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 ...
You’ve nailed it...Exactly what leftards do!
Hoist by their own petards!
Anybody know the rationale behind the “don’t feed the whales” law, and why it’s so harsh? Is it supposed to keep sightseeing trips under control and keep the animals from becoming domesticated, or is there some poaching angle?
If she’s a liberal, I hope she gets the maximum sentence. I have ZERO sympathy for liberals who suffer from other liberal’s actions. Of course, she will likely find a way to blame it on Bush.
Exactly what leftards do! You’ve nailed it...
Hoist by their own petards!
Exactly what leftards do! You’ve nailed it...
Hoist by their own petards!
Seems to me she has been baiting and training them for the purpose of making money. And since they are wild animals that is illegal. And also dangerous.
Exactly what leftards do!
You’ve nailed it!
Hoist by their own petards!
Do you think those signs in national parks, that say do not feed the animals, are put up for decoration.
Good grief.
I figured that my post was goofy enough that a “/s” wasn’t required.
Fail....... twentyfive posts and not to the bottom yet
A jealous but better politically connected biologist wanted to eliminate the scientific and whale watching competition and snitched to the powers that be. The marine scientist Nancy Black has been put out of business and out of grant funding. It is simple as that.
The battle for grants gets bloody in California
LOL
Was it a Titlest?
Nothing wrong with whale feeding. Moochelle’s personal chef does it every day.
Obviously they were not aware of WHO she is. Those laws are for the lesser beings not for the self anointed ones.
I think evidence tampering is allowed for some ... they better check the list again.
Unless whales go “Moo”, I think the White House chef is safe.
I have always thought that phrase “hoisted on their own petard” seemed fit the liberal condition most satisfactorily...
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