For Lois Capps and Others - A Sense of Whale-Being Is In Question
by Lynne Harkins
Congresswoman Joins Coastal Congressional Representatives in Seeking Answers
Concerned about the challenges facing the California Gray Whale, Representative Capps and her colleagues recently signed on to a letter which laid out their case regarding the status of the beloved gray whales. Many requests were made of the National Marine Fisheries Service in the letter and people are invited locally to come to Morro Rock at 10:00 a.m. on May 23rd to hear, among other things, whether Capps and her colleagues have received any response from National Marine Fisheries Service by that time.
Addressed to the Honorable Jane Lubchenco PhD, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of which the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a part, the April 16th letter was partially aimed at the need for conveying more informed recommendations to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee prior to its May 30th meeting. (Read the entire letter in PDF format.)
Owing to the fact that previous NMFS figures about the California Gray Whale population have been "based on desk top studies rather than actual counts as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act," the Congressional letter points out that the upcoming meeting of the International Whaling Commission will have serious information deficits about the California Gray Whale's " current status because there has not been an abundance estimate for eight years." Accordingly, these members of Congress, including Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee, Sam Farr, John Garamendi, along with Capps and twelve others, requested the following:
"Therefore, we respectfully request that the NMFS undertake the following:
• Ensure that the California Gray Whale abundance estimates are publicly available
within 6 months of the completion of the census;
• Release to the public California Gray Whale calf production figures since 2001;
• Clarify for the IWC Scientific Committee the different methodologies used in past
Stock Assessment Reports and Field Studies that have led to confusion about
actual California Gray Whale population numbers;
• Make recommendations to the IWC Scientific Committee concerning whether
new quotas should be postponed until newer abundance counts are made available
and the extent to which global climate change has impacted California Gray
Whale migration routes and feeding behavior; and
• Undertake research on global climate change's impact on California Gray Whale
primary feeding grounds and the impact of Orca predation on California Gray"
These whales, the most ancient of the baleen sub-order, are a subject of great fascination locally. They are often present off the Central Coast and because of the county's prominence as the place where, north of Cambria, the Piedras Blancas annual gray whale migration count takes place. People from around the county, the state, and internationally come to the Central Coast to enjoy walking along bluffs overlooking the Pacific and to have a chance to see the plumes of spray or splash of flukes which mark the whales' steady powering through the sea.
Of those people, some are not comforted by NOAA biologist Wayne Perryman's recent comments to the press about his seeing little reason for concern about these familiar cetacean coastal travelers, despite there having been reports of low birth numbers and underweight adults.
The California Gray Whale is the most ancient baleen whale on Planet Earth and the last surviving population of a species which once inhabited many of the world's oceans.
During the annual journey northward, gray whale mothers often swim relatively close to shore with their new calves, thrilling countless numbers of coastwatchers who have witnessed a mother's spout followed by a glimpse of her emerging, glistening back, then echoed by her calf's smaller versions of the same. It's a sight inspiring awe and delight for most who see it.
Perryman's job is to tally the mother and calf pairs as they pass the point at Piedras Blancas. He says this year's count is within a normal range. His remarks prompted a response from Sarah Christie, former planning commissioner, who detailed a more in-depth analysis and drew different conclusions in terms of what the data indicate about the possible state of the California Gray Whale.
Not convinced by any case being made for the U.S. to endorse proposed changes by IWC, Christie summarizes:
"Whales are among the most biologically complex creatures on earth, with communication abilities we haven't even begun to fully understand. They are sentient, self-aware beings with brain function rivaling our own. It is astonishing, inexplicable, and horrifying that the Obama administration would be complicit in a plan to lift the global moratorium on commercial whaling and allow them to be killed for profit."
The local May 23rd "Save the Whales- Again" demonstration, at which Supervisor Bruce Gibson is likely to present a resolution by the whole Board of Supervisors opposing quotas and commercial whaling resumption, is driven by support for whales and protest against any retrograde policy changes, masked as advances, by the International Whaling Commission. This includes, but is not limited to, the proposal for a fixed quota for the killing of 1400 gray whales over the next ten years as a result of aboriginal whaling claims.
If passed by the IWC, that provision could only be changed by an impossible to attain 75% majority vote, even if subsequent in-the-water science showed that the gray whale population was in distress. The central organizing force for this "demonstrations in all coastal counties" effort comes from Sara Wan and the Wan Conservancy at the state level. "This should be a statement from all of those who attend – a statement that says DO NOT KILL THE WHALES. It is our combined and simultaneous efforts throughout the coast that will matter," Wan wrote.
