The issue has been raised by Marinelife, through its Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP), and by Organisation Cetacea (ORCA). They are concerned that the usual pattern of an annual summer migration of fin whales into Biscay has not yet taken place.
Based on previous years’ records, Biscay is meant to be an important feeding ground for fin whales, the world’s second-largest whale species. Their absence has led BDRP and ORCA scientists to fear that fish stocks or other food sources could have been depleted, due to “over-fishing, or ecosystem disturbance due to climate change”.
Any such shortages could impact also on other larger marine creatures, such as dolphins, porpoises and sharks.
The BDRP and ORCA have researched the movements of whales and dolphins in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay for “many years”, with regular observations carried out from P&O ferries. They have established a “two-phase immigration” of fin whales into Biscay in spring and summer, to feed on schooling fish and krill.
Clive Martin, Marinelife Chairman and Wildlife Officer, said: “We are concerned that the fin whales have not yet returned to Biscay this year in their usual high numbers. They initially arrived in small numbers in May, but their numbers have not increased through July and August as has been recorded in previous years.
“At this time of year, on a return crossing from Portsmouth to Bilbao on P&O’s Pride of Bilbao, we would normally see 50 to 100 fin whale, yet on the last few crossings we have been seeing less than five.”
Dr Tom Brereton, Marinelife Research Director, said: “Our ongoing research in Biscay and our partnership with other European research organisations through ARC [Atlantic Research Coalition] allows us to very quickly identify short term and longer term changes in whale and dolphin distribution.”
Qualifying the latest findings carefully, he added: “This absence of fin whale at a time of year when their numbers have previously been high could simply indicate a late arrival or usage of a richer feeding ground elsewhere this year, but could equally signal issues with fish stocks in Biscay.”
In 2007, the BDRP raised concerns with the EU Fisheries Commission over low numbers of dolphins in Biscay coinciding with a continued failure of the region’s anchovy fishery. That situation continues and, according to the BDRP, the EU is now going to “implement a long-term conservation policy to safeguard the [...] anchovy fishery in Biscay”.
Related links
Marinelife – www.marine-life.org.uk
ORCA – www.orcaweb.org.uk
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