The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin collides with the stern of the Japanese whaling vessel the Yushin Maru No. 2 on Jan. 5. The collision was one of two in the past two days involving the Steve Irwin and a Japanese whaling vessel. Nobody was injured in either collision. Photo courtesy of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

By Shawn Gaynor

Feb. 6 (GNT) — Japanese whaling vessels and a conservation group ship have collided for the second time in two days as diplomatic efforts to end Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters leave all sides unhappy.

At 6:00 p.m. local time Feb. 6, the Steve Irwin, a Dutch registered ship operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the Yushin Maru No. 3, a Japanese harpoon boat, collided in the rough waters of the Rose Sea.

The Yushin Maru No. 3 and another Japanese harpoon boat, the Yushin Maru No.1, were attempting to pass by the Steve Irwin to transfer their cargo of whales to the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru when the collision took place.

The Steve Irwin had been blocking access to the Nisshin Maru and attempting to prevent the transfer of whales between harpoon boats and the factory ship in an effort to frustrate Japanese whaling operations.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees Japanese whaling, characterized the collision as an attack by the Sea Shepherds. But the Sea Shepherds claimed it was the Japanese ships that instigated the collision, and said they were unable to avoid the Yushin Maru No. 3.

The Steve Irwin’s Captain, Paul Watson, said that disorientation caused by the LRAD acoustic weapons that the whalers were using on the conservationists contributed to the collision.

“I was dazed by the sonic blasts being used on us at close range,” said Captain Watson. “I have to admit it was difficult to concentrate with that device being focused on us.”

The Sea Shepherds first claimed the Japanese use of the military-grade sound weapon several days ago, and Japanese officials have admitted to the use of a sound device.

“I’ve never felt anything quite like it,” said Emily Hunter from Toronto, Canada. “It penetrates the body and you can feel your muscles vibrating. It made me dizzy and left me somewhat dazed.”

The Japanese fleet reported the stern of the Yushin Maru No. 3 was lightly damaged in the collision, while the Sea Shepherds reported the Steve Irwin suffered no noticeable damage. There were no injuries on either ship.

The collision was the second in as many days. On Jan. 5, the Steve Irwin collided with the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2.

“We were in the process of blocking the transfer from the Yushin Maru No.2 when the Yushin Maru No. 1 moved directly in front of the bow to block us,” said Captain Watson. “I could not turn to starboard without hitting the Yushin Maru No. 1. I tried to back down but the movement of the Yushin Maru No. 2 made the collision unavoidable.”

Hunting whales was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission after evidence that the world’s largest mammals were being driven towards extinction.

Japan continues to hunt whales every year under the guise of scientific research, but the nearly 1,000 whales that Japan hopes to harvest this year are destined to be sold as meat to Japanese consumers.

Conservationists insist the Japanese hunt is illegal both due to the commercial result of the “scientific whaling program” and because the annual hunt takes place in an internationally designated whale sanctuary.

IWC Chairman William Hogarth proposed a compromise agreement on Feb. 2 that would either phase out Japan’s annual Southern Ocean whale hunt over the next five years in exchange for opening whaling in Japanese waters, or would allow the “scientific whaling” program in the Southern Ocean to continue under IWC, not Japanese, annual limitations.

Conservation groups have stood together in saying the deal is too lenient on Japanese whalers.

Perhaps the most polite response from conservationist came from Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Program who stated, “World Wildlife Fund is glad to see the IWC taking steps toward ending the deadlock on commercial whaling, and to ending commercial whaling under the guise of science once and for all, but these compromise packages give too much to the whalers and not enough to whale conservation.”

“What is needed is a plan to put an immediate halt to all scientific whaling, which simply has no place in the 21st Century,” added Lieberman.

Most conservation groups commenting on the issue have been afraid that the plan would open the door to renewed commercial whaling by allowing the Japanese to whale commercially in their own waters.

The Japanese have also been cold on the plan. On Feb. 3 Japan’s Fisheries Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, ruled out any compromise that terminated what he called Japan’s scientific whaling in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

“We cannot accept a proposal that would end our research whaling program,” he said.

In the meantime, the Sea Shepherds and the Japanese whaling fleet play out their tense chase across the Rose Sea.

“I wish we did not have to be down here in this dangerous situation,” said Watson. “Because international law is not being enforced, we have no choice but to do what we can with the resources available to us to defend these endangered whales.”

GreenNewsToday.org

By Shawn Gaynor

Three glass frogs of the Nymphargus, Cochranella and Centrolene genera are among the 60 species of amphibians identified by scientists during a three-week expedition in Colombia. Photo by Marco Rada, courtesy of Conservation International

Feb. 3 (GNT) — A team of scientists exploring Columbia’s Darien region announced the discovery of ten new amphibian species today.

The expedition, a three-week long project in this remote region near the Panama boarder, was undertaken by Conservation International as part of its Rapid Assessment Program, and was aided by the local indigenous Emberá community of Eyakera.

The newly recorded species include three glass frogs of the Nymphargus, Cochranella and Centrolene genus; three poison dart frogs of the Dendrobatidae family (Colostethus, Ranitomeya and Anomaloglossus genera), one harlequin frog of the Atelopus genus, two species of rain frogs of the Pristimantis genera and one salamander of the Bolitoglossa genus.

Two species of rain frogs (Pristimantis genus) potentially new to science were discovered in an expedition in the hills of Tacarcuna, a mountainous area of the Darien in the border limit of Colombia with Panama. Photo Marco Rada, courtesy of Conservation International

Salamander (Bolitoglossa taylori) potentially new to science discovered in Colombia. The country is home to over 754 species of amphibians-one of the highest in the world. Photo by Marco Rada, courtesy of Conservation International

According to Conservation International, Columbia is one of the worlds most biologically diverse countries in the world, with one of every 10 species of animals and plants found there.

“This region is a true Noah’s Ark. The high number of new amphibian species found is a sign of hope, even with the serious threat of extinction that this animal group faces in many other regions of the country and the world,” said Jose Vicente Rodriguez-Mahecha, Scientific Director of Conservation International-Colombia.

In reaction to the new discoveries, Colombia’s Minister of Environment Juan Lozano said, “Without a doubt this discovery represents a great milestone for science and human health.”

Worldwide amphibians have suffered declining numbers, due to their sensitivity to pollution. With porous, absorbent skin, they are particularly sensitive to acid rain, heavy metals, and agricultural chemicals.

Too little is known about the new species to label them as endangered or threatened, however the Darien region is undergoing rapid changes as this relatively pristine area faces expanded logging, mining, and cattle ranching. Between ¼ and 1/3 of the area is threatened by deforestation.

Over the last five years, Columbia has been participating in a Debt-for-nature swap. In return for strengthening its protection of critical habitat, Columbia receives some relief from its debt to the US.

GreenNewToday.org

By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 30 (GNT) — The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture announced this week that it would be raising catch quotas for whaling over the next five years.

This endangered Finn whale, harpooned in 2006, signaled Iceland's return to whaling. Iceland announced this week a dramatic increase in whaling quotas. Photo courtesy of Greenpeace International.

The Icelandic whaling fleet will now take 150 Finn whales and 100 mink whales per year, in what Icelandic officials are calling “a continuation of sustainable whaling.”

The quotas are a dramatic increase over last year, when Icelandic whalers were authorized to catch nine Finn and 40 Minke whales.

Conservation groups have decried the move, with some calling for a boycott of Iceland’s already devastated economy over the issue.

Sara Holden of Greenpeace International called the decision a “shameless stunt that has nothing to do with use of natural resources.”

Holden said that a loss of tourism dollars will far outweigh the boost in revenue that whaling could bring. According to Greenpeace, over 100,000 tourists per year go whale watching in Iceland.

Capt. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose group claimed responsibility for the 1986 sinking of two Icelandic whaling ships in Reykjavik harbor, took a harsher stance on the new quotas.

“Iceland has spat in the face of marine conservationists around the world with their extremist announcement,” said Watson.

The two whaling ships scuttled by the Sea Shepherds were never repaired, and Icelandic whaling was shut down for two decades. Iceland resumed its whaling program in 2006.

The Sea Shepherds have responded to the new rules by calling for a boycott on Iceland’s products and tourism.

According the Sea Shepherds, Jeff Skoll, the founder of E-Bay, and Hollywood Producer Bob Yari both signaled support for the boycott, informing Iceland officials that they will no longer be using Iceland to refuel their private jets en route to Europe.

The Finn Whale is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, whose “red list” tracks endangered species around the world.

Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only nations who still engage in whaling.

GreenNewToday.org

By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 22 (GNT) — While President Barrack Obama was whisked from ceremony to celebration on inauguration day, his cabinet had already gotten down to business, freezing last-minute Bush administration federal policy changes that have not yet made it into the Federal Register. Among those midnight rulings was the changed endangered species status for the gray wolf.

Federal protection of the grey wolf will continue, for now, under an Obama order. Photo courtesy of US FWS.

The freeze, issued in a memorandum by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, is a temporary measure that will allow the new administration time to review last minute Bush decrees, and move forward with or abandon them on a case-by-case basis.

“We are grateful the Obama administration has taken this important first step towards undoing the numerous midnight regulations advanced by the Bush administration,” said Noah Greenwald, biodiversity program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The CBD was one of over a dozen environmental groups that voiced strong criticism of the last-minute delisting of the grey wolf.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service had announced on Jan. 14 the removal of the gray wolf from federal endangered species protection in all Midwest and Northern Rocky Mountain areas excepting Wyoming.

Environmentalists contended that the wolf population had not reached a suitable size to ensure the survival of the population in many areas. They point out wolves in Idaho and Montana were set to be removed from federal protection even though those states house only 75 breeding pairs of wolves.

“Wolves should not be removed from protection until they are secure and recovered in a larger and more viable portion of their range,” said Michael Robinson of the CBD.

Gray wolves are gone from over 95 percent of their historic range. Gray wolves were extirpated in the western portion of the lower 48 states, and were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho 1995 and 1996.

It will now be up to incoming Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to review and approve or decline endangered species protection changes for the gray wolf.

GreenNewsToday.org

By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 16 (GNT) – The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced on Jan. 14 the removal of the gray wolf from federal endangered species protection in all Northern Rocky Mountain areas excepting Wyoming, a move that has drawn a sharp response from a coalition of 12 environmental groups that have fought back and forth with the Bush administration over protection for the gray wolf.

On Jan. 14 the US FWS removed the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf from Endangered Species Act protection. Photo courtesy of Defenders of Wildlife.

“Wolves have recovered in the Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains because of the hard work, cooperation and flexibility shown by States, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett.

But environmentalists fear that individual states will reduce the population of Northern Rocky Mountain wolves if federal protection is removed. They say this reduction would create a genetic bottleneck, where inbreeding could spell long-term trouble for the species.

“This blatantly political maneuver is hardly surprising,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, whose group is part of the coalition that sued for continued federal protection in 2008. “The Bush administration has been trying to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the Northern Rockies wolf since the day it took office – no matter the dire consequences of delisting wolves prematurely and without adequate state protections in place.”

The Bush administration’s prior effort to remove federal protection the Northern Rockies wolf was rebuffed in federal court and then voluntarily withdrawn by the FWS shortly afterwards.

Schlickeisen says the new FWS decision will send the fate of the wolves back to the courts. “We intend to challenge this poorly constructed decision in court as soon as the law allows.”

Environmentalists fear that without federal endangered species protections, up to two-thirds of the population could be lost.

The FWS hopes that by leaving protection in place for the Wyoming population, where state law regarding predators leaves the wolf vulnerable to ranchers who would be allowed to shoot the wolf on site, they will avoid the problems of inadequate state protection outlined in the 2008 suit.

However in doing so the FWS has turned its back on its own guidelines, which state that endangered species must be protected on a regional basis, not a state-by-state approach.

“Wolves don’t read maps,” said Dr. Sylvia Fallon, a Natural Resource Defense Council Staff Scientist whose genetic expertise was central in the initial challenge case. “We agree that Wyoming’s plan is inadequate, but you cannot have protections start and stop at state lines.”

According to the NRDC, when the wolves were declassified in Feb. of 2008, hunting began immediately. Before federal protection was reinstated in July 2008, 24 wolves were reportedly killed.

Though controversial with ranching interests in the west, the reintroduction of wolves by the federal government 12 years ago has been widely hailed as a major success story. It has measurably improved the natural balance in the Northern Rockies and benefited bird, antelope and elk populations.

Tens of thousands of gray wolves once roamed North America before being slaughtered and eliminated from 95 percent of their habitat in lower 48 states in the 1930s. The gray wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

There are currently about 100 breeding pairs and 1,500 wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Source: GreenNewsToday.org

Gov. Palin of Alaska announced today that her state will challenge recent federal protection for the Cook Inlet beluga whale. Greennewstoday.org

By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 14 (GNT) — Gov. Sarah Palin announced today that the state of Alaska intends to challenge the federal government’s decision to list beluga whales in Cook Inlet as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The notice of the state’s intent to sue was sent to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). It asserts that the listing decision should be withdrawn due to failure to adequately consider conservation or protection efforts by Alaska.

“The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet,” said Governor Palin. “This listing decision didn’t take those efforts into account as required by law.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Cook Inlet beluga as a threatened species over the objections of Gov. Palin in October of 2008.

“Once again Governor Palin has demonstrated either a complete lack of understanding or lack of concern over the plight of endangered species,” said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Cook Inlet beluga population received federal endangered species protection in late 2008. Photo courtesy of NOAA.gov

The group warns that the Cook Inlet is the most populated and fastest-growing watershed in Alaska, and is subject to significant proposed offshore oil and gas development in beluga habitat — plans that the federal listing may complicate.

The sounds issuing from the high explosives used in underwater resource exploration has long been known to affect marine mammals, and the noise is carried far distances by the dense ocean waters.

Though marine biologists estimate the worldwide population of beluga whales to be more than 80,000, the NMFS ruling recognizes the Cook Inlet beluga whale as threatened because it is genetically distinct and geographically isolated — one of five such populations in Alaska.

The Cook Inlet’s beluga population has recently seen a dramatic decline. There were an estimated 1,300 Cook Inlet belugas during the 1980s. By 1993, when regular surveys of the Cook Inlet population began,there were an estimated 643 individual whales. Between 1994 and 1998, the abundance of belugas declined again — by about 50 percent — to 347 whales. The 2006 population estimate for Cook Inlet belugas is approximately 300 animals.

Much smaller than many of their whale cousins, beluga whales average only 14 feet in length and weigh about 3,000 pounds. Characterized by their unique creamy white color, belugas have an extensive vocal repertoire and have long been called the “sea canary” by seamen who heard their myriad of sounds.

Alaska ’s legal action against the beluga whale marks the second time in recent months that Governor Palin’s administration has launched legal attacks against endangered species on behalf of the oil industry; in August 2008, Palin filed suit seeking to overturn federal protection for the polar bear.

Source: GreenNewsToday.org