Saturday, November 13, 2010 Report from Taiji: November 13 (new video)

An entire family wiped out…another family escaped, this time

November 13, 2010
The molesters went out this morning, but did not have to go far. They quickly found a pod of dolphins and half their boats drove them into the Cove. The other half of the fleet sat out guarding another pod. That pod managed to elude them, so all of the molesters returned to port. They wasted no time and set about slaughtering the entire family. No one was spared, and 14 dolphins died in the Cove in Taiji, Japan on this day.

Even though the molesters go to great lengths to hide what they do, we again obtained photographs and video of them hauling dolphins onto the gutting barge and then up into the butcher house. But we also have even more disturbing video of what happens just before the dolphins are killed. I have not seen anything this cold and callous before. These men have no respect for the dolphins they kill. They have no culture or mercy. May they receive mercy in their despicable meaningless lives to match the mercy they show to these dolphins.

Dolphins herded to cove on the way to slaughter. Video credit: Big Gunns (3 minutes)

In this video, you will see dolphins bound by their tails, desperately trying to take a breath. That breath they struggle so hard for is one of their last. Imagine the terror. In this video, these dolphins are among the last to be dragged up onto the beach to be dispatched. This means that they have been watching and listening, as their family members have been so killed. Now it is happening to them. Near the end of the video you will see the molesters working to free a now dead dolphin from the nets. That dolphin attempted to flee, but drowned entangled in the nets.



The amount of shame and dishonor these men bring to the entire nation of Japan is beyond belief. How can this nation allow these men to continue to act this way? How long will the civilized world allow this to continue? Is trade so important that other nations are willing to turn a blind eye? What would President Obama say if he were to view this video?

In addition to Japanese companies, find out which companies support the dolphinariums. Contact those companies and let them know what they are supporting and how you feel about it. Let your conscience be your guide on whether or not you will buy from them.



If you are in Boston in early December, let these molesters know what you think about them. Get their photographs so the world can be shown the faces of those who drive the slaughter and imprisonment. The annual IMATA conference is in Boston this year.

Keep up the barrage on your own governments and the embassies and consulates of Japan the world over. Every time dolphins are pushed into the Cove, let them have it. Every time there is blood in the water, let them have it. Do not grow weary for you are being heard. Together we will see an end to the slaughter of whales and dolphins in Japan and by Japanese crews the world over.

It is unfortunate that the reputation of an entire nation is being tarnished by the evil and shameful deeds of a handful of men and women in Taiji. To join us (voluntarily, and completely at your own cost and risk) in Taiji, write to me at inform-us@seashepherd.org. I will get back to you, but please be patient. I cannot keep an eye on the Cove and answer email at the same time. Contributions to Sea Shepherd to keep our official presence here are needed and welcome. I am the current official Sea Shepherd representative and will be replaced by Michael Dalton when I leave on December 9, 2010.

For the Oceans,
Scott West
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Whales Forced to Shout as Oceans Get Noisier

Photo: m-louis / CC

As anybody who's ever gone to a dance club knows, it's not easy to have quality conversation in loud places -- but party-goers aren't the only ones who have learned to cope with the clamor. According to marine biologists studying whale mating calls, an increasingly noisy ocean is forcing the animals to shout their romantic melodies -- around 10 times louder than they did 50 years ago. Talk about a raucous orca-stra!

Researchers looking at how whales are dealing with rackety seas focused their attention on the waters around Britain. With undersea oil exploration, constant shipping traffic, and even noisy wind-farms, the UK's seas are among the world's loudest -- and it's forcing whales to change their tune. A similar study found the same thing is happening to whales closer to the U.S., too.

Perter Tyack, a biologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, explains to The Herald-Sun:

The rumbling noises emitting by ships and marine installations have similar frequencies to those used by whales. We found that whales are trying to adapt either by emitting much louder noised or by calling at a higher frequency. It's like they've turned from bass into a tenor.
These whale songs, capable of traveling hundreds of miles through the ocean, are thought to play an important role in finding a mate. As this exchange becomes more difficult due to louder oceans, it could spell trouble for whale breeding -- it's hard to meet a decent mate as it is, nowadays.

But it's not just the volume or pitch of the whale's communication that's being affected -- the messages themselves are becoming less elaborate and repeated more often -- "like a human forced to shout," says Tyack. "It also means they spend more energy on communicating."

And if all that wasn't concerning enough already, just imagine the embarrassment whales must feel when they learn that they've been calling their new partner by the wrong name, like, all night.

Wyland's "Dolphin Duet" by Dolphin Defender on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 10:19am

Wyland's "Dolphin Duet"
by Dolphin Defender on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 10:19am
Tonight we went to the Wyland gallery in La Jolla and had a great conversation with Wyland- this guy is truly amazing in all he does and is one of the greatest ocean lovers and marine conservationists of our time. It's my second time meeting him in person but the last time I met him 6 years ago I wasn't aware of what was going on in Taiji. He told me that dolphins will always be his favorite marine mammal, I couldn't disagree with him maybe it's why I started this page after all but also I'm for whales, turtles and seals and yes sharks are awesome too!

When the time was right I brought up the subject of Taiji and he was more than well aware of what was going on, he had an experience there a while back he won't soon forget and shared a short version of the below with us, I had to bite my lip so my eyes wouldn't fill with tears. I know it must have been so hard for him to not cut those nets, it's a big reason I haven't gone to Taiji- I'm not sure what I'd do or if I'd be able to just sit there and observe. This stuff really gets under my skin! He's a great artist and very knowledgeable. I hope too that his murals will also have an impact on the people of Japan, maybe in the future he will do one in The Farroe Islands as well and raise some love and awareness there too? I wanted to share this blog of his I found when I came home to research his past trip to Taiji some more and wanted to share with you.

10/03/2009
Wyland applauds efforts of filmmakers to expose Japanese dolphin slaughter

“In a remote, glistening cove in Taiji, Japan, surrounded by barbed wire and "Keep Out" signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of the town, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling and the consequences are so dangerous to human health that they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.”
— Film Synopsis of “The Cove,” winner of the 2009 Sundance Audience Award
Wyland responds:


“I recently had the opportunity to view “The Cove” and watched it with great admiration, knowing the risk involved in documenting the dolphin and whale slaughter. The film sheds light on one of the most devastating atrocities facing dolphin and whale conservation. A perfect storm is occurring today with pollution, overfishing, development to such a point that even the killing of one dolphin or whale can create an imbalance in the health of the oceans. Taiji’s dolphin drive is the worst possible scenario. At best this is unsustainable. At worst, this type of hunting threatens the very survival of these animals. The other issue that the film raises is the high level of toxins found in these animals. This alone should stop the killing of dolphins, not only in Japan, but throughout the world. No longer can a group or city continue to kill a species that is intelligent and important to the balance of nature. I commend the director and all who gave their effort to bring this issue to the public. I condemn, along with most of the world, the killing of great whales, dolphins, and other aquatic life. Yes, it was once Japan’s tradition to kill whales. America also killed whales. These traditions, however, are no longer in step with today’s world. It is time to stop the slaughter and rethink our relationship with these marine mammals. Taiji and other coastal cities could immediately change from whale killing to whale watching, create more jobs and revenue for the cities, not to mention the good will from its global neighbors. I call on Japan to end this slaughter and announce to the world that it joins the international community to end the dolphin hunt and commercial whaling for scientific or any other reason.
I should also give some background on my own personal experience in the region several decades ago. In 1987, I was invited by Mr. Ono, president of the Tokyo Bay Fishing Association, to paint one of my Whaling Walls on Tokyo Bay. Mr. Ono and a group of scientists explained that by painting one of my conservation murals featuring sperm whales, it would call needed attention to not only protection of whales, but conservation of Tokyo Bay.
The Japanese government was filling in part of the bay to accommodate the growing population of the city. This was having a negative impact on fish populations. I completed the mural featuring two life size sperm whales as part of an effort to raise about issues regarding Tokyo Bay and Japan’s continued hunting of whales. Afterwards, I was invited to the Whaling Town of Taiji to meet with city officials and discuss the possibility of painting a Whaling Wall in Taiji, “The City of Whales.” Having met with the mayor and other city officials, I had hoped to raise the issues of commercial whaling. I discussed the idea of Taiji transforming from a whale hunting city to a whale watching city. They were receptive, but non-commital. I agreed to return in the future and paint a life-size portrait of a right whale and calf on Taiji’s historic whaling museum. I felt that art could play an important role in teaching the people of Taiji, as it had in other communities, to appreciate the living whales. Through art and science, I had always hoped to inspire a change in the paradigm from whale killing to whale appreciation. I knew this was going to be a great challenge in Taiji and felt their resistance, but there was a strong support from the young people in the area who had experienced the thrill of whale watching excursions in Hawaii and other destinations. Slowly, the general public was becoming sensitized to the importance of these whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans to humanity.
I, too, had the opportunity to witness the drive of thirty-one pilot whales into “The Cove” back in 1988. At the time, I could not sleep after learning of a pod of more than thirty short finned pilot whales that had been herded into the cove for slaughter the next day. Determined to do something, I rounded up some friends in the area, including Kevin Short, a writer for the Japan Times, and at four a.m. we made our way down to the edge of the cove where I swam out for a final moment with these doomed whales. All the whales were surrounding a large male in a circle. The only thing I could think of was to try to untie the net that imprisoned them. Kevin dived in after me. After much arguing, he convinced me that my most effective contribution to the cause would be to continue to use my art to have a stronger impact on the people of Taiji and all the people of Japan.
I was not convinced at first. But the sun was coming up and the whaling boats were heading towards us. I decided to take Kevin’s advice and return one day to paint a public mural that would confront all the citizens of Taiji and all who visited it for years to come. To this day, I still feel guilty that I did not save those thirty-one whales. At the same time, I feel strongly that I have had a more important impact by returning to Taiji to complete the mural on the whaling museum and paint a total of four Whaling Walls in Japan.
On behalf of the wyland foundation and our conservation partners, we applaud the efforts of the filmmakers of the Cove and people everywhere working on the front lines to save our fragile marine life and the health of our entire environment.”

