Just found out that about 200 lobster fishermen will be directly impacted by the decision (starting April 28) to stop lobster fishing in the northeast coastal region of New Brunswick, close to Miscou and Pidgeon Hill. "None of the necropsies performed on dead whales found last year showed evidence of lobster gear; only snow crab gear," said MFU president Carl Allen and he later added, "where lobster fishermen go, should not fall under the static closure. It is shallower — too shallow for whales to forage." Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lobster-fishermen-new-measures-right-whales-1.4634396 What's worse, these folks will not be able to feed their families and will not qualify for EI benefits. Most Canadian Thing to Do How about some of the extra funds raised for the Humboldt Broncos families be used to help out our friends on the east coast? I can think of nothing more Canadian. I am adding Bill Chow, president of Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, to this petition (just in case). Weak and Almost NO Evidence Fishing Practices are to Blame On Thursday, October 5th, 2017, I attended (by phone) the Media Advisory - Technical briefing: Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative report - Incident Report: North Atlantic Right Whale Mortality Event in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 2017. Here is the report: http://www.cwhc-rcsf.ca/right_whales.php Notable points I made (Oct. 2017) were: Pg. 27: "There are no indications that vessel traffic in 2017 was significantly different than 2016 or previous years nor that pattern of use deviated from previously observed." Pg. 16: "... involvement of an infectious disease in this mortality event is unlikely ..." "could raise the prospect of an underlying viral infection of undetermined clinical significance ..." "Nonetheless, involvement of an infectious disease in this mortality event is unlikely ..." 1) UNLIKELY? That is CLEARLY an opinion (not based on evidence or science). 2) UNDETERMINED CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE? Means you found something (ZIKV, WNV, SLEV?) but the pathologists don't know if it really matters. Pg. 16: "Trauma caused by human interaction, particularly vessel collision, has been a major cause of mortality in the population of North Atlantic right whales (Laist et al. 2001; Moore et al. 2004). Campbell-Malone et al. (2008)." These above citations were PRIOR to Zika and Wolbachia-infected Aedes releases. Can we not look at the phylogenetics of Zika, a novel pathogen, for a moment? Whales have suffered West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis viruses and Zika shares this clade with over 97 percent support. Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01248/full N.A. right whales have been spotted as far south as the Bahamas and Mexico. They often have mouth abrasions. There are multiple ways Zika and/or Wolbachia could be infecting them. Mosquito bites are merely ONE way. Are we going to foolishly cling to Hertig's 1936 results on mice and chicken embryos? Or, are we going to acknowledge and devote resources to testing vertebrates (including humans) for the presence of Wolbachia? Because here are facts that are being willfully ignored: The direct effect of Wolbachia can either impede or promote the pathogen's replication and survival (Zug and Hammerstein, 2015). Examples of neutral or pro-pathogenic effect of Wolbachia include: Brugia pahangi (Dutton and Sinkins, 2005); Japanese encephalitis (JE) Virus (Tsai et al., 2006); Drosophila C Virus (Osborne et al., 2009); and Plasmodium gallinaceum (Baton et al., 2013). Wolbachia Enhances West Nile Virus (WNV) Infection in the Mosquito Culex tarsalis: http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0002965 Zika Virus in Salivary Glands of Five Different Species of Wild-Caught Mosquitoes from Mexico: http://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/19/151951 Both Wolbachia and Zika are maternally inherited. This reproductive parasite (Wolbachia) and the Zika virus are in the eggs and larvae of mosquitoes which copepods and krill feed on. Some species only partially eat Aedes larvae causing their contents to spill out into sea water. Over 28,000 cases of Zika were reported in Puerto Rico as of Oct. 26th, 2016. The waters surrounding many islands in the Caribbean are obviously teeming with Zika-infected Aedes and Culex mosquitoes, eggs, and larvae. Testing for Zika should be a no-brainer to any seasoned pathologist. The ONLY conclusion that can solidly be drawn from this pathology report: TWO (perhaps three) whales out of 15 died from entanglement. The four or five attributed to blunt trauma based on "severe internal bleeding" could also be caused by infections or bleeding in transport or even foul play. When I asked Dr. Daoust about Zika, WNV, SLEV, and Wolbachia, he replied that these whales were in various states of decomposition, downplayed the likelihood of a mosquito biting them, and therefore these were not even considered or tested for. My own data (based on organic visits to a reference-based article I wrote about Zika in men) confirmed my worst fears: Overnight-active Culex spp. are probably responsible for the worst manifestations of the Zika. And Wolbachia is likely providing the mode of transportation to the gonads, heart, CNS, optic lobe, and retina. Zika (in men) has moved further north, into New York, the U.K. and Canada. My petition to help humans: https://www.change.org/p/oncologists-and-pathologists-acute-inflammatory-response-gbs-uveal-melanoma-or-lymphoma-r-o-rickettsiales-wolbachia Yet today, April 26th, 2018, I double-checked and I discovered the statement (that was on page 27) has been removed. I predict "newer" study literature will suddenly appear within this report that somehow justifies the incompetence of the original pathologist and his team. More Facts Wolbachia is incredibly powerful. In fact, the sperm of Drosophila melanogaster is 36 X larger than human sperm AND it IS LARGER (really) than whale sperm. Look it up. From your grade 9 biology class, all of you would know that we derive our genes via BOTH sperm and egg. So can you imagine the powerful genetic potential (to mutate vertebrates) by the trillions and trillions of Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes, eggs, larvae and pupae in our oceans (since, at least, 2009)? Wolbachia is maternally-inherited, it will be in all stages of a mosquito's life cycle. These mosquitoes only live a few weeks, their bodies decay, are half-eaten, etc. But, the Wolbachia in them can survive (at least) a week in a dead host (ample time for it to be acquired by something else). And Dmp53 binds specifically to human p53 (the tumor gene) which is implicated in 1/2 of human cancers. I predict if there are no calves next year (and the year after that) we don't even NEED to test for it in North Atlantic right whales (I'll know it's Wolbachia). And I'll need to devote time to saving humans. Thank you for reading this update in full. Remember, friends and family members can also sign. You never need to donate money (you can ignore those prompts). Take good care, Rose Authors note: I cannot use italics or hyperlink on petition updates. Ergo, links are not hidden and I used CAPS for emphasis. 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