---research whales

THREATS, PROTECTION, RESEARCH

--- PROTECTION & RESEARCH: WHALES

How can whales be protected?

In order to prevent the further decline of whale populations and help these populations to recover, enforcement of whaling regulations is needed, as well as further research into the biology of these
creatures and education of the general public. The creation of protected areas is essential. This needs full international cooperation and the support of everybody.

Whaling regulations and enforcement

The 10-year whaling moratorium that the International Whaling Commission implemented in 1986 was an agreement among the IWC members and it had no legal status. On paper all the IWC members adopted the moratorium, but some continued to catch whales for "scientific purposes", which was allowed under the moratorium rules. In additions, small numbers of whales continued to be taken by the aboriginal people of Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia. The main shortcoming of the moratorium was that it was only supported by the IWC members. A number of countries that have whaling operations are not IWC members and are thus not bound by IWC rules and agreements. The actual catches of these so-called pirate whalers are unknown and can only be guessed. The moratorium officially expired in 1996 and has not been renewed. Norway has restarted its whaling for minke whales in 1996, right after the moratorium expired.

In 1975, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) came into force. CITES is an international agreement which regulates the trade in species, that are listed in 3 appendices to the convention. Commercial trade in Appendix I Species is prohibited. By 1983, several whale and dolphin species have been placed on Appendix I, including the humpback, blue, fin, sei, Bryde's, gray, bowhead, right and sperm whales, as well as the bottlenose whales (beaked whale species). All cetaceans not listed on Appendix I are listed on Appendix II, which imposes controls on the trade in these species. CITES has a larger membership and a clearer mandate than the IWC.

In 1991, the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) was developed. This agreement, which is aimed at the protecting of toothed whales, with the exception of the sperm whale, has been signed by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom and the European Community. So far, the agreement has been ratified by Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Poland. This agreement, with its focus on the harbour porpoise, bottlenose and common dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale, has a limited scope but it is valuable step towards the conservation of whales and dolphins. In 1996, a similar agreement was reached with a much broader scope: the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS). This agreement was signed by 15 countries. It covers a larger area and more whale species, including baleen whales. This agreement requires parties to prohibit any deliberate taking of cetaceans, with a few clearly-defined exceptions, and to create and maintain a network of specially protected areas to conserve cetaceans. It has not been ratified as yet.

Education and research

To properly protect whales, we need to gain more knowledge about them. These animals have large ranges, so worldwide cooperation is necessary to get a complete picture of whale biology. With the decline of whaling, a new and more benign industry started focussing on whales: the whale watching industry. In 1983, there were whale and dolphin watching operations in 12 countries. In the 1990s, this industry has been booming and nowadays there are probably 295 communities in 65 countries, which have whale and dolphin based tourism operations. In 1995, 5.4 million tourists
generated an estimated 500 million US dollars in revenues for these operations. In some cases, these whale watching tours support and create revenue for whale research, in other cases it is a tourist
attraction only. When done properly, these whale watching trips can be a powerful educational tool, since people can experience a bit of the lives of whales and dolphins close up. Sometimes, the tourists can even participate in the research by locating the whales, recording their behaviour and taking pictures and video footage.

Whale watching operations closest to Finland are those in the Lofoten isles in Norway, like the Hvalsafari in Andenes. In this area, there is also research on killer whales and sperm whales going on. While whale watching can help educate the public and this create a heightened awareness of the plight of the whales, there are also some risks associated with these operations. In certain areas, boat traffic has become so intense that there are real risks of disturbing, harassing and even injuring whales. In some areas, rules of conduct for whale watch operators have been adopted, but this is not the case everywhere.

More information about whale watching at: http://www.whalesafari.no/

Protected areas

In 1994, the IWC established a 50-million square kilometre protected area on the southern hemisphere, covering the main summer feeding grounds for the larger baleen whales. In this area, the whales are protected from whalers and from other forms of harassment. This should give the whales some chance of recovery. Also in other areas, protected areas have been established or are under development (see the ASCOBANS and ACCOBAMS treatie).

