Mystery Whales Put On Show At Scott Base

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 07:18:03 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com A rare appearance by Arnoux beaked whales at Scott Base has University of Canterbury (UC) Gateway Antarctica scientist Dr Regina Eisert excited about research possibilities. Yesterday (9 March), a group of nine large whales appeared at Scott Base. The whales put on an exuberant display, tail-slapping, breaching, and leaping clear out of the water. The rare sighting was made possible by the sea ice breaking out, something which happens every few years in McMurdo Sound, creating panoramic views of the open ocean. Antarctica New Zealand Winter Leader Andy Waters and Construction Site Manager Karl Johnson who are stationed at New Zealand’s Antarctic research base, happened to be outside with their cameras ready. The whales came up at the southern end of McMurdo Sound, right against the edge of the Ross ice shelf. They stayed in the area for about half an hour, and then disappeared as suddenly as they had come. A hot debate ensued at Scott Base as to the identity of the whales. To resolve this, pictures were sent to UC Antarctic marine mammal expert Dr Regina Eisert who immediately recognised that the whales were not minke whales, but something much more exotic – beaked whales. “Based on their appearance and the location, these are probably Arnoux beaked whales (Berardius arnuxii). Beaked whales are the ‘mystery’ whales and sightings are few and far between. It’s very exciting to have them show up right outside Scott Base.” Beaked whales are classified as toothed whales (like killer whales and sperm whales). Arnoux beaked whales occur throughout the South Pacific and Southern Ocean including New Zealand waters. They grow up to 9.75 metres long. “This is a very special, scientifically significant sighting. People just normally don’t get to see them. The question is, are the whales just being nosy or are they searching for new feeding grounds? If they do visit this area then in future, we may be able to study them in this ecosystem, which would be a fantastic research opportunity.” –]]>

Resource: WTO publishes its annual suite of data

Selwyn Manning — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 21:31:35 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com

Trade Profiles 2015 provides one-page snapshots of the most relevant indicators on growth, trade and trade policy measures for over 200 economies.

The data provided include basic economic indicators (such as gross domestic product), trade policy indicators (such as tariffs, import duties, the number of disputes, notifications outstanding and contingency measures in force), merchandise trade flows (broken down by broad product categories and major origins and destinations), services trade flows (with a breakdown by major components) and industrial property indicators.

Services Profiles 2015 provides key statistics on “infrastructure services”, i.e. transportation, telecommunications, finance and insurance, for 186 economies. This includes, for the first time, data for all 161 WTO members.

The information is derived from multiple sources, such as national accounts, employment statistics, balance of payments statistics, foreign affiliates statistics, foreign direct investment statistics and quantitative indicators largely sourced from international/regional organizations and specialized bodies.

World Tariff Profiles 2015 provides a unique collection of data on tariffs imposed by WTO members and other economies. It is jointly published by the WTO, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The first part of the publication provides summary tables showing the average tariffs imposed by individual economies. The second part provides a more detailed table for each economy, listing the tariffs it imposes on its imports (by product group) as well as the tariffs it faces for its exports to major trading partners. The profiles show the maximum tariff rates that are legally “bound” in the WTO and the rates that economies actually apply. Data on anti-dumping measures are provided in a separate annex.

The special topic in this year’s issue is “Tariff accumulation, effective protection and export competitiveness in global production”, which looks into the impact of tariffs on industrial production costs.

Last but not least to mark the 20th anniversary of the WTO, International Trade Statistics 2015 looks back at world trade from 1995 to the end of 2014.

The publication features a variety of charts to highlight the most noteworthy trends in world trade over the past 20 years. Numerous tables provide more detailed data while a chapter on methodology explains how the data are compiled.

All three profiles — World Tariff Profiles, Trade Profiles and Services Profiles — are now available in the WTO Statistics Database in Excel and HTML formats, and the PDF versions are available in English on the WTO web site. The French and Spanish versions will be available shortly. The printed versions will be available in mid-November. All four publications can be ordered from the WTO Online Bookshop.

The WTO Statistics web page also contains updates of:

–]]>

LiveNews – Evening Report

Mystery Whales Put On Show At Scott Base

Resource: WTO publishes its annual suite of data