The emergence of compassion

The following article has just been published online:

Perception of a cetacean mass stranding in Italy: the emergence of compassion

Giovanni Bearzi, Nino Pierantonio, Silvia Bonizzoni, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Massimo Demma. 2010.

Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.1135


ABSTRACT

1. The view that whales are malicious monsters has been pervasive throughout history. Conversely, the idea that these animals experience suffering has emerged only recently. One way of investigating perceptual, as well as behavioural, shifts is assessing general public reactions to mortality events involving wild, rare and charismatic animals.

2. Here, the responses of 118 individuals to questions regarding the mass stranding of seven sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) along the Adriatic Sea coast of Italy in December 2009 are reported through interviews taken at the stranding site and in the direct proximity of the dead animals.

3. When asked why the whales were stranded, 44.1% of the respondents suggested anthropogenic causes and 21.2% non-anthropogenic. The remaining 34.7% mentioned a generic ‘disorientation’ or stated they did not know. When asked how they felt about the whales, 68.6% expressed feelings of compassion or care towards the animals. Clearly non-compassionate attitudes accounted for only 4.1% of the sample. Finally, 21.2% expressed feelings that were ambiguous in terms of being suggestive of compassionate or non-compassionate attitudes, including 11.9% amazement, 4.2% deprecation and 5.1% powerlessness.

4. These results are in stark contrast with information obtained from accounts of similar events that have occurred in historical times, up until the first half of the 20th century. For centuries, responses to cetacean live strandings—typically including killing and harming of the animals—were either utilitarian or characterized by feelings including fear and a desire to ‘subjugate the beast’, with no apparent concern for their suffering and death.

5. It is concluded that attitudes towards whales—today strikingly revolving around sadness, compassion and a sense of loss—have changed dramatically over time, with a steep turnaround in the 1970/1980s. Full appreciation of the ongoing evolution in public perception can channel marine conservation efforts and assist in the design of response strategies to marine mammal strandings.

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A pdf copy can be obtained from the journal's web site:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.1135/abstract

or from the first author:

giovanni.bearzi(at)gmail.com

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Photo by Silvia Bonizzoni: A sperm whale dying on the beach of Foce Varano, Italy

A Sword-Wielding Soldier of Conservation

Early this morning, the research boat exits the small, sheltered harbour of Galaxidi and dares to get into the jaws of a roaring, exceedingly wavy Gulf of Corinth.

In these circumstances, one generally holds out little hope of spotting anything of zoological interest. The greatest a researcher could hope for would be an overly-energetic tuna, tired of being systematically out-witted by a sardine, thus making a dramatic break for it into the external environment in the hope of finally breaking the sardine’s spirit.

Or even, in these kind of bone-breaking, face-showering waters, the sight of an elegant Cotylorhiza jellyfish would give a group something to coo at for a minute or two. So this is the mind-frame we set out with. Unbeknownst to us, however, the marine life inhabiting the Bay of Galaxidi had other plans.

Passing through the nearby fish farm, the research boat chugged over to the fish nets for a cursory scan. A dark triangular movement and soft puff of air suddenly yet silently announced the presence of an old friend – Nemo, the lone ranger bottlenose dolphin we’ve come to know and appreciate. On a straight beeline for the fish farm, Nemo was lumbering his way towards an all-you-can-eat buffet of wild fish, currently swarming around the nets to claim their thieved share of pellets cast out for the farmed sea bream.

On a surprising side note, calmly bobbing away in between Nemo and the boat, appeared a sea turtle, indignantly ignoring our paparazzi-esque array of cameras. However, these sightings were but a precursor to the Star Act of the day’s marine extravaganza.

Upon returning from the fish farm, almost subconsciously tracking the usual route back into the harbour after a long hot day out on the sea, a volunteer’s voice suddenly chipped into the concentrated silence, with child-like excitement claiming to have seen a dorsal fin. With one look at each other, Silvia Bonizzoni and I telepathically communicated the same thought. “Waves”, we said with our eyes, and calmly averted our view back to the harbour. A brisk backwards glance, however, immediately brought my disbelieving tail back between my legs.

At first sight, only a dark, small dorsal fin was visible to the naked eye. After a tense breath-held minute, the unmistakable elongated bill of a swordfish breached the surface, and a full bodied leap took it clear of the water, pointing towards the skies in dramatic splendour. In truly spectacular fashion, the mighty 3m long aquatic soldier thrust its entire body into the air, four, five, six times, displaying in clear communication its right to the freedom of the waters.

Gasps of awe and excitement reaped through the air each time the great sword protruded defiantly above the surface, the body slamming back down onto the water like a clap of thunder. Displaying this gasp-inducing activity almost directly in front of Galaxidi harbour, the animal seemed to be openly stating its refusal to be domineered by the anthropogeneous world.

Xiphias gladius, a name conjuring images of the gladiatorial might of Greek and Roman legend - this species has become an icon of the seas. A representative of the oceanic army defending itself against the blood-thirsty predator that humanity has sadly become. Swordfish are fished extensively in the Gulf of Corinth, and can be seen proudly displayed on every menu in the surrounding towns and villages. Having rarely seen evidence of their continued presence in this area, the Tethys research team were ecstatic to receive such glorious confirmation of their prevalence.

Simply to have seen a fin, or a blurry shape beneath the surface, would have sufficed for me to claim excitement at having seen a swordfish, and feel the warmth-of-heart that only conservationists can understand at confirming the continued presence of a threatened species. This, however, was akin to witnessing a glorious battle cry. A soldier of conservation, jousting the air in defiance of its kind.

Philippa Dell

Vaquita – Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise

An outstanding documentary by Chris Johnson about the critically endangered vaquita in Mexico.

Strongly recommended !

http://vaquita.tv/documentary

Viewing dolphins as Taiji could show them

A very nice article featuring work by Tethys in the Amvrakikos Gulf, Greece, as well as an upcoming paper on compassionate feelings towards the sperm whales stranded in Italy in 2009:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20100711rh.html

The article, written by Rowan Hooper, appeared in the Japan Times.

Carl Safina: The oil spill's unseen culprits and victims

The Mediterranean Risso's dolphin: getting one step closer to a fascinating and neglected marine mammal

The Risso's dolphin has been studied in several locations around the world, but information on this cetacean species remains relatively scant. Risso's dolphins are not particularly shy or elusive and can be studied with relative ease in areas where continental slope waters are close to shore. In the Mediterranean Sea they are relatively widespread but not abundant and their occurrence can be unpredictable, possibly due to wide-ranging movements. This factor, together with generally low densities, has precluded sustained, focussed investigations of their ecology and behaviour.

Even within the few Mediterranean areas where Risso's dolphins are known to be consistently present, only limited information has been obtained. In large parts of the region there is nothing more than a few sightings or strandings to indicate their presence. In sum, the distribution, ecology, status and trends of this species in the Mediterranean remain somewhat mysterious. On one hand this hampers conservation, but on the other hand it offers scope for novel studies.

In the Mediterranean Sea, modern field studies of cetaceans began in the late 1980s and this has resulted in rapid advances in knowledge of several of the species known to occur regularly in the region. The Risso's dolphin, however, remains one of the least-known cetacean species in the region and has been the subject of few dedicated studies. A regional IUCN Red List workshop in March 2006 concluded that the Mediterranean subpopulation of the Risso's dolphin is ‘Data Deficient’.

A recent scientific review of the ecology and status of the Risso’s dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea, published in the renowned journal Mammalian Biology, sheds new light on a largely neglected species. This work - funded by OceanCare and WDCS The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - was conducted by a group of five scientists led by Giovanni Bearzi, President of the Tethys Research Institute. The second author is Randall R. Reeves, Chair of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group. One of the main purposes of the review is to identify knowledge gaps and areas where focussed studies should be conducted to inform conservation efforts aimed to protect Risso’s dolphins in Mediterranean waters.

Risso's dolphins occur in continental slope waters throughout the Mediterranean basin and around many of the region's offshore islands and archipelagos. No synoptic estimate of abundance is available for the Mediterranean region, but densities and overall numbers are low in comparison to some other small odontocetes. Diet consists primarily of cephalopods, with a clear preference for mesopelagic squid.

The paper by Bearzi and colleagues reviews available information on the distribution and ecology of Risso's dolphins in the Mediterranean and identifies factors that may negatively affect them in this region. The principal known threat to populations in the Mediterranean is entanglement in pelagic drift gillnets. Other potential problems for Risso's dolphins in the Mediterranean include noise disturbance and ingestion of plastic debris.

Inclusion of Risso's dolphin habitat in networks of offshore protected areas would be one way of addressing threats to this species in the mid to long term. Indeed, various MPAs have been proposed to protect the habitat of deep-water cetacean species (including Risso's dolphin) in Spanish Mediterranean waters and there are prospects for Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction. If effectively managed, deep-water or offshore protected areas could have long-term conservation benefits for Risso's dolphins. Pending the implementation of such area-based management strategies, any actions taken to mitigate immediate and well-known threats to cetaceans and other large marine vertebrates in the Mediterranean region, particularly entanglement in pelagic gillnets (driftnets), are bound to benefit Risso's dolphins. Considering that driftnetting is already illegal in EU waters, what is most needed is strict enforcement of that ban and its extension to the high seas and to waters under non-EU State jurisdiction.


THE REVIEW:
Bearzi G., Reeves R.R., Remonato E., Pierantonio N., Airoldi S. 2010. Risso’s dolphin Grampus griseus in the Mediterranean Sea. Mammalian Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2010.06.003

PHOTO:
These Risso's dolphin mother and calf photographed in the Ligurian Sea show the characteristic morphology and pigmentation of the species. Photo © Caterina Lanfredi / Tethys Research Institute.

Please get me out of here

Tethys research in the Amvrakikos Gulf featured in New Scientist

A couple of weeks ago, the online news editor from the renowned New Scientist Magazine - Rowan Hooper - joined the 'Dolphins of Greece' Project in the Amvrakikos Gulf.

Hooper, thanks to an EarthWatch initiative, had the opportunity to spend nine days shoulder-to-shoulder with Tethys researchers Joan Gonzalvo and Iva Popovic.

After his experience, Hooper wrote an article about the dolphin situation in the Amvrakikos Gulf and in the waters surrounding the island of Kalamos where Tethys is studying dolphins since 1991.

Read the article: Dolphins make their last stand in the Mediterranean.

What we are losing, what we have lost

The 'blue whale' photo is of course depicting a humpback whale (but does it matter?)

The baiji Lipotes vexillifer is one of the many missing from the long list of species that have become extinct.

Obama's Gulf spill speech

Read the whole text of the speech.

Global patterns of marine turtle bycatch

An 18 yr study (1990-2008) yielded new results on marine turtle bycatch in fishing gear. The research, led by Dr. Bryan Wallace of Duke University, is based on more than 85,000 records of snared turtles. Despite this high number, reports covered less than 1% of all fishing fleets, with little or no information from small-scale fisheries around the world.

Dr. Wallace said the conservative estimation they made is in the order of millions of sea turtles killed in the past two decades. Six of the seven sea turtle types are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Especially high rates of by-catch were found in the Mediterranean and eastern Pacific.

By-catch remains a main threat for many other marine species such as sharks, cetaceans, seabirds.

Elisa Remonato

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Photo: Marine turtles drown when trapped in fishing gear (by Projeto Tamar Brazil)

Wallace B.P., Lewison R.L., McDonald S.L., McDonald R.K., Kot C.Y., Kelez S., Bjorkland R.K., Finkbeiner E.M., Helmbrecht S., Crowder L.B. 2010. Global patterns of marine turtle bycatch. Conservation Letters.
ABSTRACT -- Fisheries bycatch is a primary driver of population declines in several species of marine megafauna (e.g., elasmobranchs, mammals, seabirds, turtles). Characterizing the global bycatch seascape using data on bycatch rates across fisheries is essential for highlighting conservation priorities. We compiled a comprehensive database of reported data on marine turtle bycatch in gillnet, longline, and trawl fisheries worldwide from 1990 to 2008. The total reported global marine turtle bycatch was ∼85,000 turtles, but due to the small percentage of fishing effort observed and reported (typically <1% of total fleets), and to a global lack of bycatch information from small-scale fisheries, this likely underestimates the true total by at least two orders of magnitude. Our synthesis also highlights an apparently universal pattern across fishing gears and regions where high bycatch rates were associated with low observed effort, which emphasizes the need for strategic bycatch data collection and reporting. This study provides the first global perspective of fisheries bycatch for marine turtles and highlights region–gear combinations that warrant urgent conservation action (e.g., gillnets, longlines, and trawls in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean) and region–gear combinations in need of enhanced observation and reporting efforts (e.g., eastern Indian Ocean gillnets, West African trawls).

The Story of Bottled Water

The Story of Cap & Trade

Plastic everywhere, forever

BP disaster Aegean

If the oil spill was in Greece.

(click on the image to zoom in)

http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/

Robert Redford on oil disasters

Brian Skerry on marine conservation photography

Transforming European fisheries

Transforming European Fisheries from OCEAN2012 on Vimeo.

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Put environmental sustainability at the heart of European fisheries:

Sign the petition

to Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Nintendo versus Nature

A recent survey, released by the UN Convention on Biodiversity, has been conducted on more than 10,000 children aged 5-18 from ten different countries (Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, UK and USA). Goal of the study was to investigate children’s perceptions of nature.

When asked to rank what was most important to them, ten times more children ranked watching TV or playing computer games first compared to those who chose saving the environment (40% and 4%, respectively). And while species extinction rates are estimated to be up to 1,000 times the natural rate, only 9% ranked looking after animals as most important and 15% did not even know what ‘endangered species’ implied.

When asked which type of animal or plant they would most like to save, less than 1% opted for insects, 6% chose plants, 9% cited birds, 23% reptiles and 50% mammals.

"The survey confirms the alarming disconnect of our children with nature and calls for urgent action to close this growing gap between tomorrows citizens and their natural heritage" commented Ahmed Djoghlaf, the executive secretary of the Convention.

SB

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Image source

For more information:
http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2010/pr-2010-05-18-airbus-en.pdf
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/for-kids-video-games-top-saving-nature-survey-1980982.html

What BP doesn't want you to see