THE REAL PEOPLE

THE REAL PEOPLE

"FRIENDSHIP FOR NO ADVANTAGE"

"To the dolphin alone, beyond all others, Nature has given what the best philosophers seek, friendship for no advantage; yet it is friend to all men and has often given great aid." Plutarch

"ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΔΕΛΦΙΝΙ, ΠΕΡΑ ΑΠΟ ΟΛΑ ΤΑ ΑΛΛΑ ΧΑΡΙΣΜΑΤΑ Η ΦΥΣΗ ΕΧΕΙ ΔΩΣΕΙ Ο,ΤΙ ΑΝΑΖΗΤΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΟΙ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟΙ, ΦΙΛΙΑ ΧΩΡΙΣ ΑΝΤΑΛΛΑΓΜΑ; ΕΙΝΑΙ ΦΙΛΟΣ ΜΕ ΟΛΟΥΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΧΝΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΒΟΗΘΑ" ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟΣ

AIHE TOHORA WANANGA

Saturday, November 3, 2012

STOP CETACEAN GENOCIDE by NAVY & 'BIG OIL': SELL YOUR CAR, CREATE AWARENESS and GET ACTIVE

 ANOMALOUS STRANDINGS ARE INCREASING GLOBALLY
 CETACEANS LIVE IN A WORLD OF SOUND
 LFA CAN CREATE A 'KILL ZONE THE SIZE OF TEXAS'
 "I JUST NUKED A WHOLE POD OF DOLPHINS...50 POINTS!"
 LFA SONAR AND SEISMIC TESTING USE IDENTICAL TECHNOLOGIES
 NAVAL 'PLAYGROUND' OFF COASTAL USA
 THIS IS HOW WE ARE WAGING WAR ON CETACEANS
 THE FUTURE OF MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION
 MEANWHILE WE ARE KILLING OUR BEST FRIENDS ON THE PLANET

"We strongly believe that if the Navy will be allowed to proceed with its plans it will result in catastrophic consequences for marine life off both coasts: East Coast and West Coast."

NOTE FROM JEFF:  This posting is a last-minute effort to elicit some comments from anyone out there who is concerned about the global situation with our friends and family in the seas, the whales and dolphins. In another day or two the window closes for the branch of the NOAA who supposedly 'oversees' the environmental activities of the U.S. Navy to hear comments from the public concerning 'permits' to be granted to the Navy to 'take' millions of marine mammals, legally and with impunity. 'Take' means 'kill' in no uncertain terms.  It's really no more than a ludicrous 'dog and pony show' because, according to StrandedNoMore (with whom I am in close touch and who I regard as being THE top source of reality-based cetacean threat information), the NOAA has NEVER refused a permit request to the Navy. Why? Because the Navy owns and operates the NOAA.  This is only one of many inter-related stories that desperately need to be told. 

In a few days I will be posting a major 'free lance intelligence update' with a big section on the oceans and cetaceans.  A LOT is going on, and most of it is not good, but some meager progress IS being made in terms of getting the dangers posed to cetaceans by seismic testing for hydro-carbons on to the public radar. Recently oceanographic luminary Jean-Michel Cousteau came out with a statement against seismic testing.  The bigger picture, however, is that even naval sonar and seismic testing aren't the real problem, just as the existence of the military-industrial complex isn't the real problem...the REAL problem is that ALL of these things are being done by human beings. If we really wanted to we could choose to STOP DOING all these destructive things.  The real mystery, the question of the ages is, 'So why don't we?"  Why indeed?

PLEASE take the time to assimilate the information below, and PLEASE take the time to send an email or 100 to the NOAA and make them aware that we're onto their scam and might do more than sign petitions!  Of particular note is the post from StrandedNoMore...you can friend them on Facebook, too.

Here is a comprehensive article I wrote that is in the current issue of Uncensored magazine:

"We Are Not Alone...Yet:  How We Are Waging War on a True 'Extra-terrestrial Intelligence' "


And here is the trailer to the 'beyond film' that we're working on, based on the article above:

'AIHE TOHORA PAIKEA WANANGA' (The Knowledge and Wisdom of Whales and Dolphins)



MY EMAIL OF TODAY TO MR. PAYNE OF NOAA:

Dear Mr. Payne, I strongly and urgently insist that you do everything in your power to stop this entire charade of the Navy requesting...and always being granted...'permits' to 'take' marine mammals. We all know that the Navy owns and operates the NOAA as well as the NMFS; we all know that 'take' means 'kill.'  Why does the Navy even bother with this whole process...it's going to do whatever it wants to do anyway?

In the same way that gradual progress is being made to create public awareness about the extreme dangers of seismic testing to the health and well-being of marine mammals, gradual progress is also being made in creating public awareness about the fact that the U.S. Navy is THE single greatest threat to the health and well-being of all marine life on this planet. Public awareness of the fact that you and the NOAA actually work for the Navy, as do over 90% of all 'marine biology' researchers, is growing little by little.

The fact that the entire 'war on terror' is really just a cover for imperial mobilization, and that the Navy basically works for 'big oil' is also becoming increasingly well-known.

Even high-visibility mainstream 'environmental activists' like Jean-Michel Cousteau are beginning to speak out against seismic testing.  Below you will find the text of a recent statement he made.  If you substitute 'active sonar' for 'seismic testing' you have exactly the same scenario.

To preserve your own dignity and integrity as a human being, as well as to lighten the increasingly negative karma you are accumulating from being a part of this extremely destructive charade, I recommend that you 1) do your best do deny this and any future permits  2) do your best to eliminate this entire fraudulent process and 3) get another job that is honest and that helps to nurture life on our planet, not destroy her.

Ours is the only planet we know who has life.

CETACEANS NOT MUTATIONS
JEFF PHILLIPS



NEW SITE TO CREATE AWARENES OF THREATS TO CETACEANS


http://www.whaleanddolphinwatch.com/

Rosalind Peterson LIVE Report: US NAVY Massacre 11.7 Million Marine Mammals at stake!







ROSALIND PETERSON'S MAIN SITE


http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/content/us-navy
 

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonarvideo/video.asp

http://oceana.org/en/news-media/press-center/press-releases/oceana-and-nrdc-to-conduct-mock-seismic-airgun-test-outside-department-of-the-interior-bu


'Sounds of the Sea' Excellent doco about naval sonar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZv--KvvN2Q


To watch 'Sounds' in entirety and another doco on seismic testing:

http://anthro-media.com/projects/nature/01.html

http://anthro-media.com/projects/nature/06.html




STATEMENT FROM JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU

http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/press-releases/statement-diablo-canyon-seismic-testing-too-much-risk


AND HERE IS A SIMILAR STATEMENT FROM ANDREW SHARPLESS, CEO OF OCEANA

'A deaf whale is a dead whale'

MESSAGE FROM STRANDEDNOMORE:

Info on BOEM permit for 'big oil' to do seismic testing in Atlantic

http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/the-us-east-coast-can-kiss-its-marine-life-goodbye/

Our Comments on the Insane US Navy’s Applications That Will Result in Catastrophic Impact on Marine Life

http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/our-comments-on-the-insane-us-navys-applications-that-will-result-in-catastrophic-impact-on-marine-life/

November 5, 2012 is a deadline for public comments on 3 permits that are currently being considered by NOAA. We strongly believe that if the Navy will be allowed to proceed with its plans it will result in catastrophic consequences for marine life off both coasts: East Coast and West Coast. Below are our comments that will be submitted in regard to these applications. Please feel free to use any information, data and references below for your own comments and please consider commenting, it is VERY IMPORTANT.

Some information about applications and permits. Currently, NOAA has 3 applications from the Navy and you will need to comment on each of them (link). Two applications are about testing range off the East Coast and one is about testing range in Hawaii/California. The permit applications are huge and very hard to read, for that reason you can use some of our points but also consider to add you own points if you would like. These permit applications are always written in utmost unreadable and convoluted way possible.


Application #1. 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT). The application itself is here (link). The info about commenting is here (link). If you are going to comment on this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.


Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT)

Application #2. 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT). The application itself is here and it appears to be similar in at elast some way to the Application #1 (link). The info about commenting is here (link)

If you are going to comment of this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.


Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT)

Application #3. 2012 U.S. Navy Hawaii Southern California Training and Testing Activities (HSTT). The application itself is here (link). The info about commenting is here (link)
If you are going to comment of this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.

Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Hawaii Southern California Training and Testing Activities (HSTT)

Here is our comment, feel free to use it!

To:

P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,
Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service,
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
November 4, 2012

From: StrandedNoMore

Dear Mr. Payne,

There are currently 3 permits being considered by NOAA that will give the US Navy unprecedented ability to cause catastrophic level extinction event for marine life on both coasts: the East Cost and the West Coast.

With every passing day we have more and more reports on stranded whales and dolphins and the majority of these events have anthropogenic causes regardless of what the Navy wants the public to believe. We urge you to deny permits for all 3 applications based on two main premises:

a) The Navy greatly underestimates the impact of its activities

b) The Navy uses complete chaos in the stranding response  field both in the US and worldwide to hide the true extent of damage their activities result in.

Here are some specific points we would like to make in regard to above premises.

1. The Navy greatly underestimates the impact of its activities

1.1. None of the applications cites crucial recent studies and such omission of scientific data allows the Navy greatly underestimate the true impact of their activities.

1.2. For example the section “6.1.1.3.4 Physiological Stress” completely omits an important study by Lyamin et al. published in 2011 that indicated that beluga whale started showing extremely troubling physiological response at significantly lower levels: “Our data indicate that severe tachycardia developed in the beluga at lower noise intensities (as low as 140 dB); at higher intensities, the HR could reach a twofold excess over the control values and last for no less than 4 min” (p. 278). This study was not even mentioned in current applications.

1.3. The section “6.1.1.4 Behavioral Responses ” completely omits information on behavioral triggers for mass strandings and the fact that strandings could indeed be a behavioral response to anthropogenic sounds, not just sonar but also missiles, rockets, explosives and even aircraft noise. Several studies are not mentioned in this regard, specifically 2 applications do not mention the well-documented case of nearstarnding of melon-headed whales in Hawaii (possibly caused by military sonar) which most likely was a behavioral response to anthropogenic noise (Brownell et al., 2009). Additionally very important review on how cetaceans have been historically hunted with sound and have been demonstrating strong avoidance of sounds that has a potential to lead to a stranding event (Brownell et al., 2008) has not been mentioned as well. There is also no discussion of how anthropogenic sound can act as an acoustic barrier (link)

1.4. The section “6.1.2.1.4 Bubble Formation” does not include very important recent study by De Quirós et al (2012) that demonstrated that decompression related bubbles can indeed be distinguished from decomposition bubbles.

1.5. The section “6.1.2.7 Stranding” does not include any discussion about possibility that  mass stranding could be purely behavioral response and how in that case no evident pathology will be present apart from stranding related issues.

1.6. In the same section where it is said that “ In comparison to potential strandings or injury resulting from events associated with Navy activities, marine mammal strandings and injury from commercial vessel ship strike, impacts from urban pollution, and annual fishery‐related bycatch have been estimated to be orders of magnitude greater” (p. 146). This is misleading statement because no one knows how many marine mammals perish at sea as a result of Navy activities never to be seen again or counted. For example the experimental study that did controlled carcasses release offshore found that only 8% of experimentally released carcasses made it to shore. The model that was made based on data predicted that that only carcasses that have positive buoyancy will drift and wash ashore. The carcasses with negative buoyancy will sink and decompose. (Peltier et al., 2012)

1.7. The applications do not mention many past and recent mass strandings worldwide that have been linked to Navy activities, including Cornwall mass strandings (link), unusual mortality event in Cape Cod, MA in January 2012 coincided with Navy activities (link), mass strandings in Florida, Cape Verde (link) and New Zealand (link) that all were associated closely in time and space with “hazardous operations” done by the military.

1.8. The applications do not mention pervasive conflict of interests resulting from the Navy using studies done by scientists that have been funded by the Navy (Weilgart et al., 2005; Wade et al., 2010)

1.9. The applications do not mention very important recent study showing severe disturbance at very low sound levels. Study by Miller et al., 2011 indicated that killer whales stopped feeding at playback of sonar sounds of 93 dB re: 1µPa and whales started to show the avoidance at 98 dB re: 1µPa.

2. The Navy uses complete chaos in the stranding response  field both in the US and worldwide to hide what their activities truly result in.

2.1. Stranding field is chronically underfunded and understaffed and for that reason many strandings go down either without detailed investigation or with only some marginal investigation such as tissue sampling for example.

2.2. Information about exact locations and types of Navy activities is obscure and hard to find and stranding response team rarely request such information.

2.3. Some testing is time sensitive (such as decompression sickness related embolism) and often cannot be done in timely manner due to lack of resources and trained personnel.

2.4. All  of the abovefactors result in situation where it is impossible to connect Navy activities to strandings not because such connections are absent, but because there are no resources or personnel to establish such connections.

2.5. All of the above also indicates that the Navy and by extension NOAA/NMFS greatly underestimate the effects of Navy activities on marine mammals.

Finally, there is another serious issue that has not been mentioned in the applications. Specifically, the same area off the Atlantic cost will also be open to seismic surveys exploration (link). Navy’s application does not contain any assessment what cumulative effects such activities will have on marine mammals that sadly will get double exposure to the strongest anthropogenic sound sources at the same time.

We urge you to reconsider giving the Navy permits because it will have detrimental if not completely catastrophic impact on marine life off East and West Coasts.

Sincerely,
StrandedNoMore

References:

Bernaldo De Quirós, Y., González-Diaz, O., Arbelo, M., Sierra, E., Sacchini, S., and Fernández, A. (2012). Decompression vs. Decomposition: Distribution, Amount, and Gas Composition of Bubbles in Stranded Marine Mammals. Frontiers in Physiology 3.
Brownell, R. L. et al., (2009), Behavior of melon-headed whales, Peponocephala electra, near oceanic islands, Marine Mammal Science, 25(3), 639-658. Available at http://cetus.ucsd.edu/Publications/Publications/BrownellMMS2009.pdf
Brownell, R.L. et al., (2008), Hunting cetaceans with sound: a worldwide review, J. CETACEAN RES. MANAGE. 10(1):81–88. Available athttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=usdeptcommercepub
Lyamin O.I., Korneva, S.M., Rozhnov, V.V., Mukhametov, L.M. (2011), Cardiorespiratory Changes in Beluga in Response to Acoustic Noise, Doklady Biological Sciences, Vol. 440, pp. 275–278, 704-707. Available at http://beluga.sevin-expedition.ru/netcat_files/106/57/11_Lyamin_ECG_acoustic_noise_beluga_DAN_E.pdf
Miller et al., 2011, Developing dose-response relationships for the onset of avoidance of sonar by free-ranging killer whales(Orcinus orca), Paper presented at the 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, November, 2011, Tampa, FL, USA.
Wade et al., 2010, Conflict of interest in research on anthropogenic noise and marine mammals: Does funding bias conclusions? Marine Policy, 34, 320-327.

Weilgart L, Whitehead H, Rendell L, Calambokidis J. (2005), Signal-to-noise: funding structure versus ethics as a solution to conflict-of-interest. Marine Mammal Science, 21:779–81

Monday, September 10, 2012

CETACEANS DIE AS HUMANS DRIVE LIGHT-YEARS in search of the 'final solution'!

 "'SEA-QUAKES...
 'MYSTERY ILLNESSES'...
 OR NAVAL SONAR and
 SEISMIC TESTING?"
 WHALES ARE DYING...
 WHILE WE ARE DRIVING...
LIGHT-YEARS TO NOWHERE.

NOTE FROM JEFF: Here is a perfect example of how homo sapiens is back-pedaling at close to the speed of light in terms of our ability actually to understand each other and work together in harmony on things that really matter as opposed to attacking fellow activists with bilious and inane criticism based on a narrow-minded 'certainty' and pseudo-messianic claims of having finally found the 'truth' and now the...get this...the 'final solution.' Somehow this phrase scares me a little bit when used with reference to the whales and dolphins. 

Read below how Capt. David Williams propounds the idea that sea-quakes are the cause of almost ALL strandings of whales and dolphins...EVEN when naval/military and/or seismic testing activity occurred in the same area! He hasn't told me what institution...if any...granted him the title of 'captain.' 

He states that he is IN FAVOUR of continueing naval activity and seismic testing, and finally that the ideas of StrandedNoMore...to me, the single best source of information on-line about the reality of cetacean strandings...would 'poison' his new e-group...which he only started last week after I contacted him asking if he had any footage we could use for our new film project. Read his comments directly below, then an email from StrandedNoMore to me, then her most recent blog posting. YOU be the judge on the relative integrity of these person's approaches to cetacean activism and making differences that matter.

To me, the bottom-line with this is that even IF 'sea-quakes' were the cause of strandings, then what? Not much we can do about it, right? Capt. David and his all-encompassing 'sea-quake' theory sounds a bit like it's designed to take the heat off the Navy and 'big oil' with yet another distraction from the reality of their war on the cetaceans. First, it was 'mystery illnesses' that caused the Peruvian dolphin strandings, now 'sea-quakes' caused the ones off Scotland...yet in BOTH instances solid evidence exists of massive seismic testing in the exact same areas.

