Now you Sei it, now you don’t

Image taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk

The Recovery Plan for the Sei Whale:

Kiley Becker

Description and Ecology of Organism

 The Sei whale is gray in color and weighs around 20 tons! This species of whale is one of the fastest whales/dolphins/porpoises that roams the ocean. They are very deep divers and submerge for periods of 5-10 minutes. Seeing that they are deep divers, they occur far off-shore in the depths of the ocean. They feed by skimming and swallowing surface plankton. These whales are found in temperate waters and usually can be seen in groups of 2-5 whales. Two sub species exist of the Sei whale and they are the Northern Sei whale and the Southern Sei whale. The Sei whale can live for 65 years, making is a k-selected organism and the female Sei whales birth every other year in the winter as the process of having an offspring takes 10.5-12 months. There is very little known about the breeding habits of Sei Whales.

To see a short video on a Sei whale feeding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOMzFFh3rEA

(Above information summarized from wwf.panda.org) 

                              Image taken from Britannica.org

Geographic and Population Changes

The population and geography of the Sei whale have changed over the years due to supply and demand changes in the hunting industry. Sei whales started being hunted after Blue and Fin whale stocks were reduced, bringing a new species of larger numbers and access into the picture. As an idea of a previous population changes, in 1980 the southern hemisphere population dropped from 100,000 to 24,000. The population in the North Pacific dropped from 42,000 to 10,000. The current population of Sei whales is seen in all oceans except the tropics and polar regions. In fact, a handful of South Pacific countries have declared their economic zones to be whale sanctuaries. This is a positive step in the right direction for recovery. The current estimate for the population of Sei whales is southern populations at 24,000, 4,600 in North Atlantic, and 22,000-37,000 in the Pacific. The problem that is faced with tracking changes in Sei whales is the fact that little is known about the population, and most of the current information came from whaling data. Research is defiantly an aspect that needs to be improved on to gain ground in recovering.

(Above information summarized from wwf.panda.org and the Sei Whale Recovery Plan)

Listing Date and Type of Listing

 

Listed June 2^nd, 1970 as endangered (entire population listed)

 Image taken from wwf.panda.org

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence

Although the Sei Whale population and different aspects of the species are still very mysterious, there are different predictions about the threats to the population. According to the Recovery Plan, the threats that are unknown include: ship noise, military sonar, oil and gas exploration, and loss of prey base due to climate and ecosystem change. These could be potentially high threats to the Sei whale population, but there is just not enough information. A pretty big threat is direct hunting from whaling fleets, which occurred when Blue and Fin whale stocks became reduced.

(Information taken from the Recovery Plan)

                                        Image taken from biznews.com

Description of Recovery Plan

The Sei whale recovery plan is not what you make expect for a species that has been drastically reduced. The main idea of the recovery plan for the Sei Whale is to provide some sort of research strategy. The recovery of this species cannot take place if we have little to no knowledge. There are 3 tiers to the plan. Tier 1 deals with regulation, collecting data and information. If after 10 years, there is a substantial about of research collected, then tier 2 occurs. Tier 2 focuses on even more in depth research and developing knowledge of unknown threats. If tier 1 and 2 are successful, tier 3 will focus on recovery activities.

(Information taken from the Recovery Plan) 

What can you do?

-Buy seafood that is sustainable

-Work to reduce aspects that contribute to climate change, every effort counts!

Sources:

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/sei_whale/

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/FINAL%20Sei%20Whale%20Recovery%20Plan.24July.pdf