Whale and Dolphin Summer 2016

THE CASE FOR WHALE AND DOLPHIN RIGHTS

WONDERFUL NEW PHOTOS OF WHALES AND DOLPHINS BY MARK CARWARDINE

WHALE& DOLPHIN Summer 2016 Issue 74

The magazine of WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation

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16 GERMANY

STRANDED

6 UK

Investigating the mass sperm whale deaths in January and February 2016

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NETHERLANDS

1

FRANCE

18

Enjoy the incredible photography of Mark Carwardine

WDC EDITOR Danny Groves EDITORIAL BOARD Alison Wood; Rob Lott

Dear friends

PUBLISHED BY WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, United Kingdom Registered Charity No. 1014705 Registered Company No. 2737421 T +44 (0)1249 449500 (from outside UK) E info@whales.org

The recent strandings of sperm whales across Europe cast a spotlight on the plight of these magnificent creatures and made people speculate as to why whales and dolphins strand. In this issue we take a look at that very question. We also explore what happens when a beached whale dies and, with the help of expert Rob Deaville from ZSL (Zoological Society of London), we examine how post-mortems can help determine why some whales and dolphins get into these horrendous situations.

Enjoy our showcase of stunning images from broadcaster and whale expert Mark Carwardine’s new book a Guide to Whale Watching in Britain and Europe, which is out now in all good bookshops.

Millions of people around the world were rightly horrified by pictures circulating recently showing holidaymakers posing for selfies with a baby franciscana dolphin plucked from the sea. On page 16 you can read our thoughts on this tragedy, and all about WDC’s work to save this previously little-known species.

Elsewhere, you will find a fascinating insight by OrcaLab winter ‘caretaker’ David Cannamore into life (and the wildlife that accompanies him) at the Canadian orca research station during the ‘off season’.

And a quick reminder that it is not long now until our annual Walk for Whales fundraiser – you can find out how to get involved on page 21.

WDC also has offices in Argentina, Australia, Germany and the USA PATRONS John Craven; Monty Halls; Miranda Krestovnikoff; Michaela Strachan PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING Consultant editor Malcolm Tait malcolm@thinkpublishing.co.uk Managing editor Alec Mackenzie Sub-editor Andrew Littlefield Design Dominic Scott Advertising Alison Fraser Publisher John Innes Think Scotland, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA Tel 0141 375 0504

Whale & Dolphin is published four times a year and distributed to WDC supporters, institutions, conservation bodies and others involved in whale and dolphin conservation.

Whale & Dolphin has been printed and bound in the UK by Headley Brothers Ltd, on acid-free paper that is produced from sustainable forests. Royal Roto is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), originates in the Netherlands and is produced by SAPPI Europe, which holds ISO 14001 certification and is a member of the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

Contributions: WDC cannot guarantee the return of unsolicited articles, photographs etc. Reproduction of articles is not permitted without approval. Opinions expressed in Whale & Dolphin do not necessarily reflect those of WDC. Advertising policy: WDC reserves the right to refuse an advertisement without explanation. WDC does not necessarily endorse any of the products or services advertised. WDC is unable to recommend specific whale watching trips and cannot vouch for the quality of the trips advertised; go to whales.org/ whalewatching for more information on choosing a trip.

ISSN 1470-4595 Main image: Mark Carwardine Cover image: Getty

Chris Butler-Stroud, WDC chief executive

04 News

16 Conservation

10 Campaigns

18 Gallery

facebook.com/ whales.org S ign up to our e-newsletter at whales.org/ newsletter @WHALES_org

Updates from the world of whales and dolphins The recent strandings of sperm whales have posed questions about this fatal behaviour

14 Ask the experts

How do post-mortems on stranded whales work?

What WDC is doing to help the little-known franciscana dolphin Amazing imagery from Mark Carwardine’s new book on whale watching

22 Face to face

Meet Cédric Gilleman, champion of Peru’s river dolphins

24 Rights

How a new documentary gets to the heart of whale and dolphin rights

26 Adoption updates

The latest news about your favourite dolphins, humpbacks and orcas

32 Site guide

David Cannamore provides a personal view of life at OrcaLab Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 3

BREACHING NEWS

SUCCESS USA

SEAWORLD TO END ORCA BREEDING PROGRAMME SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby has announced that the US company will end all orca breeding programmes this year, making this generation of captive orcas the last to be held in SeaWorld’s tanks

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n this surprise development, Manby also announced the phasing-out of theatrical orca shows in all parks.

Following WDC’s campaign to stop Virgin selling trips to SeaWorld, SeaWorld parks signed a pledge never again to take whales or dolphins from the wild. Now they have gone even further, making moves that will end orca captivity at SeaWorld forever. After many years campaigning, WDC is delighted with this news.

SeaWorld holds 29 of the 56 orcas currently in captivity and WDC will continue to

4 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

campaign to improve their situation through the creation of more naturalistic sea pen sanctuaries where captive orcas can be retired.

However, it’s important to remember that SeaWorld also holds numerous captive dolphins and belugas and it remains to be seen what fate awaits them.

The public backlash against shows like those that are staged at SeaWorld has led to falling profits, the ending of numerous corporate partnership deals, fines and the exposure of financial scandals at the company.

AND THERE’S MORE …

SeaWorld recently confessed that employees have been posing as animal activists to spy on its critics.

In a statement, the company said it would no longer use spies, but tried to explain away the practice by insisting that the decision to send people undercover was to maintain the safety and security of company employees, customers and animals in the face of credible threats that the company had received.

The pressure has really begun to tell on SeaWorld, and with your support WDC will be keeping it up.

BREACHING NEWS UK

THOUSANDS SAY NO TO SCALLOP DREDGING

in the bay five years ago. The dredging destroys almost everything, smashing the seabed life to pieces and quickly reducing a rich ecosystem to a sandy or muddy desert.

‘We are delighted so many people support our view that the current proposal to open up protected areas to scallop dredging again is wrong,’ says WDC’s Mick Green.

‘We hope that the Welsh government will take notice of the high level of opposition to these proposals and withdraw them.’

GAVIN BRAY

ERSTOCK SHUTT

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any WDC supporters have signed a 27,000-name petition against plans by the Welsh government to open up Cardigan Bay to destructive scallop dredging.

Large parts of the bay, home to bottlenose dolphins, are protected as ‘special areas of conservation’ under European law, and WDC has been pressing the Welsh government to bring about better management of fishing activity in these sites for many years. Commercial scallop fishing came to an end

GREECE

USA

GOOD NEWS FOR RIGHT WHALES

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he US government has announced protection for 39,414 square miles of ocean that is home to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The move comes after pressure from WDC and other conservation and wildlife protection groups to help the 500 whales that remain, and who face a serious risk of extinction.

North Atlantic right whales were devastated by commercial whaling in the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite being protected

as an endangered species since 1970, the species has not recovered due to continuing threats. Right whales have very low reproductive rates, and adult females only give birth to one calf every four years on average.

Right whales also use more than 55,000 miles of marine habitat on the Atlantic coast of the United States but, sadly, a mere fraction of those waters are protected. With so few right whales left, every whale is vital to the species’ survival and recovery.

REGINA ASMUT IS-S ILVI A

IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT SEAWORLD ALSO HOLDS NUMEROUS CAPTIVE DOLPHINS AND BELUGAS AND IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHAT FATE AWAITS THEM

The Greek government has issued new advice for teachers when planning school trips with their pupils. The recommendations include avoiding trips for children to places where ‘animals are kept in captivity for commercial purposes’ because this ‘does not abide by the principles of education’. The advice also includes the need for schools to be aware of the protection and respect for the natural environment.

Greece currently has one zoo in Athens which holds bottlenose dolphins. The waters around Greece, however, are home to bottlenose, striped and common dolphins, as well as to sperm whales and Cuvier’s beaked whales in the deep waters off the southern mainland.

WDC /

BERNARD AUTON

GOVERNMENT ADVISES AGAINST SCHOOL VISITS TO CAPTIVE FACILITIES

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 5

BREACHING NEWS ARGENTINA

BABY DOLPHIN DIES IN BEACH SELFIE SHOOT

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JANET BAXTER

olidaymakers in Argentina have been criticised for causing the tragic death of a baby franciscana dolphin, after they removed the calf from shallow waters on a popular beach.

The crowd of people at the beach resort of Santa Teresita paraded the calf around, with lots of the holidaymakers posing to have selfies taken with the poor dolphin. Video footage of the incident has caused outrage across the world. Many species of whale or dolphin rapidly dehydrate and can die very quickly if removed from the water.

The franciscana dolphin is one of the most threatened dolphins in the Southern Atlantic Ocean and WDC’s Argentinian office is working to protect them – find out more on page 16.

UK

POLLUTION COULD DRIVE UK ORCAS TO EXTINCTION A new report led by the Zoological Society of London has revealed the terrible levels of pollution in the seas around western Europe, and the impact this may have on whales and dolphins.

Among the findings is the likelihood that the last remaining pod of resident orcas in UK waters could be lost altogether. The main threat comes from the long-term effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial chemicals that reduce the ability of whales and dolphins to reproduce, and to fight off illness.

Even though PCBs were banned in the 1980s they continue to enter the oceans from sources such as landfill sites. The study found dangerously high levels in the bodies of more than 1,000 dolphins and orcas over the last 20 years. The levels found ‘greatly exceed concentrations at which severe 6 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

toxic effects are known to occur,’ the report said.

The only UK orca pod was reduced to just eight in January by the death of Lulu, who died after becoming entangled in fishing gear.

In nearly 20 years of studies, there has not been a single recorded birth in the group and it is likely therefore that they will become extinct this century. Scientists fear other orca pods in Europe may face a similar fate if the long-term effect of PCBs continue to have a damaging impact on their ability to breed.

PCBs are particularly harmful to whales and dolphins as they are at the top of the food chain and the pollutants accumulate in their bodies, including in their blubber. Mothers can then pass on the pollutants to their babies through their milk, perhaps by as much as 90%.

BREACHING NEWS

EGYPT

Researchers working in the Sahara desert have uncovered dozens of fossilised remains thought to be the prehistoric ancestors of whales.

The whale bones were found at the Wadi Al-Hitan site in the Egyptian desert, once covered by a huge prehistoric ocean. One of the finds is a 37 million-year-old skeleton of a legged form of whale that measures more than 65 feet (20 metres) long.

THREAT TO POLICE INVESTIGATION TEAM AVERTED Doubts over the future of the UK’s wildlife crime investigation team were allayed in early March, when its future was assured by the UK government for a further four years.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit supports the UK’s police forces in tackling wildlife crimes, but for a while there was a threat

that the unit might be scrapped. Previously, wildlife policing teams have helped WDC to investigate a number of incidents of dolphin harassment by boats and jet skis, and have also dealt with cases involving the illegal possession and trade in whale teeth and bones.

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

UK

MOHA MMED ALI MOUS SA

PREHISTORIC WHALES FOUND IN SAHARA DESERT

THE SITE WHERE THE FOSSILS WERE FOUND WAS ONCE COVERED

BY A HUGE OCEAN

SUCCESS! NO FIN WHALING IN ICELAND

ICELAND THIS SUMMER

WDC

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here is excellent news in relation to whale hunting in Iceland, where Kristjan Loftsson, the country’s sole fin whaler, has announced that his whaling boats won’t be killing endangered fin whales this summer.

Loftsson’s whaling company, Hvalur hf, has killed 706 fin whales since 2006, but we are hopeful that campaign pressure will finally bring the slaughter to an end.

Loftsson has blamed difficulties in exporting his meat from Iceland to his only customer, Japan. WDC has long campaigned against commercial whaling of both fin and minke whales in Iceland, and the transit of fin whale meat to Japan.

Since 2006, more than 7,300 tonnes of fin whale meat and blubber have been exported to Japan, and making these exports more costly and difficult has been one of WDC’s campaign tactics. Protests by WDC and our supporters have forced Loftsson to abandon his preferred shipping route via EU ports and the Suez Canal. Instead, in 2014, Hvalur hf exported 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan, but had to take a much longer route via the west coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope. In 2015, the 1,800 tonnes of fin whale meat exported to Japan had to be shipped via Russia’s North-east Passage.

PROTESTS BY WDC AND OUR SUPPORTERS HAVE FORCED LOFTSSON TO ABANDON HIS PREFERRED SHIPPING ROUTE VIA EU PORTS AND THE SUEZ CANAL Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 7

BREACHING NEWS

RECYCLING

WINNER

USA

STUDY REVEALS BOAT NOISE THREATENS ENDANGERED ORCAS

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area, but the salmon have become increasingly rare in recent decades and finding food is becoming harder for the whales.

The noise being created by many of the local boats is so loud that it is likely to be interfering with the orcas’ ability to communicate, navigate and locate their prey.

Researchers concluded that reducing the speed of vessels would make the waters ‘quieter’ and prevent some vessels hitting the orcas too.

CWR / ROB LOTT

ew research highlighting the damage that noise pollution could have on endangered orcas has been published. The study looked at the effect of high-frequency noise on the southern resident orcas of Puget Sound in the Pacific north-west.

Just 85 individuals survive in the wild and they inhabit some of the busiest shipping lanes off the west coast of North America.

Orcas use echolocation to find Chinook salmon in this

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the recycling competition run through The Recycling Factory.

Congratulations to Stephanie Rose who wins a Waterstones voucher.

PACIFIC OCEAN

WHALE CALLS RECORDED AT EARTH’S DEEPEST POINT

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he first audio recordings taken from the deepest point on the Earth’s surface have revealed a number of amazing sounds, including the calls of different species of whale.

Little is known about what happens in the Mariana Trench, located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean around 322km (200 miles) south-west of Guam, but the recordings do shed some light on what is a very dark place indeed.

The crushing pressure levels at such extreme depths make exploration difficult, so a team from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to drop a titanium-encased recording device (hydrophone) down to Challenger Deep, 8 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

the trench’s deepest point (6.8 miles below the sea’s surface).

Aside from whale song, over a MARIANA 23-day period the researchers TRENCH recorded the propeller of a boat travelling across the surface, the sound of a typhoon raging overhead and the rumbling of earthquakes.

Whales and dolphins are at risk from the threat of loud, man-made noise under the water, a threat that WDC is campaigning to reduce.

This incredible research work will help determine if humancreated noise in the ocean is getting louder, and so measure the impact on marine creatures, such as whales and dolphins, that use sound to communicate, navigate and feed.

UK

NEW ZONES OFFER LITTLE PROTECTION

The UK government has announced plans to create 23 new marine conservation zones (protected sea areas), but has decided not to include any sites that would protect whales, dolphins or porpoises.

Thirty species of whales, dolphins and porpoises are known to live in waters around the UK, and some areas are crucial for breeding, feeding and other vital activities.

Originally, 37 sites were supposed to be consulted in April 2015 but, disappointingly, 14 sites were dropped by the government without proper consultation with the public.

Areas such as these are an important tool in protecting the homes of species, like whales and dolphins, that cover wide-ranging distances. WDC will continue to press the government to include whales and dolphins in designated protected areas in UK waters.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Having loved whales and dolphins since she was little, WDC supporter Sarah Sullivan was thrilled to receive an orca adoption as a wedding present, and she hasn’t looked back since. Hugely committed to helping whales and dolphins, Sarah tells her story here.

“I chose to fundraise for WDC by doing the Wildlife Weekend Walk. I hadn’t walked any sizeable distance in recent years and thought it would be a brilliant way to meet people who were as passionate as me about marine mammals, while raising money for WDC! The weekend was fantastic fun and Would you like to great value for money. I made some join the Wildlife amazing friends and had the most Weekend Walk? Sign wonderful experience at the beautiful up at whales.org/ Black Isle. It was really great to receive so wildlifewalk much support from friends and family, and I raised more than my original target. WDC is a fantastic cause and it was hugely rewarding to see the dolphins at Chanonry Point!”

tranquil, relaxing, spectacular holiday apartments, right on the Moray Firth beach

with very friendly natural neighbours

Dolphin Bay Suites www.dolphinbaysuites.com 0800 043 2413

Join marine zoologist Dr Charles Anderson for tropical cetaceans, seabirds & snorkelling www.whale-and-dolphin.com 01638 508464 Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 9

CAMPAIGNS

WDC

ANATOMY OF A STRANDING The recent mass sperm whale strandings across Europe made international headlines. But what causes whales and dolphins to strand in the first place? Here, we take a look at some of the key reasons

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very now and then, somewhere in the world, a sperm whale becomes stranded upon a beach. It generally happens a few times a year, and the incidents are often isolated.

In January and early February this year, however, something extraordinary happened.

On the beaches of England, Germany and the Netherlands, not five, not even 10, but an astonishing 29 sperm whales stranded. It resulted in some shocking sights, and the terrible event caught the eye of the media worldwide. Speculation was rife, as journalists jostled to find answers. How could such a thing happen? The honest answer is that we don’t exactly know. There are a number of different theories as to why whales and dolphins strand (see side panel), but no single definitive cause in this tragic case.

For a start, despite the drama of the tale, this kind of mass stranding event is not new.

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KNS NEWS

Recurring event

There have been records of strandings of individual sperm whales, and groups, in the North Sea for hundreds of years. Two mass strandings, of 25 and 27 sperm whales, occurred in 1994 and 1996 respectively, for example, and it is highly likely that such an event will happen again in coming decades.

To get to the nub of why these things happen is extremely difficult. The life of the sperm whale contains many mysteries, which is unsurprising considering that these huge whales are one of the deepest-diving mammals in the world, able to reach depths of between 400m and 2km, and quite possibly even as deep as 3km. They can also hold their breath for up to two hours, which makes them very difficult to follow.

Furthermore, the sheer size of the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea makes the sperm whale population in these vast waters very hard to monitor. These were once among the most hunted whales in the world, and we know very little about how well they’ve recovered from

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF STRANDINGS? 1. NAVIGATIONAL ERROR

One theory behind the recent sperm whale strandings is that the whales may have got lost searching for prey and entered the North Sea, where the sea floor is not deep enough, causing the whales to become disorientated and die.

Some types of shore and coastlines are more prone to strandings than others. Shallow, sloping shores made of soft sediments may confuse the echolocation used by whales and dolphins to find their way around.

It is now thought that some strandings can be linked to the earth’s magnetic field.

Crystals of magnetite – which react to a weak magnetic field – have been detected in the brains and skulls of some whales and dolphins.

This magnetic ‘sense’ could be an important navigational aid, especially in the deep oceans.

Indeed, analysis of strandings around the UK has found that live strandings occur more often on those unusual shores where lines of equal magnetic force meet the coastline perpendicularly. In other words, the dolphins or whales are disoriented by these abnormalities and follow them ashore.

2. POLLUTION

GETTY

ON THE BEACHES OF ENGLAND, GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS, NOT FIVE, NOT EVEN 10, BUT AN ASTONISHING 29 SPERM WHALES STRANDED

3. ENTANGLEMENT

Nets and fishing gear are the biggest killer of whales and dolphins across the globe. In the struggle to free themselves they can sustain injuries ranging from cuts down to the bone, broken jaws, amputations and fractures. Those who do escape often live short and painful lives, and can eventually drift towards the shoreline.

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLPS

These disturbing sights of beached sperm whales were all too common earlier this year.

Top: Whales are moved for post-mortems

Recent studies by the University of Aberdeen have shown that chemicals found in the bodies of a pod of pilot whales stranded in Scotland three years ago could have been a factor in the whales navigating off course. Their bodies were found to be contaminated with mercury and cadmium in all organs, including the brain.

IT IS NOW THOUGHT THAT SOME STRANDINGS CAN BE LINKED TO THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 11

SUPPORT OUR STRANDING AND RESCUE WORK

The sheer numbers of sperm whales washed up on Europe’s shores in recent months has acted as a stark reminder that thousands of whales and dolphins strand all over the world every year. Will you give £30 to help us to be there when they need us?

• An estimated 300,000 whales and dolphins are caught in nets annually, some can be rescued if help arrives quickly.

• Loud underwater noise caused by human activity, injury from entanglement in nets, illness and the effects of pollution can harm whales and dolphins and may drive them to strand.

• While many die, rapid response from well-trained teams can save the lives of whales and dolphins.

Your donation will help us buy rescue equipment, engage in rescue work around the world, help with investigations and, vitally, it will enable us to use our findings to try to stop future tragedies.

PLEASE HELP US BY GIVING A DONATION TODAY – EVERY POUND REALLY DOES HELP

TO DONATE: USE THE FORM ON THE LETTER THAT CAME WITH THIS MAGAZINE OR GIVE AT WHALES.ORG/APPEAL 12 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF STRANDINGS? 4. ILLNESS AND DISEASE

Live stranded whales and dolphins may seem to be healthy but could be old or unwell. In the case of species that live in groups with strong social or family bonds, a lead whale in trouble may put the whole group into danger. This is often the case with pilot whale strandings.

5. COLLISION WITH BOATS

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

6. NOISE POLLUTION

Many threats

Of course, it’s not only sperm whales that strand: thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises get into trouble on coastlines around the world every year and, although many die, not all tales end in tragedy as, with human

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

NOT ALL TALES END IN TRAGEDY AS, WITH HUMAN ASSISTANCE, SOME CAN BE RETURNED TO THE SEA the large-scale hunting of the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of the life of the sperm whale remains a secret.

One thing we do know is that, during the breeding season, the majority of the sperm whales found in the North Atlantic are males.

While the females stay further south in their breeding grounds, such as around the Azores, the males travel north where there is less competition for food with the females, and larger squid or prey for them to eat.

As a result, then, the vast majority of strandings in the North Sea are of males. In this particular incident, most of them were already dead when they washed ashore, while those who were still alive faced a race against time to survive. The sheer size of a sperm whale means that once out of the water they can’t support their own weight, and the pressure on internal organs means that death could be only a matter of hours away.

Studies in recent years indicate that, for populations in certain areas, up to one third of whales found dead display signs of having died due to a collision with a boat or ship. With the rise in the number and size of these vessels crossing the seas, this is no surprise.

Those that don’t die may suffer terrible injuries and eventually strand on the shore later as a result. Whales and dolphins are often unable to avoid ships and many collisions go unnoticed, meaning that the number of deaths is far higher than figures suggest.

assistance, some can be returned to the sea.

Strandings can occur naturally – illness, old age and even conflict with other species can all take their toll on individuals, causing them to lose their way – but, sadly, there are many man-made reasons too.

No matter what the cause, whales or dolphins that strand, dead or alive, can provide important clues about the state of the population but also help us understand how and why each individual may have got into difficulty. As a result, it is important that those who die are given a full post-mortem. Between August 1990 and September 1996, for example, the bodies of 515 whales and dolphins (13 different species) were examined after stranding around the coasts of England and Wales. More than half of them were harbour porpoises, and bycatch – entanglement in fishing nets – was diagnosed (where a cause of death was established) in 94 of these cases (and 80% of common dolphins). Live stranded harbour porpoises tended to be seriously diseased whereas live strandings of other species were often healthy. To find out more about post-mortems and what they can tell us about the reasons for stranding, turn to page 14.

Whales and dolphins live in a world of sound: they use it to communicate, find food, and navigate. High levels of noise disrupt this world and threaten these creatures.

As a result, when mixed species strand at the same time it indicates that some sort of major incident has occurred out at sea affecting a wide area, and driving them into waters that they wouldn’t usually visit, until they reach shallow waters and strand. This seemed to be the case in the Canary Islands a few years ago when a stranding of beaked whales of several species coincided with naval manoeuvres offshore.

We know that mass strandings have occurred in recent years in England and Scotland following extremely loud military exercises at sea (using loud explosions or powerful sonar). Scientific analysis of the UK’s largest common dolphin stranding off the coast of Cornwall in 2008 revealed that the most probable cause of the event was naval exercises in the area at the time. At least 26 short-beaked common dolphins died in Falmouth Bay in June of that year, at the same time that international naval exercises were taking place in the area using midfrequency sonar, and helicopters. A similar number of dolphins were saved and herded back out to sea.

It’s not just noise from military exercises that can threaten whales and dolphins, however.

Underwater exploration surveys where pulses of noise are sent down to the seabed to locate oil and gas, and pile driving during the construction of offshore wind farms, may drive whales and dolphins away from certain areas.

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 13

ASK THE EXPERTS

UNCOVERING THE SECRETS OF A STRANDING

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or centuries, whales, dolphins and porpoises have stranded around the UK and the reasons behind these strandings were, for a long time, poorly understood. In 1990, the UK government set up the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which is now funded by Defra and the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, to monitor and investigate strandings around the UK coastline through systematic and forensic post-mortem examinations. In the last 25 years, data on more than 12,000 strandings and nearly 3,500 postmortem investigations have been collected, producing one of the world’s largest sets of data on strandings and pathology.

First, let’s take a look at the process of reporting strandings. The strandings network in the UK is a broad consortium of scientific

14 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

institutions, and statutory and voluntary systematically examine each organ for anything organisations. So, every time a stranding is out of the ordinary that might give us some discovered, the report should make evidence of how death occured. its way to us, where we can then During the course of the examination i assess what species is involved, we’ll collect a wide range of samples what condition the whale or and data. Some of these samples are dolphin is in and whether the archived for potential national or individual is suitable for international collaborations – our examination – and, if so, whether tissue archive at ZSL (the Zoological the location is accessible enough to Society of London) now holds well allow retrieval. If we can recover over 100,000 samples, which we have ROB DEAVILLE the body to one of our labs, we then collected over the last 25 years. Some Project manager at carry out a post-mortem, using a of the other samples we collect are the UK Cetacean standardised protocol that has been used for follow-up bacteriological Strandings in place since 1990. It initially and histopathological (the study of Investigation involves the overall post-mortem, tissue) analysis, which can then help Programme where the body is examined for any confirm whether a whale or dolphin external evidence of damage or may have been suffering from an disease. We then open up the body and underlying infectious disease.

IN THE LAST 25 YEARS, DATA ON MORE THAN 12,000 STRANDINGS AND NEARLY 3,500 POST-MORTEM INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED, PRODUCING ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST SETS OF DATA ON STRANDINGS AND PATHOLOGY

So what can the post-mortems tell us?

Well, they can reveal a huge amount of information, not just about how whales or dolphins have died, but also about how they have lived. Marine species such as whales and dolphins can be incredibly difficult to study in the wild, with some spending only a fraction of their lives at the surface.

So although a stranding primarily presents us with a unique opportunity to learn more about the threats these species face in UK waters, it can also allow us to collect a range of data and samples that shed light on their lives as well.

Why do we do all this?

Put simply, if we didn’t conduct post-mortems, we wouldn’t know why whales and dolphins strand and whether or not these reasons are

ALL IMAGES: CSIP-ZSL

A sei whale post-mortem after a stranding in Northumberland and, right, pathologists examine a fin whale’s body in Suffolk

natural. Over the years, post-mortems have revealed a wide range of causes of stranding and death, many of which are human activities.

These include bycatch (entanglement in fishing gear), infectious disease brought about by exposure to marine pollution, and being hit by ships. We have also investigated the potential impacts of marine noise, such as sonar.

There are ‘natural’ drivers of mortality too, such as attacks on harbour porpoises by grey seals. Our research has also led to the discovery of more unusual causes of death, such as a condition which is the equivalent of decompression sickness (rising to the surface too quickly) in humans.

Each cause of death presents a different pathology. For example, bycatch can be characterised by whales or dolphins that are otherwise healthy, but have died acutely, and exhibit evidence of entanglement in nets (there are certain marks on the body which indicate this). There can be other evidence of physical trauma too, and indications that the individual had recently been feeding. Other causes of death such as starvation or bottlenose dolphin attack present different forms of pathology

and it is the considerable expertise that has been built up in the UK network over 25 years that helps us determine how a whale or dolphin has died.

All of the data we collect feeds into policy decisions and there are many instances of our work directly influencing changes in policy at a national and European level. The samples and data we collect during post-mortems have helped inform a broad range of national and international collaborations, supporting research in areas such as contaminant analysis, diet, life-history studies and population structure. Finally, much of the data we collect is publicly available and we hope that, in some small way, it helps to inform the British public about the reasons why whales and dolphins strand around our coastline.

Unless this work had begun in 1990 and had been funded continuously by the UK government, none of the above would have been possible. The stranded whales or dolphins would simply have been disposed of and we’d be none the wiser about some of the threats they face in UK waters. n Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 15

CONSERVATION

BEHAVIOUR

Earlier this year, a young franciscana dolphin made the headlines after being plucked from the sea and paraded for selfies. WDC communications manager, Danny Groves, provides the background to this little-known species

I

t was a horrific tale that swept the world.

The franciscana dolphin who was plucked from Argentinian waters for tourist selfies, then left to die on the beach, rapidly became a symbol of human disregard for the needs and dignity of our fellow inhabitants of this planet.

There were some who, after the event, said that the dolphin was already dead, and you can make of that what you will, but the overall effect was of appalling human behaviour.

These seemingly bizarre actions raised many questions in the press and on social media about our interaction with creatures such as this baby dolphin, and about the obsessive craze of the selfie. But the incident also shone the spotlight on a little-heard-of species that is in peril; indeed, the franciscana is a species that WDC is working hard to protect and speak up for.

Threatened

The franciscana dolphin is considered the most threatened dolphin in the south western Atlantic Ocean. It is an endemic species that only inhabits the coastal waters of Argentina, Brazil and 16 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

Uruguay (from Itaúnas, Brazil, in the north, to Argentina’s Península Valdés in the south), and it is categorised as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List.

Despite looking like them, franciscanas are not true river dolphins, as they typically inhabit shallow saltwater areas. Their long, slender beaks account for almost 15% of their body length and their broad flippers and rounded foreheads make them look very similar to other river dolphins found in South America. They are, however, classified in a family all of their own, the Pontoporiidae.

Franciscanas are not easy to spot. For a start, they are small, avoid boats, and tend not to partake in the acrobatic displays that some other dolphin species indulge in. They have a very good reason for keeping a low profile, as they’re sometimes hunted by orcas and sharks.

Fewer than 30,000 franciscana remain in the wild today and recent analysis of the population shows a projected decline of more than 30% over three generations (approximately 30 years).

It’s not difficult to see why the franciscana are in trouble, as accidental capture in fishing nets and a reduction in food sources are on the increase due

M. FAILLA / FUNDACIÓN CETHUS

THREATENING

to the expansion of human fishing activity. Further impacts on population size come from ingesting foreign objects (predominantly from fishing gear), and chemical pollution.

Strandings

Only recently, 20 franciscana washed up on several beaches in Argentina. Many seemed to have markings on their snouts, which suggests injury from nets. Furthermore, late last year, conservationists and engineers in Brazil had to battle to save franciscana dolphins and other marine wildlife in the waters of the Rio Doce estuary from toxic contamination, following the collapse of a dam.

Worryingly, the decline in the numbers of these dolphins is actually most likely to be underestimated. The franciscana really is in a precarious position. Despite the respective governments and International Whaling Commission (IWC – the organisation that regulates whale/dolphin hunting) acknowledging the threats posed to the species, little has changed to help halt the dramatic decline in their numbers.

Rescuing a stranded franciscana calf in Argentina

place measures which will reduce the threat of the dolphins being caught in gillnets, including promoting the adoption of a marine protected area status. Our research has also identified a potentially genetically unique population of franciscana in the Río Negro region, highlighting the huge gap in our understanding of this species and the damage to certain populations that could have disastrous consequences.

Our work protecting the franciscana dolphin is only just beginning. Our field officers in Argentina need all the help and finance they can get to afford to carry out essential boat surveys and community work. If you feel compelled to act, please help us by making a donation to this work.

A / FUN DAC IÓN CET

Since 2011, WDC, in collaboration with local NGO Fundación Cethus, has been carrying out various projects to help conserve this amazing species. Little is known about franciscanas in the wild, in particular which areas are important to them and which is their preferred habitat, something our work aims to address.

Our focus has been on carrying out population assessments to survey which areas are vital for breeding and feeding, as well as providing local educational and outreach programmes for their conservation.

Through working with local communities, we have started to raise awareness and put in

L. RUS SO LAC ERN

What WDC is doing

HUS

FRANCISCANAS ARE NOT EASY TO SPOT. FOR A START, THEY ARE SMALL, AVOID BOATS, AND TEND NOT TO PARTAKE IN THE ACROBATIC DISPLAYS THAT SOME OTHER DOLPHIN SPECIES INDULGE IN

HOW YOU CAN HELP Would you help us to protect the franciscana?

It’s amazing what your money can buy.

If you’d like to help, simply visit whales.org/blog/2016/02/we-should-stoptaking-selfies-and-start-looking-in-mirror Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 17

GALLERY

COVERED IN GLORY This fascinating updated guide includes some of the very best whale and dolphin photographs

18 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

ALL IMAGES: MARK CARWARDINE

M

ark Carwardine has done it again! The well-known naturalist and broadcaster has put together a comprehensive and authoritative guide that covers everything you need to know about where, when and how to watch whales, dolphins and porpoises in the seas around Europe.

Mark Carwardine’s Guide to Whale Watching in Britain and Europe really is packed with useful information and top tips to help you get the most out of your trip, and it includes a thorough account of whale watching opportunities in every European country where organised whale watching takes place, as well as detailed accounts of every species found in Europe and a fascinating introduction to their world.

Here, and over the page, are just a few of Mark’s photographs to whet your appetite.

I must have seen humpback whales breach 1,000 times, but it still takes my breath away. This individual, in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, breached over 40 times very close to the boat. What I like about this particular picture is the water spewing out of the whale’s mouth.

Top left: This is one of those lucky shots.

We were in Grundarfjördur, western Iceland, looking for orcas when a small group of white-beaked dolphins suddenly appeared alongside the boat. It was almost dark, but I managed to fire off a few shots before they suddenly disappeared into the gloom.

Left: What I like about this picture of a shortfinned pilot whale, in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, is the highlight in the water in front of its melon. I hadn’t noticed it until I looked at the photos on my laptop later that evening.

Right: I visited Andenes, in northern Norway, for the first time this winter. One of the highlights was watching orcas hunting herring – within sight and sound of the town.

I envy the locals, who can look up from their beds, kitchen sinks or desks any time and see whales.

GALLERY

I’ll never forget one particular encounter with humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. We’d been watching them bubblenet feeding, close to shore, and as the sun went down behind a hill their blows were lit up against the dark forest behind. The light was perfect for no more than 10 minutes, but it was truly magical.

Left: I’ve spent a lot of time counting and photographing whales from the air. It’s a wonderful way of seeing the whole creature (which is difficult from a boat or even in the water). This blue whale was in Skjálfandi Bay, northern Iceland, and you can see the sheer size of the whale next to the whale-watch boat.

Below: Very occasionally, particularly if you are patient, blue whales will closely associate with boats. This individual, in the North Pacific, spent over an hour with us while we floated motionless in the water. What I like about this picture is the fact that he or she coming towards us, for another close look.

20 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

JOIN US AT WALK FOR WHALES 2016 A fun-filled fundraiser where you’ll meet others who love whales and dolphins.

The day includes a FREE visit to SEA LIFE and a t-shirt. Sign up for one of the nine walks and help protect these incredible creatures. Visit whales.org/walks

Birmingham

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Weymouth

Oban

ALAMY

Hunstanton

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 21

TAKE ME TO THE RIVER

When Cédric Gilleman decided to change his life, he began to change the lives of the river dolphins of the Peruvian Amazon basin too

Cédric monitoring dolphins in Peru

L

ife, it is often said, begins at 40. For some, that can mean taking up a new hobby. For others, it means sending the kids off to university and getting the house back. But how about giving up your entire career to go halfway round the world to protect wildlife that you previously didn’t even know existed? It’s only the rarest and most remarkable individual who does that, and Cédric Gilleman most certainly fits that bill.

Today, Cédric is the director of project management at Solinia, a non-profit organisation that he founded to protect dolphins and other inhabitants of the Peruvian Amazon basin. Just six years ago, however, he was senior purchasing specialist in Belgium with Swift, a provider of financial messaging services. That’s quite a sea-change; but how did it come about?

‘I had studied mechanical engineering as a young man, 22 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

and I soon found that I enjoyed managing groups of people on large projects,’ he explains.

‘After completing my education, I worked with Swift for about 14 years, first as an IT analyst while the company was developing its own software and then I moved into the financial department. It was a great experience, working on agreements with large companies such as Hewlett-Packard. Then, in 2009, around my 40th birthday, everything changed.

‘A friend had recently moved out to Peru to open a restaurant, so it seemed like the ideal opportunity for an interesting holiday. I was doing a lot of sport at the time, including the iron man event in Germany, and I had my eye on what looked like rather a fun event while I was in Peru. It was a raft race: you and your team had a day to build the raft, then three more to race it across 180km of the Amazon. I had expected a great challenge and great sport; what I

had not expected was that I would make a great discovery.’

Starting young

When Cédric was a lad, he had a passion for the sea. ‘I had posters on my wall of whales and dolphins, and I loved them. I had always really thought of them as living far out in the depths of the oceans, but during my time rafting on the Amazon I saw river dolphins for the first time. They were so easy to see! It was a true revelation, and I could not get them out of my mind.’

After the holiday, Cédric returned home. ‘I was 40 years old, and I had already been wondering about a change of life, about leaving Belgium – ideally for

somewhere warmer – and suddenly the possibility of a life in Peru presented itself. I already had a love of nature, encouraged by my father with whom I used to take wonderful walks out in the forests, and those marvellous river dolphins of Peru seemed to beckon me. But what could I do?’

Cédric decided to take time to find out. Organising a sabbatical, he arranged another trip to Peru, this time for six months, in Iquitos.

‘I spent my time exploring the rainforest and the river, and immediately knew that this was good for me, as long as I could find something constructive to work on. I met some scientists who were studying Amazonian fish at the

FACE TO FACE

ALL IMAGES: SOLINIA

The Solinia Team during an expedition on the Amazon River

time, and they were extremely encouraging. “See what you want to do,” they said, “and we will see if we can help you.”’

Returning to Belgium after his sabbatical, Cédric did further research, looking into the various river dolphin projects that were already up and running in South America. He discovered that some countries had long-term action plans for the protection of Amazonian river dolphins, but not all; Peru had yet to adopt an action plan. At last, here was something that, with his management skills and enthusiasm, he could really get his teeth into.

So, Cédric being Cédric, he wrote one. It was in French, of course, and he realised that he would have to learn Spanish, so back out to South America he went. ‘This time, I visited the Natütama Foundation in Colombia, which works on the conservation of that country’s stretch of the Amazon, including the river dolphins, and was

extremely impressed with their work. Their great education programmes and the way in which local people get so completely involved were inspiring. I went to Bolivia, too, where I met Enzo Aliaga Rossel, who is leading work in that country. It wasn’t long before I discovered that WDC has played a very important role in helping to support the foundation of some of these South American projects, and I was given the name of Alison Wood, WDC’s river dolphin lead.

‘By now, I had plans for setting up an organisation in Peru, and Alison was my very first supporter. Thanks to her, I was able to get financial support from WDC and apply for a grant from the Rufford Foundation, and in early 2012, Solinia was born.’

A great start

Named from a combination of the Latin names of the two species of river dolphin found

in the Peruvian Amazon – the tucuxi and the boto – Solinia set to work. An education programme for the primary schools of Iquitos, teaching the children not only how to recognise the two species but also understand the problems faced by the dolphins, particularly plastic litter pollution, was instrumental in Solinia’s foundation. Once a boat had been donated, the group began a dolphin monitoring programme to build up a picture of population sizes and movements. Cedric assembled a team of volunteers – more than 20 of them – from local universities to work on education, communication, conservation and monitoring programmes.

‘We started to grow, and to have an influence,’ says Cédric. ‘In March 2014 we were able to arrange a workshop with the government and the Omacha Foundation at which we put

forward our proposal for a longterm action plan. Such a thing is the responsibility of the Fisheries Department, but in 2015 the government changed, so we had to meet again. The signs are good, and I am really hopeful that the current government will make our action plan live this year.’

If it does happen, it will be a remarkable tribute to Cédric and his Solinia colleagues. Whatever the outcome, he sees hope. ‘When I first came out here, I was inspired by the sight of these beautiful river dolphins, but so sad to see that they faced so many problems. Plastic pollution and fishing issues are among the threats they struggle with, and it is more than important to me that their futures are improved.

‘The support from WDC has been great, and I really want to thank Alison for her help in setting up Solinia. It has made me optimistic. From the work that we are doing with local communities, I can already see that young people really want to make a difference.’

He pauses and smiles. ‘You know, back in Belgium, people aren’t really connected to wildlife, because most of them don’t live among it. Here, in Iquitos, the communities are surrounded by it, they’re already connected to it, and that’s half the battle. I am so glad I came here.’

And so, Cédric, are we. n

ACTION POINTS

Peru’s action plan supports the two species of river dolphin – the boto and tucuxi – as well as the Amazonian manatee. Its key points include:

Compilation of existing information (published and unpublished) to develop a complete diagnosis of the status of the three species in priority areas.

Determine ecological patterns, distribution, abundance, diet and population genetics, through satellite transmitters, stranding autopsies and other means.

Assess fish stocks in priority areas, identify fishing practices that adversely affect the three species and work to mitigate them, plus monitor activities such as illegal hunting.

Study habitat conditions including water quality, habitat destruction and contaminants.

Identify priority areas for conservation.

Identify priority areas for ecotourism, including building

protocols for observing the three species, and develop agreements with travel agencies and tourist guides to promote responsible tourism.

Create a participatory study of the relationship between the three species and local communities.

Use crafts, such as woodcarving, painting and stories, to tell the story and build stronger understanding of the three species.

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 23

SEE TO BELIEVE

If you would like to watch this 58-minute HD film for yourself, simply visit bit.ly/ByAllRights

PERSONALLY SPEAKING

A new documentary perfectly sets out the case for rights for whales and dolphins, something that WDC is campaigning for. It also includes some remarkable footage of whale and dolphin behaviour that will bring a tear to the eye

I

t is an extraordinary piece of film. First, we see the sad sight of a humpback whale who has died and is floating near the surface of the water, lying on one side. Suddenly, another humpback appears; he’s a member of the same group, and he was present when the first one died.

He slowly moves towards the body, and then does something remarkable. Swimming underneath it, he wraps his pectoral fins around his old pod mate, as if trying to stimulate the dead body back to life. He pushes gently, he caresses, and this emotional behaviour lasts for hours. It is remarkable viewing.

Cut to a different tale. In the waters off South Korea, a common dolphin is dying, but the weakened soul is not alone. We watch as he or she is surrounded by pod mates, lifting the near lifeless dolphin above the surface to get air. Despite their best efforts, the dolphin dies, but still some remain, stroking the body and blowing bubbles underneath it in a last, vain effort.

Next, we visit the Mediterranean, where we see sperm whales, trapped in fishing nets.

24 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

In go a group of divers to free the trapped individuals, but they do so nervously; the trapped whales are surrounded by other sperm whales too. The whales appear sceptical of the divers’ intentions at first, but once they realise what’s going on, i.e. a rescue attempt, they just settle back and watch. One by one, the whales are freed, but they do not swim away. They just wait, patiently, until the bonds of the final whale are cut. All this time, the divers can hear the whales communicating with one another.

These very human tales are just part of a remarkable film called By All Rights, which brilliantly makes the case for providing whales and dolphins with legal ‘personhood’ status, a case that takes into consideration their culture, their intelligence and their many similarities to humans.

‘Whales and dolphins comprise a wide variety of socially complex species with learned behaviours passed from one generation to the next, a process we call culture,’ begins the narration. ‘As threats to them increase globally, an innovative strategy to protect them and their habitat is

Above: common dolphins lift a dying pod mate to the surface for air This image: a humpback whale tries to save a pod mate

RIGHTS

THESE VERY HUMAN TALES ARE JUST PART OF A REMARKABLE FILM CALLED ‘BY ALL RIGHTS’, WHICH BRILLIANTLY MAKES THE CASE FOR PROVIDING WHALES AND DOLPHINS WITH LEGAL ‘PERSONHOOD’ STATUS

Divers attempt to free sperm whales from a fishing net (this image and the two above) gaining international support. If successful, that strategy would declare them as legal persons, extending to them specific and appropriate rights.’

The film includes Hal Whitehead, professor in the department of biology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

It also features Steven Wise, president of the Nonhuman Rights Project.

‘A sufficient condition for being a person,’ Wise explains, ‘is that an animal is autonomous and self-determined.

‘At a trial, we are prepared to argue that the courts should accept the idea that indeed self-determination and autonomy are sufficient conditions for legal personhood, and that is how a whale or dolphin would end up being a legal person.’

If such a change in status could be achieved, it would allow lawyers to sue on behalf of these autonomous mammals when they suffer harm from such human activities as the use of sonar, captivity, and ocean pollution.

By All Rights shows scientists interpreting evidence of culture within whale and dolphin societies, researchers proving via experiments such as the ‘mirror test’ that bottlenose dolphins are capable of self recognition, and witnesses recounting their observations of human-like behaviours in whales and dolphins.

WDC’s drive to secure rights for whales and dolphins is long and complex, but this film cuts to the heart of the issues succinctly and very effectively. n Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 25

ADOPTION UPDATES Here’s all the latest news about the bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales and orcas you so generously adopt – presented by the people who know them so well

DOLPHINS

ORCAS HUMPBACKS

ALL IMAGES: WDC/CHARLIE PHILLIPS

DOLPHIN DIARIES

Brought to you by Charlie Phillips

ming more Dorsal fins of the resident dolphins are beco and down s settle and more abundant as the weather come to start on, salm as such fish, runs of migratory t off a few more familiar into the Inner Moray Firth. It’s great to coun some good-quality have I dy fin shapes every few days and alrea few more of some of a and hief, Misc and let photo ID shots of Kess ie.

Bonn The beginning of my the other local dolphins like Zephyr and of anticipation; wondering d perio a ys busy dolphin ‘season’ is alwa to photograph first as who I am going to see and who I am going .

Point they start to hunt at Chanonry ; my first this season Every so often you can get some surprises d fin called jagge very a was seeing a big male dolphin with along with the area onry Chan the nd arou lling Denoozydenzy, trave this big guy see don’t more local and regular dolphins. I normally beyond. and arty Crom at up often on, until much later in the seas a social been has there His behavioural change might indicate that ty is socie in dolph e enos bottl but , upheaval somewhere out there it’s a nice, so d, rstoo unde fully not and d licate nothing if not comp with. I will, as usual, be my juicy little puzzle to start the season off rd and photograph all six of reco I until on seas restless self again this ly adopt and then I can tell the lovely dolphins that you so generous and who they ng looki are you all about them, how they , photographed seen six’ rb ‘supe the have I are with. Once cracking – get really can and recorded, then my season say. they as watch this space,

To receive your monthly email dolphin update send your supporter number to info@whales.org 26 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

 Moonlight

Moonlight wandered off quite early from hunting salmon at Chanonry Point last season and it will be very interesting to see if and when she gives us a visit along with her latest youngster in the coming months. Moonlight is normally one of the first of the ‘regular’ Chanonry dolphins to arrive in time for the annual, but highly variable, salmon migration. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that her tall, elegant dorsal fin with the two notches near the tip will pop up in front of me very soon.

 Rainbow

I was sure that I saw Rainbow and Indigo through my telescope while I was out doing observations but it was at quite a distance, more than two kilometres – too far for any photography to check the dorsal fin markings and make absolutely sure. All Rainbow’s sons have been big for their age, so no doubt young Indigo will look almost as big as his mum when I do get to see them up close, even though he will only be four years old this autumn.

There have been some dolphins, including bigger youngsters such as Indigo, seen feeding along the coast at Burghead recently by our shorewatchers. I saw Rainbow there myself a few years ago, so I don’t think she is too far away now.

Follow Charlie’s blog at whales.org/adoptadolphinblog

On Twitter @adoptadolphin

 Sundance

I was surprised not to see Sundance in among two groups of dolphins that were sweeping through the Chanonry Narrows a few times so far this season.

The regulars in the groups were all dolphins that he associates with, but perhaps he is still a bit busy along the coast with some of the ladies that he was interested in last season, such as Porridge and Law – dolphins that are not around Chanonry quite so early in the year. Sundance can travel vast distances very rapidly, and can turn up very quickly. He has taken me by surprise before, like late last season when he suddenly appeared in the Kessock Channel for reasons known only to his huge self. I wonder how many new scrapes he will have on his fin this season.

 Mischief

Mischief was one of the very first dolphins I saw this season, initially at a huge distance, and then a bit closer – then a bit closer still. When I spotted him very recently he was ambling along with a group, looking in top form, with Kesslet on one side of him and Bonnie’s lively young son on

the other side. Unusually, I didn’t see his buddy Sundance anywhere around; in his place was another big male who shows up occasionally but normally later in the season, called Denoozydenzy.

They keep their distance from each other – a sign of polite but distant respect, I think.

I WAS ABLE TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT KESSLET, SWIMMING ALONG STRONGLY AND BEING EVER THE TEASE

 Spirit  Kesslet

Kesslet has been popping up here and there, but mostly around Chanonry Point, Rosemarkie and Fortrose Bay. It won’t be long before I see her investigating the Kessock Channel and Inverness Harbour as the salmon start to appear. She turned up near Chanonry alongside Charlie, Mischief, Bonnie and her youngster recently, a lot closer to

shore than she has been of late. I was able to get a good look at Kesslet, swimming along strongly and being ever the tease – chasing seabirds but not actually harming them. No new markings on her fin or body as far as I can see, but Charlie has picked up a square white lesion on his dorsal fin’s left side, which is quite noticeable as he swims along.

Like Rainbow, I don’t think that Spirit is very far away from the Inner Firth area. She will be watching and listening for the swish of salmon running near the coastal water. When Spirit and some of her friends detect the big fish on the move then they will start to reappear around the Cromarty Firth entrance and maybe, with a bit of luck, even down with me at Chanonry Point. I was surprised at how early I spotted Spirit and her baby last season so, hopefully, there will be a repeat early appearance this year of this lovely dolphin.

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 27

ADOPTION UPDATES

HUMPBACK HEADLINES

a Brought to you by Regina Asmutis-Silvi

ing sense The rising spring temperatures bring a build hing watc e whal of anticipation for the upcoming -arriving early The . ption exce no is year this season, and h, Marc since e of Main humpbacks have been spotted in the Gulf s. week few a just in way r unde and the thick of the season gets esting) part of the In the spring, we are at a strange (but inter who haven’t es whal are humpbacks’ migration, when there arrived at the who es whal , north ey yet started the long journ are at a stage who es Gulf of Maine weeks ago, and many whal in between the two.

Gulf of Maine population The adoptable humpbacks are part of the feed and their winters to nd Engla who spend their summers in New g the late spring and Durin . birth give and mate to in the Caribbean have already made ks pbac hum early summer months, some of the oling fish. During scho l smal on ng feedi start the migration north to their newborn with s mum the spring whale watches, we often see pback mothers hum e Thes feed. to start to calves who returned early their calf with ing nurs been are extraordinarily resilient, as they have While they . born were they since 150-230 litres of milk every day eat, so they to s mum the for food little is there are in the Caribbean acquired they er blubb of are using stored energy (that thick layer s grow calve their help will h whic milk make the summer before) to e.

Main of Gulf the to strong enough to make the 6,000km trip y to read yet not are ks pbac hum Back in the Caribbean, some on seas the in later birth make the journey north. Mums who gave s male adult and ger, stron are s may still be nursing until their calve on the early elves ours nd remi to have often We s. are still finding mate es we see spring whale watches that many of the whal . We are away 0km 2,40 than still have relatives more to bring has on seas this what see to r eage and excited you. of all for and ns for our volunteers, our inter

 Reflection

Going into the season we like to make predictions, from who will have a calf this year, to where the whales will decide to hang out, to who will be the first whale to be seen. Looking back on 2015, Reflection was seen 19 times, mostly just off the tip of Cape Cod. When we mapped her sightings, we found that all of them were in less than 70m (200ft) of water. We often saw Reflection feeding last year, which may mean she was pregnant and getting ready to be a mum. Our humpbacks often have a regular pattern of how many years they wait between calves, but Reflection’s pattern is less consistent. She waited seven years between her first calf and second, but had her third calf only two years later. She had her most recent calf in 2014, so she could have a calf this year or she could wait a bit longer. Either way, we can’t wait to spend some more time with Reflection in 2016.

To receive your monthly email humpback update send your supporter number to info@whales.org 28 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

Get humpback news at facebook.com/whales.org

On Twitter @WHALES_org

ALTHOUGH MIDNIGHT WAS SEEN IN DEEPER WATERS THAN PEPPER, SALT OR REFLECTION, SHE WAS ALSO SEEN CLOSER TO THE SHORES OF CAPE COD

 Pepper

 Salt

Salt was our most-seen adoptable whale in 2015, with 26 sightings. We put all of these sightings on a map and found that she was seen mostly just to the north-east of Cape Cod. Her sightings were clustered in areas where it drops off from shallow water to much deeper water at the edge of a bank. These are hot spots for finding bait. Salt knows this area very well, so we’re never surprised to see her where all the food is. Salt is a fantastic mum and has taught all of her calves where to find food. Thanks to this useful education, these calves have thrived and gone on to have calves of their own. Since having a calf requires so much energy in the year of pregnancy and then almost a year of nursing and teaching the calf, most humpback mums don’t have calves back to back, and some even wait a couple of years. Salt, both of her known daughters and her grand-daughter, all had calves in 2014, so they could well return with another little one this year. By looking at Salt’s previous 13 calves, we can see that she usually waits two to three years between births, but has taken a seven-year break before. We hope to see at least one new addition to this growing family in 2016.

ALL IMAGES: WDC

Last summer, Pepper wasn’t seen until the middle of July but our interns quickly got to know her, as she was seen 22 times in just 25 days. Unlike Reflection and Salt, Pepper preferred to feed along the western edge of the underwater bank. This area has much shallower water, with most of Pepper’s sightings happening in less than 30m of water. Just like Salt, Pepper is very familiar with these grounds, so she knows where to find the best food. This was especially important for her last year as she was teaching her new calf where to find food in the future. This calf is Pepper’s 11th known calf. We only started identifying Pepper in 1976, so she could have been a mother before we first saw her. Either way, 11 is an impressive number of calves. Pepper usually waits three to four years between calves so we hope she takes this year to eat as much as she can to recuperate after a long year of motherhood.

 Midnight

Due to Midnight’s shy and timid nature, she swam mostly unobserved during the 2015 season. We have just six sightings of her in 2015 and they were all in the month of July. Although Midnight was seen in deeper waters than Pepper, Salt or Reflection, she was also seen closer to the shores of Cape Cod. In a year with so many humpbacks around, Midnight may have eluded our cameras or she may have gone further north where she has also been known to feed. We didn’t see as much of Midnight as we would have liked, but we did get a couple of looks at her calf from 2006. We hadn’t seen this individual since 2007 and the fluke pattern had changed so much that the images were listed as of an unknown whale for most of the season. We still aren’t sure if this whale is a male or female, but if it is a female she could come back this year as a first-time mother – we can’t wait to find out.

BY LOOKING AT SALT’S PREVIOUS 13 CALVES, WE CAN SEE THAT SHE USUALLY WAITS TWO TO THREE YEARS BETWEEN BIRTHS

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 29

ADOPTION UPDATES

ORCA ODYSSEYS

Brought to you by Helena Symonds & Paul

Spong

laggard in the For nearly a decade, Canada has been a the world today – g most pressing environmental issue facin national conferences inter to ates deleg dian climate change. Cana and obstructed the efforts of others addressing climate change have resisted Copenhagen conference in the at every turn. The disastrous outcome of da was a willing participant Cana but , doing da’s 2009 was not entirely Cana te crisis would ever be clima the in the debacle that led many to doubt that a semblance of hope, red resto mber Dece last addressed. Fortunately, Paris s of humans that will ration the gene although the outcome for our planet and international fora, other at and , Paris In follow ours is by no means certain. d au, proclaime ‘Canada is back’ to Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trude care about the future of planet who applause and intense relief among those and we await details of concrete Earth. Words are by no means sufficient, plans, but they do inspire hope. climate change is the warming of Among the many tragic consequences of t’s surface. The myriad species in the oceans that make up most of our plane too fast for adaptation. Many rates at ge the oceans are suddenly facing chan decades, and by the time the next species will disappear entirely over the next ent. century turns the oceans will be very differ and dolphins, and fear for them.

We focus on the consequences for whales on Chinook and Chum rely t The resident orcas of the Pacific North-wes use they largely ignore beca on fixati a to nts salmon. Their preference amou 00 years since the end of the other dietary opportunities. It has taken 10,0 based on this preference. Sadly, res cultu last Ice Age to develop today’s orca ng because salmon thrive within the conditions orcas rely on are rapidly erodi ate outcome is uncertain, ultim a small temperature range. Although the tists and committed itself scien zzled unmu has nt Canada’s new governme nt to a breath of fresh amou Both to evidence-based policies and decisions. real a make can da Cana air, and with it comes hope that its oceans. contribution to the future of our planet and

 Fife

In contrast to our sparse encounters with Holly, Fife and his family were observed fairly often through January. We counted six days when Fife and his family were either definitely heard or seen in the area. Given that it was winter, this rate of incidence was fairly significant and contributed to the impression that Fife’s family has a tendency to use this area during the ‘off’ seasons. Winter for the northern resident orcas must be a challenge.

 Simoom ORCA ORIGINALS

You can buy your very own cuddly version of your adopted orca. Each orca toy is handmade to order and features the distinctive markings and dorsal fin of your chosen whale.

Visit orca-originals.co.uk to find out more. Make sure you quote WDC when you place the order and Julie at Orca Originals will donate half of the profit to us to help us continue our work to protect orcas.

This is Corky. Tragically she has spent 45 years in a tank, making her the longest-surviving orca in captivity.

To receive your monthly email orca update send your supporter number to info@whales.org 30 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

After a lot of hard work, the updated northern resident catalogue is available online at www.bckillerwhales.com under ‘publications’. It is well worth a look.

Despite a decline in the late 1990s, the northern resident community has steadily grown since the time when studies first began and now numbers approximately 285 individuals. In 1975, when Simoom was born, her family consisted of just her mother Scimitar and two brothers, Pulteney and Nimpkish. Then, in 1989, Simoom had her first baby, Echo, and the family began to grow. Five more babies followed at regular intervals.

Even though Simoom’s mother, brothers and an offspring, Stormy, died, the group has steadily increased

Get orca news at facebook.com/whales.org

and now numbers 10. Simoom is a grandmother four times over. Despite the growth, this orca community is still fragile. An assessment in 2001 designated the northern resident community as threatened and the southern residents as endangered, in recognition that each of these discrete populations is small, their growth rate slow and that they face many existing threats, especially the decline of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon. The southern residents, in particular, face a very rocky future, hence their heightened status. There are fewer than 90 members of this community, which lost many individuals during the capture era of the 1960s and early 1970s. Moreover, they inhabit

On Twitter @WHALES_org

 Bend

Bend’s little one, born in 2014, will now be known as Jamieson.

Babies need to be at least two years old before being named. Until then they are known by their alphanumerical designation.

The guiding principle for naming new northern resident babies is based on choosing a geographical name near the place where the baby’s mother was named. Jamieson Island is near Bend Island. Both of these islands are situated in Clio Channel, adjacent to Cracroft Island in the Johnstone Strait area. Clio is the name of Bend’s mother. Jamieson’s family has 11 members, and the family consists of two groups. Bend and Jamieson belong to the group

led by Clio, Jamieson’s grandmother, while Minstrel, who is also a grandmother, leads the second group. Clio and Minstrel are sisters, and their mother Tsitika, and Jamieson’s great-grandmother, died in 2013.

Very often when sisters begin to form their own families, group split might occur within the original matriline.

At that point, the new groups may travel independently, but as they still retain identity through the acoustic traditions they share, they will remain bonded. So far, we have not yet seen a significant split happen in Bend’s family, but time will tell. Some groups never splinter while others seem to do so quite quickly, and it is difficult to say why there is this inconsistency.

ORCAL AB

JARED TOWERS

Food can be scarce and the groups likely disperse widely along the coast in the hope of finding enough food to sustain them through the long winter months.

Perhaps Fife’s family has had the good fortune to find adequate food in the Johnstone Strait and Georgia Strait areas in past winters and from this their tradition of returning was fostered. Of all the northern resident orca families, Fife’s and Holly’s groups are the most likely to return to this area in winter.

JARED TOWERS

 Holly JACKIE HILDERING

a very industrialised area framed by three major cities. In the last year, a baby boom of sorts gives hope for a brighter future. These babies still have to navigate the precarious first two years of life before there will be more confidence in their future, and the future of their community. Meanwhile, we are reassured and thankful that Simoom and her family are thriving.

SIMOOM IS A GRANDMOTHER FOUR TIMES OVER

We were surprised on 7 January to learn that Holly had returned. She and her family were sighted not far from Powell River, a small town in Georgia Strait quite far south of OrcaLab, and therefore out of range of our hydrophone network. To get to Georgia Strait, Holly would have had to transit Johnstone Strait and pass our hydrophones, or skirt them entirely by winding through other inlet passageways. We know she did this last year and spent a considerable amount of time during that winter in Georgia Strait. There must be something that draws her to this area. Her littlest one has now been officially named Albion,

in fitting tribute to the place near Powell River where he or she was first seen. Holly was rather more elusive at the start of the year, and was not seen again until 31 January.

On this occasion, she and her family were observed foraging in Okisollo Channel, quite a distance north of Powell River in an area known as the Discovery Islands. Although sightings during the winter may be scant, any information about Holly and her family’s whereabouts can prove crucial to understanding how they are faring. We know now they are accounted for and seemingly okay. Good news while we wait for their summer return.

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 31

THE CALL OF THE WILD OrcaLab is well known to our readers, but what is it like to work there? In this special Site Guide David Cannamore provides a personal view

I

hear them in my dreams. They start as a whisper, barely audible above the rattling of the window panes and pounding rain. Another call, this one louder. Melodic squeaks and whistles that rise to a crescendo. My eyes snap open.

The new moon is smothered by clouds, the world as dark as the one behind my eyelids.

Another winter storm roars on.

From the speaker near my head I hear the heartbeat of the ocean. From this portal I can hear the sounds of six hydrophones covering 10 square miles of ocean. Swirling currents, rushing tides, the soft static of raindrops on the surface, and tonight … a call pipes through the speaker. Orcas.

The dream is real.

It’s warm here beneath the down comforter, but orcas have little regard for time of day.

I climb quietly over my wife Brittney, who stirs in her sleep. I wrap myself in a sweater and pad downstairs, out the door, and through the woods to the lab. Here is the nerve centre of OrcaLab, mission control. The orcas are louder now, oblivious to the pounding rain and howling wind as they cruise through the waves.

32 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

Winter days at OrcaLab are defined by the weather. While the summer breeze flows from the west, the winter winds and storms come from the east up Johnstone Strait. They swoop over Cracroft Island and pound the exposed south-east face of the lab. When the winds hit around 50mph we batten Sounds perfect i down the hatches, stuff the stove I settle myself before the soundboard with wood until it roars, and watch and pull on headphones. I wipe the the waves pound against the rocks at sleep from my eyes and fiddle with the feet of our cabin. the hydrophone dials. They’re I love these winter storms, love somewhere to the east of me in watching the trees bend and sway Johnstone Strait, a thin blue conduit that divides north-east Vancouver DAVID CANNAMORE in the wind, love sprinting outside to split another handful of wood to Island from the British Columbia and his wife refill the fireplace. mainland. The lab sits on the western Brittney are both The storms can last a few hours terminus of the strait on Hanson caretakers of or a week. Sometimes low pressure Island. I stare through the darkened OrcaLab during systems line up off the west side windows that in daylight offer the winter of Vancouver Island like cars at a panoramas of Blackney Pass and stoplight, marching in one at a time Blackfish Sound, my backyard, to drop their payload of gale-force wind and my home, my sanctuary as OrcaLab’s rain on the British Columbia coast. winter caretaker.

But as these storms persist, we begin to lose The windows continue to rattle, the our eyes and ears. After more than 40 years, Paul whales continue to call, and the faint glow and his wife Helena Symonds, have created a of dawn battles through the rain clouds.

Since 1970, OrcaLab founder Paul Spong has been recording the calls of the orcas who frequent the waters of British Columbia. For the past two winters, the responsibility of listening 24 hours a day has fallen to Brittney and I.

SITE GUIDE Breaching humpbacks, orcas and eagles are among the spectacular sights

ALL IMAGES: DAVID CANNAMORE

AFTER MORE THAN 40 YEARS, PAUL AND HIS WIFE HELENA SYMONDS HAVE CREATED A UNIQUE SYSTEM THAT BRINGS PEOPLE AS CLOSE TO THE WILD WORLD OF ORCAS AS POSSIBLE unique system that brings people as close to the wild world of orcas as possible. From the website orca-live.net, the hydrophone network is broadcast to a global audience. And at any given time, viewers can watch up to five camera feeds, including an underwater camera and one at the world-famous rubbing beaches (where the orcas spend hours rubbing their bodies on submerged stones) at explore.org. The cameras and hydrophones don’t discriminate, capturing the sights and sounds of every creature that swims past. Humpback whales trace the shorelines in summer, while Steller sea lions, harbour seals, Dall’s porpoises and Pacific white-sided dolphins make surprise appearances all year round.

In the quest for renewable energy, these sonic and visual windows are run on solar power

whenever possible. So when the winter clouds choke out what little sunlight manages to crawl over the mountains of Vancouver Island, we spring into action. We jump in our little boat – laden with batteries and gasoline – and bounce back and forth across the water. At the hydrophone stations we replace batteries and at the camera sites run gasoline generators to top up the solar battery banks. As we pivot around the winter solstice, and the sun lingers above the trees a little longer each day, we celebrate, energised by the same rays that power the cameras.

Visions of green

On the days when the wind is exhausted and the rain relents, Johnstone Strait shines like jade.

Emerald green water reflects the deep green

mountainsides, their points ringed with snow.

During the summer the strait is populated with whale watching boats and kayaking tours that depart daily from the towns of Telegraph Cove and Port McNeil on Vancouver Island and Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. For those wishing to visit during the summer, it’s eight hours north by ferry and car from the city of Vancouver to these little hamlets, the only public access points to the area. The scarcity of human settlement gives the land a frontier feel, the strait unencumbered by homes, cabins and roads.

Johnstone Strait is the highway, boats more valuable than cars.

Back at the lab, the primary goal is staying warm. After growing up in Alaska, neither of us thought that a winter in mild British Columbia would be difficult. But neither of us had lived in a home without electric or gas heat before. Every week I grab the chainsaw, sharpen the teeth, and we tramp down to the shore. Our beach is a treasure trove of logs, escapees and rejects from the passing log barges. Brittney hauls while I cut. Within an hour, we’re both drenched in sweat. That’s the beauty of heating by wood, it warms you up twice.

Summer 2016 WHALE&DOLPHIN 33

SITE GUIDE

Cedar is the prize cut. It burns hot and fast, and we cut it down into slivers to get the fire going before stacking fir, hemlock and spruce on top. There are few feelings in the world that can match those experienced alongside a crackling fire with a secure pile of split and dry wood standing by, waiting to fill the chilled corners of our cabin with warmth and light.

Through it all we’re listening. At OrcaLab you’re always listening. Every room in every building has a speaker hooked to those six hydrophones. The whales don’t swim past with the same frantic pace that they do in summer. And most of the day is filled with the droning sounds of the barges and tows that steam past. But we’ve learned to filter out the white noise, our ears perking up like a dog’s when we hear anything ‘orcaish’.

When we hear one everything stops.

Dinners are put on hold, wood chopping postponed. A guessing game ensues.

Resident (fish-eating orca) or transient (marine-mammal eating)? If resident, what clan? What pod? And the question that hovers over all: what are they saying?

As Helena says, ‘there’s no Rosetta Stone for orca’. There’s no roadmap, no scavenger hunt that will magically lead to unlocking the

34 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2016

Orcas are what OrcaLab is all about

intricate language of one of earth’s smartest creatures. But that doesn’t stop me from closing my eyes, imagining their underwater scene and assigning stories and explanations to their voices as they fill my ears and imagination.

In early March the sun returns, hovering above the mountains a little longer each day.

Our second winter at the lab is winding down.

This spring the decision is easy. We agree that two winters of OrcaLab is not enough. Two winters not enough time with the family of

mink that lives under the porch or the fawn that’s growing up before our eyes. A lifetime may not be enough. We agree to return for a third winter. Maybe someday we’ll desire a house of our own, an existence not predicated on moving every six months. But not yet.

Not when OrcaLab is so embedded in our bloodstream. Not while the calls of the orca through the hydrophones still make my heart skip. Because when we leave for good, we’ll never get to live like this again.

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