Full Text Of News Articles

Maui Girl’s duty done for year (Green sea turtle, Lahaina)
Maui News, September 28, 2004

Sunday night, Glynnis Nakai took a handful of green sea turtle eggs home. The eggs, the last of about 563 laid in Lahaina this year by Maui Girl, green sea turtle 5690, had been dug out Sunday night.

Some of the eggs obviously had failed to develop, but a few “felt warm” to Nakai, who heads the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge.

Of the handful, only one hatched, and she set it free in the morning.

That made approximately 274 live hatchlings from Maui Girl, the only green known to have nested in Lahaina in half a century.

But she’s regular as a clock. In 2000, she first crawled up and dug a nest just south of Lahaina Shores.

Then it was back to Napili for a year of rest and recuperation, and she was back in 2002 to dig seven nests.

Again this year, seven more nests.

Now turtle fans are looking ahead to 2006 to see if she will come again.

Seven nests are about as many as a fertile turtle can do in one season. She started digging around May, returning every two weeks for three months.

Most of the live hatchlings emerge the natural way, clawing up through the sand and making a risky dash for the surf.

There were 94 eggs in Maui Girl’s last nest, which was dug against a sea wall just a couple of steps north of Kamehameha Iki Park.

The thumb-sized babies started making their way up through the sand Thursday night. More came out Friday and Saturday.

Researchers – only people with permits are allowed to do it – follow up when a nest is about emptied to count shells and assist stragglers.

Sunday night, Nakai spent 20 minutes scraping sand away by hand, at first in the wrong spot. But a few inches away, she finally struck a clump of baby turtles just a few inches under the brown, fine sand.

Most were dead, but a few were still wriggling.

The effort of digging into the main egg chamber was a laborious task for Nakai, as she removed sand handful by handful to a depth of 34 inches.

A few eggs and a couple of live babies were found at 30 inches, and Nakai said Monday she doubted those would have made it up and out on their own.

Some of the rescuees were rather sluggish about entering the water, but Nakai was hopeful. “They move much more easily in the water.”

The hatching rate this year was slightly less than 50 percent, and once in the ocean the little turtles face a dangerous existence.

As a rough estimate, perhaps one hatchling in a hundred lives long enough to mate and breed.

Maui Girl was one of more than a hundred babies caught in the French Frigate Shoals and grown in captivity to about the size of a dessert plate.

She was tagged and released off Hilo and neither she nor any of her mates was seen again for two decades.

None of her mates has ever identifiably been seen yet, but in 2000 Maui Girl crawled up to the grassy edge of the beach at a house just south of Lahaina Shores and started digging a nest.

Neighbors rallied round and kept a protective eye on the nest, and 5690 kept coming again and again, right in the middle of a heavily used beach that had not seen a nesting green since around 1950.

Despite luau, strollers, volleyball players, dogs, lights and commotion, she found the beach congenial and has been a regular visitor in alternate summers since.

Alien seaweeds pose a threat
Maui News, September 27, 2004

Hawaii’s nearshore waters are a natural wonder enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. Anyone who’s donned a face mask and snorkel to explore coastal reefs and marine life can attest to its beauty.

But that environment is at risk from alien species of seaweed. Imported from other places and accidentally introduced, these alien species can choke living reefs, the ocean’s nurseries for fishes and marine life. Once moved from areas where the seaweed has natural predators, these alien species have literally smothered areas of the Mediterranean and reefs off Australia. Kaneohe Bay off Oahu has already been infested by alien seaweeds.

With fishing boats moving between the islands, ships arriving from foreign shores and divers coming from around the world, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is distributing waterproof alien seaweed information cards.

Alien seaweeds can “cost millions of dollars to Hawaii’s economy,” according to Chairman Peter Young of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

The cards will help boaters, dives and anglers recognize and help control alien seaweeds. The cards suggest drying dive gear, wet suits and dive bags after each use, not dumping aquarium animals or plants into streams or coastal waters, reporting any unusual seaweed blooms to the state Division of Aquatic Resources (on Maui, call 243-5294), joining alien seaweed cleanups, and spreading the word through the island’s marine industry. The seaweeds can be carried from island to island on gear including surfboards and windsurfing rigs.

The cards, on plastic rings easily attached to a boat, tackle box or dive gear, can be obtained by contacting David Gulko in Honolulu at (808) 587-0318 or the EPA’s office on Oahu at (808) 541-2710.

With an investment of time in education and vigilance against alien seaweed, Maui’s nearshore waters can be protected. It’s a worthwhile investment in Maui County’s future for everyone involved in snorkeling, diving and fishing – both recreational and commercial.

Bottle bill supporter worries state won’t be ready
September 23, 2004, Honolulu Star Bulletin

One of the Hawaii bottle bill's strongest supporters questioned yesterday whether the state will be ready to implement the recycling program on Jan. 1.

Sierra Club officials said yesterday that the state Health Department has not hired staff to run the program nor begun an education campaign to explain it to the public.

"Our fear is the program will start and people will be unclear on why they're paying extra (for beverages) and unclear on where they go to receive nickels" that will be rebated when cans and bottles are returned, said Jeff Mikulina, director of the state Sierra Club.

"We don't want it to be another van cam, with people up in arms because they can't get their nickels back and there's no one to help them," he said.

Mikulina questioned whether Gov. Linda Lingle's administration, which opposed the bill, is delaying on purpose.

But state officials said that Mikulina is overreacting and that the program will start on time.

"The governor is committed to implementing the Deposit Beverage Container Law, and the department has been working very hard to organize the many components necessary for the success of the program," said Health Director Chiyome Fukino. "It is a great disservice to my staff and the state, and misleading to the public to say that we are not working aggressively to implement the law."

The department's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch is "waiting for the green light" from the state Budget and Finance Department to hire six positions for the program and could chose a public relations firm for outreach work this week, said Steve Chang, branch chief.

