General Information	In 1966, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), an international organization comprised of 23 countries, ruled that it was illegal to hunt baleen whales. This ruling was a major step forward in the quest to save remaining whale populations. Since that time most species have started to recover in numbers -- slowly, but steadily. However, it would be a serious mistake to assume that whales are out of danger. Threats to all marine life, including whales, continue to mount and will become more and more difficult to deal with as the human population expands. Modern day threats take the form of water pollution, habitat destruction, unrestricted ocean dumping, coastal development, collisions with ships, and entanglements in fishing gear. Cetaceans are subject to noise pollution in the ocean. Whales rely heavily on their sense of hearing because sound travels well under water; they can be stressed or injured by excessive noise. In this modern age, almost all boats are run by motors, which make noise that whales can hear beneath the water. As more and more boats travel in an area, the ambient, or general, noise in the environment increases. This noise may make it difficult for many species to find food or to communicate with other whales.
Dumping	The seas also serve as a dump site for an astounding variety of human waste products, ranging from sewage and wastewater to medical supplies and bales of garbage. Ocean disposal of wastes is comparatively cheap when measured against the cost of constructing and maintaining landfills. Unfortunately, extensive ocean dumping has had a similar effect as uncontrolled terrestrial dumping. Huge areas of the ocean are now contaminated, and these chemicals are showing up in ever-increasing amounts in fish, mammals and birds. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence in eastern Canada, long term dumping of industrial wastes has rendered each and every beluga whale in the Gulf a Ôtoxic waste site.Õ According to Canadian law, each beluga carries enough mercury, lead and PCB's in its tissue to qualify it as toxic. These whales have more tumors and lesions than any other group of animals in the world. Garbage that is thrown into the sea is returning to haunt us as it washes up on beaches worldwide. A lack of knowledge about long term effects of ocean processes has hampered efforts to clean up and improve conditions. Unknown numbers of birds and seals are killed each year as plastic items become wrapped around their heads and necks or swallowed. They suffocate, starve, or drown when the plastic interferes with their life functions. Entire varieties of fish have been declared inedible because of excessive levels of poisonous compounds in their tissues.
Toxins	This is the result of a process called biomagnification (or bioaccumulation). Simple organisms consume a small quantity of toxins, rarely enough to cause them direct harm. Fish eat many small organisms and gain larger amounts of toxins. Depending on the substance and the species of fish, it may or may not be fatal. Whales, at the top of the food chain, get the largest dose of all Ð oftentimes fatal. The phenomenon of biomagnification is not limited to the ocean, but occurs throughout the world. Perhaps the most well known example involved birds of prey, such as eagles and falcons. The pesticide DDT accumulated through the food web and made the eggs of these birds brittle and easily cracked. In 1986, there was an example of a fatal poisoning on the coast of Massachusetts. At least 19 baleen whales were killed from eating mackerel containing elevated amounts of toxic bacteria. The mackerel are believed to have acquired the bacteria on their spawning grounds and were consumed shortly after entering the Gulf of Maine. In 1994, hundreds of dolphins were found floating dead in the Gulf of California, along with several baleen whales, seals and sea birds. The cause of death was unknown but believed to be linked to pollution in the Gulf.
Collisions	Collisions with boats and large ships are a major cause of concern for many species of marine mammals, especially the slower moving right whales and the gregarious gray and humpback whales. Manatees are extremely vulnerable to boat collisions, as well. All of these species spend considerable amounts of time near the surface, thereby rendering themselves vulnerable to boat strikes. Researchers estimate that almost half of all right whale calves may be killed by vessels before one year of age. Numerous humpback whales throughout the world bear parallel scrape marks or conical gouges denoting the impact of a propeller or heavy prow. Notably, a whale named Owl has several distinct scars from boats, one near the head and another just in front of the dorsal fin. As you might imagine, collisions are much more common in areas near to shore, with frequent traffic. Right whales give birth to their calves along the coasts of Georgia and northern Florida. This area is home to a tremendous amount of heavy shipping, as well as the location of large military naval installations. One right whales birthing area is King's Bay, Georgia, which happens to be a main docking area for nuclear submarines. Collisions are exacerbated by private craft that are not aware of marine life and all too often simply run into or over it, unwittingly causing injuries and death.
Entanglements	One of the driving forces behind the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was the uproar over the enormous number of dolphins killed in Pacific Ocean driftnets. Driftnets are a type of fishing gear that can stretch over many miles of surface water, and snare almost anything that crosses their path. Fish, birds, turtles, seals, and dolphins are commonly trapped in driftnets. Tens of thousands of dolphins died, and many more were injured, from entanglements in these nets. All species of marine mammals can be caught in nets and ropes. These animals need to breathe air and can drown if unable to free themselves quickly enough. The largest source of entangling material is from commercial fishing nets and anchor ropes. The animals do not notice the trailing ropes or nets and inadvertently swim into them. Many humpbacks have been severely mutilated by constricting fibers around various portions of their body. Baleen plates have been amputated, as in the whale named Batik, or large portions of the dorsal fin sheared away as in the young humpback named Zeppelin. Current fishing techniques still result in fatalities, referred to in industry and government circles as "by-catch." Tuna fishermen use nets called purse-seines, similar in some ways to driftnets. Dolphins and tuna are known to often congregate in the same areas. Fishermen have used this fact to their advantage by ringing dolphins with the purse-seine in order to catch the tuna that are located just underneath the dolphins. Unfortunately, often the dolphins are caught also. Many of them are able to leap the net to safety, and modern regulations designed to reduce dolphin mortality have increased the number that escape, but many are still caught in the constricting ring. A threat that has recently become obvious is the trend towards environmentally-damaging legislation at both the state and federal levels. Government lawmakers are feeling ever increasing pressure from commercial and industrial interests. The result of this is the potential dismantling of some of the landmark environmental protections in the United States. Well-informed and caring people will act intelligently to protect our diminishing natural resources and an integral part of this is the education of our youth.