The Newsletter of the Southeastern United States Implementation
Team for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale
Volume 4, Number 1 February, 1997
RIGHT WHALE NEWS EXPANDS TO COVER ENTIRE RANGE OF SPECIES
Thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust s
Endangered Species Fund, Right Whale News will expand its scope to
include more comprehensive coverage of right whale recovery efforts
throughout the range of the species, including New England and
Canada. Previous issues have focused on the northern right whale s
calving ground off the coast of Georgia and northeast Florida. Right
Whale News will also expand its distribution to include more people
active in right whale work in the northeast. So if you know of
colleagues or friends who should be on the mailing list for Right
Whale News, please contact the editor, Hans Neuhauser, at the Georgia
Environmental Policy Institute, 380 Meigs Street, Athens, Georgia
30601; telephone 706-546-7507 (voice mailbox 2); fax 706-613-7775.
The support of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the Grays Reef
National Marine Sanctuary and the National Marine Fisheries Service
allows us to offer subscriptions to Right Whale News free of charge.
The purpose of the newsletter is to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of recovery efforts for the world s most endangered large
whale, the northern right whale.
MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST
MAKES RIGHT WHALE GRANTS
In addition to the grant for Right Whale News noted above, the
Massachusetts Environmental Trust has also awarded six more grants
for right whale projects under their FY97 Endangered Species Fund
Program and one grant under their FY97 Emergency Surveillance,
Reporting and Management Program. The titles and a brief description
of each of these projects follow. For additional information on a
specific project, write or call the contact person listed. From time
to time, Right Whale News will be reporting on the progress of these
projects and listing publications derived from them in the Scientific
Literature and Reports section of this newsletter.
The funds awarded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust come
primarily from three sources: environmental settlements initiated by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or by private citizen environmental
organizations, fees from the sale of environmental license plates
featuring a right whale and roseate tern, and private donations. For
information on the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, contact Ms.
Robbin Peach, Executive Director, 33 Union Street, 4th Floor, Boston,
MA 02108; tel. 617-727-0249; fax 617-367-1616.
FY97 Endangered Species Grant Program:
Project: To implement a plankton monitoring system which will employ
new technology for monitoring and analyzing the plankton resources on
which the whales depend. This project will implement a plankton
monitoring system which, with other data, will permit an
understanding of the impact which changes in the food resources of
Cape Cod Bay s Critical Habitat might have. Contact person: Peter
Borrelli, Center for Coastal Studies, 59 Commercial Street,
Provincetown, MA 02657; tel. 508-487-3622, fax 508-487-4495.
Project: The development and operational testing of snag-free fishing
gear for use in reducing right whale entanglement and mortality.The
goal of the project is to develop and evaluate innovative gear
modifications to reduce the likelihood of whales snagging in the
lines and mesh of lobster pots and gill nets. Contact person: David
Wiley, International Wildlife Coalition, 70 East Falmouth Highway,
East Falmouth, MA 02536; tel. 508-548-8328; fax 508-548-8542.
Project: To evaluate avenues to educate the shipping community about
right whales. The project will examine what information about right
whales and the potential mortality due to ship strikes the shipping
industry lacks. The project also seeks the most effective way to
disseminate such information. Contact person: Amy Knowlton, New
England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110; tel. 617-973-5253;
fax 617-367-6615.
Project: Massachusetts right whale matching and data integration. All
right whale photographs taken in Massachusetts waters during 1997 and
collected by the New England Aquarium will be integrated into the
North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog curated at the Aquarium. Resulting
information on such topics as demographics, migration, reproduction,
entanglements and ship strikes will be crucial to the development of
effective management strategies and to providing some indication of
the effectiveness of implemented management plans. Contact person:
Phillip Hamilton, New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, MA
02110; tel. 617-973-5253; fax 617-367-6615.
Project: Analysis of birthing intervals in northern right whales.
Recently developed statistical techniques will be applied to the New
England Aquarium s photo-identification catalog and database to
estimate calving intervals in females. New methods of mark-recapture
analysis will be used to test the hypothesis that the calving
interval has been increasing. The analysis will also provide
estimates for variability in fertility among females and among years
of observation. Contact person: Dr. Solange Brault, Department of
Biology, University of Massachusetts, 100 Morrissey Boulevard,
Boston, MA 02125-3393; tel. 617-287-6600; fax 617-287-6650.
Project: Nutritional and genetic aspects of Northern right whale
survival. The project will measure blubber thickness in selected
animals as an indicator of body condition. It will also examine the
relatedness of animals frequenting Cape Cod Bay in the context of the
population as a whole. The genetic data will then be correlated with
the body condition data to look for familial trends in altered body
condition. Contact person: Dr. Michael Moore, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543; tel. 508-289-3228;
fax 508-457-2169.
FY 97 Emergency Surveillance, Reporting and Monitoring Program:
Project: Surface surveillance and modeling. This project has two
inextricably-linked goals: (1) to create and test a model system to
track right whales and communicate their location and (2) using the
model, to create regulations and policies that protect the species.
The project seeks to provide better surveillance for right whales in
Massachusetts waters during their primary period of residence.
Regular overflights, combined with surface surveillance and enhanced
real-time communications regarding the locality of whales to those
most able to reduce or eliminate mortality, should greatly reduce or
eliminate mortality due to ship strikes and fishing gear
entanglements. The data should also give researchers and government
agencies better insight into the location of the whales so that
appropriate management measures can be taken. The first stage of the
project, extensive dedicated surveillance of Cape Cod Bay and the
development of a mathematical model, will be carried out by the
Center for Coastal Studies; the contact person is Peter Borrelli,
CCS, 59 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657; tel. 508-487-3622,
fax 508-487-4495. Collaborating in the development of the model will
be Dr. Robert Kenney, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of
Rhode Island, Box 41, Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI 02882-1197; tel.
401-874-6664; fax 401-874-6497.
ATLANTIC OFFSHORE CETACEANS TAKE REDUCTION PLAN SUBMITTED
After a series of six meetings, the Atlantic Offshore Cetaceans Take
Reduction Team reached consensus on a plan for reducing the take of
offshore Cetaceans by the U.S. pelagic longline fishery, the
swordfish driftnet fishery and the pair trawl for tuna fishery. The
Atlantic Offshore Cetaceans Take Reduction Plan was submitted to the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on November 22, 1996.
Recommendations to reduce the take of right whales included closure
of right whale Critical Habitats at times when right whales are
expected to be present. The Georgia - Florida coastline Critical
Habitat were recommended for closure from December 1 through March
31. The Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay Critical Habitat was
recommended for closure from February 1 through April 30. The Great
South Channel Critical Habitat would be closed from March 1 through
June 30. The NMFS is currently reviewing the plan. In the near
future, NMFS will publish proposed regulations in the Federal
Register to implement the plan including any changes that may be
necessary. Category I. Vessels or gear owners participating in
Category I or II fisheries must register with regional offices of the
NMFS (or through an integrated state/federal permitting process),
they must pay a registration fee, they must report all incidental
mortality and injury of marine mammals (a requirement for all
categories), and they may be required to accommodate an observer
aboard their vessels if requested.
Because of its impact on right whales, humpback whales and minke
whales, the NMFS has designated the Gulf of Maine and U.S.
Mid-Atlantic lobster trap and pot fishery as a Category I fishery for
1997. Two records of serious injury or mortality for right whales
were reported in this fishery from 1990 through 1994. One animal, a
juvenile, was first sighted on July 9, 1993, in Georges Bank with
lobster gear cutting into its tail and entangled in swordfish
driftnet. The whale was eventually disentangled; the animal was seen
later but in poor condition. The other right whale, another juvenile,
was first sighted off Georgia on December 21, 1993, entangled in
lobster gear. When the animal stranded in Rhode Island in July, 1995,
the lobster line had imbedded 3 inches into the bone of the right
flipper. There was also line in the baleen and 6 to 8 wraps around
the flipper. These two serious injuries or mortalities to right
whales by themselves justify the classification of lobster pots and
traps as a Category I fishery. In addition, this fishery was
implicated in the serious injury or mortality of 10 humpback whales
and 7 minke whales during the 1990 - 94 period.
The NMFS also classified the New England multi-species sink gillnet
fishery as a Category I fishery because the monkfish fishery uses
bottom gillnet gear that has been observed to cause mortality of
marine mammals and several of the areas where bottom gillnet gear is
used to target monkfish are known to be high-use areas for marine
mammals.
For a copy of the complete 1997 List of Fisheries or for further
information, contact the regional NMFS office nearest you. In the
northeast, contact Doug Beech, NMFS, Northeast Region, One Blackburn
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298; tel. 508-281-9254. In the
southeast, contact Chuck Oravetz, NMFS, Southeast Region, 9721
Executive Center Drive North, St. Petersburg, FL 33703; tel.
813-570-5301.
NMFS ISSUES JEOPARDY OPINIONS
FOR LOBSTER AND MULTI-SPECIES FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS
On December 13, 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
issued two Biological Opinions. The opinions concluded that continued
fishing under the current American Lobster Fishery Management Plan
and the Multi-species Fishery Management Plan were likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of the northern right whale.
Neither fishery was deemed to jeopardize the right whale s critical
habitat or other endangered species.
The NMFS has provided a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative for each
fishery, which if implemented fully and in a timely manner, will
reduce the potential for entanglement of right whales in lobster and
multi-species gear and therefore avoid the likelihood of jeopardizing
the continued existence of right whales. For the lobster fishery, the
alternative includes the prohibition of the deployment of lobster
trap/pot gear and lobster bait gillnet gear in the Great South
Channel Critical Habitat from April 1 to June 30 of each year unless
gear or alternative fishing practices are developed that eliminate
the likelihood of entanglement. For the multi-species fishery, the
alternative includes the prohibition of the deployment of all sink
gillnet gear in the Great South Channel Critical Habitat east of the
Loran line 13710 from April 1 to June 30 of each year unless gear or
alternative fishing practices are developed that eliminate the
likelihood of entanglement.
The NMFS s Reasonable and Prudent Alternative may be replaced by the
plan being developed by the Large Whale Take Reduction Team. (A
report on the Large Whale TRT s plan will be included in the next
issue of Right Whale News.)
MASSACHUSETTS ISSUES PLAN TO REDUCE ENTANGLEMENT RISK
Max Strahan likes to be known as the Prince of Whales. The Boston
Globe refers to him as Boston s most quixotic activist, an acidic
gadfly, and the devil doing angels work. Even some of his friends
think of him as a classic example of an environmental radical.
Whatever your opinion of him, he has managed to get the close
attention of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U. S. Coast
Guard, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lobster fishermen,
scientific and conservation organizations and at least one federal
court judge.
As a result of litigation brought by Max Strahan against Trudy Coxe,
the Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs and others, U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock
issued a set of orders on September 24, 1996, that, among other
things, required the defendants (essentially Massachusetts) to apply
for an incidental take permit for northern right whales, to develop a
proposal to restrict, eliminate or modify the use of fixed fishing
gear in coastal waters of Massachusetts listed as critical habitat
for the northern right whale, and to convene a right whale working
group to discuss measures to minimize actual harm to northern right
whales.
The Endangered Whale Working Group was convened under the
chairmanship of Dan McKiernan, a marine fisheries biologist with the
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Other participants were
Dr. Charles Stormy Mayo (Center for Coastal Studies), Dr. Scott Kraus
(New England Aquarium), Eleanor Dorsey (Conservation Law Foundation),
William Adler (Massachusetts Lobstermen s Association), Bob MacKinnon
(Massachusetts Gillnetters Association), Sharon Young (U.S. Humane
Society), Dr. Tom French (Massachusetts Natural Heritage Program),
James McCaffrey (Sierra Club) and Dr. Les Kaufman (Boston
University). On December 16, the group issued its report and
submitted it to Judge Woodlock. The Judge responded on January 7,
1997, neither accepting nor rejecting the proposal.
The Conservation Plan for Massachusetts Waters to Minimize
Entanglement Risk of Right Whales proposes a number of actions
including (1) restricting the use of certain gear types to reduce
risk of entanglement in Critical Habitat during the times of expected
whale occurrences, (2) modify certain fixed fishing gears, (3)
control future increases in fishing effort, (4) support future gear
research and modifications of fixed gear for future deployment in the
Critical Habitat, (5) in conjunction with other agencies and private
research groups, develop a surveillance based management plan to
protect right whales, (6) conduct a yearly review of modifications
and restrictions, (7) establish an educational program for fishermen
and other impacted users and (8) enhance disentanglement efforts by
amending the current 500 yard buffer zone regulations.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will proceed to implement the plan,
first with emergency regulations (effective February 1) and then by
permanent rules. Public hearings on the permanent rules are expected
in March. All expect the adoption and implementation of these
measures to be under the watchful eye of Judge Woodlock.
For additional information on the plan and the proposed rules,
contact Dan McKiernan, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries,
100 Cambridge Street, Boston MA 02202; tel. 617-727-3193; e-mail:
dmckiernan@state.ma.us
CANADIAN COMMITMENT TO RIGHT WHALE PROTECTION INCREASES
Several years ago, the Canadian government established three east
coast whale sanctuaries. Two of them were for right whales: the Grand
Manan Basin at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy and the Roseway Basin
off the southeastern coast of Nova Scotia. The third sanctuary, off
Sable Island, is for Northern Bottlenose Whales. While the
designations do not impose any special legal restrictions for the
sanctuaries, Canada s Fisheries Act prohibits any form of harassment
of whales. Like the critical habitat designations in U.S. waters, the
Canadian sanctuary designations help to alert mariners and other to
the importance of the areas for the species. General guidelines and
guidelines specific for each sanctuary are published and distributed
through the Canadian Coast Guard s annual Notice to Mariners and
other outlets.
The protection for whales and especially right whales is expected to
increase significantly in the near future. The Canadian Parliament is
expected to adopt the Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act by
the end of March. Motivation for the passage of this landmark
legislation comes from various international agreements and the
recognition that one in 25 of Canada s terrestrial mammals are
endangered and one in 33 of its bird species are endangered.
The Canadian Department of the Environment will have overall
responsibility for the administration of the Act. The responsibility
for all aquatic species, including the right whale and other marine
mammals, will be delegated to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The responsibility for identifying species at risk will rest with the
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ( COSEWIC ).
Obvious candidates include the right whale, humpback whale and harbor
porpoise.
Once a species has been placed on the official list of endangered
species, recovery plans will need to be developed within one year.
Plans for threatened species will take longer to develop. Recovery
plans must be based on science but require consideration of impacts
on people such as fishermen who are affected by the plan. Plans can
also be developed jointly with other nations (but not with states
such as Maine). The process of plan development is open to the
public. If the government fails to carry out the plan, it is subject
to citizen suit.
Canadian attitude is also changing as a result of observing the
deliberations of the Large Whale Take Reduction Team (LWTRT). Until
final recovery plans are prepared, Canada will establish a consultive
program to develop within the existing regulatory and management
framework, programs that are compatible with and complementary to the
recommendations of the LWTRT.
This will include the exchange and collaboration of research programs
and scientific information, consultation with fishing industry
interests and other interested parties, the education of fishers and
the development of a disentanglement response ability in cooperation
with interests in the United States. Continued dialog between
interested parties in Canada and the U.S. will be encouraged in an
effort to see that common goals will be realized.
Jerry Conway
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Halifax, Nova Scotia
RIGHT WHALE SIGHTED IN MEDITERRANEAN!
The latest issue of the Marine Mammal Society Newsletter (Winter,
1996, Vol. 4, no. 4, page 2) includes a report submitted by Giuseppe
Notarbartolo di Sciara of a sighting of a right whale in the
Mediterranean Sea, about 13 kilometers off the island of Sant Antioco
(southwestern Sardinia). The animal was photographed in May, 1991, by
Fiorenzo Mogno of the Italian Navy. This is the first known right
whale sighting in the Mediterranean in the 20th century. Earlier
records include an 1877 stranding of a juvenile near Taranto,
southeastern Italy, and an 1888 sighting of two animals in the bay of
Castiglione, Algiers.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEM REPORT FROM SOUTHEASTERN WATERS
The New England Aquarium s Early Warning System (EWS) team headed by
Chris Slay and Lisa Conger has been flying off Georgia and Florida
since early December. On December 24, the team sighted a single right
whale off the St. Johns River entrance. In their December 27 report,
Lisa Conger and Chris Slay wrote:
This third sighting deserves special mention because it illustrates
the promise and the shortcomings of the EWS surveys. At 1108 hours,
on 12/24, we sighted a single right whale as it surfaced briefly and
dove. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to relocate the animal. At
1130 hours we saw that a car carrier, which had been anchored north
of the St. Johns River entrance at 1100 hours, had weighed anchor,
accelerated and was steaming eastbound. We tried, unsuccessfully, to
contact the ship directly on VHF radio in order to inform the captain
of the ship s close proximity to a right whale. We could not give an
exact bearing of the whale from the ship as we had not yet relocated
the animal. We contacted the Jacksonville harbor pilots and explained
the situation. They responded immediately, successfully contacting
the ship and relaying all of the information that we had given them.
The ship s captain indicated that he understood and would keep a
lookout.
To this point the EWS system worked beautifully, with the survey team
and the local harbor pilots doing their part to make the system work.
We caught a glimpse of the whale as it surfaced again - approximately
200 meters in front of the ship and less than 300 meters north of the
ship s course. We watched as the ship passed by the mud plumes that
the whale was kicking up in the relatively shallow water. The whale
made no apparent effort to distance itself from the ship and it is
fair to say there was an audible sigh of relief in our plane when the
ship had passed...at what appeared to be an alarming rate of speed.
