Front pageTwice every month, Whales online presents a significant current event related to the St. Lawrence. 13 November 2008 A very busy high season for the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response NetworkThe 2008 season will be remembered for several incidents that required the involvement of Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network partners. Over 400 calls to the toll-free number (1-877-722-5346) have been dealt with so far... and the year is not over yet! Efficient fieldwork and coordination have advanced the cause of St. Lawrence marine mammals this year. Network partners have worked to gain a better grasp of the nature of incidents that affect these species. They also managed to reduce the number of deaths due to human activities. All organizations in the province of Quebec that work with St. Lawrence marine mammals are involved in this long-term effort. Whales in fishing gear Three humpback whales got caught in cod fishing gear along the Lower North Shore in July. The first animal was entangled, but still able to move freely. It disappeared before DFO and MICS teams were able to intervene. Fisheries agents from Blanc Sablon managed to unfetter the second humpback whale, while the third managed to free itself. Approximately a dozen cases of accidental entanglement of whales in fishing gear are reported in the St. Lawrence every year. Young animals in trouble On July 30, a bearded seal hauled itself onto floating docks and boats at the Québec City Yacht Club. This behaviour soon became problematical. Moreover, the animal was far from home; bearded seals are most prevalent in the Arctic. Through a joint effort by the Parc Aquarium du Québec, the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park and Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Maurice Lamontagne Institute, the seal was relocated off Tadoussac. Several weeks later it had returned to the same marina! We have since lost track of its whereabouts. On August 4, a live newborn beluga whale came ashore at Saint-Siméon. Members of the GREMM research team and employees of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park returned the animal to the water near beluga whale groups. Scientists were hopeful that a lactating female would adopt the young, and obviously healthy, female calf. This was a well-documented possibility. Unfortunately, in this particular case, we do not know the outcome of the story. The young animal swam with different beluga whales for an entire day. The research team eventually lost track of her. A red tide in the Estuary We will long remember the toxic micro-algae bloom that occurred in August at the mouth of the Saguenay. Unprecedented in magnitude, the so-called “red tide” was the cause of most of the deaths that took place during this period. The list of dead animals is long and includes several thousand seabirds, fish, approximately 100 seals, at least 10 beluga whales and several harbour porpoises. The existence of the Network was a determining factor in the efficient coordination of the various interventions. These actions were crucial to the extensive study of this threat to the St. Lawrence ecosystem. The book of the dead The Network not only assist animals in trouble, it also documents the deaths of St. Lawrence Marine Mammals. Here are a few high-profile cases from 2008: a fin whale from the Estuary died several weeks after the passage of the red tide; laboratory analysis is ongoing; the Magdalen Islands that stretch out like a long net in the heart of the Gulf were the setting for several strandings of relatively rare St. Lawrence species: a sperm whale, two striped dolphins (very rare in the St. Lawrence) and a long-finned pilot whale. The Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network can be reached through a toll-free number (1-877-722-5346) that gives the public access to a specialist at all times, year round. On Whales Online: The Network, its mandate and its partners The archives of 2008The archives ot past years |