Thriving Oceans

As  ‘Whale Wars’ season 2 finale rolled its credits a couple weeks back I have been left contemplating whether or not I would actually broach the topic on Thriving Oceans.  To be honest I have been throwing the idea back and forth ever since season 1, but I always managed to find something else to capture my attention (perhaps on purpose).  Now that the season is over and I’m sure has already circulated throughout the blogs, I am left with what may just be a passé post.  But, since I already started I decided to continue on and see what happens to pop onto the page.

In nothing less than a rollercoaster ride of emotions, the last two episodes brought whaling out of the shadows and plastered it over television screens throughout the world.  Sure I’ve seen the sickening whaling footage captured by the likes of Greenpeace, but in a sense of irony, as I am watching a program about whaling, I was not fully prepared to witness the slaughter in a Friday night context.  And if you’re thinking this is a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ on my part you are indeed correct.

What I found most interesting was the fact that while I was (and still am) truly appalled by the Japanese whaling activities and left mocking their propaganda-esque banners claiming they are “taking tissue samples,” or “studying stomach contents,”  I found myself wondering if a line had been crossed when the Sea Shepherds collided with the Yushin Maru #3 harpoon ship.  Did I betray my own beliefs by asking such a question?  I just saw a number of whales loaded onto the processing ship and a whale finally succumb to a very graphic death at the hands of the Japanese whaling fleet , so how could I even mull over whether the collision was justified? Especially since there is no doubt with whom I side.

Well, perhaps this says something about my character and perhaps it is also a case of filling the role of an armchair captain that drove my initial reaction.  But after careful introspection I, firstly, cannot say what I would do in the heat of witnessing such ocean atrocities, and secondly I just cannot  bring myself to say it was the wisest of all decisions.   My uneasiness  with the collision was not the byproduct of compassion for the whalers themselves, but for the cause I support.  Had someone been critically injured I am left wondering how that would have detrimentally affected direct/indirect action, whether by Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, or other non-profits, against whalers in the future.  We need to ensure those groups are available to continue their campaigns and not locked up in an international legal incident.

While policies need to change for the elimination of all whaling, thwarting Japanese efforts to fill their quotas in the meantime should be conducted in ways  that will not harm the ultimate goal. With that said I have no problem with riding the edge to protect whales in the Southern Ocean.   And while the whale warriors prepare for another season of cetacean protection, the vast majority of us are left simply watching from afar.  Instead of being mere observers we should also embark on a journey…a journey of support, of letter writing campaigns, and of boycotts to aid all of the great organizations working to bring an end to the harpooning of whales.

Sometimes it takes a man in black (or people in black in this case) to walk the line and bring a cause back  to the worldwide stage.

*Check out a great interview of Paul Watson conducted by TreeHugger

Video released by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

“The resulting video, recorded using ambient light at 100 meters (328 feet) depth, not only successfully gave the fishermen a clear idea of how the thieving whales were stealing the fish-they pluck the line at one end to jar the black cod free at the other end, somewhat like shaking apples from a tree-but it gave scientists a chance to match the animal’s acoustics with video depictions of its physical features.”

Watch the video here

“Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965.”

Read the NOAA press release

Well, like the masses I ended Earth Day not quite as in touch with the planet as I should have been unless plopped in front of the television is eco-living. To my defense I did tune in to ‘Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures:  Call of the Killer Whale’ and was left in awe as usual after indirectly witnessing the complexities of marine mammal communities.

In this instance, human-orca parallels are easy to draw as the interconnectedness amongst individuals is undeniable, social structure is a necessity, communication is key, and culture is unmistakable. There are resident orcas, transient orcas, and offshore orcas that have developed specialized skills to fill a niche and capitalize on available prey.  Even more interesting is the fact that marine biologists believe the residents and transients have been genetically isolated from each other  for the last 10,000 years.

And as the information continued to flow throughout the program, I was reminded why I forego any invitation to attend an amusement park showcasing orcas.  Every documentary I have seen shows nothing less than incredible intelligence as members of a pod utilize teamwork to raise their young and ensure the survival of the group. Plus, most ironically, these are the same characteristics that trainers pass along to cheering crowds as if morality dictates 5 tons of sophisticated ocean-going genius must be confined within concrete walls and rollercoaster backdrops solely for our entertainment.  Yes, I see the Victorian era pseudoscience logic (i.e. money), but shouldn’t we officially abandon a thought process that exterminated the great auk?

After poking around the web, I found a few bits of herring (PBS, Wikipedia, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Humane Society) that indicate the captive population is just about 50 and the capturing of wild orcas has declined in favor of captive breeding programs and artificial insemination. But, the argument still stands and is reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode,  People Are Alike All Over , in which Roddy McDowall as Captain Conrad lands on Mars and the welcoming inhabitants eventually put him on public display.  Just because the most basic of needs are met does not replace freedom…ask Captain Conrad who was confined to an unnatural environment forced to live in a life of deprivation and most certainly suffering a lower than expected lifespan.  Does that ring the captive orca bell?

As a note: Since 1961 there has been 133 orcas captured and acquired by aquariums.To the best estimate, as of November 1997, 102 of the 133 captured killer whales in marine parks and aquariums worldwide have died.  One escaped.  30 are still alive, and a further 18 captive-bred are also alive. (PBS FrontLine, Nov. 1997)

Not much commentary here, but it is always exciting when a population of an endangered/threated species is discovered hiding out in the waters of our planet…

“A huge population of rare dolphins threatened by climate change and fishing nets has been discovered in South Asia. Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society estimate that nearly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, marine mammals that are related to orcas or killer whales, were found living in freshwater regions of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest and adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal. ”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090401/sc_livescience/6000raredolphinsfoundinsouthasia