Enacted on Oct. 21, 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act responded to growing concerns that marine mammal species were on the verge of extinction as a result of human activity
The North Atlantic right whale has officially been red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature — an ominous step for a species that has long teetered on the brink of extinction.
Nuzzling the shoreline with the curiosity and daring that made its ancestors easy prey for whalers, a young right whale is swimming slowly northward along the East Coast toward Martha’s Vineyard. The 20-ton mammal is keeping odd company with a giant sea turtle, and together the silent mammoths have been snooping lazily around Long Island for about two weeks.
On the surface it seems like a simple and straightforward equation: more seals equals more great white sharks. The connection, however, is likely far more complicated.
An abundant food supply, safe habitat and management protection that began years ago has contributed to the resurgence of seals in Island waters.
Gray and harbor seals are back. Though marine experts at the federal level don’t have actual numbers, there have been many reports this summer of seals around the Island. In short, not all bathers at the beach are humans.
Knowledge of the Atlantic great white shark has been relegated for too long to the fevered imaginations of nervous beachgoers and boaters. With the animals returning to the New England coastline in larger numbers, one state scientist with Vineyard roots is bringing that understanding out of the realm of the mythical and uncovering fascinating insights into this elusive two-ton, apex predator’s behavior.
There’s nothing worse than getting sick in the summer, and no group knows that better than the Island seal population which hopes to shake off a mysterious illness that has brought several weary seals ashore to die over the past couple months.
Maybe it is something that we should harp about. We wouldn’t be alone in our complaint.
Come early March, many people are up in arms because winter marks the seal hunting season. Norway, Russia, Canada andGreenland are countries that allow the hunting of gray, hooded and harp seals. There are those few that hunt for tradition, food and sustenance, including tribal Inuitpeople. Others hunt for commerce and profit.
