Plastic
bag killed beaked whale
(Added: 30 October 2006)
A simple plastic shopping bag caused the death of a beaked
whale, known by local researchers as Temata. In July of
this year the stranded beaked whale brought communities
across Rarotonga in the Cook Islands together in a large-scale
rescue operation to try and save the female.
More
Humpback
sanctuary under threat from waste
(Added: 27 October 2006)
The Marine Connection are supporting our colleagues in Maui
calling for an immediate stop to vessels using Maalaea Harbour,
dumping human waste into the waters surrounding Maui.
More
US
Navy requests lethal sonar permit
(Added: 16 October 2006)
The US National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) has received a request
from the U.S. Navy for an authorisation under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to take marine mammals, by
harassment, incidental to conducting operations of Surveillance
Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) Low Frequency Active
(LFA) sonar from August 16, 2007 through August 15, 2012.This
permit if granted could be responsible for not only the
deaths of many dolphins and whales but other marine life
also. The Navy's plan would drop or curtail each of the
protections that the US court and NMFS itself had ordered
the first time around, and would allow the Navy to use twice
as many systems as it currently has all over the world's
oceans.
The
Federal Register notice is available here
Chukchi
Sea exploration update
(Added: 21 September 2006)
A U.S. judge has sided with ConocoPhillips and temporarily
blocked a new government rule intended to shield bowhead
whales from the booming noises associated with the oil company's
seismic exploration in remote Arctic waters. ConocoPhillips
is one of three companies with permits to conduct seismic
tests in the Chukchi Sea. This is a major setback for the
noise-sensitive whales, which migrate through the Beaufort
and Chukchi in the summer and autumn, the same seasons when
the oil explorers will be using sonic devices in the water.
(see 12 September below)
Concern
over seismic exploration
(Added: 12 September 2006)
Seismic work now underway in the Chukchi Sea in conjunction
with marine petroleum exploration is raising concerns among
marine groups including the Marine Connection and scientists.
The biggest concern is the impact on marine mammals, especially
whale populations.
More
Whale
killed by ship
(Added: 6 September 2006)
A young North Atlantic right whale found dead in the Bay
of Fundy was hit by a ship. The animal was found floating
off Yarmouth, in southwest Nova Scotia, on Sunday 3 September.
This is the second female right whale to be struck by a
vessel in the Bay of Fundy this summer. The slow-moving
North Atlantic right whale is an endangered species in Canada
with only approx 350 left. The bones will go to the Museum
of Natural History in Halifax.
Dead
whale pinned to bow of cruise ship
(Added: 22 August 2006)
A cruise ship pulled into its Alaskan port at the weekend
with a dead whale pinned to its bow. The crew of the passenger
ship Summit said they were surprised to discover they had
hit a whale somewhere after leaving Disenchantment Bay near
Yakutat. They felt no bump during their voyage, said a spokesman
for Celebrity Cruises, which owns the ship. It was tentatively
identified as a humpback. A necropsy has been scheduled
to help determine whether the whale was alive or dead when
it was struck.
Jet
skis put Scottish dolphins at risk
(Added:- 4 August 2006)
Rogue jet-skiers have been accused of endangering a barely
established colony of dolphins. Record numbers of the marine
mammals have been spotted in the Firth of Tay this summer
after a £140 million project rid the estuary of sewage.
Marine experts believe a new colony is now being formed
in the Tay by dolphins that have migrated from the Moray
Firth.
More
Seismic
tests threaten marine life
(Added:- 1 August 2006)
The BATHOLITHS project is a U.S.led seismic survey initiative,
using some of the world's loudest air gun arrays to determine
how British Columbia's (B.C.) coast mountains were formed.
These surveys have the potential to deafen whales and dolphins
that happen to be in the vicinity during the survey as the
sound can ricochet off the sides of the inlets and carry
up the channels.
More
New
report published
(Added:- 28 July 2006)
A report just published on the effects of offshore windfarm
noise on marine mammals and fish is now available.
Click
here to read
Underwater Sound and Marine
life Conference - 9 October 2006
(Added:- 25 July 2006)
Anthropogenic noise and its impact on the marine environment
remains an issue of concern. There have been a number of
meetings to look at the different aspects of this issue
and this co-organised meeting/conference will aim to build
on the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology
(IACMST) report 'Underwater Sound and Marine Life'. It will
also examine different aspects of the issue from the policy
required to regulate the emission of sound through to the
science required to understand and minimise its impact.
For
further information and conference registration click here
Humpback
ship collision
(Added:- 25 July 2006)
A dead humpback whale found floating recently in the Latvian
Gulf of Riga probably died after colliding with a ship,
and not from starvation as experts had first thought. A
post mortem on the whale has revealed splintered fractures
of its jaw and vertebrae which suggests an impact with a
heavy machine. Whales are a rare sight in the Baltic Sea
- the last known whale sighting in Latvian waters was in
1976. This humpback was the first of its species ever reported
in Latvian waters. The whale bones have been given to the
Latvian Nature Museum, although some of the bones were shattered.
