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Dick Russell will deliver the keynote address March 13, 9:40 AM Mid-Atlantic Forage Fish Workshop Sheraton Hotel Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 7:00 pm
Call Tracy Hajduk for more information
Striper Wars - 2006 and throughout the weekend Thu Oct 6th, 2005 at 02:19:12 PM EST Maybe there will be one up side to Katrina and Rita's recent roaring up the Gulf of Mexico - rethinking whether to site an open-loop Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal off Louisiana's Southeast coast. Back in July, a coalition of fishermen and environmental groups calling themselves the "Gumbo Alliance for Safe LNG" came together to voice their strong opposition to the Freeport McMoRan company's plans to draw in a constant stream of fresh seawater -- more than 100 million gallons a day -- along 16 miles offshore. That process would eliminate billions of fish eggs, larvae, and plankton drifting in the seawater, creating a fish-killing machine in the midst of one of the Gulf Coast's premier areas for redfish, shrimp, crabs, and more. I've been following the rush to site new LNG facilities - despite concerns about their vulnerability to natural disasters or terrorist attacks - for several years, ever since Mexico's Baja coastline became a favored target of U.S. corporations, with LNG terminals slated to block the annual migration of the gray whales. (See Articles.) Now big energy companies want to build 30 to 40 new such terminals, mostly in American coastal communities. Massachusetts fishers are up in arms about plans by Excelerate Energy to place an LNG terminal only a mile from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, in the midst of critical fishing grounds. In Long Island Sound, another body of water that should defy industrialization, a joint venture between Shell and Transcanada Corporation wants to do the same. A Mitsubishi subsidiary is looking to build a $450 million LNG facility off Long Beach. But the Bush Administration isn't about to let these and other states make up their own minds about liquefied natural gas. The president wants federal control in deciding where terminals get built, saying that a lengthy approval process might hurt the economy. Overriding the objections of state governors, the Senate already voted in July to give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the final say. One can only hope that the terrible example of the Gulf Coast is giving someone pause. Wed Oct 5th, 2005 at 10:16:47 AM EST First, you need to try to picture it: thousands of tuna, salmon, cod, and other species being bred in steel cages up to 200 miles offshore, across 3.4 million acres of ocean (about the land area of the lower 48 states). That's the legislation recently put forward by the Bush Administration, a fish-farming "panacea" aimed at replacing all the wild fish runs that have been so badly over-harvested. It's also an attempt at reducing the 70 percent of seafood that the U.S. now imports every year, thus helping shrink our trade deficit. Besides which, aquacultural pioneers (subsidized by U.S. taxpayers) will reap all those benefits from their industry growing by a factor of five, to a projected $5-billion, over the next two decades. Meantime, the Commerce Secretary would only need to put forward specific environmental safeguards "if necessary." After all, offshore is out-of-sight, out-of-mind - for what would essentially be one big ocean feedlot. Stanford economist Rosamond Naylor has estimated that such an expanded industry in U.S. waters would create as much nitrogen discharge as untreated sewage from more than 17 million people (or the entire North Carolina hog industry). Yet not even national marine sanctuaries would be off-limits. That, says biologist Rebecca Goldberg of Environmental Defense, is akin to "putting industrial hog farms in national parks." Consider what's already been witnessed with inshore aquaculture operations: farm-raised fish getting loose to spread disease and parasites, or compete for food and interbreed with their wild cousins. Think about the fact that it requires as much as three pounds of wild fish - ground-up and added into the feed - for every pound produced of farmed salmon. Not to mention all the antibiotics needed to minimize disease in fish packed so closely together. This looks more like a recipe for disaster than a way to alleviate what's happening to our beleaguered fisheries. It doesn't seem accidental that the Bush bill coincided with the National Oceans Protection Act submitted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Among many other promising proposals, Boxer's bill would prohibit the federal government from issuing any leases for fish farms in the ocean until national standards are written that consider the downside risks. Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 11:08:47 AM EST I wish we had a more ignominious term than "bycatch" to describe one of the greatest threats to our marine environment. Maybe fishing vessels could be found guilty of "fish-kill in the second degree."
According to the United Nations, fully one-quarter of the fish taken in nets, seines, and longlines are discarded as unwanted or unintentional catch. Literall, tons of fish die in this way, not to mention the 300,000 marine mammals, more than 250,000 turtles, and 100,000 albatrosses killed each year after becoming entangled in fishing gear.
What is our government doing to alleviate this problem? Less than it did before, if the new fisheries legislation proposed by the Bush Administration is passed by Congress. Reporting of bycatch by fishermen need happen only "to the extent practicable." Not explained is how the managers can possibly reduce bycatch without even knowing how much there is.
This latest "comprehensive" package actually weakens the current federal requirements on trying to curb overfishing. While claiming to be getting "serious once and for all about this," it ignores just about all the recommendations of a presidential commission. All the current administration really seems serious about is replacing the devastated wild fish populations with massive offshore fish-farming operations - a subject we shall examine in more detail tomorrow.
Tue Sep 27th, 2005 at 02:43:58 PM EST It's conceivable many of you have never even heard of a small, bony, inedible member of the herring family called Atlantic menhaden. Yet they are one of the most important fish in the sea. Moving through the water in schools numbering sometimes in the millions, these silvery sea-strainers are a "filter feeder" that consumes huge quantities of microscopic algae which otherwise chokes the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Menhaden are also a critical food source for a wide variety of larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals (high in protein, their fat content is about four times higher than most other forage fish). With menhaden in decline, the recovered population of striped bass aren't getting enough to eat. Emaciated stripers are being seen all along the Atlantic coast. Up to 70 percent of striped bass in the their primary spawning territory of the Chesapeake are suffering from a bacterial infection that will ultimately prove fatal. This, many scientists believe, is stress-related, due to lack of food. Why are menhaden in shorter supply? They're being overfished by the Omega Protein Corporation, owned by billionaire Malcolm Glazer and operating out of America's third largest fishing port in Reedville, Virginia. They're being ground up into fish meal that goes into poultry and swine feed. And they're being "refined" into fish oil for the Omega-3 vitamin supplement industry. Nothing points up the critical need for ecosystem management more than the menhaden situation. We've got to look holistically at our fisheries, at how taking one species impacts another, and at the overall habitat. To its credit, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently put a cap on the Atlantic menhaden landings, although the majority of testimony at public hearings favored a moratorium. Whether continuing to allow as many as 300,000 fish at a time to be vacuumed into the holds of factory fishing boats can really make a difference, is very much an open question. Mon Sep 26th, 2005 at 12:30:53 PM EST When I became involved - much to my surprise - in a campaign to save the Atlantic striped bass in the early 1980s, I must confess I knew next-to-nothing about the environment. Most recently I'd been a staff writer in TV Guide Magazine's Hollywood bureau, doing profiles on folks like Bob Hope. I was, however, enamoured of recreational fishing - and especially the vaunted striper, a wily fish known to get as big as 100 pounds. So, when the striped bass suddenly disappeared, I became involved in a grassroots campaign to curtail overfishing, one that ended up changing my life. I became a journalist/activist, organizing fishermen coastwide into a coalition that ultimately resulted in a fishing moratorium. The resurgence of the striped bass is today considered the primary global example that, if you give an endangered fish a fighting chance, it will come back. In telling this story in my new book, Striper Wars: An American Fish Story, I came to realize that this particular fish truly is "the aquatic equivalent of the American bald eagle." Striped bass enabled the Pilgrims to survive their first winters, were the subject of our first conservation and then fishery management laws, and later became the fulcrum behind the first environmental impact statement and passage of the National Environmental Policy Act. Now they are a harbinger of something else: the need for more holistic, ecosystem-based management of all our fisheries. They are imperiled once again in the Chesapeake Bay due to a shortage of their food-of-choice, the Atlantic menhaden. That story, we shall examine tomorrow. Introducing Dick Russell :: By Jason :: Fri Sep 23rd, 2005 at 02:31:58 PM EST I want to say thanks to Susan Casey for taking the time to guest-blog with us over the last few days, and introduce you to our next guest: introducing Dick Russell, Oceana's guest blogger starting Sep. 26.
Dick Russell has dedicated most of his professional and private life over the past 20 years to fighting for the environment, a passionate pursuit fueled by the crisis that's fast pushing the world's fisheries and oceans to the point of no return. A longtime recreational fisherman, Dick spent the better part of three years fighting for stronger regulations to protect the endangered Atlantic striped bass, organizing a national conference in Washington, D.C., and appearing on numerous radio and TV programs. For his efforts, he was awarded the citizen's Chevron Conservation Award in 1988. Today, the return of the striped bass is considered the foremost example of the resiliency of the oceans - provided a species is given a chance to recover. His new book on this subject, Striper Wars: An American Fish Story, was published this summer by Island Press/Shearwater Books. Striper Wars has been very well received. Critic Sandy Bauer said in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "This book is one of the most amazing fish stories I've ever come across, and that's counting John McPhee's sturgeon book, John Hersey's exploration of the bluefish, and Mark Kurlansky's ode to the lowly cod. It's a conservation textbook, a testament to human fortitude and wily tactics, not to mention a splendid yarn about a fish that Russell calls the aquatic equivalent of the bald eagle." And this, from H. Bruce Franklin in The American Scientist: "Can a book about a single species or genus of fish teach us more about ourselves and our interrelationships with our environment than it does about that fish? "Yes" is the answer suggested by a rapidly growing literary genre....To this genre we must now add Dick Russell's wonderfully rich and provocative Striper Wars: An American Fish Story." Here's a link to Dick's book on Amazon: Recently, Dick was a guest at Oceana, where he met and had a chance to speak with other longtime warriors in the battle for the oceans. Among topics discussed at the breakfast meeting were some of Dick's previous books, including Eye of the Whale (Simon & Schuster hard-cover; paperback edition by Island Press/Shearwater Books), which upon publication was named among the Best Books of 2001 by the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Eye of the Whale is an account of his following the migration of the California gray whale, from Mexico's Baja peninsula all the way to Alaska and Siberia. Dick also is a respected and long-established magazine writer, having penned dozens of stories about other environmental issues for a broad variety of publications ranging from The Nation to Parenting and is an active member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and PEN USA. Among his many non-environmental works is the acclaimed The Man Who Knew Too Much (Carroll & Graf, 1992), a book hailed by Publisher's Weekly as "a masterpiece of historical reconstruction" focusing on the Kennedy assassination. For more details of Dick's rich and varied career, please visit his website, www.dickrussell.org. Please welcome Dick Russell as Oceana's guest blogger! Striper Wars - 2005
Published
in Ocean Realms Magasine, Winter 2000/2001 Issue
Editor's
note: since this article was published, 6 more orcas from the southern
residents have mysteriously disappeared. The population is plummeting
and now sits at 78 whales.
Breaching
skyward in an explosion of foam, J-1 sends a two-foot Chinook salmon tumbling,
before it lands, stunned and motionless on the sea's surface. J-1, a 50-year
old bull orca better known locally as 'Ruffles', quickly captures and
consumes the fish, then deftly arches below the surface to begin the maneuver
anew.
But for
Ruffles, and the other members of his extended clan in the northwest,
prey isn't always readily available. In fact, a regional salmon shortage
is contributing to the alarming, fast-paced decline of J clan, commonly
known as the 'southern resident' orca community.
Northwest
researchers and environmentalists are concerned. This past summer, the
southern resident orca community, comprised of J, K and L-pods, has dropped
in number to only 82 remaining whales. This decline represents a decrease
of 14% since January 1999, and a 17% overall decline since the middle
1990s. This drop is also in stark contrast to growth dynamics of other
Pacific orca stocks in British Columbia and Prince William Sound, which
appear to be increasing at a rate of 3% per year.
Lower Survival Rates
"We've recently
compared survival rates on the southern resident population from 1974;
comparatively these last few years, rates are at the lowest they've ever
been," observes researcher Paul Wade, who with colleagues Ken Balcomb
and David Bain, produced a draft population report at a National Marine
Mammal Laboratory (NMML) workshop in Seattle this past April. Recent whale
mortalities, including that of Ruffle's nephew J-18, a young, relatively
healthy bull (and his mother J-10 a month later), have prompted biologists
to gather and discuss that matter, and possibly seek to obtain an 'endangered
species' listing for the southern resident population.
"The main
factors which seem to be contributing to this decline are toxic chemical
contamination, scarcity of prey, and the growing impact of marine vessel
traffic present around orcas during their peak feeding and breeding periods,"
says researcher David Bain from the Whale Museum on Washington's San Juan
Island. These three specific factors were also identified as prime concerns
in the report published after the NMML workshop in April.
Toxic
Contamination
Toxic contamination,
particularly the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in fatty
tissues, have given these orcas the distinction of being the most chemically
contaminated marine mammals in the world. "These animals are literally
considered 'toxic waste' when they wash up on shore," adds Robert McLaughlin,
SeaWolf boardmember. "In fact, concentration levels in this orca population
run almost twice as high as in the St. Lawrence beluga whales controversy,"
adds McLaughlin, "While PCBs have been outlawed in the US for some time,
these orca have accumulated a 'legacy' of contamination that they continue
to pass on, from mother to calf, generation to generation." PCB accumulations
are known to weaken mammalian immune systems, and make injured of sick
whales more susceptible to infections and other illnesses.
Combined
with the added stress associated with prey scarcity, some whales, like
J-18, seem destined to die in what would otherwise be their prime breeding
years. While PCBs have been outlawed in the United States for more than
two decades, the toxin persists in ocean sediments and continues to enter
the food chain through prey species and, ultimately, into top level predators
such as orcas.
Chemical
contamination from other sources, such as industry and consumer-based
toxins dumped into stormwater drains, rivers and streams leading to the
ocean have also impacted survival and spawning habitat for salmon and
other prey fish. "Certainly, the recent listing of Chinook salmon as an
endangered species in the northwest is also a factor," says Ken Balcomb,
a whale researcher who heads the Center for Whale Research on San Juan
Island. "To make matters even more complex, Puget Sound's herring stock
– the prey that the salmon themselves feed upon - may be the next candidate
species to win a federal 'endangered' status listing," adds Balcomb.
The decline
in available prey cause orcas to range further afield to forage, and may
have an additional impact on time needed for crucial resting, socialization
and mating activities. "The solution to this problem is fish restoration,"
Comments Balcomb, "Not just with salmon, but also herring, groundfish
and all other declining fish in the orcas' ecosystem – unless we do something
about that, the southern residents may be gone in as few as three generations
(25 years)."
Stress
From Eco-Tourism
Ironically,
the growing eco-tourism industry itself is now considered a cause contributing
to the decline. Ken Balcomb's colleague David Bain recently concluded
a study that suggests the growing marine traffic around these whales might
be adding to the impacts, and threatening their long-term survival. "While
the southern residents don't appear to be leaving their foraging area
altogether, we do have periodic disappearances – and we have observed
that their daily activities have changed as a result of vessel intrusion,"
says Bain.
Changes
in behavior could be caused by the impact of increased stress and energy
output resulting from boat avoidance maneuvers, deep-lung inhalation of
poly-aeromatic hydrocarbons (gasoline fumes) from surrounding boats, and
the interruption of necessary socialization behaviors such as breeding,
bonding and instructing younger whales to forage for prey. "Boating restrictions
around these whales is an issue that we can control," adds Bain, "Perhaps
it's time to implement some access or proximity limitations and encourage
the public to switch toward shore-based whale watching."
Live
Captures Contibuted to Decreased Birth Rates
One other
significant factor suspected of contributing to the current decline involves
the historical live capture operations of the 1970s, that removed many
breeding age orcas from this population for exploitation by the marine
parks entertainment industry. Today, all but one of these captured whales
are dead, but the sole survivor – a perfectly healthy and contaminant-free
breeding age female from L-pod named "Lolita' – could become a mother
to any entire generation of healthy offspring. Unfortunately Lolita is
a performing orca in a Florida theme park, and her owner has no intention
of releasing her to the researchers who would rehabilitate and return
her to her wild family in the northwest.
Yet this
last option might be one way to stall the decline. Today, only seven sexually
mature male orcas remain in the southern resident clans, two of these
(including J1) are approaching the maximum life span estimated for males.
And since orcas do not breed outside of their clans, there is validity
to the observation that mortality will continue to exceed the current
birth rate. Even if the southern resident orcas where to adapt and be
capable of dealing with the immediate factors of prey shortage, pollution
and vessel traffic, there are not enough new whales being born to reverse
the overall decline.
Loss
of Biodiversity
Ultimately,
the issue at hand appears to be whether the southern residents are headed
toward extirpation. While there are an unknown number of killer whales
roaming the world's oceans, each population, or stock, is thought to be
genetically distinct. "The southern residents harbor unique genetic, social
and linguistic characteristics," concludes SeaWolf's McLaughlin, "If these
orcas were to disappear completely, we won't simply be losing a cultural
and ecological cornerstone of Pacific Northwest identity – we would also
be losing irreplaceable biodiversity from our seas."
The loss
of a pinnacle predator species in any ecosystem is a dramatic signal that
the world's ocean are not well. While the Canadian government listed the
southern resident orcas as a "threatened species" last spring, the United
States is still awaiting the data necessary to consider a similar listing
for the stock in 2001. Currently, the decline continues; what is evident
is that new, proactive and immediate actions must be implemented to prevent
the extirpation of the southern residents altogether.
In the Haro
Strait, 'Ruffles' and his sub-pod continue to forage freely, leaving the
inland sea periodically when the seasons change, or a migration of prey
draws them to the outer coasts. For generations, his clan has endured
climatic and ecological changes in their home waters, returning each spring
to grace the Haro Strait with their breath-taking acrobatics and haunting
underwater vocalizations.
There is
still uncertainly of the fate that ultimately awaits the southern resident
orca community; perhaps they will recover and replenish their ranks, or
perhaps some turn of the tide will change the health of the northwest
ecosystem so that their clans can flourish and begin a new cycle of ecological
prosperity. Yet it may also come, one spring, that the inland seas will
remain, simply, silent.
What lies
ahead is unknown, but one fact does remain clear – without the songs of
Ruffles and others of his clan, who have roamed these coastal waters for
so many centuries, the northwest will be a far emptier place.
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Dick Russell's Appearances and Media schedule
2008
173 Jennifer Road
Annapolis, Maryland.
2006
Northeastern University
430 Nahant Road,
Nahant, MA 01908Dick Russell, author of "Striper Wars" will be presenting the first lecture of the 2006-2007 year. "Striper Wars" tells the remarkable story of how one species was brought back from the brink of extinction – only to face new and even more daunting threats. When populations of striped bass began plummeting in the early 1980s, author and fisherman Dick Russell was there to lead an Atlantic coast conservation campaign that resulted in one of the most remarkable wildlife comebacks in the history of fisheries. As any avid fisherman will tell you, the striped bass has long been a favorite at the American dinner table; in fact, we've been feasting on the fish from the time of the Pilgrims. By 1980 that feasting had turned to overfishing by commercial fishing interests. Striper Wars is Dick Russell's inspiring account of the people and events responsible for the successful preservation of one of America's favorite fish and of what has happened since.
or email hajduk@neu.edu
www.marinescience.neu.edu/outreach
Phone: 781-581-7370 ext 321
This lecture is free to the public.
Light refreshments served at 6:30 pm.
The lecture begins at 7:00 pm and is roughly an hour long.
The Marine Science Center is wheelchair accessible.
Dick Russell's Appearances and Media schedule
January 17 (Tues) Riverkeeper event co-hosted by the Beczak Environmental Education Center, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, New York 7:00 pm January 19 (Thurs) Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center 23 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, Mass. 7:00 pm January 21-22 (Sat-Sun) The Fly Fishing Show Royal Plaza Trade Center, Marlborough, Massachusetts presentation and book signings,
Sat 1/21, 1:00 pm, Release Rm.