We already know, thanks to people like Rosalind Peterson, how the U.S. Navy controls both the NOAA and NMFS, the two organizations who 'over-see' the environmental aspects of naval activities and its effects on cetaceans. We know how the Navy funds, directly and indirectly, not only the vast majority of 'marine biology' research...Woods Hole and Scripps, for example, are almost 100% naval contractors...but also many of the biggest 'environmental' organizations. I personally suspect that the NRDC receives massive navy funding coming, of course, through unidentified 'third party' contributors. We already know, thanks to StrandedNoMore, of the massive criminal fraudulence that Navy scientists foist to deceive a gullible and scientifically ignorant public, proliferating an unending stream of bogus 'research' and 'perception management' propaganda.

Finally, in the age of 'weather warfare' and weaponized man-made earthquakes generated technetronically using HAARP and related seismic technologies, the possibility exists that many 'sea-quakes' could be of artificial origin.

Placing the blame on sea-quakes, 'mystery illnesses' and evil Japanese whalers and fishermen is little more than a total denial of the REALITY of the war on cetaceans being carried out by the military-industrial complex.  This attitude is easily and conveniently adopted by 'new age' and 'social media' mentalities who have been psychologically indoctrinated by mass-media to be uncritical consumers of whatever is spoon-fed to them.  These attitudes do not require the questioning of indiscriminate hydro-carbon fuel consumption or the trans-national fascist entities seeking to control it all.

To the extent that we as a whole continue to 'live' as hydro-carbon junkies through our addiction to the automobile, we directly support the greatest threats to cetaceans on Mothership Earth, the 'war on terror' being conducted not only against any nation who has not succumbed to Anglo-American imperialism but against the entire fabric of life as we currently know her.

Reality is not easy; rather than analyze unquestioned assumptions that allow us to continue sleep-walking, we prefer to blame 'someone else' rather than making real changes in our own lives.


CAPT. DAVID WILLIAMS LATEST BLOG POSTING:

Is the Seaquake Solution Flawed as Experts Claim?

Some "scientists" are reporting that a big seaquake on August 30 near Jan Mayen Island caused the pilot whales to beach in Scotland. They were mistaken. The quake that caused the beachings occurred on August 11 along the Northern Mid Atlantic Ridge.

A different expert (Strandednomore) claims the idea that seaquakes cause whale beachings is flawed and just can't possibly explain most mass strandings. Strandednomore is also mistaken.

This blog will try to limit the damage these misinform jerks have done to the SEAQUAKE SOLUTION. As you will see below, the insults to my work came about simply because Strandednomore chose to rattle off about something she knows nothing about.


COMMENT BY CAPT. DAVID IN NEW E-GROUP HE STARTED AFTER I CONTACTED HIM:

"Frankly, we look like environmental fanatics screaming and yelling that sonar and seismic surveys are to blame every time a whale beaches itself. It's not true. Fighting a FALSE cause just turns a great number of folks against our movement. In fact, the Deafwhale Society does not advocate that oil industry surveys and Navy sonar be stop. Our primary goal is to reveal the TRUTH that has been covered-up for decades. Once the TRUTH is in the public mind, the public will determine what is to be done about it. We must lead... not push...I'll be so glad when you guys get up-to-date on my work so that you can help me correct the ignorance of some people. Stranded is in the clouds somewhere. She's a hard worker but she does far harm to our cause than she does good. She has no idea the basis of the SEAQUAKE SOLUTION yet she rants endlessly.

I don't want this new group to be poisoned by her irresponsible remarks. I want everyone to believe beyond even a shadow of doubt that we are working on the FINAL SOLUTION TO WHY WHALES BEACH!"

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION FROM STRANDEDNOMORE:


"This dude is not a scientist, nor has he any scientific background. He has been obsessing with this sea-quake idea for decades, and while he cites some stuff and might be partially right in some areas, overall he likes to stretch things a bit to fit them into his theory. Like for example saying that 'All things considered, the average distance between injury and stranding is about 2500 miles.' Heck, because our Earth is so seismically active there will nearly always be some quake 2500 miles from the stranding site. And how exactly he arrived at this arbitrary number? Why not 1500? Or 4500?

By the way, the relationships between quakes and strandings did not receive much attention from the scientific community for some weird reason, and we do not say that quakes are not a factor, it could be, but not like he is saying. For example, there were no mass strandings during or after huge quake in Japan, in 2011. But there was atypical stranding 4 days before, a pod of melon headed whales stranded. This does not fit his theory.I've been arguing with him pointing these inconsistencies, but he just gets pissed like a little baby. The problem however is that the average member of the public might not know all these things and nuances and might believe everything he says. Thats why we say on our blog, do not believe anything we write, go check for yourself and then decide."

A curious little article was published yesterday titled “Whales ‘hit by seaquake” (link). In it the authors state that “…a seaquake, occurred off the Norwegian course on August 30, and scientists believe it may have caused the group of 26 whales to veer off course”

UK Mass Stranding

UK Mass Stranding

The possible link between strandings and earthquakes is both fascinating and complex. Some believe that quakes in fact explain everything about strandings (link). We take a middle path because there are too many factors that favor the earthquake hypothesis of strandings and just as many factors that contradict it. Let’s examine some factors in detail.

Hypothesis #1: Earthquakes are to blame for strandings

1. Historical strandings and records seem to support earthquake hypothesis because quakes (and strandings) have been happening for eons, way before sonar or airguns.

2. One study documented a fin whale fleeing the earthquake (but see discussion below) (link)

3. Many stranding hotspots, such as New Zealand for example occur in seismically active regions.

4. Earthquakes release a lot of energy, in fact the quake of magnitude a little above M5, is capable of producing low frequency sounds that are very intense 240-239 dB re: 1 µPa at 1 m (Gallo-Reynoso et al., 2011). It is of course a very low frequency but it is definitely within large whales’ hearing range of 16 and 44 Hz (human hearing range 20 Hz-20 kHz for reference). The debate is actually is far from being settled about toothed whales and dolphins thresholds for low frequencies (it is a whole new topic for another post).

Hypothesis #2. Earthquakes are not to blame for strandings

1. Our planet is extremely seismically active and has always been so. In fact just over past 30 days more than 1000 quakes happened worldwide. Almost at any given moment there is a quake happening somewhere. To help you visualize this here is a video for quakes occurring on Earth in just 2 months
2. There is no way whales and dolphins did not evolve some sort of adaptation to deal with quakes. The response of a fin whale in the above study might demonstrate this adaptation. When the quake is detected, marine mammals could be moving away from it. Look at the maps from this study. The observed fin whale was 245 km in relation to the epicenter, he was also close to shore, but he did not do a mad dash towards the shore and strand. Instead he breached (actually very interesting behavior that could be a communication to other whales that something is up) and started moving fast away from the quake but PARALLEL to the shore.




The dashed line is a fin whale’s track after the quake. He moves away from the quake in N direction. Source: Gallo-Reynoso et al., 2011

3. Mass and single stranded cetaceans do not float passively with currents after experiencing some sort of “damage” possibly induced by a quake. Instead they swim actively towards the shore often at their normal or even accelerated speed. Here are two examples of documented strandings:

a) In July 2010 a rare Sowerby’s beaked whale stranded in Netherlands (link), it was reloated by members of the public but it restranded and died on July 21, in Kent, UK (link). We helped to unravel this mystery because we were curious if it was the same whale and later the lifeguard that helped to refloat the whale confirmed the marks that were clearly seen on a whale stranded in Kent. So in 3 days this whale covered 185 miles and he did not float with currents, but actively swam towards his final destination.

b) We have been posting this video all the time, this is famous rescue from Brazil. And you can see once again that a pod of dolphins swims actively towards the shore and does not just “float with currents”.
VIDEOIncredible Dolphin Rescue - 30 Dolphins Stranded and Saved
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2BiMEeirC_M


4. In New Zealand which is seismically active area there is a significant population of dusky dolphins and they are almost never mass strand. In fact we were only able to find one documented mass stranding in Australia in 90s.
5. Chile is another seismically active region, and while there have been live strandings there, they were not nearly as abundant in terms of animals involved and number of stranding events compared to other areas, such as UK for example. And Chile has very abundant marine life offshore, its not like they do not have whales and dolphins there.

6. Even California with all its seismic activity has less live strandings compared to the US East Coast.

Hypothesis #3. The Middle Ground

1. We think that quakes should not be completely disregarded nor should they be blamed for all strandings.

2. Whales and dolphins most likely can detect quakes or perhaps even their precursors and move away from the harm.

3. Whales and dolphins can still be affected when the quake erupts just below them, or in proximity or during a deep dive. So there are several important factors to consider:

a) quake magnitude
b) distance in regard to a quake
c) activities during the quake

We think that due to unfortunate circumstances sometimes whales’ and dolphins’ adaptations are not enough and if they are caught off guard, in close proximity to a powerful quake and during a deep dive they can be vulnerable.

4. We have been talking a lot about stranding as behavioral response. This could be another way how a quake AND sonar/airguns can induce mass or single live stranding. We think if a pod or a whale are caught between the shore and the source, and cannot move towards the source due to some circumstances/factors we do not fully understand, coming ashore is the only thing the pod or a whale can do. There are many unknowns in this theory however.

Questions to be answered

1. How far is too far? How close to the source a marine mammal should be to be damaged physically or to evoke behavioral fleeing response? The study of a fin whale and a quake shows that M5 quake at 245 km evokes fleeing response but not stranding. Sound travels fast, and what we need to know at what levels sound ceases to become nuisance and turns into danger or even becomes lethal.

2. Sadly cetaceans now live in the environment where not only quakes happen almost all the time, but also where seismic surveys happen all the time along with Navy sonar, Navy “hazardous operations”, missiles tests, explosives, low flying aircraft tests, you name it. With so many possible culpits, the blame can be shifted and the truth can be obscured. Earthquakes are easy to blame as there is always a quake going on somewhere. Given how things stand now, in the future there will be also always some seismic survey or Navy test nearby. How can we determine the cause of stranding? Only by studying it carefully, taking into consideration all culpits, by getting full necropsy, by doing statistical analysis. This is the only way.

Do we think 4 mass strandings that happened in past 2 weeks were due to quakes?

No. And here is why. There were no quakes close by Cape Verde prior and during stranding. The quake up North while powerful was still 1744 km from a stranding site. Let’s say whales were half way between a quake and a stranding site in Scotland, it would take them 3.6 days to cover this distance at their normal speed of 10 km/h. As for Florida and Cape Cod, no quakes in Cape Cod and very minor quakes in Puerto Rico region and one small quake 187 km E of Georgia (see interactive website here, you can check all quakes small and big ones last 30 days link)

The bottom line:

While quakes can affect marine mammals in one way or the other they cannot be blamed for all live strandings. Quakes can be important as cetaceans might evolve the reflex or reaction to flee the quake and they might as well try to flee many other sources such as sonar or airguns. Or they may be even more vulnerable to anthropogenic noise as they do not know how to deal with it and did not evolve successful coping strategy.

As you see live strandings are very complicated events and we need to take as many factors into consideration as possible, but we also have evaluate all factors based on plausibility and data available.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

WHALE & DOLPHIN POWER, Heike Owusu



Indian Symbols by Heike Owusu

Whale

The whale is the keeper of the history of the Earth and her secrets. The memory of the legendary Motherland Mu, which laid in the west of America and which was kept alive by all Indian Tribes, is kept alive by the whales. Once he was the witness of a big catastrophe of which the motherland was a victim

People with whale power often have sharp hearing and with this gift, they can call on all the universal information. (all the information stored in the universe)

They often have telepathic powers. In many cases they don't know the source of their knowledge, and in time it becomes clear how to use their gifts/power.

The whale teaches the people to find their own “source tone” (what is from the beginning, a “musical note”) and to connect with this, because he carries the history of all living beings within.

He shows that the right frequency can have healing power. With his help, you can learn to connect with this ancient language, which was used to develop current languages as a communication tool.

The whale shows you the way to your own spiritual meaning

Dolphin

The dolphin teaches us the way of the breath, which connects us with life and the power of life. By changing the rhythm of our breath we can creates bridges to other beings and worlds. Because the breath connects us with the Great Spirit and his total creation.

People with dolphin power, just like their totem animal, can be an interface between the people and the ancestors of the dreamtime or the “godly power”

The dolphin teaches us to overcome barriers, without force, and with pleasure, so you can change your rhythm and your energy pattern. Create a bond with the people of the stars. Free yourself of all burdens by breathing out powerfully and consciously.

(thanks to Liesbet :)

NOAA SEISMIC VESSEL OPERATING ILLEGALLY KILLED NEW MOTHER BLUE WHALE, FOUR OTHER WHALES DIED

 NEW MOTHER BLUE WHALE KILLED...
 BY PACIFIC STAR SEISMIC VESSEL...
  UNDER CONTRACT WITH NOAA...
 AND 'SCIENTISTS' AMPUTATED ITS FLIPPER.
 PACIFIC STAR WAS OPERATING WITHOUT A PERMIT
 THE NOAA AND...
 AND NMFS...
 ARE SUBSIDIARIES OF THE U.S. NAVY...
 ...THE BIGGEST NUCLEAR ENTITY ON EARTH...
THEY WORK FOR...
 AND THE INTERNATIONAL BANKERS...
 WHO WE MAKE POSSIBLE BY DRIVING CARS
AND USING MONEY.

 "...the Fort Bragg blue whale was the second to perish from a collision with a boat this fall and the fifth to die off the California coast this fall...The National Geographic and other media outlets gushed that the Fort Bragg blue whale’s death provided a unique opportunity for scientists to study a whale..In investigating the incident, Noyo News learned that the Pacific Star did not have a valid 'Marine Geophysical Survey Permit,' and lacked the required marine mammal observer at the time of the accident, and so was operating illegally..."

"The presence of that animal on the beach," he said, "is another sign that we're malefactors on this planet."


NOAA Contract Boat Kills Blue Whale Off Fort Bragg
by Dan Bacher
Friday Oct 23rd, 2009 
Environmentalists and fishermen on California’s North Coast are calling for an investigation into the killing of an endangered blue whale off Fort Bragg by a mapping survey boat contracted by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Fishermen, Enviros Call for Independent Investigation

Environmentalists and fishermen on California’s North Coast are calling for an independent investigation into the killing of an endangered blue whale off Fort Bragg by a mapping survey boat contracted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The 72-foot female blue whale, a new mother, perished on Monday, October 19, after being hit by the 78-foot Pacific Star, under contract to NOAA to update maps of the ocean floor

Jim Milbury, spokesman for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, said the boat was doing multi-beam echo sounder surveys to update marine charts and to determine the habitat to be used in state and federal marine protected area designations.

“We know that the whale’s death was caused by the collision with the boat because the boat crew called us to report the collision,” said Milbury. “After the collision, the dead whale washed up on the beach off Fort Bragg.”

Multibeam echo sounders (MBES), like other sonar systems, transmit sound energy and analyze the return signal (echo) that has bounced off the seafloor or other objects, according to NOAA's Office of Coast Survey. Multibeam sonars emit sound waves from directly beneath a ship's hull to produce fan-shaped coverage of the seafloor.

Collisions with boats are relatively infrequent, but the Fort Bragg blue whale was the second to perish from a collision with a boat this fall and the fifth to die off the California coast this fall. On October 12, a 50-foot blue whale was found floating in a kelp bed off Big Sur along the Monterey County coast after an undetermined vessel hit it.

Three other whales washed up on southern California beaches in September.
As biologists investigate the deaths, ocean advocates blame the U.S. Navy for conducting tests of high-powered sonar devices believed to cause unbearable pain to whales and other ocean mammals.

The National Geographic and other media outlets gushed that the Fort Bragg blue whale’s death provided a unique opportunity for scientists to study a whale.

“Though unable to move the blue whale, scientists and students are leaping at the research opportunity, scrambling down rock faces to take tissue samples and eventually one of the 11-foot-long (3.5-meter-long) flippers,” according to “Blue Whale Beached – Flipper to Be Amputated by Ted Chamberlain 


However, fishermen, environmentalists and seaweed harvesters are outraged that the vessel, conducting surveys designed to designate habitat to be included in no-fishing zones that will kick Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters off their traditional areas, was negligent in trying to avoid a collision with the whale. Many believe that the sonar beams coming from the boat may have disoriented the whale, causing it to collide with the boat.
 

Beth Mitchell, Fort Bragg resident and the FERC coordinator of Fishermen Interested in Safe Hydrokinetics (FISH), said the recent collision by the NOAA contract boat was “almost unbelievable to me.”

“The whale was essentially the same size as the boat,” she stated. “Whales are pretty easy to see when you're out on the water, and even much smaller ones are easily seen. This one was huge.”
 

Blue whales are the largest mammals on Earth and possibly the largest animals ever, according to the American Cetacean Society Web site, http://www.acsonline.org.

Fearing the endangered animals could soon become extinct, the International Whaling Commission banned all hunting of blue whales in 1966. There are now an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 blue whales in the Northern Hemisphere. The longest known blue whale measured 106 feet long and 200 tons. Whales are an average life span of 80 to 90 years.

David Gurney, in his article on the Ocean Protection Coalition website (http://www.oceanprotection.org), demanded a full and independent investigation of the incident.

“Only the captain and crew of the Pacific Star know the truth of what they were doing out there that day,” said Gurney. “But according to Joe Cordaro of NOAA, the chartered vessel for the MLPA will be investigated by the Enforcement Division of, you guessed it, NOAA. Unless the public demands a full inquiry and investigation, we may never know.”
Local environmentalists and fishermen have decided to name the dead whale "Jane" after Jane Lubchenko, the NOAA administrator who is running the federal fishery “management” scheme that resulted in the whale's death.

“The NOAA vessel was mapping both federal and state waters, and part of that data will be used in the MLPA process,” said Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. “I guarantee you she wants to have a federal MPA process to close large chunks of the ocean out to 200 miles. The state MLPA process is just the beginning.”

The RFA, Ocean Protection Coalition and other conservation groups have asked for a suspension of Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's fast-track MLPA process, due to lack of dedicated funding, numerous conflicts of interests by MLPA decision makers and the lack of clarity about what type of activities are allowed in reserves. This tragic incident only highlights the urgent need to suspend the corrupt and out-of-control MLPA corporate greenwashing process that is opposed by the vast majority of North Coast residents.

“How many blue whales must be killed in the name of so-called ‘ocean protection,’” asked Martin. “How many of these beautiful and magnificent animals must be sacrificed at the altar of corporate-funded marine 'protection'?”

Martin emphasized, “The whale is a metaphor for North Coast communities who have been run over by NOAA, an agency on auto pilot. The Department of Fish and Game is riding their coattails using this habitat data in the MLPA process.”

Among the communities of the North Coast dramatically impacted by the corrupt MLPA process is the Kashia Pomo Tribe, who have sustainably harvested seaweed, mussels and abalone off Stewarts Point for centuries. However, the California Fish and Game Commission in August, under orders from Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger, banned the Kashia Tribe, seaweed harvesters, fishermen and abalone divers from their traditional harvesting areas in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

As Lester Pinola, past chairman of the Kashia Rancheria, said in a public hearing prior to the Commission August 5 vote, “What you are doing to us is taking the food out of our mouths. When the first settlers came to the coast, they didn’t how to feed themselves. Our people showed them how to eat out of the ocean. In my opinion, this was a big mistake.”

Everybody who cares about the health of our oceans and coastal communities should support a full, independent and impartial investigation of the killing of "Jane " the whale by a NOAA contract boat. At the same time, the MLPA process, rife with conflict of interests, mission creep and corruption of the democratic process, should be immediately suspended.

"How ironic it is that a rare blue whale was killed by the people who say they want to 'protect marine life,'" concluded Martin. 
https://mendocoastcurrent.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/noaa-boat-kills-blue-whale-off-mendocino-coast/

NOAA Boat Kills Blue Whale Off Mendocino Coast


Environmentalists and fishermen on California’s North Coast are calling for an independent investigation into the killing of an endangered blue whale off Fort Bragg by a mapping survey boat contracted by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

In order to stop the killing of any more whales, locals are also asking for an immediate suspension of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process that the boat was collecting habitat data for.

The 72-foot female blue whale, a new mother, perished on Monday, October 19, after being hit by the 78-foot Pacific Star, under contract to NOAA to update maps of the ocean floor

Jim Milbury, spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the boat was doing multi-sonar beam surveys to update marine charts and to determine the habitat to be used in state and federal marine protected area designations.

“We know that the whale’s death was caused by the collision with the boat because the boat crew called us to report the collision,” said Milbury. “After the collision, the dead whale washed up on the beach off Fort Bragg.”

Collisions with boats are relatively infrequent, but the Fort Bragg blue whale was the second to perish from a collision with a boat this fall. On October 9, a 50-foot blue whale was found floating in a kelp bed off Big Sur along the Monterey County coast after an undetermined vessel hit it.
The National Geographic and other media outlets gushed that the Fort Bragg blue whale’s death provided a unique opportunity for scientists to study a whale.

When the MLPA killed a Blue Whale

On Oct. 19, 2009 an underwater mapping vessel on its last day of work for the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) struck and killed a 72-foot female blue whale.

The MLPAI ‘Initiaitive” denied any responsibily for the accident, and shifted blame to NOAA as the contracting agency.  However, it was later learned that the primary mission of the research vessel Pacific Star – was to gather data for California Seafloor Mapping Project (CSMP) – to be used in designing California’s marine protected areas.
The project was heavily funded by the Packard Foundation, the major financier of the MLPAI “Initiative.”  The Packard Foundation has since removed its name from the CSMP website.

In investigating the incident, Noyo News learned that the Pacific Star did not have a valid “Marine Geophysical Survey Permit,” and lacked the required marine mammal observer at the time of the accident, and so was operating illegally.

On November 18, 2009, I travelled to Eureka, CA to provide public comment before the MLPAI’s “Blue Ribbon Task Force” (BRTF) – to ask for an independent investigation of the whale strike incident.  As I was speaking, Executive Director Ken Wiseman interrupted me at two minutes, one-minute before the previously announced three-minute public comment time period had expired.

Although I asked to finish my short statement, and tried to read the last two sentences, Mr. Wiseman quickly cut the microphone and ordered three California Fish and Game Wardens to remove me from the podium.

After I had been removed, Wiseman, and program manager Melissa Miller-Henson, went on for several minutes, explaining how the MLPAI was not at all culpable in the death of the blue whale.

Mr. LeValley and The Blue Whale Cover-Up

Ron LeValley showed up three days after the Oct 19, 2009 whale strike at the site where the dead animal was beached, in a very tight narrow cove about a mile south of Fort Bragg.  I was also there.  When questions were raised during those first few days about how the accident had occurred, it was established that the vessel Pacific Star was using side-scan and multi-beam sonar for hydrographic surveys.

Initially there had been rumors that the vessel was doing oil/gas drilling surveys, but it was actually doing underwater mapping in preparation for the North Coast Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. (MLPAI)

At the scene, Ron proclaimed himself a “whale expert” and started making very public and adamant statements – to the press and anyone who would listen – that the vessel’s hydrographic sonar had nothing to do with the whale strike.  He claimed it was the same type of sonar that fishing boats use, that sonar only affects toothed whales, not baleen whales, that it was just a freak accident, and the ships powerful mapping sonar had nothing to do with it.

He presented a public slide show on whales in the following weeks, where he expressed these beliefs, and claimed that a whale feeding on plankton is no smarter than a cow grazing on grass.

This had many people’s heads scratching.  Why would a trained biologist make statements that fly in the face of fact?  To even do hydrographic surveys in California waters, you are required to have a special permit, costing $5,000, that regulates sonar surveys – specifically for the protection of marine mammals, who are definitely adversely affected by sonar.  As a biologist and whale expert, Mr. LeValley certainly must have known this.

It was later learned that the Pacific Star did not possess a valid “Marine Geophysical Survey Permit” at the time of the accident, nor were they operating under the terms of the permit, which requires a lookout at all times (a “marine mammal observer”).
When apprised of this, Mr. LeValley went on to claim at that this also didn’t matter, that the accident would have happened anyway, and that because of the way blue whales surface unexpectedly, an observer wouldn’t have seen her.  This also is contrary to the opinion of real whale experts, and to the fact that an observer doing their job would have noticed the whale, and made the captain and crew aware of her presence.

Going back to a few days after the accident – The property owners’ had to figure out what to do with an extremely foul smelling carcass that would have made life unbearable.  It would have been logical to attach long cables at high tide, and tow her back out to sea.

But Mr. LeValley assured the headland property owners that he could secure funding to haul the beast up the cliffs, by helicopter if necessary, to remove the carcass and bury the bones until the microbes ate them clean.

This was done.  A large crew of volunteers and paid workers, including a couple of heavy equipment operators, worked for almost two weeks, pulling macabre slabs of rotting flesh and bloody bones up the cliff.  The bones were buried at a secret location in the woods east of Fort Bragg.

Why the cover-up?  And who paid for it?

Some speculate that the private billionaire sponsors of the MLPAI (shielded by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation) knew they had a public relations nightmare on their hands when their mapping vessel killed the whale.  LeValley may have been their point man, to ameliorate the situation as best he could, and avoid any bad publicity.  Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.

But two months after the accident, Mr. LeValley was chosen as a Co-Chair for the North Coast “Science Advisory Team” for the MLPAI.   Although officially chosen for his extensive and well-respected knowledge on birds, he had been a strong advocate for the marine closures to fishing and gathering by the corrupt, privately sponsored MLPA Initiative, both before, during and after the whale strike incident.

Blue Whale Beached: Flipper to be Amputated?


October 22, 2009—The apparent victim of a ship collision, a dead 70-foot (20-meter) blue whale (pictured) washed ashore in a forbidding northern California cove this week.

Though unable to move the blue whale, scientists and students are leaping at the research opportunity, scrambling down rock faces to take tissue samples and eventually one of the 11-foot-long (3.5-meter-long) flippers.

Though relatively infrequent off California until recent years, ship collisions are "the number one human threat to blue whales," according to marine biologist Joe Cordaro of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.

This week's collision, he said, marks the second time this year that a ship off California has fatally wounded a blue whale.


The world's largest animals, blue whales can grow to about a hundred feet (30 meters) long—about the length of a space shuttle. Listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the whales are said to face a very high risk of extinction in the wild, largely due to heavy hunting prior to a 1966 ban.

A Shudder and, Later, a Beached Blue Whale
On Monday, Cordaro received a report from a ship mapping the seafloor for the fisheries service. The researchers had "felt a shudder underneath the ship" about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from shore.
Soon after, a whale surfaced, bleeding profusely, Cordaro said. Several hours later, the beached blue whale was spotted near the city of Fort Bragg.
Given the evidence—timing, location, a fresh propeller wound—Cordaro said, "I don't think there's any doubt" that the mapping ship is the culprit.
Blue Whale Tragedy Turned Scientific Windfall

"I'm as sorry as anybody that that animal perished," said Humboldt State University mammologist Thor Holmes (pictured above atop the whale). But to find "a fresh, female blue whale in a place that's accessible—that is amazing."

On Tuesday, Holmes and two students drove several hours to study the blue whale.

After he'd scrambled down the "scary" rock faces, he told the eager students to stay put for their own safety. "Man, I knew from the looks on their faces there was an insurrection brewing," he said. The others eventually found another, wetter way around.
On the shore, the researchers took blubber samples, which Holmes expects will shed light on the whale's pre-collision health.

"Just the fact that the whale has a good, thick blubber layer," he said, "shows it was a really, really healthy animal."
Blue Whale to Be Left in Place

The blue whale will be left on the Fort Bragg beach, the National Marine Fisheries Service's Cordaro said. Given the cove's inaccessibility to vehicles, he added, "That whale ain't going anywhere."

But researchers are planning more tests, including an amputation of one of the blue whale's flippers this week—a potential windfall for an ongoing Humboldt State study comparing the limbs of cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

The university is also sending more students to examine the rare specimen, and a dermatologist at Humboldt is hoping to secure hair follicles for study.
For Holmes, the specimen holds great scientific promise, but also serves as a painful reminder of humanity's role in the blue whale's rarity.

"The presence of that animal on the beach," he said, "is another sign that we're malefactors on this planet."

—Ted Chamberlain