The US has proposed to the International Maritime Organization, that ships entering certain waters of the Eastern US should be required to check with land-based stations if there are any whales in the area. The operators can then take extra measures to prevent collisions. This would be required for certain designated "critical habitats" for right whales.

Reduction of dangerous materials and substances

In the oceans there are many hidden dangers for the whales, many of the man-made, such as fishing gear, noise and disturbances by boat traffic. Modifications in fishing gear and methods, different ship designs, new underwater building techniques and regulation of boat traffic can all help reduce those risks to whales and other animals.

But everybody can do his or her part to protect the ocean environment. A first step would be to reduce the amount of waste being produced. Also, disposing properly of dangerous substances, such as oil, batteries and chemicals, will reduce the amount of pollution. Pollution on land will ultimately end up in the oceans, so we need to start at the source to reduce pollution. In the early days, people thought that the ocean was a kind of bottomless pit in which we could safely dump our garbage without anyone noticing. We have learned the hard way, at the expense of whales, dolphins and other sea creatures, that this is not true. Also, we now know, that the oceans, we will ultimately make life on earth impossible.

Ongoing research

The main areas of research on whales are behavioural biology, genetics, population biology and taxonomy. Each of these areas can provide much-needed data for the conservation of whales. The necessary field work is labour-intensive and it usually takes many years before some results emerge.

Population biology and population dynamics

Population biology examines the group structure of whales, population sizes, reproductive and mortality rates and trends in population size. A lot of information has been collected during the
commercial whaling periods and these studies formed the basis for IWC decisions and policies. Killed whales were examined (to determine sex, age and reproductive status) and the amount of effort needed to catch a number of whales (Catch Per Unit Effort, CPUE) was used as a measure for the number of whales in a certain area. Nowadays, more benign methods are used to count whales.
Photo-identification methods are used to identify and follow individual whales. In this type of research, pictures of identifying marks on the whale's body are taken. For humpback whales, the tail flukes have shown to be a very useful identifying feature. The edges and colouration of the flukes are unique for each whale and the whales usually show the tail flukes clearly when diving. In other species, different markings are used. In right whales for instances, the whales can be identified by the callosities on their head.

Behavioural biology

Many aspects of whale behaviour are being studied nowadays. A lot of attention is being paid to communication (for instance the songs of humpback whales), migration, feeding and social behaviour. This is important, because once we know what normal behaviour is, we can establish when behaviour changes in response to external factors, such as boats, noise etc.

Genetics

Recent developments in DNA sequencing techniques have made it possible to determine relationships between individual whales. Pieces of skin collected from the water, or taken with small biopsy darts can be used to make a DNA fingerprint of a whale. When samples of other whales are available it will be possible to determine of certain whales are related (for instance, it can be possible to identify both the mother and the father of the whale). This gives insights in group structure and reproductive behaviour.

Behavioural researchers get a special assistant

Research on the natural behaviour of whales is very difficult, because whales spend a vast majority of their time underwater. In addition, whales often modify their behaviour when people come close. To overcome this problem, US whale researcher Jim Harvey has called upon a very special research assistant: a California sea lion!

The agile, fast swimming California sea lion is known to be highly trainable. This species has been the star in many oceanarium, zoo and circus performances. So instead of invading the whale's privacy with man boats and divers, which are bound to distract the whale, a sea lion, carrying a video camera was trained to approach whales. Since the sea lion is a natural inhabitant of the whale's environment, the chances of the whales being distracted are much smaller.

For this project, called SLEWTH (Sea Lions Exploring Whales and Their Habitat), two sea lions, Beaver and Sake, were trained to carry a video camera, strapped to a harness. Sea lions have been trained to carry equipment on a harness before, so it was known that this setup would not bother the sea lion a lot. Attached to the camera were other instruments, like a depth gauge, a speedometer, a timer and a hydrophone (an underwater microphone). The sea lions were trained to follow a large, whale-like object, which would hopefully encourage them to follow a real whale out in the ocean.

This setup has been tried in the Monterey Bay area, California, during the gray whale migration and this has resulted in some good footage of gray whales underwater. The project continues.