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 :
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.”
hi what are
"The key point is still the fact that aurochs were once believed to be extinct but this has since been over-ruled by the taxonomists."
-Ian Mott.
I could easily have posted the entire piece, but I provided the link in case others wanted to read it. The piece I selected was adequate. However, you obviously did not even read this. The Auroch is extinct. It's phylogenetic relationship to groups of extant cattle is stil being resolved, which is what the wiki piece says. Regardless, the Auroch is extinct. The argument is deceased.
Who is "John", Ian Mott? Your inability to even get my name right further illuminates your incompetence and stupidity.
"And while I cannot speak for science that I am not familiar with, my understanding of the scientific method is that one normally does a whole lot of experiments that fail. But the elimination of the non-possible greatly improves one's chances of discovering the possible." - Ian Mott.
You are seriously suggesting it will eventually be possibe to breed whales with cows? Presumably then when minkes go extinct you can say they are actually still in existence.
"cross species communication" - Ian Mott.
Can you please tell us how your listed species (including cattle) cross-species communicate? I expect some pretty solid evidence supporting this claim.
"Adaptation" is not simply rooted in "intelligence" Ian Mott. That is pretty basic natural science, but you can't even understand that.
I am no whale or dolphin expert, but I work in a marine field. There is a pile of literature out there on baleen whale behaviour, including "alliance making". The major difference, which is pretty obvious to a 2 year-old, is that your average baleen whale cannot be put in a tank or sea pen like an octopus, dolphin, orca or seal, so in other words, there is an extreme lack of data due to logistical impossibilities.
I am also familiar with Dr Nick Gales, as he worked here in NZ on Hooker's Sea lions for a while. He is most definately not some "departmental goon", but has extensive experience in marine mammal medicine (being a veterinarian) and innovative marine mammal research. He currently heads up projects designing and implementing satellite tags for large whales in Australia. Considering Ian Mott's previous comment regarding researchers not being able to design tags whereas a fisherman or whaler would be able to, and his well-noted hate of anyone working in research or the government, his comments are not surprising but typically based on opinion not substance, ignorance not fact.
Well, Ann, the "head of Australia's scientific delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC)" would say that, wouldn't he? He is part of a team trying to close the scientific research option without any indication of allowing Japan to re-visit the opting out clause.
And while I cannot speak for science that I am not familiar with, my understanding of the scientific method is that one normally does a whole lot of experiments that fail. But the elimination of the non-possible greatly improves one's chances of discovering the possible.
It would be standard operating procedure for an Australian DEH departmental goon to go down the list and pick out the ones that would seem the most unexplainable to the uninformed.
And this neatly serves to divert attention from the fact that it is the cognitive capacity of whales that has the most in common with cattle. Their behaviour when compared to other marine species like octopus, dolphin, seals and orcas, lacks evidence of problem solving, alliance making, adaption, co-operative effort and cross species communication. That is, somewhat similar to cattle.