The U.S. Office of Management and Budget is reviewing proposed rules designating Critical Habitat for the Hawaiian Insular False Killer Whale Distinct Population Segment. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service developed these proposed rules. OMB is reviewing them under Executive Order 12866. Click here for OMB’s website for this review.
Society for Marine Mammalogy – 2017: A Marine Mammal Odyssey, eh!
Sunday, October 22, 2017 – Friday, October 27, 2017 CST
The 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals will be hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 22nd-27th 2017, with workshops to be held October 28th-29th. Registration and event signup are available here.
A new study claims that solar activity caused a mass sperm whale stranding in 2016 by disrupting earth’s magnetic field and disturbing whale navigation systems. Click here to read an article about this study.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries has proposed an incidental harassment authorization to Venoco, LLC for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to fender pile replacement at Casitas Pier in Carpinteria, CA. Pursuant to the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS requests comments on its proposal to issue this IHA. Comments and information must be received by NMFS no later than October 10, 2017. Click here for more details and relevant links.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published its revised stock assessment report for the southern sea otter stock in the State of California. Click here for access to this SAR and for other relevant information and links.
Pursuant to the regulations governing the subsistence taking of North Pacific fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) (northern fur seals), the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published the expected harvest levels from 2017-2019 on St. George and St. Paul Islands, Alaska (the Pribilof Islands) to satisfy subsistence requirements of the Alaska Natives residing on the Pribilof Islands (Pribilovians). NMFS has established the 2017–2019 harvest levels at 1,645 to 2,000 fur seals for St. Paul Island and 300 to 500 fur seals for St. George Island. Click here for more details and relevant links.
The Society for Marine Mammalogy will hold its 22nd biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals on October 22-27, 2017, at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Click here for more details and relevant links.
How Did whales Get So Big?
Aug 02
The New York Times published an article on how whales became the biggest animals on the planet. The times article is based on a study entitled “Independent evolution of baleen whale gigantism linked to Plio-Pleistocene ocean dynamics,” which was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Click here for the Times article, which provides links to the original article.
Researchers published an article on their research into the “cultural transmission” of humpback whale songs in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It includes the following abstract:
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service posted the following article on one of NMFS’ websites:
“The Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS) departed for a six-month mission to survey whales, dolphins, and seabirds around the Hawaiian Archipelago. The mission will be aboard two NOAA Ships: the Oscar Elton Sette and Reuben Lasker.
This 187-day mission is a collaboration between the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The first half of the expedition will be aboard the NOAA Ship Setteand the second half will be on the NOAA ShipLasker. Our goals are to estimate numbers of whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters, examine their population structures, and better understand their habitats. The extensive study area spans the main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and covers approximately 1.8 million square nautical miles.