Update 05/22/13:the number of live strandings coincided with this exercise is even more than we initially reported, now it stands at 24 live stranded cetaceans.
Here we go again, the largest exercise in Western Europe mysteriously coincided with a large cluster of marine mammal strandings.
The exercise was conducted between April 15 and April 25, 2013 (see map below). It was called “the largest exercise in Western Europe” because of its scope and activities involved. It included 30 warships (including 2 subs) and 65 aircraft from 13 European countries. Read more about these atrocities here and here.
Sadly and as usual we had a cluster of strandings that coincided with these exercises in time and space (see map below):
1. April 24, 2013. Three pilot whales stranded in Portmahomack in Easter Ross (link), UK, one died, 2 rescued. Necropsy: BDMLR? Responders: BDMLR & Scottish SPCA. Necropsy results and what tests were done? Nowhere to be found.
2. April 29, 2013. Six killer whales stranded in Langanes, Iceland. 1 was rescued, 2 shot and the rest died (link, link and link). Note on the video orca’s bloody eye that could indicate some sort of traumatic damage, the similar bloody eyes or blood coming from eyes were seen in other strandings caused by the Navy: “…whale deaths in the Bahamas trace to some form of shock trauma. Blood in the eyes, and type of tissue damage all point to some explosive or high intensity sound source.” (link).
Responders:? Local police?, Necropsy: ???
3. May 4, 2013. One dead pilot whale found by a member of the public in Yell, UK (link). No necropsy.
4. May 9, 2013. One dead (freshly dead, could have died after stranding) rare Sowerby’s beaked whale stranded near Aberystwyth, UK (link). Necropsy: The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme. What tests will be done and not done? When necropsy results will be available? Was testing for embolism done in a timely matter?
Now we are gonna scream if someone will have a nerve to argue that all these 11 stranded cetaceans suddenly fell ill so close in time and space to military activities, “the largest exercise in Western Europe”. As you can see there is no systematic investigation, only 2 whales will get some sort of necropsy and who knows what they will be testing for. Most likely this will be yet another case where whales strand like crazy and no one gives a hoot or pays attention. BDMLR/CSIP will seat on necropsy results or will find one worm and will say that parasites are responsible for animals’ deaths as they always say.
There has been a massive die off including whales and dolphins in Italy that has been pretty much ignored by the marine mammal community (apart from Italian scientists trying to figure out what is going on). As of 03/21/2010 one fin whale (link) and 86 dolphins have been found dead (at least one live stranding we heard of) in various stages of decomposition from fresh dead (possibly live stranded and died) to pretty decomposed (see map below). Several species are also involved (link) including 4 bottlenose dolphins, 1 pilot whale, 1 Risso’s dolphin and the rest are striped dolphins (link). The degree of decomposition varies, where dolphins found in Sicily and Calabria are “fresh dead”, the ones found in Tuscany are more decomposed. The die off started sometime in January and is still ongoing.
The usual stuff: ole’ good morbillivirus (naturally), bacterium Photobacterium damselae and underwater volcano (we kid you not). We are surprised they did not bring up parasites like they always do.
1. Morbilivirus: Out of 86 animals they tested 24 and found morbillivirus antibodies in 12 of those. Now what does this mean? Nothing really. Absolutely nothing. What they found were most likely positive morbillivirus titers. Now what no one tells you is that this does not mean automatic die off. Study by Bossart et al., 2010 tested free ranging captured dolphins and found positive morbillivirus titers in 12 of 122 (9.8%) captured dolphins. They concluded that “Based on the canine model, dolphins may respond similarly with production of a humoral immune response, neutralizing antibody titers and the development of subclinical infection” (read more here: link)
2. Bacterium Photobacterium damselae: Officials tested 32 (not 86) dolphins and found Photobacterium damselae in 20 of them (link). Now once again what the officials do not tell you is that wild populations are LOADED with bacteria and fungi. Check out this study for example (link), they studied microflora in breath samples of free ranging killer whales. Photobacterium damselae was found among tons of other stuff. But none of these whales stranded or were a part of die offs. Now, the danger of Photobacterium damselae should not be underestimated, it is a nasty bug that can transfer to humans and can be antibiotic resistant. It can also kill immuno-compromised individuals, just like other bacteria can. (btw, the fact that it was found in breath means that all you whale rescuers should stay way from the blowhole and do not let the whale or a dolphin to blow in your face or on open wounds).
The bottom line: We think that both morbillivirus and Photobacterium damselae are once again scapegoats that have been conveniently used to downplay the anthropogenic causes of this die off. What officials need is to sample randomly wild dolphins and see what they find in regard to morbillivirus and Photobacterium damselae. Any biologist will tell you that wild animals are always loaded with stuff.
3. Volcano (link): this is so stupid that we will not even bother to comment on it.
Anthropogenic Activities in the Area: Military Hazardous Operations and Seismic Surveys
Why we think this die off was caused by anthropogenic activities:
1. Multispecies die off, including a whale. How likely it is for members of various species to suddenly fall ill and die? Morbillivirus strains are also species specific.
