DR. PETER ROSS
DR. GARY STERN
DR. MICHAEL IKONOMOU
DR. MICHEL LEBEUF
MARLA CONE, EHN
ORCAS AT RISK
RAMPANT OFF-SHORE OIL DRILLING
TSUNAMI DEBRIS WASHING UP
DRIVING = SUPPORTING OIL COMPANIES
= CETACEAN GENOCIDE
THIS is what we are witnessing: all forms of what used to be public and independent research and information are being systematically de-constructed/re-configured to prevent humanity as a whole from knowing what is REALLY going on in the world around us and to plug us into centrally-controlled and homogeneously sterilized channels of a pre-medicated psychic menu served up by globalization and technocracy. Unlike the legion of marine biologists who have sold out to work for the U.S. Navy or 'big oil' in one way or another, these DFO researchers who got the sack are bound to be scientists with far too much personal integrity and love of life ever to succumb to such necrophilous disambition. What will their next move be?
SINCE THE GLOBAL MILITARY APPARATUS FUNCTIONS AS 'MECHANICS' FOR THE MINING AND OIL INDUSTRIES, OWNED BY THE INTERNATIONAL BANKING CARTEL...WOULDN'T IT BE LOGICAL THAT THE SINGLE BIGGEST THING WE COULD ALL DO IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE WHALES, DOLPHINS AND MARINE LIFE IN GENERAL IS TO STOP DRIVING, STOP OUR ADDICTION TO THEIR HYDRO-CARBON SMACK?
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=68c288a0-7594-4259-a040-336dbc69eab0
Ottawa axes ocean pollution monitoring program
Canada's only marine mammal toxicologist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Vancouver Island is losing his job as the federal government cuts almost all employees who monitor ocean pollution across Canada.
Canada's
only marine mammal toxicologist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on
Vancouver Island is losing his job as the federal government cuts
almost all employees who monitor ocean pollution across Canada.
Peter
Ross, an expert on killer whales and other marine mammals, was the lead
author of a report 10 years ago that demonstrated Canada's killer
whales are the most contaminated marine mammals on the planet. He has
more than 100 published reports.
Now, he's a casualty of federal
budget cuts, one of 75 people across Canada told Thurs-day his services
will no longer be needed because the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
is closing the nation's contaminants program.
The entire Department of Fisheries and Oceans contaminants program
is being shut down effective April 1, 2013. Official letters are
expected to be delivered in June, and Ross has been told he'll have a
few months to wrap up his files.
"The entire pollution file for
the government of Canada, and marine environment in Canada's three
oceans, will be over-seen by five junior biologists scattered across
the country - one of which will be stationed in B.C.," said
environmental toxicologist Ross.
"I cannot think of another
industrialized nation that has completely excised marine pollution from
its radar," said Ross, who was informed in a letter Thursday that his
position will be "affected."
Opinion: Canada's mass firing of ocean scientists brings 'silent summer'
Editor’s Note: Canada is dismantling the nation's entire ocean
contaminants program as part of massive layoffs at the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans. Among the scientists terminated are ones who have
conducted landmark research about global pollutants for decades: Peter
Ross, who is among the world’s leading experts on marine mammals and
contaminants, Gary Stern, a mercury expert whose work focuses on the
Arctic, Michel Lebeuf, who studies the highly contaminated St. Lawrence
belugas and Michael Ikonomou, who researches flame retardants and other
endocrine-disrupting contaminants in salmon and other ocean life. Ross
told EHN that his main concern is the "wholesale axing of pollution
research" that will leave Canada, and much of the world, without the
scientific knowledge to protect whales, seals, fish and other marine
life -- as well as the indigenous peoples who rely on them for their
traditional foods. Many scientists say the purpose of the move by the
Canadian government is not just cost-cutting but to eliminate
environmental rules and protect the oil and gas industry. The following
is an essay that Ross wrote Thursday for EHN. -- Marla Cone, Editor in
Chief
By Peter Ross
Since
being hired 13 years ago as a Research Scientist at Fisheries and
Oceans Canada (DFO), I have been fortunate to conduct research on such
magnificent creatures as killer whales, beluga whales, harbour seals
and sea otters. I have visited some of the wildest parts of coastal
British Columbia, Arctic Canada and further afield. I have been humbled
by the power of Mother Nature as we deployed teams to explore and
better understand the lives of creatures beneath the surface of the
ocean. I have marveled at the evolutionary adaptations of marine
mammals to an existence at the interface of land, sea and atmosphere.
And as a scientist, I have come to learn that I possess but rudimentary
powers of observation when it comes to the mystery and beauty of a vast
ocean. For all of this, I remain eternally grateful.
A
blend of challenging field work and cutting-edge laboratories has
helped me to look into the lives of fish and marine mammals, and the
ways in which some of the 25,000 contaminants on the domestic market
affect their health. Our research has drawn on the combined expertise
of dedicated technicians, biologists, vessel operators and aboriginal
colleagues, ultimately leading to scientific publications now available
around the world. This is knowledge that informs policies, regulations,
and practices that enable us to protect the ocean and its resources,
both for today’s users, and for future generations.
It is with apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring capacity for pollution in our three oceans... I am thankful for the rich array of opportunities aboard Canadian Coast Guard ships and small craft, alongside Fisheries Officers, chemists, habitat biologists and managers, together with colleagues, technicians, students and members of aboriginal communities. I have enjoyed weaving stories of wonder on such issues as the health of killer whales, effects of flame retardants on beluga whales, hydrocarbons in sea otter habitat, trends in priority pollutants in harbour seals, impacts of current use of pesticides on the health of salmon, the identification of emerging contaminants in endangered species and risk-benefit evaluation of traditional sea foods of First Nations and Inuit peoples.
...or any ability to manage its impacts on commercial fish stocks, traditional foods for over 300,000 aboriginal people and marine wildlife. Past scientific discoveries such as high levels of PCBs in Inuit foods, dioxins in pulp and paper mill effluent, and DDT-associated eggshell thinning in seabirds formed the basis for national regulations and an international treaty (the Stockholm Convention) that have led to cleaner oceans and safer aquatic foods for fish, wildlife and humans. Canada was a world leader in spearheading this profoundly important treaty, drawing on ground-breaking scientific research in tandem with the knowledge of aboriginal communities.
It is with apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring capacity for pollution in our three oceans... I am thankful for the rich array of opportunities aboard Canadian Coast Guard ships and small craft, alongside Fisheries Officers, chemists, habitat biologists and managers, together with colleagues, technicians, students and members of aboriginal communities. I have enjoyed weaving stories of wonder on such issues as the health of killer whales, effects of flame retardants on beluga whales, hydrocarbons in sea otter habitat, trends in priority pollutants in harbour seals, impacts of current use of pesticides on the health of salmon, the identification of emerging contaminants in endangered species and risk-benefit evaluation of traditional sea foods of First Nations and Inuit peoples.
...or any ability to manage its impacts on commercial fish stocks, traditional foods for over 300,000 aboriginal people and marine wildlife. Past scientific discoveries such as high levels of PCBs in Inuit foods, dioxins in pulp and paper mill effluent, and DDT-associated eggshell thinning in seabirds formed the basis for national regulations and an international treaty (the Stockholm Convention) that have led to cleaner oceans and safer aquatic foods for fish, wildlife and humans. Canada was a world leader in spearheading this profoundly important treaty, drawing on ground-breaking scientific research in tandem with the knowledge of aboriginal communities.
I
am thankful to my friends, family, supporters and colleagues, who have
always been there to converse, share, learn and teach – in the
laboratory, in the field, in the cafeteria, in the hallway. These
people have made it all worthwhile.
 |
| Ingrid Visser/Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
| Orcas swim past an oil refinery. |
It
is with deep regret that I relay news of my termination of employment
at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the loss of my dream job. It is with
even greater sadness that I learn of the demise of DFO’s entire
contaminants research program – regionally and nationally. It is with
apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring
capacity for pollution in our three oceans, or any ability to manage
its impacts on commercial fish stocks, traditional foods for over
300,000 aboriginal people and marine wildlife.
Canada's silence on these issues will be deafening this summer and beyond.
For more information about Ross' work:
Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic, by Marla Cone, published by Grove/Atlantic
