Whale 'Red List' Released

ANCHOR:
A new report on whale populations was released yesterday... with some good news to report. But environmental activists are still voicing concern. Here's a closer look why.

STORY:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list of threatened species was released yesterday.

It shows that some large whale species such as the humpback, minke and southern right whale are recovering from the threat of extinction. The report warns that smaller species of whales, dolphins and porpoises are endangered mainly as a result of human action.

The blue whale, the largest creature ever to have lived on earth, remained "endangered" along with the fin whale and sei whale.

Japan, Norway and Iceland still hunt minke whales, arguing they are plentiful.

Norway has a quota of 1,052 minke whales and Iceland 40 in the North Atlantic in 2008. Japan caught 551 minke whales off Antarctica in the past season. Hunts used to be far bigger.

Conservation groups say threats from climate change, noise from sonar systems and entangling fishing nets are increasing and we should err on the side of caution.

[Frode Pleym, Greenpeace]:
"While some species have started to recover, none of them are back to the levels they had before industrial whaling started... This report should not be an excuse to hunt these species back to an endangered level again."

The ICUN says nearly a quarter of cetacean species are considered threatened and nine species are listed as 'endangered' or 'critically endangered,' the highest levels of threat.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• ntd
• whale
• red
• list
• environmental
• activist
• Union
• for
• conservation
• of
• nature
• IUCN

[naomistudent]

just because we are at the top of the food chain, it doesnt give us the right to ruin the entire ecosystem you idiot... You obviously dont even understand the rammifications of whaling nor do you understand the concept of animal rights... If you dont know what you're talking about.. then keep your idiocy and ignorance to yourself... douche..

[info145]

Man doesn't learn from history. Climate changes combined with man's overhunting is what made the mammoth extinct. Large animals just don't populate quickly enough to compensate. The whales are facing the same situation, but with an added bane. Our world's oceans are being polluted. Mercury is becoming a big issue. So all this added up almost guarantees extinction of the whales!

[info145]

Whaling town destroyed: youtube.com/watch?v=-hF1uWJ_9n­Q Lessons to be learned

[UsurperDunamis]

@majalca03 Aye, I hope they stop the whaling-otherwise I won't so much as turn around if the entire country is hit by another major tsunami-or worse. Someday Mother Nature might just choose to take back from the japanese all they've taken from her seas and everything that's been built on the lifeblood of the planet.

[majalca03]

@UsurperDunamis I think Mother nature went easy on the Japanese actually, for all that they have done to her. Maybe if they don't listen to her warning she'll send them a really big Tsunami.

[info145]

@lukeandeddie20

It's amazing how Whales have learned to "Live in the now" and 90% of humans haven't.

You don't see Blue Whales (the biggest most powerful lifeform in Earth history) killing or betraying each other for gain.

Yet the poachers say Whales are just dumb animals! ♥

[info145]

Whale Meat, Seal Meat, and Seafood contain huge doses of Methyl Mercury - A neurotoxin. Eating Whalemeat, SealMeat, & Fish contaminated with Methyl or Organic elemental Mercury causes brain damage, mental retardation, tremors, and brain tissue damage. Most people are aware of Health Officials warnings about fish, however thousands are unaware that the dosages contained in Whale Meat and Seal Meat is from 10x to 9,000x the dose in Fish. 1000s of times above the human limit. watch?v=xRcEfErT0PE

[ZLlKi]

Humans are actually one of the weakest and most useless species on the Earth...we can't hunt a single bird,we can't do anything special such as flying,swimming or anything...hope monkeys soon become the dominant guys,it will be a better world!

[J1ZZ3D]

@flipkev I dissagree with you. Animals have never made each other into extinction. They don't kill each other over and over again, they just take what they need. And they don't go polluting the earth. In a war there is always the good side and bad side, in this case the humans are bad and the rest are good 'tool'

[J1ZZ3D]

Humans: When you thought deadly snakes, killer lions and poison's spiders were bad enough...

[flipkev]

@naomistudent

Question is, if the roles were reversed, would the whales hunt us to extinction? The answer is yes, know what side you're on in the war against nature...tool....