I've been following the story about the tangled right whale off of South
Carolina (see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4587367/ for instance).

It is wonderful that there are many people working hard on trying the help
the whale and I don't doubt their abilities.

However, I am puzzled by the reports I read. Two days ago it was reported
that the effort was called off due to bad weather off the South Carolina
coast. I checked the NWS buoy information and reports in the area, and they
indicated rather calm seas (10 to 15 kts max, 2-3 foot seas max).

Now I am reading that it is called off today because it would take until
noon to get the whales location, which is too close to dark. They're going
to wait and hope the whale comes closer to the coast.

I don't understand. They are using a 70 foot research vessel. Why can't
they remain overnight and try in the morning? How calm do they need it to
be? I live in what's considered a "light wind" area, and NWS reports of 10
to 15 kts is generally considered light here.

Again, I don't doubt the ability of the people working on this, but I'm just
confused by the details.

Any thoughts?

Zero-Knowledge MIME Encapsulated Message

------=_NextPart_000_0019_01C4189F.06F08830
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset = "iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Here's my view....

I can see his point, but disentangling is really hard to do and very =
dangerous. Even in slightly rough waters it is difficult to do, you have =
to get into a small zodiac, and then hold a very long staff with cutters =
on the end of it, while you try to cut rope off of a large and powerful =
creature, any rough sea state makes it harder. Plus, there aren't =
unlimited funds for the work so I am sure they are spending money on the =
best way they can to increase their chances of success. My feeling is =
that they are doing whatever they can...these people (on the little news =
clip) have dedicated their lives to this work for minimal pay because =
they love the creatures



=
********************
Sculpture in Steel . Where art imitates life, or is that the other way =
around ???=20
www.benmcleod.com=20
************************************************** ***********************=
***
********************************************


------=_NextPart_000_0019_01C4189F.06F08830
Content-Type: text/html;
charset = "iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"
HTMLHEAD
META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1"
META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=3DGENERATOR
STYLE/STYLE
/HEAD
BODY
DIVFONT face=3DArial size=3D2Here's my view....BRBRI can see his =
point, but=20
disentangling is really hard to do and very dangerous. Even in slightly =
rough=20
waters it is difficult to do, you have to get into a small zodiac, and =
then hold=20
a very long staff with cutters on the end of it, while you try to cut =
rope off=20
of a large and powerful creature, any rough sea state makes it harder. =
Plus,=20
there aren't unlimited funds for the work so I am sure they are spending =
money=20
on the best way they can to increase their chances of success. My =
feeling is=20
that they are doing whatever they can...these people (on the little news =
clip)=20
have dedicated their lives to this work for minimal pay because they =
love the=20
creatures/FONT/DIV
DIVFONT face=3DArial size=3D2/FONT /DIV
DIV /DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVFONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2      &nbsp ;   &nbs=
p;            &nbsp=
;        & nbsp;   =
        &n bsp;   &=
nbsp;       &nb sp;   &n=
bsp;       &nbs p;   &nb=
sp;       &nbsp ; =20
********************/FONT/DIV
DIV align=3DcenterFONT face=3DArial size=3D2Sculpture in Steel . =
Where art=20
imitates life, or is that the other way around ??? /FONT/DIV
DIV align=3DcenterA href=3D"http://www.benmcleod.com"FONT =
face=3DArial=20
size=3D2www.benmcleod.com/FONT/AFONT face=3DArial size=3D2 =
/FONT/DIV
DIV align=3DcenterFONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2***************************************** ***********************=
************/FONT/DIV
DIV align=3DcenterFONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2 *********************************** *********/FONT/DIV
DIV align=3DcenterFONT face=3DArial size=3D2/FONT /DIV
DIV align=3DcenterFONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2/FONT /DIV/BODY/HTML

------=_NextPart_000_0019_01C4189F.06F08830--

This site has a lot of information on the right whale that might be of interest to some of you,
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/special/Rightwhale.pdf

There numbers are few, around 300 which puts them very close to extinction and when and if they are no more there's it no second chance, Gone.Gone. Gone. Funding for research is an ongoing undertaking, which shouldn't be since we all benefit from the creatures we share this planet with. Perhaps there are opportunities for some of us to participate in a small way by recording what we see and observe when at sea, perhaps also by offering and participating in some of the research going on by universities.

My daughter is doing some research this summer on the Right whale, thanks partly to some kind sole offering the use of and sailing them to some of the old whaling sites to extract DNA from the bones that are over 500 years old, a generous offer but also an experience he wont forget . Sort of like that movie `paying it forward` I Think it was called.
When someone does you a good deed you pass it on to someone else, makes the world a better place, its not about dollars and cents, its about what is right, ( no pun intended )
So there's that choice we all have, sit back an joke about it or take that step forward and
do something constructive, Like the wind in our sails it can take us in any direction but we have that choice of where that is. Just my two cents worth. Ben

********************
Sculpture in Steel . Where art imitates life, or is that the other way around ??? www.benmcleod.com

*************************************************




"Brien Alkire" wrote in message ...
I've been following the story about the tangled right whale off of South
Carolina (see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4587367/ for instance).

It is wonderful that there are many people working hard on trying the help
the whale and I don't doubt their abilities.

However, I am puzzled by the reports I read. Two days ago it was reported
that the effort was called off due to bad weather off the South Carolina
coast. I checked the NWS buoy information and reports in the area, and they
indicated rather calm seas (10 to 15 kts max, 2-3 foot seas max).

Now I am reading that it is called off today because it would take until
noon to get the whales location, which is too close to dark. They're going
to wait and hope the whale comes closer to the coast.

I don't understand. They are using a 70 foot research vessel. Why can't
they remain overnight and try in the morning? How calm do they need it to
be? I live in what's considered a "light wind" area, and NWS reports of 10
to 15 kts is generally considered light here.

Again, I don't doubt the ability of the people working on this, but I'm just
confused by the details.

Any thoughts?