Locally, Mandy Davis and Andrew Christie of the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club--both of whom have worked as whale advocates through the Sea Shepherd Society--are spearheading the event. They will be speaking along with Supervisor Gibson, whale/ocean advocates Dean Bernal and Timothy Bottoms (an actor), watershed/ocean activist Noah Smuckler (a Morro Bay City Council member), and former Assembly member John Laird, who, during his time on the Santa Cruz City Council, led local governments in the fight against proposed offshore oil drilling and for the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Also adding to this gathering in defense of whales will be speakers Sarah Christie, of the Coastal Commission, and PJ Webb, who is active with both the Marine Mammal Center and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary.
For Sara Wan, the intention is that the simultaneous demonstrations and all the signed petitions will send a compelling, insistent message to the White House--the kind that changes minds when it's delivered in great numbers:
Mr. President,
Keep your promise and oppose the resumption of commercial whaling.
Help us save whales from the cruel fate of whaling and possible extinction.
Conservation and science, not quotas.
On April 24th, for Earth Day, at the Santa Lucia SC chapter's table, ninety people took the time to sign pre-printed postcards bearing the above message and to add their own unique, colorful whale-friendly images and entreaties on the front of the cards.
The Los Osos family of Gareth and Anna McCain, with their two children, was eloquent and enthusiastic in their messaging. Gareth wrote his multi-colored message, "LEAVE THE WHALES ALONE . . . they are bigger and smarter than us."
Anna, aided with coloring by son Rowan, wrote, "WHALES ARE FOR HUGGING, NOT HUNTING."
Cambrian Priscilla Mikesell put it simply and wrote, "Save Our Whale Sisters & Brothers."
Craig Wilson, who manages The Growing Grounds Farm and Nursery, wrote postcards for each of his daughters, affirming hopes that they will grow up in a world with whales.
Melody DeWitt, Sierra Club chapter chair, was confident that the cards could not be ignored and that they would draw further and favorable attention to the urgent pleas from the legions of whale devotees.
Other organizations, most notably the California Gray Whale Coalition, are also focusing on getting attention to gray whales with a series of alerts and updates, directing calls and emails to the White House and NOAA. More generally, regarding the overall US position vis a vis the proposed changes by the IWC, other actions and petitions are circulating. An analysis of what's wrong with the IWC proposals is supported by 38 organizations and counting. As a result, there has been significant mainstream media coverage of various points of view about the future outlook for whales as the full IWC meeting, to take place in Morocco, lies on the horizon in a June. (Read analysis of the SG Report)
Cheryl McCormick, Executive Director of the American Cetacean Society, says there's a possibility that much of it may be "too little, too late." Earlier negotiations and maneuverings by whaling nations happened outside of the public eye and because the 12 member nations of the IWC Small Working Group (SWG) have a draft schedule amendment ready to go that claims to reduce whale deaths as it suspends the current ban on commercial whaling for a period of ten years.
While Monica Medina, Commissioner to the U.S. IWC Delegation has publicly stated that she believes the agreement warrants support because it will reduce the killing of whales, she counters that the supposed limits on the new allowable, commercial whaling create a false picture of what's ahead. She maintains that the quotas, although appearing to be scientifically based, maintain ambiguity and allow catch limits to be based on political, not scientific decisions.
Currently, the IWC Scientific Committee is not authorized to calculate catch limits for the Revised Management Procedure (RMP). Results from the RMP are "not available" until calculated. If the Scientific Committee may not calculate them, then results remain "unavailable" until some other body, such as the IWC Secretariat, chooses to do so. It remains at their discretion whether they do the calculations, what data they use, etc. The procedure is vague and not transparent.
As has been the case throughout the history of the IWC, self-monitoring and reporting by whale-hunting countries would be rife with opportunities for evasion, particularly by Japan, which has the worst track record of reporting integrity.
McCormick says further, "Legitimizing whaling by lifting the ban, which has been in place since 1986, is not something that the United States can scientifically justify supporting. It would be entirely contrary to US marine mammal conservation science, upon which policies have been based." McCormick, however, can foresee that an extremely aroused public, inundating The White House, NOAA, and Congress with an outcry in defense of whales could yet influence the outcome of the IWC meeting, if not immediately, then in the longer term. For a more in-depth look at the goings-on at IWC, few know more than Dr. Sidney Holt. His comments offer a startling perspective which has not been much covered. Dr. Holt does not think "impeachment" is too strong a response to those who are behind the proposed changes at the International Whaling Commission.
