South African man escapes jaws of whale

Rainer Schimpf got swept into the mouth of a Bryde’s whale off coast of Port Elizabeth

Agence France-Presse

Mon 11 Mar 2019 15.58 GMTLast modified on Mon 11 Mar 2019 16.02 GMT

Like the Bible’s Jonah, a South African marine conservationist has narrowly survived after being caught in the jaws of a whale.

Rainer Schimpf, 51, was swept into the mouth of a large Bryde’s whale off the coast of the South African town of Port Elizabeth while snorkelling and filming a sardine run last month.

“Looming up out of darkness below came a Bryde’s whale shooting up into the ball of fish, gulping all in its path,” he told AFP, adding that his legs were hanging from the mammal’s mouth during the incident at the end of February.

Schimpf’s wife, Silke, and a photographer watched on in horror from their boat, chartered to watch the sardine run, which creates a marine feeding frenzy off Africa’s southern coast.

“I felt some pressure around my waist and I immediately knew what had happened. [It] accidentally included me in its mouth together with its main meal – the sardines.”

Schimpf, an award-winning conservationist with 20 years’ experience, said the ordeal lasted a “matter of seconds” – rather than the three nights Jonah spent in a whale’s stomach, according to the Bible story.

 “[Then] the whale realised its mistake and opened its mouth, releasing me. I was washed out with what felt like tonnes of water from its mouth,” he said.

Bryde’s whales can weigh up to 30 tons when mature and typically eat krill and fish.

When he finally reached the surface he took a breath and rejoined his fellow snorkelers who were unaware of the unfolding drama.

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Whales in Gulf of Mexico face endangered status as drilling moves in

Associated Press in New Orleans

Sunday 10 May 2015 15.40 BST

Last modified on Sunday 10 May 201516.01 BST

With as few as about a dozen of the mammals left, federal regulators say a unique species of baleen whales in the Gulf of Mexico about 70 miles off the Florida Panhandle may be threatened with extinction and could get special protection from federal regulators.

In April, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced it was looking at granting endangered or threatened status to the small population of Bryde’s whales (pronounced Bru-dihs whales) that live in the DeSoto Canyon region, a deep-water area about 50 miles east of the site of BP’s catastrophic oil spill five years ago.

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Meet the World’s Newest—and Most Endangered—Whale

By Taylor Hill | Takepart.comOctober 6, 2014 6:41 PM Takepart.com

A genetically distinct group of whales—possibly an entirely new species—has been discovered off the coast of Florida’s Panhandle region.

That’s the good news. The bad news is they could be the most endangered whales in the world.

Scientists discovered the genetically unique set of about 50 whales during recent research in the Gulf of Mexico. The whales, which are members the Bryde’s (pronounced “broodus”) family, lives year-round in the Gulf. The whales reside in an underwater canyon near Florida’s west coast—an area highly susceptible to offshore oil spills.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has petitioned the U.S. government list the whale as endangered, citing the whales’ tiny population and vulnerability.

“Clearly the whales are in need of special protection, and not simply for their small numbers,” wrote NRDC policy analyst Michael Jasny in a blog post. “The massive industrialization of the northern Gulf threatens them six ways to Sunday.”

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It looks like a giant eel! Photographer captures rare moment world's weirdest whale breaches the ocean surface

They are known for their erratic behaviour and ability to change direction for no apparent reason.

So capturing a Bryde's whale breaching the surface of the ocean on camera is incredibly rare.

But as these stunning pictures show, photographer Andy Murch was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when the majestic animal leaped out of the water and soared through the air.

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DNA Tests Unlock Secrets of Mysterious Bryde's Whales

The poorly understood Bryde's whale presents a conservation conundrum for biologists, but genetic fingerprints could finally help researchers keep tabs on the species and protect vulnerable populations.

Bryde's whales (pronounced BREW-dus) are listed as "data deficient" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's main authority for the conservation status of wildlife.

The 50-foot-long (15 meters) whales seem to be widespread; they can be found in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. But little is known about the distribution of their populations, their range, and their subspecies, which makes it difficult for scientists to determine whether they might be endangered by ship strikes, Japan's scientific whaling fleets or other environmental threats, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. 

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Rare Bryde's whale killed by ship in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf

Whale death in Hauraki Gulf highlights urgent need to address ship strike problem

November 2012. A necropsy on a Bryde's whale found dead on New Zealand's Motuihe Island has confirmed that the whale was hit by a vessel, highlighting the urgent need to address the ship strike problem to save the critically endangered population of Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf. The dead Bryde's whale was a female measuring 14.5 metres long.

New Zealand is one of the few places in the world with a resident population of Bryde's whale. The New Zealand population of Bryde's whales lives primarily in the Hauraki Gulf and is listed as critically endangered by the Department of Conservation (DOC).This is because it is small and reliant for its survival on one location. There are less than 200 Bryde's whales living in the gulf.

Killed by a ship
DOC Auckland Area biodiversity manager Phil Brown said "The necropsy has confirmed the Bryde's whale was alive when it was struck by a vessel and died as a result of the injuries it received. Ship strike poses the greatest threat to Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. This latest death highlights the urgent need to take action to address this problem,"

16 ship strikes in 16 years
In the last 16 years there have been 42 confirmed deaths of Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf. Eighteen of these dead whales were examined and 16 are most likely to have died as the result of being struck by a vessel.

DOC is working with a wide number of organisations and agencies to address the ship strike issue. The Environmental Defence Society, the Hauraki Gulf Forum and the University of Auckland have convened two workshops attended by shipping interests, iwi, DOC and other government agencies to develop a plan of action.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/brydes-whale.html

Endangered Bryde's whale killed by apparent ship strike

New Zealand's Bryde's whales are Critically Endangered
February 2012. A necropsy on an endangered Bryde's whale found floating in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park has shown that the whale was alive when it appears to have been hit by a vessel.

The population of Bryde's whales living in New Zealand waters is critically endangered. New Zealand is one of the few places in the world where there's a resident population of Bryde's whale. It is centred on the Hauraki Gulf, but fewer than 200 Bryde's whales frequent the gulf.

The dead Bryde's whale was seen by members of the public floating near Waiheke Island and reported to the Department of Conservation. DOC rangers recovered the whale floating north east of Tiri Tiri Matangi. They towed it to Motuihe Island which is managed by DOC in partnership with the Motuihe Trust.

The 15 metre long female whale was buried at Calypso Bay after the necropsy was completed using two earth moving machines and a bulldozer that are on Motuihe for road building work. Representatives of Ngati Paoa blessed the whale and the burial site. The necropsy was led by Massey University veterinary pathologist Stuart Hunter assisted by veterinarians from the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine at Auckland Zoo.

"The necropsy has shown that the whale was alive when it was struck, most probably by a vessel," says DOC Auckland Area biodiversity manager Phil Brown. We're waiting for the full results of the necropsy to determine if ship strike was the exact cause of the whale's death."

75% Bryde's whales killed by ships
In the last 16 years there have been 41 confirmed deaths of Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf. Eighteen of these dead whales were examined and 15 are most likely to have died as the result of being struck by a vessel.
Ship strike poses the greatest threat to Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf and DOC is working with the University of Auckland on the issue.

"We're concerned about the number of Bryde's whales being struck by vessels," says Phil Brown.

"One of the things that could be done to protect these whales is to lower the speed of commercial ships passing through the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. This happens in other places around the world so we know that shipping companies are used to taking this sort of measure."

Dr Rochelle Constantine and Dr Natacha Aguilar from the University of Auckland are leading research into why Bryde's whales are so vulnerable to being struck by vessels.

Dr Constantine says preliminary analysis of the research shows that the whales are spending the majority of their time less than ten metres below the surface. This puts them within the strike depth of many vessels using the Hauraki Gulf.

"We've been talking to the shipping industry about the threat vessels pose to Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf," says Dr Constantine.

"We're getting positive feedback from the shipping industry in our discussions on measures to protect the critically endangered population of Bryde's whales living in the Hauraki Gulf."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/brydes-whale.html