Entanglements have surpassed ship strikes as a leading danger to right whales in recent years. Forty-four percent of diagnosed right whale deaths were due to ship strikes and 35 percent were due to entanglements from 1970 to 2009, the study said. From 2010 to 2015, 15 percent of diagnosed deaths were due to ship strikes and 85 percent were due to entanglements, it said.
State lawmakers want to end a fishing practice that hauls in millions of dollars a year and puts swordfish on restaurant plates – and might be an all-too-efficient killer of dolphin and whales. The culprit is the drift gillnet. A… Read More ›
Ghost nets (derelict nets) , the abandoned or lost nets from fisheries worldwide, is a subject that was the beginning of this blog, Neptune 911. According to a recent post in NOAA’s Marine Debris Log, the agency’s ghost (net) busters,… Read More ›
“Marine debris casts its ominous shadow and threatens to break the virtuous circle which would otherwise guarantee sustainable livelihoods and incentives to protect wildlife.”
Editor’s Note: The focus of Neptune 911 is about our oceans’ cry for help. While the following story is a pitch to raise funds by a group of researchers, it is also a response to that cry for help. The… Read More ›
The vaquita is the smallest porpoise species in the world, reaching a maximum length of just 1.5 metres, and is the only cetacean endemic to Mexico, being found only in the upper Gulf of California. Sadly, it also has the… Read More ›
SYDNEY – The immense scale of the Pacific Ocean at 165 million square kilometers inspires awe and fascination, but for those who inhabit the 22 Pacific island countries and territories, it is the very source of life. Without it, livelihoods… Read More ›
From Science Magazine by Paul Gabrielsen On Christmas Day 2010, an aerial team of wildlife spotters saw a whale in distress off the eastern coast of Florida. Her head, mouth, and fins were tangled in 132 meters of commercial fishing… Read More ›
Using a “patient monitoring” device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale’s diving and swimming behavior. The monitoring revealed how fishing gear hinders whales’ ability to eat… Read More ›
From Cape Cod Online By Mary Ann Bragg mbragg@capecodonline.com May 18, 2013 PROVINCETOWN — A new 50-acre area in Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown and Truro could provide income for shellfish growers. But a popular, floating method for oyster… Read More ›
Neptune 911! 