Volunteers Form Human Chain in Tireless Effort to Save Beached Whales in New Zealand
23 February
Animals
In a tireless, two-day effort, volunteers in New Zealand joined together to successfully refloat a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on the beach.
<p>On Monday, the pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales was found stranded on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the South Island, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/40-beached-whales-refloated-new-zealand-07def068f617a588500c64d5dfcbe2be" target="_blank">AP reported</a>. In response, rangers from New Zealand's Department of Conservation, volunteers from Project Jonah, a whale rescue group and local residents joined efforts to keep the whales alive and in deep waters, AP reported.</p><p>When first sighted, nine whales were already dead, but volunteers drenched the animals still alive with buckets of water and ensured the animals kept the pressure off of their fins throughout the day, Louisa Hawkes, a spokesperson for Project Jonah said, according to AP.</p>
<p>By late Monday, when the tide had risen, 150 people, most of them volunteers, formed a human chain and guided the whales back into deeper waters, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/124318871/reports-of-up-to-50-whales-stranded-at-farewell-spit" target="_blank">Stuff reported</a>.</p><p>Darren Foxwell, the Department of Conservation whale stranding operations manager, said the purpose of the human chain was so the whales could "re-orientate" and so the volunteers could "keep them together, otherwise there's a risk of re-stranding if they take off on their own," according to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/124318871/reports-of-up-to-50-whales-stranded-at-farewell-spit" target="_blank">Stuff</a>.</p>
<p>Once the whales were in deep enough water, boats moved back and forth to prevent the whales from swimming back to shore, AP reported. Yet despite these efforts, the whales still had not swum deep enough into the ocean for safety by the end of the day.</p><p>"It's always fantastic to see whales out in deeper water where they should be," Hawkes told AP. But the volunteers worried their efforts may not save the pod. "Everyone is very hopeful but also very realistic," Hawkes added.</p>
<p>On Tuesday morning, the pod of whales was found stranded once again, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124326615/pilot-whales-refloated-for-a-second-time-at-farewell-spit" target="_blank">Stuff reported</a>. This time, only about 28 whales were alive and their chances at survival looked slim.</p><p>By that point the whales had become languid and were making little effort to swim away, a local Department of Conservation ranger, Andrew Lamason, told <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436955/whales-strand-again-at-farewell-spit" target="_blank">RNZ</a>. With another dry tide on the horizon, volunteers were rocking the whales and attempting to direct them into the deep water.</p><p>By early Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Conservation reported that the pod had successfully swum offshore, following the formation of another human chain that pushed the animals deeper into the water, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124326615/relief-as-stranded-pilot-whales-refloated-for-a-second-time-head-out-to-sea" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stuff reported</a>.</p>
<p>"Volunteers have been pulled out of the water now, because the whales are swimming below the low tide zone and heading out to sea," Lamason told Stuff. "That's really good news; such good news that I'm going home."</p><p>This is not the first time New Zealand's Farewell Spit has experienced whale strandings. Each year, about 300 whales and dolphins are stranded at the top of New Zealand's South Island, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38953557" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC reported</a>. In 2017, more than 400 pilot whales were stranded on the beach's three-mile-long stretch.</p><p>This is partly due to the region's unique geographical shape, creating a "natural trap" for long-finned pilot whales, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38953557" target="_blank">BBC noted</a>. Shaped like a hook, the spit's geography causes a whale's echolocation signal to bounce back, disorienting the animal into shallower and unsafe waters.</p>
<p>While scientists do not have a definite answer as to why whales and other animals consistently find themselves stranded on these shores, they do suspect it may also have something to do with changes in feeding patterns and altered <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a> temperatures, especially in January and February, BBC reported.</p><p>The whale pod is now swimming offshore – their success credited to the efforts of volunteers and whale advocates alike, now relieved and heading home.</p><p>"I'm just doing what I can, it's not something I've done before and it's not how I hoped to see whales. I just hope we can help them live and survive," one volunteer at Farewell Spit said, according to <a href="http://stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff</a>. "But as sad as it is, this kind of thing also brings people together," another commented.</p>
<div id="029bc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="973d152bb86646a00e2a20317ac08a0c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1363934301033693185" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">If you are able to support our rescue efforts with a one off donation, we'd really appreciate it. As a really small… https://t.co/zrcQVmO1lM</div> — Project Jonah (@Project Jonah)<a href="https://twitter.com/ProjectJonah/statuses/1363934301033693185">1614022252.0</a></blockquote></div>
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A worker at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center removes oil from a sea turtle in Mikhmoret, Israel on February 21, 2021. Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty Images
A mysterious oil spill began to wash up on Israel's coast last week, closing beaches and harming wildlife.
<p>The Israeli government urged people not to visit a wide stretch of beach on Sunday, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-tells-public-not-to-visit-beaches-after-worst-oil-spill-in-its-history-1.9556663" target="_blank">Haaretz reported</a>. Of Israel's 119 miles of beach, 105 were impacted by the disaster, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/middleeast/israel-oil-spill-ecological-disaster-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>. That's 40 percent of Israel's coastline, Haaretz noted.</p><p>"The enormous amounts of tar emitted in recent days to the shores of Israel from south to north caused one of the most severe ecological disasters to hit Israel," the country's Nature and Parks Authority said Sunday, CNN reported.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0423bbb6c4ed7e662f2564d7685e70ad"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/IsraelNaturParks/posts/10159120844857899"></div></div>
<p><br>People first noticed the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> last Wednesday, according to Haaretz. It washed up as sticky, dark pieces of tar, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969949310/mediterranean-oil-spill-injures-wildlife-closes-israels-beaches" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. As of Monday, it had spread to the beaches of southern Lebanon, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/israel-environment-oil-spill-lebanon-int/oil-spill-off-israel-reaches-south-lebanese-beaches-idUSKBN2AM1AZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">Animals</a> have also been found covered in tar, including a few <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/birds" target="_self">birds</a> and nine <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-turtles" target="_self">sea turtles</a>, Haaretz added. Sadly, four of the turtles died. The rest have been taken to the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center to recover.</p><p>Additionally, a fin <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales" target="_self">whale</a> washed up dead on the Israeli coast on Thursday. Preliminary tests revealed that it did contain oil in its body, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/israel-environment-oil-spill-int/israels-beaches-blackened-by-tar-after-offshore-oil-spill-idUSKBN2AL0AZ" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>Not least, ecologists are worried about <em>Dendropoma petraeum, </em>a reef-building snail whose population is already declining because of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, NPR reported.</p>
<p>Volunteers have rallied to help with cleanup efforts, with more than 4,000 people from the non-profit EcoOcean working to remove the tar. However, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said it would take years to remove all of it, Haaretz reported. Most of the work will have to be done by hand.</p><p>The government is currently investigating the cause of the spill with the help of European authorities, according to NPR. Israel thinks it likely spilled from a ship about a week ago during stormy weather in the Mediterranean. One candidate is a Feb. 11 oil spill from a ship passing about 21 miles from shore, Reuters reported.</p><p>Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said the investigation had pinpointed nine ships as potential culprits.</p><p>"There is a more than reasonable chance that we will be able to locate the specific ship," she told Ynet TV, Reuters reported.</p>
<p>Israel could take legal action if the responsible vessel is identified, such as suing insurance companies for the cost of the cleanup.<br></p><p>However, in a move journalists are calling irregular, a court placed details of the investigation under censor Monday following a request from the Environmental Protection Ministry, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-oil-spill-disaster-investigation-details-placed-under-censor-659765" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Jerusalem Post reported</a>.</p><p>This has prompted criticism from environmental organizations.</p><p>"When the entities operating at sea and producing a risk of pollution are rich oil companies and shipping companies that have much influence on the regulator, Zalul demands a transparent investigation and that the [censor] order be lifted immediately," Maya Jacobs, director-general of the Zalul Environmental Association, told The Jerusalem Post.</p>
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><em><br></em>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" data-width="710" data-height="959" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
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FAB CBD
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$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
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$60
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A new study finds that scientists can use fin whale song to help image the ocean floor. JG1153 / Getty Images
A study published in Science on Thursday found that it's possible to use fin whale song for imaging the structure of the Earth's crust beneath the ocean floor.
<p>In order to create <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> floor images, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> typically need to use air guns that shoot sound beneath the waves. The sound waves travel through the crust and bounce back to instruments on the seafloor, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whales-long-loud-calls-reveal-structure-beneath-ocean-floor/" target="_blank">Scientific American explained</a>. This provides important information about the workings of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/earthquakes" target="_self">earthquakes</a> and the ocean's ability to store carbon, but the loud noise can interfere with marine mammal communications.</p><p>Now, it looks like scientists have found a new method thanks to marine mammals themselves.</p><p>"It shows these animal vocalizations are useful not just for understanding the animals, but also understanding their environment," John Nabelek, study co-author and Oregon State University College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences professor, said in a university <a href="https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/songs-fin-whales-offer-new-avenue-seismic-studies-oceanic-crust" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>Fin whales can grow to be 60 tons and 80 feet long, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/science/whales-seismic-waves.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. Their songs are proportionate to their size, reaching up to 189 decibels. They can also be heard from 600 miles away, Scientific American reported.</p>
<p>"They're nearly as loud as a big container ship," William Wilcock, a marine geophysicist at the University of Washington and not part of the study, told The New York Times.</p><p>The study found that those sound blasts can help scientists create images of the Earth's subsurface 1.6 miles below the seafloor, Scientific American reported.</p><p>Seismologist Václav Kuna, an Oregon State doctoral student at the time, made this accidental discovery, according to the press release. While listening to seismometer recordings, Kuna kept hearing one-second chirps that would repeat every 30 seconds, The New York Times reported.</p><p>He realized that the sounds were coming from fin whales, but something seemed unusual about them, Scientific American explained. At the time, seismometers, which measure vibrations, were recording the songs, instead of underwater microphones. That meant the whale song was echoing from below ground.</p>
<p>"After each whale call, if you look closely at the seismometer data, there is a response from the Earth," Nabelek said in the press release.</p><p>The press release explained the process and its meaning for the scientists:</p><blockquote>Whale calls bounce between the ocean surface and the ocean bottom. Part of the energy from the calls transmits through the ground as a seismic wave. The wave travels through the oceanic crust, where it is reflected and refracted by the ocean sediment, the basalt layer underneath it and the gabbroic lower crust below that.<br><br>When the waves are recorded at the seismometer, they can provide information that allows researchers to estimate and map the structure of the crust.</blockquote><p>The researchers were able to use songs recorded by three different seismometers in order to pinpoint the whales' location and make images based on their calls.</p><p>Imaging the area immediately below the seafloor can help scientists understand earthquakes and how they impact ocean sediment. The whale songs could also provide information about the location of earthquakes and the amount of carbon that can be stored in ocean sediments, Scientific American reported.</p>
<p>Because fin whales live everywhere except the ice-covered Arctic, their songs are a widely available tool, Wilcock told Scientific American.</p><p>Kuna told The New York Times that he did not think fin whale songs could replace air guns since they create relatively weak seismic waves and therefore low-resolution images. But air gun surveys are expensive and it can be hard to obtain permits to use them, so whale songs can fill in the gaps, the press release explained. And relying more on whale songs can reduce the underwater noise pollution that is harming marine life, according to a recent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-noise-pollution-humans-2650329818.html" target="_self">scientific review</a>.</p><p>"It's win-win," Kuna told The New York Times.</p>
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Until recently the critically endangered Rice's whale were classified as a subspecies of Bryde's whale. NOAA
Scientists have determined that a critically endangered group of whales in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a new species.
<p>The small group of whales were previously classified as a subspecies of Bryde's whale, but a paper published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mms.12776" target="_blank">Marine Mammal Science</a> last month analyzed their DNA and skeletal shape to reveal a different story. The discovery highlights the importance of conserving this population, since around 33 remain.</p><p>"A very exciting paper!" Lori Schwacke, a chief scientist for conservation medicine at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/whales-oceans-gulf-of-mexico-new-orleans-9f498793d2144d08808ec65611d52066" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>. (Schwacke was not involved with the paper.) "It's such a small population in the Gulf of Mexico that marine scientists and managers were already focused on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> efforts for them, particularly after the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/deepwater-horizon-oil-threat-remains-2645723052.html" target="_self">Deepwater Horizon oil spill</a>. But now confirming that these whales are indeed a previously unknown species really raises those stakes."</p><p>Scientists first determined that the whales were living in the Gulf of Mexico year-round in the 1990s, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/28/961765657/scientists-identify-new-whale-species-in-the-gulf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. At the time, scientists identified them as a species of Bryde's whales, but there were signs that indicated otherwise. For one, Bryde's whales tend to roam the world's oceans, while the Gulf whales stayed close to home, <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_bd41077a-5f60-11eb-9384-27af02276e9f.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate explained</a>. Secondly, the Gulf whales caught fish by deep diving instead of eating fish closer to the surface.</p><p>In 2008, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) examined genetic samples and learned that the Gulf whales' were unique, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/new-species-baleen-whale-gulf-mexico" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NOAA reported</a>. The clincher came in 2019, when one of the whales washed up dead in Florida. This allowed scientists to compare its skull to other whales and confirm the separate species.</p>
<p>"I was happy but also sad because we'd lost a whale from such a small population," Patricia Rosel, study leader and NOAA scientist, told The Times Picayune. "But it allowed us to confirm it's a different species. That's such a great scientific step forward and could help with its conservation."</p><p>The new species is called Rice's whale for biologist Dale Rice, the first to identify a population of whales living in the Gulf of Mexico. They can grow to be 42 feet long and 60,000 pounds, five times the weight of an elephant, according to NOAA. Like Bryde's, they are also a species of baleen whales. This means that instead of teeth, they have baleen plates that filter animals such as krill and small fish from sea water, <a href="https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/what-is-baleen/" target="_blank">Whale & Dolphin Conservation explained</a>.</p><p>Rice's whales are critically endangered, but retain the protections they had as a subspecies under both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA said. If the whales' new name is accepted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Committee on Taxonomy, then NOAA will update the listing.</p>
<p>The main threats to the whales are vessel strikes, underwater noise, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> exploration, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-spills" target="_self">oil spills</a> and fishing gear entanglements. It doesn't help that the whales congregate in DeSoto Canyon, one of the busiest shipping and drilling areas in the Gulf, The Times Picayune reported. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 killed about 17 percent of the species and likely caused lasting health and reproduction problems. More recently, relaxed rules surrounding seismic blasts for oil and gas exploration further endangers the whales.</p><p>Michael Jasny, a Natural Resources Defense Council marine mammal protection expert, told The Times Picayune that he hoped this discovery would improve their conservation efforts. He recommended measures such as slowing ship traffic, reducing drilling and halting seismic blasting.</p><p>"This whale is part of what makes the Gulf unique," Jasny said. "Hopefully naming this new species will help people recognize that there is a magnificent creature in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's worth saving."</p>
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The 13th North Atlantic right whale calf with their mother off Wassaw Island, Georgia on Jan. 19, 2010. @GeorgiaWild, under NOAA permit #20556
North Atlantic right whales are in serious trouble, but there is hope. A total of 14 new calves of the extremely endangered species have been spotted this winter between Florida and North Carolina.
