news

December 22nd 2000 - Surviving stranded Pilot Whales helped to sea

A pod of 45 pilot whales was swimming out into open sea late Friday, giving hope to rescuers who spent a frantic day shepherding the whales away from a beach where 22 others had gotten stranded and died.

The surviving whales were swimming six miles from Maori Beach on Friday night, conservation officials said. They planned a dawn flight Saturday to check beaches and bays in case the survivors turn around during the night.

The saga on remote Stewart Island began Thursday, when dozens of conservationists and volunteers rushed to Maori Beach after two British walkers reported a mass stranding of whales.

The 22 carcasses of the dead whales on the beach, each of which weighed about a ton, would be left to rot away, Lind said. The remote location made it impossible to bury or otherwise dispose of the dead whales.

(Story by Associated Press)

December 21st 2000 - Pilot Whales strand in New Zealand

More than 40 Department of Conservation staff and volunteers are working to save a group of pilot whales on Stewart Island.

In the past 24 hours around 70 whales have been stranded on Maori Beach.
21 of the stranded whales have died.

DoC Area manager, Greg Lind says they have managed to chase the pod 8 kilometres out to sea but he believes they are heading back in.
He says his staff may have to shoot the whales because he says the mammals are too stressed to survive another stranding.

(For the full story go to New Zealand Herald )

December 19th 2000 - Japan found to be importing illegal whale meat

Some of the whale meat sold in Japan is from species for which hunting is banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), a survey released by a Japanese research institute on Monday showed.

In the survey carried out by the Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean Research, 3.3% of samples it tested of what is being sold as whale meat turned out to be from banned species, including fin and humpback whales, Kyodo news agency said.

The survey, conducted from November 1999 to February this year, tested whale meat sold in department stores and fish markets and found that 54.3% was from whales caught in Japan's research whaling program.

Japan says it sells meat from whales caught under the program to finance the costs.

(For the full story go to ENN )

December 17th 2000 - Northern Right Whale Calf spotted off Georgia

A newborn northern right whale spotted along the Georgia coast has given researchers hope that the world's rarest large whale species will have a productive year and perhaps stave off extinction.

The newborn was spotted just a week into the species' birthing season, which is usually December to March. Only one newborn was spotted all last season, compared with seven or eight in a typical season.

"It's definitely a good sign, probably a better sign than we've had in a number of years," said Barb Zoodsma, a whale researcher with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. "This may be the earliest date that a calf has ever been spotted."

The massive black whales - measuring up to 56 feet and weighing up to 70 tons - were hunted in the Atlantic Ocean to the brink of extinction until 1949. Scientists think their numbers have dwindled to about 300.

( For the full stoy go to Sunspot.net )

December 17th 2000 - Dolphin Murder Inquiry fails to find a culprit

Police were called in to investigate the deaths in June this year after a five-month inquiry into the mysterious deaths of Mila, Rajah and Echo at Underwater World at beachside Hillarys found the dolphins died of heart attacks induced by a poison.

The dolphins died suddenly between December 27 and 31 last year, causing great distress to keepers who had cared for them in their semi-ocean environment for seven years.

Keepers were upset but not unduly surprised Mila had died, because of her age.
However, when 28-year-old Rajah and then 11-year-old Echo died within three days of Mila, staff became alarmed. Tests revealed that the dolphins died of heart attacks induced by poison

( For the full story go to Ninemsn )

December 15th 2000 - Dolphin found stabbed through the heart

A Dolphin found dead and floating off the metropolitan coast was stabbed through the heart, an autopsy revealed yesterday.

The killing was "a totally unacceptable and senseless act", National Parks and Wildlife SA spokesman Frank Dal Piva said.

"Every effort will be made to find the perpetrator," he said.

Dr Mike Bossley, of the Adelaide-based Australian Dolphin Research Foundation, said it was difficult to imagine who would hurt a dolphin.

"It's a pretty sad event," he said. "Dolphins are utterly harmles, they wouldn't hurt anybody and don't deserve to be knifed in the heart."

Fishermen found the carcass of the bottlenose dolphin on Monday about 500m offshore at Hallett Cove. An autopsy of the male dolphin, which weighed 170kg and was 2.28m in length, was conducted yesterday.

It found that a stab wound pierced the dolphin's heart.

( For the full story go to The Advertiser )

December 11th 2000 - Corky - 31 years in captivity

The 11th December marked the 31st anniversary of Corky's imprisonment.

Corky is a female orca who was captured from her native waters in British Columbia in December 1969 when she was about five years old. She has been held in captivity for longer than any other captive orca. She is estimated to be around 36 years old, making her the second oldest orca in captivity after Lolita at Miami Seaquarium, who is estimated to be around 38 years old.

(For the full story go to WDCS )

December 8th 2000 - Three dolphins dead at the Theatre of the Sea

Three dolphins have died at the Theatre of the Sea marine park, in Islamorada, Florida, USA. The three, "Genie", reportedly aged 30, "Buttons", 20 and "Shiloh", 10 are said to have died from virus or bacteria-related infections but the exact causes of deaths are unknown. Shiloh was reportedly suffering from a chronic infection for four years.

The park holds nine other dolphins.

(For the full story go to WDCS)

December 7th 2000 - Taima's calf doing well

Tipping the scales at 700 lbs., one-month-old Baby Shamu (yet to be named) is doing swimmingly well. Born a day after Election Day (November 8, 2000), the seven-foot-long male calf has doubled his weight since birth. This is the second calf born to Taima, a 17-foot-long, 5,400-pound killer whale. Guests can often spot mother and calf at 'Shamu: Close Up!', a state-of-the-art habitat allowing a face-to-face, underwater look at killer whales.

