Pete Thomas Outdoors

Dana Wharf in Orange County the hot spot for halibut

During what's typically a slow time of year for the local landings, Dana Wharf Sportfishing has a great thing going: close proximity to quality halibut fishing, and an ongoing derby to lure passengers onto its boats.

Friday was one of the most productive yet as seven of 23 anglers aboard the Clemente, during a nine-hour drift-fishing excursion, caught legal-sized halibut. Many shorts were released.

Friday also produced a new leader, Mike Knudston, who used whole squid to entice a 43.08-pound flattie onto his hook (see photos).

"We are loving our passengers they are doing great, and they're all very into it," said Donna Kalez, who runs Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale-watching. "For the first time ever all 25 leader board positions are filled. Now the fun starts; small fish will be knocked off and new leaders will fill the spots. It is really halibut crazy!"

Second in the derby is Peggy Stein with a 25.11-pounder, and third is Mike Pinson with a 25.07-pounder.

There are two ways to enter the derby, which runs through April 30 and features a fish-off on May 8. One is to simply board one of the nine-hour drift trips, which cost $59 and includes the $5 entry fee. The other is to pay the $5 fee before any half-day or three-quarter-day trip (entry is valid only during the day of the trip).

The more people who enter the bigger the prize will be at the end of the season (last year's jackpot totaled nearly $1,300). At the end of the derby the person with the heaviest halibut will win 50% of the jackpot. The remaining 50% will go to the winner of the fish-off.

Additionally, the angler with the heaviest halibut at the end of each month will receive a $100 landing gift card and an Okuma rod and reel.

Unless someone gets very lucky, that angler this month will be Knudtson. But you never know, and that's one of the great things about fishing.

-- Pete Thomas

Halibut images courtesy of Monique Gannon / Dana Wharf Sportfishing

Tensions mount between Sea Shepherd activists, whalers

The so-called Whale Wars saga involving Japanese whale hunters and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists appears to have reached a boiling point.

The crew of the Yushin Maru 3 on Friday issued a mayday signal, claiming it was under attack by the activists from the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker. Sea Shepherd countered that the Bob Barker was seven miles away when the distress signal was issued, and accused the harpoon boat crew of trying to ram and destroy its smaller harassment boat.

“It was like staring death in the face when that steel hull suddenly turned into us. We just narrowly avoided being cut in half,” said Locky  MacLean, captain of the the boat, named Gojira.

The Institute of Cetacean Research, the group supporting the so-called scientific whaling missions, issued a news release stating that the assault continued for hours despite the mayday call, and that activists "deployed at least 10 propeller foulers and threw more than 80 butyric acid-filled glass bottles and at least five smoke bombs against the Yushin Maru 3."

The Yushin Maru 3, one of three harpoon boats involved in the Southern Ocean hunt, apparently had been tailing the Bob Barker in an attempt to prevent it from pursuing the factory processing ship, Nisshin Maru. Sea Shepherd stated that a Gojira crewman radioed the Yushin Maru 3 and said it would not be hassled if it stopped tailing the Bob Barker.

Sea Shepherd also claims that someone on the harpoon boat hurled a "bamboo spear" at an activist driving an inflatable vessel alongside the harpoon boat. Sea Shepherd posted video of that incident on its website.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Sea Sherpherd activists are fired upon by water cannons. Credit: Gary Stokes / Sea Shepherd

 Twitter: @Pete_Thomas

Tokyo restaurant tries to revive demand for whale meat

As Japanese whalers ply the Southern Ocean and as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists try to prevent harpoon crews from killing cetaceans, a Tokyo restaurateur is campaigning to make whale meat tasty in an age where demand is in steep decline.

"We serve slices of whale sashimi. We serve deep-fried whale meat as well as stewed whale and whale bacon," boasted Shintaro Sato, owner of Taru-ichi restaurant, to ABC News.

