As seismic surveys and strandings continue in the UK two things became very clear:
1. Nobody is interested to independently investigate seismic surveys-strandings connection
2. While the UK and other countries pump up the number of permits they give out for seimsic exploration the stranding field remains utterly incapable of dealing with increasing number of stranded whales and dolphins.
Table has names of all vessels, type of surveys, what type of equipment. It also shows the sei whale stranding. The numbers in km indicate the distance from the survey sites to stranding sites. The distances are approximate as we do not know what routes a whale took. The distances are calculated based on straight lines (over land if needed). The distances are for overall reference only.
Some seismic surveys started in the beginning of August while others started at the end of August in the North Sea. And just by the clock strandings followed (previous blog posts link and link). Rescues and officials in charge went out of their way to spin these strandings as “natural events”. We’ve heard all kind of explanations, quakes and malnourishment and whatnot, but everybody is very careful not to imply that the seismic surveys could have been responsible. Even though it appears that SCOTLAND’s Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead has requested some sort of investigation (link), the constant insistence that seismic surveys are not to blame by rescues and officials involved is very troubling to say the least.
So since the beginning of September we had a mass stranding of pilot whales and two sei whales that were denied any rescue. The majority of pilot whales were also lost. BDMLR and the officials went out of their way to argue that these are “sad but natural events” that sei whales were “malnourished” and pilot whales were “lost”. But the way the latest sei whale stranding was handled is completely appalling. Sei whales are critically endangered, and one would think that a bit more effort would have been put into saving one. But no, BDMLR merrily declares the whale “malnourished” and proceeds to kill it within hours. What BDMLR does not tell you is that not only malnourished baleen whales are often observed in a wild, they do not necessarily strand and also that they have the ability to recover (link just ONE example among many).
What is even more troubling is who decides the fate of stranded endangered marine life. When you have a scientist who wants to study a sei whale, he or she will jump through so many hoops that he or she might want to reconsider. There are numerous permit applications, IACUC commissions and what not. But once this very same whale strands the whole process goes down the drain as rescues like BDMLR send some random people that cannot even properly identify the species (sei whale was initially reported as minke link). These people are accompanied by volunteers whos only qualification is 5 or 6 hours long class and this “team” is finalized by adding a veterinarian that has never seen a sei whale in his life because he specializes on cats and dogs (or large hoofstock). And these are the people who decide the fate of an endangered sei whale. Now BDMLR tries to spin the situation that the whale was malnourished and stranded because of that.
Nice.
Whatever.
Seismic surveys have been ongoing all other the place, numerous strandings happened within a month and somehow the whales and dolphins stranded because they were not “healthy”, “malnourished” or “lost”. Sure. Meanwhile malnourished baleen whales have been seen all other world without any strandings. Numerous cases also show that they can recover and improve their condition. Apparently it does not mean anything for BDMLR and officials in charge. Because as long as you spin the stranding as “natural” event, you close the case and lay it to rest. No investigation needed.
UPDATE 09/27/2012:
The whale was given a death sentence because he did not have a meal prior to the stranding. See the initial necropsy here (link). Once again we would like to emphasize that malnourished whales are routinely seen in the wild. BDMLR initial assessment of a whale as “extremely thin and malnourished” has changed to “the moderate to poor nutritional condition”. Because of the outcry they now are trying to spin the case and argue that the whale had “potential status as being maternally dependent”. They will stop at nothing to justify the murder and cover their %^$#. Unbelievable.
UPDATE 10/01/2012
Two more strandings in the vicinity of seismic surveys: a fin whale in Suffolk, UK on Sunday (link) and a beaked whale (link) also on Sunday in Farm beach south of Bridlington, UK. Currently there are several seismic surveys going that are close to the stranding sites (Polarcus Adira, Vantage and Geco Triton ) on plus a new one by M/V Oceanic Challenger.
Now, since the beginning of August we had the following strandings in the North and Celtic Seas: 3 fin whales, 2 beaked whales, 26 pilot whales, and 2 sei endangered whales. At the same time 10(!) seismic surveys have been going on plus hydrography survey. The surveys involved Polarcus Adira, Celtic Voyager, Geo Caspian, Tasman, Vantage, Ramform Viking, Symphony, Western Pride, Geco Triton, and Bibi Tethra.
Who is going to investigate all this? Are there any independent agencies allowed to do the necropsy or at least oversee it apart from the ZSL? Who is going to question oil companies?
The public perhaps does not realize that the inability of officials and NGOs in charge to investigate what the heck is going on in the UK (either due to incompetence or even something more sinister) affects marine mammals world away. For example, currently there are plans to do insanely powerful seismic survey offshore in California (link). The company representative just uttered the following phrase:
“While similar high energy seismic surveys have been done on the Pacific Coast — most recently off Washington — PG&E said monitors there did not observe harm to whales or other marine mammals.”