The state began charging beverage distributors a half-cent per container two years ago and has amassed $6 million to kick off the program. On Oct. 1 that handling fee, which will cover the costs of redemption centers, will increase to 1 cent.

Retailers will begin charging customers the refundable 5-cents-per bottle or can as they put labeled merchandise on the shelves. However, the redemption centers that will pay people for their empties will not open until January.

The state hopes to approve more than 50 redemption centers, Chang said. As their opening draws nearer, their locations and how to use them will be widely publicized with in-store information, radio spots and other promotions, he said.

The law requires retailers to have all cans and bottles on their shelves to have the Hawaii-rebate labels by Jan. 1.

Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, said consumers might be confused when the labels appear on shelves before the end of the year even though the rebates will not be available until after Jan. 1.

Mikulina acknowledged that the transition will be a challenge for stores, but said, "The important thing is to know that the program's starting and there's a solid program in place where people know what to do and are comfortable with it."

'No go' zone helps dolphins
September 12, 2004, HONOLULU ADVERTISER

The state is hoping to create public awareness that dolphins need their space and is using an agreement with a Makua Beach tour operator to fine-tune how to regulate contact between curious people and the curious mammal.

Fearing that dolphins were being harassed by swimmers and kayakers, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources told the Makua tour group it would only be given a state permit for beach access if it kept its paddling customers 50 yards away from the dolphins — a stipulation that matches federal protection guidelines.

The permit was granted in July to Makua Lani, a non-profit group that promotes Hawaiian culture and nature, said DLNR Director Peter Young. High on the list of conditions was the 50-yard buffer, which was pulled word-for-word from guidelines for the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, Young said.

The state has never imposed a restriction like this because it cannot regulate federal guidelines, such as those enforced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA and the state "are working together on it," he said. "If someone violates that condition of the agreement, we ultimately will cancel their concession but we will not attempt to enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act."

Officials have wanted to impose this restriction for some time, Young said. Makua Lani was the first group seeking to use state land. It needed the permit to launch its tours from Makua Beach and the buffer zone was aimed at giving the dolphins a break, Young said.

Many other groups and individuals that come too close to the dolphins do so from private boats or private property. State marine enforcement officers would need to be deputized by NOAA in order to stop the practice, Young said. An agreement to do that is still under discussion, he said.

Richard Holland, executive director for Makua Lani, said the state's permit condition is fair and the group's tour leaders, himself included, have had no trouble staying in compliance. He said he does not put swimmers in the water with dolphins.

"We won't get as close as we have in the past," he said. "We never touched the dolphins. We know that is not legal. But there are times when the dolphin approaches you. What are you going to do in that experience?"

The contact between humans and mammals takes place as the dolphins come into shallow and relatively protected waters to rest after hunting at night. Because they are closer to shore, people can swim or paddle out to see them, violating the federal protection law, Young said.

"People describe the emotional and spiritual benefits of doing this, but they don't realize there is a physiological impact on the dolphins," he said. "They need to rest. They have been hunting for food all night."

Being friendly by nature, the dolphins often will approach, he said. He advises people to move away when that happens.

His hope is to make the public more familiar with federal protection laws, he said.

Young said the state is working with kayak tour companies on Maui and hopes to do the same on the Big Island. He stressed, however, that businesses are not the sole violators of the law.

So far, the response has been good, although some tour operators were concerned that the law would not be enforced uniformly. Maui business owners were told to continue taking their clients on snorkeling adventures, but to avoid marine mammal resting areas, Young said.

"Just like people are accustomed now to staying away from monk seals, let's get them accustomed to staying away from dolphins," he said. "If they approach you, retreat."

Tori Cullins, owner of a dolphin encounter company called Wild Side Specialty Tours, is critical of the decision to grant a permit to Makua Lani, insisting that the group gets too close to dolphins. Because her company launches from a harbor, it does not need a special permit.

"There are too many people out there," she said. "Too many boats. Too many trips. And there are just no limits on it."

Last week at Makua, for example, she brought eight people on her company's catamaran. She said she found two other boats with 25 people each and 15 kayaks from Makua Lani.

Wild Side, however, does not hide the fact that it puts swimmers into the water with dolphins much closer than 50 yards. As long as her customers do not change the behavior of a dolphin, they're OK, Cullins said.

"They come within touching distance of a swimmer," she said. "We don't touch them, and we tell people not to touch them. It is uncool and rude. But the guidelines are still guidelines."

Holland dismisses Cullins' claims. "They view us as their competitor, and in that light, sometimes they say things that are not true," Holland said.

Tamra Faris, assistant regional administrator for protected resources for NOAA Fisheries, said the agency was "a champion" of the state's decision. But defining harassment of a dolphin isn't easy, she said.

"Just crossing a line doesn't mean we would win a case of harassment. Harassment is measured if the animal changes its behavior, and sometimes they will change their behavior at greater distances than 50 yards. And then proving that the human activity changed their behavior is a hard thing to enforce, but I wouldn't say it is unenforceable."

Turtle mending after amputation
Honolulu Star Bulletin, September 11, 2004

An alert Leeward Coast beachgoer may have saved the life of a green sea turtle whose flipper was almost cut off by a fishing line at Yokohama Bay.

The beachgoer told lifeguards about the injured turtle. A fishing line was wound around the right front flipper of the juvenile turtle. The line had worked its way through the turtle's tough skin and down to the bone, leaving the limb dangling by a tendon.

The 40-pound turtle's flipper had to be amputated, but the animal's prospects for full recovery are good.

"We're very pleased we could aid this turtle," said George Balazs, leader of the National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Turtle Research Program. He noted that its plight should be a warning to fishers: Be on the lookout for sea turtles when casting a line.

"This injury would not have been from loose fishing line," said Balazs, who has been studying green sea turtles in Hawaii for 30 years. "The vast majority of cases like that are from active shoreline fishing, because often the same places where people come to fish are also places where turtles come to eat limu."

Prevention is as simple as not fishing in areas where turtles are rising to breathe, he said.

Yesterday, the injured turtle was reported to Yokohama Beach lifeguards at 12:40 p.m., Ocean Safety dispatcher Rob Miller said.

The lifeguards sheltered the turtle in the back of a pickup truck with wet beach towels until rescuer Cody Hooven could get there and transport it to Kailua, where veterinarian Robert Morris was waiting.

"It was pretty active for an injured turtle" and in good health other than the injury, said Hooven, a research technician with the Marine Turtle Research Program and part of its turtle stranding network.

The turtle will need its strength to continue life as an amputee. The flipper was too far gone to be reattached, said Morris, who has a contract with the fisheries service to fix up sick and injured sea turtles.

"We see quite a number of these with the fishing line," Morris said. Sometimes it takes weeks for the line to saw through to the bone, he said.

After healing from surgery, Morris said, turtles "do quite well with one front flipper. They compensate with the back flippers."

Morris gave the turtle antibiotics yesterday to prepare it for surgery on Monday to remove the base of the flipper. Because the turtle is young -- between 8 and 12 years old -- even experts cannot tell its sex by looking.

After surgery the turtle will be held for observation for about two weeks, then tagged and released, Morris said.

Yesterday's rescue marked the 347th sea turtle rescue since 1990 and the 23rd this year, according to Balazs' program.

Fishing and turtles don't mix

National Marine Fisheries Service officials advise fishermen not to cast lines where sea turtles are surfacing to breathe.

Officials say if a turtle gets hooked or entangled, it is still possible to prevent serious injury by following these guidelines:

>> Gently bring the turtle close to you, and use a dip net or the front flippers and shell to bring it out of the water.

>> Cut the line close to the hook, and remove line tangled around the turtle. Avoid the turtle's mouth and flipper claws.

>> Do not lift the turtle above water by pulling on the fishing line, which could cause further injury. If the turtle is too large or too far away, cut the line as short as possible to release it.

>> Do not remove the hook unless the turtle is lightly hooked and it can be removed without further injury.

>> If a turtle has a serious cut or a hook is deeply embedded or swallowed, call the Fisheries Service turtle stranding hot line any time at 983-5730 on Oahu. Response teams are available on all islands.

Cruise Ship Impales Whale in Atlantic
Mon Sep 27, Associated Press

A cruise ship has arrived in the Atlantic Canada port of Saint John, New Brunswick with a dead whale impaled on its bow.

Royal Caribbean's liner Jewel of the Seas was cruising the Gulf of St. Lawrence over the weekend, probably striking the 60-foot-long finback whale somewhere between Quebec City and the Bay of Fundy, officials said Monday.

It was not known if the whale was alive when it was struck. The coast guard towed the dead whale out to sea on Sunday.

Port workers said they were busy dealing with the whale after the ship arrived Sunday morning.

Ship passenger Dennis Buck of New York said that passengers were unaware of the whale until they saw it on arrival.

Laurie Murison, of the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station located on an island in the Bay of Fundy, said finbacks often fall victim to ship collisions because of their length, 115 feet and longer.

"They're very long, sleek whales and they actually get held in place and get balanced on either side of the bow," Murison said.

The deafening sound of the seas
22 September, 2004, BBC News

The world's oceans are now so saturated with noise that whales and other marine mammals are dying, biologists say.

The UK's Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is launching a campaign, Oceans of Noise, to tackle what it says is the increasing problem of noise pollution.

It says key sources of undersea noise are the search for oil and gas, and the use of low-frequency military sonars.

The WDCS is proposing an action plan to regulate submarine noise pollution, and says a worldwide treaty may be needed.

Long-distance effects

It says there is evidence that noise is causing hearing loss in cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), injuring them and causing them to strand themselves, and is sometimes killing them.

It also believes excessive noise is seriously interfering with cetaceans' ability to communicate with each other.

The WDCS says the frequency ranges of some noise sources of human origin may be blotting out other, biologically important sounds, preventing mothers and calves from staying in touch and masking sound cues for predators and their prey.

It says: "Flight, avoidance or other changes in behaviour have been observed in cetaceans from tens to hundreds of kilometres from the noise sources.

"It has even been suggested that the abilities of the great whales to communicate with each other across entire ocean basins has now been reduced by orders of magnitude."

Bowhead whales: Mothers and calves may lose touch
The International Whaling Commission said in July there was "compelling evidence" that entire populations of marine mammals were at potential risk from increasingly intense man-made underwater noise.

Its scientific committee said low-frequency ambient marine noise levels had increased in the northern hemisphere by two orders of magnitude over the last 60 years.

The WDCS says one problem is the expansion of oil and gas exploration into the deep seas and the resulting growth in seismic testing to find fossil fuel deposits.
Out of sight

Shipping is another cause of concern. The society says: "Large vessels are typically loud vessels and the increase in traffic has actually fundamentally changed the noise profile of the world's oceans."

And the use of powerful sonar systems by some of the world's navies, it says, is raising noise levels still further.

The WDCS action plan includes a proposal for an international treaty to regulate marine noise pollution, and for an independent body to undertake research.

Mark Simmonds of the WDCS told BBC News Online: "It's a problem that doesn't have much noticeable effect on us, unlike chemical pollution, and we can't see it either.

"And that means it's hard for us to realise the problem exists, let alone its extent."

Fin whale sighting marks a historic return to Southeast
SIGNIFICANT: Baleen is first of its kind seen near Sitka in more than 60 years.
The Associated Press, Published: September 21, 2004

A large baleen whale sighted in Sitka Sound last week may be the first fin whale in the area since commercial whaling in Alaska inside waters was halted more than 60 years ago, a marine biologist said.

"It's significant because it means they're recovering after commercial whaling," said biologist Jan Straley, who went out in a small boat last week to inspect the whale.

She darted the whale to obtain a DNA sample.