Other Critical Whale/Ocean Issues Surfacing
Among these other luminaries defending whales against the current IWC changes is Dr. Sylvia Earle PhD., marine botanist and deep ocean explorer, and supporter of the California Gray Whale Coalition. She is an impassioned, lifelong advocate for the ocean and all of its life forms. With her earlier book, Sea Change, and again with her current title, The World is Blue, Dr. Earle has illuminated for her many readers the beautiful, exquisite complexity of ocean ecosystems, along with the threats to their health. She has warned that what we are taking from the sea is unsustainable and that what we are putting into it is intolerable.
As if to bear witness to one of these truths, an emaciated young gray whale died off the shore at Arroyo Beach on the southwesternmost end of West Seattle in Washington state recently. The Gray Whale Coalition's Sue Arnold later emailed a report that a necropsy of the whale revealed that its stomach contained much undigested algae, but also towels, 20 plastic bags, duct tape, surgical gloves, pieces of plastic, sweat pants, and a golf ball. The report stated, " It did clearly indicate that the whale had been attempting to feed in industrial waters and therefore (was) exposed to debris and contaminants present on the bottom in these areas."
As alarming and sad as that report is, in Sylvia Earle's book, she relates an even more shocking example. "A whale, washed ashore in California in 2007, died of 'unknown causes' but had 181 kilograms(400 pounds) of plastic in its stomach."
Plastic, made of petrochemicals, is a particularly insidious and ever-present pollutant in the ocean.
Earle continues, "More troubling is the way that small pieces of plastic attract and concentrate toxins that are in the ocean--mercury, fire retardant, pesticides. . . Bioaccumulation of toxins occurs in the food chain anyway, with the levels of mercury or other pollutants intensifying each time a small fish is eaten by a larger one. This effect is magnified enormously when toxin-enhanced plastic is consumed." This presents more trouble for whales and all sea life-down to microbe level.
Earle, an advocate for a Zero Waste Initiative, describes a seaworthy craft being built and launched--a 60' catamaran made entirely out of recycled plastic bottles. It was named Plastiki, in honor of Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Kon-Tiki ocean raft expedition. His granddaughter was included as part the crew. Its mission is to raise global awareness about the devastating impacts of plastic pollution on all marine life and to call on the plastics industry to rectify the situation.
Similarly bent on bringing worldwide attention to the oceans' pollution and debris distress, and ahead of the Plastiki in her solo rowing to Australia, is an adventurous young woman who also set out from San Francisco. Her three-part journey is a truly astonishing feat in and of itself, but Roz Savage's commitment to encouraging everyone to do whatever it is they can on behalf of ocean life is just as remarkable.
Beyond what we're putting into the ocean, there's another extremely pressing concern for Dr. Earle. That is s the devastation caused by humankind's unrelenting taking or harvesting from the sea. It is outpacing sea life's ability to repopulate in many places and damaging habitats which need time to heal.
While land preservation is a visible and on-going focus in many communities, ocean protection lags far behind, with only a little more than 0.5 of a percent of the ocean having a truly protected status. With Sylvia Earle's and others' energetic and unremittin,g cooperative efforts, world-wide attention is being drawn to our ocean stewardship deficiencies. Fortunately, the California coast, especially the Cental Coast, has been in the process of modeling how it can be done differently.
The Marine Life Protection Act and the resultant science-based identification of optimum areas for protected status started in our part of the coast, going into effect in 2008. Cambria has two adjoining state marine conservation areas. It's a process and practice which offers guidance to all who recognize Sylvia Earle's central theme--indeed, the world is blue. . . and we must sustain it or face unimaginable consequences.
Issues related to this are and will be presenting themselves close to home and more discussion and coverage will ensue.
Meanwhile, whale advocates ask, that as you keep your eyes open for whales, recognize, too, that this year especially, every spout and fluke sighted is a call for help. You can answer the call at Morro Rock on May 23rd concerning the threat posed by whaling's assault at IWC.
For the more chronic problems, or death by a thousand cuts which face whales and all marine life, one can learn about expanding the Sanctuary or find out about state and non-profit ocean protection campaigns at OPC.ca.gov or Environmentnow.org.
It's the hope of many, and it is entirely possible, that Sara Wan's pronouncement, "It is our combined and simultaneous efforts throughout the coast that will matter, " is the precursor to waves of such involvement and actions in the near future, part of securing the colors blue and green as being emblematic of planet care.
Great Horned Owl image on banner by Cleve Nash |
