June 25th, 2010
Whale conservation groups were steeling themselves for the worst, but they were in for a surprise.
A 24-year ban on commercial whaling that was in danger of being lifted will remain in place. The International Whaling Commission, which was created by the United Nations in the 1980s to regulate whale hunting worldwide, decided Wednesday that there was too much opposition and too many unanswered questions to allow some countries to hunt whales with fewer restrictions. The decision came at the end of the commission’s three-day meeting this year in Morocco.
The BP oil spill will affect ecosystems in the gulf for a long time and is certain to affect the entire “food web,” wildlife experts said Friday. But the government’s team leaders for the rescue and assessment of wildlife could not give projections for, nor would they hazard guesses about, how bad those effects might be.
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift
