whales

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we’ll discuss the alarming increase in the number of sick and dead marine animals washing up on California beaches.

Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. Listener Harry Tarpey wanted to know Why are so many whales washing up dead around the Bay Area?

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  What threats do dolphins and other marine mammals face? 

Marine biologist Jon Stern studies cetaceans: porpoises, dolphins and whales. Stern is a professor at San Francisco State and also leads field studies on the Northern California coast for the non-profit Golden Gate Cetacean Research. So he’s gotten up close and personal with his fair share of dead whales.

Back in April, a 48 foot-long sperm whale was found on a beach in Pacifica called Mori Point. A lot of people had gathered around the whale to bear witness to its death. They inspected the animal’s internal organs, nervously poked its cracked flesh when no one was looking, and took a few selfies in the process. Mostly though? People want to know how this animal died - and if we had anything to do with it.

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On the August 21st, 2014 edition of Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with Joshua Horwitz, author of “War of the Whales.” Horwitz looks at the US Navy’s submarine surveillance system that floods the ocean with high-intensity sound. In 2008, the Supreme Court backed the Navy’s use of sonar, in spite of its deadly and effects on whales. And the Obama Administration recently OK’d the use of sonar for oil exploration off the East Coast. What impact does sonar have on whales? And what can be done to protect them? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.