Plants and Animals

The Yangtze River dolphin is considered functionally extinct. The species of freshwater dolphin, also known as the baiji, had not been sighted since September 2004 despite extensive surveys.

On August 19, 2007 a large white animal was filmed in the Yangtze close to Tongling city in Anhui Province.

The international media has reported:

Wang Kexiong, of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said experts at the institute had confirmed the footage was of a baiji.

But according to the baiji.org Foundaton website:

Wang Ding from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan, commented on the film he could not give a 100 percent confirmation since the video was of poor quality and taken from a distance of about 1000 metres away.

Scientists of the Institute of Hydrobiology are organising a small survey in the area where the film was taken.
The baiji.org Foundation is co-organizing another survey of the Yantzee River for 2008 .

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You can read about efforts to save the baiji here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001498.html
I have written about the loss of the baiji for the IPA Review: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/data/Baiji_%20MAROHASY.pdf

Nearly one year after Iceland resumed commercial whaling, the country has decided to not issue new whale hunting quotas until market demand increases and gets an export license from Japan.

“Iceland’s fisheries minister, Einar K. Guofinnsson, told Reuters this week it made no sense to issue new quotas when the present quota period expires on August 31 if the market for whale meat was not strong enough.

“The whaling industry, like any other industry, has to obey the market. If there is no profitability there is no foundation for resuming with the killing of whales,” he said.”

Iceland has only killed 7 minke whales and 7 fin whales in the commercial hunt out of a quota of 30 minkes and 9 fin whales due to low market demand.

Stefan Asmundsson, an official at the Ministry of Fisheries , stated that negotiations with Japan were ongoing.

“We are talking to the Japanese government but so far we have not reached a conclusion on how best to secure the health and quality of the products,” he said. “Hopefully this will clear up soon as the uncertainty is not good for anybody.”

According to Icelandic authorities much is about food safety and Greenpeace stated on its website “ that whalers have not made the whale test results public.”

Whalers are very unhappy with the Governments decision to not issue out new whaling quotas and the Icelancic Minke Whalers Association’s Head made the comment : “ How are we supposed to find markets if we don’t have a product? “.

It must also be pointed out that Iceland will continue with its scientific whaling program.

This unwillingness from Japan’s side to not buy North Atlanic whales , probably due to contamination, makes one wonder if this is one of the reasons why Japan , according to a recent statement from officials in the African state, San Tome, wants to open up commercial whaling there?

“Japan has presented proposals to Sao Tome’s fisheries authorities aimed to open the archipelago’s territorial waters to Japanese commercial whaling,” officials said.

Sao Tome’s fisheries’ minister, Cristina Dias, said Wednesday that she considered the Japanese proposals “interesting”, noting that before Sao Tome gives approval for this type of fishing it would carry out economic and environmental studies and also sign up to an international convention on whaling.”

“Besides discussing financial compensation for whale fishing in its waters, Sao Tome would also discuss job creation prospects related to the whaling proposals with the Japanese authorities,” added the minister

“Japan made US$ 6.9 million available to Sao Tome less than a month ago for fisheries development as part of Tokyo’s bilateral cooperation with the islands.”

Anti whaling nations often accuse Japan of “vote-buying” and taking advantage of the vulnerability of small developing states to consolidate its position within the International Whaling Commission ( IWC).

Ann Novek
Sweden

Why would a fungus want or need to create light? According to the Wet Tropics Management Authority, no one knows why many species use bioluminescence, but across its incredible evolutionary history, in circumstances of such windlessness, the fungi would appear to have adapted through mimicry of the flightless, female firefly. The fungus emits an indistinguishable light from an identical chemical reaction to lure the male firefly into making contact, who then carries the spores throughout the forest on his journey ahead.

Why is the flower of the bottlebrush orchid (Dendrobium smilliae) so attractive to green tree ants (Oecophilla smaragdina)?

In an ABC news article by Dani Cooper, Anne Gaskett (a PhD student from Macquarie University in Sydney) offers some interesting insight:

Ms Gaskett used a spectrometer to analyse the colours of a female wasp of the species whose males pollinate five species of native tongue orchid.

Taking into account factors including the background colour, ambient light and colour range of the male wasp’s receptors, she found the orchid replicates almost exactly the colours of the female orchid dupe wasp. She has also found ‘hidden shapes’ that feel like a female wasp to the male, including ‘love handles’ the male wasp grip onto while mating.

Perhaps the prominent dark-green glossy aspects of the bottlebrush orchid present an irresistible abdominal similarity to the ants.

In a recent whaling thread Andy Ottaway, director of the anti-whaling NGO, Campaign Whale, wrote “If whaling can’t be conducted humanely , it should not be conducted at all”.

There is a real unwillingness to address the issue of aboriginal whale killing methods including by NGOs and the International Whaling Commission.

