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Boat That Killed Blue Whale Didn't Have Valid Permit, Surveyor Contends
Why was the boat that killed a blue whale while doing sonar mapping surveys off the Mendocino County coast allowed to operate without a valid permit to conduct surveys in California waters?
Photo of dead blue whale by Larry Wagner.
Photo of dead blue whale by Larry Wagner.
Boat That Killed Whale Didn't Have Valid Permit, Surveyor Contends
by Dan Bacher
A research vessel contracted by NOAA for a mission to map the sea floor for the California Ocean Protection Council didn't have a valid permit when it struck and killed a 70-foot blue whale off the Mendocino County coast near Fort Bragg on October 19, a prominent sea surveyor contends.
The death of the whale drew an angry response from North Coast environmentalists, fishermen and seaweed harvesters, since one of the main reasons the boat was mapping the ocean floor was to gather the data used to develop so-called state "marine protected areas" (MPAs) under Governor Arnold's widely-criticized Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, as well as for federal MPAs.
Steve Sullivan, Vice-President of Sea Surveyor, Inc., said the Pacific Star, an out-of-state vessel from Alaska, was surveying without the required permit to conduct geophysical surveys in California waters at the time that it struck the the rare blue whale.
"The permit the Pacific Star has been operating under (provided by Fugro-Pelagos) expired on September 30 and the new permit was not approved by the State Lands Commission until October 22, three-days after the whale was struck," he said. "NOAA, the Federal sponsor for the seafloor mapping project being conducted for the Ocean Protection Council, has never had a permit to survey in California waters, nor do they adhere to the provisions of the permit that ensure protection to marine mammals."
Sullivan has complained repeatedly to the Ocean Protection Council that the Pacific Star is not conducting their surveys in compliance with requirements from the California State Lands Commission to avoid adverse effects on marine mammals.
"The blue whale would not have been struck or killed if the Pacific Star had been conducting their surveys in compliance with State Lands Commission regulations," said Sullivan. "It is unfortunate that a Blue Whale had to die, but perhaps something good can come from this if it motivates the State to enforce the current laws that protect our marine resources."
Sullivan emphasized that the boat would not have been killed if the operators of the boat had been in compliance with the regulations that his operation is required to follow under state law.
First, geophysical survey boats equipped with multi-beam sonar or sidescan sonar are not allowed to operate at night in order to avoid collisions with whales and other marine mammals.
Second, operators are required to hire an observer trained in marine mammal biology to be on board during geophysical surveys to make sure that the boat doesn't endanger or hit whales and other marine mammals.
Third, the State Lands Commission requires operators to shut down the survey if the boat gets anywhere near a whale.
"The State, particularly the Ocean Protection Council, must stop funding illegal surveys in California waters," said Sullivan.
Steve Sullivan prophetically spoke in front of the California Ocean Protection Council regarding the non-compliance with the law of the MLPA survey vessel in September 2009. Here is his testimony: http://www.screencast.com/users/KellyCabal/folders/Default/media/f1da96f1-9dc0-4664-9635-b31271cb61f9
A representative from the Ocean Protection Council had not yet responded to my phone call at press time.
However, Samuel P. Schuchat, OPC Secretary and Executive Officer of the State Coastal Conservancy, tried to make light of this incident that has outraged North Coast environmentalists, fishermen and seaweed harvesters in his article, "Call Me Ahab," on the Ocean Protection Coalition website, http://www.opc.ca.gov/2009/11/call-me-ahab/.
"As you can imagine, we all feel pretty bad about it. After all, we are the Ocean Protection Council, not the Ocean Destruction Council," Schuchat stated. "To be fair, no one from the Council was on board the ship. In fact, we weren’t even paying them. Since the state bond freeze in December, our mapping project has been supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) until we are able to resume funding."
"Still, I feel like I just ran over my neighbor’s cat, except that I can’t run down to the pound and get a replacement," he quipped.
North Coast community activists are asking for a full, independent and impartial investigation of the killing of the blue whale by the Pacific Star, especially in light of Sullivan's relevation that the boat didn't have the necessary permit.
Jim Martin, West Coast Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, summed up the feelings of many North Coast environmentalists and fishermen when he said, "How ironic it is that a rare blue whale was killed by the people who say they want to 'protect marine life.'"
by Dan Bacher
A research vessel contracted by NOAA for a mission to map the sea floor for the California Ocean Protection Council didn't have a valid permit when it struck and killed a 70-foot blue whale off the Mendocino County coast near Fort Bragg on October 19, a prominent sea surveyor contends.
The death of the whale drew an angry response from North Coast environmentalists, fishermen and seaweed harvesters, since one of the main reasons the boat was mapping the ocean floor was to gather the data used to develop so-called state "marine protected areas" (MPAs) under Governor Arnold's widely-criticized Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, as well as for federal MPAs.
Steve Sullivan, Vice-President of Sea Surveyor, Inc., said the Pacific Star, an out-of-state vessel from Alaska, was surveying without the required permit to conduct geophysical surveys in California waters at the time that it struck the the rare blue whale.
"The permit the Pacific Star has been operating under (provided by Fugro-Pelagos) expired on September 30 and the new permit was not approved by the State Lands Commission until October 22, three-days after the whale was struck," he said. "NOAA, the Federal sponsor for the seafloor mapping project being conducted for the Ocean Protection Council, has never had a permit to survey in California waters, nor do they adhere to the provisions of the permit that ensure protection to marine mammals."
Sullivan has complained repeatedly to the Ocean Protection Council that the Pacific Star is not conducting their surveys in compliance with requirements from the California State Lands Commission to avoid adverse effects on marine mammals.
"The blue whale would not have been struck or killed if the Pacific Star had been conducting their surveys in compliance with State Lands Commission regulations," said Sullivan. "It is unfortunate that a Blue Whale had to die, but perhaps something good can come from this if it motivates the State to enforce the current laws that protect our marine resources."
Sullivan emphasized that the boat would not have been killed if the operators of the boat had been in compliance with the regulations that his operation is required to follow under state law.
First, geophysical survey boats equipped with multi-beam sonar or sidescan sonar are not allowed to operate at night in order to avoid collisions with whales and other marine mammals.
Second, operators are required to hire an observer trained in marine mammal biology to be on board during geophysical surveys to make sure that the boat doesn't endanger or hit whales and other marine mammals.
Third, the State Lands Commission requires operators to shut down the survey if the boat gets anywhere near a whale.
"The State, particularly the Ocean Protection Council, must stop funding illegal surveys in California waters," said Sullivan.
Steve Sullivan prophetically spoke in front of the California Ocean Protection Council regarding the non-compliance with the law of the MLPA survey vessel in September 2009. Here is his testimony: http://www.screencast.com/users/KellyCabal/folders/Default/media/f1da96f1-9dc0-4664-9635-b31271cb61f9
A representative from the Ocean Protection Council had not yet responded to my phone call at press time.
However, Samuel P. Schuchat, OPC Secretary and Executive Officer of the State Coastal Conservancy, tried to make light of this incident that has outraged North Coast environmentalists, fishermen and seaweed harvesters in his article, "Call Me Ahab," on the Ocean Protection Coalition website, http://www.opc.ca.gov/2009/11/call-me-ahab/.
"As you can imagine, we all feel pretty bad about it. After all, we are the Ocean Protection Council, not the Ocean Destruction Council," Schuchat stated. "To be fair, no one from the Council was on board the ship. In fact, we weren’t even paying them. Since the state bond freeze in December, our mapping project has been supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) until we are able to resume funding."
"Still, I feel like I just ran over my neighbor’s cat, except that I can’t run down to the pound and get a replacement," he quipped.
North Coast community activists are asking for a full, independent and impartial investigation of the killing of the blue whale by the Pacific Star, especially in light of Sullivan's relevation that the boat didn't have the necessary permit.
Jim Martin, West Coast Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, summed up the feelings of many North Coast environmentalists and fishermen when he said, "How ironic it is that a rare blue whale was killed by the people who say they want to 'protect marine life.'"
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"First, survey boats are not allowed to operate at night in order to avoid collisions with whales and other marine mammals. "
Could you clarify that, Dan? What is the regulation or state standard of operation which says that survey vessels aren't supposed to operate at night. I ask, because there are several annual NOAA or CalCOFI surveys which use methods of primarily operating at night. An example would be surveys of plankton and small juvenile fish which may visually evade nets during the day - in order to estimate feeding conditions for that year and the expected number of adult groundfish in a few years. I couldn't really say anything about mammals + ships at night from personal knowledge, because I only have daytime observations of mammals swimming around a vessel during the day
Is this regulation specifically for boats using whatever equipment they had on their boat for mapping, such as sonar... or for boats within 3km of shore?
Also... many of these scientific research cruises are multiday. In other words, the boat doesn't come in to port at night, and couldn't feasibly do that because it takes too long too get to shore.
Could you clarify that, Dan? What is the regulation or state standard of operation which says that survey vessels aren't supposed to operate at night. I ask, because there are several annual NOAA or CalCOFI surveys which use methods of primarily operating at night. An example would be surveys of plankton and small juvenile fish which may visually evade nets during the day - in order to estimate feeding conditions for that year and the expected number of adult groundfish in a few years. I couldn't really say anything about mammals + ships at night from personal knowledge, because I only have daytime observations of mammals swimming around a vessel during the day
Is this regulation specifically for boats using whatever equipment they had on their boat for mapping, such as sonar... or for boats within 3km of shore?
Also... many of these scientific research cruises are multiday. In other words, the boat doesn't come in to port at night, and couldn't feasibly do that because it takes too long too get to shore.
As I recall the Center for Biological Diversity filed a complaint with the US Coast Guard after 3 blue whales were killed in the Santa Barbara channel in 2007 by ship strikes. Whales are still being rammed. I think the question remains- is there any agency capable/willing to patrol U.S. waters to enforce rules/regulations for the protection of endangered sea mammals or any endangered species for that matter.
