Merine,
Hunting of all marine mammals was basically stopped in the USA in 1972 when
the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed. This is a federal law that
makes it illegal to trade or "take" (meaning kill, harass or capture) a
marine mammal. The marine mammal protection act even "protects" dead and
stranded animals from being "taken" without permission. There are
basically two (legal) ways a person or group might be able to do the things
prohibited under the act, one can get permission, or one can be exempt.
People and groups get permission through permits from the government.
This is basically how a researcher, or aquarium might capture an animal
for either study or display. In the case of native tribes, some have been
exempted from the law because they can be considered separate nations (and
the law might not apply). Some continue to hunt under a permitting program
because hunting has an important place in maintaining traditional
lifestyles and cultures. Long answer for a short question ...eh?
As for the pronunciation guide you might start with the obvious first place
and look in the WhaleNet archives. Offhand I was not able to find a single
website with all of the names, however there are some good general sites on
pronunciation of scientific names. You might check these places ...
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lagniapp/whale.pdf
http://69.5.22.59/education/taxonomy.html
Or find the article from the journal Aquatic Mammals 27(2): 183-195.
Abstract
Taxonomic names, frequently made-up of Greek and/or Latin elements, are
mysterious and difficult to pronounce for those who never studied ancient
languages. This simple guide is designed to help English speakers
understand and pronounce the scientific names used to classify cetaceans.
Teachers of Latin and Greek recognize certain rules of pronunciation. These
rules may not be appropriate in hybrid compounds that have English, as well
as Greek and/or Latin elements, but they are acceptable for the
pronunciation of taxonomic names that are purely Greek or Latin. There are
also traditional rules for anglicizing Latin and latinizing Greek. For
English speakers who have no interest in Greek or Latin pronunciations,
knowledge of the anglicized pronunciations, and pronunciations found in
Webster's Third International Dictionary, as well as knowledge of the
meaning of Greek and/or Latin elements, should be helpful. The Appendix
shows how orders, suborders, superfamilies, families, and subfamilies may
be distinguished by their endings.
For common names, I've found that the on-line version of Websters
Dictionary has a pretty good pronunciation guide (and will let you listen
to the words as well). I'm not sure I like how they pronounce "minke
whale" however, because it makes me think one of us is not pronouncing it
quite right.
good luck,
ge
-----Original Message-----
From: Narwhal7587@aol.com [SMTP:Narwhal7587@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 9:20 PM
To: gearly1@earthlink.net; pita@whale.wheelock.edu
Subject: from Merine Patterson
Dear Mr. Early,
Can you please explain to me the laws that allow native Americans to still
whale hunt in the U.S.A and in other parts of the world. Can you please
give me
some helpful hints, or web sites that can help me pronounce the marine
mammals
scientific name.
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