<p>The 14th and latest calf of the season was spotted Thursday off of Florida's Amelia Island, <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/01/22/welcoming-no-14-another-right-whale-calf-sighted-this-season/" target="_blank">News4JAX reported</a>.</p><p>"What a way to start the weekend - a new right whale!" the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southeast announced on <a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/status/1352619914146807809" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>
<div id="9c57f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="060d50122a2b9c0df8561b1b31b1ed2a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1352619914146807809" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">What a way to start the weekend - a new right whale! Known mom "Champagne" and her calf were sighted off Amelia Isl… https://t.co/xNSbur6V3k</div> — NOAA Fish Southeast (@NOAA Fish Southeast)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/statuses/1352619914146807809">1611324692.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Calf number 14 was born to a 12-year-old <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whale" target="_self">whale</a> named Champagne and is her first known calf, the agency said.</p><p>The news came just two days after the 13th calf of the season was spotted off of Wassaw Island, Georgia, News4JAX reported. This baby was also born to a first-time mom who was 14 years old.</p>
<div id="8e78f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="16ed99074326abb76728f8aa46b8d501"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1352052054479482884" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">13 is lucky today! We have a new right whale calf - our 13th for the season! Mom and calf were sighted off Wassaw I… https://t.co/VjNacz4sxD</div> — NOAA Fish Southeast (@NOAA Fish Southeast)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/statuses/1352052054479482884">1611189304.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>All of this is good news for the species, which ended 2020 on a low note. A NOAA <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/endangered-right-whale-population-2648532928.html" target="_self">report found</a> that there were no more than 366 of the animals left alive. Then, the first known calf of the season <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/north-atlantic-right-whale-calf-dead-2649042642.html" target="_self">washed up dead</a> off the North Carolina coast in November.</p><p>However, things have begun to turn around. The species has so far had its best calving season in years, <a href="https://defenders.org/newsroom/thirteenth-critically-endangered-right-whale-calf-of-season-spotted-near-georgia" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife noted</a> in a statement. Only 22 calves were reported between all of 2017 to 2020. The number of new calves this season is now more than half that total, and there are two months left during which scientists expect more babies will be born.</p>
<p>Despite the baby boom, conservationists noted that the species is not out of the woods. The whales have been undergoing an Unusual Mortality Event since 2017, with 32 whales dying in Canadian and U.S. waters and 14 sustaining non-survivable injuries. The leading causes of these casualties were vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing lines. In January, a right whale was seen entangled in fishing gear off the Georgia coast.</p><p>"While these births are an encouraging sign, the continued threats underscore that we still have to redouble our efforts to protect these vulnerable babies and their mothers," Defenders of Wildlife senior attorney <a href="https://defenders.org/people/jane-p-davenport" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Davenport</a> said in the statement.</p><p>The same week as the 13th and 14th births were announced, NOAA released a <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/reducing-vessel-strikes-north-atlantic-right-whales" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report</a> finding that vessels were ignoring both suggestions and requirements to slow down in areas where right whales might be present. This has prompted conservation groups to call for more protections.</p>
<p>"NOAA agrees that more needs to be done to protect North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes," Oceana campaign director Whitney Webber said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Now it's time for the federal government to act. Voluntary speed restriction zones must be made mandatory, and the current mandatory speed restriction zones must be expanded and enforced. Oceana calls on NOAA to update the shipping regulations to protect these rare whales before it's too late."</p><p>Defenders of Wildlife also acted by joining with other conservation groups Jan. 13 to <a href="https://defenders.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/1_Complaint%201%2013%2021.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sue</a> NOAA over its failure to expand slow-down zones for the whales.</p><p>"Right whales face a daily gauntlet of fishing ropes and speeding vessels, which together have caused the deaths of more than 200 right whales in the last decade alone," Davenport said in the Defenders of Wildlife statement. "We're killing right whales far faster than they can reproduce. Unless we move quickly to abate these threats, we're running out of time to save the species from extinction."</p>
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A seagull flies in front of the Rampion offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom. Neil / CC BY 2.0
By Tara Lohan
A key part of the United States' clean energy transition has started to take shape, but you may need to squint to see it. About 2,000 wind turbines could be built far offshore, in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast, in the next 10 years. And more are expected.
<p>East Coast states from Maine to North Carolina are working to procure nearly <a href="https://www.oedigital.com/news/483741-2020-has-been-a-big-year-for-us-offshore-wind" target="_blank">30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035</a> — a huge leap from the five turbines currently generating 30 megawatts in Rhode Island waters. If a regulatory backlog of projects awaiting approval from the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is finally unstuck — <a href="https://therevelator.org/offshore-wind-growth/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">as experts hope will happen this year</a> — the buildout of offshore wind will arrive during a crucial decade for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>Spinning turbine blades on the watery horizon may be a welcome sight in the fight against climate change, but they still come with potential threats to marine wildlife. Many environmental groups believe the challenges aren't insurmountable if scientific study can help inform regulatory action and if we can learn — and adapt our practices — as we go.</p><p>"We believe that offshore wind can absolutely be developed in an environmentally responsible manner," says Francine Kershaw, a staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But that has to be incorporated throughout the whole process — from site assessment through development, construction and operations."</p>
Threats to Birds
<p>One of the gravest threats facing birds is climate change, according to Audubon, which found that rising temperatures threaten <a href="https://www.audubon.org/2019climateissue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nearly two-thirds of North America's bird species</a>. That's why the impending development of offshore wind is a good thing, says Shilo Felton, a field manager in the organization's Clean Energy Initiative, but it also comes with dangers to birds that need to be better studied and mitigated.</p><p>The most obvious risk comes from birds colliding with spinning turbine blades. But offshore wind developments can also displace birds from foraging or roost sites, as well as migratory pathways.</p><p>Along the Atlantic Coast four imperiled species are of top concern to conservationists: the endangered piping plover, red knot, roseate tern and black-capped petrel, which is being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.</p><p>"Those four species are of utmost importance to make sure that we understand the impacts," says Felton. "But beyond that there are many species that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act that could potentially see more impacts from offshore wind."</p><p>Northern gannets, for example, are at risk not just for collision but <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308703197_Possible_impacts_of_offshore_wind_farms_on_seabirds_a_pilot_study_in_Northern_Gannets_in_the_southern_North_Sea" target="_blank">habitat displacement</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ3NDc0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzA3NTkwM30.L3sUMX9PbRxFqSnNPKWfQSB33NNak0zZ6x9gdLCZPJM/img.jpg?width=980" id="31fc5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1429caf713cfa9e6b78cc218d884453" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
A northern gannet flying along Cape May, N.J. Ann Marie Morrison / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<p>"There's <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320716303196" target="_blank">some evidence</a> that they just won't use areas where turbines are, but that also excludes them from key foraging areas," says Felton. Researchers are still studying what this may mean for the birds. But a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113620305304" target="_blank">study</a> published in December 2020 conducted at Bass Rock, Scotland — home to the world's largest northern gannet colony — found that wind developments could reduce their growth rate, though not enough to cause a population decline.</p><p>Other birds, such as great cormorants and European shags, are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320716303196" target="_blank">attracted to wind developments</a> and use the infrastructure to rest while opening up new foraging areas farther from shore.</p><p>"There's plenty of potential for a bird to use a wind farm and still to avoid the turbines themselves," says Felton.</p><p>Birds like pelicans, however, are less versatile in their movements and are at particular risk of collision because of their flight pattern, she says.</p><p>But how disruptive or dangerous offshore turbines will be along the East Coast isn't yet known.</p><p>Federal and state agencies, along with nongovernmental organizations, says Felton, have done good research to try to better understand those potential impacts. "But these are all theoretical, because we don't have a lot of offshore wind yet in the United States."</p>Threats to Ocean Life
<p>Birds aren't the only wildlife of concern. More development in ocean waters could affect a litany of marine species, some of which are already facing other pressures from overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change.</p><p>Scientists have found that marine mammals like whales and dolphins could be disturbed by the jarring sounds of construction, especially if pile driving is used to hammer the steel turbine platform into the seafloor.</p><p>The noises, though short-lived, could impede communication between animals, divert them from migration routes or cause them to seek less suitable areas for feeding or breeding. Research from Europe found that harbor porpoises, seals and dolphins may avoid development areas during construction. In most, but <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/045101" target="_blank">not all cases</a>, the animals were believed to have returned to the area following construction.</p><p>The biggest concern for conservation groups in the United States is the critically endangered North American right whale. There are fewer than 400 remaining, and the species' habitat overlaps with a number of planned wind development areas along the East Coast.</p><p>"Offshore wind is in no way the cause of the challenges the whales face, but it's going to be another pressure point," says John Rogers, senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists.</p><p>Researchers aren't sure how right whales will respond to the noise from pile driving.</p><p>"But we are concerned, based on what we know about how whales react to other noise sources, that they may avoid [wind development] areas," says Kershaw.</p><p>And if that displacement causes them to miss out on important food resources, it could be dangerous for a species already on the brink.</p><p>There are a few other potential threats, too.</p><p>Ships associated with the development — more plentiful during construction — also pose a danger. In the past few years cargo ships, fishing boats and other vessels have caused half of all deaths of North Atlantic right whales.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ3NDg5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODIyNzI3MX0.PzGzo5LJmV9E00augQhHgO5eMTxkVqRBYGZrzkrxP78/img.jpg?width=980" id="f44b2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5fcb375b72d14dd0cf745ecc7fb4494a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
A juvenile right whale breaches against the backdrop of a ship near the St. Johns River entrance. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission / NOAA Research Permit #775-1600-10
<p>And after construction, the noise from the spinning turbines will be present in the water at low decibels. "We don't quite know how the great whales will react to those sounds," says Jeremy Firestone, the director of the Center for Research in Wind at the University of Delaware.</p><p>Other marine mammals may also perceive the noise, but at low decibels it's unlikely to be an impediment, <a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v309/p279-295/" target="_blank">research has found</a>.</p><p>And it's possible that wind development could help some ocean life. Turbine foundations can attract fish and invertebrates for whom hard substrates create habitat complexity — known as the "reef effect," according to researchers from the University of Rhode Island's <a href="https://dosits.org/animals/effects-of-sound/anthropogenic-sources/wind-turbine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Discovery of Sound in the Sea</a> program. Exclusion of commercial fishing nearby may also help shelter fish and protect marine mammals from entanglements in fishing gear.</p>Ensuring Safe Development