She said she is nearly certain that it is a fin whale because of its size and because of the white coloring on its lower jaw. A laboratory in California will run tests on the DNA sample to confirm the species. The tests also will show whether it is a male or female and provide clues to its association with other fin whales in the North Pacific, she said.

Fin whales are the second-largest species after blue whales and often grow to more than 70 feet long. The whale in Sitka Sound is about 50 to 60 feet long, Straley said.

Steve Ramp, captain of the Allen Marine wildlife tour boat St. Anastasia, first saw the whale in the middle of Sitka Sound last Monday and got in touch with Straley.

"At first I thought it was minke whale, and then I instantly realized it was way too big," said Ramp, who has since seen the whale near Cape Burunof and twice in Eastern Channel offshore from Whale Park.

Straley has seen the whale a few times. Sometimes a humpback whale has been in the area, apparently oblivious to the much larger fin whale, Straley said.

Occasionally, people have contacted her to say they have seen fin whales in Southeast Alaska, but none has been confirmed.

"Southeast is sort of the middle of a sandwich with nothing in it," Straley said, explaining that fin whales are often seen in Dixon Entrance and in the northern Gulf of Alaska but not in Southeast.

"It's not unusual to see fin whales in Alaska, but they have not returned to Frederick Sound and Stevens Passage where they were historically."

Fin whales can travel at rates of more than 20 mph and are sometimes called the "greyhounds of the sea."

According to the American Cetacean Society's Web site, more than 30,000 fin whales were killed annually between 1935 and 1965. The International Whaling Commission placed them under full protection in 1966. There are an estimated 40,000 fin whales in the Northern Hemisphere.

The whales are generally gray or brownish-black on the back with white undersides. They usually spend their winters in subtropical areas and migrate toward the poles in the summer, the ACS Web site said.

Straley said the fin whale is a challenge to study because it moves faster than a humpback and its behavior is harder for her to predict, but she said she would like to study the whale if it stays around Sitka.

"It's a novelty. It'd be really fun to study," she said.

Does whale watching pose a threat to orcas?
Rearchers studying whether all the attention could be a bad thing
The Associated Press, Sept. 20, 2004

Killer whales get the superstar treatment every summer off the Washington coast, where tourists fill up whale-watch boats to catch a glimpse of the majestic animals. Now, researchers are studying whether all the attention could be a bad thing.

University of Washington researcher David Bain, who has studied orcas for 20 years, and other scientists suspect boat noise might interfere with the orcas’ echolocation — the way they bounce sounds off objects to monitor their surroundings and find prey.

Bain is part of an international group of government-backed scientists working to learn why the local orca population has dropped to 83 from 98 in 1995.

Canadian scientists have already concluded that the northern resident orcas in British Columbia burn more energy when boats are present, so they must eat more to sustain themselves. If the same holds true for southern residents in Puget Sound, that would affect their survival, Bain said.

Washington’s killer whales — the southern resident population — typically spend summers chasing salmon in and around Haro Strait, the six-mile-wide passage between Vancouver, British Columbia, and the San Juan Islands. For years, their annual visit has drawn flotillas of commercial whale-watch boats from Washington and Canada.

Scientists believe marine traffic, human encroachment, faltering salmon runs and pollution are contributing to the orcas’ decline. It isn’t yet clear whether whale-watching is playing a role, but recent increases in the number of whale watchers, both on pleasure craft and commercial vessels, have heightened these concerns.

If research proves boat noise hurts the whales, Bain said, limits might be needed on hours, days or locations. But he added that the popularity of whale-watching also can help the cause of conservation.

“If whale-watch operators can get hundreds of thousands of people to rally behind whales, it can more than offset the impact they’re having,” he told The News Tribune of Tacoma.

Some activists already believe boats are detrimental to orcas.

“Protect Whales, Watch From Shore,” declares an 8-foot-long banner, one of several stretched along San Juan Island’s shore by the Orca Relief Citizens Alliance.

“Our point is: Watch whales. See what magnificent creatures they are. And do it in a safe way for the whales,” said group director Birgit Kriete.

The campaign infuriates some whale-watch tour operators. But Tom McMillen, who runs Salish Sea Charters, concedes there is sometimes a circus atmosphere on the water. He noted operators now subscribe to a paging service that tracks the animals.

“There’s no mystery. I know right where we’re going,” McMillen said one evening as he headed out to Haro Strait. “That’s neat, but it’s sad in a way. They (the whales) don’t get a break ever.”

Japan says whaling a right
September 17, 2004

Whaling is a Japanese right and some whale species are so abundant they are "rampant," posing a potential threat to the ecological balance of the oceans, a key Japanese fisheries official says.

"Eating whale is a key part of Japanese culture," said Masayuki Komatsu, a senior Fisheries Agency official and long-term delegate to the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

"There are so many robust whale stocks, such as minke whales, the sei whale, the Bryde's whale," Komatsu told a gathering of journalists and officials in Tokyo this week.

"Sperm whales are rampant. They may be around twice the number of minke whales," he added, noting that they had the potential to damage the ecological balance of the oceans in the future - an argument Japan frequently uses to justify whaling.

Japan believes endangered whales should be protected but that others, such as the minke, are in no danger of dying out and hunting within limits should be allowed.

Komatsu once famously called minke whales the "cockroaches of the sea".

"There are two characteristics. One is that there are so many of both of them," he explained this week. "And the reproduction rate for those two animals is very rapid. That's why I said a minke whale is like a cockroach."

Whale was a key protein source for an impoverished Japan in the dark days following World War Two, but with prices high and supplies low, it has become an expensive gourmet food.

Tokyo takes around 700 whales a year in what it calls scientific research whaling despite a 1986 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling, and the meat from these ends up on store shelves and the tables of speciality restaurants.

Komatsu said the IWC's charter itself permits scientific whaling, and that doing so is Japan's right.

Japan's die-hard pro-whaling stance has left it increasingly at odds with world opinion, even within the IWC.

Nowhere was this more true than at the group's July meeting, which ended with the rejection of a deadline of 2005 to agree on rules for a new whaling scheme, rules that could have spelled the end of the 18-year-old commercial whaling ban.

Fisheries officials say Tokyo is biding its time until next year's IWC meeting to see if progress can be made. Japan was so angered in 2003 that it said it might consider quitting.

Komatsu said that all options remain on the table, noting that ruling party officials are also "fed up" with the IWC.

"They already declared that some studies should be done on what would be the implications of the withdrawal of Japan," he said. "But we would not of course at this point decide."

Satellite helps track rare right whales in Bering Sea
ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 14, 2004

A satellite is helping scientists track two rare North Pacific right whales in the Bering Sea.

Scientists hope to find where Alaska's most critically endangered whales spend the winter.

Through Friday, one whale had already registered 31 locations on eight different days during a meandering journey toward deeper water.

The whale once returned to the same exact location after making a 100-mile round trip between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1. Perhaps the whale, thought to be nearly full grown, had returned to an especially promising site for a second helping of tiny crustaceans called copepods, scientists said.

"It's not that it's such a surprising thing that whales are doing that, but it's just so much fun to see a right whale doing it," said biologist Paul Wade, one of the project's leaders at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle. "It's very, very, very cool information."

Once thought to number 11,000 in the North Pacific, the docile, slow-swimming right whales were decimated by whalers because they were easy to harpoon.

Few were seen from 1900 to the 1990s. The whales were considered virtually extinct in Alaska.

Since 1996, a small number of right whales have been found foraging in the same area southwest of Bristol Bay each July and August. The first calf seen in half a century was reported there in 2002.

Finding out more about the whales could help people figure out what can be done to help them rebound.

The right whale tagging took place during a 40-day voyage by scientists also doing research into other whale species.

Coordinated by Wade of the National Marine Fisheries Service and biologist Mads Peter Heide-Joergensen of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in Copenhagen, Denmark, the $70,000 project involved nine researchers aboard the boat Alaska Enterprise.

With calm seas and clear skies, Wade and three other scientists motored alongside two "fat and healthy" whales in a 22-foot inflatable boat. Using a 26-foot-long pole, the crew implanted a 4.5-inch-long transmitter into the blubber on each whale's back.

Since then, the tags have periodically broadcast radio signals that satellites use to estimate the animals' location. While one whale's signal has not yet given clear locations because of a technical problem, the other whale has led scientists on a virtual tour.

"It will be tremendous if we can track these whales to their migratory destination," Wade said. "We have very little idea where these whales go in the winter, other than somewhere south, and we don't know what route they take."

Chilean sea bass populations in trouble; Environmental group tracks illegal fishing
The Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2004

Federal authorities along the West Coast have seized in recent weeks more than 600,000 pounds of suspected illegal Chilean sea bass, a $10 million haul that environmentalists say reflects a thriving black market trade in the delicate, tasty fish.

Illegally caught and often routed through more friendly foreign markets to disguise its origin or capture, the high-priced delicacy is a popular target for pirates in the South Pacific and Antarctic oceans. As a result, stocks are dwindling.

In a report released Tuesday, the National Environmental Trust blames regulation loopholes, sophisticated smuggling techniques and overburdened border enforcement for the illegal trade.

“There is no way for restaurants, grocery stores or consumers to know that their Chilean sea bass is legal, so we encourage Americans to continue to take a pass on it,” said Andrea Kavanagh, director of the trust’s sea bass report team.

Served up in restaurants as Chilean sea bass, the slow-growing, cold water fish is more properly known as Patagonian or Antarctic toothfish.

In reviewing seven months of detailed shipping industry data on U.S. imports of the toothfish, the environmental group found shipments of the frozen fillets often were mixed with other seafood, which makes it difficult to identify.

The National Environmental Trust said signatories to Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources must strengthen regulations limit imports to make poaching more difficult.

Andy Cohen, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration northeast enforcement office, said Monday that increased enforcement has taken a bite out of the illegal toothfish trade, but it remains a major problem.

There’s a good chance, he said, that restaurant customers ordering Chilean sea bass are eating illegal toothfish.

Great White Shark Gets Satellite Tracker
Fri Sep 24,

FALMOUTH, Mass. - Researchers put a satellite tracking device on a 15-foot shark that appeared to be lost in shallow water off Cape Cod, the first time a great white has been tagged that way in the Atlantic.

The device, attatched Thursday using a 6-foot spear, will let scientists monitor the animal, which has apparently spent days in a somewhat enclosed area in the Elizabeth Islands.

The shark was first spotted Tuesday, and officials hope it can return to open water on its own. Otherwise, researchers may try to drive it there, said Gregory Skomal, a shark specialist with the state's marine fisheries division.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Skomal told The Cape Cod Times for Friday's editions.

Great whites are common in deep waters south of Martha's Vineyard, but rarely venture so close to the mainland, though sightings have increased as the seal population has rebounded in recent years.

U.S. to seek great white shark protections
The Associated Press, Sept. 24, 2004

The United States will join with Australia and Madagascar in arguing that great white sharks need to be protected through new global trade restrictions.

The Bush administration supports protecting the sharks, which are listed as endangered in many parts of the world, said Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson.

It also is proposing to ease export restrictions on American bald eagles because their populations have dramatically improved in the lower 48 states, Manson said.

The sharks, which can grow to about two dozen feet in length, are slow to breed. Hunters have targeted them in the past, and fishermen may accidentally catch them in nets.

“People have a natural terror of ’Jaws,’ but great white sharks and many other plants and animals are the species that are truly threatened,” Manson said.

Nations meet in October
The bid to protect the sharks is among 50 proposals submitted to the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, based in Geneva. In October, the 166 nations that are part of CITES plan to meet in Bangkok, Thailand, for a biennial review of their worldwide list of endangered species.

