ACS Conservation Committee Report

ACS Conservation Reports are selected summaries of current news articles on whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their environment. These reports are offered to you under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

  North Pacific right whales...   North Pacific Right Whales have been found in a new area of the Bering Sea. At least five North Pacific right whales are regularly feeding in shallow waters of southeastern Bering Sea. The animals are feeding on a species of crustacean that previously was not their prey. Estimates suggest there are only 100-200 of the animals left. The findings were reported in the Nov. 30 issue of the journal Science, by Cynthia T. Tynan, Douglas P. DeMaster, and William T. Peterson.     The Oregonian

  Gear to save North Atlantic right whales...   A simple device designed by a Maine fishing gear manufacturer is being called a breakthrough in the fight to save endangered right whales in the North Atlantic.

The device, a football-shaped float about the size of a small cantaloupe, readily breaks away when a whale becomes dangerously entangled in a fishing net, allowing the whale to escape. If the float catches on with fishermen, it could bring new hope for rescuing the rare whales from extinction. Scott Kraus, director of right whale research at the New England Aquarium in Boston, said the breakaway float is an easy and inexpensive solution to the problem of whales becoming caught in gill nets lying near the ocean floor. With a few modifications, the floats also hold some potential for use with lobster traps and other fishing gear. North Atlantic right whales are the rarest large whale in the world and are protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Once numbering 10,000, their population has dwindled to just 350. During the past 10 years, 40 percent to 50 percent of all right whale deaths were caused either by collisions with ships or entanglement in gill nets or other fishing gear.

Two whales are known to have died in the past couple of years after becoming entangled in fishing gear. One of them was Churchill, a whale that scientists desperately tried to save before its satellite tag stopped transmitting a signal in early September.

North Atlantic right whales are so close to extinction that fishermen worry that efforts to save the whales could put them out of business. The focus of this year's Eubalaena Award was to encourage innovative solutions that would be less painful than heavy-handed regulations. Kraus said the device also could help free humpback and minke whales, which sometimes get caught in fishing gear. The device could be phased in over the next two years.    

  Japan on a war path over fisheries treaty...   Japan is running an international campaign of attack on a treaty that Pacific Island countries hope will avert the destruction of their US $2,000 million tuna fishing industry by over fishing in the high seas beyond their national fishing zones.

It is targeting individual island countries. It has frozen co-operation with the Pacific Community's Oceanic Fisheries Program in Noumea, and is attacking the treaty at international fisheries meetings. What the Japanese don't like, according to regional fisheries officials, is that the treaty, which won't begin operating for about five years, will block Japanese fishing boats from fishing as they like. Their boats would be controlled by a planned new fisheries agency. Japan, which is fighting also to block whaling bans and blue fin tuna catch limits, hates the thought of being unable to fish the Pacific Ocean as freely as it has in the past.

After complex negotiations, the text of a Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, was settled at Honolulu in September last year. But at the last session, Japan arrived with an almost entirely new delegation led by Miyako Komatsu, the fisheries ministry official, who headed attacks on whaling and blue fin tuna fishing restrictions.

The Japanese, who take about half the tuna caught in the Pacific, raised so many objections to the convention that basically they were pressing for a renegotiation of the entire text, according to regional fisheries officials.

The Pacific Community's fisheries research agency in Noumea has the primary responsibility for watching the effect of fishing on fish stocks. Now, the Japanese have halted the supply of data and participation in a standing committee on tuna and billfish. According to a Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries paper on the issue, obtained by Pacific Magazine, the convention is so riddled with faults that it unfairly excluded the views of countries to be affected by it, including the European Union, Russia, Indonesia and Latin American states.

Opposition had come also from Korea, while China, France and Tonga had abstained from voting for the adoption of the convention. The Japanese document attacked provisions for the arbitrary boarding of fishing vessels by foreign patrol ships and for on-board observers as something to cause "serious impacts on sustainable fishing" and lead to leakage of commercial confidential information.

