Sea Watch News Archive
News archived here are dated earlier than: 12 December 2009
6 November - Sperm whale found washed up on Aberdeenshire coast
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On Friday 30th October a 13 metre sperm whale was found dead on Balmedie beach, Aberdeenshire. The cause of death to the animal is not yet known.
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Sperm whales are occasionally seen off Scottish coastlines but prefer deeper waters off the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf where they feed on squid and some fish species. According to our records, the last time a sperm whale was recorded was August 2008 off Fort George, Moray Firth.
Images courtesy of Sue Edwards.
27 October - Sowerby’s beaked whale stranded in South Wales
On Sunday 25th October a dead Sowerby’s beaked whale was found at Kenfig Nature Reserve, Bridgend. The animal had been dead for quite some time and had some damage to the jaw, rostrum and ribs. It is likely that this damage occurred after it died. The post mortem of the 4.25 metre male could find no clear cause of death. Sowerby’s beaked whales are rarely seen at sea as however there have been a number of strandings of this species in the North Sea this summer at Norfolk, and off Germany and the Netherlands. See the beaked whale news report below for further details.
26 October - SWF CETACEAN SURVEY TRAINING COURSE 17-18TH JULY 2010
Join a short course to learn all about British cetaceans, how to survey for them, and contribute to their conservation!
Two-days weekend course, 17-18th July 2010
The course will consist of illustrated lectures and video presentations as well as headland watches and boat surveys aboard a local research vessel. The area where land and boat trips will be undertaken is the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a place well-known for the presence and high sighting frequency of bottlenose dolphins (the largest population in the UK), harbour porpoises and grey seals. These populations are protected in the SAC following the 1992 EU Species and Habitat Directive.
Find out more about cetacean survey training course with Sea Watch
19 October - Cetacean ship strikes
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Collisions of ships with both whales and dolphins are increasingly recognised as an international conservation issue. Larger cetaceans such as fin, right and sperm whales, are most commonly affected, or at least more commonly identified as casualties. Collisions can occur with vessels of all sizes, although the more serious incidents tend to be caused by very large vessels, and those going at speeds of 14 knots or more(1). Injuries sustained can include fracturing, bruising, nicks or slicing off parts of fins, and the most serious accidents can result in death.
Unfortunately, quantifying the scale of the problem is not an easy task. Whilst evidence of ship strikes comes from direct observations at the time of the accident or subsequent examination of washed up or floating carcasses, many accidents may go unreported. The crew may be unaware of the accident and thus the body could sink and go unnoticed, or they may fail to report it to the appropriate authorities. Getting a handle on the figures and identifying hotspots for collisions, however, is extremely important for implementing preventative measures and for the conservation of these species. Some cetacean populations are particularly vulnerable due to their location within busy shipping areas. Such is the case for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales off the east coast of Canada and the USA, and of fin whales in the Mediterranean. An investigation into ship strikes by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) indicates that at least ten large whale species are affected, with the most frequently reported species being fin whales, humpback whales and North Atlantic right whales(2). The most recent incident in Europe, on 22nd September 2009, reported a fin whale being carried into Antwerp, Belgium on the bow bulb of a ship after being killed by a ship strike, most likely outside of Belgian waters.
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In areas where large numbers of cetaceans and ships are occupying the same body of water and the risk of collision is potentially high, measures can be taken to minimise the threat. Possibly the easiest measure to implement is to impose a speed limit and in some areas (for example the Strait of Gibraltar), an alternative shipping route has been created to avoid the cetaceans’ main habitat. However, the latter solution is not always practical and sometimes monitoring the interactions between ships and cetaceans and providing information to shipping crew is the best alternative. In the United States, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard have implemented Mandatory Ship Reporting Systems whereby ships greater than 300 tonnes entering one of two key North Atlantic right whale habitats must report to a station. The ship then receives information on the locations of recent sightings as well as precautionary measures to avoid hitting whales(3).
The Sea Watch Foundation’s Director, Dr Peter Evans, has been commissioned by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas) to review ship strike collision risk in the ASCOBANS Agreement Area by mapping areas with greatest shipping movements alongside the distribution of vulnerable species.
Improving awareness within the shipping industry about areas with large populations of cetaceans, providing information about their ecology and ways to avoid collision, and encouraging them to report boat strikes as well as any live animals, could help to reduce such incidents, and provide further information on areas where more drastic measures need to be taken to ensure low mortality rates from such causes.
All images by JH/KBIN
1 Laist, D.W., Knowlton, A.R., Mead, J.G., Collet, A.S. and Podesta, M. 2001. Collisions between ships and great whales. Marine Mammal Science 17(1):35-75.
2 Jensen A.S. & Silber G.K. (2004) Large whale ship strike database. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-25.
3 Silber G.K., Ward L.I., Clarke R., Schumacher K.L. & Smith A.J. (2002) Ship traffic patterns in right whale critical habitat: Year one of the mandatory ship reporting system. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-20.
19 October - High numbers of beaked whale strandings in August and September
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The beaked whales (Family: Ziphiidae) are a mysterious group of deep diving whales consisting of at least 20 species. Little is known about many of these species since they rarely visit shallow waters and are usually feeding on deep sea squid off the edge of continental shelves or close to other bottom features such as seamounts and canyons. However, since August a number of beaked whale strandings have occurred including the relatively well known northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) and Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens).
Northern bottlenose whales were heavily hunted until 1973 and the species has been recovering since. Current threats are thought to rise from acoustic disturbance since like other beaked whales, they are particularly vulnerable to mid frequency active sonar produced by the military to detect submarines. These animals are endemic to the North Atlantic Ocean, favouring colder and deeper waters of up to 1000 metres depth. Some make migratory movements southwards from the Norwegian Sea turning west past the Northern Isles and then south into the North Atlantic. One theory is that individuals somehow become disorientated and lose their way during this migration and this is the reason why they are sometimes seen in shallow coastal waters. However, a more likely scenario is that they follow the movements of their prey which are well known to exhibit seasonal mass migrations in late summer or autumn. Once reaching shallow waters, the whales are at risk of dehydration and starvation if their food source no longer is available which tends to be the case. If the whales enter very shallow water, this can also cause internal damage to the whale, and in most cases they are unlikely to survive.
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This summer has seen five stranding events on the British coastline of this species since August. The first of the summer occurred in Cromarty, Northeast Scotland, where three individuals were seen in very shallow water. Two of these animals were euthanased but it was not known what happened to the third larger whale. It wasn’t until September that the next bottlenose whale showed up, this time off Bournemouth, Dorset. The whale (nicknamed Gilbert) was originally seen on the 12th and was spotted daily for the next few days. Sadly on the 21st the animal washed up dead, and post mortem results showed that the animal had not fed for some time. Also on the 21st, a juvenile northern bottlenose whale surprised onlookers up the River Clyde near Glasgow. It did not appear to be strong and after two days the animal disappeared. A series of west coast strandings continued when at the beginning of October yet another whale was found alive in Loch Eil, near Fort William and was encouraged to head out to deeper water by using killer whale and man made sounds! However, such attempts were unsuccessful and this whale also came to a sad end and was found dead a couple of weeks later. The most recent event was in Prestatyn, North Wales where another animal was found dead on the beach on Saturday 10th October. There had been no reports of the animal alive beforehand.
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There have also been a number of strandings recently of the lesser known species, Sowerby’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon bidens which is rarely seen at sea. The first live stranded at Blakeney Point in Norfolk in August and was successfully refloated. Since then there have been a number of strandings across the North Sea. In Germany, one animal live stranded and was refloated at Busum on the 31st August. One week later however, an animal washed up off Minsener Oog which was possibly the same animal. On the 4th October another individual live stranded in Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands, and again was refloated. Sowerby’s beaked whales inhabit the North Atlantic with a distribution that ranges from Newfoundland to the Norwegian Sea in the north to Madeira and the Azores in the south. They seem to prefer deeper waters and most records in British waters have come from strandings. Some animals are known to strand in the North Sea, particularly in August and September. Reasons for these strandings are unknown but similar to northern bottlenose whale, may relate to movements into unfamiliar territory following squid prey.
For both species, this is the peak time of year that these animals are observed in British waters and tend to strand. However, these latter events are relatively high compared to normal. Although some are suggesting that military activities could be the cause the sudden series of bottlenose whale strandings on the west coast of the UK or for the North Sea strandings of Sowerby’s, at the moment there is no evidence to suggest this is the case.
Images are courtesy of CSIP/ZSL, SWF and Richard Porter respectively.