WWF Chief says Hunger drove Bataan whale beaching

Alexander Villafania, Philippines Inquirer 30 Apr 09;

MANILA, Philippines--Overfishing of once-abundant oceanic fishing zones could have driven hundreds of hungry melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra) to trap themselves in shallow waters off Bataan last February.

World Wildlife Fund Philippines Vice-Chairman and CEO Jose Lorenzo Tan said in a statement that it was not sonar allegedly from ships participating in the US-Philippine joint military exercise or undersea earthquakes that could have affected the natural sonar capabilities of a huge pod of melon-headed whales.

Instead, Tan theorized that scarcity of food could have pushed the whales to find other sources of food.

He even described the February 10 beaching of over 100 of the animals to a "family picnic that resulted in tragedy."

He said new technologies have made fishing more efficient as local fishermen were able to find large schools of commercial fish. This contributed to the decline in available food source for the whales.

"Why then did the whales swim into the shallows? Before we start pointing fingers at the unusual and the extraordinary or resort to speculation maybe we should look at our own backyards, and use some common sense," Tan said.

Apart from overfishing, Tan also stressed that destruction of coral reefs, the natural abode of marine creatures, which reduced the population of fish that would have been food for the whales.

Mangrove forests that are part of many Philippine types of seashore were also being destroyed, thereby reducing places where many types of fish can spawn.

He cited years-old studies that showed coral destruction at over 90 percent while mangrove destruction at about 60 percent.

Tan called for the government to act on the matter by providing "no-take zones" along coastal shorelines and specific open ocean areas that will serve as breeding grounds for fish. These areas will also provide a haven for fish population to recover.