Threat to dwindling whale species
Most of us probably didn’t even know Georgia has an official state marine mammal, but it does. It’s had one for more than 30 years, in fact: the North Atlantic right whale.
Unless precautions are taken to protect it, and soon, we might need to designate another species.
According to a report in the Savannah Morning News, an international group of 28 marine biologists and oceanographers wrote a letter to President Obama last week warning that planned seismic surveys to detect gas and oil would further endanger the species to a point that “would jeopardize its survival.”
If there’s indeed significant environmental impact, then the threat of extinction isn’t an exaggeration: There are estimated to be only about 500 right whales left. After a period in which the species was believed to be repopulating slightly, that population appears to have leveled off.
"The additional stress of widespread seismic airgun surveys,” the scientists wrote, “may well represent a tipping point for the survival of this endangered whale, contributing significantly to a decline towards extinction."
The right whale’s habitat is especially fragile given how close it generally stays to the coast, making it vulnerable to human hazards. Georgia’s Atlantic coast is important to the perpetuation of the species — the only great whale native to the area — because the warm coastal waters are a calving area. The Morning News reported that the most recent calving season showed a “below average count” of baby right whales.
The seismic air guns used for the submarine energy surveys send blasts of compressed air to the ocean floor which can locate oil deposits — but which also, the scientists say, cause whales to abandon habitat (sometimes even beach), disrupt mating and lose hearing. The letter asks for at least a temporary hold on a 2014 Interior Department OK for oil and gas surveys off the east coast.
The oil will still be there. The whales, unless we take measures to protect them, could soon be gone forever.
Not-so-fine print
Some people were already complaining about recording star Ludacris being paid $65,000 to perform for roughly 13 minutes before a Georgia football game. A practice game, not to put too fine a point on it.
They probably aren’t any happier to learn some of the more explicit, if less expensive, parts of the deal.
There’s nothing new about stars demanding indulgent and sometimes downright decadent amenities in their dressing rooms. Among the items on the Ludacris list: candy, two bottles of Belvedere Vodka and one box of Trojan Magnum Condoms.
"I wasn't privy to the contract and obviously we need to do a better job of handling situations like that,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Paul Finebaum’s radio show.
On the other hand, if such a contract is signed on behalf of the athletic department next year, it can just be stuffed into that gaping hole the state legislature cut out of open records law.
This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Threat to dwindling whale species."