Genetically and vocally distinct population of sperm Whales in Northern Gulf

[Cetacea]

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/resources/listimg/whales/nov%202009/[e-mail]


(or, Media in absentia...)



As Gulf States prepare for clean up activities on-shore and commence the census of shorebirds, turtles, fish, dolphins, invertebrates and plant communities lost, we consider the sperm whale.

Subspecies
Their elusive, deep water nature means there is a lot we still don't know. Recently, scientists confirmed that whales in the northern Gulf were genetically and vocally distinct from other sperm whales. They are slightly smaller and form smaller social groups. These whales are unique! They take advantage of the pelagic food chain bonanza which spins off the rich waters pouring from the Mississippi, and deep nutrient pulses which spiral up from the depths here, at a narrow zone in the Outer Continental Shelf. Their turf is also, as we now painfully know; prime real estate in the petroleum business.


Insatiable thirst for oil
The incident brings to the fore bigger issues associated with our thirst for oil. Drilling activities, and the omnipresent search for new deposits, converge in the sperm whale's deep water habitat. Like most cetaceans, sperm whales navigate, feed and communicate using sound. It is cruelly coincidental that we crudely copy their skill; hammering the seabed with pulses of sound waves to pick up the characteristic echo of oil. The impact of this round-the-clock seismic exploration has been the focus of long term studies to determine the effects on whales. The clicks and buzzes as a whale locates a soft bodied fish or squid must surely be drowned out by us blasting through 5,000 feet of water deep into solid rock. Sound has been implicated in strandings, hearing loss and tissue damage.

full article:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/whales/gulf-mexico-sperm.html#cr