Lecture Series on Whales
Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 7 PM CT
The History and Future of Whales
Professor of Biological Sciences, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station
What is the Lecture About?
Scientists use new technologies to reveal untold mysteries about whales and provide information on whale history that may be crucial to their survival in the future. Dr. Stephen Palumbi, a renowned marine biologist and professor at Stanford, will discuss how he uses genetic techniques to estimate historic whale populations and how his findings play an important role in decisions of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). He recently published in the journal Science that DNA evidence indicates that before commercial whaling began, whale populations were 10 times larger than scientists previously believed. The IWC guidelines state that there can be no whaling until populations have returned to at least 54% of their historic levels, but their estimates are based on unreliable whaling records kept by ships and dating back to the mid 19th century. According to these previous estimates, many whale populations have nearly recovered to the required 54% of their historic levels, but the new genetic analysis suggests it will take at least another 50 -100 years.
Presenter's Biosketch
Stephen R. Palumbi is a professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station. He and other research scientists in the Palumbi Lab study genetics, evolution, conservation, population biology, and systematics of a diverse array of marine organisms. He uses molecular genetic techniques in conservation-related research, including the identification of whale and dolphin products available in commercial markets and the genetics of marine reserves designed for conservation and fisheries enhancement. His 2003 publication in the journal Science on Whales before Whaling in the North Atlantic suggests that whale populations were 10 times larger than historical records indicate, which has critical implications for the future of whaling and whale conservation.
Dr. Palumbi received his Ph.D. from University of Washington in marine ecology in 1984. In 1996, he received a Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation Research. He has published on the genetics and evolution of butterflyfishes, bryozoans, cone snails, corals, sea urchins, sharks, spiders, shrimps, and whales. His recent books include The Evolution Explosion: How humans cause rapid evolutionary change and Marine Reserves: An Ecosystem Tool for Marine Management and Conservation.
posted by ami~ @ 11:08 AM
1 Comments:
At 6:05 AM,
David said…
Sounds interesting, do you know if Steve will be talking about the following?
http://www.iwcoffice.org/publications/editorialnew.htm
"The Committee had agreed that the estimates of historic abundance provided in Roman and Palumbi (2002) for the initial pre-whaling population sizes of humpback, fin and common minke whales in the North Atlantic have considerably more uncertainty than reported, and can not be considered reliable estimates of immediate pre-whaling population size. Particularly important in this regard is the mismatch between the time-period to which genetic estimates apply (i.e. the time period is difficult to determine and extremely wide) and the population sizes of whales immediately prior to exploitation. It also agreed that the paper provides no information to suggest that changes are required in either the RMP or AWMP approaches to management."
I wonder if he will cover the comments made here by Phil Clapham, amongst others:
http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/...4/56annexs.pdf
Or Clapham's more frank comments in the media:
"Although concerned about the resumption of commercial whaling, other whale biologists say that Palumbi's figures are a gross overestimate of historical whale numbers. "It's completely out of the realm of reality," says Phil Clapham"
http://www.nature.com/news/2003/0307...030721-14.html
Or perhaps comments by others, such as Tim Smith:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
"[Roman and Palumbi] wrote that "whaling logbooks may be incomplete, intentionally underreported or fail to consider whales that were struck and lost," a judgment Smith called "facile" and "disturbing.""
Or what about mathematician and fisheries specialist Doug Butterworth, of South Africa's University of Cape Town:
"If they'd come up with numbers that said twice as many, then maybe we'd start thinking about our methods," Butterworth added. "But when you come up with five-to-10 times as many, then maybe they're the ones who ought to take another look."
And at the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3092711.stm
"If the genetics is right, then either our estimates of past catches are very wrong or there's been some major ecological shift in the oceans. Where is the stuff all these whales were eating?
"There may be questions about the accuracy of our figures. They may be two or three times out, but even that's pushing it. They're not five to ten times out."
I guess it's been 4 years since the original Palumbi paper, so perhaps he'll have an update...
Post a Comment
<< Home