Marine Mammals

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following article about NOAA/NMFS’ proposed listing of the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale as endangered under the Endangered Species Act:

“Rare Gulf of Mexico whale could be listed as endangered
A Bryde’s whale in the Gulf of Mexico NOAA Fisheries

BY HANNAH MORSE
hemorse@bradenton.com

A year-round resident of Gulf of Mexico waters may be listed as threatened or endangered early next year pending public comment and review after a 12-month study of the whale was published by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service published in the December 8, 2016, Federal Register a document proposing to list the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. On December 19, 2016, NMFS published a Federal Register notice that corrects an error in NMFS’ December 8th notice. The correct deadline for comments on NMFS’ proposed listing of the Bryde’s whale is February 6, 2017. Click here for NMFS’ Federal Register notice correcting the comment deadline.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published an article discussing the increasing numbers of Humpback whales off the coast of New York and New Jersey. NMFS believes that this increase is due to NMFS’ actions that  “modified and reduced the number of entangling fishing lines in northeast U.S. waters, shifted shipping lanes, implemented vessels speed restrictions, and protected habitats for whales and the fish they eat. Thanks in part to these conservation efforts, the humpback whale population in Northeast U.S. waters has successfully rebounded, and we removed them from the list of endangered species in September 2016.”

Danish Marine Mammal Society and Aarhus University is holding the 31st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society at Hindsgavl Castle, Middelfart, Denmark The Main conference will be on 1-3 May, 2017. Workshops will take place on 29-30 April, 2017.

This year’s theme is: CONSERVATION IN THE LIGHT OF MARINE SPATIAL USE.

Invited Keynote Speakers are Professor Lars Bejder, Murdoch University, Cetacean Research Unit, Australia; Dr. Asha De Vos, Post-doctoral scholar, University of California, Santa Cruz; Dr. Len Thomas, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Abstract and workshop submission deadline: 13 January 2017 (23:45 CET)
Early registration deadline: 15 March 2017 (23:45 CET)
Video abstract submission deadline: 1 March 2017 (23:45 CET)
Late registration deadline: 1 April 2017 (23.45 CET)