Full Text Of News Articles

Judge rips into Bush official over tuna rules
No science used, he says, calling it 'political meddling
The Associated Press, Aug. 11, 2004

In a victory for environmentalists, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration cannot change the standards commercial fisheries must meet before the tuna they catch can carry the “dolphin-safe” label.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson found that Commerce Secretary Donald Evans not only failed to conduct the scientific research required to relax existing tuna-labeling laws, but engaged in “a pattern of delay and inattention” to build support for his position.

“The record is replete with evidence that the secretary was influenced by policy concerns unrelated to the best available scientific evidence,” Henderson wrote in a strongly worded 51-page opinion. “This court has never, in its 24 years, reviewed a record of agency action that contained such a compelling portrait of political meddling.”

The Commerce Department wanted to rewrite the 1990 law to allow tuna caught with nets to be labeled dolphin-safe if observers certified that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured in the process. Dolphins commonly swim with schools of tuna, and fisheries in Mexico and South America encircle the popular mammals with nets to hone in on their prey.

Tuesday’s ruling makes permanent an injunction Henderson issued last year that barred the Commerce Department from implementing the new rules while the case was pending.

Longliners face new rules over dolphin kin
Associated Press, August 12, 2004

Hawaii's longline fishing industry is facing new restrictions aimed at protecting false killer whales because of a reclassification by federal wildlife officials.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has reclassified the isles' longline fleet from Category III to Category I, which will allow the agency to convene a committee to draft a management plan aimed at reducing the number of incidental killings of the marine mammals, a member of the dolphin family.

By changing the designation, the federal agency was "finally acknowledging the devastating toll that the Hawaii-based longline fishing fleet inflicts on the Hawaii population of false killer whales," the environmental law firm Earthjustice said in a statement.

In November, Earthjustice had filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the National Marine Fisheries Service of failing to protect false killer whales from the Hawaii-based longline fishing fleet.

Sea worms wash ashore at Ala Moana Beach Park
August 7, 2004, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

An estimated 200 gray sea worms washed ashore at Ala Moana Beach Park yesterday morning, said acting Lt. Bill Goding, of the city Ocean Safety Division.

The worms have white hairlike "legs" which they use to propel themselves in the water. They ranged from about 1 to 6 inches in length. Some were found burrowing themselves in the sand, but most appeared to be dying.

The state Department of Health found it was not necessary to close the beach.

The creatures are actually polycheate worms that do not sting or bite, although they sometimes have thornlike spines on their backs, according to the Department of Health's Clean Water Branch. The worms are rarely seen and normally live in the ocean buried under the sand, Okubo said. They burrow deep in the sand eating algae.

Two seals born on Kaua'i shores
August 6, 2004, Honolulu Advertiser

Two monk seals have given birth on south Kaua'i beaches this week, both in locations where other pups have been born and raised.

One newborn is at Po'ipu Beach and one at Maha'ulepu. Both pups appear healthy, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The agency has hired a coordinator to work with volunteers to provide day-and-night monitoring of the seals and to help educate people who come to the beaches. A primary goal will be to see that domestic animals, particularly dogs, are kept away from the seals.

Crews have roped off parts of the beaches to prevent disturbances that could drive the mothers to abandon their pups. The pups will probably be weaned when they are about 6 weeks old.

Fishing ban sought for northwest islands
Honolulu Advertiser, July 26, 2004

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has marched out a proposed set of new regulations for management of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which it hopes will simplify management of the region.

The proposed rules for a new state Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Refuge are not, in fact, that simple — nothing about the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is — but they do convey a message that coincides somewhat with those of other agencies that have responsibilities there.

And that message is: no fishing.

Details of the state rules are available at DLNR offices or the Web site: www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar. Send (your) comments (on the proposed regulations) to Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources, 1151 Punchbowl St., Room 330, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Dolphins Too Have Born Socialites
August 11, 2004, Reuters

Some people are born to be the life and soul of the party -- and so it seems are some dolphins.

It is well established that dolphins, which are highly intelligent animals, form complex social groups or pods.

But new research summarized in New Scientist magazine on Wednesday said that some individual dolphins played the part of liaison between different pods, keeping them in close touch with each other.

