Cetacean News

Remember the Taiji Five, and protest future orca captures in Japan! February 7th is the 11th anniversary of the capture near Taiji, Japan of an entire pod of ten orcas. The older five were released, but their pod was left with no young females and likely has been destroyed. Only one of the five young whales kept for sale to captive display facilities is alive today. The horror is about to happen again; Japan is preparing to permit more orca captures. What can you do? See and support http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org/ and http://www.bluevoice.org/, then send a fax or email protesting any effort to permit orcas to be captured in Taiji, or any other port in Japan, as CSI and 147 other organizations have already done. We are asking you to protest the past and future captures to the specific officials. Your protest counts. Your protest is needed. Here's who to contact:

Mr. Shuji Yamada, Director-General of Fisheries Agency of Japan
& Chief of Whaling Section at Far Seas Fisheries Division in Fisheries Agency of Japan
1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8907 Japan
Fax: +81-3-3591-5824

Mr. Ichiro Kamoshita, Minister of the Environment
The Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan
Godochosha No.5, Kasumigaseki 1-2-2, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8975 Japan
Fax: +81-3-3581-3003

Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kasumigaseki 2-2-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8919 Japan
Fax: +81-3-5501-8128

Chief of Whaling Section
Far Seas Fisheries Division in Fisheries Agency of Japan
1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8907 Japan

For background, a November symposium in Tokyo titled "The Present Situation of Orcas and Plans for their Breeding" brought together all the display facilities and supportive agencies for the purpose of discussing the capture of more orcas. Representatives were there from Japan Fisheries Agency, Taiji town mayor, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, Izumito Sea Paradise, Nanki Shirahama Adventure World, Taiji Whale Museum, Whale Conference in JAZA, the Institute of Cetacean Research, the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Tokyo Kaiyou University, Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Minamichita Beach Land, Shimonoseki Aquarium and Kamogawa Sea World.

Only eight orcas have survived in three aquariums in Japan. The average captive lifespan has been only 6.7 years, including one almost 22. While Kamogawa Sea World has six orcas, from successful captive breeding, Taiji Whale Museum and Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium have one each; hence the pressure to catch wild orcas.

There is no reliable data on orca populations and stocks near Japan, but the symposium professionals convinced themselves orca numbers have gradually increased since the 1970s. It is known that 1,516 orcas were captured in Japan between 1948 and 1971, with another 78 captured by 1997, before a ban on captures for display was imposed. Permitted captures after 1997 have been for "scientific research", but they are really for captive display.

At least 85 southern right whales had stranded in Argentina between June and November. 42, mostly calves, were recorded by the end of September. Alarmingly high by Northern hemisphere standards, where less than 400 right whales survive, 42 is consistent with previous years' strandings during calving seasons in the region, where over 1000 right whales were counted in August alone. 2005 was highest, with 47 strandings, but the numbers have grown generally at the same 7% rate as the population.

But the later-stranded whales had died in the water near Península Valdés in late October, victims of a biotoxin, dominic acid, in a dinoflagellate bloom which colored large swaths of the ocean's surface green. As the October strandings began a massive response was started, coordinated by specialists with the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program and Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas, and Chubut Province government officials. Besides regional support, the effort was joined by several experts from the U.S., who then missed the annual meeting of the Right Whale Consortium in November.

The stranding response effort drew down the resources available for future scientific work. You can help this important work continue by adopting a southern right whale! For more information, please visit: http://www.icb.org.ar/.

Pictured here in happier times is a southern right whale watching people!
The whale-watches in this area provide significant local income,
but are not without controversy.
Photo courtesy of Graciela Keidansky.

The Second Latin American Meeting on the Conservation of Cetaceans was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in mid-December. Representatives of 15 Latin American governments discussed many cetacean conservation issues. Included were IWC Commissioners from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Peru, as well as the Alternate Commissioner from Chile, ambassadors from El Salvador and Nicaragua, diplomatic observers from Uruguay and Venezuela, and representatives from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and Dominican Republic.