Navy
Agrees to Sonar Precautions
(Added:- 10 July 2006)
The Navy and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)have
reached an out-of-court agreement on the issue of whale
safety that will allow the Navy to use active sonar during
a multinational exercise underway off Hawaii.
More
Rimpac
latest
(Added:- 04 July 2006)
The Marine Connection was delighted to receive the news
that a US judge has issued a temporary restraining order
to stop the US Navy using high-intensity sonar during training
near Hawaii because it might hurt or even kill whales and
other marine mammals. (see 23 June/5 May below)
More
Sea
lions and dolphins may join Rimpac exercises
(Added:- 23 June 2006)
In addition to the more than 40 ships, six submarines, 160
aircraft and almost 19,000 military personnel taking part
in upcoming biennial Rim of the Pacific naval exercises
(see news item below - 5 May 2006), there are some unlikely
participants with unique capabilities. They include four
California sea lions and, possibly, six bottlenose dolphins.
More
Incidental
harassment of marine mammals
(Added:- 17 May 2006)
The NOAA Fisheries Service is seeking comment on a request
from U.S. oil industries, for the incidental harassment
of marine mammals that may result from seismic surveys in
the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska during 2006.
More
Underwater
pile driving harmful to dolphins
(Added:- 10 May 2006)
New research reveals that pile driving and industrial noise
can adversely impact dolphin behaviour.
Full
story here
Read
the report here
Battle
lines drawn over use of sonar
(Added:- 5 May 2006)
With Rim of the Pacific naval exercises scheduled to happen
in June and July, 2006 in waters off the U.S. Navy Pacific
Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha, battle
lines are being drawn over whether or not use of sonar during
these exercises harms ocean life.
More
Sonar
may have caused whale stranding
(Added:- 28 April 2006)
The unusual stranding of 150 melon-headed whales in a shallow
bay off the island of Kauai in 2004 could have been caused
by the animals being spooked by the use of sonar by Navy
ships, a US federal agency has recently reported.
More
Andros
residents slam AUTEC
(Added:- 28 April 2006)
As officials from the government and AUTEC met in a private
meeting at the U.S. military base near this quiet settlement
yesterday - April 27 - a small group of concerned Andros
residents protested outside, demanding answers to a long
list of questions that they say have long been ignored.
More
Ocean
noise
(Added:- 26 April 2006)
Fish and whales have their own language of drumming sounds
and clicks as they search for food and socialize deep in
the ocean. Scientists are trying to understand how man-made
noise in the ocean produced by ships, exploration for oil
and gas and military sonar affects marine mammals' ability
to communicate.
More
AUTEC
and Government officials to meet
(Added:- 11 April 2006)
A meeting between government and The Atlantic Undersea Test
And Evaluation Center (AUTEC) officials could come in the
next few weeks, Dr. Brent Hardt, Deputy Chief of Missions
at the U.S. Embassy has confirmed. U.S. officials hope the
meeting will put to rest fears that testing at the U.S.
military base in Central Andros are connected to a number
of recent whale deaths, but at this stage officials say
they are not willing to heed a call for a temporary stop
to testing in the Tongue of the Oceans.
More
Whale
deaths linked to military sonar use
(Added:- 19 March 2006)
Military sonar, used in a Nato exercise that involved the
Royal Navy, was responsible for killing four Cuvier's beaked
whales on 26th of January 2006, off Spain's Almeira coast.
It is the first time that the Royal Navy has been implicated
in whale deaths.
More
US
Navy sonar range updated
(Added:- 27 Februar y 2006)
The U.S. Navy should turn down the volume of its proposed
sonar training range, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA),
which publicly released its comments on the Navy's plans
last week (see news December 2, 2005
below).
More
New
report on underwater noise released
(Added:- 13 Februar y 2006)
Underwater noise from naval exercises, oil rigs and pleasure
cruises in UK waters should be mapped and monitored to protect
sensitive marine life, a high-level committee of experts
reports today. Research into the effect of sound in the
oceans on marine mammals should now be commissioned by the
UK Government.
More
Sonar
report watered down
(Added:- 25 January 2006)
More than three dozen whales beached themselves on the Outer
Banks in North Carolina within a few hours in January 2005,
lying on their sides until they died. At the time, the Navy
was offshore testing sonar.
More
Hawaii's
first whale casualty of 2006
(Added:- 16 January 2006)
Officials say a collision between a humpback whale and a whale-watching vessel
12 miles off Maui on January 2 is a reminder that Hawaii boaters should slow
down and keep a sharp lookout during the winter whale season. The strike was
a "sideswipe" that did not harm anyone aboard the boat and did not
appear to harm the adult whale, said Judith Fogarty, special agent in charge
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office for Law Enforcement.
More
Is
boat noise effecting humpbacks?
(Added:- 13 January 2006)
UCD animal behaviorist Brenda McCowan and graduate student Sean Hanser are
studying the vocalisations of humpback whales off the coast of Alaska.
More
Beluga
habitat opened to oil and gas development
(Added:- 13 January 2006)
The Canadian government is opening up part of some protected beluga whale habitat
in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea to oil and gas companies.
More
