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COP15 - UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen 2009
Polar Conservation News
last update: Dec 17, 2009
Japan deploys military to protect whaling fleet
last update: Dec 17, 2009
From various articles: According to Steve Irwin's skipper, Captain Paul Watson, Japan is packing heavy material as it deployed military personnel on two security vessels to protect its Antarctic whaling fleet from intervention by the Sea Shepherd conservation group's flagship.
Following the first confrontation with the Japanese whaling fleet, the militant anti-whaling activists said they were dodging a Japanese surveillance ship in icebergs near Antarctica.
According to Paul Watson, who is leading a campaign to harass the annual whaling hunt, a heavily-barbed and armed ship loaded with Japanese security guards had been tailing them since they left Western Australia on December 7.
When they attempted to approach one of the Japanese ships, Shonan Maru No.2, Watson said the Japanese opened fire with two water cannon and tailed them in a two-hour high-speed pursuit. Speaking via satellite phone Watson told AFT "We had our water cannons at ready but we never opened up on them. This is the first time that the Japanese have sent down security forces. As long as they're following us they can relay our position to the whaling fleet so they can move if we're apporaching them. They said if we try to block the operations they'll put their ship between us and the harpoon vessels, which will most likely result in collisions. But we're not going to back down, we're there to block their operations and we're not going to back down because they try to force us out of the way."
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was asked, while on a visit, by Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to rein in the Sea Shepherd activists, describing their actions as "sabotage". Hatoyama also dismissed threats from Rudd that he would haul Japan before the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, saying his country's activities were legal.
Read more:
The Australian, 16th December 2009
AFP/Google, 16th December 2009
Sydney Morning Herald, 16th December 2009
Times Online, 17th December 2009
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More lead than soup in can
last update: Dec 17, 2009
From various articles: Analysis of an 160-year-old soup can showed that the Arctic explorers were slurping lead. This could be the answer to the mystery of what was the cause of their death.
Lead poisoning could be the prime suspect in dooming the 19th-century Franklin Expedition during its quest to transit the Northwest Passage. In an attempt to sail the Northwest Passage with two ships, Franklin disappeared with the loss of all hands, leaving a long-lived mystery about how they died.
Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton and Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum performed tests on the can and its contents. Fiona McNeill, a medical science and radiation expert, said in a statement "The numbers showed us lead levels that were pretty much off the scale. It was an instantaneous test. We had already tested the soup found in the can and found high levels of lead, so we were certain we were going to find similar levels in the sealing solder."
Fellow researcher David Chettle, a McMaster medical physicist, said that the latest tests are not conclusive, but added that "it certainly makes it difficult to imagine any other source of lead" sufficient to harm Franklin and his crew. "I think it begins to close the circle of evidence around the role for lead," he said. "What we can't be sure of is how quickly that lead went from the solder to the soup."
Read more:
The Colonist, 15th December 2009
Discover Magazine, 16th December 2009
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Criticism after Gore spoke at COP15
last update: Dec 16, 2009
From various articles: Although it was previously announced that Al Gore had cancelled his appearance at COP15, he did attend and presented fresh figures of the ice cap. He warned that, in as little as five years, the Arctic polar ice cap could disappear entirely in the summer months.
The former American Vice-President was showing slides projecting the sea ice volume at the North Pole that he said he had just received from Wieslaw Maslowski of the US Naval Postgraduate School in California.
"These figures are fresh," Mr Gore said, pointing to the slide. "This is the volume metric measure of the ice and some of the models suggest to Dr Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar icea cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years."
His claim attracted a storm of criticism from scientists and sceptics alike. Wieslaw Maslowski said that Gore's claim that there is a 75 per cent chance that the North Pole will be completely ice-free within five to seven years, was a misrepresentation of the information he had provided to Mr Gore’s office.
At a presentation earlier by Dorthe Dahl-Jensen of the Centre for Ice and Climate at the University of Copenhagen, suggested that previous projections and predictions from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had proved too conservative. She had presented a report on the Greenland ice sheet, the vast body of ice that covers about 1.7 million sq km (656,000 sq miles), or 80 per cent of the territory of Greenland. With an average depth of more than 2,000 metres the sheet contains almost 3 million cubic kilometres of ice, about an eighth the size of the Antarctic but enough to raise global sea levels by 7.5m if it were to melt entirely.
According to her, although it was too early to predict a trend, in the past two years the melt had been calculated at 260 billion tonnes a year, which implied a contribution of almost 1mm a year to global sea levels. "We have woken giants," Dr Dahl-Jensen said. "The ice sheets are melting and the have the potential to change sea levels in the future."
Read more:
Times Online, 15th December 2009
COP15 Post, 15th December 2009
Times Online, 16th December 2009
The Australian, 16th December 2009
Associated Press, 15th December 2009
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Native Alaskan whalers and conservationists challenge Beaufort Sea drilling
last update: Dec 16, 2009
From a "Los Angeles Times" article: A group of Native Alaskan whalers have joined forces with a broad range of conservation groups to try and halt Shell Offshore Inc.'s latest plan to conduct exploration drilling next year in the Beaufort Sea.
The plan was already approved by the federal Minerals Management Service, and the arguments against the plan; the endangered bowhead whales would be threatened by allowing an armada of drilling vessels to operate squarely in the bowheads' migration path between July and October 2010 and the group is aksing the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block the exploratory drilling and order the federal government to more comprehensively consider the potential cumulative effects of the move to drill offshore in both the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
Harry Brower, chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, which along with the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, filed one of the court challenges in San Francisco said "People want the oil and gas, and we understand that. But the government and the offshore operators need to understand that development has to be done in a way that does not threaten our subsistence livelihood and culture."
The second case was filed by the Native Village of Point Hope, together with 10 environmental protection groups, which include the Alaska Wilderness League, Oceana, Pacific Environment and the Sierra Club. Lawyers for the environmental law firm Earthjustice are handling that case.
Shell officials said the the Minerals Management Service exhaustively studied the possible impacts of drilling before approving the exploration plan, and pledged that all possible protective measures will be taken to ensure there are no oil spills or adverse effects on wildlife. Company spokeswoman Kelly C. op de Weegh said in a statement "Shell has gone to great lengths to minimize the impact of our drilling program, including a voluntary shut-down during the fall subsistence whaling harvest of Nuiqsut and Kaktovik, installing best available discharge technology, and reducing the number of wells. These steps were taken after considering direct feedback from North Slope stakeholders."
Read more:
Los Angeles Times, 15th December 2009
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List of climate change casualties released by IUCN
The Emperor penguin, the Beluga whale, the Ringed seal and the Arctic fox are on the list. The listing of the IUCN coincides with the negotiations by world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference to come up with an international agreement to combat climate change.
Co-author Wendy Foden said in a press release: "Humans are not the only ones whose fate is at stake here in Copenhagen – some of our favourite species are also taking the fall for our CO2 emissions. This report should act as a wake-up call to governments to make real commitments to cut CO2 emissions if we are to avoid a drastically changed natural world. We simply don’t have the time for drawn-out political wrangling. We need strong commitments and we need them now."
The reason why the report doesn't include the polar bear is because most people are already aware of the threat climate change poses to the world's largest bear.
Simon Stuart, Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission, said in a press release "Ordinary people are not powerless to stop these tragic losses. They can cut down on their own CO2 emissions and voice their support for strong action by their Governments to change the dire climate prognosis we are currently facing."Read more:
MongaBay, 14th December 2009
Vancouver Sun, 14th December 2009
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Monster iceberg from Antarctica is breaking apart
It is quite a sight to behold. When it first broke off from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, it was about 400 square kilometres in area and 40 metres high. Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young, who has tracked iceberg, known as B17B, using satellite images from NASA and the European Space Agency.
It is now breaking into small parts and slowly dissolving as it drifts closer to the Australian shores, now measuring about 140 square kilometers and around 1,700 kilometers away from south-south west of Australia's western coast.
Young said "There are now many more smaller icebergs calving off B17B, measuring up to several kilometres in length, and spread over more than a thousand kilometres of ocean."
Australian authorities are alerting ocean-going vessels on the possible dangers that the giant iceberg may cause.Read more:
The Washington Post, 15th December 2009
Digital Journal, 15th December 2009
RedOrbit, 14th December 2009
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Butter found at Robert Scott's Antarctic base
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Obama to attend end of Climate Change Summit
The statement came from the White House last Friday. In a statement from Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, it read "Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the president believes that continued U.S. leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18 rather than on December 9. There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the president's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome."
Greenpeace (who had been one of the critics of Obama's initial plan to attend only the beginning of the conference)spokesman Mike Townsley said "President Obama needs to be there at the same time as all the other world leaders: December 18. This is when he is needed to get the right agreement."
The United States will have representation in Copenhagen from State Department and Cabinet officials throughout the negotiating process. In the White House statement it was also reported that the president had discussed the status of climate change negotiations with the leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Australia.
The White House has said that Obama is prepared to set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade. It has also reiterated Obama's goal of reducing U.S. emissions by 83 percent by 2050.
Read more:
CNN Politics, 4 December 2009
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Norway raises whale kill
Her action has resulted in protests and the Australian Government has condemned the move as provocative. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett described the timing of the increase as unhelpful, coming as it did with talks working towards a peace deal in the International Whaling Commission. ''Australia has been engaging in IWC reform discussions in good faith but these recent developments are cause for considerable concern,'' he said. ''If we do not achieve genuine progress, the Australian Government will consider all options, including international legal action.''
Even though Norway only killed 484 of a permitted 885 whales this year, next year's quota is an increase of 45%. Norway is one of the few countries that registered objection to the 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Chris Butler-Stroud, chief executive of the Conservation Society, said such a huge quota defied logic and any pretence of sound management. He added ''Norwegian whalers haven't taken their full quota in years, as demand for whale meat has dropped and no one is buying. 'This is nothing more than the empty rattling of harpoons, and it is clear these quotas are being set more for political show than anything else.''
Read more:
The Age - Australia, 7 December 2009
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The Battle for the Arctic
Please take a look at the video which is adapted from a hour-long documentary on CBC TV.
The New York Times, 26.1.2009
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Environmental Protection Agency faces lawsuit over pesticides
The lawsuit was filed last Thursday in Seattle, claiming that the U.S. government violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to curb use of pesticides that have been accumulating in the Arctic food chain and in the fat of polar bears, a species listed as threatened.
Rebecca Noblin, a Center for Biological Diversity staff attorney in Anchorage stated that while the biggest threat to polar bears comes from the rapidly warming Arctic climate and the disappearance of sea ice, the pesticide onslaught creates more woes for an already stressed population. "The health impacts of pesticides tend to make polar bears more susceptible to disease, to lower cub survival. Since polar bears are already struggling, the combined impacts of the two could lead to more problems."
Although none of the 14 types of pesticides listed in the lawsuit is used in Alaska, scientists have found an alarming quantity in lakes, snowpack and fish and animals' bodies in the far north. The persistent organic pollutants commonly contained in pesticides are known to be carried by atmospheric and ocean currents thousands of miles (km) northward to the Arctic, making the problem of pollutants transported into the Arctic an issue of international concern.
According to Tony Brown, spokesman for the EPA's regional office in Seattle, the agency had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
Read more:
Center for Biological Diversity, 3 December 2009
Reuters, 4 December 2009
KTUU, 3 December 2009
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Blue whales are changing their tune
The journal Endangered Species Research published a study, saying that male Blue whales all over the world have lowered their tone, even though different populations sing different songs. Mark McDonald of WhaleAcoustics, which conducted the study with researchers Sarah Melnick and John Hildebrand of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, said that the whales have lowered their voices by 31 per cent between 1963 and 2008.
McDonald, who first noticed the change about eight years ago when automated Blue whale song detectors off the California coast had to be shifted to lower frequencies, said "That is the same as three white keys on the piano. If it dropped 50 per cent it would be down an octave."
He and his co-researchers compared the songs in areas ranging from the Indian Ocean to the North Atlantic, but the cause of the change remains a mystery. "The one that seemed like a promising idea was increasing ocean noise," McDonald said, but added that, if blue whales are struggling to make themselves heard over the sound of marine traffic, their voices should become higher, rather than lower. "They can either make a quieter sound at a lower frequency or a louder sound at a higher frequency," he said.
A favoured theory McDonald has is that, with Blue whale numbers slowly increasing since whaling officially ended in 1966, the males, which sing all the songs, do not have to call as loudly to be heard by females.
But blue whale expert John Calambokidis, director of Cascadia Research based in Olympia, Wash., doubts that populations have increased sufficiently to explain the change and believes that the females just find the deeper tones more appealing.
"The males produce the calls so they are related to reproduction," he said, "not prey or navigation."
Read more:
The Gazette, 2 December 2009
Wired Science, 2 December 2009
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Ozone layer healing a bad thing ?
In an Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment report, released by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, scientists claim that, if through a global protocol to cut the use of ozone-depleting compounds, the ozone layer gradually heals, the continent will warm rapidly.
The report reads: "Removal of the cooling effect of the ozone hole as it diminishes in extent will exacerbate the problem (of warming)." Wenju Cai, CSIRO climate modelling expert, went further: "Even if ozone does not recover greenhouse gasses will overtake the cooling effect of ozone in the upper atmosphere".
He added that the ozone hole has triggered intensification of westerly winds that simultaneously cool Antarctica and warm more northerly latitudes and that this process would reverse as the ozone hole shrinks or greenhouse gases swamp its impact.Read more:
The Australian, 2 December 2009
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NOAA’s Fisheries Service propose habitat for Belugas
Nearly 2 million acres of water were proposed as critical habitat for Beluga whales. As it is close to Alaska's largest and busiest city it is raising concerns that the effort to save the whales will scuttle development.
NOAA’s Fisheries Service listed Cook Inlet Beluga whales as endangered in October 2008 and under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), NOAA’s Fisheries Service must designate critical habitat for any listed species.
Doug Mecum, the service's acting administrator for Alaska said "Protecting these endangered whales is one of our top priorities." Even though the Cook Inlet's Beluga whales are protected, the population continues to drop by 1.5 percent a year.
The state strongly opposes both the listing and critical habitat designation because of concerns about development and Gov. Sean Parnell said "Listing more than 3,000 square miles of Cook Inlet as critical habitat would do little to help grow the beluga population, but it would devastate economic opportunities in the region." said
NOAA is of different opinion, stating that critical habitat designation would not stop development such as the expansion of the Port of Anchorage, mining, and gas exploration.
Read more:
NOAA News, 1 December 2009
Associated Press/Google, 2 December 2009
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Operation Waltzing Matilda
The environmental organisation's sixt mission will be launched from Fremantle, Australia.
In the past, Sea Shepherd campaigns have led to tense confrontations with the Japanese whalers and this year will likely be the same. However, this year it will feature a new twist in the form of a futuristic-looking trimaran named Ady Gil. The speedy vessel, which can travel at 50 knots, will operate from the mother ship Steve Irwin and be used "to intercept and physically block the harpoon ships from illegally slaughtering whales," according to a Sea Shepherd news release.
Read more:
LA Times, 30 November 2009
The Age, AUS,1 December 2009
NECN, USA, 2 December 2009
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NGOs in Latin America taking stand against whaling
The NGOs from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela did this in an effort to protect whales found throughout the Pacific.
The Pacific Whale Foundation was one of them, its president and founder, Greg Kaufman said "The whales we study in Latin America are the same whales that feed in warmer weather near Antarctica and that could be targeted by these so-called scientific whaling expeditions in the South Pacific. Latin Americans recognize the value of living humpback whales - in terms of both providing inspiration to the human population and offering a tourism attraction. People love the whales and recognize that the practice of killing whales for so-called scientific purposes is not needed; it is an unregulated, uncontrolled front by which the Japanese kill whales for their meat."
The petition from the NGOs was presented to IWC representatives simultaneously in 15 countries.
Read more:
ETurbo News, 29th November 2009
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Arctic wolf pack leader tracked
David Mech, wolf researcher of the US Geological Survey and Canadian biologist Dean Cluff have put the satellite collar on the wolf in July on Ellesmere Island, which is located about 600 miles from the North Pole. This way, they will be able to track the animal to determine what the wolves do during winter in one of the harshest areas of the world.
Mech, who has been studying the Ellesmere Island wolves for the past 24 years, said "We first encountered 9-year-old Brutus back in 2003." With the harsh climate, it was only possible to follow the animals during the summer period, which is mostly confined to the month of July. When the snow begins falling in August, it is nearly impossible for people to travel to the island or withstand the low temperatures any other time of the year.
This year, Mech and Cluff made a huge technological jump from notebook and pens to satellite collars because the scientists wanted to find out what Brutus and his pack of at least 12 adults and 6-12 pups do when it is dark 24 hours a day and temperatures can fall to minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Read more:
UPI, 1 December 2009
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Sea level rise due to melting of Antarctica and Arctic
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), in a most comprehensive study into the impact of global warming on the Antarctic region, found ice is already melting in the West Antarctic region due to an increase in temperatures.
Previously, research had predicted that the sea levels would only rise by a couple of feet (59cm) by the end of the century, however this does not include melting ice from the South Pole. Dr Colin Summerhayes, Executive Director of SCAR, said "Anybody who lives in coastal cities needs to be slightly worried by a projections of one metre or more." If temperatures continue to increase in the next two to five hundred years, sea level rise could go up by 20 feet (6m) as more of Antarctica melts.
The news is not better in the Arctic. Although satellite data showed a growth in Arctic sea ice extension recently, it seemed that this is not the case. Researcher David Barber from the Univ. of Manitoba in Canada found that Arctic sea ice has duped satellites into reporting thick multiyear sea ice where in fact none exists.
Barber and his colleagues, whilst sailing with an ice breaker (NGCC) Amundsen to the southern Beaufort Sea this past September, found something they had not expected; thin, "rotten" ice can electromagnetically masquerade as thick, multiyear sea ice. They discovered the multiyear sea icescape was not as ubiquitous as it appeared in satellite remote sensing data. And much of the multiyear ice, which is integral to maintaining the ecosystem and its inhabitants, was so heavily decayed the Amundsen easily broke through floes six to eight meters thick
"These are very significant findings since the scientists and public all thought that sea ice was recovering since the minimum extent in 2007," says Barber, a professor of Environment and Geography and Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science.
Read more:
Telegraph UK, 1 December 2009
Treehugger.com, 1 December 2009
China Daily, 2 December 2009
Reuters, 1 December 2009
VOA News, 1 December 2009
Mail Online - UK, 1 December 2009
The Engineer - UK, 1 December 2009
Laboratory Equipment, 30th November 2009
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New fishing practices to protect whales
With the lobster fishing season officially opening today, fisherman have been working with the WWF to develop this new strategy, whereby they attempt to keep their ropes out of the paths of whales by keeping them low and tight.
Dr. Robert Rangeley, WWF-Canada vice-president for the Atlantic region, stated in a news release "Fishermen developed a plan to change fishing practices in a way that demonstrates leadership, commitment to conservation, and a significant first step towards reducing this threat to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. It is an exciting example of collaboration and action which we hope provides a positive lesson of the benefits of integrated management for all ocean industries."
The North Atlantic Right whales are some of the most endangered large whales on the planet, with only 400 left.
Read more:
Vancouver Sun, 27th November 2009
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Starving Polar Bears Resort to Cannibalism
It has been known that adult male Polar bears kill and cannibalize cubs, but most cases occur in the spring when the male can impregnate the female. As recent incidents did not occur in spring, some believe hunger may be the reason for this year’s incidents.
The Polar bears depend on annual sea ice in Canada’s Hudson Bay as a platform for hunting, a place to raise young and as a habitat for mating. But at the end of November, the ice is just not solid enough. Cannibalism is not the only problem, drowning is another. Research conducted by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), there is a reduction of 22% in Polar bears due to the impact of climate change.
Oil spills, pollution and hunting threaten the species as well, but according to some, climate change is the most serious threat to the polar bear population.
Read more:
The Canadian Press/Google, 28th November 2009
Eco Worldly, 29th November 2009
The Star, Canada, 27th November 2009
Toronto Star, 27th November 2009
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Killer whales feasting on sharks
Orca populations are often found where sharks are known to have their territories, including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Farallon Islands off America's west coast.
The Orcas have developed a hunting technique to kill the sharks without the danger of getting seriously injured themselves when attacking such dangerous prey.
Dr Ingrid Visser, who has studied orca behaviour for 17 years, explained how it is done: "The most impressive strategy is the 'karate chop'. The orca will use its tail to drive the shark to the surface. They don't even touch it. Using an up-thrust of its tail it creates a vortex which pushes the shark up on they current they create with their movements. Once the shark is at the surface, the killer whale pivots and lifts its tail out of the water and comes down on top of it like a karate chop." The Orca then grasps the shark and turns it upside down. When sharks are quickly flipped upside down, they enter a paralysed state known as 'tonic immobility'.
Scientists and witnesses also boserved other hunting methods such as 'corralling', where groups of orcas circle a lone shark and ram it or stealthily approach the shark from directly below and catch it off guard by attacking its underbelly.
"They always eventually turn the shark upside down," added Dr Visser. "At that point the shark cannot fight back, it has been a successful hunt and they can feed."
Read more:
Telegraph - UK, 27th November 2009
ABC News, 28th November 2009
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Obama to kick off COP15
According to an administration official, Obama will travel to the Danish capital, one day before he visits nearby Oslo to officially accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
Former Vice President Al Gore praised the plans. “This action is another example of the significant change in policy on the climate crisis. It began in February with the inclusion of huge new provisions in the stimulus package, which are helping to jumpstart green jobs, energy efficiency, the building of a US supergrid and new incentives for the development of renewable energy.” he said in a statement released today.
“Those who feared that the United States had abdicated its global responsibility should take hope from these actions and work towards completing a strong operational agreement next month in Copenhagen and guidelines for negotiators to complete their work next year on a comprehensive treaty,” Gore said.
“It is my hope that the Senate will support the President and move quickly to pass climate and energy legislation early next year in order to ensure that the world moves toward speedy solutions for the climate crisis.”
Read more:
Tennessean, 25th November 2009
Washington Post, 25th November 2009
Guardian UK, 25th November 2009
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2010 - Year of the Inuit
Simon said in a news release that she wants to raise awareness of the challenges Inuit face in Canada. "The Inuit cannot only be remembered during times of [Arctic] sovereignty issues."
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is the organization that represents Canada's four Inuit regions; Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories.
Simon said that although Canadians are sympathetic to Inuit people, that sympathy is not translating into action on serious issues such as housing shortages and the high cost of living. A previous online poll done for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami revealed that Canadians don't know much about the Inuit people or the Arctic in general.
Canada will be hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and Simon said she hopes public events leading up to the Games, whose official emblem is the inuksuk, an Inuit symbol, will create more awareness about not only Inuit issues but also their culture.
"Just prior to the Olympics, we will be giving the nation's capital a chance to sample Inuit arts and culture with an event called the Taste of the Arctic, an evening celebrating Inuit culture at the National Gallery of Canada," Simon said.
Read more:
CBC Canada, 25th November 2009
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Maternal instinct
They saw how the Killer whales were washing Weddell seals off ice floes. Then, suddenly a group of humpback whales arrived on the scene. Pitman and Durban and the film crew watched as one seal, swept into the water by the Orca, swam towards the Humpbacks.
Then an amazing thing happened; the Killer whales moved in, and the seal leapt on to the vast ribbed belly of a Humpback, and nestled in the animal's armpit. This in itself is quite amazing but what happened next was even more spectacular. When a wave threatened to return the seal to danger, the Humpback used its massive flipper (at five metres, the longest in the animal kingdom) to nudge it back on.
Pitman and Durban wrote: "Moments later the seal scrambled off and swam to the safety of a nearby ice floe." Was it the maternal defence mechanism in the Humpbacks that triggered its response ? Whatever the truth, it's a heartening tale.
Read more:
Guardian UK, 26th November 2009
