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University of Michigan scientists say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend.

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

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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

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According to a report by Oceana, there is widespread malnutrition in fish, marine mammals and seabirds because of the global depletion of the small fish they need to survive. These "prey fish" underpin marine food webs and are being steadily exhausted by heavy fishing, increasing demand for aquaculture feed, and climate change.

The report finds that 7 of the top 10 fisheries in the world target prey fish. These fisheries have emerged as populations of bigger fish have become overexploited and depleted. The report concludes that the impacts of fishing activity over the past decades has been so great that the nearly all prey fisheries now cannot withstand increased fishing pressure. It also finds that aquaculture is increasingly the driver behind overfishing of prey fish, as salmon, tuna and other carnivorous farmed fish become the fastest growing seafood products in the world. Changing ocean temperatures and currents caused by climate change also make prey fish populations more vulnerable.

Ricardo Aguilar, Director of Investigation for Oceana Europe, says: "When it comes to managing a fishery or talking about overexploitation, we often forget that the disappearance of one species due to overfishing has severe impact on stocks of other species. A clear example is bluefin tuna, which disappeared from Norwegian coasts after herring populations collapsed. Nowadays the absurdity is that both tuna and its prey are overexploited in order to feed these very tunas in fattening cages".

Oceana conclude that more responsible management is needed to prevent predators from going hungry. It proposes a series of measures including a moratorium on new fisheries targeting prey species, conservative catch limits for existing fisheries, first priority for the needs of ocean predators and stopping fishing for prey in predator breeding hotspots.

Further Reading: Hungry Oceans Report

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A faulty sensor has caused a slowly growing underestimation of Arctic sea ice extent by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The underestimation reached approximately 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) by mid-February.

The problem arose from a malfunction of the satellite sensor. Sensor drift, although infrequent, does occasionally occur.

The daily updates of sea ice coverage rely on rapid acquisition and processing of data from a series of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) sensors. Because the acquisition and processing are done in near-real time, NSIDC publish the daily data essentially as is. The data are then archived and later subjected to quality control.

"Some people might ask why we don't simply switch to the EOS AMSR-E sensor." said the center. "AMSR-E is a newer and more accurate passive microwave sensor. However, we do not use AMSR-E data in our analysis because it is not consistent with our historical data...There is a balance between being as accurate as possible at any given moment and being as consistent as possible through long time periods."

Arctic sea ice reflects sunlight, keeping the polar regions cool and moderating global climate. According to scientific measurements, Arctic sea ice has declined dramatically over at least the past thirty years, with the most extreme decline seen in the summer melt season.

Further Reading: National Snow and Ice Data Center

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If you are a fish eater, it's likely that the salmon you had for dinner was not caught in the wild, but was instead grown in a mesh cage submerged in the open water of oceans or bays. Fish farming, a relatively inexpensive way to provide cheap protein to a growing world population, now supplies, by some estimates, 30 percent of the fish consumed by humans.

Two hundred and twenty species of finfish and shellfish are now grown in farms.

Intuitively, it seems a good idea—the more fish grown in pens, the fewer need be taken from wild stocks in the sea. But marine aquaculture can have some nasty side effects, especially when the pens are set near sensitive coastal environments. All those fish penned up together consume massive amounts of commercial feed, some of which drifts off uneaten in the currents. And the crowded fish, naturally, defecate and urinate by the tens of thousands, creating yet another unpleasant waste stream.

The wastes can carry disease, causing damage directly. Or the phosphate and nitrates in the mix may feed an algae bloom that sucks the oxygen from the water, leaving it uninhabitable, a phenomenon long associated with fertilizer runoff.

It has been widely assumed that the effluent from pens would be benignly diluted by the sea if the pens were kept a reasonable distance from shore, said Jeffrey Koseff, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and co-director of Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment. But early results from a new Stanford computer simulation based on sophisticated fluid dynamics show that the icky stuff from the pens will travel farther, and in higher concentrations, than had been generally assumed, Koseff said.

"What we've basically debunked is the old adage that 'The solution to pollution is dilution,' " he said. "It's a lot more complicated."

The computer modelling (with new Stanford software that goes by the acronym SUNTANS) was conducted by Oliver Fringer, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. He created a virtual coastal marine area resembling California's Monterey Bay.

Previous software, he said, has not been up to the task of accurately predicting where the unhealthy effluent from fish pens will end up, and should probably not be used by state or federal regulators when they approve locations for fish farms.

Existing software is typically derived from models that attempt to describe the drift of effluent from sewage outfall pipes, even though the substances and situations are different from fish farms. (Sewage outflow, for example, is often warmer than the ocean water.)

The fine details of modeling the flow of dissolved fish poop from a submerged cage are not as simple as they may seem. The design of the cage itself can affect the outcome. How much of the current flows through the cage, and how much goes around? Does the moving water swirl into eddies at the edges of the pen? Even the effects of the rotation of the earth on the waste plume comes into play.

The fish farmer would prefer that currents flush out his pens frequently, but as those currents take out the garbage they might unfortunately deliver it to a mangrove ecosystem or a public beach. On the other hand, insufficient flow through the pen can create a "dead zone" on the ocean floor as the fecal matter and uneaten food pile up beneath the fish.

Fringer is designing his software so that it can be used to asses any site—Puget Sound, perhaps—where sufficient digital mapping of the area already exists. SUNTANS comes just in time, said Stanford oceans expert Rosamond Naylor, as federal and local officials begin spelling the details of new health and environmental regulations for fish pens.

Further Reading:
EurekAlert

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Hundreds of species live in both polar seas, despite an 11,000-kilometer distance in between. So finds the census of Marine Life.

Among many other findings, the scientists also documented evidence of cold waterloving species shifting towards both poles to escape rising ocean temperatures.

“The polar seas, far from being biological deserts, teem with an amazing quantity and variety of life,” says Dr. Ian Poiner, Chair of the Census Scientific Steering Committee.

Researchers say smaller marine species are replacing larger ones in some Arctic waters. The reasons behind the shift are obscure but the implications for the Arctic food web may be profound.

New technologies are dramatically speeding Census research into the abundance, diversity and distribution of marine biodiversity. Census researchers are using cell phone-like devices to learn about the distribution of large animals at both poles. For example, tracking devices fitted to narwhals, to record their Arctic migrations and provide as a byproduct a wealth of rich data on the status of polar oceans. SCUBA divers were deployed for observations in heavy Arctic ice and advanced, deep water optical systems on Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) enabled detailed studies of delicate marine animals too fragile to collect. And DNA sequences, or barcodes, will dramatically accelerate the cataloguing of life’s diversity, helping to identify new and cryptic species.

The polar marine explorers were startled when molecular techniques revealed that glacial cycles over millions of years made the Antarctic the cold incubator of many species residing today in more northern waters.

Scientist theorise that the Antarctic regularly refreshes the world’s oceans with new varieties of sea spiders, isopods (crustaceans related to shrimp and crabs) and others. They believe the new species evolve when expansions of ice cloister Antarctica; when the ice retreats, they radiate northward.

Previously thought to be low in species diversity and abundance, researchers have amassed biological data from nearly 1 million locations. Those places include seafloors exposed to light for the first time in as much as 100,000 years when ancient ice shelf lids melted and disintegrated in recent years.

Further Reading:
Census of Marine Life

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The European Commission has launched a Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. The aim is to rebuild shark stocks and to set down guidelines for the sustainable management of the fisheries, including where shark are taken as by-catch. The plan also hopes to increase knowledge of shark stocks and shark fisheries.

European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Joe Borg commented: "Sharks are very vulnerable to over-exploitation and the consequences of depleting their numbers may have very serious consequences not only for sharks but also for marine ecosystems and for fishermen themselves. That is why we have set out a plan of action which will both establish a more precautionary approach to managing fisheries where sharks are caught, and support the substantial research still needed to understand fully the role sharks play in the life of our oceans and the impact which fishing may have on them."

The Action Plan includes measures to improve data collection and to further reinforce control of the shark finning ban, which came into force in EU waters, and for all EU vessels wherever they fish, in 2003.

The Plan covers all cartilaginous fish – not only sharks, but also skates, rays and chimaeras, which make up over 1,000 species in total. They are found throughout the world, and particularly in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, where more than 50% of shark catches by EU vessels are made. Shark fisheries have grown rapidly since the mid-1980s, driven by an increased demand for shark products (fins in particular). But these species are especially vulnerable to overfishing, since they are long-lived, slow to reach sexual maturity, have long gestation periods and a low fertility rate. A recent study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature suggests that as many as one-third of the shark species caught in EU waters are currently threatened by excessive fishing pressure. Despite the fragility of these stocks, and their growing importance to the EU fleet, EU shark fisheries have never been managed systematically.

Environmentalist organisations have broadly welcomed the plan. Steven Broad, Director of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, commented "The commitment to shark conservation is to be commended, although TRAFFIC and WWF are deeply concerned that some of the measures will not be implemented for considerable periods".

Although the Plan calls for countries to collect information on sharks caught, this will be on a voluntary basis.

TRAFFIC and WWF also called on the EU to allocated adequate resources to ensure the Plan could be properly implemented, and for the Council and the European Parliament to adopt the plan without diluting the proposed measures or extending the period of implementation.

"Many of these species are already threatened with extinction. WWF and TRAFFIC are dismayed that the plan lacks a solid commitment to seek mandatory collection of data on shark catch—a critical element if the EU is to succeed in the conservation of these species," said Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International's Species Programme Director.

Shark Alliance Policy Director, Sonja Fordham, said “The release of the long-awaited EU Shark Plan represents a great step forward for the conservation of sharks in European waters and beyond. The Plan’s commitments to science-based fishing limits, endangered species protection, and a stronger finning ban are essential to securing a brighter future for some of Europe’s most vulnerable and neglected animals.”

“The success of the EU Shark Plan depends on prompt, follow-up proposals from the Commission and cooperation from Member States in ensuring improvements are accepted and enforced,” added Fordham. “We urge all EU Fisheries Ministers to actively support timely implementation of the Shark Plan in line with scientific advice and the precautionary approach.”

Sharks are targeted by UK, French, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen; shark tails and meat are used to prepare "caldeirada" or "Schillerlocken" and shark meat is served in restaurants across Europe, and in the UK in traditional fish-and-chip shops.

Further Reading:
European Commission Fisheries

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Labels: environment, Europe, Mediterranean, SCUBA News, sealife, sharks

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As one of his last acts in office President Bush has designated three areas of the Pacific Ocean, covering nearly 200000 square miles, as new marine "national monuments".

The first is the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. At the heart of this protected area will be much of the Marianas Trench -- the site of the deepest point on Earth -- and the surrounding arc of undersea volcanoes and thermal vents. This unique geological region supports life in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. A fascinating array of species survive amid hydrogen-emitting volcanoes, hydrothermal vents that produce highly acidic and boiling water, and the only known location of liquid sulfur this side of Jupiter.

The other major features of the new monument are the coral reefs off the coast of the upper three islands in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These islands, some 5,600 miles from California, are home to a striking diversity of marine life -- from large predators like sharks and rays, to more than 300 species of stony corals.

The second new monument will be the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The monument will span seven areas to the far south and west of Hawaii. One is Wake Island -- the site of a pivotal battle in World War II, and a key habitat for nesting seabirds and migratory shorebirds. The monument will also include unique trees and grasses and birds adapted to life at the Equator; the rare sea turtles and whales and Hawaiian monk seals that visit Johnston Atoll; and, according to the White House, some of the most pristine and spectacular coral reefs in the world.

The third new monument will be the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. Rose is a diamond-shaped island to the east of American Samoa. It includes rare species of nesting petrels, shearwaters, and terns -- which account for its native name, "Island of Seabirds." The waters surrounding the atoll are the home of many rare species, including giant clams and reef sharks -- as well as an unusual abundance of rose-colored corals.

These three new protected areas cover nearly 200,000 square miles and will now receive America's highest level of environmental recognition and conservation.

Further Reading: The White House
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The elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world’s oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo (or Humboldt) squid, according to research by two University of Rhode Island (URI) scientists.

The researchers subjected the squids (Dosidicus gigas) to elevated concentrations of CO2 equivalent to those likely to be found in the oceans in 100 years due to anthropogenic emissions. They found that the squid’s routine oxygen consumption rate was reduced under these conditions, and their activity levels declined, presumably enough to have an effect on their feeding behavior.

Jumbo squid are an important predator in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and they are a large component of the diet of marine mammals, seabirds and fish.

According to Seibel, jumbo squid migrate between warm surface waters at night where CO2 levels are increasing and deeper waters during the daytime where oxygen levels are extremely low.

“Squids suppress their metabolism during their daytime foray into hypoxia, but they recover in well-oxygenated surface waters at night,” he said. “If this low oxygen layer expands into shallower waters, the squids will be forced to retreat to even shallower depths to recover. However, warming temperatures and increasing CO2 levels may prevent this. The band of habitable depths during the night may become too narrow.”

Carbon dioxide enters the ocean via passive diffusion from the atmosphere in a process called ocean acidification. This phenomenon has received considerable attention in recent years for its effects on calcifying organisms, such as corals and shelled mollusks, but the study by Seibel and Rosa is one of the first to show a direct physiological effect in a non-calcifying species.

The scientists speculate that the squids may eventually migrate to more northern climes where lower temperatures would reduce oxygen demand and relieve them from CO2 and oxygen stress. While it is possible, they say, that the squids could adjust their physiology over time to accommodate the changing environment, jumbo squids have among the highest oxygen demands of any animal on the planet and are thus fairly constrained in how they can respond.

“We believe it is the blood that is sensitive to high CO2 and low pH,” Seibel said. “This sensitivity allows the squids to off-load oxygen more effectively to muscle tissues, but would prevent the squid from acquiring oxygen across the gills from seawater that is high in CO2.”

While many other squid and octopus species have oxygen transport systems that are equally sensitive to pH, few have such high oxygen demand coupled with large body size and low environmental oxygen. Therefore the scientists believe that their study results should not be extrapolated to other marine animals.

Further reading: University of Rhode Island

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The world has lost 19 percent of its coral reefs, according to the 2008 global update of the world’s reef status.

The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, shows if current trends in carbon dioxide emissions continue, many of the remaining reefs may be lost over the next 20 to 40 years. This will have alarming consequences for some 500 million people who depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods.

Climate change is considered the biggest threat to coral reefs today. The main climate threats, such as increasing sea surface temperatures and seawater acidification, are being exacerbated by other threats including overfishing, pollution and invasive species.

“If nothing changes, we are looking at a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide in less than 50 years,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of the IUCN Global Marine Programme, one of the organizations behind the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. “As this carbon is absorbed, the oceans will become more acidic, which is seriously damaging a wide range of marine life from corals to plankton communities and from lobsters to seagrasses.”

Encouragingly, 45 percent of the world’s reefs are currently healthy. Another sign of hope is the ability of some corals to recover after major bleaching events, caused by warming waters, and to adapt to climate change threats.

However, the report shows that, globally, the downward trend of recent years has not been reversed. Major threats in the last four years, including the Indian Ocean tsunami, more occurrences of bleaching, outbreaks of coral diseases and ever-heavier human pressures, have slowed or reversed recovery of some coral reefs after the 1998 mass bleaching event.

“The report details the strong scientific consensus that climate change must be limited to the absolute minimum. If nothing is done to substantially cut emissions, we could effectively lose coral reefs as we know them, with major coral extinctions,” says Clive Wilkinson, Coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

Corals have a higher chance of survival in times of climate change if other stress factors related to human activity are minimized. Well-managed marine protected areas can also boost the health of coral reefs, but proper enforcement is difficult, especially in remote areas where the most pristine reefs are found.

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Labels: coral, coral reef, environment

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Sea snakes may slither in saltwater, but they sip the sweet stuff.

So concludes a University of Florida zoologist in a paper appearing this month in the online edition of the November/December issue of the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

Harvey Lillywhite says it has been the “long-standing dogma” that the roughly 60 species of venomous sea snakes worldwide satisfy their drinking needs by drinking seawater, with internal salt glands filtering and excreting the salt. Experiments with three species of captive sea kraits captured near Taiwan, however, found that the snakes refused to drink saltwater even if thirsty — and then would drink only freshwater or heavily diluted saltwater.

“Our experiments demonstrate they actually dehydrate in sea water, and they’ll only drink freshwater, or highly diluted brackish water with small concentrations of saltwater — 10 to 20 percent,” Lilywhite said.

Harold Heatwole, a professor of zoology at North Carolina State University and expert on sea snakes, termed Lillywhite’s conclusion “a very significant finding.”

“This result probably holds the key to understanding the geographic distribution of sea snakes,” Heatwole said.

The research may help explain why sea snakes tend to have patchy distributions and are most common in regions with abundant rainfall, Lillywhite said. Because global climate change tends to accentuate droughts in tropical regions, the findings also suggest that at least some species of sea snakes could be threatened now or in the future, he added.

“There may be places where sea snakes are barely getting enough water now,” he said. “If the rainfall is reduced just a bit, they’ll either die out or have to move.”

Sea snakes are members of the elapid family of snakes that also includes cobras, mambas and coral snakes. They are thought to have originated as land-dwelling snakes that later evolved to live in oceans. Most spend all, or nearly all, of their lives in seawater, including giving birth to live young while swimming. A minority, including the kraits that Lillywhite studied, lay eggs and spend at least a small part of their lives on land.

Lillywhite believes the sea snakes that spend their lives in the open ocean drink water from the “lens” of freshwater that sits atop saltwater during and after rainfall, before the two have had a chance to mix. That would explain why some seawater lagoons, where the waters are calmer due to protection from reefs, are home to dense populations of sea snakes — the freshwater lens persists for longer periods before mixing into saltwater.

Rather than helping sea snakes gain water, the snakes’ salt gland may help the snakes with ion balance — moving excess salts from the bloodstream, Lillywhite said.

Some sea snake species living in dry regions may already be suffering as a result of climate change. Lillywhite said a colleague in Australia, which is in the midst of a historic drought, has observed declines and possible extinctions in some species at Ashmore Reef, home to the most diverse and abundant population of sea snakes in the world.

“We are trying to look at rainfall in that region and see if there is a correlation,” Lillywhite said.

He added that his findings also raise questions about the accepted wisdom that other marine reptiles, including sea turtles, satisfy their freshwater needs by drinking saltwater.

Labels: environment, marine biology, research

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Ecologists and oceanographers are attempting to predict the future impacts of climate change by reconstructing the past behavior of Arctic climate and ocean circulation.

In a November special issue of the journal Ecology, a group of scientists report that if current patterns of change in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans continue, alterations of ocean circulation could occur on a global scale, with potentially dramatic implications for the world's climate and biosphere.

Over 65 million years, the Earth has undergone several major warming and cooling episodes, which were largely mitigated by the expansion and contraction of sea ice in the Arctic.

"When the Arctic cools and ice sheets and sea ice expand, the increased ice cover increases albedo, or reflectance of the sun's rays by the ice," says Greene, the lead author on the paper. "When more of the sun is reflected rather than absorbed, this leads to global cooling."
Likewise, when ice sheets and sea ice contract and expose the darker-colored land or ocean underneath, heat is absorbed, accelerating climate warming.

Currently, the Earth is in the midst of an interglacial period, characterized by retracted ice sheets and warmer temperatures.

In the past three decades, changes in Arctic climate and ice cover have led to several reorganizations of northern ocean circulation patterns.

Since 1989, a species of plankton native to the Pacific Ocean has been colonizing the North Atlantic Ocean, a feat that hasn't occurred in more than 800 thousand years. These plankton were carried across the Arctic Ocean by Pacific waters that made their way to the North Atlantic.

Continued exposure to freshwater forcing in the Arctic could disrupt global ocean circulation during the next century and lead to very abrupt changes in climate, similar to those that occurred at the onset of the last ice age.

Further Reading: National Science Foundation

Labels: environment

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Hundreds of new kinds of animal species surprised international researchers systematically exploring waters off two islands on the Great Barrier Reef and a reef off northwestern Australia - waters long familiar to divers.

The expeditions, affiliated with the global Census of Marine Life, help mark the International Year of the Reef and included the systematic scientific inventory of spectacular soft corals.

The discoveries were made at Lizard and Heron Islands (part of the Great Barrier Reef), and Ningaloo Reef in northwestern Australia. The found about 300 soft coral species, up to half of them thought to be new to science; dozens of small crustacean species -- and potentially one or more families of species – likewise thought unknown to science; The beautiful, rare Cassiopeia jellyfish, photographed upside down on the ocean
floor, tentacles waving in the water column -- a posture that enables symbiotic
algae living in its tentacles to capture sunlight for photosynthesis.

Preparing for future discoveries, the divers pegged several layered plastic structures – likened to empty doll houses – for marine life to colonize on the ocean floor at Lizard and Heron Islands. Creatures that move into these Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), which provide shelter designed to appeal to a variety of sea life, will be collected over the next one to three years.

"Corals face threats ranging from ocean acidification, pollution, and warming to overfishing and starfish outbreaks," says Dr. Ian Poiner, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), which led the research. "Only by establishing a baseline of biodiversity and following through with later censuses can people know the impact of those threats and find clues to mitigate them."

Ningaloo Reef appears to be the least biodiverse of the three sites studied, which may be related to its comparative isolation from other reef systems.

Understanding these biodiversity gradients and the influence of connectivity will help scientists predict reef biodiversity worldwide.

Expeditions to the same three sites will be repeated annually over the next three years to continue their inventory and measure impacts of climate change and other processes over time.

The addition of perhaps as many as 150 new species to the global inventory of soft corals is a major addition to the knowledge of this group which, despite its high distribution worldwide, remains one of the most poorly understood groups.

The scientists' studies also included seaweeds, urchins, and lace corals. More formally known as Bryozoans, lace coral colonies consist of asexually budded (and therefore genetically identical) individuals. Colonies form large intricate structures which bear no resemblance to the structure of the individual.

The Census of Marine Life (www.coml.org) is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans – past, present, and future. The network will release the first Census of Marine Life in 2010.

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According to environmental groups, an independent review panel of international fisheries experts has branded the management of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery an "international disgrace" in its conclusions, published this week.

The body responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas is the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The independent panel was commissioned by this very organisation to review its performance following concerns raised by the international community about the management of tuna fisheries resources.

In a very strong and direct recommendation, the Panel asks for "the suspension of fishing of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean until countries fully comply with ICCAT's recommendations on bluefin". Such a closure is seen by the Panel as "the only way to stop the continuation of what is seen by observers and by other contracting party countries as a travesty in fisheries management".

The Panel found that the management of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fisheries was "unacceptable and not consistent with the objectives of ICCAT", such as the objective of guaranteeing that fish populations do not dwindle to unsustainable levels.

In addition to immediate suspension of the fishery, the Panel also recommended the immediate closure of all known bluefin tuna spawning grounds, at least during known spawning periods. This is in line with Greenpeace demands for the closure of the fishery and the creation of no-take marine reserves to protect crucial breeding areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Also needed are minimum size limits to allow the species to breed before being caught, fishing and farming capacities scaled back to sustainable quota levels, and the elimination of pirate fishing.

The Panel attributed the failure of ICCAT management largely due to the lack of implementation of existing regulations by its contracting party countries. However, some problems lie deeper than enforcement of rules. The review drew attention not only to the illegal catch, but also to the fact that the quota set by ICCAT was 29,500 tonnes - almost twice the 15,000 limit recommended by its own scientific committee. As the Panel put it, "it is difficult to describe this as responsible fisheries management and it reflects negatively not only on ICCAT but on all tuna RFMOs"(3).

In November, ICCAT members will review the current bluefin tuna management plan. Pressure groups Greenpeace and the WWF are demanding that they follow the recommendations of the Panel and close the fishery until capacity is decreased, spawning grounds protected and compliance guaranteed.

“Such staggering conclusions from independent experts only reinforce what WWF has been saying for years – this is a fishery grossly out of control, and if the fishery is not closed now pending radical management overhaul, this majestic species may be confined to the history books,” says Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

"Fisheries Ministers are failing to protect single species, let alone marine ecosystems. What kind of management organisation ignores the advice of its own scientists and set quotas that condemn the very species it is responsible for??" asked Sebastian Losada, Greenpeace Spain oceans campaigner. "This report signals that it is time for ICCAT members to take responsibility for the fishery that has brought tuna to near-collapse or be relieved of its management altogether.

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As part of corporate efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from ocean-going vessels, Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil are developing a system to partially use solar power to propel ships.

This full-scale installation of a solar power generator is a world-first, and will produce as much as 40 kilowatts of power (gross), which is expected to supplement existing power production on large vessels.

In order to work toward the mutual goal of fighting climate change, NYK and Nippon Oil have decided to establish a joint eco-project starting with a new car carrier planned to be completed on December 19, 2008.

The installation of solar power generators onto ships has until now been limited to use within crews’ onboard living areas due to the harsh shipboard environment, which is subject to salt-water damage and constant vibrations. However, this new project will begin testing the 40-kilowatt solar generation system by installing it onto the car-carrier and connecting it to the onboard 440V electrical network.

In addition, as a part of its corporate strategy to reduce environmental burdens caused by the life cycle of automobiles, Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to support the initiative as a shipper in order to reduce CO2 emissions from the ocean transportation of finished cars.

The solar panels would help conserve up to 6.5% of the fuel used in powering the diesel engines that generate electricity aboard the ships.
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Sensors developed by the University of St Andrews have been employed by Antarctic researchers to collect otherwise inaccessible information about the climate. The small data logging transmitters have been attached to the heads of elephant seals.

Scientists usually collect data to characterise the ocean using satellite sensing, buoyant floats, and ship expeditions, but winter sea ice renders the Southern Ocean virtually impermeable to all three.

Professor Mike Fedak from the University's Gatty Marine Laboratory said, "The Southern Ocean is a hotspot for climate research because its circulation is critical to understanding the earths climate and its huge ice sheet is sensitive to climate change.

"Southern elephant seals are wide-ranging predators that roam all over the Southern Ocean, even under the sea ice in the wintertime - a time when conventional ocean observation methods are unable to gather data."

The instruments measure temperature, pressure, and salinity and transmit data as well as seal positions to satellites when the seals surface. From this, researchers are able to amass data for a vast range of hitherto inaccessible ocean, including areas deep within the sea-ice in winter while also learning about the animals themselves.

This new data has enabled them to follow the yearly rise-and-fall cycle of sea ice production, and should help scientists refine computer models of the Southern Ocean circulation.

Led by Dr Jean-Benoit Charrassin, a marine biologist at the Natural History Museum in Paris, researchers in France, the UK, Australia and the US have attached electronic dataloggers to 70 seals at the four most important breeding colonies of southern elephant seals.

The species can dive as deep as 2 km in search of food while ranging across much of the southern ocean. Thanks to this innovative technology, the only remaining area with limited coverage is the Pacific sector, which contains no islands for the seals to breed on.

Professor Fedak explained, "I think this is an extremely exciting new approach for ocean observation which has now been extended to seals roaming the seas around both Poles as part of the International Polar Year (IPY)."

The on-going MEOP project (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) has equipped 100 seals of 3 polar species with oceanographic sensors and these animals are now routinely sending large quantities of near real-time information from the undersampled polar regions.

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Some large whale species, including the humpback, are now less threatened with extinction, according to the cetacean update of the 2008 IUCN Red List. Most small coastal and freshwater cetaceans, however, are moving closer to extinction.

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) has moved from Vulnerable to Least Concern, meaning it is at low risk of extinction, although two subpopulations are Endangered. The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) has also moved to Least Concern.

“Humpbacks and southern right whales are making a comeback in much of their range mainly because they have been protected from commercial hunting,” says Randall Reeves, Chair of the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, who led the IUCN Red List assessment. “This is a great conservation success and clearly shows what needs to be done to ensure these ocean giants survive.”

Despite the improvement in status of these two species, the assessment revealed deterioration in the status of others. Overall, nearly a quarter of cetacean species are considered threatened, and of those, more than 10% (nine species) are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, the highest categories of threat. In addition, two subspecies and 12 subpopulations are listed as Critically Endangered.

Whales are under threat in many areas from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, habitat deterioration, declining prey and noise disturbance.

Military sonar is another threat that particularly affects deep-diving beaked whales and other cetaceans like the melon-headed whale. Mass strandings of these species have occurred more often in the last 30 years.

“Large parts of the oceans are now filled with human-generated noise, not only from military sonar but also from seismic surveys and shipping. This noise undoubtedly affects many cetaceans, in some cases leading to their death,” says Jan Schipper, Conservation International and IUCN Global Mammal Assessment Director. “It may not always kill whales and dolphins, but it affects their ability to communicate and it can drive them away, at least temporarily, from their feeding grounds.”

Climate change is also starting to affect whales. The distribution of many species is changing, with the potential for a cascade of effects such as exposure to new diseases, inter-species competition and changes in prey populations. The Antarctic great whales, for example, depend on krill for food. As water temperatures rise, krill populations may decline, leaving such whales short of food.

“To save whales for future generations, we need to work closely with the fishing industry, the military and offshore enterprises including shippers and oil developers – and we need to fight climate change,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General.

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The Governor of the Red Sea in Egypt has decreed that the Red Sea will be the first plastic bag free Governorate with effect from 1st January 2009. This decree represents a considerable step forward in tackling the issues caused by excess rubbish and in particular plastic bags in the Red Sea.

Plastic bags pose a massive hazard to birds, turtles, dolphins and other marine creatures that are killed in alarming numbers each year after swallowing or becoming entangled in plastic bags blown out to sea. Turtles easily mistake plastic bags for yummy jellyfish. Once in the stomach, the indigestible plastic wraps itself around the intestines of the creature and it slowly starves to death.

Typically plastic bags are used for only 20 minutes before being thrown out; but they will each take up to 1,000 years to rot away. During their long decay millions of bags litter and pollute our streets, the desert, and are blown out to sea where they become a toxic plastic soup that threatens the existence of marine and wild life.

The Red Sea campaign follows many high profile campaigns in Europe to limit this most damaging form of pollution. The government in Ireland introduced a bag tax, which led to a 90 per cent reduction after its introduction in 2002. In 2007, the biggest supermarkets in France imposed a ban on free carriers. They now charge between 2p and 42p for reusable bags. This has removed millions of free bags from high streets and the French government will impose an outright ban in 2010.

Environmental group is working alongside the Governorate to suggest practical solutions and alternatives for plastic bags. As part of the campaign in support of this decree they will also be undertaking education initiatives and lobbying activities.

Further Reading: HEPCA

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The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. A new study in the journal Conservation Biology, shows that involving all the different groups of people affected by the protection zone early in the planning stage will more effectively protect the environment than ignoring detractors concerns.

The researchers considered the interests of divers, fishermen, scientists, conservationists, administrators and so on, in the design of of a network of marine protected areas along California's central coast. Representatives of these groups set conservation and economic goals.

Protected areas designed with consideration of commercial and recreational fisheries reduced potential impact to the fisheries approximately 21% more than protected areas designed without consideration of fishing effort whilst at the same time resulting in a small increase in the total area protected (approximately 3.4%).

Journal Reference: Conserv Biol. 2008 Jun;22(3):691-700.

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One third of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction, according to the first-ever comprehensive global assessment to determine their conservation status. The study findings were published yesterday by Science Express.

Leading coral experts joined forces with the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) – a joint initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Conservation International (CI) – to apply the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria to this important group of marine species.

“The results of this study are very disconcerting,” stated Kent Carpenter, lead author of the Science article, GMSA Director, IUCN Species Programme. “When corals die off, so do the other plants and animals that depend on coral reefs for food and shelter, and this can lead to the collapse of entire ecosystems.”

Built over millions of years, coral reefs are home to more than 25 percent of marine species, making them the most biologically diverse of marine ecosystems. Corals produce reefs in shallow tropical and sub-tropical seas and have been shown to be highly sensitive to changes in their environment.

Researchers identified the main threats to corals as climate change and localized stresses resulting from destructive fishing, declining water quality from pollution, and the degradation of coastal habitats. Climate change causes rising water temperatures and more intense solar radiation, which lead to coral bleaching and disease often resulting in mass coral mortality.

Shallow water corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae called zooxanthellae, which live in their soft tissues and provide the coral with essential nutrients and energy from photosynthesis and are the reason why corals have such beautiful colors. Coral bleaching is the result of a stress response, such as increased water temperatures, whereby the algae are expelled from the tissues, hence the term “bleaching.” Corals that have been bleached are weaker and more prone to attack from disease. Scientists believe that increased coral disease also is linked to higher sea temperatures and an increase in run-off pollution and sediments from the land.

Researchers predict that ocean acidification will be another serious threat facing coral reefs. As oceans absorb increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, water acidity increases and pH decreases, severely impacting corals’ ability to build their skeletons that form the foundation of reefs.

The 39 scientists who co-authored this study agree that if rising sea surface temperatures continue to cause increased frequency of bleaching and disease events, many corals may not have enough time to replenish themselves and this could lead to extinctions.

“These results show that as a group, reef-building corals are more at risk of extinction than all terrestrial groups, apart from amphibians, and are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said Roger McManus, CI’s vice president for marine programs. “The loss of the corals will have profound implications for millions of people who depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods.”

Coral reefs harbor fish and other marine resources important for coastal communities. They also help protect coastal towns and other near-shore habitats from severe erosion and flooding caused by tropical storms.

Staghorn (Acroporid) corals face the highest risk of extinction, with 52 percent of species listed in a threatened category. The Caribbean region has the highest number of highly threatened corals (Endangered and Critically Endangered), including the iconic elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) which is listed as Critically Endangered. The high biodiversity “Coral Triangle” in the western Pacific’s Indo-Malay-Philippine Archipelago has the highest proportions of Vulnerable and Near-Threatened species in the Indo-Pacific, largely resulting from the high concentration of people living in many parts of the region.

Corals from the genera Favia and Porites were found to be the least threatened due to their relatively higher resistance to bleaching and disease. In addition, 141 species lacked sufficient information to be fully assessed and were therefore listed as Data Deficient. However, researchers believe that many of these species would have been listed as threatened if more information were available.

The results emphasize the widespread plight of coral reefs and the urgent need to enact conservation measures. “We either reduce our CO2 emission now or many corals will be lost forever,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “Improving water quality, global education and the adequate funding of local conservation practices also are essential to protect the foundation of beautiful and valuable coral reef ecosystems.”

Coral experts participated in three workshops to analyze data on 845 reef-building coral species, including population range and size, life history traits, susceptibility to threats, and estimates of regional coral cover loss.

The reef-building corals assessment is one group of a number of strategic global assessments of marine species the GMSA has been conducting since 2006 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Other assessments are being conducted on seagrasses and mangroves that are also important habitat-forming species, all marine fishes, and other important keystone invertebrates. By 2012, the GMSA plans to complete its comprehensive first stage assessment of the threat of extinction for over 20,000 marine plants and animals, providing an essential baseline for conservation plans around the world, and tracking the extinction risk of marine species.

The results of the coral species assessment will be placed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in October 2008. Currently, the assessments can be found at
http://www.sci.odu.edu/gmsa/about/corals.shtml

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A new scientific study has concluded that sharks in the Mediterranean Sea have declined by more than 97 percent in abundance and “catch weight” over the last 200 years.

The findings of the study published in the journal Conservation Biology, suggest several Mediterranean shark species are at risk of extinction, especially if current levels of fishing pressure continue. Study lead author Francesco Ferretti and his colleagues are concerned that the declines in sharks may have implications for the broader Mediterranean marine ecosystem.

Ferretti said: “The loss of top predators such as sharks in other sectors of the Atlantic has resulted in changes to the ecosystem. These changes are unpredictable and poorly understood but given the decline in Mediterranean shark numbers, there is cause to be seriously concerned about the effects this could have.”

Forty-seven species of sharks live in the Mediterranean Sea, of which 20 are considered top predators.

The study authors only had enough information to assess the status of five of the twenty large predatory shark species in the Mediterranean. Of those analysed, almost all of the large sharks have decreased in abundance because of unintended capture in open ocean fisheries, targeted shark fishing, and human population pressure in coastal areas. Sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing and slow to recover from depletion because they generally grow slowly, mature late and produce few young.

The mean size of sharks caught in the Mediterranean is among the lowest in the world. The study reveals that size and weight declines over time indicate that more young and immature sharks are being caught.

There are currently no catch limits for commercially-fished shark species in the
Mediterranean Sea. A comprehensive monitoring program for fisheries has been difficult to implement in the Mediterranean because of the artisanal (small and localized) nature of its fisheries and the large number of countries bordering the sea.

Only five species of sharks offered sufficient information for analysis, including the blue shark, one thresher shark species, two mackerel shark species and one hammerhead shark species. The blue, smooth hammerhead and thresher sharks were classified as “Vulnerable” according to the latest IUCN-World conservation Union Red List Criteria for extinction risk. Two mackerel sharks, porbeagle and shortfin mako, were classified as “critically endangered”. Many other large sharks are classified as “Data Deficient”.

To view a summary of the Conservation Biology paper, visit:
http://www.lenfestocean.org/publications/ferretti_med_sharks.html
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Scientists at the International Institute for Species Exploration have put together a list of the Top 10 New Species described in 2007.

Number one on the list is a sleeper ray called Electrolux addisoni. It was thus named as the discovery of this brightly patterned electric ray "sheds light (Latin, lux) on the rich and poorly known fish diversity of the Western Indian Ocean. And the vigorous sucking action displayed on the videotape of the feeding ray may rival a well-known electrical device used to suck the detritus from carpets and furniture in modern homes".

Coming in at number 8 is the Box Jellyfish, Malo kingi. This new species is the second known species of the dangerous box jellyfish genus Malo, one of several genera of irukandji jellyfish. It is named after American tourist Robert King, who apparently died after being stung by the species while swimming off northern Queensland, Australia. King’s death was a pivotal point in irukandji management, raising public awareness about safety.

The top ten were selected by an international committee of experts, chaired by Dr. Janine Caira of the University of Connecticut. These species were selected from the thousands of species described in calendar year 2007.

The taxonomists are also issuing a SOS – State of Observed Species report card on human knowledge of Earth’s species. In it, they report that 16,969 species new to science were discovered and described in 2006. The SOS report was compiled by ASU’s International Institute for Species Exploration in partnership with the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the International Plant Names Index, and Thompson Scientific, publisher of Zoological Record.

“The international committee of taxon experts who made the selection of the top 10 from the thousands of species described in calendar year 2007 is helping draw attention to biodiversity, the field of taxonomy, and the importance of natural history museums and botanical gardens in a fun-filled way,” says Professor Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of ASU’s International Institute for Species Exploration.

“We live in an exciting time. A new generation of tools are coming online that will vastly accelerate the rate at which we are able to discover and describe species,” says Wheeler. “Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth’s species is or the steady rate at which taxonomists are exploring that diversity. In 2006, for example, an average of nearly 50 species per day were discovered and named.

“We are surrounded by such an exuberance of species diversity that we too often take it for granted. Charting the species of the world and their unique attributes are essential parts of understanding the history of life and is in our own self-interest as we face the challenges of living on a rapidly changing planet,” Wheeler says.

The announcement fell on the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, who initiated the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications. The 300th anniversary of his birth was celebrated worldwide in 2007 and this year marks the 250th anniversary of the beginning of animal naming.

The majority of the 16,969 species described (named) in 2006 were invertebrate animals and vascular plants, which according to the SOS report is consistent with recent years and reflects, in part, “our profound ignorance of many of the most species-rich taxa inhabiting the planet.”

There are about 1.8 million species that have been described since Linnaeus initiated the modern systems for naming plants and animals in the 18th century. Scientists estimate there are between 2 million and 100 million species on Earth, though most set the number closer to 10 million.

According to the authors of the SOS report: “There are many reasons that scientists explore Earth’s species: to discover and document the results of evolutionary history; to learn the species that comprise the ecosystems upon which life on our planet depends; to establish baseline knowledge of the planet’s species and their distribution so that non-native pests and vectors of disease may be detected; to inform and enable conservation biology and resource management.

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Is it important that global warming turns fish deaf? Yes. For coral reef fish, sound is vital for them to judge where to settle down and live.

After hatching, reef fish larvae are dispersed by ocean currents for a few weeks. The larval fish must then find their way back to a suitable reef to make their home.

It's thought that the young fish home in on high-frequency noises. Coral reefs are extremely noisy environments, with the crackle of snapping shrimps and the chatter of fish set against a backdrop of wind, rain and surf. Sound carries well underwater, and most fish have great hearing.

Global warming and more acidic oceans, though, can cause fish to be born with deformed earbones. Reasearchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville and the University of Edinburgh, suspected that it might be harder for these fish to pinpoint the origin of a sound, increasing the chance they would get lost in the ocean. And, indeed, their results show that this is so.

Journal References and Further Reading:
Proceedings of the Royal Society, Volume 275, Number 1634 / March 07, 2008
Animal Behaviour, doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.11.004
SOUND: The essential navigation cue for young reef fishes to find their way home

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More than 40 percent of the world's oceans are heavily affected by human activities, and few if any areas remain untouched, according to the first global-scale study of human influence on marine ecosystems.

By overlaying maps of 17 different activities such as fishing, climate change and pollution, the researchers have produced a composite map of the toll that humans have exacted on the seas.

The work, published in Science, was conducted at the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and involved 19 scientists from a range of universities, NGOs, and government agencies.

The study synthesized global data on human impacts to marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, continental shelves and the deep ocean.

"This research is a critically needed synthesis of the impact of human activity on ocean ecosystems," said David Garrison, biological oceanography program director at NSF. "The effort is likely to be a model for assessing these effects at local and regional scales."

Past studies have focused largely on single activities or single ecosystems in isolation, and rarely at the global scale. In this study the scientists were able to look at the summed influence of human activities across the entire ocean.

"This project allows us to finally start to see the big picture of how humans are affecting the oceans." said lead scientist Ben Halpern of NCEAS. "Our results show that when these and other individual impacts are summed up, the big picture looks much worse than I imagine most people expected. It was certainly a surprise to me."

The study reports that the most heavily affected waters in the world include large areas of the North Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Caribbean Sea, the east coast of North America, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea and several regions in the western Pacific. The least affected areas are largely near the poles.

Human influence on the ocean varies dramatically across various ecosystems. The most heavily affected areas include coral reefs, rocky reefs and seamounts. The least impacted ecosystems are soft-bottom areas and open-ocean surface waters.

"My hope is that these results serve as a wake-up call to better manage and protect our oceans, rather than a reason to give up," added Halpern.
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As the number of marine species assessments increases, so does the number of species in danger. The 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species shows that excessive and destructive fishing activities play a primary role in oceans biodiversity loss.

Out of the 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List, 1,530 use the marine environment. Out of these, about 30% are at risk and 80 are threatened with extinction. While some 240 have been newly added to or reassessed for the 2007 Red List, 71% are in jeopardy, with 31 species facing high risks of extinction.

Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme, said: "The rate of species loss in the world's oceans will continue, and at an accelerated pace, if serious actions aren’t undertaken to overcome what we can call the oceans crisis."

"Habitat destruction, pollution, climate change and other human-induced disturbances explain why biodiversity is disappearing" he continued. "However, over-fishing and destructive fishing practices represent by far for the most important threat to the marine environment. Fishing operations, from local, often illegal, dynamite fishing to large-scale industrial fishing, have devastating effects and will lead to further extinctions."

Corals have been assessed and added to the IUCN Red List for the very first time. Ten Galápagos species have entered the list, with two in the Critically Endangered category and one in the Vulnerable category. Wellington’s Solitary Coral (Rhizopsammia wellingtoni) has been listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The main threats to these species are the effects of El Niño and climate change.

In just a year, both Spingy Angelsharks and Smoothback Angelsharks have moved from the Endangered to the Critically Endangered category. The two species used to be a common and important deep-water predator over large areas in the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic. Highly vulnerable to by-catch in bottom fishing operations, angelsharks’ abundance has declined dramatically during the past 50 years to the point that they have been extirpated from large areas of the northern Mediterranean and parts of the West African coasts.

Source: 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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WWF-Canada have released a new study that identifies three coldwater coral "hotspots" off Newfoundland and Labrador and assesses the impact of fishing on these fragile organisms. The study provides the scientific basis for Canadian and European governments to protect sensitive coral habitat in the Northwest Atlantic.

Coldwater corals are long-lived animals that live along continental slopes, seamounts, and mid-ocean ridges. These corals are important parts of deep-sea ecosystems and provide habitat for other invertebrates and fishes. Coldwater corals can be damaged by fishing or other seafloor directed activities and may take centuries to grow back, if at all.
Copyright WWF-Canada

"Canada, Spain, Portugal and Russia are the countries that have the greatest potential to damage these globally important concentrations of corals," said Dr. Robert Rangeley, Vice President, Atlantic, WWF-Canada. "Their fleets are among the largest operating off Newfoundland and fish in and around the areas identified as hotspots. This also means they have the greatest opportunity to protect them."

"Our study mapped where corals are found, and identified areas where coral bycatch is highest for a variety of fisheries and gear types," said lead author of the study Dr. Evan Edinger. "Our research demonstrates that no matter what type of fishing gear is used, bottom-contact fishing in coral habitat damages corals. Therefore, it is very important that any areas established to protect corals exclude all bottom directed fishing activities." This research builds on a growing global movement to protect coldwater corals and seamounts. In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly called on fisheries management agencies like the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) to implement vulnerable habitat protection measures by December 2008. In response, last year NAFO signalled their intent to protect seamount habitats.

The Report, Coldwater Corals off Newfoundland and Labrador: Distribution and Fisheries Impacts may be downloaded at: http://wwf.ca/coral

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Pinna nobilis, the giant bivalve, is endangered. Although in some places it has historically been abundant, there has been a lack of up-to-date information about its exact distribution. SCUBA divers therefore went looking for the giant mussel in the Ionian Sea, Italy.
Ionian Sea Map

The results of the study indicate a tentative of recovery of P. nobilis population there, in spite of all the difficulties of a degraded and heavily polluted environment and the damages of illegal fishing methods.

The divers found the pinnids at depths from 3 to 16 m. Their numbers ranged from one individual in 10 hectares, to one every 1.4 hectares. (A hectare is around 2.5 acres or 0.01 square km.)

The survey method employed in this study was non-destructive and relatively simple to perform.

Pinna nobilis lives only in the Mediterranean Sea (which encompasses the Ionian Sea). It likes seagrass meadows and grows up to 120 cm. It sticks up out of the sea bed so is easily seen by divers, once you know what to look for. Although in the Ionian Sea the mussels were found between 3 and 16 m, in other areas of the Med, such as the Adriatic Sea, they live down to 30 m.

