While the agenda at the recently concluded IWC meeting was focussed upon resolving disputes surrounding Iceland, Japan and Norway’s continued whaling, these revelations may throw closer scrutiny on the “aboriginal subsistence whaling” (ASW) allowances.

Limited Allowances

Despite the moratorium on commercial whaling, these allowances mean some indigenous peoples can hunt a limited number of whales to meet long-standing cultural and nutritional subsistence needs. These include the Inuit of Greenland.

WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, does not oppose legitimate so-called “aboriginal subsistence whaling” (ASW) — as long as it is humane, sustainable, well managed and based on documented human need for local subsistence use only.

Supermarkets and Hotels

Although the IWC grants ASW quotas as an exemption to the commercial whaling moratorium to meet the nutritional subsistence needs of indigenous communities, the WDCS investigation revealed that people with a genuine need for whale meat may be denied access because so much is sold at high prices through hotels and supermarkets.

In a secretly filmed conversation with journalists, the director of Arctic Green Foods (AGF), Greenland’s largest single buyer of whales, explained: “We are selling the whale meat faster (to supermarkets) than we can get hold of whales.” The price in supermarkets for whale meat and mattack is up to 10 times higher than in the local meat markets, yet “it still sells, and sells, and sells!”

Managers of the main supermarket chains in the towns and cities confirm the high price whale meat and mattak are sold for. “Mattak is more expensive than the best parts of imported beef,” said Les Nyborg, manager at Brugsen’s supermarket in Nuuk, in an interview with reporters. “It is very popular. People use it as a snack, to chew on it. We make 1 million kroner [approx € 143.000; US$ 165.000] a year only with this one product.”

When its stocks are low, the processing company commissions fishermen to get them whales. “We asked a particular whaler, with whom we have worked before, if he could get us five whales – and fast, because we need them now. We are sold out.” said the manager.

Whale meat intended for the subsistence needs of remote and isolated Inuit populations, also ends up as fancy 4-star dinners in hotel restaurants.

Lucrative

Niels Olsvig, one of the whalers in Ilulissat, acknowledged that “Most of the whale meat is sold to the local meat market and to hotels.” In the summer season more than 50 luxury cruise liners have Ilulissat as their destination, as well as daily direct flights from Iceland. “Whale steak” is openly listed on the menu of many of the hotels at prices equivalent to other luxury dinners (e.g. DKK 160, € 22; US$ 27)

Government Involvement

The companies’ involvement in these practices is worrying, but hardly unsurprising given the profits that can be made. More worrying is the fact that this all appears to be done with full knowledge from the government.

AGF informs the department of fisheries and hunting of the Government of Greenland about its requests and waits for its approval. “We hope we are allowed to get the whales we want, but it depends on the quotas. The Government has the overview, and maybe we get some others.”

Increasing Quotas

The Greenland government claims that the whole vast territory is ‘local’ and does not distinguish between the original people of Greenland, the Inuit, who culturally eat whale meat, and the Danish population of Greenland. They have now asked the IWC to increase their quotas.

“Commercial wholesalers commissioning whalers to hunt whales so they can sell meat to tourists or town people, who have all the options of a modern supermarket is not what the IWC intends when it authorises subsistence whaling. This practice clearly limits the availability of whale meat to those in remote settlements who live under harsh circumstances and have a genuine subsistence need for whale meat.”

As long as Greenland fails to take its full quota of whales yet its whalers sell meat to supermarkets and hotels, the WDCS believes it cannot justify its repeated request for an increase in its whaling quotas.

The fact that it has taken the WDCS investigation to uncover what is going on is Greenland demonstrates the current deficiencies in the IWC monitoring. The issue of abuses of subsistence quotas and the fact that countries are able to use loopholes to carry on whaling but highlight the need for some kind of reform in the IWC.

It may fall on the shoulders of NGOs such as WDCS to bring to public attention the current failures of the organisation that is supposed to be protecting the world’s population of whales.

Controversial

While many conservation groups will no doubt be celebrating the fact that the countries have not adopted the controversial deal that would have legitimised whaling by Iceland, Japan and Norway but place their activity under official oversight from the IWC.

Impasse

Debates over the issue have often lead to angry disputes between pro and anti-whaling parties, both on the level of conservation groups protesting, but also at the high-level of government, where political wrangling has often degenerated into the two parties refusing to budge from their respective positions.

The apparent impasse was hoped to have been breached at this meeting as a result of a new proposal. The deal was intended to provide a compromise between the two groups. Because Iceland, Japan and Norway have used loopholes that allow them to continue whaling, the proposal was intended to make their activity legal once again, but with the proviso that they would face closer monitoring.

Unsatisfied

Unfortunately, rather than pleasing both sides, the proposal appear to have left both unsatisfied, and as a result, the ‘peace talks’ on international whaling have failed.

The countries hoping to have their whaling activity legitimised felt that the proposal would be transforming the IWC into a whale conservation organisation rather a resource management organisation, which they believe its role should be.

Behind the scenes, Japanese sources said the key stumbling block for them was the demand from the EU and the Buenos Aires group of Latin American countries that its Antarctic whaling programme must end within a set time-frame.

For Japan, agreeing to reduce its quota from 935 now to 200 in 10 years time represented a significant step forward, which they thought ought to have been acceptable to their opponents, with further discussions – possibly on a phase-out – taking place subsequently.

Pressure

Many of the anti-whaling countries were under pressure from conservation groups to reject the proposal as they believed it would undo the good work that had been done for whale conservation since the ban came into place. Even though groups accepted that giving the IWC greater capacity for monitoring whaling would be extremely beneficial, the general perception was that the IWC would not be capable of controlling the whaling activity.

Absence of Compromise

Sir Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand’s former prime minister and current whaling commissioner, who has been intimately involved in the “peace talks”, said that “Japan did show real flexibility and a real willingness to compromise”.

“But we are in the situation now where the gaps cannot at this time be bridged; and the reason for this I think is obvious enough – there is an absence of a political will to bridge those gaps, an absence of political will to compromise.”

The path forwards now is unclear. Many delegates are asking whether there is any point in leaving the issue open for a further year; if agreement is impossible, they suggest it would be better to face up to the fact now.

Opting for more time would “raise the question of the commission’s credibility,” said Remi Parmentier, senior policy adviser to the Pew Environment Group, which has been one of the organisations backing the exploration of compromise.

But there may also be a reluctance to leave the more constructive tone of the previous two years behind, and risk a return to the acrimony that formerly characterised the IWC.

Conservation groups can celebrate for the moment that legal whaling will not be resuming any time soon. But Iceland, Japan and Norway will go on whaling regardless, and with the prospect of significant time passing before talks resume again, the whales could ultimately suffer more.

Gunshots

Tests carried out last week confirmed suspicions that a bottlenose dolphin found at Lower Light Beach, had died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.

The autopsy report said 12 bullets of three different sizes were found in the dolphin’s body, with evidence indicating the animal did not die immediately after it was wounded.

Part of a Pod?

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society director Dr Mike Bossley planned to check if the dolphin belonged to the Port River pod.

“I will try and identify the dolphin using photographs, but I would be surprised if it was one frequently in the Port River,” he said.

Prosecutions

Dr Bossley hoped the people responsible would be identified and prosecuted.

“It’s terribly important where there has been serious crime to make a prosecution, as it will hopefully act as a deterrent to anyone one else.” Dolphin Trauma Group co-ordinator Dr Catherine Kemper said the post-mortem indicated the dolphin had probably died as a result of infections from the gunshot wounds.

“There seems no doubt that this dolphin was shot with a shotgun and perhaps a rifle, but the primary cause of its death is not known,” Dr Kemper said.

Penalties

An Environment Department spokeswoman said dolphins were protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, with maximum penalties of $100,000 and two years imprisonment for harming them.

Humanlike

We are used to seeing animals portrayed as human-like in films and cartoons, but in the case of cetaceans (marine mammals including whales, dolphins, and porpoises) we are beginning to realise that they have many human-like qualities in reality.

The species’ ability to use tools, recognise themselves in a mirror and their complex and highly-evolved social behaviour all point towards them having intelligence closer to humans than other animals.

Brainy

The evidence is not purely anecdotal though, with numerous scientific studies showing that the makeup of cetacean brains being shown to be similar in structure to humans’. This has allowed them to develop levels of emotional maturity and complexity that have drawn conservation groups to demand that they be granted increased rights.

Declaration of Rights

That’s what attendees of a meeting organized by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said yesterday, where a multidisciplinary panel agreed on a “Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: Whales and Dolphins”.

Weapon Against Whaling

While this hopes to bring about a broad change of attitudes towards the animals, it is seen as potentially a powerful weapon in the organisations attempts to put a halt to whaling. If we begin to think about whales and dolphins have similar rights to us humans, them being used for purposes of entertainment or held in captivity starts to appear wrong, but allowing them to still be hunted in the extremely cruel way they are at the moment seems horrific.

Thomas White, director of the Center for Ethics and Business at Loyola Marymount University in California, told Reuters:

“Whaling is ethically unacceptable…. They have a sense of self that we used to think that only human beings have.”

Life, Liberty and Well Being

The central premise by which WDCS believe our actions towards these animals should be judged is laid out in the declaration that “all cetaceans have the right to life, liberty and well being.”

Whaling Ban

This declaration conflicts with ongoing negotiations within the International Whaling Commission, which hopes to discuss lifting the ban on commercial whaling at its annual meeting next month. Those in favour of lifting the ban say it would actually reduce the number of whales killed over the next decade.

But Chris Butler-Stroud, chief executive of WDCS reaffirmed the organisation’s belief that commercial whaling cannot be allowed to go on.

“Whales and Dolphins cannot, and should not be seen as a resource. It is this out-of- date approach that allows for their continued killing, as well as polluting and destroying their natural environment. It is time we see them, and treat them, as beyond use.”

You can help to change dolphin’s lives by adopting a dolphin with WDCS. You will get regular updates on your chosen dolphin and know that your donations will be going directly to helping to conserve and protect these amazing creatures.

Peace Plan

The IWC  released a statement on their website on May 7^th entitled “If you really care about whale conservation – give our proposal a fair reading” , and despite portraying the press release as a “peace plan” now face a backlash from the WDCS who claim that the plan is nothing more than thinly veiled emotional black mail.

Manipulation

The proposal which aims to offer reasons to lift the current ban on whaling and would instate legal commercial whaling quotes for the next 10 years contains a number of new terms for whaling not found in the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, which the IWS believe is an attempt to “verbally manipulate the debate”. The proposal also asks for number of compromises which they believe are neither appropriate nor useful and lastly admits that it will not address any conservation concerns, giving the whalers what they want before even entertaining the issues raised by the WDCS.

‘Whalers Charter’

“WDCS has given the proposed ‘deal’ fair and careful reading, but no matter how you look at it, it’s a ‘whalers charter’. We urge conservation Governments not to give in to the blackmail, and save whales, not whaling,” said WDCS CEO Chris Butler-Stroud.

Protest

The WDCS believes that fundamentally the plan put forward by the IWC put whale conservation back 30 years and urge the public and governments to protest against their proposals before the “flood gates” are opened to a international whale slaughter.

The plan will be voted upon this June and it is then that the fate of the world’s whales will be decided.

Exercise Joint Warrior takes place around the Clyde, the Western Isles and at Cape Wrath in Sutherland. It is the biggest training operation of its kind in Europe, involving 11 countries led by the UK.

It involves a range of training scenarios to test service personnel on strategic, operational and tactical issues simulating disputed territory and terrorist movements.

A spokesman for the Joint Warrior exercise said it was aware of the importance of the area to wildlife and the farming, fishing and tourist industries and took its responsibilities very seriously. He said environmental impact assessments are produced where required, such as for the use of active sonar and live weapons.

The WDCS accepts that the MoD does have some monitoring as to the effects of its operations on the surrounding wildlife, but given the level of funding available to the military organisation, they believe that the scope of their monitoring operations is nowhere near adequate.

Sarah Dolman, head of Scottish policy at the WDCS, said: “[The WDCS] believe the MoD should fund much more strategic research on a bigger scale. We have a lot of marine species here that are very important and yet they are not doing any research to find out whether there are any long-term impacts.”

The WDCS carries out land-based monitoring of the exercise. Last year it also used a vessel from the Mull-based Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), but this year that has not been possible because of financial constraints.

Dolman said research on a population of minke whales that appear in the west coast in the summer showed that the number of animals fell during the exercise: “It would suggest the animals disappear when the exercise is occurring and, of course, we don’t know the long-term impacts.”

The fact that the exercise takes place in an area that is particularly significant for Scottish marine biodiversity is something that is of concern to the WDCS. Dolman explained that that her organisation will go on monitoring the situation, but she feels that the ultimate responsibility should be with the MoD.

“We are here because of Scotland’s incredibly diverse marine habitat. Also we are concerned about the potential impact of large navy exercises like Joint Warrior…what we want is for the MoD to carry out an environmental impact assessment of its activities and fund independent research.”

‘Snooky’ is not one of the many victims of ship strikes or entanglement in nets that regularly leave the dolphins without their precious dorsal fins, but instead similar experiences for his ancestors have led ‘Snooky’ to be born with two dorsal fins.

WDCS director of science, Mark Simmonds, explained how this has occurred: “We believe that selection pressure on dolphins in recent years may have caused several individuals to develop a remarkable second dorsal fin. This is a rare and never previously photographed example of Lamarckian Inheritance, Those dolphins that survive strikes and entanglement, have fathered a new generation of bi-finned dolphins like ‘Snooky’.”

The discovery came as a shock not only because it was unprecedented but because the researchers had been following ‘Snooky’s pod for a while before they discovered his particularly unique trait.

WDCS were undertaking the routine task of monitoring a pod of dolphins off the coast of Cornwall. Among them was ‘Snooky’, a large male known for his extreme speed, agility and mischievous behaviour. But one set of photos taken recently by their research team revealed captured ‘Snooky’ jumping out of the water, showing his miraculous extra dorsal fin.

“It is something really unusual, said WDCS researcher Philip Charles. In nearly 20 years of watching and studying dolphins I have never seen a double-finned bottlenose.”

“This has come as somewhat of a surprise, as we know of no other actual sighting of a double-finned dolphin anywhere in the world”, said Simmonds. “We have been monitoring various species as part of our Species Guide project, a comprehensive, free on-line resource that lists details about a vast range of whales and dolphin species, and when we first saw pictures of ‘Snooky’ we were both amazed and very excited.”

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Windy, blustery conditions provided distinctly unfavourable conditions for those hoping to spot dolphins. The first week of the month provided sporadic sightings of Rainbow, Mischief, Nevis and Sundance who were drifting in past Chanonry every so often looking for fish. The second week went very quietly with almost nothing moving around and little to see.

However the second half of the month brought with it the new moon phase. This meant migratory salmon starting to run for the river systems around the Firth area and the dolphins returning to Chanonry Point to forage and hunt.

WDCS blogger Charlie was lucky enough to see Nevis catch a beauty right in front of him, proving that spring is properly underway.

The onset of spring has also seen sightings of dolphin-spotters becoming more commonplace, with many people coming to Chanonry and North Kessock looking for dolphins. Last week around a dozen people were seen sheltering in the lee of a lighthouse wall and all looking out for the Firth’s famous dolphins.

Dolphin Diaries Update(Courtesy of Charlie and the adopt a dolphin team at WDCS)

Rainbow

Friendly and sociable as ever, Rainbow has been around the Inner Firth a lot in the company of most of the other dolphins. She pulled a real fast one on me the other day when I was watching a group of dolphins stopping to hunt in the Chanonry current and I didn’t see her until I checked the photos later. There she was, having a good old surf by herself in the heavy swell. Her small dorsal fin nick sometimes makes her difficult to recognise at a distance but she’s much easier when she gets a bit closer. She’ll be as regular as clockwork now. At the start of every season she is always one of the first dolphins (like Nevis) to start hunting at the Point.

Moonlight

Moonlight is still staying outside the Chanonry area at the moment. This isn’t really unusual as I didn’t photograph her hunting properly here until the 19th April last season so there’s plenty of time for her to arrive. She’s been past me at the Point earlier this year, but the distance and the way she was moving were not good for getting photos. When I see some of her Cromarty friends starting to come back into the area I’ll know that it’s time to look out for her and with a bit of luck get some nice close-ups to see how she has fared over the winter.

Spirit

I haven’t spotted Spirit from the beach at Chanonry since last month. This month it’s has been pretty quiet with no visits from any of the dolphins that she and Sparkle hang out with. I think that she’ll be busy patrolling her own patch of sea near the entrance to the Cromarty Firth, waiting on the big salmon arriving as they do about now. The dolphins menu is just about to change for much bigger, faster prey such as sea trout and the migratory salmon which Spirit is an expert at hunting. Like the other mothers of the 2007 calving season, she’ll teach her offspring how to tackle these big fish as Sparkle is now big enough to swallow a reasonable-sized salmon. It’s going to be an interesting season to watch the up and coming three year olds honing their hunting skills, moving away from small prey to these biggies!

Thunder

There is still, sadly, no sign of this great dolphin. Some of the big groups of dolphins that he would normally be seen with have passed through the Inner Firth but we scanned them to no avail. As ever, if any of us hear of anything or see anything we will let you know.

Nevis

I have to confess that I was a wee bit worried about Nevis as I hadn’t seen him with the other regular dolphins in the Chanonry area for a while but thankfully he has recently started to turn up at the Point looking for salmon. He is normally the first of the dolphins to take up his station at Chanonry in his favourite fishing spot. I noticed that he was moving quite slowly the other day, as though conserving energy but then bam, he hit the pedal and got himself an absolute corker of a salmon that will give him a much needed boost in calories. Dolphins can appear thin at the base of the dorsal fin at this time of year (after a hard winter) and a sunken appearance below the fin can mean a very hungry and thin dolphin that needs feeding up as quickly as possible. Let’s hope that he has started as he means to go on and will be as fat as a barrel before too long.

Sundance

Sundance has been on the prowl quite a few times this month and looking good too, often in the company of another big male called Trail Scoop and they have been patrolling up and down past Chanonry Point out into the shipping channel where salmon also tend to run. He hasn’t been chatting up the ladies so far, looking for food would seem to be the most important thing on his agenda and the other day he and another six dolphins were in the current foraging properly for the first time this season. This is a full ten days earlier than last seasons start so with a bit of luck the salmon run has kicked in early which will be good for hungry dolphins and good for me as I need some close-up photos of our dolphins to assess what condition they are in after the winter period.

Mischief

This big character has been quite busy this month, I’ve seen him a few times near Chanonry and also spotted him just beyond the Kessock Bridge, looking for salmon coming up the River Ness no doubt. He’s been chatting up the ladies already this year, I spotted him swimming in very close formation with a lovely female dolphin called Arabic and I think he was trying some smooth lines on her. He was also briefly beside Rainbow but she left him and headed over to one of the girl groups in the distance. He hasn’t been foraging right into Chanonry yet, only passing by but I expect to see him join the hunting party pretty soon.

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Since the ban was introduced in 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings have been characterised by unending confrontation between pro- and anti-whaling factions.

The three countries that have carried on commercial hunting regardless: Japan, by labelling its killing “scientific research and Norway and Iceland simply by lodging formal objections to the agreement, have had the upper hand in negotiations as a result of their ability to carry on despite the ban.

Pressure from conservation groups and strong popular opposition to whaling has left things at an impasse for years, but this latest proposal has some powerful backers.

Principal among them is the US, whose officials in the negotiations have been strongly backing the proposal. They have previously been vociferously opposed to any lifting of the ban, but their sudden support is thought to be in part because of their need for backing for subsistence whaling quotas for indigenous Inuit peoples in Alaska, which the US is obliged to seek from the IWC every few years.

In 2002, in return for American hostility to its “scientific” whaling, Japan blocked the quota, causing the US considerable embarrassment before the Japanese backed down. The next quota request is due in 2012 and some observers think the US wants to make sure it is on terms with Japan so the quota will not be blocked again.

The proposal is said to be a compromise intended to end the confrontation by “giving something to both sides”.

For conservationists, it suggests there might be reduced catches by the whaling countries, observers on some whaling boats, and a DNA database to trace the origin of whalemeat.

In return, there will be official IWC “quotas” set for whales that may be hunted, in all the places where they currently are hunted in spite of the moratorium, which would include the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The quotas are being negotiated for a final version of the proposal, which is currently in draft, due in a month’s time. It will be voted on at the IWC conference in Agadir, Morocco, in June.

Should the deal go ahead, it would represent one of the most significant setbacks ever for conservation.

The ban was brought in after conservation groups showed that many populations of the great whales had been drastically reduced by over-hunting – blue whales, the largest of all, had been driven to the brink of extinction. They also highlighted that whaling itself, based on the firing of explosive harpoons into large and intelligent animals, was cruel.

Despite the ban, countries defying it have still done considerable damage to whale populations. Between them, although there is little market for whale meat, they have since killed more than 30,000 great whales, mainly minke whales, but also Bryde’s, fin, sei and sperm whales. There are fears that these numbers will escalate, however closely monitored the resumption of legal hunting will be.

“This deal spells disaster for whales,” said Vassili Papastavrou, whale scientist for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “I can’t imagine how the very countries that fought so hard for the adoption of the whaling moratorium and the establishment of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary should now even be considering legitimising commercial whaling. If this goes ahead, the IWC will abandon science and return to the dark days of the 1950s.”

Mark Simmonds, head of science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, does not believe assurances that the ban will be retained: “These are weasel words,” he said. “Even though the moratorium would remain in place, the reality is that it will be nullified. The proposal on the table is quite frankly disastrous. It legitimises commercial whaling once again.”

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The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos, follows activists as they try to gain access to a bay where dolphins are corralled and killed.

According to residents of Taji, the hunt, in which hundreds of dolphins and pilot whales are herded into a small bay and either killed for meat or sold to aquariums. has been performed for decades.

The mayor of Taiji, Kazutaka Sangen, protested at the film’s Oscar win.

“I think it is regrettable that the film presents as fact material that is not backed up by scientific proof,” he said in a statement reported by Reuters news agency.

He said that the hunt was legal in Japan and called for respect for the traditions of different cultures.

The film has not been seen in Japan other than at the Tokyo Film Festival, but distributors say a modified version will open in some cities this year.

In the Japanese version the faces of the fishermen will be blurred and a note added acknowledging disagreement over the film’s claim of high levels of mercury in dolphin meat.

Psihoyos said he hoped that when the film was released in Japan people would “decide themselves whether animals should be used for meat and for entertainment”.

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The call comes during on-going talks to allow four commercial operators, including two eco-tourism boat companies, access to the water out of Inverness Marina.

The WDCS believes the additional traffic on the water could exceed safe limits for the UK’s most northerly group of bottle-nosed dolphins that live in the firth’s area of conservation.

The organization says the decision is being made based on commercial benefits alone, and people aren’t considering the potential risks for the 130-dolphin colony, and is calling on the Scottish government to conduct additional research before making a decision.

“Allowing the dolphin-watching industry to carry on growing without the benefit of solid research to demonstrate that such growth is within sustainable parameters is dangerous for the animals and a commercial ‘own goal’ for the local dolphin-watching industry,” said Sarah Dolman, head of policy for the WDCS in Scotland.

Dolman adds that an independent research study by St Andrew’s University suggests that the Inner Moray Firth is already at capacity with existing water vessels, and adding tour boats would be exceeding its limits.

Jamie Hogan, managing director of Inverness Marina, says a decision has not yet been made in regards to the additional water vessels.

By Taylor Turner

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The decision will ultimately come down to a vote, but the Danish proposal to allow a quota to hunt 10 humpback whales for the first time in nearly 25 years, continues to create tension between European Union countries.

The only countries that openly support the proposal are the Nordic European countries, but all countries must vote the same way at the special meeting in order for the idea to succeed.

WDCS and WSPA have both questioned the IWC’s credibility if the organization grants Greenland the increased quota, and has urged European countries to vote against the proposal.

The two organizations have even combined to release a reported entitled Questionable Quotas, which challenges the humpback hunt and reveals serious failings in Greenland’s current subsistence whaling operations.

For example, the report claims that Greenland has never substantiated its claim to need hundreds of tonnes of whale meat and participates in “widespread commercialisation and sale” of whale products contrary to the IWC’s criteria, among other things.

Sue Fisher, of WDCS’s anti-whaling programme, is openly lobbying the IWC to drop the request.

“Greenland is not demonstrating that it needs more whales. The IWC will lose all credibility if it grants the Greenlandic proposal to resume humpback whaling,” she said. “It’s incumbent on European members to finally climb off the fence and block this proposal.”

Additionally, Claire Bass, of WSPA’s marine mammal programme, says the IWC needs to adhere to the decision to ban commercial whaling made in 1986 as she claims 25 per cent of whales killed for “aboriginal subsistence purposes” end up on supermarket shelves.

IWC European Union members will meet again shortly to discuss how they will vote on the proposal in March. The hesitation is generating worry among conservationists that the remaining pro-whaling majority will vote in favour of the proposal.

By Taylor Turner

Whether it is the idea that any animal that causes the death of a human should be euthanised or that this tragic incident demonstrates why animals should not be kept in captivity, it has aroused strong emotions in almost everyone commenting upon it.

Philip Hoare, author of the non-fiction book “The Whale,”, recently spoke candidly about our relationship with orcas, the toll captivity takes on whales, and the continued risk it poses for human beings.

Discussing whether there has been any prior history of orcas attacking humans, he suggested that rather than a demonstration of malice, the attack was an example of how the whales being overenthusiastic in their attempts to ‘play’ with humans.

“Well, other whales have been known to go too far in their play with humans. Pilot whales off Madeira, in the Atlantic, have been known to drag swimmers down to the depths, apparently heedless of their need for air.”

He tempered this romanticised view of the whale by citing the way they treat seals in the wild:

“Watch what an orca does with a seal kill. It’s tossed in the air – orcas often play with their food before eating it.”

But he was quick to point out that it is unlikely that Tilikum was acting out this behaviour with his trainer:

“No orca would regard a human as food. They’re much too smart for that. Their sonar can diagnose if a woman is pregnant, for heaven’s sake.”

Even though he thought it was unlikely to have been a malicious attack, he was sure that they were not the actions of a healthy whale:

“I think that Tilly’s behaviour on balance does indicate a kind of cetacean psychosis.”

A lot of the fallout of the incident has centred around questioning the ethics of keeping animals such as orcas in captivity. While much whale behaviour is still a mystery to us, there has been extensive observations made into the social behaviour of whales in the wild. Hoare believes that this is something that cannot be overlooked in the case of Tilikum.

“Well, here you’ve got species that are used to having an entire ocean – if not the watery world – in which to live and play. Dolphins – and an orca is just an overgrown dolphin, really – are addicted to play. It is an essential part of their social structure

“Take away the stimulus of that vast, three-dimensional, near-gravity-free environment, and the social structures they have built up over millennia, and it’s obvious you’re going to induce mental illness.”

While conservationists are generally against keeping orca’s in captivity, they are vehement in their opposition to making these animals perform. While Hoare does not see an inherent problem in tapping into these creature’s natural tendencies to play and perform, but that people should be aware of the risks involved.

“They want to please, like dogs. They need to exhibit creative behaviour. We’re artificially inducing that behaviour, to our own needs. Trainers do have their animals’ best interests at heart, of course, but you are only ever dealing with a wild animal, whose reactions are unpredictable, at base.”

One particularly interesting area that Hoare was able to shed light upon was the history involved in interactions between whales and humans:

“In Australia, in the 20th century, shore whalers at Eden, on the coast of New South Wales, cooperated with a pod of orca, led by a bull male named Old Tom. They would herd humpbacks, passing on their migration, south toward the Antarctic.”

“The orca would corral the unsuspecting great whales into the cup of Two-fold Bay, where the human hunters would then row out to harpoon the whales.”

“Sinking naturally to the shallow seabed, the orca would there be allowed to claim their prize: the humpback’s tongue, the only part of the animal they relished. A day later, the dead whale, bloated with gas, would rise to the surface for collection by the whalers.”

The treatment of orcas in captivity now is a long way from this mutually beneficial relationship where humans were interacting with the whales in their natural habitat. Hoare shared his first experience of seeing a whale in captivity.

“My first exposure to a living whale was at a safari park outside London, where Ramu, a newly captured orca, went through its routines. Even to a young boy, it was clear this wasn’t the right way to treat a wild animal.

“Imprisoned in its overgrown swimming pool, its proud, 6-foot dorsal fin had flopped over, a symptom of stress and a symbol of its detumescent state.”

Hoares closing comments provided a sobering insight into our interactions with the orcas, suggesting that it may take a tragedy such as this to give us the perspective required to look back on our history with the whales.

“We certainly seem to react to whales in a different way. I think it’s because of the paradoxical elusiveness of their nature. For all their massive size, we barely ever see them. We never know their reality. The latest research into cetacean intelligence places them only just after Homo sapiens, and above primates, in their capabilities. It’s that not-knowingness that leads us on. Also, our guilt.”

“We may feel the collective regrets of a collective history between our species. We know what we’ve done. The amazing thing is — though when it comes to human beings, I guess this is no surprise — that we go on doing it.”

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People have known about pollution in the area since the mid-1990s, when the Brunswick chemical plant went bankrupt and closed. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took charge of planning a clean-up at what was one of the worst sites for pollution in the American Southeast.

While most immediate hazards were cleaned years ago, the agency is still deciding what sort of long-term work is needed.

A relatively rare type of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) was used at Brunswick’s LCP plant, and over many years it spread through the marshes of the Turtle River and nearby creeks.

PCBs are a family of chlorine-based chemicals that were used in insulating oils for machinery. They were banned in the 1970s because of concerns about cancer risks and environmental damage.

In August, scientists examined the health of dolphins in Brunswick and around nearly undeveloped Sapelo Island farther north. They also took tissue samples from animals in both places.

The scientists discovered PCB levels in Sapelo dolphins were more than twice as high as on most of the East Coast, and came from a product called Aroclor 1268 that was used at the chemical plant.

The contamination in the area closer to the site of the factory was off the charts.

Compared to a typical East Coast count of about 64 parts per million, the Brunswick dolphins had about 400 parts per million.

Some animals had 2,900 parts per million, a level unprecedented in any other similar studies of wildlife contamination.

While the areas surrounding the closed plant have been the focus of testing up until now, it is likely to be widened to other communities over fears that the contamination could have spread.

If fish that are polluted in one place travel somewhere else before they’re eaten, then larger numbers of dolphins could suffer.

The dolphins’ PCB levels weren’t just high just from swimming near pollution, but because those chemicals became concentrated in the fat and tissue of fish that the dolphins ate.

The contamination from the pollution site “may be mobilized and move up and down the coast … as the prey move around,” said Teri Rowles, who directs a marine mammal office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Because dolphins’ diets include pan fish like mullet, croaker and spot, scientists worry the same thing could be happening in people.

Sometime this year, CDC researchers will test that by collecting blood from people who eat a lot of locally caught seafood. They’ll also ask those people to keep a meal diary and to bring scientists a sample of whatever they normally eat, to test alongside the blood samples.

“What we’re very much interested in seeing is what the relationship is between what is in their food and what is in their bodies,” said Lorraine Backer, an environmental epidemiologist planning the project.

“There is potential for people to be exposed to these PCBs. Whether the levels are high enough to warrant concerns for people’s health … that is still to be determined,” said Lori Schwacke, a NOAA researcher with the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., who has led the dolphin study.

“These are such incredibly high levels,” she said, “it’s certainly enough to warrant further study.”

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The government only recently funded an independent scientific study into the area to determine what effect continued development may have. This report concluded that a maximum of 220 should be allowed in a marina in the Moray Firth to ensure the safety of the dolphins. It has come as a shock to the WDCS that the Highland Council has approved for a marina for 500 boats to be built.

What is even more worrying for the WDCS is that the marina is currently only one of many possible developments that could pose a threat to the dolphins.

Exercise Joint Warrior (Europe’s largest military exercise) will be occurring in Scottish waters again, as every year, in April and October 2010. As yet, it is not known whether the MOD (Ministry of Defence) plans to conduct sonar and other activities in the Firth.

The Moray Firth Zone is one of the key areas expected to be developed for wind farms. The Crown Estate, which owns the UK’s coastal seabeds on behalf of the UK Government, last month announced plans for up to 1,000 huge offshore wind farms with the announcement of two new development sites in the Moray Firth and the Firth of Forth

In a post on their website the WDCS said: “It is only with your help that we can ensure that the right decisions are made by government departments. We must ensure the protection of the dolphins.”

“The coming months are crucial to the survival of Scotland’s only protected dolphin population with key decisions on oil and gas exploration, harbour developments, marine wind farms and military exercises in the area being made.”

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The orca, named Tilikum, is reported to have been involved in the death of another trainer in 1991, while there have previously been other incidences of orcas attacking trainers at SeaWorld parks in 2006 and 2004.

While attacks by captive orcas are rare, with only around 24 reported cases, attacks by orcas in the wild are even rarer. Only a small number of cases have been recorded, and never has a person been injured in an attack.

The rarity of attacks in the wild means that it is difficult for scientists to pinpoint a reason why they would attack humans. When an attack occurs in captivity, it only underlines how little we still know about the animals.

“The tragic events are a reminder that orcas are wild, strong and often unpredictable animals,” says Danny Groves, of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

The WDCS has repeatedly called for captive whales to be returned, not least because captivity appears to drastically reduce their life expectancy.

An argument often cited for keeping animals in captivity is that it provides a valuable opportunity to observe their behaviour. In the case of orcas though, the vast majority of useful scientific study has been made in the wild, where their complex social interactions can be observed in large groups that they form, known as ‘pods’.

Though some observations have been made into the acoustic behaviour of the whales, few insights have been made from studying captive whales. “The science doesn’t justify the captivity. One thing I would hope is that this unfortunate incident might lead to a considered discussion on phasing out these marine parks.”

Although for many people the idea of returning captive orcas to the wild seems an obvious and ethical decision. The film ‘Free Willy’ brought the issue to public attention, and while the fictionalised account of events had a happy ending, the real story involving the star of the film is a much sadder tale.

Keiko, who played ‘Willy’ in the film, was the subject of a huge campaign following the release of the film. A study published by US and Danish scientists last year in the journal Marine Mammal Science documents the attempt to release Keiko back into the wild.

In the wild, Keiko rarely interacted with wild orcas, and never integrated into a wild pod. He also struggled to learn how to hunt, making shallower and less frequent dives than wild whales. Eventually, and despite the best efforts of his trainers, he could not break his need for human contact, and kept following or returning to the trainers’ boat.

Keiko eventually died, still semi-captive in 2003.

The report wrote how this failure demonstrates the dilemma when considering the welfare of captive orcas: “The release of Keiko demonstrated that release of long-term captive animals is especially challenging and while we as humans might find it appealing to free a long-term captive animal, the survival and well being of the animal may be severely impacted in doing so.”

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Diego was told on Sunday how the creatures’ brain power means they can suffer psychological problems linked to being captured and confined. This came as part of US neuroscientist, Lori Marino’s presentation of her extensive studies into dolphin intelligence.

Marino conducted a breakthrough study in 2001, in which Dolphins were shown to recognise themselves in mirrors. This demonstrated a level of self-awareness that is linked to superior intelligence.

Further studies since then have lead Marino to describe the mammals as: “sophisticated, self-aware, highly intelligent beings with individual personalities, autonomy and an inner life.”

This new-found emotional and social complexity could necessitate a rethinking of the current treatment of dolphins, especially those held in captivity being made to perform. Marino said: “Our current knowledge of dolphin brain complexity and intelligence suggests that these practices are potentially psychologically harmful to dolphins”

Mark Simmons of the WDCS believes that our change of attitude should extend beyond just those held in wildlife parks: “We need to start to rethink how we are interacting with these animals in the wild.”

Generating empathy with an animal’s plight is often the most effective way of changing attitudes towards them. In the case of dolphins the leap of imagination to think how cruelty or captivity affects them may not be a huge one. As Mark Simmons soberly puts it: “They can suffer in the same way we suffer.”

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A leading US researcher in this field, Lori Marino of Emory University, Altanta, Georgia has used magnetic resonance imagery to scan dolphin brains and concluded that their brain neuroanatomy suggests “psychological continuity between humans and dolphins that has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions.”

When it comes to correlation with intelligence, brain size relative to body size is more significant than absolute brain size. Marino and colleagues found the brain cortex of bottlenose dolphins so large that “the anatomical ratios that assess cognitive capacity place it second only to the human brain.”

Behaviour studies of dolphins also suggest that they have a significant degree of intelligence. For example, bottle-nosed dolphins recognise themselves in a mirror and can use the mirror to look at various parts of their bodies. Dolphins are able to learn simple symbol-based language. Wild dolphins live in groups that have complex social structures and emotional sophistication and when hunting, dolphins co-operate with great precision to herd shoals of fish.

A recent study followed how an injured wild dolphin that was placed in a dolphinarium to recuperate, where it was taught the trick of tail-walking. When it was released to the wild again, scientists continued to observe the group it joined, and watched with amazement as the trick of tail-walking spread through to the other dolphins.

Some scientists are so impressed by the mental capacity of the dolphin that they believe dolphins should be recategorised and treated as “non-human persons.”

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A recently released report says that the large nets used in commercial fishing operations are causing high death rates amongst 86% of the toothed whales species, a suborder of the cetaceans including dolphins, porpoises, and killer and sperm whales.

In addition to entanglement in fishing equipment, many species face forced changes in diet and a lack of food resulting from overfishing.

UNEP says other risks to the toothed whale populations include habitat degradation from dams, the withdrawal of water from lakes and rivers, noise from seismic explorations, military sonar pose and marine construction projects, all of which are also becoming increasingly dangerous for the marine mammals.

By Taylor Turner

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