Agriculture, not shrimp farming, to blame for mangrove deforestion

A study published in the Journal of Biogeography used remote sensing technology to investigate the major causes of mangrove deforestation in regions impacted by the 2005 tsunami. While shrimp aquaculture accounted for a portion of the loss, the expansion of agriculture was responsible for over 80% of mangrove deforestation in the study region.

Read Environmental News Network coverage of the article here.

Ocean Power

“Whatever Happened to Wave Energy?,” a short article by Michael Schirber for LiveScience publised on October 29, 2007, gives a quick description of current worldwide projects to harness energy from ocean waves.

Read more here.

U.N. Warns of Urgent Environmental Problems

By JAMES KANTER
The New York Times
October 26, 2007

The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage to the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report being issued today by the United Nations.

Climate change, the rate of extinction of species, and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the threats putting humanity at risk, according to the United Nations Environment Program in its fourth Global Environmental Outlook since 1997.

“The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns,” Achim Steiner, the executive director of the Environment Program, said in a telephone interview. Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are “among the greatest challenges at the beginning in of 21st century,” he said.

Read More...

Northern ocean filling up with CO2

The oceans play a critical role in the global carbon cycle. Any decrease in their capacity to take up atmospheric carbon dioxide has important implications both for future climate conditions and for efforts related to ocean carbon sequestration......

Joining the south in carbon un-sinking

By Lucy Sherriff

Published Monday 22nd October 2007 11:10 GMT

A decade-long study of the oceans has shown they are soaking up less and less carbon dioxide.

The oceans' ability to absorb the greenhouse gas halved between the mid 90s and the first five years of this century, scientists said.

The team of researchers, based at the University of East Anglia, carried out the study using automatic sensors attached to merchant ships crossing the North Atlantic. The findings are based on more than 90,000 measurements.

Read more here

Does Bush's executive order to protect striped bass and red drum actually help the fish?

On October 20^th, President Bush signed an executive order to ban commercial harvest of striped bass and red drum in federal waters. The fish can now only be harvested recreationally.

While recreational fishermen, who are responsible for the vast majority of striped bass and red drum landings, are praising the order, others note that if protection of the species is the actual purpose of the order it should limit recreational fishing as well.

Read more in the following articles:

President George W. Bush signs an Executive Order to protect striped bass and red drum by Mark England, Lonestar Outdoor News

Bush signs order to restrict commercial sale of striped bass by Richard Degener, The Press of Atlantic City

The Wrong Way to Save Right Whales?

The Wrong Way to Save Right Whales?

By Juliet Eilperin

Sixteen months ago, a federal agency proposed slowing ships in certain East Coast waters to 10 knots or less during parts of the year to save the North Atlantic right whale, one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, from extinction.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102000533.html?referrer=emailarticle

The Future Is Drying Up

By JON GERTNER
The New York Times
October 21, 2007

Scientists sometimes refer to the effect a hotter world will have on this country’s fresh water as the other water problem, because global warming more commonly evokes the specter of rising oceans submerging our great coastal cities. By comparison, the steady decrease in mountain snowpack — the loss of the deep accumulation of high-altitude winter snow that melts each spring to provide the American West with most of its water — seems to be a more modest worry. But not all researchers agree with this ranking of dangers. Last May, for instance, Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the United States government’s pre-eminent research facilities, remarked that diminished supplies of fresh water might prove a far more serious problem than slowly rising seas. When I met with Chu last summer in Berkeley, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which provides most of the water for Northern California, was at its lowest level in 20 years. Chu noted that even the most optimistic climate models for the second half of this century suggest that 30 to 70 percent of the snowpack will disappear. “There’s a two-thirds chance there will be a disaster,” Chu said, “and that’s in the best scenario.”

Read More...

Endangered Loggerhead threatened by small-scale Baja California fishing operations

A recent study published by S. Hoyt Peckman of UC Santa Cruz, Larry Crowder of Duke University and Ocean Conservancy scientist J. Nichols indicates that small-scale longline and gillnet fishing operations off Baja California are actually more detrimental to the endangered Pacific Loggerhead than larger scale industrial fishing fleets.

Check out Environmental News Network coverage of the article here, or read the full article in the online open-access journal PLoS ONE here.

Shell Dissolve

This short National Geographic article on ocean acidification, entitled “The Acid Threat,” shows a compelling picture of experimentally induced impacts of an increase in ocean acidity on a pteropod’s carbonate shell.

Deep in the Sea, Imagining the Cradle of Life on Earth

By CLAUDIA DREIFUS

The New York Times
October 16, 2007

BEAUFORT, N.C. — For much of Cindy Lee Van Dover’s professional life, she has been a pioneer.

In 1990, she became the first woman with a license to pilot an Alvin, a three-person submarine for deep sea exploration. Dr. Van Dover, who studies the ecology of the ocean floor, has since led almost 50 expeditions on the Alvin, documenting the terrain and creatures of that mysterious environment. In almost every one of these explorations, she has discovered new life forms and animals.

Read More...

New Coast Guard Task in Arctic’s Warming Seas

By MATTHEW L. WALD and ANDREW C. REVKIN
The New York Times
October 19, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 — For most of human history, the Arctic Ocean has been an ice-locked frontier. But now, in one of the most concrete signs of the effect of a warming climate on government operations, the Coast Guard is planning its first operating base there as a way of dealing with the cruise ships and the tankers that are already beginning to ply Arctic waters.

Read More...

Video...

Sexy Corals Keep ‘Eye’ on Moon, Scientists Say

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

The New York Times
October 19, 2007

Birds do it. Bees do it. Even lowly corals do it — but infrequently, forgoing sex for as long as a year.

Then, at night, just after the full moon, under warm tropic breezes, the corals dissolve in an orgy of reproduction, sowing waters with trillions of eggs and sperm that swirl and dance and merge to form new life. The frenzy can leave pink flotsam.

Scientists discovered the mysterious rite of procreation in 1981 and ever since have puzzled over its details. The moon clearly rules the synchronized mass spawning, which happens during different months in different parts of the globe, but usually in the summer. But how do corals monitor the moon’s phases and know when to start mingling?

Read More...

Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize for Climate Work

By Walter Gibbs
The New York Times
October 12, 2007

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to Al Gore, the former vice president, and to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work to alert the world to the threat of global warming.

Read More …

An Ethics Code for Ocean Carbon Experiments

By Eli Kintisch
ScienceNOW Daily News
10 October 2007

Scientists and entrepreneurs alike are abuzz over iron fertilization, a controversial technique that uses iron-seeded plankton to sequester atmospheric carbon for centuries deep underwater. Now, a San Francisco-based climate startup called Climos has proposed a code of conduct to address contentious aspects of how experiments are conducted.

Read more here.....

Ottawa pledges to help ‘Mr. Stinky,' other sea life

Canada commits $$ towards marine conservation, including identifying and implementing new marine protected areas. The current priorities include sites in the Arctic and glass sponge reefs. In light of the rapidly changing conditions in the Arctic, hopefully the Canadians will take the lead in protecting this vulnerable ecosystem. In terms of glass sponges, the US also recently discovered some exquisite glass sponge sites off the Pacific Northwest (see Reef of glass sponges found off Washington's coast for more information).

MARK HUME
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
E-mail Mark Hume
Read Bio
Latest Columns
October 10, 2007 at 1:14 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — When Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn met “Mr. Stinky” after a news conference Tuesday at which he announced $42-million in new environmental funding to protect marine ecosystems, he didn't hold his nose or make a face.

Instead Mr. Hearn seemed genuinely impressed with the knee-high stack of delicately interlaced tubes of silica, a type of glass sponge known formally as a Finger Goblet sponge, which has a colourful nickname because of its pungent, rotten seaweed aroma.

Continue story here........

In memorium: Dr. Frederick "Ted" Bayer

In memorium: Dr. Frederick "Ted" Bayer

Dr. Frederick "Ted" M. Bayer, 85, a retired Smithsonian curator in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology passed away last week (Oct 3rd) after a long illness at Washington Home in Washington, DC.

Dr. Bayer was a world expert and leader in the research of shallow-water and deep-sea corals. His contributions to marine science will live on well into the future.

A full obituary can be seen at: http://scienceblogs.com/deepseanews/2007/10/in_memorium_dr_frederick_ted_b.php

Texting for sustainable seafood

The Blue Ocean Institute just created a service that allows confused diners to make sound seafood choices. Read the full article from WRAL Raleigh,Durham, Fayetteville here.

To try out this FREE service (only standard text message fees leveraged by your mobile service provider apply), text the work “FISH” followed by the seafood you’re checking out to 30644.

Happy, sustainable dining!

Ocean Acidification Threatens Southern Oceans

In response to watching one too many kitchy Batman episodes one of my childhood fears including being dropped in a vat of acid - - sounds ridiculous now, but such is the future for corals and marine animals with calcium carbonate shells.


ACIDIFICATION IN SOUTHERN OCEANS THREATENS ECOSYSTEM

Although the chemistry of ocean acidification due to increased carbon dioxide has only recently been recognized, the impacts to marine life are already visible. Will Howard and Andrew Moy from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart, Tasmania looked at shells in a group of plankton called Foraminifera. They compared average shell weight in organisms that are alive today with those of fossils as old as 20,000 years. Since industrialization, the average shell weight of one species of Foraminifera has declined 38 percent.

Increased acidity makes it harder for organisms like plankton, coral and clams to make shells and other structures from calcium. The question is how will this affect marine ecosystems? Plankton are the foundation of marine food chains, and any changes to them will have ripple effects throughout the ecosystem, ultimately affecting species that humans rely on directly. Howard and Moy say their findings highlight the need for nations to work together to reduce carbon dioxide emissions quickly.

SOURCES: Hobart Mercury, Sydney Morning Herald

READ MORE:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/ocean-time-bomb/2007/09/11/1189276723526.html

Coral Health Depends on Ridge to Reef Ecosystem Management

Although the connection between land practices and the health of coral reefs is well established, this article provides further evidence as to why a broad approach to ecosystem management is particularly important for the conservation and management of coral reef ecosystems.....

From the Environment News Service

HONOLULU, Hawaii, October 4, 2007 (ENS) - Coral reefs suffer when the lands above them are disturbed, finds new research by scientists from Hawaii to Australia. Clearcut logging, farming and development lead to erosion and runoff that kills corals, making it just as important to manage the land above reefs as it is to protect them from overfishing, the scientists confirmed.

Read more here.....

MCBI at the UN: Supporting High Seas Conservation

On Wednesday, Oct. 3, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) and Greenpeace held a briefing for the G77 Forum at UN headquarters in New York City. Steven Lutz, Ocean Policy Analyst for Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), attended and represented MCBI as a member of the DSCC supporting high seas conservation.

Entitled "The State of the World's Oceans: Implications for Developing Countries", the briefing focused on the state of the world's oceans and implications for developing countries. Comprised of 130 developing nations, the Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing States at the UN. The briefing was facilitated by the Pakistan Mission (current Chair of the G77 Forum) with the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) and Greenpeace and was attended by many States including Brazil, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Seychelles.

Along with Karen Sack, Head of Oceans for Greenpeace, participants heard from Dr. Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of York and author of the recent book titled 'The Unnatural History of the Sea'; and Dr. Ussif Rashid Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, University of British Colombia Fisheries Centre. Other NGOs present included Conservation International, the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, and the Pew Environment Group.

The briefing opened with an introduction from Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Farukh Amil, who spoke eloquently about importance of ocean and natural resource protection. Karen Sack first provided an overview of high seas conservation and discussed access agreements by North to fish in the South. Rashid Sumaila provided analyses on the state of the oceans over the past 50 years with implications including the rise in distant water fishing, as well as the rise in fishing access agreements and subsidies.

Callum Roberts commented on the misconception that creation of MPAs takes away from the fisheries; MPAs and reserves rebuild the resilience of depleted populations. Copies of Callum's book "The Unnatural History of the Seas" were distributed and very well received. Karen Sack later presented NGO thoughts on closing current governance gaps on the high seas and called for States to act now to implement the language that was included in last year's UN GA resolution on bottom trawling. Karen also called for action to address the issue of genuine link between flag states and vessels.

You can view the briefing at: http://www.un.org/webcast/

See also the DSCC press release at: http://www.savethehighseas.org/display.cfm?ID=163

No free lunch in the battle against climate change

From Gerard Wynn at the Environmental News Network:

Everyone to pay for climate change

“Climate change will likely cost every global citizen something in the years ahead, although the payback will be much greater, policymakers, scientists and officials told a Reuters summit this week.”

Plastics Choking Albatrosses

A very interesting news story on where all that plastic ends up - in the stomachs of albatross chicks living in the middle of no where - the Papahanaumokuakea reserve.

Remote Waters Offer No Refuge from Plastic Trash
NPR - USA
"In the last 10 years, we've taken almost 550 tons out of the Northwestern Hawaiian islands," said Michael Tosatto, deputy regional director for the ...

Polar Bear likely to move from vunerable to endangered on IUCN redlist

From Gerard Wynn and Alister Doyle at the Environmental News Network:

Polar Bear endangered status “likely”

"An accelerating melt of Arctic sea ice is likely to make the polar bear officially 'endangered' in the very near future, the head of a global wildlife conservation network said on Wednesday."

Texas Sized Garbage Patch in the Pacific!

Time to stop using those plastic water bottles and plastic bags folks... a positive action you can take to save the oceans!

Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?

By Susan Casey, Photographs by Gregg Segal
Oct 7, 2007 - 11:45:03 PM

A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse.

(From BestLife)

Kelp Forests in the Galapagos

How cool, once scientists new where to look they found kelp forests in the tropics - one in the deep waters surrounding the Galapagos.

From Science Online...

As the researchers report online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their model was correct: They found a kelp forest. "I dropped down 20 meters, and it was like traveling from the tropics to California," says Graham. "There were abalone, sea hares, decorator crabs, and sheepshead fish, ... all just below the Galápagos environment where iguanas were swimming overhead."

Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts

A great article from today’s New York Times:

The Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia.

Over all, the floating ice dwindled to an extent unparalleled in a century or more, by several estimates.

Now the six-month dark season has returned to the North Pole. In the deepening chill, new ice is already spreading over vast stretches of the Arctic Ocean. Astonished by the summer’s changes, scientists are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open water — six Californias — beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979.

 Read More…

Interactive Graphic: Sea Ice in Retreat

 

Related NY Times Articles:

Grim Outlook for Polar Bears (October 2, 2007)

The Big Melt: A Series From The New York Times

Protecting cod and coral off eastern Canada

Halifax, Canada – Decisions made at a meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization will help cod recover and protect vulnerable cold-water corals off the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Read more here: http://www.enn.com/animals/article/23558.

October is National Seafood Month!

Show your continued commitment to promoting healthy oceans by making sustainable seafood choices.

Know where your fish comes from, and support fisheries that don’t harm the environment.

Make sure you have the most up to date Seafood Watch card for your area from the Monterey Bay Aquarium: http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Also check out this sustainable seafood blog event: "Teaching a Man to Fish"

Global seafood industry must adapt to demand for 'greener' fish, UN official says

The $400-billion global seafood industry has no choice but to adapt to intensifying demand from retailers and consumers for environmentally friendly 'greener' fish that are not taken from overexploited stocks, farmed in ponds where mangroves once stood or caught in nets that also snag endangered turtles, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Read on...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0709/S00792.htm