Green Options

Fishing nets often inadvertantly become entangled around whales, and while that is a crime under the Endangered Species Act, hardly anyone ever faces charges. But one unlucky fisherman has been caught in the act.

Robert J. Eldridge Jr. faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted of three felony charges.

The district attorney says he “did knowingly and unlawfully take a marine mammal, to wit, a humpback whale in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States by acts of pursuit, torment, and annoyance which had the potential to injure said marine mammal in the wild.”

New Jersey Institute of Technology professor David Rothenberg has released a new musical CD that features the songs of whales in the wild interwoven with his own performances on the bass clarinet.

Whale Music (also available at iTunes or ThousandMileSong) features the sounds of beluga, killer and humpback whales, as well as a newly recorded Pete Seeger song, “The World’s Last Whale.”