Whale sanctuary
As whale sanctuaries partially marine protected areas designated in which mainly whales should be protected. Protected areas for whales are intended to offer marine mammals the opportunity to feed undisturbed in vast marine regions, to reproduce and to recover from hunting and increased environmental pollution. Protected areas have a very positive signal effect. Their value lies not only in the prohibition of hunting, but also in the controlled fishing, strictly regulated shipping, prohibition of military maneuvers and landfills, clean coasts, regulated whale watching .
Indian Ocean
In 1979 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) initiated a whale sanctuary in the Indian Ocean , which is primarily intended to contribute to the conservation of blue whales , as the animals raise their young in the Indian Ocean.
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
In 1994, the waters around the Antarctic at least up to the 60th degree of latitude, but also in some areas further north up to 55 ° or 40 ° South, were declared an Antarctic Protected Area by the IWC. (Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary) The area covers an area of 50 million square kilometers. Three quarters of the important feeding areas of the whales are thus protected. The sanctuary is intended to help the populations of blue, fin, humpback and sei whales to recover.
In 1998, Australia and New Zealand first proposed the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary. Brazil is committed to a protected area in the South Atlantic. The establishment of a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific and the South Atlantic was on the agenda at the three IWC conferences in London (2001), Shimonoseki (2002) and Berlin (2003), but the majority required for a new sanctuary was not achieved.
Whale sanctuary
The sanctuary of the whales , a whale sanctuary located in Europe, can be found in the Corso-Liguro-Provencal sector of the Mediterranean. The protected area treaty was adopted by France, Italy and Monaco and came into force in 2002.
Whale sanctuary in the German North Sea
In December 1999, the state government of Schleswig-Holstein established a whale sanctuary in the German North Sea off the islands of Sylt and Amrum . This first official whale sanctuary in Europe extends the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park , which has existed since 1985, up to the 12 nautical mile limit to the west. The main purpose of the protection is to preserve an important calving area of the North Sea population of harbor porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) and a winter resting area for large populations of the common scoter (Melanitta nigra).
Hawaii Marine Sanctuary
The world's largest marine reserve is being created in the Pacific near Hawaii . An archipelago 2250 kilometers long and 160 kilometers wide is to be placed under the administration of the Authority for Marine and Climate Research ( NOAA ). The 362,000 square kilometer archipelago in northwest Hawaii consists largely of uninhabited islands, atolls, and coral reefs . NOAA boss Conrad Lautenbacher is convinced that the protected area can preserve the diversity of the more than 7,000 different species - around a quarter of them are not found anywhere else in the world.
At the same time, this area is threatened by the largest garbage vortex on earth. It is located about 1,000 km north of Hawaii and has been growing for years. So far, around 100 million tons of plastic waste has accumulated in this vortex. Wind and currents drive this floating rubbish dump in a giant vortex on the ocean in circles. If the currents change, it will reach the new marine reserve and kill a lot of animals. The vortex is about the size of Texas . There are six kilograms of plastic for every kilogram of plankton .
Sea Lion Easterly
The Sea Lion Easterly is a nature reserve in the South Atlantic that was founded under the leadership of the Antarctic Research Trust (ART) and the help of conservation organizations such as OceanCare . The Falkland Islands are home to millions of sea birds and marine mammals. Settlement by humans, which has persisted for more than 150 years, has led to the habitat of many animal and plant species being destroyed by management. ART has purchased four islands, including Sea Lion Easterly, which is home to the Falkland Islands' second largest colony of elephant seals.
World park for whales
For several years, efforts have been made to establish new whale sanctuaries with the ultimate goal of a world park for whales, which would correspond to a permanent whaling moratorium . The reason for this effort is that, aside from the environmental threats, the greatest threat to the world's whale populations is the possibility that at some point in the future commercial whaling may be legally resumed. In the past, commercial whaling was responsible for nearly wiping out many species of whale.
In 2004, at a meeting of the IWC , Japan proposed lifting the whale sanctuaries and allowing whale hunting again. However, the required three-quarters majority was not found (there were 25 votes in favor and 30 against with two abstentions).
Despite all international laws, obligations and prohibitions, Japan has never given up whale hunting in the Antarctic whale sanctuary. Japan uses a loophole in the IWC charter that allows hunting for the purpose of scientific research . The Japanese government claims that the whales are being killed for scientific purposes only. However, the whale meat from the hunted animals is sold in fish markets in Japan. The catch for the season from December 5, 2005 to March 6, 2006 in the Antarctic whale sanctuary resulted in 856 minke whales and 10 of the endangered fin whales .
In the 2007–2008 season, Japan planned to catch 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales for scientific purposes. The country is thus exposed to considerable international criticism. Biologists suggest that the same research can be done without killing the whales.
Individual evidence
- ^ Hoyt, E. 2005. Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises: A World Handbook for Cetacean Habitat Conservation. Earthscan, London. 516pp. ISBN 1-84407-063-8 and 1844070646.
- ↑ a b Whale sanctuaries.
- ↑ Why a South Pacific whale sanctuary? ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Notarbartolo-di-Sciara G, Agardy T., Hyrenbach D, Scovazzi T Van Klaveren P (2007). The Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. doi : 10.1002 / aqc.855 .
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html
- ↑ http://www.antarctic-research.de/
- ↑ IWC conference in Chile: compromise with Japan seems to fail. In: derStandard.at. June 25, 2008, accessed December 18, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2003/06/20/178533.html
