Plants and Animals

Scientists have found that Antarctic waters harbour sea-creatures of startling proportions, with giant-sized specimens surprising researchers during a major survey of New Zealand’s Antarctic seas that ended this week.

Huge sea snails, jellyfish with tentacles up to 4 metres long and starfish the size of large dinner plates were some of the species found during research vessel Tangaroa’s 50-day, 2,000-mile voyage in the Ross Sea, New Zealand marine scientist Don Robertson said.

“I would say there will be hundreds” of previously unknown organisms and “a lot of new species” among the 30,000 specimens collected, Robertson said.

Excerpt from the Telegraph article: ‘Giant sea creatures found in Antarctic’

If an animal is maintained in long – term care accomodation, the animal must be given access to a pool.

Careful monitoring is required when first given access to a pool to ensure that the bird is not becoming waterlogged and drowned.

Pools should provide an easy exit from the water, e.g. long sheets of rubber malling draped into the pool and a ramp.

These young orphaned gulls on the photograph were succesfully released. However, one was found 1 year later dead on an air port in southern Sweden ( collision with a plane) 300 – 400 km away from us.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden

Norwegian fisheries paper, Fiskeribladet, stated on March 13th, with the headline “ Scaling down whale purchase,” that Norway’s largest whale meat processing factory, Ellingsens, will scale down its purchase of whale meat.

The owner, Ulf Ellingsen stated, “Maybe we will buy whale meat, maybe not, but anyway it will be much less than previous years.”

Ellingsens factory runs mainly selling salmon. According to the paper, they are concerned that the whale hunt will finally die out, with fewer actors in every field.

“Whaling is in a downward spiral,” said the owner.

BBC stated on March 13th “Iceland whaling go-ahead likely.”

The Icelandic Minke Whalers Head said to BBC that the whaling industry is asking for a quota of about 100 minkes and some Fin whales.

Excerpt from BBC:

Stefan Asmundsson, a senior official in Iceland’s fisheries ministry and its commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), confirmed that the hunt was likely to go ahead.

“We are not expecting any big quotas, but we are likely to see in the relatively near future some quotas for minke whales.”

The Fisheries Minister is likely to make the final announcement within a month.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden

Mid-frequency sonar signals linked to new pathologic entity in cetaceans.

An ongoing battle has been fought between environmental NGOs , mainly NRDC , and the US Navy for more than a decade.

The first rumours re the harmful impact of LFA ( Low –frequency Active) sonar on marine mammals, began already in 1994 , when NRDC investigated sound experiments off California coast. Even 300 miles from the source , these sonic waves have an intensity of 140 decibels , and some mid –frequency sonar systems can put over 235 decibels , as loud as a Saturn V rocket at launch.

The use of deadly sonar in the world’s oceans is spreading. The US Navy states ,the sonar is needed to detect hostile diesel –electric submarines from China, Iran and North Korea and other potential hostile countries.

In late January 2008, a dead Northern Right Whale Dolphin washed ashore off California , and this death was linked to ongoing naval exercises.

Sonar possible cause in death of rare dolphin

“ The lesions that we have seen to date are consistent to what has been found in the Canary Islands and the Bahamas”, said lead veterinarian , Rowles , with the National Oceanic and Athmospheric Administration.

“Scientists in the journal Nature theorized that these deep-diving whales might have panicked and bolted to the surface, causing decompression sickness, similar to the “bends” or air embolisms that can affect human divers. The problem arises when gas bubbles, compressed under the pressure of depth, expand rapidly and tear delicate tissues”

Excerpt from Nature : “ Macroscopically, whales had severe , diffuse congestions and hemorrhage , especially around the acoustic jaw fat , ears , brain , and kidneys . “

Vetinary Pathology:

“Gas and Fat Embolic Syndrome” Involving a Mass Stranding of Beaked Whales (Family Ziphiidae) Exposed to Anthropogenic Sonar Signals

Severely injured whales stranded and died due to cardiovascular collapse.

Another useful link :

LA Times: Dolphin dies near sonar site

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden

1) As we already have heard countless times, whaling nations have blamed the whales for depleting fish stocks.

The Icelandic Minke Whaler’s Association states on their website dramatically with the headline, Whales or Life! on 21.02.2008. The following statement can be read (a rough translation):

Minke whales or life!

Now when the size of the cod stock is reduced, and when the capelin fishing is cancelled , one must start to look more closely what impact the minke whale feeding habits have here around Iceland.

According to the Marine Research Institute’s website:

the minkes consume 2 million tons of food each year. Of this, krill accounts for 37%, capelin 23%, cod 6 % and sandeel 33%.

During a NAMMCO meeting, that was held in Iceland 2005, facts were presented , that made one believe that the size/proportion of cod in the minke whale diet was larger than previously believed.

This is also in accordance with the samples of stomach content in minkes, which have been carried out during the last years.

Anyway , it’s certain, that the minkes have a big impact on the fish stocks and the marine ecosystem, now and in the future.

Last autumn the scientific hunt ended. Next spring, the whalers estimate to use maxim um 3 whaling ships for the hunt.

2) More problems for critically endangered Northern Right Whales in US waters:

Damaging delay to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale

We discussed the fate of the North Atlantic Right Whale back at the thread :

https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001741.html#comments

One would have guessed that the situation would have improved for this species radically one year later, since the loss of even one right whale per year could mean to push the species towards extinction. According to WDCS, at least nine right whales have died since 2004 through vessel strikes.

“A damaging year-long delay to release vessel speed rules is impacting the survival chances of critically endangered right whales off the East coast of the USA. “ :

According to IFAW, an estimated 4 Right Whales are killed by ships annually.

“One year ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approved a policy requiring ships to slow to 10 knots in whale populated waters, a speed which has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of injury and death to whales. Unfortunately, White House politics and the shipping industry have blocked this policy from becoming law”

Even if much money and resources have been poured into saving the North Atlantic Right Whales, mighty shipping and fishing interests seem to take overhand as usual when trying to protect a critically endangered species .

3) Another critically endangered whales, the Western Gray Whales ( Okhotsk –Korean Whales), are threatened by oil contamination : Oil in the diet of Sahkalin Whales.

4) Excellent BBC reporter, Richard Black, writes article, “ Small signs of whaling compromise” from a seminar in Tokyo organised by the Pew Charitable Trust. Excerpt from the article:

“There were hints from Japanese officials that a further downsizing of the Antarctic hunt might, perhaps, be offered one day.”

“Ending the whaling standoff will not be as easy as some in Tokyo suggested; for many people, it is anything but a trivial issue, more emotive than climate change, and a more potent indicator of the human attitude to nature than the global loss of biodiversity.”

This Arctic Buzzard, also known as a Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus), was found with a broken wing but rehabilited successfully.

It’s a bird of prey with a diet consisting mostly of mice, lemmings and young rabbits. The breeding range is very northern, described as holarctic, and migrates southwards in the autumn.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
In Sweden