Sea Mammal News from places I have visited

Hi all

Here is some news updates from places I visited last year.

News from Tenerife
I have just heard that the fish farm I reported on in Tenerife has just closed up. The fish in the fish farm attracted the local dolphins who spent most of the day swimming round and round the fish pens, even though they could not catch the fish.

 I have heard that the fish farm closed because of financial reasons, rather than to help the dolphins. Fish farming can be a good thing because it helps to reduce the amount of fish caught from the sea. But sometimes they can be damaging to marine life.

This is a link to an earlier blog message when I visited  Tenerife and saw the fish farm
http://adventuresofedthebear.blogspot.com/2010/08/whales-dolphins-and-fiesta.html


News from Farallon Islands USA
A female humpback whale become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines which made it difficult to swim and stay afloat - whales need to breath air.  She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body and tail. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate Bridge) and radioed an environmental group for help.


Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and the only way to save the whale was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as if she were thanking them. The whale seemed to know that the people were trying to help her.

Here is a weblink to when I visited the Gulf of Farallon NOAA marine sanctuary. Don't forget the weblog will be in reverse, the oldest entries first so scroll down to the bottom of the page
http://adventuresofedthebear.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

Bye for now

Ed the Bear