tagged w/ Save The Whales
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CNN...
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Belugas trapped in icy Arctic waters at risk of death
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 2:45 PM EST, Wed December 14, 2011
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
More than 100 Belugas are trapped in ice flows off the Bering Sea
Unless the whales are rescued soon, they could die from suffocation or starvation
Local authorities have sought help from Moscow
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Moscow (CNN) -- Prisoners in ice, more than 100 Beluga whales in far eastern Russia risk death unless rescued soon.
The flock of gentle ghost-white whales was trapped in ice floes in the Sinyavinsky Strait off the Bering Sea near the village of Yanrakynnot, said a statement from the Chukotka Autonomous Region.
Fishermen reported that the whales were concentrated in two relatively small ice holes, where, for now, they can breathe freely. But the Belugas' chance of swimming back to water is slim due to the vast fields of ice over the strait.
The whales have little food, and the ice flow is increasing, the statement said. They are at risk of rapid exhaustion and, ultimately, death by starvation or suffocation. Trapped whales are also susceptible to predators like polar bears and killer whales.
The Chukotka Autonomous Region government has sought help from federal authorities and asked for an icebreaker to help rescue the Belugas. A rescue tug, Ruby, was in the area helping a Korean cargo ship that ran aground on the southern coast of Chukotka but it would take one and a half days for it to reach the whales, the statement said.
Trapped belugas are a frequent phenomenon in the Arctic waters but are not often detected by people. In Chukotka, the last relatively successful case was recorded in 1986, when an ice-breaker helped free trapped beluga whales.
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Belugas trapped in icy Arctic waters at risk of death
By the CNN... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Environmental groups want ships to slow down to avoid killing and injuring whales
June 6, 2011 | 7:21 pm
A coalition of environmental groups is asking the federal government to require ships traveling though California’s marine sanctuaries to slow down to avoid fatal collisions with whales, a problem that they say has climbed to “unsustainable levels.”
Four groups filed petition Monday asking the Commerce Department to establish a 10-knot speed limit for large commercial vessels traveling through California’s four National Marine Sanctuaries in the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank.
Some freighters travel through those waters at more than twice that speed.
Nearly 50 whales have been hit by ships traveling off the California coastline in the last decade, according to experts, who believe the number is probably much higher because many of the accidents go unreported.
Shipping groups says a speed limit would greatly slow down cargo reaching port and more than double the time it takes the fastest vessels to travel through the sanctuaries.
The petition from the environmental groups is meant to prod the federal government to take steps to fight the growing problem. Some of the most heavily trafficked shipping lanes leading in and out of the ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Francisco Bay run through the migratory paths and feeding areas of endangered whales.
In the 61-page document, the Environmental Defense Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Pacific Environment say a speed limit would help protect endangered blue, humpback and fin whales from being run over by big ships.
"The overlap of these shipping lanes with California’s national marine sanctuaries puts sanctuary wildlife at great risk,” the petition reads. “While we cannot likely change the behavior of whales and other species so as to avoid ship strikes, we can and must regulate vessel practices to minimize this risk.”
Slower speeds would give whales more time to detect approaching ships and would lower the chances that injuries would become fatal if they are hit, the groups argue. A speed limit also would cut back on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and underwater noise that can harm whales.
In a statement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department that oversees National Marine Sanctuaries and endangered marine species, said it is also concerned with ship strikes to whales and would review the petition.
Shipping groups said a speed limit may not make it any safer for whales and has suggesting realigning shipping routes as an alternative.
“It's just premature to assume that slowing vessel speed is the solution to the ship-whale interaction issue,” said T.L. Garrett, vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn., a trade group representing ocean carriers that dock at West Coast ports.
Where possible, vessels would probably navigate around the sanctuaries to avoid the restrictions, he added.
Four blue whales were struck and killed by vessels in 2007 near the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to designate shipping lanes from Point Conception to Point Dume a “Whale Advisory Zone.”
Since then, the agency has conducted aerial surveys of the area and broadcast seasonal advisories to ship captains traveling through the channel suggesting they limit their speed to 10 knots – or roughly 11.5 mph -- to avoid hitting whales when they’re in the Santa Barbara Channel in high concentrations, usually from May to December.
Because the advisories are voluntary, environmental groups say, they have gone largely unheeded. Shipping groups said most vessels have not opted to lower their speeds.
--Tony Barboza
Photo: Pete Thomas For The TimesLos Angeles Times...
Environmental groups want ships to slow down to avoid... more
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The new video from This Frontier Needs Heroes has whales, exploding stars, robotic fish and squirrels waterskiing. The song is about saving the whales and the video is about the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The new video from This Frontier Needs Heroes has whales, exploding stars, robotic... more
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Companies in Japan, Iceland and Norway are developing whale-based products ranging from drugs to cosmetics to animal feed, banking on the resumption of global trade, according to a report.
Ahead of a key meeting of the 88-nation International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Agadir, Morocco next week, debate on the use of hunted whales has centered on the consumption of meat, especially in Japan.
But the three countries harvesting the marine mammals despite a 1982 global moratorium also exploit whales in other ways and are laying a foundation for future commercial applications, said the report prepared by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and released late Monday.
Thousands of approved patents list whale oil, cartilage, and spermaceti -- a wax-like liquid found in the head cavities of sperm whales -- as ingredients in goods as diverse as golf balls, hair dye, "eco-friendly" detergent, candy, health drinks and bio-diesel, investigators found.
"It is clear that whalers are planning to use whale oil and other whale derivatives to restore their hunts to long-term profitability," said Sue Fisher, who heads the WDCS's whale campaign.