Ecologist David Lusseau of the University of Aberdeen and physicist Mark Newman of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, found the socialite role while studying dolphins in New Zealand.

When two of the animals disappeared for a while pods that had previously socialized ceased doing so. When they reappeared, the groups got back together again.

The scientists said their findings could have implications for zoologists taking animals from the wild. Removing a key individual could damage an entire group, they concluded.

Pacific islands support whale plan
August 2004, Green consumer guide

Pacific island leaders have given their backing to a proposed whale sanctuary in the region, in a bid to protect whales for future generations. The overwhelming support was voiced at the 35th Pacific Islands Forum in Apia Samoa late last week.

Despite regional support, the proposal has been blocked at IWC level three times, the latest rejection coming at last months meeting.

"Many Pacific Island nations have been very vocal in their support of a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary - it is vital these nations renew their efforts to make this a reality," said IFAW Asia Pacific’s Darren Kindleysides. "We urge the Pacific Island Forum leaders to reject the myth that whales compete with fishermen and to embrace long-term sustainable industries such as whale watching," he concluded.

The economic benefits from whale watching are growing in the region, with a recent IFAW report finding that in Australia alone whale watching generated more that AU$270 million last year.
Related article – “Pacific whale sanctuary blocked”: www.greenconsumerguide.com/printnews.php?news=2063

Orcas leave a reminder of nature's brutal reality
04.08.2004, New Zealand News

The pod of orcas made a romantic picture as they swam out of the Waitemata Harbour on Friday, their tails framed by the silhouette of Rangitoto Island.

But yesterday the cost of their visit became clear when Department of Conservation staff buried a 12m Bryde's whale, apparently killed for its 2m tongue, which is an orca delicacy.

A mutilated bottlenose dolphin found dead on Motutapu Island on Thursday is believed to have been another victim. It has been sent to a specialist pathologist at Massey University.

The 18-tonne Bryde's whale, slightly bigger than its orca attackers, was the first of its species to be documented as an orca victim in New Zealand, although orca scientist Dr Ingrid Visser said other cases had been reported overseas.

Blue Whale Sighting Thrills Researchers (SPLASH cruise)
NOAA Crew Spots Three Rare Marine Giants off Alaska Coast
Aug. 1, 2004, NPR

The blue whale -- the largest animal known to live on Earth -- has been on the endangered species list for almost 40 years. But a recent sighting off the coast of Alaska has given researchers some cause for optimism.

Jay Barlow, chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's vessel McArthur II, was conducting a survey of the more common humpback whale about 100 miles off Prince William Sound when he and his crew saw an enormous gusher from just above the water's surface.

It turned out to be the first documented sighting of a blue whale in the region in 30 years, Barlow says. Researchers saw three whales during a two-day period in mid-July. They managed to take samples of skin and blubber for genetic testing and pollutant studies.

A NOAA article on the sighting says that blue whales visit the North Pacific in summer to feed before returning to warmer southern waters for the winter. It's estimated that 12,000 blue whales remain worldwide, with perhaps 2,000 feeding in U.S. waters.

Park (Sea World Vallejo) wants male orca
Times-Herald, August 4 2004

Six Flags Marine World Vallejo plans to import a male orca from Argentina for breeding and research and, possibly, entertaining crowds with show-splashing maneuvers.

A prime attraction at Marine World now is Shouka, a black-and-white killer whale that weighs more than 5,000 pounds and graces billboards and TV ads.

General manager Joe Meck said the goal is to get Shouka and the 16-year-old male, Kshamenk, together and let nature take its course.

The two orcas, Meck said, would further the park's goals to educate the public about marine mammals by giving visitors a chance to see such creatures up close, and to facilitate research.

But plans to move Kshamenk have created controversy. The whale swam with its family pod off the waters of Patagonia before it was captured in 1992, and activists insist Kshamenk was caught under questionable circumstances and should be set free.

The orca now is kept at Mundo Marino, a theme park in Buenos Aires that took control of him after he and four other orcas became beached.

Mark Berman, Earth Island Institute's associate director, said Kshamenk lives in isolation and is showing signs of distress from being in captivity, and the Humane Society of the United States claims on its Web site that Mundo Marino boats forced Kshamenk and the three other whales ashore with nets.