If that doesn't tantalize the taste buds, Sato has a three-foot-long dried whale penis hanging above the entrance, to further demonstrate to patrons the special nature of his establishment.

To his credit, whaling is rooted deeply in Japanese culture, and Sato is quick to defend that against critics from anti-whaling civilizations. "What if we asked Australians to stop eating kangaroo or if we ordered the English to stop eating fish and chips -- what would their reaction be?" Sato said.

While whaling is culturally important to some Japanese, demand for whale meat is dwindling, as younger generations seemingly no longer want to eat flesh carved from a giant oily mammal.

A 2008 Greenpeace survey determined that only about 5% of Japanese people eat whale meat. More recently stories have stated that stockpiles of frozen whale meat has reached historic highs, providing more evidence of a shrinking demand.

As for Sea Shepherd, whose harassment techniques have hampered the whalers' efforts, that's a sore subject as far as Sato is concerned.

"Sea Shepherd is engaged in terrorism," he said. "Their actions are violent and illegal. They are not logical so I cannot understand them."

Japan conducts its whaling missions under a "lethal research" loophole in the wording of a global ban on commercial whaling, with an annual quota of 900-plus minke whales. That any research effort would require the killing of so many whales might also seem illogical.

-- Pete Thomas

Minke whale photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

Dolphin slaughter resumes after long lull at Taiji, Japan

Japanese whalers may or may not have logged any kills yet this season in the Southern Ocean, but dolphin hunters operating out of Taiji, Japan, reportedly made up for lost time after a long period of inactivity.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins (of Earth Island Institute) report that the slaughter resumed today after a 17-day lull. Sea Shepherd activists report that hunters killed an estimated 15 bottlenose dolphins and captured seven.

Volunteers from Save Japan Dolphins reported that the number of dolphins herded into the infamous killing cove numbered between 18-25. The group did not list a kill tally.

 

In today's blog post for Save Japan Dolphins, volunteers Tim and Carrie Burns commented that trainers in support of the captive-dolphin industry were present, hand-picking animals to be sold to marine parks while the slaughter was in progress. They described the scene as "horrific."

Sea Shepherd estimates that about 540 dolphins have been killed this season, and another 140 have been captured. The group asks that people opposed to the hunts call or write officials mentioned on this website link. Save Japan Dolphins advises opponents to visit this link and follow instructions. Opponents also are advised to complain directly to the Dolphin Base in Japan via email.

-- Pete Thomas

Video of the dolphin capture is courtesy of Save Japan Dolphins

Ollie the orphaned otter flourishing at Aquarium of the Pacific

There will be plenty of feel-good stories this holiday season, and one involves a baby sea otter that was discovered lost and shivering on Twin Lake Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif.

She weighed only 5 pounds. Her eyes searched for her mother but she had somehow become orphaned. If left alone she faced certain death, so state wildlife officials picked her up and delivered her to a Northern California care facility while a search began for a permanent home.

That was nearly three months ago. On Thursday the furry little critter was the subject of a mini-media frenzy as she was shown to reporters where she now resides, at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

This survival story comes at a time when California's iconic sea otters are struggling to survive in the wild, their numbers having dropped precipitously in recent years because of pollution, malnutrition and shark attacks.

Ollie, who was named by a 6-year-old cancer patient and aquarium regular, has flourished to where she can now be put on public display for behind-the-scenes tours. Ultimately she'll join the main exhibit space with four other ultra-cute otters, named Maggie Sr. and Little Maggie, Brook and Charlie.

 

Ollie weighed 10 pounds when she was delivered from the care center, and now weighs 18 pounds.

"Ollie loves eating clam and playing with enrichment toys," said Caitlin Dixon, senior mammal expert at the Long Beach facility. "When tours walk by, they will most likely hear her as she's our most talkative otter."

It's hoped that Ollie will help raise awareness about the plight of Central California's otters, which are critical to the health of the region's rich kelp-forest habitat.

Currently, only about 2,700 otters reside within a 200-mile range.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Ollie courtesy of Hugh Ryono / Aquarium of the Pacific

Divers' plunge with a billion sardines caught on video

Scuba-diving with big fish is a thrill, but swimming among and becoming engulfed by millions of shimmering sardines as they swing and sway with the current is just plain surreal.

You don't need to be a diver to appreciate the experience; you you just need to watch the video, which was filmed in HD at Moalboal in the Philippines, with the Savedra Dive Center.

If nothing else, it'll brighten your day:

 

Guy Harvey, Wyland record 'beauty of sharks' in Bahamas

Can famous artists make a difference when it comes to saving sharks from being over-fished to the point of extinction or near-extinction -- which many scientists and conservation groups believe is occurring at an alarmingly swift pace?

Perhaps not, but they can at least help delay the inevitable, by using imagery and their voices to foster appreciation and promote conservation.

Marine artists Guy Harvey and Wyland, along with dive master/photographer Jim Abernathy, have returned from the Bahamas -- where a shark-finning operation is under consideration -- and their mission "of recording the beauty of sharks." Here's a preview of their forthcoming documentary; it seems they're off to a good start:

Illinois angler catches, releases near-record 105-pound catfish

Illinois angler Jason Jackson, while fishing during the recent River Bend Classic Tourney on the Mississippi River, reeled from the depths a monstrous catfish that weighed 105 pounds.

It's believed to be one of the top three blue catfish ever landed, and not too many meals shy of the all-tackle world-record specimen, a 130-pounder caught on July 20 in the Missouri River.  That beat a 124-pounder caught on the Mississippi in 2005.

This is big news among anglers in the community of Alton, where the 105- and 124-pounders were caught. But bigger news for record-seekers is that Jackson, an environmental biologist, let the behemoth go after it was weighed, rather than keeping it as a trophy.

"We catch and release all of our large catfish," Jackson, 23, told the Alton Telegraph. "Something that big has to have some great genes and we want to spread as much of that offspring as possible."

Jackson used a river herring as bait and the fight, on 100-pound braided line, lasted 20 minutes.

-- Pete Thomas

Sea Shepherd rep Scott West detained in Taiji, Japan

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is reporting on Facebook tonight that Scott West, its dolphin-hunt watchdog in Taiji, Japan, has been physically removed by police as he attempted to document the slaughter of pilot whales.

Taiji is the site of the infamous killing cove, made famous by the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove." Taiji fishermen began their annual dolphin hunt -- a tradition they and Japan maintain is culturally important and vital to their economic welfare -- on Sept. 1.

Opposition to the hunt, and to the capture of live dolphins for sale to marine aquariums around the world, has increased considerably this year.

Here's the Sea Shepherd report, issued 30 minutes ago: "Scott West  has been taken away by the police in Taiji for attempting to film the slaughter of 10 Risso's dolphins. This is happening now. Scott tossed his cell phone to his daughter Elora as the police led him away. It is uncertain at this time if there are any charges. Scott said before he began filming that he did not think he would be in violation of any Japanese laws."

-- Pete Thomas

Guy Harvey to join cause on behalf of Bahamas' sharks

Renowned marine artist Guy Harvey, according to a WPTV 5 report in Florida, is traveling to the Bahamas to record the beauty of sharks in an effort to help raise awareness about the plight these magnificent predators face, with the strong prospect of a commercial shark-finning operation taking root there. Also involved is marine artist Wyland.

This is fantastic news for the shark conservation movement. Caribbean reef sharks, which are popular among scuba-diving tourists, should not be decimated so people in other parts of the world, notably China, can enjoy their precious shark-fin soup.

The Harvey team will add celebrity to the conservation effort, but it's not the first to use art to capture the  beauty of the region's sharks. Last month Joe Romeiro and dive-master Cristina Zenato created a video that featured captivating footage and stunning imagery during a Grand Bahama Island feeding session.

Can Harvey and Wyland produce something as compelling. Take a look and see what you think: