5

This has been going around Facebook lately. All accounts seem to stem from this NaturalNews article. I don't tend to see them as a reliable source of information, but I also haven't found any proof that contradicts their assertion.

Balcomb also remarked:

We haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years. We have had stillborns and newborns die and a number of whales that appear to be pregnant but didn't ultimately produce any calves. It's like zero survival in birth rate here.

Improve this question
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
13

That's easy to counter: the Seattle Times reports nine live orca births just in Puget Sound in 2015. The Times quotes NOAA and the Center for Whale Research as their source. However, Natural News wasn't entirely wrong: the west coast whales didn't have any live births in 2014 or 2013.

Improve this answer
3
  • 2
    ...and Bacomb was writing in January 2015.
    – GEdgar
    Sep 24, 2016 at 0:57
  • 3
    The linked article that cites a lack of live births in the Southern Resident Killer Whales in 2013 and 2014 does not mention Fukushima as a cause. It instead attributes the decline to chemical pollutants, boats, and the decline of the salmon population due to fishing.
    – David Hammen
    Sep 24, 2016 at 14:34
  • Thank you. That is useful. And David, yeah, whether people attribute a particular cause seems to have more to do with axes to grind than any actual attributability.
    – Sean Duggan
    Sep 24, 2016 at 16:28

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .