MEDIA RELEASE 10- 8- 06 Whale conservation representatives meet with National Parks and Wildlife Service Tweed Area manager On Thursday the10th of August Howie Cooke from Surfers for Cetaceans and Dean Jefferys from Byron Whale Action Group met with James Law the Tweed Area manager for National Parks and Wildlife Service and Sue Walker of NPWS, Cape Byron to discuss the stranding and death of a newborn female humpback whale on Cabarita beach in Northern NSW on the 17th July. The aim of the meeting was to question NPWS on details of how the stranding was managed and why the whale was killed and to instigate urgently needed revision and changes to present stranding protocols. Howie Cooke, who was with the whale for 14 hours said "Our concern with this particular stranding event is that NPWS removed the whale away from the sea and accepted poor advice, (including from the marine mammal captivity industry) which saw the whale's life terminated with unwarranted lethal injections. All the bad decisions steering the whale towards death degraded the health of the whale and sidelined lifesaving effort and expertise of rescue groups and whale specialists. As part of the process for ensuring best possible practice and outcomes for stranded whales we are seeking advice from around the world and will continue to petition for an open independent inquiry from State and Commonwealth environment agencies. We stand by the primary right of displaced cetaceans to be assisted back to the ocean as quickly as possible." James Law agreed to arrange a meeting with the Director General of NPWS to facilitate broad based input from relevant experts and whale conservation groups to revise whale stranding procedures and ensure that the priorities of stranded whales are put first and foremost. For the Whales Dean Jefferys 02-66840002 For more info see http://www.flightofthehumpback.org Howie Cooke http://www.surfersforcetaceans.com TO READ LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM HOWIE COOKE CLICK BELOW URL http://www.echo.net.au/pg.php?issues_id=21_09&pg=10&view=gif
