Right Whales

Scientists from NOAA and its state and nonprofit partners have applied at-sea chemical sedation to successfully free a young North Atlantic Right Whale off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA.

This is only the second time a free-swimming whale has been successfully sedated to enable disentanglement. The first case also concerned a whale spotted off the coast of Florida and occurred in March 2009.

In the most recent case, a female Right Whale born during the 2008-2009 calving season had roughly 200 feet (60 meters) of rope wrapped through her mouth and around the flippers when an aerial survey team spotted her on December 25. Five days later a disentanglement team from Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was able to remove about 150 feet (45 meters) of rope from her. Unfortunately, they couldn’t safely get the rest of the rope off her and this is why NOAA decided to sedate her, after having tracked her via satellite tag for half a month to see if the remaining rope would come off on its own.

“Our recent progress with chemical sedation is important because it’s less stressful for the animal, and minimizes the amount of time spent working on these animals while maximizing the effectiveness of disentanglement operations,” says Jamison Smith, Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Coordinator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “This disentanglement was especially complex, but proved successful due to the detailed planning and collective expertise of the many response partners involved.”

On January 15, researchers deemed that the Right Whale wouldn’t be able to free herself from the remaining 50 feet (15 meters) of rope without assistance. The weather was favorable for a rescue mission and a disentanglement team comprised of scientists from NOAA, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Florida, EcoHealth Alliance , and Coastwise Consulting (was dispatched into the Atlantic. Back on shore, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and the New England Aquarium got ready to provide off-site assistance.

The entangled Right Whale was fitted with a temporary satellite tag that would record her behavior before, during and after sedation. She was then sedated and had ropes as well as mesh material removed from her. The mesh resembled mesh used to catch fish, crabs and lobsters along the Atlantic coast and NOAA’s Fisheries Service is currently examining it in an effort to determine its geographic origin.

Once the whale had been freed from the garbage, the researchers administered a drug that reversed the sedation. The whale also received some antibiotics to threat the wounds caused by the debris. She will now be tracked for up to 30-days through the temporary satellite tag.

If you see an entangled or otherwise injured whale you are encouraged to report it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (1-888-404-FWCC or 1-888-404-3922) or the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (1-800-2-SAVE-ME or 1-800-272-8366).

Bowhead whales - No connection to the incident.

Foreign Minister McCully has raised the alarm to anti-whaling protesters that ships of Japanese origin will be armed to the teeth, and cautions activists to keep an eye out.

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A whale which perished after being beached in a Danish fjord earlier on in the year is believed to have been between one hundred and thirty and one hundred and forty years old – which makes it one of the oldest known whales to date, officials commented this past Tuesday.

The age of the whale was determined through an analysis of the fin whale’s remains at the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen.

It was initially believed that the whale was between fifteen and twenty years old. However, after having taken a closer look at the amino acids in the eyes of the remains, it has proved to be closer to between one hundred and thirty and one hundred and forty years old, commented Abdi Hedayat, a museum conservator, commented to the local paper Lokal-Bladet Budstikken.

“That makes it the world’s oldest, scientifically described whale,” he commented.

The oldest whale previously on record was a one hundred and sixteen year old fin whale.

The beached whale was sighted this past June at many different locations in western Denmark before becoming stranded in the Vejle Fjord. Many attempts where made to try and save the whale, however they all failed as the whale made its way back to shallower waters.

The whale’s epic struggle attracted the attention of hundreds of people. The whale was not that big, in total some seventeen meters in length, which is seven meters shorter than the biggest fin whale on record.

Hedayat commented that the ancient whale could have possibly been suffering from brittle bones, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Bowhead whales - No connection to the incident.

Here’s something you don’t hear everyday… A father, son and a family friend spent four nerve wracking hours staying afloat in the open ocean off the north-west coast of Australia, after their boat sank from hitting, of all things they could possible hit, a whale.

A spokeswoman with the police has stated that the men were making their way from Port Samson to Geraldton in a 14 meter long boat, about 8 clicks west of the Exmouth peninsula, when they rammed into a whale and began taking on water.

The men, a 47 year old, his son of 22, and a 48 year old friend of the family, did the only thing they could do, make the mayday call, activate their beacon, and dive into the waves.

“They hit something hard, solid, they suspect it’s a whale,” Senior Sergeant of WA Water Police, Greg Trew commented.

“They abandoned ship and were in the water for about four hours.”

The police have stated that there were fortunate to have been wearing their life jackets, as none could be classed as Olympic swimmers.

The men, while dazed from the ordeal, were not suffering any ill effects after having spent four hours bouncing on the waves before being found by an oil tender which was a rescue coordinated by the police and volunteer marine rescue in Exmouth.

“They’re all in good health, they were prepared for it and did everything right,” Sergeant Trew went on to say.

“Horrendous seas out there, it was pretty shocking conditions, 35-knot winds and three to four meter swells, it was pretty nasty. It would have been pretty bloody awful.”

Whale wars

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), which is known round the globe as the crew from Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars” has gone by many titles, pirates, environmentalists and even eco-terrorists. However, no matter what you may call them, they are now calling one of their own “dishonest” and “morally bankrupt”, and are going as far as to say that they have been involved in conspiracies and cover-ups.

The former captain of Sea Shepherd, Pete Bethune, who hails from New Zealand, has struck out against the motley, yet sometimes dangerous, group of people who consist of weekend warriors, college activists, and even professionals on vacation. They are well known for causing a ruckus for Japanese whalers, in an attempt to save the whales. However, he seems to be targeting Captain Paul Watson, and accuses him of pulling the wool over the public’s eyes on more than one occasion, exaggerate facts and exploits, among other things.

He even went so far as to write an in depth expose on his Facebook page, and then made himself available for a lengthy piece on the site ecorazzi.com. Bethune even goes as far to offer an “online letter of resignation.”

“I am asking that from now on, SSCS determine to act in an honest way with its volunteers, supporters and media,” Bethune writes as a comment on Facebook. “SSCS does not need to lie. Saving whales, dolphins, tuna and sharks are noble causes, and the public will embrace these as worthwhile. The story does not need to be manipulated and changed in order to get public support.”

While this is certainly an interesting turn of events, only time will tell what, if anything, will come of these accusations.

The Black Fish, a conservation group based in Europe, have claimed that they cut some nets of holding pens in Taiji, and freed number of dolphins which were due to make their way to various aquariums and dolphinariums around the globe.

The group of divers, associated with The Black Fish, made their way stealthily out, depsite the rough waters, and cut open the nets of six pens which housed the dolphins. Lukily, no arrests were reported, so they seem to have gotten away with it.

The fishermen of Taiji are partaking in the yearly dolphin hunt which started the first of Septembet. The poor creatures are either sold off, or butchered for their meat.

Earlier on in the week, the well known activist whose exploits were featured in “The Cove”, Ric O’Barry, has reported that a number of Risso’s dolphins had been slaughtered by the fishermen. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society just recently documented the slaughter of pilot whales and Risso’s dolphins.

This escapade by the The Black Fish is the first such act performed by the group this year. While it is vandalism, it is all for a good and just cause.

The co-founder of the Wietse ven der Werf had this to say about the matter: “The connection between the dolphin entertainment industry and this annual drive hunt can no longer be denied. To be successful in our campaigns in Europe we need to get to the root of this illegal trade, which is right at Taiji.”

Minke Whale

Well now, for being a cold country, Iceland could be landing itself in the hot seat.

It has been reported, from various Whale and Dolphin Society sources, that both the Icelandic fin whaling season and the minke whaling season have come to a close last week.

Some 208 whales have been killed off, which is two more than they killed last year.

Of those 208 whales, 148 were fin whales, and 60 were minke whales. These whales are estimated to be put to good use by creating more than 1,900 tonnes of whale products. This estimate comes from the government of Iceland itself.

Even though the popularity of whale meat has dropped off substantially in both Japan and other European whaling nations, the fin whaling industry of Iceland has made a record catch, the biggest haul since 1985, and is leading people to ask the question “just what are they planning to do with all those whale products”?

The Hvalur fin whaling company is trying to get around the fact that there just isn’t any demand for whale meat locally, by trying to peddle their wares in Japan, and is also pushing some new kinds of whale products. They have even proposed using whale oil to fuel whaling vessels!

This leads one to ask themselves.. Why kill all those whales? If nobody is buying, it is such a waste… Sounds like sometime in the near future, Iceland putting all these whales on ice, might just land them in a heap of hot water..

Pilot whales - Picture by: Clark Anderson

Dozens of whales are facing death, or may already be dead, following a mass beaching in New Zealand.

Somewhere in the vicinity of 60 pilot whales may have met their demise in a remote New Zealand bay, after having beached, and the wild weather has been hindering efforts to get them back out to sea.

A pod of around 80 whales was discovered beached at Spirits Bay, which is situated 200 miles northwest of Auckland, and this is the second such beaching in the past couple of months.

While there were 25 of the whales declared dead on the scene, the Department of Conservation rallied the troops, and managed to get 100 volunteers to aid in saving the rest of the poor creatures.

However, Carolyn Smith, director of the Department of Conservation, has commented that only 24 of the whales is still hanging in there as of Thursday in the morning, however getting an exact number of losses will be hard, given that some of the dead bodies have made their way back to the sea.

She also commented that the heavy rains and the high sea levels were making the job of helping the animals back to the ocean nigh on impossible, and the department is considering calling in trucks to help move them to a more sheltered beach, almost an hour’s drive away.

It’s good to see that someone is willing to put their own comfort aside, it’s freezing out there, and try and help save the whales.

Photo by: Elizabeth Steele-Collins

A fine of $4,000 was given to a man from Southern Australia, because he invaded the personal space of two whales off the south coast.

For the first time ever in South Australia, Philip Kluske, who resides in the Victor Harbor area, was tried and found guilty, in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court this past Monday, of piloting a vessel within 100 meters of two whales in August of 2009.

Apparently, as the court heard, Mr. Kluske became intrigued with the whales as they approached his boat, and when they swam off he pursued them.

All things considered, Kluske got off light. The maximum penalty that can be given under such circumstances is a $100,000 fine or a two year stint in the pen.

Laurence Haegi, regional conservator of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has explained that the rules in place are just as important for the welfare of the animals, as they are for the safety of the public.

‘Southern right whales are a vulnerable species, protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act,’ Dr Haegi said in a statement after the case. ‘Today, the greatest threats to whales are entanglements and boat strikes resulting from human interference”.

‘The regulations are in place to ensure these magnificent animals are not harassed and stressed, often at a time when they are nurturing young calves.’

There you have it… If a whale swims away… Leave it alone… Whale harassment can land you in some pretty hot water.

Elizabeth Steele-Collins

Right Whales

The measures meant to put a stop to the extinction of one of the world’s most endangered marine animals appear to be having an effect, as the population of the North Atlantic right whales rises slightly as the deaths linked to ship strikes decline just a tad.

A research scientist, who has been studying these large, yet graceful animals has said that the numbers they are seeing suggest that the initiatives in both the United States and Canada that make ships steer clear of areas where the animals have been spotted could be helping them to bounce back.

“I think the ship-strike problem has been reduced,” explained a research scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Amy Knowlton.

“Certainly they’re much better protected from ship strikes than they ever have been, so we’re hopeful that the number of mortalities from that sort of thing will reduce.”

Knowlton, who is planning on continuing the study of the right whale over the course of the next few months in the Bay of Fundy, has explained that they could be witnessing signs that the regulations on speed and ship routing have been having a beneficial effect on the right whale populations.

It’s good to know that someone is finally standing up for the “right” thing.