South African penguins are having a tough time with their population numbers. The IUCN lists them as endangered in the Red List due to lack of food from commercial fishing and the fact that their food source may have shifted to different locations due to changing ocean currents from the consequences of climate change. 

So it makes things even worse when 63 Endangered South African penguins were found dead and the culprit was concluded to be bees. The penguins were found to have multiple stings near the eyes and flippers (not covered by feathers). One penguin had 27 bee stings on it. 

Scientists assume that the bees left the nest to defend their hive after something threatened them and the penguins were the first animals the bees met in their flight path. 

Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58622482

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A viral TikTok video has sparked a debate on the app and on Twitter as to whether a woman working on a small ocean vessel should have made a sea lion go back in the water as three orcas were circling her boat.

The sea lion leaped out of the water onto the boat to escape the orcas that were chasing it. It looked comfortable waiting there until the orcas left, but the woman on the boat had other plans. the woman was frightened of the orcas and was clearly worried about what the orcas would do to get access to the sea lion. 

Viewers of the video were contributing to both sides of the question of what they would do in the same situation. 

So I pose the same question to you: Would you help save the sea lion from the orcas?

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Swim-with-whale tour operators are popping up in various places around the world. The idea of getting in the water and swimming with humpback whales nearby can be a dream come true for many people; however, the tour operators are running without any regulations to ensure that the tours are not altering the behavior of the humpback whales. 

The humpback whales that hang out in Hervey Bay, Australia every year do so to rest during their long migration from Australia to Antarctica. The trip requires a ton of energy to move such large bodies that distance in the ocean. Any excess energy used can be detrimental to the migration of the whales. 

Stephanie Stack, Chief Scientist at the Pacific Whale Foundation, and her team studied the humpback whale behavior before, during, and after swim-with-whale tours and whale watching tours occurred in Hervey Bay.  

Stephanie joins me on today's podcast to discuss the results of the study and what next steps need to be taken. 

Connect with Stephanie:
Pacific Whale Foundation: https://www.pacificwhale.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephanieHStack
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shstack/
Happy Whale: https://happywhale.com/home

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We are entering the 6th mass extinction. When I tell people about the mass extinction, people are not too worried. I don't think they realize that we are already starting to see the effects of the mass extinction and that the planet has gone through this before, but there is one difference. 

The major difference is the fact that the Permian extinction (which occurred approximately 66 million years ago) was caused by volcanic activity while the 6th mass extinction was caused by humans. 

The good news is that we can stop it; however, we need to act now. Voting for political candidates is the best way that you can enact change, but there are other things too. Listen to hear more. 

Link to article: https://www.sciencealert.com/mass-extinction-events-can-turn-freshwater-into-toxic-soup-and-that-s-bad-news-for-today

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The Faroe Islands government has announced that they will review their regulations of the dolphin cull after some whalers and critics thought that the last cull of 1400 white-sided dolphins was too numerous to use all of the meat.  

The current regulations that I mentioned during the last episode raised a number of questions about how quantitative are regulations? How many animals can they take at once? What is the ratio of hunters to animals to ensure a quick hunt of each individual? How much meat is given to each family?

Hopefully, questions such as the ones above will be answered during this review.   

Last episode: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/sufb-1211-questions-around-the-legality-of-killing-1400-white-sided-dolphins-in-the-faroe-islands-circulate/

Link to article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/faroe-islands-dolphin-follow-1.6179472

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There was a cull of 1400 white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands recently has some people wanting to know if it was legal. 

Whaling of pilot whales and other small cetaceans is legal in the Faroe Islands as the local community relies on whale meat as their primary protein source. The small island autonomous territory has been culling whales for centuries. The meat is processed in the open bays and handed out for free to the local community. 

The average catch per year is approximately 800 pilot whales and 250 white-sided dolphins; however, the total number of dolphins killed was 1400 individuals. That is 6 times the normal amount of dolphins and almost twice as many individuals as pilot whales.

There seemed to be a number of questions surrounding the cull of the dolphins including: were there enough killers present, did some boats run over the dolphins,  was all of the meat used, etc. 

You may feel that the cull is inhumane, but I ask you to keep an open mind to some of the questions and understand that these are people on a small island with access to very little natural resources in food other than the oceans. 

I should also mention that I am not for cetacean hunting. I just found this story interesting to look at from a different perspective. 

Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/europe/faroe-dolphin-killing-record-scli-intl-scn/index.html 

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The Canadian federal election is less than a week away before we find out who will lead Canada into a very different world than it was 18 months ago. There are many predominant issues at hand in this election such as the COVID pandemic, the economy, reconciliation with Indigenous communities across Canada, and climate change. 

I am very interested in all of these issues, especially that of how each party running will handle climate change. In this episode, I provide an overview of each of the parties' climate change policies and who I think has the best one. Of course, each party says their policies are the best and do not provide a ton of detail during the election, but as a Canadian citizen, it is up to me and my fellow Canadians to make the decision that best aligns with our values. 

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Kaitlyn Mitchell is a lawyer for Animal Justice, a non-profit organization that looks out for the welfare of animals in Canada. 

Website: https://animaljustice.ca/

Kaitlyn came highly recommended as someone to interview on the Canadian side of the border that is involved in advocating for the belugas in the transfer from Marineland (Canada) to Mystic Aquarium (US). I covered the original story by interviewing Dr. Naomi Rose (Episode 1197, https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/sufb-1197-havoc-the-beluga-whale-dies/).

Kaitlyn provides us with an update on the beluga whale transfer as well as how we can make sure that bill S-203 (Canadian Cetacean Captivity Ban) can be made better to avoid needless deaths like that of Havok. 

Kaitlyn also tells us about the dire situation with Kiska, an orca that has been recorded bashing her head against the side of her tank. We discuss what Animal Justice hopes to be done about the orca at Marineland. 

Connect with Animal Justice:
Website: https://animaljustice.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animaljustice_/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/animaljusticecanada

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All of the talks around protecting 30% of the world's oceans by the year 2030 have really put a focus on the quality of MPAs that exist and that will be designated in the future. MPA design and implementation are unique around the world, especially if a country or region is new to the process. 

Angelo Villagomez and Johnny Briggs join me on the podcast to discuss the new Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy MPA Guide that will help ocean practitioners with their MPA process beyond just designating MPAs. The guide also has a focus on how to make the MPAs sustainable through sustainable funding and enforcement. 

Links:

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Every country has a different way of managing its oceans and every region also has its own way of managing its oceans. Various regions can learn from one another and build on each other's successes to implement ocean conservation. 

In today's episode, we complete our three-part series with a guest host, Laure Katz from the Blue Nature Alliance, who speaks to Arthur Tuda from WIOMSA (Western Indian Ocean), Angelique Pouponeau from SeyCCAT (Seychelles), and Joaquin Labougle (Blue Nature Alliance) to share their experiences on regional approaches to ocean conservation. 

You can watch the video podcast here: https://www.bluenaturealliance.org/iucn-wcc-2021-podcast-series

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We are continuing our series in partnership with the Blue Nature Alliance to discuss Marine Conservation and how that will move forward in order to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. 

Incorporating People, Knowledge, and Networks in Ocean Conservation will be crucial to implement successful marine conservation strategies. 

I am joined by Kate Brown (Global Island Partnership in New Zealand), Coral Pasisi (Tofia Niue from the Island of Niue) and Ginny Farmer (Blue Nature Alliance based in the US) on the podcast to discuss their experiences in marine conservation and how people, knowledge, and networks help in ocean conservation.

Video podcast: https://www.bluenaturealliance.org/iucn-wcc-2021-podcast-series

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The Blue Nature Alliance is a collaboration among several organizations that would like to help communities around the world to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. The goal cannot be reached by any single entity, but teaming up with each other can help all of us achieve this goal. 

Getting to 30% ocean protection will take the participation of all ocean users around the world. Social equity will play a large role in designating MPAs; however, it has not been taken into account during many of the past MPA processes. 

Several marine professionals wrote a paper on Social Equity and why it is crucial to the proper designation and implementation of MPAs. 

I speak with Dr. Asha de Vos (Oceanswell), Dr. Ana Spalding (Oregon State University), and Mael Imirizaldu (Blue Nature Alliance) on the role and importance of Social Equity in marine conservation.

Link to article: https://www.bluenaturealliance.org/a-call-to-prioritize-social-equity-in-marine-conservation

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I am listening to a podcast series called White Saviors that is produced by Canadaland. It's a series on the rise and fall of a charity called the We Charity that was founded by two brothers (one of which went to my high school in Toronto, Canada) that wanted to save children from child labor.

The organization got huge and that's where it went wrong. Now the organization is trenched in scandal and an ongoing legal investigation. 

The series made me think of all of the people in marine conservation that start out with a notable mission, but end up on the wrong side of that mission. 

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