Something Fishy: Whale of a tale

Marine mammals face myriad dangers thanks to humans

Posted by Sarah van Schagen at 1:09 PM on 10 May 2006

Read more about: oceans | wildlife | endangered species

Yo-ho-ho mateys! Today we celebrate the many ways man has ~~pillaged~~ ~~marooned~~ ~~f**ked over~~ plank-walked marine mammals everywhere.

Off Hawaii, boats have hit a record number of humpback whales (go team human! high score, baby!), including some of the 1,000-or-so calves born this year. Though some say the increase in "hits" is due to a growing population of the endangered whale [happy face here], I ask, what about the growing population of whale-watchers, which now totals some 300,000 every year in Hawaii alone? [Reality check here]

Then there's the story about the "dozens" of dolphins found dead on Bulgaria's Black Sea shore after being tangled in fishing nets. "Dozens" sounds like maybe 24 or 36 dead dolphins ... but we're actually talking 55 found within a span of 10 days near the town of Shabla (clearly the hometown of Bob Loblaw). And last month, the death of 11 dolphins on a nearby Romanian shore was blamed on poaching. Don't even get me started on the whaling happening off the coasts of Japan, Norway, and Iceland.

And let's not forget the U.S. Navy, which continues to use mid-frequency sonar despite research suggesting its role in numerous mass stranding events. The latest study names naval sonar as the most probable cause for a stranding of some 200 melon-headed whales in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, in 2004. The Navy maintains the connection is "virtually impossible." In denial much?

Arrr, me hearties. Marine mammals are of particular research interest to this here wench. We're talking about intelligent creatures with complex communication that may include identifying each other by name, a new study claims. (Props to Laela Sayigh, a prof of mine at UNCW who co-wrote the study!) There's so much more to learn, but will these critters be around long enough for us to even scratch the surface?

For story: Something Fishy: Whale of a tale
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three kinds of threats

On whaling: The Japanese certainly do not restrict themselves to doing it off their shores. Their infamous hunt of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) of this past winter into early spring took place mostly in the far south Pacific, near Antarctica.

On grounding or beaching: We remember also the Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) which caused such a sensation when it sailed up the Thames as far as London earlier this year. These whales usually stay far out to sea, in the North Atlantic. Also, not long ago, there was a grounding of many rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) in Florida. That was plausibly blamed on Navy exercises using sonar. In general we do not have a clear understanding of why cetaceans swim into dangerously shallow water. But there is enough evidence that underwater transmissions of soundwaves, caused by humans, may disorient them or even physically damage them.

On collisions: Here in the Northeast, I have often gone on whale-watch cruises in the Bay of Maine, out of Provincetown, MA, and Bar Harbor, ME, and have seen mother humpbacks with calves (Megaptera novoangliae). Often the boat and the whales were close, but there was never anything approaching a collision. The whales are intelligent, we can agree, and take good care of their young. And such an event would horrify the cetacean biologists who run these cruises. I can only guess that in Maui, on the other side of the world, standards are not so high.

By coincidence, CNN.com has today put up a report on a proposal to link the Hawaiian islands by a ferry service. Environmentalists are opposed, in part because of the increased risk to whales, in part because of the increased risk of spreading invertebrate pests around the islands.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 4:19 PM on 10 May 2006

Why not?

Why not whaling, whale meet is good and tasty, there is an abundance of some species(there's more than just the endangered ones you know!) and we generally eat similar mammals such as cattle, pigs and sheep..........

by fireice at 10:57 PM on 05 Jun 2006

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