G'day all,
The Brits seem to be very active in reintroducing various bird and mammal
species back into Britain. The article bwelow from the Daily Telegraph
explains the project. Hope it works!
Chris Coleborn
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Plan to bring grey whales back to Britain
(Filed: 18/07/2005)
Conservationists are planning to fly 50 grey whales from California to
Cumbria in an attempt to reintroduce the species to British waters after 400
years.
If successful the coast of Cumbria will join North America and Korea as the
only three sites in the world to have a population of the whales.
There could be grey whales off Cumbria within 10 years
The 40-ton whales will be flown across from California to the Irish Sea, off
the Cumbria coast at the Solway Firth.
The whales, which grow up to 50ft long, would make a 12-hour journey on
cargo planes before being released into the sea.
Dr Andrew Ramsey and Dr Owen Nevin, of the University of Central Lancashire,
have come up with the proposal, which will be unveiled at a world
conservation conference in Brazil on Tuesday.
Should it be approved, there could be grey whales off Cumbria within the
next 10 years, Dr Nevin said.
"Some people will say it's impossible, but we are deadly serious about this.
"It is ecologically, logistically and economically feasible."
If the plans get the go-ahead it could mean a huge financial boost for
Cumbria because whale watching is a multi-million pound industry.
The whales would present no threat to the fishing industry because they feed
on worms and amphipods that live in sediment and do not eat fish.
The proposal already seems to have the backing of the public after a Lake
District survey revealed that 90 per cent of people would be in favour of
re-introducing the grey whale to Britain.
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