2. Extensive anthropogenic activity in the area:
a) Military Hazardous Operations (see the map below, some started even before January 1, 2013, some have been ongoing since then and in fact are still ongoing as we write this blog, some started in February and are still ongoing).
b) Seismic surveys in several areas started in February and are still ongoing (see the map below)
For your reference here is the map of currents in the area:
1. Testing for emobilism/decompression sickness was not done within 24 hours after death
2. We are not sure if they tested for acoustic trauma specifically
3. We are curious where the officials say that “Photobacterium damselae, responsible for hemolytic syndromes and bleeding” How can they exclude bleeding caused by underwater explosions from military tests for example?
Conclusion:
We do not buy for one second that this die off was due to morbillivirus and bacteria, let alone volcano. We feel that ONCE AGAIN anthropogenic causes are overlooked. If you check the media reports not single one of them mentions it. Now we do understand that politics can be involved after all tests/surveys were done not by Italy but by other countries. But cetaceans know no borders and it does not matter to them who does tests and on what shores they die. We feel that this possible anthropogenic connections requires serious consideration and investigation.
References:
Bossart, G. D., Reif, J. S., Schaefer, A. M., Goldstein, J., Fair, P. A., & Saliki, J. T. (2010). Morbillivirus infection in free-ranging Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Southeastern United States: Seroepidemiologic and pathologic evidence of subclinical infection. Veterinary Microbiology, 143(2-4), 160-166.
As many of you know NOAA is collecting comments to make its final decision about giving the Navy legal rights to kill marine life off both East and West Coasts. We have to admit that we are a bit pessimistic about this because in the past NOBODY was able to stop NOAA from giving out these permits and we think this whole “commenting” process is just smoke and mirrors as the decision most likely has been made.
HOWEVER, all of us still HAVE to comment only if to show that we pay attention and object what is being planned. Here is what we suggest. Please read below some points you can make, it is some sort of our primer. Feel free to add any other info. If you provide references in your comments (to scholarly articles) it gives your comments more weight. The deadline is MARCH 11, 2013.Please comment on BOTH PROPOSALS if you can.
Some laymen description of what this permit will do is here (link)
Our focus is strandings, but there are other effects as well. Navy’s supplement materials about strandings are here (link). We will be referring to this document in our comment.
Comments and Talking Points (this will be our actual comment to NOAA):
1. The Navy grossly underestimates the effects of its activities and this alone should warrant the denial of this permit (DoN, 2013). On page 4 of Navy’s supplemental document about strandings (DoN, 2013) under anthropogenic causes of strandings two extremely important causes are missing: acute stress reactions and behavioral avoidance reactions. Navy fails to mention well known peculiarity of marine mammals response to acute stress, namely “alarm reaction” that leads to irreversible physiological changes and results in imminent death.
Cowan & Curry (2008, p.24) write: “the reflex response of an odontocete to any major perceived threat (the ‘‘alarm reaction’’) is to activate the physiological
adaptations to diving or escape to an extreme or pathological level, resulting, if greatly prolonged, in widespread ischemic injury to tissues”. Furthermore stranded cetaceans often demonstrate these abnormalities and at this point it is impossible to state for sure what happened prior to the stranding and what happened as a result of the stranding (Sacchini et al., 2011). We have data that cetaceans do react strongly to noise sources (fin whales showing strong avoidance at +200 km away from sound source (Gallo-Reynoso et al., 2011); belugas getting tachycardia as a result of noise exposure (Lyamin et al., 2011) and others) and this alone indicates the possibility of alarm reaction being triggered as a response to Navy’s sound sources, not just sonar but ALL noise sources including torpedoes, rockets, missiles, low flying aircraft, and so on.
Some strandings have been proposed to be a behavioral reaction to noise sources where cetaceans are trying to flee noise source and strand (Brownell et al., 2009). Noise has been used historically to hunt cetaceans because it has been well known how it affects them (Brownell et la., 2008). This important factor was not mentioned either.
2. Navy keeps insisting that beaked whales are the only ones affected while the reality is many other species have been linked to strandings as a result of Naval activities including fin whales, minke whales, sei whales, humpback whales, common dolphins (http://www.cwtstrandings.org/pdfs/Mass_Stranding_Report.pdf), pilot whales, sperm whales, pygmy sperm whales, striped dolphins and others.
3. On page 9 of the document (DoN, 2013) Navy tries to argue that bycatch and pollution kill more cetaceans than strandings. This graph is extremely misleading because it only includes small cetaceans and not large whales that are NOT subject to bycatch. Another issue with gross underestimation is the fact that we have no idea how many animals die offshore due to anthropogenic noise activities. Navy does not offer any estimation, while we have scientific experimental data that only 8% of carcasses makes it ashore (Peltier et al., 2012). Basically the Navy bases it estimations on animals that either stranded alive or were found dead. This again alone represents the gross underestimation of total mortalities and should alone warrant the denial of permit. If only 8% of dead carcases make it to shore it is not hard to calculate what the true extent of the lethal take can be.
