray whales eat small creatures that live in the sediment, such as ghost shrimps and other tiny crustaceans. The whales often feed in shallow waters, often close to the shore, sucking up mud and filtering out the organisms with their baleen. Most of the whales that have washed ashore have been juveniles, many showing signs of starvation.
John Calambokidis, a biologist with the the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, says a 2- to 3-year-old whale that came ashore in Grays Harbor County, Washington, was 29 feet long, had a thin layer of blubber and was clearly underweight. Researchers are still trying to determine what killed the four found in Puget Sound. Not an easy task.
"By the time the animals wash up, they tend to be fairly rotten," Calambokidis says.
More Carcasses Expected With the whale population so large, several hundred whales would be expected to die every year from disease, starvation and collisions with boats. Still, despite incomplete statistics, researchers estimate that the number of whales beached this year is among the highest they've seen - and it's still early in the migratory season.
"They've been occurring at a rapid pace, and we still have quite a few gray whales in the area, so I anticipate we'll see more," Calambokidis says.
He says the unusual number of carcasses and sightings is not necessarily a sign that the whales are in trouble - just that the size of their population is adjusting to the food supply.
"This is something we've expected would eventually occur," he says.
But, he says, researchers won't know for sure until after the summer, when the whales complete their migration.
Meanwhile, folks down at Seattle's waterfront are keeping an eye out for city's blubbery friends.
A ferry operator was heading toward nearby Bainbridge Island one recent evening and suddenly spotted a whale in front of the boat. The ferry cruised right over it and the whale resurfaced.
"When you're in a 400-foot ferry traveling at 19 knots, you just don't have time to steer around it," Black says.
"I don't know if he was injured or not."
Perhaps whales aren't cut out for city living.
Date: Fri, 23 Apr, 1999
British Group says Whaling Ban could be Lifted
London, Reuters - The existing moratorium on whaling is in danger of being lifted as countries drop their opposition to the controversial practice, a British conservation group said on Friday.
"A compromise with the whalers is now seriously being considered," the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said in a statement.
"This has followed on from a proposal originally made by the (whaling) commissioner for Ireland who suggested that Japan and Norway should be given official (and in some way) limited quotas -- meaning that the existing moratorium on whaling would be lifted," the WDCS said.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) decided in 1982 to ban whaling amid concern that many whale species were endangered.
Since 1987, Japan has carried out so-called "scientific whaling" in which whale meat finds its way on to the Japanese market after study of the dead mammals by scientists.
Norway resumed whaling in 1993, although it does not allow international trade in whale meat.
The WDCS said that if a deal were made with Norway and Japan to establish some kind of quota, other countries too were likely to resume whaling.
"The whole sad history of whaling shows that whaling can never be regulated. One whale stock after another was driven to the brink of extinction and the same will happen again now if we lift the moratorium," said Sue Fisher of the WDCS.
Fisher said the Irish Commissioner Michael Canny had put forward proposals in 1997 to establish a global sanctuary for whales which would exclude coastal waters.
"Basically, it would endorse a resumption of coastal whaling," Fisher told Reuters, saying the Irish proposal was like a sieve and would not be enforceable.
"It worries us that several countries have become extremely wobbly and their opposition to commercial whaling has become compromised by the (Irish) compromise proposal," Fisher said.
The WDCS said it would be calling for an end to all ongoing whaling activity at the next meeting of the IWC in May.
Date: Sat, 24 Apr, 1999
Status of Killer Whales in Canada
The 1999 annual meeting of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was held last week. At this meeting the Committee voted to list the "resident" population of killer whales in British Columbia as "threatened" and the "transient" population as "vulnerable". The abstract of the report evaluating this species is below, and much of the relevant text can be found at: http://is.dal.ca/~whitelab/rwb/kwstatus.htm
Baird, R.W. 1999. Status of killer whales in Canada. Contract report
to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
Ottawa.
Killer whales can be found in all three of Canada's oceans, as well as occasionally in Hudson Bay and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Little is known about their occurrence or biology in the Atlantic or Arctic, but killer whales appear to be uncommon in most parts of these areas. In the Canadian Arctic and western Atlantic small numbers were killed historically in commercial whaling operations (or shot incidentally to such operations), and small numbers have been documented taken by natives.
Predictable concentrations of killer whales are found in British Columbia (B.C.), and populations in B.C.'s nearshore waters are among the most well-known populations of cetaceans world-wide. Killer whales off the Pacific coast can be classified into two distinct "types" or "forms" (termed residents and transients), which differ in diet (residents feed on fish, transients feed on marine mammals), morphology, genetics and behaviour. The exact taxonomic relationship between these two types is unclear, though some authors have termed them "races", others consider them separate species. Regardless, from both a scientific and management perspective these populations should be treated as distinct.
Within B.C. waters residents appears to be sub-divided into three geographic communities or populations (termed the "northern" and "southern" residents, and "offshore" killer whales), based on association patterns, genetics and morphology. Relatively little is known of the "offshore" population of killer whales. All populations (including transients and the three resident populations) are small (in the low hundreds), and have low potential rates of increase.
No trend information is available for "offshore" or transient killer whales. The "northern" resident population has been growing steadily in size since the 1970s (when live-capture fisheries stopped and shooting declined), while the "southern" resident population has been growing only sporadically, and is currently smaller than the pre-live-capture population estimate from the 1960s. Given the small population sizes and their low potential rates of growth, killer whales are potentially at risk from anthropogenic influences in two primary ways: due to immunotoxic affects of persistent toxic chemicals (levels in "southern" residents are three times higher than levels known to cause immunotoxicity in harbour seals), and due to a reduction in prey availability.
It is also possible that the large and growing commercial and recreational whale watching industry on the west coast may be having an impact, though such impacts are as yet unclear. In terms of natural factors, periodic events such as mass strandings or entrapments in narrow inlets or ice have the potential to drastically reduce local populations. Since virtually all of these factors should impact killer whales throughout Canadian waters, all populations, at the least, should be classified by COSEWIC as Vulnerable, that is, as "species of special concern because of characteristics which make them especially sensitive to human activities or natural events".
As the "southern" resident population is extremely small (89 individuals in 1998), has declined by 10% in the last three years due to an increase in mortality rates (primarily of adult females), is more subject to anthropogenic influences than other populations, and these influences are not expected to decrease in the foreseeable future, it should be listed as Threatened by COSEWIC. Further research, particularly on Arctic, Atlantic and "offshore" populations, is clearly needed.
Robin W. Baird, Ph.D.
e-mail: rwbaird@is.dal.ca
http://is.dal.ca/~whitelab/rwb/robin.htm
http://www.pacificwhale.org
Date: Tue, 27 Apr, 1999
Norway sees Whaling Ban extended by IWC
Oslo, April 26 Reuters - The International Whaling Commission (IWC) looks set to extend a ban on whaling next month despite diminishing world opposition to Norwegian and Japanese hunts, a Norwegian official said on Monday.
"I don't think we can reach a compromise (to allow hunting) at this year's meeting," Norway's whaling commissioner Halvard Johansen told a news conference. The IWC will meet in the Caribbean island of Grenada on May 24-29.
Norway's whalers will start a hunt on May 3 for 753 minke whales, up from a quota of 671 for 1998 and the highest since Norway resumed commercial catches in 1993 in defiance of the IWC's worldwide moratorium.
Oslo saw signs that more and more IWC members were starting to accept whalers' arguments that stocks of minke whales are large enough to allow catches, Johansen said, but key nations like the United States were still strongly opposed.
"The bigger countries must also be willing to compromise," he said.
Johansen said he hoped for progress at the IWC on a proposal by Ireland in 1997 to allow limited commercial whaling in coastal waters while maintaining a ban on international trade in whale products ranging from meat to blubber.
Norway also wants IWC nations to compare slaughter times for whales with those of deer or elk, hoping to show harpooning whales is not a cruel death. Norway says perhaps 80 percent of whales die instantly when hit by an exploding harpoon.
Sweden and Scotland had statistics on killing times for deer and other mammals but seemed reluctant to share them with Norway, he said. The minke is a relatively small whale, growing up to about 10m long.
Johansen was speaking at a showing of a new Norwegian documentary, Bigger than a Whale, portraying the hunt and the coastal societies in north Norway where many families have hunted whales for generations.
He rejected suggestions whale meat, eaten as steaks, was no longer prized in Norway even though frozen whale meat from last year's catch is still on sale in many supermarkets.
"Almost all of last year's catch has been sold," he said.
Norway is also trying to get rid of a blubber mountain built up in recent years by fishermen hoping Oslo would lift a ban on exports to markets including Japan and Iceland. Some of the blubber has been in a freezer since 1987.
"It's getting a bit old," Johansen said.
Norway was trying to encourage whalers to process the blubber into animal feed or into oil. Norway reckons there are about 112,000 minke whales in the north-east Atlantic.
Date: Thu, 29 Apr, 1999
US Changes "Dolphin-Safe" Standards
Boston, Reuters - New US regulations on the labelling of tuna cans issued on Thursday will probably not be noticeable to consumers but they should make a big difference to the tuna fishing industry.
The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has changed the requirements that tuna fishermen must meet to have their products qualify for the "dolphin-safe" label, making it harder in some ways and easier in others.
Under the old regulations, the picture of a leaping dolphin could appear on tuna cans if no dolphins were intentionally captured and killed along with the tuna.
Tuna and dolphins are frequently found in the same waters and the nets that catch tuna can drown dolphins.
If a dolphin was killed unintentionally the label could still be used.
Now, fishermen working in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off the coasts of the Americas will not qualify for the label if any dolphins were killed or injured in the process, even unintentionally, according to Assistant Commerce Secretary Terry Garcia.
However, the changed regulations also will restore a method of fishing known as encirclement to an approved list. The US fishing fleet was prohibited from using encirclement in 1994.
The change was made after a three-year study found that encirclement did not have a significant impact on the dolphins survival and in fact reduced the by-catch of other unwanted species, Garcia said.
Environmental organisations lauded the new standard.
"We're very pleased ... for years now dolphins have been dying and they've been calling it dolphin-safe," said Nina Young, a marine mammal scientist at the Centre for Marine Conservation told Reuters.
"You can't manage these resources, whether they are marine mammals, tuna or other migratory stocks without international cooperation and we're seeing that now," he said.
"We have a solid agreement with countries fishing the Eastern Tropical Pacific that will allow us to accomplish our goal."
Dolphin deaths reached 133,000 in 1986, but after the regulations were put in place in 1992, the number of carcasses dropped to less than 2000 in 1998, the Commerce Department said.
Date: Fri, 30 Apr, 1999
Dolphin Safe? Maybe Not
The Associated Press
That can of tuna on the supermarket shelf might say "dolphin safe", but in reality it may not be.
The Clinton administration, acting at the direction of Congress, gave the go-ahead Thursday for processors and canneries to use the "dolphin-safe" label on tuna caught in large, encircling nets. The controversy centers of the problem that such nets also snare dolphins, which naturally swim amidst schools of tuna.
The Commerce department said there was insufficient evidence to say that this method of catching tuna has had a "significant adverse impact" on the dolphin population.
The use of encircling nets to catch tuna had been thought to kill more than 100,000 dolphins a year and 1990 a ban on the importation of ban of tuna caught by such methods was enacted. That, in turn resulted in all tuna sold in the United States being marked "dolphin safe", a label that has been around for nearly a decade.
The dolphin death toll has declined dramatically to fewer than 3,000 a year, and Congress in 1997 said the entire issue should be re-examined. It lifted the import embargo and directed a review on whether there should be a change in how the label is used.
Terry Garcia, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, said observers on tuna boats still must verify that dolphins were not killed or seriously injured if the tuna is to carry the "dolphin safe" label.
But encirclement, in itself, no longer will bar use of the label, officials said.
"This method of encirclement on the whole is better for the marine environment because it reduces bycatch of other species," Garcia said in an interview.
It was unclear how much impact the change would have on grocery shelves.
Wary of a possible consumer backlash and already facing a glut in the tuna market, the three major tuna processors -- Star-Kist, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee -- have said they would continue using only tuna caught by methods other than encirclement. The three processors share about 90 percent of the U.S. tuna market.
But some conservationists say the change may allow some store-brand tuna to carry a "dolphin-safe" label no matter how the fish is caught, and confuse consumers.
"This will cheapen the label. It will confuse consumers," said John Fitzgerald, who as an environmental lobbyist helped write the legislation in 1990 that led to the "dolphin safe" labeling.
"It's consumer fraud and a death warrant for thousands of dolphins," insisted David Phillips, director of Earth Island Institute's marine mammal project near San Francisco.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, under the 1997 congressional measure, is required to pursue further studies and issue another review in 2002. The report will revisit the idea on whether the use of large encircling nets to catch tuna causes "significant adverse impact"
If they find the impact is significant, the definition of "dolphin safe" may once again change, officials said.
Meanwhile the conservation community is anything but united on the issue.
Some environmentalists as well as lawmakers cite statistics that show the number of dolphins has not increased, although moralities have declined sharply over the past decade.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., wrote Commerce Secretary William Daley earlier this week, urging that the "dolphin label" remain as is "until we ensure that dolphin stocks are actually recovering."
But the lifting of the import embargo and change in labeling criteria has had support from such groups as Greenpeace, the Center for Marine Conservation and the Environmental Defense Fund. They all argue that the usefulness of the U.S. import ban has passed and that further restrictions including the current definition of the label only blocks international action to protect the dolphin and other marine life.
They say that the "dolphin-safe" label as it now is defined stands in the way of international action because other countries, including Mexico, will not participate in dolphin protection unless the U.S. market is reopened without restrictions.
Copyright © 1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Date: Tue, 04 May, 1999
Greenpeace Hunts for Norway Whalers Amid Secrecy
Oslo, Reuters - Greenpeace activists headed for the northern oceans on Tuesday, determined to find Norwegian whalers amid a veil of secrecy surrounding the annual minke whale hunts.
The Norwegian fisheries ministry, fearing actions against hunters by environmental groups, has banned release of any information about the 36 whaling ships spread out off the coast of northern Norway.
"We have found them before and we will find them again," said anti-whaling campaigner Frode Pleym.
"We are not planning to take any actions but we cannot exclude anything," he told Reuters in a satellite telephone interview from the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior II.
Norway's whalers started a hunt at midnight for 753 minke whales, up from a quota of 671 for 1998 and the highest since Norway resumed commercial hunting in 1993 in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's worldwide moratorium.
"We will stay as long as the hunting lasts," Pleym said. He said 14 activists were currently on board the ship.
Norway's whaling season is scheduled to last until August 1.
Date: Tue, 04 May, 1999
Sea Shepherd Returning to Makah Hunt
Patrol vessel will rally anti-whaling forces in Neah Bay, Washington
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is coming back to Neah Bay, Washington, the site of the proposed return to non-subsistence whale hunting in the U.S., on May 5. It's 95-foot high-speed patrol vessel Sirenian, now in Sekiu, will be in Neah Bay Wednesday.
The main body of the annual Eastern Pacific Gray whale migration is passing through the waters of Washington State this month en route to the whales' feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.
"The presence of activists on these waters successfully deterred the Makah Tribal Council and its whaling commission from killing any whales last year," said Sea Shepherd President Paul Watson.
"We have made the case that the whales are citizens of the seas, with the right to pass by this place unharmed, and that inventing a new category of 'cultural whaling' has not given the Makah the right to flout international law and start killing whales with an eye on future commercial trade."
"The people of Northwest Washington have been thoroughly outraged by the federal government's actions and they've done a great job of rallying to the defense of the whales," said Lisa Distefano, Sea Shepherd's Gray Whale Protection Campaign leader.
"Our job now is to provide them with a focal point here, and then pursue this issue to the other places in the world where the short-sighted deal-making of the U.S. administration has created a perceived window of opportunity for all former whaling nations."
In 1997, the International Whaling Commission provided the U.S. with a whale quota - traditionally taken by Alaskan Eskimos - but refused to recognize a subsistence need for the Makah tribe to hunt whales, as required under the U.S. Whaling Convention Act of 1949. The Makah issued themselves a permit to kill Gray whales last fall when the U.S. Department of Commerce unilaterally authorized the whale hunt. A lawsuit challenging that authorization as a violation of international and federal law is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Activists have been keeping the spotlight on the Makah and guarding the whales while the case is pending.
Along with many other international environmental organizations, Sea Shepherd will continue to press the IWC to directly confront the issue of the Makah's unrecognized subsistence whaling need when the Commission meets later this month in Grenada.
"The U.S. has provided the momentum for the final push that will drive the great whales to extinction," Distefano said.
"It began last year in Neah Bay, and we have to stop it wherever it spreads."
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
e-mail: seashepherd@seashepherd.org
Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org
Date: Tue, 04 May, 1999
Mysterious Deaths of Harbor Porpoises
By Heather Dewar, Baltimore Sun
At least 162 bodies found this spring along Atlantic Coast
Marine scientists are mystified by a spate of deaths among harbor porpoises, with the gregarious mammals' carcasses turning up in record numbers along East Coast beaches.
Through mid-April, at least 162 of the small, coast-hugging porpoises were washed ashore, dead or dying, between their wintering spots in North Carolina and their summer grounds in Maine. The number of reported deaths is more than three times last year's 51, and well above the previous record of 103 harbor porpoise deaths reported in 1977. Almost all the deaths have been discovered since early March, experts said.
"This is an extraordinary event. We've never seen anything like it," said Stephen J. Jordan, director of Maryland's Sarbanes Cooperative Oxford Research Laboratory.
"This is more strandings in a month than we'd normally see in a year."
Marine mammal experts with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Smithsonian Institution, Duke University and a half-dozen other institutions will convene an experts' summit in early June to try to unravel the mystery.
"The investigation is ongoing and we don't have any conclusions as yet," said Terry Rowles, coordinator of the marine mammal health and stranding response program for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Through April 20, 19 dead harbor porpoises were found in Maryland waters, said Susan Knowles of the Oxford Research Laboratory. They were found on the Atlantic Coast, mostly near Assateague Island, she said. No carcasses have been found in Maryland since then, and the coastwide tally has declined sharply in the past week, triggering hopes that the deaths are nearing an end.
"A lot of the animals are coming in very decomposed, so the cause of death is difficult to determine," said Rowles.
"Some of the animals come in obviously sick, because their blubber layers are so thin."
In some cases, she said, the animals' deaths were caused by entanglement in fishing gear.
"A very small percentage of them had actual net marks," she said.
An estimated 2,000 harbor porpoises drown each year along the Atlantic Coast after becoming entangled in fishing nets, in spite of an observer program intended to minimize the number of porpoises and other marine animals killed as part of the commercial fishing "bycatch."
The government-paid observers are able to monitor 5 percent to 10 percent of the commercial fishing fleet, said National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Victoria Cornish. ``Ninety percent of what's going on out there, we have no idea,'' she said.
The observers resuscitate porpoises and other netted animals when they can and, when they cannot, tag the animals' bodies and dispose of them at sea, Cornish said.
The tally of dead harbor porpoises does not include tagged animals, NMFS biologists said.
Harbor porpoises, the smallest members of the dolphin family, are listed as a threatened species and are protected by federal law. They are at risk during their annual spring migration and during encounters with commercial fishing nets, biologists said.
The creatures frequently turn up in small bays and harbors, making a soft puffing sound as they surface for air, alone or in pods of up to 10. Most of the East Coast population winters in the Carolinas, where the young are born in spring. Soon afterward, the animals begin a northward migration to their summer haunts, which stretch from Maine to Canada's Bay of Fundy.
© 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A6
Date: Thu, 06 May, 1999
Keiko Settles Into New Life
By Kristin Gazlay - The Associated Press
HEIMAEY, Iceland, -- Steve Claussen stands braced on the sea pen walkway, documenting Keiko the killer whale's behavior as he frolics in the North Atlantic with his favorite blue ball. But when Keiko swims up expectantly, hoping for some play time or a treat, Claussen makes a point of turning away, a pained look on his face.
It's time for tough love for the star of the movie Free Willy, returned with great fanfare seven months ago to the Icelandic waters where he was captured at the tender age of about 2. His trainers' hope is that the 21-year-old whale eventually can be released back into the ocean - something that never before has been attempted with a captive whale. But Keiko must first prove that "heеs an independent dude," trainer Robin Friday says.
"For most animals, food is their primary reinforcement," Friday explains.
"His is human attention. Heеs been so pampered."
Thus, new rules designed to diminish all unnecessary interaction: No eye contact unless Keiko is being asked to do something that furthers his development. No rubdowns or massages just out of affection. And soon, just dead fish piped into the water at mealtimes instead of hand-feedings.
"It's a transition for the staff as much as it is for Keiko," Friday says.
"It's like preparing your child to go out on his own. You've got to cut the strings."
Despite all his months in a natural environment, Keiko still hasn't figured out how to feed himself. He doesn't seem to have grasped the point of the salmon swimming in his sea pen, sheltered on three sides by spectacular 800-foot-high cliffs off the coast of the volcanic Westman Islands.
Jeff Foster, who shuttles back and forth from Oregon to supervise the project, optimistically notes that Keiko's lack of interest in the salmon may just be because he prefers herring. But Friday spells out the more likely reason: Year after year of dependence on humans has blunted Keikoеs natural instincts.
His comments are borne out by what happens moments later when trainer Karen McRea smacks the ocean surface just once with her hand. Keiko immediately pops his head above the water and rests it on a blue plastic raft, the better to be hand-fed frozen fish.
Next up on the path to independence will be graduating Keiko from the relatively small sea pen to a more free-ranging, netted-off area in Klettsvik Bay. The bay pen will provide him with his first contact with the ocean floor and give him a better chance to try to build up the strength he would need to travel the more than 100 miles logged each day by his Icelandic brethren.
Already, Keiko is spending 25 percent more of his time underwater, which is what wild whales prefer, and his dives are deeper and stronger. Events on the ocean side of his pen intrigue him, Foster notes, and he seems to have thrilled to the furious seas that come with Icelandеs punishing winters.
"If we can get him socially integrated with other whales, he has a very good chance of making it on his own," Foster says.
"But we want to take it slowly and carefully. The bottom line is what's best for Keiko."
After his starring role in the 1993 hit movie Free Willy, Keiko languished in a Mexican aquarium for several years until American schoolchildren collected pennies to help save him. Warner Bros. and cellular phone billionaire Craig McCaw contributed millions of dollars to take the whale to an Oregon tank to recuperate from lung infections and warty lesions. His trainers estimate he would have lived only another year in Mexico.
Friday speculates that should Keikoеs progress in Iceland accelerate, he could be released into open waters in six months. But very real obstacles remain.
"We can only teach him so much," Friday acknowledges.
"We can't teach him how to navigate. We can't teach him where the food sources are. Or the social behavior he would need to integrate with a (whale) pod."
Foster says that even if Keiko spends the rest of his days in his bay pen - and male orcas can live anywhere from 40 to 60 years б the experiment could never be deemed a failure.
Keiko is teaching scientists a lot, and the rest of the world perhaps even more.
An education center will be opened in Heimaey soon to tell his story - and just maybe foment further interest in the oceans. And special reports for classrooms and a World Wide Web site maintained by the Ocean Futures Society, which is coordinating the Keiko project, further spread the word. Most notably, his trainers say, Keiko is back where he belongs, in the very waters from which he was plucked almost two decades ago.
Gesturing to the rugged, soaring cliffs and pure, blue-green waters of the Westman Islands, Foster adds pointedly,
"This beats a concrete pool."
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
Date: Fri, 07 May, 1999
Performing killer whale dies in Texas
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) - A two-ton performing killer whale has died at SeaWorld of Texas, park officials said Thursday.
Trainer David Force said preliminary necropsy results on the 17-foot-long whale, named Katerina, indicated she may have died of an infection.
More tests were ordered.
Katerina last performed Sunday. On Monday, her behavior seemed to change, according to Force. A blood sample was taken and the 10-year-old whale was put on antibiotics.
The animal died Wednesday night.
"She's been doing shows for approximately eight years. A very dependable animal. This obviously was a sudden and unexpected situation," Force said.
Katerina had been at the SeaWorld park in Texas for about five years, after being born at SeaWorld's park in Florida, then sent to SeaWorld of Ohio, Force said.
Date: Fri, 07 May, 1999
Isle's hunters land 1st bowhead since '37
Natalie Phillips - Daily News reporter
For the first time in more than 60 years, hunters from the remote Bering Strait island community of Little Diomede have landed a bowhead.
Not many of the tiny island's 175 residents were alive when the last bowhead whale was landed in 1937. Moses and Ruth Milligrock were, and like everyone else Thursday, they were celebrating.
"Excited, excited. Everyone excited," Ruth Milligrock, 74, said in broken English with a giggle.
"This is more than exciting," said Stephen Braund, an anthropologist and author of a book about Bering Sea skin boats.
"It is monumental for them. Kivalina went many decades without landing one, and when they did in 1964, it redefined the community."
"This will revive traditional ceremonies that they haven't had. It will enhance Little Diomede's
status in the Bering Strait. They will share not just within the community, but it will go into a network of Bering Strait communities.
"And it will enhance the role of elders, who know how to do these things," Braund said.
"It couldn't get any better."
Little Diomede Island is a 2-mile-square rocky outcrop too steep for an airstrip and without a single tree. It lies 135 miles northwest of Nome. Mail comes only once a week by ski plane or float plane. Certain times of year, the only access to the island is by helicopter.
Explorers and anthropologists who visited the village in the 1800s noted that the island had an elaborate whaling culture, but by the turn of the century, it had almost disappeared. The Natives still depend almost entirely on a subsistence economy and mostly hunt walrus. The island is noted for its ivory carvers.
The 28-foot-long whale - thought to weigh about 28 tons - was landed Tuesday afternoon about a half-mile off the island's south shore by a six-member crew in a walrus-skin boat captained by Thomas Menadelook Jr. His brother Charles was the harpooner, and his cousin Raleigh Ahkealuk handled the shoulder gun.
Nearly everyone in the village pitched in to get the whale to shore, including high school principal Don Yates.
"It was so hard. When we got done, my arms were quivering," Yates said.
"For something like this, you have to be patient," said 35-year-old Menadelook, who has been hunting bowheads for the past seven years.
"There were some days when I felt like giving up. We saw whales but couldn't get close enough."
There's no one explanation for why it had been so long since the last bowhead was landed or why the hunt almost disappeared, Braund said.
The Yankee whalers decimated the bowhead populations at the turn of the century. The whalers and other explorers brought disease to the village, which took a toll on the island's population.
Those years were followed by tough economic times when whaling equipment was sold and many people left the island.
"In 1969, there was only one shoulder gun on the island," Braund said.
Many anthropologists in the 1960s said the people on the island were not bowhead whale hunters.
The Diomede whalers have always faced unpredictable hunting, Braund said. Ocean currents through the straits are hazardous and ice conditions treacherous.
Politics are also partly to blame, he said. Islanders used to hunt the bowhead-rich waters off Big Diomede Island, only 2.5 miles away but across the international maritime boundary. During the Cold War, the Russian government moved all the Natives off Big Diomede and set up a military base. Residents of Little Diomede still consider the boundary the Iron Curtain, Braund said.
"It's a very real wall to them. They need permission from the Russian government and the State Department to go over there," he said.
The last documented bowhead strike by Little Diomede was 1953, however in 1979, there was an undocumented report of a strike, Braund said. The last documented bowhead landing was 1937, although an unidentified whale was landed in 1938. Villagers kept trying to land whales and maintain their status as bowhead whale hunters.
In 1988, they were recognized by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, but they didn't get the right to kill bowheads by the International Whaling Commission until 1991, Braund said.
He made a presentation at the IWC in Scotland lobbying for recognition of the Little Diomede hunters.
Since then, the Little Diomede hunters have had the right to kill two bowheads a year.
"It finally paid off," Braund said.
"This is the culmination of 20 years or more of political persistence. They just kept gnawing away at it. I think it is really neat."
* Reporter Natalie Phillips can be reached at nphillips@adn.com
Date: Sun, 09 May, 1999
Japan to Expand Hunt for Bottlenose Whales
Note: The species referred to below is the Baird's beaked whale (Berardius bairdii)
Tokyo, [AP] - Japan has decided to lift a ban on hunting bottlenose whales in the Sea of Japan and will allow ships to kill as many as eight there this year, an official from the forestry and fisheries ministry said today.
Japan had limited hunting of bottlenose whales to the Pacific Ocean, off the country's eastern coast, but will now allow ships to pursue whales in waters off the western coast of Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido.
Ships will be allowed to hunt the marine mammals there until the end of June, said the ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Japanese whalers have not hunted bottlenose whales in the Sea of Japan since 1972.
The bottlenose whale falls outside the jurisdiction of the International Whaling Commission, but Japan voluntarily limited its catch to 54 animals from four areas off the Pacific coast last year, the official said. Japan will continue to limit the catch in the Pacific to 54 animals, he said.
The decision to expand whaling to the Sea of Japan was made earlier this year, the official said.
Commercial whaling on the high seas has been banned since 1986. But a small fleet of Japanese ships continues to kill whales along the nation's coasts, and hundreds of whales are hunted at sea each year in what the government calls a research program.
The program has been criticised because meat from whales killed for research is sold for profit by professional whalers.
Japan says bottlenose whales are plentiful in coastal waters in both the Pacific and Sea of Japan.
Anti-whaling groups argue that its difficult to make reliable counts of the animals and that they should not be hunted because they are intelligent.
Two whaling ships left port in the Hokkaido city of Hakodate, 681km north-east of Tokyo, today, for Sea of Japan waters, Japanese news reports said.
The hunt is part of research to determine whether Sea of Japan waters are capable of sustaining whaling, the ministry official said.
Date: Mon, 10 May, 1999
Makah Hunt 10-11 May'99
As of 2:00 pm PDT, The Makah are actively hunting gray whales off the Washington coast. The U.S. Coast Guard has boarded a SEDNA vessel at gunpoint and are detaining the crew. Seattle-area TV stations are covering the hunt live.
IT IS CONFIRMED that the Makah are presently hunting gray whales off the coast of Washington. It is further confirmed that the Makah have struck at least one whale, reportedly a female accompanied by her calf.
It was reported earlier today that the Sea Defense Alliance (SEDNA) attempted to intervene on behalf of the gray whales. The US Coast Guard, acting on a false report filed by members of the Makah tribe, boarded their boat at gunpoint. The false report alleged that SEDNA was in possession of weapons on their boat. Two members of SEDNA, Josh Harper and Jake Conroy, have been arrested by the US Coast Guard and have been charged with 'reckless endangerment' and 'resisting arrest.' The Coast Guard also confiscated SEDNA's inflatable boat.
The remaining SEDNA crew members and their flagship are being illegally detained at present by the US Coast Guard. We are asking for a large number of phone calls to the Coast Guard to voice your feelings on the matter. You may speak with Commander Costner at (360) 645-2236. Demand that they release the SEDNA members and their boat!
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is reportedly dispatching the 'Sirenian' to Neah Bay at present.
3:00 pm PST, the Makah whaling crew is still on the water.
Call the US Coast Guard, share your thoughts with the people at these agencies... make your voices heard!
Coast Guard Seattle: 206 220 7237
NMFS: Brian Gorman, 206 526 6613
4:00 pm PST, the Makah are still on the water, actively hunting gray whales. One strike has been confirmed. No whale fatalities have been reported, although Jonathan Paul of SEDNA reported via cell phone at 3:53pm PST that a harpoon was being thrown at a gray whale (it missed).
7:15 pm PST, 5/10/99
Apparently the hunt is over for the day. The most recent information indicates that the Makah whaling crew was NOT able to kill a gray whale, despite their best efforts. Earlier reports that they had even STRUCK a
whale are now in dispute. Unbelievably, it appears that the gray whales the Makah were hunting managed to dive at precisely the moment they needed to escape!
Two SEDNA members have been placed under arrest for attempting to intervene on behalf of the whales, and at last report, the flagship SEDNA vessel and remaining crew are STILL being detained by the US Coast Guard.
The Makah hunt is the lead story on all of the Seattle area television stations tonight, and if you want to explore the coverage further, you way wish to visit some of the web-sites maintainted by NW Cable News, KIRO, KING or KOMO.
I have put some video stills on a web-site for all to see. They are not the best quality, but they will show some of the drama of the day. To see the caption for each photo, hold your mouse pointer over the picture. You can see them at:
http://www.rockisland.com/~dano/makah.htm
Folks, the front-line troops need your support more now than ever. Please consider a generous donation to one or more of these groups. If you need help making contact with them, please let me know so I may assist. We must win this battle.
Date: Tue, 04 May, 1999
The Makah Began Attempting To Kill Gray Whales Today
From: Sea Defense Alliance (Sedna) Support
The Makah were on the water with their canoe, harpoons, the rifle, the Coast Guard and 3 support powerboats attempting to kill gray whales. The Makah made a false report to the Coast Guard that Sedna crew had aimed a rifle at them and attempted to blow them out of the water. The Coast Guard then boarded all Sedna boats and searched for weapons and safety violations. No weapons or explosives were found, nor were any safety violations found. Nonetheless, the Coast Guard detained the Sedna crews saying they were not under arrest, but also not free to leave. Ultimately, the largest Sedna boat and its crew were released. Sgt. Don Kelly of the Clallam County Sheriff's Office said two Sedna crew were being brought to the Coast Guard station at his request.
However, the Coast Guard detained another Sedna boat and two crew, Jake Conroy and Joshua Harper, and moved them to the Coast Guard station at Neah Bay, where they are still being held now, nine hours later. Reportedly they are being charged with a state offense, a gross misdemeanor, Reckless Endangerment, but are being held while the federal authorities decide whether or not to file any charges.
The Coast Guard and the Clallam County Sheriff's Office have refused to take a criminal complaint from Sedna's attorney against the Makah for filing a false report. It is illegal to make a false report to law enforcement authorities.
The latest weather report says it will begin raining at midnight and the winds will pick up. The Makah have said they intend to hunt at first light tomorrow. They have a whaling permit good for until May 20th.
Sea Shepherd, which was not on the scene today, has now arrived and will be part of the protest tomorrow.
The good news is that the Makah did not kill any whales today. They threw a number of harpoons that missed. There is a report that they harpooned a mother with its calf, but that the harpoon bounced off and did not penetrate the whale's flesh.
Update: From Sea Defense Alliance - 10May'99
Little clarification... I've been talking to Jonathan Paul all day on the SeDnA lead vessel, and they are not now being held. They were detained earlier this afternoon for an hour or so. They were searched for weapons, and none were found - because none were on board.
But, Jonathan and the SeDnA flagship are, as of 6:30 p.m., alive and safe and well.
If anyone needs more information about the Sea Defense Alliance (SeDnA), you can contact me at 916/452-7279. As the only defense group on duty this a.m., they are "sucking wind" - and 2 of their members are in jail.
Cres Vellucci
What You Can Do:
Call the Coast Guard at Neah Bay and ask on what charges Jake and Joshua are being held and demand their release. That number is 360/645-2236. Coast Guard Officer Coster.
Call the Clallam County Commissioners to complain about violations of civil rights and First Amendment rights by its Sheriff's Office. Commissioners' # is 360/257-1761.
Complain to the 13th District Coast Guard Commander, Hasselback in Seattle at 206/217-6185.
Complain to every level of government you can
Call the media to correct the erroneous stories they are putting out (e.g., that the IWC has approved th Makah hunt).
Get up to Neah Bay if possible. Bring food, boats, planes, videocameras, cameras, cell phones, fuel funds, bullet-proof vests, whatever. Keep a close eye on law enforcement and document their moves. They are acting like this is a totalitarian police state and that they, because they have the guns, can act with impunity.
Sedna is still in desperate need of fuel funds, so contribute if you can.
The psychically inclined can work on more bad weather and the grays moving farther offshore.
Date: Mon, 10 May, 1999
Makah Tribe Actively Engaged In A Gray Whale Hunt
From: Project Seawolf
As of this report, the Makah tribe is actively engaged in a gray whale hunt attempt. Throughout the day, reports have come in that one whale was actually hit with a harpoon but not fired upon by riflemen in the pursuit boat. KING 5 TV and KIRO News & have run aerial videotape of at least 2 harpooning attempts from the canoe. All that is clear is that, as of sunset Monday evening, no whale has yet been landed.
Earlier this evening I spoke with Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd, who has moved the "Sirenian" to Sekiu in preparation for tomorrow's hunting efforts. Earlier today, another anti-whaling group had their boats seized and detained on alleged charges of "reckless endangerment," suspected firearms possessions and violations of the Coast Guard established exclusion zone. Coast Guard personnel boarded these activist's vessels with drawn weapons and 2 of the activists were arrested and detained at Clallam County jail. Canadian boats and some other US independents are reported to be arriving this evening.
The vessel launch is apparently being staged from the backroads far south of the Makah reservation. From our previous surveillance, it appears that the launch points may be at beaches near the coordinates 48.14.89N/124.41.74W or 48.12.56N/124.41.62W. This means that the vessels are being brought in by road along Makah Bay Road or the Ozette-Neah Bay Road. This is particularly concerning because under these circumstances, since the ability for activists to find and monitor all these locations is virtually impossible.
There are reports of a small craft gale advisory for tomorrow, but if the weather is clear, it is clearly expected that a hunt -- very possibly a successful one -- will occur tomorrow or the day after.
At this point, all avenues must be explored. SeaWolf is formally contacting the CITES secretariat by fax this evening asking them to demand that the US Commerce Department call an immediate cessation of this hunt, until it can be determined whether the US has violated CITES regulations by allowing the trade of endangered bowhead whales for these gray whales. We are not certain whether this will work, but if this can be achieved by tomorrow morning, it may possibly derail the hunt until the spring migration ends.
At this point, every effort must be made to block the killing of a first whale.
We will continue reporting as information comes in....
Michael Kundu
Email: SeaWolf@foxinternet.net
http://web3.foxinternet.net/seawolf
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
The Makah On The Water Again
From: Washington Citizen's Coastal Alliance (WCCA)
The Makah were on the water again this morning, actively hunting gray whales. SEDNA, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the West Coast Anti-Whaling Society are all on-site to counter the Makah efforts.
Seattle-area media have just reported that the hunt may be "off" for the day, due to worsening weather.
Streaming video is available from yesterday's Makah action. You can access it at:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/KING/240592.asp
Final note: The Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales are ratcheting up their protests at the Makah reservation border. They will be on-site today at noon, and are planning a larger protest this Saturday at 1:00pm. PLEASE make an effort to join them in expressing outrage over this illegal hunt. They will be meeting at Olson's Resort in Sekiu at 11:00am. Contact: Chuck Owens (360) 928-3048
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
Sea Defense Alliance Activists Arraigned In Clallam County Court
From: Sea Defense Alliance (Sedna)
URGENT NEWS ADVISORY
Port Angeles, WA - Two anti-whaling activists from the environmental protection group Sea Defense Alliance will be arraigned at Clallam County Superior Court (223 East St.4th St) Tuesday at 1 p.m. on charges of assault.
Jacob Conroy and Joshua Harper, who were detained by U.S. Coast Guard vessels about 1 p.m. Monday on their 19-foot zodiac as it protested the whale hunt by the Makah, were moved about 11 p.m. Monday night to Clallam County Jail from the Neah Bay Coast Guard Station.
Both activists said Tuesday they are not guilty, and have begun a hunger strike.
Their attorney complained Monday night that the activists were being held illegally, and that their civil rights were being violated.
"These Sea Defense Alliance activists only sought to protect the whales from Makah harpoons and their .50 caliber anti-tank gun," said Helga Kahr, a Seattle attorney for the Gray Whale Legal Action Team.
Ms Kahr said that Makah made a "false report" to the Coast Guard that SeDnA crew, who are committed to nonviolence, aimed rifles at the Makah canoe. The Coast Guard search of SeDnA boats uncovered no weapons.
Members of the Sea Defense Alliance, after patrolling the coastal waters early Tuesday, will be in court to testify to false claims by the Makah and the Coast Guard.
