Whale rescue dilemma

Cetaceans Descendants of land-living mammals Related to hoofed animals Entered the water roughly 50 million years ago

Order: Cetacea Suborder Mysticeti: baleen whales Family Balaenidae: Right Whales Family Balaenopteridae: Rorquals Family Eschrichtiidae: Gray Whale Family Neobalaenidae: Pygmy Right Whale Suborder Odontoceti: toothed whales Family Delphinidae: oceanic dolphins Family Monodontidae: Narwhal and Beluga Family Phocoenidae: Porpoises Family Physeteridae: Sperm Whale Family Kogiidae: Dwarf and Pygmy Sperm Whales Family Ziphidae: Beaked Whales Superfamily Platanistoidea: river dolphins Family Iniidae: Boto Family Lipotidae: Baiji Family Platanistidae: Ganges and Indus River Dolphin Family Pontoporiidae: La Plata River Dolphin

Order: Cetacea Suborder Mysticeti: baleen whales Family Balaenidae: Right Whales Family Balaenopteridae: Rorquals Family Eschrichtiidae: Gray Whale Family Neobalaenidae: Pygmy Right Whale Suborder Odontoceti: toothed whales Family Delphinidae: oceanic dolphins Family Monodontidae: Narwhal and Beluga Family Phocoenidae: Porpoises Family Physeteridae: Sperm Whale Family Kogiidae: Dwarf and Pygmy Sperm Whales Family Ziphidae: Beaked Whales Superfamily Platanistoidea: river dolphins Family Iniidae: Boto Family Lipotidae: Baiji Family Platanistidae: Ganges and Indus River Dolphin Family Pontoporiidae: La Plata River Dolphin

Pilot Whales 3.5 to 5 m long, 1.5 and 3 tons, for female and male Males live for about 45 years and female about 60 years Polygamous Very social, family animals May travel in groups of up to 100, one animal acting as leader World population is unknown (at least few 100,000) Feed on squids and fish Feeding dives may last for 10 minutes or more Can dive to depths of 600m but most dives are 30 - 60m

Distribution of Pilot whales Green: Long-finned - Blue: Short-finned

Distribution of Long-finned Pilot Whales Globicephala melas http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=59282

Stranding of Long-finned Pilot Whales http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/aadc/whales/species_sightings.cfm?taxon_id=59282

Stranding in Tasmania - 2003 Over 100 pilot whales Very few rescued Photos: The Age

Difficult to rescue Skin needs to be maintained wet Heavy Cannot be towed They beached themselves again & again

Dilemma What would you do? - do nothing - euthanise the whales - try to save them Which animals would you save first? - adult male - adult female - pregnant - young

For DNA parenting, recording Understand the cause of stranding Scientific interest Blood samples Tissue samples For DNA parenting, recording Understand the cause of stranding Would you agree for the scientists to take samples from all the whales?

Whaling Pilot Whales have also been hunted for many centuries In the mid-1980s: 2,300 animals killed annually By the 1990s: Decrease to about 400/year

Make use of the animals? Limited success of the rescue Whalers Euthanasia Process of meat and fat Money to finance the rescue Would you agree for the company to euthanise the remaining whales and process them?

Possible explanations for stranding Sick or infested with parasites “Internal compass” may be malfunctioning due to pollutants or naturally occurring ionic minerals in the water. Simply be confused Leader beached itself and all the pod follows accidental or a purposeful effort on the part of the whales? Whales (as well as birds, lobsters, and even humans) possess small amounts of a metal called "magnetite" in their brains and magnetite is affected by magnetic fields. Thus magnetite serves as a natural compass that "reads" the magnetic field of the Earth and allows animals to navigate across vast areas of feature-less sea in the same way that mariners use the compass on board a ship. Man-made pollutants as well as naturally occurring ionic minerals dissolved in sea water may alter small regions of the Earth's magnetic field and cause these whales to veer off in a "wrong" direction that sends them towards dry land. Even after the whales are pushed back out to sea by well-meaning humans, they still are unable to overcome the urge to follow their internal compass and re-beach themselves... often with fatal consequences. (3) Finally, Whales

Human responsibility?

The leader strands itself and all members of the pod follow Scenario 1 “Internal compass” may be malfunctioning due to sonar testing by the Navy The leader strands itself and all members of the pod follow If you knew that the whales beached themselves because of human activities, would you have taken the same decision?

Scenario 2 Genetic defect leading to heart defect The leader strands itself and all members of the pod follow If you knew that the whales beached themselves because of a genetic defect and following a natural process, would you have taken the same decision?

Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus Listed as Endangered on IUCN Red list Adult size: 24-27 m Adult weight up to 136 tons Photo: Univ. Texas Photo: NOAA Yr. of the Ocean

Distribution of Blue whales http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=39

Stranding of Blue Whales http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/aadc/whales/species_sightings.cfm?taxon_id=36

Scenario A Blue whale is seen off Tasmania Wounded after being attacked by a killer whale - its natural predator Listed as Endangered on the IUCN red list What would you do? do nothing euthanise the whale try to save it