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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2015)
5A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015 Whales entangled at alarming rate along coast By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press LONG BEACH, Calif. — An unusual ZaUPinJ in WKH 3aFi¿F OFHan Pa\ EH KaY- ing disastrous consequences for the majestic whales that use the waters off California as a migrator\ suSer-highwa\. 7his \ear alone, more than whales en- tangled in ¿shing gear haYe Eeen sSotted along the coast — a more than Sercent sSiNe oYer normal and a Sattern that Eegan in . 6cien- tists EelieYe the whales ma\ Ee following Sre\ closer to shore as warm water inÀuences feed- ing Satterns, Sutting them on a collision course with ¿shermen, craEEers and loEstermen. 7he situation is so dire that the craE ¿sher\ has Eegun worNing closel\ with state and fed- eral agencies and enYironmental grouSs to ¿g- ure out where and how the whales are running into their gear. 7he ocean mammals also haYe Eecome entangled in gill nets and loEster gear, Eut authorities haYe identi¿ed the craE ¿sher\ as the most urgent concern. ³7his time of \ear, the whales would Ee off- shore Eut with the EloE of warm water, the\¶re right off the Eeach. 7he\¶re right where the craEs are,´ said -im Anderson, a craEEer who¶s helSing to moEili]e the state¶s licensed 'ungeness craE ¿shermen. ³<ou go talN to a gu\ who¶s Eeen ¿shing for or \ears and he¶s neYer seen an\thing liNe it.´ :hales that haYe roSe stucN in their mouths or wraSSed tightl\ around their ¿ns or tail will eYentuall\ die if the\ can¶t free themselYes. Highl\ trained Yolunteer rescue teams are onl\ Christine Armario/AP Photo aEle to disentangle a small Sercentage desSite Capt. David Anderson of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari in Dana Point, Calif., shows a net a whale was found en- tracNing deYices that allow them to follow the tangled in. Anderson was among the first to realize whale entanglements were a serious problem when his tours kept running into hoEEled animals for miles. 0an\ swim awa\ distressed whales. This year alone, more than 60 entangled whales have been spotted along the coast, a more than 400 percent spike. and their fate is neYer Nnown. A humSEacN whale that was Sartiall\ freed recentl\ off La -olla, California had line stucN in its mouth, a huge Nnot of roSe si[ feet Ee- hind its tail and additional feet of roSe and Euo\s dragging Eehind it. Another rescued nearE\ had a -foot line looSed oYer its tail that was connected to a loEster Sot still swing- ing from the roSe¶s end underwater. .eith <iS, who Yolunteers as the leader of a disentanglement team sSonsored E\ 6ea:orld, was inYolYed in Eoth rescues. He¶s Eeen called out four times in the Sast si[ weeNs and has logged rescues in the Sast two \ears — one- ¿fth of all the calls he¶s had in a -\ear career. ³,t¶s another joE in and of itself recentl\,´ said <iS, who is the curator of mammals at 6ea:orld. ³0\ weeNend da\s alone just the Eric Risberg/AP Photo Sast couSle of weeNs ,¶Ye sSent on the water.´ Crab fisherman Jim Anderson talks about 5ather than cracN down on the 'ungeness the lines used on his boat in Half Moon craE ¿sher\, which can Ering in uS to mil- Bay, Calif. lion a season, state and federal agencies decid- ed to taS into the craEEers¶ collectiYe Nnowl- 7he cooSeration comes against the EacNdroS edge to ¿gure out where wa\ward whales and of a two-decade Eattle Eetween enYironmen- ¿shermen are oYerlaSSing. 7he craE season is talists and loEster ¿shermen on the East Coast dela\ed this \ear Eecause of a massiYe Eloom that hasn¶t \ielded answers Eut has ¿nancial- of to[ic algae in the 3aci¿c, Eut craEEers are l\ deYastated loEstermen, said Geoff 6hester, committed to helS California camSaign Eric Risberg/AP Photo when the season does director for Oceana. Crab fisherman Jim Anderson poses by his crab pots in Half Moon Bay, Calif. resume later this win- ,t¶s a Sromising ‘We’ve had more ter or ne[t \ear. start Eut ultimatel\ than 50 entangled might not Ee enough, At a training ses- sion this fall in Half said 'aYid Ander- whales this year 0oon Ba\, near- son, caStain of CaSt. l\ craEEers al- 'aYe¶s 'olShin and off California, but read\ learned how to :hale :atching 6afa- ri in Dana Point, Cali- ShotograSh tangled that’s just the tip fornia. whales, call them in of the iceberg,” he Anderson, who is to a hotline and then no relation to the craE ³EaE\sit´ them until said. “Most of the ¿sherman, was among authorities arriYe. A the ¿rst to reali]e there Eest Sractices guide whales we’re not was a serious SroElem has Eeen distriEuted to all craEEers. seeing — and it’s a under the water when his tours NeSt running And when craE- huge problem.’ into distressed whales. Eing does resume, Now, a critical Sart ¿shermen will worN Capt. David Anderson of his worN also in- alongside scientists captain of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale YolYes documenting on their Eoats to test Watching Safari in Dana Point, Calif. — and resSonding to different densities and — entangled whales strengths of roSe and gear con¿gurations, including a new ³sinNing off the 6outhern California coast. Anderson, roSe´ that reduces slacN in the line that could who¶s certi¿ed E\ federal marine authorities entraS whales. Another Silot Srogram will log as a Yolunteer rescuer, EelieYes the hoEEled where craEEers droS their Sots on G36-en- whales here are a s\mStom of a larger crisis Eric Risberg/AP Photo aEled i3ads. that¶s telegraShed to the surface with each Lines are seen inside one of crab fisherman Jim Anderson’s crab pots in Half Moon Bay, ³:e¶Ye got Sots in the water, we¶Ye got struggling creature. Calif. The rescue of a humpback whale that got entangled in crab pot netting last month got roSes in the water and we¶Ye got whales in the ³:e¶Ye had more than entangled whales national attention, but scientists and fishermen have been alarmed for months by a dramatic water,´ said Anderson. ³:hat can we do to this \ear off California, Eut that¶s just the tiS spike in the numbers of whales becoming entrapped in fishing gear off the California Coast. maNe this a safe Slace for eYer\Eod\"´ of the iceEerg,´ he said. ³0ost of the whales Federal and state officials from several agencies are now partnering with crab fishermen up EnYironmental grouSs are on Eoard, too. we¶re not seeing — and it¶s a huge SroElem.´ and down the California coast to develop strategies to reduce entanglements. Have your say on the next 10 years of trail planning in Oregon A draft of the document Oregon Trails 2015: A Vision For The Future is posted online at http://tinyurl.com/o3lvfah for a month of public review. The plan has information and recommendations to guide planning on the following types of trails: • Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) trails • Snowmobile trails • Trails for hiking, mountain biking and other non-motorized trail recreation • Water trails The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) developed the plan using public feedback from throughout the state. OPRD is required to develop a trails plan to be eligible for matching federal grants. OPRD will accept comments until January 5, 2016. Responses can be made via: • http://tinyurl.com/o3lvfah • Email comments to Terry Bergerson at terry.bergerson@oregon.gov • Mail comments to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, 725 Summer Street NE, Suite C, Salem, OR 97301-1271, Attn: Terry Bergerson ADVERTISEMENT