by Editor on June 27, 2010
White-Sided Dolphins Killed In The Faroe Islands (Denmark) Between Iceland And Britain. Undated File Photo By Eric Christensen
A Year-Long ‘Cooling-Off’ Period Is Declared After Talks At The 88-Member International Whaling Commission Meeting Collapse
Anti-whaling groups are far from satisfied despite the fact that talks to lift a 25-year-old international moratorium on the killing of whales collapsed in disarray during last week’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Morocco.
Proponents of replacing the ban with a legal quota system—a group that included the US IWC commissioner—had claimed that strict quotas would curb illegal whaling and therefore result in fewer whales being killed each year. The proposal had the support of the handful of remaining whaling nations, while anti-whaling groups, in general, deplored it.
In addition to rejecting calls for a return to legal whaling, many conservation groups such as Greenpeace had been hoping the IWC would resolve to further reduce or even eliminate whaling altogether. For years, Iceland and Norway have been defying the moratorium, while Japan has harvested as many as 1,000 Minke and other whales a year through a loophole in the language of the ban. The total annual worldwide whale harvest has been as high as 2,000. [click to continue…]
by Editor on June 16, 2010
A Minke Whale Surfaces For A Breath. Minkes Are The Whale Most Frequently Hunted. Photo:Wikipedia
Officials May Decide To Allow Commercial Whaling For The First Time In 25 Years. But That Might Be A Good Thing For The Whales
When the international body that governs whaling meets in Morocco next week, it may vote to lift a world-wide ban on whale hunting that has been in place for over 20 years. Many environmental groups are up in arms over the whale-hunting proposal that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will be discussing, and which has the backing of the Obama administration, in spite of the fact that doing away with the moratorium could actually result in fewer whales being killed.
Currently, in spite of the whaling moratorium, around 2,000 whales a year are killed by whalers from Iceland, Norway and Japan. Iceland and Norway defy the ban outright, while Japan hunts whales by exploiting a loophole in the moratorium, which technically permits the killing of the large sea mammals for “scientific research” purposes. The whales killed for research are then sold as as food on the Japanese market.
The whale species currently targeted by hunters are not listed as Threatened or Endangered whales on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. However, whales reproduce slowly, and whale conservationists are concerned that the hunting of any whale species, regardless of whether it is officially endangered, could significantly damage its population.
The US and some of the other IWC nations hope that by restoring the legal hunting of whales, the three remaining whaling nations can be drawn into an agreement under which annual whaling quotas will actually be lower—perhaps by as much as 50 percent—than the number currently being harvested. [click to continue…]
by Editor on June 12, 2010
An Oiled Gannet Gets A Bath In Dawn. Photo:International Bird Rescue Research Center
Over the past week, hundreds of birds oiled in the Gulf spill have begun rolling into rescue centers, most of them in Louisiana. A number of All About Wildlife.com readers have asked how they can help, and we turned to Eliza Russell, a volunteer coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, for the latest information. According to Ms. Russell, officials are looking for helpers—especially people with experience caring for sick and injured creatures.
Aiding Birds And Animals Affected By The Oil
Ms. Russell writes (all emphasis is ours):
“This is a response that we are providing to individuals who are specifically looking to help wildlife—especially rescue or clean. As you know, working with wildlife, especially if they are in distress, requires specific skills and training. Individuals with the skills and training (especially certification) should register with NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research through the hotline. They have received a great response from individuals with the training and are utilizing these folks first.”
[The Deepwater Horizon Response Volunteer Request Line (hotline) number is 1-866-448-5816. Please be aware that if you do not have specific training or certification to work with birds or animals, they might not be ready to accept you as a volunteer. However, even if you don't have training, but you are local person living on the Gulf Coast, there might be a volunteer job for you.]
“It is important that your readers understand that this will be a long-term issue. Even after the oil is stopped, the impacts for wildlife and need for restoration will be long-term. We will need volunteers both in the short term but more for the long-term—when it is not on the news every day. [click to continue…]
by Editor on June 11, 2010
Documenting The World's Wildlife Is Now More Important Than Ever.
In another 50 years, film documentary projects like this one may be all we have to remind us of much of the wildlife that now exists on the planet. We should all be grateful to the BBC and its many film teams for this painstaking, panoramic and loving group portrait of our world’s wild creatures.
Series Brings Vanishing Wild Places And Wild Creatures Into the World’s Living Rooms
BY PAUL GUERNSEY
It is a bittersweet irony that, even as much of our wildlife dwindles toward extinction, people around the world are able to get visually closer to wild animals, and to a greater variety of wild animals, than at any other time in history. That’s because filmmaking and editing technology, combined with the 21st century ease of travel, allow contemporary wildlife cinematographers to create breathtaking, intimate and informative documentaries—the best that have ever been filmed—by focusing on the shrinking remnants of formerly vast and pristine ecosystems.
The BBC television series, “Life,” which aired in the US in March and was recently released on DVD, is a case in point. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better or more ambitious wildlife series. This is in part a testament to the dedication and expertise of the dozens of film crews that the BBC sent around the globe to shoot wildlife footage in many of the planet’s most remote locations. But I’m grateful to the BBC itself for undertaking a project of this scope, with all it’s attendant logistics, liabilities and massive expenses. What they’ve accomplished is to document for future generations a world that is being lost, and the value of that accomplishment goes far beyond whatever it cost to create it, and whatever revenues it may bring to its maker.
The massive effort that the BBC put into making “Life” spanned 3 years and 3,000 shooting days on 7 continents. There were 70 film crews involved in capturing the life stories of 200 species, from the smallest insects to the largest mammals—ants, apes, orcas and, seemingly, just about everything else a wildlife lover would be interested in learning about. [click to continue…]
by Editor on June 10, 2010
These Brown Pelicans Are Awaiting Treatment For Oil Damage. Photo: The International Bird Rescue Research Center
Gulf Tragedy: The Number Of Birds Covered In Oil Has Begun Climbing Steeply
It was bound to happen.
Despite the fact that the US Gulf Coast continues to experience and suffer from the largest oil spill in history, the number of birds and other wildlife visibly injured by the oil has remained surprisingly low—until now.
According to figures published by the disaster response coordinators, over the past week oiled birds, both dead and alive, have begun turning up in much larger numbers. Between June 2 and June 9, the total number of oiled birds collected alive along the coasts of the five affected Gulf states—but predominately in and offshore of Louisiana—rose from 82 to 442. During the same period, the number of birds collected both alive and dead increased from 604 to 1075. [click to continue…]
by Editor on May 30, 2010
Technicians Aid An Oiled Gulf Pelican. Photo:International Bird Rescue Research Center
Damage From The Spill Still Mostly Evident Below The Surface—But That Will Change
It has been well over a month since the start of the ongoing oil spill off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, and the effects on birds, mammals and sea turtles still seem to be relatively minor. But with oil now washing into the marshes and wetlands of the Gulf Coast, the worst is clearly yet to come.
As of Saturday, May 29, officials report having collected 544 seabirds oiled or otherwise affected by the spill, 479 of which were dead when recovered.
A total of 25 dead marine mammals, most of which were dolphins, have also been collected.
And 240 sea turtles, mostly immature Kemp’s Ridleys, have been recovered so far in the ongoing disaster. The vast majority—224—were dead when collected.
The collection area is comprised of the Gulf Coasts of five states: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Florida.
Click here for a PDF of the most recent report.
Despite the relatively light toll so far in birds, mammals and turtles, trained observers report that widespread damage is already occurring unseen below the surface of the oiled waters as oil begins to affect the bottom of the food chain. These observers tell us that fish and other marine life are feeding heavily on plankton and other small sea creatures that have been covered in toxic oil—and the effects of this mass poisoning will likely work their way toward the tops of Gulf Coast food chains in short order.
To read a couple of these brief but informative reports, click here and here.
by Editor on May 19, 2010
Gulf Oil Spill Endangers Loggerheads And Other Sea Turtles, As Well As Marine Mammals And Sea Birds. Photo: Strobilomyces
“Years, If Not Decades” Of Damage To Animals And Fish From The Gulf Disaster
The effects on North American wildlife of the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico will likely be felt for years, if not for decades, the acting director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said this week.
“The spill is significant, and in all likelihood will affect fish and wildlife resources in the Gulf—and across the North American continent, for years if not for decades to come,” said USFWS acting director Rowan Gould.
Effects are expected to reach far beyond the Gulf because of the fact that many species of North American birds, sea turtles, marine mammals and fish that do not live in the Gulf year round migrate through the region at different times of the year.
The leak, which began in April following an explosion at an offshore drilling platform, is already thought to be the largest oil spill in history, and officials have yet to find a way to stop it. Although damage to birds, turtles, sea mammals and other wildlife so far has not been severe, the situation may well become a catastrophe once the raw petroleum gushing from the ocean floor begins washing onto long expanses of Gulf Coast beaches and into such critical wildlife habitat as estuaries and marshes.
The visible toll on wildlife so far has amounted to a few birds, 12 bottlenose dolphins and over 150 sea turtles, mostly immature Kemp’s Ridley turtles. [click to continue…]
