Guest guest Posted August 30, 2001 Report Share Posted August 30, 2001 Rare pygmy whale found A rare species of whale has been found washed up on Auckland's west coast, sparking excitement from scientists here and abroad. Only a few pygmy right whales have been seen alive worldwide, and this was the youngest. " All of these are very new to us, the only one I've previously seen is an adult animal which was quite different from this little one... so it's definitely quite exciting to get one like this, " says Massey University scientist Padraig Duignan. The two-metre whale was found washed up on Muriwai beach on Tuesday night, still breathing. But with no chance for survival without its mother it was put down and brought to Palmerston North. Duignan thinks the baby probably got separated from its mother when it was born, possibly because of bad weather or storm. It comes from the baleen whale group, the same group as the southern right whale seen in Wellington harbour on Monday. Published on Aug 29, 2001 ================= 30/08/2001 13:14 Bycatch Action Day - 4th September, 2001 Over 17,000 signatures petitioning the British and European Governments to ban pair trawling, strengthen the existing legislative framework, and implement dolphin friendly fishing technologies, will be handed into Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday 4th September, 2001, as part of Bycatch Action Day. In all over 10,000 signatures were collected in Guernsey as part of the S.O.S. " Save the Dolphins " Campaign which was co-ordinated by Martin Gavet, Marine Mammal Recorder for the Guernsey Cetacean Group, La Société Guernesiaise, and run with the tremendous help and support of the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the U.K. based charity the Marine Connection. Carol Hansford of Carol's Dolphin Project in Jersey managed to succeed in obtaining over 7,000 signatures, and organisers believe the combined total may be very near to the 20,000 mark by Tuesday. Representatives from Guernsey will be attending a peaceful demonstration outside the offices of DEFRA the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London on Tuesday, together with groups from all over the U.K. and Europe before going on to No. 10 at 2 p.m. to hand in the petitions together with a letter to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, calling for greater efforts to mitigate the risk of bycatch. Bycatch is the accidental capture of non-target species by fisheries, including, dolphins, porpoise, whales and sea turtles. Atlantic deep sea trawlers are known to be responsible for 60.4% of all common dolphin deaths according to post-mortem research carried out by the Institute of Zoology in London. Harbour porpoise numbers are also at severe risk in the Celtic Sea and English Channel, as well as other areas. Common dolphins conflict with Atlantic pair trawler fisheries, which are after the same species of fish (mackerel, pilchard and Sea Bass), particularly during the period October-March. They are ensnared in nets the volume of 12 'jumbo' jets and drown. Pair trawling is notorious as one of the most destructive forms of fisheries around and has been banned in the US, Canada and Spain. In 2000, 24 cetacean (whale & dolphin) mortalities were recorded in Guernsey, a huge increase on previous year's recordings (normally 2-3 per annum). This year 14 deaths and 1 live stranding have been recorded so far. Some of the recorded deaths have shown hard evidence of trawlers being to blame. There are particularly good Sea Bass fisheries off Guernsey and Alderney, which are known to be targetted by French fleets. Local boats are known NOT to be involved. Guernsey's figures are just the 'tip of the ice-berg' according to Martin Gavet, who states that 121 deaths have been recorded this year alone in Devon and Cornwall (as at end of May) and estimates are that up to 700+ dolphins have been washed ashore in France. He is delighted with the response to the campaign: " I am overwhelmed with the strength of public support in respect of this important issue. The response has been beyond our wildest dreams. Hopefully, this will make the European Government listen to our concern, when they review the Common Fisheries Policy and will take immediate action to mitigate the risk to these beautiful and intelligent marine mammals. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to sign the petition, and especially those who have helped distribute and collect petition forms. We know we can make a difference, even though we are a small community and will do everything to make our voice heard by those in power. Already we have had MEPs and others asking for pictures of the strandings in Guernsey. The petitions will go a long way to reinforce our case for action against bycatch " . (ENDS) Note to News Editors: We hope to be able to provide you with interviews prior to Bycatch Action Day and also on the day itself. To make arrangements, please call: Martin Gavet Marine Mammal Recorder Guernsey Cetacean Group La Société Guernesiaise Tel: 01481 727967 (Home) e-mail: martin.gavet ======================== http://news.24.com/News24/Technology/Science_Nature/0,1113,2-13-46_1072857,0 0.html 30/08/2001 12:43 - (SA) No freedom for Keiko Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland - Freedom won't come this year for Keiko the killer whale. The star of the movie Free Willy has returned to a protected bay despite prodding from keepers who tried to integrate him with pods of wild whales in the North Atlantic. The whale pods left the waters off Iceland without Keiko as the short summer there ended, the California-based organisation caring for him said on Wednesday. " Keiko has clearly demonstrated his interest in wild whales, " said Charles Vinick, vice president of the group, Ocean Futures. " At the same time, he has not yet demonstrated an ability to sustain himself in the wild. " Keiko spent much of the last three months interacting with other orca whales in open waters, and Ocean Futures said he " made great strides " toward independence. He often swam away from the boat escorting him and once moved among three separate pods for six to seven hours, the group said. But researchers have not yet seen him stay with one pod for an extended time. And he has not foraged on his own enough to convince them that he could take care of himself in the wild. Caretakers almost released Keiko last summer and said in May that he would likely return to the wild this year. But Jeff Foster, Ocean Futures' director of operations and field research, said last month that it was possible Keiko would never be free. Caretakers said then that the famous whale, who has been in captivity for most of his life, appeared addicted to mankind. Keiko was captured off Iceland in 1979, when he was believed to be about 2 years old. He was languishing in a Mexican marine show when Warner Bros. used him to film " Free Willy " in 1992. The successful film was followed by reports that Keiko lived in an inadequate facility and suffered from chronic illness. Fund-raising efforts by American schoolchildren led to the construction of a special rehabilitation facility at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Keiko's health improved dramatically after he was moved there in January 1996. The project to rehabilitate Keiko - a five-year effort that included 32 months of training in Oregon - is the first attempt to return a long-captive whale to the wild. Time and money are running out. A salmon farm is being installed next to his pen in Vestmannaeyjar, on the Westmann Islands off Iceland's south coast. Sea lice proliferate on caged salmon and, together with the fish excretion, could affect his health. -AP ================== http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestweekend/134334911_whalemuseum 30.html Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific Whales have a friend in museum By Jack Broom Seattle Times staff reporter JIMI LOTT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Whale Museum visitors climb stairs past breaching orcas. Museum staff track the comings and goings of resident J, K and L pods often seen off San Juan Island's west shore. FRIDAY HARBOR - Want to make a cheap collect call? Then don't duck into the phone booth at The Whale Museum at Friday Harbor. You can't dial 1-800-anything from here. Can't call your mom or your sweetheart, your buddy or your bookie. On the other hand, without so much as a quarter or a phone card, you can press 1 to listen to the high-pitched whistle of an orca whale, 2 for the bird-like chirp of a bottlenose dolphin, or 3 to hear the mournful-sounding cry of the humpback whale. Work your way down the keypad listening to other marine mammals, but prepare yourself for the bad news that awaits when you press " 0 " for the Atlantic gray whale. All you'll hear is the low whoosh of ocean waves - the species was hunted to extinction in the 1800s. To learn and protect Protecting and learning about whales in the wild is the heart and soul of The Whale Museum, open daily just a few blocks from the ferry landing on San Juan Island. It's a fitting location, since the waters off the San Juans are home to more than 70 orcas from April to fall. If you go The Whale Museum is open daily at 62 First St. N. in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Labor Day, then 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Memorial Day. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for ages 5 to 18 and college students with current identification. Children younger than 5 and museum members are admitted free. For more information, call 800-946-7227 or see www.whale-museum.org. Curator Albert Shepard said drawing public attention to the fascinating animals helps encourage " responsible stewardship " of the species and increases public understanding of how fragile their ecosystem is. Triggering that interest is different from person to person. Some young visitors are particularly drawn to what Shepard calls the " grossology " exhibits - like the Fin whale brain in a jar, about three times the size of the human one next to it. Others are drawn in by videos telling about whale activity, migration and social order. But the biggest attention-getters are the skeletons hanging from the ceiling, the largest being a 26-foot juvenile gray whale and a slightly smaller killer whale, or orca. The 200-plus bones of another gray whale are used in a museum education program. In 1995, Shepard helped salvage and clean the bones of the whale found on an Orcas Island beach. Now schoolchildren reassemble the bones to re-create the 28-foot-long animal. " The mystery stimulates questions such as: `What is a gray whale? How did this animal die?' and, 'What do we need to know about the