Sun 1/22, 1:30 pm, Catch Rm. January 24 (Tues) Nashua Public Library 2 Court Street, Nashua, New Hampshire 7:00 pm January 26 (Thurs) Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences 1900 Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa. 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm January 28-29 (Sat-Sun) The Fly Fishing Show Garden State Exhibit Center, 50 Atrium Drive, Somerset, N.J. presentation and book signings,
Sat 1/28, 3:00 pm
Sun 1/29, 11:30 am.January 30 (Mon) Explorer's Club 46 East 70th Street, New York City 6:30 pm ($15 admission) February 25-26 (Sat-Sun) Fly Fishing Show Ontario, California, Ontario Convention Center. Dick Russell
Now on NPR's
Living on Earth
Listen to the Striped Bass show,
starting Friday evening, Oct. 7, on the website,
when local stations air the show.
Dick Russell's blog at the Oceana Network
Liquefied Natural Disaster?
The Fish Farming Sham
Bush and 'Bycatch'
Managing for the Ecosystem
Striped Bass - The American Fish
Oceana's guest blogger
starting Monday, September 26, 2005
Dick Russell's Appearances and Media schedule
July 5 (Tues) NRDC Action Fund site www.nrdcactionfund.org guest blogger for 10 days July 6 (Weds) Island Press Watch Hill, Rhode Island fundraising dinner July 12 (Tues) New England Aquarium Central Wharf, Immersive Theater, Boston, Massachusetts public lecture and book signing 7:00 pm July 13 (Weds) North Cove Outfitters 75 Main Street, Old Saybrook, Connecticut lecture and book signing 7:00 pm July 15 (Fri) Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Redfield Auditorium (corner of Water and School Sts.), Woods Hole, Massachusetts public lecture and book signing 12:00 pm July 18 (Mon) "The Point" WCAI/WNAN, Cape and Islands NPR, Massachusetts. radio interview 9:30 am - 10:00 am July 18 (Mon) Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 869 Route 6A, Brewster, Massachusetts lecture and book signing 7:30 pm July 19 (Tues) Center for Coastal Studies WOMR Radio, 494 Commercial Street, 2nd floor, Provincetown, Massachusetts lecture and book signing 7:00 pm July 21 (Thurs) New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, Massachusetts lecture and book signing 8:00 pm July 22 (Fri) Bunch of Grapes Bookstore Katharine Cornell Theatre, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts talk and book signing 7:30 pm July 26 (Tues) Coastal Conservation Association JD's Restaurant, 206 East 52nd St. (corner 3rd Avenue), New York City lecture and book signing 7:00 pm July 27 (Weds) Menhaden Matter / National Coalition for Marine Conservation. Capitol City Brewing Company, 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 meeting with policymakers and book signing. By invitation only 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm July 28 (Thurs) "Good Morning Annapolis" WNAV-AM radio interview 9:10 am - 9:20 am July 28 (Thurs) Chesapeake Bay Foundation 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland lecture and book signing 7:00 pm July 29 (Fri) Tight End Fishing Club Gregory's Hotel, Shore Road and Delaware Ave., Summers Point, New Jersey luncheon 12:00 pm July 31 (Sun) Unitarian-Universalist Church 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers, Florida lecture and book signing 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm August 2 (Tues) World Wildlife Fund 1250 24th St. NW, Washington, D.C., Conference rooms 2004 A/B/C "Brown Bag Lunch with Dick Russell," talk and signing 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm August 3 (Weds) Diane Rehm Show National Public Radio. radio interview 11:00 am August 3 (Weds) National Zoo 3001 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. lecture and book signing 7:00 pm August 4 (Thurs) Audubon Society of Rhode Island Environmental Education Center, 1401 Hope Street, Bristol, RI lecture and book signing 7:00 pm August 6 (Sat) Toadstool Bookshop 12 Depot Square, Peterborough, New Hampshire, (603--924--3543) lecture and book signing 11:00 am August 7 (Sun) WBCN-FM Boston, Mass. radio interview 8:30 am August 9 (Tues) Writers-at-Large The Odyssey Theatre, 2055 So. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA panel discussion: "Writers of the Storm" 6:30 pm August 18 (Thurs) Adventurers Club Los Angeles, CA. lecture and book signing, members and their guests only. August 20 (Sat) Air America Radio "Ring of Fire" with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 5:00-7:00 p.m. EST Saturday, rebroadcast from 3:00-5:00 p.m. EST Sunday.
Dick Russell with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
in San Rafael, California
Click for Information
www.waterplanetwebs.com
Report on Sea Turtle Conference - Chris Pesenti. - 2002
Decline of the NW Orcas (Ocean Realms) Winter 2000/2001
Britain backs scheme for 'managed slaughter' of whales - Marie Woolf - June 2001
Whales' deaths to be probed - June 2001
Number of Grey Whale Calves on the Decline - June 2001
Iceland rejoins International Whaling Commission - June 2001
Navy Sonar: Why it must be stopped by Dick Russell
Testimony for NMFS Hearing / Navy Sonar, April 2001
Decline Of the NW Orcas
P.O. Box 929
Marysville, WA 98270
To view more stories please visit the NZ Herald Online at http://www.nzherald.co.nz
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NAVY
SONAR: WHY IT MUST BE STOPPED In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed a rule allowing the U.S. Navy to deploy a controversial new sonar system, known as "Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar" (or LFA, for short). What is it? LFA has been in development by the Navy for years. It uses vessels to tow sonar arrays that shoot low frequency sound waves through the water and reads the returning echoes to find submarines. The Navy contends that the system fills a need for improved detection and tracking of new-generation subs at a longer range and that SURTASS LFA should be deployed in the interests of national security. With proper safeguards in place, the Navy claims the system will have a negligible impact on marine life.
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TESTIMONY FOR NMFS HEARING/NAVY SONAR, 4/26/01: My name is Dick Russell, and I am a journalist who has specialized in writing about ocean-related issues for nearly twenty years. In the course of researching my latest book, "Eye of the Whale," which will be published in August by Simon & Schuster, I interviewed a number of scientific experts on acoustics and marine mammals and, in particular, the impact of Navy sonar upon whales. I came away deeply concerned about what I learned. Even the least cautious of the marine scientists I spoke with was of the opinion that much more needs to be known before LFA is allowed to be implemented, if at all. Dr. Peter Tyack, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, was one of the marine biologists contracted by the Navy to conduct its experiments to see how near-shore whales would react to high decibel levels of LFA sound. Dr. Tyack told me he is most concerned about deep-ocean, deep-diving toothed whales, such as the sperm and beaked whales, in area where sound refracts downward and the animals could face jeopardy when foraging in the depths where the LFA energy concentrated. The sound tests he conducted in the presence of gray whales, which always stay near the coastline as they migrate, determined conclusively that LFA sonar disturbed these whales and should be kept away from such inshore areas. The Navy's supposed compromise was to limit operation of its system to at least twelve miles from shore. But as another researcher into whale acoustics – Dr. Lindy Weilgart of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia - said to me, "if inshore whales are clearly shown to avoid LFAs, then the problem may not be using LFA just in that particular environment but everywhere. Perhaps the offshore migrating whales – those that reacted less – were already more damaged or marginal individuals. Anything that has the potential to change, even slightly, a whole population of migrating whales should be viewed with great caution. If something serious befalls these migrating animals, it means that the whole population is doomed." Can we put at risk the whales, dolphins and other marine life which could be impacted across 80 percent of the world's oceans, flooding thousands of square miles of ocean at a time with intense sound for the sake of a submarine detection system whose very capability is already in doubt? This is not only a waste of taxpayer's money – it could have far greater consequences of creating a wasteland of our seas! I strongly urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to follow through on its mandate under the Marine Mammal Protection Act – and outlaw any further deployment of LFA sonar. Sincerely Yours, Dick Russell
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