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.

  Japan again threatens to block Alaskan Inuit whaling quota...   Japan again threatens to block Alaskan Inuit whaling quota. A high ranking Japanese official, Masayuki Komatsu, indicated Wednesday that Tokyo would block the USA's next attempt to reinstate a five-year bowhead whale hunting season for Alaskan Eskimos. At the last meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in May 2002, Japan and its allies twice blocked the issuance of an aboriginal subsistence whaling quota for bowhead whales to the Inuit of Alaska and Russia. Claiming that "Our target is not the Alaskans, it is the double standard of the United States," Komatsu told The Associated Press on Wednesday that, "There are still many points that must be cleared up" and demanded that the Alaskan quota be renewed ever year, not in blocks of five years. The next annual meeting of the IWC is to be held in June 2004 in Germany. But the IWC is holding a special meeting of Commissioners in October.

Komatsu indicated that Japan would try blocking a revised application for a quota and would push for a more limited bowhead hunt.     Associated Press

  Captive orca won't be exported...   The male orca known as 'Kshamenk', who is currently held in captivity at the Mundo Marino aquarium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will not be exported to the US for public display. The authorities in Argentina responsible for CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) last week denied a permit application to export Kshamenk to the Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Park in Ohio.

A great deal of controversy surrounds the method by which Kshamenk was obtained and his current situation, including who holds ownership of the orca. Kshamenk was taken into captivity in November 1992 after he reportedly stranded on a beach. Conservation groups working on his behalf believe that much of the evidence about the event points to his being forced to strand in order for the aquarium to obtain an orca for display. (The current sales price for a live orca is up to $US one million). They believe that if the export had gone ahead, it would have acted as an important incentive for further trade in animals captured cruelly from the wild.

Six Flags applied to the United States National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in October 2001 to obtain two orcas for display at its new facilities in Aurora, Ohio, bought from Sea World in January 2001. The application generated months of review by NMFS and consultation with conservation organizations. In spite of a great deal of opposition to the proposed imports and debate as to whether the import of Kshamenk would meet the requirements of the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS issued permits for the import of both orcas in May. 'Shouka', a nine-year-old female from the Marineland Antibes aquarium in France arrived in Ohio only days later. Her future is uncertain. The strength of Argentine law led Argentina to deny the export of their orca, in spite of the US permitting his import.

There is a great deal of concern about the continued trade in orcas by the captivity industry. At least one orca population in Russian waters is currently facing the threat of capture for public display in foreign marine parks and aquaria. The export of Kshamenk to the US would not only have provided another example of the international trade in these animals but would have involved the US authorities in the import of an animal that was reportedly obtained both illegally and in a cruel manner, a precedent orca populations around the world cannot afford to have set.     WDCS website

  Whale meat on sale in Japan...   Nearly two thousand tons of whale meat went on sale across Japan on Wednesday in an annual event. Proceeds, expected to be around $32 million, will be used to finance more hunts, which Japan calls "research" whaling but conservationists label commercial whaling in disguise. Most of the meat ends up on store shelves and restaurant tables. A spokesman for the Institute for Cetacean Research in Tokyo said the money will be used to help pay for survey whaling for the next season. The meat is from 440 minke whales killed in the Antarctic during the hunting season that ended in March. Japan has made numerous attempts, all futile, to reinstate commercial whaling, most recently at the May meeting of the IWC in the southwestern Japanese city of Shimonoseki.

Whale was an important protein source for an impoverished Japan after World War II, but has become an expensive, gourmet food that rarely appears on family dinner tables and can usually be eaten in just a handful of specialty restaurants. In response to complaints from consumers who say the high cost is turning them away, Mr. Ikeshima said the Institute had decided this year to cut the price of red whale meat, a cherished delicacy that is eaten raw or grilled as steaks. The red meat is priced at $22 per 2.2 lbs., down 12.8 percent from last year.

Some 270 tons of the 1,929 tons of whale meat will be made available around Japan for local use, such as school lunches, in order to keep alive the whale-eating tradition among young people more used to Western food. "We want children to learn what the flavor of whale is like," Ikeshima said. "If they don't eat it young, they won't understand how good it is."

Of the remaining amount nearly 600 tons will be sold in wholesale markets as meat and the rest, some 1000 tons of whale parts such as internal organs and skin, will be sold for canning or other processing. Whale sales flagged last year, but Ikeshima said it is expected that all the meat will sell by the end of August..

Japan and Norway are currently holding talks in Oslo on resuming imports of Norwegian whale products. While some hurdles remain, Norway said on Tuesday it was optimistic trade would begin eventually.     Reuters

  Norway begins international trade in whale products ...   Despite a ban on international trade in whale meat, and levels of contaminants so high that they recently frightened off Japanese buyers, Iceland has recently imported eight tons of minke whale meat and blubber from Norway officially for the first time in 14 years. Norwegian press reports say that the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark where the children of whale consumers are already suffering health effects from eating contaminated whale meat, also plans to start importing whale products from Norway.

Although the trade is technically legal, conservation and consumer protection groups have responded with strong criticism.

Sue Fisher of WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, charged Norway and Iceland with high-handed disregard; both for international rules and human safety. "This decision to resume trade in an internationally protected species not only flies in the face of world opinion that whales should not be exploited, but the Norwegian and Icelandic governments are putting profit ahead of public safety. They know full well that Norway's whale products are contaminated. Even Japan won't touch them".

Japan recently refused a recent blubber shipment from Norway because levels of contaminants in the whales offered exceeded advisory levels set for human consumers in Japan.

CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, has banned international trade in whale products since 1986, in deference to a ban on commercial whaling to protect over-exploited whale stocks imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that year. Norway has exploited a legal loophole to defy the whaling ban and has conducted commercial whaling since 1993, building up 1000 tons of stockpiled blubber. Exploiting a similar loophole in the CITES treaty, Norway, Japan and Iceland have exempted themselves from trade ban and can in theory trade legally with each other 'under reservation'. Until now, however, they have focused their efforts on overturning, rather than circumventing, the trade ban - regularly submitting proposals to CITES to lift its trade embargo.

"CITES will once again consider proposals to overturn the ban in whale trade this November and its Parties will wonder why Norway couldn't have waited a few more months until they reach a decision, rather than suddenly starting trade under reservation", notes Nicolas Entrup of WDCS. "Norway's haste to offload meat and blubber this summer indicates that it has something to hide. Frankly, CITES Parties will not be impressed that the proposals ignore the fact that these whale products are known to be contaminated".

Sue Fisher added, "this shipment will no doubt be presented in support of the CITES proposals as 'evidence' that Norway has strict trade controls in place to manage future large-scale international trade. It clearly doesn't, but in reality this is irrelevant since Norway and Iceland could continue this trade under reservation anyway - whether or not the trade ban is lifted and subject to no controls at all. The fact that Iceland does not meet the conditions set out in the proposal to CITES suggests that this may be what these nations are intending to do and that this is a trial run".     WDCS website

  Iceland puts whale meat on sale...   Whale meat went on sale at Icelandic supermarkets July 29 for the first time in nearly 14 years, as the government said it was just a matter of time before Iceland resumes commercial whaling. The meat on sale at Noatun, which has 15 stores in southwest Iceland, is part of an initial eight-ton shipment of minke whale imported under a special agreement from Norway.

Iceland's supplies of whale meat all but ran out in 1989, three years after an international moratorium on commercial whaling. Since then, consumers have only occasionally been able to buy the rich, red meat in small stores, when whales are accidentally caught in fishing nets. It has also been available at a bistro in Reykjavik, which still has freeze dried and vacuum-sealed stores left from 1986.

The Icelandic government, which wants to resume whaling, said the sale of the imported meat was a step in the right direction. Iceland's government has argued in the past that the stocks of minke and fin whales in Iceland's coastal waters are robust enough to permit the resumption of whaling.

The International Whaling Commission banned all commercial whaling in 1986 to protect some types of whales that were threatened by over-hunting. Iceland, which is a traditional whaling nation, quit the IWC in a dispute over the hunting ban 10 years ago and when it tried to rejoin last year and this year, saying it could best influence the whaling debate from within the organization, it was only granted observer status.

Norway ignored protests and resumed its commercial whale hunts in 1993, after a six-year break. However, the government imposed a total ban on exports of whale products because it feared an international backlash. In January 2001, the government said it was lifting that voluntary ban in what it called a step toward normalizing the whaling industry. The shipment of whale meat and blubber to Iceland last week was its first since 1988.

A recent poll revealed that a majority of Icelanders are in favor of resuming commercial whaling, despite international protests and possible effects on its burgeoning eco-tourism industry. A World Wide Fund for Nature report estimated that the number of whale-watching passengers in Iceland jumped from 100 in 1990 to 44,000 in 2000.

In February this year, Arni Mathiesen, Minister of Fisheries, announced in the Althing (the Icelandic parliament) that 60 million kronur (US$600,000) will be spent over the next two years to promote the Icelandic viewpoint on whaling.     Reuters

  Pilot whale stranding gives data to scientists...   This week's tragic stranding deaths of 56 pilot whales on the east coast of the U.S. may prove to be an unexpected boon to researchers, providing them with DNA details of virtually an entire pod. "It is actually an unusual opportunity to study a genetic group," said New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse. "Researchers will be able to determine whether the siring is done by a few dominant males or whether all the males take part in mating."

So far, necropsy results have offered few clues to why the whales beached themselves. Tests on tissue samples from the first 11 whales to die found all were healthy, LaCasse said. Three females were in the late stages of pregnancies, another indication of the overall health of the pod, he said. One theory on the stranding is that a pregnant or ill whale or a calf got into trouble in the shallows, and others coming to its aid were trapped.

Tissue samples have been taken from all 56 whales. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has taken blubber samples to log data on accumulated toxins in an archive on industrial contaminants in marine mammals.

One whale is unaccounted for, but it is unclear whether that whale died or made it to sea. Plans are being made to sink the whale carcasses in deep water.     Boston Globe

  Landmark whale-watch legislation in Canada...   New legislation governing whale-watch activities in the Saguenay-St Lawrence marine protected area in the province of Quebec has been enacted - the first of its kind in Canada. The St Lawrence Estuary is an important summer feeding area for several species of cetacean (including endangered blue, fin and beluga whales) and is also a popular whale-watch location. The number of whale-watch boats and other vessels using the area has grown in recent years, increasing fears of negative impact on local cetaceans since, until now, there existed no legal guidelines for whale watching.     WDCS website

  Whales to be left in peace at the Auckland Islands...   The New Zealand Department of Conservation will not issue commercial viewing permits for southern right whales around the Auckland Islands for at least ten years. Southland Conservator Lou Sanson said, while no permits had been issued there had been suggestions from within the New Zealand and international tourism industry that whale watching in the Southern Ocean could be an attractive future option. Options for both ship based and aircraft eco-tourism were possible during the June-August winter period when whales congregate in large numbers around the Auckland Islands. "In fairness to the industry we thought we should give an early signal that there would be a 10 year moratorium before anyone went too far down the planning track," he said

Mr. Sanson said the New Zealand southern right whale population had been estimated at between 15,000 and 17,000 prior to the extensive commercial whaling industry of the 19th and 20th centuries, which reduced the population to about five percent of original numbers. "It is now 65 years since they were given legal protection and they have started a slow but remarkable recovery. In Port Ross on the Auckland Islands we now have 120 whales wintering annually in a relatively small harbor to nurse their calves, mate and prepare for their summer back in their feeding grounds of the Southern and Antarctic oceans. This is now one of the largest natural concentrations of large whales anywhere in the world and they are one species we can best manage simply by leaving them alone. If we allow them to remain undisturbed in the Auckland Islands, we can look forward to the day when we have increasingly more of these magnificent marine mammals regularly visiting the New Zealand coast again and that is a truly exciting prospect," he said.

All four Southern right whale populations, Sub Antarctic Islands, Western Australia, Argentina and South Africa are genetically distinct from each other and there is very low level of gene flow between them. Each population therefore needs to be managed separately, Mr. Samson said. He said it was unfortunate that the closely related northern right whale has not had the same opportunity to recover in the Northern hemisphere and is now one of the rarest whales on earth.     New Zealand Government News

  Good season for right whale calves...   Four aerial survey groups covered five different survey areas from Northern Florida up to the Carolinas during this winter's calving season. They found 20 new calves with their mothers, including three first-time mothers. Last year was also a good season with 31 calves reported - a record year. Every right whale sighting was reported to marine traffic in the area to prevent ship strikes.     New England Aquarium, Boston

  Right whales get right-of-way...   In order to better protect one of the world's most vulnerable cetaceans, the Endangered North Atlantic right whales, the International Maritime Organization approved a unique Canadian proposal to rezone the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy. The whales will be able to congregate and feed off the shores of Nova Scotia in a zone deemed off limits to massive tankers that plow through the region, one of the leading causes of death for the slow moving whales. The new shipping lanes would divert tankers 5.6 kilometers around the zone in a bid to reduce the number of ship strikes.     The Herald

  China planning to capture the last Yangtze River dolphins...   China is continuing attempts to locate and capture the last of the highly endangered Yangtze river dolphins (baiji) for a proposed relocation to questionable nature reserve. China's proposal is not new and involves flotillas of boats surveying the vast and heavily polluted Yangtze River in search of a dolphin that has seen its habitat destroyed by man, and as a result its numbers have dwindled to fewer than 100. It may well be impossible to find even one baiji. If caught, transportation will cause great stress for the dolphins and there is also a serious risk of them drowning or becoming injured in the nets used to capture them.

China's questionable plan was originally attempted in the mid-1990s and failed when they succeeded in capturing one solitary female, who after relocation to the reserve, was found dead, entangled in a net and suffering from malnourishment. Many mistakes were made, including allowing finless porpoises to be present in the reserve (possibly bullying the solitary baiji and depriving her of food), and also fishing was allowed to continue in the area. Also, despite promises that QiQi, a captive male baiji, would be released into the reserve once a female was caught and relocated there, he remained in captivity and has recently died.

The chances for the baiji's survival is very low as they are endemic to the Yangtze River, and are unlikely to survive in any other habitat. It is not as simple as relocating them to another environment in the hope they will adapt and survive. At best the proposed reserve could only prolong the lives of a species that could never return to their natural habitat which unfortunately is beyond any help - man has gone too far in destroying the only home of the baiji.

Efforts to save cetacean species and populations need to involve a comprehensive program of habitat and ecosystem conservation initiatives as well as protective measures to mitigate identified threats to surviving animals.     WDCS website

  Last Yangtze River dolphin in captivity dies...   The only white-finned dolphin (also known as the baiji or Yangtze River dolphin) in captivity in the world died in Wuhan on Sunday, July 14th, at the approximate age of 24. Scientists said the death of the male dolphin, known as Qiqi, came as a surprise since the old dolphin appeared normal on Saturday.

Qiqi was captured by a Yangtze River fisherman on January 11, 1980, and was shipped to the institute the following day. He was then 1.47 meters in length, 36.5 kg and approximately two years old.

Numbers have fallen from some 400 in the early 1980s to far fewer than 100 now and the species is now the most endangered of all cetaceans. Recent surveys in recent years have seen just a few individuals and it appears to be close to extinction.     Xinhua news agency

  Sonar lawsuit against U.S. Navy contemplated...   The National Resources Defense Council said this week it might go to court to block the U.S. Navy from using a powerful new sonar, which scientists say could injure whales and other marine mammals. "We have to look very closely at the final plan. Certainly seeking relief from the courts is something we'd consider," said Michael Jasny, senior policy analyst with Natural Resources Defense Council.

After several years of debate, the National Marine Fisheries Department on Monday granted the Navy permission to operate its new low-frequency sonar system, which is designed to blast wide areas of ocean with sound waves in an effort to detect submarines equipped with "stealth" technology. The navy says the new sonar is needed to protect U.S. warships from a new breed of submarines that can barely be detected by conventional sonar systems.

The fisheries service, a division of the Commerce Department, said it was approving the sonar after determining that "marine mammals are unlikely to be injured by the sonar activities." It further said that various "mitigation efforts", including provisions that the sonar cannot be used within 12 miles (19 km) of the coast and must shut down if any whales, sea turtles or other marine mammals are detected within about 1.2 miles (2 km), would also help to ensure that the sonar does not hurt marine mammal populations. The sonar has been criticized by the NRDC and other environmental groups (including ACS), which charge that it produces ambient noise levels that might physically harm whales and other marine mammals or alter migration or other behavior patterns seen as crucial to their survival. "There's a growing body of evidence that indicates intense active sonar harms marine mammals, causing them to strand, causing physical injury, disruptions," Jasny said. "This could potentially affect the entire ocean environment."

Monday's decision by the fisheries service exempts the Navy from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, allowing it to operate the low-frequency sonar for a five-year period, subject to annual review. Under the exemption, the Navy will be allowed to "harass" small numbers of marine mammals by operating its sonar - permitting disturbances to animal behavior that would otherwise be barred by the 1972 act.

"They are not authorized to injure animals," said Roger Gentry, coordinator of the acoustics program at the fisheries service. "All we do is authorize is any behavioral disruption that might occur when they use (the sonar)."     Los Angeles Times

  Orphan orca finds family...   The orphan orca A-73, commonly called Springer, who was recently captured and ferried from Puget Sound, then released into her natal waters off Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada., has been seen with the A-5 pod since July 18, giving researchers solid hope that she has an excellent chance of fully re-integrating with her family. Her mother was counted as dead after failing to return in 2001.

Springer has apparently started to bond with a 16-year old female in A-5 pod, who has not yet had a calf of her own. She has been observed pushing the young orca away from a boat, a relief to researchers who have been concerned about this habit she started when alone in Puget Sound.     Seattle Post Intelligencer

  Keiko has a new sponsor...   The Humane Society of the United States has joined Keiko's management and support team, after Ocean Futures asked them to help with the $1.8 million (2001) project. They are deeply committed to his eventual freedom, and have the scientific expertise, depth of knowledge on animal protection, and a history of support (they gave the Free Willy Foundation $1 million in 1995) to continue the effort).

This summer, when Keiko first started his open-ocean swims, he immediately interacted with the wild orcas in the area, picking up where he left off at the end of the 2001 season. He has been swimming with them for as far as 100 miles, and has been with them as they're feeding, giving rise to the hope that he is finally catching his own food.     The Oregonian