▶ DOLPHINS ARE DYING IN DROVES AND SCIENTISTS CAN'T STOP IT
What makes so many deaths disturbing, he said, is that dolphins are regarded as "sentinels for ocean and human health," not unlike canaries in a coal mine.
Dolphins are dying all around Florida and scientists don't know how to stop it.The die-offs of bottlenose dolphins are going on in three different places, and appear to be from more than one cause. Although dolphins are not an endangered species, the loss of so many all at once is clearly bad news, scientists say... http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/dolphins-dying-in-droves-and-scientists-cant-stop-it/2152860\
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) December 12, 2014 ▶ OIL SPILL THREATENS RARE DOLPHINS IN BANGLADESH'S SUNDARBANS REGION, OFFICIALS WARN. Thousands of litres of oil spilled into the protected Sundarbans mangrove area, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins. Bangladeshi fishermen using sponges and sacks have begun cleaning up a huge oil spill in a protected area that is home to the world's largest mangrove foresthttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-12/catastrophic-oil-spill-in-bangladesh/5963450
Myanmar Times, December 24, 2014 -▶ BREEDING PROGRAM NEEDED TO SAVE IRRAWADDY DOLPHIN: - The critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin needs a safe place to breed if it is to stave off the extinction, an adviser to the Myanmar Fisheries Federation.
Dodo, December 02, 2014 ▶ WHY 17 DOLPHINS WERE SHOT TO DEATH OFF THE GULF COAST. Last year, WDC received reports of dolphins being given poison-laced food from a fishing boat, but it could not substantiate the information. Another possible explanation is that the dolphins have fallen victim to, “cruel and intentional victims of random vandalism by thoughtless individuals.” The spate of shootings is eerily similar to the ongoing sea lion killings in San Diego, where several animals were found with gunshot injuries and had to be euthanized.https://www.thedodo.com/why-17-dolphins-were-shot-to-d-852401688.html
“Marine mammals are very good sentinels for ocean and human health, and they really act like the proverbial canaries in a coal mine,” said Dr. Greg Bossart, a veterinary pathologist and senior vice president in charge of animal health at the Georgia Aquarium. “They give us an idea of what’s occurring in the environment.”
▶ MAUI'S DOLPHINS TO BE EXTINCT BY 2030: In a letter to New Zealand's Prime Minister, the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) urges the government to ban gillnets and trawling in Maui's dolphin habitat immediately to avoid their extinction.... http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/extinct-mauis.html
The Ecologist, October 17, 2013 -▶ PERU: THE BRUTAL REALITY OF DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER IN Undercover filming by the UK investigative agency Ecostorm has exposed - for the first time - the brutal hunting and killing of dolphins for use as shark bait off Peru's Pacific coast. a secret slaughter involving thousands of dolphins, dwarfing the high seas drama of the annual whale hunt in Antarctica. Known as "sea pigs" by fishermen in Peru, dolphins are reportedly harpooned and diced up on deck, before being skewered onto hundreds of hooks strung out on long-lines at sea to attract sharkshttp://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2122747
▶ LIVESTREAM DOLPHIN PROJECT: Follow Ric O'Barry as he travels the world to end dolphin exploitation and slaughter.. World Newshttp://www.ustream.tv/dolphinprojec
NICE WATCH NOVA - Full Episode (56:42) PRIVATE LIVES OF DOLPHINS
Published on May 20, 2012
NOVA offers a rare glimpse into the private lives of dolphins with amazing scientific evidence collected over nearly 30 years. Enjoy this unprecedented look at the rarely seen underwater world of dolphins.
NOAA Fisheries ▶ LOOK WHO'S BACK: STURGEON ARE SPAWNING AGAIN IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.Atlantic sturgeon, a species that has survived since the age of the dinosaurs, had believed to have been long gone from the Chesapeake Bay. But a small number of juvenile sturgeon have turned up, and are too small to have immigrated from elsewhere...http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2013/11/11_20_2013sturgeon_we_forgot_all_about_you.html
Houston Chronicle, November 19, 2014 ▶ SCIENTIST ALARMED AT SEA TURTLE'S SUDDEN DECLINE IN GULF. Scientific research presented on the Kemp's ridley raised the possibility that the 2010 BP oil spill, the largest in U.S. history, might have contributed to the declines of sea turtle nests in 2013 and 2014, which have alarmed scientists. [...] experts outlined other factors that may be harming the turtles, such as a die-off of the creatures the turtles eat, expanding dead zones where oxygen is so scant that almost nothing can survive, pesticide runoff and other chemicals dumped in the Gulf. http://www.chron.com/news/science-environment/article/Signs-grow-of-oil-spill-effect-on-turtles-5903833.php
Terra Daily, April 19, 2014 -▶ THE TASTE FOR LIVE TURTLES PUSHING THEM TO EXTINCTION. : DECLINING CATCH RATES IN CARIBBEAN GREEN TURTLE FISHERYConservation scientists estimated that more than 170,000 green turtles were killed between 1991 and 2011, with catch rates peaking in 1997 and 2002 and declining steeply after 2008, likely resulting from over-fishing. The trend in catch rates, the authors of the assessment results maintain, indicates the need for take limits on this legal fishery.http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Declining_catch_rates_in_Caribbean_green_turtle_fishery_may_be_result_of_overfishing_999.html
NEW REPORT
MILLIONS (NOT THOUSANDS) OF MARINE TURTLES
KILLED BY LONGLINE, GILLNET SUPER TRAWLER FISHERIES
Care2, October 03, 2014 -▶ PHOTOS: ENDANGERED SEA TURTLES ARE GETTING NASTY, DEADLY TUMORS, AND WE'RE TO BLAME. Runoff from cities and farms in Hawaii is causing debilitating and deadly tumors, which are believed to be the leading known cause of death for endangered green sea turtles. The study, published this week in the journal PeerJ, found that nitrogen runoff is ending up in algae that sea turtles eat, which is causing the tumors to grow both internally and externally on their eyes and flippers. According to NOAA, these tumors can interfere with their ability to eat and other essential behaviors, while tumors on their eyes can cause permanent blindness. While it’s a major problem for green turtles in Hawaii, it’s also been found in other places and in other species of sea turtles, including loggerhead, olive ridley and flatback turtles.http://www.care2.com/causes/endangered-sea-turtles-are-getting-nasty-deadly-tumors-and-were-to-blame.html
-▶ SUPER TRAWLER NETS BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD 13 JUMBO JETS - USING GPS TO SWEEP UP ALL IN IT'S PATH
In most places, the oceans have lost more than 75 per cent of their “megafauna” – large creatures such as whales, sharks, dolphins, rays and turtles. Numbers of some species – oceanic whitetip sharks; American sawfish – are down by as much as 99 per cent. For every 20 leatherback turtles in the Pacific 50 years ago, only one remainshttp://www.scoop.it/t/our-oceans-need-us/p/1838791014/sea-change-the-loss-of-ocean-species-is-staggering
-▶ TURTLE POACHING INCREASES EVEN AS NUMBERS PLUMMET
China has a taste for turtle; turtle soup, turtle eggs, turtle bone ground up for use in Chinese medicine to promote longevity – for people, not for the turtles. But as Chinese waters are increasingly depleted of sea turtles, Chinese poachers are going further afield to find them. That includes hunting in waters that both China and the Philippines claim, like the waters around the Philippine island of Palawan.http://www.pri.org/stories/2012-02-08/sea-turtle-poaching-and-high-demand-china
A new short film, "Viva la tortuga" documents the struggle to save loggerhead and green sea turtles in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Once a region for a massive sea turtle meat market, the turtles now face a new threat: BY-CATCH.
DERELICT FISHING NETS HAVE TURNED THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA INTO A DEATH TRAP.