Meck said whales often beach themselves and then die. Mundo Marino saved Kshamenk's life, he said.

Six Flags Marine World last month filed a letter of intent to apply for a federal permit to import Kshamenk. Six Flags also will need permits from the Argentine government, said Jennifer Skidmore, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist.

Group Wants SeaWorld Interactive Shows Stopped (Texas)
July 30, 2004, KSAT News

The Humane Society of the United States is raising questions after a killer whale repeatedly submerged a veteran trainer at SeaWorld San Antonio.

The group wants SeaWorld parks to stop conducting interactive shows with humans and the whales in the water together. It has also asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act, to investigate what went wrong.

During an afternoon Shamu show last Friday, Ky, a 6,100-pound whale, belly-flopped on trainer Steve Aibel, then nosed him into a tank as Aibel tried to get out.

Park officials have said Aibel, the park's supervisor of training, was in control during the show that ended early. Aibel tied Ky's "loss of focus" to a playful compulsion, or hormonal aggression for a male cetacean of breeding age.

Luna Update: No Current Plans For Relocation
July 28, 2004, By KOMO Staff & News Services

The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Vancouver Island Indian leaders have agreed on a plan to safeguard an overly friendly young killer whale in Nootka Sound.

Fisheries officials said Wednesday they will focus on enforcing rules to keep people safely away from Luna while the Mowachaht-Muchalaht Indians will work on education initiatives at the Gold River dock where the whale has spent so much time.

The goal is to keep both people and whale safe, said Don Radford, acting regional director of Fisheries' Pacific Region.

The stewardship program, designed to keep boats and people away from the 5-year-old whale, covers just the summer. After that, more decisions will have to be made.

Radford said there are no current plans to relocate the whale.

New Study say Whalewatching Requires More Uniform Regulation

"From small beginnings in California in the 50s, whalewatching has grown into a major tourist activity, and one that is evidently capable of delivering substantial socioeconomic benefits to the many communities around the world in which it takes place. It has also been advocated as a potent tool for the conservation of whales, particularly as a non-extractive alternative to whaling. Yet there are also widespread concerns that this recreational activity may have serious impacts on the animals being watched."

So opens a new overview on the whalewatching industry, published in the journal Annals of Tourism Research.

Source: Garrod, B., and D.A. Fennel. 2004. An analysis of whalewatching codes of conduct. Annals of Tourism Research. 31(2): 334-352. Contact: Brian Garrod, University of Wales. E-mail: bgg@aber.ac.uk.

Dead Whales Land in Canaries After Naval Exercises
27/7/2004, Reuters

Two dead whales have landed in Spain's Canary Islands, raising fears they may have been hurt by NATO military exercises off Morocco and that more could have died, officials said.

The two whales arrived in the area within 24 hours and were dead for several days before their bodies drifted ashore, said Tony Gallardo, environmental expert with the local government of the island of Fuerteventura, one of the Canaries, which lies only about 60 miles off the southern Moroccan coast.

"There is a strong suspicion that their deaths were related to the NATO exercises that finished a few days ago," Gallardo told Reuters.

Naval and air force units from 10 countries involving 20,000 troops and more than 20 warships took part in U.S.-led NATO military exercises off Morocco from July 11 to 16.

NATO officials had no comment.

Shark Repellent Deemed a Breakthrough
Associated Press, July 30, 2004

Excited by the scent of blood, a dozen sharks dart about in a frenzy as a researcher dips a pole in the sea and squirts out a clear, yellowish substance. Within seconds, the sharks jerk their snouts away and vanish.

Researchers say they finally have found a potent repellent to drive away sharks, after testing off Bimini island in the Bahamas. It's a goal that's eluded scientists for decades.

If proven effective, the repellent one day might protect divers, surfers and swimmers. But researchers say that would require much more study. First they hope it can protect sharks — in decline worldwide due to overfishing — by reducing the numbers caught needlessly by long-line commercial fishermen.

The repellent, called A-2 because it was the second recipe tried, is derived from extracts of dead sharks that Stroud gathered at New Jersey fish markets and piers. Fishermen and scientists have long noted sharks stay away if they smell a dead shark.