It is disturbing to us that the vessel s acceleration after weighing
anchor was not made more slowly until it had cleared the area, or its
speed reduced for a mile or two as it passed the position at which
the whale had just been sighted. Such situations the EWS surveys do
not fully address.
By January 27, the EWS team had seen 8 - 10 calves and five moms who
calved for the first time this season.
DEAD CALF AT FLAGLER BEACH
A calf right whale washed ashore dead at Flagler Beach, Florida, on
January 9, 1997. Bill Brooks and Blair Mase of the Florida Department
of the Environment quickly responded and made arrangements to get the
calf off the beach - a difficult feat - and to Marineland of Florida
where space was generously made available in a refrigerated
tractor/trailer. On January 10, the necropsy team went to work. Dr.
Bob Bonde of the Sirenian Laboratory in Gainseville, Florida, led to
team; he was assisted by veterinary pathologist Dr. Claus Buergelt of
the University of Florida, Dr. Tom Lipscomb of the Armed Forces
Institute of Pathology and others.
The calf was very young, 4.1 meters long, with foetal folds still
evident along its body. There were no outward signs of trauma. There
was no milk in the gastro-intestinal tract (suggesting that the
animal had never fed) but the lungs floated (suggesting that the calf
took some breaths before death). All indications at this time are
that this was a perinatal mortality. With the help of the
pathologists we may learn more...
Chris Slay
New England Aquarium
FACSFACJAX
The Early Warning System communications system is working like a
well-oiled machine according to Chris Slay of the New England
Aquarium. A key component of this system, helping to transmit
sightings of right whales in the southeast to those who need the
information right away, is FACSFACJAX (pronounced fass fac Jax ). As
one might suspect, this is a U. S. Navy acronym that stands for Fleet
Area Control and Surveillance Facility, Jacksonville (Florida). Under
the command of Captain Robert D. Parlet, FACSFACJAX is designated as
the primary conduit for whale sightings to and from the U.S. Navy
fleet. Sighting information comes from Navy vessels and aircraft,
from the U. S. Coast Guard, from air surveillance conducted by the
Early Warning System team, from reports from the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources and the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection. The latter forwards the real time reports from the Marine
Resources Council public sighting network. Both state agencies also
forward public sightings information to the facility. FACSFACJAX then
notifies Naval vessels operating in the area. The ship s commanding
officer is to consider the recommendations from FACSFACJAX before
proceeding, modifying or canceling operations. Ships crews have been
trained in avoidance techniques including lookouts being trained in
identification and reporting and bridge crews trained in ship s
maneuvering and reporting to FACSFACJAX. Navy ships also treat the
critical habitat area as though it were a minefield or a submarine
had been sighted, requiring greater caution and changes in the way
lookouts react.
NAVY MOVES TO PROTECT WHALES
Despite posting vigilant lookouts and watchstanders aboard ships,
Mayport-based Afloat Training Group and other Navy activities in the
area have adjusted their schedules and manoeuvres to accommodate
whale activity. During the winter, for example, gunnery exercises
have been moved farther off the coast - away from the critical
habitat. There, weapons are aimed only in an easterly direction.
Also, ships transit at slow speeds, cruising eastward or westward to
decrease their time near the whales.
In support of the goals of the Southeastern U. S. Implementation Team
for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale, and to comply with a
federal mandate to protect whales, the Commander in Chief of the U.
S. Atlantic Fleet recently issued new whale protection measures for
ships and aircraft operating in the area. The following components of
that guidance, below, was crafted to ensure compliance with the
Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
- FACSFACJAX shall coordinate ship/aircraft clearance into the
operating area.
- Ships/submarines transiting the critical habitat and adjacent
waters shall contact FACSFACJAX to obtain the latest sighting
information.
- by the Office of Naval Research and several Naval activities in the
southeast, sailors and marine biologists who track the whales may
soon have some powerful new stewardship tools.
Stepping up its support for right whale monitoring in the critical
habitat near Jacksonville, Florida, the Navy is testing the concept
of using both fixed and towed underwater listening cables and
infrared detection devices mounted on ships.
A fixed or stationary array, with almost nine miles of armored cable
and 20 hydroon.
In addition, the Navy funds one-third of the Early Warning System
aerial surveillance flights and supports the study of whales and
other marine life from Charleston, SC, to Cape Canaveral, FL. That
research is funded by the Commander in Chief, U. S. Atlantic Fleet,
through Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command.
Stuart Johnston
COMNAVBASE JAX
UNDERWATER CABLES MAY BOOST WHALE PROTECTION
It s no secret endangered marine mammals command the respect of even
the largest Navy warships and vessels; especially rare northern right
whales. During the winter season, when the gentile giants migrate to
the Florida-Georgia coast to bear their young, Navy s ships crews and
watchstanders work in a state of almost constant vigilance to
maintain a safe distance from the animals.
Protecting whales, however, often requires knowing their exact
whereabouts. And that can present a challenge in times of reduced
visibility, high seas or for avoiding submerged whales. Now, thanks
to a joint initiative by the Office of Naval Research and several
Naval activities in the southeast, sailors and marine biologists who
track the whales may soon have some powerful new stewardship
tools.
Stepping up its support for right whale monitoring in the critical
habitat near Jacksonville, Florida, the Navy is testing the concept
of using both fixed and towed underwater listening cables and
infrared detection devices mounted on ships.
A fixed or stationary array, with almost nine miles of armored cable
and 20 hydrophones extending along the ocean bottom southeast of
Naval Station Mayport, FL, has operated successfully since being
installed in mid-December. The cable is tethered to a nearby fishing
pier where the acoustic signals are relayed via the Internet to
antisubmarine warfare technicians at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
There, analysts from Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance
Command s Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation Division
(NRAD) are evaluating sonar and other devices as a method to detect
and track whales. Whenever NRAD analysts identify signals produced by
marine mammals, exact times and locations are passed to FACSFACJAX
operators.
The Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanographic Facility at Naval
Air Station Jacksonville is providing real time oceanographic data to
decision-makers and planners at FACSFACJAX. State-of-the-art graphic
depictions of sea surface temperatures, ocean currents and wave
heights are constructed from continuous satellite observations of the
ocean. Using these products, with corresponding sea floor bathymetry
(bottom topography), FACSFACJAX specialists determine areas which
exhibit the highest probability of accommodating right whales
(usually colder, shallow waters outside the Gulf Stream) and guide
naval operations accordingly.
A towed array of hydrophones is also being evaluated. R/V Sea Diver,
a 113-foot research vessel owned by Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institution, has been leased to tow the cable for four 10- to 11-day
periods through March. Researchers expect that device to generate
useful data relating to applications for antisubmarine warfare
technologies.
Commander Dale Liechty of the Office of Naval Research noted that
officials are planning to evaluate possible applications for
AN-KAS-1A, a ship-mounted infrared detection device, to look for
whale exhalations from ships on which the Naval Station Mayport-based
Afloat Training Group is conducting training. He explained that right
whale exhalations create a unique V-shaped signature when viewed in
the infrared mode.
Already contributing financial and operational support of an aerial
whale spotting and reporting system, and despite having provided
ships and utility vessels to assess injured or sick whales, Navy
officials opted to begin testing after receiving requests from Rear
Admiral Kevin F. Delaney, Commander of Naval Base Jacksonville, on
behalf of the Southeastern U. S. Implementation Team for the Recovery
of the Northern Right Whale. The admiral, who serves as the Regional
Environmental Coordinator, was a driving force in focusing proved
defense technologies to protect whales.
That is why the Navy continues to be so important to the
Implementation Team said Bill Brooks, a marine biogist with the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. In the past, the Navy
has paid each year to support monitoring flights and it has supplied
a sea tractor to help assess an injured whale calf, said Brooks.
Support like that warrants some appreciation. With this new research,
we can expect even more progress.
Stuart Johnston
COMNAVBASE JAX
MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION ADVICE TO NMFS:
ESTABLISH TRUST FUND FOR RIGHT WHALES
The Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) has made a series of
recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
regarding needed improvements in its right whale recovery program.
The recommendations were developed as a result of the November 12-14
annual meeting of the MMC and its Committee of Scientific Advisors on
Marine Mammals, and are contained in a December 12 letter from MMC s
Executive Director, John Twiss, to Rolland Schmitten, Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries with NMFS.
In summary, the MMC found that there is good reason to believe that
continuation of the current level of right whale mortality from ship
strikes and entanglements in fishing gear over the next 10 to 20
years will precipitate extinction of northern right whales in the
next century. To prevent this, a properly supported right whale
recovery program will require at least $3 million per year over the
next 20 years. Given budget constraints, the MMC recommends that the
NMFS pursue an innovative funding strategy such as a legislatively
established right whale trust fund, with the principal revenue source
coming from those user groups most responsible for known right whale
mortalities.