Dead Coral Found in Deepwater Near BP Oil Spill Well by Christine Lepisto, Berlin

Image: Lophelia II 2010, NOAA OER and BOEMRE

If BP was hoping that "out of sight, out of mind" would help memories of the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill disaster fade, news from an ongoing NOAA exploration of coral communities in the deep gulf sea floor could dash their hopes. The findings of a team led by Penn State Biologist Charles Fisher could also dash hopes that the large quantities of oil and chemicals released in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico left local flora and fauna largely unharmed. Fisher's team has found the first evidence of widespread coral death in the cold depths.

It may be difficult to conclusively link the dead coral to the oil spill, but Fisher is quoted in an AP report on the NOAA expedition: "There is an abundance of circumstantial data that suggests that what happened is related to the recent oil spill." The dead coral was found at 4600 feet deep and south of the BP well head, the direction in which most of the spilled oil is believed to have dissipated.

An example of dead coral photographed by underwater robots at the head of this article shows colorless coral coated in a brown gunk. When coral is threatened, it releases a mucus coating that collects stuff in the water around the coral. Perhaps scientists can analyze this brown goo to see if any "fingerprints" of the deepwater oil spill are found.

The photo also shows a starfish, with tentacles wrapped around the coral. The starfish are symbiotic with the coral, and are commonly seen intertwined like this. Normally, the starfish would be gently waving its arms in the dance of life. But the white color of the starfish tentacles are evidence that the starfish also has died.

The vast area potentially impacted by the oil spill and the slow progress which researchers can make investigating in such deep waters virtually ensures that the full extent of damage to the sea floor will never be known. But the NOAA Ocean Explorers have an added advantage. Their project started several years before the oil spill, so teams can revisit areas that have already been mapped to investigate changes in the post-spill environment.

Photographic Evidence Proves That Squid Can Fly by Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Photo: Bob and Deb Hulse

Once, while boating off the coast of Jamaica in 2001, marine biologist Silvia Maciá and her husband caught a glimpse of an oddly familiar creature leaping from the waves, soaring with ease over the surface of the ocean. As the animal propelled itself for some 30 feet, Maciá realized she was witnessing the most unusual sight -- a flying squid. So intrigued by what she saw that day, Maciá would go on to co-author a paper examining similar observations, though essential photographic evidence of the incredible phenomenon remained elusive. That is, until now.

Maciá's study, featured in a 2004 issue of the Journal of Molluscan Studies, found that the gliding behavior of her squid wasn't entirely uncommon, noting around six species known to leap from the water -- occasionally winding up on the decks of boats. But from she witnessed that day near Jamaica, squids weren't just exiting the water aimlessly. Rather, they appeared to be flying.

"From our observations it seemed like squid engaged in behaviors to prolong their flight," she said. "One of our co-authors saw them actually flapping their fins. Some people have seen them jetting water while in flight. We felt that 'flight' is more appropriate because it implies something active."

But unfortunately such eyewitness accounts were all that the scientific community had to go on. Soon, however, that would change.

According to Ferris Jabr, who wrote of the mystery surrounding flying squid in a piece for Scientific American, undeniable proof of the cephalopod's airborne antics surfaced just recently. From the deck of a cruise ship along the coast of Brazil, a retiree named Bob Hulse snapped some high-resolution photographs of something unusual leaping from the sea: what appears to be dozens of squid propelling themselves through the air -- quite possibly the first time the impressive display has been caught on film.

Days left to stop mass extinction

A third of all animals and plants on earth face extinction -- endangered blue whales, coral reefs, and a vast array of other species. The wave of human-driven extinction has reached a rate not seen since the fall of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

But there is a plan to save them -- a global agreement to create, fund and enforce protected areas covering 20% of our seas and lands by 2020. Right now, 193 governments are meeting in Japan to address this crisis. But without public pressure, they are likely to fall short of the bold action needed to avert the collapse of ecosystems the world over.

This summit ends on Friday, October 29 -- we have no time to lose. Let's rapidly build a global public outcry urging governments to save all life on earth from runaway decline. Sign the petition below and it will be delivered directly to the meeting:

More links :

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/the_end_of_whales/?fp

http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-surfers-call/463623690306


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