4. Another misleading part of the document is on pages 13-28 (DoN, 2013) where the Navy talks about stranding cases associated with sonar. This section lack several important points. First it is written as if only a sonar is the issue and completely disregard other noise sources such as noise from explosives, rockets, torpedoes, and even low flying aircraft. In addition Navy fails to mention the fact that the majority of stranding events are not investigated at all. So Navy’s conclusions are biased because they are only based on cases that have been investigated and published, while the majority of strandings are not.
Just over last 18 months alone we reported the following suspicious strandings and events that happened close in time and space to hazardous operations done by the Navies (not just US, but other counties and military as well). None of these cases were properly investigated and the military activities were not linked to any of them. Below are some examples:
NZ February 2013, Hazardous Operations and Bryde’s whale stranding: http://t.co/uLqOirDKC8
Sri Lanka, 2012, Bay of Bengal, 2 dead endangered blue whales wash ashore 2 days after week long Navy hazardous operations in Bay of Bengal http://t.co/M12qjuSz
Note: none of this events was properly investigated including timely and all inclusive necropsies, testing for embolism, auditory trauma, etc. and the Navies were not questioned in any of these cases.
5. Nowhere in the proposed permit the Navy says anything about cumulative effects of noise activities because nearly the same areas will be open for Big Oil seismic exploration.
6. The quote on page p. 28 is especially troubling (DoN, 2013): “Results from recently completed research (McCarthy, et al.,2011; Peter L. Tyack, et al. 2011) have suggested that investigations concerned with general behavioral responses to sonar (not necessarily investigating the causes of strandings),may be much more significant to our understanding of the potential impacts of sonar than investigations into the occasional and rare strandings of marine mammals that may have been associated with sonar use.” This approach is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable because Navy funded scientists tend to come up peculiar findings as Wade et al. 2010 noted: “Primary papers are 2.3 times more likely to be cited in the reviews as concluding no effect of noise if the research was militarily-funded than if not.” In addition, scientists will have a hard time to recreate the exact conditions and chains of events that might lead to strandings.
7. US stranding network are not equipped nor willing to deal with influx of stranded animals that will be littering both East and West Coasts if this permit comes through.
Conclusion:
We strongly urge NOAA to deny Navy’s permit. The approval of this permit will result in significant if not catastrophic mortalities that are currently being GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED by the Navy.
Cowan, D.F.,& Curry, B.E. (2008), Histopathology of the Alarm Reaction in Small Odontocetes, Journal of Comparative Pathology, 139, 24-33.
Department of the Navy (DoN) (2013). Marine Mammal Strandings Associated with U.S. Navy Sonar Activities (version 02.20.2013). Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego. 42p.
Peltier et al., (2012), The significance of stranding data as indicators of cetacean populations at sea: Modelling the drift of cetacean carcasses, Ecological Indicators 18, 278–290
Sacchini, S. et al. (2011), ACUTE STRESS INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY IN CETACEANS STRANDEDALIVE: A HISTOPATHOLOGIC CHARACTERIZATION, Presentation at the 25th Conference of the European Cetacean Society, March, 2011, Cadiz, Spain.
Wade et al., 2010, Conflict of interest in research on anthropogenic noise and marine mammals: Does funding bias conclusions? Marine Policy, 34, 320-327.
We could not shake off this feeling of deja vu when we’ve heard about this brand new die off in Peru happening nearly exactly the year after the one in 2012. Not only it happens roughly at the same time it is happening in the same area!! We hate to say it once again but we found hazardous operations areas plus BPZ Oil Company was again possibly doing 3D seismic surveys (and maybe other companies too, see below). Last year die off was linked to seismic surveys (see our blog) but later we also found hazardous operations that could also be a culpit. Here is what we found out so far re this year:
1. The Die Off 2013
The area includes San José, in Lambayeque (see map). 90 animals were found dead including:
IMARPE again investigates which is a guarantee that it will be another “unsolved mystery” (link and link)
2. Anthropogenic Noise Activities: Possible Military Operations AND Seismic surveys.
Here is what we found so far:
1. Two areas of “hazardous operations”:
a) Area 1: January 29-30, 2013, operations daily
b) Area 2: January 29-30, 2013, operations daily
c) Area 3: February 7, 2013
Now, we do not know what these hazardous operations included exactly, but they were likely involving some military testing.
2. Some evidence that BPZ was active in its famous Z-1 block. We could not find the exact dates so far, but indirect reports indicate that they might have been doing 3D seismic surveys:
a) Article from February 5, 2013: “Currently, the company is focused on optimizing oil production in the Corvina field in Block Z-1, which includes setting a new drilling and production platform (the CX-15) in the field and implementing an offshore drilling campaign for this platform. The company has also embarked on completing a three dimensional seismic survey in Block Z-1 to assess whether it is viable to conduct additional exploration and development activity within the block. This also includes the acquisition of offshore seismic data so as to better understand the characteristic and potential of its fields within Block Z-1.” (link)
b) Article from January 24 2013: “There is an increase in exploration activity in the region of Block Z-34. In Block Z-38 (north from Block Z-34) operator Karoon, an Australian company, has recently announced a program to drill two wells with an option of one more by late 2013 early 2014. The Directors believe that Karoon’s drilling campaign, if successful, should add value to Block Z-34 as the block is in a similar geological environment as our block. In addition, companies with assets east of Block Z-34 (Savia), north east (BPZ /Pacific Rubiales) and further south (Savia and SK Energy) have announced aggressive exploration and development plans.” (link)
c) Article from January 22, 2013: “Phase II of the original 1,600 square kilometer seismic acquisition project on Block Z-1 is now complete.” (link)
So what does this all means? It means two things:
1. The die off is again most likely caused by anthropogenic activities (military, Big Oil or both)
2 This die off is similar to 2012 die off
3 It will be hushed down and not investigated like the 2012 one
4 USA should pay attention, this is what will be happening on the US shores very soon.
3. Few Words About Currents
Check out the map that could explain how carcasses could end up in Lambayeque:
4. Few Words About Earthquakes
Peru is located in seismically active area, but see for yourself , there have not been any significant or notable offshore quakes in last 30 days, except for a few small ones, including 4.7 one happening 86km SSW of Acari, Peru. Now what is interesting is that hazardous operations also took place on Jan 30 not that far from this place.
5. Map from Last Year Die Off (blog posts link and link)
Approximate locations of seismic surveys area that could have been happening prior and during Peru’s marine life die off. The locations are approximate and for reference only as we do not have actual data, tracks and coordinates.
6. Comparison Between 2012 Hazardous Operations and 2013 Hazardous Operations
Note that in 2012 there were more operations, larger area and the die off was bigger.
The Bottom Line:
This needs to be INVESTIGATED. Had it been investigated last year, this year die off could have been prevented. This cannot go on like it does, it is like a bad dream repeating itself over and over again.
Since the end of January 77+ whales and dolphins were found dead in many places in France, Ireland and UK. Below is the approximate timeline/description of the die off events.
1. France:
First dead dolphins were found in the end of January and the event has been ongoing as more dolphins were found today. So far it looks like ~55 dolphins were found dead, the majority of them are common dolphins. Three locales are involved: La Teste-de-Buch (link), Sarzeau (link) and Biscarrosse (link).
2. Ireland
Between January 30 and February 8 IWDG reported 21 dead dolphins and pilot whales (link). The majority were found in Mayo, but also in Kerry, Donegal, and Waterford. It is possible that more dolphins washed dead, as the areas are pretty remote.
3. UK
On February 18, 2013 a fin whale stranded alive in Soloway, UK, but died shortly (link)
Now, we have been digging around and we found some anthropogenic activities that we believe are connected at least in some way to these events. Surprisingly there is also a connection to last year strandings. There have also been underwater cable installation activities, but they are unlikely the culpit we look for.
R/V Celtic Explorer
R/V Celtic Explorer belongs to the Ireland’s Marine Institute and is mainly involved in research activities. But do not be fooled as it is a potent vessel equipped with all recent technology. When we think about strandings we usually discuss the Navy and the Big Oil. But we forget that there are other noise sources out there that not only are very potent but are also often commissioned by the Oil Industry to do research for them. Here is just one description of what Marine institute can do:
“ We have the ability to have very accurate near-real or real-time data streams that can be made user-friendly to managers interested in marine research, but also in any other sector as well, be that fishing, oil and gas, or the leisure industry.” (link)
So while digging around for data we found that R/V Celtic Explorer was out and about and quite busy since the beginning of January (see the tracks since beginning if 2013 and link to its busy schedule is here link).
This survey was done by Marine Institute and included the following locations “Rockall Trough, Atlantic, Continental Margin, Continental Shelf and Porcupine Bank”. It took place between 01/05/13-01/20/13 (see map). The survey was classified as “oceanography”. Now, what exactly have they been doing? We could not find much except for one blog that was very interesting, as it was written by someone on board. The crew called it “Deep sea survey”.They have been taking water samples at 5 km depth, releasing robotic gliders and who knows what else, as we cannot find any more info about this survey. Note, that in the blog they report both common dolphins and pilots around the vessel (link). We are curious because there is a word “geology” in this survey which could indicate some activities involving noise sources, but we need more info about this survey.
This survey was done by University College Cork and took place between 13 and 17 February. Read the blog again here (link) These guys have been using mutibeam sonar which is definitely not good. Multibeam and side scan sonars have been linked to the strandings before, in Australia and in the UK (link).
Check out these animations on NOAA website of how this type of sonar works (link)
What is also interesting that last year another Marine Institute vessel called R/V Celtic Voyager had been doing another hydrographic survey involving side scan sonar and other nasty stuff. This survey was also close in time with 2 fin (!) whales strandings and one beaked whale stranding (link)
The Bottom Line:
We need to know more what exactly these 2 surveys involved. We feel once again that this whole situation is very suspicious, especially given last year events involving R.V Celtic Voyager. But sadly it looks like this die off will be again blamed on something else or remain a “mystery” as usual. Many people are not even aware this is happening. There is no mechanism or procedure in place to make a connection and to track these occurrences. We do all we can, but our abilities and resources are limited.
A pod of 22 pilot whales was found stranded in Falklands with 30 more animals milling very close to the shore in near-stradning position (Link). All 22 animals are now died because they were discovered too late and it is not clear what happens with 30 remaining pilot whales.
