02 July 2009
Belize barrier reef in Danger
The reef was added as a world heritage site in 1996 as the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, with offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries.
The main problem with Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System concerns mangrove cutting and excessive development. The reef is also the country’s top tourist destination.
While requesting stricter control of development on the site, the World Heritage Committee also requested that the moratorium on mangrove cutting on the site which expired in 2008 be reinstated.
Further Reading:
List of World Heritage in Danger
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: Belize, coral reef, SCUBA diving, SCUBA News, SCUBA Travel
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
25 June 2009
Third of Pelagic Sharks Threatened with Extinction
The first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays reveals that 32 percent are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, according to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group.“Despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas,” says Sonja Fordham, Deputy Chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and Policy Director for the Shark Alliance. “The vulnerability and lengthy migrations of most open ocean sharks mean they need coordinated, international conservation plans. Our report documents serious overfishing of these species, in national and international waters, and demonstrates a clear need for immediate action on a global scale.”The report comes days before Spain hosts an international summit of fishery managers responsible for high seas tuna fisheries in which sharks are taken without limit. It also coincides with an international group of scientists meeting in Denmark to formulate management advice for Atlantic porbeagle sharks.
The study reports the Great Hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) and Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) sharks, as well as Giant Devil Rays (Mobula mobular), as globally Endangered and facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Smooth Hammerheads (Sphyrna zygaena), Great White (Carcharodon carcharias), Basking (Cetorhinus maximus), Oceanic Whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus), two species of Mako (Isurus spp.) and three species of Thresher (Alopias spp.) sharks are classed as globally Vulnerable to extinction ( facing a high risk of extinction in the wild).
Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini)
(Image: Simon Rogerson)
Many open ocean sharks are taken mainly in high seas tuna and swordfish fisheries. Once considered only incidental “bycatch”, these species are increasingly targeted due to new markets for shark meat and high demand for their valuable fins, used in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup. To source this demand, the fins are often cut off sharks and the rest of the body is thrown back in the water, a process known as “finning”. Finning bans have been adopted for most international waters, but lenient enforcement standards hamper their effectiveness.
Oceanic Whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus)
(Image: Simon Rogerson)
Sharks are particularly sensitive to overfishing due to their tendency to take many years to mature and have relatively few young. In most cases, pelagic shark catches are unregulated or unsustainable.
The IUCN Shark Specialist Group is calling on governments to set catch limits for sharks and rays based on scientific advice and the precautionary approach. It further urges governments to fully protect Critically Endangered and Endangered species of sharks and rays, ensure an end to shark finning and improve the monitoring of fisheries taking sharks and rays.
Silky (Carcharhinus falciformis)
(Image: Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch)
The IUCN uses a series of categories to classify species
| EXTINCT | The last individual has died |
| EXTINCT IN THE WILD | Only survives in captivity or cultivation |
| CRITICALLY ENDANGERED | Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild |
| ENDANGERED | Facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild |
| VULNERABLE | Facing a high risk of extinction in the wild |
| NEAR THREATENED | Likely to qualify for, a threatened category in the near future |
| LEAST CONCERN | Does not qualify for any of the above |
is the world’s largest global environmental network. It is a
membership union with more than 1,000 government and
non-governmental member organisations and almost 11,000
volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
Further Reading:
The Conservation Status of Pelagic Sharks and Rays: Report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Pelagic Shark Red List Workshop
IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria booklet
Related Stories:
EU launches shark protection plan
Caribbean Big Fish Disappearing
Mediterranean Sharks Declining Fast
Mexico Passes Shark Finning Ban
Four Times more Sharks caught than Officially Reported
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: fish, marine biology, research, SCUBA News, sealife, sharks
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
24 June 2009
Poseidon Recall Diving Wings
Poseidon are recalling their Besea W50 Diving Wings (also known as a BCD or stab jacket). The inner bladder inside the diving wing can break, causing the wing to fail as a buoyancy device. This poses a drowning hazard to divers.The recall involves the Poseidon inner bladders with batch number 5445 sold with the Poseidon Besea W50 wings. The inner bladder is located inside the outer cover of the wing. The batch number and “Poseidon” are molded on a tab located between the “legs” of the inner bladder.
Manufactured in Sweden, they were sold from September 2007 through June 2008.
If you have Poseidon wings that contain the recalled inner bladders then contact Poseidon for a free replacement.
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: equipment, SCUBA News
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
Scientists predict Large Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
Most likely, this summer's Gulf dead zone will blanket about 7,980 square miles, roughly the same size as last year's zone, ecologist Donald Scavia said. That would put the years 2009, 2008 and 2001 in a virtual tie for second place on the list of the largest Gulf dead zones.
The Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas coast when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.
Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock waste—some of it from as far away as the Corn Belt—is the main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that cause the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.
Each year in late spring and summer, these nutrients make their way down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf, fueling explosive algae blooms there. When the algae die and sink, bottom-dwelling bacteria decompose the organic matter, consuming oxygen in the process. The result is an oxygen-starved region in bottom and near-bottom waters: the dead zone.
The official size of the 2009 hypoxic zone will be announced following a NOAA-supported monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium on July 18-26. In addition, NOAA's Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program's (SEAMAP) is currently providing near real-time data on the hypoxic zone during a five-week summer fish survey in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Further Reading:
University of Michigan
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: environment, SCUBA News
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
03 June 2009
Snorkeller killed by shark at St Johns, Egypt
The woman's leg showed visible bite marks, and medics said she probably bled to death before being lifted to the surface.
The shark was an oceanic white tip. Although inexperienced divers sometimes confuse it with the white tip reef shark, the oceanic shark is much bigger, stockier and often accompanied by pilot fish. Whereas the reef shark is no threat to divers, the oceanic white tip is one to be wary of and treated with respect. It is almost fearless and credited with many open-ocean attacks on people after air or sea disasters.
Saint John's is in the Southern Egyptian Red Sea. It is a popular destination for divers, a place where you often see large pelagic species. If you should encounter a oceanic white tip it is advisable to stay close to the reef and not to make any sudden movements.
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: Red Sea, SCUBA diving, SCUBA News, SCUBA Travel, sharks
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
24 May 2009
Protecting the oceans makes economic sense
Protecting the oceans through marine protected areas can provide higher and more sustained income through tourism and controlled fisheries than continued exploitation. This is the result of IUCN’s new compilation of case studies about the economic benefits of marine protected areas, launched on World Biodiversity Day at the 2nd International Marine Protected Area Congress. “Marine protected areas, if well managed, help fish stocks replenish, which then increase yields in neighbouring areas and improve the economic situation of the local communities” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme.
Marine protected areas also attract tourism, which is the other important source of income through marine conservation.
Since all fishing has been banned in the British Lundy Island No Take Zone, a small four square km marine protected area set up in the Bristol Channel in 2003, tourism has picked up significantly: the business of the area’s tour operator, for example, has doubled since 2003. The fishing industry also benefits from the Lundy No Take Zone: lobsters have become more abundant and grown in average size, within and outside the protected zone, which is expected to replenish fish stocks in the area and increase fisheries yields. (You can read the Lundy Island case study here.)
Less than one percent of the world’s oceans are currently protected, compared to about 12 percent of the land surface. Governments agreed under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to increase protection of the oceans to 10 percent by 2010.
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and non-government member organisations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
Related News:
Making Marine Protected Areas Work for Everyone
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: environment, SCUBA News
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
21 May 2009
Endangered right whales found where they were thought extinct
Using a system of underwater hydrophones that can record sounds from hundreds of miles away, a team of scientists has documented the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an area they were thought to be extinct.The discovery is particularly important, researchers say, because it is in an area that may be opened to shipping if the melting of polar ice continues, as expected.
Results of the study were presented this week at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.
The scientists from Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are unsure of exactly how many whales were in the region, which is off the southern tip of Greenland and site of an important 19th-century whaling area called Cape Farewell Ground. But they recorded more than 2000 right whale vocalizations in the region from July to December of 2007.
“The technology has enabled us to identify an important unstudied habitat for endangered right whales and raises the possibility that – contrary to general belief – a remnant of a central or eastern Atlantic stock of right whales still exists and might be viable,” said David Mellinger, chief scientist of the project.
“We don’t know how many right whales there were in the area,” Mellinger added. “They aren’t individually distinctive in their vocalizations. But we did hear right whales at three widely space sites on the same day, so the absolute minimum is three. Even that number is significant because the entire population is estimated to be only 300 to 400 whales.”
Only two right whales have been sighted in the last 50 years at Cape Farewell Ground, where they had been hunted to near extinction prior to the adoption of protective measures.
The pattern of recorded calls suggests that the whales moved from the southwest portion of the region in a northeasterly direction in late July, and then returned in September – putting them directly where proposed future shipping lanes would be likely.
Right whales are the most endangered large whale and vulnerable to collisions with ships as they ignore general ship sounds. Alarm sirens intended to scare them away from ships may actually be more likely to cause a collision, as the whales have been shown to rush to the surface when they hear the alarm.
Related News:
Lawsuit Filed to Protect World's Most Endangered Whale
What do you think of this news item? Join a discussion.
Labels: research, SCUBA News, whale and dolphins
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more news, articles, diving reports, reviews and marine creature of the month.
(SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel once a month. Will will keep your e-mail address confidential and only use it to send you the monthly newsletter.)
