January 27, 2022 - Frank Cipriano- Wildlife Forensics, DNA and Toxic Whales

Our speaker for the day, was Frank Cipriano, a local product who is an expert in wildlife forensics.  Frank had among other things taught at San Francisco State for 18 years.  His accompanying powerpoint was  titled wildlife Forensics, DNA and Toxic Whales, In this fascinating presentation, we got a close-up of endangered species protection around the world, including a description of the international organizations and treaties which monitor wildlife takes in order to protect species from instinction and preserve biodiversity.  One primary example was an organization called CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), which exists under a multinational treaty signed about 45 years ago. Nations and organizations working under the CITES umbrella gather data worldwide on trade in endangered species and conservation practices in order to, among other things, monitor and report illicit wildlife trade and conduct overall biodiversity assessments in order to predict trends.  The group works frequently with law enforcement around the world.

 

Specific attention was given to whaling practices and how they are monitored.  An international moratorium on whaling (including dolphins) was enacted in 1986. The moratorium is a voluntary measure but there is considerable political peer pressure for nations to participate.  Nations are allowed to set a "safe zone" of permitted takes under this treaty for specific purposes, typically scientific study and indigenous consumption. The U.S., Japan and Norway are the cuntries that continue to take the most whales. The International Whaling Commission is the regulatory authority.  Although the system isn't perfect, populations of many species in many areas have recovered.  The U.S. West coast is ne example, with rebounding populations of grays, humpbacks and blues.  In other areas, however, inconsistent or unmotivated enforcement has meant that many species remain in dire trouble.