An
estimated 10 million people or more venture into coastal waters
every year to get a closer look at whales.
Killer whales may be the top of the food chain underwater, but
they stand little chance against the eco-tourists who try to catch
a glimpse of the majestic mammals rising above the water line.
"We now have more whale-watch boats than there are whales,"
said Kelley Balcomb-Bartok of the Orca Conservancy, a nonprofit
organization in Washington state that works with scientists to
protect Orcas.
All this activity is raising concerns about the whales' health
and survival.
Some scientists say noise from all the boat traffic may impair
a whale's sonar ability as much as 95 percent. The whales need
sonar to find food.
Three new studies released this month suggest the interference
is damaging the whales, whose population in the Puget Sound region
has fallen from 98 to 80 in less than a decade.
Scientists say all the traffic also forces the Orcas to move
around more, wasting energy needed for hunting food.
"I would say that at times when there are a lot of boats
and there is a lot of noise, that they are irritated,"said
Tom McMillen, captain of the whale-watching boat Stellar Sea,
which takes out three groups a day.
Scientists say the noise from the boats leads to added stress
on the animals, which are already coping with fewer salmon to
eat and increasing pollution.
(Agencies)
Updated: 2002-07-03 01:00
六月份公布的三項新研究成果表明，這種對于鯨魚的人為干擾會為鯨魚帶來滅頂之災。菩及海灣的鯨魚數量已經在不到十年的時間內由最初的98頭下降為如今的80頭了。