Falklands have been recently one hot spot for seismic exploration and it appears that at least 2 (and possibly 3) massive 3D seismic surveys have been ongoing in the area (see the map below). One survey by M/V Ramform Sterling has been definitely ongoing, and so was M/V Ramform Challenger survey (Link). Our estimate is that surveys have been between 150-250 km from the stranding site. The survey by Borders and Southern was scheduled to start mid-February (Link), not clear if it has started.
The media as usual reports: “the stranded individuals appeared in healthy condition and consisted of both males and females. The largest individual was approximately 6 meters long and the smallest, a female at just under 4 meters. There were no obvious reasons why the animals stranded, although remains of other cetaceans at this site suggest that this shallow sandy beach is a susceptible to such events” (Link). It looks like no one is going to investigate this either or link it to seismic surveys. Another “sad but natural event”, right?
In 2011 there was another massive stranding of pilot whales, the biggest so far in several years, 400 pilot whales, were found in March 2011, stranded and dead, but they stranded alive (Link). Coincidentally (yet again!) Argos had been conducting seismic surveys off Falklands between January and May, 2011 (Link)
Another interesting yet sad observation is that this is not the first time Ramform class vessels has been hanging out in the area where pilot whales mass stranded, remember the mass stranding of pilot whales and a sei whale in UK in September 2012 (Link)
The Bottom Line: This is a second mass stranding in Falklands that coincides with some extensive seismic surveys in the area. It is very unlikely that it will be investigated and as usual it will be blamed on whales, beach topography and whatnot. People need to realize that because nobody reports and investigates these cases Oil Companies can write in their endless applications for permits that there is no evidence of seismic surveys leading to strandings, while in reality there is plenty of evidence. Another thing to keep in mind is that the new generation of vessels like Polarcus or Ramform seems to be especially deadly for marine life.
Disclaimer (as usual): Many people will find this blog post outrageous and upsetting, read at your own peril.
We all have heard about evil Sea World corporation, dolphinariums, aquariums, swim with dolphins programs and other atrocious entities that use captive cetaceans for monetary gain and fuel slaughter in Taiji. All these businesses when confronted by the activists like cite famous Cousteau’s quote “People protect what they love” and adding 99 out of 100% times that captive cetaceans are ambassadors for their species. These arguments of course do not sit well with many people and currently there is a big movement to abolish captivity because cetaceans are shamelessly exploited.
This is why when we heard similar arguments expressed by organizations that seemingly have nothing to do with captivity, it made us stop and think about hidden exploitation of cetaceans that exists pretty much beyond anyone’s conscious awareness of it.
Hidden Exploitation of Cetaceans #1:Whale Watching, Swimming, Touching, Gropping
Example: Ocean Defender Hawaii whale/dolphin watching cruises and ”People protect what they love”
Now, in all fairness Ocean Defender HI is not the only company in the world selling whale watching tours. We use them as an example and also because of their notorious marketing campaign to attract the public. Whale watching appears to be entirely benign and eco-friendly activity and with all this sweet talk about “people protecting what they love” the public seems to forget that the whale watching industry brings more than 2 billion globally every year. Scientists of course have been repeatedly cautioning that effects are really bad for animals, their natural behavioral states are interrupted, i.e. feeding and resting, long term effects are not known and it can habituate whales to boats making them more vulnerable to boat strikes (Link). But who listens to these lame scientists when people drool over possibility to touch a whale, feel the “connection” and of course made a mandatory post to their Instagram to make their friends drool?
What is more troubling is that most of the time people have no idea what they are looking at. Watch this video of a humpback whale nearly colliding with a boat, if you know at least something about the whales you would realize that whale is swimming for his bloody life, trying to avoid collision, he was clearly startled and tries to get away as fast as he can. Watch the video first here:
Now read how the same image is used by Ocean Defender HI to promote their tour (despite the fact that what we see is a whale in distress):
It is not coincidental that this happens in Hawaii that is basically choking with tourists descending on it from all over the place. Human population is growing, more people are marketed these “amazing” encounters bringing more tourists and putting more pressure on wildlife. Like any business whale watching has to satisfy clients and the more clients pay the more operators will strive to deliver. So you can be sure that whales will be chased and the maximum amount of interactions will be delivered. Because whale watching is a business, its bottom line is profit, they need your money and good recommendations. Thus they will bend over to deliver.
You way not think about it this way, but we should see whales and dolphins like these remote Amazon tribes. If we do that, than ethical part of the whale watching becomes very clear. Ethno-tourism is just like whale watching, in fact is is exactly the same.
The detrimental effects of ethno-tourism is well documented. This is just one overview if you are interested, and there are many other on the web (Link). The solution seems to be straightforward, ethno-tourism should not make tour operators rich, but instead should be 100% grassroots-led and community-based, then we can be sure that no one is exploited.
Now it is tricky with whales, right, because it appears we cannot pay them. Or can we? Indeed. Whales and dolphins should benefit from encounters, not some greedy people (who by the way do not own whales and dolphins and have no right to exploit them). Whale watching companies should submit 100% of money they make to the global fund that will be helping whales and dolphins (such as strandings, bycatch, entanglement, vessel strikes for example), or whale watching has to be done for free, so no one makes money via exploitation of whales.
People need to realize that captivity and whale watching are essentially the same exploitation for profit. Wild whales are not as free to leave as you think they are, the spot could be rich in fish, or safe from predators, or a good resting place. More troubling, another marketing strategy is also used by Ocean Defender HI and other operators where they try to ride public anger against captivity and opportunistically use it for their own profit.
Our message for you is: Please, read argument above and think about it when you try to book your next whale watching cruise. Think about who gets money, who is being exploited, who is benefiting.
Hidden Exploitation of Cetaceans #1: A Very Long Rehabilitation of Stranded Cetaceans Is Good For Organization and Local Economy
Example: Promar and Marcos who ”has been an ambassador for his species”
Have you seen a movie “The Good Doctor” (2012) with Orlando Bloom? It is very good and it is about a doctor that intentionally makes his patient seek because it is good for doctor’s career. Very ethically grey and touchy stuff.
Now, what does it have to do with Promar and Marcos? Nothing, well almost nothing. Marcos (now dead) was a young striped dolphin that stranded in August 2012 in Spain. Initially, we were very excited about Promar’s plans to rehab and release Marcos, but after few months we became sad and disillusioned with the whole thing. Numerous facebook pages popped up, donations started poring in, big players visited the site (like Ric O’Barry). Promar started to accept volunteers from all over the world, and Marcos became another exploited cetacean (in our opinion) with uncertain release date.
Now, this situation is even more ethically tricky compared to whale watching. If you decide to keep astranded dolphin a bit longer because he brings donations and gives organization publicity, is it exploitation? You decide. By the way we have requested Marcos medical history from Promar and just like all other rescues we have been criticizing, we got nothing apart from being blocked and all our comments being deleted.
It is so alarming how quickly good intentions can derail. Stranded cetaceans should be treated like patients in a hospital, and not like a road side attraction. The goal should be to release as soon as possible and all treatment and effort should be directed towards this goal. It should be especially true for fragile species that cannot live in captivity (even if it is a sea pen) for long. Human contact should also be minimal, this is a wild dolphin and he has to interact with his pod and not some people who love to swim with him to “keep him company”.
Stranded cetaceans should never be exploited and held longer than needed, absolute transparency is needed because just like whale watching operators, rescues do not own cetaceans that happened to strand. Stranded animals in rehab should not be used as cash cows or mascots to promote organizations.
The Bottom Line:
Please think about hidden exploitation of cetaceans. Do not listen to pretty words, and platitudes. Follow the money and ask yourself do cetaceans REALLY benefit from these activities, and if they do not, then ask yourself who benefit then?
You probably have heard the sad story of a solitary common dolphin in NY that suffered for 9 hours in toxic Gowanus canal in NY without any rescue or any help. We have been criticizing Riverhead Foundation A LOT over past 2 years and in fact their handling of EH humpback whale stranding was the reason behind starting up StrandedNoMore (read more about EH Humpback here: link)
The situation with a solitary common dolphin caused a lot of uproar in social media, you can read about it here (link and link). But the complexity of this situation provides nearly perfect opportunity to discuss how messed up stranding field in the USA is. It is very important to discuss because sadly we all should expect more and more stranding as the entire East Coast will be soon open for Navy and Big Oil activities (link and link) that have been known for causing live strandings.
The Loss of Prescott Grant and Are the Rescues Really “Poor Clares”?
In case you do not know, but Federal Government has been supporting stranding rescues with 100 000 USD per year. But all good things come to end and the grant appears to go bye-bye. But even with the grant rescues success in the USA is laughable and nearly non-existent (especially if you do not count free dolphins and whales that were shipped to the Sea World). But we were afraid that rescues will be using the loss of this grant to further justify their inactivity and it appears it is already happening. Read the comment below and it is really funny actually because even with Prescott Grant many USA rescues barely attempted to do any “”rescue, rehab and re-lease”:
Why Villagers in Vietnam Can Rescue a Whale but A Man Who Comforted A Dolphin in NY is Now Being Threatened With Legal Action
As everybody stood around, picked their nose and did nothing, one person actually reached out and tried to comfort a dolphin. This innocent gesture caused the uproar on Riverhead Foundation page (see below):
So this situation raises an important question. Rescues complain they have no money to respond and do anything. They also cite their safety and safety of their personnel. Fine. Why then NOT to move out of the way and let those who want to help to do something? Why a village in Vietnam can get together and rescue a whale with no grants or money (link), but in the USA the yellow tape is put in place, police is called and people trying to help are threatened with legal options. When did the stranding field in the USA become so twisted that rescue is now considered too stressful but death is just fine?? (The NOAA’s little release made us really scratch our heads, it is called “Rescuing the animals isn’t always the safest or the best option for the animal“ link). Read it again, what? Are they FOR REAL??
The Power of the Public
Here is the important thing and the public needs to realize it. It holds the key to turning around all this mess with strandings in the USA. Prescott Grant really looks like it is going away, so stranding teams will only rely on the public’s donations to stay afloat. YOU can decide who to support. If a rescue gives you 1000+ reasons why nothing can be done, perhaps it is a time to reconsider and start supporting someone who actually strives every time and treats every stranded whale and dolphin as an individual. And do not buy all this “Poor Clare” talk, even with the grant many rescues did next to NOTHING. We should also pressure NOAA to take into consideration what is going on around the world and instead of penalizing the public perhaps start thinking how the public can be used in rescues, because clearly now rescues will have no money and many will refuse to attend strandings. If a whale can be rescued by people in Vietnam (link) and a mass stranded pod can be rescued in Brazil (link), why on EARTH NOAA thinks it will not work in the USA??
Well, once again we just cannot keep quiet. Especially when it comes to ocean noise and strandings.
This time it is a world famous dolphin and whale hearing scientist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dr. Darlene Ketten talking about noise and strandings. Yes, the same Dr. Darlene Ketten that has been on Navy’s payroll for decades. Let’s examine what she says (link to the article).
Before we get into analysis, we would like to make a few points. It is a well known fact that the Navy basically massacring marine mammals out there. In order to do so they basically rely on two strategies:
1. To say that there is not enough direct evidence to link them to atrocities
2. To downplay effects and redirect attention to other areas.
Now, let’s see what Dr. Ketten says and let us be clear, this little article truly made our blood boil.
First of all, kudos for achieving impossible: saying that noise does affect marine mammals and at the same time saying that it is not a big deal. Very few people can write like that.
The most outrageous part of the article is this:
“The stranding cases are dramatic and tragic, but we now know they are rare and affect particularly one group, the beaked whales. Over the last 60 years, fewer than 400 whales have stranded in relation to underwater sounds. This loss of about seven animals per year is not a species-level threat, and noise does not directly precipitously kill whales,”
OH, REALLY?? SERIOUSLY? Because just last year and only because we were able to get access to data on hazardous operations we had:
1. 178 common dolphins in Cape Cod, MA coincided with Bold Alligator 2012 aka “the largest joint and multinational amphibious assault exercise held off the East Coast in the last 10 years” and other Navy exercises (link and link)
2. 17 pilot whales in Cape Verde, August 2012, coincided with hazardous operations by the Navy (link)
3. 20 pilot whales in Florida, August 2012, coincided with hazardous operations by the Navy (link)
3. 50 pilot whales in New Zealand in October, 2012 coincided with hazardous operations by the Navy (link)
4. 28 pilot whales in New Zealand, November 2012, coincided with hazardous operations by the Navy (link)
Royal Navy Explosives Tests were responsible for stranding of 60+ pilot whales in Scotland in 2011 (link)
So let’s tally: 293 stranded marine mammals in 2012 ALONE, all strandings highly suspicious and all had some sort of Naval activity nearby. And Dr. Ketten had a nerve to argue about 400 stranded whales over 60 years? REALLY??
Now ask us, how many strandings in 2012 were investigated in regard to the role Navy played in them? Answer: Zero, Zilch, Nada. Yes, thats right. Is it convenient or what? In New Zealand they do not do necropsies. All pilots in Cape Verde were rescued. IFAW treads on egg shells around the Navy connection and has been hell bent to deny any Navy involvement. Several pilots in Florida got full necropsy (not all) but they did not look for the Navy connection. So here you have it. Must be nice to argue that Navy and its activities plays no role when a) nobody knows where Navy tests take place; b) nobody tracks strandings to these activities; c) nobody searches during necropsy for any connection.
Then Dr. Ketten proceeds with her usual argument she repeats at every marine mammal conference that bycath is much bigger deal. She writes:
“Are human-contributed noises in the ocean the source of an impending extinction? In comparison to other causes of stranding and deaths, no. We lose about 100,000 cetaceans per year in fisheries. We lose thousands annually in U.S. waters alone to entanglements, ship strikes, chemical pollutants, as well as naturally occurring disease and trauma.”
Is it nice or what? Sure blame bycatch. Very convenient. Keep in mind that we only see live strandings and some dead animals rarely washing ashore. How many die at sea is anybody’s guess and research shows that only 8 % of carcasses make it to shore.
This is an absolutely outrageous article and its main goal is to downplay harm the Navy and Big Oil cause to our oceans and marine mammals. We thought NY Times knew better. But it is timely, all right. Now when they are about to open entire East Coast to Navy and Big Oil, Dr Ketten will be a frequent guest on TV and numerous publications telling naive public that we only had 400 stranded whales over 60 years and that bycatch is more serious issue compared to her dear funding source.
Disclaimer: This is our inconvenient advice on what to do when you find a stranded whale or a dolphin. This advice is our opinion and it differs drastically from the official advice given to the public by the experts and media. This advice is based on successful rescue cases and examples of rescues (see below).
When you see a live stranded whale or dolphin the rule # 1 is: USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER, BUT DO NOT BE A SISSY TOO.
