168 Whales Sighted In 15 Minutes During Whale Counts. According to Maui Now, “More than 572 volunteers gathered data from the shores of O’ahu, Kaua’i and Hawai’i islands during the first event of the 2019 Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count, and on Maui with the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation. Humpback whale breaching about a mile offshore from Mākena, Maui. (1.4.18) PC: file by Ellen Raimo During the federal government shutdown, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is coordinating Sanctuary Ocean Count events. This is the first year that both counts are coordinated on the same days, ensuring the data from all main islands is collected simultaneously. It is also the first year that Pacific Whale Foundation is expanding their Great Whale Count on Maui from one month to three. BOTH COUNTS COMBINED: Volunteers collected data from 51 sites across all the main islands. A total of 168 whale sightings were seen during the 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count. SANCTUARY OCEAN COUNT: Volunteers collected data from 39 sites on the islands of Hawai’i, O’ahu and Kaua’i on January 26. A total of 96 whale sightings were seen during the 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count. PWF GREAT WHALE COUNT: Great Whale Count volunteers collected data from 12 sites across Maui on January 26 during timed intervals between 8:30 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. A total of 72 whale sightings were seen during the 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.” [Maui Now, 1/27/19 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Trump Shielded Big Oil From Government Shutdown Effects. According to The Mercury News, “President Trump’s government shutdown held our communities hostage over a racist and environmentally destructive border wall. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were forced to go without paychecks while the bills piled up. (How long could you go without a paycheck?) Our national parks suffered what could be permanent damage. Public health protections and safeguards against pollution were put on hold. But one industry continued with business as usual — oil and gas. During the shutdown, Acting Interior Secretary and former oil lobbyist David Bernhardt brought back furloughed employees to continue working on plans to radically expand offshore oil and gas drilling. Leasing our oceans to polluters is apparently an ‘essential’ function for this administration. As drafted, the plans would open nearly all of our nation’s coasts to oil and gas drilling, including California’s shoreline — where there have been no federal lease sales since 1984. The offshore drilling expansion itself is unacceptable, but the fact that the Trump administration prioritized work on it during the shutdown is a slap in the face to the furloughed federal employees and all Californians who care about our beaches and healthy oceans.” [The Mercury News, 1/27/19 (=)]

 

 

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