Endangered Species

 

Endangered Orcas Have Been Missing For 8 Weeks. This Is Unprecedented, Researchers Say. According to KUOW, “It’s been nearly three weeks since anyone has caught sight of a southern resident killer whale and nearly 8 weeks since the endangered orcas were spotted in their core habitat: around the San Juan Islands and southern Vancouver Island. Despite their name, the southern residents often roam widely — as far as California’s Monterey Bay and southeast Alaska. Yet orca researchers say it’s unprecedented for the whales to be gone so long from the inland waters of the Salish Sea, their main habitat this time of year. ‘That’s unheard of. It’s never been the case when southern residents weren’t spotted in their home waters in June,’ said biologist Deborah Giles with the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology. The southern residents’ population, just 76 whales at last count, is made up of three pods. K Pod hasn’t been seen since January. L Pod was last spotted in Monterey Bay on March 31. ‘It all comes back to prey and chinook salmon,’ said Monika Weiland Shields with the Orca Behavior Institute on San Juan Island. ‘Since about 2005, the Fraser River spring chinook stocks that they rely on in April, May and June have just crashed.’” [KUOW, 7/1/19 (+)]

 

Greens, Interior Settle Shasta Salamander Suit. According to E&E News, “Conservationists reached a settlement with the Interior Department requiring the agency to determine whether salamanders that would be imperiled by a proposed dam raise in Northern California should qualify for Endangered Species Act protections. The Center for Biological Diversity sued Interior in November over a renewed bid by the agency to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet. CBD says raising the more than 600-foot dam would inundate critical habitat for three imperiled salamander species. It has sought ESA protections since 2012. Last November, the group sued. When CBD first petitioned to have the salamander listed, it was regarded as a single species. Last year, however, research suggested it is three distinct salamander species, each about 4 inches long with a dark, reddish brown color: the Shasta salamander, the Samwel Shasta salamander and the Wintu Shasta salamander. The settlement requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the species by April 30, 2021, potentially complicating Trump administration efforts to raise the dam to store more water for farmers. ‘Endangered Species Act protection is essential to preventing the extinction of these unique salamanders,’ Jenny Loda, a CBD biologist and attorney, said in a statement. ‘Renewed efforts to raise the level of Shasta dam would destroy the salamanders’ habitat, so they desperately need these lifesaving safeguards.’” [E&E News, 6/28/19 (=)]

 

AP | Maine, Lobstermen Prep Rules To Protect Right Whales. According to E&E News, “Changes to the Maine lobster fishery designed to help a critically endangered species of whale might arrive in 2021 after a lengthy rulemaking process. A team assembled by the federal government has called for the removal of half the vertical trap lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has been meeting with lobstermen around the state to begin the process of crafting rules to achieve that goal. The state held the last of several meetings with lobstermen about the new rules yesterday in Freeport, Maine. Hundreds of members of the state’s lifeblood industry have attended the meetings. Maine hopes to present a plan to the federal government by September, department spokesman Jeff Nichols said before the meeting. The industry is getting ready to grapple with the task of getting so much gear out of the water, said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. ‘There’s definitely concern among lobstermen because they will be changing how they fish,’ she said. ‘It’s not a simple task, but once guys are thinking it through and making changes, there seems to be viable strategies for each person.’” [E&E News, 6/28/19 (=)]

 

Tunnel Project Could Displace 25,000 Sea Birds. According to WVTF, “As a regional transportation authority prepares to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel complex, scientists are warning that failing to deal with thousands of sea birds in the area could be disastrous. Many sea birds nest in colonies. To avoid predators which could eat their eggs and babies, they choose islands. But the biggest colony in Virginia, home to as many as 25,000 birds, faces a new danger. It’s on an island that will soon serve as the staging area for expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel complex. ‘The South Island is also in a very food rich area’ according to Sarah Karpanty, a professor of fish and wildlife conservation at Virginia Tech. She says there are few safe places left for terns, and their populations are already falling. ‘The gull billed tern is actually listed as threatened under the state endangered species act. Also there is a species called the royal tern. Virginia is the northernmost part of its nesting range. ‘ Matt Strickler, Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources, admits there may be no place for the birds to go. ‘Migratory bird habitat on the East Coast in general has been declining for years.’” [WVTF, 6/28/19 (=)]

 

Whaling

 

Ships Set Off In Japan's First Commercial Whale Hunt In More Than 30 Years. According to Reuters, “Five small ships sailed out of harbor on Monday in Japan’s first commercial whale hunt in more than three decades, a move that has aroused global condemnation and fears for the fate of whales. Japan has long said few whale species are endangered, and news in December that it was leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting was the culmination of years of campaigns by industry supporters and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose constituency includes a city that has long whaled. ‘If we had more whale available, we’d eat it more,’ said Sachiko Sakai, a 66-year-old taxi driver in Kushiro, a gritty port city on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, where the whaling ships were waved out of harbor in a brief ceremony. ‘It’s part of Japan’s food culture,’ said Sakai, adding that she ate a lot of whale as a child. ‘The world opposes killing whales, but you can say the same thing about many of the animals bred on land and killed for food.’ The ships, which are set to be joined by vessels from the southern port of Shimonoseki, will spend much of the summer hunting for minke and Baird’s beaked whales.” [Reuters, 6/29/19 (=)]

 

Japan Readies For First Commercial Whaling Hunt In Decades. According to The Hill, “Japanese whaling ships on Sunday prepared for their first commercial hunt in more than 30 years, Reuters reported. Japan exited the International Whaling Commission last year, announcing it would resume commercial whaling banned by the organization on July 1. That move drew backlash from some who cited concerns for damage to whale populations, while others maintain that eating whale is an important part of Japanese culture and say most species are not endangered. The global whaling moratorium was imposed in 1986. Japan then began what it called ‘scientific research whaling’ in the North Pacific and Antarctic, according to Reuters, but critics called the practice a veiled form of commercial whaling. Monday’s hunt will stay within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been a strong proponent of restarting whale hunting, Reuters noted.” [The Hill, 6/30/19 (=)]

 

Wildlife & Conservation

 

Heatwave Cooks Mussels In Their Shells On California Shore. According to The Guardian, “In all her years working at Bodega Bay, the marine reserve research coordinator Jackie Sones had never seen anything like it: scores of dead mussels on the rocks, their shells gaping and scorched, their meats thoroughly cooked. A record-breaking June heatwave apparently caused the largest die-off of mussels in at least 15 years at Bodega Head, a small headland on the northern California bay. And Sones received reports from other researchers of similar mass mussel deaths at various beaches across roughly 140 miles of coastline. While the people who flocked to the Pacific to enjoy a rare 80F beach day soaked up the sun, so did the mussel beds – where the rock-bound mollusks could have been experiencing temperatures above 100F at low tide, literally roasting in their shells. Sones expects the die-off to affect the rest of the seashore ecosystem. ‘Mussels are known as a foundation species. The equivalent are the trees in a forest – they provide shelter and habitat for a lot of animals, so when you impact that core habitat it ripples throughout the rest of the system,’ said Sones. ‘I would expect that this actually impacted the entire region, it’s just that you would have to have people out there to document it to know,’ said Sones.” [The Guardian, 6/28/19 (+)]

 

Budget Cuts Hobble The National Bison Range In Montana. According to Associated Press, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service diverted roughly a third of the National Bison Range Complex’s budget in 2015 and never gave it back. The shrunken budget hobbled staff, slashed Visitor Center hours, and left buildings in disrepair at a place often referred to as the crown jewel of the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System. A 10-month investigation by the Missoulian charted a years-long funding crunch at this group of National Wildlife Refuges, one that began when the Fish and Wildlife Service kept $624,076 intended for the Bison Range Complex at its Denver Regional Office. Fish and Wildlife Service financial records indicate the Bison Range Complex’s annual budget dropped from as much as $2.7 million from 2012 to 2014, to as little as $1.2 million in the years since. By May 2017, Bison Range manager Jeff King was warning his superiors that ‘we are (past) the muscle and bone and in to the marrow on our ability to even manage our highest priorities, and even those things are suffering.’” [Associated Press, 6/29/19 (=)]

 

Trump Golf Course

 

Rare Scottish Sand Dunes Destroyed At Trump Golf Course. According to E&E News, “More than 100 acres of protected sand dunes were bulldozed on President Trump’s golf course in Scotland, leading the government to remove the destroyed ecosystem from protected status. Scottish Natural Heritage, which is tasked with environmental protection in the country, determined last week that the Trump Organization destroyed 168 acres of land containing the dunes, or about one-quarter of the site. The dunes formed over 4,000 years and are in a constant state of motion as they shift with the winds. The government organization recommended that the Trump golf course in Aberdeenshire lose its protected status as a designated site of special scientific interest. In a statement, Scottish Natural Heritage spokeswoman Sally Thomas said it was ‘unusual’ for sites that received the highest level of protection to be removed. ‘Most of the time development can take place without damaging important natural features, but this was not the case in this instance,’ she told the BBC, which first reported the news. The Trump Organization promised during the golf course’s permitting process that it would set up an environmental advocacy group to help protect the dunes. That group was eventually abandoned after operating behind closed doors.” [E&E News, 7/1/19 (=)]

 

Damaged Dunes At Trump Course May Lose Protected Status. According to E&E News, “Sand dunes on a golf course owned by President Trump’s family may lose their legally protected status after being severely affected by the course’s construction. Scottish Natural Heritage, which monitors the country’s sensitive and scientifically important sites, said today there was no longer a reason to designate the sand dunes at Menie as part of a nationally important protected wildlife site. The designation is given to areas with rare species of fauna or flora, or with important geological or physiological features. ‘We work with developers across Scotland to ensure habitats and wildlife are protected when development work is undertaken,’ said Sally Thomas of Scottish Natural Heritage. ‘Most of the time, development can take place without damaging important natural features, but this was not the case in this instance.’ The drifts at the Trump International, Scotland, golf course were considered one of the best examples of moving sand dunes in Britain. They developed over some 4,000 years. Today’s statement comes at the start of a formal consultation on the future status of Foveran Links Site of Special Scientific Interest, of which the Menie dunes are a part. The links were one of the ‘least disturbed and most dynamic’ dune systems in Britain, which makes it important for studying the natural features of the coastline.” [E&E News, 6/28/19 (=)]

 

 

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