The convention has been signed by 15 of the 16 Forum Fisheries Agency member countries. It needs to be ratified by three signatories north of 20 degrees North and seven countries south of 20 degrees south. It would cover an enormous area from south of Australia, as far eastwards as French Polynesia and Pitcairn Island, and as far north as Hawaii, and westwards to cover the 130th line of longitude west of Papua New Guinea. Under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, countries are allowed to claim ownership and control of fish and other resources in the zone 380 kilometers from their shores. This gives widely scattered island countries like Kiribati, huge zones of more than 3 million square kilometers. Where zones overlap countries agree on boundaries. But there are large areas of ocean, high seas regions, not covered by the 380-kilometer limits. Fishing in these areas is not controlled. The convention would end that freedom. The point is that since tuna and some other species are highly migratory, over fishing, which is happening in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, leads to the depletion of stocks moving through the 380-kilometer zone.

A Forum Fisheries Agency official believes that member countries need to make a strong stand against the Japanese campaign against the convention. While the Komatsu-led Japanese assault team is showing a hard line, Forum Fisheries Agency officials say there is another more conciliatory Japanese body of opinion that believes that Japan could lose access to much of the area of its south and central Pacific fishing grounds, by pushing the official line too far.    

  National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) issues proposal to amend the large whale take reduction plan...   NMFS is issuing a proposal to amend the regulations that implement the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) to provide further protection for large whales, with an emphasis on North Atlantic right whales, through a program called Seasonal Area Management (SAM). This action is necessary due to the critical status of the North Atlantic right whale population. The intent of this action is to reduce interactions between North Atlantic right whales and fishing gear and to reduce serious injury and mortality of North Atlantic right whales due to entanglement in fishing gear.

  New Zealand works to set up whale sanctuary...   New Zealand is forging a coalition of South Pacific nations committed to a ban on whaling in their waters after repeatedly being frustrated in its attempts to set up an internationally recognized whale sanctuary in the area. New Zealand is working on the "nation-state" strategy for protecting whales, after acknowledging it is unlikely to win enough support at the International Whaling Commission for creation of a South Pacific sanctuary, Conservation Minister Sandra Lee said Wednesday.

"By working together, the small Pacific Island nations can achieve our shared goal of a whale sanctuary, despite the opposition of the whalers," she said.

A joint Australia/New Zealand proposal for a South Pacific-wide whale protection sanctuary failed to win the necessary 75 percent support at the last two IWC annual meetings.

The issue will be considered again next May at the commission's annual meeting in Shimonoseki -- home port for Japan's whaling fleet. Japan has been accused of buying up the smaller nations' votes in return for development aid.

Under New Zealand's alternative strategy, South Pacific nations would declare their territorial waters as sanctuaries for the sea mammals. The Cook Islands north of New Zealand has just declared its exclusive economic zone, which covers 770,000 square miles -- the size of western Europe -- to be a whale sanctuary.

French Polynesia, with an economic zone of twice that area, is preparing legislation to follow suit, Lee said. "Whales are already fully protected in Tonga, New Zealand and Australia and we are continuing to encourage our Pacific Island neighbors, such as New Caledonia and Niue, to consider similar moves," she added.    

  Deliberate Ganges River dolphin kill...   One of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society's project teams in India has found a Ganges river dolphin that they believe had been deliberately killed. The male dolphin was found with netting entangled in its teeth near the village of Rajindipur, near Bhagalpur, an area designated as a dolphin sanctuary. The death has been reported to the local court, which has directed Government agencies to investigate the killing and report back in December.    

  Pioneering Russian orca study may help them stay wild and free...   WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) presented early results from a multi-year joint study on the threatened orca (killer whale) population in Far Eastern Russian waters at the early December Society of Marine Mammology's 14th Biennial Conference. It is the first research project to focus on orcas in the western North Pacific. To date, the team has photographically identified 86 animals and approximately 20 different call types, or sounds, providing researchers with insights that may ultimately allow them to develop a profile of this orca population. Survey results provide good evidence that these animals are a resident population, not a migratory one.

As researchers and conservationists try to learn from mistakes made in other parts of the world, this population is already at risk. Until recently, very little was known about these orcas, yet the population off Far East Russia was targeted in summer 2001 by Russian captors for the Japanese aquarium industry. The captures were unsuccessful but a Japanese aquarium has recently announced its intention to resume capture activities next year.

It is necessary to take a closer look at aquariums and marine parks worldwide, to understand why these facilities are under great pressure to keep their multi-million dollar businesses going.

Since 1961, at least 134 orcas worldwide have been captured from the wild and taken into captivity. One hundred and nine of these 134 animals are now dead. In an effort to replace losses from their captive stocks, the captivity industry has searched worldwide for new locations and populations of orcas. Countries such as Iceland and Argentina have refused to provide further capture permits for animals in their waters. In 1999, following a public outcry, the Norwegian Government denied a permit to allow the Port Nagoya Public Aquarium in Japan to capture six live orcas in its waters. This has led the aquarium to seek other sources of orca for display. It is estimated that the current sales price could be as high as $1 million USD. Dr. Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist for the HSUS comments: "In light of our findings so far, and the need for more research on Eastern Russian orcas, it would be impossible for any responsible government to prove that the capture would not be detrimental to the survival of the population. Therefore, no responsible state could issue an export permit under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)."

Whales and dolphins in captivity are thought to suffer extreme mental and physical stress, often revealed in aggression among themselves or towards humans, boredom, and a lower survival rate than in the wild. The peculiar biology and uncertain status of orcas provide strong arguments against undertaking captures anywhere in the world.

The Far East Russia Orca Project represents the first attempt to learn more about this orca population, its size, habits, habitat and conservation needs. Part of the motivation for the project came from the concern over future possible live capture and international trade in orcas among the world's aquariums. An unstudied population is a vulnerable one. A pilot study in September 1999 was a big success and the project now has a dedicated field team, which includes both Russian and Japanese orca experts, and Russian students.

The long-term photo-ID and acoustic study will allow important comparisons to the intensive work done on populations on the other side of the North Pacific, around Vancouver Island, SE Alaska, and to more recent work around Norway, Iceland, Argentina, and New Zealand. As has been shown in British Columbia, Washington State, and Alaska, population estimates for orcas before photo-ID research have always been much larger (3-5x larger around Vancouver Island), while actual numbers through photo-ID prove to be far less. That, and the peculiar biology of orcas, with long-lived social pods, are strong arguments against capturing them for aquariums.

The acoustic analysis program is a key component of all orca study projects. The acoustic program allows valuable comparison of call types and use, acoustic population characteristics, as well as helping to establish the kinship among local pods and communities. The analysis of the Far East Russian orcas will enable the team to compare sounds from different populations elsewhere in the eastern north Pacific.

This autumn, WDCS spearheaded the writing and circulation of a letter, supported and signed by many international scientists who have worked on orcas and other toothed whales, and directed toward CITES authorities in Russia and Japan to try to prevent the capture of orcas from Far East Russia. The letter argues that orca captures and exports of orcas would be inadvisable in view of the uncertain status of the populations in Russian waters.    

  Loud noises could give whales the bends...   The noise of underwater explosions and sonar tests may be giving whales and dolphins a form of decompression sickness - the equivalent of the bends - suggests research by the Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) in San Diego. The U.S. Navy uses very low frequency sonar signals to try to track submarines, and also conducts controlled explosions under water. Commercial shipping, oil exploration, and scientific experiments that use sound to measure ocean temperature add to the underwater cacophony.

Biologists believe that noise pollution disrupts the hearing and behavior of whales, dolphins and other cetaceans, sometimes driving the marine mammals to beach themselves. Now researchers suspect that it could cause decompression sickness and hemorrhaging.

When whales and dolphins dive, nitrogen gets squeezed out of their lungs and into the bloodstream, saturating the surrounding tissue. The longer and deeper they dive the more dissolved gas accumulates in their bodies. As they surface, cetaceans exhale, washing the dangerous build up of nitrogen bubbles from their blood.

Dorian Houser of the NMMP and his team have devised a mathematical model which shows that low frequency sound waves can interfere with a whale's ability to store the gas. Sound waves compress and then expand microscopic bubbles of gas in the tissue, they say. With each cycle, each bubble absorbs more and more of the gas dissolved in the bloodstream. The bubbles can become so big that they can rupture tissues or block blood vessels, and crush nerves, leading to classic symptoms of decompression sickness such as joint pain and disorientation. Houser reviewed studies looking at the levels of dissolved gas in diving whales and dolphins. He found that the diving behavior of beaked whales, such as bottlenose and sperm whales, makes them particularly susceptible, as nitrogen levels have often quadrupled by the end of a typical dive. That may explain why beaked whales seem to beach themselves more often than other species in areas with high levels of naval activity, said Houser.

Darlene Ketten of the Harvard Medical School has also discovered that loud blasts, like those produced by military shells, can damage the heart, lungs, liver and spleen of dolphins, as well as the most sensitive organ, the ear. She exposed the carcasses of beached dolphins to controlled underwater blasts. "We're seeing classic symptoms of blast lung and gut hemorrhage," she told a meeting of the Society for Marine Mammalogy in Vancouver last week. Smaller individuals are at particular risk, she said.    

  Bottlenose dolphin dies in Florida park...   Last week, "Sunset Sam", a bottlenose dolphin, died at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, USA. He had been held at the aquarium for 17 years, following a stranding in 1984, when he was about four years old. He suffered from chronic liver problems and had been losing weight. Twice a week Sunset Sam would paint a picture from his pool, holding the paintbrush in his mouth, which would be sold in the aquarium shop. Sunset Sam's death, says this article in the St Petersburg Times, gives us the opportunity to think about the use of captive animals in Florida. For decades, the tourism industry has put animals in the spotlight, in roadside alligator shows, in displays of Black bears pacing tiny cages outside motels, tropical birds performing tricks, killer whales jumping through hoops, in swim-with-the-dolphin programs and in Sunset Sam's painting. Over the years, three female dolphins were brought to the Clearwater aquarium to keep Sunset Sam company. Two died within a few years and, as a result, he was often alone.    

  Southern resident killer whales declared endangered by Canada...   The Southern resident killer whales of Georgia Strait were declared endangered by Canadian officials last week following a four-day meeting of government, university and museum scientists. Previously, the Southern residents -- J, K and L pods -- had been listed as threatened by Canadian authorities. The new status places the three pods on the list of Species At Risk, the highest rung of the federal ladder for imperiled plants and animals. While the revised status raises public awareness of the population's plight, the listing does not trigger environmental protection through federal enforcement like the U.S. Endangered Species Act.    

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) made the announcement Nov. 30 after the panel of scientists determined that the Southern residents and their Northern neighbors are separate entities. Relying heavily on research and data collected by the San Juan Island-based Center for Whale Research, the panel concluded that Southern residents do not interact or breed with members of the Northern resident pods despite their close proximity. The home range of both groups overlap in waters off the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, B.C. near Johnstone Strait.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has taken on a similar task. The agency agreed this summer to accept a petition that calls for listing the Southern residents under the Endangered Species Act. That petition, filed by a coalition of conservation groups (including ACS), marine biologists and killer whale advocates, remains under review.

The Southern residents have lost 21 members during the last six years, the group's sharpest decline in 26 years of research compiled at the Center for Whale Research. The Northern resident numbers have remained stable.

Brent Plater, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, is lead-author of the petition. Plater said the killer whales status in Canada has little influence on the debate underway at NMFS. "It creates moral accountability at NMFS," said Brent. "However, it appears NMFS is reviewing the petition under guidelines established for listing salmon species," said Plater, who argues that analyzing orca under criteria for salmonids opens the door for a potential lawsuit. "The salmonid guidelines are not applicable to marine mammals." Plater added that the Canadian listing carries little regulatory or enforcement power. The federal government requires no identifying of critical habitat, establishment of no-take zones, or implementation of restoration or recovery programs. "It is an important type of statement from the government for public awareness," he said. "But its role is not substantive and it really just serves as a warning sign."

Paul Wade, a marine biologist with NMFS, said that the outcome of the petition will depend heavily upon whether the Southern residents are classified as a distinct population under federal guidelines. If so, NMFS goes to the next level to determine if the population is significant, Wade said. "Although the body of scientific evidence under review is similar, in Canada they do use a different criteria for listing species," he said. A draft of the federal agency's decision is expected to go public for review in March, Wade said.    

  Marineland of Niagara in Canada expanding...   Marineland of Niagara in Canada is currently expanding its facility to the tune of $160 million, to make it the world's largest aquarium complex. The complex, which is due for completion in Autumn 2002 will display beluga whales as part of an interactive program. Marineland currently holds seven orcas, 12 belugas and six bottlenose dolphins. During 1999, Marineland imported 14 belugas from Russia. The facility then imported six Black Sea bottlenose dolphins in 2000. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and other conservation groups are concerned that the continued expansion of the Marineland facility will lead to further captures and continued trade in these animals between Canada and the rest of the world.    

  Six Flags park in Ohio requests permit for killer whales...   A number of conservation groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and Defenders of Animals, are mobilizing to stop the transfer of killer whales from Argentina and France to the Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Ohio. They are being requested as a breeding loan. The male, Shamenk, was acquired by Mundo Marino in 1992 after he was stranded on the beach. Argentian groups want him released back to the wild, and question whether he was stranded or forced in by fishermen for the marine park.

  Dolphin facility stopped...   Granby Zoon in Quebec, Canada, will no longer proceed with proposed construction of a dolphinarium. The zoo had proposed to add a captive swim-with-the-dolphins program.    

  Fussy female orcas...   A seven-year study of orcas in British Columbia and Alaska has found that females breed exclusively with males from other pods. Moreover, they choose a mate as distantly related as possible, a process that is probably based on listening to the vocalizations, or dialect, of other orcas and finding those that are least alike.

However, the same does not apply to different populations. Northern residents usually stay north of the Nanaimo-Campbell River area, but for two weeks last year they moved south to feed on salmon heading up the Fraser River, displacing the smaller population of southern residents. There was no fighting between the two populations but the southern orcas remained absent the whole time.

This mating system works well most of the time but starts to break down when a population of killer whales becomes too small. For example, the endangered population of southern resident killer whales in the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound is down to 80 whales in three pods, meaning there are fewer and fewer potential mates.

Scientists believer that this research shows killer whales are a community with complex social behaviors. The loss of the southern residents would be a tragedy because they are a unique culture that cannot be replaced by other whales.    

  Dolphin show controversy continues...   The controversy has intensified since the death of a recently captured dolphin in Mexico, in February, and the discovery in July of two dolphins abandoned by a traveling show in the mountains of Guatemala. Animal rights activists argue the shows are cruel and unnatural, and they've targeted Manati Park in the Dominican Republic as one of the worst. They say the park gives the dolphins no place to run if they don't want to play with people. The owners of "swim with dolphins" shows, like many dolphin trainers around the world, say such activists are romantics who stupidly attribute human characteristics, like the desire for freedom, to wild animals that don't know the difference. "This you can equate to living in a hotel with room service," said George Rogers, technical director of Manati Park in Bavaro, near the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic. "They get the best food here, the best vets in the world." At the same time, promoters trumpet dolphins' supposed intelligence. One Internet site offers the opportunity to swim with "the most gentle and intelligent mammals next to humans."

Both sides look to science to resolve the question, but scientists can't tell if a dolphin is happy. "Should animals be kept in captivity is not a science question - it's an ethical question," said Doug Demaster, a marine biologist with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service. Demaster's studies suggest dolphins die at an abnormal rate during the first few months of captivity, and that afterward their survival rates match dolphins in the wild. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the U.S. Humane Society, says that should tell us something. "Most animals in captivity tend to live longer - but dolphins don't," she said.

Those who make a living from dolphins swimming with tourists point to another study, published in Marine Mammal Science journal in 1995. It found "no behavioral evidence that controlled swims with adequate refuge were (harmful) for human swimmers or dolphins." "Swim with dolphins" programs first gained popularity in Florida in the 1980s and spread to other countries in the past decade. The World Society for the Protection of Animals, based in Framingham, Mass., said there are about 18 in the United States and others in Mexico, Anguilla, the Bahamas and Bermuda. Plans for tourists to swim with dolphins in an artificial lagoon to be dredged from mangroves in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, are going ahead despite warnings it could backfire in the upscale Caribbean destination. "Some frequent long-term visitors to the island have already expressed their horror and indicated that they are unlikely to return," the Association of Reef Keepers there has warned. Developers at Prospect Reef Resort have government approval for the project, which they say will educate people about dolphin conservation. Guests would pay from $75 to $145 an hour to wade or swim with the dolphins. Three dolphins arrived Sept. 30 for swims scheduled to begin later this year.