What to do when you find a whale, a dolphin or a mass stranded pod (up to false killer whale and pilot whale size)
1. If you see a stranded whale or dolphin first make sure you do not see large wounds, bleeding from eyes or blowhole. These are serious injuries and will need medical attention. Superficial scratches and cuts from being on the beach ARE NOT serious injuries.
2. Time means life and death for a stranded animal. Small dolphins and whales are easily stressed, so you have to be very quiet around them, i.e. kogias, spinner dolphin, common dolphins, striped dolphins, etc. Larger whales are more robust.
3. If you see no signs of serious external injuries (like chunks literally missing) and any serious impairments (use your common sense here, serious impairment means trashing uncontrollable, foaming out of the blowhole, etc), then you need to attempt the rescue asap.
4. If you can you need to try and release animal away from the stranding site and in much deeper waters. The key is to get away from the initial stranding site as far as you can.
5. Be prepared that an animal can immediately restrand. Stranded whale and dolphins are almost always disoriented/unbalanced and will need time to adjust and get their bearings. There could be some threatening stimuli they still hear in water, thus getting away from stranding site is important. They can restrand 3+ times, do not give up and attempt to rescue anyway. The further away you are from the stranding site the less restranding attempts will be made.
6. You might need to hold and support a dolphin or a whale in water for some time to help them get their bearings back. Once again use your common sense, stay away from the tail or use props to reduce any risk of injury to you.
7. Stranded whales and dolphin need to be in water, asap. Help them, support them, but do not get them out of water.
8. Protect blowhole, they usually have precise control over it, but stress and being weak could mean that water can get in. Water in a blowhole will lead to pneumonia and in severe cases will drown them.
9. Do not drag by the tail, UNLESS it is a very small spinner dolphin and the distance is very short. In large whales, like pilots the tail can get detached, small dolphins can tolerate it for a short period of time. Again, use your common sense.
10. The bottom line is get a stranded animal back to water asap, stay away from the tail, support them if you can, use props.
Note #1:If none of this works and a dolphin or a whale keeps restranding for 5+ times, then it is time to call authorities.
Note #2. If you see a dolphin or a whale behaving very strangely, like swimming in very short and tight circles, swimming on a side, etc this could be serious, as sometimes parasites infest their brains and this is truly a lost case. But these severe cases are extremely rare.
If you see a large stranded whale (s):
1. Obviously you cannot rescue it alone. Need to call for help. However in some cases, help could be your fellow citizens and not necessarily the officials and NGOs
2. Large whales are robust and can last quite some time on the beach.
3. Contrarily to what has been said, the major danger is overheating (in warm weather) and not the weight crushing organs. Sperm whales in Tasmania survived 92 hours laying on the beach.
4. To prevent overheating pour water on whale (remember about blowhole) and maybe try to erect some sort of shade cover.
5. People can dig around the whale making a trench that will fill with water.
6. Rescue itself is logistically challenging and will depend on the size of an animal and topography of the site.
7. Some smaller whales and juvenile whales can be rescued by people, larger whales will need boats and nets as well as some help with digging trench. Rescue should be done at the high tide, but everything has to be ready once the tide starts coming. Once a whale is in water, it can attempt to restrand just like in case with smaller dolphins and whales, for that reason the access to beach has to be blocked somehow and the whale has to be escorted to deeper waters.
8. Use unconventional approach: talk to a whale out loud, sing to it (it worked at least in one case, perhaps the singing was so bad that whale decided to go away
9. Below are videos and other material that can be used as a manual for the rescue.
Examples:
1. Public rescues stranded humpback whale in Canada:
2. Example of large stranded whale that repeatedly trashing his tail, you do not want to approach this whale, ok? In this case rescue has to be done remotely only, by placing a net over whale and dragging it with the boats.
3. Small common dolphin rescued in MA, USA
4. Public rescues mass stranded false killer whales in Phuket, Thailand:
5. Public in Vietnam rescues a stranded kogia (article with video) (link)
6. Large baleen whale stranded in Vietnam and rescued by local fishermen (hundreds of them) link
7. A pod of common dolphins rescued in Brazil:
8. Mexico’s Navy Rescues large humpback whale:
9. Large stranded sperm whales rescued in Tasmania (note: if you want a copy of the article describing in detail methodology of how these giant whales ware saved, please email us at strandednomore at gmail dot com):
10. Mass stranded pilot whales rescued in Cape Verde (link to article and video).
11. Harbor porpoise rescued in Black Sea:
Remember:some stress, inconvenience, scratches and other minor issues is the price stranded whales and dolphins are willing to pay to stay alive.
Final Note: We are prepared that this advice has a potential to cause a shitstorm, especially from rescues, NGOs and officials from “developed” world. But still we stand by it because it is our opinion and it is based on documented cases where it worked. These are just some examples, we have even more cases where the public was much more effective in rescuing stranded whales and dolphins than all rescues, NGOs and authorities combined.
#Orca rescued in #NZ Kudos 2 Ingrid Visser & Orca Research Trust 4 helping the whale bit.ly/ZgYFYn Note whale "talking" 1 day ago
Dolphins & sea lions die off in Peru (again!) die off in Chile + all anthropogenic activities offshore March-May 2013. i.imgur.com/QDwYom7.jpg1 day ago