Tests have found the repellent effective on four species: the Caribbean reef, blacknose, nurse and lemon sharks. Studies are needed on other species such as the great white, mako and oceanic whitetip.

Lawsuit says sea turtles are on the hook (Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico)
Activists challenge new rules for longline fishing
The Associated Press, Aug. 2, 2004

Ocean watchdog groups are challenging new federal hook rules for longline fishermen who pursue tuna and other fish in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, contending the changes do not do enough to protect endangered and threatened species of sea turtles.

Oceana and the Ocean Conservancy have filed a lawsuit to overturn the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rules, which let fishermen use hooks that environmentalists say are untested and potentially dangerous for turtles.

The watchdog groups argue that NOAA is allowing fishermen to use smaller hooks despite its own three-year study that recommended larger hooks that turtles are less likely to try to swallow.

NOAA argues that the new small hooks, which are circular so their barbs do not protrude as much, are an improvement over the J-shaped hooks fishermen were using.

The plaintiffs accuse NOAA of changing its rules under pressure from fishermen. NOAA has acknowledged that industry concerns influenced the decision to require the smaller hooks, which are believed would lose fewer fish than the bigger hooks.

El Nino Forecast to Return to Pacific in 3 Months
August 9, 2004, Reuters

El Nino, the dreaded weather anomaly which has killed hundreds and spawned disasters across the Asia-Pacific region over the years, could possibly develop by late 2004, the Climate Prediction Center of the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said.

In a monthly report devoted to monitoring El Nino which was issued late Thursday, the Center said sea surface temperatures have risen in the central Pacific Ocean and may "indicate the possible early stages of a warm episode."

The Center added "El Nino conditions are expected to develop during the next three months." There is about "a 50 percent chance that the NOAA operational definition for El Nino will be satisfied for the period June-August 2004," the Center predicted.

El Nino is a weather phenomenon which leads to an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, recurring roughly once every three years.

El Nino killed hundreds of people in 1997/98 and caused billions of dollars in damages. Before that, another El Nino in 1977/78 likewise killed hundreds and caused several hundred million dollars in damages.

Beach report sees more pollution problems
MSNBC, Aug. 6, 2004

The number of days that beaches closed or posted warnings because of pollution rose sharply in 2003 due to more rainfall, increased monitoring and tougher standards, according to an annual beach report by an environmental group.

There were 18,284 days of beach closures and advisories nationwide in 2003, an increase of 51 percent — or 6,206 days — from 2002, according to the 14th annual beach report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Most beachwater pollution comes from sewage and contaminated stormwater. High bacteria levels from human or animal waste prompted 88 percent of the closing and advisory days in 2003. Swimming in such polluted water can cause gastroenteritis and other problems.

Released Thursday, the report tallied data from state and local officials and the Environmental Protection Agency. It said that the number of beach closures and advisory days was higher in 2003 than in any year since NRDC began its annual reports. In the mid-90s the report typically found some 2,500 closures per year.

Tiny ocean critters can wreck new neighborhood
CNN, August 6, 2004

The U.S. Coast Guard will soon begin enforcing new regulations to try to prevent ships from around the world from delivering unwanted and sometimes destructive cargo.

It's not weapons or hazardous materials, but invasive species they want to stop. These tiny hitchhikers can wreak havoc on a port's ecosystem.

The International Maritime Organization estimates 7,000 different species get transported in cargo ship ballast water every day.

About 80 percent of the world's commercial goods are transported by ships. The United Nations says three factors -- faster ships, warmer seas and more trade -- are increasing the possibility that these non-native species can damage new territory.

"Coming into a new area, this organism doesn't have any real enemies; the defenses of the local population are not up," said Linda Farmer, an oceanographer at the University of Miami. "And so the organism can become established, can compete with the local population, can cause the collapse of the food chain."

Ballast water keeps ships stable when there's no cargo on board. But when the water is dumped, so are the millions of creatures living in it.

The new requirements are mandatory for all vessels equipped with ballast water tanks that enter or operate within U.S. waters.

Dead zone spreads in Gulf of Mexico, may spark spate of shark bites
Reuters, Aug. 3, 2004

A huge “dead zone” of water so devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live in it has spread across 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometers) of the Gulf of Mexico this summer, in what has become an annual occurrence caused by pollution.

The extensive area of uninhabitable water may be contributing indirectly to an unusual spate of shark bites along the Texas coast, experts said.

A scientist at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said Tuesday that measurements showed the dead zone extended from the mouth of the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana 250 miles (400 kilometers) west to near the Texas border, and was closer to shore than usual because winds and currents.

In the last 30 years, the dead zone has become an annual summer phenomenon, fed by rising use of nitrate-based fertilizers by farmers in the Mississippi watershed, Rabalais told Reuters.

The dead zone forces fish to seek better water, which may be a reason for the recent shark bites on Texas beaches.

Three people have been bitten by sharks along the upper Texas coast this year — a high number for a state that has recorded only 18 shark attacks since 1980.

Pesticides and endangered species revised
The Associated Press, July 29, 2004

The Environmental Protection Agency will be free to approve pesticides without consulting wildlife agencies to determine if the chemical might harm plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, according to new Bush administration rules.

The streamlining by the Interior and Commerce departments represents “a more efficient approach to ensure protection of threatened and endangered species,” officials with the two agencies, EPA and the Agriculture Department said in a joint statement Thursday.

It also is intended to head off future lawsuits, the officials said.

Under the Endangered Species Act, EPA has been required to consult with Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service and Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service each time it licenses a new pesticide. But that hasn’t been happening for some time.

Aaron Colangelo, an NRDC staff attorney, said the new rule benefits the pesticide industry at the expense of endangered species.

“The fact that the consultations are so complicated counsels for better protection, not lesser protection,” he said. “The solution to ignoring it for decades isn’t to rewrite the rule so they can continue to ignore the consultations. The solution is to start complying with the Endangered Species Act.”

New U.S. global warming plan targets methane
The Associated Press, July 28, 2004

Methane emissions would be harvested by industrial nations and sold to poorer countries for use as a clean-burning fuel under a plan that would also slow global warming, Bush administration officials announced Wednesday.

The heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department, along with President Bush’s senior environmental adviser, said the plan would create a new market in methane, a heat-trapping atmospheric gas that largely goes to waste.

The plan involves spending up to $53 million over the next five years as part of an agreement with seven countries to harvest emissions of methane primarily from landfills, coal mines and oil and gas systems.

The administration, meanwhile, has opposed restricting emissions of carbon dioxide, the industrial gas most cited by scientists for warming the atmosphere like a greenhouse. President Bush had supported regulating that gas in his 2000 campaign.

The United States is joining with Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Britain and Ukraine to develop the methane market.

Project background is online at: www.epa.gov/methane/international.html.

Deep-Sea Cukes Can't Avoid the Weather: El Niño changes life 2.5 miles down
Science News, July 24, 2004

Even though the water now deep in the ocean won't mingle with upper layers for hundreds of years, topside climate still drives the short-term booms and busts of bottom dwellers.

That's the conclusion of a 14-year study of sea cucumbers, brittle stars, and other mobile bottom dwellers off the California coast, says Henry A. Ruhl of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. What links the top to the bottom is the fall of dead plankton and other debris that provides food in the depths, he and Kenneth L. Smith Jr., also of Scripps, say in the July 23 Science. They link changes in the abundance of certain species some 2.5 miles underwater to the El Niño and La Niña weather shifts between 1997 and 1999.

New Species of Underwater Bone-Eating Worm Found
August 2, 2004, Reuters

Two new species of primitive worms that feed off the bones of dead whales have been discovered off the coast of California, scientists reported.

The blind worms have no proper stomachs, but employ bacteria to help break down nutrients from the whalebones and feed them into rootlike organs, the U.S. and Australian researchers said.

The two new worm species are distantly related to worms found on underwater sea vents deep in the ocean and comprise their own new genus dubbed Osedax, which means "bone-devouring."

The scientists first found female tubeworms, some as long as a person's index finger, rooted into the decaying remains of a young gray whale at the bottom of Monterey Bay, 9,100 feet (2,800 meter) deep off the coast of California.

The females have an outer tube, an inner muscular trunk, an egg-carrying oviduct and little docking points for the microscopic males, the researchers report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

A look at the DNA of the two new species suggests they evolved about 42 million years ago, about the same time whales themselves first evolved, the researchers said.