The list is meant to offer protections to more than 5,000 species of animals and more than 28,000 species of plants.

Separately, the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, said Thursday the United States had spent more than $50 million on CITES-related protections from 1995 to 2003 — but data on such spending before that was unavailable.

Since 1975, when it first took effect, CITES has evolved from protecting some species “on the basis of very little field-collected data” to today putting “more emphasis on obtaining biological evidence of decline when identifying new species for protection,” the GAO said in a report requested by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee.

Shark fin soup demand
Manson said trade restrictions could help great white sharks “by helping regulate sustainable wildlife trade while working to curb poaching and shut down black markets.”

Trade in sharks is fueled by demand for meat, especially in Asia where shark fin soup is beloved. Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year. The great white shark is one of several hundred shark species.

Other proposals call for protecting southeast Asia’s Irrawaddy dolphin, the Mediterranean date mussel and the humphead wrasse, which is a Pacific reef fish.

Two years ago, CITES added the whale shark and the basking shark to its list.

Great white shark puts jaws on display in aquarium tank
September 16, 2004, San Francisco Chronicle

A young great white shark took a historic chomp out of a salmon fillet at Monterey Bay Aquarium on Wednesday, becoming the first of the fearsome and fascinating predators to eat in captivity outside the ocean.

News of the shark snack came as aquarium researchers were briefing reporters about the arrival Tuesday evening of the 4-foot-4-inch, 62-pound female in the million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit. The veteran scientists reacted with the thrill of proud parents as a throng of staffers cheered.

"Wow!" said Randy Hamilton, the aquarium's vice president for animal husbandry. "It doesn't get any better than that.''

Their reaction was a mixture of pride and relief, because all previous attempts to hold great whites in captivity have ended with swift starvation or release of the shark. The longest a great white has survived in an aquarium is 16 days.

Monterey aquarium officials say it's critical that they be able to study a shark in captivity, to unlock the mysteries of a powerful predator threatened with extinction and to counter the pop image of the great white as a monstrous eating machine.

"If we succeed in the long-term exhibit of a white shark, we can raise awareness about the threats they face and mobilize public support for white shark conservation,'' said Cynthia Vernon, head of the aquarium's conservation programs. "Given the way white sharks have been demonized in popular culture, a change in public attitude is critical if we want to assure their survival.''

No one was suggesting that great whites are cuddly creatures.

"This is the only shark species in California responsible for attacking human beings,'' said John McCosker, a senior scientist at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and a leading expert on great whites.

However, McCosker added, "What I have discovered in my career is that the more people understand about white sharks, the more they . . . demystify them, the more people's children demand that we protect these animals -- even though they are dangerous to deal with.

"There was a time when we started in this business when the only good shark was a dead shark,'' he said. Now, he added, researchers know that such predators are vital to "keeping the ocean in a much better, healthier state. Where the great whites have disappeared, the whole ecosystem has collapsed like a house of cards.''

Researchers hope the Monterey aquarium's great white will help them understand how sharks feed -- and possibly why they mistake surfers and divers for seals. "We'll understand their behavior and be able to more to predict what it is that makes them tick, so we're not on their menu,'' McCosker said.

For now, however, the aquarium's top priority is to ensure the immediate survival of the year-old great white -- aquarium officials aren't giving it a cutesy name -- which is the only one in captivity in the world.

For two years, aquarium researchers have been tagging young great whites with electronic monitors off Southern California in an effort to learn more about their behavior and breeding habits. The tagging yielded the surprising finding that some great whites -- long considered coastal homebodies -- journey thousands of miles from California to Hawaii.

In July 2003, Monterey researchers captured another small female and kept it in a large, netted pen off Malibu for five days, where they had the rare success of getting the shark to feed in captivity before it was released.

The shark now on exhibit in Monterey was accidentally netted by halibut fishermen off Huntington Beach (Orange County) on Aug. 20. It was transferred to the aquarium's ocean pen for three weeks until researchers were convinced it was feeding and healthy enough to be trucked north in a 3,000-gallon tank- on-wheels.

"The well-being of this animal is very, very important to us,'' said aquarium veterinarian Michael Murray, who told of pulling the truck over on the freeway to make sure the shark was OK. Even now, aquarium staffers are baby-sitting the shark around the clock.

Several researchers said Monterey scientist David Powell, who has been involved in four unsuccessful attempts to exhibit great whites over four decades, has hit upon a possible breakthrough for achieving their survival in captivity.

After the frustration of watching apparently healthy sharks refuse to feed, Powell decided that the creatures were being stressed by immediate transfer from accidental capture in a fishing net to an aquarium.

He came up with the idea of a halfway house for great whites, placing them in the ocean pen until they adapted and began feeding.

"Needless to say, I am really delighted with the result that we've got now,'' Powell said.

The young shark hardly seemed a fierce hunter Wednesday as it glided around the giant Outer Bay exhibit. When voracious, 300-pound bluefin tuna zoomed like torpedoes for squid dumped into the tank by staffers, the shark dived for the safety of the bottom.

Officials said they don't expect the shark to eat its fellow tank residents, because other varieties of shark in captivity tend to prefer already killed fish to hunting for themselves. On Wednesday, the great white scarfed nearly two pounds of salmon from a pole held by an aquarium staffer.

"It certainly isn't as frightening as the movies,'' said Robert Beck, a retired teacher visiting from Buffalo, N.Y. "She's just a baby.''
See the shark online

People can view live video of the Outer Bay exhibit from 7 a.m. to

7 p.m. atwww.montereybayaquarium.org.

CAPTURING GREAT WHITE SHARKS

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has put on display a young female great white shark. It wants to become the first aquarium to successfully exhibit a great white. Other attempts have ended in the death of the animal within weeks..

-- THE CAPTIVE SHARK

Female; 4-feet, 4-inches long; 62 pounds; 1 year old.

Caught in a commercial fishing net off Huntington Beach (Orange County).

Held in a 4 million gallon pen off Malibu since Aug. 20.

Currently in aquarium's million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit..

-- FACTS ABOUT THE GREAT WHITE

(Carcharodon carcharias)

Great whites live throughout the world in cool, coastal waters. In the eastern Pacific, they live from Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska. The Pacific "pupping area" is off Ventura County. In Northern California, they are sighted near the Farallon Islands; off Año Nuevo State Reserve in San Mateo County; and off Tomales Point and Bird Rock in Marin County.

The world’s largest predatory fish, the great white feeds on sea lions, seals, whales, sea otters and sea turtles.

Females give birth to two to 14 pups that are up to 5 feet long. The pups swim away from the mother immediately after birth.

Grow to as much as 21.5 feet and weigh up to 3 tons. Their skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bones. Females are larger than males.

Few in number and slow to reproduce, the great white is considered a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Can detect extremely faint electrical currents of the Earth’s magnetic field and of living creatures.

Can smell one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water. .

Sources: Robert Lea, California Department of Fish and Game; John McCosker, California Academy of Sciences; Monterey Bay Aquarium

Governor signs third bill to curb pollution from cruise ships
Associated Press

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday signed the third in a package of bills aimed at stopping cruise ships from polluting the air and water near the California coastline.

The bill by Assemblyman Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, will ban the release of sewage, both treated and untreated, into state waters. Bans on sewage dumping must be approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to take effect, unless the state Water Resources Control Board determines that an application to the EPA is not required.

Backed by environmentalists, the bill is opposed by the International Council for Cruise Lines, which represents about 80 percent of the industry.

Michael Crye, the council's president, said the new law ignores the new technology the industry uses to treat sewage. Those wastewater purification systems that "discharge water that is close to drinking water quality."

On Thursday, Schwarzenegger signed a bill by Assemblyman George Nakano, D-Torrance, that bans the discharge of "gray water" from cruise ship kitchens, laundries and showers into state waters, which extend three miles from shore. He also signed a second Simitian bill that prohibits luxury liners from burning garbage in on-board incinerators while they are in state waters. Both are scheduled to go into effect on Jan 1.

The new California laws go beyond federal law, which prohibits cruise ships from dumping untreated sewage in state waters, but allows the discharge of treated sewage and gray water anywhere, including ports and harbors.

In April this year, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Sam Farr, D-Monterey, introduced the federal Clean Cruise Ship Act, which would ban discharges by cruise ships within 12 miles of the coast. The cruise industry opposes the legislation.

Alaska has some of the nation's strictest cruise ship pollution laws, allowing the discharge of sewage and gray water only if the effluent meets state standards. Maine adopted similar legislation earlier this year.

In some states, such as Florida, Hawaii and Washington, cruise companies sign agreements promising not to discharge waste into state waters, but environmental groups say such agreements can't be enforced.

Calls to regulate cruise ships have been fueled by the rapid expansion of an industry that operates largely outside national borders. The industry has grown by about 12 percent annually for the past three years, and generated more than $25 billion in "total U.S. economic impact" in 2003, according to the ICCL.

Cruise ship stops have increased by 50 percent in California over the past two years, and about 45 ships are expected to make more than 600 port calls this year, according to the Bluewater Network, which sponsored the bills.

The latest push to regulate the industry in California began after a luxury liner several miles off shore dumped about 36,000 gallons of sewage and other wastewater into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in October 2002.

The dumping, which wasn't reported for five months, outraged the city of Monterey and prompted a ban on ships run by Crystal Cruises from its harbor.

Seismic surveys may kill giant squid
22 September 04, NewScientist.com news service

One of the oceans’ most mysterious animals, the giant squid, may be being killed by human noises. Unusually high numbers of dead giant squid, washed up on Spanish shores, have led scientists to believe that loud, low-frequency sounds made by oil companies charting the sea bed are killing the creatures.

Fear of damage to marine mammals has resulted in restrictions on low-frequency marine noise in the US, and awareness of the issue in Europe is growing. NATO exercises with high-intensity sonar in 2002 were charged with harming beaked whales in the Canary Islands. Norway rejected demands by environmentalists to limit seismic surveys off the Lofoten Islands in 2003.

Now the giant squid has joined the list of potential victims. The animals grow up to 20 metres in length and are found in deep, cold waters worldwide. Little more is known about them as efforts to observe them in their native habitat have failed, and scientists recorded only dead, stranded specimens.

Normally, only one giant squid per year is found along the coast of Spain, says Angel Guerra of the Institute for Marine Investigations in Vigo, Spain.

Oil and gas

But in the autumn of 2001, five were found stranded ashore or floating dead at sea, along Spain’s northern coast on the Bay of Biscay. In 2003, another four were found.

On both occasions, Guerra told New Scientist, geologists were conducting offshore seismic surveys nearby for oil and gas that same week, firing 200 decibel pulses of sound below 100 Hertz from an array of 10 air guns. The reflections of such pulses by different geological strata can reveal the structure and potential mineral composition of the seabed.

The nine dead giants included immature and maturing females, and two males - the first ever found in Spain. They were up to 12 metres long, with weights up to 140 kilograms. None had signs of surface damage but all had internal injuries.

In two squid the damage was extensive, with stomachs and hearts ripped open and muscles disintegrated. “Some organs were unrecognisable,” says Guerra.

Badly damaged ears

And all the squid had badly damaged ears. Guerra thinks this might have disoriented the giant animals and made them swim to the surface, where they suffocated, as water temperatures there are too warm for the oxygen-carrying molecules in their blood to function. He suspects that in squid with massive internal damage, the blast caused dissolved gases in their tissues to form bubbles, such as those produced by shaking a fizzy drink.

“No one has ever seen this before in giant squid,” says Guerra, who fears there might be many more victims.

Local fishermen also reported seeing large numbers of dead fish floating at sea during the surveys. These were the first seismic surveys in the area, but Guerra says the surveyors, led by geologists from the University of Orviedo and affiliated with the Spanish oil company Repsol, plan to continue in 2005.

