Southern Right Whale Numbers Rebound

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Once pushed to the edge of extinction, southern right whales are now riding the comeback wave. Their population is believed to be rising at an annual rate of seven percent - a staggering figure for an animal that usually attains lengths of around 14 meters (44 feet) and weighs up to 40 tonnes or more.

Annual counts have shown growing numbers in South African waters, where the plankton-eating giants spend much of their time. Last year's assessment revealed the biggest number yet of the gentle leviathans in the survey's 30-year history, with 845 counted during a seven-day aerial survey of South Africa's south coast - 169 more than the previous year.

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In an age of ravaged fish stocks and messy oil spills, this is a rare piece of good environmental news on the marine front. "In all of the southern hemisphere, there are estimated to be 9,000 to 10,000 right whales at the moment," Dr. Peter Best, a zoologist with the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, told Reuters.

"In the 1920s, their numbers were down to as low as 300 by some estimates," Best said.

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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/22587/story.htm

I thought you were talking about real Repub/Dittododo women. The kind that can't get a tan because all the environmentalists keep rolling them back into the ocean.

And, to make matters worse, I read this after reading the "Watching Alabama Crumble" thread.

I was thinking "Rush is out of rehab already?"

My apologies to Southern Right Whales.

Cheers
Drifter

...that I have clicked on a thread in this particular forum and found non-depressing news. Let's hope this article doesn't get a lot of play in Iceland.

-AA

I'll try to link the story about a couple of this year's NW salmon runs, which are actually pretty darn good (!)