In the Dominican Republic, Manati Park has received 1,600 letters from opponents recently. But it also gets about 20,000 visitors a year. Six of them at a time swim with two or three of the park's five bottlenose dolphins while two trainers stand by. The Dominican Republic doesn't regulate the dolphin program. Instead, the park owner voluntarily follows most rules developed by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service - limiting the number of tourists to dolphins and trainers and the time the animals spend with tourists. The only U.S. standard unmet is for a refuge if the dolphins don't want to swim with people. Park owner Jose Miguel Moreno says his 16-foot deep pool is nearly twice the depth of the 9-foot U.S. rule, so the dolphins can do what they do in the wild to escape: dive. Tourists wearing lifejackets can't pursue them. "If they (dolphins) remain on the surface, it's because they're happy to do it," Moreno said.

Opponents differ. "Dolphins don't wave at people," Sherwin said. "They don't like people hanging on their backs. They do it because they're hungry and they'll get food."    

  Dying seas threaten extinction to cod and cetaceans...   Global warming could be tearing apart the delicate marine food chain - spelling doom for everything from zooplankton to dolphins. They have been part of our environment for centuries. But now seafood staples such as cod, herring and haddock, as well as marine creatures such as the baleen whale, may be doomed. Scientists have discovered that levels of zooplankton, the Atlantic's basic foodstuff, have undergone dramatic declines in recent years. As a result, sea creatures that eat them face widespread death and starvation.

Apart from cod and haddock, red fish and capelin also feed on zooplankton. In turn, these fish are eaten by other predators, such as dolphins, so the problem threatens to rise up the food chain with devastating consequences. "This is deeply worrying," said marine biologist Dr Phil Williamson, of East Anglia University. "We don't know why zooplankton numbers have plummeted, though global warming looks the best candidate. What is certain is that removing the bottom link from the ocean food chain could have profound and unpleasant results."

The study also shows that over-fishing may not be the only cause of the dramatic decline of the cod and herring in recent years, and that global warming is likely to have as big an impact on marine wildlife as it has on land animals and plants.

The last major survey of zooplankton levels was carried out in 1963, and showed these tiny shrimp-like creatures were fairly common across the Atlantic. Four weeks ago, a team of British scientists set sail in the marine research boat Discovery to establish how levels had changed.

"It is easy to estimate zooplankton levels on the ocean surface," added Williamson, the project coordinator. "These studies show that numbers there have dropped by quite a bit in recent years. But the zooplankton may simply have drifted down to lower depths. Finding out if they have is the purpose of this survey. Also we need to find out how big is their winter population. That is when their numbers are lowest, and provides us with the best indicator of how well they are surviving."

Over the past few weeks, the Discovery scientists have carried out 800 samplings at eight main sites across the mid-Atlantic 1,000 miles south of Iceland. What they found caused alarm. Instead of finding zooplankton at levels of around 50,000 per square meter in a column of water, they found only about 5,000 to 10,000. "That is an order-of-magnitude difference, and indicates something very serious may have occurred," added Williamson. "Of course, the Discovery is still only half way through its trip. It will keep on sampling in other areas until 18 December. It may find zooplankton have congregated in one dense mass, though this is unlikely. Nevertheless, our results are still preliminary, although clearly are cause for concern." The researchers believe slowly increasing sea temperatures may be having a crucial impact on the lifestyle of zooplankton. It is also speculated similar species may be affected in other oceans.    

  Makah whale hunt...   The Makah Tribe will be free next week to resume its ancient whale hunt with fewer restrictions on where they can take a whale, and none on when. It means the hunt will be much safer for the eight-man crews who paddle a hand-hewn, dugout canoe in search of their prey. But it's unlikely the hunters will venture onto dangerous winter waters to take a whale. Under the old regulations, reached in an agreement between the tribe and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the hunt was restricted to times when the gray whale herd migrated past the reservation on the remote northwest tip of the continental United States. The migrations, especially during the southward trek in the late fall and early winter, are hazardous times to put a canoe on the open water of the Pacific Ocean.

But under the new regulations, tribal members can hunt any time they want. And the new management agreement allows the hunters to stalk a whale in the protected waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Makah Tribal Council Vice Chairman Gordon Smith pronounced the tribe "satisfied" with the revised agreement. "There is a lot more leeway as to when and where they (the hunters) can go. It's basically going to be a lot safer because they can go when the weather is better."