marine habitat that supports these unusual creatures?' " Shepard said. One museum wall is covered with photos and a family tree of the resident J, K, and L pods often seen off San Juan Island's west shore. During the summer, a museum docent answers questions at Lime Kiln State Park, often called " Whale Watch Park, " and the crew of a museum-owned vessel reminds boaters of the requirement to stay 100 yards away from the whales. The museum, opened in 1979, also offers a special connection to the local whales. For $30 a year, a person gets unlimited museum admission, a newsletter and orca fact sheet, plus an adoption certificate for one of the local whales, along with a photo and biography of the chosen whale. You can pick your own whale, but you have to be willing to share. Currently, about 2,500 adoptive parents share the 76 available whales. (Two more whales were in the pods this year, but won't be listed in the adoption program until they've survived their first year.) Whale population falling Shepard feels encouraged by the attention many pay to the whales, but that doesn't seem to be reversing the trend toward their demise, influenced by a variety of factors, including the decline in salmon. Population of the resident group peaked at 98 in 1995 and has declined steadily since. Recently, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced it will review the status of the Northwest orca, a move that could lead to their protection under the Endangered Species Act. Inside the museum, visitor Cindy Kraske of Omak and her two kids checked out all of the exhibits, and the children delivered their instant reviews: " It's fun seeing all the kinds of whales, " said Matt, 11. " The brains and skeletons are a little more interesting than the rest of it. " But his sister, Rachel, 8, was impressed with the sense of the whale lifestyle she picked up from one of the videos. " I'd like to be a whale, " she announced. " You get to play a lot. " 2001 The Seattle Times Company ========================= http://www.ocregister.com/local/stink00830cci4.shtml Whale's 'perfume' lingers on lifeguard Smell of the decomposing carcass he climbed on is taking time to fade. August 30, 2001 By JIM RADCLIFFE The Orange County Register PHEW! After his close encounter with a dead whale, Ian Frias can still smell its odor on his clothing despite several washings. Ian Frias still smells the stink of dead whale. On a pair of his lifeguard shorts. On his lifeguard jacket. On his watch. The state lifeguard - who Monday climbed aboard a dead whale's tail to tie on a tow rope - sniffed his arm Wednesday. " I might still stink, " he said. Frias' aroma problems all began when he jumped into the Pacific three miles from the San Clemente coast. He lassoed the whale's tail so a boat could tow the decomposing carcass - which had been towed to sea twice before - 15 miles to Camp Pendleton's desolate coast. The crew of a passing boat caught a strong whiff of Frias, 31, and tossed him a bar of soap and a barb: " You're going to need it! " Frias went to his San Clemente home and showered - twice. " Oh, gosh, " recalled Frias' live-in girlfriend, Mylai Yi Neveira, 29. " It was awful. The whole room stank. " A greasy smell. At the same time, a dead animal. An oily fish or something. I don't know how to tell you. It was bad. " Yi Neveira bathed him in rubbing alcohol. Twice. The smell persisted. Yi Neveira had trouble sleeping. Tuesday morning, " he had just a bit " of stink. She sprayed their home with Hanae Mori perfume. Wednesday, as the gregarious Frias worked his usual post in the tower at San Onofre beach, fellow lifeguards taunted him. Seen any whales today? Need some whale perfume? Frias hadn't escaped the dead whale. It was just around the bend. The wind and swell pushed it several miles north, beaching it near Frias' tower. State workers were to bury it at 2 a.m. this morning. He wondered whether the stink was gone. " You guys don't smell anything, " he said to two visitors. " Do you? " =================== http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/30/national/national112.html Whale and her calf at Bondi The visiting whale at Gordon's Bay before swimming to Bondi Beach. A mother whale and her calf are swimming close to shore off Sydney's Bondi Beach. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said the two southern right whales are not an unusual spectacle for this time of year. " They're just hanging around this area and they might stay anywhere for a day or two or up to about a week, " NPWS officer Anna Dawson said. " They're just resting and feeding and enjoying the warm waters before they head back to the Antarctic. " She said every year southern right whales travel from the NSW mid-north coast to Antarctica. The mother is about 20m long - or the length of two buses - and weighs about 96 tonnes, while the baby is probably a year old and eight metres long, she said. Southern right whales feed on plankton and usually travel in pairs of mothers and calves. Ms Dawson warned swimmers to stay away from the whales to avoid distressing the calf. The legal exclusion zone is 100m for surfers and 300m for jet skis. ================== Gray Whales with Winston http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/1953/index.html _______________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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