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Pacific Reef Shark Populations Are Plummeting | Photos
CNN...
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Pacific reef shark populations plummeting, study says
By Matthew Knight, CNN
updated 10:38 AM EDT, Sat April 28, 2012
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
New study provides estimates on reef shark populations near islands in Pacific Ocean
Marine scientists find reef shark numbers dramatically reduced around inhabited islands
Over 1600 surveys make up study which forms part of NOAA Pacific monitoring program
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(CNN) -- Humans are causing a steep decline in populations of reef sharks in the Pacific Ocean according to a new study by a group of international marine scientists.
The new estimates of reef sharks compared numbers around populated islands with those living near uninhabited ones. The results were sobering, say researchers.
"We estimate that reef shark numbers have dropped substantially around populated islands, generally by more than 90% compared to those at the most untouched reefs," said lead author Marc Nadon from the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at the University of Hawaii.
Over 1600 underwater surveys across 46 U.S. Pacific islands and atolls were undertaken in the study and combined with data on human population, habitat complexity, reef size and satellite records.
The estimates were gathered using "towed-dive surveys" where paired SCUBA divers record shark sightings while being towed behind a small boat. It's a method which provides a more accurate census of mobile reef fish like sharks over large areas, according to researchers.
"Around each of the heavily populated areas we surveyed -- in the main Hawaiian Islands, the Mariana Archipelago and the American Samoa -- reef shark numbers were greatly depressed compared to reefs in the same regions that were simply further away from humans," Nadon said.
"We estimate that less than 10% of the baseline numbers remain in these areas," he added.
Reef shark fins are not the most valuable ... but a lot of other oceanic sharks have already declined a lot so that's why fisherman are now turning to them." - Julia Baum, University of Victoria
Co-author of the study, Julia Baum from Canada's University of Victoria says the human disturbances to reef shark populations are likely down to fishing -- either incidentally caught in the nets of commercial or recreational fishermen or by direct targeting for their fins.
"Reef shark fins are not the most valuable because they tend to be smaller than other sharks, but a lot of other oceanic sharks have already declined a lot so that's why fisherman are now turning to them," Baum said.
She estimates these fins sell for around $100 per kilogram with demand coming from Asian markets where shark fin soup can be found on the menu for weddings and business banquets.
Reef sharks, which are around six to eight feet long (1.8 meters to 2.4 meters), are the "apex predators" of coral reefs Baum says, and like predators in other eco-systems play an important role in structuring food webs. But there is still much to learn about their specific role.
"Frankly, we're still trying to figure out what predators do on reefs. The reason for that is because most predators have been removed from reefs. Most reefs that coral reef biologists study are moderately to heavily degraded," Baum said.
The study forms part of the U.S.'s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program and is published online in the journal Conservation Biology.
.CNN... . Pacific reef shark populations plummeting, study says By Matthew... more-
- EthicalVegan
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Marine Biologist Indicted for Allegedly Feeding Killer Whales
Los Angeles Times...
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Marine biologist indicted for allegedly feeding killer whales
January 5, 2012 | 2:24 pm
PHOTO:
Monterey orcas
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A California marine biologist and whale-watching tour operator has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly feeding killer whales in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, in violation of federal wildlife provisions.
Nancy Black, owner and operator of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, was indicted in San Jose federal court Wednesday and charged with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which bars harming, harassing, feeding and otherwise interfering with marine mammals, including dolphins, sea lions and whales.
The four-count indictment accuses Black of twice feeding killer whales in the marine sanctuary -- once in 2004 and again in 2005.
The indictment also alleges she altered a video showing possible illegal contact with an endangered humpback whale during a whale-watching trip in October 2005, then lied to investigators about doing so.
Black’s tours and research aboard her company’s whale-watching vessels -- the 70-foot Sea Wolf II and the 55-foot Pt. Sur Clipper -- have been featured extensively in local media and appeared on the "Today" show and the "CBS Evening News."
Black’s attorney, Lawrence Biegel, said she was gathering scientific data and broke no laws when she filmed the behavior of killer whales feeding off free-floating pieces of blubber from a gray whale calf.
Black and several assistants, he said, cut a hole in the blubber and used a rope to secure it close to her 22-foot inflatable research dinghy so she could film killer whales with an underwater camera as they approached to eat it.
Calling the indictment “wholly unjustified” and based on a misunderstanding of her techniques and methods, Biegel said she acted within the boundaries of a whale-research permit issued by the federal government and presented the footage to other researchers at a conference in Norway.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the sanctuary spanning 276 miles of California’s Central Coast, first revealed the investigation in 2006 and has had ongoing negotiations with the marine biologist over the charges, Biegel said.
