When the whale was spotted, it was about 25 miles south of Oahu. Experts began a five-hour effort to free the whale using a technique modified from one that whalers used to kill the animals a century ago.
Ed Lyman, marine mammal response manager for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said a transmitter was attached to the rope Tuesday as efforts to disentangle it failed because of rough conditions off Maui. Lyman said another attempt may be made today, conditions permitting.
Struggling with a chronic lack of demand for its product -- in September, 5045 tonnes of whale meat was stockpiled, nearly twice the haul from last summer's Antarctic catch -- the program this year requires a Y795 million ($9.6m) direct government subsidy to stay afloat.
The type of large industrial sized X-ray scanners that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) uses to detect flaws in a space shuttle’s behemoth solid fuel rockets is now allowing scientists to peek inside the giant head of a whale.
via trak.in
In an article written by Sir Ronald Sanders in todays Trinidad express talks about the economic benefit of watching live whales. When whale watching is so lucrative you have to wonder why some Caribbean countries support Japan's pro-whaling agenda at the International Whaling Commission. By protecting whales nations safeguard economic growth through responsible whale watching. Read the entire article here.
I tweeted earlier today about Japan’s whaling fleet, which is setting a course for the Southern Ocean in the annual hunt (this year for close to 1,000 whales) that the country characterizes as scientific research, with any questions about cuts in government support still pending.
via dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
Great blog entry from Andrew Revkin at NY Times...