Whales, Seals, Fish and Man


Book Description

This volume outlines the major findings from the Norwegian research programme on whales and seals in Norwegian waters. A wide range of topics are covered, including physiological aspects, social organization, population dynamics, stock assessment and management. The book will be of great value to scientists and managers, as well as to members of the general public interested in environmental issues.




Whales and Seals


Book Description

Very few people can claim to know as much about whales and the seals as Pierre-Henry Fontaine. His secret lies in a boundless passion for these marine mammals. To understand this, it is necessary to imagine the author climbing inside the belly of a stranded Blue whale, to find and to show you his aorta. That he will do this is a reflection of his concern for marine mammals and educating the world about them that is so clearly seen in this work. This exciting new edition of a classic reference about marine mammals is enriched and expanded, presenting recent and new information, accompanied by many diagrams and illustrations. In addition to new information on whales, expanded chapters present the anatomy, physiology and the ecology of the pinnipeds, with expansive fact sheets of some species of seals and Walrus. This is a detailed picture of the lives and environments of whales and seals, including chapters on anatomy, adaptation to aquatic life, nutrition, migration, reproduction, and parasites and enemies. The interaction of man with these marine animals is also explored, as is their paleontology. New information and 678 color diagrams and illustrations help illuminate the lives of these mysterious animals. Fact sheets on Mysticetes, Odontocetes, and Pinnipeds, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography provide additional information essential to the study of whales and seals, leaving the reader more fully informed. With this book, all readers, from the curious to the scientist, will find much to further their knowledge of, and fire their passions for, these impressive denizens of the deep. Book jacket.




Research Paper PNW.


Book Description







Unveiling the Whale


Book Description

Whaling has become one of the most controversial environmental issues. It is not that all whale species are at the brink of extinction, but that whales have become important symbols to both pro- and anti-whaling factions and can easily be appropriated as the common heritage of humankind. This book, the first of its kind, is therefore not about whales and whaling per se but about how people communicate about whales and whaling. It contributes to a better understanding and discussion of controversial environmental issues: Why and how are issues selected? How is knowledge on these issues produced and distributed by organizations and activists? And why do affluent countries like Japan and Norway still support whaling, which is of insignificant economic importance? Basing his analysis on fieldwork in Japan and Norway and at the International Whaling Commission, the author argues how an image of a "superwhale" has been constructed and how this image has replaced meat and oil as the important whale commodity. He concludes that the whaling issue provides an arena where NGOs and authorities on each side can unite, swapping political legitimacy and building personal relations that can be useful on issues where relations are less harmonious.




Whale-watching


Book Description

Within little more than a generation, whale-watching has been subject to global industrial development. It has been portrayed by destinations and business operators, and advocated by environmental groups, as a sustainable activity and an alternative to whaling. However, in recent years the sustainability of these activities has increasingly been questioned, as research shows that repeated disturbance by boat traffic can severely disrupt critical behaviours of cetaceans in the wild. Bringing together contributions by international experts, this volume addresses complex issues associated with commercial whale-watching, sustainable development and conservation of the global marine environment. It highlights widely expressed concerns for the failure of policy, planning and management and pinpoints both long-standing and emerging barriers to sustainable practice. Featuring numerous case studies, the book provides critical insights into the diverse socio-cultural, political, economic and ecological contexts of this global industry, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that arise along the pathways to sustainability.




Small Cetaceans of Japan


Book Description

This book summarizes and analyzes the biology, ecology, exploitation and management of small cetaceans in Japan. It describes the various types of cetacean fisheries in Japan and their historical development, the life histories and ecologies of the main species involved, and the history and problems of conservation and management. The data show that in some cases the number of small cetaceans harvested exceed sustainable limits and have led to depletion of populations. The book provides a case study of what can go wrong when the needs of industry and conservation collide. The descriptions of life history and ecology are relevant to issues of conservation and management, not just for cetaceans, but for all fisheries around the world.




Marine Mammals


Book Description

Brings together contributions from 68 leading scientists from 12 countries to provide an up-to-date review on the way we manage our interactions with whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs.




Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises


Book Description

The first edition of the widely praised Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, published in 2005, led to numerous new marine protected area proposals and a number of notable conservation successes around the world. In this completely revised and expanded second edition, new developments in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Pacific are described, as well as future directions for High Seas protection. New sections show how to design and manage MPAs in an ever noisier ocean subject to climate change, increased shipping and hydrocarbon exploration. The process of protected area creation for cetaceans has been accelerated and more than 200 exciting new places are detailed in this edition. This book provides a route map for MPA managers, as well as countries, to meet the ambitious targets for highly protected MPA networks by 2012 and 2020. This book is a key conservation tool and a springboard for worldwide change in human attitudes toward the world ocean where all life originated and where the majority of life on Earth still lives.




The Sixth Extinction


Book Description

The Sixth Extinction is a haunting account of the age in which we live. Ecologists are calling it the Sixth Great Extinction, and the world isn't losing just its ecological legacy; also vanishing is a vast human legacy of languages and our ways of living, seeing, and knowing. Terry Glavin confirms that we are in the midst of a nearly unprecedented, catastrophic vanishing of animals, plants, and human cultures. He argues that the language of environmentalism is inadequate in describing the unraveling of the vast system in which all these extinctions are actually related. And he writes that we're no longer gaining knowledge with every generation. We're losing it. In the face of what he describes as a dark and gathering sameness upon the Earth, Glavin embarks on a global journey to meet the very things we're losing (a distinct species every ten minutes, a unique vegetable variety every six hours, an entire language every two weeks) and on the way encounters some of the world's wonderful, rare things: a human-sized salmon in Russia; a mysterious Sino-Tibetan song-language; a Malayan tiger, the last of its kind; and a strange tomato that tastes just like black cherry ice cream. And he finds hope in the most unlikely places---a macaw roost in Costa Rica; a small village in Ireland; a relic community of Norse whalers in the North Atlantic; the vault beneath the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew; and the throne room of the Angh of Longwa in the eastern Himalayas. A fresh narrative take on the usual doom and gloom environmentalism, The Sixth Extinction draws upon zoology, biology, ecology, anthropology, and mythology to share the joys hidden within the long human struggle to conserve the world's living things. Here, we find hope in what's left: the absolute and stunning beauty in the Earth's last cultures and creatures.