wulf42 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 Nice to read a good ending story once in awhile.....not sure why the DFO didn't do more to try to help these poor animals but at least the locals did something and saved most of them. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home Quote
Progressive Tory Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 Nice to read a good ending story once in awhile.....not sure why the DFO didn't do more to try to help these poor animals but at least the locals did something and saved most of them.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home I watched it on CBC Newfoundland. It was a nice story. Quote "For all our modesty and self-deprecation, we’re a people who dream great dreams. And then roll up our sleeves and turn them into realities." - Michael Ignatieff "I would not want the Prime Minister to think that he could simply fail in the House of Commons as a route to another General Election. That's not the way our system works." Stephen Harper.
eyeball Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) When humans interact with cetaceans anything can happen. I've been doing it for a living the last 7 years as a skipper of whale watching vessel. The propensity for human beings to anthropomorphize or ascribe human emotions to cetaceans especially when they get caught up in their drama is great. Its often just as interesting to watch people watch whales as the whales themselves. I recall a time when I came across a pod of transient orca's that were hunting seals, it was a classic National Geographic moment with emphasis on the graphic. Not too long before this we had watched a herd of seals sunning blissfully on another rock and now we watched as one was captured by an adult orca who then flipped it towards a couple of small juveniles. We often teach our kids how to eat by letting them play with their food and it looks like orcas do to, but perhaps that's just so much anthropomorphizing. If you've ever seen what a sealion does to tear a fish to pieces you know what an orca does. The whale bites one end of the sealion or seal and swings its body and head with all its might and tries to throw the other end away from itself. Things usually comes apart after a couple of these. When an orca grabs each end of the seal as our two youngsters did that day...well, I'm sure you get the picture. As you can well imagine, we were transfixed by the gory spectacle that 'played' out, you certainly don't get to see this everyday. One lady who was literally climbing up on the rail was becoming quite disturbed and said that someone, while looking very pointedly at me, should do something to stop it. She almost needed to be restrained and luckily her husband did. I don't know what she expected me or anyone else to do (jump over side with my knife clenched between my teeth maybe), but this event made me think about how people's expectations in situations involving whales can have unpredictable and sometimes disasterous results. Consider the case of Luna the orphaned orca in Nootka Sound. As many will recall Luna at a very young age followed an aging uncle away from their pod and into Nootka Sound. The uncle died apparently of old age, and Luna was suddenly on its own where it quickly became habituated to humans. The decision to do anything was immediately politcized as science gave way to superstition when the whale was deemed to be a reincarnated chief of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation. If you thought anthropomorphizing was bad enough try throwing human superstition and politics into the mix. Needless to say many including myself thought DFO should have captured Luna and relocated him with his pod many however thought he should be left alone which is the farthest thing away from what actually unfolded. Within a few weeks Luna became infatuated with boats and habituated to all the human attention that humans were apparently helpless to do anything about. The political situation for the government was dicey to say the least given that treaty negotiations with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation were at a critical stage and they saw this as a local self-government/management issue. He should have been captured and put in a tank for the rest of his life as much as it pains me to say that. Capturing him and releasing him into the heavy traffic in the water's of Puget Sound would have been a disaster at this point. As it was Luna died anyway as a result of getting to close to the propellor of a tug boat in Nootka Sound. If it hadn't been him that died it probably would have been a human as he was getting quite large and had a taste for rudders and especially the steering gear on the back of many sailboats. I know fishermen who would raft up at night and swing on one anchor and this whale would sometimes lie between the boats and go to sleep. Apparently he snored a lot. RIP Luna. Effort by locals may have done more harm than good, whale expert says This is probably often as true than not I think. Edited February 21, 2009 by eyeball Quote I said now watch what you say they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh fanatical criminal
wulf42 Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Posted February 21, 2009 I can't imagine how horrible that was to listen to them cry for help at night! The expert might be right in most cases it may cause more harm than good to interfere but in this case i think the locals acted in the right way at least they gave the Dolphins a chance...they would have died for sure if nothing was done. Quote
bush_cheney2004 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 I can't imagine how horrible that was to listen to them cry for help at night! The expert might be right in most cases it may cause more harm than good to interfere but in this case i think the locals acted in the right way at least they gave the Dolphins a chance...they would have died for sure if nothing was done. I can imagine very well....they whine like babies when penned up. Many years ago, I had to walk by the training pens for "militarized cetaceans" in San Diego on my way from the boat to the beach. I couldn't figure out if they were just pissed off at being confined or just hot for the other dolphins. You should see what these little buggers do to each other at sea just to get a piece of..........fish!. Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
bill_barilko Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 One lady who was literally climbing up on the rail was becoming quite disturbed and said that someone, while looking very pointedly at me, should do something to stop it. She almost needed to be restrained and luckily her husband did. I don't know what she expected me or anyone else to do (jump over side with my knife clenched between my teeth maybe), but this event made me think about how people's expectations in situations involving whales can have unpredictable and sometimes disasterous results Eyeball-great story and I believe every word-people let their emotions over rule their brains. I'm a sport fisherman here in BC so you can imagine how I feel about Seals and I rarely let outsiders know how I feel about them or what happens when no one's around...... Quote
eyeball Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 Eyeball-great story and I believe every word-people let their emotions over rule their brains.I'm a sport fisherman here in BC so you can imagine how I feel about Seals and I rarely let outsiders know how I feel about them or what happens when no one's around...... I'll be going back commercial fishing this year. You'll probably be happy to know I'll be out targetting dogfish. Don't get to close though, I like to display the bits of sport gear I catch in my rigging, kind of like scalps I've taken in battle. Speaking of seals and sealions taking fish off salmon gear, apparently the orcas around Langara do this too. What really takes the cake though are reports of sperm whales taking halibut off longline gear. THAT would make a good story. Quote I said now watch what you say they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh fanatical criminal
M.Dancer Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 I didn't catch the story...were these cooking or sushi dolphins? Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
bill_barilko Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 I'll be going back commercial fishing this year. You'll probably be happy to know I'll be out targetting dogfish. Didn't know there was any money in Dogfish anymore, everyone I know who commercially fished has either taken up sport guiding or knitting Speaking of seals and sealions taking fish off salmon gear, apparently the orcas around Langara do this too. What really takes the cake though are reports of sperm whales taking halibut off longline gear. THAT would make a good story. I was @ Langara last May no Orcas around stealing hooked Salmon but the Sea lions stole a few, tossing them around just like you said. Have seen an Orca tear-or rather chomp-a hooked Spring Salmon right behind the head they are smart animals for sure. Quote
eyeball Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) Didn't know there was any money in Dogfish anymore, everyone I know who commercially fished has either taken up sport guiding or knitting There's money in dogfish and we're allowed to keep the bycatch we produce such as halibut and blackcod which helps. Longlining for dogfish is the oldest fishery in BC actually. Don't be surprised if you see more than a few sport guides sitting quite idle this year. I know several who are getting very nervous about the skinny number of advance bookings they have. I'm going back to commercial fishing because I expect a big downturn in whale-watching as well. In fact the brightest spot in our local economy right now is commercial fishing and especially the shorework it contributes to. Commercial fishing has carried the economic ball through every recession I've lived through around here and I was talking to an old-timer the other day who said the same thing about commercial fishing during the depression. I strongly suspect the glory days of commercial sport guiding are behind us, probably forever. Paying $850 - $1000 a day for the chance to catch one or two fish never seemed very realistic or sustainable before and seems even less so now. I was @ Langara last May no Orcas around stealing hooked Salmon but the Sea lions stole a few, tossing them around just like you said. I know a few guys who commercially troll for salmon around Langara during the summer and they definitely lose a few salmon to orcas. They have to give up some days it gets so bad. Edited February 23, 2009 by eyeball Quote I said now watch what you say they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh fanatical criminal
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