<p>Despite the potential dangers, researchers have gathered a few best practices to help diminish and possibly eliminate some risks.</p><p>When it comes to ship strikes, the easiest thing is to slow boats down, mandating a speed of <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/vessel-speed-limits-sought-protect-endangered-north-atlantic-right-whales-2020-08-06/" target="_blank">10 knots</a> in wind development areas, and using visual and acoustic monitoring for whales.</p><p>Adjusting operations to reduce boat trips between the shore and the wind development will also help. A new series of service operating vessels can allow maintenance staff to spent multiple days onsite, says Kershaw, cutting down on boat traffic.</p><p>For construction noise concerns, developers can avoid pile driving during times of the year when whales are present. And, depending on the marine environment, developers could use "quiet foundations" that don't require pile driving. These include gravity-based or suction caisson platforms.</p><p>Floating turbines are also used in deep water, where they're effectively anchored in place — although that poses its own potential danger. "We have concerns that marine debris could potentially become entangled around the mooring cables of the floating arrays and pose a secondarily entanglement risk to some species," says Felton, who thinks more research should be conducted before those become operational in U.S. waters — a process that's already underway in Maine, where a <a href="https://composites.umaine.edu/2020/08/05/diamond-offshore-wind-rwe-renewables-join-the-university-of-maine-to-lead-development-of-maine-floating-offshore-wind-demonstration-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">demonstration project is being built</a>.</p><p>If loud noises are unavoidable during construction, noise-reducing technologies such as bubble curtains can help dampen the sound. And scheduling adjacent projects to conduct similar work at the same time could limit the duration of disturbances.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ3NDkwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDIwMTMwNX0.EzMWtZyoKz02dkfoC7ZYvs51VS4JwnUZzeaby4WBs5w/img.jpg?width=980" id="fa370" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5f32770cc89291d00aed7de6d0204760" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="755" data-height="552" />
The foundation installation of the off shore wind farm Sandbank using a bubble curtain. Vattenfall / Ulrich Wirrwa / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<p>Once turbines become operational, reducing the amount of light on wind platforms or using flashing lights could help deter some seabirds, NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/harnessing-wind-advance-wind-power-offshore-ib.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">researchers reported</a>. And scientists are exploring using ultrasonic noises and ultraviolet lighting to keep bats away. "Feathering," or shutting down the turbine blades during key migration times, could also help prevent fatalities.</p><p>"We need to make sure that offshore wind is the best steward it can be of the marine ecosystem, because we want and expect it to be a significant part of the clean energy picture in some parts of the country," says Rogers. "We also have to recognize that we're going to learn by doing, and that some of these things we're going to figure out best once we have more turbines in the water."</p><p>That's why environmental groups say it's important to establish baseline information on species before projects begin, and then require developers to conduct monitoring during construction and for years after projects are operational.</p><p>Employing an "adaptive management framework" will ensure that developers can adjust their management practices as they go when new information becomes available, and that those best practices are incorporated into the requirements for future projects.</p>Putting Research Into Action
<p>Advancing these conversations at the federal level during the Trump administration, though, has been slow going.</p><p>"We didn't really have any productive discussions with the administration in the last four years," says Kershaw.</p><p>And when it comes to birds, Felton says the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recently completed "draft cumulative environmental impact statement" covering offshore wind developments had a lot of good environmental research, but little focus on birds.</p><p>"Part of that comes from the current administration's interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," she says.</p><p>President Trump has been hostile to both wind energy <em>and</em> birds, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/climate/trump-migratory-bird-protections.html" target="_blank">and finished gutting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act</a> in his administration's the final days, removing penalties for companies whose operations kill migratory birds.</p><p>There's hope that the Biden administration will take a different approach. But where the federal government has been lacking lately, Kershaw says, they've seen states step up.</p><p>New York, for example, has established an <a href="https://www.nyetwg.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Technical Working Group</a> composed of stakeholders to advise on environmentally responsible development of offshore wind.</p><p>The group is led by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, but it isn't limited to the Empire State. It's regional in focus and includes representatives from wind developers with leases between Massachusetts and North Carolina; state agencies from Massachusetts to Virginia; federal agencies; and science-based environmental NGOs.</p><p>New York's latest solicitation for clean energy projects includes up to 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind and <a href="https://www.nyetwg.com/announcements" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">requires developers</a> to contribute at least $10,000 per megawatt for regional monitoring of fisheries and other wildlife.</p><p>Environmental groups have also worked directly with developers, including an agreement with Vineyard Wind — an 800-megawatt project off the Massachusetts coast that could be the first utility-scale wind development in federal waters — to help protect North Atlantic right whales.</p><p>The agreement includes no pile driving from Jan. 1 to April 30, ceasing activities at other times when whales are visually or acoustically identified in the area, speed restrictions on vessels, and the use of noise reduction technology, such as a bubble curtain during pile driving.</p><p>"The developers signed the agreement with us, and then they incorporated, most, if not all of those measures into the federal permitting documents," says Kershaw. "The developers really did a lot of bottom up work to make sure that they were being very protective of right whales."</p><p>Environmental groups are in talks with other developers on agreements too, but Felton wants to see best practices being mandated at the federal level.</p><p>"It's the sort of a role that should be being played by the federal government, and without that it makes the permitting and regulation process less stable and less transparent," she says." And that in turn slows down the build out of projects, which is also bad for birds because it doesn't help us address and mitigate for climate change."</p><p>Kershaw agrees there's a lot more work to be done, especially at the federal level, but thinks we're moving in the right direction.</p><p>"I think the work that's been done so far in the United States has really laid the groundwork for advancing this in the right way and in a way that's protective of species and the environment," she says. "At the same time, it's important that offshore wind does advance quickly. We really need it to help us combat the worst effects of climate change."</p><p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tara Lohan</a> is deputy editor of The Revelator and has worked for more than a decade as a digital editor and environmental journalist focused on the intersections of energy, water and climate. Her work has been published by The Nation, American Prospect, High Country News, Grist, Pacific Standard and others. She is the editor of two books on the global water crisis.</em></p><p><em style="">Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/offshore-wind-wildlife" target="_blank" style="">The Revelator</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A Northwest Indian Ocean blue whale fluke breaks the surface before a dive off the Arabian Sea coast of Oman. Robert Baldwin / Environment Society of Oman
A new population of endangered blue whales has been hiding in the western Indian Ocean. According to NOAA, these gentle giants weigh up to 330,000 pounds and grow up to 110 feet long. The largest creature to have ever lived on Earth would seem hard to miss, but this group has been unknown to researchers – until now.
<p>All blue whales sing in loud, low-pitched, recognizable songs, <a href="https://www.neaq.org/about-us/news-media/press-kit/press-releases/new-population-of-blue-whales-discovered-in-the-western-indian-ocean/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New England Aquarium (NEAQ)</a> reported. Distinct populations have distinct songs. According to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/prepress/n01096.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">study</a>, which was published in the journal <em>Endangered Species Research</em>, there are currently two or three known subspecies of blue whales in the Indian Ocean, believed to constitute four populations, each with a specific, diagnostic song-type.</p>
<p>"It's like hearing different songs within a genre – Stevie Ray Vaughan versus B. B. King," Salvatore Cerchio, a marine mammal biologist at the African Aquatic Conservation Fund in Massachusetts and the study's lead author, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/science/blue-whales-indian-ocean.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "It's all blues, but you know the different styles."</p><p>Scientists discovered the new population on accident when they overheard their song, a slow, bellowing ballad that could serve as a mating call, the Times reported. Despite extensive study of blue whale songs, it was unlike any other whale song ever recorded. According to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-population-blue-whales-emerges-singing-indian-ocean-180976650/" target="_blank">Smithsonian Magazine</a> and the study, while the team lacks genetic data to support its findings, because blue whale melodies are unique population to population, the new song suggests an undetected population or one that was previously conflated with another population.</p>
<p>Recordings of the new song from three sites around the Indian Ocean, each separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, matched, and scientists began to piece together the routes of the previously-unknown pod of whales "moseying about in the Indian Ocean's northwest and perhaps beyond," singing their unique song, the Times reported.</p><p>The new song is now one of only a dozen or so other blue whale songs ever documented, each the "calling card" of a unique population of whales, the report continued. The latest melody has been labeled the "Northwest Indian Ocean" song-type and is the only blue whale song identified in the western Arabian Sea, the study reported.</p>
<p>"It was quite remarkable to find a whale song in your data that was completely unique, never before reported, and recognize it as a blue whale," Cerchio told NEAQ.</p><p>Each discovery of a new blue whale population brings renewed hope for the species' continued recovery. According to Smithsonian Magazine, intense whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries culled hundreds of thousands from the world's population and left them on the brink of extinction. The 1967 International Whaling Commission ban on hunting helped stop the slaughter, the report added. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2021/12/29/singing-whale-unmasks-new-giant-blue-whale-species-hidden-in-indian-ocean/?sh=5cbeb48e10e5" target="_blank">Forbes</a> estimated that blue whale populations plummeted from 350,000 at the turn of the 20th century to between 10,000 to 25,000 today. The species remains critically <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered</a>.</p>
<p>The study authors suggested that the new population off the coast of Oman could be survivors recovering from historic whaling. In the 1960s, intense illegal Soviet Union whaling in the region took 1,294 blue whales in total, "suggesting" that the fleet likely targeted this population and that "if there is a northern Indian Ocean subspecies ... it is likely this population."</p><p>The authors concluded that because the population remained undetected for so long, the new group is likely small and "in critical need of status assessment and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> action." The whale group's identification also highlights how much of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> remains unexplored and how many other potential discoveries remain.</p>
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Blue whales are the largest animals ever to live on our planet. NOAA
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Mongabay's longtime editor and senior correspondent Jeremy Hance published his memoir, Baggage, this year. Jeremy Hance / YouTube
By John C. Cannon
Books have provided a welcome refuge in 2020. The global pandemic has, in many cases, turned even routine travel into a risk not worth taking, and it has left many longing for the day when we will once again set off for a new destination. At the same time, this year has also been a time to reflect on the sense of place and what home means to each of us.