For the immediate future, the MMC recommends that NMFS request
$650,000 in supplemental or other funds to (1) hire a right whale
recovery coordinator, (2) expand right whale telemetry studies, (3)
support aerial surveys of known high-use right whale habitats, (4)
design and test fishing gear modification alternatives to reduce
entanglement risks, (5) compile and analyze data on vessel traffic
patterns in the southeast U. S. calving grounds, and (6) develop a
population model to improve understanding of northern right whale
population trends.
NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM PLANS SHIP STRIKE MEETING
According to Marine Mammal Commission figures, since 1991, human
causes have been implicated in 56% of recorded right whale deaths (9
out of 16 animals). Of these, seven were due to ship strikes, one was
due to entanglement in fishing gear and one was due to both
entanglement and a ship strike. In an effort to reduce ship strike
mortalities, the New England Aquarium is planning a two-day workshop
in early April to examine what is being done now and what could be
done in the future. The by-invitation meeting will bring together
shipping industry representatives, government policy makers, acoustic
researchers and right whale scientists to examine a variety of
strategies including regulations, early warning systems and acoustic
deterrents. A report of the workshop results is planned. For further
information, contact Amy Knowlton at the New England Aquarium,
Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110; tel. 617-973-5253; fax
617-367-6615.
CALLING CONDO WATCHERS
For a second year, Floridians will be playing a vital role in the
protection of the right whale. Volunteers from Palm Beach to
Jacksonville are being recruited to watch for and report sightings of
right whales, particularly from the vantage points of beachfront
condominiums and hotels and life guard stations. Observers make
reports to the Volunteer Northern Right Whale Monitoring Hot Line
(1-888-97WHALE) maintained by the Marine Resources Council. The
Council then relays the sighting report to the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, who in turn verify the sightings by
airplane. The whale s position is then radioed to nearby ports and
shipping interests. These volunteer sightings can have a significant
effect in reducing ship strikes and other human impacts that threaten
whales while in the calving ground.
The Whale Monitoring Program is operated by the Marine Resources
Council of East Florida. The Canaveral Port Authority is a sponsor.
Supporting funds come from the Florida Advisory Council on
Environmental Education through a portion of the proceeds from the
sale of manatee and panther license plates. The Cocoa Beach Women s
Club initiated the sighting network during the 1994 - 95 calving
season. Last year, the network expanded to 130 volunteers who
reported 53 whales in 35 sightings.
To volunteer or for more information on the observer program, contact
the Marine Resources Council at P. O. Box 22892, Melbourne, FL
32902-2892; tel. 407-952-0102; fax 407-952-0103
THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION
GA DNR S NEW FILM INCLUDES RIGHT WHALES
The Film and Video Unit of the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources has recently released a new video entitled The Edge of
Extinction. The 55 minute film explores the plight of endangered
wildlife in Georgia. About five and a half minutes are devoted to the
northern right whale, with film footage of surface active groups and
comments by Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium. Other species
featured in the film are the loggerhead turtle, eastern brown
pelican, ivory billed woodpecker, bald eagle, manatee, robust
redhorse, alligator, woodstorks, red cockaded woodpecker and the
gopher tortoise. Several other species are shown in passing. The
video is strong on photography and its emphasis on habitat loss. It
is not as strong on what the viewer can do to improve the condition
of endangered species. Invertebrates and plants are hardly mentioned
at all. The film can be borrowed free of charge or can be purchased
for $20 plus $3 shipping and handling. Contact DNR/Film & Video,
205 Butler Street, SE, Suite 1354, Atlanta, GA 30334; tel.
404-657-9851; fax 404-651-5871.
FROM WHALING TO WATCHING
The second edition of the educational handbook, From Whaling to
Watching, is now available. The 40-page book was written by Sarah
Mitchell, Education Coordinator at the Grays Reef National Marine
Sanctuary, and Ann Smrcina, her counterpart at the Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary. The target audience is students in grades
6 through 8. The handbook contains chapters on whales great and
small, hunting the right whale, conservation, anatomy and physiology
and migration. It also contains Will Hon s right whale poster (which
folds out to 11 by 33 inches), five student activities to enhance
learning about anatomy and physiology, a map of the eastern seaboard,
resources, a glossary, assessment activities and answers. The second
edition adds to the earlier edition and corrects the few errors it
contained, so even if you have a first edition, you should get the
second. An accompanying video is in production now and is expected to
be released this spring. Copies of From Whaling to Watching are
available free from either Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary (10
Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411) or Stellwagen Bank National
Marine Sanctuary (14 Union Street, Plymouth, MA 02360).
GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT MARINE NATIONAL PARK ESTABLISHED
According to the Marine Mammal Society Newsletter (Vol. 4, no. 4,
page 3), the government of South Australia has created the
124,732-hectare Great Australian Bight Marine National Park (also see
Right Whale News, October, 1996, page 7). The park includes important
breeding grounds for the southern right whale and habitats for
endangered Australian sea lions. The new park will complement other
already protected areas including the 19,633-hectare whale sanctuary.
Fishing and mineral exploration will be allowed for six months each
year but will be excluded during the breeding season and whenever
whales are in the region.
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE AND REPORTS
Atlantic Offshore Cetaceans Take Reduction Team. 1996. Atlantic
Offshore Cetaceans Take Reduction Plan, Final Draft. Submitted to the
National Marine Fisheries Service, Contract No. 50-DGNF-5-00164,
November 22, 1996. (See article starting on page 3.)
Brooks, W. B. Jr., and B. Zoodsma. 1996. Protecting right whales in
the critical habitat calving area, a community effort. Report to the
Southeastern U.S. Implementation Team for the Recovery of the
Northern Right Whale.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1996. Conservation Plan for
Massachusetts Waters to Minimize Entanglement Risk of Right Whales.
Proposal submitted to U.S. District Court, Boston, MA. December 16,
1996. (See article starting on page 4.)
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. 1996. Right whale sighting in the
Mediterranean Sea. Marine Mammal Society Newsletter, Vol. 4, no. 4,
page 2. Winter, 1996. (See article on page 6.)
Slay, C. K., S. D. Kraus, L. A. Conger, P. K. Hamilton and A. R.
Knowlton. 1996. Aerial surveys to reduce ship collisions with right
whales in the nearshore coastal waters of Georgia and northeast
Florida - Early Warning System Surveys - 1995/1996. Final Report
submitted to National Marine Fisheries Service, Contract No.
50WCNF506012. August 30, 1996.
U. S. Coast Guard and Battelle Ocean Sciences. 1996. National
Environmental Policy Act Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
U. S. Coast Guard Atlantic Protected Living Marine Resources (APLMR)
Initiative. U. S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
February 6, 1997. Meeting of the Marine Technology Society, New
England Section, at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods
Hole, MA. The topic for the program will be Technological solutions
needed for right whale recovery, and will be presented by David Wiley
(International Wildlife Coalition), William Adler (Massachusetts
Lobstermen s Association), Robert MacKinnon (Massachusetts
Gillnetters Association) and Ronald Smolowitz (Coonamessett Farm).
Cost: $10 members, $12 non-members. To register of for more
information, call Hartley Hoskins at 508-457-2001 (fax
508-457-2195).
February or March: Anticipated next meeting of the New England Whale
Recovery Plan Implementation Team. Location to be determined. For
more information, call Dr. Sal Testaverde at 508-281-9368.
March 1, 1997: Deadline for abstract submission for the American
Society of Mammalogists 1997 Annual Meeting, Stillwater, OK, June 14
- 18, 1997. A marine mammal session is planned.
May 1 - 2: Next meeting of the Southeastern U.S. Implementation Team
for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale, Brunswick, GA. For more
information, contact Barb Zoodsma at 912-264-7218.
June 6 - 10, 1997: Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting,
Victoria, British Columbia. Several sessions on marine mammal issues
are planned.
June 30, 1997: Deadline for abstract submission for the World Marine
Mammal Science Conference (a combination of the 12th Biennial
Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals
and the 12th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society) to
be held in Monaco, January 20 - 25, 1998.
RIGHT WHALE NEWS
Right Whale News is the newsletter of the Southeastern United States
Implementation Team for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale. The
editor is Hans Neuhauser. The editorial board consists of Bill
Brooks, Lorraine Guise, Scott Kraus, Mike Payne, Jerry Wallmeyer and
Barb Zoodsma. To subscribe or submit news or articles for
publication, contact the editor, Hans Neuhauser, at the Georgia
Environmental Policy Institute, 380 Meigs Street, Athens, GA 30601.
Please note that this is a new mailing address. Telephone
706-546-7507; fax 706-613-7775.
The Massachusetts Environmental Trust has underwritten production
costs of this issue of Right Whale News. The Gray s Reef National
Marine Sanctuary has underwritten the printing and mailing costs.
Thanks!