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Human contact may be threat to monk seals
By Jan TenBruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser Science Writer

A Hawaiian monk seal appeared in Lahaina this week, exhibiting the same begging behavior — approaching people with its mouth wide open — as the demeanor of a seal on Kaua'i that was later found dead.

There is increasing evidence that contact with humans is changing life for Hawaiian monk seals — and threatening them.

While there is no direct evidence that boaters have been feeding the Maui seal, the signs point that way, said Margaret Akamine, protected species coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries branch in Honolulu.

"We have heard that the seal follows boats in the harbor and well-intentioned people may be feeding it," Akamine said.

That could put both seals and humans at risk, said Brad Ryon, a NOAA Fisheries resource manager.

"If they habituate to humans, they get drawn into human activities that can expose them to life-threatening situations," he said.

Seals in the Islands have been chopped up by propellers after getting too cozy with boats. And some seals have had to be moved out of the state after getting too cozy with humans in the water.

The most recent case was a seal known as RM34, who was born at South Point and took to swimming with the snorkelers at Kealakekua on the Big Island.

"He was very playful with people, hugging or touching them but sometimes he would try a mock mating behavior and he could bite or scratch them," Ryon said. There have been incidents in which seals have held humans underwater during such amorous ventures.

The 2 1/2-year-old RM34 was moved to other locations in Hawai'i, but swam right back. He was finally moved to Johnston Atoll, roughly 700 miles southwest of Honolulu.

Another possible risk is disease, said marine mammal veterinarian Bob Braun, who has been working with Hawaiian monk seals since 1994.

Researchers don't know how serious a risk seals face from diseases they might catch from humans, pets and wild terrestrial animals, but Braun is the principal investigator in a new research program that will try to find out.

A possible indication of the problem is the dead Kaua'i seal, found at the Kapa'a shoreline last week. The animal had been fed fish scraps by boaters at Nawiliwili Harbor, and was occasionally seen begging at other harbors. It appeared to be a mature seal — they live to 25 to 30 years — and had no obvious injuries. Braun sent tissue samples to a Mainland laboratory to test for poisons or disease.

"We don't know the risk to monk seals here, but we do know that many of the situations we have here in Hawai'i have led to the deaths of other seals in other places," he said.

The livestock-borne disease leptospirosis can kill seals and sea lions, cat-borne toxoplasmosis has killed sea otters, and a virus similar to canine distemper has killed seals in Europe.

When there is contact between seals and land creatures, including humans, "the consequences are not good," Akamine said.

Death of seal on Kaua'i coast puzzles marine scientists
By Jan TenBruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser Science Writer
Thursday, January 29, 2004

Marine mammal experts are mystified by the death of an apparently healthy Hawaiian monk seal, found last Thursday evening at the water's edge at Kapa'a.

A necropsy on the 425-pound adult male seal showed no sign of injury or illness.

Veterinarian Bob Braun was assisted in the investigation by NOAA Fisheries marine mammal biologist Brad Ryon, who said the animal had no recent injuries and did not appear to be starving, although there was no food in its belly.

Tissue samples were sent to Mainland labs to test for disease or toxic compounds. Results will take several weeks.

Ryon said the seal was known to biologists as KO7, and he estimated it was at least 18 years old. Its island of origin was not known, but it had been seen around Kaua'i waters for the past several years.

The notable issue with KO7 was that the seal had been interacting regularly with humans. Kaua'i residents at the Nawiliwili harbor had been feeding it, and the seal had begun begging for food, going from one human to another with its mouth open. It also had been seen begging at Port Allen and at the Kapa'a boat ramp.

Wildlife officials had urged residents to stop feeding the seal.

"It puts the seals at risk, coming into contact with humans where they can potentially be struck by boats," Ryon said.

Because KO7 spent so much time in harbors, it was also in regular contact with fresh water, which could carry disease organisms. One test would try to determine whether the seal might have contracted leptospirosis, Ryon said.

Native-style rules urged for gill net, fish limits
By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer, The Maui News
Saturday, January 31, 2004

KAHULUI - Instead of a ban on gill nets implemented by the state, Maui fishermen called for a return to a method similar to what Native Hawaiians practiced in ancient times to regulate the use of the sea and keep the supply of fish sustainable.

"We should all go back to the olden days: take what you need and leave the rest," thundered Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr., as a crowd of more than 100 at Maui Waena cafeteria erupted into applause Thursday night. "We need to go back to the ahupuaa system."

The proposed statewide ban on gill nets (or lay nets) was met with mixed approval, at best, from a restless throng that included not only fishermen, but other ocean users and environmentalists, as well. Those not involved with fishing seemed more inclined to favor a ban than those who rely on the sea to feed their families or provide a paycheck.

Nearly everyone, however, took to Maxwell's recommendation of returning to a line of thinking in tune with the ahupuaa system that divided the island into 12 districts that stretched from the mountain to the sea. Those living within a district were free to gather and fish unless the konohiki - the chief or manager of the district - declared a kapu (ban) because the resource needed time to replenish.

"Everything was in unison," said Maxwell.

That was probably the highlight of the 2¢-hour meeting conducted by the Division of Aquatic Resources to gather input on a proposed ban that would address mile-long nets that have cropped up off Oahu in the last few years, gobbling up so many fish that locals have complained. The ban would not apply to throw nets, cast nets, fence/bag nets, aquarium nets, lobster nets, opelu or akule nets. Neither would it apply to lobster traps or fish traps.

Where exemptions would be permitted, restrictions would still apply that would require constant monitoring and registering of the gill net. If endangered species were caught, they would have to be released immediately and the mesh would be no less than 2.75 inches stretched to allow smaller fish to escape unharmed. Maximum soak time would be four hours, the same requirement under current rules.

More exemptions could be made for traditional or cultural use.

As the meeting went on, others built on Maxwell's suggestion. Ed Lindsey said the konohiki should be an expert fisherman or fishermen from each district who would work with the community to set rules.

"Everybody knows who the good fishermen are," said Lindsey. Because of the respect they earn from their respective areas, their advice would, hopefully, be accepted by the masses.

One of those expert fishermen, Felimon Sadang of Lahaina, liked the idea of the community working together to hash out its own ocean code instead of operating under blanket restrictions that might be appropriate for one place but not another. And he wanted things to start now.

"When you guys leave, it's over, it's pau," said Sadang to the DAR officials in charge of the discussion. "Why don't you guys pick a group of fishermen, condo owners, Jet Ski people and let 'em work it out. Let us form a committee to iron out our differences and make rules and regulations we can all agree on."

Others agreed that it was not just gill net fishermen who could be causing a depletion of fish. A host of culprits emerged over the night: windsurfers, kitesurfers, insensitive and greedy newcomers, companies renting personal watercraft, developers who cause runoff and tour boats that pollute the waters.

Charlie Villalon said those companies that make money off the ocean should be charged a fee on each piece of equipment or marine activity they sell. That fund could be used to help the state Department of Land and Natural Resources beef up enforcement. Lack of enforcement allows selfish fishermen to ruin it for the responsible ones, he said.

Villalon also suggested stiffer penalties for violations but told officials that Native Hawaiians who depend on the sea must be accommodated.

"You can't take anymore from the Hawaiians," he said. "We're losing everything. I feed my kids off the ocean."

Most fishermen who spoke acknowledged that there were fewer fish off Maui, but all claimed they were not to blame because they took only what they needed.

Jerry Stowell couldn't take it anymore.

"Nobody wants to take responsibility for the fact that there's less fish out there, that the fish are all zero, pau," he cried. "We have to put on some regulations because we can't get together and somebody's got to be responsible."

Even if stricter regulations become reality, it probably won't be anytime soon, based on the DLNR's track record on the issue. A Gill Net Task Force started looking at management rules in 1998. Ten statewide public meetings were held in 2002 on an initial proposal to tighten the rules on gill nets, including recommendations to have every net registered and to limit use to daytime hours. But the public heard little follow-up until the Board of Land and Natural Resources in December authorized the DAR to hold a new round of public meetings on a gill net ban.

Thursday's meeting was one in a round of sessions being held across the state. Before any rules can be adopted, there will be more analysis, a draft of proposed rules and a round of public hearings.

Whether the ahupuaa system finds a place in those amended recommendations won't be known for a while, but, most likely, the punishment for fishermen who violate the rules will have to be modified from ancient times.

"The penalty was stringent," said Maxwell after the meeting. "It was death."

Bill would ban lights shining on ocean
By Gordon Y.K. Pang, Honolulu Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Friday, January 30, 2004

Declaring "light pollution" harmful to birds and sea life, environmentalists and fishing enthusiasts joined forces yesterday to support a bill that bans residents along the shoreline from aiming light fixtures into the ocean.

Despite reservations raised by the Department of Land and Natural Resources about enforcement, House Bill 1743 got initial approval from the joint house committees on Energy and Environmental Protection and Water, Land Use and Hawaiian Affairs. It now goes the Judiciary Committee.

Katie Swift, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said outdoor lighting that shines into the ocean can disorient the endangered hawksbill sea turtle, which may deter it from nesting on a beach.

"Lights can also confuse turtle hatchlings and they may be drawn toward streets and houses instead of dispersing to the ocean," Swift said. That results in the hatchlings being left too far inland to make it back into the ocean, she said.

Hawai'i Audubon Society lobbyist Naomi Arcand said bright, nearshore lights have the opposite but equally harmful effect on seabirds such as the endangered Hawaiian petrel and the threatened Newell's shearwater. Drawn by the brightness, "artificial lighting often confuses and disorients the birds, so much that birds will collide with objects or fly to exhaustion."

There was no testimony on the number of floodlights that shine on the water. But David Smith, treasurer of the Mokulua Fishing Club, submitted written testimony noting that the problem is magnified in Lanikai and Kailua, which are near three protected offshore seabird sanctuaries. Rep. Hermina Morita, D-14th (Kapa'a, Hanalei), the Energy and Environmental Protection chairwoman, also said she has seen floodlights shining on the water from Portlock to Kahala.

Wayne Dang, an avid fisherman, said floodlights scare off all sea life, including nocturnal fish, turtles, sea birds and monk seals.

Kat Brady, assistant executive director for Life of the Land, said Florida law prohibits lights on beaches and near-shore waters for the benefit of marine life.

Sam Lemmo, a DLNR coastal expert, said his department has no position on the bill. However, Lemmo told lawmakers that the department's jurisdiction applies only to the water and up to the shoreline as defined by the Coastal Zone Management Act. Zoning regulations for residential areas are under the jurisdiction of the respective counties, he said, and any efforts to eliminate light pollution should be directed toward those jurisdictions.

In response to Lemmo's concerns, Morita inserted new language into the bill making it clear that the DLNR would have the authority to regulate on-shore lighting directed into the water. "I believe the impact we're talking about is the source might be on property that is not directly under the control of the board, but is impacting the conservation area," Morita said.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), said it is clear to her that the issue would fall under the DLNR's jurisdiction. Thielen said U.S. Fish and Wildlife could also play an enforcement role.

On Morita's recommendation, the committee also amended the bill so that it clarifies the Coastal Zone Management Act by asking the counties to "minimize and mitigate" lighting in nearshore areas.

Morita, said she would like to see how the law applies to residential properties, and then take a look at whether businesses should also be subject to lighting restrictions.

Whales losing fear of humans
By Jan TenBruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser Science Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2004

Marine scientists say a change in humpback whale behavior probably means there will be more close encounters with humans, putting both parties at risk.

A humpback breaches off Ma'alaea, on Maui. Whales are showing less fear of boats, leading to closer encounters.

Advertiser library photo • Nov. 17, 2002
Many whales appear to have lost their aversion to boats and humans, said Joe Mobley, an animal behavior expert, whale researcher and professor at the University of Hawai'i's West O'ahu campus.

"There are things the whales are doing that they never used to do," he said. "I've been out on boats where they come up and touch the boat with their bodies or tap it with a fluke."

The animals may be responding to a change in human behavior over the past century from industrial whaling to commercial whale watching, from a period when they were being killed for their blubber to one in which they are being viewed regularly by humans armed only with cameras.

"You're seeing a younger generation of whales who are more comfortable with interaction. Some are not fearful of humans at all," said Christine Brammer, O'ahu program coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Whale researcher Greg Kaufman of the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui said that since whales don't consider boats as threats, they are ignored and sometimes jostled.

"A whale-watching boat sometimes gets lifted up while they've just been sitting there. The boats are inconsequential to what's going on (between the whales).

"If you park cars where bears are rolling around, you're going to get the paint scratched. That's what's going on here," Kaufman said.

He doesn't want to make too much of it, but Kaufman suggested there also may be a level of interest by the whales in humans. Waving, clapping and colorfully dressed tourists in a boat may be interesting to the big animals.

"A whale-watching boat is like going to a zoo for a humpback. Where else can you see so many humans in a cage," he said.

The new familiarity, which Kaufman likes to call "the slow progression of the curious humpback whale," is also caused by their increasing numbers. There were perhaps 2,000 humpbacks in Hawaiian waters each winter a decade ago, but there are 5,000 or so now. The numbers have risen roughly 7 percent a year in recent years.

Mobley said more whales simply means more interaction.

"They're not aggressive at all. There are just more of them, and they're big," he said.

Two incidents during the past two month have heightened concerns.

Three-year-old Ryker Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., died after hitting his head on a rail during a Christmas Day whale-watch cruise off O'ahu. Observers differed on whether the Dream Cruises Hawai'i boat ran into the whale or whether the animal swam toward the boat.

In early January, Maui firefighter Sandy Parker, 27, was knocked unconscious when his 18-foot fishing boat struck a whale as he was heading from East Moloka'i to Maui's Kahului Harbor. He suffered serious head injuries and bruises.

"That kind of stuff hasn't happened before and there's a good chance there will be more of it," Mobley said.

As little as two or three decades ago, the relationship between humans and whales was much more distant, he said.

"They used to be scaredy cats. You couldn't get close to them," Mobley said.

Both Mobley and Kaufman said whale researchers, who have permits to work close to the federally protected animals, may be partly responsible for the change.

"There have been a lot of generations of baby humpbacks, that the first animals they saw in the water was a human and they learned it wasn't a threat," Kaufman said.

The latest whale population figures should be developed from the 2004 "Ocean Count," to be held Jan. 31, Feb. 28 and March 27 by the whale sanctuary with volunteers on all islands. For information or to volunteer, check the Web site www.hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov, call 397-2656 on O'ahu, or dial the toll-free number (888) 55-WHALE.

Dolphin's passing leaves questions
By Alexandre Da Silva, Ka Leo News Editor
January 16, 2004

Phoenix, a 27-year-old female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin from the University of Hawaii's Marine Mammal Laboratory at Kewalo Basin Marine Sanctuary, died last Saturday.

The animal's death came a little over two months after another 27-year-old female dolphin at the lab, Akeakamai, was put to sleep by doctors who couldn't cure the animal's mouth cancer.

Phoenix and her partner, Akeakamai, or "lover of wisdom," were brought to UH's lab from the Gulf of Mexico 25 years ago to provide greater insight about the mammal's communication and cognitive responses.

A male dolphin named Hiapo, or "first born male," is now the lab's only remaining dolphin.

Although a tumor also was sprouting inside Phoenix's mouth, no link between the two types of cancer has been discovered yet, according to UH-Manoa Spokesman Jim Manke. The necropsies that should identify the main cause of both the dolphins' deaths are still pending.

Cathy Goeggel, director of research and investigation for Animal Rights Hawai'i, is still waiting for a copy of Akeakamai's final necropsy, which she requested 12 days after the animal died.

"We are concerned about the one remaining dolphin," said Goggel, who joined dozens of protestors wanting to free the three dolphins from captivity in 2002.

Frank Perkins, UH Assistant Vice President for Research and Graduate Education, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, but wrote in a fax sent to Goeggel last Sunday that he would send her a copy of Akeakamai's necropsy results as soon as the document is available.

During 2002's protest, it was reported in the Honolulu-StarBulletin that Ken LeVasser, an independent researcher who also was convicted of first degree theft for freeing two dolphins from the lab in 1977, cited a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that noted that the Kewalo lab failed to comply with some regulations. But Kewalo's Laboratory Director Louis Herman said the issues had been addressed. 

