Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for January 2008

Hollow Victory for the Humane Society against Japanese Whaling

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The Humane Society International brought an action against Japanese whalers in Australia’s Federal Court for breaking the law by killing whales in Australia’s southern whale sanctuary.

On January 15, Justice James Allsop ruled that the Japanese whaling fleet controlled by Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd has broken Australian law in particular by contravening the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999, and issued an injunction against continued whaling. **

Australia has jurisdiction in the exclusive economic zone attached to the Antarctic territories, but the Judge noted that Japan does not recognise Australia’s Antarctic claim.

In fact most countries do not recognise the Australian Antarctic claim so there is no practical way for the order to be enforced.

A spokesman for the Fisheries Agency of Japan, Mr Hideki Moronuki, told the ABC he is not in a position to comment on the ruling because Australia’s claim to Antarctic waters is not recognised by the international community. He says the case is a domestic matter for Australia.

Graham Young has suggested that,

“If there is no way that the order can be enforced, why waste money seeking it in the first place? Australia will not take action against the Japanese under this order because that would be an act of war, not under Australian law, but according to the law of most other countries in the world. It has a lot of things in common with the Iraq war in that respect. But in refusing to take action against the Japanese it will weaken our ability to take action against anyone else in those waters for any other environmental abuses.”

The blog post, dated January 15 is aptly entitled ‘Whaling Illusion Stripped Bare’.

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** Humane Society International Inc v Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd [2008] FCA 3

1. THE COURT DECLARES that the respondent has killed, injured, taken and interfered with Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and injured, taken and interfered with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229, 229A, 229B and 229C of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), (the “Act”), and has treated and possessed such whales killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229D and 230 of the Act, without permission or authorisation under sections 231, 232 or 238 of the Act.

2. THE COURT ORDERS that the respondent be restrained from killing, injuring, taking or interfering with any Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, or treating or possessing any such whale killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, unless permitted or authorised under sections 231, 232 or 238 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

Read more here http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2008/3.html

It’s Summer in the Southern Hemisphere – Time to Wheel Out the Melting Antarctic Ice Scare

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Yes, it’s summmer in the Southern Hemisphere again. Last year I complained to the UK’s ITN News about a series of climate alarmist reports including one showing glaciers melting in the Antarctic, without mentioning the ‘S’ word. 2007 was the year that Antarctic Sea Ice reached a record high since satellite measurements began, around 1979. Yes, I know that Arctic Sea Ice was at a record low and I have blogged about several peer reviewed papers that cite unusual natural contributory factors to the record low (since satellite measurements began).

Anyway, back to the Antarctic. There are reports that the ice sheet is shrinking at a faster rate, based on research led by Eric Rignot, of the Radar Science and Engineering Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Dr. Rignot attributed the shrinkage in the ice sheet to an upwelling of warm waters along the Antarctic coast, which is causing some glaciers to flow more rapidly into the ocean. Of course, this must be due to global warming, which must be caused by man. Meanwhile, mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere Ice extent remains well (one million square kilometers) above the 28 year average and an impressive 3 million square kilometers above last year at this time!

There is clearly a lot of year to year variability in the record but the demise of the Antarctic icecap seems to be anything but imminent. Most of the warming and melt in recent years has been in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula, a small portion of the Antarctic which reaches above the Antarctic Circle and is a choke-point for the circumpolar ocean currents, and is more susceptible to variations. There’s also an active subsea volcano in the area, perhaps leading to the warm water upwelling in the study. Who knows!?

Thanks to Joseph D’Aleo of ICECAP NSIDC graphs for southern hemispheric ice extent are here and here.

South Koreans Eat Illegal Whale Meat: A Note from Libby Eyre

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An illegal whale meat operation was recently exposed in South Korea seizing over 50 tonnes of minke whale meat. Accidentally caught cetaceans can be legally sold in South Korean restaurants (located in Ulsan, Busan and Pohang) as long as this death is reported to the Maritime Police.

South Korea is a migratory corridor for a number of cetacean species, including the highly endangered Western Gray Whale. Only about 121 individuals survive, with entanglement and other anthropogenic threats undermining their comeback from over-exploitation during commercial whaling days. Local populations of species also exist around the Peninsula, such as the tiny finless porpoise.

The marine mammal by-catch problem has been labelled “marine bushmeat” (1), and presents many of the same issues as terrestrial bushmeat, including loss of biodiversity and threatening endangered populations. In a recent paper (2), researchers used techniques to identify the species and origins of cetacean meat sold in South Korean markets. A total of 289 minke whale samples were obtained during 12 surveys of South Korean markets from 1999-2003. Mitochondrial haplotype, sex and microsatellite-based genotyping was used, revealing products originated from 205 individuals. A capture-recapture technique then estimated that 827 minkes passed through the markets during this 5-year period. This number is somewhat larger than the 458 South Korea reported to the IWC for the same period. This technique also provided an estimate of the “half-life” of market products on sale during the survey (about 1.8 months), illustrating that markets should be monitored regularly for accurate results to be obtained.

