UK scientists bid to solve mystery deaths of hundreds of baby southern right whales Two-year projec
UK scientists bid to solve mystery deaths of hundreds of baby southern right whales
Two-year project aims to learn why carcasses have washed up on Argentina’s coast
Robin McKie Science Editor
Saturday 21 January 2017 19.03 EST
Researchers are to launch an investigation into the unexplained deaths of hundreds of young southern right whales, one of the planet’s most vulnerable marine species.
The £740,000 project – jointly funded by Defra, the UK environment department, and the EU – will involve researchers tagging whales and calves, tracking them by satellite and identifying individuals by taking DNA samples. The aim is find out why the carcasses of almost 500 young southern right whales have washed up on Argentina’s Valdés Peninsula, one of the species’ key calving areas, over the past decade.
“There are only a few thousand southern right whales left on the planet,” said the project’s leader, geneticist Jennifer Jackson, of the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge. “We need to find out what is killing them and we think their sub-Antarctic feeding ground holds the answer.”
Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) can grow to 18 metres and weigh up to 80 tonnes. They get their name for being the right whale for hunters to pursue, added Jackson. “They swim slowly, float when dead, and yield a great deal of oil,” she said. “They were perfect targets for whalers.”
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/22/southern-right-whales-bid-to-solve-mystery-deaths-argentina
Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1127107744