In another study, published last month in the Marine Biology journal, Stelios Katsanevakis of the University of Athens investigated the growth and mortality rates of Pinna nobilis in Greece. He found 160 of the mussels and monitored them for 17 months. He discovered that growth rates had a seasonal pattern. The mussels grew slowly during the cold months, and also during August when water temperatures exceeded 29 oC. They grew quickest during late spring and early summer, probably due to an optimum combination of temperature and food availability. Younger individuals grew faster than older ones.

P. nobilis is a protected species in the EU and its fishing is strictly prohibited. However, in the Greek study many deaths were caused by fishing. The mussels were poached exclusively by free-diving and fishing mortality was practically zero at depths below 9 m. Because of this large individuals were restricted to deeper areas.

Journal References:
Environ Monit Assess 2007; 131:339-47.
Marine Biology 2007; DOI: 10.1007/s00227-007-0781-2

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The rate and extent of coral loss are greater than expected, American researchers have found. And the reduction of coral rapidly causes a decline in the abundance and diversity of reef fish.

The estimated annual rate of coral cover loss in the Caribbean between 1977 and 2001 was approximately 1.5%, with the greatest decline occurring during the 1980s. In contrast, the estimated net annual loss of global humid tropical rainforest was only 0.4% from 1990–1997. Additionally, the patterns of coral reef degradation are very different from rainforest loss in that nearly all reefs have been affected; there are virtually no remaining pristine reefs and very few with coral cover close to the historical average.

Remarkably, in 2003, only 4% of the 390 surveyed Indo-Pacific reefs had coral cover greater than 50% and only 2% had cover greater than 60%. In contrast, cover was over 50% on nearly a third of the reefs surveyed between 1980 and 1983.

Despite the well-documented effects of several causes of mass coral mortality, there is substantial evidence that coral communities remain resilient, often recovering in ten to thirty years after major disturbances. However, such “recovery,” loosely defined as a return to pre-disturbance coral cover, often does not mean a return to original coral species composition because the recovery of slow-growing species can take centuries.

The general absence of quantitative data on reef health has led to several misconceptions about the causes, patterns, and best remedies for global coral decline. For example, in 2003, coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), considered the “best-managed” and “one of the most ‘pristine’ coral reefs in the world”, was not significantly greater than on reefs in the Philippines and other subregions that are often thought to be highly threatened and poorly managed.

Additionally, based on the impression that Hawaiian reefs were “far further down the trajectory of decline” [than reefs in the Caribbean and Australia] a recent essay argued for a total overhaul of U.S. coral reef management policy. But Bruno and Sellig's analysis suggests that coral cover in the main Hawaiian islands, including frequently visited reefs close to urban and tourism centers, appears to have been as high as GBR cover over the last two decades.

The study highlights the urgent need for conservation policies to restore coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide, estimated to be worth $23,100–$270,000 km−2 year−1. The researchers say halting and reversing coral loss will require actions across a range of scales including local restoration and conservation of herbivores that facilitate coral recruitment, and the reduction of fishing practices that directly kill corals, the implementation of regional land use practices that reduce sedimentation and nutrient pollution, and the institution of global policies to reduce anthropogenic ocean warming and acidification.

Source: Bruno JF, Selig ER (2007) Regional Decline of Coral Cover in the Indo-Pacific: Timing, Extent, and Subregional Comparisons. PLoS ONE 2(8): e711. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000711

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Human activity in the deep sea is extending ever deeper, with recent research showing that this environment is more sensitive to human and natural impacts than previously thought.

Some deep-water fish stocks have collapsed and fishing methods such as bottom trawling have raised international concern over the habitat damage they cause. It is likely that in its current form, deep-sea fishing is unsustainable.

Diminishing reserves of hydrocarbons in shallow water are pushing exploration and production into deeper waters, which may cause damage to little known deep-sea habitats.

The deep sea is also proposed as an environment where carbon dioxide could be stored to minimise the effect of its release into the atmosphere. At the same time, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may be altering the chemical equilibrium of the global ocean by lowering pH.

Many countries are now beginning to designate some deep-sea habitats as marine protected areas in measures to reduce the damage caused by fishing and other human activities.

A new review examines these issues in deep-sea conservation and discusses the conservation status and the designation of protected areas. The enforcement of protected areas using satellite tracking of vessels is discussed and applied to an internationally agreed deep-water conservation area, which aims to protect cold-water coral habitats on the Darwin Mounds in the north east Atlantic Ocean.

Journal Reference: Biological Conservation (2007), doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.05.011

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Fish use the threat of punishment to keep would-be jumpers in the mating queue firmly in line and the social order stable, a new study led has found.

Studying small goby fish at Lizard Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Dr Marian Wong and colleagues have shown the threat of expulsion from the group acts as a powerful deterrent to keep subordinate fish from challenging those more dominant than themselves.

In fact the subordinate fish deliberately diet - or starve themselves - in order to remain smaller than their superiors and so present no threat that might lead to their being cast out, and perishing as a result.

"Many animals have social queues in which the smaller members wait their turn before they can mate. We wanted to find out how they maintain stability in a situation where you'd expect there would be a lot of competition," says Dr Wong.

In the case of the gobies, only the top male and top female mate, and all the other females have to wait their turn in a queue based on their size - the fishy equivalent of the barnyard pecking order.

Dr Wong found that each fish has a size difference of about 5 per cent from the one above and the one below it in the queue. If the difference in size decreases below this threshold, a challenge is on as the junior fish tries to jump the mating queue - and the superior one responds by trying to drive it out of the group.

Her fascinating discovery is that, in order to avoid constant fights and keep the social order stable, the fish seem to accept the threat of punishment - and adjust their own size in order to avoid presenting a challenge to the one above them.

"Social hierarchies are very stable in these fish and in practice challenges and expulsions are extremely rare - probably because expulsion from the group and the coral reef it occupies means almost certain death to the loser.

"It is clear the fish accept the threat of punishment and co-operate as a way of maintaining their social order - and that's not so very different to how humans and other animals behave."

Dr Wong said that experimentally it has always proved extremely difficult to demonstrate how higher animals, such as apes, use punishment to control subordinates and discourage anti-social activity because of the difficulty in observing and interpreting their behaviour.

In the case of the gobies the effect is much more apparent because they seek to maintain a particular size ratio relative to the fish above them in the queue, in order not to provoke a conflict.

"The gobies have shed new light on our understanding of how social stability is maintained in animals," she says.

The paper entitled "The threat of punishment enforces peaceful cooperation and stabilizes queues in a coral-reef fish" was co-authored with Dr Philip Munday and Professor Geoff Jones of CoECRS and Dr Peter Buston of the Biological Station of Doñana, Spain. It appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274.

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Labels: environment, fish, marine biology, research, sealife

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Caribbean coral species are dying off, indicating dramatic shifts in the ecological balance under the sea, a new scientific study of Caribbean marine life shows.

The study found that 10 percent of the Caribbean’s 62 reef-building corals were under threat, including staghorn and elkhorn corals. These used to be the most prominent species but are now candidates to be listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

A gathering of 23 scientists in Dominica analysed data on Western Tropical Atlantic corals, seagrasses, mangroves and algae, which are fundamental components of marine ecosystems providing food and shelter for numerous other organisms and local communities.

The threats to corals and other marine species include coastal pollution and human development; increased sedimentation in run-off water; thermal stress and heightened severity of hurricanes from climate change; and shifts in species dynamics due to over-fishing, according to the study. Scientists explained that the Caribbean has undergone the longest and most sustained impacts from human development since the colonization of the Americas.

Next to corals, mangroves appear to be the hardest hit. Mangrove cover in the region has declined by 42% over the past 25 years, with two of the eight mangrove species now considered Vulnerable to extinction and two more in Near Threatened status.

“Mangroves protect shorelines, shelter fish, and filter pollution,” said Aaron Ellison of Harvard University. “The Caribbean was blessed with an abundance of these useful plants, but the consensus of this workshop is that mangroves are in trouble everywhere and need to be protected and restored,” he added. Mangrove forests are being cut down to make way for coastal housing, tourism, and aquaculture development.

The scientists noted that some healthy Caribbean coral reefs still exist in well-managed marine protected areas such as Bonaire Marine Park in the Netherlands Antilles. Direct human impacts are reduced in these areas allowing most corals to thrive; however, thermal stress from global warming affects all corals in the Caribbean and must be reversed if these refuges of Caribbean beauty are to survive, they added.

Further Reading: Conservation International

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Greenpeace are launching a 7 Step Climate Campaign, starting with what they consider the most outrageously wasteful of electrical household items: the incandescent light bulb. They say that a simple switch to energy saving bulbs in the European Union alone would save 20 million tonnes of CO2, equal to shutting down 25 medium-size dirty power plants; and this is before considering the efficiency of other household products, or even cars!

If you join Greenpeace's campaign means you will get an email every week for seven weeks. Steps one, two and three are about changing your own lightbulbs and raising awareness about the campaign. Steps four, five and six are about demanding change from retailers, manufacturers and governments. Step seven they are keeping secret.

To join the campaign go to the Greenpeace website.

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The first buoy to monitor ocean acidification has been launched in the Gulf of Alaska. Attached to the 3-metre-diameter buoy are sensors to measure climate indicators. These transmit their readings via satellite.

Acidification is a result of carbon dioxide absorbed by the seas.

"The instruments will measure the air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen gas in addition to the pH, a measure of ocean acidity, of the surface waters," said Steven Emerson of the University of Washington, the project's lead scientist. "This is the first system specifically designed to monitor ocean acidification."

The buoy is anchored in water nearly 5,000 meters deep.

The goal of the research is to examine how ocean circulation and ecosystems interact to determine how much carbon dioxide the north Pacific Ocean absorbs each year.

"The Gulf of Alaska region is particularly important because it is likely to be one of the first regions to feel the impacts of ocean acidification," said Christopher Sabine, a PMEL oceanographer.

"This a significant step in furthering our understanding of how the ocean is reacting to carbon dioxide, as well as an important addition to the growing Global Ocean Observing System of Systems, which incorporates the best technology to provide the best science to help decision makers and the general public," said Richard Spinrad, assistant administrator of NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

Further Reading:
National Science Foundation

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Short-sighted plans to allow European companies to buy their way out of making reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions are undermining efforts to prevent climate change, a new WWF report shows.

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is among the planet’s biggest and most ambitious projects designed to tackle climate change. While the mechanism of carbon trading is sound in principle, the first phase of the EU scheme (2005 to 2007) has been seriously undermined by weak political decisions. Bigger emitters are able to buy carbon allowances — which effectively allow them to pollute — from companies that have reduced their emissions. However, EU governments handed out far too many allowances to their industries.

For Phase II the European Commission has sought to clamp down on the caps proposed by many Member States. However, this is being weakened by a decision to allow industries to buy massive amounts of credits from projects outside the EU (under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism). This reliance on cheap imported credits means that European industry may not have to reduce its own emissions at all.

"There is a real danger that this will lock the EU in to high carbon investments and soaring emissions for many years to come, wrecking the EU’s emission reduction targets for 2020 and 2030 and making a mockery of Europe’s standing as a world leader in tackling climate change.”

WWF also has serious concerns about the validity of many of these overseas projects. In order to qualify as CDM projects, they have to show that they are “additional”, which means that they would not happen without funding from carbon trading. However there are significant questions about whether this critical principle is being adhered to effectively. If the projects are not additional, then the sale of credits from them leads to an actual increase in carbon emissions.

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Beautiful Oceans
Coral Reef Ecosystem & Food Web Course
$59.55
http://www.beautifuloceans.com/

This new course for divers discusses the coral reef ecosystem and food web. It illustrates its points using animals and plants found in and around coral reefs. For instance, the Caribbean Reef Shark is discussed as a top-level, active, predator. The authors manage to pack loads of information on their example species into a small space, without the prose becoming uninteresting. And even when I thought I knew lots about a subject they managed to surprise me. For instance, did you know that sponges may be able to live to over 1000 years old?

Although much of the information applies to coral reefs throughout the world, the example species are found in the Caribbean.

By the end of the course its authors hope that you will have learnt to appreciate all life on coral reefs from the tiniest phytoplankton to the shark. You will also have learnt how each creature is interconnected with the others.

The course is available on-line, where you work through at your own pace at your computer. It includes videos of animal behaviour and interactive quizzes. You can also take the course at selected dive schools in the Caribbean.

The course materials are well written, with many interesting asides. The Manual, in pdf format, is 119 pages long. It has a comprehensive index and is lavishly illustrated with a high-quality photograph or diagram on nearly every page.

We are delighted to be able to offer our newsletter subscribers the chance to win the course. Subscribe at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html then send us an e-mail with "Beautiful Oceans" as the subject line. Closing date is 11 June. Your e-mail entries will not be passed to any other company unless you win, in which case Beautiful Oceans will be in touch with you.

For more information visit http://www.beautifuloceans.com/

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Coral disease outbreaks have struck the healthiest sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where for the first time researchers have conclusively linked disease severity and ocean temperature. Close living quarters among coral may make it easy for infection to spread, researchers have found.

"With this study, speculation about the impacts of global warming on the spread of infectious diseases among susceptible marine species has been brought to an end," said Don Rice, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Chemical Oceanography Program, which funded the research through the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program.

For 6 years, the international research team, led by University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill, tracked an infection called white syndrome in 48 reefs along more than 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Australia's coastline.

The colorful coral colonies that attract visitors to the Great Barrier Reef live atop a limestone scaffolding built from the calcium carbonate secretions of each tiny coral, or polyp. While polyps provide the framework, coral's vivid hues come from symbiotic single-celled algae that live in the polyps. The algae supply much of the food coral need to survive.

When disease or stressful environmental conditions strike a coral colony, the polyps expel their algae. This algae loss makes the coral appear pale.

"We're left with a big question. Can corals and other marine species successfully adapt or evolve, when faced with such change?" Rice said.

Understanding the causes of disease outbreaks will help ecologists protect reef-building corals, which support commercial marine species and buffer low-lying coastal areas.

"More diseases are infecting more coral species every year, leading to the global loss of reef-building corals and the decline of other important species dependent on reefs," said lead study author John Bruno at UNC. "We've long suspected climate change is driving disease outbreaks. Our results suggest that warmer temperatures are increasing the severity of disease in the ocean."

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There are currently 279 highly imperiled US species that are designated as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered and that face potential extinction. But the Bush administration has failed to protect any one of them in the last year.

The last species protected by the administration were 12 Hawaiian picture-wing flies listed in a single rule on May 9, 2006. Overall, according to a report released by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Bush administration has listed fewer species under the Endangered Species Act than any other administration since the law was enacted in 1973, to date only listing 57 species compared to 512 under the Clinton administration and 234 under the first Bush administration.

“The Bush administration has killed the program for protecting new species as endangered,” says Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “and in the process has contributed to the extinction of at least two species. This government’s war on science is also a war against wildlife.”

In October of last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the Hawaiian plant Haha (Cyanea eleeleensis) is likely extinct and thus is being considered for removal from the candidate list. The summer run of Lake Sammamish Kokonee salmon in Washington state are also believed extinct.

A copy of the Center’s report can be found at:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Further reading: Center for Biological Diversity

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Egypt have cancelled a decree which allowed companies to collect reef fish and export them to Europe and other markets .

According to the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), the previous decision had a devastating effect on nature and on the coral reef condition in the whole area. HEPCA launched a huge campaign against this decision and lobbied with other agencies, enthusiastic individuals, and major media representatives.

As a result of the decision HEPCA have ceased legal actions against the Minister's old decree.

Further Reading: http://www.hepca.com/

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Dominica has rejected criticism that its vote on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was up for sale, after the prime minister returned from Japan and renewed his support for commercial whaling.

Ironically, the Caribbean island markets itself as the "Nature Island", with whale watching being one of its attractions.

As a response to the financial input from Japan, a British peer, Lord Ashcroft, has commissioned an unprecedented television advertising campaign which he hopes will persuade the inhabitants of Dominica and five other West Indies nations not to support Japan's plan to overturn the ban on commercial whale hunting.

The campaign is being mounted in conjunction with the UK- and US-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

In recent years, the Japanese government, recognising the importance of national votes at the IWC, has been actively recruiting support from some of the world's smaller nations, trading financial assistance for pro-whaling votes at IWC meetings. The governments of six island nations in the eastern Caribbean, with a combined population of about half a million people, have succumbed to such overtures. Along with Dominica they are Antigua & Barbuda; Grenada; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. In every case, the Japanese have provided these nations with financial support in the form of fisheries aid.

Dominica joined the IWC in 1981 then left 1983 without voting on the ban on whaling in 1982. It rejoined the IWC in 1992, mostly taking a pro-whaling position, but often abstaining on key votes, including the vote to establish the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. However since 1997 Dominica has voted almost exactly in line with Japan, with 95 out of 98 votes cast mirroring Japan’s vote.

Lord Ashcroft, who has a home in Belize, said, "Amongst the sightings of which I have the most vivid and fond memories are of humpback whales in the Southern Ocean, close to Antarctica. To watch these huge and extraordinary creatures 'breach' - launching themselves head first right out of the water and then crashing back down - is in my view amongst the great wonders of the world. It is entirely beyond my comprehension that the Japanese now plan to harpoon fifty humpback whales next year in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary itself. We must persuade our Caribbean friends to resist the Japanese bribery, and to vote in favour of the whales and a continuation of the ban."

The 59th annual meeting of the IWC takes place in Anchorage, Alaska, from 28th to 31st May 2007. In the run up to this meeting, the TV ad will be showing on prime time television in all six Caribbean countries that vote with Japan.

The Caribbean Whale Friends web site, funded by Lord Ashcroft, is asking people to e-mail the government departments of Dominica and the other nations, urging them to oppose commercial whaling. Contact details are at http://www.caribbeanwhalefriends.org/country_2.htm

The television commercial can be downloaded from the following link:
Username: ftp017 / password: whalepass
ftp://ftp.rushes.co.uk/
You can also view it at http://www.caribbeanwhalefriends.org/

More information:
Environmental Investigation Agency
Caribbean Whale Friends
SCUBA Diving in Dominica

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Labels: Caribbean, Dominica, environment, whale and dolphins

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A study to be published in the Marine Policy journal found the public poorly informed on marine protection.

A well-informed public is more likely to support environmental issues and informing the public about marine protection presents a unique challenge. People consider newspapers, in particular, a credible media source. However, newspaper articles tend to concentrate on opposing stakeholders and opinions. They are largely ineffective in conveying the significance of the local marine ecology and the economic benefits of a marine protected area. They thus help delay the establishment of marine reserves.

The authors, from Flinders University, reviewed articles from five Australian newspapers between 1999 and 2006. "We are seeing only sectoral interests - a few conservation groups, politicians from both parties, and the organised groups of commercial and recreational fishers - represented in the press," said researcher Dr Beverley Clarke "The fact that the broader population is generally supportive of MPAs is overlooked."

Journal Reference: Eric Compas, Beverley Clarke, Cecile Cutler and Kathy Daish. (20 April 2007) Marine Policy. 10.1016/j.marpol.2007.03.001 (in press)

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The North Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA)has long been aware that the Sea Turtles, which are attracted to the long sandy beaches of Bunaken Marine Park on Indonesia's Siladen Island, are on the brink of extinction.

With the advice and support of the WWF in Indonesia, the NSWA has established a turtle hatchery in Bunaken Marine Park on a section of beach where the turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. To ensure minimum interference in the natural process only those eggs at risk from being swept away by high tides will be moved to the hatchery to give them a better chance of survival. Any eggs laid by turtles that are safe will be left in place but will be monitored to make sure that they are well protected and untouched during the 45-60 day period of incubation.

The chances of survival for young turtles are quite slim and the NSWA hopes that the establishment of the hatchery will boost the odds for them. It takes 35 years before a turtle is sexually mature and once fertilized the female returns to the beach on which she was born to lay her eggs. They have been known to swim right across the Pacific in order to return to the beach of their birth. When the baby turtles hatch they have to scramble across the sand to reach the sea, a time when they are very vulnerable from swooping sea birds looking for an easy meal. Once in the sea they are still open to attacks from predators.

The first turtle laid 120 eggs on 13th February close to the hatchery and the NSWA reports that all is going well and they are expected to hatch in early April. Many more turtles are expected soon as the peak nesting season is between now and the end of June. The NSWA are using the opportunity to involve local schoolchildren in the monitoring process to educate them about the turtles and their importance in the balance of all marine life.

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In a surprising move, the Mexican government has published sweeping new regulations and protections for sharks, including a shark finning ban, an extension of the moratorium on new commercial shark fishing permits, and extensive protections for great white sharks, whale sharks, basking sharks and manta rays.

"Mexico has taken a real leadership position here" says Patric Douglas CEO of Shark Diver (www.sharkdiver.com). "The rest of Latin America is watching what Mexico does with great interest now, this is good news indeed".

In the past few years Mexico has been recognized as one of the few places on the planet where large congregations of Great White sharks appear each year at Isla Guadalupe. Along with Whale shark aggregations in Holbox, destination tourism with these shark species and others is growing.

Captain Mike Lever owner of expedition dive vessel MV Nautilus Explorer was thrilled at the news "The people of Mexico afford us a great privilege in allowing us to dive with the white sharks at Guadalupe Island. The February 14th enactment of Mexican rules for responsible shark and ray fisheries is incredibly good news and really bodes well for the survival of these magnificent animals. Our hats are off to all of the scientists who helped make this happen".

The new rules and regulations came after 10 years of debate and the broad support of researchers, scientists, conservations groups, eco-tour operations and local citizens.

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The USA made modest progress in 2006 on ocean policy reform, but the progress that has been made is jeopardized by a lack of funding at all levels of government.

The US's overall grade rose very modestly to a C-, up from a D+ average in 2005, according a report from the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. They were judged very poor in international leadership, research, science, education and new funding for ocean policy and programs.

"Addressing climate change is a high priority for most Americans, and although the climate and oceans are inexorably intertwined, the critical role oceans play in climate change is seldom addressed," said Admiral James D. Watkins, co‐chair of the Joint Initiative. "Our failure to increase ocean science investments to learn more about this link and how to manage its impacts means we are trying to fight climate change with one arm tied behind our back."

Incremental improvements in Research, Science, and Education resulted in a slight grade increase to a D+, up from a D for 2005. Although sophisticated monitoring systems have been in place for decades to measure changes in the atmosphere, no such systems exist for our oceans. The report card, echoing the administration’s research plan, calls for the implementation of an Integrated Ocean Observing System to learn more about the ocean’s role in climate change.

The United States remains the only industrialized nation that has failed to accede to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, earning a grade of D‐ for International Leadership. Environmental groups and major U.S. industries such as offshore energy, shipbuilding, and maritime commerce agree that signing onto the convention will help to protect U.S. economic interests as well as the health of our oceans.

State leadership and fisheries management earned grades of A‐ and B+, respectively. States emerged as important champions for oceans in 2006, establishing new statewide initiatives in New York and Washington as well as regional agreements to coordinate ocean management efforts on the West Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission to catalyse ocean policy reform. The Initiative is guided by a ten-member Task Force, five from each Commission, led by Admiral James D. Watkins (U.S. Navy, Ret.) and the Honorable Leon E. Panetta, chairs of the U.S. Commission and Pew Commission, respectively. A primary goal of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative is to accelerate the pace of change that results in meaningful ocean policy reform.

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Australian scientists have found evidence that climate change may play havoc with fish populations.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) have tracked a dramatic decline in the numbers of coral-feeding fish, after a reef was destroyed by bleaching caused by high sea temperatures.

Dr Morgan Pratchett, a senior research fellow at CoECRS, and colleagues spent five years charting a collapse in numbers of coral-feeding butterflyfish on reefs affected by severe coral bleaching.

“The evidence suggests that climate change is already hitting certain fish populations – and this could have an adverse effect on industries like tourism,” he warns. “People come to the reef expecting to see colourful fishes.”

“The impact of coral bleaching is most obvious in fish which feed specifically on corals, as do most butterflyfishes. It is not yet clear what knock-on effects this may have on populations of mixed feeders or predatory fish like coral trout - and hence on the fishing industry or recreational angling.”

Their research results indicate that the impacts of coral bleaching can be more far-reaching and last longer than previously thought.

Dr Pratchett said the researchers had also noted a steady decline in body condition of the coral-dependent butterflyfish at Trunk reef on the Central Great Barrier Reef following bleaching events in 2000-2002.

This suggested that the fish were gradually starving to death and the decline in numbers indicated they had also failed to breed in the months and years following the destruction of their reef.

“It looks as if they didn’t move elsewhere, but stayed where they were and starved. Fish can be very territorial and it may be hard for refugee fish which have lost their reef to relocate elsewhere, because the locals will try to keep them out.”

Coral bleaching is caused by high water temperatures which cause the corals to shed their symbiotic bacteria and die. Bleaching events have been noted worldwide and appear to be on the increase as the earth warms, leading to accelerated degradation of reefs.

There have been several major bleaching events affecting corals along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in recent years, the worst being in 2002, Dr Pratchett said.

More than 30% of coral reefs throughout the world are already severely degraded and corals on 60% may be lost by 2030 due significantly to bleaching as the climate warms, research by CoECRS scientists indicates.

“Ours and other studies indicate that when coral bleaching occurs affecting up to 10 per cent of the reef, it affects the abundance of nearly two thirds of the fish species on that reef.

“As the damage rises to 20 per cent and above, there is a marked decline in the richness of fish species on the reef – and the losses can last for years.

“However we are also confident that, if the corals recover, the coral-feeding fishes will come back,” Dr Pratchett says. “That’s the encouraging news for managers, tourism operators and visitors alike.”

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The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit to compel the Bush administration to protect the North Pacific Right Whale under the federal Endangered Species Act. The US Department of the Interior has proposed opening up areas in the Bering Sea frequented by the species to offshore oil development. Additionally, President Bush is considering lifting the presidential withdrawal that currently prohibits such development.

The North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica), once ranging from Baja California to Alaska, is the most endangered large whale in the world, with perhaps as few as 100 individuals remaining. Devastated by commercial whaling, North Pacific Right Whales now face the threat of oil and gas development in their critical habitat.

Currently, three species of right whales are recognized by scientists. They are the North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica), the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis). While recent genetic data supports this three-species taxonomy, right whales in the North Atlantic and North Pacific are still listed under the Endangered Species Act as a single species (Balaena glacialis). Separate listing of the North Pacific Right Whale would force the preparation of a recovery plan and other actions to protect the species and its habitat.

“With the announced extinction of the Yangtze River Dolphin this week, the North Pacific Right Whale now holds the dubious distinction of being the most endangered marine mammal in the world,” said Brendan Cummings, Ocean Program Director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Bush administration seems determined to have the North Pacific Right Whale follow the river dolphin into oblivion. Full protection under the Endangered Species Act will help the species avoid that fate.”

A copy of the complaint and more information on the North Pacific Right Whale is available on the Center for Biological Diversity’s Web site.

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The Barrier Reef shared by Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, the second longest in the world, is being severely damaged by human activities. More than 80 percent of the sediment and 50 percent of the pollutants entering the coastal waters of the Barrier Reef originate from human activities in nearby mountainous Honduras, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI).

The analysis is the first to determine the origin and volume of sediment and pollution that run off agricultural lands, via the region's vast river networks, into the neighboring Gulf of Honduras and Caribbean Sea.

"As humans have altered the landscape, an increasing amount of sediment and nutrients are reaching coastal waters and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef itself," said Lauretta Burke, a senior coastal ecosystem expert at WRI and co-author of the study. "Our analysis shows that pollution from farms in Honduras can inadvertently damage the entire Mesoamerican reef, which provides an important source of revenue from tourism and fisheries."

Along with more than 80 percent of sediment, more than half of all nutrients (both nitrogen and phosphorous) originate in Honduras.

Guatemala was identified as a source of about one-sixth of all sediments and about one-quarter of all nitrogen and phosphorous entering coastal waters along the reef.

Compared to the other countries, relatively minor percentages of the regional sediment load come from Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Belize contributes between 10 to 15 percent of nutrients and Mexico is estimated to contribute about 5 percent of the nutrients from all modeled watersheds.

Of the 400 watersheds in the region, the Ulua watershed in Honduras was found to be the largest contributor of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorous. Other large rivers found to be significant contributors of sediment and nutrients are the Patuca (in Honduras), Motagua (in Guatemala and Honduras), Aguan (in Honduras), Dulce (in Guatemala), Belize (in Belize), and Tinto o Negro (in Honduras).

Under land-use scenarios which favour free markets and little policy regarding the environment, nutrient delivery is likely to increase by about 10 percent by 2025, while sediment delivery might increase by 13 percent or more.

If environmental policies that favour sustainable development are implemented, nutrient and sediment delivery are likely to be reduced by at least 5% from current levels, promoting recovery of degraded corals.

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A host of record-breaking discoveries and revelations that stretch the extreme frontiers of marine knowledge were reported by the just-released Census of Marine Life 2006. They include life adapted to brutal conditions around 407ºC fluids spewing from a seafloor vent (the hottest ever discovered), a mighty microbe 1 cm in diameter, mysterious 1.8 kg (4 lb) lobsters off the Madagascar coast and a US school of fish the size of Manhattan Island.

Census seamount researchers found a shrimp, believed extinguished 50 million years ago, alive and well on an underwater peak in the Coral Sea. Neoglyphea neocaledonica was nicknamed “Jurassic shrimp” by its discoverers, who say it rivals the find in South Africa and Indonesia of the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish previously known only through fossils.

Among the many new species discovered by Census participants during 2006, a 1.8 kg (4 lb) rock lobster that Census explorers found off Madagascar may be the largest. Named Palinurus barbarae, the main body spans half a meter.

New and continuously improving techniques also let scientists collect and tag creatures in order to follow their movements. Marine animals themselves are thereby recruited as oceanographers, mapping their travels in the world’s oceans. With their help, the Census is creating new insights into the present and shifting distribution of global marine life.

Census researchers discovered 70 percent of the world’s oceans are shark-free. In an extensive study of the vast abyss below 3,000 m, deep-sea scientists found sharks were almost entirely absent and sought physiological and other explanations. Although many sharks live down to 1,500 m, they fail to colonize deeper, putting them more easily within reach of fisheries and thus endangered status.

Now in its 6th year, the census field work will continue until 2008. The results will be analysed and synthesized in 2009-10 with the goal by 2010 of an initial census describing what lived, now lives, and will live in the oceans.

Further Reading: Census of Marine Life

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It is probably a common conception that marine debris consists of just a few pieces of rubbish scattered along the strand line of beaches and is of no harm to anyone. Unfortunately, according to a new report from Greenpeace, this is not the case. Marine debris has become a pervasive pollution problem affecting all of the world’s oceans. It is known to be the cause of injuries and deaths of numerous marine animals and birds, either because they become entangled in it or they mistake it for prey and eat it.

At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish.

The scale of contamination of the marine environment by plastic debris is vast. It is found floating in all the world's oceans, ever everywhere from polar regions to the equator.

The sources can be categorised into four major groups:
• Tourism related litter at the coast
• Sewage-related debris: these waste waters car carry with them garbage such as street litter, condoms and syringes
• Fishing related debris
• Wastes from ships and boats

What can we do about it?

Local authorities, non-gover government organisations and volunteers have all contributed towards coastal clean-up operations throughout the world. The cost of clean-ups can be high. For example, in 1998, 64 local communities in the North Sea region spent six million US dollars on beach clean up, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

The Ocean Conservancy began a beach clean-up program in Texas in 1986 which has since grown into the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). All 55 US States are now involved with the program together with 127 countries. All consolidate in a local effort for one day each year to carry out a beach clean-up day in their area. This is undertaken by numerous volunteers. The ICC also gathers information on the types of debris collected for its global database. In 2002, almost 58% of the marine debris collected appeared to be sourced from shore-line and recreational activities, such as beach-picknicking and general littering.

Another global clean-up program is the Clean-Up the World program which is run in
conjunction with UNEP. It engages more than 40 million people from 120 different countries in clean up operations, and has a special initiative on marine debris. In the UK, a non-gover government organisation called the Marine Conservation Society has set up programmes to clean-up beaches as well as to raise awareness of the problems of marine debris.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US government have been pioneering a method to locate marine debris at sea. Ocean convergence zones, where debris is likely to accumulate, are identified by satellite. Aircraft with special sensors are then deployed to the convergence zones to pinpoint the location of debris. This has been per perfor formed experimentally and the idea is to then send ships to areas with high quantities of debris so it could be cleared up.

We live in a world in which our resources are not always given the precious status they deserve. In industrialised society, this has contributed to the creation of a “disposable” society in which enormous quantities of waste, including much that is “avoidable waste” are generated. This situation needs urgently to be changed, so that the amount of waste produced, both domestically and by industry, is reduced and that, as much as possible, generation of persistent and hazardous wastes is eliminated.

The key to solving the marine litter problem in terms of waste management is action at source, including the widespread adoption and implementation of Zero Waste
strategies entailing waste prevention, minimisation, re-use and recycling. Until such
initiatives are widely and effectively implemented, measures available to address the
problem of marine litter and debris will inevitably remain extremely limited.

You can download the full report at Greenpeace's web site.

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Member countries of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), including the UK, are perpetuating pollution from the Arctic to Antarctic that is contaminating wildlife and entering our food chain.

Enviromental group WWF has submitted a paper to the IMO showing the impact of Tributyltin (TBT) pollution. Their head of WWF-UK Marine Programme, Dr Simon Walmsley, says
"This is a scandal the world should be ashamed of. Forty years after TBT's negative impacts were first identified and five years after the legislation to ban it was agreed TBT is still used, indiscriminately polluting global marine life and our food chain."

Only 17 out of 166 member countries of IMO have ratified the legislation. However, the majority of the shipping industry supports a ban, with only the unscrupulous operators still using it. The leading paint companies have stopped producing TBT since 2003 and market commercially viable alternatives instead.

Dr. Simon Walmsley, continued: "Countries who have not signed up - including the UK - should be ashamed. This is the most toxic chemical ever deliberately released into the marine environment and there is no excuse for using it."

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A new survey of reefs along Madagascar's southwestern coast found massive damage from coral bleaching, including some reefs that lost up to 99 percent of their coral cover.

A number of coral bleaching events – where rising sea temperatures cause corals to turn white and ultimately die – have struck Madagascar's southwest coast over the years, the worst being in 1998 and 2000.

Previous surveys have found that Madagascar's northern coasts escaped damage from these global bleaching events, thanks to cool water currents from nearby deep ocean areas.

Madagascar's southwestern coasts, however, have not been so lucky.
In areas where scientists found damaged coral reefs, algae had started to take over the dead reefs, and fish diversity was lower than in areas with healthy corals.

Madagascars coastal waters are believed to have some of the highest diversity of marine species in the Indian Ocean.

During the survey, led by the conservation groups Blue Ventures and the Wildlife Conservation Society and funded by Conservation International, scientists recorded 386 species of fish along the southwestern reefs of the Andavadoaka region. Of these, 20 species had never before been recorded for Madagascar and one may be a new discovery to science. The survey team believes that further research may reveal as many as 529 fish species living among these reefs.

