(MIAMI) — After Florida’s governor and education department rolled out a controversial updated curriculum regarding Black history lessons, many students, parents, educators and elected officials raised their voices over how slavery was being presented.
The new curriculum included instruction for middle school students that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, can be applied for their personal benefit.”
“That’s mean,” Marvin Dunn, a professor at Florida International University, told ABC News. “That’s mean to say that to Black people that there was some advantage, some positive benefit to being enslaved. They weren’t even considered to be persons. So how could they have personal benefits?”
Dunn and other educators have banded together with parents and students and formed a non-profit coalition, the Miami Center for Racial Justice, to protest Florida’s new curriculum and raise awareness for the Black history that they say is being erased from classrooms.
The group has held rallies and teaching tours at Florida’s historical sites to counter some of the misconceptions they say are now being taught.
One of the tours was in Rosewood, Florida, where a Black community once prospered until a white mob destroyed it in 1923.
“People need to walk in the places where these things happened so that they become meaningful to them, so that you carry the experience beyond just the academic histories, not just facts,” Dunn said. “If you only teach history as facts, you’re really teaching a catalog, not really emotion.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended the curriculum while campaigning for president, particularly the notion that slavery benefited Black Americans.
“They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into things later in life,” DeSantis said during a news conference in July.
The governor further defended the curriculum changes in an interview with Fox News in August contending the curriculum’s wording lets teachers show “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“That particular passage wasn’t saying that slavery was a benefit. It was saying there was resourcefulness, and people acquired skills in spite of slavery, not because of it,” he said.
Juana Jones, a Miami middle school teacher and parent, however, told ABC News she was concerned about this major change to teaching slavery.
“I do believe that kids should know the truth about how this nation came about, and then they can form their own opinions afterwards,” Jones said. “There’s a level of trauma, and I do believe that everyone should know the truth in middle school [and] high school.”
Dunn warned that the country is not far away from a period of severe anti-race violence, and the only way to solve this problem is to educate people about the truth.
“It’s important to know history, to not repeat history. It’s important to note so that we don’t do it again,” he said.
(LOS ANGELES) — A Colombian migrant father reunited with his partner and 10-year-old daughter in Los Angeles after being apart for more than two weeks following their separation by U.S. border authorities in Texas.
The couple, Ambar and Jaen, made the treacherous journey to seek asylum in the United States with their daughter, Aranza. The couple asked ABC News not to use their last names because of safety concerns. Like many migrant families, they left everything behind in their home countries, fleeing what they say were unsafe conditions – all for a better future for their little girl.
“[It was] traumatic,” Jaen said. “It was a risky decision. We knew we had someone to take care of, our daughter. As a family, we felt we didn’t have another option.”
Reports of officials separating families at the border date back to 2017, under the Trump administration, as part of a policy of splitting up children from their parent or guardian at the border.
The Biden administration discontinued the mandated separation, but for some families who arrive in Texas, it’s still happening, according to Margaret Cargioli, directing attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
“Customs and Border Protection has continued to separate families where they question the validity of [their] relationship or, you know, they send adult males to detention centers in the United States,” Cargioli said.
When Ambar, Jaen and Aranza arrived at the border, border authorities initially classified them as a family unit.
“We told them we had formal legal document of our civil union from Colombia. They gave us bracelets and separated us from the group we arrived with. In that moment, no one explained anything to us,” Ambar said.
“Then they cut off our bracelets and took [Jaen]. They didn’t give me an explanation where they were taking him. The only response I was given was that’s how the laws are here,” Ambar said.
As Jaen was being led away, he recalls looking back at Ambar and his daughter.
“I didn’t want to leave, and I cried like never before,” Jaen said.
Jaen was taken to a detention center, while Ambar was left alone with her daughter and no money. She wondered what she would do until someone at the shelter in McAllen, Texas, offered her and Aranza seats on a bus headed to Los Angeles carrying 41 other migrants.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, “This report is troubling. We can both enforce our laws and treat human beings with dignity. Unlawful border crossings have gone down since our border enforcement plan went into effect. Managing our border in a safe and humane way works best when we all work together to respect the dignity of every human being and keep our communities safe.”
Unknown to Ambar at the time, the long bus ride to Los Angeles was part of a policy that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott established just over a year ago. More than 30,000 migrants have been bused from Texas to Democrat-led cities across the country.
There were 92,454 encounters between migrants and Border Patrol agents in July alone at the Texas-Mexico border, according to Customs and Border Protection. Abbott claims transporting migrants provides needed relief to overwhelmed border communities.
But his policies have faced sharp scrutiny from humanitarian organizations and advocates like Cargioli.
“Governor Abbott’s policy is causing real harm to real individuals,” Cargioli said.
Meanwhile, the mayors of New York City, Denver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles are calling on the Biden administration to grant federal assistance to deal with the influx of migrants in their cities.
Recently, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the migrant crisis “will destroy” the city, saying it could cost another $12 billion to address the migrant crisis in the next few years.
Cargioli disagrees, saying that the city needs to work with “community members and organizations that are able to assist” and expand federal policies to help asylum seekers better assimilate in their communities.
Last month, the White House granted $77 million in congressional funding for communities receiving migrants. But some say money alone won’t mitigate the crisis.
The Biden administration has imposed new asylum restrictions on some who cross into the U.S. from Mexico. A similar policy was struck down during the Trump years.
“The Biden administration has not opened at the border as we’ve known it prior to the Trump administration. They’ve continued to use restrictive measures,” Cargioli said.
Ambar was finally able to contact her husband through a nonprofit organization after eight long days without any communication. Jaen was finally released from Port Isabel Detention Center in Texas and flown by an immigrant advocacy group to reunite with his family 17 days after their separation.
They are now living in New York and are hoping to be granted the chance to stay and build a life in the U.S.
“That this country grants us the opportunity to demonstrate that we deserve to be here. We come here to work, and do whatever it takes to stay here, whenever God allows it,” Ambar said.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Lee, which is crawling through the Atlantic Ocean as a major Category 3 storm, is bringing dangerous rip currents and huge waves to the East Coast.
Here’s what you need to know:
Alerts for high surf and rip currents have been issued from Florida to Massachusetts.
On Wednesday, the Carolinas will see waves reaching 8 to 12 feet. New Jersey and Long Island are forecast to get 7- to 10-foot waves.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is sending 50 National Guardsmen to help Long Island prepare for the possible high surf, rip currents, coastal flooding and beach erosion.
“Out of an abundance of caution, I have deployed the National Guard and directed state agencies to prepare emergency response assets and be ready to respond to local requests for assistance,” Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday.
By Thursday night, Lee will start to move north and weaken. It’s forecast to pass Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing gusty winds and rain squalls. A tropical storm warning has been issued for the island.
Lee is forecast to still be hurricane-strength by the time it passes east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, over the weekend.
By Saturday morning, Lee is expected to bring strong, gusty winds to coastal New England, from Rhode Island to Boston to Maine. The strong winds will last through the day on Saturday.
On Saturday evening, Lee may make landfall between coastal Maine and Nova Scotia, bringing huge waves, heavy rain, storm surge and powerful winds.
Rain is forecast from Cape Cod to Maine, with the heaviest rain and worst storm surge in Maine.
(NEW YORK) — A fugitive who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison just days after being sentenced to life without parole in the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend was captured early Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Danelo Cavalcante was captured at 8:14 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. He was found hiding in or near a large pile of logs behind a John Deere store in South Coventry Township, about 30 miles from a county-run prison where he escaped 14 days ago.
“Today is a great day in Chester County. Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys won,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said at a news conference Thursday morning.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro began the news conference by announcing Cavalcante’s capture, praising “the extraordinary work of law enforcement officials” from local, state and federal agencies.
Bivens said a state police tactical unit and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection team from El Paso, Texas, quickly surrounded the area and maintained a perimeter until Wednesday morning when they moved in. Bivens said Cavalcante didn’t realize he was cornered until he saw the officers coming toward him.
“Tactical teams converged on the area where the heat source was. They were able to move in very quietly. They had the element of surprise,” Bivens said. “Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that had occurred.”
He said Cavalcante did not surrender immediately. He said the fugitive tried to get away by crawling through thick brush while armed with a .22-caliber rifle he stole from a nearby residence Wednesday night.
Bivens said a police dog from the Border Patrol team was sent in and was able to help detain Cavalcante, biting him at least once. No shots were fired.
There were no injuries to law enforcement officers, Bivens said.
“The dog subdued him and team members from both of those teams immediately moved in,” Bivens said. “He continued to resist, but was forcibly taken into custody.”
He said Cavalcante was bitten on the scalp and was treated at the scene.
Asked why lethal force was not used when Cavalcante resisted, Bivens said, “That option is only to prevent the escape of a very dangerous individual.”
“Had they not been able to contain him, that would have remained an option,” Bivens said, adding that 20 to 25 officers were involved in Cavalcante’s arrest.
Shortly after the arrest, a large group of officers posed for a photo with Cavalcante, who was in handcuffs, soaking wet and wearing a gray Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt he allegedly stole during his time on the lam. He was also wearing dark work boots he swiped from a residence Wednesday night and dark pants he was wearing when he escaped, officials said.
“I’m aware that there was a photo op that was taken out there. Those men and women worked amazingly hard through some trying circumstances. They’re proud of their work,” Bivens said. “I’m not bothered at all by that. They took a photo with him in custody.”
Cavalcante was loaded in the back of an armored vehicle and driven to the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Avondale, where investigators hoped to question him, Bivens said.
As the armored vehicle carrying Cavalcante approached the police barracks in Avondale, some residents in the area lined the roadway cheering, pumping their fists in the air and applauding.
“I can assure you he will not escape while he is in our custody,” Bivens said.
He said Cavalcante will eventually be transferred to a state prison to begin serving out his life sentence for the brutal 2021 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, who was stabbed 38 times in a Schuylkill Township, Pennsylvania, home in front of her two young children.
The end of the 14-day manhunt for the 34-year-old Cavalcante came as a relief to residents of in Chester County, who had been advised by officials to stay alert and keep their doors and windows locked. Several schools in Pocopson Township canceled classes as the search for Cavalcante intensified.
A combination of tactical teams from Pennsylvania State Police, FBI and Border Patrol brought Cavalcante into custody, according to a law enforcement source.
Cavalcante, who officials said is also wanted in his native Brazil on homicide charges, escaped from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township on Aug. 31.
Cavalcante was noticed missing that morning about an hour after his escape after inmates returned from the exercise yard at the prison, where he was being held pending transfer to a state correctional institution.
He had scaled a wall to gain access to the roof and pushed through razor wire before jumping down to a less secure area to make his getaway, Howard Holland, the acting warden of the Chester County Prison, told reporters during a recent press briefing.
Cavalcante followed the same method of escape and route used by an inmate at the Chester County Prison, Holland said. Inmate Igor Vidra Bolte broke out of the prison in Pocopson Township on May 19 by scaling a wall in an exercise yard to gain access to the roof, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News.
Holland noted “one key difference” between the two escapes was the actions of a tower guard whose primary responsibility was to monitor inmates in the exercise yard.
“In Bolte’s escape, the tower officer observed the subject leaving the yard area and contacted control immediately. That is why Bolte was apprehended within 5 minutes,” Holland said. “In the escape of Cavalcante, the tower officer did not observe nor report the escape. The escape was discovered as part of the inmate counts that occur when the inmates come in from the exercise yard.”
Cavalcante escaped from the prison by “crab walking” up a wall, pushing his way through razor wire installed after Bolte’s escape, running across the prison roof and scaling more razor wire, Holland said.
The corrections officer on duty in the guard tower at the time was terminated on Sept. 7, officials said.
Holland said during the press briefing on Sept. 6 that steps are being taken now to completely enclose the eight exercise yards at the prison, which are now open-air. He said additional security cameras will also be installed and additional officers will be on the ground to help the tower officers monitor the inmates in the exercise yards.
The search for Cavalcante was initially centered in an area near the Chester County Prison, where he had been spotted multiple times, officials said.
A citizen reported seeing a man matching Cavalcante’s description on Sept. 7 running through the area near Longwood Gardens, a sprawling horticulture attraction located about 5 miles southwest of the prison, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police. The search perimeter shifted toward Longwood Gardens, and Calvalcante was spotted two more times in the search area on Sept. 8, state police said.
Bivens said nearly 400 people from multiple agencies were engaged in the manhunt on Sept. 8, adding that they will “keep up this search at whatever tempo is appropriate for as long as we need to. He’s a dangerous individual.”
A Chester County jury on Aug. 16 convicted Cavalcante of first-degree murder in the fatal 2021 stabbing in Brandao.
The jury took just 15 minutes of deliberations before voting unanimously to convict Cavalcante.
Prosecutors said Brandao was killed after she learned Cavalcante was wanted for murder in Brazil and threatened to expose him to police, officials said in a statement following Cavalcante’s conviction.
Following Brandao’s murder, Cavalcante fled to Virginia, where he was arrested and brought back to Pennsylvania to face justice for Brandao’s killing.
It was the second time in less than two months that a dangerous inmate had escaped from a Pennsylvania lockup. Inmate Michael Burham, who is a suspect in the rape and murder of a 34-year-old woman in Jamestown, New York, escaped from the Warren County Jail in northern Pennsylvania on July 6.
Burham, an Army reserve sergeant who authorities said was a “self-taught survivalist,” was captured on July 15 following a massive manhunt in the northern Pennsylvania woods.
NEW YORK — A former Trader Joe’s employee is accusing the grocery chain of pregnancy discrimination and retaliation in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, alleging mistreatment and claiming that a change in the company’s health insurance policy led to her coverage being wrongly revoked after she went on maternity leave.
Julia Hammer, 42, began her employment as a full-time employee at Trader Joe’s Lower East Side location in Manhattan on October 19, 2018, and was transferred upon her request in April 2021 – shortly before giving birth – to the grocery chain’s Long Island City location in Queens, according to the complaint obtained by ABC News.
Hammer claims in the lawsuit that upon returning to work from maternity leave in August 2021, her employer failed to provide her with a private and clean room to pump milk for her newborn child. According to the lawsuit, Hammer says that she had to “rely on an unsanitary mechanical room” that was often used by others — an experience she said brought physical discomfort and pain when she couldn’t pump.
The lawsuit also details an alleged incident on Nov. 10, 2021, when a male co-worker walked in on her while she was pumping, leaving her “scared and very shaken up” as she found herself “completely exposed” and “in a vulnerable place.”
ABC News reached out to Trader Joe’s representatives to inquire about the grocery chain’s maternity leave policy and whether there’s a policy regarding providing mothers with lactation rooms.
The suit further alleges that after returning from maternity leave, Hammer learned in November 2021 that Trader Joe’s health care coverage policy was set to change in 2022 and that her coverage would be revoked by Dec. 31, 2021, leaving her and her newborn child without health insurance. Hammer claims that losing her health insurance forced her to resign from Trader Joe’s in December 2021 to find a job that provided her with health insurance.
It is unclear what changes were made to Trader Joe’s health care coverage policy.
According to Trader Joe’s website, the grocery chain offers “medical, dental and vision plans to eligible Crew Members,” but it does not specify how many hours an employee needs to work.
ABC News has reached out to Trader Joe’s national representatives and management at its Long Island City location in Queens, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
The suit claims that Hammer’s health care coverage was revoked “under the guise that Hammer did not meet the required number of hours to be eligible for her entitled benefits,” but also alleges that when calculating the “minimum number of hours to qualify for insurance, it became clear that Trader Joe’s was evaluating Hammer’s hours without considering that she went on [maternity] leave.”
Hammer, who is gay and became pregnant through insemination, also alleges in the complaint that she experienced “numerous discriminatory and offensive comments to her about pregnancy and childbirth” from co-workers and managers during her pregnancy at both locations.
“Returning to work after giving birth has many challenges, but the way Trader Joe’s treated me only made it more difficult,” Hammer told ABC News in a statement through her attorney on Tuesday. “From the anxiety and stress every time I had to pump in that horrible mechanical room, to me and my infant child losing health insurance during a pandemic, Trader Joe’s caused me and my family to suffer tremendously. Companies like Trader Joe’s that claim to care about their employees have a responsibility to support working mothers just like everyone else, and I want to help make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen to other people.”
According to the complaint, Hammer’s experience led her to seek professional help in December 2021 and she was ultimately prescribed anxiety medication, leading her to stop breastfeeding because she was concerned about the impact it could have on her child.
“Hammer felt profoundly disappointed and guilty about no longer providing milk to her child,” the complaint says.
According to the suit, Hammer is seeking unspecified emotional distress damages, financial compensation and attorney’s fees.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for Hunter Biden on Wednesday filed suit against a former Trump White House aide over his alleged role in publishing online a trove of emails and embarrassing images purportedly belonging to the president’s son.
The 13-page suit, filed in federal court in California, accuses Garrett Ziegler of improperly “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data that they do not own” in violation of the state’s computer fraud laws.
Ziegler, a former aide to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, has emerged as one of the Biden family’s most outspoken critics, often using crude language to chide President Joe Biden and his embattled son online.
The lawsuit describes in detail how Ziegler and 10 additional unnamed defendants allegedly obtained data belonging to Hunter Biden and disseminated “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” on the internet.
Hunter Biden is seeking a jury trial to determine appropriate damages and an injunction preventing Ziegler from continuing to access or tamper with his data.
“While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda,” wrote attorneys for Hunter Biden. “Yet that is precisely what Defendant Ziegler and his so-called ‘nonprofit research group’ … have done.”
An attorney for Ziegler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Ziegler previously condemned “the disgusting lawfare tactics by the pResident’s corrupt & degenerate bagman & son against @mpolousa,” after receiving a document retention letter from Hunter Biden’s attorney earlier this year.
Ziegler’s bold investigative efforts and controversial online commentary about the Bidens — whom he has referred to as “a pack of feral dogs” — have made him a star in conservative news outlets. He “regularly brag[s] about their illegal activities in interviews with members of the media, on social media, and on right-wing podcasts,” according to the suit.
In the lawsuit, Hunter Biden’s attorneys characterize him as “a zealot who has waged a sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign against [Hunter Biden] and the entire Biden family for more than two years.”
Wednesday’s suit is the latest salvo in Hunter Biden’s legal counteroffensive against those who allegedly participated in the infamous laptop controversy in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
Hunter Biden’s legal team in March filed suit against John Paul Mac Isaac, a Delaware-based computer repairman who in April 2019 purportedly obtained and later disseminated data from a laptop allegedly belonging to the president’s son. That suit remains ongoing and Mac Isaac has denied any wrongdoing.
Ziegler’s online antics have opened real-world opportunities for him to pursue allegations of corruption against the Bidens. He has claimed that he regularly consults with Republican congressional investigators as part of their investigation into the president. Also, an Arkansas attorney who represents the mother of one of Hunter Biden’s children enlisted Ziegler as an expert witness in their protracted paternity dispute. That suit was settled earlier this year.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden have previously referred Ziegler to federal and state investigators for alleged criminal behavior. And in the spring, Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell twice wrote letters to Ziegler instructing him to preserve documents related to Hunter Biden — a letter commonly sent by attorneys before filing formal litigation.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden continues to face legal exposure of his own. In the past few months, Hunter Biden has suffered a string of setbacks, led by the demise of a plea deal that might have ended the federal investigation into his overseas business dealings.
That agreement would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses to most likely avoid jail time, and enter into a diversion program to avoid prosecution on a felony gun charge. But the two-pronged deal fell apart during a court hearing in July, and U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has since been elevated to special counsel, has signaled his intention to now indict Hunter Biden in multiple venues on tax and gun charges.
In Washington, Hunter Biden and his father continue to face a GOP-led congressional investigation into what House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says are the Biden family’s “shady business deals.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he was ordering House Republicans to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
The White House attacked the move as “extreme politics at its worst,” adding that “the president hasn’t done anything wrong.”
When Christopher Haynes, 30, was arrested on Sept. 6, he complained of a preexisting ankle injury, according to D.C. police.
Haynes was taken to George Washington University Hospital, and that afternoon, while an officer was “changing out his handcuffs” to secure him to the gurney, “Mr. Haynes physically assaulted that officer and fled,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
The two officers guarding Haynes chased him but couldn’t catch him, police said.
Haynes — a suspect in the Aug. 12 murder of a man in D.C. — escaped with one handcuff still attached to his wrist, police said.
The escape prompted a brief shelter-in-place order at George Washington University.
D.C. police have “received numerous reports of possible sightings” and are “dedicating resources to each tip,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.
NEW YORK — There’s been a common sight on Northeast beaches this summer: an alarmingly rise in whale carcasses washing in from the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned over the number of dead whales, an animal that provides a lens into the general condition of the ocean and the beings that reside there, Chris Robbins, associate director of science for Ocean Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, told ABC News.
“They’re like the marine equivalent of the canary in the coal mine in that they’re giving us insights into the health of the broader marine ecosystem by how they respond to various drivers and threats of the ocean,” Robbins said.
Whale strandings in the Northeast are not new. But the uptick in deaths in recent decades, which has increased exponentially, are concerning the marine science community, experts said.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Northeast would see just one dead whale wash ashore, Robert DiGiovanni, the director of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told ABC News.
