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.

 Canada Designates Marine Protected Area...  In mid May, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans designated the Gully, a submarine canyon on the edge of the Scotian Shelf, as a Marine Protected Area, with marine mammals (especially the northern bottlenose whales) that use the Gully forming a large part of the justification.

The Gully Marine Protected Area is quite large (2,364 square kilometers), and geologically and oceanographically unusual. The regulations include features which mean that this is a "true" and effective marine protected area. For instance there is a core zone (the deeper waters of the canyon) where virtually all commercial activity (including fishing) is prohibited.     Dr. Hal Whitehead

 Luna Relocation Authorized...  The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center has been authorized to begin the physical relocation of Luna by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

After looking at the movements of L-pod since the beginning of May, and confirming that plans are in place to proceed, DFO approved the initiation of Phase II, the physical relocation. Public safety and the safety of the whale remain the priorities. Recent incidences in Gold River where L98 interfered with floatplanes and boats, affirms that the situation needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Sightings of L-pod in the Juan de Fuca Strait and Haro Strait over the past few weeks indicate that the pod has returned to the area for the summer, and the chances for a natural reunification of L98 to L-pod are no longer viable.

Although all required funds are not in hand at this point, DFO and the Aquarium agree there are sufficient funds to begin the capture and transport of Luna to Pedder Bay. Overall funding needs ultimately depend on how long Luna is held in Pedder Bay before acoustical contact is made with his pod, and he can be released. If this period is relatively short, the current funding provided will be sufficient.

The US and Canadian Governments have each committed $130K, $60K in cash has been donated, and there has been $290K in in-kind donations. Given the situation with Luna in Gold River, DFO and the Aquarium believe the operation must proceed immediately.

The plan involves leading Luna into a net pen; this is likely to take place over several days, as time is needed to allow Luna to get used to the log booms, boat and other parts of the operation. Success will depend, in part, on having a quiet and normal environment. For this reason, an exclusion zone for boats and aircraft will be in place.

A media update will be provided each day by the capture team describing what was attempted and accomplished that day.

While it is hoped that Luna will reunite with his family group and no longer be a risk to the public, scientists agree that, while a successful reintroduction cannot be guaranteed, this is the best approach to give Luna the opportunity to reunite with his pod, while protecting the public.

The best way the public can help Luna is to stay away. If he is distracted by boats, aircraft or people, his chances for reuniting with his family group may be compromised.     www.reuniteluna.com

 Ailing Alaska Killer Whales to Get Protection ...  On June 10, U.S. officials said they are granting special protection to a small group of Alaska killer whales that have dwindled in number since some members were seen swimming through oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.

The AT-1 killer whales, which bear distinctive black and white markings, make special calls to each other and differ genetically from other whales, have been designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service said.

That listing authorizes the federal agency to create a conservation plan for the whale stock, which numbered 22 in 1984 but is now down to eight or nine and is not producing any calves.

"The number of animals in this group has dramatically decreased since 1989 to the point where this particular stock of killer whales may disappear from the ocean," Dr. James Balsiger, Alaska regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said in a news release. "We need to see what we can do to aid their recovery." The whales swim between Prince William Sound and the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park, both areas affected by the 11 million gallon 1989 spill.

The AT-1 transient killer whales feed on porpoises and seals. Their diet, behavior and calls are different from those of the approximately 362 fish-eating resident killer whales in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords, according to the agency.

The depleted designation comes in response to a petition filed in 2002 by environmentalists. Brent Plater, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the petitioners, said he was pleased with the action.

"This is a monumental moment in the management of marine mammals," Plater said. "It's the first time that the federal government has ever recognized that transient killer whales are not just one gigantic, amorphous population in the gigantic ocean."

Up to now, the AT-1 stock had been managed as part of the broader population of 346 transient killer whales that roam the eastern North Pacific, the National Marine Fisheries Service said.

Just what is ailing the AT-1 whales remains unclear, Plater said. The problems appear much deeper than encounters 15 years ago with spilled oil, he said.     Planet Ark

 Iceland Lowers Whale Hunt Numbers for 2004...  On June 1st, Iceland's Fisheries Minister announced that Iceland would renew its whale hunt in the summer of 2004, taking 25 minke whales for 'scientific research'. This is a reduction from 36 whales killed last year, and a dramatic step back from Iceland's original plan to take 250 whales annually.

Iceland's announcement justified the hunt as necessary to gather information on minke whales in Icelandic waters, including the amount of fish they eat. However, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has made clear that whaling for scientific research is "an act contrary to the spirit of the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling" and, in 2003, adopted a resolution asking any country planning to conduct such research whaling to terminate, or not to begin, such activities. When Iceland ignored this advice last summer, 23 governments sent a diplomatic letter to Iceland, calling its actions "unjustified and unnecessary".

Mark Simmonds, The Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society's Director of Science, commented, "The argument that Iceland is using to resume whaling is based on a misguided assertion that whales eat too many fish and need to be culled to protect fish stocks. This misses the point that abundant whale stocks and abundant fish stocks have co-existed through millennia. What is upsetting the equation is human over-fishing."

Iceland's Fisheries Minister recently told the Icelandic Parliament that, out of about 35 tons of whale meat produced by Iceland's 2003 hunt, 23 tons remain unsold.

"Clearly, the Icelandic public is not interested in eating whale meat" said Sue Fisher of WDCS. "It seems that the Japanese market is not interested either. Information on the levels of contaminants, such as mercury and PCBs, in North Atlantic minkes may be putting off a lot of people, including its biggest potential export market - Japan."     Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society

 Greenlanders Advised Against Contaminated Whale Meat ...  The Danish National Environmental Research Institute has issued a shocking report about the risks to Greenlanders from toxins in their traditional diet, which is based heavily on contaminated whales, seals fish and seabirds.

The report explains that the organs and blubber of whales like narwhals contain high levels of heavy metals, including cadmium and mercury, and organic compounds like PCBs, that may be injurious to human health.

The authors note that avoiding whale liver, kidney and mattak (skin and adhered blubber) and other particularly contaminated wildlife products, such as fish, bird and seal livers, would reduce the intake of contaminants in Greenland to recommended levels and not result in any nutritional deficiencies.

The new findings are consistent with those of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) which concluded in 2003 that Greenlanders should consider changing their eating habits, to avoid possible health effects like reduced fertility and developmental problems in children.

Greenland's Chief Medical Officer told BBC News Online in April 2003 that he considered the AMAP findings to be extremely worrying. "In certain areas of East Greenland, 100% of the population were found to have levels of contamination higher than what we call a level of concern," said Dr Henning Sloth Pedersen. "Thirty per cent were over the level of action, which means we will encourage people to take action to decrease their intake of the most possible source of these contaminants, which is traditional foods." Greenland is the only place in the world where people have been found to be above the level of action when it comes to environmental toxins found in the human body.

Greenlanders kill around 1200 narwhals and belugas each year in unregulated hunts. In addition, over 100 minke whales and up to 14 fin whales are killed in operations regulated by the International Whaling Commission. Other species eaten include killer whales, harbor porpoises and humpback whales. Even a bowhead whale was shot recently.

In 1999, a study was initiated to systematically survey Greenland's "traditional diet" (which includes marine mammals), and its contaminant content. Heavy metals, including cadmium and mercury, were investigated, as well as organochlorines including PCBs and DDT. In general, high organochlorine concentrations were found in the blubber of marine mammals and high metal levels in their livers and kidneys. The final report, called "Contaminants in the Traditional Greenland Diet" was published in April 2004.

The authors of the report conclude that a traditional diet is a significant source of contaminants to people in Greenland. They found that mean intakes cadmium significantly exceed "acceptable tolerable intakes (ADI/TDI)" by a factor between 2.5 and 6, while mean intakes of mercury, PCB and dieldrin exceed ADI/TDI by up to about 50 %. However some individuals will be exposed to considerably higher intakes

The authors note that a way to minimize contaminant intake would be to avoid or limit the consumption of diet items with high contaminant levels.     BBC News Online

 Court Ruling on Makah Whale Hunt...  On June 7th, A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday for the third time that the federal government must conduct a full environmental assessment and that an exception to the Marine Mammal Protection Act be granted before whaling can resume. It may take years to make the final determination.

The complex 49-page decision leaves the Makahs with the choice of complying with the ruling, a process likely to take years, or appealing to the Supreme Court. A tribal request for a hearing before the full appeals court was denied, nor may additional petitions for a rehearing be filed in the 9th Circuit.

"The Court of Appeals has been emphatic on this point ... and it's obviously something the American public doesn't want," said Michael Markarian, director of the Fund for Animals, part of a coalition that sued to stop the tribe's hunts off the Olympic Peninsula.

Micah McCarty, a tribal council member in Neah Bay, said Makah officials had not seen or decided how to respond to the ruling.

Wayne Johnson, the tribe's whaling captain during a successful whale hunt in 1999, said the Makahs would continue to press their case under a treaty which - according to tribal lawyer John Arum - makes them the only Indian group in the United States with an explicit treaty right to hunt whales. "It's another treaty broken by the United States, " Johnson said. "I am going whaling again."

Writing for the appeals panel, Judge Marsha S. Berson began her opinion by quoting from "Moby Dick:" "While in life the great whale's body may have been a real terror to his foes, in his death his ghost (became) a powerless panic to (the) world."

Another part of the decision, written by Judge Ronald M. Gould, rejected the Makahs' claim that their treaty should take precedence over the marine mammal law. Arum said it would be difficult for the Makahs to get the Supreme Court to hear the case, and complying with the ruling likely will take "several years, at least."

Under the decision, the National Marine Fisheries Service must complete an environmental impact study that shows tribal whale hunts will not hurt gray whale populations. In addition, the tribe must seek a waiver from a federal law that generally bars the harming of marine mammals.

Lawyers for both sides have said they know of no Indian tribe that has sought such a waiver, and few non-Indians have been successful in seeking one. Even if the tribe asks the Supreme Court to review the case, "no doubt, we'd also move forward in the (waiver) process, "Arum said. "The tribe wants to get out whaling as soon as possible."     KOMO News, Seattle

 Common Dolphins Not So Common...  Conservationists believe that the Mediterranean common dolphin is now one of the most endangered dolphins in Europe and could face extinction if urgent action isn't taken.

Until as recently as the 1960s, common dolphins were possibly the most abundant cetacean species living in the Mediterranean. Today, not even 50 years later, in many of the dolphins' former areas there are no animals, or only very few left. Scientists and conservationists believe that the dolphins' decline may be largely the result of large-scale changes to the animals' marine habitat over the past 30-40 years.

"The main threats appear to be the reduced availability of prey caused by overfishing, entanglement and death in fishing nets, and the contamination of the dolphin's marine habitat by man-made chemicals" states Nicolas Entrup, Managing Director of Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society Germany. "This campaign aims to deliver a detailed conservation plan and gain support for urgent protection measures to ensure the dolphins' survival."

The campaign offers volunteer whale and dolphin research courses in the Mediterranean, run by the Tethys Research Institute. These courses are central to the campaign, providing information and data that will help the groups understand why common dolphins are disappearing from most of the area. The research projects take place in the Ionian and in the Ligurian Seas, in Greece and Italy.

A detailed Conservation Plan to protect the Common Dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea is currently being developed by the Tethys Research Institute within the United Nations Environmental Program "Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area" (ACCOBAMS) and supported by WDCS and ASMS Ocean Care. The plan will entail the definition of priority actions, which will specifically address the threats of the dolphin populations and propose management solutions. This will include the designation of protected areas and guidelines for better management of fisheries. The latter may include the temporary closure of fishing activities in areas of particular importance to common dolphins.     WDCS

 U.S. Government Flip-Flop on Dolphin-Safe Tuna Labels ...  More news has come to light calling into question the U.S. government's decision in 2002 to weaken the dolphin-safe tuna-labeling program. A memo recently released in response to a lawsuit by Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation organizations, quotes William Hogarth, from the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service, stating that tuna fishing with "purse seine" nets was "having a significant adverse impact on depleted dolphin stocks" in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Despite Hogarth's opinion, eleven days later President Bush's Commerce Secretary Donald Evans issued an opposing statement that weakened the labeling program. To learn more about the threats to the dolphin-safe tuna label see tuna / dolphin & bycatch issues and the Defenders of Wildlife website.     Defenders of Wildlife website