Ironically, the liberalized hunting terms were the result of a failed lawsuit by anti-whaling activists. The hunt was suspended in the fall of 2000 after a federal court ruled that a 1997 environmental assessment should have been completed before NMFS and the tribe signed the first management agreement.

A new environmental assessment was completed in July and reached the conclusion that more liberal rules for the hunt would not have a negative impact on the environment.

NMFS spokesman Brian Gorman said the hunt can resume as soon as the agency publishes a notice in the Federal Register sometime next week reinstating the tribe's quota of gray whales that was granted to the United States by the International Whaling Commission. The tribe is allowed to kill five whales a year through the end of next year, at which time the IWC quota expires. So far, the tribe has killed just one whale, that in May 1999.

Gorman said NMFS plans to seek a new quota of whales for the Makah for 2003 to 2007 at an IWC global meeting in May. Details of that quota request will emerge from a new environmental assessment that will be completed in time for the May meeting.

The new regulations retained prior provisions calling for a humane kill with a high-powered rifle and the presence of a NMFS observer. A safety officer will also accompany the hunters.    

  Mother whales hold key to survival...   When it comes to the endangered Northern right whale, it seems mother not only knows best, she is best for the species' survival. A study published in the current issue of Nature suggests that saving just two female right whales a year would stop the species' slide toward extinction.

The Northern right whale faced extinction once before, around 1900, as a result of hunting. A subsequent ban on commercial fishing allowed the animals to recover, but since 1990 their numbers have dwindled to the current estimate of only 300 whales. To determine the cause of this decline, Masami Fujiwara and Hal Caswell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution studied more than 10,000 whale sightings since 1980. The whales' distinctive markings allow scientists to recognize individuals and track their movements.

The researchers determined that increased mortality of mother whales is behind the species' diminishing numbers. Females take more than 10 years to reach sexual maturity and usually produce only one calf every three to five years. In 1980 the life expectancy of a female whale was 50 years, but by 1995 it was less than 15 years. Saving just two females a year, the study found, could stop the population decline. This finding is in contrast to previous suggestions that the population was declining because females couldn't find suitable mates.

The new analysis makes the conservation value of single whales compellingly clear, writes Peter Kareiva of The Nature Conservancy in an accompanying commentary in the same issue. "Fujiwara and Caswell," he notes, "have shown us the importance of highlighting what might at first glance seem like insignificant numbers of deaths."    

  Galapagos Islands protection...   40 miles of ocean surrounding he Galapagos Islands has been promoted to a UNESCO natural heritage site nearly one year after an oil spill threatened an ecological disaster. The landmass of the islands was first recognized as a World Heritage site in 1978.

The sea, rich in nutrients due to the confluence of the ocean currents, provides refuge to many species of sharks, whales and turtles.

Balancing the needs of conservationists and scientists, the tourism industry, the rapidly expanding local population and the fisheries industry is not easy. Ecuador, which exported more than $100,000 of canned tuna in 2001, is waiting the outcome of US deliberations over trade, which may offer it greater accessibility to US markets.

The declaration should increase pressure on Ecuador to guarantee protection for the Galapagos. Local fisherman kidnapped giant tortoises, ransacked national park buildings and attacked park workers to protest quota limits for sea cucumber and lobster catches in November of 2000. In January 2001, the tanker ran aground and spilled 200,000 gallons of diesel and fuel into the ocean.

In July 2001, 15 sea lion corpses washed ashore with their sexual organs, considered an aphrodisiac in some Asian countries, removed. Several boats caught in July 2001 were illegally shark fishing, dumping the bodies after the fin had been removed.    

  Oil industry wants whale watchers on rigs...   The oil and gas industry wants personnel on its offshore oil and gas facilities to be trained in whale observation as a bid to help the whale conservation effort. Workers on the rigs, as well as on seismic vessels, would be accredited to observe whales and collect whale-tracking information. The initiative was outlined by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association and the International Association of Geophysical Contractors.    

  Hawai'ian whale watching industry growing...   Humpback whale numbers are up, and in Maui there is hope that the visitor numbers will also go up. The season is just starting, but the whales have been spotted every day for weeks. They are arriving in November, and some stay as late as June. Whale watch operators estimate that 200,000 people a year visit Maui for whale watching, spending about $6 million.