Wild Cetacean News

Join Dr. Jane Goodall and ELI to save the Vaquita

Join Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrea Crosta and Earth League International (ELI) to save the Vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, and restore the Gulf of California
CALL TO ACTION – SAVE THE VAQUITA DAY

The vaquita porpoise, found only in the northernmost tip of Mexico’s Gulf of California, is the world’s most endangered marine mammal. This shy whale is the victim of international trafficking criminals who profit from the illegal hunting of the totoaba, a fish used in Chinese traditional medicine.
Only about 10 vaquitas remain on Earth — and without bold, immediate action, their extinction is inevitable.

Join Dr. Jane Goodall and ELI to save the Vaquita -
 
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Endangered orcas get new protection from US government

Endangered killer whales received new habitat protections from the U.S. government Friday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service finalized rules to expand the Southern Resident orca’s critical habitat from the Canadian border down to Point Sur, California, adding 15,910 square miles of foraging areas, river mouths and migratory pathways.

Seattlepi.com reports that the total protected area now encompasses more than 18,000 square miles.

Endangered orcas get new protection from US government
 
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UngulateNerd92 said:
Join Dr. Jane Goodall and ELI to save the Vaquita

Join Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrea Crosta and Earth League International (ELI) to save the Vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, and restore the Gulf of California
CALL TO ACTION – SAVE THE VAQUITA DAY

The vaquita porpoise, found only in the northernmost tip of Mexico’s Gulf of California, is the world’s most endangered marine mammal. This shy whale is the victim of international trafficking criminals who profit from the illegal hunting of the totoaba, a fish used in Chinese traditional medicine.
Only about 10 vaquitas remain on Earth — and without bold, immediate action, their extinction is inevitable.

Join Dr. Jane Goodall and ELI to save the Vaquita -
Click to expand...
Maybe Jane's involvement might drive more pro active delivery of effective conservation action.
 
NOAA Expands Endangered Southern Resident Orca Critical Habitat by more than 600 Percent

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has finalized a rule that expands southern resident orca critical habitat by approximately 16,000 square miles.

“Now that the federal government has recognized the entire range of this species, it’s important to remove the four dams on the lower Snake River and restore spawning runs of more than a million chinook salmon,” said Kathleen Gobush, Northwest director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Chinook salmon are the southern resident’s orca’s main food. There are few other actions the federal government can take that would as profoundly impact the survival of southern resident orcas than restoring the Snake River.”

NOAA Expands Endangered Southern Resident Orca Critical Habitat by more than 600 Percent
 
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Why whales in Alaska have been so happy

The Covid pandemic brought tourism to a near-halt in Alaska last year. What will happen to the majestic humpback whale when cruise ships and visitors return in August?

Christine Gabriele sat at her desk at the Glacier Bay National Park headquarters in Gustavus, Alaska, and turned up the volume on her computer.

The sound of gurgling and bubbling water enveloped the room. The lull was occasionally punctuated by the hollow roar of a male harbour seal, seeking to impress potential mates.

Gabriele's computer is at the end of a five-mile underwater cable that stretches into the frigid waters of the bay, a national preserve teeming with fish, birds, sea otters, dolphins, lovelorn seals and the area's feature attraction - several hundred humpback whales, who migrate to Alaska from the waters around Hawaii during summer months.

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58032702.amp
 
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Regulator concerned about impacts to whales and fisheries and yet still approves King Island seismic blasting

Yesterday, the Australian offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA approved ConocoPhillips’ controversial King Island seismic blasting project. This project has been the subject of significant opposition and concern by this remote island community so reliant on healthy oceans and fisheries.

Jess Lerch, National Corporate Campaigner for the Wilderness Society said, “The King Island community has been vocal in its concerns and opposition to this project and the proponent itself has acknowledged that the impacts on both threatened whales and important fisheries can’t be avoided. The revised version of the ConocoPhillips seismic blasting plan was provided to the regulator just five days before the approval decision.

Regulator concerned about impacts to whales and… | Wilderness Society
 
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Dolphins spotted trapping fish in mud rings in the Caribbean

Bottlenose dolphins are clever hunters. Some work alongside human fishers, coaxing fish ashore. Others use shells to catch their food. In the Florida Keys, some use “mud rings” – and now the behaviour has been documented in the Caribbean too.

The mud ring hunting strategy is a case of blindsiding prey. A “ring maker” dolphin circles near the ocean floor and traps fish behind a ring of mud as others lie in wait with mouths open, and lunge to catch any fish attempting to escape the mud by jumping out of the water.

https://www-newscientist-com.cdn.am...pping-fish-in-mud-rings-in-the-caribbean/amp/
 
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Hunted to the brink of extinction, the return of North Pacific Right whales to B.C. waters brings hope

The Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Haida Gwaii once teemed with some of the biggest whales on Earth. Blue whales and fin whales, sei, sperm and humpback whales once fed in these biologically rich waters. Whalers hunted each species in turn, until there were not enough animals left to sustain a commercial harvest. Then the industry moved on to its next target.

None was so thoroughly exploited as the North Pacific right whale, a slow-swimming giant deemed to be commercially extinct before Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick. British Columbia’s whaling industry was already dying by the time the last right whale within its reach was hunted 70 years ago.

But recent sightings of the North Pacific right whale off B.C.’s coast offer hope that one of the rarest of all large whale species may, finally, be starting to recover. The whales likely numbered in the tens of thousands before they were hunted for their oil and baleen, the flexible plates used to filter food from the sea which were in demand for making corsets and buggy whips.

Hunted to the brink of extinction, the return of North Pacific Right whales to B.C. waters brings hope
 
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Spain bans small boats from stretch of water after orca encounters

Spain has ordered small boats to steer clear of a stretch of the country’s southern coast between Cape Trafalgar and the small town of Barbate after reports of more than 50 encounters with boisterous orcas, including as many as 25 incidents in which boats had to be towed to shore.

Spain bans small boats from stretch of water after orca encounters
 
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Blue whale songs recorded off Lakshadweep coast
  • Scientists have recorded blue whale songs for the first time in Indian waters off the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea.
  • Their presence in Lakshadweep demonstrates that the waters in this archipelago are rich and productive. Experts say whales singing is a likely signal that the area is a breeding ground for whales for certain parts of the year.
  • Unravelling how long the whales spend in Indian waters and other questions can aid science-based management and conservation plans for this climate-vulnerable region.
One hot 2019 afternoon in Lakshadweep, as marine mammal scientist Divya Panicker sat engrossed in listening to recordings retrieved from underwater sound recorders, she came across low blue whale moans, amid a cacophony of a rooster crow.

Blue whale songs recorded off Lakshadweep coast
 
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When a whale dies it becomes a stinky feast for sharks, tiny shore animals — and scientists

Earlier this week, a dead whale surrounded by hungry sharks washed up into Adelaide's port.

South Australian authorities are still deciding about what to do with the carcass, but in the meantime scientists have taken samples for research.

Originally thought to be a humpback whale, the identity of the carcass is still a mystery, but at this time of year there are plenty of whales near the Australian coast.

https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/100245070
 
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How whales help cool the Earth

The world's largest animals are unusually good at taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Seeing a whale stranded on a beach often provokes a strong reaction. It can make people curious – beached whales can do strange things, like explode. It can also be upsetting to witness a creature so magnificent in water reduced to lifeless blubber on land. What rarely registers, however, is the lost opportunity for carbon sequestration.

Whales, particularly baleen and sperm whales, are among the largest creatures on Earth. Their bodies are enormous stores of carbon, and their presence in the ocean shapes the ecosystems around them.

From the depths of the ocean, these creatures are also helping to determine the temperature of the planet – and it's something that we've only recently started to appreciate.

"On land, humans directly influence the carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems through logging and the burning of forests and grasslands," according to a 2010 scientific paper. "In the open ocean, the carbon cycle is assumed to be free of direct human influences."

How whales help cool the Earth
 
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NOAA Announces Insufficient Final Rule on Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan

NOAA Fisheries announced today that the final rule of Phase I modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) has been signed and sent to the Federal Register for publication. The agency amended the plan to reduce the number of incidental mortalities and serious injuries (i.e., likely fatal injuries) to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales caused by fishing gear entanglements in the northeast commercial lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fisheries. The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most imperiled whales in the world, with only about 350 animals left.

NOAA Announces Insufficient Final Rule on Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan
 
Warming Atlantic forces whales into new habitats, danger

Warming oceans have driven the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population from its traditional and protected habitat, exposing the animals to more lethal ship strikes, disastrous commercial fishing entanglements and greatly reduced calving rates.

Without improving its management, the right whale populations will decline and potentially become extinct in the coming decades, according to a Cornell- and University of South Carolina-led report in the Sept. 1 journal Oceanography.

Warming Atlantic forces whales into new habitats, danger
 
With reports of multiple Southern Resident killer whale pregnancies, state, partners call on boaters to follow Be Whale Wise regulations

With scientific reports of multiple pregnancies among J-pod, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), NOAA Fisheries, and partners are calling upon recreational boaters to follow Be Whale Wise regulations and give endangered Southern Resident killer whales extra space.

Given the high rate of failed pregnancies among Southern Residents in recent years, boaters’ adherence to Be Whale Wise regulations is especially important. Research shows that food consumption increases by 25 percent in the final month of gestation, further emphasizing the importance of quieter waters so that Southern Resident can find food.

With reports of multiple Southern Resident killer whale pregnancies, state, partners call on boaters to follow Be Whale Wise regulations
 
Defenders of Wildlife Intervenes in Maine Lawsuit in Order to Protect Right Whales

Today, Defenders of Wildlife, along with the Conservation Law Foundation and Center for Biological Diversity, filed to intervene in a case filed by the Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) in the District of Maine on September 27, 2021. MLU is challenging NOAA Fisheries’ recent decision to implement a closure to lobster fishing using vertical buoy lines in federal waters off Maine from October to January of each year—when critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and fishing lines are more likely to overlap. MLU has already filed an emergency motion to prevent the closure from taking effect on October 18.

Defenders of Wildlife Intervenes in Maine Lawsuit in Order to Protect Right Whales
 
I know that this article was from 2017, but I personally know Shambhu Paudel and wanted to share this here. He was a PhD student at the University of Arizona here in Tucson.

Shambhu Paudel fills the gaps in river dolphin

In 2011, while conducting research toward a master’s degree in watershed management at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University, Shambhu Paudel noticed that the research on freshwater species in his home country of Nepal was extremely limited. Knowing that over the past 30 years Nepal’s Ganga (also known as the Ganges) river dolphin population has dropped precipitously, and seeing a possible connection between a lack of conservation data and the dolphin’s decline, he set out to fill in the blanks.

Shambhu Paudel fills the gaps in river dolphin research
 
Mercury build-up in Antarctic animals prompts call for permanent monitoring program

The first evidence of mercury build-up in humpback whales foraging in the Southern Ocean has been detected by scientists.
  • Mercury has been found in humpback whales for the first time
  • Scientists want mercury levels in the Antarctic permanently monitored
  • It's hoped mercury testing can be added to existing monitoring frameworks
Australian scientists also found the highest levels of mercury in fur seals and three different species of petrel living in the Antarctic region.

According to the study's lead researcher Susan Bengston Nash, the findings reinforce calls from the United Nations for long-term monitoring of the heavy metal in the region.

"We don't know whether the levels are increasing, decreasing, or whether there are hot spots or what the sources are," Dr Bengston Nash, from Griffith University, said.

She said there were huge research gaps into the presence of mercury in the Antarctic.

"We need to fill these gaps in order to detect change because Antarctica is a region undergoing rapid change," she said.

https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/100511754
 
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