Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 11 deceMber 2017

Officials: Whales, after deadly year, could become extinct

extinction word, because summer to feed. All of this
that’s where the trend lines year’s deaths were off of
say they are,” Bullard said. New England and Cana-
“That’s something we can’t da. Some recent scientific
let happen.” studies have shed some
Bullard and other NOAA of- light on why whale deaths
ficials made the comments have ticked up. One, pub-
during a Tuesday meet- lished in the journal Nature
ing of the regulatory New Scientific Reports, stated
England Fishery Manage- that the whales move
ment Council. Mark Mur- around much more than
ray-Brown, an Endangered previously thought. Some
Species Act consultant for scientists have posited that
NOAA. said right whales whales might be venturing
have been declining in outside of protected areas
abundance since 2010, in search of food, putting
with females hit harder themselves in harm’s way.
than males. In another study, published
The U.S. and Canada must last month in the journal
work to reduce the hu- Endangered Species Re-
man-caused deaths of the search, scientists exam-
A North Atlantic right whale breaks the ocean surface off Provincetown, Mass., in Cape Cod Bay. whales, Murray-Brown said. ined right whale feces and
Officials with the federal government say it’s time to consider the possibility that endangered right Vessel-strikes and entan- found whales that suffer
whales could become extinct unless new steps are taken to protect them. glement in fishing gear are long entanglements in fish-
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) two frequently cited causes ing gear produce hormone
By PATRICK WHITTLE rine mammals in the world, that the population won’t of the whales’ deaths. levels that indicate high
Associated Press and they have endured a recover without action “The current status of the stress. The stress negatively
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — deadly year. The National soon, said John Bullard, the right whales is a critical situ- impacts their ability to re-
Officials with the federal Oceanic and Atmospher- Northeast Regional Admin- ation, and using our avail- produce even when they
government say it’s time to ic Administration has said istrator for NOAA Fisheries. able resources to recover survive entanglement, sci-
consider the possibility that there are only about 450 The high year of mortality right whales is of high im- entists said. “My colleagues
endangered right whales of the whales left and 17 is coinciding with a year portance and high urgen- are trying to find solutions
could become extinct un- of them have died so far of poor reproduction, and cy,” he said. The animals so we can find out how
less new steps are taken to in 2017. The situation is so there are only about 100 give birth in temperate they can continue to fish,
protect them. dire that American and breeding female North At- southern waters and then but not entangle whales,”
North Atlantic right whales Canadian regulators need lantic right whales left. head to New England and said a study co-author, Eliz-
are among the rarest ma- to consider the possibility “You do have to use the Canada every spring and abeth Burgess.q

Archaeologists discover 2 ancient tombs in Egypt’s Luxor

By AHMED HATEM Egyptian history. mud-brick and stone walls
Associated Press "It's truly an exceptional and contains a six-meter
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — Egypt day," Antiquities Minister (yard) burial shaft leading
on Saturday announced Khaled al-Anani said. "The to four side chambers. The
the discovery of two small 18th dynasty private tombs artifacts found inside were
ancient tombs in the south- were already known. But mostly fragments of wood-
ern city Luxor dating back it's the first time to enter in- en coffins. Wall inscriptions
some 3,500 years and side the two tombs." and paintings suggest it
hoped it will help the coun- Al-Anani said the discover- belongs to era between
try's efforts to revive its ail- ies are part of the ministry's the reigns of King Amenho-
ing tourism sector. efforts to promote Egypt's tep II and King Thutmose IV,
The tombs, located on the vital tourism industry, par- both pharaohs of the 18th
west bank of the river Nile tially driven by antiquities dynasty.
in a cemetery for noble- sightseeing, that was hit The other tomb has five en-
men and top officials, are hard by extremist attacks trances leading to a rect-
An Egyptian guard stands next to a funeral mural inside a newly the latest discovery in the and political turmoil follow- angular hall and contains
discovered tomb on Luxor’s West Bank known as “KAMPP 161”
during an announcement for the Egyptian Ministry of antiquities city famed for its temples ing the 2011 uprising. two burial shafts located in
about new discoveries in Luxor, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. and tombs spanning dif- The ministry said one tomb the northern and southern
(AP Photo/Hamada Elrasam) ferent dynasties of ancient has a courtyard lined with sides of the tomb.q