MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Record death of whales and calves in Patagonia; scientists investigating
Southern Right Whales are dying off at a record rate in Argentina's Patagonia region, a conservation group warned. Read full article
Southern Right Whales are dying off at a record rate in Argentina's Patagonia region, a conservation group warned. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesIf starvation-related conditions are the proximal reasons, these should be readily identified in autopsy, as should the ultimate reason - starvation.
Jun 05th, 2013 - 11:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0For species that 'feed for half a year and breed for the other half', starvation is an annual cyclical risk.
There could be a delayed feedback link as well as a fishing link.
If squid population levels are influencing krill levels we might expect some longer-term rebalancing of krill-feeding whale species and squid-feeding whale species.
Human influences, particularly through fishing and additive climate change, are complex and it is not sensible to guess what marine research organisations might come up with.
Certainly though, if coastal melt-water from glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsular is becoming increasingly influential in lowering surface salinities, this will impact on the krill's diurnal vertical migration into those surface waters and alter krill biomass, with its inevitable impact on krill-feeding whales.
Cue “It's all Argentina's fault” in 3, 2, 1...
Jun 05th, 2013 - 02:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(of course, this species of whales is basically EXTINCT in the North Atlantic... which two filthy continents full of filthy murderous societies share this ocean??????)
#3
Jun 05th, 2013 - 06:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, your ancestors have something to answer for.
Don't you feel ashamed to be genetically linked ?
Cut your throat and do us all - including fellow Argentinians-a big favour.
#2 TroLLey_to_Truth
Jun 05th, 2013 - 09:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Be aware, this is called the SOUTHERN Right Whale.
This means that it is in the south.
It has grown up in the SOUTH.
It has evolved in the South.
It is not called the Northern Right Whale.
This is because it lives in the South.
It is not an EX-Northern Right Whale.
You are truely off your trolley.
European immigrants are to blame. That's why the FI inhabitants are colonists are to blame for everything. Indigenous Amer-Italians however are to be congratulated for conserving the southern western hemisphere.
Jun 06th, 2013 - 12:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0@4
Jun 06th, 2013 - 02:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0How is the NORTHERN right whale doing?????????
???
NORTHERN right whale
Jun 06th, 2013 - 08:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Conservation status: Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales face an extremely high risk of extinction. Right whales were once hunted by commercial whalers, but today they are most threatened by human activities, including accidental collisions with large ships and entanglements with commercial fishing gear and ropes.”
http://www.neaq.org/animals_and_exhibits/animals/northern_right_whale/index.php
How are right whales affected by climate change?
See the New England Aquarium (Research & Conservation) posting:
“Climate change effects on ocean animals”
http://www.neaq.org/animals_and_exhibits/animals/northern_right_whale/index.php
#2/3
Jun 06th, 2013 - 11:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0I apologise for my remark in the third sentence of my post and withdraw it. I was in a bad mood when I posted and just shot from the hip.
For what it is worth, I have no desire to see you harmed in any way.
This is disturbing considering the fact that whales feed off krill, and most importantly plankton which produce a considerable amount of oxygen. They also have micro-nutrients that are vital for supporting all forms of ocean life, not just whales.
Jun 06th, 2013 - 12:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If whales are not getting enough sustenance, it indicates that the entire system is at stake. Is there a place where whales are actually able to flourish anymore? Post a link if you find something interesting.
(1), (4) & (7) GeoffWard2
Jun 07th, 2013 - 04:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0Case has been thoughtfully studied already....Is the Kelpers fault! ....:
http://www.icb.org.ar/descargas/Kelp%20gulls%20%28Larus%20dominicanus%29%20feeding%20on%20southern%20right.pdf
Thanks for the link. Know the research.
Jun 07th, 2013 - 08:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0No research yet linking gulls to SRW mortality blips.
A newly learned feeding behaviour which then spreads rapidly across the contiguous group, remaining until the learned behaviour dies out - usually in a climatic extreme year.
We used to see the same newly learned behaviour in England with Blue Tits feeding by pecking through the heavy foil milk bottle tops.
And recently my local populations of Rooks and Jackdaws at my house in England have learned to extract rapidly the seed from my small-bird-feeder (using the same technique as the Grey Squirrel.
But the eating of back fat from living mammals was recorded as far back as 1889 by Wallace when he observed the New Zealand Kea - a parrot - eating sheep alive.
But again, no evidence of causation - though it might have been a proximal reason for sheep mortalities.
IMHO the krill is the key, not the gulls.
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