Pete Thomas Outdoors

No buyer for whale shark 'accidentally' killed off India

If there's good news to be gleaned from a report in India, about fishermen who claimed to have accidentally netted and killed a protected whale shark, it's that they could not find a buyer in either their local market, in Dighi, or at a larger market in Mumbai.

Maybe this will help cut down on so-called accidental catches of docile creatures that are vulnerable to fishing pressure throughout their tropical habitat.

The bad news, of course, is that one of these mysterious gentle giants was killed and ultimately dumped at sea.

DNA India reports that the whale shark caught last week weighed 780 kilograms, or more than 1,700 pounds.

The story quotes a forest department official as saying, "It is obvious that it was an accident; the fishermen did not intend to catch this particular fish."

Plankton-eating whale sharks, which are still hunted in parts of Asia, are the largest fish on the planet and can reach lengths of 40 feet or more.

Little is known about their migration patterns or their overall population, but their numbers are believed to have declined sharply over the years.

They're prized as tourist attractions at scuba-diving destinations within their range, and in these areas, obviously, they're worth far more alive than they are dead.

Seal harassment at Children's Pool leads to nightly closure

 

A recent video showing two women harassing harbor seals at Children's Pool beach in La Jolla has prompted San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to order the immediate closure of the beach overnight.

“I felt it was important to take this step after evidence of individuals seen on videotape harassing, taunting and causing stress to the seals,” Filner said in a statement.

The closure will be enforced until May 15, when the pupping season is expected to end. San Diego Police Department officers have also stepped up patrols of the area.

The video footage, seen above, is from a recently installed web camera put in place so that viewers can watch the seals. The cam includes infrared capability -- which is how the two women were caught on video harassing seals.

"The pregnant seals are giving birth and when they’re harassed, they end up being separated from their offspring, and then the chances of survival for the offspring are very much reduced," Larry Wan, founder of the Western Alliance for Nature, which installed and oversees the video camera, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"And if they’re forced into the sea when they’re giving birth, that also doesn’t bode well for the seals."

San Diego Police Department Capt. Brian Ahearn, who oversees the department's Northern Division, said that the harassment case involving the two women caught on the video is still being investigated.

-- Kelly Burgess

Video from La Jolla Light via YouTube

Dead fin whale, probably killed by a ship, found in L.A. Harbor

A dead fin whale estimated to measure about 60 feet arrived in Los Angeles Harbor on Tuesday evening on the bow section of a container ship that most likely delivered its fatal wounds.

Only about 45 feet of the carcass, not including the head or tail, was visible above and just below the surface on Wednesday, after the whale had been tied to a dock (see photos). It was reasonably fresh, indicating that the whale had died recently, perhaps within 24 hours of when it was discovered.

"Based on the shape of the carcass at the posterior end, it appears that there was impact of blunt force, and around that area there was hemorrhaging," Christina Fahy, an NOAA Fisheries biologist who inspected the carcass Wednesday, stated via email. "Which means the whale was alive when it was struck."

Fahy could not state as fact that the ship in question had killed the whale. That ship is the Ever Daity of the Evergreen line.

According to the Daily Breeze, it's from Coco Solo, Panama.

Fahy added: "The Coast Guard noted that the whale was higher in the water than last night, so it was just starting to bloat. [But] the whale did not smell, nor was its skin sloughing, so I suspect it was a recent occurrence."

The carcass was to be towed to the west end of San Clemente Island on Wednesday night.

A handful of whales, often including endangered fin whales and blue whales, are killed by ship strikes off California each year.

Blue whales are the largest creatures to have inhabited the planet, measuring to 100 feet and weighing up to 150 tons. Fin whales are the second largest whale species, and can measure to nearly 80 feet.

Both whales feed on tiny shrimp-like krill, which has been bountiful off Southern California this winter. There have been several fin whale sightings recently off the Los Angeles area, including busy shipping areas, and Orange County.

Boaters who encounter an injured or distressed whale are asked to call NOAA's 24-hour hotline at 877-767-9425, or to hail the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.

--Pete Thomas

--Photos: Top image shows fin whale belly-up alongside dock, with NOAA scientist Christina Fahy and U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Brandon Earhart in the foreground. David Janiger, curatorial assistant of mammals at the L.A. County Museum of Natural History, is kneeling in the background. NOAA public affairs officer Jim Milbury also is pictured. Second image reveals a closer look at the whale and its rorqual pleats (throat grooves). Credit: Alisa Schulman-Janiger

Anti-whaling boat damaged in harrowing collision (video)

Dramatic videotape released Monday, showing an anti-whaling boat being sandwiched tightly between two much larger ships, underscores the tense relationship that exists between Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Sea Shepherd released the video Monday. It shows the Bob Barker being pressed between the Nisshin Maru and a Korean refueling tanker. It also shows what's said to be a flash-bang grenade explosion near the stern of the refueling ship, the Sun Laurel (image posted above, video posted below).

The Bob Barker was being used in an attempt to thwart the Nishin Maru's refueling effort in the remote Southern Ocean.

 

"The Bob Barker has sustained major damage from being sandwiched between the Nisshin Maru and the fuel tanker Sun Laurel," Sea Shepherd stated on its Facebook page. "The engine room is now visible through a crack in the floor of the galley. The Sam Simon has massive scratches and dings along their hull, and a smashed satellite dome."

The crew was said to be OK. But the incident, one of the most harrowing in the years-long history of confrontations between the two groups, reveals the serious nature of this game of chess that plays out each season in Antarctic waters.

Sea Shepherd also stated that another of its vessels, the Sam Simon, was dinged during another collision with the Nisshin Maru, and that there was a third collision that involved the Nisshin Maru.

Sea Shepherd opposes Japan's whaling effort with various harassment techniques (its boats were trailing propeller-fouling ropes at the time this incident occurred), and both sides claim that what each other is doing is illegal.

Sea Shepherd has a huge fan base,  but many also vehemently oppose the group and the way it operates. This latest incident, or set of incidents, has inspired typical reactions. Sea Shepherd is either commended or carrying its mission dangerously too far.

This is the second set of collision incidents that occurred during the whalers' attempts to refuel. After last week's incidents, the government of Japan and the Institute of Cetacean Research, which manages the annual minke whale hunts, announced that they had temporarily suspended whaling operations.

The ICR blamed Sea Shepherd for last week's collisions.

Japan annually targets nearly 1,000 whales, claiming the missions are scientific and using a lethal research loophole in the wording of an international moratorium on commercial whaling to skirt the ban.

Few legitimate scientists, if any, believe that killing 900-plus minke whales is necessary or beneficial to the whales from a scientific standpoint. The whale meat, not surprisingly, is sold commercially in Japan. 

--Pete Thomas

Paddling with whales off Redondo Beach is fun, but is it wise?

It must have been thrilling to paddle so closely to fin whales, which are the world's second-largest inhabitants on the planet (next to blue whales).

But the SUPers pictured above may have placed themselves in danger by traveling so silently in such close proximity to powerful creatures that can weigh up to 70 tons.

The image was captured by Tim Hammond on Sunday from the Voyager off Redondo Beach. It has generated lots of commentary on Facebook, much of it about the wisdom of SUPing with whales and  guidelines that urge whale-watchers aboard any craft to try to stay 100 yards or more from whales.

They are just guidelines, as pointed out, but it's against the law to harass whales or cause changes in their behavior. These paddlers may not have been in clear violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but Hammond writes that thy ignored a loud-speaker plea by the Voyager's captain "to back off" and that "they kept paddling to keep up with the whales at about 30 yards or less."

There have been lots of fin whales off Southern California, particularly off the Los Angeles area, in recent weeks, thanks to an abundance of shrimp-like krill. Feeding behavior sometimes includes surface lunging, which could be dangerous for paddlers.

Boat engines make noise, even when the boats are idle, so the whales probably are aware of their presence. But SUP boards make very little noise, even when a paddler is in motion. A whale that may not be aware of a paddler's presence could accidentally injure or kill that paddler.

"One flip of the tail and there they go, and the headline would be 'Whale hits man,' " said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a local researcher.

What is hoped, Hammond implied, is that this photo and any publicity it generates will remind paddlers and boaters to stay at a reasonable distance, because there are a lot of fin whales in the area. There also are lots of gray whales, including many with calves, migrating through the region.

Hopefully the publicity won't have the opposite effect and transform the Santa Monica Bay into a SUP-with-the-whales circus, which is what the area resembled at times during the incredible blue whale summer of 2011.

--Pete Thomas

Fisherman dangles arm, giant fish bites and epic battle is on

There are more ways than one to snag a giant tarpon, apparently.

But using a rod and reel has to be safer than the dangling-arm method employed by the man in the video footage.

 

This crazy event occurred in Islamadora, Fla. The man, identified as Ryan Reynolds, is shown wrestling with what appears to be a large tarpon that had latched onto his arm. If the footage is genuine, he jams his other arm into the gill plate for a two-armed grip.

The fish nearly drags Reynolds into the water but he ends up with the upper hand. However, watch the footage and see how the fish regains its freedom.

Tarpon are known, in some places where humans throw them food, to hang out near docks. Robbie's Pier is one such location.

Snake on a plane provides creepy in-flight entertainment

 

As far as in-flight entertainment goes, it doesn't get much more bizarre than a 12-foot python struggling to hold onto the wing of a jetliner at 30,000.

This snake-on-a-plane episode played out on a recent Qantas flight from Cairns to Port Moresby. Passengers were startled to see the snake trying to cling to an area beneath the aircraft's wing where it connects to an engine.

The footage may be disturbing for some as it shows the tail-end of the reptile banging against the plane as it tries to hang on and bunch back up to its previously secure location. The snake was pronounced dead upon landing, according to News.com Australia.

It remains unclear when or how the snake slithered onto the plane but the species, Amethystine pythons, is found in mangroves near the airport.

The video footage, which contains commentary from a passenger, is via Fairfax Media.

This from News.com:

The python was dead on arrival when QF191 touched down at Port Moresby at 7:44 a.m. with 40 passengers and four crew on board.

A crew member said that when the python's presence was first reported the initial reaction was "you gotta be kidding?''

The crew member said there was a lot of commotion on the ground after the plane landed in Port Moresby.

"The python didn't quite make it out alive, especially with some flap extension for landing,'' he said.

Qantas yesterday said hitchhiking pythons were not an everyday occurrence.

Hong Kong rooftop reveals staggering number of shark fins

Hong Kong tourists searching for a real eye-opener might consider a visit to the Kwong Ga Factory Building, 64 Victoria Road, Kennedy Town.

What you probably will see, if you can attain a view of the rooftop, are thousands of drying fins that once belonged to living sharks, which play a crucial role in maintaining the health of marine ecosystems.

Photojournalist Alex Hofford captured incredible footage at the Kennedy Town building, and posted striking images on his website, revealing what presumably is only a partial extent of the fin-drying business in Hong Kong.

(Note: Photo posted above is courtesy of Alex Hofford and protected by copyright law. See Hofford's video posted below.)

They are impressive visuals, but undoubtedly disturbing to conservation-minded people who care about healthy oceans, and about live sharks versus those slaughtered so people in China can enjoy a delicacy for the affluent: shark-fin soup.

An estimated 70 million sharks are killed annually just for their fins. Hong Kong is a hub through which many of those fins pass. Hofford, if nothing else, has raised lots of awareness as his work is being widely shared this week in cyberspace. It was a job well done but one, he stated,  that left him feeling "disgusted with humanity."

 

 

Sea Shepherd's new anti-whaling ship had ties to whaling?

The vessel doesn't look ferocious or exceptionally speedy, like other new boats the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society unveiled before previous campaigns against Japanese whaling. But the SSS Sam Simon (pictured above, and below), which was put on public display this week in the Tasmanian port of Hobart, is not as ordinary as it looks.

Sea Shepherd claims the 183-foot patrol ship, built in 1993 by the Japanese as the Seifu Maru, was previously used to obtain ocean data that benefited Japan's North Pacific Whaling Program. It was even docked alongside whaling vessels.

The ship was retired two years ago and purchased recently by Sea Shepherd with funds donated by Sam Simon, co-creator of the perennial hit TV show "The Simpsons."

Locky Maclean, captain of the Sam Simon, said in a news release: "After months of secrecy, it is such a great feeling to finally be able to fly the Sea Shepherd flag from the main mast, and yes, Sea Shepherd now owns a real Japanese research ship!"

The Sam Simon, which will depart for the Antarctic whaling grounds next week, carries a crew of 24 volunteers who are "ready to brave the Southern Ocean to seek out and shut down the illegal Japanese whaling fleet," Sea Shepherd states.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research has set a quota of nearly 1,000 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales during a campaign that, like the others, is described as research oriented.

Japan skirts a long-standing International Whaling Commission ban on commercial whaling by operating under a lethal research loophole contained within the language of the moratorium.

The whaling effort has been sharply criticized by other nations but Japan has maintained that minke whales are not endangered and that whaling is part of the Japanese culture.

The Japan Times this week published the results of a survey of 1,200 Japanese citizens from around the country. Of people between the ages of 15 and 79, 26.8 percent favored the continuation of Japan's whaling program, while 18.5 percent said whaling should end.

The other 54.7 percent had "no opinion" on the matter, but 88.8 percent of those surveyed said they had not bought whale meat in the last 12 months.

If whaling is controversial, so are the harassment tactics used by Sea Shepherd and its captain, Paul Watson. They have included tossing stink bombs onto whaling ships and ropes onto boat propellers, and both sides have been involved in ramming incidents.

What remains unclear, now that Sam Simon is intimately involved in the anti-whaling movement, is whether this annual series of skirmishes will somehow end up being featured, in some manner, in an episode of "The Simpsons."

--Note: This post also appears on the GrindTv.com Outdoor channel

Florida to launch massive hunt, targeting Burmese pythons

Florida is the only state in the U.S. to have a significant invasive snake problem. In fact, parts of the Sunshine State are overrun with Burmese pythons, among the world's largest snakes, which are a threat to native wildlife, pets, and even small children.

It's a problem with no obvious solution, but wildlife officials are getting creative and this week announced the "2013 Python Challenge," a first-of-its-kind competition for hunters to determine who can harvest the most and longest Burmese pythons.

In other words, next month's 30-day contest will be an all-out assault on a species of snake that can grow to about 25 feet (the longest ever captured in Florida measured 17 feet, 7 inches), and one that preys on small mammals, birds, and even small alligators.

Burmese pythons, which are native to India, China, and the Malay Peninsula, have been in Florida at least since the 1980s, having most likely been introduced by people who had owned them as pets.

Though the invasive reptiles can no longer be acquired as pets in Florida, and though it's illegal for them to be transported across state lines, pythons are prolific breeders and are already well-established in south Florida, especially within Everglades National Park.

These snakes are masters of camouflage and excellent swimmers and climbers, making them difficult to find and capture. Thus, the call for hunters, armed with firearms and machetes, to fan out within designated areas and hopefully make a dent in the python population.

"The FWC is encouraging the public to get involved in helping us remove Burmese pythons from public lands in south Florida," said Kristen Sommers, head of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Exotic Species Coordination Section. "By enlisting both the public and Florida's python [hunting] permit holders in a month-long competitive harvesting of Burmese pythons, we hope to motivate more people to find and harvest these large, invasive snakes."

Grand prizes of $1,500 are being offered to the persons who harvest the most pythons in a competition for the general public (hunters must register and receive a permit) and established permit holders. Additional prizes of $1,000 will be awarded to hunters who bag the longest python in both categories.

There are a few caveats: Hunters must be at least 18; they must complete a brief online training process before registering; and sign a waiver of liability during registration.

Additionally, they must agree to dispatch the snakes in the most humane manner possible, and to target only Burmese pythons.

The invasive snake issue is so serious that several partners have become involved in the Python Challenge as both a culling effort and an awareness campaign, including the University of Florida, The Nature Conservancy, and Zoo Miami.

The competition kicks off Jan. 12 at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, and concludes Feb. 16 with an awards ceremony at Zoo Miami.

--Note: This post also appears on the GrindTv.com Outdoor channel