Mysterious Deaths…
I just read a sad piece of news about how whales are mysteriously dying around Argentina’s Patagonian coast.
The Southern Right Whales are very big mammals which live in the Southern Hemisphere. They can grow up to 15 meters long and weigh up to 47 tonnes! They are also easily distinguishable by the callosities on their heads and a long arching mouth.
Hunted for centuries for their meat and blubber, which was used for whale oil, their population decreased dramatically… In 1937, the ban for Right Whale hunting was imposed, and the numbers stabilized.
Although the ban helped to stop the decline in numbers, because of their low reproductivity levels and lifestyle, there was very little growth in population… this worried many conservationists. Since 2005, authorities have been seeing a high mortality rate of Southern Right Whales. The mortality rate of these animals only seem to increase as the years pass…
Although scientists are trying their best to find the cause and solution to these mysterious deaths, many of these hypothesis points towards an unbalanced ecosystem such as biotoxins, lack of food in the environment, disease and even kelp gulls…
We must always do our best to protect our environment and reduce landfills… we may not feel the direct repercussion of our actions, but it can cause the loss of hundreds of other lives. There are many more animals out there that suffer due to our ignorance towards protecting the environment…
What do you think is the cause of their mysterious deaths?
Tsem Rinpoche
Worst-Ever Right Whale Die-Off Continues to Puzzle
Megan Gannon, News Editor
09 May 2013
Scientists still don’t know why hundreds of baby southern right whales are turning up dead around Patagonia, a decade after observers first saw signs of the worst die-off on record for the species, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
With no evidence of infectious diseases or deadly toxins in whale tissue samples, scientists are scrambling to determine a cause of death. Some are even pointing a finger at blubber-eating birds.
The whales come to the peaceful Atlantic bays around Peninsula Valdes along Argentina’s Patagonian Coast to give birth and raise their young. At least 605 dead right whales have been counted in the region since 2003, WCS officials say. Of those, 538 were newborn calves. Last year, the mortality event was especially severe, with a record-breaking 116 whale deaths, 113 of them calves. [Whale Album: Giants of the Deep]
“In 2012 we lost nearly one-third of all calves born at the Peninsula,” said Mariano Sironi, scientific director of the Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas in Argentina. “Southern right whales have their first calf when they are nine years old on average. This means that it won’t be until a decade from now that we will see a significant reduction in the number of calves born, as all of the female calves that died will not be contributing any new offspring to the population,” Sironi, who is also an advisor to the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program, added in a statement.
Sironi and colleague Vicky Rowntree, who is co-director of the monitoring program, have studied a strange phenomena that could be stressing southern right whales. They say kelp gulls at Peninsula Valdes land on the backs of the cetaceans to eat their skin and blubber.
“The attacks are very painful and cause large, deep lesions, particularly on the backs of young 2-6 week-old calves,” the researchers said in a statement from WCS. “This harassment can last for hours at a time. As a result, right whale mothers and their calves are expending much precious energy during a time of year when mothers are fasting and at a site where little to no food is available to replenish fat reserves.”
The situation is discouraging for a species that had made a significant comeback since its population was depleted by the whaling industry.
“The southern right whale population is still only a small fraction of its original size, and now we have reason to worry about its recovery,” Rowntree said.
Though the southern right whale is not listed as endangered, conservationists warn that the species’ sister populations could go extinct if hit with a mysterious die-off on this scale. For instance, there are thought to be just about 500 North Atlantic right whales remaining.
(Source: http://www.livescience.com/29495-southern-right-whale-die-off.html)
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With so many hundreds of baby southern right whales dead washed ashore around Patagonia. Researchers are launching an investigation into the unexplained deaths of hundreds of young southern right whales. The southern right whales is the biggest sea mammal in the world and one of the planet’s most vulnerable marine species. Its has a feature of a dark, gray and blackish body, heavy and with no dorsal fin. Conservationists, scientists and researchers are determined by all means to find out the cause of the death as the populations could go extinct in no time.
Thank you Rinpoche for this wonderful sharing.
I think that humans hold the biggest thread to the whales, it may not be directly but what we do every day will definitely affect them inderectly. If the percentage of the dead whales keep rising, the whales will definitely become extinct and the next generation will not be able to witness these beautiful whales. The problem may be because of the whales themselves, and may be also becauae of us. Not only whales, other animals as well, but I’m very sure that humans are the biggest thread to the animals.
I believe the gulls are bringing a deadly parasite, bacteria, virus or noxious chemical to the whales from the landfills the gulls frequent. A deadly substance is being introduced that crosses the placental barrier and/or is transmitted through the mammalian glands. No specific data on the number and ratio of male to female deaths. I say check the mammalian glands of the deceased mammals. Toxins carried from a deadly source of festering waste is my initial guess.
My dear Lama
The subject of conserving our environment has been one of the subject that I am very passionate about. I think it is sad that the irresponsibility of human conduct to our environment has contributed directly and indirectly to other lives. We need to give serious attention to our lifestyle and reduce waste and polution.
Valentina
I hope the scientists will find the cause of this mysterious deaths before this southern whales become extinct. Due to the lack of respect for the environment, our eco system has become imbalance and the sea pollution may have caused the whales to die. If we do not take care of our environment, many wildlife will eventually suffer unless they can adapt to the change.
Really sad when heard this news, Om Mani Padme Hum , may this hundreds of baby southern right whales have good reborn and scientists can find out the solution of this case. Pollution of environment is getting worst, human have right to save this beautiful earth and don’t create the bad KARMA to cause others sentient beings death .Be kindness and selfless.. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
This recent case of deaths is caused by the attack of kelp gulls on the calves, who are too young to defend themselves.
Other causes could be changes in the environment due to pollutants and diet, or diseases.
Guessing does no good – we need experienced people who can conduct studies to find out the exact cause, then address that issue.
There are all kinds of possible reasons, including the highly polluted waters of the ocean,imbalance of the eco-system, lack of food in the environment.
Yet what makes it very sad is that these southern right whales had somehow created the karmic cause to suffer so much in the hands of the kelp gulls who, going for their skin and blubber,land on the backs of these whales(both the mothers and the calves) and viciously attack them.These attacks leave deep lesions on their backs, at a time when they are fasting and in waters where they have little means of replenishing fat reserves.
It makes one ponder on the karmic consequences on humans for polluting the oceans and making them ‘unliveable’ for all creatures of the ocean, including the whales.Not only that, even the nutrients of the ocean waters have been depleted and destroyed by the activities of uncaring humans.
Such a sad thing to read… I wonder what happened to the whales. The scientists must to a thorough research and find out why so many whales are dying and its scary to know that most of them are young whales. The climate change and environment have been affecting everyone on this earth. We must care for everything around us for the generations to come. Whether they are humans or animals. Every other day we are reading about species that are going to be extinct. Lets be kind and consider the consequences before doing more damage.
It is very sad to see lives dying and are going through all sorts of sufferings, the southern right whales are dying and the causes are still unknown, I’ve found a statistic on web saying since 2003 till now, there are at least 605 right whales have died along the Argentine coast, including 538 new-born calves and 113 calves died in 2012 alone. Even the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program is working with scientists worldwide to determine why the whales are dying, but as yet, a common cause remains to be found.
I do not deny that Human may be the cause, because with or without us knowing, our lifestyle has been too overbearing to the nature, wherever we go, we tend to destroy the nature or life around us, this has not stop since ancient time till now, the more we grow, the more destruction we create.
Look at now, more and more animal has to be listed under preserve category. I’m sure this will not stop until we totally realize the consequences of our action. Be kind and be mindful in our life, never ever create any harm to other life beings…
I believe the cause of the Southern Right Whales mysterious deaths are the result of human existence. With large amounts of pollutants we produce into the air, sea and ground I wouldn’t be surprised that it was because of us. I really do hope scientist would be able to discover the cause of their deaths very soon, not only for the continuing existence of the Southern Right Whales but before people start to consume their meat which may eventually affect human beings too. Being one of the most majestic creatures of the animal kingdom I still cannot comprehend why would people even want to kill it. Thank you for sharing this post Rinpoche.
This is terrible. And even how its happening is terrible. When i first read this post, i thought that the whales were dying due to humans. But it turns out that the thing that was killing the whales were gulls. And i also cant imagine the pain that the whales had to go through, so sad. They had to bear the pain of all the sea gulls slowly killing them. I hope for all of this to stop and for no more whales to die like this. Thank you for sharing Rinpoche.