Latest Update On Arrested Sedna Members
Jacob Conroy and Joshua Harper, the two SEDNA members taken into custody by the US Coast Guard, made their court appearance in Port Angeles this afternoon. It was originally reported that the two were being charged with 'first degree assault'- a felony - but were actually charged with 'reckless endangerment'- a misdemeanor - and released on their own recognizance. However, a restraining order has also been issued, forbidding them from traveling west of Port Angeles. This means they have been denied the opportunity to return and continue the fight at Neah Bay.
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
Australia's Oceans Policy - A World First
CANBERRA, Australia [WID News] - Funding in the Federal Budget 1999-2000 will see the Howard Government deliver its undertaking to establish the world's first comprehensive, national plan to protect and manage oceans.
In the lead up to the October 1998 election, the Government committed itself to the development and implementation of an oceans policy for Australia.
On 23 December 1998, the Government released Australia's Oceans Policy and announced the allocation of $50 million over three years for a range of actions associated with its implementation. $20 million of this is contingent on the sale of the next tranche of Telstra.
The 1999/2000 Budget sees the Government meeting that commitment with expenditure for the implementation of Australia's Oceans Policy.
As a nation we have responsibility for one of the world's largest Exclusive Economic Zones. Among the key initial actions to be undertaken are:
- developing Regional Marine Plans, beginning with the south eastern region of Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
- improving understanding of the marine environment through environmental baseline surveys, sustainability indicators, monitoring and improved assessment of the impacts of commercial and recreational activities - these will be targeted to support the development of Regional Marine Plans;
- increasing support for the declaration and management of new marine reserves in Commonwealth waters;
- support for the development of a single national ballast water management system;
- trials to treat acid sulfate soil problem areas;
- a national moorings programme for sensitive marine areas;
- measures to increase the effectiveness of surveillance and enforcement of illegal fishing in Australia's marine jurisdiction; and
- the phased withdrawal of the use of toxic organotin (TBT) anti-fouling paints.
With the launch of Australia's Oceans Policy in December and the funding from today's Budget, the Howard Government is making clear its commitment to ensuring the long term health and productivity of Australia's oceans and long term security for all ocean users.
Media contact: Rod Bruem Tel: +61 2 62777640 Mobile: 0411 128 582
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
Departure of Free Willy Saddens Town
By Jeff Barnard of the Associated Press
Newport, Oregon, (AP) - The tank where Keiko the killer whale once swam at the Oregon Coast Aquarium has been drained and filled with a crane and construction workers transforming it into a new exhibit.
Keiko T-shirts are 25 percent off at the gift shop. A brewery next door has shipped its last case of Keiko Root Beer.
And Deb Clark's fifth-graders at Sam Chase Elementary School no longer feel like visiting the aquarium, now that their favourite attraction is thousands of kilometres away in Iceland.
"He was almost like a person, another friend," said 10-year-old Yuanbo Liu.
"I don't think I'll ever forget him."
Though he was at the aquarium for less than three years to recover from the ills of warm-water captivity in a Mexican amusement park, the star of the 1993 movie Free Willy worked his way into Newport's hearts, and pocketbooks.
Seven months since he flew to Iceland, the next stop in his odyssey to cold-water freedom, even people who had been cynical about what the whale came to mean to the small coastal town confess to missing him.
Sitting in his Big Guy's Diner, Mayor Mark Jones said things have slowed on the tourism side of Newport's economy, but not all was lost with the whale. A new Burger King opened. A beachside hotel is under construction. The academic and government labs connected with the Hatfield Marine Science Centre are thriving.
"The whale was like being a star," he said.
"Right now, we don't have the leading part. But we're getting a lot of bit parts and keeping busy."
During Keiko's first year in town, aquarium attendance doubled to 1.3 million. But it gradually tapered off as everyone expected it would. Projections for this year are 725, 750 people, still 22 percent more than before Keiko arrived.
Construction workers are pouring concrete that will divide Keiko's tank into three ocean habitats. When the attraction opens in summer 2000, visitors will walk through an underwater acrylic tunnel as sharks swim by. Aquarium President Phyllis Bell expects attendance to return to Keiko levels.
Since Keiko left town, the organisation dedicated to his care, the Free Willy Keiko Foundation, has vacated its offices and is merging with the Jean-Michel Cousteau Institute of Santa Barbara, California.
Keiko's departure did not leave Newport without whales. On the waterfront, tourists can view an orca mural on the side of a fish plant or board a tour boat to watch grey whales spouting in the ocean.
In April, a pod of killer whales regularly swims right into Yaquina Bay, reminding people that life in the wild and life in a tank are different.
"There are fairly graphic displays, coming up with a sea lion sideways in their mouths in front of the Abbey Street pier, going crunch and spewing blood and people getting physically ill," said Bruce Mate, an Oregon State University professor at the Hatfield Marine Science Centre.
Yuanbo Liu will remember Keiko not as a killer, but as a playmate. Appearing in a Jean-Michel Cousteau documentary after winning an essay contest, she became the envy of her classmates by playing tag with Keiko in Newport and watching him splash down in his Iceland sea pen.
"I think he'll be happier there than in some small tank here," she said.
Folding sweatshirts at the Wind Drift Gallery on the bayfront, Kevin Sandbo recalled that his cynical heart was won over when he and his wife went to see Keiko on his last night in town. When the lights dimmed to signal people it was closing time, Keiko took a last turn by each of the three underwater windows.
"It was like he was saying, 'Goodbye, I'm going home'," Sandbo said.
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
Makah Harpoon Misses First Whale
By Scott Sunde, Paul Shukovsky And Mike Barber - Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporters
NEAH BAY -- For the first time in 70 years, a Makah Indian stood in the bow of a hand-crafted cedar canoe yesterday and threw an 11-foot harpoon at a gray whale. It missed. But the attempt connected the tribe to roots stretching back centuries and marked a return to whaling, which has been banned in the lower 48 states for more than two decades.
The hunt -- much anticipated on the Makah Reservation and much reviled among animal-rights groups -- will likely continue for weeks to come. And so will the controversy it has generated. Two protesters were detained for questioning by the Coast Guard and then arrested last night for investigation of first-degree assault, said Clallam County Undersheriff Joe Martin said. The two men had tangled with Makah whalers on the waters off the Olympic Peninsula.
Makah whaler Theron Parker gets ready to throw his harpoon at a gray whale. The whale dived, and the harpoon missed in yesterday afternoon's tense renewal of an old tradition. The tribe's canoe, known as the "Hummingbird," came close enough to a gray whale just before 4 p.m. that crewman Theron Parker threw his harpoon.
Protesters then moved in, encircling the Hummingbird. Their harassment forced it and an accompanying motor boat to move north, closer to Neah Bay, to an area where the Coast Guard offered protection from protesters.
"We won today. The whales won today because they did not get one," said Jonathan Paul of the protest group Sea Defense Alliance.
Although the crew returned to Neah Bay empty handed, tribal leaders are confident of their chances. Migrating grays will be off the coast for days to come.
"They'll be swimming around here for another month," said John McCarty, a tribal member and former chairman of the Makah whaling commission.
The tribe may resume hunting this morning, with protesters again promising to intervene. But unlike yesterday's glassy seas, worsening weather may postpone the hunt. Gale warnings were posted for the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Winds off the coast are expected to reach 30 knots, and swells are expected to be 8 feet.
The hunt began yesterday, on a calm, warm morning. The boats -- a specially made canoe hewn from red cedar, and an accompanying motor vessel -- started their hunt about near Ozette, the ancient village where Makah whale hunts of old began. The hunters passed Shi-Shi Beach and Father and Son Rock at the Olympic National Park. Then the tribal crew neared Wedding Rocks, where Indian hunting parties of centuries past left carvings in huge boulders. Among the images are whales.
As gray whales neared, six tribal members in Hummingbird paddled so furiously that they created a wake. Later, they got reinforcements from the motor vessel, bringing the canoe's crew to seven. It can hold 11.
Nearby was a vessel from the National Marine Fisheries Service. A government biologist on board was there to witness the hunt and to perform a necropsy on the whale.
By midafternoon, the crew began to stalk yet another gray whale, trailing the animal as it dived, then came up for air. At 3:55 p.m., the hunters were practically on top of the whale as Parker stood and hurled the harpoon. He overthrew the whale but not by much. It was the crew's best chance of the day.
Throughout the afternoon whales glided tantalizingly close to the canoe, puffing mist into the air as they surfaced. At times, the crew would stop paddling and wait for a whale to spout, only to be disappointed when it would resurface in an entirely different direction.
Nearby, on a small power boat, crew member Donnie Swan waited in a wet suit. His job was to dive into the ocean and sew the whale's mouth shut after it was dead so that it would not sink. On the same boat was Wayne Johnson, captain of the whalers, who stood ready to fire a .577-caliber gun to dispatch the whale after it had been harpooned.
As the hunters worked, the Makah reservation took on a new air.
"It's exciting," said tribal Chairman Ben Johnson Jr. "We have been waiting a long time."
"To me, it would be a good feeling for the Makah to get that whale and bring it back to shore," added McCarty, a member of a family with a long tradition of whaling.
"I've talked about our ancestors who through all the years were whale hunters. That is a missing part of our lives. Now it is part of our lives again."
As the hunt continued, people stayed near radio scanners, waiting for word of success and where the carcass would be hauled.
A Coast Guard boat tows a protester's inflatable away from the whale hunt area during yesterday's confrontation. Two protesters were detained. As word of the hunt spread, the anti-whaling groups also began to mobilize. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was in Friday Harbor with his vessel Sirenian. He arrived in Neah Bay aboard the Sirenian last night.
Up the coast were two vessels of the Sea Defense Alliance, which describes itself as a militant environmental and animal-rights group. The boats had been waiting outside Neah Bay yesterday and shadowed the tribal motor boat.
"We knew they were going out there. We were waiting for them," said Paul, of the Sea Defense Alliance.
The two boats of the animal-rights group played a cat-and-mouse game with the tribe's motorboat until the Coast Guard interceded. Responding to reports that guns were being brandished aboard the alliance
boats, armed Coast Guardsmen boarded the larger of the two vessels. Ed Kaetzel, a Coast Guard spokesman, said no guns were found. But a Coast Guard helicopter observed instances of interfering with a whaling boat and navigating too closely to another vessel. They remain under investigation.
Paul denied that guns had been brandished and said that the Coast Guard had detained two of his group's members.
Late yesterday afternoon, Clallam County deputies escorted the two protesters, Jake Conroy, 23, of Seattle and Josh Harper, 24, of Eugene, Ore., to the Coast Guard station at Neah Bay. Undersheriff Martin said his office would recommend they be charged with felony assault. He refused to describe what they were accused of doing.
Clallam County Sheriff Joe Hawe said earlier that his office was investigating reports that demonstrators shot a warning flare over the tribal canoe.
"We did it for the whales!" Harper said as he and Conroy were driven away from Neah Bay by Clallam County sheriff's officers.
The protesters' largest vessel, the Bulletproof, was joined yesterday afternoon by two inflatable boats from British Columbia. The three boats circled the canoe and tried to scare off whales.
Johnson, the Makah whaling crew captain, complained last night that protesters were "shooting flares at the canoe, they were shooting fire hoses at us."
Meanwhile, tribal police in Neah Bay were preparing to close the reservation to keep the protesters out, said Lionel Adhunko, tribal police chief.
"The tribal membership will come down to wherever the whale is towed in. There will be a ceremony; outsiders will be kept out," Adhunko said.
"This is a tribal cultural thing, and that's where it will stay."
Yesterday afternoon, protesters began arriving at Neah Bay, promising a demonstration today.
Should the tribe take a whale it likely will tow it to a secluded beach. In a ceremony for tribal members only, sacred songs and dances will be performed. Whaling captain Wayne Johnson will have the honor of butchering the whale. The first piece he will dry and decorate. Other choice pieces will go to members of the whaling crew. Other tribal members will get the rest.
Trucks with large ice chests will ferry the meat into town for refrigeration. The tribe will produce whale oil by rendering in dozens of large pots that have been collected over the winter.
The Makahs, whose whaling tradition stretches back 1,000 years or more, ended its hunts in the 1920s when commercial whalers had devastated the species. But gray whales have rebounded, so growing in numbers that the U.S. government took them off the endangered species list in 1994.
In 1997, the International Whaling Commission agreed to let the Makah Tribe resume whaling. Tribal members can kill up to 20 whales through the year 2002. [ THIS STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE. - Ed. see ALERT ]
The controversy that the whaling has caused remains troubling for some tribal members. McCarty said he had mixed feelings about the hunt. He was glad the tribe was resuming its tradition, but worried about the repercussions, including a loss of federal funds.
"I think there are lot of people that are against the Makah killing the whale -- more than those that support our culture and our way of life," McCarty said.
"I've got mixed feelings whether it's worth it. As soon as we harpoon that whale and he's dead, our funding will be dead."
For the Makah, hunting whales has deep cultural and spiritual meaning. Whalers were honored members of the tribe, and the act of hunting, butchering and eating a whale was heaped in ritual. Tribal leaders saw a resumption of the hunts as a way to strengthen ties with the past and its cultural values. Besides, tribal leaders noted, a treaty signed in 1855 reserved the Makah right to hunt whales.
The tribe stuck on the northwest corner of the lower 48 states was all but forgotten for decades. But last year, the world discovered the Makah Tribe. Animal-rights activists gathered outside Neah Bay last summer and for much of the fall, promising to stop any hunt and, at all costs, protect the whales.
An intended fall hunt was filled with stops and starts. There were practice paddles, but never a hunt. An internal dispute crippled the crew.
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
The Makah Hunt Again
From Jim Robertson
Newsradio 1450-KONP Full Report
Neah Bay -- Makah Indians are going out for another day of whale hunting from Neah Bay. The water is smooth this morning and there's a light overcast. During yesterday's hunt the Indians threw the harpoon, but a whale dived away.
Two anti-whaling activists were taken into custody by the Coast Guard for harassing the Indians. The Clallam County Sheriff's Department says two Oregon residents, 23-year old Jacob Conroy and 24-year old Josh Harper, were arrested for investigation of felony assault. Sheriff's officials say the two threw smoke bombs near the whaling boats and shot chemical fire extinguishers into the faces of the Makah whalers. In addition, they allegedly fired flares over the bow of the Makah canoe and threatened the lives of the whalers.
The Sheriff's department transported the men to Port Angeles for a court appearance. Officials say the two protestors arrested yesterday were members of the Sea Defense Alliance. Around noon yesterday, the Makah tribe issued a 10-day permit to take a whale, which invokes a 500-yard exclusionary zone around the whaling canoe and keep the protest vessels at bay. Under the tribe's arrangement with the Coast Guard, the Makah have the right to declare the zone for safety reasons.
Meantime, an anti-whaling group was moving a ship to Neah Bay to join the protest against the Makah whale hunt. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its patrol vessel Sirenian was proceeding to Neah Bay and expected to arrive last night. A Sea Shepherd press release said the group considered the Coast Guard's detention of the whale activists as outrageous and indefensible. The group says they will do whatever is necessary to protect the whales.
Date: Tue, 11 May, 1999
Fisheries Board Sacked Over Dolphin Carnage
By Murray Hogarth, Environment Editor, Sydney Morning Herald
Revelations of dolphin deaths and maimings in an experimental fishery led to the sacking yesterday of the entire board of the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority.
At least nine dolphins died and 76 were injured between May and October last year, during a pilchard netting trial off the Sunshine Coast which was supervised by the authority.
Allegations against its staff have since been referred to Queensland's Criminal Justice Commission and the State Ombudsman by a local general practitioner and sport-fishing enthusiast, Dr Evan Jones.
The Office of the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions also has been asked to advise the Minister for the Environment, Senator Hill, whether the Whale Protection Act has been breached.
The pilchard trial used "purse-seine" nets, a controversial technique banned in about 90 per cent of the world's fisheries, and not generally allowed in Queensland.
Purse-seine netting involves surrounding an entire school of the target catch and then drawing the net closed below them, trapping everything inside. Dolphins, which feed on the pilchards, can either panic and drown, or be hurt while escaping.
The dolphin scandal was exposed by Dr Jones, environmentalists and the big recreational fishing organisation Sunfish. They accused the authority of misleading the Queensland Minister for Primary Industries, Mr Henry Palaszczuk, over the deaths.
The Queensland Cabinet took an urgent vote yesterday to remove the authority's five-member board. Mr Palaszczuk promised it was "the first step" in an overhaul of fisheries management.
One board member, the chairman of the Queensland Commercial Fishermen's Organisation, Mr Ted Loveday, made public his resignation before the sackings.
His resignation letter to Mr Palaszczuk, dated May 6, cited the "incidental drowning" of nine dolphins and other concerns over the pilchards trial as his reasons for quitting.
But Mr Loveday said the board had been unaware of the deaths until February, and maintained that its actions would withstand any scrutiny.
Date: Wed, 12 May, 1999
Maintaining Australia's lead in Antarctic Research
CANBERRA, Australia [WID News] - The Howard Government has delivered on its pre-election commitment to maintain Australia's leading role in Antarctic research and conservation.
$95.3 million has been allocated for the Commonwealth's Antarctic programme in 1999-2000, which will fund continuing research and conservation efforts as well as important new transport arrangements.
"Continuing high quality marine research is vital if Australia is to maintain its efforts to secure international agreement on conservation measures and to ensure harvesting of the region's resources occurs in a sustainable manner," Environment Minister Senator Robert Hill said.
"Better knowledge of the Southern Ocean area, including the sea-ice zone, is also required to develop our understanding of the important role Antarctica plays in the global climate and weather systems."
Senator Hill said a further funding will be set aside in 2000-01 to enable the Australian Antarctic Division to put in place new shipping arrangements when the current charter of the icebreaker, Aurora Australis, expires next year.
The shipping tender process will examine multi-ship options, in keeping with the Government's election commitment to examine more flexible and efficient operational support for the Antarctic programme.
A scoping study looking at air transport options between Australia and Antarctica is also due to be completed at the end of July, in line with the Government's pre-election commitment.
Senator Hill said the Government would also continue its vigilance and efforts to protect the Australian fishing zone around Heard Island from illegal fishing.
Media contact: Rod Bruem Tel: +61 2 62777640 Mobile: 0411 128 582
Date: Sat, 15 May, 1999
Today in Neah Bay
8:35 A.M.:
- MAKAH WHALE HUNT IS ON
- A Handful Of U.S. and Canadian Citizens are the only thing preventing outrageous, illegal hunt of Gray Whales in the waters of Neah Bay, Washington, United States
- HIGHWAY BLOCKADED
- Makah's corrupt top cop still on the job despite U.S. Govt. warning: No more funding while a convicted felon remains your chief of police
- NOAA boat, 2 Coast Guard cutters, 3 planes, 2 helicopters are trying to help Makah kill whales.
- Whalers using a speed boat, kill boat, and canoe
- Whale struck once with harpoon
10:10 A.M.:
- Sea Shepherd zodiac got between whale and canoe, blocked a harpoon shot
- Zodiac chased off a kill boat
- Sea Shepherd activists in zodiac arrested & released
- Sea Shepherd zodiac seized
- Sea Shepherd supporter Scott Hopper taken into custody
11:10 A.M.:
- Moving "exclusionary zone" in effect
- Makah have failed in numerous attempted harpoon strikes
- One shot from .50-cal fired at diving whale
- Sea Defense Alliance charged with coming too close to a whale (irony noted!)
- SeDnA boat seized
- SeDnA returning with another boat
- Coast Guard targeting Sea Shepherd patrol vessel Sirenian: "You make one false move and we've got us a new boat."
1:35 P.M.:
- Puyallup tribal canoe is on the water and being allowed to violate exclusionary zone with impunity...so much for the Coast Guard's "safety concerns."
2 P.M.:
- PROTESTERS BLOCKADING HIGHWAY INTO NEAH BAY
- Another land protest at the reservation on Sunday at 1 p.m.. To participate call: (360) 317-6345 or (360) 928-3048
They will continue hunting every day until they kill a whale whales and the first amendment are in immediate peril
THE COAST GUARD IS TAKING POLITICAL PRISONERS
PROTEST! Call or fax the Coast Guard:
Tel: (360) 645-2236
Tel: (206) 220-7235
Fax: (206) 220-7245
Footage on: King-5 - Northwest Cable News - NBC.com
Interviews on: Talkspot.com
For more info: Safepassage.com
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
e-mail: seashepherd@seashepherd.org
Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org
Date: Mon, 17 May, 1999
Indian Tribe kills first Gray Whale in 70 years
Seattle, Reuters - Makah Indians killed their first gray whale in more than 70 years on Monday, using hand-thrown harpoons and a large-calibre rifle to successfully conclude a weeklong hunt aimed at reinvigorating cultural traditions.
Shortly after dawn, members of the Makah whaling team paddled into the Pacific Ocean off the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in their hand-built dugout canoe and began the kill by throwing a 3.3 metre harpoon.
Television pictures showed a tribal motorboat circling the wounded beast and another member of the hunting party firing at least one shot from a .50-calibre rifle.
Environmentalists have been outraged by the hunt, which was conducted under a quota granted by the International Whaling Commission in 1997. [Incorrect. The IWC has not granted a quota. ed] The tribe has the right to kill up to 20 whales over five years, the National Marine Fisheries Service said.
Over the weekend, when tribal members harpooned a whale but failed to wound it seriously, activists used their boats to try to intercede. The Coast Guard, enforcing a 500-metre exclusionary zone around the whalers' boats, arrested several people and confiscated their boats.
Makah leaders have said they intended to bring the whale ashore, butcher it and distribute meat and blubber to tribal members.
Environmentalists contended the hunt is the beginning of an effort by the tribe to reopen commercial whaling, a charge tribal leaders denied.
The Makah tried to land a whale in October 1998 but finally called off the hunt due to deteriorating weather conditions. The hunt resumed last week as the whales clustered off the coast in their spring migration to the north.
Date: Tue, 18 May, 1999
Japan denies Hunts endanger Porpoise Population
Tokyo, AP - Responding to complaints that the Japanese are over-hunting dolphins in the Sea of Japan, the government said the take is "properly controlled" and within safe limits.
The plight of the Dall's porpoises gained attention last week when an environmental group said the yearly hunt of 18,000 animals imperils the species' ability to sustain its population, which is estimated at 440,000.
The non-governmental, London-based Environmental Investigation Agency also said the porpoises are being killed so they can be sold to Japanese consumers as whale meat at considerable profit.
Japan's Fisheries Agency responded Monday by calling the yearly take "a sustainable level ... based on scientific standards".
"The EIA's alleged claim of overcatching has no basis whatsoever," the agency said in a statement.
It said the yearly catch was set with the knowledge of the International Whaling Commission, which said the number was appropriate given population estimates.
Last week, the Environmental Investigation Agency said the porpoise population was in danger unless Japan agreed to reduce its catch to 10,000, as the commission recommended in 1990.
The agency dismissed the claims as those of a "radical" environmental group meddling in Japan's internal affairs by seeking to bar Japanese from enjoying a traditional delicacy.
"The government (of Japan) cannot accept the ethnocentrism of foreign green groups who try to deny Japanese tradition and culture by imposing their own standard upon its nationals," it said.
Japanese officials often rely on cultural arguments to defend domestic interest groups, particularly in agriculture and fishing.
Whale meat first became widely available in Japan at the beginning of this century.
Hunting of Dall's porpoises peaked in 1987, after an international moratorium on whale hunting sent dolphin meat prices soaring in Japan. More than 40,000 porpoises were caught that year.
Date: Tue, 18 May, 1999
Us Indian Tribe Kills First Gray Whale In 70 Years
Neah Bay, Washington, (Reuters) - Makah Indians killed their first gray whale in more than 70 years on Monday, using hand-thrown harpoons and a powerful .50-calibre rifle to conclude successfully a weeklong hunt they said was intended to reinvigorate cultural traditions.
Shortly after dawn, seven members of the Makah whaling team paddled in a hand-carved cedar canoe up to a whale in the Pacific Ocean off the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and began the kill by throwing a 3.3-metre harpoon.
Television footage showed a tribal motorboat circling the wounded whale and another member of the hunting party firing at least one shot from a .50-calibre rifle. A fishing boat later was seen towing the dead whale by the tail, headed for a traditional tribal ceremony on shore to celebrate the kill.
The whaling team then was expected to butcher the whale and distribute meat and blubber to the tribe's 2200 members.
After being hunted nearly to extinction in the 1920s, the gray whale has made a comeback and was removed from the endangered species list in 1994.
In the tiny town of Neah Bay, there was a festive atmosphere as tribal members closed their businesses and waited in a steady downpour of rain for the whale to be brought to shore.
"I didn't think we had it in us, but the canoers proved us wrong," said tribe member Dan Cook, who was sitting on a lawn chair under a makeshift shelter.
"They are carrying out the tradition of our heritage and our tribe."
Tribal council Chairman Ben Johnson said in a statement:
"May 17 will go down in history as one of the greatest days for the Makah."
Under a quota granted by the International Whaling Commission in 1997, the tribe has the right to kill up to 20 whales over five years. Johnson stressed that the tribe's right to hunt whales was guaranteed by a treaty signed with the US government in 1855.
Environmental activists, who had tried hard to disrupt the hunt, said they were outraged by the kill. ``There is nothing traditional about what they're doing out there,'' said Paul Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. ``I think their ancestors would certainly be ashamed of what they're doing.''
The society's 29-metre former Coast Guard cutter Sirenian was one of the few anti-whaling boats left on the water. Over the weekend, the US Coast Guard confiscated four boats operated by environmental activists and cited their operators with unsafe boating or violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act by coming to close to the whales, Petty Officer Jay Bigelow said.
The latest hunt began on May 10 as whales clustered off the coast in their spring migration north. Tribal members managed to harpoon a whale for the first time on Saturday but failed to wound it seriously. Local authorities arrested two activists who attempted to get between the hunters and the whales in order to prevent the kill.
Johnson, who was in Grenada for a meeting of the International Whaling Commission, said he was thankful there were no injuries in the tense atmosphere of the hunt.
"We recognise that because of differences in cultural values and knowledge, many people do not understand our need to continue with the tradition of whale hunting, thus creating a conflict between them and the Makah," Johnson said.
Johnson also said the Makah appreciated the support of other Northwest Indian tribes, many of whom sent contingents to help with the hunt.
The Makah tried to land a whale during last fall's migration, but called off the hunt after several weeks due to poor weather conditions.
Date: Wed, 19 May, 1999
High-tide hopes for Trapped Dolphins
Auckland, NZPA - Conservation staff are hoping a pod of 42 dolphins trapped in a shallow Auckland creek -- possibly after fleeing orca -- will escape on the 11pm high tide.
The bottlenose dolphins were circling in a small stretch of Lucas Creek, Albany, after being trapped by a falling tide and a weir this afternoon.
Conservation officers said the pod was becoming increasingly restless in the two hours before the high tide, which would provide enough water to get them back over the weir.
The pod, including several small juveniles, travelled five kilometres up the creek from the upper Waitemata Harbour just after lunch. There were no sightings of them being chased but a pod of about 20 orca was seen in the upper harbour, near Hobsonville, this morning.
The orca were seen leaving the harbour about 1.30pm. Conservation officer Simon Mowbray said orca sometimes preyed on dolphins.
At the mid-afternoon low tide the dolphins were swimming in metre-deep water in the creek, which was only five metres wide. Scores of Albany residents lined the banks of the creek, near the bottom of Wharf Rd, through the afternoon and early evening, but on advice from the Conservation Department they kept out of the water to save the dolphins from further stress.
One of the first on the scene, Albany community constable Paul Gray, said he helped residents free one dolphin wedged between a rock and the creek bank.
Another young dolphin was accidentally flipped on to the muddy bank as the pod circled and had to be put back in the water. Tonight a third had to be freed from the shallows.
Mr Mowbray said some of the dolphins were showing distress through their movements and high-pitched squeaks, but waiting for the high tide was the only solution.
Residents were asked to keep noise levels down to avoid stressing the animals and media helicopters were asked to stay away.
Date: Wed, 19 May, 1999
Dolphins Escape on High Tide
Auckland, NZPA - A pod of 42 dolphins trapped for nine hours in a shallow Auckland creek -- possibly after fleeing from orca -- escaped on a rising tide tonight.
The bottlenose dolphins headed back into the upper Waitemata Harbour just before 9pm after spending the afternoon 5km upstream in Lucas Creek, Albany.
Most of the pod made their own move back to safety but conservation staff in a dinghy had to coax some back over the weir in the creek, which had trapped the dolphins when the tide fell this afternoon.
Conservation officers will check the harbour tomorrow to confirm the dolphins' escape.
The pod, including several small juveniles, travelled up the muddy, mangrove-lined creek just after lunch.
No one sighted them being chased, but a pod of about 20 orca was seen in the upper harbour, near Hobsonville, this morning.
The orca were seen leaving the harbour about 1.30pm.
Conservation officer Simon Mowbray said orca sometimes preyed on dolphins.
Another theory was that the pod had been on a leisurely, lunchtime fishing expedition when they got caught by the tide and the weir.
At the mid-afternoon low tide, the dolphins were swimming in metre-deep water in the creek, which was only 5m wide.
Scores of Albany residents lined the banks of the creek, near the bottom of Wharf Rd, through the afternoon and early evening. On advice from the Conservation Department they kept out of the water to prevent the dolphins suffering further stress.
One of the first on the scene, Albany community constable Paul Gray said he helped local residents free one dolphin wedged between a rock and the creek bank.
Another young dolphin was accidentally flipped on to the muddy bank as the pod circled and had to be put back in the water.
Tonight a third had to be freed from the shallows.
Mr Mowbray said some of the dolphins were showing distress through their movements and high-pitched squeaks, but waiting for the high-tide had been the only option.
Date: Wed, 19 May, 1999
A Whale for the Killing
From Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Makah and feds reap the whirlwind; IWC must act
When the prolonged, agonizing destruction of a 3-year-old Gray whale in U.S. waters was broadcast live into several million living rooms in the Pacific Northwest on the morning of May 17, people suddenly "got it" about the Makah Indian tribe's whale hunt.
The sight of National Marine Fisheries Service personnel and a paid Alaskan Inuit engaging in the "ceremonial" butchery of the Makah's long-sought whale virtually alone (at one point calling out to the crowd, "Hey, we need some Makah over here!") did not help the tribe's cause. Makah whaling captain Wayne Johnson's subsequent statement to the media that "We'll be taking one again before long" further aggravated the situation in which the Makah have placed themselves. Increasingly isolated, the reservation is now routinely roadblocked in order to protect tribal members from outraged local citizens. Protests continue to grow. With commercial and tourism boycotts in the offing, other tribes are distancing themselves from the Makah. The First Nations Environmental Network stated on May 18
"We cannot support this action...at this point in human history, we feel that spiritually and morally, the act of killing whales cannot be justified."
The U.S. Coast Guard, after ensuring that the Makah would succeed in killing a whale by sweeping protestors off the water, is faring no better. The Coast Guard has now issued an advisory to all personnel in Washington and Oregon not to go out in public while in uniform for their own safety. (Sea Shepherd commends those members of the Coast Guard who have broken ranks to let whale activists know that they "have to jump the fence and swim with the whales on this one," as one put it.) The offices of Washington newspapers, television stations, state legislators and Vice President Al Gore -- the individual most responsible for allowing the hunt to occur -- have been deluged with angry phone calls, faxes, and e-mails.
"We do not condone threats of violence against individuals, but we understand the rage and anguish that has been awakened in ordinary people who know something is very wrong here," said Paul Watson, President of Sea Shepherd, which had a boat seized and crew arrested in the course of the struggle to prevent the killing of a whale. "Diplomatic double-talk from the International Whaling Commission is not helping any," Watson said. "It is now up to the infractions committee of the IWC, meeting next week in Grenada, to stop mincing words and simply state the obvious: The Makah are not a recognized subsistence tribe, and are not exempt from the world-wide ban on non-subsistence whaling.
"In the meantime, the politicians are finally getting the message they haven't been able to hear until now: The American people will not tolerate a 'cultural' whale hunt in their country."
On Wednesday, an anonymous mourner left a wreath, a flower lei, a candle and a note on the spot in the Makah marina where the whale was butchered. The note read "Baby, you didn't deserve this. We love you."
The remains of the whale had been cordoned off with yellow police "crime scene" tape.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
e-mail: seashepherd@seashepherd.org
Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org
Date: Thu, 20 May, 1999
In Choppy Seas And A Gush Of Blood, Hunters Take A Whale
By Peggy Andersen of the Associated Press
Neah Bay, Washington, AP - The ancient taste of tradition was brought back to the Makah Indians on a chilly Pacific beach; the nutty, slightly salty taste of whale blubber freshly butchered from the corpse of a female grey whale.
Hundreds gathered in a cold drizzle as the first whale landed by the tribe in more than 70 years was brought ashore on Monday, capping months of preparation and controversy.
Environmentalists decried the killing, accomplished through a combination of the traditional -- the cedar canoe, its hand-carved paddles and the whalers' ritual prayers -- and the modern, including rifles and motorised boats.
"We're obviously very upset that the Makah went ahead with killing an innocent, sentient creature in such a bloody and untraditional way," said Jake Conroy of the Sea Defence Alliance.
After the eight-minute attack, it took about 11 hours to tow the whale home to Neah Bay, a waterfront community of 2400 in the Pacific Northwest.
The Makah welcomed the whale with sacred songs, an honour guard escort and ceremonies. Harpooner Theron Parker performed a ritual to release the soul of the whale to the sea.
"I'm here for my great-grandfather," said Ron Johnson, who grew up hearing stories about his whaling forebears and travelled over 161km to be part of the celebration.
"He's dancing in heaven." No living Makah had whaled until now, and only a few elders remembered the taste of whale meat.
"I told (my son) Eli, 'You're not going to school today. This is a historic day for the Makah'," said Rebekah Greene as the 9m whale was butchered on the beach.
Far into the night, community members helped carve up the animal, believed to be at least three years old. Tiny slivers of blubber, rubbery and white, attached to the whale's dark skin, were handed out for people to try.
Some meat will be cured for a big feast. Some will be distributed to tribal members, with the blubber rendered into oil for cooking and dipping.
The tribe is guaranteed whaling rights by its 1855 treaty, but the Makah tradition stopped in the 1920s when commercial whaling decimated global whale populations.
The tribe moved to resume whale hunts when grey whales were taken off the Endangered Species List five years ago. In 1997, the tribe was given permission to hunt 20 whales through to 2004.
The Makah say they want the hunts will help restore tradition and pride. Tribal leaders say the next one may not take place until autumn.
Anti-whaling demonstrators say they will protest again when the Makah try to kill another whale.
Date: Sun, 23 May, 1999
Tribes Celebrate Whalers After Historic Kill
The Associated Press
NEAH BAY, Wash. -- Makah Indians joined with neighboring tribes on Saturday to celebrate their first successful whale hunt since the 1920s, hailing as heroes the whalers who revived their ancient tradition.
Hundreds watched as the Makah whaling crew led a parade of a dozen floats down the reservation's main street. Several meals -- some using meat from the slain whale -- were being served over the course of the party, interspersed with songs and dances from guests and hosts. Many waited in line to snap photos with the eight whalers.
On Monday, the crew paddled its canoe off the country's northwesternmost tip to kill a 30-foot gray whale using a harpoon and a .50 caliber rifle. The kill renewed a tradition guaranteed by the tribe's 1855 treaty but abandoned decades ago when commercial whaling decimated the species.
The Makahs moved to resume whale hunts when gray whales were removed from the Endangered Species List five years ago. In 1997, the tribe was given permission to hunt 20 whales through 2004.
Anti-whaling activists contend such hunting is illegal and fear it will lead to a worldwide renewal of commercial whaling. Two were arrested during Monday's hunt.
"Too often, the history of Indian treaties has been a history of broken promises," tribal Chairman Ben Johnson said Saturday in a statement. He thanked Americans who have "demonstrated understanding and tolerance for the ways of Indian culture."
Not everyone was celebrating. Two protest boats sat offshore, and demonstrators vowed to continue on at the small reservation.
"We want them to know we're still here," said Jonathan Paul of the Sea Defense Alliance, whose group had two boats seized last week.
"We're not leaving just because they killed this first whale. They want to kill more."
Dozens of protesters also gathered about 20 miles east of the reservation to caravan to the edge of the Makah reservation -- a weekly routine begun before the hunt. A low-key, peaceful memorial for the whale was also planned.
http://www.sltrib.com:80/1999/may/05231999/nation_w/107569.htm
Date: Sun, 23 May, 1999
Natives call for resumption of whale hunt
By The Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- An international association of whalers led by a British Columbia native leader will call for resuming commercial whale hunting at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which was beginning today on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
The widely publicized hunt of a gray whale by Makah Indians in Washington state last week has led some countries to argue that the commercial hunt should resume because some species have returned to healthy numbers.
Whaling countries, led by Japan, are pushing to resume commercial whaling under a 1994 plan that establishes strict catch limits and provides observers on ships.
"The animals are beginning to thrive, that's why it's starting up again," said Kathy Happynook of the World Council of Whalers.
Kathy is the wife of Tom Happynook, chairman of the council and hereditary chief of the Huu-ay-aht band of Vancouver Island, which -- along with the Nuu-chah-nulth -- are pushing for native whaling rights in British Columbia. Both bands are related to the Makah tribe.
The World Council of Whalers, which represents both aboriginal and non-aboriginal whalers, was established in 1997 to "support sustainable whaling world-wide."
Its first general meeting, held in 1998 in Victoria, attracted more than 100 delegates from as far away as Australia, Iceland and Tonga. This year's conference was held in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The push for a renewed commercial whale hunt has environmental activists worried -- including Annelise Sorg of Vancouver, executive director of the Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society, who is attending the talks in St. George's, Grenada.
Sorg said one of the key problems is that whaling has slowly resumed in Canada this decade, without it being a member of the International Whaling Commission.
Canada imposed a moratorium on the commercial whale hunt in 1972 and pulled out of the Whaling Commission in 1982, arguing there was no further reason to remain a member since the commission's mandate is to ensure the orderly development of the commercial whaling industry.
The lack of membership was for decades irrelevant, but the international community protested when, in 1996, Canada issued a license for Inuit hunters to kill one bowhead whale, a species whose population had fallen from 10,000 in 1900 to about 700 in 1996.
And with the possibility of including whale hunting in future aboriginal treaties, Sorg said, it is essential for Canada to rejoin the International Whaling Commission.
"There is an international outcry over Canadian whaling policies," she said.
"We are the only whaling country that does not belong to the IWC."
Velma McColl, a spokeswoman for Fisheries Minister David Anderson, said the federal government has no intention of rejoining the IWC.
The reason, she said, is that the government plans to continue its ban on commercial whaling and considers the bowhead hunt to be a subsistence whale hunt only.
"This is not the International Commercial Whaling Commission," Sorg said, noting that the commission's mandate is not limited to commercial whaling and includes all issues related to whales, including aboriginal subsistence whaling and whale watching.
Not all animal-rights activists want Canada to rejoin the commission, however.
Peter Hamilton of Vancouver-based Lifeforce said Canada should take a stand against all whaling, and that joining the commission would endorse the position that a commercial whale hunt should exist at all.
http://www.oregonlive.com:80/news/99/05/st052497.html
Date: Mon, 24 May, 1999
Whaling Ban Under Attack
by Chris Hawley - The Associated Press
ST GEORGE'S, Grenada, - International whaling officials have gathered in Grenada to hear calls to ease a worldwide ban on commercial whaling.
The meeting comes in the wake of a widely publicized cultural whale hunt by the Makah Indian tribe off the northwest tip of Washington state. Anti-whaling activists speculated that the Makah hunt, approved by the IWC at its 1997 meeting, could aid the cause of commercial whaling nations.
Commercial whaling was banned in 1986, an action that helped raise the numbers of certain whale species whose populations had been in trouble. Still, many species remain endangered, with humpbacks numbering around 8,000, bowhead whales between 6,000 and 9,000, and blue whales no more than 1,000.
At a five-day conference beginning today, Japan, Norway and many Caribbean allies plan to argue that growing gray and pilot whale populations should no longer be protected. They are joined by whaling industry associations, who issued statements Sunday praising the health benefits of whale meat and opposing establishment of new whale sanctuaries in the world's oceans.
The United States and its allies - Australia, Britain, New Zealand and France - say the number of whales is still too low to ease the ban. And some anti-whaling groups argue whales should never be hunted because they are intelligent creatures.
"Nobody wants to go back to the whaling of yesterday, where whales were just blown away É but the fact is that controlled, managed whaling is now possible," said Eugene Lapointe, president of the pro-whaling World Conservation Trust.
Still, the pro-whaling countries are not expected to muster the two-thirds majority needed to remove the ban.
"The lines are pretty well drawn," said Scott Smullen, spokesman for the U.S. delegation, which opposes lifting the ban.
Japan and Norway have said they will also push for a less ambitious change - a 1994 "management plan" that would allow whaling under a system of on-board observers and strict catch limits. They are expected to cite the gray whale hunt last week by the Makah Indians, who have been allowed to resume limited whaling. Gray whales were taken off the endangered list in 1994.
The hunt, conducted under rules allowing indigenous tribes to revive native customs, was supported by the United States, which signed a treaty with the tribe in 1855 that recognized its rights to hunt whales. The U.S. delegation will present a report on the Makah hunt, as well as an explanation for the 1998 killing of a bowhead whale calf by native hunters in Alaska. Whalers are prohibited from killing suckling calves; U.S. officials say it was an accident.
The commission will also rule on charges a whaler in the Caribbean country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines killed a calf and mother in 1998 and again in March. The whaler, Athneal Ollivierre, claims in both cases the adult whale had no milk and the calf was no longer nursing. If he is found guilty his country could lose its quota of 2 whales per year.
South Pacific Sanctuary Proposed
In a proposal certain to anger Japan, Australia is calling for a new whale sanctuary in the South Pacific. The U.S. delegation will call for more research into the effects of global warming on the whales' food supplies. It has warned that warming could also cause polar ice caps to recede, bringing more ships through whales' habitats. On Sunday, the delegation called global change "the greatest threat" to whales in the future.
Britain has also filed a report proposing legal guidelines for whale-watching operations, which it is pushing as a new "eco-tourism" attraction worldwide.
http://abcnews.go.com:80/sections/science/DailyNews/iwc990524.html
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
Date: Mon, 24 May, 1999
Will Tribe's Hunt Harpoon Global Whaling Ban?
The Associated Press
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada -- When a Makah Indian's harpoon burst through the hide of a gray whale off Washington state, it drove home a question bedeviling international officials: Now that some types of whales are back in large numbers, do they still need to be saved?
The widely publicized hunt last week provided a dramatic prelude to the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, starting today on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
"The U.S. has no integrity now. I think we're on the threshold of a major escalation in whaling," said Paul Watson of the Washington-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
The Makah hunt off Neah Bay, Wash., had the consent of the United States, which has long opposed commercial whaling but says "subsistence whaling" solely for survival is different.
Whalers see the hunt -- the first U.S. kill outside Alaska since a 1986 worldwide ban on commercial whaling -- as an admission that growing whale populations no longer merit blanket protection.
Anti-whaling groups want to keep the moratorium, and some argue that whales should never be hunted because they are intelligent creatures that feel pain.
Both sides agree the ban has saved many a whale after decades of indiscriminate commercial whaling -- for whale oil and other products that now have synthetic equivalents -- that raised the specter of extinction.
Humpback-whale populations are now growing at 10 percent a year and number more than 8,000, the commission says. Bowhead populations growing at 2 percent a year number 9,200, while gray whales -- the type killed by the Makah, which came off the endangered list in 1994 -- number 22,500, up 3 percent a year. The most numerous of the great whales are minke whales, at 1 million, and pilot whales, at 1.4 million.
At the meeting this week, the United States will present a report on the Makah hunt.
Like many tribes, the Makah gave up whaling decades ago as stocks dwindled and the grueling hunts became fruitless. Now tribes in Tonga, Japan and elsewhere want to revive traditional whaling.
"The animals are beginning to thrive, that's why it's starting up again," said Kathy Happynook of the World Council of Whalers.
Whaling countries led by Japan will push this week to resume commercial whaling under a 1994 plan that sets strict catch limits and provides observers on ships.
But the United States and its allies -- Australia, Britain, New Zealand and France -- say the number of whales is still too low to ease the ban.
"We are adamantly against it," said Scott Smullen, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said the United States will call for more research into the effects of global warming on whale food supplies.
Whaling supporters accuse nonwhaling countries of deliberately slowing development of the plan.
Eugene Lapointe, head of the Florida-based World Conservation Trust, said nonwhalers are doing "everything possible to stop the completion of the work."
A compromise put forward by Ireland would ban whaling everywhere except along coastlines, but most anti-whaling countries say the proposal lacks details.
Forty countries belong to the Whaling Commission, a voluntary body that sets international policy. Nonmembers do not get to influence policy but are not bound by catch limits. Those include Canada, whose Inuits are traditional subsistence whalers.
Date: Mon, 24 May, 1999
US to Face Off against Japan, Norway on Whaling Ban
St George's, Grenada, (AP) - International whaling officials have gathered in Grenada to hear calls to ease a worldwide ban on commercial whaling in the wake of a widely publicised whale hunt by the United States' Makah Indians.
The 1986 ban has helped increase the numbers of large whales and some species now number more than one million. Most types remain endangered however, with humpbacks numbering around 8000, bowhead whales between 6000 and 9000, and blue whales no more than 1000.
At a five-day conference beginning today, Japan, Norway and Caribbean allies plan to argue that growing gray and pilot whale populations should no longer be protected. They are joined by whaling industry associations, who issued statements yesterday praising the health benefits of whale meat and opposing establishment of new whale sanctuaries in the world's oceans.
The United States, New Zealand, Australia, Britain and France say the number of whales is still too low to ease the ban. Some anti-whaling groups argue whales should never be hunted because they are intelligent creatures.
"Nobody wants to go back to the whaling of yesterday, where whales were just blown away ... but the fact is that controlled, managed whaling is now possible," Eugene Lapointe, president of the pro-whaling World Conservation Trust, said.
The pro-whaling countries are not expected to muster the two-thirds majority needed to remove the ban.
Japan and Norway have said they will also push for a less ambitious change -- a 1994 ``management plan'' that would allow whaling under a system of on-board observers and strict catch limits.
They are expected to cite the gray whale hunt last week by Washington State's Makah Indians, who have been allowed to resume limited whaling. The species was taken off the endangered list in 1994. The hunt, conducted under rules allowing indigenous tribes to revive native customs, was supported by the United States.
Date: Tue, 25 May, 1999
Caribean Whaler Legend on his Island
By Chris Hawley
St George's, Grenada, AP - On the tiny island of Bequia, he's a legend; a 77-year-old man with a harpoon, the custodian of a whale-hunting tradition.
To whale conservationists outraged at his alleged killing of two endangered humpback whale calves and their mothers, he's a menace.
Now, Athneal Ollivierre is defending himself before the 40-nation International Whaling Commission, meeting this week to hear calls to ease a worldwide ban on commercial whaling.
"It's our tradition, and I don't want that tradition to change," said Ollivierre, who hunts on a licence held by the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines, which has permission to kill two humpbacks a year for their meat.
Such rights are generally reserved for indigenous tribes in the Arctic region, not tourism-driven countries like St Vincent, especially with only about 8000 humpbacks left worldwide, down from 100,000 just a few decades ago. St Vincent is the only Caribbean nation with whaling rights.
"This is not the Far North where the only source of protein for people is what comes out of the seas," said Sue Fisher, campaign manager for the Britain-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
"St Vincent is a relatively developed place, and when there hasn't been a whale taken in a year, people haven't starved to death."
That, essentially, is the difference between "subsistence" whaling, which even conservationists consider legitimate, and "commercial" whaling for profit, which has been banned by the commission since 1986.
Ollivierre argues there's another issue: preserving tradition, an argument made by indigenous tribes from North America to Japan.
The first whale kill in 70 years by Washington state's Makah Indians last week, carried out with permission from the United States, will probably be used by pro-whaling nations to press the commission to ease restrictions.
Ollivierre comes from a family that has hunted whales for over a century. He learned whaling by watching his uncles. Then, in 1953, he built an 8.2m wooden boat, bought a harpoon and set out whaling himself. He estimates he's killed about 80 humpback and sperm whales since then.
Ollivierre still goes out in his sailboat nearly every day of the February-to-April migration season, scanning the horizon under a blazing sun and usually returning empty-handed. Between 1994 and 1998, he didn't catch a single whale.
During the hunt, Ollivierre and his oarsmen must first sneak up on the whale from behind, close to the dangerously strong tail. Then to slow it down, Ollivierre stuns it with a rifle and a dart gun.
The kill is usually carried out with three harpoons driven through the animal's back, into its heart.
Tying the carcass to the boat requires four men in the bloody water, two handling the ropes, two watching for sharks, he said.
It would be easier with a motorboat and explosive harpoons, but for tradition's sake Ollivierre uses only sails, oars and 2.7m, 8.6kg harpoons.
And it gets riskier with advancing age.
Once a harpooned whale dragged his boat underwater, hurling crew members into the waves; Ollivierre held on and managed to cut the ropes as the beast fled, but he nearly drowned. In 1992, a harpoon rope snapped across the boat, cutting his leg to the bone. Last year, a gun recoiled into his face, cutting him deeply in the forehead and lip.
Ollivierre denies he broke a ban on killing suckling calves or their mothers during hunts on March 6 and in March 1998, allegations the whaling commission is to consider during a session to address violations.
British tourists told the BBC they watched the March 6 kills in horror and claimed the harpoons first hit a calf no more than 4.8m long, usually considered nursing size. They said Ollivierre used the dying cries of the calf to snare its mother, knowing humpback mothers will not abandon their calves.
"That's just a lie," Ollivierre said.
"I have never harpooned a whale with milk in it. And I never killed a calf first."
He said in each case he harpooned an adult female first, then killed the smaller animal as it circled the carcass. He claims the smaller whales were large enough not to fall within the ban and were not nursing.
One report said the whales' blubber was sold for margarine in Trinidad. Ollivierre denies selling any part of the whales.
His eyes lit up as he remembered the Bequian islanders flocking to the shore, carving up the whales for a barbecue.
"Every year the people look forward to it ... I do this for them," he said.
Ollivierre said that if the whaling commission rules against him, he'll ask the St Vincent government to withdraw from the group: membership is voluntary, so he can continue hunting.
"At my age, I shouldn't be doing this," he said of whaling.
"But I have to. I've pledged my life to it."
Date: Tue, 25 May, 1999
[In]humane Whaling Debate
By Chris Hawley - The Associated Press
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada, - With talk of exploding harpoons and other new weapons, whalers argued today that technological advances have rendered the hunt more humane.
"The animal's just there in the water, the harpoon goes right into its body and its over," said Fan Odin Olavsen, chairman of the Norwegian-based High North Alliance of small-scale and subsistence whalers, as he described a harpoon fitted with penthrite explosives.
"It's more humane than a (cattle) slaughterhouse, where the animal has to be taken out of its environment, transported and wait a long time before it is killed," he said.
Questions Crucial to Japan and Norway Questions of whether whales can be hunted humanely have become crucial as Japan and Norway push for an end to the 13-year ban on commercial whaling at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission.
The United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and other countries are fighting proposals to resume commercial whaling. But they say that if they lose the battle, they want to make sure new regulations ensure whales will not die painful deaths.
Some scientists said they were unsure whether the new weapons were the most humane methods of whaling. Whaling opponents also criticized whaling commission rules that say a whale can be considered dead when it stops moving. Some whales paralyzed by wounds to their backs are being pulled onto whaling ships and "butchered" while still alive, said Diederik van Liere, a biologist with Eurogroup Animal Welfare.
Calls For Accurate Indicators of Death
The whaling commission debated a resolution Tuesday calling for "more accurate indicators" of death and asking whaling countries to provide detailed data on whale kills.
Scientists proposed using other tests to determine if animals are brain dead - seeing if the whale's pupils dilate in bright light, checking if the animals blink when their eyes are touched or feeling if the muscles around the whale's blowhole have relaxed in death.
Norway, the only country in the commission allowed to whale commercially because of an appeal it filed against the 1986 moratorium, says explosive harpoons it developed in the 1980s can kill more than 60 percent of whales instantly.
Japan, which kills about 300 minke whales a year for scientific research, claims an instant kill rate around 30 percent using explosive harpoons. Japan says the rate is lower than Norway's because rougher seas in its usual hunting grounds around Antarctica make accuracy and tracking difficult. Native tribes in Alaska reported using "hot" hand-thrown harpoons with a new type of explosive that detonates three seconds after impact.
The Alaskans told the meeting that they also were testing a new type of gun that fires a grenade into the whale.
Makah Indians who snared their first whale in 70 years in Washington state last week started by throwing a "cold" harpoon attached to floats into the whale to slow it down and help them track it until they shot it with heavy caliber rifles. But even with explosives and hollow-point bullets that expand on impact scientists are not sure the deaths are quick and painless.
http://abcnews.go.com:80/sections/science/DailyNews/whaling990525.html
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
Date: Tue, 25 May, 1999
Japan, Ecologists Clash at Whaling Conference
By Louise Daly of AFP
St. George's, AFP - Conservationist activists and Japan squared off for another clash over whale hunting as the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), including New Zealand, opened in Grenada today.
The Japanese delegation denounced what it called "lies" by the environmental group Greenpeace and called for it and several other groups to be kicked out as observers.
The conservationists have hit back that Japan's exemption from the 1982 moratorium on commercial whaling, for research purposes, was "a deadly scam".
They claimed the Japanese were using the exemption as a loophole to sustain their whaling industry.
And they argue that independent scientific evidence, presented at the conference this year shows that sperm and humpback whales, both protected species, are being killed.
The annual meeting here of the 40-member nation IWC, which regulates and conserves whale stocks, has long been riven by the hostility between the pro-whaling camp (Japan and Norway) and its opponents, led by the United States, British, Australian and New Zealand delegations.
Australia and New Zealand plan to propose a South Pacific Sanctuary for great whales.
The move would protect blue, fin, sei, southern right, humpback, Bryde's, minke, pygmy right and sperm whales in their South Pacific breeding grounds and Southern Ocean feeding grounds.
"The sanctuary is needed to protect whale stocks that have been severely depleted by whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries and allow their recovery," Australia and New Zealand said in their submission to the Commission.
The authors note that Antarctic blue whales, for example, number fewer than 2000 out of an estimated original population of about 225,000.
The delegations had hoped to set up the sanctuary this year but have postponed that until 2000 while they consult with other countries bordering on the proposed sanctuary.
Meanwhile in Grenada, Japan is to press for the Southern Ocean Sanctuary to be abolished, and for small-scale coastal whaling to resume.
Tokyo argues that in order to alleviate the economic hardship caused by the freeze, whalers should be able to take 50 minke whales from the Okhotsk Sea and the West Pacific each season.
Japan will attempt to get the minke whale, of which there are about 760,000 in the Southern Ocean, downlisted as a protected species at the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Nairobi in April 2000.
But while Japan is battling to roll back the moratorium, calling it ``eco-posturing by the major Western nations,'' other nations are stepping up the conservation measures.
Conservationists plan to press the commission to take action over toxins that are poisoning North Pacific minke whales, porpoises and dolphins.
Scientists have reported to the Commission that they have recorded worrying levels of mercury and pesticides in whales and dolphins.
Date: Wed, 26 May, 1999
Officials Consider more Humane ways of killing Whales
St George's, Grenada, AP - With Japan and Norway pressing for an end to the 13-year ban on commercial whaling, international officials are considering more humane ways of killing whales.
The majority of delegates at the annual International Whaling Commission conference in Grenada are opposed to resuming commercial whaling, but passed a resolution yesterday asking whaling countries to provide detailed data on how whales were killed and the effectiveness of different techniques.
The conference also urged "more accurate indicators" of death to minimise suffering.
Whaling nations in the 44-country organisation argue the moratorium instituted in 1986 has let many types of whales multiply and that they no longer require protection.
New Zealand, the United States, Britain, Australia and other countries opposed to commercial whaling say if they lose the battle they want to make sure new regulations ensure whales will not die painful deaths. The five-day conference enters its third day today.
The resolution on humane killing asked whaling countries for details on kills, including the number and type of bullets used, the number of shots that missed and the time before the whale died.
Scientists said they still were not sure the deaths were quick and painless.
One scientist criticised whalers and the commission's rules which said whales could be considered dead when they stopped moving.
Some whales paralysed by wounds to their backs were being pulled onto whaling ships and "butchered" while still alive, Diederik van Liere, a biologist with Eurogroup Animal Welfare, said.
Date: Wed, 26 May, 1999
Japan and Norway on Loosing End of Whaling Conference
By Louise Daly of AFP
St George's, Grenada, AFP - The isolation of pro-whaling countries Japan and Norway was underlined when a largely symbolic vote went against them at the International Whaling Commission meeting here today.
The resolution reaffirming the IWC's jurisdiction to regulate and protect whales was approved by a large margin of 21-10, with three abstentions.
The votes, as expected, reflected the political division in the commission between Japan, Norway and their Caribbean allies, and the so-called Gang of Four -- the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Although the resolution simply restated the IWC's powers, environmentalist groups saw it as a crucial move ahead of the meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2000.
Both Japan and Norway -- which continue to hunt whales under loopholes to the 1982 moratorium -- will press CITES to downgrade protection of minke whales at the Nairobi meeting.
The move would allow minke whale meat to be exported, paving the way for a resumption in the international trade in whale meat, according to conservationists.
If that happened, Greenpeace argues, it would fuel commercial whaling, and could even draw Russia back into the industry in the pursuit of hard currency.
There is a lucrative market for whale meat in Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries.
Japan's core supporters were outspoken in their criticism of the resolution, which was proposed by 13 countries, including the United States.
"The proposal was tantamount to a subtle interference in the affairs of CITES," said Daven Joseph, commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda.
"This organisation is attempting to direct and influence the work of an independent organisation."
"This is one of the most dangerous resolutions for this year."
"I have totally given up," said a dejected Japanese commissioner, Kazuo Shimo.
Norwegian representative Stein Owe, who described the move as meddling, said he was disappointed but not surprised.
"This is an ongoing disagreement," he said, adding that he did not expect it to affect the outcome in the long term.
Meanwhile, the running battle between Japan and its adversaries took another twist here today in a dispute over fish stocks.
In what environmentalists describe as a tactic to shore up its effort to get the ban on commercial whaling lifted, Japan presented new research illustrating the threat to fish stocks from whales.
The research claimed that whales, dolphins and porpoises were consuming 500 million tonnes of food a year -- three to six times the quantity harvested for human consumption.
The Tokyo Institute of Cetacean Research, which conducted the study, said the results showed that whales were competing with fishermen for limited fish resources.
The huge amount of fish eaten by whales needed "to be taken into consideration in the management of our marine resources," it said in a statement.
It quoted Japanese and Norwegian studies showing minke whales in the northwestern Pacific and northeastern Atlantic fed on Pacific saury, sardine, herring and capelin.
In the light of the rising concern over "the capacity of our food production systems" and "the status of world fisheries ... we must consider the use of marine living resources", it said.
"We need to achieve both the rational management and utilisation of these resources, including whales."
But the research was rebutted by Australia and rubbished by independent marine biologists.
"It seems on the available evidence that there is little direct competition for food resources between whales and commercial fisheries," Dr Jock Young, a marine researcher, said in a paper submitted to the conference.
The large baleen whales, with the exception of the Bryde's whale, spend the winter months in the tropics but travel to the Antarctic to feed for the bulk of their annual energy intake.
"Bryde's whale, which is a tropical resident, feeds mainly on krill," he added.
"The partial recovery of some whale populations over the last 30 years cannot nearly explain the decline in fisheries worldwide," he added.
Barbara Whitman, a marine biologist based in the Caribbean island of Nevis, said the Japanese figures could be misleading because it was 500 million tonnes of sea food, including plankton and krill, and not 500 million tonnes of fish which was said to be consumed by the great mammals.
Date: Wed, 26 May, 1999
Japan wants some Whales off Endangered List
By Chris Hawley of AP
St George's, Grenada, AP - Japan said today it will work to remove some whales from the international endangered species list, a change it hopes would pave the way for the resumption of commercial whaling.
The United States and other anti-whaling countries responded by sponsoring a resolution at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Grenada warning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, not to act on Japan's anticipated request.
Saying yes to Japan would allow countries to trade in whale meat, Scott Smullen, a spokesman for the US delegation, said.
"Right now there are no markets," he said.
"Once you open the door to those markets, that's a slippery slope."
Commercial whalers drove some types of whales almost to extinction in previous decades, prompting a panicked whaling commission to impose a moratorium on the industry in 1986.
Since then, some species have rebounded to more than 1 million. But most remain endangered, with humpbacks numbering around 8000, bowhead whales between 6000 and 9000, and blue whales no more than 1000.
If Japan succeeds in getting some species moved from the "trade prohibited" to "limited trade" category, it would be the first time a whale's status has been downgraded. Japan will ask next year to have the minke whale, Bryde's whale, and possibly other species removed from the list, Japanese delegate Kazuo Shima said.
Similar Japanese requests have been defeated in the past, but with many countries removing some whales from their national endangered species lists, Japanese officials remain optimistic about their chances at the April 2000 CITES meeting in Nairobi.
Even the United States has loosened up slightly, removing the grey whale from its endangered list in 1994, as the population worldwide neared 22,000.
That prompted charges of US hypocrisy last week when the Makah Indians of Washington state harpooned a gray whale, their first kill in 70 years.
With the minke whale population up to 1.4 million, Japan has been calling since 1994 for the species to be removed from the international list. Norway joined the call in 1997, but the two countries failed to get the needed two-thirds majority in the 40-nation Whaling Commission.
Eugene Lapointe, a former CITES secretary-general who now heads the Florida-based pro-whaling World Conservation Trust, said he was optimistic that CITES would be more receptive to Japan's request than the commission.
Japan says the ban denies the world a valuable food source. The United States and its closest allies -- Britain, Australia and New Zealand -- say other food sources are available and fear commercial whalers will decimate the stocks again.
Environmental activist groups say that commercial whaling would explode and poaching abound if the endangered species convention allows trade in whale meat.
Whaling proponents say the industry could be trusted and that the hundreds of scientific studies conducted during the moratorium have given the commission enough information to wisely manage whaling.
Date: Thu, 27 May, 1999
Anti-Whaling Countries Strike First Over Endangered Species List
By Chris Hawley - The Associated Press
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - The United States and other anti-whaling countries have launched a pre-emptive strike aimed at blocking Japan's efforts to get some whales removed from the endangered species list.
With a 21-10 vote Wednesday at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Grenada, whaling opponents passed a resolution warning the custodians of the register, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, not to change the status of any whales until the commission gives permission.
Japanese commissioner Kazuo Shima said his country will ask the organization next year to downgrade minke whales and other species from "trade prohibited" to "limited trade permitted" status as their numbers grow.
Saying yes to Japan would allow countries to trade in whale meat, said Scott Smullen, a spokesman for the U.S. delegation. Anti-whaling forces are worried that if that happens, the result would be an explosion of commercial whaling and poaching.
"Right now there are no markets. Once you open the door to those markets, that's a slippery slope," Smullen said.
Commercial whalers drove some types of whales almost to extinction in previous decades, prompting a panicked whaling commission to impose a moratorium on the industry in 1986.
Since then, some whale species have rebounded to more than 1 million. But most remain endangered, with humpbacks numbering around 8,000, bowhead whales between 6,000 and 9,000, and blue whales no more than 1,000.
If Japan succeeds in getting some species' classifications changed, it would be the first time a whale's status has been downgraded.
Similar Japanese requests have been defeated in the past. But with many countries removing some whales from their national endangered species lists, Japanese officials remain optimistic about their chances at the April 2000 meeting in Nairobi on endangered species.
Even the United States has loosened up slightly, removing the gray whale from its endangered list in 1994, as the population worldwide neared 22,000.
That prompted charges of U.S. hypocrisy last week when the Makah Indians of Washington state harpooned a gray whale, their first kill in 70 years.
With the minke whale population up to 1.4 million, Japan has been calling since 1994 for the species to be removed from the international list. Norway joined the call in 1997, but the two countries failed to get the needed two-thirds majority in the 40-nation Whaling Commission.
Japan says the ban denies the world a valuable food source. The United States and its closest allies - Britain, Australia and New Zealand - say other food sources are available and fear commercial whalers will decimate the stocks again.
China, Denmark and South Korea abstained from the whaling commission vote Wednesday. Denmark said the whaling commission should not meddle in the other organization's work, saying "too many cooks spoils the food."
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
Date: Thu, 27 May, 1999
After Whaling, Japan Assailed Over Porpoise Hunt
St George's, AFP - After taking a battering on its stand over whale hunting, Japan came under pressure at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting here today to scale back its hunting of Dall's porpoises.
The 40-member nation body voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution urging Japan to cut back the quota of porpoises fishermen could kill.
After roundly condemning the proposal backed by conservation-minded nations, Japan and its Caribbean allies boycotted the vote, quitting the conference room in protest.
"It was a tactical attempt by anti-whaling countries" to establish their jurisdiction over the creatures, Daven Joseph, Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda, said.
The Japanese delegation also disputed the IWC's authority over the porpoises, even though the IWC says the scope of its authority covers all cetaceans -- whales, porpoises and dolphins.
"It is the responsibility of the Japanese government," delegate Masyuki Komatsu said, adding that officials were operating a "sustainable use", programme.
The resolution was passed 18 to six with two abstentions.
With the annual harpoon kill spiralling up to 18,000 porpoises a year from 11,000 in 1992, conservationists charge that the animal may be over hunted.
The slaughter has soared since the IWC's moratorium on whale-hunting came into effect in 1986, the Environmental Investigation Agency said.
Deprived of their traditional prey, Japanese whalers have turned to the porpoises which live in the northern Pacific, targetting lactating mothers.
And according to the EIA, a US and British-based organisation, much of the meat is then passed off as whale meat.
The policy of the whaling companies is to "maintain the demand for whale products in the hope of resuming commercial whale hunting", the EIA quoted one source as saying.
"The Japanese government must immediately suspend the hunt off Hokkaido and take urgent steps to reduce its overall catch to well below 10,000 animals," the EIA chairman Allan Thornton said in a statement.
Surveys taken in 1990 estimated that there were 226,000 Dall-type porpoises found in the North Pacific, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Japan.
The population of truei-type porpoises of the north-west Pacific and Okhotsk Sea was put at 217,000.
Date: Thu, 27 May, 1999
Sperm Whales in North Sea Full of Poison
Hamburg, Germany, AFP - Sperm whales that have washed up on the shores of the North Sea contain such high levels of chemicals that they ought to be considered special waste, the international environmental group Greenpeace said today.
About 100 sperm whales that normally swim in the Atlantic have washed up on the shores of the North Sea between 1991 and last year, representing a significant increase from the previous decade.
"Expert reports on these sperm whales show that pollution has in the meantime reached considerable levels, even in the Atlantic," a Greenpeace expert in Hamburg, Manfred Krautter, said referring to a study by the Darmstadt Ecology Institute commissioned by Greenpeace.
Krautter called for an end to the dumping of non-biodegradable products in the sea, warning that otherwise "the survival of these large animals is threatened".
Krautter said sperm whale carcases are usually disposed of in quartering centres, where the remains are used for animal fodder. He called for an immediate halt to the practice to prevent the poison from entering the food chain.
Date: Fri, 28 May, 1999
South Pacific Whale Sanctuary One Step Closer
Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill said Australia had continued to push its proposal for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting in Grenada this week.
"Australian and New Zealand delegates have carried out important negotiations over the past week. We'll be consulting with other nations over the next 12 months and I'm hopeful this joint proposal, the first step in our campaign for a truly global whale sanctuary, will be accepted at next year's IWC meeting in Adelaide," Senator Hill said.
Senator Hill welcomed the IWC's continuing strong support for whale conservation measures including strong endorsement for the Southern Ocean Sanctuary for great whales.
"Attempts by Japan to abolish the sanctuary or have it opened up to limited whaling were either defeated or withdrawn," Senator Hill said.
Japan currently takes about 440 minke whales each year in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, and about 100 minke whales in the North Pacific, in the name of "scientific research".
"Australia successfully proposed a resolution at the meeting urging Japan not to re-issue a permit for this lethal research in the coming year. The IWC passed the resolution by a resounding two-thirds majority," he said.
Senator Hill also welcomed a decision by the IWC to specifically include environmental concerns on its agenda, voting to provide substantial funding for research on ecosystems in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary and effects of pollution on whales.
Australia made clear at the meeting its desire for a permanent end to all commercial whaling and again rejected the 'Irish proposal' which would allow a limited resumption.
"Australia will continue to push for the protection of whales in all international forums, including the next meeting of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) where we'll again be supporting the world-wide ban on trade in whale meat and whale products," Senator Hill said.
Media contact: Rod Bruem Tel: +61 2 62777640 or Mobile: 041112 8582
Date: Fri, 28 May, 1999
Whaling Ban Remains
By Chris Hawley - The Associated Press
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - The United States and its allies succeeded in maintaining a 13-year-old ban on commercial whaling at a conference that ended today, but several pro-whaling nations threatened to ignore the restrictions.
The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, held on the Caribbean island of Grenada, failed to resolve the long-standing deadlock between nations such as Japan that consume whale meat and a majority opposed to unbridled whaling.
Delegates from pro-whaling countries warned they may eventually disregard the commission - a rather toothless organization of 40 member states that sets policy but has no power to enforce it.
"If there is not a compromise in the next few years, we may have to turn to other organizations," said Norway's Halvard Johansen. Regional groups, such as one that unites Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Norway, could oversee whaling, he said.
"The commission is running the risk of becoming a social club for whale lovers," fumed Eugene Lapointe, president of the pro-whaling World Conservation Trust. "You've got to smarten up or destroy yourself."
Whaling proponents say the ban, prompted by fears of whale extinction, is outdated now that some types of whales have made impressive comebacks, with minke whales, which Japan hunts, numbering about 1 million, and pilot whales at 1.4 million.
W.O.T.N. Note: Neither Minke nor Pilot whales were commercially slaughtered during the whaling era so their numbers were never depleted.
Humpback whale populations are now growing at 10 percent a year and number more than 8,000, the commission acknowledges. Bowhead populations are growing at 2 percent a year and number 9,200, while gray whales number 22,500, up 3 percent a year.
W.O.T.N. Note: Original population estimates are: Humpback 115,000 Bowhead 30,000 Gray 22,000 for Northeast Pacific, unknow and extinct for the Atlantic and Near Extinct (less than 100) for the Northwest Pacific. - To give you an idea at a 2 percent growth rate the Bowhead whale population will take until the year 2050 to reach its pre-whaling population. Gray whale numbers are not up 3 percent they are at 3 percent.
Critics fear renewed commercial whaling could wipe out the gains, and say whales are intelligent creatures that shouldn't be hunted.
Environmentalists claimed victory and said they hoped the continuing ban eventually would kill the whaling industry as countries turn to other sources of food.
"With any business that is outdated ... it's very difficult when it has to be shut down," said Patricia Forkan of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society International.
"Some countries are having difficulty transitioning out of whaling."
Leading the converted is the United States, a former whaling power that in the 1800s sent fleets of New England-based ships to roam the seas in search of whales. Their oil was used to light lamps and lubricate machinery; baleen, the huge brushes that act as teeth for many whales, became corsets; and perfumes used ambergris, a substance found in whale intestines.
The United States gave up the trade as petroleum and synthetic materials replaced whale products in the 20th century.
"There is always a fond remembrance of that whaling era, but there is no desire on the United States' part to see commercial whaling begin again," said a U.S. delegate, Michael Tillman.
In the Far East, however, whaling encouraged by the United States helped feed a devastated Japan after World War II. With land for cow pastures increasingly scarce in their country, Japanese delegates say whales remain an important source of food. In northern lands where crop seasons are short, whale meat can reduce reliance on imports.
Japan and Norway intend to take their case to the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species next year despite the commission's vote [for solidarity] this week, asking it to take some whales off the endangered species list.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
Date: Tue, 01 Jun, 1999
Japanese still appear to be using Electric Lance
Palmerston North, NZPA - The Japanese appear to be reneging on a promise to stop using electric lances to kill minke whales in the Southern Ocean, says a former Massey University professor.
Neville Gregory, who has just returned from representing New Zealand at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Granada, Spain, spent three days before the conference at a workshop considering the humane killing of whales.
Scientists gave the IWC evidence whales die a long, painful death when harpooned with electric lances. New Zealand has campaigned to ban the technique.
Dr Gregory said it was supposed to be a technical workshop, but ended up being "quite political".
"Japan agreed to phase out electric lancing at the last IWC meeting, but they're still using it, and don't know when they will stop. They make a judgment call about whether they use the lance or the rifle."
He said a major issue in the workshop was the taking of small cetaceans (dolphins and whales). New Zealand and the Netherlands had argued strongly that any action plan on humane killing should cover small cetaceans.
"That was hotly contested by the Japanese -- I believe they have quite a large take in the small cetacean category, and they wanted to exclude small cetaceans because they didn't want to open up the opportunity for criticism of the methods used in killing them."
At the IWC conference, which finished on May 28, it was claimed Japan is killing protected species such as sperm and humpback whales.
Anti-whaling countries headed off a Japanese effort by passing a resolution warning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species not to change the status of any whales.
Two efforts to resume whaling -- a management plan setting catch limits and an Irish proposal allowing whaling on coastlines -- were also kept in limbo.
At the same time, controversial Australian and New Zealand plans for new whale sanctuaries in the Southern Hemisphere also were put on hold until next year's meeting in Adelaide, Australia.
Date: Wed, 02 Jun, 1999
Dolphin put down at Marineland, NZ
Wellington, - Napier's Marineland has put down one of its dolphins after an unknown illness saw it deteriorate in the last two months.
Marineland manager Gary Macdonald said today that 15-year-old Selina, named after a former local fisheries which supplied food to Marineland, was put down last night.
"She was sick for quite a while and we made the decision for her own well being that we needed to take action," Mr Macdonald told NZPA.
No one knew the cause of the illness, but there was a possibility it may have been a tumour, he said.
Staff today took the dolphin's body to Massey University's cetaceans investigation unit which specialises in the study of marine mammals. It was hoped a post-mortem examination would find the cause of Selina's illness.
Mr Macdonald said the dolphin, in its late middle age, had been sick since late last year, but things only began to deteriorate at the beginning of April. Staff had been giving her general treatment the whole time.
It was difficult to tell how much pain she had suffered.
"It's not always easy to tell if an animal's in pain because often they mask it quite well. Obviously she was (in pain) sometimes."
Selina had been at Marineland for 12-1/2 years having been caught locally in Hawke (crct) Bay.
She is the second dolphin to have died in the past year after 14-year-old Cassana was found floating in her pool in September. She had been receiving treatment for a liver problem before her death.
Two dolphins, Shona and Kelly, were now the only remaining dolphins at Marineland. They were both older than Selina.
Mr Macdonald said Marineland owners Napier City Council now had to "start seriously considering the future of where (Marineland is) going".
"They need to look at whether we get other dolphins or have no dolphins at all, and if not, how do we go about managing that change."
Marineland's future has been a point of controversy among Napier City councillors in the past with Mayor Alan Dick saying that getting more dolphins was not an option.
Others argued that Marineland was part of the city's heritage and needed to be maintained, dolphins included.
The Department of Conservation has said that if the Marineland population got down to one dolphin, it might have to be put down or sent to an overseas marine park, rather than live alone.
Animal campaign group Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe) has called repeatedly for all the dolphins to be released.
Date: Thu, 03 Jun, 1999
Swimming with Dolphins Fun, but they aren't all Flipper
By John Pacenti of Associated Press
Key Largo, Florida - Shannon Riley was aglow as she stepped from the warm waters off Key Largo after frolicking with captive dolphins.
"It's absolutely incredible," she said.
"The most impressive thing, they seem so intelligent."
The teenager from New York relished her play at Dolphins Plus Inc, where last year more than 15,000 tourists paid up to $US125 ($NZ240) per hour for such swims.
A decade ago, it was one of four small enterprises in the Florida Keys and Hawaii regulated by a federal agency. Today, such programs are available in at least 18 parks in the United States and numerous resorts worldwide.
But they have come under increased scrutiny amid complaints from animal advocates that dolphins are dangerous and that no government agency provides oversight.
Swim programs capitalised on people's fantasies about dolphins and ignored dangers the animals could pose, Russ Rector of The Dolphin Freedom Foundation in Fort Lauderdale said. Tourists had visions of swimming with Flipper, the precocious and always helpful bottlenose from the '60s TV series.
Dolphins, said Fred Jacobs, spokesman for Anheuser-Busch Entertainment Corp that owns SeaWorld, were "unlike any other animal we have contact with in our daily lives." The Orlando theme park now offered "trainer for the day" and outings with dolphins; it planned swims with dolphins, stingrays and tropical fish.
But Rector offered a warning. "These same people wouldn't climb into a lion's cage, but they think nothing of jumping into the water with a dolphin," he said. "Both are wild animals. It's just a matter of time before a dolphin kills somebody."
Dolphins can be aggressive, said Lori Marino, a professor of behavioural biology at Emory University in Atlanta, "especially if you crowd them or if they don't want you in their tank. ... They are so strong and so fast, they might want to send you a mild message and you could get hurt."
Anecdotes abound. Bonita Hureau, a receptionist from New York, had no fear of swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas. Then, a dolphin tried to ram her into a piling and she was only able to save herself by diving into nearby netting. Now she's adamant: "I will never swim with dolphins again."
Mark Alpert, a lawyer in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, also described an ill-fated swim, in the Florida Keys. "I had no time to do anything," he recalled. A dolphin "came at me full speed, and there was a resounding crack and my bones broke."
Not everybody feels swimming with dolphins is unsafe. Dorna Schroeter, a science teacher from Yorktown Heights, New York, is so secure that she has brought high school students to Dolphins Plus every year for a decade.
The experience, she said, can spur interest in marine biology. "They get to interact with the staff and the dolphins. Some of them come back and say, 'Yeah, this is cool. I really want to do this'."
While some programmes focused on the thrill of the swim and others parted the curtain on a future profession, still others claimed to help severely mentally disabled children. These therapy programs vary significantly. Some used dolphins to motivate disabled children or allow parents and siblings to interact with them. Others took a New Age approach, believing that dolphin sonar can diagnose and even spiritually heal people. But they too were not without their critics.
Betsy Smith, a Miami anthropologist, was among the first to introduce dolphins to children as therapy in the mid-1970s. Then, after spending more than a decade studying their interactions, she dismissed it as a bad idea. Dolphins were just too important to her, she said.
"It was really hard to come back and see these animals kept in such a confined area when in their natural habit they roam miles and miles," she said.
"In captivity, they are not able to use sonar. It's kind of like putting us in a dark closet to live."
Deena Hoagland, who runs a therapy program associated with Dolphins Plus in Key Largo, said a dolphin helped her son, now 12, to recover after multiple open heart surgeries. Her program, Island Dolphin Care, focused on getting a family to learn to play with their disabled child.
David Nathanson, a psychologist who runs Dolphin Human Therapy in Key Largo, used basic behaviour modification tactics to try to enhance certain motor and speech skills. Dolphins, he said, offered strong rewards. If a child did what a therapist wants, then an animal trainer directed the dolphin to interact.
"Our purpose is to jump-start these kids so they can benefit from traditional therapies," said Nathanson, who claimed support from his studies that showed increases in a disabled child's motor skills and mental capabilities.
The parents of Thomas Carling, an eight-year-old English boy with profound mental disabilities, put their faith in Nathanson. The dolphins, they said, were primarily responsible for enabling him to live outside an institution. Right now, he's racing around, exuberant from a 40-minute swim.
