A man from Maui, Hawaii, who refers to himself as Dolphin Dave, is accused of harassing humpback whales and dolphins in Hawaii.
This weekend, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) received an influx of calls about a man “pursuing a humpback whale,” on the big island, the department said in a Facebook post on Monday.
REPORTING HOTLINE LIGHTS UP WITH CALLS ABOUT MAN PURSUING A HUMPBACK WHALE
The suspect was identified as 65-year-old David Jiménez, who was allegedly seen snorkeling close to a humpback whale in Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park on Sunday, DLNR said.
The video that allegedly shows Jiménez with the whale appears to have been filmed under water by himself.
Hawaii DLNR
The department shared a video on social media that appears to have been filmed under water by Jiménez himself. He is seen swimming close to the whale, reaching out and nearly touching its fin.
When the department’s enforcement division arrived on the scene, Jiménez was near a pod of dolphins. A responding officer recorded Jiménez allegedly pursing the pod and leading a group to chase the animals.
At one point in the video, Jiménez appears to extend his hand toward the whale, nearly touching it.
Hawaii DLNR
Jiménez is known as “Dolphin Dave” on Facebook, where he shares dolphin-inspired art.
When asked about the incident, Jiménez told officers “he’s not going to stop swimming with whales and dolphins, ‘because it’s magical and others do much worse things,’” the department said.
He was cited for allegedly violating two Hawaii Administrative Rules – one that protects endangered whale species, and another that prevents the harassment of wildlife in a state parks. He is set to appear in court in May.
CBS News has reached out to Hawaii DLNR and Jiménez for further comment and is awaiting response.
Several animals in Hawaii are protected under the several federal and state laws, according to DLNR. Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, humpback whales are protected, and other Hawaii state laws protected endangered, threatened and indigenous species like other whales, seals and many different types of dolphins.
While humpback whales were once considered endangered – and many populations around the world still are classified as endangered or threatened – they are not considered at risk in Hawaii, according to NOAA. Still, they are at risk of harassment from boats, particularly because they often swim close to shore and attract whale-watching tours.
WASHINGTON — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas — nearly half the planet’s surface — concluding two weeks of talks in New York.
The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994, before marine biodiversity was a well-established concept.
An updated framework to protect marine life in the regions outside national boundary waters, known as the high seas, had been in discussions for more than 20 years, but previous efforts to reach an agreement had repeatedly stalled. The unified agreement treaty was reached late Saturday.
“We only really have two major global commons — the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Georgetown marine biologist Rebecca Helm. While the oceans may draw less attention, “protecting this half of earth’s surface is absolutely critical to the health of our planet.”
Now that long-awaited treaty text has been finalized, Nichola Clark, an oceans expert at the Pew Charitable Trusts who observed the talks in New York, said, “This is a once in a generation opportunity to protect the oceans — a major win for biodiversity.”
The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. And Clark said that’s critical to achieve the U.N. Biodiversity Conference’s recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet’s waters, as well as its land, for conservation.
The treaty also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans.
“It means all activities planned for the high seas need to be looked at, though not all will go through a full assessment,” said Jessica Battle, an oceans governance expert at the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Many marine species — including dolphins, whales, sea turtles and many fish — make long annual migrations, crossing national borders and the high seas. Efforts to protect them — and human communities that rely on fishing or tourism related to marine life — have previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.
“This treaty will help to knit together the different regional treaties to be able to address threats and concerns across species’ ranges,” said Battle.
That protection also helps coastal biodiversity and economies, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.
“Governments have taken an important step that strengthens the legal protection of two-thirds of the ocean and with it marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities,” she said.
The question now is how well the ambitious treaty will be implemented.
The high seas have long suffered exploitation due to commercial fishing and mining, as well as pollution from chemicals and plastics. The new agreement is about “acknowledging that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global cooperation to use the ocean sustainably,” said Malin Pinsky, a biologist at Rutgers University.
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Follow Larson on Twitter at @larsonchristina and Whittle at @pxwhittle
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
HONOLULU (AP) — A whale that washed ashore in Hawaii over the weekend likely died in part because it ate large volumes of fishing traps, fishing nets, plastic bags and other marine debris, scientists said Thursday, highlighting the threat to wildlife from the millions of tons of plastic that ends up in oceans every year.
The body of the 56-foot (17-meter) long, 120,000-pound (54,431-kilogram) animal was first noticed on a reef off Kauai on Friday. High tide brought it ashore on Saturday.
Kristi West, the director of the University of Hawaii’s Health and Stranding Lab, said there were enough foreign objects in the opening of the whale’s intestinal tract to block food.
“The presence of undigested fish and squid lends further evidence of a blockage,” she said in a news release from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The whale’s stomach contained six hagfish traps, seven types of fishing net, two types of plastic bags, a light protector, fishing line and a float from a net. Researchers also found squid beaks, fish skeleton and remains of other prey in the whale’s stomach.
It’s the first known case of a sperm whale in Hawaii waters ingesting discarded fishing gear, West said.
The whale’s stomach was so large West’s team wasn’t able to examine it completely. They suspect there was more material they weren’t able to recover.
Researchers found nothing wrong with other organs they examined. They collected samples to screen for disease and conduct other follow-up tests.
Sperm whales travel across thousands of miles in the ocean so it’s not clear where the debris came from.
Scientists say that more than 35 million tons (31.9 million metric tons) of plastic pollution is produced around Earth each year and about a quarter of that ends up around the water.
Marine debris harms numerous species.
Seabirds can ingest as much as 8% of their body weight in plastic. Endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles can get caught in plastic nets and die. Sharks and other apex predators eat smaller fish that feed on microplastic, which can then endanger their own health.
In addition to eating plastics, large whales are harmed when they become entangled in fishing gear or other ropes in the ocean. The drag from debris can force whales to use more energy to swim and make it harder for them to eat, causing starvation.
On Tuesday, marine mammal responders freed a humpback whale that was caught in rope, a bundle of gear and two buoys off the Big Island.
Sperm whales are an endangered species found in deep oceans across the world. A 2021 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated there were about 4,500 sperm whales in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, from the Big Island in the south to Kure Atoll in the north.
In less than two months, seven dead whales have washed up on the shores of New Jersey and New York. What’s behind the mortalities has not been clearly established, but theories abound. Some have pointed blame at offshore wind development in the region and claimed construction of the sites causes harm to marine animals. But federal officials are pushing back, saying that’s not what the evidence shows.
Here’s what we know about the recent whale deaths and what researchers say could be the cause.
What happened to the whales?
Several dead whales have washed up on New Jersey and New York beaches since the beginning of December. Two were found in New York, with a 31-foot-long humpback whale washing up in Amagansett, on Long Island, on Dec. 6, and a 30-foot-long sperm whale found on Rockaway Beach on Dec. 12. The others have been found in New Jersey, including a 12-foot infant sperm whale in Keansburg on Dec. 5, a 30-foot humpback on Strathmere beach on Dec. 10, a humpback whale in Atlantic City on Dec. 23, and another 30-foot humpback whale in Atlantic City on Jan. 7.
The most recent was on Jan. 12, when a 32-foot-long humpback whale washed up in Brigantine, New Jersey.
A dead female humpback whale more than 32 feet long washed up on the shore of Brigantine, New Jersey, in January 2023.
Marine Mammal Stranding Center/Facebook
The causes of death for these whales have not officially been confirmed, as it can take several months to obtain results of test sampling. But some of the cases did reveal information about what may have contributed.
The most recent whale, for example, may have been killed from a vessel strike after responders observed evidence of blunt trauma to the whale’s head and thoracic area, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Likewise, the whale found on Dec. 7 was also found with “marks from a suspected ship strike” near its blowhole and on the whale’s right side. In that case, responders also found a large hematoma — a pool of blood — under one of the suspected strike marks, and also found scars from a possible entanglement.
Why are some blaming wind energy?
Even though pathology results have not yet been released, some local groups have accused offshore wind energy development in the region of being responsible for the deaths.
The increase in offshore wind energy development comes amid the White House’s goal to ramp up offshore energy capacity to 30 gigawatts by 2030 — an amount the administration says could provide power to more than 10 million Americans’ homes for a year.
On Jan. 9, a local group called Clean Ocean Action issued a press release demanding “an immediate and fully transparent investigation” into the whale deaths, a “hard stop” on existing offshore wind energy development activities, and a pause to any “new, planned, or pending” development permitting activities.
“These tragic multiple deaths of mostly young, endangered whales are of no apparent cause, however, the only new activity in the ocean is the unprecedented concurrent industrial activity by over 11 companies in the region’s ocean, which allows the harassment and harm of tens of thousands of marine mammals,” Cindy Zipf, executive director of the organization, said in the release.
Clean Ocean Action accuses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of giving “the green light” for offshore wind companies to “harm, harass, injure and kill” marine mammals in their development process through Incidental Take Authorizations. The ITAs issued by NOAA may allow the unintentional harassment, injury or killing of marine mammals in connection to authorized activities, “including construction projects, scientific research projects, oil and gas development, and military exercises.”
But during a call with reporters on Wednesday, NOAA officials reiterated that the agency “has not authorized — or proposed to authorize — mortality or serious injury of whales for any wind-related action.” It also said “no whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activity.”
Concerned about the recent whale strandings along the East Coast? So are we. Our experts are following the science and sharing the facts: https://t.co/aF5TMJueY8
According to NOAA, there are 12 active authorizations for “Level B” harassment from offshore wind sites in the Atlantic Ocean from New England to the Carolinas, meaning that companies will likely disturb animals, but do not have permission to injure or kill. There are also two active authorizations that allow non-serious injury, specifically auditory injury, from “exposure to noise from pile driving.”
Benjamin Laws, NOAA Fisheries deputy chief for the permits and conservation division, told reporters that “no injury, and certainly no mortality,” has been authorized.
Laws said that most of the offshore activity right now is surveys for more developments. During a vessel-based survey, a piece of equipment that emits sound is paired with a receiver and towed through the water in a zig-zag fashion to track how sound waves bounce off the sea floor.
Laws said that the agency did not have “evidence that would support the connection between the survey work and these recent stranding events or any stranding events in the last several years.”
Erica Staaterman, a bioacoustician with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said during the call that the equipment used in these surveys is not as intrusive to marine animals compared to the equipment used in oil and gas construction. Whereas offshore oil and gas development uses seismic air guns, the equipment being used for offshore wind development surveys emits a smaller amount of acoustic energy in a smaller radius and are used for shorter periods of time, she explained.
The agency added that when surveys are done, vessels are required to slow their speed and must be joined by protected species observers at all times, with at least one observer during the day and at least two during the night with night vision devices.
NOAA has acknowledged that any activity that puts noise in the ocean could potentially impact marine mammals, namely with their navigation, habitats and vessel traffic. However, there is no evidence that’s what happened in the most recent cases of whale strandings, the agency said.
If development isn’t responsible for recent whale deaths, what is?
One of the most important aspects of the string of whale deaths to note is that humpback whales, which have made up a majority of the recent events, have been undergoing an unusual mortality event since 2016. Since then, there have been roughly 178 deaths, most of which occurred in Massachusetts and New York. Necropsies have been done on at least half of those whales, of which about 40% had evidence of either a ship strike or entanglement. More research on the cause for the event as a whole is needed.
Both humpback and sperm whales, the two species seen washing up on shores, are listed as endangered, according to NOAA. Human interaction remains the species’ No. 1 threat, namely from vessel strikes, entanglements, noise pollution and marine debris.
Sarah Wilkin, coordinator of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, said Wednesday that humpback whale strandings in particular tend to happen in the mid-Atlantic during winter. Researchers are still working on determining if the recent strandings is an elevated number compared to previous years, she said.
Climate change is also anticipated to have a major impact on the whales, as changes in the ocean can impact their habitat and food availability. Sperm whales are expected to be more resilient to these changes, as they have a more widespread presence worldwide.
However, these are reasons for overall deaths and are not specific to the most recent string of events. The reasons for each of the most recent deaths are still being determined.
BRIGANTINE, N.J. (AP) — Marine animal welfare officials say the most recent whale found dead on a New Jersey shoreline had apparently been struck by a vessel.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said Sunday that preliminary results of a necropsy on the humpback whale that washed up Thursday on the North End Natural Area in Brigantine indicates that the animal had “blunt trauma injuries consistent with those from a vessel strike.”
“Injuries and hemorrhaging were observed on the head and thoracic region, as well as along the right side and the pectoral flipper,” the center said in a statement. “These findings will be confirmed through laboratory analysis in the coming weeks.”
The whale was a 32-foot, 7-inch female estimated to weigh about 12 tons and was apparently in good condition judging by the thickness of its blubber, the center said.
“The whale’s stomach was full of partially digested fish and there was fecal matter in the intestines, indicating the whale had been actively feeding prior to these injuries,” the center said.
“Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the largest known human threats to whales of all species,” the center said. “Although there has been speculation about whether these whale deaths are linked to wind energy development, at this point no whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activities.”
Brigantine, just north of Atlantic City, has seen two other dead whales on its beaches in recent weeks, among the seven whale deaths in a little over a month in New Jersey and New York.
Some lawmakers have called for a temporary pause in ocean-floor preparation work for offshore wind projects in the two states. New Jersey’s governor said he doesn’t agree with that idea. Most of New Jersey’s environmental groups called an association between the deaths and the offshore wind work “unfounded and premature.”
The center also said there are currently a lot of large whales in waters off New Jersey, likely attracted by small fish they feed on that are also attracting stripers or striped bass. Officials urged boaters to travel slowly (less than 10 knots) and keep an eye out for whales.
The U.S. government on Friday said it received one bid for the right to drill offshore for oil and gas in Alaska’s Cook Inlet near habitat for bears, salmon, humpback whales and endangered beluga whales.
Hilcorp Alaska LLC submitted the sole bid — $63,983 for an area covering 2,304 hectares or 5,693 acres.
The company is a unit of Hilcorp, which is the largest privately held oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. It already has leases to drill for oil and gas in onshore areas of Cook Inlet, which stretches from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which conducted the sale via livestream, was offering leases for 193 blocks totaling some 958,000 acres (388,000 hectares) but received just one bid for one block.
The U.S. Interior Department in May said it would not move forward with the Cook Inlet lease sale due to a “lack of industry interest.” But over the summer, Congress passed legislation that called for a Cook Inlet lease sale by year’s end and two Gulf of Mexico lease sales next year. The provisions were part of the Inflation Reduction Act, a sprawling package that also included major investments to fight climate change.
Environmentalists criticized the sale, saying oil and gas leases undermine efforts to address climate change. They also expressed concern that an oil spill could harm wildlife, subsistence gathering and commercial and sport fishing.
Hilcorp said it was proud of its work to revitalize natural gas production in Cook Inlet, which it said nearly two-thirds of Alaskans depend on to heat and power their homes and businesses.
“We look forward to continuing to responsibly produce Alaskan oil and natural gas, create Alaskan jobs and contribute to the state’s economy for decades to come,” the company said in a statement.
Dyani Chapman, the director of Alaska Environment, a nonprofit organization, said Alaska should be looking forward to a cleaner, greener future in the coming year.
“Instead, we’re closing out 2022 with a lease for more dirty, dangerous offshore drilling,” Chapman said in a statement. “For the sake of our beluga whales, northern sea otters, salmon and more, we urge companies to recognize that drilling in Cook Inlet should be left in the past.”
Environmental groups earlier this month sued the Biden administration over the sale, saying an environmental review failed to adequately evaluate how it would affect whales. It also argued that a greenhouse gas emissions analysis was based on flawed modeling and that the review failed to consider “a reasonable range of alternatives” for the lease sale.
The Cook Inlet basin is Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin, dating back to the 1950s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says the new lease will be awarded after a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value. The Department of Justice will also review the sale for antitrust considerations.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Whale Watch Week in Oregon returned in-person for the first time since the pandemic on Wednesday, drawing visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the annual gray whale migration to the state’s coastline.
By early afternoon, more than 500 people had flocked to the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, where a volunteer equipped with binoculars pointed out whales in the distance. A spokesperson for Oregon State Parks, which organizes the event, described scenes of excited spectators as several were spotted.
“She’s seeing the spray and calling it out,” Stefanie Knowlton told The Associated Press on the phone as she watched the center’s volunteer, the crowd cheering in the background. “There’s just so much energy. You could just really feel that people were ready to come back and watch whales together.”
Volunteers will be at 17 state parks along the coast through Sunday to help people spot the nearly 20,000 gray whales that make the southward journey to Mexico every year.
One of the sites, Cape Meares, was closed Wednesday after strong winds the previous day knocked over trees, Knowlton said.
Oregon State Parks organizes whale watching events twice a year, in the winter for gray whales’ southern migration and in the spring for their return to northern waters near Alaska.
Oregon’s central coast is also a hot spot for whale watching from June to mid-November, when the gray whales that remained in the state’s coastal waters during the summer migration come close to shore to feed, according to the agency.
Despite fierce pushback from environmentalists, congressional leaders have included a controversial rider in the $1.7 trillion federal government funding package that would block stricter federal rules meant to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from becoming entangled in fishing gear.
As HuffPost first reported Friday, Maine’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Susan Collins (R), championed the provision and lobbied for its inclusion, arguing that it would provide relief to a lobster industry that they say has been the target of unfair and misguided regulations.
Collins’ office called the proposal “a simple compromise.” Environmentalists have warned it could drive the right whale to extinction.
In July, a federal judge ruled that a 2021 regulation that established new requirements for lobster traps to reduce the risk of entangling whales didn’t go far enough. Among other things, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rules limited the number of vertical fishing lines that could be deployed in Maine waters and set new seasonal zone restrictions. The judge ruled that the regulations fell short of fulfilling two key environmental laws: the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Maine delegation’s measure effectively voids the judge’s ruling and blocks stricter rules that the court ordered federal agencies to finalize by 2024.
An initial draft of the provision would have cemented the 2021 regulation for 10 years. The measure was modified during negotiations, with the exemption reduced from 10 years to six. The provision also sets aside grant funding — $50 million per year through 2032 — to reduce the risk of entanglement, vessel strikes and other threats to the imperiled whale species. That includes $40 million earmarked for “innovative gear deployment and technology.”
The changes did little to satisfy environmentalists, who rallied over the weekend in an effort to block the proposal.
Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity ― one of three organizations that sued the federal government to force stronger safeguards for right whales ― said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) had “heartlessly put special interests above our nation’s beautiful natural heritage.”
“Sacrificing a great whale to extinction in exchange for funding the government is immoral,” Hartl, the organization’s government affairs director, said in a statement. “Doing so just to give Sen. Schumer another political chit in his pocket is simply pathetic.”
The office of Sen. Susan Collins (R) called the provision “a simple compromise.”
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
Connor Fagan, federal policy manager at ocean advocacy group Oceana, called the move “a bridge too far.”
“Environmentalists won’t soon forget the last-minute nature of this enormous carveout of our foundational environmental laws,” he said. “The effect of this shortsighted giveaway is likely to be disastrous for the whales.”
Over the weekend, more than 70 organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity and Oceana, signed a letter urging Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders to reject the measure. They said the provision “would set a damaging precedent for the political override of science-based decisionmaking under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Act; undermine active federal litigation and reverse judicial orders; and further threaten the survival of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.”
The North Atlantic right whale is among the most critically endangered species on the planet. Its population has been steadily falling since 2010, and fewer than 350 of the whales are estimated to be alive. Entanglements in fishing gear, vessel strikes and climate change are the biggest threats to their survival.
An endangered North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing rope as it swims with a newborn calf off Cumberland Island, Georgia.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources/NOAA via Associated Press
In a separate letter to Democratic leadership on Sunday, members of the Atlantic Scientific Review Group, which advises federal agencies on marine mammals on the Atlantic coast, said the Maine delegation’s amendment “would likely doom the North Atlantic right whale to extinction.”
Maine lawmakers have dismissed conservationists’ concerns.
“Maine’s lobstering community has consistently demonstrated their commitment to protecting right whales,” Collins’ spokesperson Christopher Knight previously told HuffPost. “If these groups are unwilling to agree to something so straightforward, it shows an utter disdain for the men and women who make their living from one of the best managed and sustainable fisheries on earth.”
Asked if environmental groups were considering future legal action, Hartl said the provision’s language precludes litigation and likely can’t be overturned. He expects the measure will ultimately shift the burden of protecting right whales to other ocean users.
“To stop the slide towards extinction, the National Marine Fisheries Service must reduce the cumulative harm and impacts to right whales,” he said. “If it is prohibited from addressing the impacts of the lobster fishery, it must address the other threats more aggressively, including offshore wind, vessel strikes and all other fisheries-related impacts.”
PORTLAND, Maine — Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster.
Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry.
The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.
The decision by Whole Foods was an “important action to protect the highly endangered” whale, said Virginia Carter, an associate with the Save America’s Wildlife Campaign at Environment America Research & Policy Center.
“With fewer than 340 North Atlantic right whales in existence, the species is swimming toward extinction unless things turn around,” Carter said.
Whole Foods said in a statement last week that it’s monitoring the situation and “committed to working with suppliers, fisheries, and environmental advocacy groups as it develops.”
The company’s decision to stop selling lobster drew immediate criticism in Maine, which is home to the U.S.’s largest lobster fishing industry. The state’s Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and its four-member congressional delegation said in a statement that Marine Stewardship Council’s decision to suspend its certification of Gulf of Maine lobster came despite years of stewardship and protection of whales by Maine fishermen.
“Despite this, the Marine Stewardship Council, with retailers following suit, wrongly and blindly decided to follow the recommendations of misguided environmental groups rather than science,” Mills and the delegation said.
Whole Foods was not the first retailer to take lobster off the menu over sustainability concerns. HelloFresh, the meal kit company, was among numerous retailers to pledge to stop selling lobster in September after California-based Seafood Watch placed American and Canadian lobster fisheries on its “red list” of seafoods to avoid.
PORTLAND, Maine — Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster.
Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry.
The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.
The decision by Whole Foods was an “important action to protect the highly endangered” whale, said Virginia Carter, an associate with the Save America’s Wildlife Campaign at Environment America Research & Policy Center.
“With fewer than 340 North Atlantic right whales in existence, the species is swimming toward extinction unless things turn around,” Carter said.
Whole Foods said in a statement last week that it’s monitoring the situation and “committed to working with suppliers, fisheries, and environmental advocacy groups as it develops.”
The company’s decision to stop selling lobster drew immediate criticism in Maine, which is home to the U.S.’s largest lobster fishing industry. The state’s Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and its four-member congressional delegation said in a statement that Marine Stewardship Council’s decision to suspend its certification of Gulf of Maine lobster came despite years of stewardship and protection of whales by Maine fishermen.
“Despite this, the Marine Stewardship Council, with retailers following suit, wrongly and blindly decided to follow the recommendations of misguided environmental groups rather than science,” Mills and the delegation said.
Whole Foods was not the first retailer to take lobster off the menu over sustainability concerns. HelloFresh, the meal kit company, was among numerous retailers to pledge to stop selling lobster in September after California-based Seafood Watch placed American and Canadian lobster fisheries on its “red list” of seafoods to avoid.
ATHENS, Greece — Exxon Mobil is poised to start a delayed gas prospecting project off southwestern Greece, the country’s leader said Monday amid tensions between Greece and Turkey over offshore rights and as Europe seeks alternative energy sources due to the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. energy giant will start seismic exploration “in the coming days” southwest of the southern Peloponnese peninsula and the island of Crete, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told private Antenna TV.
The project has been heavily criticized by environmental groups, which argue that the deep-sea prospecting would have “unbearable” consequences on endangered Mediterranean whales and dolphins. Critics also highlight the potential risk of spills, and say the project, if successful, would increase Greece’s use of fossil fuels amid the planet’s climate change crisis.
Mitsotakis insisted Monday that Greece remains dedicated to “fast green transition.” But he added: “Our country … must ascertain whether it currently has the ability to produce natural gas, which would contribute not only to our own energy security but also to that of Europe.”
European countries are scrambling to replace their former dependency on Russian fossil fuels following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent damaging of pipelines designed to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany.
Meanwhile, Greece and Turkey are at loggerheads over offshore exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean, and Turkish prospecting east of Crete in 2020 prompted a military build-up and bellicose rhetoric.
In 2019, Greece granted rights for exploration — which, however, didn’t go ahead — in two blocks of seabed south and southwest of the island of Crete to a consortium of TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil with Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum.
The areas include the Mediterranean’s deepest waters. The Hellenic Trench, at 5,267 meters (17,300 feet) is a vital habitat for the sea’s few hundred sperm whales, and for other cetaceans already threatened by fishing, collisions with ships and plastic pollution.
These mammals are particularly sensitive to the underwater noise produced by seismic surveys for fossil fuels, in which sound waves are bounced off the seabed to locate potential deposits. Sonar used by warships has been shown to have deadly effects on whales, and experts say seismic surveys can do the same.
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PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government has outlined a strategy to try to protect an endangered species of whale while also developing offshore wind power off the East Coast.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made a priority of encouraging offshore wind along the Atlantic coast as the U.S. pursues greater energy independence. Those waters are also home to the declining North Atlantic right whale, which numbers about 340 in the world.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a draft plan this month to conserve the whales while allowing for the building of wind projects. The agencies said the ongoing efforts to save the whales and create more renewable energy can coexist.
“As we face the ongoing challenges of climate change, this strategy provides a strong foundation to help us advance renewable energy while also working to protect and recover North Atlantic right whales, and the ecosystem they depend on,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries
The development of offshore wind is going on along the migratory routes of the whales, which travel from Georgia and Florida to New England and Canada every year. That potentially leaves the whales vulnerable to disturbance or injury. The agencies said they plan to provide offshore wind developers with guidance about mitigation measures to help navigate the regulatory process as part of the whale strategy.
The strategy focuses on “improving the science and integrating past, present and future efforts related to North Atlantic right whales and offshore wind development,” said Jon Hare, the director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a lead author on the document. It also identifies mitigation measures related to project planning, leasing and siting, he said.
The right whales have been declining in recent years and face threats such as collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear. Environmentalist groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, have called for more protections for the whales.
The protection strategy is promising, but it needs funding for implementation and requirements for measures that minimize harm to the whales, said Alison Chase, a senior policy analyst with the council. Those include speed and noise reductions, Chase said.
“We need offshore wind, and we need to do it right,” Chase said. “But as we fight climate change, we must avoid, minimize, and mitigate threats to ocean life in whatever ways we can.”
The government will take public comment on the draft strategy until Dec. 4.
PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government has outlined a strategy to try to protect an endangered species of whale while also developing offshore wind power off the East Coast.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made a priority of encouraging offshore wind along the Atlantic coast as the U.S. pursues greater energy independence. Those waters are also home to the declining North Atlantic right whale, which numbers about 340 in the world.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a draft plan this month to conserve the whales while allowing for the building of wind projects. The agencies said the ongoing efforts to save the whales and create more renewable energy can coexist.
“As we face the ongoing challenges of climate change, this strategy provides a strong foundation to help us advance renewable energy while also working to protect and recover North Atlantic right whales, and the ecosystem they depend on,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries
The development of offshore wind is going on along the migratory routes of the whales, which travel from Georgia and Florida to New England and Canada every year. That potentially leaves the whales vulnerable to disturbance or injury. The agencies said they plan to provide offshore wind developers with guidance about mitigation measures to help navigate the regulatory process as part of the whale strategy.
The strategy focuses on “improving the science and integrating past, present and future efforts related to North Atlantic right whales and offshore wind development,” said Jon Hare, the director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a lead author on the document. It also identifies mitigation measures related to project planning, leasing and siting, he said.
The right whales have been declining in recent years and face threats such as collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear. Environmentalist groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, have called for more protections for the whales.
The protection strategy is promising, but it needs funding for implementation and requirements for measures that minimize harm to the whales, said Alison Chase, a senior policy analyst with the council. Those include speed and noise reductions, Chase said.
“We need offshore wind, and we need to do it right,” Chase said. “But as we fight climate change, we must avoid, minimize, and mitigate threats to ocean life in whatever ways we can.”
The government will take public comment on the draft strategy until Dec. 4.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Some 477 pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on two remote New Zealand beaches over recent days, officials say.
None of the stranded whales could be refloated and all either died naturally or were euthanized in a “heartbreaking” loss, said Daren Grover, the general manager of Project Jonah, a nonprofit group which helps rescue whales.
The whales beached themselves on the Chatham Islands, which are home to about 600 people and located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand’s main islands.
The Department of Conservation said 232 whales stranded themselves Friday at Tupuangi Beach and another 245 at Waihere Bay on Monday.
The deaths come two weeks after about 200 pilot whales died in Australia after stranding themselves on a remote Tasmanian beach.
“These events are tough, challenging situations,” the Department of Conservation wrote in a Facebook post. “Although they are natural occurrences, they are still sad and difficult for those helping.”
Grover said the remote location and presence of sharks in the surrounding waters meant they couldn’t mobilize volunteers to try to refloat the whales as they have in past stranding events.
“We do not actively refloat whales on the Chatham Islands due to the risk of shark attack to humans and the whales themselves, so euthanasia was the kindest option,” said Dave Lundquist, a technical marine advisor for the conservation department.
Mass strandings of pilot whales are reasonably common in New Zealand, especially during the summer months. Scientists don’t know exactly what causes the whales to strand, although it appears their location systems can get confused by gently sloping sandy beaches.
Grover said there is a lot of food for the whales around the Chatham Islands, and as they swim closer to land, they would quickly find themselves going from very deep to shallow water.
“They rely on their echolocation and yet it doesn’t tell them that they are running out of water,” Grover said. “They come closer and closer to shore and become disoriented. The tide can then drop from below them and before they know it, they’re stranded on the beach.”
Because of the remote location of the beaches, the whale carcasses won’t be buried or towed out to sea, as is often the case, but instead will be left to decompose, Grover said.
“Nature is a great recycler and all the energy stored within the bodies of all the whales will be returned to nature quite quickly,” he said.
Inspired by the incredible true story of the 52-hertz whale, author Johnny DePalma’s latest rhyming picture book, ’52 – A Tale of Loneliness’, echoes emotions that may be felt at home.
Press Release –
updated: Mar 23, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for curating the pandemic’s Emergency Art Museum (emergencyartmuseum.com), award-winning author Johnny DePalma’s latest literary accomplishment dives deep into innate human feelings, emotions, and loneliness – something all too common in a COVID-19 world.
“I would say all my books are somewhat autobiographical,” said DePalma, regarding his latest book, ’52 – A Tale of Loneliness.’ “Loneliness is such a universal and complex emotion. For me, my days of loneliness were also my days of unlimited imagination. I would take the time to connect with all of the small, seemingly invisible things in my life. And, looking back, I think those moments we’re incredibly important. Years later, when I learned about the 52-hertz whale, (also known as the loneliest whale in the world) I knew I wanted to write a book that reconnects with that misunderstood emotion.”
This children’s tale, recommended for ages 4-8, has recently hit home for an audience of all ages. Taking place far beneath the beautiful sea, a unique whale sings a song that is all his own. Told in short, poetic passages, this whale, simply known as 52, celebrates the joy of life he’s found beneath the ocean waves. Yet, despite his isolation, 52 remains optimistic and introduces readers to the magic, beauty, and joy found within his own invisible world.
DePalma details the beauty of isolation with effortlessness throughout the book, writing, “And that’s all mine! I get to see, the things invisible, like me! So, every night, I say hello, to all the barnacles below. To every bubble, kelp, and shell. To every grain of sand as well. For all these things make up my home, and with them, I don’t feel alone.”
“It’s been greatly inspired by the California coast,” said DePalma. “After all, that is where the real-life 52-hertz whale has been known to travel. In 2018, my good friend and illustrator, Kyle Brown and I took a research trip from Point Conception, to Monterey, and eventually through San Francisco to find the creative spark needed for the illustrations in this book. I couldn’t be happier with the result. It’s my hope that children and families alike will uncover that same special spark of joy that 52 has found. Considering what we’ve all been going through, I think embracing some of these feelings, and putting a voice to them is going to be an important step for children moving forward.”
DePalma went on to say, “As children start heading back to school, social and emotional learning tools are going to be imperative. Characters like 52 are there to help guide children through those difficult feelings and to help them find their voice in a world that might suddenly feel a bit different. I want children to know that being unique can be a positive and powerful thing. Sometimes, it just takes the right perspective for them to see that.”
One recent reviewer stated, “DePalma effectively validates feelings that are relatable to children of various ages. Although 52 experiences loneliness, and sometimes feels invisible, he still sings, and his tale is not a sad one. This good-natured whale exemplifies themes of self-acceptance, individuality, contentment, empathy, bravery, and joy.” – Cecilia_L
Terra Jolé, of “Dancing with the Stars,” fame stated, “This book is a wonderful way for children to feel content with who they are. This speaks loudly to me as a mother isolating her family through the pandemic. Embracing a world you’re creating for yourself is a powerful message in a children’s book.”
To date, 52 –A Tale of Loneliness has won a Mom’s Choice Gold Award, and a Reader’s Favorite Five Stars. The book also includes a downloadable companion audiobook read by Emmy Award-winning actor, Patton Oswalt.