Called the Buenos Aires Group, participants agreed to a Declaration that stressed the Latin American Cooperation Strategy for the Conservation of Cetaceans, consolidating and coordinating the policy, technical and scientific views of the regional nations. They emphasized the IWC's need to create South Atlantic and South Pacific Whale Sanctuaries; reaffirmed the validity of the whaling moratorium; stressed the need to strengthen the participation of scientists from the region in the different Working Groups; expressed their rejection of the lethal scientific capture and commercial whaling activities; expressed the relevance of working on animal welfare issues; supported the work of the Mexican government towards the protection of the Vaquita; and emphasized the participation of the society as a whole in accompanying the work of the member governments of the Buenos Aires Group regarding cetacean conservation.

The Group represents the welcome emergence of effective world leadership in cetacean conservation matters, particularly in a region undergoing extraordinary change and pressure. CSI was most pleased to see several officials and participants at the meeting that CSI had helped with small grants and other assistance early in their careers; we have always believed that our grant program is an investment in the best people that will do great things, and we are very pleased to see such superb people succeed.

Speaking of CSI's Grants program, we acknowledge with gratitude the generous support of the Frederick & Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Foundation, individual directed donors, and in particular an anonymous foundation, for enabling CSI to give 78 grants in 2007, from $500 to over $5,000, primarily to Latin America and the Caribbean. Each grant is an investment in people helping cetaceans, through science, conservation and education. In addition CSI helps these and many others with contacts, resources, moral support, and occasionally a donated laptop or camera (hint).

As an example of CSI's often innovative approach to giving, Valerie Lounsbury and the National Aquarium in Baltimore kindly donated copies of Marine Mammals Ashore, as both books and CDs of this acclaimed professional stranding response guide. CSI continues to distribute them on request to specialists in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Africa and Russia. In some remote regions we know these resources will help start up agencies and workers, eventually limiting the suffering of stranded marine animals, educating the public and advancing scientific knowledge.

The M/S Explorer sank in Antarctica on November 23rd, near the South Shetland Islands. Everyone onboard was rescued before the ship sank over 1,000 meters to the bottom carrying 185,000 liters of diesel fuel, 24,000 liters of lubricants, and 1,200 liters of gasoline. It did not matter that she was a well-tested, ice-strengthened Antarctic cruise ship; within 3 days Chilean officials reported a surface oil slick 1.5 km long. The flow to surface continued even as the slick dispersed, partly from stirring efforts by a Chilean icebreaker. Some oil may have been trapped under surface ice. Oil spills can be treated chemically in warmer waters, but we are helpless spoilers here. While cruise ship operators will check their vessels' insurance and focus on the possible loss of tourists who do not want to drown, the flood of people eager to witness this magical place will continue to increase, as will pressures to profit from resources.

CSI is a member of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), which consists of NGOs and experts that share our concern for this increasingly vulnerable vestige of remoteness on our tiny world. ASOC formally participates in meetings of governments and scientists, speaking for the environment. We know that oil in the sea can be degraded by physical, chemical and biological processes acting on them. Some of these processes cause the oil to "disappear". But it does not, as anyone can tell you who turns over a rock on a beach despoiled years ago by the Exxon Valdez.

Who will clean up and pay for the Antarctic accident? The past provides examples: The Argentine Navy re-supply ship Bahia Paraiso ran aground off the Antarctic Peninsula in 1989, releasing about 3 1/2 times the fuel the Explorer took to the bottom. Argentine, Dutch and U.S. clean-up efforts cost over $7,000,000, but liability and cooperation were clearly established. The M/S Explorer, owned by the Canadian company G.A.P. Adventures and licensed in Liberia, is not part of a national Antarctic program. The 2005 Annex on "Environmental Liability Arising from Environmental Emergencies" was added to the Environmental Protocol, establishing responsibilities and liability in the case of an environmental emergency, such as an oil spill. Sounds good, but the majority of the Antarctic Treaty Parties have not ratified the Annex.

Perhaps G.A.P Adventures will do the right thing and clean up their mess, but...