Talk:Whaling in Madagascar

'''The intro needs work! Before it was a history of whaling, which I believe is going to be a category we expand on so it didn't make sense to have that in the intro. Feel free to add to it, I'll try to beef it up as well.''' Delgmadi (talk) 20:04, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

I'm going to add a section on scientific findings obtained through whaling: Discovery of the Omura Whale

Records from Japanese and Filipino whaling operations provided sufficient evidence to confirm the discovery of the Omura Whale (Balaenoptera omurai) in 2003. The species of whale had previously been misclassified as a pygmy Bryde’s Whale (Balaenoptera edeni) but based of off analysis from 459 specimen of Bryde’s Whales it was found eight of the specimen actually belonged to a different species of whale, now known to be the Omura Whale. Due to lack of data on the Omura Whale it is unclear whether commercial whaling has affected their population size, but as they prefer shallow waters they are vulnerable to the practice.[1]

2008 Mass Stranding

A mass stranding of around one hundred Melon-Headed whales (peponocephala electra) occurred in the Loza Lagoon system of Northwest Madagascar during the months of May and June in 2008. Of the original whales that entered the lagoon system, seventy five died from causes related to being out of their normal deep sea habitat. At the time of the event many marine experts, conservation organizations, and other groups surveyed the area to collect data on this event. The International Whaling Agency (IWC) and other federal agencies with the permission of the Madagascar Government launched an investigation into the cause of this mass stranding. The IWC concluded that the most plausible trigger for the event was a high power 12 kHz multi-beam echosounder system (MBES) that has been firing along a shelf break a day before the event.

Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary

Madagascar lies entirely in the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary, a whale sanctuary that covers the Indian Ocean south to 55º S. The sanctuary prohibits commercial whaling and aims to facilitate the recovery of whale populations, allow whales to do their jobs within the ecosystem, and foster public awareness. This sanctuary’s conservation efforts are uniquely important for several reasons. The sanctuary allows for the Sperm whale and the Oman Humpback whale to recover their population which has been diminished by illegal soviet whaling operations in the 70’s. The sanctuary is also allows the population recovery of the Bryde’s whale from Japanese whaling operations which still continue to this day as Japan does not respect the sanctuary and continues it’s operations claiming that their operations are purely scientific. Approximately 600 whales are killed each year by Japanese scientific whaling operations.

The sanctuary was established in 1979 and has been renewed for ten year periods in 1992 and 2002. In 2001 during the Nairobi convention the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) pledged their support of the sanctuary, stating the convention “Reaffirmed) the need to maintain the status of the Indian Ocean as a sanctuary for the protection of endangered marine mammals of the convention region…”.

Delgmadi (talk) 19:27, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

weather conditions
Climate and influence/ Agulhas Current

In South Africa, weather patterns are consistently inconsistent. People who live in Madagascar have learned to deal with these conditions brought by ocean and wind currents. The Agulhas Current is a root cause of these sporadic conditions. Along the South African coast, near Madagascar, holds an oceanic current, that when mixed with a cold front, can cause freak waves that can destroy ships. What is unique about this certain oceanic current is that is the largest current to follow adjacently to a continent for that distance. Being on the boarder of the Indian Ocean gyre, the intense ranges of water temperatures cause unprecedented climate levels that can result in major storms. The storms that result from combining warm and cold temperatures have a huge affect in the northern region of the Agulhas Current. As it goes down the continent of Africa, the atmosphere becomes warmer, and the weather mellows out into a steady rainfall, giving South Africa and West Madagascar humidity and storms. (I still have more to come, but this is my main focus) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jilliankimura (talk • contribs) 05:01, 2 May 2016 (UTC)