tagged w/ Marine Wildlife
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Official: No foul play in massive fish kill in California harbor
By Michael Martinez, CNN
March 8, 2011 4:29 p.m. EST
Los Angeles (CNN) -- A southern California fish kill that authorities identified as more than a million sardines is not the result of any environmental foul play but rather is the product of natural forces, officials said Tuesday.
Floating fish were so pervasive in King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, California, that some moored boats seemed surrounded not by water but by the lifeless aquatic animals a foot deep.
"All evidence points to oxygen deprivation as cause of death," California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan told CNN.
"There is no oil sheen, nor is there a chemical sheen," Hughan said.
Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Phil Keenan said authorities are confident of test results showing that oxygen deprivation caused the massive fish kill because the other part of the sardine school is alive and well in the mouth of the harbor.
Keenan said the floating fish are a foot deep, and clean-up boats will spend the next few days removing the silvery animals by net.
"Part of the sardine school is out in the channel of the harbor and they're doing fine," Keenan told CNN. "For some reason, this large school of sardines got chased into the harbor -- and they died off."
Authorities said that the sardines likely sought calm waters inside the 1,400-vessel marina Monday evening when winds were gusting up to 45 mph and the waters were rough.
"They like to follow each other and it only takes one to come in before the others follow," Brent Scheiwe, program director of the SEA Lab, a hands-on coastal science education center in Redondo Beach, told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
"The fish found these back areas of the harbor, and then the oxygen depletion would have occurred... If it's rough out there, they will stay here in the waters where it's more sheltered," Scheiwe said.
"There is a risk of the same thing happening tonight," he added.
The harbor's algae may have contributed to the lack of oxygen, and then when the fish started dying, the resulting bacteria also consumed oxygen, Scheiwe said.
Once the fish got into the harbor, "they couldn't get out," said Redondo Beach Fire Chief Dan Madrigal.
About the extraordinary number of dead fish, Hughan stated that "while it is unusual, it is not unprecedented. This is natural selection."
Hughan said a necropsy, including a chemical analysis, will be performed on some of the dead fish.
In what officials described as $100,000 clean-up effort, crews had been moving the dead fish into the open ocean to let them decompose naturally, but they decided on a more efficient method of removing the fish from the marina and having them sent to be recycled for fertilizer, Madrigal told reporters.
Photo: Millions of dead anchovies float to surface in Redondo Beach
Older Article Today...
March 8th, 2011
01:35 PM ET
Officials say millions of the pungent, oily fish are covering the sea bottom in the harbor. They began rising to the surface Tuesday morning, the Daily Breeze in Torrance, outside Los Angeles, reported.
“We need to get rid of them,” Sgt. Phil Keenan of the Redondo Beach Police Department told the paper. “This is going to create a terrible pollution and public health issue if we don't.”
Fire, police and public works officials have yet to cite a definite cause, but Keenan said the fish appear to have died from lack of oxygen.
There were no red tides (oxygen-depleting algae blooms) or other obvious phenomena that could have caused the mass deaths, the paper reported.
“Yesterday, everything looked absolutely normal,” Walter Waite, who lives at the harbor, told the newspaper. “This morning when I got up, there were millions and millions of them floating everywhere.”
The temperature in Southern California is expected to climb into the 70s Tuesday, exacerbating the urgency of removing the scads of 6-inch fish scattered throughout the harbor.
http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2011-03/59953114.jpg
SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST UPDATESOfficial: No foul play in massive fish kill in California harbor
By Michael Martinez,... more
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In less than a week, the rescue center at Fort Jackson has received more than five times as many oiled birds as it received in the previous six weeks since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill began.
A report Wednesday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that the Louisiana center has reported 415 birds since the BP PLC well blew wild in April. Sixty-six of those had been reported by last Thursday. The number since then is 349, with 61 of them added since Tuesday.
In addition, 14 birds have been brought to the Alabama center, 12 in Florida and one in Mississippi.
Since the start of the spill, bird rescue crews have found 633 dead birds -- about one in six VISIBLY oiled.
A total of 32 sea turtles have been rescued, 28 of them in the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/oiled_birds_arriving_at_rescue.html
NOTE: Thses numbers do not include the number of sea turtles (dolphins, seahorses or other wildlife) found dead due to the oil spill or toxic dispersant.In less than a week, the rescue center at Fort Jackson has received more than five... more
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(CNN) -- World Oceans Day, June 8, arrives this year at a time when people are especially focused on the safety of waters threatened by the Gulf oil disaster. Yet it is also a time when more people are committing to work to preserve the oceans than ever before.
Among them is Roz Savage, who last week completed the third and final leg of her effort to row across the Pacific Ocean. Savage was one of dozens who took part in the Mission Blue cruise in April, organized by the nonprofit group TED to develop a strategy to save the oceans.
In her talk on the Mission Blue cruise, taped before the final leg of her Pacific journey, Savage estimated that her trip across that ocean required more than 8,000 miles of rowing, spending 312 days on her own in a 23-foot rowboat. Savage is the first woman to row solo across the Pacific, from the West Coast of the United States to Papua New Guinea. (Maud Fontenoy rowed a shorter route from Peru to Polynesia in 2005.)
Learn more about the "Mission Blue Voyage" http://blog.ted.com/2010/04/ocean_hope_at_m.php
VIDEO: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2010/06/07/ted.roz.savage.ted
Page Link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/08/savage.world.oceans/index.html(CNN) -- World Oceans Day, June 8, arrives this year at a time when people are... more
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"The oil slick on the water will have an impact first on the habitat underneath the submerged aquatic vegetation," Rousso said. "And it's going to go through the food chain." --wildlife biologist Stephanie Rousso
Around 11 a.m. Sunday, the Associated Press reported the oil spill was roughly the size of Puerto Rico. Efforts are under way to stop the gushing oil, but that will take days.
Some meteorological models and scientists say the oil in the gulf could reach Florida's east coast if it gets into the "Loop Current" and is swept into the Gulf Stream.
Rousso said even if the oil stays away from Florida's east coast, it will still have an indirect effect on wildlife on the First Coast, especially on sea turtles. That's because sea turtles here also swim in the Gulf.
Rousso said one of the "biggest ways" turtles will be affected is through migratory patterns. "How they move, migrate, and reproduce could be affected," Rousso explained.
As for Methvin, she's still hoping for a good sea turtle year.
"I'm really hoping this oil spill doesn't prevent it," Methvin said. "It's scaring me. The more I read, the more I think we could have an impact here."
She'll keep patrolling the beach, doing her part to help protect endangered and threatened animals which now have another battle to fight.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/mostpopular/news-article.aspx?storyid=155515"The oil slick on the water will have an impact first on the habitat underneath... more
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PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color shows where oil will reach the shore. The Chandeleur Islands and Louisiana marshes will be affected.
This web site provides a place for people to volunteer to assist in cleanup operations related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Organizations working on the cleanup may register here to be connected with volunteers. OilSpillVolunteers.com will link volunteers with cleanup organizations; we will not be directing volunteer activities.
BP, Transocean, Homeland Security, USCG, NOAA, EPA, Department of the Interior - We need to hear from you. We have 2000 people eager to be trained and eager to jump into action when the oil comes ashore. How do they get training? What can they do to help with the cleanup? Help us.
Volunteers - Please register using this form http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/register.php . Provide complete as much of the form as possible and indicate whether your contact information can be shared directly with cleanup organizations. Please do not use email to provide your volunteer information.
Caution: Do not attempt oil cleanup work without training and the required safety equipment. The oil waste is a toxic material and can pose a threat. This OSHA http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/docs/OSHA_HAZWOPER_Oil.pdf handbook for oil spill cleanup will explain.
Cleanup Organizations Needing Volunteers - Please send email to don@OilSpillVolunteers.com describing your needs and activities.
***Please route all individual volunteer offers to the registration form here on the web.
We are receiving a large number of emails and calls and it's much simpler and more reliable to keep track of volunteers in the database linked to the form. We'd hate to misplace an email and lose contact with you.
If you've signed up and had a question - Please be patient, we'll be in touch as soon as possible.
For media information, please contact Melanie Allen - mailto:sglmma@cableone.net
Please pardon the rough format of this site; there's too much to do to worry about making it pretty. We'll soon be adding:
Mailing list information
List of cleanup organizations
Phone numbers to report oiled wildlife
Spill location and movement forecast
* Suggestions and assistance are welcomed.PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color... more
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Cape Wind or Deepwater Horizon: The Choice is Clear - Environment Florida
TALLAHASSEE – As oil continues to spill into the Gulf as a result of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced final approval of the groundbreaking Cape Wind offshore wind project today in Massachusetts.
The announcement means that, in 2012, when the Obama Administration’s plan would let oil companies conduct dirty and dangerous drilling in the Gulf, Massachusetts residents would be the first in the nation to receive energy from clean offshore wind power.
“The spill threatening the Gulf Coast is a tragic reminder that wind energy, not more oil drilling, is the way to use our coastal environment to power Florida,” said Environment Florida Advocate Adam Rivera.
“Wind doesn’t spill,” Rivera added. “Wind turbine operation does not routinely put lives in danger. With the offshore wind potential that exists off Florida’s coasts, offshore drilling is beyond unnecessary.”
The 2008 Navigant Consulting study commissioned by the Florida Public Service Commission and Governor Crist’s Energy Action Team found that the potential for offshore wind in Florida is second only to the Sunshine State’s potential solar photovoltaic resource.