The survey team also recorded 164 species of hard coral, including 19 that were previously unknown to inhabit Madagascar’s waters. Another four coral species could not be identified and may be new to science.

The total number of coral species recorded was significantly lower than those previously found along Madagascar’s northwestern coasts. These lower numbers are believed to be a direct result of the mass bleaching events of 1998 and 2000.

“Global warming is a major threat to the world’s coral reefs, but there are other more direct threats as well that can be more immediately addressed,” said Alasdair Harris, research director of Blue Ventures. “Destructive fishing practices and nutrient runoff from villages and resorts are also killing these incredible underwater systems that provide vital resources for the people of Madagascar.”

Overfishing and nutrient runoff have decreased the number of plant-eating species living within the coral reefs, allowing damaging algae to grow on corals already stressed by rising sea temperatures. By increasing the number of herbivores, damaging algae can be controlled and coral settlement and growth can increase.

Harris said it is urgent that government agencies, NGOs and local villages work together to create marine protected areas to prevent overfishing and other activities that are damaging coral reefs and the many marine resources they provide. The development of alternative and sustainable incomes – such as ecotourism – will also assist local villages that are currently dependent on these dwindling marine resources.

But the survey team also found some signs of hope. Scientists discovered several small reefs with corals that appeared to be resilient to rising sea temperatures and could ultimately be used to reseed damaged reefs. These resilient reefs may also provide valuable information about how to protect corals from future damage.

The entire report can be found at http://www.blueventures.org/

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The cost of global warming will run into trillions of pounds and the environmental and social costs will be incalculable, a survey has revealed. The report, Climate Change - the Costs of Inaction, was compiled by leading economists for Friends of the Earth.

The survey highlights the enormous costs that would result if Governments allow temperatures to rise by more than two degrees. The report also reveals the comparatively small amounts of money needed to keep temperatures in check.

Global temperatures have already risen by 0.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels. If emissions continue to rise unchecked global temperatures could increase by more than four degrees centigrade in the next hundred years.

An increase of 2 degrees would mean decreased crop yields in the developing world will spell disaster for many poor farmers and poor countries whose economies are dependent on agriculture production. Widespread drought and water shortages will also hit the developing world hardest. Other impacts include a near total loss of coral reefs - of vital importance to fisheries and the tourist industry; the expanded northward spread of tropical diseases such as malaria; and the potential extinction of arctic species including the polar bear.

Director of the Research and Policy Program at the Global Development and the Environment Institute and one of the authors of the report, Dr Frank Ackerman said:

"The climate system has enormous momentum, as does the economic system that emits so much carbon dioxide. Like a supertanker, which has to turn off its engines 25 km before it comes to a stop, we have to start turning off greenhouse gas emissions now in order to avoid catastrophe in decades to come."

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British environmental group, The Marine Conservation Society, needs the support of UK divers to convince the Government that marine conservation must be at the core of the Marine Bill. Have your say in how our seas are managed and protected and add your name in support of Highly Protected Marine Reserves at http://www.marinereservesnow.org.uk/

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Labels: environment, UK

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.)

Many corals rely on their symbiotic algae for survival. Under stress (such as higher temperatures) these algae are expelled, resulting in coral bleaching. It has previously been reported that corals may recover from coral bleaching by changing the type of algae they host. However, a new research study shows that less than a quarter of coral species can do this.

The corals which have been seen to survive raised temperatures are those that host several types of algae. These are in the minority. A review of the published data, by Tamar L. Goulet of the University of Mississippi, shows that only 23% of corals fall into this category. She looked at 43 studies of 442 species of coral.

If global climate change continues, she concludes that many symbiotic coral species may not survive.

Source: Marine Ecology Progress Series, 321:1-7, 2006.
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Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Labels: coral, environment, sealife

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.)

Action is urgently needed to prevent the loss of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles from the Pacific Ocean. Reducing bycatch of sea turtles in pelagic longline fisheries may contribute to their recovery.

A study by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council indicates that new measures have been extremely effective at reducing interactions with endangered sea turtles in the Hawaii-based longline swordfish fishery.

Regulations designed to reduce turtle interactions came into effect for the Hawaii-based longline swordfish fishery in May 2004. The regulations changed the type and size of fishing hook and bait used by the Hawaii-based longline swordfish fleet from using a J-shaped hook with squid bait to a wider circle-shaped hook with fish bait.

There were significant reductions in sea turtle and shark capture rates and reduced proportion of turtles that ingest hooks, which may increase post release survival prospects, without comprising target species catches. Capture rates of leatherback and loggerhead turtles declined significantly by 82.8 percent and 90.0 percent, respectively, after the turtle regulations came into effect. The swordfish catch rate, the target species of this fishery, was significantly higher by 16.0 percent. The shark catch rate was 36 percent lower.

Kitty Simonds, Executive Director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, explained, "Sea turtles are among the most extraordinary creatures on the planet and are valued by people around the world. In spite of this, sea turtle populations are declining due to numerous threats. This new study confirms that the Hawaii-based longline swordfish fishery has achieved significant reductions in turtle interactions. This is a model fishery, and we are taking steps to transfer these effective and commercially viable turtle bycatch solutions to other fisheries. However, unless initiatives to address the more serious threats to sea turtle populations are effective, efforts to minimize interactions in longline fisheries will not be enough."

Paul Dalzell, Senior Scientist of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and co-author of the report, said: "Sea turtle numbers have declined dramatically in recent years due to the combined effect of many threats, including mortality in fishing gear. Whether some populations survive the next few decades is an open question. We are doing our part to address this crisis."

The report Efficacy and commercial viability of regulations designed to reduce sea turtle interactions in the Hawaii-Based Longline Swordfish Fishery is available online at www.wpcouncil.org.

It can be ordered from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 USA; Email: egilman@blueocean.org

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Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Labels: environment, sealife

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.)

Over 140 kilometres of Mediterranean coastline have been polluted after Israeli forces bombed a power station last month. Marine experts were unable to visit the worst affected areas while the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continued, but Monday's ceasefire has allowed them to begin on-the-ground assessments.

Local environmental and conservation groups said that some of the oil had settled on the sea floor, threatening areas where tuna spawn.

They also voiced concern that slicks on beaches would prevent young green turtles, an endangered species, from reaching the sea after they had hatched.

An International Assistance Action Plan has been drawn up to deal with the oil spill. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the quantity of oil spilled in Lebanon is already comparable to the disaster caused in 1999 off the coast of France when the Erika tanker spilled an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes of oil into the Atlantic Ocean.

Whilst the damage at the moment is affecting Lebanon and Syria, the oil slick is moving towards Turkey. Greece and Cyprus are also threatened.

References and Sources for this Story:
UN News Centre
AKI
BBC News
Greenpeace

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Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Labels: environment

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.)

The contract for the controversial RM4.5 million (£650 000, US$1.2 million) clubhouse project on Sipadan, Malaysia, has been terminated. However, a smaller, "environmental-friendly" development will be allowed. The Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman has also ordered a management revamp of Sabah Parks, the state government agency that oversees Sipadan, and he will be in charge.

The contractor which undertook the Sipadan project came under severe criticism when a barge ran aground on 14 May, serverly damaging coral reefs.

Musa halted work on the project but later said that the Cabinet had decided to allow it to continue, but scaled down and using environmentally friendly materials.

Outraged by the damage on corals, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rebuked Musa on July 27 for defying his advice not to build a clubhouse on the island. "I was very angry with Musa. I told him not to build it. I said so many corals are dying and he promised that he would look into the project."

Musa now says the new development concept would involve only the building of toilets and a small rest area for divers. "We will come up with a new development concept that is environmental-friendly and suits the eco-system. We will announce it two or three months from now" he says.

Sources: Malaysian National News Agency, The Star

More on Diving Sipadan:
- Sipadan Dive Sites
- Diving Trip to Sipadan
- Sipadan Dive Operators
- Sipadan Prints

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Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Labels: environment, 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.)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has found that two in five organisms are threatened with extinction.

Large marine animals top the extinction risk categories . From sharks to rays, wrasses and whales, the picture painted by this year’s Red List is far from encouraging for the ocean’s heftier inhabitants.

"The findings underline the plight of many species throughout the world’s seas and
oceans, from the Mediterranean to Chinese coasts. Animals that are part of our heritage and have been around since the age of the dinosaurs are now going down the drain,” warns Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of the IUCN Global Marine Programme.

Sharks and rays are among the first marine groups to be systematically assessed, and of the 547 species listed, 20% are threatened with extinction. This confirms suspicions that these mainly slow-growing species are exceptionally susceptible to over-fishing and are disappearing at an unprecedented rate across the globe.

The Angel shark (Squatina squatina), previously assessed as Vulnerable, has jumped up two categories and is now classed as Critically Endangered, the top threat category. Many of its peers are following the same path. For example, the gulper shark (Centrophorus granulosus) has declined by 80-95% in its main range within the Northeast Atlantic whilst the Australian endemic Harrison’s dogfish (Centrophorus harrissoni) has undergone an even more dramatic decline of over 99% in two decades, fuelled by demand from the fisheries and cosmetics industries.

Sharks, like other large marine species which have naturally slow reproduction and repopulation rates, suffer mostly from overfishing, as well as being killed as bycatch. “As human beings, we can only point the finger at ourselves,” notes Sarah Fowler, Co-Chair of the Shark Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), “We are the ones driving amazing creatures to extinction.”

“Marine species are proving to be just as much at risk of extinction as their land-based counterparts: the desperate situation of many sharks and rays is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor of the IUCN Red List Unit. “It is critical that urgent action to greatly improve management practices and implement conservation measures, such as agreed non-fishing areas, enforced mesh-size regulations and international catch limits, is taken before it is too late.”

Other large creatures such as the Humphead wrasse, the Giant Yellow croaker or the Goliath grouper already benefit from the protection of international treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), yet are showing little improvement.

The Humphead wrasse, Napoleon or Maori wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), a mammoth among coral reef fishes, occurred extensively throughout much of the Indo-Pacific region. Because it is widely threatened, especially by the international live food-fish trade which exerts a high demand for its “plate-sized” juveniles, it is declining in much of its geographic range. Although it is listed as Endangered, uplisted from Vulnerable in 2004, on the IUCN Red List and on Appendix II of CITES, which restricts international
trade in this species, some countries have taken one step further to avert its disappearance from the wild.

Indonesia, its major exporting country, has sharply reduced the export quota to an interim measure of 8,000 fish per year, whilst Hong Kong plans to introduce legislation even more restrictive than that of CITES. Workshops and information campaigns in South-East Asia are also helping to raise public awareness about this species.

“In a dedicated effort to save this wrasse, IUCN, through its Groupers & Wrasses Specialist Group, is working with the Indonesian and Hong Kong Governments to ensure the best knowledge and expertise is available to give the species a hand,” says Dr Yvonne Sadovy, Associate Professor at Hong Kong University and Chair of the IUCN SSC Groupers & Wrasses Specialist Group.

Notwithstanding the daunting statistics unveiled in this year’s IUCN Red List, there is light at the end of the tunnel for some endangered species. The Goliath grouper, which is the largest of all coral reef fishes attaining some two meters in length, entered the IUCN Red List as Endangered in 1996. While it is still in the same category today, encouraging signs of recovery have been reported in southeastern USA, with juvenile densities relatively high in key mangrove areas. This trend is attributed to the availability of good quality habitat and to the effects of a fishing moratorium introduced by the USA in 1990.

“Although the situation is dramatic for many species in most of the world’s waters, there is definitely a ray of hope,” underlined Lundin, “the Goliath grouper shows that progress can be made, no matter how bleak the outlook, so the time to act is now before we lose the marine life that sustains our planet and ourselves.”

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Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Labels: environment

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