Guerra, in his address to the Annual Science Conference of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which is being held in Vigo, Spain, said he wants a discussion in the region first about how, and if, seismic surveys at sea should be done, in light of this new evidence.

Plan to protect oceans goes to Bush
The Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2004

A presidential commission's report on protecting oceans was on its way to President Bush after it was modified to allay governors' concerns about oil drilling off their coastlines.

In its final report Monday, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy included language to clarify that the recommended Ocean Policy Trust Fund would not be used to change current government policy on offshore drilling. If created, the fund would use up to $4 billion in annual offshore oil and gas royalties to safeguard oceans and coastal areas.

“The sole intent of the trust fund is to ensure a dedicated source of funding for improved ocean and coastal management, including the sustainability of renewable resources,” the report said. “It is not intended to either promote or discourage offshore uses authorized under existing laws, and the fund itself would not drive activities in offshore waters.”

The change was one of a few minor modifications to a draft report the commission issued in April. It was included after several governors, including Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Democrat John Baldacci of Maine, expressed fears that drawing on federal royalties from offshore gas exploration could create incentives for more drilling and pumping.

One study found that, in the past two decades, the world’s fishing nations have so excessively increased their efforts that global fishing capacity in the traditional fisheries is estimated to be 30 percent greater than required to take the world catch. In the United States, it has been estimated that about one-third of all the fisheries for which sufficient data exist are overfished.

Schwarzenegger against oil 'incentives'
“I support the establishment of an Ocean Policy Trust Fund as well as a thorough evaluation of all available funding sources and partnership opportunities,” Schwarzenegger wrote to the commission. The letter insisted, however, that “no incentives for additional offshore oil and gas development be created through the use of funds from these revenue sources.”

The proposal for an Ocean Policy Trust Fund is among 212 recommendations the commission made in its 610-page final report, the first federal review of ocean policy in 35 years. By law, President Bush now has 90 days to respond to the recommendations.

The 16-member commission’s chairman, retired Navy admiral and former Energy Secretary James Watkins, held a press conference Monday with Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, D-S.C., to urge the Bush administration to act.

“The oceans are saying, ‘We’ve had it, human beings. Give us a break,'” Watkins said. “We need to treat it today or in 2010 we aren’t going to be able to recover.”

Watkins delivered the report earlier to administration officials, who welcomed its recommendations in a conference call with reporters. James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the administration strongly supports the commission and will move quickly to respond.

Asked about the trust fund proposal, Connaughton said, “There are numerous competing proposals for those revenues as well, so we’ll have to take a close look at that.”

A coalition of conservation and government scientists put together a list reflecting the types of marine species lost over the years -- as well as those on the brink. They note that although extinctions are natural, the rate has increased dramatically in recent times, primarily due to human activity. Click on a category for examples of what's at stake.

Action in Congress
Lawmakers have already introduced bills enshrining various commission recommendations. A Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the report was set for Tuesday. Also on the agenda was legislation by Hollings that seeks to establish a new national ocean policy and turn the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into an independent agency separate from the Commerce Department. The co-chairmen of the bipartisan House Oceans Caucus also have introduced a broad bill to improve oceans management that includes many of the commission’s recommendations.

INTERACTIVE
The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy spent 2_ years studying coastal areas, the Great Lakes and 4.4 million square miles of ocean. It issued a grim assessment, pointing to rising sea temperatures that spread viruses and kill reefs; contaminated seafood; and pollution from urban and farm runoffs that causes algae blooms harmful to ocean life.

Among recommendations were to create a new Cabinet-level National Ocean Council, reform the management of domestic fisheries, give coastal commissions and other local government bodies more authority over growth and double the budget for ocean research.

The commission estimated the cost of its recommendations at $1.3 billion the first year, $2.4 billion the second year and $3.2 billion annually after that.

The proposed trust fund would draw on $5 billion annually in royalties and leases that now goes to the Treasury from offshore oil and gas drilling. The commission wants to use $4 billion of that; the other $1 billion already is directed to specific purposes. The commission also recommended tapping revenues from any new offshore activities, such as wind energy projects.

Recommendations from the last ocean commission report in 1969 led to the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970 and coastal zone and fishery management laws in 1976.

The full report is online atwww.oceancommission.gov/documents/welcome.html.

Surfer Takes Brief Ride on Whale
Sep 30, Associated Press

A surfer says the swell he was riding on a recent trip turned out to be more than just a wave — it was a whale.

Spyros Vamvas, a 60-year-old San Clemente therapist, felt the ocean swirl under him and was lifted up by the giant mammal.

"All of a sudden I just felt, wow, this huge noise and bump," said Vamvas, "and it lifted my board up. I'm looking down, and there's just swirling water and I see barnacles on the back of the whale. I'm used to dolphins. This was different. It was huge."

Witnesses at Lasuen Beach on Monday morning began yelling.

"We were all screaming, `Oh my God!'" said Mona Ferner, who was playing volleyball with her sister when she spied the whale.

Vamvas had no idea how big the whale was. Others on the beach guessed between 15 feet to 30 feet long, meaning the whale was likely a juvenile.

Vamvas, who has been surfing since he was 12, said the whale lifted him gently. "I never changed position on my board," he said.

Those who saw the incident said that after setting Vamvas back onto the water, the whale turned and headed out toward the open sea.

"It looked like the whale was obviously spooked," said Marine Safety Capt. Bill Humphreys, one of several lifeguards on the beach.

The sight of the whale scared a number of surfers out of the water, Humphreys said. Vamvas was the only one left in the surf line as the whale approached. Witnesses said he was looking out to sea in search of a wave and didn't appear to see the animal heading his way.

Vamvas said that his 6-foot, 10-inch surfboard wasn't damaged, though he did pinch the middle finger of his left hand between the whale and his surfboard.