Featured Image Credit: Pacific Whale Foundation
By Jessica Kittel
There’s always a caveat, isn’t there?
The good news: most of the Humpback whale populations around the world have finally made it off of the endangered species list, yay!
The bad news: scientists in British Columbia are reporting that, with the increased populations, comes an increase in net entanglements… not so yay.
In September, National Geographic reported that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) removed nine of the 14 distinct humpback whale populations from the endangered species list. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean people are now at liberty to go out and hunt these majestic ocean giants, they’re still protected by the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). What this does mean is that these nine populations have reached high enough levels for scientists to not worry about them succumbing to extinction. This is what might be referred to as a “win” in the ecological community, as stated in The Guardian. These populations have managed to bounce back from near extinction following commercial whaling, at remarkably rapid rates in some cases.
Off the coast of British Columbia, the Vancouver Sun has reported that more whales seems to come hand-in-hand with more cases of net entanglement for the humpbacks and other whale species. An average year would result in 10 to 15 whale entanglements. However, this year, 22 entanglements have been reported to the marine mammal section of the Federal Fisheries Department.
These entanglements are not being taken lightly. Officials have not only been investigating the situation to see what can be done to prevent further entanglement, they have also been on the front lines, releasing the whales from their restraints.
Six whales have been aided by rescue crews so far this year. These crews remove an assortment of fishing paraphernalia including crab traps and gillnets.
These whales are known to travel and migrate extensively. This puts the entanglement issue on a global scale and is not just one for the local B.C. community. Some of the gear found on the disentangled whales made it to the B.C. waters all the way from the Pacific Ocean coast of Washington.
Even if we have made steps in the right direction with these whales, it would be a mistake to think that they have no need for our protection and concern.