War of the Whales: A True Story

Home > Other > War of the Whales: A True Story > Page 46
War of the Whales: A True Story Page 46

by Joshua Horwitz


  deep sound channel of, 47–49, 51, 52–53, 139, 285

  evidence gathered in, 11–12, 24–25, 29–32, 56–57, 64–65, 98, 115, 183, 190, 220, 231, 256, 270, 290

  flight over, 25

  investigation meetings, 261–64

  media stories on whale beachings, 130–31, 132–33, 149–51, 152, 222, 283–85

  moving whale heads to Boston from, 184–88, 284

  Navy exercises in, 115–16, 130–31, 138, 140, 141, 152, 230–31, 244, 285

  separation from mainland, 26

  tourist activities in, 3–4, 21, 22

  whales beached in (2000), 3–13, 15, 18–19, 20, 22–23, 73, 100–101, 111–12, 130–31, 136, 151, 152, 153, 182–83, 220, 222, 230–31, 245, 252, 283, 285–90, 298

  Bahamas Journal of Science, 270, 364

  Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation, 313

  Bahamas Marine Mammal Survey, 63–64, 187, 262, 284

  Bahamian Ministry of Fisheries, 189

  Bahrain, dolphins clearing mines in, 242

  Baird’s beaked whales, 63, 101

  (Berardius bairdii), 170

  studies of, 16, 29–32, 40, 60

  Balcomb, Anne (first wife), 38–39, 41

  Balcomb, Barbara (mother), 35–36

  Balcomb, “Blue” (father), 34–35, 37–38, 290–92

  Balcomb, Camille (third wife), 59–60, 193, 211, 217–19

  Balcomb, Julie Byrd (second wife), 43, 55

  Balcomb, Kelley (son), 39, 41, 219

  Balcomb, Ken:

  beaked whale research of, 6, 7–8, 30–31, 63–64, 77, 123, 187, 262, 289

  bird-banding assignment of, 42

  cancer diagnosis of, 313, 352, 353

  and chain-of-custody forms, 129, 185, 188, 192, 231

  childhood and teen years of, 34–38

  desire to be included in ongoing investigation, 129, 261, 264

  and Diane, see Claridge, Diane

  and Earthwatch, 3–5, 130

  evidence gathered by, 11–12, 19, 24–25, 29–32, 56–57, 98, 131, 183, 189–90, 220, 222, 229, 231, 244–46, 256, 257, 261, 262, 268, 289–90, 310, 353–54

  and Gentry, 133–34, 192, 247, 256–57, 263–64

  and Gisiner, 14, 15–16, 18–19, 57–58, 77, 133, 192, 256–57

  and his father, 34–35, 37–38, 290–92

  and initial reports of strandings, 5–6, 18, 130–31

  and interim report, 272–73, 290

  and Ketten, 100–101, 103–4, 107, 126–27, 129, 134, 274

  and lawsuit against Navy, 289–92, 296–97, 299–300

  MARMAM posting by, 66–67, 81, 98, 111

  “A Mass Stranding of Cetaceans Caused by Naval Sonar in the Bahamas” (with Claridge), 270

  Navy assignments of, 43–44, 45, 48, 50–55, 131–32, 289

  and Navy mine-warfare range, 350

  and Navy oath of secrecy, 33, 111, 132, 230

  Navy undercover work of, 33, 59, 60, 132, 153

  orca census of, 4, 16, 60, 210–11, 217–20, 257, 308–12, 347

  and Orca Network, 347

  photographing whales, 41, 217–19, 229, 262

  and press conference, 56, 222, 228–31, 246–50, 256–57, 274

  reputation of, 257, 273–74

  rescue attempts by, 6–13, 289–90

  and Reynolds, 352–55

  search for stranded whales, 25, 28–29, 280

  and 60 Minutes, 229, 231, 244–46, 270

  and Supreme Court case, 347

  tagging whales, 40–41

  and UC Santa Cruz, 15–16, 133, 202, 240, 257

  and whale necropsies, 126–27, 129, 256

  baleen whales:

  communication of, 164, 178

  ear bones of, 103

  evolution of, 26

  killed by whalers, 375n1

  migration of, xi, 69, 178

  noise pollution threat to, 367n10

  Barnum, P. T., 214

  Bat Bomb Project, 200

  Bater, Alan:

  as captive-dolphin doctor, 108

  and Cuvier’s head storage, 107–9

  and mass strandings, 21, 22, 101

  Bateson, Gregory, 207

  bats:

  echolocation of, 27, 46, 199–200, 201, 224

  evolution of, 27

  in military experiments, 200, 376n3

  navigation by, 199

  Spallanzani’s bat problem, 199

  Baucom, Larry, 75, 77, 130–31

  beaked whales:

  brains of, 31

  communications of, 31

  diving depths of, xi, 27–28, 293, 312

  evolution of, 30, 31, 103

  excluded from Navy studies, 296, 300

  of Great Bahama Canyon, 4, 6, 26, 27, 31, 135, 220, 274

  hearing of, 103–4, 353

  MARMAM postings about, 67, 253

  necropsies of, 126–29, 274, 293

  photo-identification survey of, 4, 7–8, 223, 229

  populations of, 6n, 350

  reproductive health of, 350, 383n1

  rescues of, 6–13

  rostrum of, 31, 32

  scarring patterns of, 7

  skulls of, 31, 274

  sonar sensitivity of, 142, 162, 262, 299, 314, 350, 372n13

  squid as food source of, 27

  stranded in Bahamas (2000), see Bahamas

  stranded on Corfu (2011), 351

  strandings in Canary Islands (1985–89), 71, 72, 293; (2002), 293–94, 298, 299, 301; (2004), 308, 314

  strandings in Greece (1996), 18, 71–72, 77, 111, 142, 147, 178, 253, 296

  strandings in Gulf of Alaska (2004), 308

  strandings in Madeira (2000), 254, 256

  as toothed whales, 27

  and war games, 278–80

  see also individual species

  Beatles, 225

  Bell Laboratories, 49, 51

  beluga whales:

  (Delphinapterus leucas), 197, 281

  Navy collection of, 242

  wild capture of, 214

  “bends, the” (decompression sickness), 28, 364n4

  Bernard, Chuck, 248

  Bernard, Mitch, 342, 343

  Bernstein, Carl, 83

  Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 82

  Bigg, Michael, 217, 218–19, 220

  bin Laden, Osama, 271

  biomimetics, 200

  bionics, use of term, 200

  biosonar, see echolocation

  birds, as “avian vectors of disease,” 364–65n2

  blackfish, see pilot whales

  Blackfish (documentary film), 352

  Black Right Whale (Balaena biscayensis), 3

  Blainville’s beaked whales:

  anatomy of, 32

  CT scan of, 191

  decapitation of, 29–32

  of Great Bahama Canyon, 4, 6, 101

  local sightings of, 62–63

  moving the head to Boston, 184–92, 284

  necropsy of, 127

  rescued at Castaway Cay, 20–21

  stranded in Bahamas (2000), 10–12, 18, 28–29, 59, 66, 231, 280

  surveys of, 4, 64, 383n1

  see also beaked whales

  blue whales:

  (Balaenoptera musculus), 34

  communications of, 54, 164, 363n1

  harvesting, 198, 375n1

  migration of, 69

  Navy threats to, 116, 165, 172

  as orca prey, 213

  sonar sensitivity of, 176, 178, 296, 372n13, 374n1

  Bork, Robert, 86

  bottlenose dolphins, 204

  bowhead whales:

  communication of, 164, 373n15

  migration of, 373n15

  Boxer, Barbara, 165–66

  brain studies, 203–4

  brain weight, and intelligence, 204

  Brekhovskikh, Leonid, 365n3

  Breyer, Stephen, 332, 339–40

  Briscoe, Mel, 372n12

  British Air Ministry, Pigeon Section, 200

&nb
sp; Brosnan, Pierce, 96, 306

  Bryde’s Rorqual (Balaenoptera brydei), 56

  Burnette, D. Graham, 376, 378, 388, 397

  Bush, George W.:

  and Navy exemption from compliance with federal laws, 326, 347

  and Supreme Court, 339, 345

  and war on terror, 285

  Caesar, Julius, 369–70n3

  California Coastal Commission, 321–22, 340

  California Endangered Species Act, 117

  California gnatcatcher, 117

  California gray whale:

  nursery of, 89–91, 92

  populations of, 92

  Canada:

  commercial seal hunting in, 96

  and orca protection, 350

  orcas hunted in, 213–14, 218

  Canadian Fisheries, orca survey funded by, 218–19

  Canary Islands:

  four whales stranded in (2004), 308, 314

  mass strandings in (1985–89), 71, 72, 293

  mass strandings in (2002), 293–94, 298, 299, 301

  Cancun, Mexico, porpoise hunt in, 222

  Cannon, Berry, 235

  canyons, formation of, 26

  Capitol Hill, see Congress, US

  carbon dioxide, and climate change, 157, 160

  Cartlidge, Doug, 379n5

  Castaway Cay:

