Dolphins in danger
Been reading the February edition of Forest and Bird magazine with some great articles as usual. One by Helen Bain is about the amazing Hector’s dolphin, which is in real trouble. The South Island population is down to 7000 from 26,000 in 1970, and the North Island population, a subspecies called Maui’s dolphin, is down to an estimated just 111 individuals. Hector’s is a really amazing beautiful dolphin with its distinctive rounded dorsal fin. We have not done the right thing by them.
The dangers to Hector’s dolphins are mainly set nets and trawling but pollution and tourism seem to have some impact as well. There are bans on set netting currently off the North West coast of the North Island and around Banks Peninsula but F&B are seeking a national ban on set nets to save the dolphins (and to reduce threats to sea birds and non-target fish also). Given that this is clearly a biodiversity emergency such a ban makes a lot of sense. It may grate against libertarian instincts, but if we are serious about conservation there appears to be little option but direct state intervention to ban activities that are wiping out our precious friends.
(The image above is from an Otago Uni media release, I don’t know who to credit for it but it is beautiful)
April 5th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Rightio… i was away when this was posted, and i simply CANNOT believe we can have over 100 comments playing ‘he said, she said’ on s59, and NOTHING about the world’s rarest and smallest marine mammal!!!?? pretty bloody poor if you ask me.
anyhoo, it seems that both Forest and Bird and WWF are making some noise about this one… so have a look here http://stuff.co.nz/4014001a7693.html and follow the link at the bottom, and for goodness sake, SHOW SOME INTEREST in your surrounding flora and fauna….!
incidentally there was apparently a Hector’s found butchered on Banks Peninsula recently, ‘tail cut off, and set net marks and stab wounds around the head… and yet we say nothing…
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.aspx?id=71694&cat=987
April 5th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
naturevision..
that/those sec 59 threads were/have been colonised by anti-trolls…
just saying the same thing..over..and over..and over again…
a quick flick thru those threads will show those same names..
yr sthn daves..yr big bruvs..yr bj’s..etc etc..
saying those same things…
so that all means s.f.a…eh..?
and as for this dolphin story..
i’ll say to you what i said to russel norman when he issued his call to arms to aucklanders re a decent public transport system for that city..
what do you want us to do..?..
that will be politically effective..?
or are you just after some group ‘emoting’..?
(that is a serious question..b.t.w…)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
April 5th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
b.t.w..naturevision…
noting your (clearly) heartfelt caring for the dolphins..
i was wondering if you eat any of them..?
not dolphins..but other sentient beings..?
‘cos if you do..you may be laying yourself open to charges of speciesism…eh..?
cos’ most of those animals that are eaten..
suffer deaths similar to the one above..
that you find so abhorrent….
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
April 5th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Yep, you sure can do something. MAKE SOME NOISE! visit wwf’s webpage (www.wwf.org.nz), and sign to petition, write to your MPs etc etc.
i don’t think this is about group emoting. this is about shaking off the apathy (its too hard, what can i do etc etc), and stepping forward to protect a national icon. This species is in exactly the same boat as the Kakapo. almost down to the exact number. Do we want a legacy of losing a species of dolphin?
And Phil, we’ve had this ‘conversation’ before. Yep i eat meat. not an awful lot, but i do. I don’t believe this is speciesism, because my reasons for wanting to protect this animal have more to do with the issue of endangered species and the human impacts on it. I wouldn’t eat a kakapo for example. I also love the Giraffe Weevil, the Peripatus and Kauri snails. So too do i love the plants, pingao, rimu, and manuka (but i do like Manuka honey). please don’t distract from the original premise here. We clearly all have different shades of green, but i think we tend to nod in the same direction.
Incidentally, did you know that the average person accidentally eats about 400 bugs and spiders a year!?
; )
April 5th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
sorry mate..
but emoting about one..while chowing down on another..
couldn’t be a clearer example/definition of speciesism..eh..?
btw..which sentient beings is it ok to eat..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
April 5th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
whatever Phil. but just one question… do you wear leather shoes?
April 6th, 2007 at 3:21 am
naturevision says:
“… i simply CANNOT believe we can have over 100 comments playing ‘he said, she said’ on s59, and NOTHING about the world’s rarest and smallest marine mammal!!!?? pretty bloody poor if you ask me … ”
I reply:
I understand that you are upset about the dolphins (as are we!)
You will find that many of us HAVE been doing the things you suggest.
(I have visited other websites, signed two (or three?) petitons, talked to aquaintances about it and written (and spoken) to my local MP etc.
I admit to feeling very angry and sad, (and to having burst into tears several times!)
Whether frogblog contributors do or don’t make the information on a thread on frogblog their centre of discusion can have little effect on the outcome of that issue. Once individual readers have the information, “making a difference” is usually done (individually or collectively) elsewhere.
What frogblog does NOT need right now is more “blaming” posts from an angry contributor.
The Section 59 “debate” turned into a protracted, and, in many instances, illinformed, repetitive and pointless attack on the Green Party and (some of) its members. Most of these posts were NOT from Greens.
(Some Greens spent time there, to monitor what was happening rather than wanting to join in the so called “debate”.)
April 6th, 2007 at 6:18 am
no mate..i don’t wear/use leather anything..
(it’s not difficult to take those ‘last steps’..eh..?..
and very liberating/cleansing(?) it is…..as well..eh..?..)
seriously..!..after being vegetarian for a very long time..i thought the changes inside me from going vegan would be minimal…
how wrong i was..eh..?..)
(it seems to be the direction you are heading in…naturevision..?..
and i can recommend the scenic view on the way..
and the eventual destination..eh..?
free yourself/ves…!..and the animals..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)