Whale

• GREAT BEAR SEA, BC, Feb. 29, 2024 /CNW/ - A new report by WWF-Canada uses data on ship speed and waste generated in B.C.
• The analysis shows that shipping speeds, combined with billions of litres of waste, pose immediate and cumulative risks to species at risk, including fin whales and humpbacks.
• It builds on the data and findings from WWF-Canada's Shipping Traffic and Speed in Cetacean Habitats on Canada's Pacific Coast and National Vessel Dumping Assessment .
• In 2022, an estimated 56 billion litres of waste were generated by commercial ships in the Northern Shelf Bioregion.

• UnCruise Adventures is proud to show the strength of a family-owned, locally run business that provides services and experiences that mega ships can't offer.
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• I have never seen a cruise company, of any size, receive four Best in Alaska Awards in a single year!

• The Great Southern Australian Coastal Upwelling System is an upward current of water over vast distances along Australia’s southern coast.
• This nutrient-rich water supports a rich ecosystem that attracts iconic species like the southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) and blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda).
• This year marks the 20th anniversary of a research publication that revealed the existence of the large seasonal upwelling system along Australia’s southern coastal shelves.

Where do the nutrients come from?

• Only the upper 50 metres of the water column receives enough light to support the microscopic phytoplankton – single-celled organisms that depend on photosynthesis.
• This is the process of using light energy to make a simple sugar, which phytoplankton and plants use as their food.
• As well as light, the process requires a suite of nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus.

What causes the upwelling?

• These winds force near-surface water offshore, which draws up deeper, nutrient-enriched water to replace it in the sunlight zone.
• The summer winds also produce a swift coastal current, called an upwelling jet.
• Coastal upwelling driven by southerly winds also forms occasionally along Tasmania’s west coast.

• Recent research suggests the overall upwelling intensity has not dramatically changed in the past 20 years.
• The findings indicate global climate changes of the past 20 years had little or no impact on the ecosystem functioning.

What are the links between upwelling, tuna and whales?

• They are the Australian sardine (Sardinops sagax) and the Australian krill (Nyctiphanes australis), a small, shrimp-like creature that’s common in the seas around Tasmania.
• Sardines are the key diet of larger fish, including the southern bluefin tuna, and various marine mammals including the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea).
• Nonetheless, their timing and location appear to fit perfectly into the annual migration patterns of southern bluefin tuna and blue whales, creating a natural wonder in the southern hemisphere.

Jochen Kaempf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• This fate is all too common for migratory species.
• Today, we get a global glimpse of how migratory species are faring, in the first-ever stocktake produced by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.
• After all, the migratory humpback whale was headed for rapid extinction – until we stopped whaling.

Why are migratory species at higher risk?

• Some bar-tailed godwits fly 13,000 km without stopping – one of the longest known continuous migrations.
• On land, roads and fences carve up migratory routes for animals like wildebeest.
• While a few species are benefiting greatly from farming and artificial wetlands, many more are being severely harmed.

Overexploitation is the top risk

• Animals often migrate in large groups, making them an appealing target for hunting or fishing.
• Bycatch in commercial fisheries is a huge problem for sharks, turtles, mammals and birds, but it can be massively reduced with existing technology, if deployed across all fleets Overexploitation can be stopped.
• In 1981, Australia and Japan agreed to stop hunting Latham’s Snipe, a migratory shorebird that travels between the two countries.

On fences and stepping stones

• Light pollution can mess with navigation, climate change plays havoc with the timing of migration, and underwater noise pollution can confuse marine migrants.
• Even simple actions like building fences, roads and dams can disrupt migrations over land and through rivers.
• Many migratory species need stepping stones: resting sites linking up their whole migratory route.

What the report didn’t cover

• First, it only covers species listed under the UN convention, a tiny fraction of all migratory species.
• Listing unlocks stronger protections and urgently needs to be rolled out to more species.
• For instance, around 60 migratory fish species are covered – but more than 1,700 others are not.

Can we save these species?

• More than 90% of the world’s migratory birds aren’t adequately protected by national parks and other protected areas.
• Only 8% of the world’s protected land is joined up, preventing migrating animals from moving safely across their routes.
• Because of this, animals have to make daring sorties across unprotected land or sea to complete their journeys.

• Richard Fuller receives funding for migratory species research from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Science Program.
• Lily Bentley works on the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO; mico.eco) system, which has been previously supported by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) and UNEP-WCMC, the authors of the UN report.