"Iceland, Japan and Norway are betting heavily that the commercial whaling moratorium will be lifted."
These new applications could ultimately dwarf the value of whale meat, whether sold domestically or exported, she said.Companies in Japan, Iceland and Norway are developing whale-based products ranging... more
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The United States is leading an effort by a handful of antiwhaling nations to broker an agreement that would limit and ultimately end whale hunting by Japan, Norway and Iceland, according to people involved with the negotiations.
The compromise deal, which has generated intense controversy within the 88-nation International Whaling Commission and among antiwhaling activists, would allow the three whaling countries to continue hunting whales for the next 10 years, although in reduced numbers.
In exchange, the whaling nations — which have long exploited loopholes in an international treaty that aims to preserve the marine mammals — would agree to stricter monitoring of their operations, including the placing of tracking devices and international monitors on all whaling ships and participation in a whale DNA registry to track global trade in whale products.
Officials involved in the negotiations expressed tentative hope that they could reach an agreement in coming weeks. But ratification by the overall group remains uncertain.
Some pro-whale activists say the deal would grant international approval for the continued slaughter of thousands of minke, sei and Bryde’s whales. They also say that the agreement does not prevent Japan and the other nations from resuming unlimited whaling once the 10-year period is up.
Populations of some whale species have been growing since the moratorium ended decades of uncontrolled hunting, but whales around the world remain under threat, not only from hunting but also from ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss, climate change and entanglement in fishing nets.The United States is leading an effort by a handful of antiwhaling nations to broker... more
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Regardless of your feelings about whaling, you have to admit the fight just got a whole lot more interesting. Check out this video of a Sea-Shepherd-manned (from Whale Wars) carbon-fiber, biofuel-powered EarthRace Trimaran blinding a Japanese whaling boat with lasers.
Looks to us like the laser is mostly for warning and intimidation, which probably works considering they're zooming around in a ferocious-looking 1080-horsepower, 78-foot trimaran. The crew manning the EarthRace is the Sea Shepherd society, which you might know from Whale Wars, where they're usually getting outwitted and outgunned in a boat nowhere near as cool as this one. The MV Steve Irwin, which is the ship followed by Whale Wars, travels a maximum of 16.5 knots—this EarthRace hits 50, which actually lets them chase down and intercept whalers. [StokeReport]Regardless of your feelings about whaling, you have to admit the fight just got a... more
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Hannah Fraser, along with sister Jasmine who both now work with activist father Andy Fraser, is seen swimming with giant whale pod, in support of 'climate change' awareness, in the new video for Fraser's worldwide free download "This is the Big One" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63qIoGpnrl8&feature=channel
It seems Hannah may have bigger cahones than even her hot-blooded father, when it comes to issues she believes in. (She is featured swimming with 14 ft Great White sharks : release date 2010 - National Geographic special on sharks).
Andy Fraser, the reclusive icon from the 70's rock band FREE and writer of the monster anthems 'All Right Now' and Robert Palmer's 'Every Kinda people', who surfaced recently with his album "Naked... and finally free", a response to global media reports of his death from AIDS, confirms he is battling AIDS and has come to terms with being homosexual. After being married with two daughters, he has come out once again to not only proclaim he is very much alive, but intends to stay so, and catastrophic climate change doesn't help.
Fraser is standing with campaigns such as Avaaz.org, TckTckTck, Repower America, and Al Gore, to help promote the message of catastrophic climate change by releasing "This is the Big One", and in an unprecedented move to further the message, a link allows fans to forward the song to friends worldwide for FREE. http://www.andyfraser.com/bigone.html
"I love my car, electricity to power my studio and refrigerated food, but we need to find a better way, or we're all screwed. First of all we need to get a strong international agreement in Copenhagen come December 2009, but we must invest in alternative energies, and pull our heads out of the sand regarding the reality of the condition our planet is facing", said Fraser.
While putting the final touches on a new full length CD, "Andy Fraser.... on assignment", holding back the release of the long anticipated Concert footage, "Alive" with a mini-documentary, and discussing offers of a full length documentary of his life story, Fraser has felt this issue takes precedence and seems hot-headed enough to do something about it.
To further the message, Fraser is sponsering a video competion, to win ipods and an autographed Bass guitar from his personal collection.
http://www.andyfraser.com/MakeADifferenceNow/Hannah Fraser, along with sister Jasmine who both now work with activist father Andy... more
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mctrax
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added this
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2 years ago
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An unlucky whale has strayed off the beaten path, er, river - and is now swimming in the River Clyde just outside the centre of Glasgow.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue, aka BDMLR, have sent people to the scene, hoping they can point the 5 metre-long northern bottlenose in the right direction.An unlucky whale has strayed off the beaten path, er, river - and is now swimming in... more
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Levels of noise in the world's oceans are causing serious problems for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals, a report warns.[more]Levels of noise in the world's oceans are causing serious problems for whales,... more
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Greenpeace said yesterday it had chased Japanese whalers out of hunting grounds in the Southern Ocean, disrupting the planned slaughter of almost 1,000 whales.
The Greenpeace vessel, the Esperanza, chased the main Japanese ship, the Nisshin Maru, through hundreds of miles of thick fog after spotting the whaling fleet on Saturday, the group said. The fleet's catcher ships fled in another direction and will be unable to hunt as long as they are separated from the Nisshin Maru, which processes and stores captured whales. "Now they are out of the hunting grounds they should stay out," said Sakyo Noda, a Greenpeace campaigner from Japan.Greenpeace said yesterday it had chased Japanese whalers out of hunting grounds in the... more
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