Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Originally published at TalkingFish.org

A pending decision on fishing for cod and other groundfish in New England has big implications for marine mammals including some of the most endangered animals in our waters, the North Atlantic right whale.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is weighing a proposal that would expand commercial fishing into some 5,000 sq. miles of protected waters inside what are known as “groundfish closed areas” along the New England coast. More than 100 scientists sent a letter warning NOAA that this is a bad move for fish. But that’s not all. Scientists and conservationists also raised red flags about the potential harm to right whales, humpback whales, and harbor porpoises if NOAA ends protection for the closed areas.

Right whale sightings are concentrated within many of the current closed areas. Opening them to commercial fishing could put whales at risk. (©TalkingFish.org)

Right whale sightings are concentrated within many of the current closed areas. Opening them to commercial fishing could put whales at risk. As this map shows, hundreds of right whale sightings have been documented in the closed areas.

“Opening these currently closed areas to fishing only increases the overall risk of entanglement for whales,” said Sierra Weaver, an attorney formerly with the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

Defenders joined the New England Aquarium, the Humane Society of the U.S. and other groups in a letter to NOAA. The letter explains that fishing vessels are already accidentally killing too many of the area’s two most endangered species of large whale, the right and humpback whales. And allowing commercial fishing in areas that have been safe harbor for these animals will only make matters worse.

“With only about 400 North Atlantic right whales left, every loss is a blow to this critically endangered population,” Weaver added.

The groundfish closed areas have been an important part of plans required by the federal arine Mammal Protection Act to minimize whale deaths due to fishing. The groups make clear in their letter that allowing commercial fishing in an area the size of Connecticut would change all the underlying assumptions in the plan regarding risk and rates of whale mortality. There is little indication that NOAA or the New England Fishery Management Council has sufficiently considered this.

A right whale calf swims under the chin of its mother. Researchers sighted the pair 13 miles off Amelia Island, FL on December 28, 2012.

Others wrote to remind officials about how important whales are to the coastal economy. Maine naturalist Zack Klyver said the company he works for, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co., takes 50-60,000 passengers to see whales each year.

“These visitors have an exponential effect on the New England economy as they stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, and pay for gas,” Klyver wrote in his letter. Maine’s tourism industry generated nearly $10 billion last year—more than the state’s fisheries, forestry and agriculture combined, Klyver wrote. And he included this tidbit: the Maine office of Tourism found that “whales” is among the top words people use to search the office’s website.

Many of the letters and comments to NOAA noted how little thought seems to have been given to the broad ranging effects of the decision on the closed areas, and how rushed the decision process seemed. One letter cited the old adage “haste makes waste.” In this case, a hasty decision could end up wasting the lives of animals we cannot afford to lose.

Isolated from other beluga populations, Cook Inlet beluga whales are particularly vulnerable to population loss.

January brought some disappointing news for Cook Inlet belugas when scientists from NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center announced the 2011 estimate for the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population. The estimate numbered only 284 animals, almost 20 percent lower than last year’s estimate of 340 whales. The number is the second-lowest since NOAA’s surveys began in 1993; the lowest was in 2005, when the estimate was 278 whales.

Cook Inlet belugas represent one of Alaska’s five beluga populations. Separated from the others by the Alaska Peninsula, the geographic barrier makes the Cook Inlet belugas genetically distinct from the state’s other beluga whales, and therefore particularly vulnerable to population loss. The whale was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2008,  and last April, the Obama administration designated critical habitat for the species. But despite these protections, the Cook Inlet population has failed to recover, and a 20 percent loss of the population could be a devastating blow.

The low numbers are alarming. And since these whales live in one of the most populated–and fastest growing–regions in Alaska, survival won’t get any easier.

Scientists aren’t convinced the low estimate is entirely accurate. The count is taken from a small airplane that flies above the inlet, with live sightings compared to video footage taken at the same time. Different sighting or survey conditions, weather, or changes in beluga behavior or distribution from year to year can affect the survey results.

Defenders' Karla Dutton serves on the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Team

Still, the low numbers are alarming. And since these whales live in one of the most populated–and fastest growing–regions in Alaska, survival won’t get any easier. Defenders is committed to helping Cook Inlet beluga whales recover. We garnered record support for the whale’s endangered listing and critical habitat designation, and Alaska director Karla Dutton currently serves on the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Team for the National Marine Fisheries Service, working on a recovery plan for this unique “canary of the sea.”

You can help Cook Inlet beluga whales too! Click here for more information on how to become a trained citizen scientist for the Anchorage Coastal Beluga Survey.

The extremes just keep coming in the weather world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released precipitation figures for March to May 2011 at the county and state level. What does the information mean? Well, each number on that state map shows where the state’s precipitation this spring fell in relation to the past 117 years of data: 1 means record driest, 117 means record wettest. With 117 years of data, you wouldn’t expect very many states to set a record in a single year, would you? Well this year, ten states did: Texas had its driest year on record, and nine states had their wettest. Three other states had their second-wettest spring ever, and New Mexico had its third-driest spring. Jeff Masters at Weather Underground summed it up nicely, “There’s never been a spring this extreme for combined wet and dry extremes in the U.S. since record keeping began over a century ago.”

And it’s not just here. Britain’s Guardian reports this week that Scotland just finished a record wet may, while parts of England have had spring rainfall totals more at home in the Sahara, amidst a heat wave and drought that extends over much of western Europe. China also experienced a 100-year drought this year, whereas Australia is still recovering from record floods. While La Niña is probably partly to blame, this year’s events are also consistent with the conditions researchers project are coming with climate change.

“There’s never been a spring this extreme for combined wet and dry extremes in the U.S. since record keeping began over a century ago.”

How are policymakers responding to this? Unfortunately, by going to some extremes of their own. Not content to simply avoid addressing the root causes of climate change pollution, some in Congress are now trying to prevent the government from even preparing for and responding to the impacts of climate change.  Earlier this month, the House of Representatives voted to strip funding for climate change preparation from the Department of Homeland Security – that’s the department that includes FEMA, our main federal responders to climate-related disasters, and the Coast Guard. And just last week, they did the same thing to the USDA. You read that right — the Department of Agriculture. Because unprecedented fires, floods, tornadoes, droughts and extreme temperatures couldn’t possibly have any effect on our food supply, could they?

These weather extremes should be treated as the serious and threatening events they are, and should also serve as a warning of what is to come. Our government should be taking steps to prepare us for an uncertain future, instead of pretending it’s all blue skies ahead.

Learn more:

See how Defenders is working to protect wildlife and natural places from the harmful effects of climate change.

Read more about how moves by Congress to eliminate climate change-preparation measures threatens our nation’s security.

The Gordon Gunter

I glance out the porthole and see the pier disappearing rapidly. We are underway. Just over one year since the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster began, I am headed back out into the deep Gulf of Mexico, this time on NOAA research vessel the Gordon Gunter. We have been studying seabirds and the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for 10 months now. Eight of us have traveled tens of thousands of kilometers crisscrossing the ocean looking for clues, evidence of harm to seabirds.

This was to have been an eleven-day trek, the third leg of a long, two-month project that NOAA devotes to studying larval bluefin tuna and other fish plankton. But we have been delayed a day for mechanical reasons. Fortunately, being stuck an extra day in the port of Key West, Florida, seems to not bother anyone very much. We are moored at the western end of town, near the Navy Annex and the beaches of Ft. Zachary State Park. Some of the scientists use the extra time to make an excursion over to the Dry Tortugas for snorkeling. I took a pass, staying behind to back-up and transfer data from our first two research legs.

Least tern, courtesy Mark Pavelka, USFWS

As we steam southward through the shipping channel, the wind and waves pick up. Here the water is a brilliant turquoise-white. Tiny least terns flit and dive for unseen fish, and a few magnificent frigatebirds soar lazily far overhead. We left mid-afternoon, so a quick mental calculation tells me that I ought to have at least 4 hours of time before sunset to run transects and count seabirds. I take up position on the port-side wing-bridge, just outside the pilot house. Although some of us like to go as high as possible on the ship for the view, and there is a shaded flying bridge one level up on the Gunter, I like being nearer to the water — it helps me pick out birds on the distant horizon.

Ahead the turquoise water abruptly ends. On the other side lies water with a more violet hue. Several terns work back-and-forth along this boundary, looking for prey. Two roseate terns head to our stern, the first of this species I’ve seen during the entire survey.

Heading almost due west, the glare intensifies as the day wanes. I turn to my left, the sun backlighting the ocean in front of me. The ocean here is alive. Frightened by the ship’s passing, huge elliptical schools of very small flyingfish leap out of the water in unison, glide on the brisk wind, and fall back into the sea. In the air, the sun turns them silvery-blue, sparkling. A giant hammerhead shark surfs one of the waves next to the ship.

Sooty tern in flight

Then I see an alternating flash of dark-and-white dart pass the bow. This is an Audubon’s shearwater, its flight pattern arcing low over the waves. This seabird has a long body and relatively short, narrow wings. The wind gives it a boost from what is normally a labored flight, and the backlighting helps me pick out first one and then more as they all tack the wind heading south. A little later, I see a milling flock of sooty terns, wheeling in circles high over some distance school of fish. A jaeger tries to harass a tern, and nab its catch, but the tern is a better climber, and the jaeger eventually tires and glides back down to the surface.

Almost no clouds in the western sky impede our view as the sun drops into the far horizon. I finally stop at sunset, completing 27 transects and tallying scores of birds. A successful afternoon – it is good to be back in the Gulf.

Learn more:

Stay tuned for more from Chris on his journey back into Gulf waters.

One year later, Defenders continues to fight for wildlife in the Gulf. Click here to learn more about what we’re doing and see what YOU can do to help!

It seems like every winter we see the same thing – political cartoons with characters shivering in the cold, praying for global warming, a rise in the taunts from climate skeptics that global warming is a hoax.  This year is no different, especially with Europe’s Christmas-time Arctic blast that gave England its coldest December in over 100 years.

The reality is, however, that global warming can in fact make our winters colder.  That Arctic chill you complain about as you raise your scarf higher around your neck – it may indeed be a blast of cold air from the high Arctic.

Arctic sea ice has been shrinking, putting polar bears, walruses and other Arctic species in danger.  The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado recently reported that the sea ice extent for December was the lowest ever recorded since satellite measurements began.

“Thus we have a potential climate change paradox. Rather than a general warming everywhere, the loss of sea ice and a warmer Arctic can increase the impact of the Arctic on lower latitudes, bringing colder weather to southern locations.”

So what does the loss of sea ice and the plight of polar bears have to do with cold winters in the Lower 48 and Europe?  A lot, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Arctic Report Card for 2010.  The NOAA report shows that as sea ice takes longer to form in the fall due to warming, the Arctic atmosphere is exposed to the warming effects of open water.  At the same time, more heat from the sun is absorbed by the Arctic Ocean instead of being reflected off the sea ice and back into space.  This relative warming in the Arctic (it’s still cold up there!) creates a high pressure system that pushes cold Arctic air down to more southerly latitudes.

NOAA points out, “Thus we have a potential climate change paradox. Rather than a general warming everywhere, the loss of sea ice and a warmer Arctic can increase the impact of the Arctic on lower latitudes, bringing colder weather to southern locations.”

Climate modeler Vladamir Petroukhov of the Potsdam Climate Institute agrees.  He led a study that showed the loss of sea ice north of Scandanavia was correlated with colder winter weather in Europe.  As pointed out by Petoukhov, “Whoever thinks that the shrinking of some far away sea-ice won’t bother him could be wrong.”

Taking the Plunge!

Noah Matson is making like a polar bear  diving into Washington DC’s chilly Potomac River to raise awareness about climate change’s harmful impacts on Arctic animals like polar bears. Come see Noah and others this Saturday, January 22, at the National Harbor! Click here to learn more.

A right whale killed by a ship strike is lifted onto the beach.

After years of court battles and advocacy efforts by Defenders and its partners, the federal government proved it means business when it comes to protecting right whales. The government announced yesterday its first notices of violation and proposed fines against ships breaking the Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Rule.  Ship strikes are the leading cause of death for this population of only about 400 animals. This important rule was put in place in 2008 in order to avoid potentially deadly collisions, and requires ocean-going vessels of 65 feet or greater to slow to 10 knots or less in areas where highly endangered North Atlantic right whales are known to congregate.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) said that the proposed penalties range from $16,500 to $49,500 depending on the frequency of violations – dollar amounts that hopefully will cause more oceangoing vessels to realize that compliance with the law is good for both the whales and their own pocketbooks.

The timing couldn’t be better for this highly endangered animal.

November 15 marked the start of the species’ winter calving season, with right whale moms arriving in the waters off Georgia and Florida to give birth to the next generation of right whales!  Because right whale moms and calves tend to spend more time at the surface, they are especially vulnerable to vessel collisions in the busy waters of the Southeast.

Sierra Weaver

In a population so small, every animal counts, and enforcement of this crucial law helps give North Atlantic right whales a fighting chance for survival.

Learn more about right whales and what Defenders is doing to protect them and the places they call home.

Blog post by Sierra Weaver, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife who works to protect endangered right whales.