Erich Hoyt's Blog
March 27, 2018
3rd Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) Workshop IDs 46 Candidate IMMAs on the Map
I wrote a short news story on our latest workshop which was one of the best I���ve ever experienced in terms of the people working together and enjoying each other during the workshop and relaxing in the evenings in Kota Kinabalu, the Sabah city where we based the workshop:
From 12-16 March 2018, the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force (the ���Task Force���) conducted the third Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) workshop in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Covering the North East Indian Ocean and South East Asian Seas Region, this workshop follows successful IMMA workshops in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific Islands in 2016-2017.
���We have put up our biggest numbers so far,��� said Task Force co-chair Erich Hoyt. ���A total of 46 candidate IMMAs.���
IMMA Co-ordinator Michael J. Tetley led the 34 marine mammal experts and observers from 17 countries as they worked through more than 100 areas of interest (AoI) submitted for consideration by workshop participants and members of the conservation community at large. From these preliminary AoI, the group merged 33 areas, deferred 11 others, kept 24 as AoI, and then prepared concise profiles for the 46 candidate IMMAs, proposing boundaries and detailing how each one met the IMMA criteria.
According to Task Force co-chair Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, ���the 46 cIMMAs will now go for peer review before being put on the IMMA e-Atlas as official designations. If they don���t pass peer review, they���ll revert to AoI and will be considered again in the future.���
The materials for AoI and cIMMA identification included valuable maps of MPAs and other conservation designations in the region as well as IUCN key biodiversity areas (KBAs) and CBD ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs). Additional data layers depicted bottom topography with important features such as seamounts and continental drop offs, ocean currents and surface productivity.
The third IMMA workshop region stretched from the coast of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam in the North to the vast Indonesian archipelago in the south. The experts identified sites for marine mammal species such as Indo-Pacific humpback and Irrawaddy dolphins, finless porpoises, Bryde���s and Omura���s whales as well as blue and humpback whales, and dugongs. The region includes the Coral Triangle, one of the most species-rich areas in the ocean, both for marine mammals and overall marine biodiversity.
The preliminary results from the workshop will be announced as part of Task Force presentations at the European Cetacean Society annual meetings in La Spezia, Italy, 6-10 April 2018. Final results are expected to be posted online in September 2018.
Background
Important Marine Mammal Areas���IMMAs���are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. IMMAs are intended to act as a red flag spotlighting important habitat for marine mammals which may lead to marine protected areas (MPAs), ship or noise directives, marine spatial planning, and other conservation outcomes. But IMMAs also function as valuable indicators of health in the marine environment. They point to the location of umbrella species for protecting biodiversity, and can be used to monitor climate change.
From 2019 to 2021, the IMMA bus rolls on to conduct expert workshops in the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Seas (2019), the waters of Australia-New Zealand and South East Indian Ocean (2020), and the South East Tropical and Temperate Pacific Ocean (2021). In each region, extensive location and other information about each marine mammal species along with oceanographic and environmental data will be gathered in advance of the meetings.
The Borneo workshop is the second in a strand of five southern hemisphere workshops (2016-2021) sponsored as part of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative through the German government���s International Climate Initiative (GOBI-IKI). The other main supporter of the IMMA effort is the Eulabor Institute.
Other sponsors of the worldwide IMMA project besides GOBI-IKI include the Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), the MAVA Foundation, and the International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. The preparation of IMMA criteria and establishing support for the IMMA concept was funded by Animal Welfare Institute, Eulabor Institute, Tethys and WDC, among others.
The workshop plenary was attended by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment in Sabah, Malaysia, Yang Berbahagia Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, as well as a number of marine mammal researchers working in the waters of Sabah. He acknowledged the importance of the IMMA work. The opening talks were by Task Force co-chairs Erich Hoyt and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara as well as David Johnson, from the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, in the UK, who gave an overview of the six GOBI-IKI projects of which the IMMA project is one, as well as his work with OSPAR and the CBD EBSA process.
For more information about the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, go to marinemammalhabitat.org.
From 12-16 March 2018, the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force (the ���Task Force���) conducted the third Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) workshop in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Covering the North East Indian Ocean and South East Asian Seas Region, this workshop follows successful IMMA workshops in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific Islands in 2016-2017.
���We have put up our biggest numbers so far,��� said Task Force co-chair Erich Hoyt. ���A total of 46 candidate IMMAs.���
IMMA Co-ordinator Michael J. Tetley led the 34 marine mammal experts and observers from 17 countries as they worked through more than 100 areas of interest (AoI) submitted for consideration by workshop participants and members of the conservation community at large. From these preliminary AoI, the group merged 33 areas, deferred 11 others, kept 24 as AoI, and then prepared concise profiles for the 46 candidate IMMAs, proposing boundaries and detailing how each one met the IMMA criteria.
According to Task Force co-chair Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, ���the 46 cIMMAs will now go for peer review before being put on the IMMA e-Atlas as official designations. If they don���t pass peer review, they���ll revert to AoI and will be considered again in the future.���
The materials for AoI and cIMMA identification included valuable maps of MPAs and other conservation designations in the region as well as IUCN key biodiversity areas (KBAs) and CBD ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs). Additional data layers depicted bottom topography with important features such as seamounts and continental drop offs, ocean currents and surface productivity.
The third IMMA workshop region stretched from the coast of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam in the North to the vast Indonesian archipelago in the south. The experts identified sites for marine mammal species such as Indo-Pacific humpback and Irrawaddy dolphins, finless porpoises, Bryde���s and Omura���s whales as well as blue and humpback whales, and dugongs. The region includes the Coral Triangle, one of the most species-rich areas in the ocean, both for marine mammals and overall marine biodiversity.
The preliminary results from the workshop will be announced as part of Task Force presentations at the European Cetacean Society annual meetings in La Spezia, Italy, 6-10 April 2018. Final results are expected to be posted online in September 2018.
Background
Important Marine Mammal Areas���IMMAs���are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. IMMAs are intended to act as a red flag spotlighting important habitat for marine mammals which may lead to marine protected areas (MPAs), ship or noise directives, marine spatial planning, and other conservation outcomes. But IMMAs also function as valuable indicators of health in the marine environment. They point to the location of umbrella species for protecting biodiversity, and can be used to monitor climate change.
From 2019 to 2021, the IMMA bus rolls on to conduct expert workshops in the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Seas (2019), the waters of Australia-New Zealand and South East Indian Ocean (2020), and the South East Tropical and Temperate Pacific Ocean (2021). In each region, extensive location and other information about each marine mammal species along with oceanographic and environmental data will be gathered in advance of the meetings.
The Borneo workshop is the second in a strand of five southern hemisphere workshops (2016-2021) sponsored as part of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative through the German government���s International Climate Initiative (GOBI-IKI). The other main supporter of the IMMA effort is the Eulabor Institute.
Other sponsors of the worldwide IMMA project besides GOBI-IKI include the Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), the MAVA Foundation, and the International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. The preparation of IMMA criteria and establishing support for the IMMA concept was funded by Animal Welfare Institute, Eulabor Institute, Tethys and WDC, among others.
The workshop plenary was attended by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment in Sabah, Malaysia, Yang Berbahagia Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, as well as a number of marine mammal researchers working in the waters of Sabah. He acknowledged the importance of the IMMA work. The opening talks were by Task Force co-chairs Erich Hoyt and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara as well as David Johnson, from the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, in the UK, who gave an overview of the six GOBI-IKI projects of which the IMMA project is one, as well as his work with OSPAR and the CBD EBSA process.
For more information about the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, go to marinemammalhabitat.org.
October 26, 2017
Where do whales and dolphins live?
We���re learning a lot about whales these days but good information on where exactly they live has been scarce. At the same time, a quarter of the 90 whale and dolphin species are threatened and half are not well enough known even to classify them as threatened or not.
A new tool ���Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs ��� aims to provide the best expert assessment of the location of special places in the ocean where marine mammals feed, breed, socialize and raise their young.
The IMMA e-Atlas, a new online facility to display the IMMA tool, reveals the latest results from two expert workshops that have put IMMAs on the map of the Mediterranean and across the Pacific Islands.
���IMMAs are based on the best science on offer, as part of a systematic, transparent process,��� says Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-chair of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and aquatic mammal councillor for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). Notarbartolo di Sciara is facilitating a side event: ���IMMAs to Support CMS Goals��� when the CMS Convention of the Parties (CoP) meets 23-28 October in Manila, Philippines.
���Worldwide, we have more than 700 marine protected areas that supposedly include protection of marine mammal habitat,��� says Erich Hoyt, Task Force co-chair and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation. ���The problem is that these are political or economic compromises often based on limited data. IMMAs tell us what marine mammals really need in terms of areas crucial to their survival that must be protected or monitored.���
Mapping an IMMA may trigger zoning or extending the boundaries of marine protected areas. In other cases it may be possible to re-arrange shipping lanes or other human activities for example, to avoid ship strikes or to reduce noise. IMMAs can also help monitor climate change effects on marine mammals.
IMMAs are modelled on a successful conservation tool developed by BirdLife called ���Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas���, or IBAs. IBAs have been used for decades to show areas of land and water that need protection. But compared to birds, marine mammals have been left out of the conservation picture with only sporadic efforts to protect habitat.
With more than 100 countries adopting marine spatial planning in their national waters, knowing the important areas for marine mammals will enable a more systematic conservation approach.
���But the biggest gap in knowledge and conservation is the high seas, the two-thirds of the ocean outside of national waters,��� says Hoyt. ���The deep ocean is the frontier for research as well as industrial development and exploitation. Without efforts to identify whale and dolphin habitats in these areas there will be little marine mammal conservation. There is a lot to lose. Not just the whales and dolphins but the high levels of biodiversity in their favoured habitats.���
More information about the e-Atlas and the CMS CoP Side Event can be found here: https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/immas-new-spatial-tool-making-waves-ocean-conservation/
Background Notes
What is an IMMA?
An important marine mammal area, or IMMA, is a discrete portion of habitat, important for one or more marine mammal species, that has the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation.
���Important��� in the context of IMMA classification refers to any characteristic that extends perceivable value toward conservation. Candidate IMMAs are determined through expert workshops weighing expert information against various criteria and then subjecting the results to independent peer review.
An IMMA is not an MPA, but rather it���s a tool, independent of political and economic concerns, to inform the development and management practice of place-based conservation including:
��� Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) identified through the IUCN Standard.
��� National and regional measures to create, zone, evaluate, and refine MPAs and MPA networks, as well as to help in marine spatial planning (MSP) decisions.
The IMMA process will also assist in providing strategic direction and priorities to the development of spatially explicit marine mammal conservation measures, such as ship strike directives through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and future potential ocean noise directives through CMS, CBD and International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Acknowledgments
The Task Force is grateful to all the experts and observers who attended the Mediterranean and Pacific Islands IMMA workshops, to partners Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and Eulabor Waterevolution, to the ACCOBAMS Secretariat for the Mediterranean region and to SPREP for the Pacific Islands region, and to the main sponsors, MAVA (for the Mediterranean meeting) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) supported by the German Federal Government (for the Pacific Islands), the French Biodiversity Agency, and other supporters Animal Welfare Institute, The Ocean Foundation and Pacific Life Foundation.
A new tool ���Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs ��� aims to provide the best expert assessment of the location of special places in the ocean where marine mammals feed, breed, socialize and raise their young.
The IMMA e-Atlas, a new online facility to display the IMMA tool, reveals the latest results from two expert workshops that have put IMMAs on the map of the Mediterranean and across the Pacific Islands.
���IMMAs are based on the best science on offer, as part of a systematic, transparent process,��� says Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-chair of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and aquatic mammal councillor for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). Notarbartolo di Sciara is facilitating a side event: ���IMMAs to Support CMS Goals��� when the CMS Convention of the Parties (CoP) meets 23-28 October in Manila, Philippines.
���Worldwide, we have more than 700 marine protected areas that supposedly include protection of marine mammal habitat,��� says Erich Hoyt, Task Force co-chair and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation. ���The problem is that these are political or economic compromises often based on limited data. IMMAs tell us what marine mammals really need in terms of areas crucial to their survival that must be protected or monitored.���
Mapping an IMMA may trigger zoning or extending the boundaries of marine protected areas. In other cases it may be possible to re-arrange shipping lanes or other human activities for example, to avoid ship strikes or to reduce noise. IMMAs can also help monitor climate change effects on marine mammals.
IMMAs are modelled on a successful conservation tool developed by BirdLife called ���Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas���, or IBAs. IBAs have been used for decades to show areas of land and water that need protection. But compared to birds, marine mammals have been left out of the conservation picture with only sporadic efforts to protect habitat.
With more than 100 countries adopting marine spatial planning in their national waters, knowing the important areas for marine mammals will enable a more systematic conservation approach.
���But the biggest gap in knowledge and conservation is the high seas, the two-thirds of the ocean outside of national waters,��� says Hoyt. ���The deep ocean is the frontier for research as well as industrial development and exploitation. Without efforts to identify whale and dolphin habitats in these areas there will be little marine mammal conservation. There is a lot to lose. Not just the whales and dolphins but the high levels of biodiversity in their favoured habitats.���
More information about the e-Atlas and the CMS CoP Side Event can be found here: https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/immas-new-spatial-tool-making-waves-ocean-conservation/
Background Notes
What is an IMMA?
An important marine mammal area, or IMMA, is a discrete portion of habitat, important for one or more marine mammal species, that has the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation.
���Important��� in the context of IMMA classification refers to any characteristic that extends perceivable value toward conservation. Candidate IMMAs are determined through expert workshops weighing expert information against various criteria and then subjecting the results to independent peer review.
An IMMA is not an MPA, but rather it���s a tool, independent of political and economic concerns, to inform the development and management practice of place-based conservation including:
��� Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) identified through the IUCN Standard.
��� National and regional measures to create, zone, evaluate, and refine MPAs and MPA networks, as well as to help in marine spatial planning (MSP) decisions.
The IMMA process will also assist in providing strategic direction and priorities to the development of spatially explicit marine mammal conservation measures, such as ship strike directives through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and future potential ocean noise directives through CMS, CBD and International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Acknowledgments
The Task Force is grateful to all the experts and observers who attended the Mediterranean and Pacific Islands IMMA workshops, to partners Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and Eulabor Waterevolution, to the ACCOBAMS Secretariat for the Mediterranean region and to SPREP for the Pacific Islands region, and to the main sponsors, MAVA (for the Mediterranean meeting) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) supported by the German Federal Government (for the Pacific Islands), the French Biodiversity Agency, and other supporters Animal Welfare Institute, The Ocean Foundation and Pacific Life Foundation.
April 26, 2017
Protecting the favorite spots for whales in the Pacific
Have you ever wondered why whales and dolphins go to certain parts of the ocean to hunt for food, breed and raise their young? What is special about these places across the Pacific that make them so desirable to whales and dolphins so that they return year after year?
In late March 2017, 23 scientists and experts from 14 countries met at the SPREP office in Apia, Samoa, to determine where these ���Important Marine Mammal Areas���, or IMMAs, are located in the South Pacific region. I was lucky to be there as co-chair of the workshop, representing Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, which I also co-chair.
After a week of hard work, the group elaborated some 29 candidate IMMAs (cIMMAs) and 16 Areas of Interest (AoI) across the vast Pacific. The cIMMAs will now go to an independent panel for consideration before, at least some of them, becoming full IMMAs. The process is expected to take 3-6 months.
Determining where the important areas are is the first step toward protecting them, keeping the waters clean, fish stocks healthy, becoming aware of the risks to marine mammals such as getting hit by ships and acute noise in the oceans such as from Navy sonar and seismic tests.
Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are the most visible indicators we have of the health of the oceans because they come to the surface to breathe. If they regularly feed, socialize and/or raise their calves in an area, it can be a way of monitoring the ocean and to determine its health. For this reason, whales and dolphins will be valuable for monitoring climate change in future.
The IMMA Regional Workshop is only the second one in the world (the first was October 2016 in the Mediterranean). From 2018 to 2021 there will be four further workshops across the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Pacific. The IMMA programme will also result in implementation of conservation measures for representative areas in several of the regions. To read more news about this long-term mapping and conservation project, go to the��Task Force website.
The workshop was organized by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force as part of the GOBI-IKI German-government funded climate change initiative. The workshop was hosted by the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
After the workshop, five of us in the group travelled to Tonga to present our results and participate in workshops at the ���Whales in a Changing Ocean��� conference, part of the Year of the Whale celebrations in the South Pacific. At this conference, Pacific Island nations got together and signed a declaration for conservation of whales and the ocean and pledged to work on a five-year plan to achieve conservation goals. Tonga also announced a national whale sanctuary.
��� �� Erich Hoyt 2017
In late March 2017, 23 scientists and experts from 14 countries met at the SPREP office in Apia, Samoa, to determine where these ���Important Marine Mammal Areas���, or IMMAs, are located in the South Pacific region. I was lucky to be there as co-chair of the workshop, representing Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, which I also co-chair.
After a week of hard work, the group elaborated some 29 candidate IMMAs (cIMMAs) and 16 Areas of Interest (AoI) across the vast Pacific. The cIMMAs will now go to an independent panel for consideration before, at least some of them, becoming full IMMAs. The process is expected to take 3-6 months.
Determining where the important areas are is the first step toward protecting them, keeping the waters clean, fish stocks healthy, becoming aware of the risks to marine mammals such as getting hit by ships and acute noise in the oceans such as from Navy sonar and seismic tests.
Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are the most visible indicators we have of the health of the oceans because they come to the surface to breathe. If they regularly feed, socialize and/or raise their calves in an area, it can be a way of monitoring the ocean and to determine its health. For this reason, whales and dolphins will be valuable for monitoring climate change in future.
The IMMA Regional Workshop is only the second one in the world (the first was October 2016 in the Mediterranean). From 2018 to 2021 there will be four further workshops across the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Pacific. The IMMA programme will also result in implementation of conservation measures for representative areas in several of the regions. To read more news about this long-term mapping and conservation project, go to the��Task Force website.
The workshop was organized by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force as part of the GOBI-IKI German-government funded climate change initiative. The workshop was hosted by the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
After the workshop, five of us in the group travelled to Tonga to present our results and participate in workshops at the ���Whales in a Changing Ocean��� conference, part of the Year of the Whale celebrations in the South Pacific. At this conference, Pacific Island nations got together and signed a declaration for conservation of whales and the ocean and pledged to work on a five-year plan to achieve conservation goals. Tonga also announced a national whale sanctuary.
��� �� Erich Hoyt 2017
November 4, 2016
Protecting Marine Mammal Places in the Mediterranean
The first ever workshop to define Important Marine Mammal Areas ��� IMMAs ��� concluded last week in Chania, Greece with the identification��of 41 candidate IMMAs (cIMMAs) in the Mediterranean region. They range in size from 50 km2��for species such as the Mediterranean monk seal to over 134,000 km2��across the Ligurian Sea and Northwest Mediterranean for fin and sperm whales. Nine marine mammal species were proposed for cIMMAs from a total of 11 being evaluated by the participating experts. Some cIMMAs feature multiple species of marine mammals.
This work represents the culmination of three years effort by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force working with Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Tethys Research Institute and other groups to put the precious habitats of whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine mammals on the map for conservation planning. The Mediterranean is the first pilot region with others to follow over the next five years.
IMMAs are a new tool for conservation, modelled after the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) concept. IMMAs are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. IMMAs are an advisory expert-based classification, and have no legal standing as����MPAs��but are intended to be used in conservation planning by governments, intergovernmental organisations, conservation groups, and the general public. Some may become part of future MPA or zoned protection areas while others will be valuable for marine spatial planning (MSP) or to monitor areas for climate change, bycatch, noise, shipstrike and other threats faced by marine mammals. In some cases IMMAs may reveal that existing MPAs, management zones or protection measures may need to be altered based on new emerging evidence. Marine mammals, like seabirds, are important indicator species for ecosystem health and biodiversity, aided by their high visibility. They are also umbrella species able to bring many other species under protection.
The 5-day workshop (24-28 October) was organised by the����IUCN��Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and sponsored by the MAVA Foundation. There were 34 expert participants from 18 countries including Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Malta, Duke University and UNEP���s World Conservation Monitoring Centre attended as observers. ACCOBAMS���the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area���joined the Task Force as a Partner, also helping with the organisation along with the Tethys Research Institute.
The workshop considered many areas of interest (AoIs) which were submitted to the workshop by participants, as well as by��the wider marine mammal research and conservation community. The experts agreed on proposing the 41 cIMMAs based on the best evidence available. The cIMMAs will next go to an independent review panel who will assess whether the criteria were applied correctly and verify that the available supporting evidence was sufficient to support each of them. If approved, the boundaries and supporting evidence will be made available on the�����Task Force website. The other��AoIs��identified by experts will be used to assist with highlighting reference areas for further marine mammal research, which will help build an evidence base on which future cIMMAs may be proposed.
The Task Force is already making plans for future IMMA workshops in other regions of the ocean. The next one will cover the vast South Pacific and will be held in Apia, Samoa, in late March 2017. From 2018-2021, further workshops will bring together marine mammal experts from the Northeast Indian Ocean, the Northwest Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific and the waters of Australia-New Zealand and adjacent Oceania waters. These southern hemisphere workshops will be funded as part of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and the German government���s International Climate Initiative (IKI).
For more information about IMMAs and the work of the Task Force, see��the��Task Force website.
This work represents the culmination of three years effort by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force working with Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Tethys Research Institute and other groups to put the precious habitats of whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine mammals on the map for conservation planning. The Mediterranean is the first pilot region with others to follow over the next five years.
IMMAs are a new tool for conservation, modelled after the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) concept. IMMAs are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. IMMAs are an advisory expert-based classification, and have no legal standing as����MPAs��but are intended to be used in conservation planning by governments, intergovernmental organisations, conservation groups, and the general public. Some may become part of future MPA or zoned protection areas while others will be valuable for marine spatial planning (MSP) or to monitor areas for climate change, bycatch, noise, shipstrike and other threats faced by marine mammals. In some cases IMMAs may reveal that existing MPAs, management zones or protection measures may need to be altered based on new emerging evidence. Marine mammals, like seabirds, are important indicator species for ecosystem health and biodiversity, aided by their high visibility. They are also umbrella species able to bring many other species under protection.
The 5-day workshop (24-28 October) was organised by the����IUCN��Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and sponsored by the MAVA Foundation. There were 34 expert participants from 18 countries including Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Malta, Duke University and UNEP���s World Conservation Monitoring Centre attended as observers. ACCOBAMS���the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area���joined the Task Force as a Partner, also helping with the organisation along with the Tethys Research Institute.
The workshop considered many areas of interest (AoIs) which were submitted to the workshop by participants, as well as by��the wider marine mammal research and conservation community. The experts agreed on proposing the 41 cIMMAs based on the best evidence available. The cIMMAs will next go to an independent review panel who will assess whether the criteria were applied correctly and verify that the available supporting evidence was sufficient to support each of them. If approved, the boundaries and supporting evidence will be made available on the�����Task Force website. The other��AoIs��identified by experts will be used to assist with highlighting reference areas for further marine mammal research, which will help build an evidence base on which future cIMMAs may be proposed.
The Task Force is already making plans for future IMMA workshops in other regions of the ocean. The next one will cover the vast South Pacific and will be held in Apia, Samoa, in late March 2017. From 2018-2021, further workshops will bring together marine mammal experts from the Northeast Indian Ocean, the Northwest Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific and the waters of Australia-New Zealand and adjacent Oceania waters. These southern hemisphere workshops will be funded as part of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and the German government���s International Climate Initiative (IKI).
For more information about IMMAs and the work of the Task Force, see��the��Task Force website.
October 28, 2016
Antarctic Ross Sea, at bottom of world, gets protection
Shout it from the highest mountain in Antarctica: The Ross Sea, at last, has received protection. The nations of CCAMLR (the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Living Resources) have finally after years of discussion and negotiation agreed on a 1.55 million sq km core area of the Ross Sea to be protected. Some 1.12 million sq km will receive the highest level of protection. The balance will be in special research zones where some fishing may still be allowed.
As in many areas of the world, access to fishing has been the stumbling block. In the case of the Ross Sea it is the valuable toothfish treasured not only by fishers but by the Ross Sea killer whales and the entire Ross Sea ecosystem. The toothfish and the battle for the Ross Sea were brilliantly captured in the feature film The Last Ocean by Peter Young. WDC helped sponsor and promote this film which introduced the world to the treasures of the Ross Sea and why it needed to be protected.
The Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) is the culmination of many years work by many individuals and groups, notably Jim Barnes and Claire Christian from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and penguin scientist David Ainley. It is a tribute to what can be accomplished by those who have a great idea and refuse to give up, no matter how long it takes.
WDC also played a role with the publication of Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (2004, 2011) which included a detailed case study and mapping proposal for what was then the nascent Ross Sea MPA idea. WDC celebrated the whale populations in the area, not just that it was the stronghold for the ecotype of Ross Sea orcas, but that it had substantial minke whale numbers as well as other whale species, and that it was a largely intact ecosystem, the last of its kind in the southern ocean. The Ross Sea was the jewel of WDC���s original ���12 for 2012��� MPA campaign ��� an effort to accelerate habitat protection for whales and dolphins around the world.
The small print on the agreement for the new MPA is that it will need to be revisited and renewed in 35 years. This buys a lot of time for nations of the world to appreciate its value.
��� Erich Hoyt
As in many areas of the world, access to fishing has been the stumbling block. In the case of the Ross Sea it is the valuable toothfish treasured not only by fishers but by the Ross Sea killer whales and the entire Ross Sea ecosystem. The toothfish and the battle for the Ross Sea were brilliantly captured in the feature film The Last Ocean by Peter Young. WDC helped sponsor and promote this film which introduced the world to the treasures of the Ross Sea and why it needed to be protected.
The Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) is the culmination of many years work by many individuals and groups, notably Jim Barnes and Claire Christian from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and penguin scientist David Ainley. It is a tribute to what can be accomplished by those who have a great idea and refuse to give up, no matter how long it takes.
WDC also played a role with the publication of Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (2004, 2011) which included a detailed case study and mapping proposal for what was then the nascent Ross Sea MPA idea. WDC celebrated the whale populations in the area, not just that it was the stronghold for the ecotype of Ross Sea orcas, but that it had substantial minke whale numbers as well as other whale species, and that it was a largely intact ecosystem, the last of its kind in the southern ocean. The Ross Sea was the jewel of WDC���s original ���12 for 2012��� MPA campaign ��� an effort to accelerate habitat protection for whales and dolphins around the world.
The small print on the agreement for the new MPA is that it will need to be revisited and renewed in 35 years. This buys a lot of time for nations of the world to appreciate its value.
��� Erich Hoyt
October 26, 2016
FIRST IMMA WORKSHOP PUTS MARINE MAMMAL HABITATS ON THE MAP
This week, from October 24-28, the first workshop to implement a new tool for conservation ��� Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs ��� convenes in Chania, Greece. The workshop, sponsored by the MAVA Foundation, has been organized by the IUCN WCPA-SSC Marine Mammal Protected Areas (MMPAs) Task Force, who have devised this new tool. It is a collaboration with the Tethys Research Institute and the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS). The workshop brings together a body of experts from almost every Mediterranean country who will work together to delineate Mediterranean habitats important to marine mammals, including cetaceans and pinnipeds.
The Chania workshop will cover the Mediterranean Sea while future planned meetings will be held to cover the southern oceans, including separate workshops for the South Pacific in 2017, and, from 2018 to 2021, workshops covering the Northeast Indian Ocean, the Northwest Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific and the waters of Australia-New Zealand and adjacent Oceania waters. In each region, masses of data for each marine mammal species along with oceanographic and environmental variables will be gathered in advance of the meeting of some 20 to 35 experts.
���IMMAs will act as a red flag that here are important areas for marine mammals,��� says Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-chair of the MMPAs Task Force and President of Tethys Research Institute. ���IMMAs are not MPAs, but they may lead to MPAs, ship or noise directives, and other conservation outcomes. But IMMAs also function as valuable indicators of health in the marine environment. They point to the location of umbrella species for protecting biodiversity, and can be used to monitor climate change.���
Michael J. Tetley, IMMA coordinator, has been handling the masses of data layers from experts as well as published materials, while IMMA researcher Simone Panigada has been spearheading data gap analysis. IMMA researcher Kristin Kaschner is also contributing her mapping work and other analyses to the project.
Following the workshop, an independent panel, headed by Randall R. Reeves, IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group chair, will be convened to evaluate the candidate IMMAs (cIMMAs). Only then will the cIMMAs be put on the map as IMMAs.
While the IMMA workshop process will select areas important to the 140 species of marine mammals, it also integrates with existing conservation measures and will help in the selection of ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs) as devised by the Convention on Biological Diversity as well as key biodiversity areas (KBAs) from IUCN.
���We need to know where marine mammals and other species live if we���re going to have the chance to protect their habitats,��� adds Erich Hoyt, Task Force co-chair and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). ���The urgency for doing this is that the ocean is being heavily fished and developed by industry. More than 100 countries are planning to undertake marine spatial planning (MSP) to divide up their national waters. At the same time, the spotlight is on the high seas with industry moving offshore and UN deliberations under way to come up with a plan for managing international waters���the global commons. In future, the Task Force plans to organize and raise funds to map the entire ocean for marine mammal habitats.���
Besides the MAVA foundation���s support of the Mediterranean workshop, Task Force sponsors for the worldwide IMMA project include Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, Animal Welfare Institute, Eulabor Institute, and the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and the German government���s International Climate Initiative (IKI).
For more information about the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and to download the most recent marine mammal poster map, see marinemammalhabitat.org.
The Chania workshop will cover the Mediterranean Sea while future planned meetings will be held to cover the southern oceans, including separate workshops for the South Pacific in 2017, and, from 2018 to 2021, workshops covering the Northeast Indian Ocean, the Northwest Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific and the waters of Australia-New Zealand and adjacent Oceania waters. In each region, masses of data for each marine mammal species along with oceanographic and environmental variables will be gathered in advance of the meeting of some 20 to 35 experts.
���IMMAs will act as a red flag that here are important areas for marine mammals,��� says Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-chair of the MMPAs Task Force and President of Tethys Research Institute. ���IMMAs are not MPAs, but they may lead to MPAs, ship or noise directives, and other conservation outcomes. But IMMAs also function as valuable indicators of health in the marine environment. They point to the location of umbrella species for protecting biodiversity, and can be used to monitor climate change.���
Michael J. Tetley, IMMA coordinator, has been handling the masses of data layers from experts as well as published materials, while IMMA researcher Simone Panigada has been spearheading data gap analysis. IMMA researcher Kristin Kaschner is also contributing her mapping work and other analyses to the project.
