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SCIENCEThursday 8 October 2015
Feds say first humpback whales of season spotted in Hawaii
CALEB JONES A humpback whale breaches in the Columbia River near the Astoria-Megler Bridge Friday, Sept. AA’s Ed Lyman, who moni-
ASSOCIATED PRESS tors whale strikes and en-
HONOLULU (AP) -- Hump- 25, 2015, near Chinook, Wash. Associated Press tanglements in the Pacific.
back whales were spotted “They make short work of
in the waters off Hawaii for jure people on board. Islands Humpback Whale mon. Most times, the in- eating a whale and it’s off
the first time this season, “It’s important for every- National Marine Sanctu- jured whales are devoured the radar screen for us.”
leading officials to warn one to be extra vigilant ary. by sharks or sink after they About 50 percent of whales
ships and recreational during whale season, for While researchers have die, so scientists don’t know in heavily monitored parts
boaters to steer clear of their own safety and the little data on the number about the encounter. of the Pacific Ocean have
the endangered visitors. protection of the animals,” of fatal whale encounters “The first day there’s like scars on their body that
Researchers saw the first said Malia Chow, superin- with people, they know three sharks, the second indicate they have been
whale about a week ago tendent of the Hawaiian that boat strikes are com- day there’s 10,” said NO- injured by human activity,
off the small island of Nii- Lyman said.
hau, near Kauai, the Na- Federal officials proposed
tional Oceanic and Atmo- removing most of the
spheric Administration said world’s humpback whales
in a news release Tuesday. from the endangered spe-
A second whale was seen cies list in April. The iconic
days later near Kauai’s Pa- mammal was on the verge
cific Missile Range Facility. of extinction when the in-
Humpbacks normally ar- ternational community
rive in the tropics in Novem- banned whaling of the
ber and stay through May. species nearly 50 years
There has been a general ago. The U.S. government
trend toward earlier ar- listed it as endangered
rivals in the past two de- four years later.
cades, with the average in But that doesn’t mean
the past 10 years happen- they will lack protections.
ing on Oct. 1, officials said. The whales would still be
About 10,000 humpbacks covered by the Marine
winter in Hawaii each year. Mammals Protection Act.
Officials said boats should Plus, the U.S. is a member
watch for and avoid the of the International Whal-
newly arriving whales. Ship ing Commission, which
strikes and entanglements banned commercial whal-
can kill the animals and in- ing in 1966.q
Study: Mammals thrive in Chernobyl exclusion zone
KATHERINE JACOBSEN than 20,000 people once mals living in the Polesie has focused on how radia- sent a cloud of radiation
lived in what is now the re- reserve and in other Be- tion has affected reptile, drifting over much of Eu-
ASSOCIATED PRESS serve. larusian nature reserves. insect and small mammal rope and forced the evac-
“We’re not saying radia- The prevalence of wolves populations. These animals uation of tens of thousands
MOSCOW (AP) -- Nearly 30 tion is good for animals, but is seven times higher than have struggled to make of people. Along with the
we are saying that human in nearby non-contaminat- a comeback in the wake Belarusian Polesie preserve,
years after a nuclear reac- interference can be more ed nature reserves, which of Chernobyl and have a 2,600-square-kilometer
harmful to certain animal Smith attributed to the lack suffered from a range of (1,000-square-mile) “exclu-
tor caught fire and spewed populations than radia- of hunting in contaminat- nuclear-related diseases, sion zone” was established
tion,” said Jim Smith, an ed areas. according to Mousseau’s in Ukraine around the plant.
a lethal cloud of radiation, environmental scientist at Biologist Timothy Mousseau research. That zone is almost entirely
Britain’s University of Ports- at the University of South The mammals in Smith’s abandoned except for
some species of mammals mouth who led the study. Carolina said Smith’s re- research are constantly about 200 mostly elderly
To track the mammals, re- search presents an overly dispersing and have high people who returned to
are thriving in the zone searchers used aerial sur- optimistic view of the situa- fertility rates, factors that their homes. Some work-
veys and examined animal tion around Chernobyl. could also explain a ro- ers building a protective
around the Chernobyl nu- tracks in the snow. “There is no evidence to bust population of certain shelter around the reactor
Smith and his team found suggest this area is teem- mammal species in the and cleaning up the waste
clear power plant, a new there was no difference in ing with wildlife,” said Polesie nature reserve. live in the zone, but only for
the number of large mam- Mousseau, whose research The 1986 explosion and fire two weeks at a time.q
study says.
The study, published in the
journal Current Biology,
found that elk, deer, wild
boar and wolves are abun-
dant in the 2,160-square-
kilometer (835-square-mile)
Polesie reserve in Belarus,
which was established af-
ter the 1986 disaster. More