  Blainville’s whale rescued at, 20–21

  and Disney, 15, 20

  Castro, Fidel, 240

  CBS Evening News, 228

  Center for Law in the Public Interest, 84, 335

  Center for Whale Research, 219, 312, 313

  cetaceans:

  deep-diving, 28

  and mass strandings, 270

  as orca prey, 213

  see also specific cetaceans

  Cetacean Society International, 382n2

  Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, 321

  Chapple, Steve, 378

  China, as US naval rival in the Pacific, 306

  Church Senate Committee hearings, 239–40

  CIA:

  Congressional hearings on, 239–40

  Project Artichoke, 207

  and Soviet dolphin research, 235

  Claridge, Diane:

  article co-authored by, 270

  background of, 61

  and Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation, 313

  and beached dolphin, 20, 21, 22–23

  and beached whales, 5, 8–9, 11–13, 24–25, 28–29

  and dolphin research, 22

  and Earthwatch, 3, 5

  end of marriage to, 257–61, 270

  marriage of Ken and, 63–64, 110–11, 244

  “A Mass Stranding of Cetaceans Caused by Naval Sonar in the Bahamas” (with Balcomb), 270

  and media stories, 110, 244, 245, 284

  moving the evidence to Boston, 184–92

  on Regina Maris, 61–62, 220

  and whale surveys, 6, 7–8, 62, 262, 313, 350, 383n1

  as witness to whale necropsies, 29, 30, 32, 127, 129

  Clark, Chris, 297

  and “acoustic smog” (noise pollution) in oceans, 179

  and Acoustic Thermometry, 164–65, 175

  and LFA sonar, 176, 288, 289, 300, 373n15

  and Magellan II, 173–75

  and ONR, 175, 312, 373n15

  and SOSUS, 173–74, 367n10, 373–74n15

  whale communication research of, 164, 363n1

  whale migration research of, 367n10, 373–74n15

  and Whales ’93, 367n10

  and whale tagging, 312–13

  Clark, Vern, 137

  Clean Air Act, 82, 307

  Clean Water Act, 82, 307, 350

  climate change:

  acoustic modeling of, 160–61

  and antisubmarine warfare tactics, 160

  and carbon emissions, 157, 160, 371n10

  measuring, 158–59, 167

  media stories about, 162

  Clinton, Bill, 115, 125, 271, 347

  Coastal Zone Management Act, 352n

  Cold War:

  dolphin research in, 235

  end of, 114, 125, 144, 147, 153, 160, 164, 242

  espionage in, 154

  and the Jasons, 156–57

  ocean research in, 17, 155–56, 156, 365n3

  space race in, 205, 234

  submarines in, 17, 46–47, 52, 57, 143, 153–54, 267, 364n5

  College of the Atlantic, 61

  Columbia University, 49

  Commerce Department, US, and White House strategy meeting, 325

  Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), see dolphins

  Conference on Biological Sonar and Diving Mammals (1964), 208

  Congress, US:

  and environmental legislation, 82, 122, 287, 302

  letters to, 269

  and marine mammal protection, 162, 242, 248, 354

  Navy exemptions from laws of, 75, 307, 315, 319–20, 322, 347

  and Navy funding, 76, 147, 160, 235

  Navy’s political clout in, 74, 307, 315

  and Patriot Act, 285

  Cook, Captain James, 344

  cookie-cutter sharks, 7

  Cook Strait, whale survey in, 344

  Cooper, Florence-Marie:

  and midfrequency sonar case, 316, 318, 319–21, 322, 324, 343

  and Supreme Court, 327, 338, 342

  White House exemption rejected by, 326–27

  Corfu, beaked whales stranded or dead on (2011), 351

  Cornwall, England, dolphins stranded along the coast of (2008), 351

  Cory Chouest:

  and Heard Island, 160, 161–62, 163, 171

  and LFA sonar, 160, 171, 174, 176, 177, 304, 373n15, 374n1

  Cosmos Club, 157–58, 161

  Costa, Dan, 372n12

  Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), 325–26

  Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, 79, 96, 382n2

  The Silent World, 52

  Cousteau, Jean-Michel, 96, 306, 315, 318

  Cranford, Ted, 368n2

  Cravath, Swaine & Moore, 87

  Cray supercomputers, 160

  Cronkite, Walter, 228

  crowd-sourced intelligence, 241

  CT (computerized tomography) scanners:

  acoustic tomography in oceanography, 156–57, 158, 161

  and porpoise strandings (2003), 310–11

  in whale studies, 104–5, 188, 190–92, 245

  at Woods Hole lab, 268

  Cuban Missile Crisis, 50

  Cuvier’s beaked whales:

  (Ziphius cavirostris), 184

  CT scan of, 190–91

  deep dives of, 28

  dissections of, 29, 30–31, 64–65, 71–72, 126–29

  effects of Navy war games on, 270–71

  of Great Bahama Canyon, 4, 6, 101

  moving the head to Boston, 184–92, 284

  rescue attempts, 7–13

  skull of, 55

  storage of heads, 107–9

  stranded in Bahamas (2000), 6, 9–10, 15, 18, 64–65, 231

  stranded in Greece (1996), 71–72

  stranded off Spanish coast (2006), 308

  stranded on Corfu (2011), 351

  survey of, 4, 64

  Zc-34, 8

  see also beaked whales

  Daly, Peter, 317–18, 323–24, 325, 337

  Danzig, Richard, 125

  and Bahamas strandings, 115–16, 136, 138, 142, 347

  conference call of, 146–49

  and media stories, 149–50

  as Navy Secretary, 115–16, 136–37, 138, 305

  The David Frost Show, 226

  The Day of the Dolphin (movie), 239

  D-day landings, 155

  DDT, 312

  Deep Ocean Engineering, 374n17

  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 370n6

  Defense Department, US, 206, 307, 326, 339

  Defense Secrets Act, 173

  Del Monte Fishing Company, 39–40

  Diablo Canyon, 84–87, 181, 290
, 368n1

  Dickin Medal (Britain), 200

  dinosaurs:

  and evolution, 6

  mass extinction of, xvii

  Discovery, 40–41

  Discovery Investigations, 200

  Disney Cruise Line, at Castaway Cay, 15, 20

  Dolphin Experience, tourist attraction, 21

  dolphins:

  (Delphinus delphis), xi, 295

  and animal rights movement, 223

  Atlantic spotted, 21, 22–23, 187

  bionic drones to replace, 240–42, 243

  black market in, 22

  bottlenose, 204

  brains of, 204, 205–6

  in captive vs. wild settings, 227

  communication of, 170, 201, 202, 204, 205–6, 240

  CT scan of, 191

  data management by, 240, 241

  diving capabilities of, 237

  drive hunt, 193

  dying in captivity, 22, 234, 376n5

  and echolocation, 201–2, 241

  as entertainers, 21, 22, 104, 198, 200–202, 207, 215

  evolution of, xvii

  family Delphinidae, 213

  as herd animals, 241

  human cohabitation with, 208

  humans swimming with, 22

  hunting behavior of, 241

  hydrodynamic properties of, 233

  and interspecies communication, 205–6

  kamikaze (rumors), 239–40

  “liberation” of, 377n10

  at Marineland, 200–202

  media stories about, 206, 207, 239

  military use of, 209, 232–33, 237–40, 242–43, 286

  Navy threats to, 116, 121–22

  Navy work with, 16, 232–43, 286

  populations of, 213

  as prone to stranding, 68, 69

  research with, 22, 201–2, 204–5, 235

  ship collisions with, 71

  signal processing by, 240

  sleep patterns of, 241

  Soviet research on, 235

  stranded (2000), 20, 21, 22–23, 72; (2008), 351

  as toothed whales, 27

  transfer to Harvard, 187

  wild capture banned, 22

  wild capture by Navy, 242–43

  The Dolphins That Joined the Navy (movie), 235

  drumming, by sonic muscles, 54

  Dunn, Charlotte, 313

  ear bone (tympano-periotic bulla), 103, 128, 191

  Earle, Sylvia, 374n17

  and Acoustic Thermometry, 166, 167–69

  and dolphin research, 202

  and Heard Island, 372n13

  and Scripps-NRDC meeting, 168–69

  Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans, 168

  Earthjustice, 312, 352n

  Earthwatch Institute:

  and beached whale rescues, 8–12, 20

  “Earthlings” volunteers of, 3–5, 8, 19, 109, 219

  and search for beached whales, 25

  surveys funded by, 4, 16

  as witnesses to whale necropsies, 29, 32, 59, 126–28

  echolocation:

  and bats, 27, 46, 199–200, 201, 224

  and dolphins, 201–2, 241

  in midnight zone, 26

  and radar, 365n1

 

‹ Prev