"When we first brought him four years ago he couldn't point, he couldn't watch the telly," John Carling said. "He now has a degree of independence that he never had before."
Carling, a bank manager from Newcastle, England, paid $US6,500 ($NZ12,500) for two weeks of therapy. (The centre can treat three patients at a time.) An additional $US45,000 was needed for travel and other expenses for the family of five.
The cost and uncertainty of results upset Rector. "People have to go and mortgage their homes to pay for this. It's not a prescription. It's not take two dolphins and call me in the morning."
Other critics of Nathanson were just as vocal. Marino: "He claims dolphin-assisted therapy can treat the kids. The study he did to make those claims is not valid."
But Nathanson defended his work, calling it nearly impossible to conduct traditional scientific studies in controlled groups with very ill children from abroad. The logistics were too complicated, the expenses too high.
And critics provoked his scorn. "They don't give a damn about the children," he said.
"They are interested in dolphins in captivity. That's their issue."
Fighting dolphin therapy is not popular, activists admitted. "It is very difficult for us on the other side, who know the potential harm to animals and children alike, to appear to be denying treatment to autistic and Down syndrome children," said Rector, founder of Dolphin Freedom.
"But that's not what this is about."
"This is about false advertising.
Date: Thu, 03 Jun, 1999
Student finds 16 million-year-old Whale Fossil
Adelaide, AAP - A rare 16 million-year-old whale fossil found by accident in the middle of a park in a South Australian country town could unlock secrets about Australia's past marine life.
Adelaide University geologist Yvonne Bone said the find was made by geology student Brett Thomas while he was walking across the park in the Riverland town of Morgan.
"So much in science is quite by accident, they were walking from the caravan park back by the main street via this little park," Dr Bone told AAP.
She said four vertebrae were clearly visible jutting out of a cliff face and the bones would have been sitting there unnoticed for the past 100 years, since the park was excavated.
Dr Bone said she was called up from Adelaide to confirm the find and she suspected the whale died after being beached.
"It tells us that whales were in that ocean or that fairly shallow sea 15 to 16 million years ago. It would have been a very large whale," she said.
"It probably got beached because that's close to the shoreline and it would have needed to get buried rapidly for it to survive. "
"It is a treasure for the Riverland, it shouldn't be brought down to the capital city and locked in a museum room somewhere that only scientists can look at it, it has got a marvellous educational value to it."
Dr Bone said the four vertebrae were each about 20cm long, 15cm wide and 15cm deep and it was possible more of the whale could be hidden deeper in the cliff.
She said South Australian Museum scientists planned to revisit the site to work out what type of whale it was, the size, the time it lived and whether it had been in shallow or deep water.
Date: Fri, 04 Jun, 1999
Importing Dolphins 'an Option'
Hastings, - Importing dolphins from overseas to keep the show going at Marineland could be an option, the attraction's manager Gary Macdonald today.
But taking dolphins from the wild was not a possibility, he said. Mr Macdonald's comments follow the death of dolphin Selina, who was put down earlier this week after a prolonged illness.
It leaves only Kelly and Shona at the attraction. The pair were both in good health but were aged about 28 and 29, and would be considered elderly in human terms.
If one of them died, carrying on with one dolphin, or releasing it back into the wild were also possibilities but Mr Macdonald believed they were unrealistic.
The other alternatives were transferring the animal to another zoo overseas or euthanasia.
"It's something we're going to have to confront but dolphins are not Marineland, there are other animals here too," Mr Macdonald said.
Marineland management had started discussing the issues months ago with the Department of Conservation, which approved the attraction's permits as required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Napier Mayor Alan Dick said Selina's death made a review a much more urgent task.
"The fact is Marineland's future and really the future of Marine Parade as a tourism and educational resource is now right in the balance," he said.
Two other Marine Parade attractions, Can Am Cars and the Kiwi House had both closed their doors permanently, although the latter was in anticipation of the birds being included in the Aquarium of New Zealand.
Hawke's Bay National list MP Annabel Young submitted a private members' bill last year calling for legislation banning the capture of wild dolphins.
The bill had not been before the House yet. There was no current law against importation either but permission would have to be granted by the Minister of Conservation in any case. She would consider changing it to include the banning of importing dolphins as well, she said today.
While five years ago people may have been more accepting of taking dolphins out of the wild, she believed people's attitudes had changed to the point it would no longer be acceptable.
Date: Mon, 07 Jun, 1999
Whale Corpses more Polluted than Sewage Sludge
Bonn, [DPA] - The corpses of Atlantic sperm whales found beached along Germany's North Sea coast contain such high concentrations of toxic pollutants that they should be classified as toxic waste, a recently concluded study has found.
The study, commissioned by Greenpeace, was carried out by the Ecological Institute in Darmstadt, southern Germany. The institute's experts analysed the pollutants in the tissue of sperm whales found stranded on North Sea beaches in the last few years.
They found that the levels of some pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the whales' flesh and fat were not only markedly in excess of the maximums permitted in foodstuffs but too high for them even to be classified as sewage sludge.
Manfred Krautter, a Greenpeace chemical expert, said:
"Examination of the beached whales has shown that environmental pollution has reached an extreme extent, even in the open Atlantic. The release into the environment of chemicals that are slow to degrade must be stopped as a matter of urgency. Unless that happens, the survival of the big whales is seriously endangered."
Apart from the classical environmental pollutants (PCBs, DDT, chlorinated pesticides), recent studies carried out in the Netherlands and by Greenpeace Germany have found high concentrations of a younger generation of long-term pollutants. They include brominated flame retardants (from computers, cars, electrical equipment, etc.), TBT (a biocide used in anti-fouling paints for ships' hulls) and chlorinated paraffins (PVC softeners, etc.).
These persistent organic pollutants, POPs for short, are transferred from consumer products into the atmosphere and into lakes, rivers and seas. They are carried for thousands of kilometres by air and ocean currents, finally accumulating in the food chain of both humans and animals.
Greenpeace Germany has called on the chemical industry, the German government and the European Union (EU) call an immediate halt to the release of persistent pollutants into the environment. Users of these pollutants, such as the plastics, computer and shipping industries, must switch to non-toxic substitutes, it says.
At the 1995 North Sea conference and in the 1998 Oslo-Paris convention both Germany and the EU undertook to halt the release of dangerous chemicals into the marine environment. To date, however, nothing has happened.
The high level of toxins found in the whales has implications for their disposal. At present, dead whales and seals are usually sent to animal corpse processing plants to be turned into animal feed. As a result, the toxins enter the feed of commercially-reared animals, and thus into the food eaten by humans.
"No one would dream of using highly polluted sewage sludge as a raw material for making animal feed. So the poisoned whales must be treated as toxic waste and disposed of accordingly," said Manfred Krautter.
Greenpeace has also called on the German government and the EU to change the law on animal feed, which currently prescribes no maximum limits for PCBs or new-generation persistent pollutants. As a result, even highly toxic material can be mixed with other animal feed and sold.
Date: Fri, 11 Jun, 1999
Animal Activists Fined for Florida Dolphin Release
Miami, Reuters - Animal rights activists who freed two captive dolphins off the Florida Keys were fined $59,500 ($NZ112,000) for what federal regulators described on Friday as a reckless act that caused life-threatening injuries to the animals.
The fines were announced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA, a federal agency with jurisdiction over marine mammals.
Richard O'Barry, a Miami man who once trained dolphins for the Flipper television show, and Lloyd Good, a Florida Keys resident, were found guilty of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act by releasing two dolphins without permits or adequate safeguards, NOAA said.
O'Barry and Good released the dolphins, named Luther and Buck, 10km off the coast of Key West on May 23, 1996. Luther was found in a busy Key West marina a day later with deep gashes, approaching people and begging for food.
Buck was found two weeks later some 65km away, emaciated and suffering similar deep cuts believed to have been inflicted by boat propellers.
Volunteers and state and federal authorities rescued the dolphins and provided medical care. Buck now lives at a dolphin research centre in the Florida Keys and Luther is at a US Navy facility in California.
"Releasing captive dolphins to the wild has been romanticized in recent years and has been promoted as a noble pursuit," said Hilda Diaz-Soltero, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources.
"However, the injuries these dolphins suffered and their obvious dependence on humans highlights the need for any release project to be conducted responsibly and scientifically."
The dolphins had been captured off Mississippi in the 1980s and held in captivity almost 10 years. They were initially in the Navy's marine mammal programme, which trained the highly intelligent animals for military work.
They were transferred to the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary in the lower Florida Keys in 1994 as part of a project that intended to prepare them for return to the wild. Although the sanctuary had the proper permits to put them on public display, the permit needed to release them was not obtained or even requested, NOAA said.
Releasing captive marine mammals to the wild can be hazardous unless precautions are taken to ensure they can forage for food, defend against predators and integrate with wild populations, NOAA said.
Administrative Law Judge Peter Fitzpatrick fined O'Barry, Good, the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary Inc. and O'Barry's group, the Dolphin Project Inc., the maximum allowed penalty of $40,000. The Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary was fined an additional $19,500 for failing to notify NOAA prior to releasing the dolphins. The defendants have 30 days to appeal the case.
Date: Mon, 14 Jun, 1999
Killer Whale tries to bite Trainer
San Diego, [AP] - A killer whale tried to bite a trainer during a show before hundreds of spectators at SeaWorld, but the trainer escaped injury by quickly jumping out of the water.
The show ended a few minutes earlier than usual Saturday after the 2250kg tried to "nip" the trainer, spokesman Bob Tucker said.
"Attack is definitely the wrong word," Tucker said.
"The trainer turned around and performed in the next show later that night."
The 23-year-old female whale will be allowed to participate in shows, but trainers won't go in the water with her until officials determine what may have prompted the whale to try to bite the trainer.
Date: Sun, 20 Jun, 1999
Marine Scientists Baffled by Record Number of Beached Whales
By Greg Heakes of Agence France-Presse
Vancouver, AFP - The unparalleled number of grey whales washing up on shore this year has baffled scientists and attracted hordes of curiosity seekers to North America's west coast beaches.
"It's alarming to the locals who live in the areas that they are washing up on the shores," said Clint Wright, curator of mammals for the Vancouver Aquarium.
The deaths have puzzled both Canadian and United States marine researchers but one thing most agree on is the whales didn't get enough to eat in the Bering Sea last summer before they began their migration south in September.
The number of grey whale carcasses that have been discovered along the North American coast this spring range in estimate from 80-100.
In Washington State there have been 19 carcasses, breaking the record of 15 set in 1987. Two dead whales washed up on Seattle area beaches this week.
"We don't know the answer," said John Calambokidis, a US whale researcher.
"It may take us a few years to figure out what is going on. We are looking for patterns."
What is unusual about this migration is that an unprecedented number are emaciated, the experts say.
Calambokidis, a researcher with the Cascadia Research Centre in Olympia, Washington, said 50 percent of the dead whales died of starvation.
The estimated population of grey whales which migrate up and down the North American coast is 26,000 and growing at about 2.5 percent a year.
The unprecedented number of whales that have washed up on British Columbia beaches this year is an indication that the population may be peaking as it nears pre-whaling levels, said Ed Lochbaum, a mammal expert with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
"The best estimate of the number of whales in the pre-whaling days suggests that they are at capacity," said Lochbaum.
Elliott Norse, president of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Seattle, believes global climate warming is to blame for the starving whales.
Norse said global warming is causing a reduction of nutrients in the water that the marine mammals feed on.
"There is a chain of events here and they have simply run out of fuel," Norse said.
The whales typically feed during the summer in the Bering Sea, near Alaska.
In autumn they begin their 6440km migration down the coast to Baja, Mexico, eating little and surviving off stored body fat until they return to Alaska in the spring.
As they head north they migrate closer to land but as they near the Bering Sea they have been surviving on stored fat.
An estimated 800 grey whales die of natural causes each year -- about 3 percent of the population.
Wright said studies done of samples taken from the seven British Columbia whales have not show an unusual amount of toxins.
"Nothing has come back in terms of pollutants," he said.
A number of whales are also killed each year along the British Columbia coast in collisions with ships.
Earlier this month a 20m fin whale came into the Vancouver harbour stuck to the bow of a luxury cruise liner returning from a seven-day cruise to Alaska.
The captain and crew did not know they had killed the whale until it was pointed out by passengers disembarking after their arrival.
Date: Fri, 25 Jun, 1999
Steering Clear of Whales
By Dave Howland - The Associated Press
BOSTON - Ship captains along the East Coast are subject to new regulations aimed at preventing collisions with endangered right whales.
Starting Wednesday, large ships entering waters off Cape Cod and the Florida-Georgia state line will have to transmit their vessels' position. A Virginia computer center will then transmit to the ships the latest information on right whale sightings.
An estimated 300 North Atlantic right whales remain. Collisions with ships account for nearly half of all known right whale deaths.
Optimism on New System Jim Baker, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said he is optimistic the requirements can curb collisions and save the whales from extinction.
"If we can sensitize everyone that they have to watch out for the whales, then I think we'll have a fighting chance," he said.
Joe Cox, president of the Chamber of Shipping of America, which represents companies that own, operate and charter large commercial vessels, said the requirements are worthwhile but might cause minor delays.
"The only sure option not to harm these creatures would be to not have any traffic," he said.
"We can't do that, so we have to go to plan B."
The system will run year-round in a 6,700-square-mile feeding area off Cape Cod. It will also cover 2,500 square miles off Florida and Georgia between Nov. 15 and April 15, the whale's nursing season.
The rules, unanimously approved by the International Maritime Organization in December, will be mandatory for all vessels 300 tons or more, excluding the Navy, which Baker said has volunteered to comply.
Whale sighting information is gathered by spotters from the air and sea. Pat Gerrior, a fishery biologist who oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service right whale sighting program, said ship captains are grateful for any help avoiding whales.
"Mariners do not want to hit these whales. They will all tell you that," Gerrior said.
"Just like you donีt want to run over a dog, you donีt want to harm any wildlife."
Date: Mon, 28 Jun, 1999
Trapped Whales are Easy Prey
by Oakley Cochran - The Ottawa Citizen
SMITH SOUND, Nunavut - A polar bear belly-flops into a hole in the pack ice where beluga whales are rising for air. The blood and backbones of 20 or so of the small white whales lie on the ice around the hole, 81 kilometres from the Inuit hamlet of Grise Fiord in the High Arctic. A rank smell hangs in the air and stringy strands of fatty beluga skin stick to one's boots.
About 50 whales were caught here in April when the sea ice rapidly spread during a cold spell. About 20 belugas still survive, trapped in the vicinity of several, small breathing holes here and easy pickings for polar bears.
Ice-free water is 22 kilometres away, but belugas, even when healthy, need to breathe every kilometre or so, said Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologist Jack Orr from his Winnipeg office.
The plight of the whales was first noticed in late May when hunters detected an unusually high number of polar bears in the area. They subsequently discovered the ice-trapped whales. When the alarm was sounded the community of Grise Fiord, five hours by snowmobile across sea ice, mobilized to help the whales.
Using ice-augers and saws, members of the Hunting and Trapping Association and other locals have since made a half-dozen new breathing holes, renewable resource officer Seeglook Akeeagok said. Initially, Mr. Akeeagok and other locals hoped that, by strategic placement of the holes, the whales could be led to open water.
The Inuit have harpooned 15 of the most injured and despondent whales, putting them out of their misery and harvesting their meat and muktuk, the nutty-tasting Inuit delicacy of skin and blubber. According to Mr. Akeeagok, hunters wouldn't normally be interested in these whales because of their injuries. "The muktuk doesn't look good, even to an Inuk," he said.
The Inuit also tried to scare off the bears, but no bears have been shot because the hunting season has closed, Mr. Akeeagok said.
Despite these efforts, the belugas' plight has worsened. The whales have declined to use half of the new holes, which have now frozen over. Instead, they come up for air in three small holes, all recently made by the Inuit, said local photographer Russell Akeeagok.
Their original hole is surrounded by carcasses, and it has frozen over.
"It's fear," said Luti Pijrmini, a local guide and hunter.
"They don't want to reuse that hole."
The largest hole is a five-by-three metre oval; sometimes six belugas surface simultaneously, jostling for position. The whales are heavily scarred from repeated bear attacks and most are nearly incapable of holding their breath.
"Their blow holes are so damaged (by the polar bears), they can hardly breathe," Seegloak Akeeagok said. Beluga blow holes are delicate, composed of nasal passages and sacs that open and close on demand.
"They're soft and tissuey and quite fragile, and bears know that, so that's what they go for ƒ polar bears are the best hunters in the world, as far as I know," said Mr. Orr.
Bears typically target the blow holes and then wait while the whale asphyxiates, locals said.
"There's not a whole lot known about ice entrapments," Mr. Orr said.
"It's a regular occurrence, but it's not often witnessed by people."
What is uncommon is witnessing a polar bear actually hunting the entrapped whales. The bear, fat with feasting, emerged empty-handed after her launch. She shook herself and then rolled in the snow to dry her fur, still stained with blood from a beluga she had been scavenging earlier. Later, she made another hunting attempt -- undeterred by humans who were yelling and shooting a rifle as scare tactics -- but again was unsuccessful, which was somewhat surprising given that surfacing whales are such easy targets.
Meanwhile, the beluga continue their arcs for air, caught in a horrible conundrum.
"If you're scared out of your mind, do you drown? Of do you come up and take your chance?" Mr. Orr said.
Recent high winds and warm temperatures have made the Inuit wary. Over the past several days, some of the channels in the ice field have grown several feet wider, and a layer of meltwater covers the surface of the ice.
Despite the melt-down it may be several weeks before whales are swimming free. The ice typically doesn't break up until mid-July, the locals say.
Many look at the situation philosophically, knowing that in a month or two Grise Fiord will be full of belugas searching for Arctic cod despite the possible loss of these 20. Those other belugas are now at the floe edge, waiting to come in.
"There are several hundred -- my estimate is 500 -- belugas at the floe edge," Seegluk Akeeagok said.
"I don't feel so bad about (the trapped belugas) when I see all the belugas at the floe edge."
Date: Wed, 30 Jun, 1999
Keiko To Get More Space
From The Iceland Review
Keiko could be seen splashing in his pen yesterday, and obviously the famous orca as in fine form. Jeff Foster, Keiko's chief trainer, told the press during this occasion that preparations are well under way to stretch a net across the Klettsvik cove. The engineering of the project is a bit tricky, the net must be able to withstand the ferocious winter storms known to plague the islands. The net is to be in place by September after which Keiko gets to swim around the entire cove.
The gradual 'de-humanising' of the whale continues. Regular trips to see Keiko are now being offered, but the boats can only come within 20-30 meters of the pen. Binoculars have been placed on Skansfjarar, the overlook of the cove. The opening of the Keiko centre in the Westman Islands, affords new opportunities. Visitors will be able to follow the orca's movement through underwater cameras and the Ocean Futures web-site will also show the live broadcast on the Internet.
According to Hallur Hallsson the Icelandic spokesman for Keiko, there is about 50 per cent change that whale will be released to the wild. Certainly not this year, but maybe in the year 2000.
Date: Wed, 30 Jun, 1999
Noise Puts Whales off Course
By Environment Reporter Simon Benson -
The Daily Telegraph
UNDERWATER noise pollution could be having a major impact on marine life by significantly altering the ocean environment and forcing changes in whale and dolphin behaviour, scientists have warned.
Ships, power boats and sonar equipment, especially in heavy traffic areas such as Botany Bay, Sydney Harbour or any port or shipping lane, could be creating an underwater "acoustic traffic jam" for marine creatures.
NSW scientists are proposing studies to determine the extent of noise disruptions on marine life along the coast and whether it is having a destructive impact.
The annual humpback migration season has just begun with a pod of whales sighted off Coogee beach yesterday morning.
However, there are now fears that marine mammals such as whales and dolphins which are ultra-sensitive to noise could be changing their migrating and breeding habits to avoid it. Even some strandings have been blamed on possible noise disruptions because noise can travel hundreds of kilometres under water.
A study conducted by US scientists found that noise from ships, oil exploration and new military sonar equipment scrambled the communications systems of sea life, forcing changes in migration routes and breeding grounds.
Sydney University's Mike Noad, who has been studying acoustics and humpback whales, said that because noise could travel long distances under water, it could potentially be a major disrupter.
"The general thing is that animals under water use sound the same way we use light," Mr Noad said.
"We watch ships glide past gracefully, but we don't appreciate how much noise they produce."
"It is something we really have to watch out for and people are beginning to get worried about it. It is possible they are getting confused but it is hard to know. It could be annoying the hell out of them."
Roger Gentry, acoustics team co-ordinator for the US National Marine Fisheries Service, said:
"It is a serious problem. The problem is, we don't know how serious it is."
In deep sea waters, mammals such as whales and dolphins appear to use their hearing а much as humans use sight а to seek out food, find mates, guard their young and avoid predators.
Whales were last week sighted inside Sydney Harbour in the early hours of the morning.
A spokesman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service said that the whales moved out quickly when the commuter ferries and boats began to start up.
Date: Fri, 02 Jul, 1999
Holiday plans send Norwegian whaling fleet packing
High North Web News
Holiday plans have sent almost the entire Norwegian whaling fleet back to port in spite of the fact that about 250 minke whales have yet to be taken from the quota of 753. The only whaling grounds where business is as usual, are amid the Greenpeace protesters in the North Sea.
The major whale meat processing plants have decided to close for the holidays in a couple of weeks. Fearing that they will be unable to sell their catch to the processing plants, the organisation responsible for first hand sales, Norges Raafisklag, decided to stop the hunt on Wednesday.
Bad weather on the whaling grounds has led to an unfortunate chain of events. As the hunt has been delayed, so has the delivery of the meat at the landing stations. Only 77 minkes were hunted during the month of May, while 274 were taken during the same month last year. This in turn has meant that the processing plants have been delayed in processing the meat from 20-30 kilos chunks to consumer size steaks. The approaching holiday break will impose heavy limitations on whale meat production capacity.
The whaling stop is not complete, however. Those whalers who have facilities for processing the meat themselves, are being allowed to continue with the hunt. This applies to those in the North Sea and to some in the Barents Sea.
In recent years, developments have led to more and more whalers fitting out their own processing facilities, making them as such independent of the buyers. This year's events will likely accelerate these developments.
"There will be bad seasons from time to time. This is one of them. Lessons can be learned from this year. The next whaling season will hopefully run more smoothly," says Jan Kristiansen, chairman of the Norwegian Whalers Union.
The whaling season is scheduled to end on 1st of August. 625 minke whales were caught last year.
Date: Fri, 02 Jul, 1999
Whales On Menu At Hui, NZ
Regular National
Auckland, - Maori at a hui in Auckland are working out ways to get the meat, blubber and bones of beached whales.
Under present law, most beached whales are buried, and while Maori in some places can get bones with permission from the Conservation Department, they cannot eat the meat or use the oil.
The hui at Auckland's Orakei Marae, organised by the Waitangi Fisheries Commission and Te Puni Kokiri, the Maori Development Ministry, is looking at customary rights to beached whales and the practicalities of using the meat and oil.
It is also discussing laws banning people from taking whalebone goods, including carved pendants, out of the country.
Sean Kerins, a customary fishing adviser for the commission, said Maori would probably nominate a group of people to lobby for law changes when the meeting ends tomorrow afternoon.
"Maori want to be able to eat beached whales and use their bones," he said.
"They don't want the bones to be buried."
Halley Toia, a representative of the host iwi, Ngati Whatua, said it was looking at how to get around the legal restrictions on using whale body parts.
DOC manager of marine relations Michael Donoghue was at the hui and said the department considered Maori cultural issues very carefully.
But he said the meat of most types of whale that beached themselves was high in contaminants and might not be safe to eat.
Marine mammal conservationist Susan Halliwell said Maori might be reluctant to help to refloat stranded whales if laws were changed.
But Mr Toia said such views were an over-reaction.
"We're not going to kill them for killing's sake."
Date: Tue, 06 Jul, 1999
NZ Bill would Ban Dolphins in Captivity
Wellington - A bill banning taking whales and dolphins from the wild into captivity has been introduced to Parliament.
National MP Annabel Young's Prohibition on Capture of Marine Mammals (Whales and Dolphins in Captivity) bill would also put a stop to enclosing whales and dolphins within their natural habitats in such a way as to restrict their movements.
However, permits could be issued by the Minister of Conservation to hold whales and dolphins in captivity to provide medical treatment if they were sick or injured, or to provide care for a young whale or dolphin that was otherwise expected to die.
The minister would have to be satisfied captivity was necessary for safety and survival of the cetaceans.
The bill would not apply to elderly dolphins Kelly and Shona being kept at Napier Marineland.
Those caught breaking the law would face a fine of up to $50,000 with up to another $1000 added for every day of continued offending.
The bill was drawn from a ballot and introduced last week.
Members' bill are heard every second Wednesday while Parliament is sitting.
Date: Wed, 07 Jul, 1999
Florida Whale Victim A Drifter Who Likely Drowned
By Brad Liston of Reuters
Orlando, Reuters - A man found dead and naked on the back of a killer whale in a tank at SeaWorld Orlando was a drifter who apparently drowned after picking the wrong place to swim, police said Wednesday.
Police identified the dead man as Daniel Dukes, 27, a man who gave his address as a Hare Krishna Temple in Miami. An autopsy scheduled for Wednesday was expected to show he had drowned, as his body was not harmed.
"There was no foul play or anything sinister on his part," said Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons.
"He was camped out in the park and just took the opportunity to swim with the whale."
An employee at the Orlando marine theme park discovered Dukes on Tuesday morning, dead, nude and draped across the back of a killer whale "Tillikum," named after the western North American Indian Chinook word for "friend."
Investigators said the 14-year-old whale -- at 4990kg the largest in captivity -- may have played with Dukes' 82kg body as if it were a toy.
Killer whales, also called orcas, are not naturally aggressive to humans and are not inclined to add something new, like people, to their diet, experts said.
Officials at SeaWorld Orlando said they try to keep people like Dukes from hiding in the park when it closes. There is 24-hour security around the whale tanks, but the area is kept dark at night so the giant ocean mammals can sleep.
Animal rights advocates said the incident demonstrated why whales should not be held in captivity.
"The fact that a SeaWorld patron was able to gain access to the whale pools after the park was closed demonstrates that SeaWorld does not provide enough security for whales and visitors alike," Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist for the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.
SeaWorld General Manager Vic Abbey said Tillikum, which was involved in a fatal 1991 incident at a park in Victoria, British Columbia, was never in a tank with humans.
In that incident, a trainer slipped and fell into the tank. Tillikum and two female whales held the trainer underwater until she drowned.
"Tillikum is used for breeding and sometimes appears in shows to splash water on the guests, but never with humans in the tank," he said.
The US Agriculture Department said it would investigate SeaWorld's safety precautions, a spokesman said.
Solomons said Dukes had family in South Carolina and may have been from there originally. He was arrested for shoplifting in southern Florida in June.
Abbey said this was the first incident of its kind in the 35-year history of the SeaWorld parks.
The SeaWorld marine parks, in Orlando, Cleveland, Ohio, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, are owned by Anheuser-Busch Cos.
Date: Wed, 07 Jul, 1999
New Research Exposes The Darker Side Of Dolphins
New York, AFP - Long heralded as playful, social and peaceable creatures, new research reveals that dolphins have a darker side.
Dolphins kill fellow marine mammals in droves, bludgeon porpoises to death by the hundreds and have even been observed in recurring acts of infanticide, the New York Times reported today.
Scientists increasingly are coming to believe that dolphins can be cold-blooded killers, and their aggressive urges seem to be unrelated to the need for food.
"Just because dolphins have a smile, doesn't mean they're non-aggressive," said Amy Samuels at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts told the newspaper.
People who attempt to swim in the wild with dolphins are often bitten, bumped and prodded. Off the coast of Virginia, researchers found at least nine baby dolphins killed, their skulls and vertebrae smashed -- apparently by adult dolphins.
Officials at the Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service have begun an educational campaign that sends out brochures to marinas, schools and fairs in coastal areas where people and dolphins interact, warning them of potential dangers.
"There's this misconception that they're friendly, that they're Flipper, and that they want to play with people," said Trevor Spradlin, a dolphin expert with the federal fisheries service.
Benign perceptions about dolphins are part of popular culture, shaped by aquatic tourist shows and television nature programs.
Attempts to recast the ways dolphins are seen comes as a growing number of travel agencies are offering tourists the chance to swim in the wild with dolphins.
Some tourism companies offer a new-age twist on soft-selling the dolphin's image.
One tour operator, touting the mammals as highly evolved spiritual beings, offers a six-day sailing trip to the Bahamas for "healing encounters" with dolphins, the newspaper reported.
But scientists warn that attempts at communing with dolphins can be risky.
"We're not trying to prevent people from going to the beach or going on dolphin watches," said Spradlin of the fisheries service.
"But they need to do it safely and responsibly."
Date: Thu, 08 Jul, 1999
Look but don't Touch Wild Dolphins
Perth, AAP - Australians who want to swim with dolphins should not be too worried about new research showing the mammals may have a nasty streak.
New United States research indicates seemingly placid dolphins sometimes kill smaller marine animals such as porpoises and even their own young, or bite innocent swimmers.
Today Australian experts warned swimmers to be careful and to look, but not touch, when encountering the mammals.
But dolphins such as those which charm tourists at the world famous Monkey Mia in Western Australia were not a concern, they said.
"I haven't heard any reports (of dolphin attacks) there over all the years, but I think they know the dolphins up there pretty well," Dave Mell, chief wildlife officer for the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, said.
Authorities have banned uncontrolled feeding of dolphins at Monkey Mia to ensure no-one gets hurt.
"The majority of the dolphins there I think are females, and most problem animals appear to be males, for whatever reason."
Mr Mell said he periodically received reports of dolphin violence around the WA coast.
"Most reports are of dolphins nips and bumps, and usually nothing very serious," he said.
"But it can happen, and some years ago we had a dolphin that rammed a swimmer at Rockingham (south of Perth)."
"Dolphins do respond to certain stimuli, and occasionally you will get one that will behave in a threatening way to people, depending on what they are doing."
He said people should be careful. "Look but don't touch," Mr Mell said.
"Certainly enjoy the experience, but limit the interaction -- don't feed them and don't get yourself in a situation where the animal could lunge at you and do some damage."
Date: Mon, 12 Jul, 1999
Greenpeace, Whalers Face Off
By Doug Mellgren Associated Press Writer
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norwegian whale hunters tussled with Greenpeace activists in the North Sea on Monday, with Greenpeace claiming the whalers shot at them and the whalers insisting they fired at a whale.
No one was injured. The Norwegian Coast Guard seized the Greenpeace vessel Sirius and arrested 15 activists, but had no information about a rifle shot, said Grethe Skundberg Lovvik of the Norwegian Southern Defense Command.
"It's pretty amazing that the coast guard didn't react to a rifle shot that could have been life threatening, and then arrested us," Greenpeace spokesman Frode Pleym said by telephone.
The Sirius had been pursuing the whaling boat Kato through the North Sea, 100 miles off Norway's southwestern coast. Lovvik said the activists repeatedly had been told to withdraw from a 500 yard security zone around the Kato.
"They were hampering a legal hunt," Lovvik said from the west coast town of Stavanger.
The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 to protect some types of whales from extinction. However, the Norwegian hunt is legal because commission rules allow members to reject its decisions.
Norway enraged environmentalists in 1993 by resuming its hunts, and since has faced boycott threats, protests, sabotage and confrontations at sea.
Kato skipper Ole Myklebust told the Norwegian news agency NTB the shot was fired at the harpooned whale to make sure it was dead.
"Greenpeace was trying to cut the rope between the whale and the boat just as we were about to kill it," Myklebust was quoted as saying.
Greenpeace's Pleym, who was in Oslo, denied that activists were trying to cut the rope, but acknowledged the rubber boat was between the Kato and the harpooned whale.
Norway's annual whale hunt all but stopped earlier this month, with just 500 of a quota of 753 whales killed, partly because the market for whale meat in Norway was saturated.
Norway says minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales at about 30 feet, are plentiful and can sustain a hunt.
Date: Mon, 12 Jul, 1999
Norway Arrests 19 After Anti-Whaling Protest
Oslo - Norway's coastguard arrested 19 people on Monday and detained a vessel belonging to Greenpeace after a daring North Sea protest against Norwegian whalers.
Greenpeace said 17 activists were arrested along with two independent journalists after it had launched four inflatable dinghies from the vessel Sirius to block two whaling vessels from reaching the whales.
Greenpeace spokesman Lars Haraldsen alleged that a rifle shot had been fired at a dinghy from one of the whaling boats, marking an escalation of the bitter contest between the hunters and the international environmental group.
"I believe this is the first time Norwegian whalers have taken a shot at us although we have been threatened before with knives, thrown into the sea and had a harpoon shot over our heads," Haraldsen told Reuters.
The coastguard said the arrests were made after the activists crossed into a 500-metre security zone around the whaling boats.
"They were asked to leave the security zone but refused and have been put under arrest. The people and the vessel are being brought to Stavanger," spokeswoman Grethe Skundberg Lovvig said.
She could not confirm that a rifle had been used against the demonstrators.
Four Greenpeace activists were arrested in June in a similar anti-whaling protest during which one protester was seriously injured in a collision between a coastguard vessel and a dinghy.
Norway, which resumed commercial whale hunting in 1993 in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's worldwide moratorium, has a quota of 753 minke whales this year, up from 671 for 1998. So far in 1999, 553 whales have been caught.
Hunters in northern Norway ended the season 10 days ahead of schedule on July 1 after the catch exceeded production capacity. The season in the North Sea is due to close on August 1.
Haraldsen said the market for whale meat in Norway had collapsed leaving a steadily growing mountain of blubber and meat. Norway does not export whale products in accordance with the international moratorium.
"People in Norway don't want whale meat any more. There is about 600 tonnes of blubber in storage and 10 tonnes of meat and some of this dates back to 1986," Haraldsen said.
The Norwegian Fisherman's Sales Organisation could not immediately give official figures for stocks of whale meat and products.
"There is hardly any meat in stocks and a few hundred tonnes of blubber," Per Rolandsen, spokesman for the organisation said.
Date: Tue, 13 Jul, 1999
Greenpeace boat shot in the bow
High North Web News
Safety zones exist for a reason, says whaler
The killing by rifle of a minke whale yesterday by the Norwegian whaling vessel "Kato" resulted in a protesting Greenpeace boat taking a bullet in the bow.
Greenpeace is alleging that the whaler aimed at its boat intentionally, endangering human life, and is expected to press charges today.
"Kato" skipper Ole Mindor Myklebust has reacted strongly against the Greenpeace accusation.
"I fired at the whale. I did not put human life in danger," says Myklebust to the High North Web News.
When the shot was fired, the Greenpeace boat was in violation of the 500-metre safety zone around the whaling vessel, and was later arrested by the coastguard.
"There is a very good reason for having a safety zone," says Myklebust.
"This is a killing zone, not a playing zone. We are killing big animals, using heavy weaponry like explosive penthrite grenades and high-calibre rifles intended to kill minke whales weighing up to 10 tonnes as quickly as possible."
"Safety is paramount for us," he continues.
"But it is absolutely impossible to guard against every chance of something malfunctioning, a shot missing its target, or anything else. The safety zone is there to protect people against this. Anybody deliberately entering that zone puts their own life at risk. It's suicidal, it's like jumping on the tracks in front of a moving train. Harassment and provocation from Greenpeace protesters only increase the risk of an accident."
According to Myklebust, yesterday's incident followed the harpooning of a whale which still showed signs of life. The whale was promptly hauled alongside the whaling vessel to be dispatched by rifle, as required by regulations.
"The Greenpeace inflatable then placed itself right into the side of our boat, with its bow close to the whale," he says.
"Putting human safety first, I confirmed that nobody was close to the whale's head. Nobody was sitting in the bow of the inflatable. I was only a few metres away from the animal when I fired three shots at it with the rifle. One bullet apparently made a hole in the bow of the Greenpeace boat because it was so close to the whale."
Myklebust also expressed his anger at Greenpeace's efforts to prolong the animal's suffering.
"If Greenpeace carries on acting the goat, someone is going to be killed one day," says Rune Frovik, secretary of the High North Alliance.
"People already know Greenpeace is against whaling, so what are they hoping to achieve? If anything, their antics strengthen Norway's resolve to continue. At best, Greenpeace can delay a hunt a little, but that's not much to show for putting human lives at risk."
Member of parliament and former chairman of the Norwegian Whalers' Union, Steinar Bastesen, who is onboard "Kato", said in today's "Dagbladet" newspaper:
"Moving in the vicinity of a whaling boat at work is like walking across a firing range."
But he does not see any negative fallout coming from yesterday's incident; quite the opposite in fact, as media attention will alert the public to the availability of fresh whale meat.
"The more noise with Greenpeace, the more whale meat we are selling," he told the newspaper.
In June, a Greenpeace activist was seriously injured after a collision involving the coastguard, whose inflatables were trying to harry two Greenpeace rubber dinghies from the safety zone. In its report of the incident, the coastguard said that the Greenpeace dinghies were sailing "aggressively and at times dangerously", conducting "dangerous and provocative operations". At one point, the two dinghies attempted to ram one of the coastguard inflatables from both sides at the same time. However, the coastguard boat made an emergency stop, resulting in the two dinghies passing in front of her bow and colliding with each other.
So far in 1999, about 560 of a quota of 753 minke whales have been caught. The season ends on August 1. "Kato" has hunted 10 minkes since Sunday.
Date: Wed, 14 Jul, 1999
Beefier Keiko faces training in fitness
By Katy Muldoon of The Oregonian staff
Last July, hopes were high. Keiko's keepers prepared to transport the world's most famous whale from the Oregon Coast Aquarium to Iceland, where the 21-year-old orca was captured when he was about 2. Construction workers pieced together his new floating hotel there. And word on the whale front was that the long-captive orca, star of the movie "Free Willy," might be reintroduced to the wild as early as this summer.
Fast forward to July '99, a month in which hope for Keiko's freedom is tempered with the harsh reality of life in the surly north Atlantic Ocean and the lack of tested scientific method to guide his keepers toward his release.
Keiko, in short, will have to weather at least one more winter in his man-made floating pen in Vestmannaeyjar, or the Westmann Islands off Iceland's south coast, as keepers work to:
- Study wild Icelandic killer whales; the more researchers learn about how orcas behave and survive at sea, the better equipped keepers will be to determine whether Keiko ever can measure up.
- Boost his strength and stamina with rigorous physical training; Keiko, still sporting his trademark droopy dorsal fin, will need to be in top form to keep up with his wild cousins, who might swim more than 100 miles a day. Already, keepers say, his body looks beefier and his energy is zestier than in Oregon.
- Prepare the polypropylene-and-net bay pen for the next inevitably wild winter, armed with knowledge that storms packing winds over 100 mph are as common as fish on the menu in Westmann Islands restaurants; just last week a 75-mph storm blasted the island.
"We hope to start reintroduction training by fall," said Jeff Foster, the Keiko project's director of field operations and research.
"But realistically, it couldn't happen until next spring."
This month, Ocean Futures, the California environmental organization that took over care of the whale last March from the Free Willy Keiko Foundation, expects to announce it is building a satellite transmitter tag.
Once attached to Keiko, the tag will act like an electronic leash. Far-fetched as it sounds, keepers expect to train the tagged whale to cruise out of the sheltered harbor for day swims and return in time for dinner -- a critical step before full release.
Last week for the first time, the crew placed a tag on a wild killer whale off the island of Surtsey, south of Vestmannaeyjar.
Shot from a crossbow and attached with suction cups, the tag allowed researchers to record 30 hours of information on a topic about which little is known: what whales do at night and when they're below the water's surface.
With help from Robin W. Baird, a whale researcher and biologist from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the crew learned that the whale dove 111 meters deep and stayed submerged for as long as six minutes. They might learn more as they analyze the data.
Meanwhile, back at the bay pen, maintenance crews put in 12-14 hour days scrubbing fast-growing algae off the sides of the 250-foot-long, 100-foot-wide floating structure; improving the anchoring system, which took a beating during winter; and dredging the bay's sandy bottom under the pen.