Consultant says ban commercial fishing to protect Hawaiian reefs
By Associated Press, Thursday, January 22nd, 2004

(Honolulu-AP) -- A consultant hired by an advisory council working on establishing a new marine sanctuary says commercial fishing should be banned in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to protect the reefs.

Bruce Wilcox, a conservation biologist with the Sustainable Resources Group, told the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve's Advisory Council that such a ban is needed to protect the island chain's ecosystem.

The council hired Wilcox's group to come up with guidelines to manage fishing in the reserve as part of the process of it becoming a National Marine Sanctuary.

A fisherman who's an alternate member on the council says he supports protecting the islands' coral reefs. But Gary Dill says Wilcox's proposal is extreme and says the mission of the council has gone beyond protecting coral reefs to the entire ecosystem.

The 10 mostly uninhabited islets and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands extend 12-hundred miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

A December 2000 executive order signed by President Clinton set aside 84 (m) million acres of ocean around the archipelago as the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the largest protected area ever established in the United States.

The islands are home to more than 70 percent of the nation's coral reefs and to endangered Hawaiian monk seals and other sea life.

Whale explodes in Taiwanese city
Witnesses said there was "a stinking mess" after the explosion

A dead sperm whale has exploded while being delivered to a research centre near the southwestern city of Tainan.

Passers-by and cars were soaked in blood and body parts were sprayed over a road after the bursting of the whale, which was being carried on a trailer.

The whale had died earlier on a beach and had been collected so its remains could be used for educational purposes. A marine biologist blamed the explosion on pressure from gases building up in the mammal as it began to decompose.

The whale attracted a lot of onlookers both before and after it exploded.

Several parked cars and pedestrians got covered in blood when it exploded. Residents and shop owners wore masks while trying to clean up the spilt blood and entrails.

"What a stinking mess. This blood and other stuff that blew out on the road is disgusting, and the smell is really awful," said one resident.

Professor Wang Chien-ping, of the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, had ordered the whale to be moved to the Shi-Tsao Natural Preserve after his own institution refused to allow a post-mortem examination on its own premises. He said that the animal had been close to death when it was found on a beach and had died by the time help arrived.

"Because of the natural decomposing process, a lot of gases accumulated, and when the pressure build-up was too great, the whale's belly exploded."

However, he said despite the explosion, enough of the whale remained to allow for an examination by marine biologists.

Professor Wang said initial observation showed the whale to be an older bull and that its weight of 50 tonnes and 17 metre-length made it the largest whale ever recorded in Taiwan.

Reports say because of the whale's size, it took 13 hours, three large lifting cranes and 50 workers to get the mammal loaded on the trailer truck for its final trip.

Experimental Sonar Sparks Whales Debate
Associated Press, February 2, 2004

In a boat off the central California coast, scientists huddle around a computer screen sprinkled with slow-moving white dots, each one representing a migrating whale detected with sonar.

The researchers are testing an experimental sonar system, designed to detect any Pacific Gray Whales within a one-mile radius using high-frequency sound waves that are believed to work above their normal hearing range.

Researchers at Scientific Solutions Inc., the New Hampshire firm that developed the system, say the sonar appears to work, detecting marine mammals more reliably than other methods without causing the whales to break away from their migratory path or otherwise show signs of injury.
Still, some environmentalists worry that the sonar's impact on whales isn't fully understood -- that despite the findings of an environmental assessment that enabled the testing to proceed, the sonar could distress the whales, drive them from their habitat or separate migrating calves from their mothers.

"There's no way to know what the long-term effects on the whales will be," said Robin Mankey of San Francisco-based Sea Sanctuary, one of five environmental groups whose request for an injunction was denied by a federal judge. "There's no way to know if they're washing up dead on the beach or sinking in the ocean."

Supporters say a reliable high-frequency sonar could help protect whales from a variety of ocean hazards: long-range military sonar; collisions with ships; underwater demolitions; Navy battle simulations involving live explosives; and seismic mapping by oil and gas companies.

"Nobody wants to go out and kill whales," said Bob Gisiner, who manages the marine mammal program of the Defense Department's Office of Naval Research, which has funded most of the $2 million project. "I don't understand how any group that's interested in the conservation of marine mammals would not be interested in seeing this sonar developed."

The Navy has been criticized in recent years for its low- and mid-frequency sonars, which can travel long distances to detect enemy submarines. These sonars have been blamed for injuring or killing whales, whose hearing can be severely damaged by the sound.

The Navy's role has fed a darker fear for environmentalists -- that if it proves successful, the sonar will make it easier for the military to declare an area of the deep sea to be relatively free of protected species, and thus open to more destructive activities.

"This sonar will be used as an excuse to engage in activities harmful to whales," said Lanny Sinkin, an attorney for the environmental groups. "It helps them escape responsibility for disrupting the normal activities of whales, by saying they're not injuring or killing them."

The sonar's backers claim they share the same goal of protecting difficult-to-locate whales and other marine mammals that could be unintentionally injured or killed by human activities.

The sonar's backers say it is an advantage over a method known as passive sonar, which can hear underwater sounds without emitting sound waves. But that only works when whales are vocalizing, and can't accurately determine their location, only their presence relatively nearby.
"We need to do a better job of safely detecting and tracking marine mammals to better protect them from man's seafaring activities," said Peter Stein, Scientific Solutions' president.

Just after sunrise on a recent January morning, Stein's researchers anchored their 170-foot research vessel and lowered an 1,800-pound, barrel-sized device, the key to their "Integrated Marine Mammal Mapping and Protection System," into the rocky Pacific waters.

It sends out high-frequency soundings known as "pings" into the water every several seconds. The sound waves hit objects in their path and then bounce back to the transducer, which transmits the data to computers that calculate the objects' size and location.

The tests were delayed for a year after a lawsuit prompted an environmental assessment, which found that the research would not significantly impact marine life. A five-year permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service was upheld last month, allowing the tests to proceed.

Tests are being conducted over 20 days in the middle of the gray whales' migratory path from Alaska to Mexico. The whales were nearly hunted to extinction until they were protected by the International Whaling Commission in 1947. Their numbers have since rebounded.

Pollution 'changes sex of whales'
By Graham Tibbetts

Male whales, dolphins and seals are the latest animals to show signs of developing female sex organs as a result of pollution, scientists said yesterday.

A wide range of marine life has already demonstrated hermaphroditic traits, from molluscs and fish to polar bear cubs.

But it is now thought that more mammals are being similarly affected, placing populations and species in danger. Prof Peter Matthiessen, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Lancaster Environment Centre, said: "There is now increasingly convincing data about marine mammals - otters, whales, dolphins and seals - that seem to be suffering in some areas the syndrome of feminisation.

"Effects range from minor biochemical and cellular changes to serious impacts on populations and on the biodiversity of whole animal communities." Speaking at a briefing for journalists in London, he cited a population of Beluga whales in the St Lawrence estuary, Canada, which has a "range of significant abnormalities".

The deformities are caused by so-called "gender-bending" substances, principally oestrogen and chemicals that mimic its effect. Oestrogen can occur in sewage, while its chemical mimics are found in paint used on ships' hulls.

Activists revive campaign against Canada's seal hunt
A new protest begins after Canada announces a quota of 975,000 seals that could be killed.
BY DAVID CRARY, Associated Press, Jan. 29, 2004

NEW YORK - Escalating a sporadic 35-year-old protest campaign, opponents of Canada's seal hunt are advocating a travel boycott, pushing their cause in the U.S. Senate, even recruiting Paris Hilton. Canadian officials say the tactics will fail and the hunt continue.

'There comes a point where you just have to say, `This is what we believe,' '' said Steven Outhouse of Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. ``You can't back down every time someone says it's wrong.''

The new protest initiative began after Canada last year announced a quota of 975,000 seals that could be killed off Labrador and Newfoundland through 2005. Protests are likely to intensify as the peak killing period approaches in early April.

''We oppose the hunt for two main reasons -- it's not sustainable, and it's cruel,'' said Naomi Rose, a scientist with the Humane Society of the United States. The society denounces the hunt as ``the largest commercial slaughter of wildlife anywhere.''

Many countries, including the United States, ban imports of seal products, but the Canadian government has steadfastly supported the hunt to show political solidarity with hard-up coastal towns. The industry earned about $15 million last year, primarily from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark and China.

The hunt was among the earliest targets of the international animal-welfare movement, with major protests starting in 1969. Brigette Bardot was among many celebrities backing the campaign, which claimed a victory in 1983 when Canada banned the killing of whitecoats -- the cute baby seals prized for their snow-white fur.

Canada curtailed the hunt, then expanded it in 1996. That triggered renewed protests led by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which distributed grisly videos of seals being slaughtered.

Canadian officials remained unswayed, saying the hunt's importance had grown because of the North Atlantic cod fishery's collapse. They also say the region's harp seals are far from endangered, now numbering an estimated 5.2 million.

The Humane Society has taken out full-page newspaper ads urging Americans to consider canceling trips to Canada and boycotting Canadian products.

In the Senate, Carl Levin, D-Mich., introduced a resolution demanding that the hunt cease.

Interior says survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska threatened
By John Heilprin, ASSOCIATED PRESS, February 5, 2004

WASHINGTON – The Interior Department said Thursday the survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska is threatened and proposed adding them to the government's endangered species list.

If the proposal were adopted, it would lead to a recovery plan requiring conservation efforts for the northern sea otter. It inhabits waters in the western Gulf of Alaska stretching toward the Bering Sea, including the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island.

"No one is certain yet what is causing this, but listing this population as 'threatened' under the Endangered Species Act will be an important step in discovering the reasons and reversing the decline," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said.

In December, two animal welfare groups sued the department's Fish and Wildlife Service in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to have sea otters added to the endangered species list. The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity petitioned for such a listing in 2000.

The Fish and Wildlife Service shares responsibility for protecting endangered species with the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service. Threatened species are considered likely to become endangered; endangered species are thought to be in jeopardy of extinction.

Commercial hunting from the mid-1700s to the early 1900s drove sea otters to near-extinction in southwest Alaska. They began recovering after commercial harvests were banned under a 1911 international treaty.

By the mid-1980s, about 55,000 to 74,000 sea otters inhabited southwest Alaska – almost half the world's total. Since then, aerial surveys suggest the population has fallen again by at least 55 percent, and possibly as much as 67 percent, and that the trend is continuing.

Scientists say some evidence points to killer whales preying on sea otters as a cause. They also have found that sea otters ingested hydrocarbons and suffered liver and tissue damage from crude oil still buried under shoreline where the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989. So far, they have not found evidence of harm from other potential factors like declining reproductivity, starvation, disease, contaminants or commercial fishing.

In the first two years of the Bush administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service added 21 species to the endangered species list, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

Sea Turtles Face Deadly Beaches
By Diego Cevallos*

MEXICO CITY, Jan 27 (IPS) - Killing a sea turtle or stealing eggs from their beach nests can cost the perpetrator 140,000 dollars in fines and up to nine years in prison in Mexico, while in Cuba the fine is 200 dollars, and in Costa Rica the punishment is three years behind bars.

But these penalties and the legal protections established in most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have failed to halt the turtle's journey to extinction. Of the eight sea turtle species existing in the world today, seven could disappear in the near future, warn experts.

On certain Latin American beaches, one can still find hundreds of shells of sea turtles that have been killed with machetes or clubs. Also found are the remains of turtles whose fins have been cut off for the skin or they are sliced open, for their eggs.

”Every year there are fewer turtles coming to the beach, and that is because of the massacres and because the government only promises to protect them but does not take effective action,” fisherman Manuel Abarca told Tierramérica.

Since 1999, he and a dozen friends have been protecting the sea turtles as they deposit their eggs in the sand on a beach in the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero.

Seven sea turtle species head to more than 127 Mexican beaches to nest. Mexico has some of the strictest laws in this regard, and since 1990 has maintained a total ban on killing sea turtles or extracting their eggs.

Nevertheless, unofficial estimates indicate that more than 2,000 of these animals are massacred each year.

”I think it is many more than that, because on this beach alone there are easily more than 500 killed each year,” said Abarca.

Through the 1980s, most countries in the region permitted the capture of sea turtles and their eggs, but in the 1990s, when evidence emerged that their populations were on the decline, governments issued bans and enacted laws against those activities.

The turtles are used for their oils and meat, their skin is used to make shoes and handbags and handicrafts. People eat their eggs, which are high in protein, and because they are believed to have aphrodisiac properties.

Sea turtles have been around for more than 100 million years, despite their naturally high mortality rates and, more recently the attacks by humans.

Scientific studies show that just 0.02 to 0.2 percent of every 10,000 turtle offspring survive to adulthood.

In Costa Rica, one of the few nations of the Americas that still allows the controlled harvesting of sea turtle eggs, experts lament that these species continue in a state of emergency despite programmes, regulations and penalties intended to protect them..

The 'baula', or leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is the species in greatest danger, as its population has dropped off in Mexico, Chile and Peru, biologist Isabel Naranjo, with Costa Rica's Sea Turtle Restoration Program, told Tierramérica.

”It is believed that if the rate of extermination continues, in 10 years the leatherback will disappear,” she said.

In 1992, there were 1,000 to 1,500 leatherback turtles reaching Costa Rica's beaches. By 2003 there were was just 52.

Cuba, which is demanding an end to the global ban on sales of the shell of the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), is practically the only country in the world that reports an increase in the number of turtles laying eggs on its beaches.

On the island are stored 7.8 tons of sea turtle shells, collected between 1993 and 2002.

Although Cuba is fighting the ban on trade in sea turtle shells, it maintains strict regulations on human contact with the species. Violators of the conservation laws on the socialist-run island must pay fines of 15 to 200 dollars.

In addition to the leatherback and hawksbill, there are Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), green (Chelonia mydas), black (Chelonia agassizii), and flatback (Natator depressus) sea turtles.

Venezuela also has laws stipulating fines and prison time for violations of the 1996 ban on capturing sea turtles. Nevertheless, Tierramérica heard complaints from environmentalist about the continued illegal trade in these species.

On Paraguaná Peninsula, in northwest Venezuela, facing the Dutch Antilles, at least 200 sea turtles are captured each year, charge the activists.

Clemente Balladares, a marine biologist with the governmental agency Profauna, acknowledged that the sea turtle species populations have declined in Venezuela.

”Effective application of the law is subject to the availability of resources, a budget, patrol boats and trained guards,” he told Tierramérica.

Throughout Latin America, governments claim they lack inspectors to protect sea turtles, but that they are doing what they can to prevent their extinction.

Environmental authorities are promoting ecotourism, education of fisherfolk, and public campaigns to reduce demand for turtle meat and eggs. These issues will be taken up by more than a thousand experts during the international symposium on sea turtle conservation to take place Feb. 22-29 in Costa Rica.

”Year after year we have reported the deaths of sea turtles to the government, but only now are they paying attention, because we called up the journalists and we made it a big deal,” said Abarca, a Mexican fisherman who serves as the honorary secretary of the turtle protection camp of San Valentín, on the Guerrero coast.

He told the press in early January that at least 500 sea turtle shells could be found in the vast area he and other fisherfolk have been monitoring the past five years.

On Jan. 19, when the police had begun to patrol a portion of the 13-km beach, Abarca conducted another count, and found 179 more shells.

”The massacre occurs every year, but many do it out of necessity, because here there is no work, no tourism, no agriculture,” he said.
”I want to tell everyone they should protect this animal, but also tell the government that it should not just make promises, but help people so they don't have to take the turtle eggs, and also send police to capture the criminals that make turtles into a business,” said the fisherman.

(* José Eduardo Mora/Costa Rica, Dalia Acosta/Cuba and Humberto Márquez/ Venezuela contributed to this report. Originally published Jan. 24 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)

Steady drop in shark attacks may signal population decline
The Associated Press, January 29, 2004

The number of shark attacks worldwide has dropped 30 percent during the past three years, which is good news for surfers but probably not for sharks.
George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida's Museum of Natural History, said the decline in shark attacks is caused by a worldwide decline in their number.

The number of attacks dropped for the third year in a row, with 55 unprovoked attacks reported last year. There were 79 reported attacks in 2000, 68 in 2001 and 63 reported attacks in 2002.

"It's beginning to signal to us a little bit that maybe there is something happening here," Burgess said.

Four people were killed in attacks in 2003, compared with three in 2002 and four in 2001. There were 11 fatalities in 2000. Fatalities occurred in Australia, California, Fiji and South Africa. Thirty-six attacks, or 65 percent, occurred in North American waters, including 35 from the continental United States and one in the Virgin Islands.

Florida had the largest number of attacks, with 31. Volusia County had the most attacks in the state, with 14, down from 18 in 2002 and 22 in 2001. Most of the attacks occurred at New Smyrna Beach, an area popular with surfers.
Other counties having shark attacks in 2003 were Brevard, 8; St. Johns, 3; Martin, 2; Palm Beach, 2; Miami-Dade, 1; and St. Lucie, 1.

Burgess attributes part of the decline to an increase in shark fishing.
On the East Coast, some shark species have seen a 40 percent to 50 percent drop in population in the past 15 years, Burgess said. A few shark populations have declined as much as 70 percent. Another factor may be the economic downturn leaving fewer people able to afford beach vacations.

Shark Species Threatened in Gulf of Mexico
DOUG SIMPSON, Associated Press, Feb. 04, 2004

NEW ORLEANS - The population of oceanic whitetip shark, once among the world's most common tropical sharks, has plummeted by 99 percent since the 1950s and the species is nearly extinct in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists reported Wednesday.

The study published in the journal Ecology Letters blamed overfishing and called for new restrictions, but federal fisheries officials said the study was flawed and further assessments are needed.

Biology professors Julia K. Baum and Ransom A. Myers based their research on a comparison of data compiled by the U.S. government in the 1950s and data collected by trained observers aboard fishing boats in the 1990s.

"They're not extinct, but there's virtually none left. This requires a drastic reduction in the amount of fishing," said Myers, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In addition to the oceanic whitetip shark, the study also found sharp drops in two other species in the Gulf: the silky shark, down 90 percent since the 1950s, and the mako, down 79 percent.

However, federal fisheries officials questioned those findings, saying silky and mako sharks can be found closer to shore than the area studied in Baum and Myers' research.

Chris Rogers, a fishery management specialist at the National Marine Fisheries Service, also said comparing data from the 1950s and the 1990s could be misleading, partly because the sharks studied are highly migratory and their populations can fluctuate widely.

In May 2003, Myers published a study in the journal Nature reporting a 90 percent decline in large predatory fish in the world's oceans in 50 years. That study also drew skepticism from commercial fishermen.

The latest study was funded by the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation at the University of Miami.

An advocate for U.S. fishermen disputed the study as a whole, saying its authors failed to recognize that changes in fishing technology over the past 20 years had drastically reduced the amount of sharks accidentally caught by fishermen going for tuna or other fish.

"This study is not science. It's pretty random speculation," said Nelson Beiderman, executive director of the Blue Water Fishermen's Association.

But Myers said previous studies have shown that changes in fishing technology had little effect on accidental shark catches. He said fishermen in the 1950s reported that whitetips were everywhere in the open Gulf. Now they are rarely seen, he said.

"In descriptions from earlier studies, scientists were astounded at how abundant whitetips were," he said.

Seafood Industry To Start Using Locator Labels

MONTEREY, Calif. -- The federal government is forcing the seafood industry to put labels on seafood, telling consumers where it was caught.

Fish products will now have labels stating from which country they came. They will also have labels showing whether the seafood was farm-raised or fished in the wild.

Consumer and environmental groups support the new label laws, especially after a recent study found health risks in some farm-raised salmon.

Many fishing groups on the Central Coast support the new labeling laws, saying they could help promote wild fish caught in the United States. They say it could be a huge boost to the commercial fishing industry on the peninsula.

Some fishing industry officials told Action News that the cost for labeling seafood could fall on consumers, who could see a slight price increase in the coming months.

Order bans pesticides near salmon
The federal ruling restricts spraying near endangered fish runs in the Northwest

JOE ROJAS-BURKE, The Oregonian, Friday, January 23, 2004

A federal judge Thursday banned the use of dozens of commonly used pesticides along thousands of miles of rivers and streams where endangered salmon run in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

The sweeping prohibition, which takes place in two weeks, is expected to have deep impact in the Northwest, particularly on farms that manage pests by spraying.

In addition, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop point-of-sale warnings to retail consumers that specific bug killers and lawn chemicals "may harm salmon or steelhead," and that use in urban areas can pollute salmon streams.

Coughenour's ruling grants nearly all of the immediate protections for fish sought by conservation and fishing groups that sued the EPA, and it sets a precedent for several related lawsuits nationwide seeking to impose strict limits on pesticides under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The order prohibits aerial spraying within 100 yards, and ground spraying within 20 yards, of any stream designated as important to salmon or steelhead stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act. In Oregon alone, that accounts for dozens of extensive drainages with main-stem rivers and tributaries.

Farmers and pesticide manufacturers Thursday decried the ruling, saying it exaggerates the risks to salmon while causing significant losses of crops to insects and disease.

"It will have a very devastating impact on many farmers in Washington, Oregon and California," said Dean Boyer, a spokesman for the Washington Farm Bureau. Boyer said the burden might be highest on fruit growers in the Columbia River Basin, because many orchards are small and located along waterways with a dozen threatened or endangered salmon stocks.

CropLife America, an industry group representing pesticide-makers, said in a prepared statement that the threat to salmon from pesticides is "non-existent," and that all the products named in the court order have undergone scientific scrutiny and approval by the EPA to protect people and wildlife.

Coughenour ruled in 2002 that the EPA had failed to consult with federal fish and wildlife services, as required by the Endangered Species Act, when writing rules for pesticide use near rivers and streams. Similar cases are proceeding in Oregon, Alaska, California and the District of Columbia. Coughenour indicated in July that he would restrict the use of 38 of the 54 pesticides named by the advocacy groups.

At that time, Coughenour indicated he would impose the restrictions, but he accepted arguments for revisions from the industry.

EPA officials did not immediately return calls Thursday.

The agency has estimated the cost of no-spray buffers. A study in December 2002 found such restrictions would lead to crop losses totaling about $4.8 million in Oregon, Washington and California. California rice growers are likely to lose the most, about $3.5 million, according to the study, because they typically use more aerial spraying.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, has estimated that costs could approach $100 million annually in Oregon and Washington.

Until now, pesticide-makers have managed to avoid court-ordered restrictions while the EPA completes consultations with fish and wildlife agencies as mandated in a number of lawsuits.

"EPA is vulnerable," said Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who won the lawsuit in Seattle. Goldman said the agency has "routinely" made rulings of no harm on pesticides that affect endangered species.

"I would imagine other cases would cite this precedent, and other judges would follow suit," Goldman said.

Spraying to control mosquitoes and noxious weeds is exempted from the court order restrictions. The ruling will cease to apply to uses of pesticides that are deemed safe by fish and wildlife services.

The Washington Toxics Coalition and other groups behind the lawsuit said the restricted pesticides have been documented at harmful levels in Northwest streams in studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, or judged likely to harm salmon by the EPA.

"This ruling gives salmon a much-needed break from the toxic soup of pesticides they've been facing," said Erika Schreder, staff scientist with the Washington Toxics Coalition.

Aimee Code with the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides said point-of-sale labeling of bug spray and weedkillers will allow consumers to make informed decisions about which products to buy.

Whale study reveals spread of ocean contaminants
Greenwich Time Staff Writer, January 26, 2004

Toxins measured in sperm whale blubber indicate man-made chemicals have dispersed thoughout the ocean, reaching animals far in its deeps, according to a Greenwich-born environmentalist working on a five-year marine research project.

Patrick Woods, development director of the Ocean Alliance, a Lincoln, Mass.-based research group, said the results indicate the spread of industrial pollution poses a problem in even the remotest parts of the ocean, with unknown consequences.

"Between wind and ocean currents, pollution is taken all around the globe," said Woods, a 29-year-old Greenwich High School graduate. "Whatever ends up in the ocean doesn't necessarily stay there and can travel thousands of miles away."

Ocean Alliance is in the fourth year of a five-year, around-the-world research voyage measuring the levels of synthetic contaminants contained in sperm whales. Ocean Alliance's primary goals are whale conservation and the study of whale health to gauge the overall well-being of the ocean. Woods works in the organization's Massachusetts office.

So far, biopsies of about 30 of 1,000 blubber samples gathered throughout the world showed that all contain levels of man-made toxins such as the pesticide DDT, polychlorinate biphenyls (PCBs), which are used in manufacturing, and other contaminants, Woods said.

The results were presented in a paper to the International Whaling Commission in June, he said. The commission is an international coalition of nations that abide by conservation and management guidelines.

After all the samples have been analyzed, a second round of tests will determine the amount of toxins in the blubber, Woods said. That information could be used in future research to determine to what extent toxins are passed through female whales nursing their young.

"We are hoping to shed light on the generational effect," Woods said. "An adult female has a certain toxic load which is going to be passed to her young, which could build up over generations."

The most common chemical identified in sperm whale blubber collected on the trip is DDT, a pesticide banned in the North America in 1972 because of its harmful effect on humans and animals but still manufactured for use in other countries, Woods said.

"It was a surprise to see the prevalence of DDT as opposed to other chemicals," he said.

Nathan Weinrich, executive director and chief scientist of the Whale Center of New England in Gloucester, Mass., said Ocean Alliance's findings are compelling, but the research must be validated by other researchers. The Whale Center studies whales off the coast of Massachusetts. "Nonetheless, the reports they've presented at conferences indicate there is some interesting stuff going on," Weinrich said. "Sperm whales typically live fairly far from shore and it's a little more surprising to find these loads (of chemicals) in the deep-water animals than the coastal animals."

Sperm whales sit atop the food chain. Their long life spans and large fat stores are ideal "bio-indicators" of the health of ocean life, Woods said.

Adult males reach lengths of 60 feet and can weigh 35 to 40 tons. Adult females can reach about 36 feet and weigh 13 to 14 tons.

The whale is named for the spermaceti oil produced inside its head, which was once used to produce candles, perfumes and other products.

"They feed on giant squid, which feed on pelagic fish and so on," Woods said. "Whatever pollutants are consumed go right up the food chain and they are the final sink for pollutants."

Ocean Alliance takes samples by shooting a hypodermic projectile into the side of a whale and extracting a piece of blubber the size of a pencil eraser, Woods said. In addition to sampling whale blubber, Ocean Alliance is using sonar and acoustic equipment to estimate the total whale population in the world's oceans and plot whales' migration patterns globally.

As development director, Woods approaches corporate donors and high-tech firms for sponsorship or to donate sophisticated equipment the organization could not afford.

"Fund-raising is going well," Woods said. "This is the first global study of sperm whale behavior and a lot of people are realizing that this voyage is collecting very valuable scientific information."

For more information log on to www.oceanalliance.org or www.pbs.org/-odyssey.