New Responses to Whales and Dolphins in Need: Towards Reducing Underwater Noise, Ship Strikes and By-catch in Marine Protected Areas
More than 80 delegates, among them representatives of 21 Parties to the Agreement, NGOs, scientific institutions and many observers attended the meeting to discuss and endorse strategies for cetacean conservation in the Agreement area.
Ana Štrbenac, State Institute for Nature Conservation of Croatia and Chair of the Meeting said: “Establishing marine protected areas is an indispensable tool against habitat degradation. Croatia has preventively protected the marine area around the islands of Cres and Losinj as a special marine reserve. Authorities and local communities will collaborate in the management of marine protected areas.”
Whales and Dolphins are particularly vulnerable to human-induced threats. As such they are good biological indicators of their ecosystems. Designing a marine protected area would not only help to protect a cetacean species, but also other species living in the same ecosystem. Such an ecosystem approach assesses the nature and scale of the trophic interactions in the marine environment. As marine predators migrate long distances, marine protected areas must be restored. Due to their mobility, cetaceans have too large a range to be encompassed by a single protected area. Networks of marine protected areas need to be established to protect critical habitat and migration corridors of whales and dolphins. 18 new marine protected areas are planned. Black Sea cetaceans will find protected areas in Russian, Ukranian and Georgian and the Sperm Whale in Greek waters. In addition, the Alborán Sea, the Straits of Gibraltar and Sicily, being the most diverse cetacean habitat in the ACCOBAMS region, were recommended as areas of special importance for various cetacean species.
Transboundary protection is also necessary to prevent threats that are not restricted to national boundaries. Noise levels in the world’s seas have risen considerably due to commercial shipping, oil and gas exploration, military sonar and other man made causes. Noise can travel up to thousands of kilometres and disrupt the orientation of marine mammals. Parties are now committed to regulate and reduce underwater noise which requires specific laws. Together with authorities of marine protected areas they need to work with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and shipping industries to reroute shipping lanes.
The collision of larges whales with vessels poses a serious threat to the marine mammals. Fin and sperm whales are particularly threatened by impacts with vessels. Speed is a crucial factor. As a result, Spain decided to reduce the speed of vessels in areas of special importance in the Strait of Gibraltar. Dedicated observers and trained vessel crews can help to alert captains on the presence of whales. A steering group will be created to work with the ACCOBAMS Secretariat, the Parties to the Agreement, the PELAGOS Sanctuary, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), IMO and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) to address ship strikes on large whales in the Mediterranean.
Fisheries among others are the cause for a dramatic decline of Black Sea cetaceans. Now parties adopted a plan to restore their populations until 2010 as an immediate measure. Scientific information for a long term conservation plan will include the completion of the basin-wide survey. A by-catch network as part of a regional stranding network and new marine protected areas would be part of this strategy. Fisheries continue to threaten the existence of the once abundant Common Dolphin in the Mediterranean. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Chair of the Scientific Committee, warned against the consequences: “Only a few scattered populations remain in the Mediterranean. I call upon governments to implement existing conservation measures. Otherwise the Common Dolphin might be extinct in the Eastern Ionian Sea as early as 2010.”
Live stranding of cetaceans is an alarming phenomenon calling for a rescue network in the entire Agreement area. Rescue activities are to be reported to a comprehensive database to improve knowledge on populations and migrations. By extracting valuable information from live strandings and post mortems, expert veterinarians can contribute to an ACCOBAMS rescue network. In order to facilitate the process, the Scientific Committee suggested constituting an international task force to address marine mammal mortality. A multi- disciplinary approach among various experts will give data on epidemics, pollution and ecology. Mass strandings and disaster scenarios involving oil or chemical spills will be addressed separately. Training of the emergency task forces will enhance efficiency and ensure positive long-term results. Starting with a Mediterranean database the ultimate objective is to establish a similar instrument for the Black Sea. Dolphins are also increasingly threatened by direct taking from the wild to be used in Dolphin Assisted Therapy. Delegates disapproved unanimously of this practice, as there is no scientific evidence of therapeutical effects.
ACCOBAMS Executive Secretary Marie Christine Grillo-Van Klaveren concluded: “The new assessment of threats posed to cetaceans has lead to the adoption of crucial resolutions to provide for a more comprehensive cooperation between governments, fisheries, international organizations, scientific experts of various disciplines and NGOs to design appropriate conservation instruments. One year after the declaration of the Year of the Dolphin we have made a significant step forwards. For ACCOBAMS and its parent convention CMS, the implementation of the Agreement will be a major contribution towards fulfilling our mandate: to reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010.”
www.accobams.org
This article is also available in French