Foster said Keiko now pays more attention to the natural world around him than to his human caretakers, who still hand-feed him 75 to 150 pounds of frozen herring daily. He appears curious about the millions of seabirds now nesting on the steep basalt cliffs that rise hundreds of feet above the picturesque bay where he lives; he likes to nudge the Atlantic puffins, auks and eider ducks when they land inside his pen. But unlike wild Icelandic killer whales recently observed munching on ducks near Vestamannaeyjar's harbor, long-pampered Keiko apparently hasn't tasted one yet.
Date: Wed, 14 Jul, 1999
The disturbing question at the heart of the Makah hunt
Vancouver Sun
A biologist says neither the Makah nor the whaling commission can answer whether the targets of the harpoonists are among many migrants or among the few residents.
By Jim Darling, Ph.D., who works in Tofino for the Vancouver-based West Coast Whale Research Foundation.
The primary biological issue surrounding the Makah whale hunt is where are the 22 to 33 whales allocated to be killed or injured over a five-year period going to come from.
Are they to be taken from the small summer resident population of between 35 and 200 whales? or will be taken randomly from the eastern Pacific heard of 25,000 animals as was presumably intended by the International Whaling Commission and described to the public?
Since the 1970's, I have studied the population of 35 to 40 gray whales that reside along the south-central west coast of Vancouver Island each summer. These whales leave the northern migration from Mexico to the Arctic seas in spring, stay in the region for eight or nine months feeding, then join the winter migration southward.
This population consists of both sexes, and both adult and very young animals. Many of the same individuals return each summer.
That is this area is a home summer range to a specific group of whales. Some adults have returned each year for at least 25 years.
The Vancouver Island situation appears typical of summer resident gray whales found from northern California through southeastern Alaska. We do not know the total numbers throughout this region, but rough estimates range up to 200, including the 35 to 50 whales off Vancouver Island.
We also do not know whether these whales travel and mix randomly throughout the entire region, or if there is a series of sub populations that tend to home in on specific sections of the coast. This is the reason for the wide population estimate: There may be as many as 200 or as few as 35 whales that range throughout the hunt zone between migrations.
The U.S, Environmental Impact Statement prepared prior to the U.S. government advocacy of Makah whaling to the whaling commission did not address these summer resident populations. In fact, most commission delegates voted to support the hunt without knowledge or consideration of these populations.
Much later, the U.S. government acknowledged the existence of these resident whales. It was only then the U.S. government and Makah Whaling Council responded by stating that they would only hunt migrants, thereby solving the problem.
However, to date the scheduled hunts have not coincided with the migrations. Although numerous scientific studies clearly show that the southern, winter migration passes the Vancouver Island-Washington coast after early December (with the peak around Christmas or New Years), the U.S. government opened the hunt on Oct. 1st last year. Any whales taken before December would
very likely have been summer residents.
The spring, northward migration comes in two waves. By far the majority of whales pass from late February to the end of April with the peak from mid-March to mid-April. A second smaller wave passes through May and early June and consists almost entirely of cows with newborn calves.
Summer reside whales are present in the region by early April. Yet the whale was killed in mid-May.
If migrants are to be targeted, the timing for the hunt is obvious: mid-December to mid-January: late-February to end of April. Equally obvious is the fact that to date the hunt has not occurred anywhere near peak migration times.
It's a little declaring you want to catch someone in the morning rush hour, but not trying until 11a.m!
In sum, the odds are very high that any whales hunted between May and December will be summer residents -- whales that behave differently than the rest of the herd, and reside along our coast. Hunting the resident whales will not threaten the entire gray whale herd, but it may well threaten the resident population.
Next season will determine the credibility of the hunt managers.
The issue should be reopened at the International Whaling Commission with full information available to all delegates. Clearly, killing or injuring ("landed or struck") 20 to 33 whales out of a population of less than 200 is different than taking them out of a heard of more than 25,000.
It is indeed unfortunate that Canada is not a member to the IWC and refuses to join even after repeated requests from that organization to do so. The population at risk straddles the U.S./Canada border.
It is among other things, the "resource" for a significant whale-watch industry, bringing millions upon millions of dollars into small B.C. communities. The IWC is the forum in which Canadian interests can be represented.
Date: Fri, 16 Jul, 1999
Orca Watchers cause Traffic Jam
Wellington - A pod of orcas (Killer whales) in Wellington Harbour caused a traffic jam as motorists stopped to watch them at play early yesterday afternoon.
The jam occurred on State Highway 2 just north of the Ngauranga interchange, north of the city.
Whangarei whale researcher Ingrid Visser, who has been e-mailed photographs of the orcas, recognised the pod as one she saw in Auckland harbour 11 days ago.
"It is pretty amazing to travel from Auckland in 11 days. I now know they are doing at least 150km a day, on average, around the coastline."
"Obviously they are doing more than that because they are hunting and going backward and forwards," she said.
Miss Visser said the orcas would have been hunting stingrays. One orca in the pod called A1 was identifiable by a missing fin, she said.
A1 was the first orca catalogued in New Zealand and was first photographed in 1977.
Another with the group was named Rocky because he often went hunting for stingrays among rocks.
Although also known as killer whales, Miss Visser said that in reality, orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family.
Date: Sat, 17 Jul, 1999
Whaler Invites Greenpeace To Join Hunt
Regular National
Oslo, Norway, AP - A Norwegian whaler whose crew allegedly shot at a protest boat skippered by a New Zealander today took the unprecedented step of inviting the environmental group Greenpeace to join his whale hunt in a bid to settle 30 years of conflict.
Seventeen activists from the Greenpeace vessel Sirius, including New Zealand captain Bob Graham and fellow New Zealander John Frost, were arrested during an international protest in the North Sea against Norway's whaling.
Skipper Ole Mindor Myklebust said it was time to talk and invited the group on board his fishing trawler Kato for the hunt. Greenpeace declined.
"We have been experiencing Greenpeace actions ... since 1972 and we can't continue to live with it," Myklebust, 50, told the Associated Press.
A conflict this week was among the most serious. Greenpeace accused Myklebust's crew of shooting at their activists on Monday as they raced in a rubber boat between the Kato and a harpooned whale.
Police found probable bullet holes in the Greenpeace boat, but the whalers say they were aiming at the wounded whale.
Norway enraged Greenpeace and others by resuming its commercial whale hunts in 1993, despite a 1986 ban by the International Whaling Commission. Norway rejected the ban, as allowed by commission rules.
Norway says the minke, the smallest of the baleen whales at about 9m, are plentiful and can sustain a hunt, with a quota of 753 minke this year.
However, whalers have faced protests, sabotage against whaling boats and confrontations at sea, mainly with Greenpeace.
In a letter to Greenpeace campaign leader Mats Ambrahamsson, Myklebust said this week's incident served to worsen the conflict.
"I think it is high time to start a constructive dialogue," wrote Myklebust.
"So I would like to invite you on board so you can join the whale hunt this summer ... By saying 'Yes please' to the invitation you can also see how whaling is seen from a hunting vessel."
Greenpeace said `No thanks,' although it called the initiative "positive".
"First, we want a clear apology for what happened this week," Greenpeace spokesman Frode Pleym said by telephone.
Greenpeace filed a police complaint against Myklebust this week after the shooting incident in the North Sea, about 185km off southwestern Norway. When told that Greenpeace demanded an apology, Myklebust became less conciliatory.
"We can't apologise for them getting between us and a (harpooned) whale," he said.
The Greenpeace ship Sirius, which was used in the action, was seized by the coast guard on Monday. It was released after Greenpeace posted a $US25,300 ($NZ48,800) bond.
Date: Mon, 19 Jul, 1999
Napier Dolphin Venue Under Scrutiny
Hastings, - The future of Napier's Marineland, including the possibility of a $4.5 million redevelopment plan, will come under the spotlight later today.
A working party, set up by Tourism Services Ltd, which manages Marineland for Napier City Council, will investigate the future of the marine zoo.
The working party was set up following the death last month of one of Marineland's three performing dolphins.
The remaining dolphins, Shoon and Kelly, are 31 and 29 years old respectively. In the wild dolphins have a life expectancy of about 20 years.
The inquiry also follows a call by National List MP Annabel Young for a ban on the capture of further dolphins for the tourist attraction and a call by ACT MP Muriel Newman for it to import dolphins bred in captivity to ensure its future.
Marineland manager Gary Macdonald said several years ago it was estimated that the cost of building a modern dolphin pool would be $4.5 million.
The pool would be about three times larger than the existing pool and twice as deep and include a medical and isolation pools.
Mr Macdonald said the working party would be looking at all options for Marineland ranging from doing nothing to the availability of dolphins bred in captivity and upgrading the facility.
He said the working party had to consider all alternatives to ensure it came up with the right decision. But, he said, to redevelop Marineland would not be cheap.
Date: Thu, 22 Jul, 1999
Tonga Urged to End Whaling Ban
By Robert Keith-Reid
Nuku'alofa, Tonga, AP - A pro-whaling group has launched a campaign urging Tonga to end a ban on killing the mammals in the Polynesian kingdom's waters.
World Council of Whalers Chairman Mexsis Happynook said today that he met with members of the Tongan government to brief them on the advantages of resuming commercial whaling in the Pacific island nation's waters.
The council backed its case with papers from international academics and offered to conduct a survey of Tonga's whale stocks, he said.
The council also offered to conduct a health survey to assess the benefits of encouraging Tongans to include whale meat in their diet.
As in many Pacific countries, where isolation and the cost of transporting some perishables leads to heavy consumption of processed foods high in salt, fat and sugar, Tongans' diet contributes to generally poor health.
Hypertension, heart disease, obesity and diabetes are rife
Tonga's health department blames processed foods and high consumption of fatty, low-grade cheap meat imported from New Zealand.
The World Council of Whalers was established in 1997 to ``support sustainable whaling worldwide'' and is funded by pro-whaling nations including Norway and Japan.
Between June and October, the warm waters off Tonga's tropical islands and atolls are a breeding ground for endangered humpback whales.
Until the practice was banned in 1978, subsistence fishermen rowing 19th century-style whaleboats hunted humpbacks with hand-held harpoons.
Annual catches were 30 to 40 whales, enough to reduce the stock almost to extinction by the time hunting was banned in 1978.
Stocks are recovering and are presently between 250 and 750 humpbacks, according to a recent study by the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, and whale watching is now a tourist attraction.
The head of Tonga's fisheries department said recently that the government may reconsider the whaling ban in the light of Tonga's dietary problems.
Date: Thu, 05 Aug, 1999
Killer Whales May Be Placed on Endangered List
Scripps Howard News Service
BREMERTON, Wash. -- A disturbing decline in the number of killer whales in Puget Sound has forced researchers to consider listing the orcas under the Endangered Species Act.
In just four years, what had been a steadily increasing population of "southern resident" whales has dropped from 98 to 84.
Among seven whales missing this year and presumed dead is 4-year-old Nerka, officially known as L-93, one of the young whales that thrilled observers when the orcas visited Dyes Inlet in 1997.
The Canadian government already has responded to the decline in numbers. In April, it listed the whales as "threatened" in British Columbia.
"It's scary to see the population drop so drastically in a few years," said Clark McAlpine of The Whale Museum, a nonprofit group in Friday Harbor.
McAlpine said The Whale Museum will continue gathering information from researchers in the United States and Canada with the intent of filing a petition to list the species under the Endangered Species Act.
"I see us being highly involved in the process," McAlpine said.
"We'll continue to work with the researchers until we can put together some kind of proposal."
Causes for the decline are still being studied, said Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor. Two key factors may be fewer salmonбa major food source for the whalesбalong with unhealthy levels of toxic chemicals that accumulate in the orcas' tissues, he said.
The southern resident community is a distinct population of whales that frequents the inland waters of Western Washington and southern British Columbia. Three extended families, known as pods, are included in the group: the J, K and L pods.
A committee of government scientists in Canada concluded that enough information was available to list the southern residents as "threatened."
As in the United States, the Canadian designation raises concerns about potential extinction of the population. Unlike the United States, the listing has no specific force of law.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada based its "threatened" determination on an analysis by Robin Baird, who looked at a variety of factors affecting killer whales throughout the Northwest. Baird pointed out that the whales in the southern resident community have three to five times higher levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, than the northern residents, which live in the less polluted areas of Northern British Columbia and Alaska.
According to Balcomb, killer whales easily accumulate PCBs by eating salmon. That alone can create a health problem, he said, but the decline of salmon has forced whales to eat bottom fish, such as rockfish, that contain even higher levels of contaminants.
Females pass the PCBs on to their young through their milk. Once in their body fat, the PCBs are not easily dislodged.
"PCBs in one of the males here was 232 parts per million, which is roughly 40 times the level of extreme toxicity in rats and seals," Balcomb said.
The toxicity affects the immune system, which could allow natural diseases to kill the whales, Balcomb said. Baird listed other factors that may be at play in the southern populationбincluding a greater number of encounters with whale-watching boats, which can disrupt the whalesе social behavior. Also considered were natural problems, such as parasites.
The capture of killer whales for marine parks in the 1960s in the United States and up through 1977 in Canada may still be having an impact on the population, Baird said.
The capture focused on young males, he explained, which may have reduced the number of mature males now available to continue rebuilding the population.
After enough scientific information is gathered, McAlpine said, he will ask The Whale Museum's board of directors to approve a petition for official listing under the Endangered Species Act.
"I don't think they'll have any hesitation to do something," he said.
After notification, the National Marine Fisheries Service is supposed to determine within 90 days whether the petition presents scientific information warranting a listing. The agency then has a year for a full scientific review, including studies of critical habitat.
If the whales are eventually listed, the federal government is required to take actions that protect both the animals and their habitat from harm.
Balcomb pointed out that problems facing the orcas are not easy to solve, but whales and human beings are more closely related than many people realize. Both are top predators, he said, and the charismatic whales provide an indicator of the overall health of the marine ecosystem shared by humans.
Copyright 1999 Scripps Howard News Service. All rights reserved.
Date: Tue, 10 Aug, 1999
Whale Found Washed Up in Wellington Harbour
Wellington, A rare visit into Wellington Harbour proved fatal for a 5m scamperdown whale, which washed up next to the Interislander ferry terminal early this morning.
The normal habitat of the scamperdowns was deep water beyond the continental shelf and they were rare visitors to coastal waters, Alan Baker, of the Department of Conservation's science and research unit said.
"We knew it was in the harbour and had our fingers crossed it would be able to get out," he said.
The mature male looked to have been a healthy animal, Mr Baker said. It might have died of starvation over the last three or four days because of insufficient food in the harbour.
Scamperdowns were peculiar because they only had two teeth in their lower jaw which, in males, protruded like tusks. Males used them for fighting one another, causing the scratches that could be seen on the dead scamperdown's body, he said.
It was also covered in round scars, which Mr Baker said were caused by cookie cutter sharks. These tiny sharks, between 40 and 50cm long, hook on to the whales and spin around, pulling off chunks of flesh.
Scamperdowns are commonly stranded in New Zealand, though usually on the outer coast. This one was the 156th since records began in 1873.
The whale was to be moved to a beach so DOC could take samples to determine its cause of death.
Update: Rare Whale's Body for Research
Wellington, The rare scamperdown whale which died in Wellington Harbour today will be used for research and may end up at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa.
The 5m one-tonne whale, which normally lives in the depths of Oceania's oceans, was seen floundering by Tranz Rail workers near the ferry terminal about 4am.
Department of Conservation marine mammal specialist Bruce Dix said it was the first time a scamperdown had been found in Wellington Harbour.
The white around the whale's mouth indicated it was a very mature specimen and it probably died of natural causes, he said. Not much was known about the breed and scientists would take the whale's vital organs for study.
Te Papa and Massey University were interested in the whale, Mr Dix said.
With the approval of local iwi it was likely the whale's skeleton would be given to Te Papa so the whole of New Zealand could see it.
Editor: The Scamperdown whale is officially known as the Gray's Beaked whale.
Date: Tue, 10 Aug, 1999
Hervey Bay A Prime Spot For Hobnobbing With Humpbacks
By Robyn Holland of AP
Hervey Bay, Queensland AP - As the humpback whale surfaces at the stern of the boat, Mimi Macpherson leans out over the bright blue water, tosses her hair and smiles broadly.
It's a perfect day aboard her 25m catamaran, Discovery One, with scores of tourists on board.
The weather is warm, the sea is calm and two awesome young humpbacks have spent 90 minutes playing next to the boat, to the delight of the excited passengers, cameras and videocams in hand, experiencing their first close encounters with whales.
Macpherson has been operating her whale-watch cruises in Hervey Bay, 300km north of Brisbane, since 1989 when a marine park was established here.
As the younger sister of supermodel Elle Macpherson, Mimi received an extraordinary amount of publicity when she started her business. She used it to her advantage, and, along with her business prowess, created a successful operation which has won tourism industry awards.
Discovery One, one of 15 whale-watch boats on Hervey Bay, takes out up to 270 people each day from 10am to 4pm during the whale watch season. The cost of $85 for adults and $39 for children includes a buffet lunch.
There is a full bar and a ``child's corner,'' with toys, books and educational items.
"It was really a fluke -- excuse the pun -- the way I got into whale watching," Macpherson says.
"I was working for a charter boat company in Sydney Harbour and its owners decided to take it up to Hervey Bay when the marine park was set up, so I just went with them."
"I started by scrubbing potatoes and cleaning the galley, then eventually the boys let me put the sails up and I made a really good decky. Then I did administration and marketing for them and it just flowed from there. After two years I had developed a well-rounded knowledge of the whole industry."
An estimated 1500 to 1800 humpback whales migrate annually 5000km from Antarctic waters to the warmer tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef in June, where they mate and give birth. Between August and November, many of these whales are seen in Hervey Bay, where they rest before heading south again.
Experts believe the whales may choose Hervey Bay for its calm, shallow and warm waters, which helps give the calves time to develop a layer of protective blubber in readiness for colder waters, Another theory is that the bay provides a haven for the whales who are stressed after birthing and mating.
Luree LeFrancis, a naturalist and educator for the Pacific Whale Foundation based in Maui, Hawaii, spends the whale watch season on Mimi's boat. She says the humpbacks are believed to be returning at an increasing rate of four to five percent a year.
"I think tourism, if it's done anything at all, has raised awareness of whales," LeFrancis says.
"Whale watching is a big part of helping save the humpbacks."
The estimated population of humpbacks in Australian waters before large-scale commercial whaling began in the 19th century was 10,000. When whaling ceased in 1963, the species was under threat of extinction, with only a few hundred believed to remain. Now, the estimated population is thought to be 1800.
LeFrancis says Hervey Bay is a unique whale-watching location.
"This is one of the best places I've ever come to watch whales doing different types of behaviours," she says.
"People can get a really neat close encounter with them here. It's the only place I've seen the humpback whales get really curious about the boats," she explains.
"In Hawaii, they tend to be more aggressive and they're not as relaxed as they are here. They're on the surface more here because the water is only 66 feet deep, which is often the size of a whale."
Macpherson adds: "From a commercial point of view we know this is the best location in the world for seeing whales."
Living in her sister's limelight has created opportunities for her, Macpherson says, but it's also worked against her at times.
"A lot of people think I've been given the boat just because Elle is rich -- that I haven't worked for it, which is not true," she says.
"But it does help in one way to be Elle's sister because people feel like they know you," says Macpherson, who last year landed a guest role in the TV series Baywatch.
"There's a sense of knowing the quality is going to be there because the name has quality attached to it."
She says she never loses enthusiasm for her work.
"The people I meet are just as interesting as the whales," she says. "It's the people who make it special. I love being part of the experience with them."
"Some people come up to me at the end of the trip and say: 'Mimi, I could die happy now, because I've done what I've wanted to do. Thanks for making it happen.'"
IF YOU GO...
WEATHER: The average temperature during whale-watch season is 20 to 28 degrees Celsius.
INFORMATION: For information about all tours and accommodations phone the Whale Watch hotline at (07) 4124-0400. For general information on Hervey Bay, phone the Hervey Bay Tourist and Visitors Centre on 1800-649-926.
Date: Wed, 11 Aug, 1999
Rare Whale's Body For Research
Regular National
Wellington, NZ -- The rare scamperdown whale which died in Wellington Harbour today will be used for research and may end up at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa.
The 5m one-tonne whale, which normally lives in the depths of Oceania's oceans, was seen floundering by Tranz Rail workers near the ferry terminal about 4am.
Department of Conservation marine mammal specialist Bruce Dix said it was the first time a scamperdown had been found in Wellington Harbour.
The white around the whale's mouth indicated it was a very mature specimen and it probably died of natural causes, he said. Not much was known about the breed and scientists would take the whale's vital organs for study.
Te Papa and Massey University were interested in the whale, Mr Dix said.
With the approval of local iwi it was likely the whale's skeleton would be given to Te Papa so the whole of New Zealand could see it.
Date: Wed, 11 Aug, 1999
Whale Found Washed Up In Wellington Harbour
Regular National
Wellington, NZ -- A rare visit into Wellington Harbour proved fatal for a 5m scamperdown whale, which washed up next to the Interislander ferry terminal early this morning.
The normal habitat of the scamperdowns was deep water beyond the continental shelf and they were rare visitors to coastal waters, Alan Baker, of the Department of Conservation's science and research unit said.
"We knew it was in the harbour and had our fingers crossed it would be able to get out," he said.
The mature male looked to have been a healthy animal, Mr Baker said. It might have died of starvation over the last three or four days because of insufficient food in the harbour.
Scamperdowns were peculiar because they only had two teeth in their lower jaw which, in males, protruded like tusks. Males used them for fighting one another, causing the scratches that could be seen on the dead scamperdown's body, he said.
It was also covered in round scars, which Mr Baker said were caused by cookie cutter sharks. These tiny sharks, between 40 and 50cm long, hook on to the whales and spin around, pulling off chunks of flesh.
Scamperdowns are commonly stranded in New Zealand, though usually on the outer coast. This one was the 156th since records began in 1873.
The whale was to be moved to a beach so DOC could take samples to determine its cause of death.
Date: Thu, 12 Aug, 1999
Efforts To Save Gray Whale Trigger Worldwide Marine Conservation
By Paul Hofmann (c) Earth Times News Service
A recent warning by top scientists that an industrial project on Mexico's west coast would endanger the survival of the gray whale has once again called international attention to the precarious conditions of much marine life.
Nine Nobel laureates and 25 other leading researchers from a number of countries appealed to the Mitsubishi corporation and the government of Mexico not to go through with plans to build giant salt works on the shores of the San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California. The proposed development would imperil not only the whales but also other maritime and terrestrial species, the plea pointed out.
The lagoon was in fact designated a whale sanctuary by Mexico in 1976 and listed as a World Heritage site by Unesco in 1993. The industrialization of the zone would entail unacceptable ecological risks, the scientists contended, because it is the last undisturbed breeding and calving zone for gray whales on Earth.
While the world thus is urged to worry about the gray whale, modern fishing fleets are cruising off Alaska, West Africa, New Zealand and other areas of the Seven Seas, harvesting sea creatures in industrial quantities, using drift nets (which
are outlawed by many countries). Factory ships immediately process and deep-freeze the day's catch, which through a refrigeration chain that occasionally includes aircraft, will reach the end consumer within days, weeks or months.
Not surprisingly, alarming information about the depletion of marine species is reported continually. One recent startling news item was that penguins were sighted off Rio de Janeiro. They have started migrating from the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere for thousands of miles up the coasts of Latin America because off Patagonia they no longer find enough fish.
Another kind of maritime migration is at present being observed in the Mediterranean Sea: More than 100 species of tropical fish have started invading it, traveling by way of the Suez Canal or the Straits of Gibraltar. Researchers believe the newcomers were attracted not only by the warming of the Mediterranean's waters (in itself an alarming process) but also by the decimation of indigenous marine life caused by overfishing and pollution.
One of the Mediterranean's native species that is in particular danger is the red tuna. Like different varieties of the coveted fish in other seas, it is being relentlessly nettedŅfar beyond the quotas set by international conventions aimed at protecting the species. Pirate vessels under flags of convenience, like those of small African or Latin American states, ruthlessly catch as much tuna as they are able to get.
Many of the threats to marine life originate from the current vogue for seafood. It has always been the staple nourishment of the Japanese and other seafaring peoples, but lately the demand for fish and other aquatic fare has jumped worldwide as nutritionists keep cautioning against excessive meat consumption. Sushi is as popular around the globe as hamburgers and pizza.
One consequence is extensive fish-farming. For instance, most of the salmon offered abundantly by food stores and restaurants today is produced in captivity. Hatcheries, though not of salmon, also line some shores of the Mediterranean; the chances are that tuna too will soon be produced industrially in cages.
And it is in the long-overfished Mediterranean that environmentalists are now promoting the creation of a new
marine life sanctuary. The area chosen is a triangular section of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which washes the French Riviera, the Principality of Monaco, Italy's Ligurian coast and the Island of Corsica.
In addition to protecting the small and medium-size mink, sperm and fin whales that still inhabit or visit the Mediterranean, the safe sector is destined also to protect porpoises and dolphins.
Organizations like Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States, Britain's Biscay Dolphin Research program, the Genoa Aquarium and the Underseas Research Center of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Le Spezia, Italy, are taking part in the project. Satellite photos are to be used to monitor the proposed marine park. And there will be also a lot of seaborne whale-watching.
Copyright © 1998 The Earth Times All rights reserved.
Date: Mon, 16 Aug, 1999
Efforts to save Gray Whale trigger Worldwide Marine Conservation
By Paul Hofmann (c) Earth Times News Service
A recent warning by top scientists that an industrial project on Mexico's west coast would endanger the survival of the gray whale has once again called international attention to the precarious conditions of much marine life.
Nine Nobel laureates and 25 other leading researchers from a number of countries appealed to the Mitsubishi corporation and the government of Mexico not to go through with plans to build giant salt works on the shores of the San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California. The proposed development would imperil not only the whales but also other maritime and terrestrial species, the plea pointed out.
The lagoon was in fact designated a whale sanctuary by Mexico in 1976 and listed as a World Heritage site by Unesco in 1993. The industrialization of the zone would entail unacceptable ecological risks, the scientists contended, because it is the last undisturbed breeding and calving zone for gray whales on Earth.
While the world thus is urged to worry about the gray whale, modern fishing fleets are cruising off Alaska, West Africa, New Zealand and other areas of the Seven Seas, harvesting sea creatures in industrial quantities, using drift nets (which are outlawed by many countries). Factory ships immediately process and deep-freeze the day's catch, which through a refrigeration chain that occasionally includes aircraft, will reach the end consumer within days, weeks or months.
Not surprisingly, alarming information about the depletion of marine species is reported continually. One recent startling news item was that penguins were sighted off Rio de Janeiro. They have started migrating from the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere for thousands of miles up the coasts of Latin America because off Patagonia they no longer find enough fish.
Another kind of maritime migration is at present being observed in the Mediterranean Sea: More than 100 species of tropical fish have started invading it, traveling by way of the Suez Canal or the Straits of Gibraltar. Researchers believe the newcomers were attracted not only by the warming of the Mediterranean's waters (in itself an alarming process) but also by the decimation of indigenous marine life caused by overfishing and pollution.
One of the Mediterranean's native species that is in particular danger is the red tuna. Like different varieties of the coveted fish in other seas, it is being relentlessly nettedŅfar beyond the quotas set by international conventions aimed at protecting the species. Pirate vessels under flags of convenience, like those of small African or Latin American states, ruthlessly catch as much tuna as they are able to get.
Many of the threats to marine life originate from the current vogue for seafood. It has always been the staple nourishment of the Japanese and other seafaring peoples, but lately the demand for fish and other aquatic fare has jumped worldwide as nutritionists keep cautioning against excessive meat consumption. Sushi is as popular around the globe as hamburgers and pizza.
One consequence is extensive fish-farming. For instance, most of the salmon offered abundantly by food stores and restaurants today is produced in captivity. Hatcheries, though not of salmon, also line some shores of the Mediterranean; the chances are that tuna too will soon be produced industrially in cages.
And it is in the long-overfished Mediterranean that environmentalists are now promoting the creation of a new marine life sanctuary. The area chosen is a triangular section of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which washes the French Riviera, the Principality of Monaco, Italy's Ligurian coast and the Island of Corsica.
In addition to protecting the small and medium-size mink, sperm and fin whales that still inhabit or visit the Mediterranean, the safe sector is destined also to protect porpoises and dolphins.
Organizations like Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States, Britain's Biscay Dolphin Research program, the Genoa Aquarium and the Underseas Research Center of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Le Spezia, Italy, are taking part in the project. Satellite photos are to be used to monitor the proposed marine park. And there will be also a lot of seaborne whale-watching.
Copyright © 1998 The Earth Times All rights reserved.
Date: Wed, 18 Aug, 1999
Half a Million Dollars for Antarctic Research
CANBERRA, Australia -- Understanding of Antarctica's influence on the world's climate and environmental systems will be enhanced as a result of grants totalling $570,000 announced today by Senator Robert Hill, Minister for the Environment and Heritage.
The grants are for 49 Antarctic research projects to be undertaken in 1999/2000 by scientists from 20 Australian universities and other institutions. They are awarded annually on a competitive basis to projects of high scientific merit and relevance to Australia's Antarctic goals.
"These grants demonstrate the Federal Government's commitment to protecting the Antarctic environment and improving our understanding of the Antarctic region," Senator Hill said.
With the human presence in Antarctica growing each year, both from station personnel and tourism, the threat of introduced disease into the Antarctic wildlife has become an important concern. One project aims to assess the normal viral, bacterial and parasitic flora of Antarctic penguins across the Antarctic environment and across seasons and host life cycles.
Other animal species being studied include Adelie penguins, albatrosses, giant petrels and fur seal populations on Macquarie Island. Researchers will also look at how climate change is affecting plant species including algae.
Helping to combat climate change, an Australian-French cooperative study will examine the potential for the use of alternative renewable energy systems at Antarctic bases to reduce the quantity of fuel used and the impact on the environment.
"Understanding what happens in Antarctica is of considerable importance to Australia, not only because of the importance of the region for the global environment, including climate and ocean systems, but also because of the region's impact on Australia's weather patterns," Senator Hill said.
The projects supported cover a range of scientific disciplines including studies of the Antarctic atmosphere, the Antarctic ice sheet and sea ice, the nature of the Southern Ocean, and the life forms that inhabit the region.
For further details, contact Australian Antarctic Division: Jenny Whittaker on +61 3 6232-3512
Date: Wed, 18 Aug, 1999
Having a whale of a time at Bondi
By James Woodford, Science Writer, SMH.
It was a whale doing ordinary whale things in an extraordinary location at the wrong time of the year.
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers said the whale that frolicked off Bondi Beach yesterday, from dawn to dusk, appeared to be a humpback.
In Sydney while most of its species were already far to the north, it was probably late in migrating from feeding waters in the Antarctic to breeding grounds in the tropics. Most of the whales that migrated past Sydney this year did so between May and the end of July. This season, which peaked in the middle of June, was regarded as one of the best on record.
On numerous occasions yesterday, the whale at Bondi was so close to the shore that every barnacle on its giant head was visible to the half-a-dozen spectators who watched in awe from the cliff above. For a few minutes, the cetacean would disappear as it cruised underwater just behind the break and then suddenly appear between Australia's most famous swimming flags, as oblivious to nearby surfers as they were to it.
Soon after leaving the flags, the whale rose up like a mini-sub, releasing a spray of water and then sinking again below the surface with a gentle flap of its tail.
There was no spectacular breaching or crashing and, as NPWS ranger, Mr Richard Pearce, said, the creature appeared to be doing nothing strenuous, "simply having a good time".
The animal was left alone for the entire day, with most visitors to the beach seemingly unaware of the creature's low-key, but massive, presence - a humpback can weigh up to 48 tonnes and measure 15 metres from top to tail.
Mr Clive Barker, a biologist who spent yesterday enjoying the spectacle, said it was the best view of a whale he had ever had.
Ms Sally Wall, a member of the whale rescue group, ORCA, kept an eye on the animal. "It is unbelievable to see a giant of the sea on Sydney's doorstep," Ms Wall said.
"It's good to be able to see them enjoying the ocean rather than having to rescue them."
Copyright © Sydney Morning Herald
Date: Wed, 18 Aug, 1999
HSUS Joins Suit Seeking to Preserve Dolphin Protection
WASHINGTON, U.S. Newswire - The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation's largest non-profit animal protection organization with over seven million members and constituents, today joined Earth Island Institute and other organizations and individuals in asking a federal court to overturn a decision by Commerce Secretary William Daley that allows tuna caught by methods that harass, injure and potentially kill dolphins to be sold in the United States and labeled as 'dolphin safe.' The groups filed the lawsuit today in San Francisco.
"Decades of work by dolphin advocates, American consumers and our lawmakers ensured that the 'dolphin safe' symbol meant that dolphins would not be harmed to put tuna on our grocery store shelves," said Patricia Forkan, HSUS executive vice president.
"Now we leave it to our courts to uphold truth in labeling and dolphin protection."
The groups contend that Daley violated several U.S. laws that protect dolphins and consumers when he decided in April 1999 that the intentional chasing, harassing and netting of dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean does not adversely impact depleted dolphin populations in the fishery.
Congress, at the behest of the Clinton Administration and lobbyists for Mexico, set up the showdown between Daley and dolphin advocates when, in 1997 they passed the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act. That law weakened provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which banned U.S. tuna fishers from encircling dolphins; the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, which set up a system for labeling tuna as 'dolphin safe'; and other laws regulating tuna imports.
The 1997 law cleared the way for foreign tuna companies that catch tuna by setting nets on dolphins to import the tuna to the United States and label it as 'dolphin safe' as long as observers on tuna boats do not witness any dead or seriously injured dolphins. Dolphin advocates succeeded in including a provision that required the Secretary of Commerce to find that the intentional chase, harassment, and netting of dolphins in purse seine nets does not adversely impact depleted dolphin populations in the ETP before the provisions of the law, including changing the 'dolphin safe' label, could be implemented.
On April 29, 1999, Secretary Daley issued a finding stating that researchers could not determine with certainty that the intentional chasing and encircling of dolphins was having a 'significant adverse impact' on depleted dolphin populations. Daley issued the finding even though the agency's own scientists found evidence that some already depleted dolphin populations are not recovering at the expected rate and may even be declining in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. The HSUS, Earth Island Institute and the other plaintiffs argue that the scientific evidence gathered by international and U.S. scientists that dolphin populations are not recovering because of the methods used by tuna fishers is unlikely ever to be certain, but is nevertheless overwhelming.
In addition, Congress never intended that the evidence be certain for the Secretary of Commerce to find that a 'significant adverse impact' exists, as such a standard in science is unreasonable.
"The decision to undermine the integrity of product labeling and to open the United States to dolphin-deadly tuna was purely political," concluded Forkan.
"The Clinton Administration wants to push its free trade agenda at the expense of dolphins and the environment and despite the American public's support for dolphin protection. We hope that the courts will not allow this attempt to circumvent the law to stand."
NOTE: Video of dolphin-deadly tuna fishing is available from Earth Island Institute. A survey of American attitudes about marine mammals is available from The HSUS. For more information on dolphin protection and tuna imports, visit The HSUS' Web site at http://www.hsus.org.
Copyright © 1999, U.S. Newswire
Date: Wed, 18 Aug, 1999
Environmentalists sue USA over 'Dolphin Safe' Tuna
San Francisco, Reuters - Environmental activists filed suit in federal court on Wednesday seeking to stop what one critic called the "animal genocide" that could result from weakened U.S. standards for 'dolphin safe' tuna.
"The Clinton Administration is willing to sell out dolphins in order to promote trade with Mexico," David Phillips, executive director of the Earth Island Institute, said after filing suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
"We feel that Americans do not want to buy tuna caught by killing dolphins."
The suit, brought by a coalition of some 10 groups, seeks to block labelling changes that would allow tuna caught by a previously banned method known as "encirclement" to be sold in the United States under the 'dolphin safe' labels.
Environmentalists said the changes, approved by US Commerce Secretary William Daley on April 29, would give the green light to Mexican and Latin American tuna boats that chase, harass and net dolphins using 1.6km-long 'purse seine' nets, a practice they allege has killed an estimated 7 million dolphins over the past 40 years.
Daley said in a preliminary finding that encirclement had no significant adverse impact on dolphin stocks.
But Samuel LaBudde, a biologist who spent six months undercover aboard one of the giant Mexican tuna fishing boats, said,
"This is basically a form of animal genocide. This is a nonsensical exercise. . . it's completely unnecessary, economically and otherwise."
Phillips of the Earth Island Institute estimated that about 100 'purse seine' boats -- floating factories that can stay at sea for up to three months and load up to 2000 tonnes of tuna in their on-board freezers -- were working the eastern Pacific. About 45 are from Mexico, with the rest from Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and Vanuatu.
For Mexico, which has been lobbying hard for a change in the U.S. labelling standard, the new, broader 'dolphin safe' designation could mean up to $US100 million ($NZ191.46 million) per year, he said.
"This is a by-product of Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement) where open trade with Mexico was stated as the highest priority -- much higher than protecting the environment," Phillips said.
Dolphin deaths reached 133,000 in 1986. After the 'dolphin safe' tuna labelling regulations were put in place in 1992, the number of carcasses dropped to fewer than 2000 in 1998, the Commerce Department said in April.
While the US tuna fishing fleet and US canners have adhered to 'dolphin safe' guidelines, environmentalists worry that the proposed change will allow Mexican companies to flood the US market with stockpiled tuna caught with the 'encirclement' technique.
"This dolphin unsafe tuna could begin coming in in the next few months," said lawyer Josh Floum, who filed the suit on behalf of the environmental groups.
"We'll be taking some immediate steps to see that these labels aren't weakened," he said, adding that this could involve asking the court for an immediate injunction or asking the judge to rule from the bench on the issue.
Date: Wed, 18 Aug, 1999
NZ Inspires Illegal Abalone Poachers To Switch To Whale-Watching
By Bryan Pearson of Agence France Presse
Hawston, South Africa AFP - New Zealand's Ngai Tahu-dominated whale watching industry at Kaikoura has been held up as a model for South African efforts to establish similar ventures on the Cape coast.
About 873,000 people visit Kaikoura each year, providing employment for about 330 people in tourism in Kaikoura from total spending of about $28 million a year, with an annual increase of $4.4 million.
The embryonic South African industry has been encouraged by the changes whale watching has brought to Kaikoura, which in 1987 was a petrol and tea stop between Christchurch and Blenheim, attracting only 3400 visitors a year.
But when whale watching trips were started in the late 1980s by local operators -- including a pioneer company, Nature Watch, which ran two trips a day -- a mini boom started, and by 1989 a Ngai Tahu hapu Ngati Kuri, had started full-time operation.
The early days of the industry included allegations of sabotage of boats, and fire-bombings.
Initially two permits for whale watching were issued by the Department of Conservation (DOC) -- both to the Ngai Tahu's Whale Watch Kaikoura -- but when DOC decided to issue a third permit in 1992 Ngai Tahu fought it through the courts until in 1995 DOC was instructed to reconsider.
No further sperm whale-watching permits have been issued, and 16 other applications frozen, as DOC said in 1998 it would place a three-year moratorium on Kaikoura whale-watching permits while it "carries out research" in the area.
Meanwhile the Whalewatch business has grown to the point where it carries out as many a 16 trips a day.
This dramatic economic turnaround has attracted the attention of fishermen on the South African coast who have turned from abalone poaching to whale watching tourism to boost their incomes.
Phillipus May, head of the Hawston Fishing Company - which has launched a boat-based whale-watching operation - admits upfront that he and his colleagues once used to dive illegally for abalone, a seafood delicacy favoured in Asia.
"We're a very poor community, and most people poach to make ends meet," May said.
"But now with the whale-watching, we can offer eco-tours to foreigners and make an honest living."
The whales proving the main drawcard are Southern Rights, which migrate in their scores to the Cape coast between June and November each year to breed in warmer waters than their Antarctic home.
Because they seek protected bays, tourists are able to get views from the land of the whales performing spectacular aerial displays thought to be linked to courtship.
Tourism linked to the Southern Rights earns the country more than six million rand (about $NZ1.86 million) a year, according to industry figures.
But with the South African government late last year deciding to issue 13 permits for boat-based whale-watching, operators, like May, are hoping this figure will escalate dramatically.
The permit, which allows operators to bring their powered boats within 50 metres of a whale rather than the 300 metres that applies to other boat operators, came too late for the Hawston Fishing Company to exploit last year's Southern Right season, but it is looking to the coming months with keen anticipation.
Tourists are charged between 250 ($NZ75) and 300 rand ($NZ91) each for what May describes as a "face to face" encounter with a whale.
"For the first time, the fishermen will be able to look their wives in the eyes and say: 'Here is some money. It is clean money, not from poaching'," 40-year-old May said.
The tourist dollars, May said, will be used to help end poverty in the town, about 100km from Cape Town.
"The money is not for our pockets," he said.
"We are building a nation with it."
May's company - comprising 52 people, most of them former abalone poachers - is facing opposition, however, from residents of the nearby town of Hermanus, which boasts one of the best land-based whale-watching sites in the world.
The residents claim the boats will chase the whales away and destroy their main industry.
They are supported by conservation groups, who are strenuously opposed to boat-based whale-watching, believing it will cause the southern rights to choose other waters in which to breed and calve.
Nan Rice, director of the Save the Whales campaign, said that instead of using their energy for procreation, the whales will spend it avoiding boats or investigating them.
Rice said that since the first permits were issued in October, "the harassment of whales by private boats has been absolutely appalling".
But another operator who has been granted a boat-based permit, Rudy Hughes, and says the New Zealand operation at Kaikoura is a potential model for a South African industry, disputes the claims.
Hughes, who operates in Gansbaai, just south of Hermanus, took part in research with Dr Ken Findlay, a whale biologist at the University of Cape Town, to determine the effects of boats on whales.
Findlay's three-year study showed that whales were undisturbed by slow, consistent approaches and in 48 percent of cases came to within a body's length of the boat on their own accord.
Operators employing the same methods would have no effect on the whales, he concluded.
Hughes believes South Africa is well-placed to tap into some of the $US2 billion spent around the world every year by tourists keen on boat-based whale-watching, which began in North America in 1955 along the Southern California coast.
Since then popularity of whale watching has soared internationally, spurred by a 1985 global ban on whale hunting by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that came out of concern for the mammal's dwindling numbers.
Whale watching takes place in about 40 countries with popular locations off northern Norway, the United States, Canada, the Dominican Republic in Central America, and in New Zealand.
Once it became more widely known that boat-based whale-watching was available in South Africa, he said, the country would become a premier destination due to the fact it also offers game viewing.
"We can offer the so-called 'friendly three' - elephant, hippos and whales," he said.
"Not many countries can do that."
Date: Sun, 22 Aug, 1999
Whale left evidence at scene of sailboat sinking
The Associated Press
SITKA - Locals guffawed when Ward Eldridge suggested that a whale slammed his 73-foot sailboat and caused it to sink at anchor last month. But when the vessel Merlin was raised last week, several pieces of baleen were found in the hull.
The six plates of baleen, held together by a chunk of flesh from a whale's mouth, were found Tuesday among the pieces of splintered wood inside a five-foot hole punched into the Merlin's hull below the waterline.
The discovery was made as workers cleaned the debris from the hole after the 111-year-old boat was hauled out of the water. The Merlin, which sank in Whale Bay on July 7, was raised by a volunteer effort last weekend.
No one witnessed the sinking, but after divers discovered the hole, Eldridge said the only explanation he could come up with was that it was rammed by a whale.
"A lot of people were reacting that he had to be nuts because it was an absurd story," said Kathy Kyle, who was with Eldridge on the Merlin's last voyage.
Jan Straley, a Sitka whale biologist, said the foot-long pieces of baleen found in the Merlin are probably from a humpback.
"It looks like the whale hit the boat," she said.
"I'm not sure if it was trying to get away from a killer whale . . . or if it was breaching or what it had in mind, but whatever it was, it made a mistake."
Kyle and Eldridge were away at the time on a brief kayak expedition, and returned to find only the two masts showing above the water.
After the boat was hauled out, Kyle and Eldridge removed a plywood patch the divers had nailed over the hole. It was evident that the damage had been caused from the outside because the splintered hull planking and ribs had been pushed inward.
"There was no indentation or scraping as there would have been if it had been hit by another boat or a rock," Kyle said.
"If either of those things occurred, it would have been a different type of hole."
In her two decades studying humpback whales, Straley has never come across a similar case, although she has heard anecdotal accounts of killer whales ramming sailboats in southern waters.
"Every time I go out I learn something new, and I've been doing this 20 years," she said.
The sinking prompted creation of the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society to spearhead a volunteer salvage effort.
With Eldridge's blessing, the society hopes to restore the Merlin and start a maritime museum with the boat as a floating exhibit. The two-masted schooner is said to be the oldest documented boat in active service on the West Coast of the United States.
Copyright © 1999 The Anchorage Daily News
Date: Sun, 22 Aug, 1999
Whale Prepares For Sydney Harbour Birth
Sydney, AAP - A southern right whale may be getting ready to give birth in Sydney Harbour.
A spokeswoman for National Parks said the whale, believed to be a pregnant female, resurfaced at 7am and headed from Delwood Beach in Manly Cove to Reef Beach off Dobroyd Head.
"She was pretty stationary this morning but she's on the move again now," she said.
The whale's behaviour was consistent with a female getting ready to calve.
"She has been off the coast of Sydney or in the harbour for five days now, and that is quite unusual ... usually they will come in for a few hours or half a day and then go again," spokeswoman she said.
"The fact that she is hanging around is the behaviour you would expect from a pregnant female who is looking for calm, shallow waters to calve."
The spokeswoman said surfers and boats were respecting the 100-m exclusion zone and leaving the whale alone.
Date: Sun, 22 Aug, 1999
NSW: Whale Settles Into Sydney Harbour
Regular International
Sydney, AAP -- Thousands of onlookers gathered on boats and on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour today to catch a glimpse at the harbour's newest resident -- a southern right whale.
The whale, thought to be pregnant, spent its fifth day frolicking off Sydney's shores and National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) officers say it's likely she would give birth in the harbour area.
A NPWS spokeswoman said the whale spent most of today in Middle Harbour wowing spectators near Balmoral and Reef beaches.
The spokeswoman said the whale's behaviour was consistent with a female getting ready to calve.
"She has been off the coast of Sydney or in the harbour for five days now, and that is quite unusual ... usually they will come in for a few hours or half a day and then go again," she said.
"The fact that she is hanging around is the behaviour you would expect from a pregnant female who is looking for calm, shallow waters to calve."
A whale last calved off Sydney's coastline in 1993, near the northern beaches.
The spokeswoman said officers today were kept busy on the harbour, ensuring hundreds of boats kept at least 100m away from the whale.
The whale was first spotted off Bondi Beach last Wednesday and NPWS officers say they are continuing to investigate the possible prosecution of at least two surfers who reportedly approached the whale and tried to ride it.
Boat owners have been warned to keep at least 100 metres away from the whale, so as not to distress it, or face fines of up to $110,000 ($NZ130,000).
Date: Mon, 23 Aug, 1999
Whale Stays In Harbour
Regular International
Sydney, AAP -- A pregnant southern right whale appears to have taken up residency in Sydney Harbour with National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS) officers predicting the whale could give birth this week.
The whale today resurfaced near Reef Beach off Manly Heads to spend it's sixth day frolicking off Sydney's shores.
A NPWS spokeswoman said the whale's behaviour was consistent with a female getting ready to calve, although officers were not certain if the whale was male or female.
She said if the whale was pregnant, it would likely give birth in the harbour area in the next few days and could spend up to another week there.
"She has been off the coast of Sydney or in the harbour for five days now, and that is quite unusual...usually they will come in for a few hours or half a day and then go again," she said.
"The fact that she is hanging around is the behaviour you would expect from a pregnant female who is looking for calm, shallow waters to calve."
A whale last calved off Sydney's coast in 1993, near the northern beaches.
Thousands of onlookers, who have nicknamed the whale Alex, gathered on boats and on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour over the weekend to catch a glimpse of the harbour's newest resident.
The spokeswoman said since the whale's arrival in the harbour officers had been kept busy, ensuring hundreds of boats kept at least 100m away from the whale, so as not to distress it.
She said most boat owners had respected the exclusion zone after being warned they could face hefty fines of up to $A110,000 ($NZ132,945) for breaching it.
The whale was first spotted off Bondi Beach last Wednesday and NPWS officers say they are continuing to investigate the possible prosecution of at least two surfers who reportedly approached the whale and tried to ride it.
Date: Tue, 24 Aug, 1999
Whale Acrobatics as Experts try to Determine Sex
Sydney, AAP - The southern right whale visiting Sydney Harbour wowed onlookers today by putting on a show of acrobatics and repeatedly catapulting itself out of the water.
About 100 locals lined the shores of Forty Baskets Beach at Balgowlah Heights to catch a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of the whale, which swam to within 50 metres of shore.
A National Parks and Wildlife spokesman said a whale expert would later today try to determine whether the whale, dubbed Alex, is a pregnant female as some believe.
The whale has spent the past week frolicking off Sydney's shores.
The spokesman said people on the shore were closer to the whale than those on the water, who had to stay outside an 100m exclusion zone.
He said at one stage the whale was jumping tail-first out of the water every 15 seconds, but later was breaching only every minute or so.
It is not known whether the whale is jumping out of water because it is preparing to give birth.
"It is still not conclusive whether it is a female whale. Apparently both sexes do things like this at this time of year," he said.
If pregnant, it is expected it will give birth in the harbour area in the next few days and could spend up to another week recuperating there.
A whale last calved off Sydney's coast in 1993, near the northern beaches.
Date: Wed, 25 Aug, 1999
Spectators Delight As Whale Shows Off In Sydney Harbour
Regular International
Sydney, AAP - The whale that turned on a spectacular acrobatic performance in Sydney Harbour today is probably a bored juvenile, experts said.
Splashing around and showing off several slick manoeuvres, the six-year-old southern right whale played up to hundreds of onlookers, swimming within 50m of shore.
The 12m mammal has spent a week frolicking around Sydney's ocean beaches and inside the harbour, where parks and wildlife officers have been keeping boats at least 100m away.
Whale expert Stephen Burnell was unable to determine whether the whale, dubbed Alex, was male or female, but ruled out earlier suggestions it was a pregnant female.
"I don't think it's a pregnant female -- which might be a disappointment," Mr Burnell told reporters here.
"Although we don't know the sex . . . because it didn't roll over while we were out there, it is definitely not pregnant."
He attributed the whale's antics to boredom and play, rather than other common reasons for the activity, such as communicating and lashing out at vessels.
Acrobatic manoeuvres on show today included "spy hopping", when the whale lifts its head and raises its eyes out of the water to look around, "tail lobbing" when the tail is raised and slammed on to the water and "sailing", when the mammal swims on its head with its tail high out of the water.
Other popular moves were the "body roll", the whale rolling over and swimming on its back, its side fins out of water; the "pec slap", lifting its side flipper and slapping it down as the whale rolls over and "breaching", leaping out of the water, twisting mid-air and crashing backwards into the water.
"It is certainly putting its tail up and slapping its tail," Mr Burnell said.
"When right whales do that by themselves I literally think they are just playing, they are bored."
It was not known why the whale decided to visit Sydney, but it may be that it was resting, recuperating or exploring, Mr Burnell said.
The whale, which had some abnormal lice on its body, may have been ill, but overall appeared peaceful and unstressed, he said.
Southern right whales, known as the "smiling whale" because of their gentle nature, annually migrate from cold Antarctic waters to Australia's south coast to mate and give birth.
Growing up to 17.5m long and weighing up to 80 tonnes, the whales are relatively easy to identify because of their distinctive V-shaped blow, which can spray up to five metres into the air.
Mr Burnell said as whale populations increased, it was likely Australians would see more whales along the NSW coast and Sydney Harbour.
However, it was difficult to know how long this whale would stay around Sydney.
"It's been here over a week. It could be another week, it could be gone tomorrow. It's really up to the whale and that's the way it should be," he said.
Date: Fri, 27 Aug, 1999
Alex The Whale May Really Be Dennis
Sydney, AAP -- Alex, the whale who dropped into Sydney Harbour a week ago and stayed, may really be Dennis -- a calf born here six years ago.
The Southern Right Whale currently spending his days frolicking in the harbour could be the same one born to Glenys, off Sydney's northern beaches, in 1993, the National Parks and Wildlife Service said today.
Senior technical officer Geoff Ross said the age and weight of the whale made it possible Alex was really Glenys' son, Dennis.
"We're currently looking at photographs and footage taken back in 1993 and will compare that to what has been obtained over the last week to see if we can make an identification," Mr Ross said.
"Obviously it is a very difficult process but the presence of the whale in Sydney Harbour over the last week has provided us with an excellent opportunity to learn more about this species.
"There is a lot of evidence to suggest that Southern Right Whales display 'site fidelity', which means that they return to the area (where) they were born," he said.
Date: Tue, 31 Aug, 1999
Whale's Closest Relative -- A Hippo?
Regular International
Washington, Reuters - A whale's closest living relative could be the hippopotamus, according to new genetic research done by Japanese researchers.
A team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology said they developed a new way to look at an animal's genetic history by tracking DNA sequences from millions of years ago, and they came up with surprising findings.
"Hippopotamuses are the closest extant relatives of whales," Norihiro Okada and colleagues wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
They also found that pigs and peccaries form their own group and that camels formed their own evolutionary branch long before other species of four-legged grazers branched off.
The DNA sequences they looked at are called short interspersed elements (Sines) or long interspersed elements (Lines).
Once a Sine or a Line is inserted into the genome it evidently never disappears, and each new species will have Sine or Line insertions in precisely the same place, pointing to its evolutionary origins.
They evaluated Sines and Lines in whales and in ungulates -- the hoofed animals which include cows, deer and sheep. The genetic evidence indicates that whales, dolphins, and porpoises are more closely related to cows, camels, and pigs than they are to horses, elephants, and sea cows.
Okada and colleagues believe this may be a better way of identifying family, genus and species than the current method, in which physical characteristics are compared.
Date: Tue, 07 Sep, 1999
Crowding the Whales
By Barry Hatton
The Azores are Thick with Boat-Riding Tourists
MADALENA, Azores Islands, -- As tourists flock to marvel at the whales and dolphins off these mid-Atlantic islands, an environmental dispute is brewing that threatens to match the Azoresе stormy seas.
Ecologists and some tour operators say the recent boom in whale-watching endangers the mammals because more and more boats are crowding them.
Critics say local authorities, who regard whale-watching as an easy source of revenue for these largely undeveloped Portuguese islands, are handing out too many licenses to new companies looking to cash in on the bonanza.
The Nature Protection League, a Portuguese environmental group that has monitors in the Azores, says it is deeply concerned about reports of some tour boats engaging in "close-quarter pursuits" of whales and dolphins.
"The increase in the number of operators is a real problem because competition for business will certainly bring a push for even better service, meaning ever-closer observation of the whales, mostly by chasing them down," says Maria Joao Pereira at the environmental group.
Heading for Disaster Jaime Chu, a partner in a whale-watching company on Pico, one of the archipelagoеs nine islands, fears the worst.
"It's going to be a chaotic turf war the way it's going. One day we'll have 50 boats around one whale," Chu says gloomily, noting there are now over a dozen operators on Pico, a small island of about 10,000 people.
Chu says his company sticks rigidly to the international whale-watching code of conduct.He is angered by what he calls the governmentеs scant policing of tour boats, which he claims allows some unscrupulous companies to flout the rules while out at sea and out of sight of land.He declines to specify the companies.
Some 25 species of whales and dolphins have been spotted off the Azores, traveling along the Gulf Stream.Rich in food, the sea provides breeding and calving grounds, making this a primeбand still relatively undiscoveredбspot for whale- and dolphin-watching.
Whales and dolphins have highly sensitive hearing and become distressed when speedboats tear around them, gunning their engines. Bothering the whales can alter their migration patterns, separate groups and interfere in the reproduction activity of the protected species, experts say.
Whale-watching is becoming big business on Pico, where most people live modestly from subsistence farming or fishing and average monthly earnings are below 100,000 escudos, or about $540.
A boat carrying 12 people on a three-hour trip out to sea can earn 100,000 escudos.And locals say some owners elicit cash payments of $325 to allow a customer to jump in and swim with whalesбan exceptionally distressing activity for the mammals.
For 150 years, up to 1984, whales were hunted with harpoons on rowing boats out of Pico.Some 50 whales were slaughtered each year, providing the islandеs main source of income.Then the worldеs nations adopted a moratorium on killing whales that is still largely in effect.
Locals now fear that a hoped-for economic revival based on tourists paying to observe the islandеs former quarry could be ruined if the business expands out of control.
"We don't want to destroy our livelihood," says Antonio Domingos, a former Pico whale-hunter turned whale-spotter. Local tourism officials insist they are reining in the thriving whale-watching trade. They point to new rules introduced this year that, among other things, require boats to stay at least 50 yards from whales.
Emanuel Verissimo, a local director of Portugalеs Institute for the Conservation of Nature, says officials have promised to limit the number of whale-watching permits. But he also concedes it is hard to enforce the law, mainly because of the vastness of the sea.
"There are some new companies and some of them are adventurers who are out to grab a piece of the market and have committed some irregularities," he says, but he also insists that "it's not a big problem."
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
Date: Tue, 14 Sep, 1999
Keiko The Killer Whale Unhappy In Native Iceland Waters
Urgent International
Reykjavik, AFP - A project to repatriate Keiko the killer whale, the lovable star of the Hollywood Free Willy movies, to his native Iceland waters one year ago has been a failure, a project spokesman admitted today.
Keiko, who was flown home to Iceland from Oregon almost exactly a year ago amid a huge media frenzy that garnered worldwide attention, has still not begun to swim in deep waters on his own and is incapable of hunting fish to feed himself.
He has remained in his special floating basin for the past year in the Klettsvik fjord, southeast of Reykjavik.
A year ago, hopes were high that Keiko, who is 22 years old, would be reunited with his mother. Male killer whales can live up to around 30 years, while females can live to be up to 90 years old.
"His re-adaptation to natural, or wild sea life is a total failure," said Hallur Hallson, a spokesman for the Free Willy support group which has financed Keiko's care since his retirement from Hollywood in 1996.
In his new-found freedom, Keiko has never tried to eat live fish -- he requires 100kg a day -- or play with other whales.
"And when his underwater cage was damaged in a bad storm Saturday, he didn't make a move to escape," Hallson added.
Killer whales can only survive in groups, and Keiko, who has failed to adapt to his natural environment, would therefore not be able to survive on his own, according to experts.
Now, organisers of the operation have asked local authorities for permission to cordon off a large section of water around Keiko's cage so that he may be taken for "accompanied walks" in a less confined space.
Keiko, whose name means "Happy Boy" in Icelandic, was captured in Icelandic waters in 1979. He was kept in a private zoo in Iceland until 1982, then transported to a "Marineland" in Canada and then to Mexico in 1985, where the first Free Willy movie was filmed in 1992.
A year later, after the worldwide success of the movie, an article in Life Magazine drew attention to Keiko's "unacceptable" living conditions in Mexico. In 1995, the Free Willy Keiko Foundation was founded with a $US4 million ($NZ7.62 million) donation from Warner Bros, the Hollywood film company behind Free Willy.
Jack Foster, an American responsible for Keiko's care, claims not to be disappointed despite the project's failure.
He said he believes the amount experts were able to learn about whales through scientific observation is well worth the $US1.76 million it costs annually to feed and care for the leviathan.
"It's all only a question of money", countered Jon Gunnarson, the man who originally captured Keiko and was paid one third the sum now spent to keep Keiko alive each month.
"And I think it's repugnant to think that American children are breaking open their piggy-banks to finance the captivity of this warted and ailing animal, who is incapable of attacking a baby herring, and who will never ever make it to the deep sea again."
Date: Thu, 16 Sep, 1999
Famous Sperm Whale found Dead with Jaw Removed
Blenheim, - A sperm whale seen off Kaikoura by hundreds of tourists has been found dead, probably killed by a boat. The whale's carcass has also been attacked by someone with a chainsaw trying to get its valuable jawbone.
The carcass of the 14m whale was washed up on Rakautara Rock, 14km north of Kaikoura, yesterday.
Department of Conservation (DOC) staff were dismayed to discover part of the jaw had already been removed before the whale washed up on shore.
Whale Watch members, local iwi and DOC staff then kept a night-long shore-side vigil to protect the carcass.
DOC field officer supervisor Mike Morrissey believes the three-quarter grown male sperm whale died after being struck by a boat on Sunday afternoon.
"It's definitely been struck by something, probably a boat . . . it's got a huge tear in its back.
"We had reports on Sunday there was a distressed whale circling around the (Kaikoura) peninsula. By Monday we'd confirmed it was already dead."
The jaw is taonga (sacred) to Maori and it is customary for DOC staff to return the jaw of any deceased mammal to local iwi.
Mr Morrissey said it was obvious the jaw was removed before the 40-year-old whale hit the shore, as the most valuable piece of the bone used for carving was still intact.
"Somebody's obviously taken to it with a chainsaw. . . they've only been able to get to the pieces of the jaw located above the water mark," said Morrissey.
Because of the awkward positioning and the massive size of the mammal, the remaining piece of the jaw will be given to local iwi and the carcass will be left to disintegrate.
It was a tragic end for one of Kaikoura's most majestic mammals, identified as Spotty by Whale Watch Kaikoura sea operations manger Thomas Kahu.
Spotty has been viewed by many whale watchers since his first appearance in 1990.
The whale was first seen by Whale Watch Kaikoura staff in 1990, and in the first few years of the company's life was a reasonably regular visitor.
Called Spotty because of the distinctive sucker marks on its tail fluke, left there by a giant squid, the whale had moved further offshore in recent years as mature sperm whales tend to do, but according to Whale Watch chief executive Wally Stone, he still used to pop in for a visit every now and then.
"He was special, Mr Stone said, because he was identified early on and had a long association with the company."
He said the staff were very sad to lose the long-time friend.
Date: Wed, 22 Sep, 1999
Campaign Hopes to "Free Willy' in Mid-2000
Stockholm, Reuters - Celebrity killer whale Keiko could be freed into the wild in mid-2000, according to the organisers of an campaign which returned him to his native Iceland exactly one year ago.
The five-tonne star of the first Free Willy movie was flown home from the United States and released into a floating pen in the remote Westman Islands as the first step to freedom.
He has been continually fed and monitored, at an estimated cost of $US2 million ($NZ3.85 million), while contact with humans has been reduced.
"Keiko has never been in better physical condition and we are hoping to release him into the wild next summer, probably in June," Hallur Hallsson of the Ocean Futures Society said.
"He is spending more and more time under the surface and we are limiting human contact as much as possible. He may miss it, but if he is to return to the wild he has to abandon our world."
Keiko will be taken out of his pen next spring for 'walks' around the islands, with his trainers following him in boats.
"We want to gradually introduce him back into the wild but the best thing would be if Keiko just swam off."
Hallsson said it was the first ever attempt to return a killer whale to the wild after years in captivity. Keiko was captured off Iceland in 1979 aged about two.
He was the star attraction at a Mexico City amusement park before rising to fame in 1993 in Free Willy, in which a boy befriends a killer whale in a theme park and helps him escape.
His stardom drew attention to bad conditions in the park which were threatening his life, and triggered an international campaign to free him.
In 1996 the 6.4-metre whale was taken to an aquarium in Newport, Oregon and nursed back to health.
A campaign led by the Free Willy Foundation, which has since merged with the Jean-Michel Cousteau Institute to form the Ocean Futures Society, secured his return to Iceland.
The project has been funded by donations from companies and well-wishers. Mobile phone magnate Craig McCaw gave $US2 million as did Warner Bros, which made over $US75 million from the movie.
Hallsson said Keiko was doing better than expected but was still being fed daily with dead herring.
"Attempts to feed him live fish earlier this year failed but the scientists believe that once he is in the wild, Keiko's instincts will come back and he will hunt," Hallsson said.
But some scientists are not so optimistic.
Gisli Vikingsson, a biologist at Iceland's Marine Research Institute, said killer whales needed several years to learn survival skills within their own family groups.
"Keiko was taken from his group at the age of two when he still had a lot to learn. Something like this has not been attempted before but I fear Keiko does not stand a very good chance of surviving in the wild without human intervention."
Date: Sun, 26 Sep, 1999
Beached whale dies on north west coast
A whale calf which beached itself off Western Australia's north west coast this weekend has died.
The badly sunburned humpback had beached itself in mangroves at Cowrye Cove in the Burrup Peninsula off Karratha.
The Department of Conservation and Land Management called in veterinarians to inspect the creature but it died before they arrived.
Ecologist with the department, Peter Kendrick, says it is unusual for calves to beach themselves unless they are injured or unwell.
Dr Kendrick says the carcass of the animal will probably be used for scientific research.
© 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Date: Fri, 29 Sep, 1999
Activist tries to muffle Navy's sonic test in Delaware Bay
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712 and JACK KASKEY Staff Writer, (609) 272-7213 - The Press of Atlantic City
ON THE DELAWARE BAY - Ben White surfaced next to an orange buoy moored a half-mile from the Fourteen Foot Lighthouse in the middle of the bay The 49-year-old environmentalist was on a fishing expedition Thursday to look for three high-frequency noisemakers the University of Delaware and the U.S. Navy put on the ocean floor to test sonar in the Delaware Bay.
Despite four dives in 39 feet of water, he was having little luck finding the devices.
"There's nothing there," he said, clinging to the buoy against the strong current.
White, a tall man with a salt-and-pepper beard, works for the Animal Welfare Institute based out of Washington, D.C. White was on a mission Thursday to sabotage the test. He intended to place three plastic Kmart garbage cans over the underwater speakers to try to muffle the sound. But the sonic devices were nowhere to be found beneath the murky water.
White is one of many environmentalists who say the sonic tests hurt marine life, especially whales and dolphins that use echo-location to communicate and find food.
In the Delaware Bay High Frequency Acoustics Experiment, underwater speakers emit pulses of 160-decibel noise for durations of between three and 40 seconds. _The purpose of the three-month experiment is to study how high-frequency sound moves in shallow water. The bay ranges from 14 to 40 feet in depth around the lighthouse.
The Navy hopes the tests will help them with anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures and underwater communication. But the experiment could prevent newborn dolphins from communicating or navigating by way of their own high-frequency squeaks, said Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine. White said he thinks experiments such as the one in the Delaware Bay are responsible for whale strandings around the world. Bottlenose dolphins breed in the Delaware Bay every summer before migrating south to warmer water each October, Schoelkopf said.
The DEP, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, and White's environmental group asked the University of Delaware to postpone the experiment until the dolphins leave the bay next month. The university declined, DEP spokeswoman Sharon Southard said.
School officials told the DEP the experiment was already under way. Southard said the experiment affects a small area, about 330 square feet of the bay.
University spokeswoman Tracey Bryant declined to comment about the tests on Thursday, saying in an e-mail that the university would accept only written questions about the project.
"We've already made the determination that it is not going to have any impact on any species of fish or mammal," Southard said.
White strongly disagrees. "How do they know if it causes harm or not?" he asked.
So White and Mac Hawley, a San Francisco environmental writer, chartered a 30-foot boat out of Cape May on Thursday and headed out to the vacant lighthouse to look for the underwater devices. As he donned his wetsuit, White expressed concern about his own safety around the noisemakers.
"These are among the loudest sounds made by human beings," he said.
"It makes me pretty nervous."
White is no stranger to personal risk. He used to make a living climbing trees as a Virginia tree surgeon. Now he stages protests around the world in the name of animal welfare.
He was arrested in New York for protesting fur and in St. Louis, Mo., for posting a banner on the Anheuser Busch brewery to protest the treatment of animals at Sea-World. He spent 10 days in a Quebec jail for interfering with fur trappers who were killing seals.
In April, his family's home in Friday Harbor, Wash., burned to the ground. He said he suspects arson, courtesy the enemies he has made through his activism.
"Some people say, 'You're an eco-terrorist,'" White said.
"Terrorists are people who use fear to manipulate people. I'm just trying to protect animals."
On Thursday, luck was not on his side. He lost his swim fins in the current and could not find the sonic devices in the pea-green water.
Before leaving, White tied banners to a buoy and the Fourteen Foot Lighthouse reading: "Save dolphins. Stop Navy Sound."
To satisfy the public's concerns, the DEP is requiring the university to videotape the experiment with two underwater cameras. _"The public will be able to view the videos by accessing the University of Delaware's Internet site for the project," the DEP wrote in its Navy permit.
But no videos are on the school's Web site. Instead, a still image is displayed and updated every five minutes. Schoelkopf said the picture is of little use for monitoring purposes. Southard said the university is not in violation of the permit because the DEP does not require video to be broadcast on the Internet.
On the water, Hawley encouraged White to finish tying the second banner.
As the boat returned to Cape May just ahead of a thunderstorm, White said he was disappointed but not discouraged.
"You're not trying to change everyone's opinion," he said.
"You're just trying to hold onto that part of yourself that fights acquiescence."
Date: Thu, 30 Sep, 1999
Baby beluga on show at Shedd AquariumBy Gary Wisby Staff Reporter
The Shedd Aquarium's baby beluga whale is robustly healthy, rambunctious and ready to receive visitors.
Aquarium visitors will get their first look at the 8-week-old calf today. And schoolchildren will be invited to name the new kid in town through a "Whale of a Name" contest.
"The little girl" -- as some Shedd staffers refer to the baby beluga--will be christened with an Inuit name, like the aquarium's six other belugas. The contest to pick a name, open to children ages 8-13, is sponsored by the Shedd and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Deadline for entries is Nov. 10. Kids will write why they chose the name they did, and the winning entry will be printed in the Sun-Times and displayed on a plaque at the Shedd.
The grand prize winner also will get to "meet" and be photographed with a beluga, and receive a year's family membership at the aquarium. In addition, a first prize and 20 second prizes will be awarded.
"We get to know our animals very well, and they develop personalities of their own," said Ken Ramirez, the Shedd's director of animal husbandry. "It will be nice to be able to refer to her by name."
Visitors in groups of 100 to 150 will first see a short video of the calf's birth and then have their questions answered by Shedd staffers. Then they will be taken to the aquarium's underwater viewing gallery and will spend 10-15 minutes watching the calf swimming with her mother, Immiayuk.
The baby whale probably won't know she's the center of attention. Visitors will be in low light, several feet away from a huge window into the underwater grotto, and will be inaudible and likely invisible to the calf.
"We've set it up so her introduction to the public will be slow and gradual," Ramirez said. It will be some time before the public can view the calf from above the water's surface.
"People have been hearing about her for two months, but haven't been able to see her," Ramirez said. "It will be exciting to share her with the public."
Date: Thu, 30 Sep, 1999
Trade Group to fight Manatee Protection
By Julie Hauserman
State marine interests want the mammals off the endangered list
TALLAHASSEE -- Claiming that the number of manatees in Florida is growing, the state's largest marine business interests have quietly formed a group to try to get the sea cows removed from the federal endangered species list.
"Perhaps the time has come to delist the manatee, much as the alligator and the eagle have been delisted," reads a Sept. 3 memo penned by Wade Hopping, a top business lobbyist who represents the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
Scientists working to protect manatees say the idea of stripping away protections is ridiculous. Manatee populations may be stable or even growing a little in some locations, they say, but the number of boats is growing too.
This year, they predict, Florida will set a record for the number of manatees killed by boats.
The formation of Hopping's business group -- called the "Manatee Task Force" -- comes as 22 environmental groups are poised to sue the state and federal governments because, they say, manatee protection laws have not been properly enforced. State officials estimate there are about 2,500 manatees remaining in Florida's waters. The creatures have been on the endangered species list since 1967.
The Endangered Species Act allows Florida to impose a host of protections for manatees, from requiring boaters to slow down in places where manatees congregate to limiting development near their habitat.
Hopping was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. But on Sept. 3, he wrote the members of the new task force:
"Last week, the marine manufacturers and dealers met in Orlando. Manatees were foremost on their mind. They believe that they have been on the defense far too long, and therefore they are planning to create a proactive program on manatee issues. Their fear is that the thrust of all the manatee protection activities are designed to limit the number of docks and marinas, and to limit the number of boats that are on the water. Obviously, they have a tremendous interest in this issue."
Hopping's memo, written on the letterhead of his law firm, says that besides pushing to take manatees off the endangered species list, marine interests have two other goals: one is to get the Legislature to rewrite state law to exempt marinas from Florida's rigorous Development of Regional Impact review, which can require studies of imperiled plants and animals. The other is to take money from the state's Manatee Protection Trust Fund and use it to put more marine enforcement officers on the water to enforce speed limits. The money in the trust fund comes from sales of the specialty manatee license plate.
Hopping's memo says the new Manatee Task Force also wants to reach out to other groups, like the Florida Home Builders Association. But the reception may be cool.
"None of us have heard anything about it," said Wellington Meffert, the home builders' lobbyist.
"We really don't consider it to be our issue."
A gregarious and well-known fixture at the Capitol, Hopping has long been the nemesis of Florida environmentalists. He fought against the state's 1985 Growth Management Law. He opposed a bill that would have required propeller guards to protect manatees from passing boats. In 1997, he tacked an amendment on a bill that would have allowed a boat manufacturer to do high-speed testing in a canal that a state official called "the worst place in the state for manatee deaths."
Opponents leaked the amendment to the media, and the measure quickly died. Judith Vallee, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, said marine interests may be gathering the troops because of the mammoth lawsuit the 22 groups intend to file soon.
"They are claiming that we want to maybe limit the number of boats, but what we're really looking for is more enforcement of existing laws," Vallee said.
"Obviously, what the agencies have been doing is just not enough."
The groups claim that even though Florida directed 13 counties to create special manatee protection plans in 1989, it has never enforced the law. Although 10 years have passed, only three counties have written their required manatee protection plans, Vallee said.
(c) St. Petersburg Times
Date: Fri, 01 Oct, 1999
Baby Manatee Clinging to Life
by Nancy Klingener - The Miami Herald
Little Joe the manatee was clinging to life Thursday afternoon, under constant care at the Miami Seaquarium after rescuers pulled him from a Key Largo canal.
The manatee, estimated to be less than 2 weeks old and born prematurely, was dehydrated and malnourished. It was spotted nine days ago off Key Largo near mile marker 105.5, but had disappeared by the time rescuers came to look for him.
Wednesday night, he surfaced again in a canal behind Grassy Road near mile marker 106 and this time stuck around long enough for crews from the Dolphin Research Center and Florida Marine Patrol to pull him from the water and deliver him to veterinarians.
They stationed people to block the canal exit and slowly surrounded the manatee.
"We just slowly advanced the net up to the back of the boat, scooched it underneath the boat and then tied a rope to the middle of the bottom of the net to make a sort of a purse, a basket," said Pat Clough, medical director, Dolphin Research Center.
From there, Dolphin Research Vice President Mandy Rodriguez was able to pull the manatee out from under the boat.
Joe Ingria Jr., who spotted the manatee in the canal behind his house on Wednesday, said the baby did not struggle or panic.
After being taken from the water, the manatee -- quickly named Little Joe in honor of Ingria -- was taken to Miami Seaquarium.
"His condition is still critical," said Maritza Arceo, a Seaquarium spokeswoman.
"Our hopes are high, but we've got to wait and see."
At 42 inches long, Little Joe is one of the smallest manatees the Seaquarium has ever taken in. He is getting fluids and antibiotics. If he survives, Little Joe could be paired with a manatee foster mother, Arceo said.
There was never a sign of a mother near the baby in any of its sightings. Rescuers think they might have gotten separated during recent stormy weather. -- and that it also might be a premature baby.
Date: Fri, 15 Oct, 1999
Rare US Pilot Whale Release Set for Next Week
Mystic, Conn., Reuters - Two young pilot whales, washed up on a Cape Cod beach in June and then nursed back to health by Mystic Aquarium scientists, will be released into the Atlantic Ocean off Rhode Island next week, aquarium officials said on Friday.
The October 19 event will be the first release of pilot whales by any US aquarium in 14 years, they said.
The long-finned pilot whales -- so called because they like to travel in "pods" of up to 200 animals with one whale in the lead acting as a "pilot" -- will be fitted with satellite-linked transmitters that will operate for three months, giving scientists a rare insight into their behaviour.
The public will also be able to monitor the mammals' movements by logging onto the aquarium's Web site, http://www.mysticaquarium.org.
"We'll learn a number of things," said David St. Aubin, director of research and veterinary services at the aquarium.
"Assuming that the animals get out there and do very well, which we have every confidence that they will . . . they will be giving us data on their dive frequency, dive depth and duration," St Aubin told Reuters.
"That's an aspect of pilot-whale behaviour that we have virtually no information on at all," he said.
Pilot whales, which have bulbous heads and look a bit like black versions of beluga whales, can grow up to 6.1m in length, and are known to dive from 30m to 914m below the sea's surface.
The two Mystic Aquarium pilot whales, both males, are believed to be 12 to 18 months old, and weigh about 455kg. They do not have names because Mystic Aquarium gives names only to creatures in its permanent collection.
St Aubin said he thinks one of the whales was ill, and the other followed his friend to shore when they stranded. They were treated with antibiotics and are showing robust appetites, eating 21kg of herring a day.
Though not considered endangered, scientists are concerned about their dwindling numbers. A 1991 survey estimated there were about 5400 long-finned pilot whales in US North Atlantic waters -- down from 11,000 a decade earlier.
Because of the logistical problems presented by "mass strandings" on isolated beaches, it is not often that pilot whales can be rescued and rehabilitated, St. Aubin said.
"We're more often in the position of going around and relieving suffering," he said.
"It is very gratifying to occasionally, for this species anyway, see animals come back to where we think they'll do very well."
"Pilot whales will eventually need to associate with other whales," St. Aubin said.
"The fact that we have these two animals that are very tightly bonded to each other is another factor which I think will contribute to a successful reintroduction."
Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, is one of the biggest aquariums on the US East coast and the only one in the region with facilities for rehabilitating stranded whales and dolphins.
Date: Sat, 16 Oct, 1999
Whale Conservation Ship Sabotaged
Sea Shepherd vessel attacked as Makah resume whale hunt practice
The Sirenian, a patrol vessel of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was vandalized during the night of October 15 at its berth in Lake Union, Seattle, Washington.
Security guards saw an individual carrying a bucket walking near the vessel around 11:45 p.m. When hailed, he ran to a gray pick-up truck and sped from the scene. The engine room of the 95-foot former Canadian Coast Guard cutter was found to have been sabotaged, with gauges smashed and wires cut. The full extent of the damage is being assessed. Extra security personnel have been posted on board.
The sabotage occurred as the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington, is beginning practice runs for its next whale hunt, five months after the Makah and Sea Shepherd clashed over the tribe's killing of young Gray whale on May 17. Sea Shepherd and local whale activists effectively blocked the Makah's first hunt attempt last fall.
The Sirenian was last the target of vandals when it came under rock assault in Neah Bay on November 1, 1998, when windows on the vessel were smashed and several crew-members struck by rocks and chunks of concrete hurled by Makah on the shore.
"This is not an uncommon event for us," said Sea Shepherd International Director Lisa Distefano.
"We consider it the cost of doing business. The police have not determined who did it, but there's not much question about the motive. When you oppose illegal activities such as the Makah whale hunt, you expect to become the target of illegal actions. It's the opposition's way of letting us know that we're being too effective."
The U.S. whale hunt is the only one in the world to be undertaken by native whalers in a member nation of the IWC without the recognition of "a cultural and/or subsistence need for whaling" by the International Whaling Commission, a violation of the federal Whaling Convention Act.