Ship strikes are nothing new (been on the increase since 1950) and other limiting factors like pollution (PCB's), fishing nets, whale watching boats and orcas being forced to switch to other prey species are all working to reduce the population of whales. The federal and state committment is to corporate "free" enterprise not for proper stewardship. If a blue whale is not large enough to get the establishment to change its attitude- what is?
We need a president with some Teddy Roosevelt philosophy-just do it. Refit some naval vessels and get them out there on patrol.
Ship strikes are nothing new (been on the increase since 1950) and other limiting factors like pollution (PCB's), fishing nets, whale watching boats and orcas being forced to switch to other prey species are all working to reduce the population of whales. The federal and state committment is to corporate "free" enterprise not for proper stewardship. If a blue whale is not large enough to get the establishment to change its attitude- what is?
We need a president with some Teddy Roosevelt philosophy-just do it. Refit some naval vessels and get them out there on patrol.
You would need a whole flow chart to describe the law enforcement agencies which fall outside of the domain of regular city officers or county sheriffs.
Many of these agencies focus on different categories of rural and public lands, and trade/smuggling across borders.
The coast guard has a law enforcement division which focuses on marine poaching, other countries fishing in US waters http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg531/
NOAA has an office of law enforcement. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/ They have a uniformed corps whose purpose is to run their dozen or so scientific boats. NOAA fisheries jurisdiction is over marine waters, which includes the freshwater habitat of salmon, but not trout. The USFWS and State fish and wildlife departments have jurisdiction over freshwater fisheries habitats. Other agencies such as the US Forest Service, the BLM etc. are run very differently and tend to have very different missions (the latter two are criticized for being run like their only purpose is helping businesses harvest or use the land). NOAA and USGS are known for hiring a lot of good scientists who could be working at a university, while the USFWS and state agencies typically only fund monitoring necessary to comply with the law. State Fish and Wildlife depts are run differently from state to state, and often allocate wardens who do law enforcement over vast parks areas, but, for instance, there is a whole police department for the East Bay regional parks system.
If the issue is failure of a law enforcement agency to follow the law or enforce the law, I think that only lawsuits, public appeals, or higher ranking agencies like the FBI can do that. Like I heard the FBI is investigating various officers in the Oakland police department.
Many of these agencies focus on different categories of rural and public lands, and trade/smuggling across borders.
The coast guard has a law enforcement division which focuses on marine poaching, other countries fishing in US waters http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg531/
NOAA has an office of law enforcement. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/ They have a uniformed corps whose purpose is to run their dozen or so scientific boats. NOAA fisheries jurisdiction is over marine waters, which includes the freshwater habitat of salmon, but not trout. The USFWS and State fish and wildlife departments have jurisdiction over freshwater fisheries habitats. Other agencies such as the US Forest Service, the BLM etc. are run very differently and tend to have very different missions (the latter two are criticized for being run like their only purpose is helping businesses harvest or use the land). NOAA and USGS are known for hiring a lot of good scientists who could be working at a university, while the USFWS and state agencies typically only fund monitoring necessary to comply with the law. State Fish and Wildlife depts are run differently from state to state, and often allocate wardens who do law enforcement over vast parks areas, but, for instance, there is a whole police department for the East Bay regional parks system.
If the issue is failure of a law enforcement agency to follow the law or enforce the law, I think that only lawsuits, public appeals, or higher ranking agencies like the FBI can do that. Like I heard the FBI is investigating various officers in the Oakland police department.
I find it interesting that Sea Surveyor is so concerned about this, having worked repeatedly with Fugro in the past on hydrographic surveys, as they are a "woman owned" survey company with like two employees total (both male) that bid on projects because they get preferential contractor status and then subcontract the work to larger companies because they cannot realistically carry out the work.
Furthermore, of course fisherman are going to be opposed to the seafloor mapping program, as data from it will be used be scientists to constrain fisheries habitats, which is part of a state and federal push for responsible and sustainable fishing practices. If parts of the coast are determined to be vital to fishery reproduction, they may become off limits to fisherman, which seems the likely reason for the opposition from fisherman to the offshore mapping project.
The whale strike is a tragedy, but hollow, self-serving
rhetoric is unacceptable and completely unecesary. NOAA
awarded the hydrographic survey contract to Fugro Pelagos
because of their extensive experience and quality of data
they collect. The survey vessel had an accidental encounter with a whale, and hopefully a thouroigh investigation of the incident by NOAA will put this to rest.
Furthermore, of course fisherman are going to be opposed to the seafloor mapping program, as data from it will be used be scientists to constrain fisheries habitats, which is part of a state and federal push for responsible and sustainable fishing practices. If parts of the coast are determined to be vital to fishery reproduction, they may become off limits to fisherman, which seems the likely reason for the opposition from fisherman to the offshore mapping project.
The whale strike is a tragedy, but hollow, self-serving
rhetoric is unacceptable and completely unecesary. NOAA
awarded the hydrographic survey contract to Fugro Pelagos
because of their extensive experience and quality of data
they collect. The survey vessel had an accidental encounter with a whale, and hopefully a thouroigh investigation of the incident by NOAA will put this to rest.
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