‘Fishing bycatch is the biggest threat to whales, dolphins and porpoises’
This report has been published today, showing the extent of the threat to cetaceans by becoming accidently captured in fishing equipment and nets, which kills an estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year globally:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54485407
The Mannin Branch of the Celtic League has long campaigned about this, although sometimes it seems that we are the only voice in the Isle of Man raised against it. I know that mega trawlers don’t operate in Manx waters, so it may be seen as an issue which doesn’t concern us.
As an ornithologist and Manx nationalist, I was once told that birds don’t recognise man made boundaries. How much more is that the case for marine life, such as whales, dolphins and porpoises? Unlike between land masses, there are no physical boundaries in the ocean. Is silence in the face of this destruction complicity? Whale watchers and other conservationists need to do more to campaign about this. If we don’t stop these deaths, there may be nothing left to watch.
Image: North Atlantic Right Whale on the brink…Allen Moore,
Mannin Branch Secretary,
Celtic League (10/10/2020)