When the figure of 827 South Korean J-Stock minkes is added to the reported Japanese incidental take of 390 from the Sea of Japan during 1999-2003 (assuming no under-reporting), over 1,200 whales were taken from this protected stock during this period (3). Some models suggest the minke J-stock cannot sustain this rate of loss. In fact previous research has suggested that in order to avoid further depletion, an annual loss of less than 50 J-stock minkes is required, and for the stock to recover, “incidental or illegal directed takes must be reduced to levels approaching zero” (4). The results of this 2000 model were originally rejected by Japan and South Korea as being “implausibly high”, but it now appears the model relied on under-reporting of South Korean by-catch and must be rejected as “implausibly low”.

Minke whales are frequently cited as being anything other than endangered, but genetically distinct populations of minkes are recognised. The J-stock is found in Korea’s East Sea. Due to declining catch per unit effort, in 1983 the IWC Scientific Committee concluded that the J-stock was depleted and should be classified as a protected stock. In the light of past commercial hunting, ongoing by-catch and low abundance estimates from recent surveys, the Committee has repeatedly expressed concern for the further depletion or even extinction of this stock. This stock may also make up some of the 100 minkes killed annually in Japan’s JARPN II hunt.

In 2005, a ‘whale treatment facility’ planned by the Ulsan Metropolitan City, was to provide a “check point for dealing with whale carcasses in an environmentally-friendly and sanitary manner” (Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, 2005). South Korea’s policies are “designed to promote the rational and scientific conservation and sustainable use of whales and dolphins” (MOMAF, 2005), but with a mooted whale meat processing factory, no mitigation measures to reduce by-catch levels and an adult minke fetching an estimated US $100, 000, the incentive is to increase rather than reduce cetacean by-catch in these waters. The legal sale of such incidental catch may also provide the cover for directed illegal hunting and even intentional net whaling.

Japan views market monitoring as outside the IWC’s jurisdiction, but inspection procedures and sustainable stocks are required under the Revised Management Scheme before commercial whaling is to resume. Clapham and Van Waerebeek (2007) write “Market monitoring may be the only way to assess the full toll of by-catch, poaching and legal whaling.” Japan and Norway have DNA registries for material from legally killed whales, but have “resisted independent international oversight of these databases.”

Molecular analysis can provide tools for assessing the extent of illegal trade in animals, but it can also highlight genetically-isolated and unique populations. As Palumbi (2007) writes: “The larger oceanic population might be able to sustain a catch of 200 animals a year, but the structure of the whale population is sometimes so local that small and isolated populations such as the J-stock cannot support a loss rate that may seem minor on the whole-ocean scale”.

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Many thanks to Jennifer and Ann for providing the links.

(1) Clapham, P and Van Waerebeek, K. (2007) Bushmeat and Bycatch: the sum of parts. Molecular Ecology, 16, 2607-2609.

(2) Baker, C. S. et al. (2007) Estimating the number of whales entering trade using DNA profiling and capture-recapture analysis of market products. Molecular Ecology, 16, 2617-2626.

(3) Palumbi, S. (2007) In the market for minke whales. Nature. Vol 447, 267-268.

(4) Baker, C. S. et al (2000) Predicted decline of protected whales based on molecular genetic monitoring of Japanese and Korean markets. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 267, 1191-1199.

Pictures of Pirates Taken into Custody by Whalers

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Two crew of the Sea Shepherd who illegally boarded the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No. 2 in the Antarctic have been captured. According to the Director General of the Institute of Cetacean Research, Mr Minoru Morimoto, Ben Potts and Giles Lane (both of the Sea Shepherd) attempted to entangle the screw of the vessel using ropes and threw bottles of acid onto the decks before boarding.

BEN POTTS Sea Shepherd.JPG
Ben Potts

GILES LANE Sea Shepherd.JPG
Giles Lane

“Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue,” Mr Morimoto said. “It is illegal to board another country’s vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future.”

SS Acid Bottles smashed on deck.JPG
Acid Bottle Smashed on Deck

SS Acid Bottles.JPG
Acid Bottle Thrown by Pirates

Global Warming Hysteria in The West Australian: A Note from Roger Underwood

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Over the last 6 months, readers of The West Australian newspaper have been subjected to a barrage of hysteria over global warming. Very bad news stories of one kind or another are published almost every day, all with the common theme that civilisation as we know it is about to be destroyed.

Some of these stories are simply laughable, like the article asserting that a rise in temperature of 1-2 degrees will result in the extinction of the karri forest. Another reported that rising sea levels (caused by global warming) will, amongst other calamities, lead to a killer increase in salinity in the Swan River. Many readers were surprised by this, since the Swan River is a tidal estuary in its lower reaches, and is fed by the salt-laden Avon River in its upper reaches.

Day after day The West Australian delivers stories unequivocally foretelling the melting of ice caps and glaciers, death of forests, disease outbreaks, the collapse of agriculture, social disruption, loss of coastal communities and beaches, catastrophic storms, floods, droughts and bushfires. All of this is based on an unquestioning acceptance of the theory that human-induced CO2 emissions are causing the world to heat up, and an unquestioning belief in the link between projected warming and ghastly consequences.

I am curious about this lack of editorial scepticism. When it comes to reporting politics or community issues, journalists generally pride themselves on pricking sacred balloons, cutting down tall poppies, exposing spin and highlighting hidden agendas, in short doing what journalists do. The West Australian is quite good in this area, even if their judgement is not always infallible. They have not been afraid to attack government Ministers or powerful Union bosses or to probe politically-incorrect issues, such as alcoholism and education in Indigenous communities. But on global warming their stance is one of uncritical acceptance of Worst Case Scenarios. The whole package of political game-playing and agenda-driven alarmism is taken at face value and delivered on to readers as if the newspaper was a propaganda pamphlet, rather than a mature organ of the Australian media.
It is not just The West Australian. ABC current affairs journalists to a man and woman are also promoters of Global Warming Apocalypse. A good example was the recent segment on The 7.30 Report which suggested that a slight projected increase in temperature would result in a regime of completely unstoppable bushfires. This proposition was put to the gullible journalist by a climatologist and an environmental activist, neither of whom had any experience in bushfire science or management. No one with this knowledge or experience was interviewed.

And just before the Global Warming True Believers launch their barbs at me, I assure them that I accept the idea of climate change – the climate is always changing. I am also concerned about air pollution from industry and vehicles. However, I regard as unproven the theory of ‘accelerated global warming” as a result of human CO2 emissions. And I consider the worst-case scenarios uncritically presented as fact by journalists to be unhelpful to a community struggling to make sense of a complex issue.

There are risks associated with constant promotion of Worst Case Scenarios. The first is that people will start to shrug their shoulders, feeling that the whole situation is beyond hope: the planet is doomed, so we might as well live for the minute. This leads to the second risk: doomsday projections becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
The one-sided reporting of the global warming debate is perhaps explained by the fact that journalists are frightened of presenting both sides of the global warming story. They do not want to alienate those powerful sections of the community who will attack them if they do, i.e. environmentalists, academics and business interests profiting from global warming alarm. Alternatively we are just seeing another example of the professional immaturity of the Australian media. I have observed that they have always regarded dramatic disasters and fearsome calamities as more newsworthy than everyday life or good citizenship. Thus trees being chainsawed to the accompaniment of wailing protesters is a far “better” story than a forest quietly regrowing under the stewardship of dedicated foresters. I can see no solution to this.

Roger Underwood
Perth, Western Australia

PS: I sent a copy of this article to the Editor of The West asking for any comments before I posted it on this blog. He did not reply. However, a week later a short article appeared with the first positive comment about global warming I have ever seen in this newspaper. The journalist reported the view of a marine scientist that global warming would lead to extensive new coral reefs forming all along the Western Australian coast, perhaps as far south as Perth. That will be nice.

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In September 14, 2006, I posted a piece entitled ‘Déjà Vu on the ABC’ by Roger Underwood which went on to win a place in the On Line Opinion best blogs competition for that year. This article is also about inaccurate and misleading media reporting of an environmental issue. Read more here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001633.html.

The Arctic Fox

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“Within the European Union, six species have been classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The most threatened category includes the Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) and the European mink, which both have very small and declining populations. Only 150 Iberian Lynx survive today and the Mediterranean monk seal population has decreased to between 350-450 individuals.”

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Photograph of an Arctic Fox courtesy of Denis-Carl Robidaux via Ann Novek

“The Arctic fox has evolved to live in the most frigid extremes on the planet. Among its adaptations for cold survival are its deep, thick fur, a system of countercurrent heat exchange in the circulation of paws to retain core temperature, and a good supply of body fat. The fox has a low surface-area-to-volume ratio as evidenced by its generally rounded body shape, short muzzle and legs, and short, thick ears. Since less of its surface area is exposed to the cold, less heat escapes the body. Its furry paws allow it to walk on ice floors in search of food. It is also able to walk on top of snow and listen for the movements of prey underneath. Their thick fur is the warmest of any mammal.”

In Scandinavia there are only about 120 arctic foxes left. There is a project in Sweden, to help save the foxes, including additional feeding and hunting red foxes that are a threat to Arctic foxes (the red foxes are out competing the arctic foxes). The Arctic fox eat lemmings, Arctic hares and in some areas left-overs from polar bears.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden