A murky report this morning from Prince William Sound, site of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, suggests that an oil tanker sailing to the oil terminal in Valdez struck a humpback whale. The report in today's Anchorage Daily News, however, does not make clear whether the impact of the strike actually killed the whale. KTUU reports that during the entire 30 year history of oil tankers transiting the Sound no one has ever seen a ship hit a whale. It's possible that the whale could have been dead at the time of impact or that the whale was in a sleep-like state at the surface, unaware of the oncoming ship. Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins sleep by resting one hemisphere of their brain while keeping the other active to maintain buoyancy (Listen to Radio Lab's fascinating podcast about animal sleep). Crewmembers of the tanker, named the Kodiak, most likely never saw the whale. Questions remain: Are tankers killing whales? Is the North Pacific humpback whale population experiencing a boom? Are whales not getting enough sleep? We'll have to wait and see - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is on the case.
Oil tanker with escort 
No comments:
Post a Comment