UK Government Does Shoddy Job of Protecting Marine Mammals
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.23.07
Somebody sign the U.K. government up for remedial tuition in cetacean conservation. Britain's powers that be scored a rueful 1 out of 10 in its efforts to protect whales and dolphins, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
The international non-profit has released a new 122-page report about the growing dangers the U.K.'s whales and dolphins face—including ensnarement as fishing bycatch, ingestion of marine litter, and chemical and noise pollution—as well as recommendations for improving a critical and worsening situation.
Accompanying the WDCS's report is a "UK Government score sheet" that grades current government action, on a scale of 1 to 10, on a number of threats to U.K's wildlife. Suffice to say, it didn't do so well. (Or, as this writer's educator mother would say, "SHAMEFUL!")
“These scores demonstrate how seriously the Government is underachieving and show how little is being done to stop harmful threats to whales and dolphins in UK seas," says Mark Simmonds, a director of science at WDCS and an author of the report. "Too often it is a case of ‘out of sight out of mind’ and this attitude needs to change if we are to avoid loosing these magnificent animals from our waters forever.”
If only the government would learn how to APPLY itself. ::Newswise