Following the workshop, an independent panel, headed by Randall R. Reeves, IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group chair, will be convened to evaluate the candidate IMMAs (cIMMAs). Only then will the cIMMAs be put on the map as IMMAs.
While the IMMA workshop process will select areas important to the 140 species of marine mammals, it also integrates with existing conservation measures and will help in the selection of ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs) as devised by the Convention on Biological Diversity as well as key biodiversity areas (KBAs) from IUCN.
���We need to know where marine mammals and other species live if we���re going to have the chance to protect their habitats,��� adds Erich Hoyt, Task Force co-chair and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). ���The urgency for doing this is that the ocean is being heavily fished and developed by industry. More than 100 countries are planning to undertake marine spatial planning (MSP) to divide up their national waters. At the same time, the spotlight is on the high seas with industry moving offshore and UN deliberations under way to come up with a plan for managing international waters���the global commons. In future, the Task Force plans to organize and raise funds to map the entire ocean for marine mammal habitats.���
Besides the MAVA foundation���s support of the Mediterranean workshop, Task Force sponsors for the worldwide IMMA project include Tethys Research Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, Animal Welfare Institute, Eulabor Institute, and the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) and the German government���s International Climate Initiative (IKI).
For more information about the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and to download the most recent marine mammal poster map, see marinemammalhabitat.org.
April 20, 2016
Saving Russian killer whales trapped in ice
In the last three years killer whales have been captured from the Russian Far East Okhotsk Sea with at least nine going to China and three to a new aquarium in Moscow. But here���s a good news story.
Two days ago, four killer whales were trapped in the ice off Southeast Sakhalin Island, not far from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Okhotsk Sea. Yesterday, three of the whales were freed and were able to swim away, and the ice field was still wide at that time. There is a good chance that they have survived. That left a big male, who in the videos (see link below) looks to be a mammal-eating killer whale. He couldn���t move at all. (Apparently, there may have been a fifth whale trapped some 40 kms from the village, too far away to attempt a rescue. There is no further news on this fifth whale. So it may have been five not four trapped killer whales in total.)
Yesterday as the tide was going out, local people worked hard to keep the big male alive. He was exhausted and getting very weak. At one point in the video you can see that he rolls on his side. People, entering the water, managed to right him, and then he spouted. Eventually the sea began rising and, in the night, some of the ice cleared. People stayed with the big male and began to clear the remaining ice to create a corridor. After the waters reached about 2 m deep, the male still wouldn���t move, so the local people tried to guide him. Eventually in the night he did start moving and swam off to the open sea, hopefully to recover.
The Russian TV news RT ran various news clips showing the workers and volunteers freeing the whales from what would have been certain death. You can see a summary of their report in English here: https://www.rt.com/news/340308-killer-whales-rescue-sakhalin/ And there is a story with more video and good photos from Roman Grishanov here: http://skr.su/news/258348
So who is this remarkable instant Russian rescue team coming to the aid of wild orcas? It seems that it included a wide range of people. The Ministry of Emergency Situation sent a team who were allowed to conduct what were surely risky operations. The local collective fishing plant (kolhoz) was there, plus a local vet, divers, and volunteers from the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk community including the youth eco-education and tourism Club Bumerang, with the head Vyacheslav Kozlov. Coordinating all this effort was the marine mammal coordinator from Sakhalin Energy, Peter Van Der Wolf who contacted scientists and other specialists. Without all these people working together, the operation might not have been successful.
Bravo and huge thanks to the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk community for helping to save these orcas!!
��� �� Erich Hoyt 2016
Two days ago, four killer whales were trapped in the ice off Southeast Sakhalin Island, not far from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Okhotsk Sea. Yesterday, three of the whales were freed and were able to swim away, and the ice field was still wide at that time. There is a good chance that they have survived. That left a big male, who in the videos (see link below) looks to be a mammal-eating killer whale. He couldn���t move at all. (Apparently, there may have been a fifth whale trapped some 40 kms from the village, too far away to attempt a rescue. There is no further news on this fifth whale. So it may have been five not four trapped killer whales in total.)
Yesterday as the tide was going out, local people worked hard to keep the big male alive. He was exhausted and getting very weak. At one point in the video you can see that he rolls on his side. People, entering the water, managed to right him, and then he spouted. Eventually the sea began rising and, in the night, some of the ice cleared. People stayed with the big male and began to clear the remaining ice to create a corridor. After the waters reached about 2 m deep, the male still wouldn���t move, so the local people tried to guide him. Eventually in the night he did start moving and swam off to the open sea, hopefully to recover.
The Russian TV news RT ran various news clips showing the workers and volunteers freeing the whales from what would have been certain death. You can see a summary of their report in English here: https://www.rt.com/news/340308-killer-whales-rescue-sakhalin/ And there is a story with more video and good photos from Roman Grishanov here: http://skr.su/news/258348
So who is this remarkable instant Russian rescue team coming to the aid of wild orcas? It seems that it included a wide range of people. The Ministry of Emergency Situation sent a team who were allowed to conduct what were surely risky operations. The local collective fishing plant (kolhoz) was there, plus a local vet, divers, and volunteers from the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk community including the youth eco-education and tourism Club Bumerang, with the head Vyacheslav Kozlov. Coordinating all this effort was the marine mammal coordinator from Sakhalin Energy, Peter Van Der Wolf who contacted scientists and other specialists. Without all these people working together, the operation might not have been successful.
Bravo and huge thanks to the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk community for helping to save these orcas!!
��� �� Erich Hoyt 2016
February 8, 2016
Part 2: What is Critical Habitat���and how can that help the southern orca community in the Pacific NW
Interview with Erich Hoyt, Research Fellow, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Program Lead, Critical Habitat and Marine Protected Areas. His answers draw on his book Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (Routledge, Taylor & Francis 2011, 477 pages) which is a world handbook for conservation and planning.
Cont���d from Part 1: 31 January 2016
4) For readers who aren't familiar, their cousins, the Northern Residents, spend most of their time along Johnstone Strait and around Northeastern Vancouver Island. A very important distinction between the two populations is the extent of human use of their respective habitats. The Southern Resident orcas live in a much more urban and developed area, and haven���t significantly increased in size since surveys began in the 1970s. The Northern Resident population, however, has grown since then. Could you talk about how critical habitat through these developed areas along the west coast of the US might help us to better co-exist with the whales?
Erich Hoyt: Critical habitat in areas well used by people, of course, has more of a job in terms of day to day management compared to an area far out to sea where people and industry are not found. But establishing critical habitat close to developed areas and cities can provide a valuable lesson for local people who will then get much more directly involved in the concept of conservation. Designating critical habitat is a strong signal that we all need to do more to help this species. We���re going to have to think about our co-existence with these whales and ensure that the actions that we���re doing aren���t slowing or even preventing them from their recovery.
5) Different research efforts have taught us so much in the past decade about these whales, yet the fact remains that they continue to decline. We don't have time to wait for the exact certainty and precision in terms of habitat features that would ideal for critical habitat revision. Could you talk about adaptive management and how it plays into conservation, especially when a situation is so time-sensitive like this one?
Erich Hoyt: Adaptive management is widely accepted now as a good strategy for management���it means that you keep learning as you go along. For these Southern Resident Community orcas, however, we have no more time to lose and must try to get it as close to ���right��� as we can. We can do that by erring on the side of more precaution and greater protection. As the stakes get higher, the more precautionary we have to become. That means more critical habitat, not less.
6) Orcas are a top predator, and are in some ways considered an indicator species. Their health, at least to an extent, reflects the health of their ecosystem. How does critical habitat tie into ecosystem-based management for a holistic approach to restoring ecological integrity?
Erich Hoyt: Killer whales are good indicator species���their tissues provide a report card of the environment they live in. When killer whales wash up dead, as they do most years, we get an indication of how well or poorly we are treating the ocean. The Southern Community orcas, in particular, are carrying very high contaminant loads, enough to suggest that reproductive failure may be a factor in some of the deaths, and these loads really reflect the urban areas where they travel as well as the land-based nature of their salmon food. And so this makes us realize that we have to look at the health of the whole ecosystem if we���re going to have killer whales around at all in the future.
The number of boats around the Southern Community killer whales is also of concern. Increasing noise from marine traffic in their environment is one issue���these are creatures that depend on being able to hear communication calls over several miles as well as using echolocation for hunting. A separate issue is the number of whale watching boats. Whale watching can be a positive force for conservation of whales and their habitat. But too much whale watching, too many boats, can become a problem. I think that it would be a good idea to reserve a relatively small portion of killer whale habitat as a no-go area for all boats, a real whale sanctuary. If this area were close to land, then people could still quietly observe the whales from a look-out as long as there was no disturbance. We could study the effects in both areas and compare them. The other idea is to have temporal breaks from intensive whale watching���a period of time during the day when whales and whale watchers have a break.
Ecosystem-based management (or EBM) means that for killer whales, for example, we need to pay attention not only to the waters where killer whales feed, breed and socialize, but the ecosystem that supports them. Therefore, besides all these threats within the waters where they swim, we also need to consider the salmon streams, which extend hundreds of miles upstream. These are also part of the ecosystem that needs to be managed in order to address the endangered status of these whales. On the one hand, we need to restore the river systems that could be producing a great deal more salmon, and at the same time we need to manage the fishing industry.
Ecosystem-based management is a great idea but it is really in its infancy in terms of practice. We have to pay attention to details but also start thinking more holistically about how to make the ocean a place where we and the whales want to live. In many ways, the future survival of the Southern Community orcas will stand as a test of whether we can make things right not just for them but for ourselves in Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and along the outer, open Pacific coast of the Northwest.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
Cont���d from Part 1: 31 January 2016
4) For readers who aren't familiar, their cousins, the Northern Residents, spend most of their time along Johnstone Strait and around Northeastern Vancouver Island. A very important distinction between the two populations is the extent of human use of their respective habitats. The Southern Resident orcas live in a much more urban and developed area, and haven���t significantly increased in size since surveys began in the 1970s. The Northern Resident population, however, has grown since then. Could you talk about how critical habitat through these developed areas along the west coast of the US might help us to better co-exist with the whales?
Erich Hoyt: Critical habitat in areas well used by people, of course, has more of a job in terms of day to day management compared to an area far out to sea where people and industry are not found. But establishing critical habitat close to developed areas and cities can provide a valuable lesson for local people who will then get much more directly involved in the concept of conservation. Designating critical habitat is a strong signal that we all need to do more to help this species. We���re going to have to think about our co-existence with these whales and ensure that the actions that we���re doing aren���t slowing or even preventing them from their recovery.
5) Different research efforts have taught us so much in the past decade about these whales, yet the fact remains that they continue to decline. We don't have time to wait for the exact certainty and precision in terms of habitat features that would ideal for critical habitat revision. Could you talk about adaptive management and how it plays into conservation, especially when a situation is so time-sensitive like this one?
Erich Hoyt: Adaptive management is widely accepted now as a good strategy for management���it means that you keep learning as you go along. For these Southern Resident Community orcas, however, we have no more time to lose and must try to get it as close to ���right��� as we can. We can do that by erring on the side of more precaution and greater protection. As the stakes get higher, the more precautionary we have to become. That means more critical habitat, not less.
6) Orcas are a top predator, and are in some ways considered an indicator species. Their health, at least to an extent, reflects the health of their ecosystem. How does critical habitat tie into ecosystem-based management for a holistic approach to restoring ecological integrity?
Erich Hoyt: Killer whales are good indicator species���their tissues provide a report card of the environment they live in. When killer whales wash up dead, as they do most years, we get an indication of how well or poorly we are treating the ocean. The Southern Community orcas, in particular, are carrying very high contaminant loads, enough to suggest that reproductive failure may be a factor in some of the deaths, and these loads really reflect the urban areas where they travel as well as the land-based nature of their salmon food. And so this makes us realize that we have to look at the health of the whole ecosystem if we���re going to have killer whales around at all in the future.
The number of boats around the Southern Community killer whales is also of concern. Increasing noise from marine traffic in their environment is one issue���these are creatures that depend on being able to hear communication calls over several miles as well as using echolocation for hunting. A separate issue is the number of whale watching boats. Whale watching can be a positive force for conservation of whales and their habitat. But too much whale watching, too many boats, can become a problem. I think that it would be a good idea to reserve a relatively small portion of killer whale habitat as a no-go area for all boats, a real whale sanctuary. If this area were close to land, then people could still quietly observe the whales from a look-out as long as there was no disturbance. We could study the effects in both areas and compare them. The other idea is to have temporal breaks from intensive whale watching���a period of time during the day when whales and whale watchers have a break.
Ecosystem-based management (or EBM) means that for killer whales, for example, we need to pay attention not only to the waters where killer whales feed, breed and socialize, but the ecosystem that supports them. Therefore, besides all these threats within the waters where they swim, we also need to consider the salmon streams, which extend hundreds of miles upstream. These are also part of the ecosystem that needs to be managed in order to address the endangered status of these whales. On the one hand, we need to restore the river systems that could be producing a great deal more salmon, and at the same time we need to manage the fishing industry.
Ecosystem-based management is a great idea but it is really in its infancy in terms of practice. We have to pay attention to details but also start thinking more holistically about how to make the ocean a place where we and the whales want to live. In many ways, the future survival of the Southern Community orcas will stand as a test of whether we can make things right not just for them but for ourselves in Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and along the outer, open Pacific coast of the Northwest.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
January 31, 2016
What is Critical Habitat���and how can that help the southern orca community in the Pacific NW, Part 1
Interview with Erich Hoyt, Research Fellow, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Program Lead, Critical Habitat and Marine Protected Areas. His answers draw on his book Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (Routledge, Taylor & Francis 2011, 477 pages) which is a world handbook for conservation and planning.
1) What is critical habitat?
Erich Hoyt: For whales and dolphins, critical habitat consists of the areas that they use to feed, mate, reproduce and socialize, as well as the areas that protect essential ecosystem functions and the habitat that support their prey. So with fish-eating killer whales, their critical habitat area must consider the salmon prey that they depend upon.
In the U.S., critical habitat has a legal definition under the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 as:
���... specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed ... on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection; and (II) specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed upon a determination by the Secretary to be essential for the conservation of the species.���
In order to determine whether an area meets this definition, the ���authorities��� are required to:
������ consider those physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of a given species including space for individual and population growth and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, and rearing of offspring; and habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of the historical, geographical and ecological distribution of a species.���
2) How is this [critical habitat] different from things like marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries?
Erich Hoyt: A marine protected area (MPA) is a generic term for hundreds of designations with different names and degrees of legal protection that aim to protect habitat in some part of the ocean. Marine reserves, marine parks, special areas of conservation, marine national monuments, national marine sanctuaries ��� are all MPAs. National marine sanctuaries are the U.S. high profile protected areas that try to balance human uses (often difficult!) with protection for the species and ecosystem. By contrast, the U.S. legislation on ���critical habitat��� is a quieter designation that focuses on the recovery of a named species.
3) Southern Residents face many different threats: prey depletion, increasing ocean noise, toxic contamination, and more. Their critical habitat designation covers only a fraction of their entire range. In what ways do you think that expanding critical habitat could directly or indirectly address these different threats to help the population avoid extinction?
Erich Hoyt: Regarding the US designation of critical habitat for the Southern Resident killer whales, where the boundaries are drawn for critical habitat is important, and critical habitat can include areas outside the immediate geographical areas most used by the species, as noted above. It is hard to determine boundaries for many wide-ranging species yet we have more precise data on the movements of the Southern Community orcas than most other whales and dolphins. By expanding critical habitat, we get not only a larger potential area for the whales, but we get much greater awareness and attention to the conservation of the whales.
It���s worth mentioning an educational charity, The Whale Trail, which focuses mainly on the survival of the Southern Community orcas by building awareness and links to local people through land-based whale watching. The Whale Trail for its part has extended its network of land-based sites along the outer coast of Washington State, Oregon and California as far south as Monterey Bay, where the Southern Community has been seen. This is a recognition by The Whale Trail and its partners, including scientists, government departments and conservation groups, that the range of the Southern Community includes not only all of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, but that it extends from Vancouver Island to at least Monterey Bay.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
1) What is critical habitat?
Erich Hoyt: For whales and dolphins, critical habitat consists of the areas that they use to feed, mate, reproduce and socialize, as well as the areas that protect essential ecosystem functions and the habitat that support their prey. So with fish-eating killer whales, their critical habitat area must consider the salmon prey that they depend upon.
In the U.S., critical habitat has a legal definition under the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 as:
���... specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed ... on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection; and (II) specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed upon a determination by the Secretary to be essential for the conservation of the species.���
In order to determine whether an area meets this definition, the ���authorities��� are required to:
������ consider those physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of a given species including space for individual and population growth and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, and rearing of offspring; and habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of the historical, geographical and ecological distribution of a species.���
2) How is this [critical habitat] different from things like marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries?
Erich Hoyt: A marine protected area (MPA) is a generic term for hundreds of designations with different names and degrees of legal protection that aim to protect habitat in some part of the ocean. Marine reserves, marine parks, special areas of conservation, marine national monuments, national marine sanctuaries ��� are all MPAs. National marine sanctuaries are the U.S. high profile protected areas that try to balance human uses (often difficult!) with protection for the species and ecosystem. By contrast, the U.S. legislation on ���critical habitat��� is a quieter designation that focuses on the recovery of a named species.
3) Southern Residents face many different threats: prey depletion, increasing ocean noise, toxic contamination, and more. Their critical habitat designation covers only a fraction of their entire range. In what ways do you think that expanding critical habitat could directly or indirectly address these different threats to help the population avoid extinction?
Erich Hoyt: Regarding the US designation of critical habitat for the Southern Resident killer whales, where the boundaries are drawn for critical habitat is important, and critical habitat can include areas outside the immediate geographical areas most used by the species, as noted above. It is hard to determine boundaries for many wide-ranging species yet we have more precise data on the movements of the Southern Community orcas than most other whales and dolphins. By expanding critical habitat, we get not only a larger potential area for the whales, but we get much greater awareness and attention to the conservation of the whales.
It���s worth mentioning an educational charity, The Whale Trail, which focuses mainly on the survival of the Southern Community orcas by building awareness and links to local people through land-based whale watching. The Whale Trail for its part has extended its network of land-based sites along the outer coast of Washington State, Oregon and California as far south as Monterey Bay, where the Southern Community has been seen. This is a recognition by The Whale Trail and its partners, including scientists, government departments and conservation groups, that the range of the Southern Community includes not only all of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, but that it extends from Vancouver Island to at least Monterey Bay.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
October 10, 2015
Two legendary science meetings led to conservation
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