Sea Shepherd is putting out a plea for funds to repair the damage before the Makah begin hunting again. Under their agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Makah may strike only non-resident migrating Gray whales. Last year, NMFS decreed that any whales seen in the vicinity of Cape Flattery after November 1 were to be considered migratory whales.
Date: Sun, 17 Oct, 1999
Whales' Starvation a Warning about the State of the Ocean
By Terry Theodore - Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER (CP) - Starvation seems the most likely cause of death for more than 100 grey whales found dead along the North American West Coast.
After months of testing samples from the whales, which washed ashore last summer, experts say the whales had too little blubber to sustain them on their long migration from Baja Mexico to the Bering Sea.
"These animals had very low fat reserves," said Dr. Peter Ross of the Department of Fisheries.
"Their blubber thickness was very thin and they essentially looked like they had starved to death."
Grey whales swim about 28,967 km from their summer feeding waters in the Bering Sea to Baja Mexico, where they breed, said Ross.
"In the summertime, these grey whales are essentially bulking up such that they will be able to swim down to Mexico," said Ross.
"Then they reproduce, then migrate backwards up to the feeding grounds."
"It really just looks like they just ran out of steam, or a number of them did, on their return trip."
Ross believes the grey whales, which are filter feeders, were victims of a drop in food production in the Bering Sea.
He said that although 100 whales washed ashore, the actual body count is closer to one thousand.
"It is a higher number than usual and it probably is a bit of a symptom that the population was a little bit stressed as far as food supply is concerned," said Ross.
Another indication of low food supplies is the lack of calves spotted during the whales' northward migration, he said.
"We observed very, very few calves returning with the females northwards," said Ross.
"We suspect this is another indication that during their feeding . . . up in the Bering Sea, the females didn't get enough nutrients in order to support their reproductive cycle."
In the past century, whalers hunted grey whales nearly to extinction. But the population rebounded and is now estimated at about 26,000 off the west coast.
Ross believes the whales may have reached their peak population for their feeding grounds, so as their population increases so does their mortality.
"This might be a natural phenomenon that is related to the numbers of grey whales that our environment can support," he said.
Ross said the buildup of toxins does not appear to be a factor in the whales' deaths.
"We found actually fairly low levels of pesticides and PCBs," said Ross, referring to polychlorinated biphenyls, a fat-soluble chemical that has been banned since the 1970s.
"It's good news from a contaminant point of view," he said.
Nonetheless, the situation should be monitored, said Ross.
"Obviously, these grey whales are telling us something very important about the state of our oceans," he said.
"We've seen other things happening in the Pacific Northwest that concern us as humans, such as declining salmon returns and other problems."
"We're not sure whether some of the oceanographic changes that we've observed in the North Pacific and the Bering Sea is a natural cycle . . . or whether climate change, as a result of human activities, might be exacerbating the situation."
Date: Thu, 21 Oct, 1999
Victims of the slaughter still alive, but not for long
(CBS) You've probably seen those "dolphin-safe" labels on canned tuna to indicate no dolphins were hurt or killed in the tuna nets.
What you may not know is the netting of dolphins overseas for sale to theme parks can and does result in dolphin deaths and it's no accident reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.
The fishermen of Futo, Japan, brought in a profitable catch last week: dozens of dolphins herded into a circle of nets and driven toward shore.
The sea runs red with dolphin blood after the massacre.
Most of the captured animals are about to meet a brutal and heartbreaking end. But a few of the best are worth as much as $30,000 to meet a growing international demand for captive dolphins.
At a marine park near Tokyo, the dolphins put on the kind of show that is now a staple of aquariums and amusement parks around the world. But that's not the whole story.
For those dolphins left behind last Thursday the killing was about to begin.
Those dolphins not young enough or attractive enough for marine parks were about to be turned into meat and fertilizer. Some trucked away were still alive.
"It's an unbelievable act of cruelty to an animal that I really love," says Hardy Jones, a documentary film maker, who has photographed the same kind of capture as that occurring last week.
"And to watch it happen the only thing I can do is say to myself, 'Take the pictures and get them out so the world can see,'" he says.
If the world is outraged, it's because so many have come to know dolphins so well in captivity at parks like Sea World in San Diego.
"People can come here and learn about dolphins, experience them first hand, interact with them personally," says Jim Antrim of Sea World.
"I think that's leading to a better level of understanding and appreciation for them."
American law forbids importing wild dolphins. Those at Sea World were bred in captivity. But continuing international demand is still leading to the slaughter of animals known as gentle, intelligent and friendly.
© 1999, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Date: Sat, 23 Oct, 1999
Whale of a Rescue
By Gersh Kuntzman - New York Post
A lonely baby sperm whale -prematurely separated from her mother - faces a bleak future despite being rescued after beaching herself yesterday on Long Island.
The baby beast - weighing only 1,200 pounds and measuring a mere 12 feet - was saved by a team of Westhampton Beach firefighters and marine biologists in a two-hour rescue operation yesterday.
One volunteer was injured when the startled cetacean lashed out with her powerful tail, knocking her would-be rescuer into the surf and sending him to the hospital with a slight concussion.
"It all happened so quickly," said Sean Keenan, 36, a volunteer with the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, from his hospital bed.
"The animal thrashed around. I got hit in the ribs and in the head. It knocked the wind right out of me, but the firemen got to me right away."
Keenan, a spackler with a drywall contractor when he's not saving beached animals, spent the night at Stony Brook Hospital in stable condition.
The rescue began at 8 a.m. yesterday when volunteer firefighters arrived at the beach and pushed the whale back out to sea.
Unfortunately, the dazed animal immediately beached itself again, so the calf was forklifted onto a surplus Army truck owned by the village and typically used for storm evacuations and other heavy hauling.
Despite his injuries, Keenan told The Post he bears no grudge against the mammoth mammal. In fact, he called the foundation during the day to check on the still-unnamed whale.
What he heard was bad news. Because the calf became separated from her mother while she was still being nursed, experts worry that she can never be returned to the wild.
"We don't have much hope," said Kim Durham, director of the foundation's stranding program.
"She was prematurely separated from her mother."
Because whales live in social groups, Durham said, new calves must learn how to act within the unit - something this baby whale is now not learning.
Physically, the animal is doing fine - for now. The foundation is still trying to figure out how to properly feed her.
"This is not a small animal that is cooperative," said Chuck Bowman, a member of the foundation's board of directors.
"We would have to force-feed it."
As yet, no aquarium or facility has offered a permanent home for the whale if she can't go home again.
"There is no facility that can handle an animal that will grow up to be 50 feet long and weigh several tons," Bowman said.
"That's why there are no sperm whales in captivity."
© New York Post
Date: Mon, 25 Oct, 1999
Killer Whales are Full of Toxic Chemicals
By M.L. Lyke Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter
PCBs make popular orcas prey to menacing diseases
Magnificent black-and-white orcas leap from green waters off the San Juan Islands, trailing sunlit diamonds. They are wild, rugged, sleek, the very symbol of the unspoiled beauty of the Northwest.
Those same killer whales are contaminated, laden with toxic chemicals, at risk for disease. They may be the very symbol of a world spoiled by human pollutants.
"These killer whales can now be considered among the most contaminated marine mammals in the world," said Dr. Peter Ross, research scientist with the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, B.C., and lead author of a new study titled "High PCB Concentrations in Free-Ranging Pacific Killer Whales, Orcinus orca."
Whale researchers, puzzled by recent declines in orca populations, describe the findings as troubling and scary.
"We have very toxic chemicals here. This should be a wake-up call," said Rich Osborne, science curator at the Whale Museum on San Juan Island.
"It may take orcas . . . dying for people to finally get it."
Researchers used a pneumatic dart with a stainless steel tip -- 6.4 mm in diameter -- to sample 47 killer whales that swim the inland and coastal waters around Washington and British Columbia.
These include the ocean-cruising transient whales that prey on seals and other marine mammals and the southern and northern families of orcas that dine almost exclusively on fish -- preferably the "king" of the salmon, the chinook.
All 47 orcas were known individuals, exhaustively documented through observation and photo catalogs. Analysis of blubber samples revealed what Ross terms "disturbingly" high concentrations of PCBs in all the groups.
Most contaminated were the high-seas transients and the celebrated southern "J," "K" and "L" pods beloved by Washington whale-watchers.
With jaws dropped and cameras clicking, few of the orca lovers have a clue that these celebrities of the cetacean world may be in danger.
PCBs do not cause outright death. But extensive laboratory animal experiments and captive feeding studies of seals show contaminants can weaken immune systems, hamper reproduction and cause skin disorders and subtle changes in physiology.
Scientists have noted tumors, skeletal abnormalities, disease and reproductive problems in the contaminated beluga whales on Canada's St. Lawrence estuary, which drains the heavily industrialized Great Lakes. And the Northwest killer whales, Ross said, are four to five times more polluted than those belugas.
Animals with weakened immune systems may be especially vulnerable to rampaging diseases. This raises the specter of extinction in a small population like the southern orcas, whose numbers have dropped from 96 to 84 in three years.
"With the population so small, they could be wiped out by a virus," Osborne said.
The B.C. study, which will be published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, involved researchers from the Institute of Ocean Sciences, the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Aquarium and the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, B.C. It is one of the most comprehensive toxicology studies on whale populations to date.
The study shows PCB levels in the fat of transient males averaged 251 parts per million. In southern pods, levels were 146 parts per million.
Humans average less than 1 part per million. "That means these animals are about 400 to 500 times more contaminated than humans," Ross said.
The northern pods had only 46 parts per million -- two to three times less than their southern counterparts.
"There's more pollution down here. If you look at the sediment cores, there are higher concentrations of PCBs and DDTs than up north," said Osborne, who is drafting a petition to list orcas as a threatened or endangered species in the United States.
One researcher calls the orca waters south of the border a "toxic soup."
Ross suspects the open ocean may be another source of PCBs. Like humans, animals are what they eat, and orcas eat salmon that grow up in the open seas, where contaminants may collect from distant industrial sources in Asia.
PCBs -- polychlorinated biphenyls -- are a long-lived industrial compound used to insulate electric transformers and capacitors. They were banned in the United States and Canada in the mid-1970s but are still widely used in the Third World. Slow to degrade, PCBs float in the air and water, permeate soil and accumulate in animal fat.
The higher an animal is on the food chain, and the longer-lived, the greater the concentration of toxins. Orcas -- which are technically mammoth dolphins with an age span of 40-90 years -- are considered top predators in the ocean. They consume mass quantities of polluted prey.
Those toxins, however, are only one of the modern-day stresses affecting Northwest orcas, which may have navigated these waters for as long as 10,000 years.
The Canadian government listed orcas as a threatened species in April, citing three major concerns. One was a diminished salmon supply. Fish are becoming both scarcer and smaller. Another was heavy boat traffic. This summer the average number of boats following a group of southern whales at any given time was 21. Some San Juan Islanders complain they can no longer see the orcas for all the boats.
Third was contamination. "If you have a lot of boat traffic, diminished salmon returns and high levels of PCBs in animals, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this represents a tangible risk to this population," Ross said.
Whether PCB contamination is linked to population decreases in southern pods is a difficult question. Death is a normal part of life, Ross notes.
"It's not unexpected to find a 20 to 45 percent mortality in the first year of life in marine mammals."
"We're still very hopeful that this population is going to make it," Osborne said.
"But it will be 10 to 20 years before we know."
Yet, researchers describe the recent declines as the longest and steadiest since the 1970s, when scores of orcas were hunted and captured and sold to marine parks. Females in the 84-member southern pod are producing fewer calves, and some offspring are not surviving.
One mother recently died with a damaged uterus and a placenta half in and half out of her body. The calf she left behind made headlines as it struggled to survive. The calf was not spotted at the last sighting of J, K and L pods, which disappear from local waters in the fall.
There is no question that females pass PCBs on to calves through their high-fat milk.
The B.C. study, which analyzed data by sex, age and dietary preference, found that contaminant levels actually decreased in reproductively active females, then increased again at the approximate age of 50.
"Those calves are bathed in PCB-laden milk at a time when their organ systems are developing and they are at their most sensitive," Ross said.
Ross also did toxicology studies on some of the 100-plus gray whales that washed up dead along the West Coast this spring. Ironically, those whales, which feed primarily on small bottom-dwelling ocean animals, showed very low levels of contamination. But their blubber was seriously depleted, leading scientists to conclude they died of starvation.
The death of the grays could be natural attrition. Or it could be linked to increases in the temperature of northern ocean waters, where grays migrate to feed. Increased temperatures there have been linked to diminished food supplies for a number of animals, including seals, sea birds and whales.
Both the grays and the orcas, Ross said, may be telling us something about the state of the ocean. They may be to the ocean what the canary is to the coal mine.
"Marine mammals are wonderful creatures, and very good quality indicators of the health of an ecosystem," Ross said.
"What they're telling us is that the ocean may be under significant climate stress, and that it is much more contaminated than previously thought."
Date: Thu, 28 Oct, 1999
NMFS proposes 'depleted' status for Inlet Belugas
The Associated Press
The National Marine Fisheries Service has formally proposed a "depleted" listing for beluga whales in Cook Inlet. The proposal would allow the federal government to regulate subsistence harvesting to protect Inlet beluga populations and allow their numbers to grow.
The agency had said in September that it would seek the depleted designation. The proposal has now been published in the Federal Register, opening it to public comment through Dec. 20.
"This action is necessary to address the sharp decline in the number of Cook Inlet beluga whales," Penny Dalton, director of the NMFS, said in a statement Wednesday.
"We see a depleted stock listing as a conservation measure to reverse the decline and eventually rebuild the numbers within the Cook Inlet beluga whale population."
The number of whales has declined by about 50 percent since 1994 to 347 animals at the last count, in 1998, according to the agency. Federal biologists are continuing to analyze population surveys taken last summer. The population estimate a decade ago was about 1,000.
The marine fisheries service will take public comment on its proposal for the depleted listing and make a final determination by next spring. The listing is under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Overharvesting by Native hunters is blamed for the decline in beluga populations in the Inlet, with the take in recent years estimated at 87 animals annually, including those that were struck and lost.
The agency says it plans to continue working with Native hunting groups to develop cooperative management plans and set annual harvest limits that would allow the population to grow. No harvest was allowed this year, after Congress passed a temporary ban on Native hunting. Non-Natives are not allowed to hunt belugas.
Environmental groups filed a request earlier this year to have the whales listed as an endangered species under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. That designation would require stricter regulation to protect the belugas, and might affect such activities as dredging to clear channels, oil and gas drilling, and discharge of treated sewage.
Date: Sun, 31 Oct, 1999
Weather helps to dictate Makah whaling
By John Brewer - Peninsula Daily News
NEAH BAY -- Though Makah whaling officials have said nothing stands in the way of the fall hunt after Monday, Mother Nature may have something to say in the matter.
High winds and rough seas will dictate whether the tribe can hunt for its second gray whale.
Keith Johnson, president of the tribe's whaling commission, said the whalers will watch that weather, and so far they're seeing "big waves, lots of wind." Johnson said his tribe still faces several steps before hunters are able to pursue whales in the Pacific Ocean off the isolated reservation.
"The whaling commission hasn't even determined that there is an unmet need," he said.
"It hasn't been on the agenda."
Johnson explained that only after that determination will the commission be able to approve the new hunt crew and issue it a 10-day hunt permit.
Of course, that won't necessarily take the commission much time, once they decide it's time to go. Johnson wouldn't say how long.
He would only say, "We've streamlined our management plan."
The commission meets again Monday, but it still has a responsibility to follow the complex requirements it agreed to.
"All requirements in the management plan need to be acted on prior to a hunt," Johnson said.
"There's a lot of coordination that needs to be involved with the National Marine Fisheries Service."
Meanwhile, hopeful whalers continue to train in the two Makah whaling canoes. This time they train in family groups rather than a tribal group.
"Four families stepped forward and said they were interested in going whaling," Johnson said.
"We're just being really careful with how we do this. It's really more personal now."
Things have changed since last fall and May when the Makah went whaling in little Neah Bay.
"Last year, it was going full-tilt," Johnson said.
"This year, it's just nice and calm."
Those on the reservation watch their high school's successful football team instead of a row of television news trucks. Many look forward to Nov. 5 homecoming celebrations.
"The purpose and intent last year was to make way for the families," Johnson said.
"The tribe did that. Now I'm really thankful that the media are giving us that space to conduct this cultural and subsistence hunt with families, very quietly and spiritually, which it should be."
"We want to keep it quiet as long as we can."
Date: Tue, 02 Nov, 1999
Next Hunt won't be as easy for Makahs
by Lynda V. Mapes - Seattle Times staff reporter
NEAH BAY, Clallam County - Talk about the Makahs' first whale hunt in more than 70 years is still big in this windswept reservation town, but another hunt is not expected soon.
The weather, a lack of money, and a hunt that is expected to involve individual families rather than the community as a whole are some of the reasons why.
Last May, the Makah tribe defied the world to reclaim its whaling tradition, killing a 3-year-old female gray whale with a harpoon and high-powered rifle shot to the brain.
Months later, tribal members are sporting shirts emblazoned with the date and time of the kill.
The whale's bones are soaking in an ammonia solution to get the last of the meat off so schoolchildren can reassemble the skeleton for display in the tribal museum.
And four families are training for another hunt, sharing two traditional cedar whaling canoes carved from a single log.
But both boats are still new enough to be fragile. They need to be rubbed down more with seal oil and spend more time in the water before they're properly seasoned. Both are now out of the water for repairs.
Meanwhile, the weather is turning stormy. Though the whaling season began in earnest yesterday, and though hunters-in-training have been in close pursuit of whales off the coast, there are many preparations to be made before another kill can be attempted.
"Everyone wants to be next, but they are starting to realize how dangerous it is, and how much planning is involved," said Wayne Johnson, captain of the first hunt.
The 23-member tribal whaling commission has yet to determine whether there is a need for more whale meat in Neah Bay, home to about 1,500 Makah tribal members. And no request for a tribal whaling permit has been made.
Johnson has yet to find support boats for a hunt. One of the boats used in the last hunt needs repair and the other is in use in the winter whiting fishery, probably for weeks.
Money is another factor. The tribe paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal fees and two huge parties connected with the last hunt, attended by tribes nationwide.
The tribal commission has run out of federal-grant money to pay its full-time executive director; volunteers now take calls and handle some administrative matters, such as rounding up equipment.
The canoes, high-powered rifles, floats, lines, radios and other equipment paid for by the tribe are community property. But families will have to shoulder all other costs of a hunt, including any potlatch to celebrate the killing of a whale. Indeed, the switch from a tribal hunt to private hunts is expected to give the next hunt a very different texture.
Some tribal members said family hunts will be easier than a community hunt because tribal members with their own family songs, dances, and traditions won't have differences to work out.
In other ways, a family hunt will be harder, and more dangerous: Assembling an eight-man crew from one family will mean a wholesale disaster to a single family if the canoe is lost.
Family hunts also are expected to be more low-key.
Last fall the tribe hosted a dinner and hours of traditional songs and dances for media gathered from around the country to introduce the tribe to the world. Tribal leaders offered daily press briefings.
Family hunts would be private, except for federal observers who must be present for any whale hunt. The observers monitor the kill to determine if it is humane, and to count every time a whale is struck or lost instead of killed.
The tribe also has signed a management agreement with the federal government promising to kill whales with a high-powered rifle, to ensure they die quickly. Hunters also are required to spear the whale with a harpoon thrown by hand from a traditional whaling canoe.
And the tribe requires every crew member to pass random drug and alcohol tests conducted by tribal police officers. That policy sparked one of the most immediate benefits of the hunt for some crew members, some tribal members say.
"Now that they (crew members) are totally clean that will help them with their own families," said Helma Swan, 81, a tribal elder related to most of the whalers in the first hunt.
"Some of them have learned how to pray who didn't know how to pray. They have gotten their own songs.
"In the future, I don't know what the whale will do for us. But at least the kids will understand, they were out there to see it."
Keith Johnson, president of the whaling commission, doubts the community will use its quota of five whales a year.
"We could go get them. That's not a problem. But we couldn't handle five a year."
He said the hunt has united some families that had been feuding, and helped even his own family reconnect with relatives not heard from in decades.
The first hunt also helped build the tribe's sense of community and identity, Keith Johnson said.
"Our kids don't have to be whalers, but they know who they are. They can go anywhere in the world and they won't get lost."
Copyright © 1999 The Seattle Times Company
Date: Sun, 07 Nov, 1999
Gray whale defenders urge boycott against Mitsubishi
BAJA, Mexico (CNN) -- Environmentalists are urging a boycott against the Mitsubishi Corp., charging that the company's proposed salt production plant in Baja California could threaten one of the last breeding habitats of the gray whale.
Exportadora de Sal (ESSA), 51 percent owned by the Mexican government and 49 percent by Mitsubishi, has defended its proposal to build the $150 million evaporation plant at Guerrero Negro on the Pacific coast.
Unconvinced, two environmental groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare, initiated a media campaign to promote the boycott of the multinational giant, which is involved in business activities as diverse as textiles, metals, financial services and motor vehicles.
"Mitsubishi says our whales won't be hurt. Don't buy it," one television commercial urges.
Environmentalists like Roger Payne fear the plant would disrupt the ecological balance of the area, which includes one of few mating and birthing grounds for gray whales.
"At least 34 other scientists agree with me," Payne said this week.
"It isn't a good idea."
Mitsubishi officials say they will not move forward with the project until they have concluded an environmental assessment of the area.
"Nothing will be done unless we are convinced that it can be done in an environmentally friendly way," said Jim Brumm, vice-president of Mitsubishi International.
But environmentalists say the proposed evaporation basins on the San Ignacio Lagoon in Latin America's largest wildlife sanctuary, the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, could threaten gray whales, and endangered species like sea lions, black sea turtles and prong-horned antelopes.
The warm water lagoon is one of only four in the world where gray whales come to mate and calve after migrating 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) from the Bering Straits down the Canadian and U.S. Pacific coast each year.
ESSA already operates a smaller salt works nearby, which ships the bulk of its output to Japan.
The new plant would involve burrowing out 116 square miles (260 square kilometers) -- twice the size of Washington, D.C. It would suck 6,000 gallons (22,700 liters) per second of water out of the lagoon, perhaps affecting local fish hatcheries, critics say.
Correspondent Anne McDermott and Reuters contributed to this report.
Date: Tue, 09 Nov, 1999
Japan restarting Antarctic Whaling, Greenpeace Claims
Canberra, AAP - Greenpeace today condemned Japan for restarting whaling around Antarctica and demanded the Australian federal government move to stop it.
Japan's whaling fleet left a south-eastern Japanese port today to hunt whales in a sanctuary in the Antarctic region, the environment watchdog said.
"It is an outrage that on the brink of a new millennium, whaling fleets are still allowed to ply the seas in complete disregard of international law," Greenpeace campaigner Shane Rattenbury said in a statement.
Governments around the world, including Australia, should make it clear to Japan the move was unacceptable and in blatant disregard of international rules, he said.
"The Japanese government must revoke the whalers licence to kill, and all governments, including Australia, must make sure this message is clearly heard in Tokyo."
Environment Minister Robert Hill acknowledged the problem and said the government was taking a strong stand on the issue.
"We are seen as world leaders in getting a global whale sanctuary," a spokesman for Senator Hill said.
"We have communicated our concerns to the Japanese government that we believe that whaling is unacceptable and we will continue to state that position."
"We will continue to work vigorously in the international whaling community to bring about an end to whaling by both Japan and Norway."
The government's next step was to host the International Whaling Commission meeting in Adelaide next year, he said.
Date: Tue, 09 Nov, 1999
Japan Sets Out To Kill 440 Whales, Greenpeace Claims
Wellington, NZPA - Japan has set out to kill up to 440 whales in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary around Antarctica, environmental group Greenpeace claimed today.
The kill would be in breach of international law and should be stopped, Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sarah Duthie said in a statement today.
"It is an outrage that on the brink on a new millennium whaling fleets are still plundering the seas in complete disregard of international law," she said.
A whaling fleet, comprising a factory ship, three catcher ships and a spotter vessel, left south-eastern Japan today headed for Antarctica, Greenpeace said.
Greenpeace called on the New Zealand Government to formally demand Japan cancel its whaling programme.
Japan claims the kill is for scientific research, a stance condemned by the International Whaling Commission.
Date: Thu, 11 Nov, 1999
Dolphins Kept in Narrow Space Like Battery Hens
CAN YOU HEAR THE DOLPHINS CRY....... (line from a song by Live)
German Tour Operators Boycott Horrible Dolphinarium in the Dominican Republic
Unscrupulous business men operate one of the world's most appalling dolphinariums in the Dominican Republic, a vacationers' paradise. Seven bottlenose dolphins are vegetating in Manati Park Bavaro near Punta Cana in tiny concrete pools to perform several shows a day. Additionally, swim-with-dolphins programs are daily offered to the tourists. The shows and the permanent contact with people put the captured dolphins under additional stress.
German tour operators, such as LTU, Kreutzer-Touristik, Neckermann, TUI, and their associated companies support the protests voiced by German Dolphin Conservation Society (Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine - GRD) and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and no longer sell Manati Park tickets.
"Unfortunately, a countless number of German tourists still visit the Park out of ignorance. This money allows the Park to continue to torture the dolphins," says a GRD spokesperson. Niki Entrup, chief executive of WDCS Germany, visited the dolphinarium and is shocked about the conditions he found:
"According to the new EU directive on keeping conditions of wild animals in captivity, this dolphinarium would have to close down immediately.
Tourists should remember this fact and not visit Manati Park." GRD and WDCS agree: "Close the dolphinarium at Manati Park!"
In spite of the protests, Manati Park imported two new dolphins from Cuba a few days ago, their total number now amounting to seven.
So far, the authorities of the Dominican Republic have done nothing to stop the torturing of the dolphins. GRD and WDCS therefore urge all tourists planning a visit to this country to boycott Manati Park. European tour operators are called upon to join in the German operators' boycott.
For further information, please contact GRD.
Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine
German Dolphin Conservation Society
Kornwegerstr. 37 - 81375 Munchen - Germany
Tel.: 0049-89-7416 0419 - Fax: 0049-89-7416 0411
WWW: www.delphinschutz.org
Please send a protest to the following persons, requesting that the dolphinarium at Manati Park be immediately closed down:
Dr. Ramon Ovidio Sanchez Pena
Director Dpto. Vida Silvestre
Fax. 001 - 809 227 1268 - Email: vida.silvestre@codetel.net.do
and
Cecilia Hernandez Pena
Sub-Directora Dpto. Vida Sivestre (CITES)
Fax. 001 - 809 227 1268 - Email: vida.silvestre@codetel.net.do
Date: Thu, 11 Nov, 1999
Japan admits using aid to build pro-whaling vote
Paul Brown, Environment Correspondent
Japan has admitted that it is using its overseas aid budget to persuade developing countries to join the International Whaling Commission and vote for a resumption of commercial whaling.
Japan's aim is to "recruit" four to five new countries each year and within three years gain enough support to overturn the international moratorium on whaling which came into force in 1986.
The commission has been deadlocked for 10 years over whaling, with pro-conservation countries such as Britain and the US totally opposed to lifting the ban, and Japan and Norway in favour.
Although any country can join, only 40 belong to the commission. A three-quarters majority is required to overturn the ban, so recruiting poor countries would enable Japan to create a pro-whaling majority and change the rules.
The Japanese plan was made public by Hiroaki Kameya, the vice minister for fisheries, after trips to Guinea, Namibia and Zimbabwe. He said he had already visited Trinadad and Tobago, which had "understood the whaling issue".
His African trip was partly "to increase the number of nations working in the International Whaling Commission and the World Trade Organisation". He said both Namibia and Guinea would join this year, and there were talks with Morocco and Mauritania.
Mr Kameya added: "We would like to utilise overseas development aid as a practical means to promote nations to join, expanding grant aid towards non-member countries which support Japan's claim."
There have been previous allegations against Japan of using aid to buy votes, but Tokyo has always denied doing so.
The commission yesterday described the tactic as understandable. "In reality, getting nations to join who are supportive of your position is a sensible strategy which anyone could use," its secretary, Ray Gamble, said.
Mr Gamble said Japan was using the same tactics at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (Cites), which is due to meet in Nairobi next April.
"They are trying to get a majority vote to get whales moved off the fully protected list. If they succeed in Nairobi it will make our next meeting in July in Adelaide a lot more interesting."
But Japan's tactics enraged the World Wide Fund for Nature. Stuart Chapman, the conservation officer, said:
"If this new Japanese offensive goes unchecked, it could lead to the resumption of large-scale commercial whaling within three years."
"Japan is blatantly misusing development aid to buy votes at the IWC and Cites, and such steps violate the spirit, if not the law, of international treaties."
Until four years ago Japan and Norway were almost alone in wanting to resume whaling. But a group of Caribbean countries joined and began voting as a bloc with Japan: Antigua, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica, the Solomon Islands and St Kitts and Nevis.
Allegations that these countries' ｣20,895 annual fees were being paid by Japan were denied, although funding for fishing fleets, fish processing plants and a conference centre were paid from overseas aid. Since the ban was imposed Japan has continued whaling under the guise of science. A fleet sailed for the Antarctic yesterday with the aim of killing 440 minke whales.
A loophole in the 1946 UN treaty allows the sale of whale meat taken for scientific purposes, and the Antarctic catch will fetch high prices in Japan.
Hideki Moronuki, a Japanese official, said Japan was not vote-buying but that aid would go to countries which had been reluctant to join the commission for fear of damaging economic ties with the west.
He added: "The whale population has grown so large that it is even damaging the supply of other fish. But the IWC refuses to listen to anything Japan says."
Originating url: News Unlimited - The Guardian
Date: Thu, 11 Nov, 1999
Japanese Whaling fleet sets out
Japan's whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru, three catcher ships and a spotter vessel left the southern Japanese port of Shimonoseki Tuesday headed for the Southern Ocean to hunt down 440 minke whales for "scientific research".
The International Whaling Commission created the Southern Ocean sanctuary around Antarctica in 1994 and banned commercial whaling in 1986. Under an IWC agreement, Japan is allowed to take minke whales in the Southern Ocean for scientific research. About $100 million worth of whale meat produced by the "scientific research" is sold each year on the market in Japan and is consumed in that country.
Norway, another whaling nation, has continued to hunt whales because it does not agree with the IWC ban. The Japanese government said the ships will return in April with information on death rates and living habits of the whales, which will be shared with the IWC.
Greenpeace condemned the "scientific expedition" as an outrage.
http://www.enn.com/
Date: Thu, 11 Nov, 1999
UN Report Warns of Dangers to Baja Whale Sanctuary Posed by Mitsubishi Salt Factory
YARMOUTH PORT, Mass., /E-Wire/ -- A UNESCO World Heritage mission concluded in a report revealed today, by the Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio, that Mitsubishi's proposed salt factory in Baja California Sur, Mexico would make a "substantial and significant change," resulting in a "transformation" that would violate the "integrity of the site".
The report was prepared following a visit to Mexico in late August 1999, by a team of four international and three Mexican government experts. A copy of the report was provided to the Mexican Government on October 29, 1999. On November 4th, ESSA, the Mitsubishi-Mexican Government joint saltworks venture, issued press statements about the Mission's report, but not the report itself.
Mitsubishi and ESSA deceived the press and public recently by alleging that the UNESCO report gave their controversial Baja salt factory project a "green light." In fact, the opposite is true. The report highlights how the construction of a huge industrial salt factory on Laguna San Ignacio would significantly alter the very characteristics that make the area a World Heritage site. The report states that "[T]he associated installations (industrial area, infrastructure, and pier) would involve major changes to the land inside and near the World Heritage site. At least a part of the area would be transformed into urban and industrial land.
.... This would constitute a substantial and significant change from the current condition of the site."
Today, the Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio is releasing a full copy of the UN report held in secret by Mitsubishi and ESSA (available exclusively from (www.savebajawhales.com). According to Jared Blumenfeld, Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare's (IFAW) Habitat Program, "The World Heritage report is sending a strong message to Mitsubishi that if the corporate giant decides to formalize their plans to destroy Laguna San Ignacio, the UN will act swiftly to examine whether this global treasure be listed as 'In Danger'. Mitsubishi and ESSA can no longer hide behind a report they would not release.
The Mission's report will be considered by the UN World Heritage Committee at its next meeting starting November 26th in Marrakesh, Morroco. Under the terms of the World Heritage Convention, the Committee maintains a List of World Heritage Sites 'In Danger'. In June 1998, members of the Campaign petitioned the Committee to declare the two lagoons which make up the site as 'In Danger. At its December 1998 session in Kyoto, Japan, the Committee decided to send a Mission to review the status of the site.
During the Marrakesh, meeting the Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio will be providing State Parties additional evidence regarding the poor environmental record of Mitsubishi at their current salt factory in Guerrero Negro. Under pressure from the Mexican government important evidence was left out from the UN report, including the fact that ESSA and Mitsubishi were found responsible for the death of 94 endangered sea turtles. According to Jacob Scherr, Director, International Program, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "Despite real constraints and pressures that were placed on the UN team by the Mexican authorities, the report still signals significant discomfort with the proposed saltworks at Laguna San Ignacio."
The UN mission report corrects a number of deliberate misrepresentations promoted by Mitsubishi and ESSA:
Mitsubishi Fiction: Salt factory would not fall within the World HeritageSite. (Japan, December 1998).
Fact: "Roughly thirty percent of the projected saltworks is located within the area designated a World Heritage Site" (UNESCO World Heritage Report, October 1999).
Mitsubishi Fiction: Mitsubishi and ESSA claimed the report gave them a "green light to pursue the salt project." (Mexico City, November 3, 1999).
Fact: "The mission notes that a review of the proposed saltworks at San Ignacio was not explicitly included in its Terms of Reference because the project proponent had not yet made its submission to the proper authorities." The Mission's only mandate was to decide whether the area was "in danger" under the World Heritage Convention. The Mission did not and could not decide whether to authorize the project. This latter decision can only be made by the Mexican government. (UNESCO World Heritage Report, October 1999).
Mitsubishi Fiction: "San Ignacio Lagoon will remain in its pristine form even if the salt project goes ahead." (Japan, October 1999).
Fact: "[S]uch a project would imply the transformation of a large area inside the World Heritage boundaries of Laguna San Ignacio for the construction of evaporation and crystallization ponds. The mission questioned whether this would comply with condition of integrity." (UNESCO World Heritage Report, October 1999).
According to Mr Blumenfeld, "It is time for Mitsubishi to wake up and listen to the opposition of 34 of the world's leading scientists (including 9 Nobel winners), 15 of the world's top mutual funds (with $14 billion in assets) who will not invest in Mitsubishi stock, 800,000 concerned citizens worldwide who have written to the corporate giant calling on them to abandon the project, ten cities in California (including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Eureka, and Santa Cruz) who have passed divestment resolutions against Mitsubishi because of the salt factory plans, the Mexican government's first rejection of Mitsubishi's salt factory plans (1995), and now the UN World Heritage Report." Blumenfeld adds, "Mitsubishi has become an environmental outlaw damaging both their reputation and their bottom line."
The Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio is a project of IFAW, NRDC, and more than 50 Mexican environmental organizations.
For More Information, Contact: Susan Bennett, IFAW (703-518-5170)
SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare -0- 11/18/1999 /
CONTACT: Susan Bennett for IFAW, 703-518-5170
Web site: http://www.ifaw.org/
Date: Thu, 25 Nov, 1999
Mediterranean Nations agree on Whale & Dolphin Sanctuary
Rome, AFP - France, Italy and Monaco signed an agreement today setting up a marine sanctuary to protect whales and dolphins, in a bid to step up protection of the species in the Mediterranean Sea.
The whale sanctuary, the first in the northern hemisphere, covers an area of 84,000 square kilometres, twice the size of Switzerland, between the Giens peninsula in France, the north of Sardinia and the south Tuscany coast.
Environment Minister Edo Ronchi, who signed the agreement for Italy, said the accord would "allow for an increase in the large number of these extraordinary mammals in the northern Mediterranean" where they find plenty of food.
During the summer months, more than 1000 whales and 25,000 dolphins are believed to live in the area, one of the richest in cetacean mammals in the western Mediterranean.
The accord, the result of 10 years of arduous negotiations, was also signed by French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet and her counterpart from Monaco, Bernard Fautrier.
It commits the three countries to ban whaling, monitor or outlaw off-shore competitions and uncontrolled commercial whale-watching activities, and fight pollution such as heavy metals from land-based sources.
Fishing and shipping in the area will be strictly monitored to ensure compliance with the accord.
Voynet said she was "very happy that Italy and Monaco acknowledged the need to preserve the lives of whales and dolphins, which have been living in this part of the sea for hundreds of years."
Experts have listed eight permanent and four occasional whale and dolphin species in the area, which is ringed by some of Europe's busiest summer seaside resorts.
Establishing the sanctuary took 10 years after the idea was launched by Europe Conservation and the Italian Research Institute Tethys, and immediately supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace.
WWF director general Claude Martin said today the accord included for the first time not only territorial waters but also the open sea where individuals or groups of countries normally could not take unilateral steps.
"This is an important positive example and we are calling for other countries to follow suit," he said.
Date: Thu, 25 Nov, 1999
New Zealand Hector's Dolphins in Peril
From: Ellie Dickson: ellie.dickson@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
The population of Hector's dolphins in coastal areas of the North Island of New Zealand is critically endangered. Recent research at Auckland and Otago University has shown that the population may consist of fewer than 100 animals, as a result of entanglement of dolphins in gillnets used by fishers. This situation is of particular concern as:
- 1. Hector's dolphins are unique to New Zealand and regarded as threatened by IUCN;
- 2. The genetic difference between the North Island population and South Island Hector's dolphins is so great, they should be regarded as a separate sub-species; and
- 3. Estimates show that at the current rate of decline, this population is likely to become extinct in 50 years.
This petition appeals to the New Zealand Government to call an immediate halt to all gillnetting along the west coast of the North Island (in particular from Hokianga Harbour to the Wanganui River), to allow the recovery of the North Island population of New Zealand's Hector's dolphins.
It is considered that population levels are too low to experiment with techniques to reduce bycatch levels and that a ban on all gillnetting is the only way to ensure the survival of this population of Hector’s dolphins.
Please support this call for action by adding your name and location to the petition below and forwarding it to everyone you know. If you are the 50th person to put your name on, please return the completed petition to hectors_dolphin@hotmail.com by 31st January 2000. For more information about this research see abstracts at the bottom of the page.
Thank you for your support.
Concerned students, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Geographic Isolation of Hector's Dolphin Populations Described by Mitochondiral DNA Sequences
ABSTRACT
To describe the genetic structure of Hector's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) populations, we used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify and sequence a 360 base-pair fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region from 34 beachcast or gillnet-caught specimens. Variation in these sequences identified 11 distinct haplotypes differing form one another by 0.28-1.67% and by an average of 4.47% from the closely related Commerson's dolphin. The genealogical relationship of these haplotypes showed a strong concordance with the geographic origins of the samples. An analysis of variance modified for molecular data showed that 74% of the sequence variation could be explained by the three primary sampling regions: North Island, the west coast of the South Island, and the east coast of the South Island. Such a marked segregation of maternal lineages across a small geographic range is unusual among cetaceans. The low rate of female dispersal, as indicated by this mitochondiral DNA structure, could increase the vulnerability of local populations to extinction due to fisheries-related mortality.
REFERENCE
Pichler, F.B., Dawson, S.M., Slooten, E. and Baker, C.S. 1998. Geographic Isolation of Hector's Dolphin Populations Described by Mitochondiral DNA Sequences. Conservation Biology. 12: 676-682.
A sensitivity analysis to guide research and management for Hector’s dolphin
ABSTRACT
Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) is an uncommon endemic of New Zealand which is suspected to be in decline due to entanglement mortality.
However, uncertainty in available data has led to a dispute between the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries and the New Zealand Department of Conservation over the status of this species. We use a density-dependent deterministic model to predict the future abundance and geographic distribution of Hector’s dolphin under different scenario’s of fisheries management. We then examine the sensitivity of this model to a number of parameters for which few or no data are available. We find that two populations of Hector’s dolphin are predicted to decline in the future even when the most optimistic parameter estimates are used.
The status of the third population is dependent on the estimate of maximum annual population growth rate. Because of the dependence of final abundance estimates of entanglement mortality rates and maximum population growth rate, research effort should be concentrated on estimating these parameters.
REFERENCE
Martien, K.K., Taylor, B.L., Slooten, E. and Dawson, S. 1999. A sensitivity analysis to guide research and management for Hector’s dolphin.
Biological Conservation 90 (1999) 183-191.
Dr Steve Dawson, Senior Lecturer Trustee, New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust Marine Science Department, Otago University P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Street Address: Marine Science Department 304 Castle Street, Dunedin, New Zealand
Phone: ++64(3)479-7468 - fax: ++64(3)479-8336 - cellphone: ++64(25)474-418
Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/MarineScience
Date: Fri, 26 Nov, 1999
Norway reduces quotas for commercial whale hunt
The Associated Press
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Quotas for Norway's hotly protested commercial whale hunt will be cut by 13 percent next year due to changes in management models, the fisheries ministry announced Friday.
Norway's whalers will be allowed to harpoon up to 655 minke whales in the nation's waters in 2000. This year, a fleet of 36 whaling boats killed just 589 whales out of a quota of 753 animals due to bad weather during the hunting season.
The country has faced protests and boycott threats since resuming the commercial hunts in 1993, after a grudging six-year break. Anti-whaling activists have sabotaged whaling boats and confronted them at sea to try to stop the hunt.
Despite the protests, Norway has gradually increased quotas each year, although the number remains well below the roughly 1,800 whales killed annually in the 1950s and 1960s.
The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 because some types of whales were endangered. Norway is not bound by the ban because commission rules allow members to reject its decisions.
Norway says the estimated population of 112,000 minke whales off its coast is enough to sustain a limited hunt. Minke are the smallest of the baleen whales, growing up to 30 feet.
Fisheries Minister Peter Angelsen said next year's quotas were reduced in keeping with revised population models from the IWC scientific committee, even though total stock estimates were unchanged.
Whalers fish most of the year and hunt from their trawlers in the summer. They complained that reduced quotas cut into their important economic sideline.
Norwegians use whale meat as steaks and sausages for domestic consumption. The government bars exports, fearing international reaction.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Date: Fri, 26 Nov, 1999
Mediterranean Nations Agree On Whale And Dolphin Sanctuary
Rome, AFP - France, Italy and Monaco signed an agreement today setting up a marine sanctuary to protect whales and dolphins, in a bid to step up protection of the species in the Mediterranean Sea.
The whale sanctuary, the first in the northern hemisphere, covers an area of 84,000 square kilometres, twice the size of Switzerland, between the Giens peninsula in France, the north of Sardinia and the south Tuscany coast.
Environment Minister Edo Ronchi, who signed the agreement for Italy, said the accord would "allow for an increase in the large number of these extraordinary mammals in the northern Mediterranean" where they find plenty of food.
During the summer months, more than 1000 whales and 25,000 dolphins are believed to live in the area, one of the richest in cetacean mammals in the western Mediterranean.
The accord, the result of 10 years of arduous negotiations, was also signed by French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet and her counterpart from Monaco, Bernard Fautrier.
It commits the three countries to ban whaling, monitor or outlaw off-shore competitions and uncontrolled commercial whale-watching activities, and fight pollution such as heavy metals from land-based sources.
Fishing and shipping in the area will be strictly monitored to ensure compliance with the accord.
Voynet said she was "very happy that Italy and Monaco acknowledged the need to preserve the lives of whales and dolphins, which have been living in this part of the sea for hundreds of years."
Experts have listed eight permanent and four occasional whale and dolphin species in the area, which is ringed by some of Europe's busiest summer seaside resorts.
Establishing the sanctuary took 10 years after the idea was launched by Europe Conservation and the Italian Research Institute Tethys, and immediately supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace.
WWF director general Claude Martin said today the accord included for the first time not only territorial waters but also the open sea where individuals or groups of countries normally could not take unilateral steps.
"This is an important positive example and we are calling for other countries to follow suit," he said.
Date: Mon, 06 Dec, 1999
Australian Government Blasts Japanese Whale Hunt
CANBERRA, Australia, (Lycos ENS) - The Australian government has condemned Japan's decision to continue its so-called scientific whaling program in the Southern Ocean.
Environment Minister Robert Hill says Australia will step up its opposition to whaling in the lead up to the International Whaling Commission meeting to be held in Adelaide next summer.
"Australia and Japan have cooperated for many years on a range of environment programs, such as the conservation of migratory shorebirds, but whale protection is one issue on which the two countries appear to hold different views," Senator Hill said.
"Japanese vessels are moving into the Southern Ocean to commence another whale kill, despite strong international support for the protection of whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary."
Senator Hill said Australia would continue to urge Japan to abandon its annual take of 440 minke whales.
"The information sought from the so-called scientific whaling program can be obtained using non-lethal means," Senator Hill said.
"The Australian government remains totally opposed to lethal scientific whaling and we will continue to promote increased protection for whales ahead of the 52nd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, to be held in Adelaide next year," Hill said.
An Australian resolution urging Japan to refrain from issuing special permits for scientific whaling was carried by a large majority at an International Whaling Commission meeting held in Grenada earlier this year.
"The scale and nature of the scientific whaling program carried out under permits issued by the government of Japan, including a clause allowing whales to be processed, undermines the intent of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling as well as the claim that they're being killed in the name of science."
The 52nd Meeting of the IWC and its various sub committees and working parties will be held in Adelaide from June 9 to July 6, 2000.
In an August 1998 statement, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs justified its "scientific" whaling program.
"Japanese scientific surveys include sighting surveys for estimation of whale population and comprehensive biological studies using a limited research take of minke whales as provided for under the ICRW."
The ICRW is the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which established the International Whaling Commission at the end of World War II.
"Sighting surveys are appropriate means to grasp the general number and geographical distribution of whales, but are not sufficient," the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"Sampling surveys are essential for (a) estimation of such biological parameters as age composition, sexual maturity and pregnancy rate required for stock assessment of whales, and (b) elucidation of the roles of whales, prey-predator relationship between whales and their food sources etc., in various marine ecosystems. These research efforts need to be continued to answer questions raised by the IWC scientists."
The Japan Whaling Association (JWA), which represents the whalers, says whaling is necessary because whales compete with humans for fish.
"Today, there is not enough food on the planet to feed the world's population. And the situation is worsening. We can no longer save only those species that strike an emotional chord," the Association says.
"Whales consume 500 million tons of marine resources annually - three to six times the amount caught worldwide for human consumption," according to the Japan Whaling Association.
"Contrary to what we have been led to believe, most species of whales are not endangered. However, 35 percent of the world's fishery resources are over exploited. And another 25 percent are exploited to their full capacity," the JWA says.
Greenpeace International, which has been campaigning against the Japanese minke whale hunt for years, says,
"Such whaling has been driven by greed with no concern for the protection and preservation of whale stocks. The income from the international trade in whale meat, whale products and associated illegal trade, is the catalyst driving the whaling industry."
The minke whale - target of the Japanese hunt - is the smallest of the great whale species and the only one left in anywhere near its original numbers. Minkes, although larger than elephants, were too small for whalers to bother with until the early 1970s when most of the larger whale populations were killed off by commercial whaling.
Date: Wed, 08 Dec, 1999
Rebounding humpbacks may be targeted by hunters again
By Lori Tighe Star-Bulletin
Protective efforts have paid off, but the whales may be removed from the endangered species list
The good news: There are more humpback whales than previously thought.
The bad news: They may be taken off the endangered species list and hunted once again.
Several scientists at last week's Maui whale conference sponsored by the Society for Marine Mammalogists, which drew 1,800 people, revealed data showing the endangered humpback whale population is indeed recovering.
The new data, yet to be published, were released just as the humpbacks began trickling into the Hawaiian Islands for their annual mating season. As recently as last year, scientists estimated their numbers at around 3,000 here in Hawaii, and 6,000 total in the North Pacific.
But three new major studies showed at least 4,300 whales here with a total population as high as 10,000.
"It's important for people to know they are coming back," said Allen Tom, manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
"It's great news. It means our protective efforts are paying off."
But in the coming year, it is believed countries such as Japan will ask for the humpbacks to be stripped of their endangered status so they can be hunted, said Bruce Mate, Ph.D., an oceanographer with Oregon State University.
"There is an interest in resuming the hunt for these animals. The data will probably encourage people to reconsider moving them off the endangered species list," Mate said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Japan offers that suggestion at the next International Trade in Endangered Species conference."
Controversy surrounded native Americans in Washington state who recently began hunting the gray whale when it was taken off the endangered species list a few years ago.
Native Hawaiians have shown no interest in hunting the humpback whales, said Naomi McIntosh, Oahu Humpback Sanctuary liaison.
"The humpback is not known to be a cultural preference among native Hawaiians," she said.
"There's no immediate interest in Hawaii to hunt them."
But the Japanese used to routinely come close to the Hawaiian Islands to hunt humpbacks.
"We're still assessing the needs of the species," McIntosh said.
"We're optimistic about their recovery, but we still feel the species is not out of the woods yet."
The humpbacks are encountering new threats to their survival, including overfishing, marine debris, pollution from development and human population growth, McIntosh said.
Mate's study, which tagged whales and then tracked them by satellite, showed the humpbacks typically stay in Hawaii for less than a month, coming and going through the winter season.
"Even though we see them for five or six months, they are not the same whales. There's a lot of turnover," Mate said.
"They are much more mobile than we thought."
Mate has tracked humpbacks in Hawaii since 1995. The data showed, for example, one whale visiting five Hawaiian islands in 10 days.
The whales fan out from Alaska to Russia during the summer to feed but return mainly to the Hawaiian Islands in the winter to mate.
"This is the central breeding and calving area for whales in much of the North Pacific," Mate said.
People were excited about his and the other research supporting the humpback recovery because, Mate said,
"It gives us a better sense there are more animals than we thought."
Joe Mobley, Ph.D., a whale researcher with the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, said that based on his six-year aerial study, the humpback whale population is growing by 7 percent a year.
He flew over the Hawaiian Islands and counted whales in 1993, 1995 and 1998. Then using formula calculations, he deduced the total population here.
"It's good news. All indications indicate the whale population is recovering," he said.
A much larger collaborative study involving 6,000 photograph identifications of humpback whales taken in four countries -- the United States, Japan, Mexico and Canada -- calculated the total humpback whale population in the North Pacific between 8,000 and 10,000.
"It was the first attempt to count the whales since whaling," said John Calambokidis, the study's project director and a research biologist with Cascadia Research in Olympia, Wash.
Commercial whaling of humpbacks ended in 1966, when fewer than 1,200 to 1,400 remained, he said. Historical estimates placed the whales at 15,000 before hunting, but scientists say that figure may be skewed because whale catches were dramatically underreported.
"This new information is critical because this is a species that was driven to the brink of extinction by our acts. It's still on the endangered species list because of a century of a flourishing commercial industry," he said.
"Without these population estimates, we have no knowledge of their recovery."
Date: Wed, 08 Dec, 1999
In Maui waters at night, the guys belt it out
By Gary Kubota Star-Bulletin
WAILUKU -- Male humpback whales migrating from Alaska to Hawaii waters sing anytime.
But their singing becomes louder in Maui waters after midnight during the peak of whale migration season, according to researchers.
"It's noticeably louder. They all sing about the same song, but they're not synchronized ... so when you listen to it, it's like a cacophony of sounds," said Whitlow Au, chief scientist at the University of Hawaii's marine mammal research program.
Researcher Paul Nachtigall speculates the increase is due to more whales being in Maui waters at the time. But Nachtigall said scientists remain uncertain about the reason for the louder singing.
Scientists speculate the male singing may be connected to calling a female or declaring their territory and warning other suitors to stay away.
The discovery about the louder singing at night arose from a study off Lahaina.
Scientists and volunteers deposited a microphone and disk recorder in about 40 feet of water and set the machine to record sounds at six-minute intervals from Jan. 18 through April 16, 1998.
Au said the ambient sounds began to increase after sunset and reached a peak from midnight to 3 a.m. from mid-February to mid-March.
Au said the scientists may eventually be able to use the sound of whales singing to obtain a more accurate estimate of their numbers.
Date: Fri, 10 Dec, 1999
Whale Researcher Receives German Felix Wankel Animal Welfare Research Award 1999
by Ulrich Karlowski and Ulrike Kirsch
Since 1972, the German Felix Wankel Animal Welfare Research Award has been given to outstanding, innovative research which fosters the spirit of animal welfare. This year, the DM 50,000 maximum in prize money was awarded to the French biologist Michel Andr of the Las Palmas University de Gran Canaria for his ground-breaking research on the impacts of underwater noise on sperm whales.
His findings suggest that the whales suffer from impaired hearing sensitivity due to noise pollution. Each day, about 100 ships enter and leave the Ports of Santa Cruz on Tenerife and Las Palmas on Gran Canaria alone. These waters are also the habitat of female sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), where they live year-round with their offspring. This largest of all toothed whales can dive to depths of over 3,000 meters, remaining submerged for up to 90 minutes. All of a sudden they resurface to rest almost motionless at the surface for 5 to 15 minutes, with the better part of their body underwater --- to a ship crew a hardly visible obstacle weighing up to 20 tons and reaching lengths of up to 13 meters. A collision in February 1992 caused the death of a passenger.
Worried about the increasing number of collisions between sperm whales and vessels in the area off the Canary Islands, which has led to a steady decline in the sperm whale population, Professor Andr started to explore the reasons. In search of an acoustic signal system to warn the gray giants about approaching ships, Andr and his colleagues began a series of tests in 1997, playing back sounds via underwater speakers to sperm whales to observe their reactions. Andr used natural sounds such as killer whale vocalizations --- "Moby Dick's" only natural enemy apart from giant octopusses and pirate whalers --- or typical ship motor sounds as well as artificial sounds, such as 10 kHz pulse sounds.
The signals were all chosen to be in the frequency range of sperm whale hearing (0.2 to 32 kHz). From a 100-meter distance, the testing sounds were played back successively to individual whales or groups of whales at a loudness of about 180 decibel (dB) for 10 seconds each. This was done while the animals were foraging, resting at the surface and while swimming.
Although the researchers' acoustic attacks must have been infernally loud it was only the 10 kHz pulse sound which induced an escape reaction in resting whales.
"The other signals did not disturb them and, during swimming, they did not react to the 10 kHz pulse sound, either," says Michel Andr. But the hopes pinned on this partly effective signal were dashed after a few more experiments.
When the animals were exposed to the 10 kHz pulse sound a second time, they ignored it. According to Michel Andr, the study reveals the high tolerance the whales living off the Canary Islands have meanwhile developed to disturbing noise. The constant noise pollution generated by ship motors and propellers has impaired their hearing sensitivity especially in the low-frequency ranges. They notice high-speed ferries only too late. Necropsies of two sperm whales which had died in collisions confirmed Andr's assumption: both animals were deaf, hence unable to hear the imminent danger.
The serious decline in the Canaries' sperm whale population presently estimated at about 300 animals is also reflected by the shortened breeding cycle in the females: normally producing offspring at a 5-6 year cycle, the Canaries' sperm whales have shown to produce offspring at intervals of under 3 years, which could indicate that the number of sexually mature females is in decline.
Michel Andr is now working on a passive sonar system enabling ship crews to locate the position of sperm whales. With the aid of such an early-warning system ships will be able to maneuver around the deaf sperm whales.
Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine
German Dolphin Conservation Society
Kornwegerstr. 37 - 81375 Mnchen - Germany
Tel.: 0049-89-7416 0419 - Fax: 0049-89-7416 0411
http://www.delphinschutz.org
Date: Fri, 10 Dec, 1999
Inuit whalebone carvings banned in Australia
CANBERRA (CP) -- The Australian government has warned travellers returning from overseas that whalebone souvenirs, some of which are for sale in northern Canada, are not allowed in the country.
Environment Minister Robert Hill said today Australian Customs officers have been seizing a growing quantity of whalebone souvenirs brought home by Australian tourists returning from Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Fiji.
Hill said that includes whale teeth and elaborate carvings made from the teeth and whalebone from such species as Humpbacks, Gray, Southern Right and Killer Whales.
He said many of these whale products originated from northern Canada and Alaska, where Inuit are permitted to take a limited number of whales.
"While it may be legal to purchase these items in the U.S. and Canada, all whale species are protected under the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982 and imports of any product into Australia from whales, dolphins and porpoises are prohibited," he said in a statement.
Hill said many tourists were falsely told the products are fossilized. In true fossilized bones, the calcium is replaced by minerals and they are no longer considered animal products and import permits are not required.
He said a recent example involved a whalebone carving which the vendor claimed was fossilized but still had pieces of dried flesh attached.
He said customs officers will confiscate any whale products brought into Australia as souvenirs.
Date: Wed, 15 Dec, 1999
Blood and Slaughter in the Playground of the Wealthy
Talkway, Inc.
A horrible story, along with action info, follows. FYI, Princess Margaret is not the only one who has a villa on Mustique. Richard Branston owns a lot of this island, and people like Mick Jagger have places there too.
A mother whale lies on a beach as islanders strip her of her meat and blubber in a frenzy of excitement. Nearby her baby is suffering the same fate - being cut to ribbons in a sea of blood. The screams and yells of locals fill the air. Any outsiders who try to have a closer look are pelted with stones.
Welcome to [the island of Mustique, the Caribbean playground of Princess Margaret and the world's monied elite. Earlier this month, humpback whales were killed in front of horrified tourists, the second time in two years that islanders have killed whales in defiance of international agreements. This year the carnage was witnessed by holidaymaker Maria Child-Villiers from a friend's yacht.
Maria said: "We were sitting on the yacht when we heard terrible screams. We looked up and a mile from the yacht we could see a launch and other boats in hot pursuit of the whale. The crews were yelling and throwing harpoons".
"After half an hour we saw the whale send up a bloody spurt from her blowhole into the air and we knew she was dead. Then, to our horror, we saw the launch come past with a baby whale tied to its side. They had killed the baby whale to lure the mother in. Throughout the whole episode we felt totally helpless."
Although the baby was about 15ft long, it was no more than three weeks old.
It was so young that its tail had not yet fully unfurled. The 32-ton mother and baby were then towed off to a whaling station on the island of Petit Nevis. By the next day the mother had been stripped of her flesh in what Maria describes as "an orgy of violence", with locals wading through waters turned red from the blood.
"This was done for sheer blood lust", she said.
Two holidaymakers who tried to have a look were pelted with stones.
The International Whaling Commission lets hunters on nearby Bequia island kill two whales each year as part of "aboriginal subsistence hunting". But many believe that the whales are hunted for commercial reasons and that the ban on hunting calves is obviously flouted. But there are fears that Caribbean nations may help Japan and Norway try to force the IWC to weaken its commercial whaling ban at its conference in May. St. Vincent and the Grenadines - which includes Mustique - is among Caribbean nations which have received aid from Japan in recent years.
Date: Thu, 16 Dec, 1999
Lufthansa Ends Dolphin And Whale Flights
Talkway, Inc.
Following the death in November of two Black Sea bottlenose dolphins, including a pregnant female, on a long flight between Russia and Argentina, Lufthansa cargo has agreed to stop carrying live whales and dolphins.
Following pressure from WDCS Germany, Lufthansa has put an end to any further transfer of whales and dolphins on all its flights pending an investigation into the deaths last month.
WDCS is celebrating this decision by Lufthansa Cargo, made public in a press release in Germany today. In November, WDCS reported the deaths of two dolphins in a transfer of four bottlenose dolphins and a beluga whale from Russia, via Germany, to the Mar del Plata Aquarium in Argentina.
Niki Entrup, WDCS Germany, comments: "We appreciate this decision by Lufthansa Cargo which we hope will set a precedent for other airlines involved in the transport of live cetaceans. Transfer in this manner risks the lives of animals involved in this trade. WDCS requests a complete investigation into the fateful transportation of cetaceans to Argentina and calls for action to be taken against the traders involved in this fatal transfer as well".
While WDCS celebrates this decision by Lufthansa Cargo, we see this as only a small step in the fight against the trade in cetaceans for the captivity industry. Entrup continues: "The main problem is the continued capture of dolphins from the wild to be displayed in zoos and amusement parks all over the world. In particular, Russia and the Ukraine, and also Cuba and Japan continue to capture and export dolphins for the entertainment business".
In 1998, WDCS produced a report entitled The Dolphin Traders which detailed the trade in Black Sea bottlenose dolphins from Russia and the Ukraine to dolphinaria around the world during the 1990s. This report reveals the grim truth that at least 50% of these dolphins are now dead. Twelve out of 14 dolphins involved in original imports in 1991 and 1992 from Russian/Ukraine to Argentina are also dead.
Date: Fri, 17 Dec, 1999
Can Whales Live In Harmony With Salt Plant?
By Elizabeth Fullerton of Reuters
San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico, - Every January, schools of gray whales arrive at San Ignacio lagoon in northern Mexico's Baja California state to breed and cavort in the Pacific Ocean waves for three months.
The whales make an annual 10,000km journey from the Bering Straits to the warm-water lagoon, a designated World Heritage Site, where the only sound is the wind rushing unhindered across miles of white sand.
This unspoiled haven could be dramatically transformed if plans to build a multimillion-dollar salt plant in the lagoon go ahead, according to a newly released UN report. The lagoon, in North America's largest wildlife sanctuary, the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, is the centre ring for a bitter battle between environmentalists and big business.
Exportadora del Sal (ESSA), a joint venture between Japanese giant Mitsubishi and the Mexican government, says the $US120 million ($NZ239.76 million) plant would bring much-needed jobs and development to an impoverished region with minimal ecological damage.
But the UN report, approved by the World Heritage Committee, appears to have handed environmentalists victory in the first round, saying the site's integrity was at risk.
The battle is by no means over. Nor is it clear-cut.
ESSA is up against a powerful coalition of 58 international and Mexican environmental groups including nine Nobel Prize-winning scientists and 15 green US mutual funds with assets worth $US14 billion who have boycotted Mitsubishi.
They accuse ESSA, which already runs a large salt evaporation plant in Guerrero Negro and Ojo de Liebre lagoon 140km up the coast, of polluting the region, home to sea lions, black sea turtles and prong-horned antelopes.
But the UN report, the result of a visit by UN cultural body UNESCO specifically to inspect ESSA's current salt plant, in fact praised the company's environmental performance so far and said wildlife at Guerrero Negro was not in danger.
The area near the plant is home to colonies of pelicans, geese and ducks who bob on huge seawater basins from which salt is made through evaporation. Peregrine falcons and ospreys circle overhead and swoop down on fish in the salt water.
"Look around, you can see we're not hurting the environment, we're helping it. People criticise us from afar but they often change their minds when they come here," said Joaquin Ardura, ESSA's administrative director.
ESSA says the gray whale population in Ojo de Liebre has risen to 1700 from 380 since the salt plant started in 1957. "San Ignacio is the only place untouched by humans, but the whale population there has declined," Ardura said.
But ESSA's environmental track record is not unblemished.
A government audit found the company guilty of 298 environmental violations and Mexican watchdog Profepa has fined it $US24,000 for marine pollution through a brine leakage. Profepa has also been investigating ESSA over the death of 94 black sea turtles, allegedly through salt poisoning.
ESSA has since taken steps to clean up its act. It is investing in new measures to make its operation greener, such as a system to dilute the toxic waste brine, or salt water, it disperses into the sea and to replace diesel use with quieter, more environmentally friendly electricity where possible.
Local politicians across the spectrum in Baja California are 100 percent behind ESSA's new salt plant project, viewing it as a rare opportunity for sustainable development.
"The environmentalists are more worried about the ecology than about the people living there," conservative National Action Party deputy Victor Martinez charged. "The reserve is the second poorest area after (southern) Chiapas state."
Local deputies argue the salt project would provide 250 jobs to inhabitants of the lagoon who now live in "deplorable conditions" without electricity, drinking water or sewage.
But residents of Punta Abreojos, a village of 1150 people perched on the edge of San Ignacio lagoon, have a very different viewpoint. "Most of the villagers are against the plant because the brine and waste fuel from it will kill the fish that are our livelihood," Antonio Zuniga, head of the Fishing Cooperative of Punta Abreojos, told Reuters.
"We don't need a firm like ESSA to give us more jobs. There are better alternatives like ecotourism and shrimp farming."
Joel Reynolds of the Washington-based Natural Resources Defence Council cited a recent World Wildlife Fund report estimating fisheries in the region could bring in $US60-US120 million annually if properly managed.
"Fisheries is the basis of that economy and has been for generations. This is why the project makes no sense from an economic perspective," he said.
Ultimately, ESSA is the real gainer from the Mexican venture, which stands to become the world's No. 1 exporter of salt, leapfrogging over current leader Australia if the project goes ahead. At full capacity, ESSA would more than double its current annual production of 7 million metric tons of salt.
As for doubts about whether demand exists for so much extra salt, ESSA points to world population growth, which it says means rising consumption. Apart from food, salt is used in many industries from textiles and PVCs to glass and aluminium.
ESSA's big hurdle will be convincing a government sensitive to its image abroad to approve a project bound to provoke an international outcry due to the huge popular appeal of whales.
Much will depend on the findings of an environmental impact study due to be delivered by international scientists next month. The government has said the project will not go ahead if it is found likely to damage the ecology.
With 50,000 hectares of natural salt flats, San Ignacio lagoon would clearly be an ideal location for a saltworks, with synergies in production, given its proximity to Guerrero Negro -- ideal, that is, were the lagoon not in a World Heritage Site, biosphere reserve and whale sanctuary.
"It's absolutely the wrong place to put the world's largest industrial salt works," said the NRDC's Reynolds.
"You can make salt all over the world, you don't need to do it there."
Date: Tue, 21 Dec, 1999
Greenpeace Rammed by Illegal Whalers
Southern Ocean - 14.00hrs (08.00hrs GMT): The Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin-maru today rammed the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise while making an illegal overtaking manoeuvre in the remote Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
"The Japanese whaling fleet has further placed itself outside the law," Greenpeace campaigner on board the vessel MV Arctic Sunrise John Bowler said. "Not only is Japan defying the UN Law of the Sea by hunting whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, but now their whalers have flaunted maritime law and in the process endangered lives."
"With this most recent display of lawlessness the Japanese whaling fleet is further demonstrating its determination to hunt whales - no matter what laws they trample in the process. But how is it that at the dawn of a new millennium one nation can trample international law without facing a storm of diplomatic pressure?" Bowler said.
Greenpeace has called on national governments to demand that the Japanese Government cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling program. To date only British, US, Australian and New Zealand governments have made soft diplomatic moves to pressure Japan to abandon the whaling program.
Greenpeace is a peaceful, non-violent organisation committed to safety at sea, especially in the isolated and freezing waters of Antarctica. Following today’s incident Greenpeace has written a letter of protest to the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), the Japanese Government agency responsible for whaling in the Southern Ocean. Greenpeace is continuing to track the Nisshin-maru and remains committed to disrupting Japan’s illegal whaling activities.
This year Japan intends to hunt 440 Minke whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary (50 more than last year), as part of its so-called “scientific research” program. However the whale meat produced by the 'research' is sold on the open market in Japan. By continuing to whale in defiance of continued International Whaling Commission (IWC) requests to stop hunting, Japan is in breach of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 144 nations of the world (including Japan) agreed in 1982 to respect UNCLOS.
Transmission from the M/V Arctic Sunrise to the Nisshin-maru.
This is the M/V Arctic Sunrise calling Nisshin-maru. You are illegally hunting whales in the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary.
You are in violation of articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. UNCLOS requires that all states cooperate with the International Whaling Convention.
The IWC has consistently requested that Japan stops whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. By ignoring the request you are acting illegally.
Greenpeace is a non-violent organization. We will not hurt or endanger your crew in any way. However, if you do not stop whaling we will take all peaceful means to prevent you from killing whales.
Once again we ask you to please stop this illegal hunt.
Date: Tue, 21 Dec, 1999
Greenpeace Claims to Have Delayed Japanese Antarctic Whaling
SYDNEY 2.15 p.m. ET (1915 GMT) December 20, 1999 — Environmental group Greenpeace said on Monday it had disrupted what it described as an illegal Japanese whaling operation in a sanctuary in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.
Spokesman Dima Litvinov said activists in two inflatable boats were sent from the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise to interfere with a catcher ship as it tried to load a harpooned minke whale onto the factory ship Nishin Maru.
"The inflatables got in between the catcher ship and the mother ship and were able to delay the operation for a number of hours," Litvinov told Reuters.
The whaling fleet, comprising the Nishin Maru, three catcher ships and a spotter vessel, left the Japanese port of Shimonoseki last month after the Japanese government decided to resume whale hunting in the Antarctic sanctuary.
Greenpeace says the fleet plans to hunt 440 minke whales in the Southern Area, which the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has designated as a sanctuary for whales and made off-limits for commercial whaling.
Litvinov said the Japanese fleet arrived early in December but it was unknown how many whales had been killed since then.
Japan says its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean are aimed at scientific research.
Date: Wed, 22 Dec, 1999
Greenpeace "Santa" in zodiac pays illegal Japanese whaling ship a visit
Washington, DC, December 22, 1999 -- "Santa" made an unexpected pole-to-pole visit today to the Antarctic, stopping an illegal whale catcher from whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. "Santa" is driving a Greenpeace inflatable boat which is positioned directly in front of an illegal Japanese whaling catcher Toshi-maru No.25.
Santa's visit comes on the third day of protest against Japanese whaling in the internationally agreed whale sanctuary. Yesterday, the whaling fleet's "mother" ship, the Nisshin-Maru, rammed the Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise in the remote and icy waters >around Antarctica. The damage to the Greenpeace ship has been contained.
"By putting our inflatable in front of the catcher's harpoon, we are putting it out of action for as long as we possibly can," said Greenpeace campaigner onboard the Arctic Sunrise, John Bowler.
The Greenpeace activist dressed as Santa attempted to deliver the MV Arctic Sunrise Christmas message to the illegal whaling fleet. The message details how the whaling fleet is in violation of Articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS). UNCLOS requires that all states cooperate with the International Whaling Commission which has consistently requested that Japan stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.
The message has also reminded the whaling fleet that Greenpeace is a non- violent organization. Greenpeace urges governments to demand that the Japanese government cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling program. To date only Australian, New Zealand, British and U.S. governments have made soft diplomatic moves to pressure Japan to abandon the program.
This year Japan intends to hunt 440 Minke whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary as part of its so- called "scientific research" program. However the whale meat produced by the "research" is sold on the open market in Japan. By continuing to whale in defiance of continued International Whaling Commission (IWC) requests to stop hunting, Japan is in breach of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 144 nations of the world (including Japan) agreed in 1982 to respect UNCLOS.
TO INTERVIEW ACTIVISTS ON THE MV ARCTIC SUNRISE, OR FOR MORE INFORMATION:
MV Arctic Sunrise: John Bowler, 011-873-624-453-210 [satellite rates]
Washington, DC: Gerry Leape, 202-319-2401 or 202-258-5234; or Deborah Rephan, 202- 319-2492
Visit the Southern Ocean Web site for more up-to-date information at http://www.greenpeace.org/~oceans/whales/.
Date: Wed, 22 Dec, 1999
Injured And Treated Chinese White Dolphin Returns To Sea
BEIJING, (Agence France Presse) -- An injured Chinese white dolphin, which was captured by accident in the coastal waters of southeast China, has been treated and returned to the sea, state media said Wednesday.
The 200-kilogram (440 pound) dolphin was found injured in a fishing net by local fishermen at Xinghua Bay on December 15, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The fishermen sent the dolphin back to the port, where it was treated for wounds and released back into the ocean.
Chinese white dolphins are near extinct and are under national protection.
They can be found in the East and South China sea waters.
Water pollution and illegal fishing have reduced the total population of the dolphins to only about 200, Xinhua said.
(c) 1999 Agence France Presse
Date: Thu, 23 Dec, 1999
Whale Activists Keep Up Pressure on Illegal Whaling
SOUTHERN OCEAN, U.S. Newswire/ -- Greenpeace today continues its campaign to stop illegal whaling in the Antarctic by a Japanese whaling fleet.
On the fourth day of protest using peaceful means to disrupt and delay the fleet, activists on board the MV Arctic Sunrise are calling on national governments to pressure Japan to abide by international law and stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Japan's whaling fleet is in violation of articles 65 and 120 of the United Nation's Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) requiring all states to cooperate with the International Whaling Commission, which has consistently requested that Japan stop whaling in the sanctuary.
In the campaign so far:
- Day 1: A Greenpeace activist twice jumped into the icy waters of the Antarctic in a desperate bid to stop the loading of a harpooned whale.
- Day 2: The whaling fleet's factory ship, the Nisshin-Maru, rammed the Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise in an illegal overtaking maneuver.
- Day 3: The Japanese whale catcher vessel Toshi-maru No. 25 covered its harpoon and stopped whaling after a Greenpeace "Santa" in an inflatable blocked the harpoon and attempted to deliver a peaceful message to the crew.
This year, Japan intends to hunt 440 Minke whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary as part of its so-called "scientific research" program. However the whale meat produced by the 'research' is sold on the open market in Japan.
To set up interviews with activists on the MV Arctic Sunrise, or for more information, contact John Bowler on board MV Arctic Sunrise at 011-873-624-453-210 (satellite rates); in Washington, D.C., Gerry Leape of Greenpeace Oceans Campaign, 202-319-2401 or 202-258-5234 (mobile) or Craig Culp of Greenpeace, 202-251-6296; in Europe, Matilda Bradshaw, (plus)-31 20 523-6608 or (plus)-31 20 6535-04701.
Action updates can be seen at: http://www.greenpeace.org/~oceans/whales/index.html
Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire
Date: Mon, 27 Dec, 1999
Greenpeace Plays `Tag' With Japanese Whalers Off Antarctica
Auckland, AFP - The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was today chasing a Japanese whaling fleet across the Southern Ocean as it tried to shake them off, campaigner John Bowler said from the ship.
"They are trying to lose us," he said.
"They're travelling at speed north-west and have been doing so for a couple of days. We lose them at night but find them each morning."
The factory whaler Nisshin-maru and its chase boats are engaged in hunting more than 400 minke whales in the Southern Ocean.
The area around Antarctica was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission but Japanese whalers are hunting the whales under a so-called scientific research programme.
However, Greenpeace says the whale meat produced is sold on the open market.
Currently the ships are in the Southern Ocean around 1000 kilometres due north of the Australian Mawson Base on the coast of East Antarctica.
The game of tag was taking place among large icebergs, Bowler said.
Last week Greenpeace launched rubber boats in a bid to halt the whaling and at one point Nisshin-maru and Arctic Sunrise collided.
No serious damage was caused.
Bowler said he did not believe the Japanese were quitting whaling but were rather attempting to lose Greenpeace.
"We don't know how long this will go on for, we don't have an end date."
The IWC has repeatedly called on Japan to stop whaling in the sanctuary and has found the data collected from Japan's scientific whaling programme is not required for whale management.
British, United States, Australian and New Zealand governments have pressed Japan to abandon the programme.
Date: Tue, 28 Dec, 1999
Nasty weather delays plans to let Keiko stretch flukes
By Katy Muldoon of The Oregonian staff
Violent winds and massive tidal surges hamper the setup of a custom-made barrier net for the orca in an Iceland bay.
Well, the weather outside is frightful and the landscape somewhat less than delightful.
Those two harsh realities of winter in Iceland have delayed progress -- but apparently not dimmed hopes -- in the effort to reintroduce Keiko the famous killer whale to the wild.
Caretakers had planned late this fall to string a barrier net across the entrance to the bay in which the whale's holding pen is anchored and, by Christmas, to allow him out of the pen and into the enclosed bay -- an intermediate step between captivity and release. But mighty winds, heavy snows and uncooperative geology have pushed keepers' estimate of Keiko's first bay swim to mid-January at the earliest.
When the day comes, the orca star of the popular 1993 movie "Free Willy" will swim through a steel gate in his pen and have about 800,000 square feet of bay in which to stretch his muscular flukes and explore.
Keepers call his move into the bay a crucial step in rehabilitating the 21- or 22-year-old orca, which has lived in small, concrete tanks for most of the years since Icelandic whalers captured him at about age 2. His progress in the bay, keepers say, will help them determine whether he is prepared for full-fledged reintroduction to the wild, a move that could occur as early as next summer.
But designing, engineering, manufacturing and installing the custom-made barrier net for the bay, which is prone to violent winds and massive tidal surges, has proved a challenge, said Robin Friday, project manager.
The Keiko project, operated by Ocean Futures, the California environmental organization that took over the whale's care this year, spent much of the summer and fall planning the net's installation.
The 286-yard-long net was built in the Netherlands and modified by Icelandic net-makers.
In November, crews embedded anchors for the net in the basalt cliffs at the entrance to Klettsvik, the bay where Keiko lives in Iceland's Westmann Islands. But when they attempted to attach helicals, or anchorlike steel shafts resembling enormous drill bits, to the sea floor, work ground to a halt. The shafts wouldn't hold in the shifting volcanic soil and they weren't sharp enough to penetrate the bedrock.
The crew modified the design to include a 660-pound chain that will attach to the bottom of the net, holding it in place on the sea floor. Work on the chain will be complete this week, but Friday said weather probably will delay installation until next week.
Though Monday's weather was sunny and relatively balmy by Westmann Islands standards -- the temperature hovered around freezing and 50- to 55-mph winds encouraged whitecaps to dance across the 36-degree water -- a powerful storm is expected to smack Iceland by New Year's Eve. Conditions probably will make net installation impossible until Jan. 3.
So far in Keiko's neighborhood, winter has proved less windy but more snowy than last, closing the airport for four- and five-day stretches in blizzard conditions.
Nasty or nice, Keiko's keepers head from the warmth of their island quarters to work with the whale around the clock, seven days a week. With rigorous exercise sessions, they aim to build his strength and stamina.
In addition to net work on Jan. 3, keepers plan that day to set traps outside the harbor for cod and haddock.
They hope to reduce the whale's daily handouts of frozen herring and resume training Keiko to catch live fish, a project begun during his 32-month stay at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. It was put on hold last spring in favor of other rehabilitation goals but still is considered important if the whale is to survive on his own.
In the meantime, Keiko will enter the new century, Iceland style -- to the sights and sounds of fireworks lighted outside most households, a New Year's Eve tradition.
You can reach Katy Muldoon by e-mail at: katymuldoon@news.oregonian.com
Date: Wed, 29 Dec, 1999
Two Whales Freed From Argentina's Atlantic Coast
Rawson, Argentina (AP) - Rescue brigades took turns scooping seawater in plastic buckets and throwing it over two beached whales until the animals were freed by the tide.
The rescue of drama on Argentina's rocky south Atlantic coast drama on the rocky Valdes Peninsula, about 1,000 miles south of Buenos Aires, garnered front-page newspaper attention in Argentina on Wednesday.
Hundreds of fishermen and others on the southern Valdes Peninsula spent 10 hours keeping the Southern Right Whale and her baby alive until they could return to the ocean early Tuesday.
"It was a hard fight but we won it," Nestor Garcia, a conservationist for the Chubut Tourism Secretariat, told the newspaper Clarin.
Authorities said the drama began Monday afternoon when the mother, weighing about 40 tons, and her 12-ton calf beached themselves on the Valdes Peninsula.
The baby whale was the first to re-enter the rising waters, but stayed close by, tapping her mother with her tail to encourage her to return to the ocean, reports said.
The Southern Right whale is a threatened species, having been overly hunted in past centuries. Experts estimate there may have been as many as 100,000 in the South Atlantic before 1500, but now there are only 4,000.
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