That began to change in 2001, when larger whale stranding events were recorded in the spring and winter, or the migratory periods, DiGiovanni said.
Since 2016, 208 whale strandings have occurred on Atlantic coasts from Maine to Florida, records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show. More than a third of those deaths — 72– have occurred in New York, mostly on Long Island and the Rockaways.
There has been an especially significant uptick in whale mortality since 2017, which saw the beginning of several unusual mortality events, Robbins said. More than 90 whales died in U.S. waters in 2017 and 80 in 2018, compared to 55 deaths in 2007, according to NOAA.
Historically, whales typically die after being struck by a vessel, or due to encounters or entanglements with fishing gear, experts said.
The immense amount of energy it takes to swim free from entanglements is energy whales would otherwise need to use to feed, reproduce or avoid predators.
North Atlantic right whales, whose precarious population continues to dwindle, are especially vulnerable to these threats, especially since their feeding grounds and migratory routes are in the vicinity of major ports along the Atlantic coastline, Robbins said.
The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only about 350 left in the world.
Climate change may be playing a major role in the increase of deaths. As ocean waters warm, it is creating major changes in oceanographic conditions, Robbins said.
Researchers have recorded seasonal mismatches for the blooming of zooplankton, the main food source of right whales, and the time in which the whales arrive along their migratory route.
The hypothesis is that the zooplankton are responding to temperature cues and blooming earlier in the season, before the right whales have an opportunity to forage or feed, Robbins said.
Not only is the species not getting enough plankton to sustain their nutritional and energy needs, they are also changing their migratory patterns to new locations, like to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Canada, where there are less protections in place to prevent boat strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.
Plastic pollution in oceans are also an emerging threat for whales, especially since there is commonality between whale feeding areas and where the highest concentration of garbage is, according to a study published in Nature last year.
The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, ingests an estimated 10 million pieces of plastic per day, the researchers of the study found.
“They feel like their bellies are full when they’re getting fewer calories for the effort, which means they need to use more energy to consume more prey to make up the difference in calories,” Robbins said. This means they have less energy for swimming, reproducing and predator avoidance.”
Other consequences of plastic consumption include reduced reproduction and well as a reduction in growth and longevity. In addition, the lacerations that larger plastics can cause to the intestinal tracts of digestive tracts of whales cause inflammation and infections, Robbins said.
For the minke whale, the increase in deaths is likely due to biological processes from infectious diseases, DiGiovanni said.
An uptick in whale deaths was also seen all over the world this summer.
In July, there were mass stranding events in Scotland and Australia. In Ireland, researchers were worried that a 60-foot bloated fin whale would explode.
There may not be a common thread in the whale strandings and deaths that are occurring around the world, Stacey Hedman, director of communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told ABC News via email.
Some species of whales could be seeing larger upticks in strandings due to population increases. The increase in beached whales also coincides with an increase of whale sightings closer to the coast, DiGiovanni said.
The whales are likely following food sources, which could indicate a healthier ecosystem in some of the areas, DiGiovanni said.
Researchers are striving to understand the reason behind the whale deaths.
“We’re always concerned when any whale washes up,” DiGiovanni said. “We want to understand more about what they’re doing.”
(NEW YORK) — There’s been a common sight on Northeast beaches this summer: an alarmingly rise in whale carcasses washing in from the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned over the number of dead whales, an animal that provides a lens into the general condition of the ocean and the beings that reside there, Chris Robbins, associate director of science for Ocean Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, told ABC News.
“They’re like the marine equivalent of the canary in the coal mine in that they’re giving us insights into the health of the broader marine ecosystem by how they respond to various drivers and threats of the ocean,” Robbins said.
Whale strandings in the Northeast are not new. But the uptick in deaths in recent decades, which has increased exponentially, are concerning the marine science community, experts said.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Northeast would see just one dead whale wash ashore, Robert DiGiovanni, the director of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told ABC News.
That began to change in 2001, when larger whale stranding events were recorded in the spring and winter, or the migratory periods, DiGiovanni said.
Since 2016, 208 whale strandings have occurred on Atlantic coasts from Maine to Florida, records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show. More than a third of those deaths — 72– have occurred in New York, mostly on Long Island and the Rockaways.
There has been an especially significant uptick in whale mortality since 2017, which saw the beginning of several unusual mortality events, Robbins said. More than 90 whales died in U.S. waters in 2017 and 80 in 2018, compared to 55 deaths in 2007, according to NOAA.
Historically, whales typically die after being struck by a vessel, or due to encounters or entanglements with fishing gear, experts said.
The immense amount of energy it takes to swim free from entanglements is energy whales would otherwise need to use to feed, reproduce or avoid predators.
North Atlantic right whales, whose precarious population continues to dwindle, are especially vulnerable to these threats, especially since their feeding grounds and migratory routes are in the vicinity of major ports along the Atlantic coastline, Robbins said.
The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only about 350 left in the world.
Climate change may be playing a major role in the increase of deaths. As ocean waters warm, it is creating major changes in oceanographic conditions, Robbins said.
Researchers have recorded seasonal mismatches for the blooming of zooplankton, the main food source of right whales, and the time in which the whales arrive along their migratory route.
The hypothesis is that the zooplankton are responding to temperature cues and blooming earlier in the season, before the right whales have an opportunity to forage or feed, Robbins said.
Not only is the species not getting enough plankton to sustain their nutritional and energy needs, they are also changing their migratory patterns to new locations, like to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Canada, where there are less protections in place to prevent boat strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.
Plastic pollution in oceans are also an emerging threat for whales, especially since there is commonality between whale feeding areas and where the highest concentration of garbage is, according to a study published in Nature last year.
The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, ingests an estimated 10 million pieces of plastic per day, the researchers of the study found.
“They feel like their bellies are full when they’re getting fewer calories for the effort, which means they need to use more energy to consume more prey to make up the difference in calories,” Robbins said. This means they have less energy for swimming, reproducing and predator avoidance.”
Other consequences of plastic consumption include reduced reproduction and well as a reduction in growth and longevity. In addition, the lacerations that larger plastics can cause to the intestinal tracts of digestive tracts of whales cause inflammation and infections, Robbins said.
For the minke whale, the increase in deaths is likely due to biological processes from infectious diseases, DiGiovanni said.
An uptick in whale deaths was also seen all over the world this summer.
MORE: Australia’s humpback populations rebound, raising hopes of marine scientists
In July, there were mass stranding events in Scotland and Australia. In Ireland, researchers were worried that a 60-foot bloated fin whale would explode.
There may not be a common thread in the whale strandings and deaths that are occurring around the world, Stacey Hedman, director of communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told ABC News via email.
Some species of whales could be seeing larger upticks in strandings due to population increases. The increase in beached whales also coincides with an increase of whale sightings closer to the coast, DiGiovanni said.
The whales are likely following food sources, which could indicate a healthier ecosystem in some of the areas, DiGiovanni said.
Researchers are striving to understand the reason behind the whale deaths.
“We’re always concerned when any whale washes up,” DiGiovanni said. “We want to understand more about what they’re doing.”
WASHINGTON — In a rare post-trial hearing, a court security officer testified before the judge overseeing former Trump adviser Peter Navarro’s contempt of Congress case, after Navarro’s attorneys moved for a mistrial.
Navarro, who under Donald Trump was director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, was found guilty last week of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena issued in February 2022 by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
After the verdict, Navarro’s attorneys moved for a mistrial on the grounds that the jury exited the building before returning a verdict, and that they may have seen protesters while outside.
Rosa Torres, the court security officer who escorted the jurors outside the courtroom, testified Wednesday that when the jurors were escorted outside they remained at a distance from the media, and said that there was at least one protester who was carrying a flag and a poster.
Torres said that the jurors were not wearing their juror badges while they were outside and that they were not approached by the protester.
During the hearing, Navarro’s attorney, John Rowley, presented several photos of the jurors on their break and pressed Torres about “the scene outside.”
When asked by Rowley about the timing of the jurors’ break, Torres said the jury returned a verdict “20 to 45 minutes” after returning to the courthouse.
Judge Amit Mehta told attorneys the court has security footage and “public source video” of when the jurors stepped outside.
A hearing on a mistrial motion will be scheduled in 14 days.
Navarro’s attorneys had argued at trial that Trump had asserted executive privilege over Navarro’s Jan. 6 testimony, but prosecutors said that even if that was the case, Navarro was still required to appear before the committee and cite privilege on a question-by-question basis.
The Jan. 6 committee had been seeking to question Navarro about efforts to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time,” a former committee staffer testified.