<p>This year's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> book list draws on those two themes. Satisfying the urge to light out into the unknown, several authors share tales and observations from the field. Others delve deeply into a single spot, examining its importance to a people and the way we as a species fit into it, however uncomfortably. In the end, each reinforces a lesson that the pandemic has laid bare: Pull a thread on the web of life and even distant strands will reverberate as a result.</p>
<h3>1. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250173348" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty and Achieve Peace</a></h3><p>By Carl Safina</p><p>Biologist Carl Safina has made a career of working on the front lines of conservation and then imparting what he has learned in a way that makes us, his readers, take notice. Broken down into three parts, <em>Becoming Wild</em> explores the lives and cultures of three species: sperm whales, scarlet macaws, and chimpanzees.</p><p>By turns fascinating, heartwarming and tragic, traveling with Safina as a guide is engrossing. And, as you might suspect, there's an agenda here. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">Biodiversity</a>, all the weird and wondrous speciation that evolution has molded from the building blocks of life on this planet, is under threat, now more so than at any other time since humans emerged from that same swirling mix of forces. But beyond the staggering loss of species and individual lifeforms currently underway, Safina demonstrates that the sum total of what we lose will be far more than just a statistic if we don't work to protect the life that remains.</p>
<h3>2. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547092/oak-flat-by-lauren-redniss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oak Flat</a></h3><p>By Lauren Redniss</p><p>Cutting across social justice, economic and environmental lines, <em>Oak Flat</em> chronicles the real-life struggle of a family to protect sacred land from destruction after the discovery of a copper deposit in the desert in the U.S. Southwest. The family lives on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona and must contend with the substantial resources of a massive mining corporation, not to mention a set of laws that seem designed to put profits before people.</p><p>Told in the style of a graphic novel, author and illustrator Lauren Redniss draws on her earnest reporting and skill as an artist to shine a light on the issue, made all the more urgent because today the Apache of San Carlos are still fighting to protect their land.</p>
<h3>3. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374228484" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl</a></h3><p>By Jonathan Slaght</p><p>The Blakiston's fish owl doesn't make conservation efforts on its behalf easy. Inhabiting the unforgiving mountains and forests of Russia's Far East, its dwindling numbers are threatened by logging and fishing in Primorye province.</p><p>Enter WCS scientist Jonathan Slaght and an intimate look at meeting the owl on its own turf. Just as fascinating as the quirky bird he's pursuing are the characters who people Slaght's book, the hardy folk who at once represent both a threat to the Blakiston's fish owl and invaluable accomplices in his mission to save the species.</p>
<h3>4. <a href="https://www.enricsala.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Nature of Nature: Why We Need the Wild</a></h3><p>By Enric Sala</p><p>Ecologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence Enric Sala says he didn't want his career as a scientist to be spent just writing obituaries, cataloging the final days of so many of the species he studies. <em>The Nature of Nature</em> is both an homage to the diversity of life on Earth and a warning of the steps we must take to ensure it persists. Vividly told stories from decades of observing and probing the natural world serve as a testimony to the interconnectivity that binds all life — including humans — together.</p><p>As Sala told Mongabay in an <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/tamper-with-nature-and-everyone-suffers-qa-with-ecologist-enric-sala/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interview</a> in August, "You tamper with nature in one part of the planet, and everyone suffers. That's why we need to protect the wild."</p>
<h3>5. <a href="https://msupress.org/9781611863581/the-medicine-wheel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Medicine Wheel: Environmental Decision-Making Process of Indigenous Peoples</a></h3><p>By Michael E. Marchand, Kristiina A. Vogt, Rodney Cawston, John D. Tovey, John McCoy, Nancy Maryboy, Calvin T. Mukumoto, Daniel J. Vogt and Melody Starya Mobley</p><p>In the most academic-leaning book to make this year's list, a group of predominantly <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples">Indigenous</a> authors draw on the history, art and culture of Native societies from around the world with an eye toward how we might better coexist with nature. Their aim is to provide a guide for the ways in which Indigenous thinking and science, too often viewed as working at cross purposes, can come together to solve environmental problems.</p>
<h3>6. <a href="https://saraband.net/sb-title/cottongrass-summer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cottongrass Summer</a></h3><p>By Roy Dennis</p><p>Like many of the other authors on this list, ornithologist and conservationist Roy Dennis thankfully doesn't disguise his fascination with the intricacies of nature in <em>Cottongrass Summer</em>. The stories he tells have been gleaned from countless years of fieldwork and, at times, battles with the prevailing conservation establishment of the day. Still, the iconoclastic 80-year-old carries on, offering a measure of hope in a book for a wilder and healthier planet.</p><p>Orangutan biologist Erik Meijaard, who <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/book-review-cottongrass-summer-the-book-every-eco-anxious-conservationist-should-read/" target="_blank">reviewed</a> Dennis's book for Mongabay in August, said, "[C]ynics among you turn away, this book is not for you. To me this book is about belief and love. Belief in a better world where wild animals and plants can once again thrive alongside people. And a deep love for the natural world around us."</p>
<h3>7. <a href="https://www.ericjaydolin.com/a-furious-sky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes</a></h3><p>By Eric Jay Dolin</p><p>In <em>A Furious Sky</em>, author Eric Jay Dolin digs deep into the annals of humans' history with the awe-inspiring and destructive hurricane. Along the way, he unearths a trove of engaging characters and entrancing struggles to find a way to coexist with Earth's most powerful storms. In the end, we find that, as the planet's climate changes, hurricanes will likely only grow stronger.</p>
<h3>8. <a href="https://www.workman.com/products/natures-best-hope" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard</a></h3><p>By Douglas W. Tallamy</p><p>Many of the world's environmental crises can feel beyond the reach of human problem solving. University of Delaware professor Douglas Tallamy takes a different tack, instead suggesting that the ideal place to begin a necessary revolution is right where we live. Instead of depending on the seep of political compromise that's so often inadequate and short-sighted in addressing issues like biodiversity loss, deforestation and climate change, Tallamy's belief is that by starting small — creating hospitable habitats for native plants and insects in our backyards, for example — we can realize the dreams of the pantheon of conservation's great thinkers, Aldo Leopold, E.O. Wilson and Rachel Carson among them.</p>
<h3>9. <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fathoms/Rebecca-Giggs/9781982120696" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fathoms: The World in the Whale</a></h3><p>By Rebecca Giggs</p><p>Over centuries, technological innovations, capitalist incentives and sheer grit led to many species of whales being hunted to near extinction. But the moratorium on hunting whales that coalesced in the 1980s around the awe these animals inspire and the outrage so many felt at witnessing their slaughter helped bring them back from the brink. All but a few of the world's most fervent whale-hunting nations signed on, and the rebound in whale numbers seems like a great success. But in what kind of world have we ensured their survival?</p><p>That's one of the questions that author Rebecca Giggs ponders in <em>Fathoms</em>, as she puts the survival of whales in the context of an increasing plastic-filled and polluted ocean, where warming waters and a paradoxically destructive ecotourism industry wait to confront them at every turn.</p>
<h3>10. <a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/chris-hamby/soul-full-of-coal-dust/9780316299497/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soul Full of Coal Dust: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia</a></h3><p>By Chris Hamby</p><p>2020 has proven, if there were any doubt, that human and environmental health are inextricably linked. Investigative journalist Chris Hamby probed a paragon of this connection in <em>Soul Full of Coal Dust</em>. As the worldwide debate over the continued use of coal for steady but dirty energy production has taken center stage, the people who haul it from the ground have been fighting for their lives just behind the curtain.</p><p>Hamby takes his readers to the mountains of Appalachia, the epicenter of U.S. coal production, where fortunes rise and fall with the industry itself. He details the David-and-Goliath struggle to take on "Big Coal" and bring much-needed help to the miners afflicted with black lung disease.</p>
<h3>11. <a href="https://jeremyhance.com/baggage-confessions-of-a-globe-trotting-hypochondriac/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-Trotting Hypochondriac</a></h3><p>By Jeremy Hance</p><p>A 2020 Mongabay book list wouldn't be complete without a nod to the site's longtime editor and senior correspondent, Jeremy Hance (as well as the site's first staff writer), who published his own <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/diary-of-a-great-environmental-journalist-and-bad-traveler-qa-with-jeremy-hance/" target="_blank">memoir</a> this year. Hance has traveled the world in pursuit of the engaging environmental stories he's written for Mongabay, the Guardian, and Ensia, among other publications. He's also lived with hypochondria and obsessive-compulsive disorder for decades, conditions that can make the dream of travel an anxiety-producing nightmare. Fortunately for his readers, they haven't deterred him, and in <em>Baggage</em>, Hance recounts his voyages in a book that's as witty and self-effacing as it is poignant and instructive.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/11-notable-books-on-conservation-and-the-environment-published-in-2020/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Bowhead whale populations are nearing pre-commercial whaling numbers in U.S. waters. CoreyFord / Getty Images
In good news that has scientists excited, bowhead whale populations are nearing pre-commercial whaling numbers in U.S. waters.
<p>According to a recent <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/905/Bowhead-Whales-Recent-Insights-into-Their-Biology-Status-and-Resilience" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report card</a> on the species, bowhead whales are the true <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> baleen whale species and the only one that lives in the cold waters year-round. In the 1700s, they were targeted for their oil, blubber and baleen, or whalebone. Because they're slow-moving and large, they made easy targets and were nearly hunted to extinction by the start of the 20th century.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/bowhead-whale#:~:text=Bowhead%20whales%20are%20also%20listed,of%20bowheads%20in%20the%20world." target="_blank">NOAA</a>, the cessation of whaling, improved management and the general inaccessibility of their habitats helped several populations rebound, including the U.S. one off the coast of Alaska.</p><p>Still, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-changing-climate-nooa-report-2649429663.html" target="_self">Arctic is drastically changing due to the climate crisis</a>, with immense loss of sea ice, soaring temperatures and raging <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-wildfires-changing-global-climate-2647856074.html" target="_self">wildfires</a>. This grim reality has caused many to conclude that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-ocean-research-expedition-2648175284.html" target="_self">"The Arctic is Dying."</a></p><p>News from the Arctic has been almost uniformly bad, but the bowhead's conservation success, especially for the U.S. population off of Alaska, stands out as a beacon of hope, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/12/bowhead-whale-arctic-recovery-scientists#:~:text=Scientists%20cheered%20by%20bowhead%20whale%20recovery%20despite%20Arctic%20warming,-Biologists%20hail%20'one&text=In%20some%20rare%20good%20news,whaling%20numbers%20in%20US%20waters." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. The NOAA report card found that the whales' recovery actually had accelerated despite Arctic warming.</p>
<p>"This is really one of the great conservation successes of the last century," said J Craig George, a retired biologist with the North Slope borough department of wildlife management, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/12/bowhead-whale-arctic-recovery-scientists#:~:text=Scientists%20cheered%20by%20bowhead%20whale%20recovery%20despite%20Arctic%20warming,-Biologists%20hail%20'one&text=In%20some%20rare%20good%20news,whaling%20numbers%20in%20US%20waters." target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>George also credited the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) for their sustainable management and stewardship of the species, the Guardian said. AEWC fought against <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic-offshore-drilling" target="_self">offshore oil drilling</a> and other activities that could harm whales.</p><p>"No one has fought harder than the AEWC to protect bowhead habitat from industrial development in the U.S. Arctic," George told The Guardian.</p>
<p>According to the report, scientists were surprised by the whales' population expansion in recent decades. Biologists expected the cold-adapted species to suffer from melting sea ice, but instead, they observed how warmer Arctic seas are becoming more productive by bringing additional nutrients and food for the bowheads, resulting in more successful pregnancies. Now, scientists are looking to the cetaceans to provide broader insights into Arctic marine ecosystem health.</p><p>Despite the gains, the bowheads' future is still uncertain. According to <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/bowhead-whale#:~:text=Bowhead%20whales%20are%20also%20listed,of%20bowheads%20in%20the%20world." target="_blank">NOAA</a>, all bowhead whales remain endangered throughout their range. Oil drilling by Shell in the Beaufort Sea remains a real threat. Scientists also predict that there could be an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-sea-ice-melt-2035-2646947902.html" target="_self">end to Arctic sea ice by 2035</a>. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">Melting ice</a> would provide less cover against fishing gear, ship collisions and orca predators as the climate continues to change. Even the increase in food sources could attract competitor baleen whales. And of course, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/november-2020-record-heat-2649335852.html" target="_self">climate crisis continues</a>.</p><p>"They really are headed into an uncertain future," George told The Guardian.</p>
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A beaked whale believed to be a new species. Sea Shepherd / CONANP
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
When a trio of beaked whales surfaced off Mexico's Pacific coast, researchers thought they'd found the elusive Perrin's beaked whale (Mesoplodon perrini), an endangered species that's never been officially sighted alive. But upon closer inspection, the researchers realized they may have stumbled upon something even rarer — a new species of beaked whale altogether.
<p><br/></p>
<p>On Nov. 17, the research team was sailing aboard the <em>Martin Sheen</em>, a vessel operated by conservation group Sea Shepherd, when they spotted the three beaked whales about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Mexico's San Benito Islands. They managed to capture photos and video recordings of the animals, and also dropped a specialized microphone underwater to record the animals' acoustic signals.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk1NzkwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjI2MTE4M30.21MYENyBOtZfNM8n4pMNMx7naLGfQ2wpc8vc6aYD1C0/img.jpg?width=980" id="e74d4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6459a987bacd6a6458c6001103e7a266" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="768" data-height="512" />
Two beaked whales swimming by the Sea Shepherd vessel. Sea Shepherd / CONANP
<p>"The whales, amazingly, surfaced four or five times really close to the ship," Elizabeth Henderson, a bioacoustics scientist at the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific's (NIWC PAC) whale acoustics reconnaissance program and one of the researchers on the expedition, told Mongabay in an interview. "They actually seemed to be circling us. We put in one of our acoustic recorders, and they kind of checked that out. For beaked whales, it was incredible, because beaked whales are typically so elusive when it comes to ships."</p><p>Beaked whales communicate via echolocation clicks above the frequency of human hearing. But when Henderson and her colleagues analyzed the acoustical data, they found that these whales' clicks were slightly different from those produced by Perrin's beaked whales. The whales also appeared to have distinct physical characteristics.</p><p>"The Perrin's beaked whale [has] teeth … right at the end of the rostrum, they're right at the end of the jaw," Henderson said. "And so when we started looking at the photos, we realized that the teeth are further back, so they couldn't be Perrin's. And then when we started to look at other characteristics, including different color patterns and its size …. it's like a jigsaw puzzle. Once we started putting all the pieces together, we realized that not only was it not Perrin's, but it really didn't seem to match any of the other characteristics of described beaked whales."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk1NzkxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzY2OTAyOH0.__XqTIC_rh-88sdz9FatmzoneVtRb6OnEf8sjWNBdgQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="2e9c6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d069db7029685eccbe1e86e395138428" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="768" data-height="512" />
The trio of beaked whales encountered by the research team in November. Sea Shepherd / CONANP
<p>While the scientists say they are "highly confident" they found a new species, they took water samples near the whales in order to analyze the environmental DNA, or eDNA, which Henderson says will help assess whether the beaked whales were definitely a new species.</p><p>"We're literally taking water samples from where the whales dove, so right where they were," Henderson said. "The hope is that there's some genetic material left in the water, whether that's sloughed skin, whether it's some remnants of fecal matter."</p><p>"We saw something new," Jay Barlow, a senior scientist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and another one of the researchers on the expedition, said in a statement. "Something that was not expected in this area, something that doesn't match, either visually or acoustically, anything that is known to exist. It just sends chills up and down my spine when I think that we might have accomplished what most people would say was truly impossible — finding a large mammal that exists on this earth that is totally unknown to science."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk1NzkyOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzM0Nzg0NX0.6YdlWQFnVLH78ohqMraaSPwBFaN4434VNMWVKjUUQVI/img.jpg?width=980" id="29565" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e85ec6f26d60a1b839c7d40c7a1f943f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="768" data-height="512" />
One of the three beaked whales believed to be a new species. Sea Shepherd / CONANP
<p>Takashi Fritz Matsuishi, a professor at Hokkaido University's School of Fisheries Sciences and co-author of a 2019 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46703-w" target="_blank">paper</a> identifying another new species of beaked whale — the Sato's beaked whale (<em>Berardius minimus</em>) — said it's very possible that the researchers found a new species near the San Benito Islands. However, he said that a new species could not be accurately identified using only eDNA analysis, acoustics or visual observations.</p><p>"The external morphology and osteological descriptions are strictly required," Matsuishi told Mongabay in an email, referring to the animal's physical features and skeletal structure. "That is the reason that our Sato's beaked whale [took] 6 years to be described as a new species since the publication of the paper showing the genetical difference in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00607.x" target="_blank">2013</a>."</p><p>Matsuishi also said the "new" species might simply be a species already known to science, such as the pygmy beaked whale (<em>Mesoplodon peruvianus</em>) or even the Perrin's beaked whale, which was the researchers' initial assumption.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63ec1c998195be81e1104da7720012c4"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rBbQJbFpCok?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>While Henderson and her colleagues are waiting on the results of their eDNA analysis, they are excited about their possible discovery. Henderson said the team is currently working on a paper to describe the species' acoustics and the morphological characteristics, which they hope to release shortly.</p><p>"I just think it's amazing that in this day and age, when we feel like we know everything, that something as large as a new species of beaked whale is potentially still out there," she said. "I think that just goes to show that we don't know as much as we think we do, and there is still so much more to be explored."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/whale-of-a-find-scientists-spot-beaked-whale-believed-to-be-a-new-species/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Two Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Calves Are Spotted Off U.S. Coast
09 December 2020
Animals
North Atlantic right whale Chiminea swims with her new calf off Cumberland Island in Georgia on Dec. 4, 2020. Clearwater Marine Aquarium / NOAA Fisheries Southeast
Like most of us, North Atlantic right whales have not had a very good 2020. First, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report found that there were no more than 366 of the critically endangered species left. Then, the first known baby born this calving season washed up dead on a North Carolina beach. But things are finally starting to look up.
<p>Two live right whale calves were spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida within the last week.</p><p>"Uplifting news for this fragile species especially during the first week of December," Melanie White, a <a href="https://www.cmaquarium.org/" target="_blank">Clearwater Marine Aquarium</a> research biologist and North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Project Manager, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/07/north-atlantic-right-whale-endangered-species-newborns/6484190002/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a>.</p><p>An aerial survey team from <a href="https://mission.cmaquarium.org/research-institute/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute</a> (CMARI) spotted the first calf Dec. 4 off of Cumberland Island in Georgia.</p><p>"During our third survey of the season, CMARI aerial observer Marcy Lee sighted a whale. She knew in that moment it was a North Atlantic right whale calf. The first large whale of the season and it was a calf! Soon enough the team knew the mother would surface for a breath of air and the calving season would have the first live mother-calf right whale pair," White told <a href="https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/12/08/first-right-whale-calves-of-season-spotted-off-florida-and-georgia-coasts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click Orlando</a>.</p><p>The new calf was born to a first-time mom named Chiminea, who is 13 years old, NOAA Fisheries Southeast <a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/status/1336046825388843008" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>.</p>
<div id="a94bd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="99ce4194528974b5b796b419733a21d7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1336046825388843008" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We have a first time mom! The first live right whale calf of the season was spotted by biologists with @CMAquarium … https://t.co/riHW3XqZtN</div> — NOAA Fish Southeast (@NOAA Fish Southeast)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/statuses/1336046825388843008">1607373360.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The second calf was spotted Monday off of Florida's Vilano Beach by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), <a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/status/1336048021696606211" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to NOAA</a>. This is the second calf for a 16-year-old mother named Millipede. The new calf was seen swimming with a pod of bottlenose dolphins.</p>
<div id="9900e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ed25edf946ea7dc6a9832ae46fa7b37"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1336048021696606211" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Great news! Yesterday, the second live right whale calf of the season was spotted (swimming with a pod of bottlenos… https://t.co/hjQzK7Ntrb</div> — NOAA Fish Southeast (@NOAA Fish Southeast)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAFish_SERO/statuses/1336048021696606211">1607373645.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>While the births are a bit of good news for the species, they do not mean that North Atlantic right whales are out of danger. FWC warned that calving season is an especially vulnerable time for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales" target="_self">whales</a>.</p><p>"Every winter, many right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding grounds off Canada and New England to the warm coastal waters off the southern United States," the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute wrote on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FWCResearch/posts/4355187344497298" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. "These waters are where right whales give birth and nurse their young. This is a vulnerable phase, making it extremely important for boaters to be aware of the whales' presence and tendency to rest near the surface of the water. #GiveThemSpace."</p><p>North Atlantic right whales have long faced danger from human activities. The very name "right whale" comes from the fact that they were the "right" whales to hunt, because they swim slowly and close to the shore and do not sink when they die, USA TODAY explained. They were hunted nearly to extinction, but began to make a comeback after whaling was banned. Today, that comeback has reversed.</p><p>"Recovery had been slow and steady until 2010 when we started to see a decline. Most recent population models show that the numbers are declining again for various reasons including a slow reproduction rate, threats from entanglement in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fishing" target="_self">fishing</a> gear, collisions with large vessels, and possibly other factors not yet identified" CMARI Executive Director Dr. James Powell told Click Orlando.</p>
<p>Last year, the species gave birth to 10 calves, USA TODAY reported. This was three more from the previous year, but scientists say the species needs to average 20 calves a year to survive.</p><p>To give the species a chance at survival, more than 55 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> groups sent a <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/North_Atlantic_right_whale/pdfs/Emergency-funding-for-NA-right-whales_letter.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to Congress Dec. 3 urging lawmakers to free up $100 million in emergency funding for their protection, including the development of ropeless fishing gear.</p><p>"The right whale is one of the most endangered species on the planet, and the population has now reached crisis status," the letter read. "These iconic whales desperately need additional recovery funding to prevent them from becoming extinct."</p>
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Endangered African forest elephants are seen in the Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve in the Central African Republic.
USO / Getty Images
USO / Getty Images
By Rocky Kistner
Despite their massive size, African forest elephants remains an elusive species, poorly studied because of their habitat in the dense tropical forests of West Africa and the Congo.
<p>But the more we learn about them, the more we know that forest elephants are in trouble. Like their slightly larger and better-known cousins, the bush or savannah elephants (<em>Loxodonta africana</em>), forest elephants (<em>L. cyclotis</em>) face rampant poaching for their majestic ivory tusks and the growing bush meat trade. <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/gabons-forest-elephant-population-plunges-80-percent-in-a-decade/" target="_blank">More than 80%</a> of the population has been killed off in central Africa since 2002.</p><p>Today fewer than 100,000 forest elephants occupy their dwindling habitat. Conservationists worry they could soon head toward extinction if nothing is done.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg5ODAzNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzIzNDU5OX0.OnyGQNeL6FOEv21ak82PVLYHdYwMYVnxHGwEGlsckL0/img.jpg?width=980" id="54eb6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e96323c67af3238b0afdd5194180bb4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2048" data-height="1365" />
Richard Ruggiero / USFWS
<p>And now a new threat has emerged: A study published this September found that <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/23/science.abc7791" target="_blank">climate change</a> has resulted in an 81% decline in fruit production in one forest elephant habitat in Gabon. That's caused the elephants there to experience an 11% decline in body condition since 2008.</p><p>But other research, also published in September, suggests a possible solution to both these crises.</p><h1>Elephants and Carbon</h1><p>It all boils down to carbon dioxide.</p><p>Forest elephants play a huge role in supporting the carbon sequestration power of their tropical habitats. Hungry pachyderms act as <a href="https://bassconnections.duke.edu/project-teams/mega-gardeners-tropical-forests-modeling-seed-dispersal-forest-elephants-2018-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mega-gardeners</a> as they roam across the landscape searching for bits of leaves, tree bark and fruit; stomping on small trees and bushes; and spreading seeds in their dung. This promotes the growth of larger carbon-absorbing trees, allowing forests to sequester more carbon from the air.</p><p>A July 2019 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0395-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> by ecologist Fabio Berzaghi, a researcher at the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences in France, estimated that if forest elephants disappeared African forests would lose 7% of their biomass — a stunning 3 billion-ton loss of carbon.</p><p>And they're not unique in this oversized role, although the closest equivalent lives in an entirely different type of habitat.</p><p>Last year a team of researchers led by Ralph Chami, an economist and assistant director at the International Monetary Fund, published a <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/natures-solution-to-climate-change-chami.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">groundbreaking report</a> on the monetary value of great whales, the 13 large species that include blue and humpback whales. The study accounted for whales' enormous carbon-capturing functions, from fertilizing oxygen-producing phytoplankton to storing enormous amounts of carbon in their bodies when they <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/26/927955797/after-a-whale-dies-what-happens" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">die and sink to the seafloor</a>. After also including tourism values, Chami's study estimated each whale was worth $2 million, amounting to a staggering $1 trillion for the entire global population of whales.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg5ODE3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzY4MTIwOH0.jAXmEdaSTS-J3bj1Az6npMY30p31ey9CPPhU9TbSMqY/img.jpg?width=980" id="3454c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="268c9364ebabdf3da78903d065299383" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2048" data-height="1365" />
Kaitlin Thoreson / National Park Service
<p>"It's a win-win for everyone," Chami says of his economic models, which place a monetary value on the "natural capital" of wildlife, including the carbon sequestration activities of whales and elephants. "By allowing nature to regenerate, [elephants and whales] are far more valuable to us than if we extract them. If nature thrives, you thrive."</p><p>Soon after the publication of Chami's whale study, Berzaghi called and asked if the economist could run the numbers on forest elephants too. Chami agreed, and this September they <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3686168" target="_blank">published the results</a>. The elephants, they calculated, are worth about $1.75 million each due to their forest carbon sequestration value alone.</p><p>Even more importantly, they found that if forest elephants were allowed to rebound to their former populations, their carbon-capturing value would jump to more than <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/09/how-african-elephants-fight-climate-change-ralph-chami.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$150 billion</a>.</p><p>And as climate change worsens, Chami says forest elephants will become even more valuable in terms of their carbon sequestration role — and as individuals. "The loss of their habitats has the impact of causing them more stress and to have fewer babies," he says.</p><h1>Turning Numbers Into Action</h1><p>Despite these stunning, if theoretical, numbers, the researchers knew they needed a financial plan that could be implemented and sustained in the real world.</p><p>That starts with keeping elephants alive.</p><p>Poachers receive pennies on the dollar for elephant tusks that, once they finally reach consumers, can fetch prices of up to <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/09/how-african-elephants-fight-climate-change-ralph-chami.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$40,000</a> on the illegal ivory market.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg5ODE5Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2Nzk1NTQ4MH0.ax9AMSlFDlDCK-N4OJ0tvVmeCotvfG07JVUZ0L2JoME/img.jpg?width=980" id="24525" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed53cc1035e64fd20e63bcf62d67be61" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" />
Gavin Shire / USFWS
<p>Chami says that pales in comparison to the $1.75 million an elephant could be worth for its carbon sequestration services, an amount that works out to roughly $80 a day over an elephant's 60-year average lifetime.</p><p>But how do you deliver that value to the people who live near elephants, including people who perhaps currently poach the animals? Chami turned to worldwide carbon markets, which encourage countries or companies to offset their greenhouse gases by investing in restorative measures in other parts of the world.</p><p>To activate that proposed value, Chami brought together a group of conservation, business technology and economic experts to develop a pilot project that could promote the protection of forest elephants in Africa. Together, they aim to create a legal framework and a secure financial distribution system that would use of carbon markets to pay local communities to protect forest elephants. Individual elephants would be tracked using satellite technology to ensure their safety. As long as the elephants remain alive, communities could receive regular payments from a carbon market funded by corporations, individuals and governments to offset their pollution. Elephants could become "living assets" for countries that protect them.</p><p>Those assets could add up. Chami says the population of 1,500 elephants in Gabon's Loango National Forest would provide $2.4 million in annual revenue.</p><p>"We need to build a market around living elephants," Chami says. "The poachers can become the caretakers."</p><p>That's an exciting concept to wildlife experts, who have already had some success empowering communities through tourism. But for elephants that live in remote areas of African forests, tourism is less of an option. A market that places a value on elephants for their global carbon sequestration and climate contributions opens a new opportunity for support.</p><p>"It potentially changes how people think of the value of elephants," said <a href="https://www.cms.int/en/page/ian-redmond" target="_blank">Ian Redmond</a>, a renowned African conservationist who's working with Chami and others to fund forest elephant protection efforts.</p><p>Redmond says he's thrilled about this new plan because it incentivizes locals to protect their natural resources, not exploit them.</p><p>"It's a gamechanger, not just for its ecological benefits, but for poverty reduction," he says. "It's a mechanism of change for people in the forest for people who before now only get money if they kill something. Now there's an economic incentive to protect the elephants and their carbon-rich habitat so everyone benefits, locally and globally."</p><p>The trick, the experts say, is getting money dispersed fairly and securely to local communities. Chami's team says the revolution in new secure financial networks such as blockchain, the building block of digital monetary systems like Bitcoin, can help establish a monetary system that can be more efficient and transparent than traditional banking systems. Africa's ahead of the curve when it comes to dealing in these <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/africas-quiet-cryptocurrency-revolution/a-55199637" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new digital monetary technologies</a>, which, though not perfect, can be a positive anti-corruption tool in the murky world of international carbon markets and debt swaps sometimes linked to <a href="https://www.clarmondial.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Transparency_International.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fraud and influence peddling.</a></p><p>Walid Al Saqqaf, a startup founder and technology expert who produces the weekly podcast <a href="https://insureblocks.com/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Insureblocks,</a> is working closely with Chami and conservationists like Redmond to tap into global carbon exchange markets and create a framework for local funding efforts. Al Saqqaf says the secure nature of <a href="https://insureblocks.com/ep-128-blockchain-supporting-natures-solution-to-climate-change-insights-from-the-imf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blockchain technology</a> can attract international governmental agencies as well as private sector banks and insurance companies who will increasingly want to offset carbon footprints by investing in carbon-sequestering natural resources. "We take a toxic asset such as carbon and transform it into carbon for social good," Al Saqqaf says.</p><p>The group is setting up technology, legal and science working groups to develop a cohesive plan that could go into effect next year, although the conservation team says it's too early to announce specifics of the pilot program. They say they are in early discussions with African governments hoping to protect their elephants as well as private enterprises interested in offsetting carbon emissions.</p>
<h1>A Ticking Clock, But Forward Motion</h1><p>Meanwhile the threats from both climate change and poaching continue. A study published this June found that, despite efforts to reduce the ivory trade, <a href="https://africanelephantjournal.com/research-shows-rampant-poaching-of-african-elephants-is-not-declining/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elephant poaching rates</a> remain "near their peak and have changed little since 2011."</p><p>The rapidly growing risks of extinctions, fueled in part by climate change, have pushed the team to quickly get their ground-breaking plan up and running. "We are in a race against time," Al Saqqaf says.</p><p>While the work on elephants remains on the drawing board, Chami's earlier study on the economic value of whales has already started generating real-world action. A G20 working group <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344424788_CLIMATE_CHANGE_AND_ENVIRONMENT_POLICY_BRIEF_NATURE-BASED_SOLUTIONS_TO_CLIMATE_CHANGE_TOWARDS_A_BLUE_CARBON_ECONOMY_FUTURE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recommended this year</a> that member countries take whales into account for their climate mitigation and ecosystem values. In Chile a national initiative is using Chami's economic model to help design a project called the <a href="https://www.filantropiacortessolari.cl/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/6.-Sonia-Espa%C3%B1ol.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blue Boat Initiative</a>, a sophisticated satellite and sea-based plan supported by the Chilean government to protect whales from ship collisions.</p><p>"The valuation of ecosystem services is very relevant because it allows us to show the oceans are not only a raw material," says Patricia Morales, general manager of Fundacion Cortes Solari, a private foundation that supports the Blue Boat Initiative and other climate and environmental issues. "We need to move from the current paradigm to the blue economy."</p><p>Chami says the positive global response to their work is rewarding, but it's far from complete. His team — which plans to apply this methodology to other species — knows the dire state of the natural world, and the challenges of creating new international funding and conservation models are huge. But Chami and his colleagues say that by "translating science into dollars," researchers can build a powerful market-based mechanism that can reverse society's incentive to destroy the natural world.</p><p>"We need to learn to live in balance with nature," Chami says. "Our sustainability depends on protecting our ecosystems."</p>
<p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/kistner/" target="_blank"><em>Rocky Kistner </em></a><em>is an environmental journalist and a former broadcast television and radio reporter and producer. He writes for a variety of online publications and lives near DC, raising two daughters and a beagle named Wilma.</em></em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/climate-change-forest-elephants/" target="_blank">The Revelator.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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