AR-News: Sperm whales learn to pluck cod from fishing lines

[jim robertson]

Sperm whales learn to pluck cod from fishing lines

The Associated Press


ANCHORAGE - Sperm whales have learned to pluck sablefish from fishing lines 
being hauled from the depths of the Gulf of Alaska, showing a dexterity that 
belies their enormous size and toothy, underslung jaws.

``They somehow just pick them off like grapes,'' said Sitka commercial 
fisherman Dick Curran, who has fished the gulf's deep waters for decades. 
``I don't know how they do it, and I don't know the depth. ... Sometimes you 
get the heads back, sometimes you just see lips, and sometimes they're just 
shredded.''

No one knows how the whales have come to target sablefish, also called black 
cod, whose oily, rich flesh has become a lucrative product in Japanese 
markets. But a coalition of commercial fishermen and biologists has begun to 
investigate with about $200,000 from the North Pacific Research Board.

``We don't want the fishermen to have an economic loss. Plus it's a 
biological loss, because we don't know how many sablefish are being taken,'' 
said Sitka-based whale specialist Jan Straley, a lead investigator in the 
project. ``My interest is biological, and I really want to understand what 
these whales are doing.''

What Straley and her partners have found after one season suggests that male 
sperm whales may patrol the edge of the continental shelf, where the water 
is 1,200 to 3,000 feet deep.

The whales' behavior off Alaska's coast gives people a chance to study a 
complex ocean predator that has the largest brain of any animal ever known.

``For sure they know the sound of hydraulics engaging. ... It's like ringing 
the dinner bell for them,'' said Linda Behnken, director of the Alaska 
Longline Fishermen's Association, which is coordinating the study. ``They've 
learned that the flag and bag (of the buoy) in the water is all part of that 
dinner bell. Everyone knows whales are smart, and they're proving it.''

Federal surveys confirm that sperm whales don't always pluck fish when 
they're around, Sigler said. When the whales do take fish, the catch rates 
decrease by 20 percent to 25 percent.

``No one likes to get fewer fish, but take one look at those big whales and 
you realize you're out of your league,'' Sitka longliner Dan Falvey said.




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"I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species."
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
Albert Einstein

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