With strong renewables mandates in place, the study projected more than 120,000 gigawatt-hours available to be harnessed for our use by 2020.
In stark contrast, the recent Collins Center for Public Policy report commissioned by the Florida Senate found – in accordance with U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates – that drilling in our state and federal waters will have would have “no discernible impact on petroleum prices at the retail level” and “no discernible impact on the state's or the country's dependence on foreign oil.”
The Florida Legislature rejected strong standards for clean renewable energy in 2009 and 2010. In fact, legislation intended to generate 20% of Florida’s electricity instead became the Florida House of Representatives’ vehicle to bring offshore drilling catastrophe within three miles of Florida’s coastline in the 2009 legislation session.
“It’s a shame that we’re talking about a massive oil spill instead of a new, visionary wind energy project in Florida,” Rivera concluded. “Florida’s elected leaders, from the Legislature up to President Obama himself should focus on our state’s potential for clean wind energy, rather than bring dirty, dangerous drilling to our shores.”
http://www.environmentflorida.org/newsroom/shores/save-our-shores-news/cape-wind-or-deepwater-horizon-the-choice-is-clear
Our Ocean Legacy
Oceans cover over two-thirds of the earth's surface, helping to control the planet’s weather and containing a rich variety of life forms. Yet our oceans are in deep trouble.
Offshore drilling, destructive overfishing, coastal pollution from fertilizers and toxic materials, habitat destruction from bottom trawling, coastal dredging and filling, and rising ocean temperatures all effect the ocean’s health and ability to bounce back from changes.
To restore the oceans to health, Environment Florida supports a moratorium on new offshore drilling, a halt to destructive overfishing, establishment of marine protected areas, policies to reduce the flow of nutrients and toxins into coastal waters, and aggressive action on global warming. https://www.environmentflorida.org/issues/our-ocean-legacy
NEWS & MORE INFO -
Environment Florida Tells Obama: Cancel Drilling Permanently
https://www.environmentflorida.org/newsroom/shores/save-our-shores-news/environment-florida-tells-obama-cancel-drilling-permanently
Oil Rig Explosion the Latest in a Series of Tragic Accidents http://www.environmentflorida.org/newsroom/shores/save-our-shores-news/oil-rig-explosion-the-latest-in-a-series-of-tragic-accidents#id724rbdJYcaBo_iRFPumK0Q
After this most recent accident, pro-drilling leaders must tell us why they support putting people in harm's way for a false solution, deemed to have no discernible impact on gas prices or energy independence.
Oil Spill in National Wildlife Refuge Precedes Florida House Drilling Bill http://www.environmentflorida.org/newsroom/shores/save-our-shores-news/oil-spill-in-national-wildlife-refuge-precedes-florida-house-drilling-bill#idNNJdOOdQCq_wItpSvR78gA The latest in a long line of offshore oil spills fits a distressing pattern of call-and-response: as Florida's leaders call for more drilling, the oil industry responds with yet another disaster.Cape Wind or Deepwater Horizon: The Choice is Clear - Environment Florida... more
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A "Live from the Ice" dispatch from Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International/Canada
There are days like yesterday in every expedition to film the baby seal slaughter. Days when horrible weather conditions keep us from reaching the ice floes but do not prevent the sealers from killing the seals.
Yesterday, the ProtectSeals team attempted to observe the seal hunt from our rigid, inflatable boat. Sadly, after hours of battling high winds and waves, we had to make the decision to turn back. We were devastated—to know this slaughter would go on without witnesses was too much to bear.
But then we received news. Our helicopter, equipped with a high-powered camera, had managed to make it through the winds to the sealing area. As we were slowly making our way back to port, our helicopter hovered in the sky above the sealing boats, filming everything. And as usual, multiple violations of the law were caught on tape. Yet again, sealers failed to check to ensure the seals were unconscious before hooking, dragging and cutting them open.
One seal was shot in the chest. As blood poured out from under him, he slowly raised his head and tried to crawl. It took an eternity for sealers to arrive and club him. Another seal—still alive—was thrown onto a pile of bloody dead seals in a sealing boat. Realizing the seal was still moving, a sealer smashed his club down onto her skull, in the midst of the dead pile.
These baby seals are subjected to unimaginable suffering every day that this slaughter goes on. They are dying in the most horrible ways, at the hands of this awful industry.
We come out here to expose that suffering to the world. The sealing industry would like the brutality of this slaughter to remain a secret, for the killing to happen out of public view. But we can’t let that happen, and your support ensures it won’t. Because of you, the tragic deaths of these defenseless animals will ultimately bring down the sealing industry. As the images of this cruelty are broadcast around the world, global markets for seal products are closing, and consumers are taking action to stop the slaughter.
Because of the images we gather of this horrible hunt, those who would defend this atrocity simply have no defense.