The Monterey Bay Whale Watch website calls Black an expert in the biology of killer whales off the California coast who has a master’s degree in marine science and works to catalog, identify and document their behavior in Monterey Bay.
The website boasts of trips led by experienced marine biologists who “collect valuable data on the marine mammals sighted” and “the most skilled captains who know where to find whales and how to approach them.”
.Los Angeles Times... . Marine biologist indicted for allegedly feeding killer... more-
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Ted Danson Urges More Science Before Offshore Drilling Exploration
Ted Danson urges more science before exploration
Published on November 12th, 2010 5:12 pm
By MARGARET BAUMAN (The Seward Phoenix LOG)
Alaska Native groups and environmentalists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic found support this week in testimony offered at a federal hearing by actor Ted Danson, while state, union and industry officials asked for the project to proceed.
Danson, who is in Anchorage filming "Everyone Loves Whales" with Drew Barrymore, told the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement that its revised environmental impact statement still needs work.
"It would be a mistake for the train to leave the station ... to lease and then do the science," he said. "If you're going to drill in environmentally sensitive areas, make sure you've got it right. And we haven't gotten it right yet," said Danson, a board member of the ocean advocacy group Oceana.
"Our suggestion is to stop this draft, do the real science, the base science, and it would take maybe four or five years to do that, $20 million per year, would be well worth that effort," he said.
Danson was among 78 people signed up to testify in the standing-room-only crowd Nov. 9 before BOEMRE, formerly the federal Minerals Management Service, in a midtown Anchorage office building.
BOEMRE officials listened for some three hours to a steady stream of people arguing for and against allowing offshore drilling to proceed in the traditional sea mammal hunting grounds of the North Slope's Inupiat Eskimo hunters.
The hearing was the last of four hearings held in Alaska on the supplemental environmental impact statement for oil and gas lease sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea, which would be conducted by Shell Oil. Others were scheduled earlier at Kotzebue, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright and Barrow. Shell contends that there is little chance that a blowout would occur in this relatively shallow area of the outer continental shelf, but that if it did, that the spill could be contained and cleaned up.
Danson, who was among the first signed up to testify, had visited just days earlier in Barrow, with North Slope borough Mayor Edward Itta.
"The people he represents have been lifted up economically from oil money into a place where they can live in a much more sustainable way," Danson said. "And at the same time, their spiritual and cultural life depends on whaling, bowhead whale, and they feel that may or may not be in jeopardy from this drilling."
"This is a high risk gamble," said marine scientist Rick Steiner, who followed Danson in giving testimony. Steiner, who has served as an advisor on oil spill disasters worldwide, said the oil industry is not ready to handle a spill in arctic waters. "Oil spill response never ever worked anywhere," he said. "If an oil spill occurred right before freeze up (in the arctic) there would be no chance of clean-up."
Supporters of proceeding with offshore drilling said that if the leases are rescinded it would mean a loss of one of the greatest opportunities in the nation to create jobs, contribute to the reduction of the huge federal deficit, and wean America off of the grip of foreign oil.
"To be able to produce oil estimated at 29 billion barrels, and another possible 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Chukchi may hold the key to helping us solve a significant part of our country's energy woes," said Vince Beltrami, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which he said represents some 60,000 working families in Alaska.
"To rescind these leases would be to remove the potential of 35,000 year-round jobs and a payroll of more than $72 billion."
Beltrami said concerns about the safety of the environment are paramount. "Shell should be held to the highest safety accountability standards possible, as everyone knows we can ill afford a Gulf Coast style catastrophe in our Arctic waters," he said. "But this company has an excellent track record. Shell has a robust safety plan and has been safely drilling in Alaska for 50 years."
Kevin Banks, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas, complimented BOEMRE for the work they put into the supplemental environmental impact statement. "We believe that it provides more than sufficient support for the decision to affirm the Feb. 6, 2008 Sale 193 and that it is well past time to proceed to the next phase of exploration."
Banks that what is often lost in the debate about OCS development is "the simple fact that when we fail to develop our own domestic resources, we export our nation's wealth through deeper trade imbalances and the costs to maintain our international energy security. Failure to develop our domestic resources 0065acerbates the impacts on the environment in other parts of the world where values about environmental protection and the laws that minimize the impact of industrial activity are non-existent," he said.
Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director of the Center for Biological Diversity, also testified, speaking of an Arctic in trouble, warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, with Arctic summer sea ice disappearing more rapidly than climate models predicted.
Noblin said Chukchi species, including polar bears and Pacific walrus, are already showing signs of stress due to loss of sea ice habitat, but that the loaming industrial oil drilling also threatens these species.
