Whale and Dolphin Summer 15

FACE TO FACE WITH ORCALAB'S PAUL SPONG

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF CONSERVATION IN COLOMBIA

WHALE& DOLPHIN Summer 2015 Issue 70

The magazine of WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Stop holiday companies supporting SeaWorld

24

Can whales get the blues?

WDC EDITOR Julia Thoms NEWS EDITOR Danny Groves EDITORIAL BOARD Jess Féghali-Brown; Rob Lott PUBLISHED BY WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, United Kingdom Registered Charity No. 1014705 Registered Company No. 2737421 T +44 (0)1249 449500 (from outside UK) E info@whales.org

Dear friends

WDC weaves conservation and research with campaigning to achieve positive change for whales and dolphins. Within these pages we bring you an example of our conservation and education work with long-term partners at Natütama in Colombia. This project celebrates its 10th year working with the people of the Amazon to save river dolphins. In our Site Guide to Russia on page 32, we highlight our partnership with FEROP, which enables some of the best young Russian scientists to carry out pioneering studies of orcas and Baird’s beaked whales in the waters between Russia and Japan.

Our research and conservation projects underpin our campaigning and all are vital in building the case for international protection of the rights of whales and dolphins. In this issue, we highlight our ongoing campaign to engage tour operators and captive-display facilities to end the exploitation of dolphins, and explore the amazing discovery of spindle cells in whales and dolphins, which suggest that we share neurological similarities that may evidence high intelligence, complex emotions and self-awareness.

All those times whale watchers thought the whales were looking back enquiringly at them – well it seems they probably were. The more we learn about these remarkable creatures, the more obvious the need to protect them. With your support, we will keep fighting to ensure that every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

WDC also has offices in Argentina, Australia, Germany and the USA. PATRONS John Craven; Monty Halls; Miranda Krestovnikoff; Michaela Strachan PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING Consultant editor Malcolm Tait malcolm@thinkpublishing.co.uk Managing editor Andrew Cattanach Sub-editor Andrew Littlefield Design Dominic Scott Advertising Alison Fraser Publisher John Innes Think Scotland, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA Tel 0141 375 0504

Whale & Dolphin is published four times a year and distributed to WDC supporters, institutions, conservation bodies and others involved in whale and dolphin conservation.

Whale & Dolphin has been printed and bound in the UK by Headley Brothers Ltd, on acidfree paper that is produced from sustainable forests. Royal Roto is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), originates in Holland and is produced by SAPPI, Europe who holds ISO 14001 certification and is a member of the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

Contributions: WDC cannot guarantee the return of unsolicited articles, photographs, etc. Reproduction of articles is not permitted without approval. Opinions expressed in Whale & Dolphin do not necessarily reflect those of WDC. Advertising policy: WDC reserves the right to refuse an advertisement without explanation. WDC does not necessarily endorse any of the products or services advertised. WDC is unable to recommend specific whale watching trips and cannot vouch for the quality of the trips advertised; go to whales.org/whalewatching for more information on choosing a trip.

ISSN 1470-4595 Main image: Shutterstock

Chris Butler-Stroud, WDC chief executive

IN THIS ISSUE 4 News

facebook.com/ whales.org S ign up to our newsletter at whales.org/ newsletter @WHALES_org

Updates from the world of whales and dolphins

10 Travel sickness Campaigning to stop UK tour

operators selling SeaWorld trips

15 A time of celebration

Celebrating the collaboration between WDC and Natütama in Colombia

20 Gallery

Non-Human Person, a magnificent new sculpture, celebrates the emotional lives of whales

22 Face to face

We’re all familiar with Orcalab, but how did it begin? We speak to Orcalab founder Paul Spong about his pioneering work with orcas

24 Ask the experts

The discovery of spindle cells in the brains of whales provides new insights

26 Adoption updates All the latest news about your favourite dolphins, humpbacks and orcas

32 Site guide

Watching whales in the remote Russian Far East

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 3

BREACHING NEWS USA

ARRESTS MADE AFTER DOLPHIN SHOOTINGS

SRI LANKA

SLAUGHTER OF DOLPHINS IN SRI LANKA REVEALED

A young person in the US has confessed to shooting a bottlenose dolphin with a hunting arrow in the waters around Florida

A

WDC is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible for the death of a protected bottlenose dolphin, also in Florida,

in December. The pregnant dolphin was discovered on Miramar Beach in the panhandle area. It has since been revealed that she died of a gunshot wound and was within weeks of giving birth.

IS LOLITA CLOSER TO FREEDOM?

USA

UK

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the US federal body responsible for marine life, has announced it is to recognise the captive orca Lolita (also known as Tokitae) as a member of the critically endangered Southern Resident orca population. Lolita’s family lives off the south west coast of Canada and the north west coast of the US, while Lolita is held at Miami Seaquarium.

This official recognition should mean that Lolita is to be considered for release, but Miami Seaquarium will challenge any such suggestion.

Lolita is the last surviving Southern Resident in captivity, and has been held in Miami for the last 44 years.

One of WDC’s biggest-ever events has beaten off tough competition to scoop a top tourism prize.

Wild Dolphins – a collaboration between ourselves, children’s hospital charity the ARCHIE Foundation and events company Wild in Art – won the Best Event or Festival at Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards.

The art trail was hailed a spectacular success, with thousands of people visiting 50 painted dolphin sculptures situated around Aberdeen during summer 2014.

The sculptures were auctioned off last

4 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

CARA MILLER

NOAA

bottlenose dolphin was found dead after being shot by an arrow in Orange Beach, Florida.

A substantial reward was offered, leading to an arrest.

In what has become a worrying trend, a tuna fisherman in the US has also been charged with shooting at pilot whales from his boat off Cape May with a World War II rifle. A whale shot with a bullet from the same type of rifle was stranded on the shore and died 100 miles northeast of Cape May in September 2011. Harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild dolphins is prohibited under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Those found guilty could face a $100,000 fine and a jail sentence.

WDC has received disturbing news regarding the illegal slaughter of dolphins in the coastal waters of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has become one of the top destinations for tourists wanting to experience the wonder of blue whales, yet local contacts report that destructive and illegal fishing practices are once more killing dolphins in large numbers.

Illegal purse seine nets coupled with dynamite are allegedly being used to target tuna-like species and, in the process, are causing the death of many dolphins.

Back in January 2013, 50-100 spinner dolphins were killed in the same area by the same fishery method. On that occasion, prompt action by the authorities led to the arrest of 15 fishermen.

WDC WILD DOLPHINS PROJECT WINS TOURISM AWARD

September, raising half a million pounds for both charities.

Iain Watson, Chairman of the awards, said: ‘Wild Dolphins really captured the imagination of both locals and visitors and helped to put the region on the map.

‘It was a fantastic project that brought colour to the streets of Aberdeen during the summer, put a smile on people’s faces and raised a substantial amount of money for charity.

‘The Wild Dolphins project was a very worthy winner.’

WILD DOLPHINS REALLY CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF BOTH LOCALS AND VISITORS AND HELPED TO PUT THE REGION ON THE MAP

UP

WDC

A man in the US has been jailed for 33 months for smuggling narwhal tusks.

Andrew J. Zarauskas, 61, was also fined $7,500 after it emerged that he had been buying the tusks from two Canadian traffickers and then selling them for $70 per inch. The biggest tusk he was offering measured 95 inches in length.

Narwhals, known as the unicorns of the sea, have spiral, ivory tusks that can sell for thousands of dollars. They are a protected species and it is illegal to import their tusks into the US.

DOWN

Pippa Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, ate whale meat whilst on a trip to Norway and then wrote a story about it for a national UK newspaper.

This is really disappointing, particularly as Pippa is so high profile, and given how active her brother-inlaw William is on speaking out against wildlife crime.

Last season, 731 minke whales suffered at the hands of Norwegian whalers.

It would have been better for Pippa to take a whale watch trip. She might then have thought twice about condoning and promoting this cruel trade.

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 5

BREACHING NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

NORWEGIAN WHALE MEAT DUMPED IN JAPAN

The new resolution will help to keep dolphins in the wild

T

OTHER NORWEGIAN SALES One year after WDC exposed Norwegian whale meat illegally on sale at one of the world’s biggest food and agricultural fairs in Germany, the Berlin Public Prosecutor has ruled that Arne Roed, special advisor (or director of business delegations) for Innovation Norway, the company responsible for the stand, must pay a fine of 1,000 EUR. On discovering the whale meat was on sale at the Berlin Green Week exhibition, WDC immediately informed the relevant authorities.

Customs investigators seized the unsold whale meat and a criminal investigation relating to the illegal import, export and sale of meat was undertaken.

WDC

he announcement came from the Japanese Health Ministry after their tests revealed unacceptable levels of aldrin, dieldrin and chlordane. These pesticides are no longer used in developed countries, but can be transported across international boundaries far from their sources and pose a risk to human health and the wider environment. Norwegian authorities have said their own tests showed only low levels of the pesticides and that the meat was safe to eat.

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about Norwegian whale meat exports.

A shipment of 5 tons of whale meat was exported to Japan in 2008 and cleared for sale in February of 2009, yet in the end, the meat was not sold due to bacterial contamination and high lactic acid levels.

UK

DAVID.HALL@BRANDS-UNITED.COM

HUMPBACK WHALE SPOTTED IN ENGLISH CHANNEL A humpback whale, believed to be young, has been spotted in one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in the English Channel. The sighting is so unusual that fears have grown concerning the whale’s health or potential to strand on the shore.

Humpback whales are one of the most energetic of the large whales, with displays of spectacular breaching, lobtailing and flipper-slapping being common, and male humpbacks sing the longest, most complex songs. However, they are usually found in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Indian Ocean, not the English Channel!

6 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

WDC

Whale meat that had been imported into Japan from Norway has been dumped after routine safety tests discovered that it contained up to twice the allowed level of potentially dangerous pesticides

Humpback whale sightings are rare in the English Channel

INTERNATIONAL

BPPS

BRAZIL

WE PRESENTED YOUR SIGNATURES IN BRAZIL

TWENTIETH CENTURY SLAUGHTER

Researchers in the US have released a study that estimates the number of whales killed by industrial hunting in the last century is close to three million

T

WDC is working with Rafael Rocha, of the Brazilian Public Prosecution Service, and other partners in Brazil to stop the brutal slaughter of Amazon river dolphins.

Thank you to everyone who signed our letter of support to Rafael. Our Brazilian colleague, Sannie Brum, presented Rafael with 176,599 signatures along with messages of support for his work. In some areas of the Brazilian Amazon, dolphins are used as bait in the piracatinga fishery.

Piracatinga is a type of catfish and a new law has been passed banning catching them commercially, but in areas as remote as these it will be incredibly hard to police and enforce.

We are working to develop projects that will engage local people in protecting the dolphins who share their Amazon home. The support you have shown Rafael and others trying to make a difference is extremely important to their efforts.

his global slaughter is thought to be the largest cull of any creature (total biomass) in human history.

The devastation is still being felt today. Estimates indicate that the number of sperm whales is down to one-third of their pre-whaling population, and that blue whales have been depleted by up to 90%.

Some species and populations have begun to recover, but others – including the North Atlantic right whale – are now staring extinction in the face.

The researchers could not put an accurate figure on the true scale of the slaughter because they could not trust some of the information provided by the whalers regarding the numbers of whales they killed.

One of three million whale kills in the 20th century

UK

NEW ADDITION TO WALK FOR WHALES We’re delighted to introduce our newest Walk for Whales at SEA LIFE Alton Towers. We now have walks at 13 locations after last year’s addition of a Manchester walk. Walk for Whales is a fun sponsored event for the whole family – find your nearest one at whales.org/walks

WDC

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 7

SHUTTERSTOCK

BREACHING NEWS

USA

SEAWORLD SPECIAL A round-up of stories about the failing fortunes of the increasingly embattled captivity theme parks

INSIDE INFORMATION

SeaWorld’s image has been further tarnished by news that former CEO, Jim Atchison, has been accused of insider stock market deals.

US court documents revealed that a group of SeaWorld shareholders have alleged that the former CEO made millions of dollars on ‘suspicious’ insider sales of SeaWorld stock at the same time the award-winning documentary, Blackfish, was gaining public acclaim.

Some investors, including several US government pension funds, sued SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. in September. They accused the company of misleading shareholders about the impact that Blackfish was having on park attendances.

Statements from witnesses suggest that Jim Atchison knew the documentary was hurting the company months before 8 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

publicly acknowledging the damage to shareholders.

FROM BAD TO WORSE…

SeaWorld’s troubles continue after the company’s latest financial figures were released.

The final quarter figures reveal a drop of $7.4 million, or 3%, compared to the same period in 2013. Total revenue for 2014 was down 6% from 2013, and attendance also fell, down by 2.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

The company has also announced that it is to stop the sale of fish that visitors can feed to the captive dolphins at its Orlando park.

The Dolphin Cove venue will instead offer the public 10 minutes with the dolphins at a cost of $15 per person. It is thought that one reason for the change is to limit the number of people being bitten by dolphins as they feed them.

DOLPHINS SIDE WITH DOLPHINS As the public continues to turn its back on the captivity industry, so too have the American football team, the Miami Dolphins, who announced they are to cut ties with SeaWorld and so end a marketing partnership that included ticket offers to the marine theme park.

The Dolphins are the latest in a line of big-name companies to take similar action regarding SeaWorld, including Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Panama Jack, STA Travel, Taco Bell and Hyundai.

Dolphins have the right to be free

OBITUARY

PHIL LONG Whale & Dolphin is sad to report

that Phil Long, for many years the magazine’s designer, died suddenly in January. All of us at WDC and the publishers greatly admired Phil’s work, and we would like to take this opportunity to send our deepest condolences to his family.

UK

WDC/CHARLIE PHILLIPS

NEW CODE PROTECTS ABERDEEN DOLPHINS

EUROPE

DOLPHINARIA-FREE EUROPE WDC joins new coalition to end captivity in Europe WDC, together with a number of the world’s leading dolphin experts, has launched a new initiative at the European Parliament to raise awareness about the exploitation of hundreds of captive whales and dolphins in Europe’s 33 captive facilities, located in 15 EU countries.

The new Dolphinaria-Free Europe coalition is calling upon European citizens, EuroParliamentarians and Member State governments to end captive dolphin shows and interactive sessions that exploit whales and dolphins and compromise their welfare.

Keith Taylor, a UK Member of the European Parliament, and one of the co-hosts of the

launch, said, ‘I fully support the objectives of the Dolphinaria-Free Europe coalition.

To confine creatures such as whales, dolphins and porpoises, who are used to roaming large territories to live in small pools – all in the name of public entertainment – is cruel.’

The coalition will be challenging the captive dolphin industry throughout Europe by investigating malpractice, exposing non-compliance and seeking the closure of facilities that exploit dolphins as objects of entertainment in meaningless shows and interactive activities.

A new code of practice to protect bottlenose dolphins near Aberdeen’s harbour mouth, and provide guidance to vessels operating in the port, has been launched by a joint taskforce that includes WDC. Aberdeen is one of the best places in Europe to watch dolphins and is one of WDC’s Shorewatch sites, encouraging local volunteers to look out for whales and dolphins and record vital data. The code has been developed by Aberdeen Harbour Board, East Grampian Coastal Partnership, Police Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and WDC. The guidance suggests boats maintain a steady course at the slowest possible speed, stay away from the breakwaters, avoid directly approaching dolphins, avoid turning engines on and off, and that people never feed, touch or swim with dolphins.

UK

EX-ORCA TRAINER BACKS WDC CAMPAIGN

selling trips to SeaWorld. Among those who visited our stand and signed the petition was John Hargrove (pictured with Whale & Dolphin’s Julia Thoms and WDC supporter and petition starter, Kathleen Haase), a former SeaWorld trainer who now campaigns against keeping whales and dolphins in captivity.

WDC/VICKI JAMES

Thanks to all of you who came to see us on our stand at WhaleFest 2015 in Brighton, UK. During the two days we were able to talk to many visitors about the wonderful world of whales and dolphins, the threats that they face, and about our campaign to stop UK tour operators, like British Airways,

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 9

CAMPAIGNS

TRAVEL SICKNESS

Richard Branson and Virgin listened to us and made some bold moves on the captivity issue, while British Airways slammed the door in our face.

What’s next for our campaign to stop UK tour operators selling trips to SeaWorld, and how can you help?