(For the Full story go to SeaWorld )

December 6th 2000 - New Dolphin Calf at Moreton Island receives a name

The dolphin naming competition has concluded: The highest number of nominations received was for the name "Tangles" - so that's it, the people have spoken!

The Calf is still doing well - except for a little jealous behaviour from Echo (a young male from the pod).. Echo has given the calf a few new rake marks already...(scratches on the calf's head using his teeth). It makes us suspect that it is a male - but we still won't know for a long time yet. Chance of survival is now more like 70%. It loves to beach itself and stick it's head and tail in the air.

The Calf was born on the evening of 20th September to Tinkerbell.
This is Tinkerbell's first born, as she has only just reached sexual maturity (10 years old).Tinkerbell was born in the very early days of the program in 1990. She was the second known calf to Beauty.

(For the Full Story go to Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort: Dolphin Web )

November 17th 2000 - Oil Spill in Hong Kong threatens rare Pink Dolphins

Oil from a stricken Chinese tanker which sank in the mouth of the Pearl River on Tuesday, has now seeped into the waters of the Sha Chau Marine Park, Hong Kong. The spillage, caused when the tanker collided with a Norwegian cargo vessel, is now threatening endangered Chinese "pink dolphins" also known as Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins (Sousa chinensis).

Marine conservation officials have said that, so far, no dolphins have been found dead at Sha Chau following the spillage, but the long-term effect on the area would be closely monitored. Dolphin experts will visit the area in the next few days to access the extent of the spillage.

( For the full story go to WDCS )

November 16th 2000 - Dolphin calf recovering after its mother died

A dolphin calf was in "guarded but stable" condition and eating and swimming on its own a week after its mother died during an attempt to move the animals from a river to the ocean, according to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
While the animal's health was improving, it was too soon to say if it would ever recover completely or could be released back into the wild.

"She's eating on her own, but she's not out of the woods yet," said Dawn Jennings, an aquarium spokeswoman.

The young female bottlenose dolphin, designated NAIB 0008TT, was still under 24-hour watch, said David Schofield, the aquarium's marine animal rescue program coordinator.

The dolphin calf was captured with her mother on Nov. 8 in the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey. When the mother died during the transfer attempt, the calf was taken to the aquarium for rehabilitation.

It will be at least three weeks before it is decided if the young dolphin dolphin can be released..

( For the full story go to Planet Ark )

November 10th 2000 - Japan registers DNA from hunted whales

Japan Fisheries Agency is proceeding with plans to register the DNA of whales caught by Japan in an effort to crack down on poaching and illegal marketing of the meat.
The agency said it plans to make the registry obligatory in the future

Whale meat currently available in Japan is supposed to only be from minke whales caught under the nation's controversial "research whaling" program and from coastal varieties such as short-finned pilot and Baird's beaked whales.

( For the full story got to Japan Times Online )

November 9th 2000 - 13th Killer Whale born at SeaWorld

Taima (pronounced as Ty-e-ma), an 11-year-old killer whale, gave birth to a calf yesterday at 3:47 p.m. in SeaWorld Orlando's multimillion-gallon research and breeding facility, Shamu Stadium. Overnight, the baby began nursing. SeaWorld animal care specialists are cautiously optimistic about the progress of the baby and her mother. The sex of the calf is yet to be determined.

Taima gave birth to the calf (estimated to measure 7 feet long and weigh 350 pounds) in Shamu Stadium's main pool following a four-hour labor. Moments later, the baby killer whale instinctively swam to the surface of the water for its first breath of air.

This is Taima's second calf. Her first, Sumar, was separated from his mother at an early age due to aggression between the two.

( For the full story go to SeaWorld )

November 9th 2000 - New report reveals cruelty in Mexican Oceanariums

Mexico has one of the fastest growing marine mammal captivity industries in the world. A unique report released today reveals an unregulated trade in bottlenose dolphins, cruelly captured from the wild to suffer short lives in unnatural and unhealthy captive environments, trained to perform and interact with tourists using severe methods such as starvation.

The report calls for urgent action to be taken by the Mexican government to stem the tide of dolphin captures and enforce legislation to regulate the almost uncontrolled trade in captive marine mammals for commercial gain.

( For the full story go to WDCS )

November 5th 2000 - Australian Misnister informs oil project will not harm whales

Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill has rejected claims that oil and gas exploration soon to begin in the Great Australian Bight will pose a major threat to whales.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, says intensive seismic exploration in areas including the Great Australian Bight Marine Park will play havoc with whales' communication, and possibly kill them.

But Mr Hill says the concerns are unfounded.

( For the full story got to ABC News Online )

November 4th-5th 2000 - Dolphin Society holds 'Dolphins in the Harbour' Seminar in Sydney

"Dolphins in the Harbour!" is a call to put Sydney on Dolphin Alert!

"When humans have encounters with dolphins, even fleeting contact such as surfing the bow-wave of a ferry, the uplifting experience stays with you for life. More and more lucky people are enjoying it, right here in Sydney Harbour", says Dr Olivia de Bergerac, President of the Dolphin Society.

On the weekend of November 4-5, the Society hosts a "Dolphins in the Harbour!" conference at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour.

Participants will learn of the Society's pro-active program to facilitate the lasting return of dolphins in Sydney Harbour as a model of sustainable harbour management.

"This will be more a 'confluence', a flowing together, rather than a 'conference' in the usual sense" explains Peter Shenstone, Chairman of Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, the MC for the event. "Humans and dolphins have been interacting for thousands of years all around the world. Over the two days, we will weave together the extraordinary rich legacy of legends and stories, art and science that has consequently enriched our lives."

( For the full story, go to The Dolphin Society )





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