"No one, no one has the technology to clean up oil in broken ice conditions," Noblin said. "There is no way to mobilize even a fraction of the response required for the Gulf disaster in the remote Arctic. And the truth is that a large oil spill could mean the difference between survival and extinction for struggling Arctic species."
Noblin told BOEMRE that in order to comply with the law the agency must analyze the substantial gaps in scientific information in the current EIS. "And most importantly, you must not allow drilling to go forward unless you have the scientific knowledge to say, truthfully, that drilling in the Arctic is safe," she said.
BOEMRE will continue to accept testimony through Nov. 30.
http://thesewardphoenixlog.com/thumb_srv.php?gallery=news_1011&img=all_11-18_lease_sale_193.jpg&capWid=750&capHt=350¢er=1&sharpen=1
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmeySEP08HG_2CA1WuVZgzlQjJJeqSGTwyljFM4-qkxBT-_IG44wTed Danson urges more science before exploration Published on November 12th, 2010... more-
- EthicalVegan
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Scientists find damage to coral near BP well
For the first time, federal scientists have found damage to deep sea coral and other marine life on the ocean floor several miles from the blown-out BP well — a strong indication that damage from the spill could be significantly greater than officials had previously acknowledged.
Tests are needed to verify that the coral died from oil that spewed into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, but the chief scientist who led the government-funded expedition said Friday he was convinced it was related.
"What we have at this point is the smoking gun," said Charles Fisher, a biologist with Penn State University who led the expedition aboard the Ronald Brown, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel.
"There is an abundance of circumstantial data that suggests that what happened is related to the recent oil spill," Fisher said.
For the government, the findings were a departure from earlier statements. Until now, federal teams have painted relatively rosy pictures about the spill's effect on the sea and its ecosystem, saying they had not found any damage on the ocean floor.
In early August, a federal report said that nearly 70 percent of the 170 million gallons of oil that gushed from the well into the sea had dissolved naturally, or was burned, skimmed, dispersed or captured, with almost nothing left to see — at least on top of the water. The report was blasted by scientists.
Most of the Gulf's bottom is muddy, but coral colonies that pop up every once in a while are vital oases for marine life in the chilly ocean depths.
Coral is essential to the Gulf because it provides a habitat for fish and other organisms such as snails and crabs, making any large-scale death of coral a problem for many species. It might need years, or even decades, to grow back.
"It's cold on the bottom, and things don't grow as quickly," said Paul Montagna, a marine scientist at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. He was not on the expedition.
Montagna said the affected area is so large, and scientists' ability to explore it with underwater robots so limited that "we'll never be able to see everything that happened down there."
Using a robot called Jason II, researchers found the dead coral in an area measuring up to 130 feet by 50 feet, about 4,600 feet under the surface.
"These kinds of coral are normally beautiful, brightly colored," Fisher said. "What you saw was a field of brown corals with exposed skeleton — white, brittle stars tightly wound around the skeleton, not waving their arms like they usually do."
Fisher described the soft and hard coral they found seven miles southwest of the well as an underwater graveyard. He said oil probably passed over the coral and killed it.
The coral has "been dying for months," he said. "What we are looking at is a combination of dead gooey tissues and sediment. Gunk is a good word for what it is."
Eric Cordes, a Temple University marine scientist on the expedition, said his colleagues have identified about 25 other sites in the vicinity of the well where similar damage may have occurred. An expedition is planned for next month to explore those sites.
When coral is threatened, its first reaction is to release large amounts of mucus, "and anything drifting by in the water column would get bound up in this mucus," Cordes said. "And that is what this (brown) substance would be: A variety of things bound up in the mucus."
About 90 percent of the large coral was damaged, Fisher said.
The expedition was funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The mission was part of a four-year study of the Gulf's depths, but it was expanded this year to look at oil spill damage.
In a statement released Thursday night, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said the expedition underscored that the damage to marine life from the oil spill is "not easily seen." She added that more research was needed to gain a "comprehensive understanding of impacts to the Gulf."
"Given the toxic nature of oil, and the unprecedented amount of oil spilled, it would be surprising if we did not find damage," she said.
NOAA did not provide any officials or scientists of its own who went on the expedition. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said its researcher on the expedition was unavailable.
Cordes said that the expedition did not find dramatic visual evidence of coral damage in other sites north of the well. But he said it was premature to say coral elsewhere in the Gulf was not damaged.
The new findings, though, could mean long-term trouble for the coral southwest of the well, where computer models and research cruises mapped much of the deepwater oil.
Referring to one type of coral known as "gorgonians," Cordes said he had never seen them "come back from having lost so much tissue. It would have to be re-colonization from scratch."
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On The Web:
Photos of the dead coral: http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/photos/research-photos/biology/fisher-photos/
More about the NOAA expedition: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/10lophelia/welcome.htmlFor the first time, federal scientists have found damage to deep sea coral and other... more-
- JanforGore
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Deep-See Coral Reef May Get Protection
Deep beneath the crystalline blue surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. lies a virtual rain forest of coral reefs so expansive the network is believed to be the world's largest.
A 23,000-square-mile area stretching from North Carolina to Florida is just part of that entire reef tract now being proposed for protection from potential damage by deep-sea commercial fishing and energy exploration.
So far, it's been relatively untouched by man because of its largely unreachable depths, providing scientists a unique opportunity to protect an ecosystem before it's destroyed.
"Most of the time, science is trying to catch up with exploitation," said Steve Ross of the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Ross is leading a four-part research cruise that began Aug. 6 aimed at studying these deep sea environments, hoping to find new species of fish, crab and corals that could lead to scientific and medical discoveries.
Environmentalists say crab pots and bottom trawling for shrimp are the most immediate threats.
Margot Stiles, a marine scientist for Oceana, an international environmental advocacy group, said other deep water reefs off the U.S. have been severely damaged by trawlers.
"In this case, we have 23,000 square miles of known deep sea corals, and it's not too late to protect them," Stiles said. "This particular reef is to the deep sea what the Great Barrier Reef is for the world."
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is pushing the proposal to protect the region, about the size of West Virginia, in depths down to 2,500 feet and below, creating the largest deep water coral protected area off the Atlantic Coast.
Specifics on regulations and restrictions are still being reviewed, but if approved by the U.S. Commerce Secretary, the plan could take effect by next year.
"As far as we can tell, there's relatively little damage," Ross said. "That's very different from other parts of the world. In Scotland and Ireland ... there's been significant damage mostly from fishing and now those reefs are being protected."
While fishermen have for centuries dragged up corals from the deep sea, it wasn't until the early 1900s that scientists discovered these extensive cold-water reefs existed. And it wasn't until the 1970s that researchers were able to use submersibles and cameras to reach the sea floor to document them. It had long been thought coral reefs only formed in shallow, warm waters.
Deep water reefs and pinnacles are much more slow-growing and can take several million years to form. Ross said science is only now beginning to understand these underwater "frontier zones."
Out on the research ship, scientists gather corals, sponges and fish samples by sinking deep to the ocean floor in a four-man submersible about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. The team is comprised of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida Atlantic University, the U.S. Geological Survey and others.
Click link to continue...Deep beneath the crystalline blue surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern... more-
- xiola
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Island Press / Solutions that inspire change.
Since 1984, Island Press has been a trusted source of environmental information and solutions. We publish the best new ideas about how to protect the environment—and work tirelessly to spread those ideas to help people make a positive difference in the world.
Each year, we publish 40 new books on such vital topics as conservation biology, marine science, land conservation, green building, sustainable agriculture, climate change, and ecological restoration.
But we are much more than a book publisher. Island Press authors and experts inform and inspire change by reaching out to millions of people through the press, online, in the classroom, and in person. We host conferences, teach courses, and speak in the community on relevant environmental issues.
Today, with more than 800 titles in print, an active slate of author programs and events, and a growing online presence, we have emerged as the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues and a leading communicator of environmental ideas. Since 1984, Island Press has been a trusted source of environmental information and... more-
- covelogibbs
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Where do YOU stand on Whaling?!?
The image displayed is the Nantucket flag. But I'm confused, I thought "we" realized the brutality of whaling decades ago.
I can say nothing other than this video infuriates me to no end. I cannot believe that this sort of practice carries on.
Check out http://www.seashepherd.org/ to learn more.The image displayed is the Nantucket flag. But I'm confused, I thought... more-
- bierse
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- 4 years ago
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Not San Diego!
"Floating Landfill" sounds, well, a little disturbing-
- bierse
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- 4 years ago
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Enviromentalism or Ecoterrorism?
This is a longish article about Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd organization. He was featured in the recent film Sharkwater (Which I highly recommend!!). Considered by some to be an ecoterrorist, Paul's story is a fascinating read that provokes troubling thoughts about the state of the environment.This is a longish article about Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd organization. He was... more-
- ac
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Save the Sea Turtles!
Seriously?? What happened to legislation years ago that was supposed to require fisherman to have turtle escapes at the back of the net?? How is this situation NOT improving??Seriously?? What happened to legislation years ago that was supposed to require... more-
- bierse
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- 4 years ago
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