Is offshore wind killing whales? The short answer is “no,” qualified by “not really…”
Category: Strandings
NOAA’s North Atlantic Right Whale ship-strike workshop
Last week I participated in a North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) Vessel Strike risk reduction workshop. This issue is really big, because the population of these iconic whales has been falling precipitously in the past few years due to…
Tragic Orca stranding in New Zealand
Two days ago a pod of nine orcas was found stranded on a rocky beach in southern New Zealand. Researchers are attempting to find out what may have caused the tragedy, but after being out of water for some time…
Oceans of noise
It was a bit over a decade ago that a catastrophic whale stranding event brought the public’s attention to the fact that noise in the ocean could be lethal to marine mammals. The particular stranding was a consequence of mid-frequency…
The US Navy really “goes for it” in training area plans
Given their candor in the recent past it is not too surprising that the US Navy their Atlantic Fleet Testing and Training (AFTT) plan will “inadvertently kill hundreds of whales and dolphins and injure thousands over the next five years.”…
Seismic Surveys and Whale Strandings
In the last couple of weeks evidence has come forth associating seismic airgun surveys with catastrophic strandings of marine mammals. The Falkland Islands are the site of two mass strandings of pilot whales, one in March 2011 of 400 whales,…
A little information about a deep subject
As this newsletter goes out the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) is taking public comments on “Geological and Geophysical activities” of the Atlantic coast of the US, from the tip of Delaware to mid-Florida. This area, along with…
Oil and Gas exploration implicated in dolphin strandings
Over 675 dolphins have been found dead along the Florida to Texas Gulf Coast since February 2010. Initially people suspected that the BP oil spill and dispersant use might be to blame. A report from NOAA corroborates this with a…
Noise impacts on fish and invertebrates workshop
I spent last week in San Diego attending a workshop sponsored by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on the impacts of human generated noise on marine fish and invertebrates. Having watched the field of ocean noise impacts roll…
Mass stranding in the Ionian Sea
Yesterday, November 30 there was a mass stranding of beaked whales Ziphius Cavirostris in the Ionian Sea. The first reports came in from Corfu with three animals washing up alive, although two died and the disposition of the third so…