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Saving whales ... ourselves

Times Record Editorial
Thursday, January 6, 2011 2:11 PM EST

At dawn on New Year’s Day, Aztec, Mayan and Huichol dancers gathered at a pier jutting into the Pacific Ocean in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to perform an “ocean healing” ceremony. The pier was chosen for its proximity to Banderas Bay, the winter home and birthing waters for numerous humpback whales.

Led by tribal elders, the dancers gave thanks to the oceans. In the words of Bolivia’s United Nations ambassador Javier Loayza, they performed “ceremonies that reconnect us with our ancient earth-honoring roots, to inspire communities to remember to give thanks to our Mother Earth and take green steps to live in more harmony with nature daily.”

The New Year’s Day dance on Mexico’s western shore marked the start of worldwide ocean healing ceremonies led by indigenous elders that will conclude on the U.N.’s International Mother Earth Day on April 22. In calling attention to man-made pollutants that threaten all levels of marine life, from plankton to whales, the tribal elders and dancers remind us that the health of the oceans is intricately linked to our own.

Here are a few news reports, gleaned during the past year, bearing that out and therefore worthy of deep reflection:

● As reported by The Associated Press last June, a worldwide study undertaken by the Ocean Alliance, a research group dedicated to the conservation of whales, found “jaw-dropping” high levels of toxic and heavy metals present in tissue samples taken from nearly 1,000 sperm whales over five years. Sperm whales occupy the top of the ocean food chain and feed upon all kinds of ocean fish, just as we do.

So if sperm whales are ingesting toxic pollutants such as chromium and mercury that means upwards of 1 billion humans, who eat seafood as their primary source of protein, also are at risk of contamination.

“I suspect this will shorten lives, if it turns out that this is what’s going on,” said biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance.

● As reported by Banderas News.com on Dec. 30, gray whales in the waters of Baja California’s Magdalena Bay gave birth to only 10 babies in November, instead of the usual 200. The gray whales showed evidence of having the “skinny syndrome,” which researchers speculate might be the result of malnutrition caused by a crash in the population of shrimp that had been their primary food source in the Bering Sea far to the north.

Is the crash due to global warming heating up the Bering Sea’s waters? Or, due to rampant oil drilling? Or simply a natural cycle previously unnoticed? While the cause of the “skinny syndrome” remains unknown, it’s obvious that gray whales could quickly become a threatened species again if they remain malnourished and continue to reproduce so poorly.

● As reported by The Associated Press in November, scientists studying blue, fin and sperm whales in the Gulf of California have observed blisters on their skin consistent with acute sunburn in humans. They speculate rising levels of ultraviolet radiation — due to either ozone depletion or a change in cloud cover — is the cause. If those levels continue to increase, the concern is that the whales will suffer severe sun damage to their skin and possibly become weaker and die.

Whales, then, might well be an early-warning system of the harmful effects of human-made pollutants on our oceans and the Earth’s atmosphere. Given the crucial role that whale poop plays in replenishing the phytoplankton that is the base of the oceans’ food web — as recently reported based on research conducted in the Gulf of Maine — it should be clear that if we ignore the plight of whales, it’s to our own peril. That’s because healthy oceans depend upon healthy whales.

Heal the Oceans. Save the Whales. Save Our Selves — all variations on the same theme. We all share the same home.


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And how about the unexplained birds dying in Italy???

Birds Dying In Italy: Thousands Of Turtle Doves Fall Dead From Sky

There have been substantial die-offs of birds in the US South, as well as massive fish die-offs, and I believe in Spain, it was crabs.

Not looking to minimize this stuff, but one must also understand that scientists have watched these type of events occur throughout history. The scope and reach of the internet in these times actually tends to amplify these events and often leads to uniformed speculation. For example, these recent events have fueled a renewed vigor among the end-timers. There are people running around with placards, erecting signs, and there's one guy, whose a leader of a sect, who has already set the date for the rapture this May.

That said, I am an ardent supporter of managing a healthy environment.

I am, just a litle skeptical about the sourcing done with the article that started this thread. First, it comes from some backwater publication in Maine. It quotes Banderas News ,com, which is from Puerto Vallarta, with respect to the Grey Whales. On this particular matter, while being no expert, Are there even any whales at Mag Bay in November? Methinks some of this info is plain wrong.