Given how events unfold in the UK where seismic surveys have clearly something to do with strandings, yet rescues and officials in charge lamely insist that whales were lost, malnourished and dependent calves, we will never get the evidence linking seismic surveys to wiping out marine life. That is why it is important to pay attention to what is going on in the UK and pressure officials and NGOs to investigate. It would also not hurt for the public to ask NGOs what is the exact nature of their relationships with Big Oil. Many people will be unpleasantly surprised.
It might be nice that instead of attacking BDMLR amongst others, that we remember that we are all heading for the same goal – to minimise the deaths of cetaceans and marine life as a result of human activity. Perhaps we could aim towards working together to reach this common goal instead of picking apart other organisations. I am in no way saying that others aren’t guilty of this also, but someone at some point has to take the high ground.
By attacking others whose primary concern is the same as your own, it is possible to risk yourselves looking petty, and achieving no change to the current situation whatsoever.
I feel that the overall tone of this article was incredibly childish (the “Nice. Whatever” line comes to mind). It would be lovely for a change if organisations could find a way to work together and be a stronger force, rather than trying to discredit one another’s efforts as not good enough.
By: Alex Brown on September 27, 2012
at 4:08 pm
Rescues like BDMLR are not interested in cooperating, they are interested in keeping their status quo and not being questioned about what they do. In the ideal world it would be nice to cooperate and work towards the common goal, but our world is not ideal, our goals are different and various organizations have various agendas that the public is not aware of. For example we have information that at least one stranding rescue (not saying which or where) indeed has very close and intimate relationships with the Big Oil industry. For the organization like this it would be very disadvantageous to cooperate with org like ours that criticizes Big Oil for making whales to strand. People do not know half of what is going on behind the scenes.
For example we asked BDMLR nicely two (!) years ago to give us a necropsy report of a stranded beaked whale. What did they do? They brushed us off. Why would a simple necropsy report be such a big deal? They sure must have it, why not share it? Stranding teams do not like to show people necropsy reports because most of the time they cannot find anything wrong with the whale. Just like this sei whale, nothing to indicate that he was a goner. And we insist that he was not dependent whale or malnourished beyond any help.
By: strandednomore on September 27, 2012
at 10:06 pm
The high ground is the truth, what SNM has done in the past and still does is identify the foundations For The Truth. Why is it that no link is ever established between the death of cetaceans and seismic or sonar activity by the certified investigating party? These investigators are hired by those responsible or answerable to the agent or agency utilizing the systems causing these deaths. My daughter Kristen Massebeau on our blog championsforcetaceans.com and myself have brought forth the truth clearly establishing connections between sonar/seismic testing as the ultimate cause of a great many cetacean deaths around the world. At some point random, independent and highly trained individuals or groups must be given the opportunity to conduct complete investigations considering all factors surrounding strandings before we the people will be satisfied.
By: Edward Johnson on September 28, 2012
at 10:04 pm
You clearly have zero understanding or knowledge of BDMLR. I have a BSc in Marine Biology and an MSc, I have attended numerous exercises and strandings – does this not qualify me to make a judgement on an animals health and suffering? NO, it does not! Whilst we are trained to assist, the actual decision on an animals health is made by a VET. Have you ever heard of the Royal Dick Vet school in Edinburgh? They send specialist vets who have experience with all kinds of animals, of all sizes. Your rant starts well, and has some basis, and the Scottish Environment Minister is pursuing a full investigation into the Fife mass stranding. However by tearing into BDMLR, an organisation that is supported by volunteers, you lose your argument by appearing 1) ignorant and 2) entirely lacking in perspective.
Have you ever tried refloating a dolphin? It’s big – and darn heavy. Scale that up to a pilot whale. Ditto. Scale that up to a minke, a killer whale. Then get to a large baleen whale, which is impossible to refloat and after stranding will have likely sustained internal injuries due to the weight of its frame not being supported by the water. It is completely unrealistic to believe that a Sei whale could be successfully refloated – logistically challenging, a danger to human life, and usually pointless as the animal is injured, sick, malnourished or suffering from injuries sustained on the shore. BDMLR can’t even put an animal that size down – it’s so big you can’t even shoot it let alone administer immobilin.
Shocking abuse aimed at BDMLR.
By: RB on September 27, 2012
at 5:40 pm
Yes, the decision was made by a vet, alright. A vet that has not seen one sei whale in his life and attends camels, horses and other pet exotics. What does he know about sei whales? He could not even get a species right, telling the media it was a minke whale.
And stop this whining about volunteers. We have tons of examples where random people on the beach had more sense and did a better job rescuing a stranded whale than your “medics” did with all your cockiness and “training”. You said:
This alone indicates that you have very limited knowledge of the research, data and methodology out there. Large whales, in fact huge sperm whales, have been successfully refloated in Tasmania. Go read methodology of how it was done in Marine Mammal Science,it is called “A new technique for refloating and release of stranded sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)”. We can email it to you if you would like. How can you say that large whales have not been refloated? Here are just some examples:
1. Brazil (btw this whale spent 12+ hours on the beach and did not have life threatening damage, not only he survived but was identified years later after the rescue,so cut out this crap about “injuries sustained on the shore” http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/whale-saved-10-years-ago-reunites-with-rescuers.html
2. New study shows pilots surviving pilots surviving 24 hours on the beach and 17 km transport to release site: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/09/17/3583681.htm
3. You might want to read our blog post about myoglobin and why your precious ZSL is full of crap: http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/uk-rescues-the-zoological-society-of-london-think-that-stranded-large-whales-should-be-killed-they-are-wrong/
These are just some examples, and we have many more.
Finally, the quote from Wile et al., 2001 is particularly relevant to this discussion because it summarizes what BDMLR did:
“For instance, an initial hypothesis that assumes live released animals to have died is no more valid than a hypothesis that assumes they lived. Similarly, assumptions that animals need to be euthanized to alleviate their pain and suffering are no more value-free than assumptions that they should be given the opportunity to survive. Such issues often lie at the heart of the stranding controversy and their consequences might not be trivial. Acceptance of the premise that animals cannot survive stranding might result in preparations and actions that aid in their death through euthanasia, neglect, or half-hearted/poorly designed rescue efforts. Acceptance of the premise that animals can survive stranding might lead to preparations and actions that favor their survival”
http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/what-rescues-do-not-tell-you-omission-of-information/
By: strandednomore on September 27, 2012
at 10:22 pm
You actually don’t have a clue what you are talking about. Malnourished whales are not routinely recorded at sea – I have worked offshore as a marine biologist studying cetaceans for over 6 years (have seen many 1000′s of baleen whales during this time) and we very very rarely record malnourished animals. The only malnourished animals seen have been stranded on beaches, which tells you something about their chance of survival.
BDMLR have absolutely no influence over ZSL necropsy results. That whale was 8m in length, which tells us it was still maternally dependent. It had not been feeding for quite a while, the necropsy proves this. ZSL do not make up necropsy results just to cover someone’s backside because they want to kill a whale.
You come across as very childish, bitter and with an axe to grind against an organisation which is trying to meet the same results as you. We cant possibly save every animal which strands and you have to face facts that not every stranding is caused by human factors. Cetaceans have been stranding since time immemorial, you can’t tell me there were seismic surveys 1000 years ago!
Finally, Sei Whale are NOT critically endangered. They are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Even if this animal was critically endangered, it would not have been saved. Sei whale should not be in the North Sea, especially when they are separated from their mother and unable to feed.
Understand the facts, rather turning everything into a personal vendetta against an organisation trying to make a difference!
By: marine biologist on September 27, 2012
at 9:08 pm
Oh really? So researchers from A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology in Russia are just full of crap then? Because they indicated that they routinely see malnourished whales and then see them recover. Direct quote from that study (p.8):
http://iwcoffice.org/cache/downloads/1q0xxaukp0f4ccwwsg0kg8w8s/SC-64-BRG22.pdf
We also have a case of very malnourished grey whale in Puget Sound that stranded numerous times and yet made it and did not die. Luckily rescue there was not as blood hungry as BDMLR.
Finally quit your lame attempts to represent this whale as a dependent calf. Adult and juvenile sei whales can be anywhere between 8 and 15 meters. This whale was 8. They are fully weaned around 6-9 months. http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9363.html
Also we appreciate that you so adamantly copy what Big Oil and Navy put in their applications such as
Not going to even reply to that. Sure the whale stranded because of “natural” reasons, even though you cannot find anything wrong with him and Polarcus Adira was only 199 km away from the stranding site. By the way did you test for embolism and auditory trauma? Exactly, we thought so. If anyone is interested read our blog post here: http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/dolphins-stranded-in-plinys-and-aristotles-times-so-the-navy-and-oilgas-industry-are-off-the-hook/
By: strandednomore on September 27, 2012
at 10:36 pm
Reblogged this on Champions for Cetaceans and commented:
By Ed Johnson
Again a whale death in a rather limited area being impacted by seismic testing . Strand No More has once again delineated the time and exact locations of three different testing vessels that could have been responsible. Great science great read.
By: Kirsten Massebeau on September 29, 2012
at 5:51 pm
Another data about seismic prospection : http://www.appoc.fr/permis_rhone_maritime
By: Sibylline on October 13, 2012
at 9:39 pm
Thank you! We all need to keep talking about seismic testing and emphasize that it was indeed linked to strandings despite of what Big Oil industry says.
By: strandednomore on October 13, 2012
at 10:02 pm