In the case of harp seals, which are not endangered, anecdotal evidence has suggested that Viagra may have helped to shrink trade in seal genitals used in traditional medicines to enhance male virility. But conservationists and others caution against overstating the significance of such evidence, saying the link is tenuous. The recovery of the southern sea otter population along the California coast is one of the great environmental success stories, but the critter's human friends are leaving nothing to chance. Norwegian whale blubber prices soared nearly 60,000 percent this week following a controversial decision to allow exports to Japan in defiance of an international trade ban. Now the People of Laguna San Ignacio Must Reevaluate Their Place in the Ecosystem.
Critics say whale deaths in Bahamas show otherwise.
A powerful new sonar that can track submarines across vast distances could soon be sweeping 80per cent of the world's oceans - with potentially devastating consequences for whales, dolphins and similar creatures. A few days later, tourists on a St. Lucia whale watching trip were confronted by fishermen trying to harpoon a sperm whale. Japanese government said on Friday that a Japanese fleet of whaling vessels had caught 440 minke whales in Antarctic waters for scientific purposes since December, Kyodo News Agency said. Because noise travels five times faster underwater than in the air, many marine organisms have evolved to use sound to their advantage. The sanctuary stretches up to Italy's Gulf of Genova in the north, down to Corsica and Sardinia in the south and west along the the c te d'Azur toward the Balearics.