Posted on 01/09/2012 5:19:17 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Monterey biologist accused of feeding whale
SAN FRANCISCO ---- A marine biologist who runs popular whale-watching tours on California's Monterey Bay has been indicted for violating federal laws that protect marine mammals.
Nancy Black, a marine scientist whose work has been featured on PBS, National Geographic and Animal Planet, was charged Wednesday with four violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Her attorneys countered the charges by arguing that her interactions with the creatures were legal scientific research.
She was accused of feeding killer whales in 2005 during a research trip, and misleading investigators by editing video footage of her encounters with other whales during a whale-watching trip, and then lying about it. All of the alleged incidents occurred within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, one of 13 ocean sanctuaries established in 1992.
Prosecutors say the charges were filed after an investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Department of Justice. Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the DOJ, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for NOAA.
In addition to her scientific work, Black owns Monterey Bay Whale Watch and operates two commercial whale-watching vessels. Black has also worked with federal agencies on the study of whales, including the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, which is part of NOAA.
If she is found guilty of editing the video and then lying about it, Black could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a half million dollars in fines. Each of the feeding charges carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
According to the indictment, Black was asked to provide video taken from her whale-watching boat during an October 2005 trip that investigators believe included an illegal encounter with a humpback whale.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Wow ... up to twenty years in federal prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the crime of ... being nice to a whale?!? WTF?!?
The marine biologist is probably a tree hugging, global warming bandwagon liberal. But, federal prison time for this so called offense is just an abuse of government power.
So, what are you on the Group W bench for?
Being nice to a whale. And disturbing the peace...
Nancy Black steers the Sea Wolf II while Tony Lorenz watches for whales. The four-count indictment accuses Black of twice feeding killer whales in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary once in 2004 and again in 2005. (Chad Ziemendorf / San Francisco Chronicle)
When liberals are dragged off, they will be screaming “But I was on your side! I’m with you guys! Why are you punishing me? I support all your stuff!”
They always think they will be immune until the system they create eats them. It is why liberals love tyrants.
She deserves far more to get socked for the lying to investigative officials, than for actually feeding the whales, so long as she didn’t give the whales anything harmful. When giving a snack to a whale is deemed tantamount to a felony, we know the law has gone wilder than the whales are.
Wonder what the penalty would be for pulling a golf ball out of the blow hole.
And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
things,
I just can’t keep up with this sh!t.
First it’s “Save the Whales” and now it’s “Starve the Whales”.
Oh ... was that the Seinfeld episode? I remember George pulling out a golf ball to impress a date.
The offense occurred in 2005. 6+ years ago. No statute of limitations for feeding whales, for goodness sakes?
The absurdity of the tree hugger regime is obvious for all to see.
Great terrible song.
I hear it every Thanksgiving on the local NPR station.
/johnny
Maybe she fed them McDonalds. String her up! s/
Stupid federales!!!! Oh wait, there’s 10 million illegals in California, and they go after a whale feeder.
Pretty close.
They love it when their pet tyrants create systems to eat those other guys.
They are always astonished when they themselves inevitably are one of those other guys.
Hmmm, still not quite right. *grumble* *grumble* *grumble* *grumble* *grumble* *grumble*
If she smeared her face with shoe polish and smuggled 3,000 machine-guns to Mexi drug-dealers, she’d have NO legal charges whatsoever.
In fact the papers would be DESPERATE to avoid reporting about it.
I believe that's a two stroke penalty, unless you dislodge the ball with a wedge and strike it while still in the air.
I believe that's a two stroke penalty, unless you dislodge the ball with a wedge and strike it while still in the air.
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