Whales’ Plight, Part Two

Last week’s outdoor page included a story about a 35-foot sperm whale struggling in a fisherman’s net, alongside her calf, which already had perished and was decaying.

Reaction was vociferous and understandable. One caller left a voice-mail message saying, “The lady I’ve been living with for 27 years cried her eyes out” over the plight of both whales, especially that of the mother, rendered helpless as her baby was dying, and then having to drag the dead calf around the Sea of Cortez for a week, perhaps longer.

Those concerned took their only solace from a rescuer -- he became entangled in the net and was nearly killed -- who was at least able to cut some of the netting away from the mother whale, then disappeared with the setting sun on July 24.

Not surprisingly, nobody called or wrote to defend the use of drift gill-nets, which can be three miles long and which indiscriminately trap fish and mammals, large and small.

Granted, those most likely to do so would be the Mexican commercial fishermen permitted to use the gear in one of the most prolific marine areas in the world. After all, they’re mostly poor folks trying to earn a living and believe they have as much right to the fishing grounds as anyone else.

Plus, they have the blessing of Mexican fisheries officials, who have issued more than 200 temporary permits enabling use of the nets inside the country’s 50-mile sportfishing-only zone, as they work to develop a new shark regulation aimed at responsible management of that fishery.

These officials might also make a case for the nets. Their main argument so far has been that there isn’t conclusive scientific evidence showing that sharks cannot sustain pressure placed upon them by the nets, or that the incidental taking of other species would have an adverse effect on those fisheries.

But they’re not speaking out now -- not publicly anyway. Not with one of the world’s most beloved creatures showing up as the incidental catch of the day, all too frequently.

The aforementioned sperm whale, nicknamed “Ms. Moby,” has been the subject of sporadic searches since it was last seen about 35 miles west of San Carlos, Mexico, which is nearly 300 miles deep into the gulf on the mainland side, roughly opposite Santa Rosalia on the Baja California coast.

On Saturday, another sperm whale was found entangled in a net 16 miles west of San Carlos. (This area is just south of the nutrient-rich midriff section of the Sea of Cortez and is popular among sperm whales at this time of year.) Although it originally was thought to be Ms. Moby, it turned out to be a male sperm whale estimated to be 9 years old. Its successful rescue, carried out by a team that included a well-known scientist, was captured on video.

On Tuesday, there were unconfirmed reports of another whale spotted floating dead in the surf well north of San Carlos.

There is a silver lining to the alarming, almost suspect rate at which whales are turning up in nets, according to some.

“God sent us those three whales to show the plight of the Sea of Cortez and to wake up the people,” said Guillermo Alvarez, a government appointee representing the tourism sector, and president of the Mexican Billfish Foundation.

Alvarez is part of a growing coalition of conservation-minded groups and individuals who plan to unveil footage of the successful whale rescue during a news conference next week in Mexico City. Their aim is to raise public awareness and pressure the government to permanently ban the use of drift gill-nets and long-line gear inside of at least 50 miles.

The footage shows breath-hold diver Vince Radice in the water using industrial-strength scissors to cut a thick, tangled piece of net from the tail of the whale, while the whale remains passive and immobile, as if aware of his rescuer’s good intentions.

“The whale was absolutely exhausted,” said Radice, owner of a diving and water sports business in San Carlos.

He added that he had brought blunt-tipped scissors instead of a knife to avoid a repeat of the rescue attempt on Ms. Moby. In that attempt, Mark Ward accidentally nicked the whale’s tongue with his knife, causing the mammal to spin and Ward’s leg to get caught in the net. He was held under and nearly drowned.

Radice said, “After I cut through the net ... I dove back down and touched the right side of his fluke [tail] and said, ‘You’re free and how do you feel?’ The cool thing is that the whale actually looked back with its left eye and looked at its tail. He could see that he was free and then he just swam away.”

Whether the footage will head off inroads already being made -- in the form of the temporary permits -- by the commercial fishing sector remains to be seen.

One of the proposals under review reportedly is to reduce the buffer zone from 50 to 30 miles. This may seem like a small concession, but conservationists and sportfishermen are adamantly against it because it would allow drift gill-net and long-line fishermen inside the Sea of Cortez, which is 95 miles wide at its widest point.

As for the shark fishery, concrete evidence of its ill health may be lacking, but it is generally agreed upon by scientists -- those not working for the government, anyway -- that the predators are severely overfished and that shark-fishing permits are largely a ruse to allow the by-catch of species such as tuna, dorado (mahi-mahi), wahoo, marlin, sailfish and swordfish.

Mexico’s fisheries officials are in a tough spot over the issue, as they try to balance everyone’s interests. The conservationists can point to the plight of the whales, but the commercial fishing industry is reeling from the near-collapse of the shrimp fishery -- Sea of Cortez shrimp fishermen hold most of the temporary shark permits -- mostly because of a decline in world prices.

It figures to get a good deal tougher over the next couple of weeks.

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News and Notes

* Albacore update: They’re biting like mad to the south and north -- and finally, they’re biting in front of us. The popular longfin tuna, drawn by an abundance of baitfish east of San Clemente, have flooded into the region, even though the water remains too warm and off-color for their liking. Party boats are only now taking advantage of their long-anticipated presence -- the Freedom out of 22nd Street Landing had more than 100 on deck early Thursday afternoon -- but private boaters have been on them since Monday.

“We only kept about 10, but you could have caught as many as you wanted,” said Corona del Mar’s Rob Stewart, who was fishing with four others aboard Acacia. “We were all hooked up simultaneously and all of the fish were in the 25-pound range.”

The bite may not last, however, with water temperatures averaging nearly 70 degrees, well above what albacore prefer.

* Billfish bonanza: The local striped marlin season is off to a promising start as the scrappy fighters are being encountered regularly between and around Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands. Stewart caught one -- a 157-pounder -- last Friday near San Clemente Island and fishermen aboard Wild Bill caught and released four on Saturday and two on Sunday.

The top striper so far was a 193-pounder by Megan Rainwater, 12, of Newport Beach. Her fish had become tail-wrapped and perished after a two-hour fight.

* Deer hunting: Those hunting deer and elk out-of-state this fall must follow new guidelines to minimize the chance of spreading chronic wasting disease to California deer and elk herds. The new regulation will not allow whole carcasses and heads to be brought across state lines.

Only the following body parts will be allowed: boned-out meat and commercially processed cuts of meat; portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached; hides with no heads attached; clean skull plates (no meat or tissue attached) with antlers attached; antlers with no meat or tissue attached; finished taxidermy heads; and upper canine teeth (buglers, whistlers, ivories).

CWD is a neurological disease fatal to deer and elk. It has been found in wild deer and elk in limited areas of Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.