Now the National Geographic Magazine has featured the Inuit narwhal hunt in Arctic Bay, Canada, and the significant associated problems.

This has elicited a negative response from the hunters and a ban on the filming of whale hunts in Arctic Bay.

Philippa Brakes from The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has commented:

““It is shocking and disappointing that an article published in National Geographic about the significant problems associated with this narwhal hunt, has elicited such a negative response from these hunters. Rather than face up to addressing the issues raised in the article about the welfare of these whales – including the fact that a 13 year-old boy was permitted to shoot narwhal all day, wounding many but landing none – the decision to ban the filming of these hunts does little other than confirm that these hunters have something to hide from the eyes of the world”.

Joe Tigullaraq, chair of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, said he worries that the portrayal of the Arctic Bay hunt will be seen by National Geographic’s many readers around the world as representative of all Nunavut hunters.

“We do have 20 other communities in Nunavut that hunt narwhals,” he said. “These other communities in Nunavut should not be painted with the same brush.”

However, Tigullaraq said he hopes the article’s publication may draw attention to flaws in present hunting techniques. “I think it’s an opportune time to consider the problems.”

Paul Nicklen, the article’s author, grew up in Kimmirut. He wrote on the National Geographic website that the narwhal story “was the most stressful thing I’ve ever done. I feel as if I’m betraying my friends.”

“But at the same time I hope that, ultimately, the DFO will work with the Inuit and help them find a better way so that their kids and grandkids can continue their traditions.

“In the end, I told this story because it’s obvious that the narwhals do not have a voice, and I’ve done my best to fairly represent them as well as the Inuit. As a journalist, I have to tell truthful, unbiased stories of what I see, no matter how difficult it may be at times.”

Ann Novek
Sweden

In the whaling countries, Norway, Japan and Iceland, whaling and whale watching exists side by side.

In Norway the whale watching industry is focused on sperm whales and killer whales and whale watching doesn’t happen near minke whale hunting grounds. In Japan as well, most whaling happens off shore, far away from coastal whale watching.

But in Iceland the killing of minke whales and the watching of minke whales occur in close proximity.

The Icelandic whale watching industry is unhappy and has commented:

“Whale watching in Iceland is being highly jeopardized, first by the resumption of the so-called “scientific” whaling in 2003 and now by the resumption of commercial whaling, announced and immediately performed in October 2006.

“161 minke whales have been caught for scientific purposes and their stomach contents analyzed to seek justification for the depleting fish stocks. However, at the last IWC meeting in June 2006, Iceland’s research was critized by the Scientific Commitee of the IWC for not being scientifically viable. The whales had been caught too close to shore, often within whale watching areas, and the study results are therefore insufficient.”

We have discussed here on Jennifer’s blog, what will happen with the Australian humpback whale watching industry, when Japan resumes humpback whaling this Austral summer for “scientific” reasons.

The whale watching industry is concerned the whales may become easier targets.

Comments from Australians include:

“Wally Franklin: The whales have become very used to these vessels and will come up to and roll over and present their underside and their belly to these vessels. Now are they going to do this, of course, to the Japanese harpooners in Antarctica?
That’s … we’re hoping they won’t.”

“Steve Dixon: Well if a season was added to the Hervey Bay calendar through whale watching and that industry suddenly becomes endangered, or the whales stop trusting the whale watchers, then it will have a severe economic impact on the whale city, because suddenly that fleet that goes out from July though to the end of September will suddenly find itself going out and looking at dolphins.”

So what will the impact of Japanese whaling be on the Australian humpback whaling industry?

My guess: The whale watchers may only experience the skittish animals that have been left – detracting from the whale watching adventure.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden

Japanese officials have publicly condemned the eating of dolphin meat especially in school lunches due to mercury contamination:

“We tested some samples purchased at the Gyokyo supermarket in Taiji and Super Center Okuwa in the nearby city of Shingu …

One dolphin sample had a mercury content 10 times above the health ministry’s advisory level of 0.4 parts per million, with a methylmercury readout 10.33 times over the ministry’s own advisory level of 0.3 ppm.

Another dolphin sample tested 15.97 times and 12 times above advisory levels of total mercury and methylmercury, respectively.

The results prompted the two officials to describe dolphin meat as ‘toxic waste’.

Despite health concerns Taiji’s Mayor promises to build a new dolphin processing factory…

You can read more in the Japan Times

Earlier this year Norwegian media reported there was a growing problem with bioaccumulation of toxins in minke whales and that some parts of the whales contained higher concentrations of toxins that were recommended by health authorities.

When Keiko (Free Willy) died in Norway, children wanted to bury him on the beach. However, this was not suitable according to the health authorities due to danger from contaminants. Keiko was also consider ‘toxic waste’.

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden