| Dolphins in Danger By Melissa "Little Orca" Thomas Spring of 2004 |
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| In ancient and modern times, the dolphin is seen as a magickal creature. Since the dolphin breathes air, yet lives in the Womb of the Goddess, it believed to be the sacred being who is the keeper of the breath of life (Conway). The dolphin is still revered in many cultures. The dolphin is seen as a sign of good fortune to those travelers at sea as well as the one who is the bridge between the ocean and mankind. And now, thanks to the humans that the dolphin seeks to lead into peaceful existence, that bridge is crumbling. There are some 38 species of dolphins that come in many sizes. The smallest of the dolphins is the Hector’s dolphin, reaching just below five feet in length, while the largest dolphin is the killer whale that can reach lengths of thirty feet. Many dolphins can only be found in one place on the globe, such as the boto that only lives in the Amazon River in South America. Other dolphins, such as the killer whale and bottlenose dolphin, can be found worldwide (Clapham et. all). ‘So, what is harming these animals?’ you may be asking. The answer is short, but not simple: Pollution. Pollution is any form of material that contaminates the air, soil, or water. Many of the best-known pollutants are indeed deadly, but do not occure all the time as the others do. For example: Oil Spills. Oils spills are a deadly mess whether they are large or small. Because oil is less dense than water, it floats on the surface and is carried along by the motion of the ocean far and wide unless it is quickly surrounded by a protective “boom.” Booms are floating barriers to made of metal, plastics, or other materials that keep oil from spreading along the surface. Other methods of keeping the oil from spreading, but that are not entirely environmentally friendly, are burning the oil and pouring chemicals on it that makes the oil disperse and sink (OR&R et. all). However quick the oil is trapped, the damage has still been done. Marine mammals are one of the hardest hit beings in an oil spill. This is due to their dependence not only on water for survival, but also air. Damages that have been reported in marine mammals include congested airways and lungs, gastrointestinal hemorrhaging and ulcers, metabolic shock, hypothermia, poisoning from ingesting oil, and blindness (Space for Species). Another problem is household waste and sewage. Pollutants of this kind refer to paint, chemicals, and oils that are poured into drains and down sinks. These drains lead into our oceans or into waterways that will carry them out into the ocean. Household waste and sewage also includes fecal matter, liter, and lawn pesticides that are sometimes referred to as marine debris, though this term also covers drift nets and ghost nets¹. According to the Dolphin Research Center, an estimated 43% of all marine mammals will become entangled in marine debris or they will ingest it. While entanglement of a marine mammal in trash will result in an eventual drowning unless they are helped immediately, the ingestion of marine debris can be seen as just has horrible. Common marine debris that dolphins and seals ingest would be plastic bags. The plastic is consumed by the creature and cannot be digested. Not only are harmful chemicals being released into the body, but also damage is caused to the stomach itself. Since the plastic cannot be digested, it sits in the stomach. This fools the animal into believing it has a full tummy and does not need to eat. The dolphin’s body is then deprived of nutrients and eventually the animal starves to death (MIT). A large problem for marine mammals, and essentially all marine life, is agriculture. Fertilizers used in farming sink in to the soil and make their way into watersheds. This water in the watershed runs into the ocean where it causes enormous problems. The fertilizers feed microorganisms and can cause their toxic populations to explode. The most extreme case of this on record was The Dolphin Die-Off of 1987. Between the summer months of 1987 and 1988, a total of 750 dolphin carcasses washed ashore scattered between Florida and New Jersey. Many of the dolphins that washed up on the shores were covered in grotesque skin lesions. Other dolphins washed up on shore looking as though they had been dipped in a vat of acid and tossed onto the beach. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] launched an investigation as to why the dolphins were dying at such alarming rates. Their fist conclusion was that the dolphins were eating fish contaminated by the ‘Red Tide’ algae (May). ‘Red Tide’ is a naturally occurring event. It happens when there is an explosive growth of a microorganism called dinoflagellates; a type of phytoplankton. The kind that is listed under the species Ptychodiscus brevis produces a poison called brevetoxin. It was this that the scientists believed killed the dolphins. However, there were still some things that did not add up. Of the 17 animals that were studied by the NOAA, only eight of them had amounts of brevetoxin in their bodies and there is no clinical data of how that toxin truly affects the body. But, another strong point that pointed to Red Tide, and therefore the fertilizers that fed them, was that between late November and January 1 of 1987 and 1988, 14 humpback whales washed up on shore having died from another poison, saxitoxin, caused by the Red Tide. A strong foundation for many of the deaths of the dolphins lied within their blubber. PCB’s were found in the dolphins ranging from 13 parts per million [ppm] to 620 ppm. One dolphin was found to have over 6,800 ppm of PCB’s in its blubber alone. That is the highest amount ever recorded in a marine mammal (May). Polychlorinated Biphenyls [PCB’s] must be the world’s worst pollutant. PCB’s are used in industrial production and are dumped along with other waste into the water systems of the world. This chemical, along with DDT, is of great concern to scientists and dolphin enthusiasts because these chemicals are stored in fat, and marine mammals have lots of blubber to keep them warm. Since the chemicals do not break down easily in the body, they are passed from generation to generation by nursing mothers feeding their chemical-filled milk to their offspring (Thompson). Problems that PCB’s have caused in marine mammals include immune system damage, nervous system damage, liver damage, and various kinds of lesions all over the body. The dolphins from the Dolphin Die-Off had all these and other affects, which were seen in laboratory animals when they were exposed to high amounts of PCB’s. These chemicals are also quickly destroying the population of the world’s best-known marine mammal: the killer whale. Pollution is poured into Puget Sound and other ocean ports all over the coast. According to the Orca Recovery Campaign, there are some 850 waste sites in the water and on land in the state of Washington and 93 identified marine toxic sediment sites in the Puget Sound area. Of those 93 sites, only 17 of them have been cleaned up, 11 of them have not even been touched by cleaning crews, and another 65 are considered in the clean up process. The clean up process includes the initial investigation [29 locations are in this stage], remedial investigation [16 locations are in this state], feasibility stage [10 locations are in this stage], the design stage (5 locations are in this stage), and the actual clean-up and restoration stage [only 5 locations are in this stage]. It is believed that the total cost to clean up these sites will be an estimated $687 million (Earth Island Institute). Another major issue in protecting the killer whale is not saving the whale itself, but rather its food and the food of its food. The killer whale population in the Pacific Northwest is crashing because of one simple word: Biomagnification . Biomagnification is a word used to describe how and why top predators are more contaminated than lower animals on the food chain. See the image index at the end of the report to see an illustration of Biomagnification for both resident/offshore killer whales and transient killer whales. While in truth all marine mammals are hit hard when it comes to pollution, the single hardest hit population has to be the belugas in the St. Lawrence River in Canada. In the year 1885, there were about 5,000 belugas, or white whales, that lived in the St. Lawrence River. In 1990, there was only about 400-500 left (May). The belugas were found to have been polluted with a mixture of some two-dozen chemicals that included DDT and PCB’s. The PCB levels in the belugas reached as high as 576 ppm. Keep in mind that when a fish is contaminated with only 2 ppm of PCB’s it is considered unsafe to eat. Nursing female belugas had PCB levels 3,400 times greater than that of safe drinking water (May). In the 1970’s, a researcher by the name of Leone Pippard conducted a series of independent studies of the beluga population in the St. Lawrence River. What he found was astonishing. The beluga population was showing signs of being more polluted then it was originally thought. Autopsies of dead belugas that had washed ashore were frightening. One beluga calf, two years old, had broncho-pneumonia, chronic hepatitis, a gastric ulcer with peritonitis, and marks on the skin that were similar to the effects from a herpes virus. Other belugas had bladder cancer, skin fibrosis, liver cancer, a hermaphrodite beluga, abdomen cancer, mammary gland cancer, a class of bronchial pneumonia that is common in AIDS sufferers, and a rupture of the pulminary artery as well (May). The appearance of the bladder cancer was considered one of the more interesting points of the autopsies. This is because in an area that is adjacent to where the belugas lived, there was a 60% increase in cases of bladder cancer in humans that was very out of the ordinary. A study of workers at the Alcan Aluminum Smelter revealed 73 cases of bladder cancer, but that number rose to 130 cases in early 1990 (May). The most alarming problem the pollution has caused for the St. Lawrence beluga is in their genes. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons [PAH’s] have actually become attached to the beluga’s DNA. The PAH’s have altered the genetic information in the DNA strand and therefore is making the belugas more easily harmed. Sadly, this “pollution gene” is passes along from generation to generation of these increasingly dwindling whales (May). What is being done to help the belugas? The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has announced that the St. Lawrence beluga is an endangered species. There was a recovery plan developed for St. Lawrence belugas in 1995. The team used known threats and limiting factors as a base then proposed several strategies for helping the beluga population recover and ensuring its survival (DFO Canada). The five strategies that have been proposed to save the St. Lawrence belugas are to monitor the state of the population, reduce disturbances, prevent ecological catastrophes, reduce toxic contaminants, and to conduct research to find out if there are any other factors harming the belugas and how to take care of them (Whales). A success story for dolphins comes from China along the banks of the Yangtze River. In this river lives one of five species of fresh-water river dolphins. This dolphin, known as the baiji, was unknown to scientist until an American in 1914 killed one and sold it to the Smithsonian for investigation. Even though it turned out to be a completely new species of river dolphin, it was virtually ignored until the 1970’s (May). under constant stress in its home. The Yangtze River is a major waterway through China and is often congested with boats of many kinds and sizes. Will the dolphins and other marine mammals of the world ever recover from the human threats of pollution? No one can really say for sure. The hope is that they shall with help from the many international organizations that have been set up to protect and preserve the lives of those wonderful creatures. Historically mankind has dumped their problems into the ocean and expected that they would just get washed away, however, it is evident that they don’t… they only get bigger. ¹ Ghost nets are drift nets that have been abandoned. They float in the water and animals become tangled in them. When they are heavy with carcasses they will sink, but once the carcasses rot away, the nets will surface again and the cycle continues Book Sources Clapham, Phillip J, et. all. National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. Chanticleer Press, 2002. New York, NY. Connor, Richard C. The Lives of Whales and Dolphins. Gallagher/Howard Associates, Inc and the American Museum of Natural History, 1994. New York, NY. Second Printing, 1996 Conway, DJ. Animal Magick. Llewellyn Publications, 1995. St. Paul, MN. Eighth Printing, 2002 May, John, et. all. The Greenpeace Book of Dolphins. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc, 1990. New York, NY. Thompson, Paul & Ben Wilson. Bottlenose Dolphins. Voyager Press, Inc, 1994. Stillwater, MN. Internet Sources Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada). Aquatic Species at Risk-The St. Lawrence Beluga. January 20, 2003 http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas/species-especes/beluga_sl_e.htm Dolphin Research Center. Conservation Issues—Threats to the Dolphins. http://dolphins.org/ Earth Island Institute: Orca Recovery Campaign. Toxic Poisoning. http://www.saveorcawhales.org/threats-toxics.htm MIT Sea Grant. Do Dolphins Sleep? Q & A About The Sea. http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/dolphinsleep/questions/pollution/sealife.html NOAA, OR&R. Spill Containment Methods. March 31, 2004. http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/esi/exercise/contain.html Space for Speicies. How Oil Affects Birds and Other Wildlife. http://www.spaceforspecies.ca Tantalum Wild Dolphin Resort’s Dolphin Web. News & Links. http://www.tangalooma.com/dolphinweb/ Whales Online. The St. Lawrence Beluga Recovery Plan. http://www.whales-online.net |
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