TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

and manifest in a series of lethal and sub-lethal pathologies. Some whales, which successfully evadebeing harpooned, or are missed, may still suffer fatal syndromes, such as exertional myopathy (EM).Thus, pursuit may increase anthropogenic mortality levels, and this has implications for the welfareof all hunted whales, including those that are pursued but escape the harpoon. Such effects may beexacerbated where gravid females or females accompanied by dependent offspring are targeted.Physiological assessments of stress, as part of currently practised lethal whale research, seem plaguedby technical (manner and schedule of sampling, handling and storage etc, see Ishikawa, 1996; Øenand Walløe 1999) and biological problems, which can significantly distort results. A physiologicalstress assessment carried out during current lethal research is therefore fraught with difficulties. Thisincludes problems with partitioning the physiological and biochemical effects of pursuit and killing,and the fact that the trauma of harpooning will mask any effects of pursuit. With regard to EM thefact that clinical signs may not manifest for hours, days, weeks or even months poses additionalproblems.Rather than focus on harpooning alone, the IWC might consider whale hunting to start from when awhale is first sighted to when it is killed. Factors such as pursuit duration and speed, distance coveredas well as direction of approach and weather condition should be taken into account and recorded.Such information, particularly if combined with behavioural data from target and non-targetanimals, and easily monitored biological parameters, such as respiratory rate, would provide apractical basis for assessing the potential stress-related risks of whaling.74A REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING ACTIVITIESReferencesBartsch, R.C., E.E. Meconnell, G.D. Imes, and JM. Schmidt. 1977. A review of exertional rhabdoyolysis in wildand domestic animals and man. Vet. Pathol. l4:314-324.Basson, P. A., and Hofmeyer, J. M. (1973). Mortalities associated with wildlife capture operations. In: TheCapture and Care of Wild Animals (E. Young, ed.), pp. 151-153. Human and Rousseau Publishers, Cape Town,South Africa.Brambell, F.W.R. (1965) Report on the Technical Committee to enquire into the welfare of livestock kept underintensive husbandry conditions, HMSO, London.Broom, D. M. and Johnson, K. G. (1993) Stress and Animal Welfare, Chapman and Hall.Broom, D.W. (1985) stress, welfare and the state of equilibrium. In: Proc. 2nd Eur. Symp. Poult. Welfare. R.M.Wegner (ed.) World Poultry Science Association, Celle, pp72-81.Chalmers, G. A., and Barrett, M. W. (1982). Capture myopathy. In: Noninfectious diseases of wildlife (G. L.Hoff, and J. W. Davis, eds.). Iowa State University Press, Iowa, US.Colgrove, G. S. (1978). Suspected transportation-associated myopathy in a dolphin. J. Am. Vet. Med.Assoc.173(9): 1121-1123.Cowan, D.F. and Walker, W.A. (1979) Disease factors in Stenella attenuata and Stenella longirostris taken in theeastern tropical Pacific yellowfin tuna purse-seine fishery. Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National MarineFisheries Service, NOAA, Administrative Report No. LJ-79-32C.Curry, B.E. (1999) Stress in Marine Mammals: The Potential Influence of Fishery-Induced Stress on Dolphinsin the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS, U.S. Dept. of Commerce,NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-260.