10 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

ANIMAL PUBLIC

I

and dolphin shows as part of a holiday t’s a summer holiday nightmare. You’re experience is an important factor in the in a beautiful place, perhaps on Turkey’s establishment of new dolphinaria in this Mediterranean coast, looking for region and fuels the dolphin captures. something special to do. You stare out In the Caribbean especially, cruise line to sea and imagine dolphins, leaping. passengers are easy targets, dropped off at a Then your eye catches the sun glinting off a destination for sometimes only hours at a time, metal structure just off the beach. You go to looking for something to do. Many do not investigate. And there you see dolphins. But realise the impact they are having, not just not as you imagined them. These dolphins are on the health and welfare of the dolphins they motionless in the water, heads bobbing on the swim with, but also on local reefs, surface, no sign of freedom. Just the precious ecosystems, and other other side of those cages is the open i wildlife damaged by the dredging ocean and you see that you can book undertaken to make way for the to swim with them. What do you do? sea pens. Even the dolphins’ First one, then others followed – it excrement in such a relatively was becoming normal to arrive at confined space has a detrimental my desk in the morning to emails effect on the environment. from concerned holidaymakers who’d seen the horror. The horror CATHY of the Kaş dolphin facility: Dolphin WILLIAMSON Carnival crisis Therapy Kaş. Certainly not therapy leads WDC’s work In 2010, Carnival UK, which for the dolphins who suffered and to end captive includes P&O Cruises and Cunard, likely died there. Tom and Misha cruelty announced it had decided not were the ’lucky’ ones. Transferred to operate tours which involve from Kaş to a hastily-constructed interactions with captive dolphins. pool in nearby Hisaronu, the two, locallyThis policy apparently does not extend to caught, bottlenose dolphins were discovered others in the Carnival group, including languishing in another swim-with programme. Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami, who offer a A rescue mission was mounted to take them large number of captive dolphin experiences home and they were returned to their native to passengers. They were even slated to offer waters in 2012. exclusive rights to Carnival passengers to visit There are nine facilities in Turkey which a new facility in the Bahamas at Blackbeard’s hold captive dolphins, the majority in tourist Cay. This facility had its permits revoked after destinations, 11 in Spain and the Canary legal action from a local organisation revealed Islands, nearly 30 in Mexico and over 20 across illegalities in its permits and construction. the Caribbean, with more in the planning As awareness of the risk to dolphins grows, stages. Demand for swimming with dolphins the development of new facilities, and travel

BLACKFISH, GABRIELLA COWPERTHWAITE’S RENOWNED AND WIDELY BROADCAST DOCUMENTARY, EXPOSED THE TRUTH BEHIND SEAWORLD’S CAPTIVE ORCA PROGRAMMES

industry support for them, are increasingly controversial.

Blackfish, Gabriella Cowperthwaite’s renowned and widely broadcast documentary, exposed the truth behind SeaWorld’s captive orca programmes.

The impact of this film has been so far reaching it even has a name – The Blackfish Effect. Visitor attendance at SeaWorld is down, SeaWorld’s share price has plummeted and children from as far away from SeaWorld as Bolton in Lancashire are calling on the European Union to ban whale and dolphin captivity. It’s no wonder the travel industry is in a quandary over its promotion of SeaWorld and other places displaying whales and dolphins to the public.

Should we trust ABTA?

Thank goodness then for ABTA, the UK Travel Association, and their animal welfare guidelines which address captive dolphin attractions. Easy to read, with glossy images, the guidelines provide clear instruction for tour operators looking to determine the future of their relationship with businesses holding captive orcas and operating swim-with-thedolphins programmes. Or do they?

ABTA is a mark of quality. Book a trip through an ABTA-affiliated tour operator and you are sure of a safe, sustainable trip abroad.

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 11

CAMPAIGNS

WDC

No whale or dolphin captive facility can meet ABTA guidelines

WDC

SHUTTERSTOCK

Families don’t always realise that dolphin attractions may contravene ABTA guidelines

But is this really true? Are ABTA members meeting the animal welfare guidelines it strived so long to create? It seems not, because if tour operators wish to comply with the guidelines they should end their partnerships with facilities holding captive whales and dolphins.

WDC has challenged the heads of Virgin Holidays, Thomas Cook, Thomson, First Choice and Cosmos, asking them to ensure compliance with the guidelines. We pointed out that while the guidelines recommend that whale and dolphin performances should only involve natural behaviours, in shows promoted by these tour operators, dolphins can be seen shooting basketballs through nets, towing children around a show pool in an inflatable boat, ‘painting’ on canvasses, jumping through hoops and pushing trainers into the air or through the water – hardly natural! Shows are almost always set to loud music; something considered bad practice by ABTA.

Captive rules

ABTA recommends that captive environments should be stimulating and enriching. However, tanks are generally small and empty of stimuli, some providing only indoor facilities.

No captive facility can replicate the natural environment of whales and dolphins or enable them to swim the distances they would in the wild, hunting live fish and interacting with others in extended family groups.

ABTA also recommends that whales and dolphins are housed in social structures similar to those in the wild, but in captivity social structures are vastly different to those in wild 12 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY ALSO HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO PEOPLE BOOKING TRIPS AND HOLIDAYS, THAT IT WILL MEET THE BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES IT HAS SIGNED UP TO populations. Individuals who would never naturally come across one another in the wild are forced into close proximity, which can lead to aggression between individuals, stress and injury.

ABTA considers ‘feeding by hand, above the water’ and ‘artificial, inland, smooth-sided swimming pools’ to be bad practice. WDC is unaware of any captive dolphin attraction that does not feed by hand, above the water or any – not counting those which use sea pens on the coast – which isn’t made up of artificial, smooth-sided swimming pools.

ABTA states that ‘animal handling and contact by the public should be discouraged’, but swim-with-the-dolphins programmes are common features of trips promoted by ABTA members.

None of the tour operators we challenged have responded. Every one of them is signed up to best practice guidelines that no facility holding whales or dolphins can possibly hope to meet. We continue to target the tour operators and we now invite you to join us in challenging ABTA itself. It has created a paper tiger. What good are these

guidelines if ABTA does nothing to encourage its members to comply?

In its list of ‘discouraged practices’, ABTA includes ‘acquisition of wild animals’. Following the launch of our campaign, we welcomed Virgin’s 2014 announcement that they would only work with facilities that pledge not to take whales and dolphins from the wild. However, we have yet to see any such commitment from the other main tour operators.

In our conversations with ABTA, and ABTA members, we continue to push for compliance with the guidelines. While some have expressed concerns that ending relationships with captive dolphin facilities would sever any influence they have over that business, there comes a point where bad practice can no longer be tolerated, especially when it is having a direct impact on whale and dolphin conservation and welfare. The travel industry also has a responsibility to people booking trips and holidays, that it will meet the best practice guidelines it has signed up to.

In October, we met with British Airways.

Although not an ABTA member, BA is a respected company with a quality mark of its

APPEAL

WE NEED YOUR HELP

WE’VE MADE BIG LEAPS FORWARD IN OUR FIGHT TO END THE HORROR OF KEEPING ORCAS AND OTHER DOLPHINS IN TANKS ■ We’re planning the world’s first dolphin

rehabilitation sanctuary.

■ We’re working at EU level to end dolphin

shows in Europe.

■ We’re ramping up our campaign to stop UK tour operators supporting SeaWorld.

We will keep up the pressure until British Airways, Thomas Cook, Cosmos, First Choice, Thomson and Virgin sever their ties. And we will hold ABTA to account for allowing their members to promote these cruel circuses.

Will you help us to keep this great work going?

■ £30 will help with the costs of meeting one UK holiday company.

■ £30 will help us travel to Brussels to meet MEPs. ■ £50 will help us educate young people – if kids say ‘no’ to SeaWorld, their parents will stop taking them!

■ £100 will help us build the world’s first dolphin sanctuary – a place where dolphins can be rehabilitated for return to the wild or retired in a natural ocean home.

Please give £25 or whatever you can – every single pound will help. This is an exciting time – be part of it!

TO DONATE: n Use the form on the letter that came with this magazine n Give at whales.org/appeal Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 13

CAMPAIGNS

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Find out what you can do at whales.org/abta

WE CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE TOUR OPERATORS TO COMPLY WITH THE GUIDANCE AND END THEIR SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES HOLDING WHALES AND DOLPHINS IN CAPTIVITY

No facility can possibly meet the ABTA guidelines

ANIMAL PUBLIC

own. We presented a 250,000 strong change.org petition organised by WDC supporter, Kathleen Haase, calling on BA to end its relationship with SeaWorld. We showed them reams of information about the detrimental captive orca programmes at SeaWorld parks. Those we met with seemed interested, keen to continue the dialogue and open to further discussion.

However, after one meeting with SeaWorld, where theme park representatives convinced BA that their animal care standards exceed best practice, that door was closed to us. BA took SeaWorld at its word and have continued to work with them. We press on with our campaign to make BA accept the science and see sense.

We also continue to challenge tour operators to comply with the guidance and end their support for businesses holding whales and dolphins in captivity. We will highlight those companies who don’t promote captivity and expose those who do. And we now turn our attention to ABTA and hope you will join us in calling them to account. Help us to end whale and dolphin captivity forever. n

HELP US STOP UK TOUR OPERATORS SELLING TRIPS TO SEAWORLD, AND YOU COULD WIN £1,000!

Play the WDC raffle at www.raffleplayer.com/wdc You can take part for as little as £1 and win one of our great cash prizes: 1st Prize £1,000 2nd Prize £500 5 x Runners-up Prizes of £100

Closing date is 10 July, 2015 and the winners’ names will be drawn on 17 July, 2015. To take part in the WDC Summer Raffle you must be aged 16 or over and resident in mainland Great Britain.

14 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

WDC/ROB LOTT

Play the WDC Summer Raffle online today!

A TIME OF CELEBRATION Ten years of partnership, support and collaboration between WDC and Natütama has generated a decade of successful Amazon River dolphin protection and conservation

A group of Colombian children display their manatee diplomas

N

atütama is an inspiring and successful conservation project in the heart of the Colombian Amazon. WDC is proud to have been a part of this ground-breaking venture for 10 years.

Natütama’s dedicated team live and work with Amazon communities in Puerto Nariño; together they protect the aquatic wildlife, flooded forest, lakes and rivers of this remote and beautiful place. The key to conservation success has been listening to local people who contribute a wealth of wildlife knowledge, and also by encouraging communities to care for and understand the conservation needs of the unique animals they share Amazon homes with.

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 15

PROJECTS

WE HAVE PROVIDED ESSENTIAL FINANCIAL AND PRACTICAL SUPPORT TO HELP NATÜTAMA MEET THE COSTS OF ITS LONG-TERM AMAZON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAMME

Ten years ago, WDC helped fund the construction of the Interpretation Centre which is at the heart of Natütama and plays a vital role in all the education and conservation initiatives.

Since then, we have provided essential financial and practical support to help Natütama meet the costs of its long-term Amazon wildlife conservation programme. We are now working with the team to educate fledgling projects in other parts of the Amazon and in other South American countries such as Brazil.

The conservation model Natütama has created will serve as a blueprint for education and conservation all along the Amazon.

Fisherman Luis, monitoring for river dolphins and manatees

Reaching out

Natütama’s indigenous educators, guides and wildlife guardians reach thousands of children and river communities in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. Ticuna and Yagua elders contribute and share their knowledge with the Natütama educators, teaching children indigenous songs, dances and stories. This gets them thinking about their own roles in taking care of local wildlife and their precious natural resources.

Conservation activities include monitoring river dolphins, manatees, turtles, sloths, heron nests and pirarucu (giant fish) nests; entertaining guided visits to their Interpretation Centre; occasional trips for the junior ecology groups to see river dolphins; the ever-popular puppet shows and street theatre performances featuring conservation themes; 16 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

Theatre group helps to spread the protection message in a fun way

ALL IMAGES NATÜTAMA

Field trips and (right) processions help educate children

CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES INCLUDE MONITORING RIVER DOLPHINS, MANATEES, TURTLES, SLOTHS, HERON NESTS AND PIRARUCU (GIANT FISH) NESTS Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 17

ongoing training for educators and wildlife guardians; and community workshops to discuss problems and figure out solutions to known or developing threats to local wildlife.

Effecting change

In the last three years, more than 25,000 people have visited the Interpretation Centre and last year 2,000 children took part in regular Natütama workshops and education activities.

The education programme involves parents, teachers and the community as a whole, and we have succeeded in forging processes that lead to environmental, social and cultural transformation. River dolphins and manatees are no longer hunted in the area, nor are calves taken into captivity, pirarucu fish are protected during their breeding seasons, as are nesting herons and the ceiba trees that host them.

People are reconnecting with wildlife and their biocultural heritage and a culture for Amazon wildlife conservation is growing in Puerto Nariño. This successful model is now gaining recognition in conservation circles throughout Colombia and beyond. WDC has learned the importance of full community participation in conservation efforts in Amazon communities, and we are determined to spread the word and help other project teams in neighbouring South American countries and communities that share the flooded forest with river dolphins and manatees. n 18 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

IN THE LAST THREE YEARS, MORE THAN 25,000 PEOPLE HAVE VISITED THE INTERPRETATION CENTRE AND LAST YEAR 2,000 CHILDREN TOOK PART IN REGULAR NATÜTAMA WORKSHOPS AND EDUCATION ACTIVITIES The education programme, as seen in these images, involves Natütama educators, parents, teachers and the community, and is helping to grow a culture of conservation

RUN FOR WHALES AND DOLPHINS AT THE LOCH NESS MARATHON We have four places at the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon, and one of them could be yours. Are you ready to take on this classic distance in one of the most fascinating locations you will find?

whales.org/lochness

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 19

GALLERY

EMOTIONS RUN DEEP W

elcome to Non-Human Person, a sculpture that celebrates the discovery of spindle cells in the brains of humpback whales.

In humans these cells are thought to be responsible for our ability to love, and to experience complex emotions and deep-rooted emotional suffering.

The sculpture, exhibited here in Estoril, Portugal, was conceived and created by Pedro Madeira Fernandes, a climate change researcher at the University of Lisbon and Filipe Von

Mayer Reis, a graduate of the Camberwell College of Art in London. They believe that partnerships between scientists and artists in public spaces can play a valuable role in engaging people with science.

Pedro and Filipe (pictured above with their sculpture) say that ‘by discovering the emotional heart that hides in the interior of the sculpture’, they want observers ‘to have the same experience as the researchers had when they discovered love in the brains of these whales’.

Turn to page 24, where Philippa Brakes explores spindle cells and the significance of their discovery in whales. n

THEY WANT OBSERVERS ‘TO HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE AS THE RESEARCHERS HAD WHEN THEY DISCOVERED LOVE IN THE BRAINS OF THESE WHALES’ 20 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

ALL IMAGES: PEDRO MADEIRA FERNANDES

A new sculpture celebrates the emotional lives of whales

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 21

FACE TO FACE

THE ORIGINS OF ORCALAB

Now 45 years old, OrcaLab is one of the world’s longest-running sites of continuous samespecies study. Whale & Dolphin talked to founder Paul Spong about how it all began

D

o you like Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D? If you’re not familiar with it, you really should try listening to it some time, as it’s highly recommended. By an orca.

Paul Spong smiles as he tells the anecdote.

He was doing research with orcas in Vancouver back in the 1960s and had begun by initially focusing on visual acuity, discovering that orca eyesight in water is as good as a cat’s in air.

‘I began a test with Skana, the female orca at the Vancouver Aquarium, showing her two images on cards associated with levers, in an apparatus where she could only see one side at a time. One card presented a single vertical line, the other two lines. Her task was to push up the two line lever. I varied the space between the two lines to determine her ability to resolve the gap. Once she’d learned the difference, she was getting it right with 100% accuracy. Time and time again she’d get it right... then one day, she suddenly started getting it wrong.

Not occasionally wrong, but completely wrong.

Her accuracy plummeted to 0%, and it was a significant moment in my relationship with her.

I’d conducted the tests objectively, but it was only when she effectively started saying ‘no’ to me that I realised she was being contrary, and that I wasn’t dealing with a ‘what’ but a ‘who’.

WDC/JU LIA THOMS

She was giving me wrong answers on purpose.

‘I’d been offering herring as a reward, but this was clearly no longer working. Half a dead herring apparently was not much of an incentive. There was another orca in the aquarium, a very young male called Hyak, who had recently been caught and removed from his mother and family. Hyak seemed very depressed and mostly stayed in the corner of his tank. I decided to see if a reward of sound might influence his behaviour. It did, and he soon became an enthusiastic little whale, doing some remarkable things just for the reward of music.

When I played Beethoven for him, he came out of his corner and arched his body, spraying

great fountains of water from his mouth and waving his flukes gracefully, all in time to the music. Literally, he was dancing!’

This musical interlude in Paul’s life came at a very important time, but the best tales all begin at the beginning, and Paul’s starts in New Zealand. Some people are surprised to find that this man, who has become so closely associated with the British Columbian coastline, was born so far from it. Having studied law and psychology in his homeland he later earned a Ph.D at the University of California, Los Angeles in physiological psychology, studying relationships between the brain and behaviour.

Brain power

Paul’s work brought him into contact with the University of British Columbia (UBC), which had been asked by the Vancouver Aquarium to find a scientist to help them work on behavioural matters with an orca who had recently been captured. ‘I remember walking into the neurology department of UBC and seeing a jar which contained the brain of an orca. It was four times the size of a human brain, and I wondered what secrets it held.’

The experiments at the Aquarium led Paul to two conclusions: that acoustics were extremely important to orcas, and that he could build

Wild orcas in Canada ABOVE: Paul Spong with Helena Symonds 22 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

WDC/JU LIA THOMS ORCALA B

ORCALAB

specific relationships with each of them as individuals. There was one more development. ‘I used to dangle my feet in Skana’s tank, gently rubbing her head with them,’ he says. ‘One day, she suddenly raked them with her teeth.’ Unsurprisingly, Paul jerked his feet out of the water. Most of us would’ve made sure we never dangled our feet again, but not Paul. ‘If she’d wanted to cause me damage, she would have done,’ he recalls, ‘so I decided to put my feet back in.

Again, she slashed her teeth across my feet, and again I jerked them away. Many repetitions later I could finally leave my feet in the water while she slashed her jaws across them; and then she stopped. I suddenly realized that I was no longer afraid of her. Here was this powerful individual teaching me a lesson: she was showing me that she was in control, but letting me go. Effectively, she was deconditioning my fear of her.’

By 1968, Paul’s conviction that these orcas were individuals, with deep levels of understanding and the ability to form specific relationships, had brought him to the realisation that keeping them in captivity was inappropriate and unfair. That year, he gave a lecture at UBC about his new beliefs.

The lecture did not go down well with his employers and his contract was not renewed.

But by now, Paul’s fascination with the orca psyche was well and truly piqued. Paul went to Alert Bay off Vancouver Island, and discussed with First Nations people and local fishermen the best place to watch free-swimming orcas from shore. And so in June 1970, Paul set up camp on Hanson Island.

‘We realised that we were getting the same orcas passing back and forth. They were recognisable so we started naming them.

Nicola, Tulip and more became very familiar to us, and we suspected that they were moving in family groups. We used a hydrophone to record their sounds.’

In the 1970s, the Canadian government responded to public concern that too many orcas were being taken for the captive whale industry. Research soon revealed that the number of orcas on the coast was relatively small and not in the thousands as once thought.

Research also revealed that the orcas belonged to discrete communities that were highly social and complicated. Paul’s OrcaLab, as it was now known, focused on a study of the Northern Resident community whose families frequented the area each summer and fall.

Each season OrcaLab has kept visual and acoustic records of the comings and goings of this orca community. In 1979, Paul was joined

by Helena Symonds. ‘Helena developed a really good ear for orca sounds,’ says Paul, ‘and has helped to identify the different orca families acoustically, so that we can successfully track

OrcaLab today and assistants at work recording in the lab and checking the microwave radio network

IT’S THIS TIRELESS DRIVE TO DISCOVER MORE AND MORE ABOUT ORCAS’ LIVES AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES THAT UNDERPINS THE WORK OF ORCALAB, NOT JUST FOR THE INFORMATION ALONE, BUT FOR HOW THEY CAN USE IT the whales throughout the area covered by our hydrophones.’

By the mid 1980s, OrcaLab had established a network of six hydrophones covering approximately 50 square kilometres of the lab’s core area of research. To complement the hydrophone network OrcaLab also developed the use of remote cameras. In 2000, OrcaLab launched the ‘Orca-live’ website (orca-live.net) so that people around the world could learn about the lives of orcas and the ocean in which they live. ‘Raising public awareness is an important part of our work,’ says Paul.

‘The data we have accumulated over the decades also means we can work in an advisory capacity, combating potential threats to the orcas’ lives. There are many threats that orcas face, from overfishing of their chief food, salmon, to pollution and acoustic disruption.’

Return to the wild

The story of Springer, the orphaned baby orca, who was identified as a Northern Resident and reintegrated into her family in 2002 was a highlight of OrcaLab’s work. ‘We played a significant role in the collaborative effort that returned Springer to her family and community, so it was a true thrill when she had a baby two years ago.’

Some struggles still continue, though.

On December 11, 1969 a family of orcas were captured north of Vancouver. Paul visited the site the next day. Half of the family were let go,

half taken into captivity. Among them was an orca who was later named Corky. Forty-five years later, Corky still lives a confined life, housed in SeaWorld San Diego.

‘We continue to campaign for her release,’ says Paul. ‘Corky is probably too old to simply be returned to the wild now, but she should be retired to an ocean facility where she can meet her kin and community again, and at least be able to live out her remaining days without having to perform for the public.’

It’s this tireless drive to discover more and more about orcas’ lives and social structures that underpins the work of OrcaLab, not just for the information alone, but for how they can use it. ‘There was a time when captive orcas did help us to understand them,’ says Paul, ‘but that day is long gone. I think that the work that we have done, by stepping back from the ocean and watching from the shores and using remote methods, has made a real contribution to the understanding of orcas and their needs, which is why we will always campaign for the best working practices between humankind and orca.’

And it all began with a human called Paul and an orca named Skana. What happened to that iconic individual with the vibrant mind and strong sense of personhood? Paul goes quiet for a moment. ‘She died in 1980, and ended up as pet food,’ he reveals.

After her death, Paul was given one of her vertebrae. ‘I still have it,’ he says. ‘I always will.’ n Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 23

ASK THE EXPERTS

WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT WHALES HAVE FEELINGS? The discovery of certain brain cells in whales has led to new thinking about their perception of life

T

to process emotions. In humans it is thought rying to figure out what other people that these cells help us to understand social are thinking is often a challenge, but structures and conventions, enable us to feel most of us have some intuition about empathy for others and give us a sense of how the feelings of others. A bigger others might be feeling. They are also thought challenge is trying to understand to be associated with rapid ‘gut’ reactions, what other species might be thinking or which then enable decision-making. feeling. This is especially true for whales, because they live in a totally different These amazing brain cells have been credited medium (the sea), in a world dominated by with enabling us to experience love, but also to sound rather than sight. Some of the more suffer psychologically. Rather than resulting usual behavioural clues that we recognise in from shared ancestry, the existence of spindle land mammals are often unavailable, cells in some whale brains is a fascinating so using our remarkable human example of convergent evolution. intuition to help decode whale These cells are named after i behaviour is often complex. You their long thin spindle-like appearance. One theory is that they could argue that truly understanding provide high-speed connections what whales might be thinking, across larger brains. or even how they might be feeling, Scientists speculate that spindle is the intellectual equivalent of cells may play an important role in scaling Everest. However, science is maintaining social bonds between at hand to help us start to unravel individuals. What this tells us is that some of these mysteries.

PHILIPPA BRAKES whales and dolphins likely have One scientific discovery in is a senior biologist rich social lives, that their bonds particular which truly shifted our for WDC with others are important to understanding of whale brains their individual wellbeing. was the discovery of Von Economo Their discovery in whales was one of neurons, or spindle cells. Before these special those beautiful moments in science where brain cells were discovered in some whale neurobiology confirmed the observations species, these particular neurons were believed of behavioural ecologists, providing a to be the brain cells that set humans and other physiological mechanism underpinning great apes apart from all other mammals, in a behavioural observations about social cognitive sense. In the last ten years these interactions. In other words, the discovery special cells have also been discovered in of spindle cells in whales gave us the science elephants’ brains. to back up what we could see.

Spindle cells are highly specialised neurons It may well be that these cells, which in that are believed to be involved with helping humans are thought to be responsible for individuals to interact socially with others and 24 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

our intuition about others, assist whales with more complex cooperative behaviours and importantly, from a conservation and evolutionary perspective, having a sense of how others feel may provide a selective advantage.

Social behaviour of whales includes complex communication, such as whale song (found in several whale species, not just humpbacks), learning socially from their mothers and their peers, and forming complex social structures and wider social networks.

Although scientists are still investigating exactly how spindle cells help us (and whales) to process social information, one theory is that they may provide a shortcut between unnecessary connections, which enable us to respond very quickly to emotional cues,

SPINDLE CELLS ARE HIGHLY SPECIALISED NEURONS THAT ARE BELIEVED TO BE INVOLVED WITH HELPING INDIVIDUALS TO INTERACT SOCIALLY WITH OTHERS particularly during more complex social interactions. They have been described as the ‘express trains of the nervous system’.

Changing view

The discovery of spindle cells in some whales changes the playing field for these species.

These cells give a physical basis for understanding that – just like us – they experience emotions. Whales are now

officially on the emotional pitch and the discovery of these special little neurons requires us to revaluate the way that we treat them. Is it acceptable to keep individuals (such as orcas), who can experience a range of emotions, in captivity where their complex social needs cannot possibly be met?

The answer has to be a resounding ‘No’.

But the discovery of spindle cells also requires us to ask questions about pinning

our ideas about emotional intelligence to just these special cells alone. Are we sure that small whale and dolphin species that do not exhibit these brain cells do not experience emotions such as empathy, or that social bonds are any less important for their individual survival? Perhaps spindle cells are just a small part of an emerging picture, where evolution has provided a number of solutions.

Many years ago, a physician on a whaling ship, Dr Harry Lillie, wrote that ‘The gunners themselves admit that if whales could scream, the industry would stop for nobody would be able to stand it’.

I wonder what Dr Lillie would make of the discovery, nearly 80 years later, of those very same brain cells in the whales which enabled him to feel empathy for these poor stricken individuals. n Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 25

ADOPTION UPDATES Here’s all the latest news about the bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales and orcas you so generously adopt – presented by the people who know them so well

ALL IMAGES: WDC/CHARLIE PHILLIPS

DOLPHIN DIARIES Brought to you by Charlie Phillips

Moray Firth The 2015 dolphin watching season in the big, beautiful six the of has started really well, and three e already. rang ra came in been have adoption dolphins the adoption find to gle strug really I year, of time Normally, at this further out to sea. But going dolphins as they spend much more time ance throwing a superb Sund of o phot nt on the evidence of a dista navigation buoy recently, salmon into the air over near the Craig Mee ted the dolphins inshore temp have fish run I think that some very early can be a dominating factor for a while – which is nice! The weather and, thankfully, although fins al dors g when it comes to actually seein been able to spend have I ds, perio h roug y prett we have had some bits of my equipment us vario ing many days with good conditions utilis to get positive sightings. nd the Moray Firth Keeping in touch with my contacts arou keen, experienced as too, ends during the winter can pay divid dolphins’ movements, the up flag often can ions locat us eyes in vario for getting in touch. ters spot these and I am always very grateful to project which has teer volun ch ewat Shor WDC own Plus, we have our t and who get out coas the on or great support from locals who live near information this All see. they what rd reco and and watch for dolphins , especially data gh enou have is vitally important – you simply cannot and ed excit how just know I during the winter months, and ing of dolphins motivated I get when I have a good sight cases some in or after weeks of seeing very little, nothing at all.

To receive your monthly email dolphin update send your supporter number to info@whales.org

 Spirit Spirit, her baby and her social group are likely to still be a bit further away from the Inner Firth area just now but should be starting to return to the surrounding Cromarty/Chanonry waters fairly soon. Early signs of migratory salmon are encouraging and word soon gets around in the dolphins’ big and complex social network that food is becoming available much nearer where they spend the summer months. As usual, I would expect the first encounters with Spirit to be from a boat out from the Cromarty Firth entrance, but she has surprised me with impromptu appearances near Chanonry before.

 Sundance Sundance has been amongst the big group of dolphins that I have watched and photographed coming in and out of the Chanonry and Rosemarkie area for a few days in a row, and he was looking great. So great in fact, he was throwing around a beautiful early run salmon that he had captured one afternoon – a belter of a fish too, around 5kg in weight. A little distance from him was another bunch of the big males – Denoozydenzy, Scoopy and a few others, including Mischief, were heading over towards them. They met up then turned about and came past me at Chanonry and headed into Fortrose Bay for a while. Eventually they all came back, close enough to get my first set of decent dorsal fin identification pictures this year, before they ambled off into the wide blue yonder.

Follow Charlie’s blog at whales.org/adoptadolphinblog

Chris Butler-Stroud, WDCS chief executive

26 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

On Twitter @adoptadolphin

 Moonlight I haven’t spotted Moonlight and her baby yet this season, but going by past encounters with this lovely big girl it might not be that long before she shows up around the Chanonry area. Moonlight is often one of the very first dolphins of the year to start using the tidal current in the Chanonry Narrows, along with Zephyr, Bonnie and a few more of the local females. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she will arrive one day soon with some of her friends who have started to appear already, like big Tall Fin. As Moonlight is so recognisable it doesn’t take me long to pick her out from a group, even if they are travelling along at a fair distance.

 Kesslet Kesslet gave me my first dolphin sighting of the year under the Kessock Bridge. Since then, she’s been playing hide-and-seek with me, only giving me distant and tantalising glimpses of her very curved dorsal fin. Sadly Kesslet doesn’t seem to be accompanied by her baby any more. I had my suspicions that something was wrong a few weeks ago when I spotted her in the harbour at Inverness by herself, and now, after seeing her alone on three separate occasions, I have to reach the sorry conclusion that the little one has had an accident or has fallen ill very quickly, although it’s silly to speculate. Kesslet appears well in herself and was hunting here in the Kessock Channel, so hopefully she will keep herself well fed and maybe try for another baby in a year or so.

KESSLET GAVE ME MY FIRST DOLPHIN SIGHTING OF THE YEAR UNDER THE KESSOCK BRIDGE

 Rainbow Rainbow is still elusive this year so far, although I was pretty sure that she was in a big cluster of mums and calves who came trundling merrily along recently. The group were doing long, and difficult to anticipate, dive patterns – making positive sightings and good quality photos virtually impossible to get. The problem you have when there are a lot of dolphins in a transiting group is being able to take a lot of dorsal fin pictures very quickly and accurately and Rainbow is very good at keeping me frustratingly on my toes, diving just as I get focused on her. Her youngster should be more than big enough to start hanging out with calves of his or her own age this year, but time will tell and I hope to catch a glimpse of them both very soon.

 Mischief I have been really pleased to see this lovely big guy three days running already this season. He has been coming in and out of the Chanonry Narrows with a few more of the big lads like Sundance, Scoopy and Tall Fin’s big son, Bodhi. Normally when I see Mischief, he has youngsters not that far away from him, but not so much just recently. Some of the girls and bigger calves have been around, but he has definitely been in the ‘big boys’ club any time that I have had my camera trained on him. It’s good to see him looking big, confident and rotund; obviously, the winter menu further out at sea hasn’t been too bad of late. He has been spotted along the coast near Burghead with some of his entourage which isn’t at all unusual at this time of year, as it’s only an hour or so’s swim-time when you think about it.

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 27

ADOPTION UPDATES

HUMPBACK HEADLINES

Brought to you by Regina Asmutis-Silvia eaking snowfall We finally emerged from near record-br ard to the forw ng looki are here in New England, and blooming, rs flowe ing, budd trees g: sprin of beginning return. their ing mak spring peepers peeping and summer birds ing learn are who ns inter rch resea of We also have a new group e ID catalogue, whal WDC the for data se analy and ct how to colle season. and waiting to spot the first whale of the born between January are s calve k pbac hum tic Most North Atlan and calving take place ding and March. For humpback whales, bree as the breeding grounds. to red refer is area the in the same region, so pbacks use are the waters hum The breeding grounds that the adoptable . bean Carib rn easte the off the West Indies through because of a whale’s e mayb first, tail born lly usua are s Whale calve ces of a newborn taking their body shape, or maybe to lessen the chan they are born, these new little After ke. mista by er rwat first breath unde s so that they can take their mum ones are nudged to the surface by their whales can be up to a third k pbac hum orn newb of first breaths. The size long. Reports of twins 4.5m to of the size of their mothers – roughly 3.5 ely a mother would unlik it’s as rare, mely among large whales are extre her own. be able to nurse and rear two calves on er’s milk, but a humpback Mammal babies need to drink their moth mammary glands for female mum’s teats are hidden from view. The th their tail within mammary whales and dolphins are found undernea keeps the shape of the whale but , teats the cts slits. This not only prote ming. Since whale calves streamlined and reduces drag during swim rful muscles around the powe the ling, suck do not have lips suitable for mouth. teats forcefully inject the milk into the calf’s so amazing. is calf her Seeing a mother humpback with helps protect h whic do, we work the orts Your adoption supp itment to comm nued these whales. Thank you for your conti safe! lies keeping these whale fami

Pepper has had 10 calves since we first saw her in 1976. Her first calf, Aurora, was born in 1982.

Unfortunately, Aurora died only a year later. Three years after that, Pepper had another calf and has kept going

Rearing a newborn humpback is a job solely suited to a mum. Since humpback dads do not help raise the calves, what we know about most humpback families in the Gulf of Maine is based on their matriline (their mum’s side of the family). Salt’s matriline is the oldest documented in the Gulf of Maine and we hope it continues to grow for a long time to come.

Since Salt was named in 1976, she has introduced us to 13 calves. Crystal was the first calf we saw with her – back in 1980. The last one of Crystal’s siblings was born in 2014 and goes by the name of Epsom (a special kind of salt). Between 1980 and 1991, Salt had six calves, born every two or three years. After showing up for six consecutive years without a calf, there was speculation that perhaps Salt had become senescent (similar to human menopause), a state we know some toothed whales experience, but not something we are sure about in baleen whales. That answer will continue to elude us since Salt got back on track with a calf called Tabasco – and six more after that. Salt also has at least 10 grandchildren and one of them, Etch-ASketch, had her first calf last year, making Salt a great-grandmother.

WDC/EVAN HENERB ERRY

HEIDI HANSEN

 Pepper

 Salt

ever since. An attentive mother, she was seen with her son, Zenith, two years in a row. This is highly unusual as calves typically only spend their first year with their mothers. Sadly, Zenith was struck by a vessel in 1998 and has not been seen since.

Pepper’s daughter Habanero was born in 2000 and has already had two calves of her own. While Pepper has had calves two or three years apart, her last three calves were all born four years apart, in 2003, 2007 and 2011. So according to our maths, there may be hope for another little surprise this summer!

To receive your monthly email humback update send your supporter number to info@whales.org

SALT HAS AT LEAST 10 GRANDCHILDREN, AND IS NOW A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER Get humpback news at facebook.com/whales.org

Chris Butler-Stroud, WDCS chief executive

28 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

WDC/KATE MCPHERSON

 Midnight

WDC/KATE MCPHERSON

Midnight was first seen with a calf in 1986 and she has had another nine since then. Her second calf was born in 1989 and named Clapton (for the song made popular by Eric Clapton, ‘After Midnight’). Typical for humpback whales, Midnight often had a new calf with her every two or three years, but it occasionally took her four or even five years. Her most recent calf was born last season, leaving four years between her next youngest calf. That means Midnight was nursing through last summer and autumn.

Humpback whale milk is very high in calories and contains up to 10 times as much fat as human or cow milk does. Since the females usually don’t feed during winter time, they use a lot of the energy stored in their blubber to produce this high-energy milk. It is most likely because of these huge energetic requirements that we rarely see humpback whales who are pregnant and nursing at the same time. This means that there are usually at least two or three years between calves, although sometimes we do see a mother with calves in two consecutive years.

 Reflection Reflection’s first sighting in the Gulf of Maine was in 1997 and she introduced us to her first calf, Buzzard, in 2000. She has taken a couple of fairly long breaks between calves. In 2007, after seven years, she showed up with her second calf and two years after that with the third. After taking another break for five years, she pleasantly surprised us last summer with the newest addition to her family.

Reflection’s calf will be feeding with the grown up humpbacks this season. Reflection is a good mum and she started to teach her little one the art of finding fish and eating it when her calf was between six and eight months old. While baby humpback whales usually start feeding independently around six to eight months of age, the nursing may still continue for a few more months. Weaning can take place at around 10 months but by the time the calf is a year old, they are usually on their own.

HEIDI HANSEN

REFLECTION IS A GOOD MUM AND HAS STARTED TO TEACH HER LITTLE ONE THE ART OF FINDING FISH Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 29

ADOPTION UPDATES

ORCA ODYSSEYS

Brought to you by Helena Symonds & Paul Spong a problematic Noise is increasingly being recognised as is largely a world world Their issue for whales and dolphins. navigate and prey, find to y abilit the them g of sound, givin along with came ans Until hum communicate in the dark ocean depths. e by mad ds soun se inten the and els their noisy propeller-driven vess r than it is today. easie much was life g, testin ic seism military sonar and salmon, with Chinook and The preferred food of Resident orcas is the difficulty faced by both of Much list. the of Chum species being top s is attributed to inadequate food northern and southern orca communitie destruction of salmon habitat with along on, supply. Overfishing for salm as primary causes. Noise and ocean pollution, have been identified ulties, but the details diffic unquestionably adds a layer to these easy to say that absence is It d. rstoo unde little are of noise impacts that interference with the us of food causes starvation, but less obvio end. same the to ability to hunt can lead ts are now being made In part because of these concerns, effor coast waters, with west da’s Cana of to create an acoustic profile ing or at least avoid and itions cond nt curre ribing the aim of desc t. This summer, effor this d joine has mitigating future harm. OrcaLab to our existing ne opho hydr rated calib rt he-a -of-t we will add a state , and noise el vess to network which will provide data relating measured. be can ges chan e futur h whic st establish a baseline again and al centr the y Two other hydrophone networks will surve rs. Collectively, northern parts of British Columbia wate underwater the d rstan unde and ribe we hope to desc ocean in which er quiet soundscape, and work towards a thrive. can ins dolph and es orcas and other whal

You can buy your very own cuddly version of your adopted orca! Each orca toy is handmade to order and features the distinctive markings and dorsal fin of your chosen whale.

Visit orca-originals.co.uk to find out more. Make sure you quote WDC when you place the order and Julie at Orca Originals will donate half of the profit to us to help us continue our work to protect orcas!

This is Corky.

Tragically she has spent 45 years in a tank, making her the longest surviving orca in captivity

To receive your monthly email orca update send your supporter number to info@whales.org 30 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

JARED TWOERS

ORCA ORIGINALS

 Fife Although Holly has taken a lot of the limelight this winter this is only because she happens to use areas where there are people around to record her presence. Whales like her cousin, Fife, have not disappeared, they have just chosen different and more remote locales. The whales move around a lot throughout the entire year and winter is no exception. Each spring, a miracle of sorts commences. The salmon abandon the deeper ocean and begin to migrate back to their home rivers where they will complete their life cycle.

The whales, attracted by the increased presence of salmon, are drawn out of their haunts and journey ‘down’ the coast to intercept the prey that sustains them. The coast of British Columbia has more hydrophones deployed to detect orcas than anywhere else. And it is now possible to track the orcas acoustically as they wend their way south. Eventually, whales like Fife will find themselves back in the Johnstone Strait area where we are situated waiting for their arrival by early summer. Then our work begins!

Get orca news at facebook.com/whales.org

 Simoom

JARED TWOERS

 Holly

Simoom will be 40 this year! It seems like only yesterday she was 15 and having her first baby, Echo, on 18 October 1989. Six more babies followed, making her one of the most prolific of the orca mothers. She has lost one, Stormy, who died in 2006 at the age of six. Two of her daughters, Misty and Eclipse, have had their own babies. So what was once a small group of four – Simoom, her mother and two brothers – has turned out to be a strong group of 11. If Simoom lives out a normal life span she might expect to also become a great-grandmother. Her mother, Scimitar, was estimated to be 68 before she died.

It is interesting that even though Simoom had several of her babies in the Johnstone Strait area, she does not use the area as much in recent years. Is she losing her fidelity to this area since her mother’s death? Whatever is driving Simoom we do not expect to see her until summer comes along. We just hope she will choose her mother’s old habits and grace us with longer visits once more.

HOLLY HAS GONE VIRAL! SHE AND HER FAMILY BECAME AN INTERNET SENSATION THIS WINTER

Holly has gone viral! She and her family became an internet sensation this winter when they were seen close to shore off the Discovery Islands north of Campbell River. And the best part of this event?

They were rubbing! Those watching had enough presence of mind to hold up their phones, record it on video and then share on social media – if you are signed up for your monthly WDC orca adoption email updates, you will have seen this awesome footage. One look told us it was Holly and Co. We guessed she was still in the Georgia Strait area having bypassed Johnstone Strait on her way there at the beginning of January. But there had not been many sightings, quite unlike the winter before, so this was more than a pleasant surprise.

Holly probably retraced her journey back to the central coast soon after this event. Our colleagues at Pacific Wild asked us to listen to a recording made on 18 February. It was Holly’s A5 pod!

Then a week later there was another recording and pictures of Holly and family in Seaforth Channel.

Nothing since. Are they continuing north? Stand by for the next instalment of this enthralling saga!

 Bend (it has only 81 members) that everyone will be very anxious that these new babies survive. Bend was born in 1999, so she was 15 when she had her first baby, which is the average age for a firsttime mother. Sometimes female orcas will have babies earlier. The youngest was just 10 years, which meant pregnancy occurred sometime in the previous two years. The gestation period for an orca is around 17 months. Orca life history is very similar to humans. They reach puberty around the same time. Bend can expect a normal reproductive life that extends into her late forties.

If she is as lucky as her cousin, Simoom, she may have up to seven babies. Let’s hope so!

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 31

ORCALAB

JARED TOWERS

Bend is a new mother as of 2014. Her baby, A108, will get a name some time next year. The reason for waiting two years before a name is bestowed is to make sure the baby has survived infancy. Unfortunately the death rate for neonate orcas is quite high – possibly as high as 48%.

The endangered Southern Residents have had three babies this winter, the first births in four years. Northern Residents are not typically seen until summer and so their babies, also often born in the late autumn or winter, are not usually seen until their mothers bring them to areas where observations can be made. The state of the Southern Resident community is so precarious

SITE GUIDE

A WILD WILDLIFE PARADISE

The Russian Far East is a vast ocean of remote outposts and forgotten bays that comprise one third of Russia. The Kamchatka peninsula alone is larger than California, with plenty of wonderful wildlife to see

O

rcas are spouting and feeding on Atka mackerel and salmon.

The smell of their blows hints at their diet, though we don’t know for certain. Splashed on my hand, their spray has a slightly oily feel. Could be any kind of fish. What we do know, from their dorsal fins, is that this is Galkin’s pod, and they are moving faster, heading further out to sea. Do we follow or not?

The day is young and the sun high. We drop a hydrophone — the sounds reveal an orca pod’s identity and can sometimes give us clues about what they are doing. ‘There’s another orca clan out there,’ says Olga Filatova, our senior acoustics expert. ‘Let’s go!’ Ivan Fedutin, at the helm, nods and puts the engine into gear.

We’re off for another adventure.

32 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

I never thought about going to Russia when I was young but I did want to ‘discover stuff’ and I knew I wanted to live by the sea. The road to orcas started when I moved to Vancouver Island, Canada, as a teenager, in 1969. I was lucky to have been among the first to film and study killer whales in the wild through the

1970s and to have written the first book about them, Orca: The Whale Called Killer. In 2000, through WDC, I helped set up a long-term research project to uncover the secrets of Russian Far East orcas, previously never studied: the Far East Russia Orca Project, or FEROP. In the ensuing years, I have enjoyed watching a new generation of Russian orca researchers get to know a group of whales and become committed to protecting them. To date, our team has identified more than 1,500 orcas, recorded their sounds and, through Filatova’s work, established that Russian orcas have dialects just like the better known eastern North Pacific orcas from the WDC adopt an orca programme. We have mostly spent time with fish-eating resident orcas in Kamchatka, but we have also watched the feeding behaviour

RUSSIAN CETACEAN HABITAT PROJECT AND FAR EAST RUSSIA ORCA PROJECT (RCHP, FEROP, WDC)

FAR EAST RUSSIA ORCA PROJECT (FEROP, WDC)

Erich Hoyt and the Russian team

Scars on Baird’s beaked whales tell their incredible stories

ON FIRST IMPRESSION, KAMCHATKA AND THE OFFSHORE COMMANDER ISLANDS WOULD SEEM TO BE A WILDER VERSION OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE CANADIAN WEST COAST

IMAGE: FAR EAST RUSSIA ORCA PROJECT (FEROP, WDC)

of smaller groups of marine mammal hunting orcas that are the counterpart of the Bigg’s (transient) orcas from Canada.

Wide range

On first impression, Kamchatka and the offshore Commander Islands would seem to be a wilder version of Vancouver Island and the Canadian west coast. Both are home to similar species. Besides orcas, there are Dall’s porpoises, humpback whales, minke whales, gray whales, sperm whales, five salmon species, as well as Steller sea lions on their haulouts, sea otters and harbour seals, and diverse seabirds.

But Kamchatka has one additional salmon species, taller mountains, 160 volcanoes (of which 29 are active) and an abundance of most of the above. Kamchatka and the Commanders

Gateway to adventure also have far less boat traffic, less noise and pollution. In many ways it has been the P-K is the best gateway for adventure travel, perfect home for whales, and our team is including whale watching. It has the only working to expand the areas where the whales airport on Kamchatka with daily connections are protected. to Moscow, about a nine hour flight away. P-K Yet there are challenges to our efforts. has no regular whale watching tours but offers Fishermen want to be allowed to fish in the day trips in summer as well as longer cruises on protected Commander Islands, though so far a variety of ships, with the chance to see orcas they have been unsuccessful, and and other whales. The best thing is i hydrocarbon exploration is under to contact the tourism bureau for way along Kamchatka’s coast and in schedules and tours. Another option the nearby Okhotsk Sea. Since 2003, is to take a long-range trip through about a dozen orcas have been taken Heritage Expeditions, for example, from Kamchatka and the Okhotsk which offers good naturalist guides Sea by the captivity industry for and departures from P-K and other display in theme parks. Belugas live Russian Far East ports, as well as ERICH HOYT is in the Okhotsk Sea too and, between from Nome, Alaska (www.heritageWDC’s Senior 1990 and 2012, at least 320 belugas expeditions.com).

Research Fellow were captured for export. It is Earlier this year, WDC research thought that about 30 belugas a year are being revealed the social systems of a never before shipped abroad, including 63 belugas exported studied species, the Baird’s beaked whale. to China between 2008-2010.

These elusive whales are normally found in The captures have focused international deep waters off the continental shelf in the attention on the region, in addition to the stories North Pacific, but we’re fortunate to have them of abundant rare whales and other wildlife and close to shore in the Commander Islands. If natural wonders, and the result is that more and you’re lucky, you might meet these whales on a more people are getting excited about travelling cruise from P-K. We have discovered that these to the Russian Far East. In the past decade, the whales associate with each other over periods region has become easier to get to, but it of up to six years. The fieldwork is conducted remains difficult and expensive to explore. The

by Ivan Fedutin and Olga Filatova, who have main port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which identified more than 130 individual beaked we all refer to simply as ‘P-K’, was largely closed whales from their scars. Our team found that to Russian citizens in the Soviet era, but since the most heavily scarred whales are older and then it has opened up and, in the past decade, the most sociable. The scars largely come from expanded dramatically. There are building the teeth of other whales in their group, either works all over town, and new hotels. in play or aggression. But they also have scars Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 33

SITE GUIDE

34 WHALE&DOLPHIN Summer 2015

TATIANA IVKOVICH, FAR EAST RUSSIA ORCA PROJECT (FEROP, WDC)

that tell different stories. Some scars show suspected shark bites, an indication that those whales have spent time in the subtropical or tropical waters of the Pacific. There are whales with scars from drift nets indicating their entanglement in these ‘walls of death’, banned by the UN but still persisting. A few of them carry scars from orca teeth. And two of the whales we’ve met had scars from harpoon wounds. The wounds match the kinds of harpoons used in the Japanese coastal whaling fleet, which has been killing these whales at the rate of 50-60 per year in recent decades, and even more before then.

Our work is illuminating the daily lives of these rare whales and we hope that this will lead to international condemnation and an end to the whaling.

Bering Island, where the Baird’s beaked whales are, can be visited too but getting there is more problematic than Kamchatka.

Moreover, the area up to 30 nautical miles around Bering, and its sister island Medniy, are conserved as the Commander Islands State Biosphere Reserve. Although there is some tourism, special permits are required to visit the area. For the most part this is a reserve for the whales and a few researchers who carefully study the whales for a few months of the year.

Russian orcas have their own dialects

THE ABIDING ETHIC FOR WATCHING AND STUDYING WHALES MUST BE RESPECT

WDC agrees that the abiding ethic for watching and studying whales must be respect.

This means that there should be some areas for the whales themselves where they are left undisturbed. For all of us, researchers, whale watchers and the public, getting to know whales as individuals is a privilege but also carries a responsibility to care for them and ensure that they can live their lives in the sea, free from human harm. n

Maldives, Sri Lanka & Indonesia Join marine zoologist Dr Charles Anderson for tropical cetaceans, seabirds & snorkelling www.whale-and-dolphin.com 01638 508464

Summer 2015 WHALE&DOLPHIN 35

WEEKEND WILDLIFE WALK 28-30 AUGUST 2015

Join our 15 mile sponsored walk and experience the breathtaking scenery of the Scottish highlands.

You can enjoy a challenging and beautiful walk whilst raising much needed funds to help protect the local dolphins.

The walking weekend includes: • Wildlife watching boat cruise • Dinner, bed and breakfast for 2 nights at the Old Brewery, Cromarty • Shore-based dolphin watching at Chanonry Point with Charlie Phillips, WDC’s knowledgeable adopt a dolphin field officer

Sign up at whales.org/weekendwalk