For many years these whale species were insulated from anthropogenic impacts because of their remote habitat. According to reports, there are now several issues of concern, such as:- Studies of stranded beaked whales show rising levels of toxic chemicals in their blubber. As a top predator beaked whale, like raptors, are particularly vunlerable to buildup of biocontaminants, as they are said to ingest plastic bags which do not breakdown and can be lethal. They are also subject to decompression sicknesses. But according to biological report, a major concern is they frequently appear to keep to close-proximity of scientific sonar testing operations, which caused damaging hemorrhaging to the ears. Fat emboli have been shown to cause nervous and cardiovascular system dysfunction, respiratory distress and severed pain and disorientation in both humans and animals. It seems a team of marine biologist experts are said to be doing more extensive researches on the extent of tissue damages all these sonar excercises have done to the whales.
When massive deaths like this occur, it must be a undetectable virus or bacteria that is causing the deaths and that they die off to undetectable leves when the host dies or perhaps subtle changes in the environment that is upsetting the ideal conditions for the young to survive. I think that this is sad fate of a rare species and perhaps the fate of many other species in the future as continued human exploitation is polluting our air and that’s causing worldwide weather changes. This is really sad because this is once again another proof of the effects of greed and uncontrolled exploitation of mother earth’s natural resources. Our delusions are not just harmful towards us but its harming our environment as well.
Dear Rinpoche,
It is very sad news to know that such great, big and unharmful mammal such as the Southern Right Whales are mysteriously dying and it’s population numbers gradually sinking by the years.
Whether it is caused by blubber and whale meat eating birds or whether it is caused by the lack of proper nutrients in the eco system for the whales or whether it is caused by us littering the oceans, polluting the oceans and the seas that the Southern Right Whales are living in with oil and other harmful poisonous gas or liquids….. I just feel that whether it is really our fault or the eco systems fault we should all work together to try and protect the species or try to find out what is really is causing the deaths or if it’s the problem of our of polluting the sea.
I feel that whoever has the talent, skill and knowledge to find out should really launch an studies on the Southern Right Whales because it is our Earth and it is all up to us to conserve and preserve these species while we can before the Last of it dies and the whole species wiped of the face of the Earth.
The people with the knowledge play a very important role in this very crucial moment and I hope that the involved in the studies of the Southern Right Whale now and those of the future will eventually succeed in finding the cause of it all so that OUR Earth and it’s people can be proud that we have saved another Specie from going extinct.
Thank you Rinpoche for Sharing.
Love
Jutika
Its so sad to hear that lots of whale disappearing mysteriously.
We should never eat any meat whether there is a lot of animals or very little,because when we kill the animal it can feel the pain like us.
I suspect that the whales are dying because of how people takes care of the environment as it is getting worse every day.
We should learn to take care and love all animals and not to eat them.
Thank you for sharing this post Rinpoche.
It’s really sad to see so many whales dying… i highly doubt it is due to natural causes but due to our carelessness in taking care of our environment. It is unfortunate that the wildlife have to suffer.
I hope that scientists will eventually find out the causes of these deaths and find a way to prevent this unfortunate event from happening yearly
Whatever the current reasons are, i am convinced that human beings are the biggest threat to endangered species. It was our whaling policies that started the decline and now, it is probably our lack of respect for the environment and health of the oceans that would affect the whales, if not directly, then indirectly. We need to take responsibility for what happens to our planet because we would most likely reincarnate back here again so we should at least look after it for our future if not for any higher reasons!
The cause of their mysterious deaths could be explainable in multiple ways. The environment in which they live in, ie the sea, is constantly being polluted by humans and they are incapable of adapting to our pollution..
Also, they could be dying due to a genetic disease that comes with inbreeding as they have to increase their population from their earlier numbers,
Another possibility is that they are drowning themselves by diving too deep and their buoyancy is unable to bring them up.
i dont know what is causing this but i hope it stops, fast! whales are so rare already and we dont help them because we dump in the ocean and litter in their water. i really hope that these magnificent and beautiful creatures do not get extinct because of our human selfishness.
I suspect that maybe something went wrong in their genes during the evolutionary processes from centuries ago, plus the environments nowadays are getting worse. So sad to know about this news, if they continue to die, I’m afraid that they will be the next species of whales to fully vanish from this earth and we will never see these beautiful creatures again…
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche.