Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 15 april 2019

NOAA: Bryde’s whales in Gulf of Mexico are endangered

By J. McCONNAUGHEY Oil and gas companies “BROO-duhs” because
Associated Press agreed in 2013 not to use they were named after the
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Fed- seismic surveys in an area 19th century Norwegian
eral scientists say a tiny including the DeSoto Can- whaler Johan Bryde.
group of Bryde’s whales in yon. That agreement, origi- Whalers’ records dating
the Gulf of Mexico is en- nally for 2½ years, has been back to the 1700s show they
dangered, facing threats extended and will remain once swam in the central
including oil and gas explo- in effect until 2022, NOAA and northern gulf, accord-
ration and development. Fisheries spokeswoman Kim ing to NOAA Fisheries. They
“They’re the only year- Amendola said. eat crustaceans, fish and
round baleen whales that A study released in 2015 es- cephalopods, which they
make their home in Gulf of timated the whales’ num- filter through baleen plates
Mexico, and (they) have a bers at 26. It said the BP off- and bristles.
unique and very important shore oil spill in 2010 over- Because they were con-
role in the ecosystem,” said lapped nearly half their fined to the Gulf of Mexico,
Laura Engleby, a marine habitat and might have they probably never were
mammal biologist with the killed up to 22 percent as numerous as some other
National Oceanic and At- of the population. Other species, said Smith.
mospheric Administration threats include fishing nets, Engleby said, “We don’t re-
fisheries’ service. oil and gas development, ally know much about this
Two other subspecies are pollution, and even being species.”
found in tropical waters hit by ships — a whale was She said a study funded
around the world, but this This 2018 photo provided by the National Park Service shows, hit and killed by a ship in with money from penal-
one is so genetically differ- scientists perform a necropsy on Bryde’s whale that was 2009. ties that energy giant BP
ent it may even be a differ- stranded in the Florida Everglades National Park. It arrived in Tampa, Florida, PLC and others paid after
ent species, Engleby said. Associated Press “on the bow of a ship,” En- the oil spill is using visual
The filter-feeding whales gered. It’s been coming for seismic surveys for oil and gleby said. Since it was lac- surveys, passive acoustic
known as baleen whales a while,” said Scott Kraus, gas and ship traffic, which tating, she noted, the calf monitoring and tagging to
can be hard to tell apart by chief marine mammal interfere with their subsonic probably died, too. learn more, including their
sight, she said. “That makes scientist at the New Eng- communication. The name is pronounced part in the ecosystem.q
it even more challenging to land Aquarium’s Anderson
study them, in some ways,” Cabot Center for Ocean
she said. Life. Endangered whale experiencing
A Republican congress- However, “It’s absolutely
man from Florida and a not too late” to save the mini-baby boom off New England
marine mammal scientist whale, said Zac Smith, at-
in Massachusetts applaud- torney for the National Re-
ed the decision to protect sources Defense Council, By The Associated Press
the whales. There probably an environmental group An endangered species
are about 33 of them in a that sued the government of whale is experiencing
deepwater area called the in 2014 to get the endan- a mini-baby boom in New
DeSoto Canyon, Engleby gered listing. “This species England waters, research-
said. If there are any in the now has a fighting chance ers on Cape Cod have
southern Gulf, she said, the for survival and to rebound said.
total including the known from the brink of extinc- The North Atlantic right
population is probably less tion.” whale is one of the rarest
than 100. Engleby said the next step species of whale on the
“Although belated, this is to work out ways to help planet, numbering only
designation will help to pro- the whales recover, includ- about 411. But the Center
tect this vulnerable species ing consulting with other for Coastal Studies in Prov-
and aid in its recovery,” U.S. agencies and considering incetown, Massachusetts,
Rep. Vern Buchanan said whether to designate criti- said Friday its aerial survey
in an emailed statement. cal habitat. team spotted two mom
Buchanan and Rep. Kathy Such a designation would and calf pairs in Cape
Castor, D-Florida, had require NOAA Fisheries Cod Bay a day earlier. That
pushed for the designation, consultation about any brings the number seen in
Buchanan spokesman An- federal contracts, which in- New England waters alone
thony Cruz wrote. clude oil and gas leases in this year to three.
“I think it’s a great thing federal waters. That’s big news because In this Thursday, April 11, 2019, photo provided by the Center
to declare them endan- Threats include noise from the whale’s population has for Coastal Studies, a baby right whale swims with its mother in
been falling, and no calves Cape Cod Bay off Massachusetts.
were seen last year. In all, Associated Press
seven right whale calves sachusetts, New Hamp- mammals,” the Center for
have been seen so far this shire, Maine and Canada. Coastal Studies said in a
year. Cape Cod Bay is part of statement.
The whales give birth off the Gulf of Maine and is a It’s illegal to get within 1,500
Georgia and Florida in the critically important feed- feet (457 meters) of the
winter and travel to feeding ing ground. The animals animals without a federal
grounds off New England in often feed close to shore, research permit, so boat-
the early spring, including providing watchers on ers are discouraged from
the Gulf of Maine, a body land “unbeatable views of attempting to get close to
of water that touches Mas- one of the rarest of marine the whales.q