Each year, at least 640,000 tonnes of nets and other fishing gear goes overboard and never comes back. But just because it’s lost to the sea doesn’t mean that derelict gear stops doing its jobs. The lobster pots, crab traps and dense thickets of nets that litter the sea bottom keep snaring fish and other animals for years or even decades after they go missing. It’s impossible to estimate how many marine animals are killed each year by “ghost fishing,” as the problem is known. However, the mosaic of local reports suggests staggering numbers—many of them of commercially valuable or endangered species. In Puget Sound, ghost gear is thought to kill more 3.5 million animals a year, including nearly 25 seals, porpoises and other marine mammals a week. http://qz.com/247942/derelict-fishing-nets-have-turned-the-bottom-of-the-sea-into-a-death-trap-2/
TORONTO, Oct. 15, 2012 /CNW/ - A year-long undercover investigation conducted by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) at the Cayman Turtle Farm, a popular tourist destination and the world's last remaining facility that raises sea turtles for slaughter, has revealed disturbing animal cruelty and potential human health risks.Video footage and photographs from the farm show thousands of endangered sea turtles being kept in dirty, crowded touch tanks. Swimming in water filled with their own waste, the turtles fight for food, bite each other and even resort to cannibalism. Many suffer from disease and birth defects, such as injured fins or missing eyes....http://www.stopseaturtlefarm.org/
INTENSIVE FISH FARMING : THE ISSUE IS OVER FISHING OF OUR OCEANS.: LARGE WILD FISH BEING CONFINED IN TIGHT CAGES, LOADED WITH ANTI-BIOTICS, PESTICIDES IN STATIC TOXIC WATER, IS NOT FISH I WANT TO EAT, NEITHER SHOULD YOU -...
Ten thousand years ago, humans made the shift on land from hunting and gathering to farming. Now the same transformation is taking place at sea....
Many of today’s coastal fish farms have decimated habitat and spread disease into local fish populations. Making matters worse, fish farms represent a net drain on populations of wild fish, which are often caught just so they can be ground into feed for salmon and other species.
� INVESTIGATION: The Cruel and Illegal Practices of India's Fishing Industry � "Fish milking" is an excruciatingly painful practice. The #FishFarming and #aquafarming industry throughout the world is cruelty to #animals on a massive scale
▶ FACTORY FARMED SALMON INFECTING TENS OF MILLIONS WITH DEADLY PRV VIRUS - SALMON POPULATIONS COLLAPSE
Tens of millions of British Columbia's wild salmon dying in uncontrollable outbreak.
The escalating battle to protect Pacific wild salmon from a Norwegian virus.
THIRTY MILLION ATLANTIC SALMON were imported into B.C. from Norway, before anyone knew that the virus existed.
In 2017, we reported that 94 percent of farm salmon in markets are infected and that the virus has spread coastwide. But it is significantly more prevalent in wild salmon caught near salmon farms.
Wild Chinook near these farms are in collapse despite fishing closures. The oddly yellow Chinooks died slowly and painfully,releasing the virus into the surrounding waters.
'FRANKENFISH': USA APPROVES IMPORTATION OF FARMED GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON. The USDA finally issued the guidelines in December 2018. It uses the term ‘bioengineered’ instead of the more commonly used ‘genetically modified’ or ‘genetically engineered’, and allows ‘bioengineered’ ingredients to be disclosed in several different ways: in text, a symbol, a digital link printed on packaging, or text message.
▶ GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FISH. US FDA LIFTS BAN ON GMO 'FRANKENSALMON'
They state that a new regulation labeling disclosure that a food is “bioengineered” gives consumers enough information to make an informed choice. For most people, even if the small print is readable, bioengineered may not be understood as a euphemism for controversial genetic manipulation
- FOI reveals over half of samples test positive for Piscine Reovirus
"Unsuspecting shoppers are getting more than they bargain for when buying farmed salmon," said Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch and author of 'The State of Scottish Salmon Farming'. "Hidden extras lurking in Scottish salmon include Piscine Reovirus: - Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, Amoebic Gill Disease, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis and a host of nasty viruses, pathogens and diseases.
If consumers realised that over half of all farmed salmon tested was laden with Piscine Reovirus they would avoid it like the plague. Far from being 'healthy', Scottish salmon is a battery farmed, virus-ridden, disease hell."
▶ Industrial fish farms are polluting waters with "out of control" sea lice outbreaks. This disgusting industry does not belong in US waters! #DontCageOurOceans
▶SCIENTISTS SAY SEA LICE NUMBERS ON JUVENILE SALMON IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND ARE 'OUT OF CONTROL'.
WATCH:
Scientists are calling it a crisis. Unprecedented numbers of sea lice are being found on vulnerable young wild salmon smolts in the Clayoquot Sound. Numbers so high, they’re likely to be lethal for a large part of next generation of a species that’s already struggling. Kori Sidaway has more.
▶ INSANITY - CATCH WILD FISH TO FEED FARMED FISH! WILD PACIFIC MACKEREL STOCKS THAT FEED FARMED SALMON IN MASSIVE DECLINE.
Farmed salmon, that ubiquitous pink fish decorated with ribbons of fat, can thank the forage fish of the southern Pacific ocean – like anchovy and jack mackerel – for their calorie-rich diet. Indeed, more than 5 pounds of jack mackerel typically can go towards raising one pound of farmed salmon. But that food supply – and the ocean ecosystem that supports it — may be in peril, according to a new report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. According to scientists the ICIJ spoke to, "supertrawler" fishing vessels from Asia, Europe and Latin America have contributed to a 63 percent decline in jack mackerel stocks since 2006. At the current rate of overfishing, the world's stock of jack mackerel, which is largely located off the coast of Chile, could collapse soon.
-▶ AQUA FARMS CRAM FISH INTO SMALL SPACES (#CAFOs)
Scottish fish farmers have been forced to use record amounts of highly toxic pesticides to combat underwater parasites that prey on salmon, raising fears of significant damage to the marine environment.
The chemicals used are highly toxic to many marine species, especially crustaceans. The treatments use organophosphates, which attack the nervous system of sea lice and teflubenzuron, which interferes with their ability to grow shells. The chemicals used are highly toxic to many marine species, especially crustaceans.....
An illuminating 80-minute investigative documentary film
produced by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard about the protection of wild fish and impact of fish farming on ocean and human health
-▶ The film explores the high cost—ecological, financial and cultural—of our mistaken belief that engineered solutions can make up for habitat destruction. It traces the impact of fish hatcheries and farms and the extraordinary amount of American tax dollars wasted on an industry that hinders wild fish recovery, pollutes our rivers and contributes to the problem it claims to solve.
▶ GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON - A FAST GROWING HYPE
"The genetic modification is cruel and raises serious ethical concerns as the GM salmon suffers from deformities and health problems. Moreover, it is unnecessary to increase the growth rate. The most important area in fish breeding is to focus on getting healthy animals, the quality of meat and animal welfare."
▶ CAN FARMED FISH FEED THE WORLD WITHOUT DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT.
But large-scale aquaculture can have significant environmental consequences. It can take a lot of wild fish to feed certain farmed fish. And when tons of fish are crowded together, they create a lot of waste, which can pollute the ocean. Fish farms can also be breeding grounds for disease. Plus, shrimp farming in Indonesia is at least partly responsible for the region's declining mangrove forests.
WHO OWNS THE SEA LIFE IN OUR OCEANS?
Daily Mail Online, April, 2015 -▶ HUNDREDS OF SEALS ARE SECRETLY BEING SHOT ALONG BRITISH COASTS TO PROTECT FARMED FISH STOCKS
-▶ WHY ARTIFICIAL FISH FARMING IS UNSUSTAINABLE AND HARMING THE PLANET. There’s something fishy going on between the #BigAg #GMOsoy industry and new fish farming methods, and there is little news coverage of this growing relationship.
Syracuse.com, May 18, 2014 ▶ HIGH LEVELS OF DEADLY TOXIC MERCURY FOUND IN BIRDS, BATS; STUDIES SHOW CONTAMINATION MOVING UP WEB OF LIFE CHAIN (TO HUMANS)The studies are the first to reveal what researchers and activists have long suspected: That more than a century of industrial waste has left a toxic legacy that goes beyond the devastation of fish life. And it shows that such widespread damage can't be contained in an interconnected web of nature -- researchers suggest that the mercury might be moving higher up the food chain into eagles, snakes and other animals that eat the contaminated birds...http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/05/high_levels_of_toxic_mercury_found_in_onondaga_lake_birds_bats_new_studies_revea.html
▶ BIOMAGNIFICATION: ARE WHALES, SEALS INGESTING MORE TOXIC CHEMICALS: STUDY PROBES LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE, CONTAMINANTS FOUND IN ARCTIC WILDLIFEhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article
Boulder Weekly, May 08, 2014 ▶ TOXIC TROUT FOR DINNER?Federal scientists say they’ve found high levels of toxic mercury in fish from many remote lakes and streams around the West, including Rocky Mountain National Park. Brook trout in Mirror Lake and fish in the Upper Colorado River were among the most polluted. Mercury levels in some fish exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health thresholds for potential impacts to fish, birds and humans, according to National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey scientists.http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-12819-toxic-trout-for-dinner.html
Syracuse.com, May 18, 2014 ▶ : HIGH LEVELS OF TOXIC MERCURY FOUND IN BIRDS, BATS; STUDIES SHOW CONTAMINATION MOVING UP WEB OF LIFE CHAIN (TO HUMANS)The studies are the first to reveal what researchers and activists have long suspected: That more than a century of industrial waste has left a toxic legacy that goes beyond the devastation of fish life. And it shows that such widespread damage can't be contained in an interconnected web of nature -- researchers suggest that the mercury might be moving higher up the food chain into eagles, snakes and other animals that eat the contaminated birds...http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/05/high_levels_of_toxic_mercury_found_in_onondaga_lake_birds_bats_new_studies_revea.html
IOL.co.za, June 04, 2014 -▶ SHARK MEAT WORSE THAN ITS BITE.Top Predators absorb all the toxins as they move up the food chain. Recent meat samples from at least three species of shark had levels of arsenic, mercury and other toxic compounds way above the recommended food safety levels. 273 million sharks are killed every year around the world. While a large percentage were destined for the shark fin soup market, shark meat was also used widely for direct human consumption or indirectly in fish meal or fertiliser.http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/shark-meat-worse-than-its-bite-1.1698302#.U47-XfldUrU
TerraDaily, January 16, 2014 ▶ HIGH LEVELS OF MOLECULAR CHLORINE FOUND IN ARCTIC ATMOSPHERE, Scientists studying the atmosphere above Barrow, Alaska, have discovered unprecedented levels of molecular chlorine in the air, a new study reports. Molecular chlorine, from sea salt released by melting sea ice, reacts with sunlight to produce chlorine atoms. These chlorine atoms are highly reactive and can oxidize many constituents of the atmosphere including methane and elemental mercury, as well activate bromine chemistry, which is an even stronger oxidant of elemental mercury. Oxidized mercury is more reactive and can be deposited to the Arctic ecosystemhttp://www.terradaily.com/reports/High_levels_of_molecular_chlorine_found_in_arctic_atmosphere_999.ht
140 NATIONS AGREE ON LEGALLY BINDING MERCURY RULES - Delegates at UN talks approve measures to curb pollution, but some campaigners say they are not tough enough http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21078176
▶ MERCURY HOT SPOTS AROUND THE WORLD -Millions of people rely on fish with unsafe mercury levels as their principle source of protein. A new report finds hotspots of unsafe mercury levels world wide.
---Toxicity of Mercury and Methylmercury
Exposure to high levels of mercury can permanently damage the brain and kidneys. Harmful effects are also passed from a mother to her developing fetus and can result in brain damage, mental retardation,blindness, seizures and an inability to speak
The SunDaily, October 14, 2013 ▶ WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES DRIVE AGAINST MERCURY THERMOMETERS; "Mercury is one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern and is a substance which disperses into and remains in ecosystems for generations, causing severe ill health and intellectual impairment to exposed populations," WHO head Margaret Chan said in a statement....http://www.thesundaily.my/news/854639
Sydney Morning Herald, October 28, 2013 ▶ AUSTRALIA: LEAKING TOXIC MERCURY SLUDGE REPORT KEPT QUIET BY CHEMICAL GIANT FOR 60 YEARS. Chemical giant Orica has tried to keep secret a potentially damaging report into whether the dangerous metal mercury might have been leaking off site from its former chlor-alkali plant, which it operated at the Botany Industrial Park for almost 60 years...http://www.smh.com.au/environment/leaking-toxic-sludge-report-kept-quiet-by-chemical-giant-20131027-2w9pz.html#ixzz2iz3IWhTV
VIDEO
Earth Justice 180 SECONDS OF COAL ASH PROBLEMS
Every year power plants generate 140 million tons of coal ash, enough to fill a train stretching from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Coal ash (a byproduct) contains chemicals like arsenic, mercury and lead. It can cause cancer and developmental problems. It poisons fish and wildlife in rivers and lakes.
In some places the ash is dumped into uncovered pits. In others it sits behind leaky dams. It poisons the air. It destroys the water. And the corporate polluters responsible, they claim that cleaning up this toxic mess would hurt their profitshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg_zttjzpL0
SummitVoice, July 27, 2014 - ▶ PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA ON THE BRINK AS FED SEEK INPUT ON NEW FISHING. many tuna populations are on the brink of collapse. Five of eight tuna species have been assigned threatened or near-threatened status on the international Red List maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster spewed millions of gallons of oil into the species’ prime breeding grounds, and a 2010 report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed how illegal fishing and inadequate enforcement are decimating tuna stocks all over the world. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/07/27/oceans-pacific-bluefin-tuna-on-the-brink-as-feds-seek-input-on-new-fishing-regulations/
Energy Live News, July 01, 2014 -▶ SEAFOOD "COULD BE COOKED BY CLIMATE CHANGE" We could reach a point where governments battle it out over dwindling pockets of seafood. It’s all linked to the oceans acidifying: “The two aspects are: one, as they warm up they no longer absorb as much oxygen so you end up with fish sizes that are smaller.
“The second thing is, the impact of the temperature increase and increased CO2 specifically causes ocean acidification, so the pH of the water changes. which then is of real risk to things like shellfish as well as to coral reefs.”
-▶ MARINE SCIENTIST ALARMED ABOUT INCREASING THREAT TO OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS. In the last 30 years, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fishery resources have become depleted on a large scale. For example, more than 60 per cent of Asia’s mangroves have already been converted to aquaculture farms (ESCAP and ADB, 2000). The region is losing its resource bases to support people’s livelihoods and sustain future economic development. http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/marine-scientists-alarmed-about-increasing-threats-to-ocean-ecosystems/
-▶ GLOBAL WARMING: REPORT WARNS OF 'ARCTIC SQUEEZE'. An entire bio-climatic zone, the high Arctic, may disappear.
FRISCO — Rapid climate change in the Arctic is putting enormous pressure on ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and the fundamental way of life of indigenous Arctic peoples, scientists said in a major new report.
“An entire bio-climatic zone, the high Arctic, may disappear. Polar bears and the other highly adapted organisms cannot move further north, so they may go extinct. We risk losing several species forever,” said Hans Meltofte of Aarhus University, chief scientist of the report.
Climate Progress, January 2, 2014 -▶ CLIMATE CHANGE WILL STARVE THE DEEP SEA, STUDY FINDS. The deep sea is home to thousands of commercially important species and is one of the last frontiers for new species discovery. The creatures of the deep are also key to the cycling of nitrogen, carbon and silicon in the ocean, a process that maintains the delicate balance of ocean life...http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3113101/climate-change-starve-deep-sea/
The Globe and Mail, June 24, 2014
▶ REPORT WARNS WORLD'S FRAGILE OCEANS PUSHED TO POINT OF COLLAPSE....It also wants countries to stop subsidizing fishing outside their own 200-mile exclusive economic zones, to end unregulated and unreported ocean fishing, to stop plastics pollution, to impose legally binding offshore oil and gas extraction standards, and to create areas where industrial fishing would be prohibited http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/report-warns-worlds-fragile-oceans-pushed-to-point-of-collapse/article19304650/
Subsea World News: October 23, 2013 ▶ THE EFFECT OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION ON MARINE HABITATS AND ORGANISMSThe human ramifications of these changes are likely to be massive and disruptive. Food chains, fishing, and tourism could all be impacted. The study shows that some 470 to 870 million of the world’s poorest people rely on the ocean for food, jobs, and revenues, and live in countries where ocean goods and services could be compromised by multiple ocean biogeochemical changeshttp://subseaworldnews.com/2013/10/23/the-effect-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-on-marine-habitats-and-organisms/
▶ CLIMATE CHANGE TO CAUSE 'MASSIVE' OCEAN DAMAGE – By the year 2100, about 98 percent of the oceans will be affected by acidification, warming temperatures, low oxygen, or lack of biological productivity, and most areas will be hit by a multitude of these stressors, finds a new study of the impacts of climate change on the world’s ocean systems. http://ens-newswire.com/2013/10/18/climate-change-to-cause-massive-ocean-damage-by-2100/
THE REPORT ▶ 2013 IPSO STATE OF THE OCEAN ▶
October 3, 2012
The International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) was established to improve our understanding of the role of the ocean at an Earth System Level and its contribution to enabling life to exist on Earth.
Reuters, October 3, 2013 ▶ OSLO: OCEANS FACE 'DEADLY TRIO' OF THREATS, STUDY SAYS
The world's oceans are under greater threat than previously believed from a "deadly trio" of global warming, declining oxygen levels and acidification, an international study said on Thursday.
▶ 2010 BP DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER CONTINUES TO IMPACT GULF'S ECOSYSTEMS - 4 YEARS ONhttp://sco.lt/5Ahg6D
▶ GREENLAND'S MELTING: CREATING A DIFFERENT CLIMATE THAN EARTH HAS EVER SEENhttp://sco.lt/8bjv73
▶ ANTARCTIC ICE LOSS HAVING PRFOUND EFFECTS ON OCEAN FLOOR ECOLOGY AND SEA LIFEhttp://sco.lt/4ynWHh
VIDEO
SWIMMING WITH THE BEAUTIFUL, GRACEFUL SPOTTED EAGLE RAYS - GALAPAGOShttp://sco.lt/6FGIhl
National Geographic, October 3, 2013 CAN LONG-DISTANCE MIGRATING SHOREBIRD SURVIVE. Rufa red knot faces depletion of its food sources and its Arctic breeding grounds. Twice a year, the rufa red knot performs one of the planet's most amazing migrations. After wintering in the southern reaches of Argentina and Chile, the red knot will fly roughly 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers) north, eventually reaching the Canadian Arctic for a summer of mating and breeding. Come fall, it will return south, this robin-size bird with a mere 20-inch (51-centimeter) wingspan flying without rest for stretches of up to 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers)http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131003-rufa-red-knot-threatened-endangered-migrating-birds/#close-modal
VIDEO:
TAMING THE BLUE FRONTIER:
CAN AQUACULTURE BE SUSTAINABLE? WILD vs FARMED FISH
HuffPost Green, January 31, 2014 IF YOU'VE EVER QUESTIONED THE EMOTIONAL CAPACITY OF ANIMALS, YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO
We all know how hard it can be to lose someone you love, but to see loss and subsequent grief reflected in the animal kingdom is particularly tragic. Needless to say, this video of an emperor penguin mourning the loss of her chick really tugs at our heartstrings... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/31/penguin-grieving-video_n_4687445.html
SUPERB WATCH BBC. Natural World
AKA "SAVING LUNA" A KILLER WHALE CALLED LUNA (56:32)
The emotional story of a young killer whale's quest for companionship after he was separated from his family and found himself on the rugged, wild coast of Vancouver Island. The film records the human friendships he developed and the trouble this led him into. From death threats to numerous capture attempts by the government, the film-makers watched as various people tried to determine Luna's fate...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFs9PPFiNM
HuffPost Green, March 17, 2015 -▶ TUNA INDUSTRY FAILING ON SUSTAINABILITY.The problems with the tuna industry run deep. Destructive fishing methods, like longlining and purse seining with fish aggregating devices (FADs), have significant bycatch problems -- meaning that despite a potential "dolphin safe" label, they are killing millions of turtles, rays, sharks, juvenile tuna and other marine life. These fishing methods are damaging to entire ecosystems. There's nothing safe about that for the ocean and its wildlife. Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist all source their tuna from fisheries dependent upon this sort of ocean destruction. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-hocevar/tuna-industry-failing-on-_b_6878666.html
Guardian, January 05, 2015 -▶ SUSHI BOSS PAYS £25k FOR ONE BLUEFIN TUNA IN TOKYO : JAPAN'S FAVOURITE BIG FISH, BUT FOR HOW LONG? Japan’s appetite for bluefin tuna now risks plunging the fish into commercial extinction. Pacific bluefin population has declined dramatically mainly to satisfy demand for sushi and sashimi in Asia. Most of the fish caught are juveniles, making it impossible for them to reproducehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/05/sushi-boss-nets-bluefin-tuna-25k-tokyo-tsukiji-fish-market
BBC News, December 18, 2014 -▶ THAI TUNA FIRM BUYS US RIVAL BUMBLE BEE FOR $1.5 BILLION.The Thai firm, which owns the John West and Chicken of the Sea brands, has been on an acquisition spree in the past year. Earlier this year, it announced that it was buying Norwegian seafood firm King Oscar and French smoked salmon producer MerAlliance for undisclosed sums.http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30544592
Despite an increased awareness of overfishing, the majority of people still know very little about the scale of the destruction being wrought on the oceans. ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nwZUkBeas#t=54
DEADLY BY-CATCH:
TWO-THIRDS OF HEALTHY FISH BROUGHT ON TO FISHING VESSELS IS THROWN BACK INTO THE SEA - DEAD OR INJURED http://sco.lt/6DbCld
August 16, 2013 The Fish Site PACIFIC TUNA STOCKS IN ALARMING DECLINE:
-▶ MIS-USING TECHNOLOGY TO EMPTY OUR OCEANS.Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and Tuna. The fish don't have a chance. We're taking everything in the fishing trawlers nets, leaving NOTHING for regeneration of stocks and totally dimantling the natural biodiversity of oceans. : http://sco.lt/7NiWX3
TO THE LAST FISH
CAPABLE OF FISHING 76,800 HOOKS PER DAY, JENSEN TO DESIGN ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST LONGLINER FISHING VESSELShttp://sco.lt/8ugqB7
SummitVoice, July 27, 2014 - ▶ PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA ON THE BRINK AS FED SEEK INPUT ON NEW FISHING.many tuna populations are on the brink of collapse. Five of eight tuna species have been assigned threatened or near-threatened status on the international Red List maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster spewed millions of gallons of oil into the species’ prime breeding grounds, and a 2010 report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed how illegal fishing and inadequate enforcement are decimating tuna stocks all over the world. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/07/27/oceans-pacific-bluefin-tuna-on-the-brink-as-feds-seek-input-on-new-fishing-regulations/
Climate Progress, January 2, 2014 -▶ CLIMATE CHANGE WILL STARVE THE DEEP SEA, STUDY FINDS. The deep sea is home to thousands of commercially important species and is one of the last frontiers for new species discovery. The creatures of the deep are also key to the cycling of nitrogen, carbon and silicon in the ocean, a process that maintains the delicate balance of ocean life...http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3113101/climate-change-starve-deep-sea/
BBC News, November 13, 2013 -▶ EMISSIONS OF CO2 DRIVING RAPID OCEANS 'ACID TRIP'The world's oceans are becoming acidic at an "unprecedented rate" and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years.
Climate Progress, January 2, 2014 -▶ CLIMATE CHANGE WILL STARVE THE DEEP SEA, STUDY FINDS. The deep sea is home to thousands of commercially important species and is one of the last frontiers for new species discovery. The creatures of the deep are also key to the cycling of nitrogen, carbon and silicon in the ocean, a process that maintains the delicate balance of ocean life...http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3113101/climate-change-starve-deep-sea/
BBC News, November 13, 2013 -▶ EMISSIONS OF CO2 DRIVING RAPID OCEANS 'ACID TRIP'The world's oceans are becoming acidic at an "unprecedented rate" and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years.
WATCH TED TALK VIDEOS OCEAN WONDERS ( 10 TALKS) Dive into the unexplored universe beneath the waves: the beautiful, fragile (and sometimes terrifying) world of the ocean.http://www.ted.com/playlists/7/ocean_wonders
==============================
DEADLY BYCATCH:
TWO-THIRDS OF HEALTHY FISH BROUGHT ON TO FISHING VESSELS IS THROWN BACK INTO THE SEA - DEAD OR INJUREDhttp://sco.lt/6DbCld
The world faces a choice. We do not have to return to an oceanic Stone Age. Whether we can summon the political will and moral courage to restore the seas to health before it is too late is an open question. The challenge and the opportunity are there.
-▶ HEALTHY OCEAN FOOD WEB KEY TO GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE
Carbon is present in the atmosphere and is stored in soils, oceans and the Earth's crust. Any movement of carbon between — or in the case of the ocean, within — these reservoirs is called a flux. According to the researchers, oceans are a central component in the global carbon cycle through their storage, transport and transformations of carbon constituents... http://www.science20.com/news_articles/ocean_food_web_key_global_carbon_cycle-131468
ScienceDaily, March 21, 2014 ▶ DEEP OCEAN CURRENT MAY SLOW DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET'SCLIMATE.Far beneath the surface of the ocean, deep currents act as conveyer belts, channeling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe. A new has found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down one of these conveyer belts, with potentially serious consequences for the future of the planet's climatehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140321164911.htm
- ▶ CHANGING OUR WORLD FOREVER. THE WAY TO A NEW, UNKNOWN ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMhttp://sco.lt/945Zsv
Release of the footage, taken by conservation group Earthrace Conservation, coincides with the start of this year's seal cull which is expected to kill 80-90,000 seal pups and up to 6,000 bulls....
Earthrace Conservation calls for an immediate halt before thousands more seal pups are brutally killed. The footage, released July 2013, shows dozens of seal pups being driven across the beach to be clubbed to death by a team wielding what appear to be pick axe handles before their carcasses are loaded into a pick-up truck for disposal.
This graphic and upsetting film, shot in 2011 but only just released by Earthrace Conservation, shows sealers clubbing Cape fur seals to death in a nature reserve. The footage has been presented to the country's government, but a request by animal protection groups to ban the practice has been ignored.
-▶ The Namibian seal hunt is responsible for the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth and is considered to be the most brutal of all seal culls. For 139 days, terrified pups are rounded up, separated from their mothers, and brutally beaten to death for their pelts – a CITES protected species, killed in a seal reserve every day just hours before tourists come to view the remaining colony. Inhumane, illegal, unsustainable and unethical, many conservation groups violently oppose the slaughter.... http://ecowatch.com/2012/exposes-slaughter-baby-seals/
-▶ NAMIBIA: THE SEALS OF NAM - A GLOBAL OUTCRY
Each year, despite massive international criticism, flawed science, mounting public outcry and warnings from the IUCN, the quota gets increased.
Did you know the Namibian seal hunt is responsible for one of the largest slaughters of marine mammals on earth? It is considered to be the most brutal of ALL culls and is considered by scientists to be horrendously cruel.
From the 1st of July, 80 000 Cape Fur seal pups, still dependent on the teat, will be beaten to death with pick handles for their fur pelts. A further 6 000 adult bull seals will be shot at point blank range so that their penises can be used to make ineffective sex potions for the Asian markets, thus fueling an illegal trade in animal body parts for fake medicines. For the next 139 days, terrified pups will be rounded up, separated from their mothers and be violently beaten to death. The colony will be rounded up at day break. Pups, bulls and cows will be surrounded and kept away from the safety of the sea. Men with clubs move in and the seals run in fear.
-▶ Oceania, December 2, 2013 PHOTOS: ALL ABOUT HARP SEALS - There’s no doubt that harp seal pups are perilously cute. But did you know that once they grow up, these seals migrate thousands of miles each year? ... http://oceana.org/en/blog/2013/12/creature-feature-harp-seal
The Dodo, December 15, 2014 -▶ NORWAY CUTS FUNDING FOR ONE OF THE CRUELEST HUNTS IN THE WORLD. In 2014, only three hunting boats participated, landing a catch of 11,980 harp seals, compared with a catch of more than 20,000 harp seals in 2005.
After nearly two decades of funneling government money into the annual seal hunting industry, Norway has announced that it is canceling all subsidies, a move that could spell the end of the commercial hunts.
Lawmakers voted last week to take a 12-million-kroner ($1.6 million USD) subsidy for the commercial seal hunt out of the the 2015 budget. The subsidies were the equivalent of paying fishermen $167 for each seal they killed. The loss of government subsidies, which previously covered some 80 percent of the industry’s revenue, could knock Norway off the shrinking list of countries that hunt seals commercially. The other remaining countries are Canada, Greenland and Namibia.
Seals play a vital part in the natural food chain. Whales are starving due to lack of their food (seals) while man is cruelly slaughtering hundreds of thousands for their profit. Something MUST be done here
ScienceDaily, March 21, 2014 ▶ DEEP OCEAN CURRENT MAY SLOW DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET'S CLIMATE. Far beneath the surface of the ocean, deep currents act as conveyer belts, channeling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe. A new has found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down one of these conveyer belts, with potentially serious consequences for the future of the planet's climate http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140321164911.htm
VIDEO BBC Future, March 6, 2013 ANTARCTICA: ENGINE OF THE OCEAN
March 6, 2012 Conservation, University of Washington ▶ SLOW MO: Try again next year. The long-promised recovery of two heavily-exploited Antarctic fish may take several more decades than many scientists hoped. A new survey suggests that marbled and humped rockcod numbers remain in the dregs despite a fishing ban enacted in 1990 http://conservationmagazine.org/2012/03/slow-mo/
This is a heartbreaking subject when you realize the effects of wasteful, wanton irresponsibility and unconscious recklessness. The article below following the video is a must view, even if only to see the pictures. The shocking reality of what is happening to our planet is beyond comprehension. Thankfully the vibrant loving beauty of nature helps soothe our souls, but the challenge before us is daunting....http://www.zengardner.com/when-the-mermaids-cry-the-great-plastic-tide/
Alternet, December 31, 2014 - ▶ PLASTIC BAG MANUFACTURERS SPEND $3 MILLION IN EFFORT TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA BAN. The American Progressive Bag Alliance lobbyists have spent $3 million to collect signatures to place a repeal of the bill on the November 2016 ballot, saying that claims that the bags contribute to litter and pollution are overblown. http://www.alternet.org/environment/plastic-bag-manufacturers-spend-3-million-repeal-california-ban
INFOGRAPH UNDERSTANDING PLASTIC POLLUTION THROUGH EXPLORATION, EDUCATION AND ACTIONhttp://5gyres.org/
An eye-opening story about the institute’s global mission to study the effects, reality, and scale of plastic pollution around the world. The overwhelming contaminant that is secretly infiltrating all levels of sea life like a cancer... http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/plasticized/
- ▶ THE WORLD'S LARGEST 'WASTE DUMP' IS FOUND IN THE PACIFIC OCEANhttp://sco.lt/5F1E8H
- ▶ WHY ARE BRITISH FISH EATING PLASTIC?" SERIOUS FOR FISH, SERIOUS FOR YOU AND OUR FOOD CHAINhttp://sco.lt/54HFsf
- ▶ THE BIGGEST, SINGLE DUMPING OF TRASH INTO OUR OCEANS - FUKUSHIMA --- MORE PLASTIChttp://sco.lt/5IxfUX
Discovery News, November 18, 2014 HAWAIIAN WORLD HERITAGE SITE MARINE REFUGE NOW FILLED WITH GARBAGE. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, a World Heritage Site and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, is an isolated assortment of tiny uninhabited islands and coral reefs that are home to an amazing array of marine animals and plants, including 14 million seabirds and endangered green sea turtles.http://news.discovery.com/animals/hawaiian-marine-refuge-now-filled-with-garbage-141118.htm
Plastic will be with us for a long time. We live in a plastic world. Plastic is a by-product of petroleum, is non biodegradable and as you can see from the videos above, is wreaking havoc in our food chain and our human bodies.
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) December 12, 2014 ▶ OIL SPILL THREATENS RARE DOLPHINS IN BANGLADESH'S SUNDARBANS REGION, OFFICIALS WARN. Thousands of litres of oil spilled into the protected Sundarbans mangrove area, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins. Bangladeshi fishermen using sponges and sacks have begun cleaning up a huge oil spill in a protected area that is home to the world's largest mangrove foresthttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-12/catastrophic-oil-spill-in-bangladesh/5963450
Guardian Environment, January 29, 2013
-▶ TIGERS UNDER THREAT FROM RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING SUNDARBAN MANGROVE FOREST. Report shows vast forest, shared by India and Bangladesh, is being rapidly destroyed by environmental change.
Mongabay, ▶ MANGROVES PROTECT COASTAL AREAS AGAINST STORM DAMAGEMangroves reduce wave height by as much as 66 percent over 100 meters of forest providing a vital buffer against the impacts of storms, tsunamis, and hurricanes, according to a new report published by The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International...http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0907-mangroves-wave-protection.html
Phys.Org, September 29, 2014 ▶ TIME FOR WORLDWIDE FUND TO SAVE MANGROVES: UNEP - More than a quarter of the world's mangroves have already been lost, and the current rate of destruction is more than triple that of land forests
VIDEO THE BEAUTY OF MANGROVE FORESTS (2:00) A Very Short Film About the beauty and Importance of Manrove ForestsThe Beauty of Mangrovehttp://vimeo.com/57894590
UNESCO, February 22, 2012 -▶ MARINE SCIENTIST ALARMED ABOUT INCREASING THREAT TO OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS.In the last 30 years, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fishery resources have become depleted on a large scale. For example, more than 60 per cent of Asia’s mangroves have already been converted to aquaculture farms (ESCAP and ADB, 2000). The region is losing its resource bases to support people’s livelihoods and sustain future economic development. http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/marine-scientists-alarmed-about-increasing-threats-to-ocean-ecosystems/
May, 16, 2013 Guardian Environment - Nafeez Ahmed:
-▶ OBAMA'S ARCTIC STRATEGY SETS OFF A CLIMATE TIME BOMB.US National Strategy for the Arctic Region prioritises corporate 'economic opportunities' at the expense of everyone else
At the heart of the White House's new Arctic strategy is an elementary but devastating contradiction between what President Obama, in the document's preamble, describes as seeking "to make the most of the emerging economic opportunities in the region" due to the rapid loss of Arctic summer sea ice, and recognising "the need to protect and conserve this unique, valuable, and changing environment."...http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/17/obama-arctic-energy-security-climate
May, 16, 2013 Guardian Environment - Nafeez Ahmed:
OBAMA'S ARCTIC ENERGY SECURITY - CLIMATE
-▶ US National Strategy for the Arctic Region prioritises corporate 'economic opportunities' at the expense of everyone else..
At the heart of the White House's new Arctic strategy is an elementary but devastating contradiction between what President Obama, in the document's preamble, describes as seeking "to make the most of the emerging economic opportunities in the region" due to the rapid loss of Arctic summer sea ice, and recognising "the need to protect and conserve this unique, valuable, and changing environment."...http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/17/obama-arctic-energy-security-climate
August 3, 2013 Global Possibilities -▶ THE CLIMATE TIME BOMB THAT WILL COST US $60 TRILLION:Obama in the US, and Harper in Canada, are turning North America into a petro–imperial and petro–despot continent. This doesn’t bode well for solving the climate crisis... http://www.globalpossibilities.org/the-climate-time-bomb-that-will-cost-us-60-trillion/
-▶ OFFSHORE OIL: SHELL'S CHALLENGE IN DRILLING FOR ARCTIC OIL ,Over a year ago, Royal Dutch Shell began oil drilling operations offshore of Alaska, the first attempt to explore the outer continental shelf in two decades. But Shell's initial foray proved disastrous. After sinking $5 billion into the effort, not a single well was drilled and its rig ran aground. Shell racked up big fines for faulty equipment, pollution and safety violations and sat out the last season. Outgoing Shell CEO Peter Voser called the Arctic one of his biggest disappointments. Elizabeth Arnold, based in Alaska, looked into the state of Arctic oil exploration in the U.S...http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/shells-challenge-drilling-arctic-oil
Official records show that the number of tankers, cargo ships and tugs transiting through the Arctic has more than doubled since 2008. Offshore oil exploration by Royal Dutch Shell and others has added to the increased industrialization. Mostly low-frequency sounds from ship engines, seismic surveys and drilling machinery overlap with and may interfere with sounds produced and received by marine mammals.http://news.yahoo.com/arctic-melts-shipping-traffic-blasts-wildlife-op-ed-191825197.html
FIVE YEARS AFTER DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL DISASTER, DOLPHINS DYING IN DROVE AND SCIENTISTS CAN'T STOP IThttp://sco.lt/5cPoG1
Deutche Welle, February 07, 2014 -▶ ARE WE PREPARED FOR A CATASTROPHE IN THE ARCTIC?As climate change warms the Arctic, oil rigs are opening, ships are making use of new shipping routes and tourists are flocking to see the icebergs. But experts warn that we are not adequately prepared for accidents. http://www.dw.de/are-we-prepared-for-a-catastrophe-in-the-arctic/a-17412856
ClimateProgress, December 27, 2013 -▶ IN THE MIDST OF RECORD OIL BOOM, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SEEKS MORE OIL PRODUCTION.
America produced an average of 7.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2013, an increase of one million barrels per day and the biggest one-year jump in the nation’s history, FuelFix reported Thursday. The U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA) estimates production will grow by another one million barrels in 2014 and will peak at a whopping 9.5 million barrels per day in 2016.
-▶ WHY GEOENGINEERING SUITS RUSSIA'S CARBON AGENDA, GIVEN THE COUNTRY'S FOSSIL FUEL STRATEGY IN THE ARCTIC
The Arctic, a large portion of which is controlled or claimed by Russia, is a new carbon El Dorado, holding up to a quarter of the globe’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves. According to one energy industry insider: "Climate change is opening up one of the last frontiers for hydrocarbons on our planet. The Arctic … could be set for rapid change and development as exploration, production and infrastructure will have an inevitable, irreversible impact." http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/24/why-geoengineering-suits-russias-carbon-agenda
Photographer Brian Skerry shoots life above and below the waves -- as he puts it, both the horror and the magic of the ocean. Sharing amazing, intimate shots of undersea creatures, he shows how powerful images can help make change....http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_skerry_reveals_ocean_s_glory_and_horror
Yale Environment 360 -▶ WHY ARE BIRDS OF THE ARCTIC IN DECLINE?With some species of Arctic birds experiencing steep drops in population and their prey also undergoing marked shifts, scientists are working to understand what role climate change is playing in these unfolding ecological transformations...http://e360.yale.edu/feature/northern_mystery_why_are_birds_of_the_arctic_in_decline/2731/
-▶ GLOBAL WARMING: MAJOR NEW REPORT WARNS OF 'ARCTIC SQUEEZE'. An entire bio-climatic zone, the high Arctic, may disappear. FRISCO — Rapid climate change in the Arctic is putting enormous pressure on ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and the fundamental way of life of indigenous Arctic peoples, scientists said in a major new report. “An entire bio-climatic zone, the high Arctic, may disappear. Polar bears and the other highly adapted organisms cannot move further north, so they may go extinct. We risk losing several species forever,” said Hans Meltofte of Aarhus University, chief scientist of the report. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/02/15/global-warming-report-warns-of-arctic-squeeze/
▶ VAST METHANE PLUMES SEEN IN ARCTIC OCEAN AS SEA ICE RETREATShttp://sco.lt/6H0vuD
-▶ MARINE SCIENTIST ALARMED ABOUT INCREASING THREAT TO OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS. In the last 30 years, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fishery resources have become depleted on a large scale. For example, more than 60 per cent of Asia’s mangroves have already been converted to aquaculture farms (ESCAP and ADB, 2000). The region is losing its resource bases to support people’s livelihoods and sustain future economic development. http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/marine-scientists-alarmed-about-increasing-threats-to-ocean-ecosystems/
-▶ OUR OCEANS ARE DYING: RAPIDLY SPIRALING DOWNWARD: MASS EXTINCTION MAY BE INEVITABLE http://sco.lt/8CFwcT
-▶ GLOBAL WARMING IS HERE TO STAY, WHICHEVER WAY YOU LOOK AT IThttp://sco.lt/7WJayH
PRICING CARBON
A FAILED STRATEGY THAT WON'T SAVE THE CLIMATE OR PLANET
May 27, 2012 CBC News -▶ SEAL HUNT DESCRIBED AS "BEST" IN YEARS - NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR - DESPITE BEING UNDER QUOTA OF 400,000
...There's growing demand for seal skin coats, boots, slippers and other products in the province and across Canada. He said fur is also still going to markets in China and other parts of Asia as the federal government fights the European Union's ban on seal products through the World Trade Organization... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/seal-hunt-described-as-best-in-years-1.1338671
-▶ CANADA: 70,000 SEAL "CULL" AKA "SLAUGHTER" WILL NOT REVIVE CANADA'S COD STOCKS - SCIENTISTShttp://sco.lt/4i4j33
-▶ Oceania, December 2, 2013 PHOTOS: ALL ABOUT HARP SEALS - There’s no doubt that harp seal pups are perilously cute. But did you know that once they grow up, these seals migrate thousands of miles each year? ... http://oceana.org/en/blog/2013/12/creature-feature-harp-seal
====================
NAMBIA
VIDEO
-▶ THE HORROR OF THE ANNUAL 90,000 NAMIBIAN BABY SEAL SLAUGHTERhttp://sco.lt/84qunZ
The Dodo, December 15, 2014 -▶ NORWAY CUTS FUNDING FOR ONE OF THE CRUELEST HUNTS IN THE WORLD. In 2014, only three hunting boats participated, landing a catch of 11,980 harp seals, compared with a catch of more than 20,000 harp seals in 2005.
After nearly two decades of funneling government money into the annual seal hunting industry, Norway has announced that it is canceling all subsidies, a move that could spell the end of the commercial hunts.
Lawmakers voted last week to take a 12-million-kroner ($1.6 million USD) subsidy for the commercial seal hunt out of the the 2015 budget. The subsidies were the equivalent of paying fishermen $167 for each seal they killed. The loss of government subsidies, which previously covered some 80 percent of the industry’s revenue, could knock Norway off the shrinking list of countries that hunt seals commercially. The other remaining countries are Canada, Greenland and Namibia.
-▶ GOVERNING OUR OCEANS: THE TRAGEDY OF THE HIGH SEAS
IN 1968 an American ecologist, Garrett Hardin, published an article entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons”. He argued that when a resource is held jointly, it is...
The high seas are of great economic importance to everyone—fish is a more important source of protein than beef—and getting more so. The number of patents using DNA from sea-creatures is rocketing, and one study suggests that marine life is a hundred times more likely to contain material useful for anti-cancer drugs than is terrestrial life....
Yet the state of the high seas is deteriorating (see article). Arctic ice now melts away in summer. Dead zones are spreading. Two-thirds of the fish stocks in the high seas are over-exploited, even more than in the parts of the oceans under national control. And strange things are happening at a microbiological level. The oceans produce half the planet’s supply of oxygen, mostly thanks to chlorophyll in aquatic algae. Concentrations of that chlorophyll are falling. That does not mean life will suffocate. But it could further damage the climate, since less oxygen means more carbon dioxide.
For tragedies of the commons to be averted, rules and institutions are needed to balance the short-term interests of individuals against the long-term interests of all users. That is why the dysfunctional policies and institutions governing the high seas need radical reform. The Solutions...
TWO-THIRDS OF HEALTHY FISH BROUGHT ON TO FISHING VESSELS IS THROWN BACK INTO THE SEA - DEAD OR INJUREDhttp://sco.lt/6DbCld
The Ecologist, October 17, 2013 -▶ THE BRUTAL REALITY OF DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER IN PERU.Undercover filming by the UK investigative agency Ecostorm has exposed - for the first time - the brutal hunting and killing of dolphins for use as shark bait off Peru's Pacific coast. a secret slaughter involving thousands of dolphins, dwarfing the high seas drama of the annual whale hunt in Antarctica. Known as "sea pigs" by fishermen in Peru, dolphins are reportedly harpooned and diced up on deck, before being skewered onto hundreds of hooks strung out on long-lines at sea to attract sharkshttp://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2122747
WATCH: CNN VIDEO: "OVERFISHED AND UNDER-PROTECTED:
-▶ AS MUCH AS TWO-THIRDS OF HEALTHY FISH BROUGHT ON TO FISHING VESSELS THROWN BACK INTO THE SEA DEAD OR DYING,because they are less valuable than the species the fishermen are targeting...In some trawl fisheries for shrimp, the discard may be 90 percent of the catch. Other fisheries kill seabirds, turtles and dolphins, sometimes in huge numbers. sea.http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/27/eu-fish-discards-ban-welcomed
-▶ 100 MILLION A YEAR JUST FOR THEIR FINS. SHARK POPULATIONS PLUMMETS BY 90%http://sco.lt/5FNEG1
-▶ THE END OF CORAL REEFS? AROUND FOR 10 MILLION YEARS, WIPED OUT IN 100http://sco.lt/8VOKzx
-▶ “THERE IS NO LIFE OUT THERE": GULF ECOSYSTEM IN CRISIS AFTER BP DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTERhttp://sco.lt/5EAkaX
-▶ OBAMA'S ARCTIC STRATEGY SETS OFF A CLIMATE TIME BOMB. THE SUICIDAL RACE FOR ARCTIC'S NATURAL RESOURCEShttp://sco.lt
DOLPHIN STAMPEDE CAPTURED ON BREATHTAKING DRONE VIDEOOne of nature’s most incredible sights has been filmed from a rare new perspective. Last month, a mega-pod of thousands of dolphins were seen migrating in a massive stampede through the waters of southern California -- and luckily, the entire spectacle was captured on video by an aerial drone flying... https://www.thedodo.com/dolphin-stampede-captured-on-b-446060258.html?xrs=RebelMouse_tw
The Ecologist, October 17, 2013 THE BRUTAL REALITY OF DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER IN PERU.Undercover filming by the UK investigative agency Ecostorm has exposed - for the first time - the brutal hunting and killing of dolphins for use as shark bait off Peru's Pacific coast. a secret slaughter involving thousands of dolphins, dwarfing the high seas drama of the annual whale hunt in Antarctica. Known as "sea pigs" by fishermen in Peru, dolphins are reportedly harpooned and diced up on deck, before being skewered onto hundreds of hooks strung out on long-lines at sea to attract sharkshttp://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2122747
▶ DOLPHINS DYING IN DROVES AND SCIENTISTS CAN'T STOP IT: POST DEEPWATER HORIZON, UNHEALTHY OCEANShttp://sco.lt/7OtO9h
▶ WHALES AND SONAR A DEADLY MIX - MASS STRANDINGS RESEARCH SHOWShttp://sco.lt/4lLKcr
WATCH BBC. Natural World. A KILLER WHALE CALLED LUNA The emotional story of a young killer whale's quest for companionship after he was separated from his family and found himself on the rugged, wild coast of Vancouver Island. The film records the human friendships he developed and the trouble this led him into. From death threats to numerous capture attempts by the government, the film-makers watched as various people tried to determine Luna's fate...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFs9PPFiNM
VIDEO ▶ INCREDIBLE WHALE ENCOUNTER A mother gray whale lifted up her calf, seemingly to help it get a better view of the excited onlookers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu3KC4r_hcI
About My Planet, March 07, 2014
▶ SHIP PROPELLERS KILL ANOTHER WHALE. A young North Atlantic right whale was found dead along the Georgia Coast with 20 propeller lacerations on its body. There are only about 400 of this endangered whale in the world and last year alone, four of the six right whales found dead were killed by ships and one was found tangled in a fishing net.http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment/ship-propellers-kill-another-whale/
VIDEO:
BBC - GALAPAGOS
SWIMMING WITH THE BEAUTIFUL, GRACEFUL SPOTTED EAGLE RAYS - GALAPAGOShttp://sco.lt/5BBMJ7
-▶ Humans have gained unprecedented supremacy over the seas in a short space of time, thanks to potent technological advances such as satellite tracking devices and engines so formidable they can drag nets big enough to engulf a cathedral. Add in the impact of pollution, from the likes of fertiliser run-off or discarded plastic, and the oceans have changed more in the past 30 years than in all of human history.
In most places, the oceans have lost more than 75 per cent of their “megafauna” – large creatures such as whales, sharks, dolphins, rays and turtles. Numbers of some species – oceanic whitetip sharks; American sawfish – are down by as much as 99 per cent. For every 20 leatherback turtles in the Pacific 50 years ago, only one remains...http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9601c144-9dcd-11e1-838c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1vqzpHIBt
Haaretz, July 14, 2014 ▶ MEDITERRANEAN FISH STOCKS IN STEADY DECLINE, MAY NOT RECOVER.There is no room left for optimism with regard to future yields,' note researchers, whose numbers show fishermen are emptying the sea without leaving a younger generation of fish to reproduce.http://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.604929
Summit Voice, October 23, 2014 -▶ NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL NEEDED FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES.Destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling make matters worse. Trawl nets grab any and all forms of marine life, laying waste to the ocean floor. The total area bottom trawled is nearly 150 times the area of forest that is clear cut annually around the world. As targeted fish species shrink, both industrial and small-scale fishers move on to other species, depleting them, too, until finally they are catching anything that might provide food or generate cash. Government subsidies, in the absence of regulation, often serve to encourage this overfishing and habitat destruction — and must be abolished, the scientists said.http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/10/23/new-governance-model-needed-for-sustainable-fisheries/
-▶ SNOWBALL EFFECT OF OVERFISHING HIGHLIGHTED- "You don't realize how interdependent species are until it all unravels," - The domino effect that occurs when too many fish are harvested from one habitat.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140107163737.htm
VIDEO:
TAMING THE BLUE FRONTIER:
CAN AQUACULTURE BE SUSTAINABLE? WILD vs FARMED FISH
-▶ MAJOR US FOOD RETAILERS TO SHUN GENETICALLY MODIFIED, PATENTED, FACTORY FARMED, ENSLAVED SEAFOOD http://sco.lt/4qgoDZ
-▶ WE MAY BE THE LAST GENERATION TO CATCH FOOD FROM THE OCEANShttp://sco.lt/8uHn7Z
-▶ CLIMATE CHANGE AND OCEAN ACIDIFICATION. HIGHEST LEVELS IN 55 MILLION YEARS - ARCTIC COULD BE ICE FREE IN... http://sco.lt/6srluz
WATCH
-▶ *** THE WILD AND BEAUTIFUL BERING SEA ~ Wolfram Publications This beautiful, wild place, home to one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet is at risk. Unsustainable fishing will continue destroying essential habitat in the Bering Sea Canyons, and taking massive amounts of fish that other animals depend on to survive - unless we act now to protect ithttp://wolfram-publications.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-wild-and-beautiful-bering-sea.html
Take a deep breath and imagine the oceans... Short Greenpeace documentary outlining the threats to our oceans and what can be done to restore their health produced in 2005.
WRECKING THE OCEAN ECOSYSTEM
OVERFISHING DESTROYING FOOD SOURCE FOR OCEAN SPECIES
Bloomberg Philanthropies delivers real, lasting change around the world. Learn how we're changing lives and transforming philanthropy-and how you can help.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Vibrant Oceans Initiative supports a groundbreaking approach to reform both local and industrial fishing simultaneously. Our approach integrates financial strategies to ease the transition to more sustainable fishing.
THE DEMAND FOR FISH IS RISING WHILE THE SUPPLY IS RAPIDLY DECLINING
One billion people rely on fish as their primary source of protein. As the world’s population continues to grow, so will the demand for fish – which is projected to rise by over 20% by the year 2030. Meanwhile, over-fishing, or taking more fish than can be naturally replaced, is depleting the global population of fish. The amount of fish caught worldwide peaked in the 1990s and has since declined.
Industrial ships are able to catch two times more fish than exist in the ocean. Bottom-trawling, or dragging a heavy net along the ocean floor, in some cases discards 10 lbs of marine life (dead or dying) for every 1 lb of marine life caught. Other dangerous practices include dynamite and cyanide fishing, which damage coral reefs.Limits on the number of fish that can be caught are set too high in many places or do not exist at all, diminishing fish stocks and not allowing fish to repopulate.
The good news is that marine ecosystems can rebound relatively quickly if caught in time. The factors that led to mismanagement must be addressed now in order to replenish fish populations and to help meet the dietary needs of a growing global population....
Science Now, February 27, 2014 -▶ 3D MAPS REVEAL A TOXIC LEAD-LACED OCEAN: A pollutant once widely emitted by cars burning leaded gasoline. Decades ago, the United States and Europe banned leaded gas and many other uses of the metal, but the pollutant’s fingerprint lingers on http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2014/02/3d-maps-reveal-lead-laced-ocean
-▶ THE END OF CORAL REEFS? AROUND FOR 10 MILLION YEARS, WIPED OUT IN 100 http://sco.lt/7y1XHt
-▶ OCEAN PLASTIC'S IMPACT ON SEA LIFE, YOUR SEAFOOD AND YOUR HEALTH http://sco.lt/7yGHWz
-▶ NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPING IN THE WORLDS' OCEANS - 114,000 TONS !!! VIDEO SubTitles)For english subtitles press the cc button bottom righthttp://youtu.be/pk_qOreKwJ0
VIDEO
HIGHLY TOXIC PLUTONIUM COULD APPEAR ON OUR PLATES VIA FISHING --- PLUTONIUM FOUND IN FISH, 5000M DEEP DOWN IN THE OCEANS This is a report about the nuclear waste that was dumped into the sea around Europe between 1967 and 1982. ALL 114.726 TONS ARE STILL THERE - thousands of barrels, corroding or even rosted through by now. It was broadcasted Nov.1, 2011http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk_qOreKwJ0&feature=channel
In its worst crisis since World War II, Japan faces disaster on an epic scale: a death toll likely in the tens of thousands, massive destruction of homes and businesses, shortages of water and power, and the specter of nuclear meltdown. With exclusive footage, NOVA captures the unfolding human drama and offers a clear-headed investigation of what triggered the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear crisis. Can science and technology ever prevent devastation in the face of overwhelmingly powerful forces of nature?http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/japan-killer-quake.html
RT News, Dr Helen Caldicott, September 13, 2013 -▶ ENDLESS FUKUSHIMA CATASTROPHE: MANY GENERATIONS; HEALTH AT STAKE. Bio-accumulation of radioactive elements around Fukushima will devastate many future Japanese generations, while the Pacific Ocean is also being contaminated by leaking radioactive water. Yet there is still no good solution from the Japanese government....http://rt.com/op-edge/fukushima-catastrophe-health-japan-803/
CHEF'S DEMAND AN END TO THE 'IDIOCY' OF ELECTRIC FIHING FOR RAZOR CLAMS
Hundreds of tonnes of shellfish are being illegally electrocuted around Scotland’s shores by fishing boats trying to make a fast buck – and it’s got to end. That is the blunt message this weekend from celebrity chefs and food experts, who are demanding a tough government crackdown on electro-fishing for razor clams. “This idiocy must stop,” they declare in a joint letter to the Sunday Herald.
This film was made for WCPA by world-renowned cinematographer Bob Talbot enlightens us that we have only one ocean and it is in SERIOUS trouble! TOGETHER - a... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObNSqa14QNU
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