February 9, 2010 -The Sea Shepherds, renowned for their activism on behalf of whales in the TV series "Whale Wars," have further escalated their confrontations with Japanese whalers. Last month their high tech speed boat Andy Gil was sunk after colliding with the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru. On Saturday their ship, the Bob Barker, had a collision with the harpoon boat Yushin Maru 3. And yesterday they blasted the factory ship Nisshin Maru with a new high powered water cannon. This last action was in response to water cannons being fired by the Nisshin Maru. Environmentalists in Australia's government are calling for an observer boat to be sent to the area to prevent further escalation. Here's the story from ABC News Australia.

The Japanese pretext for whaling is that they are conducting research and that their research requires them to kill the whales. Once the whales are dead from "research" they take the meat back to Japan and sell it. Last week scientists from Australia and New Zealand set out on an Antarctic expedition to to disprove Japan's argument that whales must be killed to be studied. Read more from the Washington Post.

 

 

February 3, 2009 - Whale acoustics researcher Mark McDonald was trying to track blue whales' movements using data from Navy submarine detectors. He had created a program to filter out the blues' songs from other noise. But he kept having to rewrite the code. Each year, it seemed, the whales sang at a lower pitch. No one knows why. One conjecture is that more baritone whales indicate healthier populations: The whales may be less shrill because they're less scarce and don't have to pipe up to be heard by neighbors. Here's the full story from Jill Leovy at LA Times blogs.

Here's a link to blue whale songs.

February 1, 2010 -"It's smelly work," says Mark Purnell of the Geology Department at the University of Leicester in UK. Dr. Purnell and his colleagues have been studying rotting fish in an effort to understand what 500 million year old fossils might have looked like as living creatures. Bones can take decades to decay, but soft features, such as eyes, gills and organs, can disappear in a matter of months, weeks and even days. So, the researchers thought that a little CSI-style forensic analysis could flesh out what fossilized creatures might actually have looked like when they were alive half a billion years ago. Purnell and his team found that features disappeared in a distinctive pattern. Some parts, such as the gut and liver, lasted for 130 days, eyes were gone after 64 days and the multichambered heart after only about 11. One conclusion of the study is that early life forms were more complex than previously thought. Here's the full story from Scientific American.

 

 

January 20, 2009 - BOSTON - State marine biologists have tracked an electronic tag placed on a white shark in waters off Cape Cod last September to the coast of North Florida, providing clues to the wintering grounds and other habits of these top marine predators, Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles said today.   

Under a project led by Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) Senior Biologist Greg Skomal, DMF biologists placed electronic tags on five great white sharks in waters off Chatham in September. At midnight on Friday, January 15, one tag surfaced 50 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, and began transmitting data. The tag, which collects and records water temperature, depth and light levels to help scientists determine where a shark travels, will transmit data for several days using satellite-based technology.

 “For Massachusetts citizens and biologists and shark enthusiasts across the globe, this is an exciting opportunity to study these fascinating creatures,” said Secretary Bowles, whose office includes DMF, a division of the Department of Fish and Game. “We’re looking forward to sharing the findings – so far, all we know is that this particular shark is a snowbird.”

 Over the next several days, Skomal – who heads DMF’s shark research program – will analyze data transmitted by the tag looking for information about how deep and how far the shark traveled, which will allow scientists to better understand white sharks’ migratory behavior. Additional tags may surface and transmit data later this winter and spring.

 After multiple shark sightings off of the coast of Chatham last summer, Skomal and other state biologists set out to identify the species of the sharks off Monomoy Island in Chatham. Skomal, along with harpooner Bill Chaprales, captain of the fishing vessel Ezyduzit, placed the electronic tags on the sharks with the help of spotter pilot George Breen and Nick Chaprales, the boat’s driver. This was the first successful tagging of white sharks in the Atlantic Ocean using electronic satellite technology. Click here for a video and photographs of the white shark tagging in September.

“The information gathered from this tag will help to inform biologists about migratory paths and shark behavior, adding to the long list of DMF’s contributions to the field of marine science,” said DFG Commissioner Mary Griffin.

In 2004, the DMF attempted to electronically tag a great white shark that was stuck in a shallow embankment at Naushon Island off of Cape Cod. While DMF’s Skomal was able to place a tag on that shark, the device detached from the animal shortly afterward without acquiring any data.

“Greg’s scientific expertise combined with Billy’s adept harpoon skills was a perfect combination. These ventures are typical of DMF’s cooperative research with partners like those in the fishing industry,” said DMF’s Director Paul Diodati.

Many species of fish, including sharks, migrate to New England’s coastal and open ocean waters in the summer months. At least a dozen shark species migrate in and out of New England waters annually. Massachusetts is the northernmost range for several species of sharks and is an important area for monitoring the health and distribution of shark populations. Although relatively rare in New England, great white sharks, are known to visit local waters, where they are sometimes seen feeding near seal colonies.

Last May, peer-reviewed journal Current Biology published Skomal’s research on the migratory patterns of basking sharks. Using similar tagging technology, Skomal and his team documented the migratory habits of these large sharks, identifying previously unknown winter habitat – a discovery that has implications for the species’ conservation. Click here to find out more about DMF’s basking shark research.  

DMF’s shark research program is one of eight marine fisheries research programs funded through DMF’s Recreational Marine Fisheries program. The shark research program is beneficiary of several federal grants. Click here for more information about the DMF’s shark research program.