Please support the end of the seal hunt in Canada: donate to save seals (your gift will be tripled!), or sign the pledge to boycott seafood from Canada»
Rebecca Aldworth is executive director of Humane Society International/Canada. For the past decade, she has been a firsthand observer of Canada's commercial seal hunt, escorting more than 100 scientists, parliamentarians and journalists to the ice floes to witness the slaughter.
http://www.humanesociety.org/news/dispatch/2010/04/lfti_bear_witness.htmlA "Live from the Ice" dispatch from Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane... more
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Federal Study: Manatee Death Rate Is Seven Times Sustainable Level
Boat Strikes Are Preventing Species' Recovery
SAN FRANCISCO— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized new stock assessments for manatees that puts the population of Florida manatees at about 3,800 and a Puerto Rico population at 72. The stock-assessment reports resulted from settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity that sought updated assessments, since the Service had flouted its duty under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to publish yearly reports for more than a decade.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s population assessment shows that boats are carelessly killing manatees,” said Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Clearly, far too little is being done to protect these endangered manatees in Florida.”
According to the Service’s stock-assessment report on the Florida manatee population, each year about 87 manatees are killed by humans in the state. This is more than seven times the number of manatees that the Service estimates can be killed without impairing the species’ recovery. Boats are the primary threat to manatees, which are frequently struck and killed, or seriously injured, by speeding vessels. Almost 90 percent of the manatees killed by humans were a result of such boat strikes. Manatees are also threatened by water-diversion structures such as dams and entanglement in marine debris, including derelict fishing gear.
“The one thing everyone should be able to agree on is that manatees in Florida and Puerto Rico need more protection from boat collisions to allow them to survive and recover,” said Sakashita.
Stock assessments are required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and are meant to be used as the basis for management decisions such as those permitting the killing or harassment of the animals by commercial fisheries, oil and gas exploration, boating and shipping, and military exercises.
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The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 240,000 members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild places. http://twww.biologicaldiversity.org
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Descriptions of Manatee Death Categories - Manatee deaths are broken down into eight categories based on gross, histological, and microbiological findings.
The Top 3 Causes of Manatee Death (NOTE - all are PREVENTABLE)
Watercraft: Manatees hit by boats, barges or any type of watercraft. Death may result from propeller wounds, impact, crushing, or any combination of the three.
Crushed/Drowned in Flood Gate or Canal Lock: Manatees killed by crushing or asphyxiation in flood gates and canal locks.
Other Human-Related: Manatee deaths caused by vandalism, poaching, entrapment in pipes and culverts, complications due to entanglement in ropes, lines, and nets, or ingestion of fishing gear or debris.
More Resources, Information & Links
Quantitative Threats Analysis for the Florida Manatee, http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/manatee/, authored by U.S. Geological Survey and FWC researchers.) http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/manatee/
NEWS RELEASE:
12.5% of all Florida manatees killed in 2009
As many as 419 manatees have been found dead since Jan. 1, the highest number on record for a calendar year.http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/125-of-all-florida-manatees-killed-in-2009
FWC documents record number of manatee deaths http://myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/09/statewide/News_09_X_ManateeDeaths09.htm
2009 Preliminary Manatee Mortality Report, October 1-December 11 (80 kb)
http://research.myfwc.com/engine/download_redirection_process.asp?file=Dec21.pdf&objid=19105&dltype=article
http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=6780
VIDEOS & LINKS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbCPiD1NjeQ
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/manatee.phpFederal Study: Manatee Death Rate Is Seven Times Sustainable Level
Boat Strikes Are... more
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s 2007 Boating Accident Statistical Report states, “With well over 1 million vessels registered in the state, Florida leads the nation in the number of vessels . . . and has the highest number of boating fatalities annually.” Boat traffic can double or triple on holiday weekends, and dangerous conditions for the slow-moving manatees, as well as for families out boating, can increase dramatically.
“Manatee deaths from boat collisions continue to be the leading known cause of manatee mortality,” said Patrick Rose, Executive Director of Save the Manatee Club. “This year, with gas prices on the rise, it makes good sense for the boating community to throttle back – take some of the pressure off their pocketbooks and at the same time help make Florida’s busy waterways safer. Going slower may improve your boat’s gas mileage and certainly improves the manatees’ chances of making it through the long weekend uninjured.”
Throttling back also reduces boat wakes, which can cause damage to property, such as seawalls and moored boats. To help protect manatees on a year-round basis, boaters should follow all posted boat speed regulations, slow down if manatees are in the vicinity, and stay in deep water channels when possible. If you see an injured, dead, tagged or orphaned manatee, or a manatee who is being harassed, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) or #FWC or *FWC on your cellular phone, or use VHF Channel 16 on your marine radio.
Also, find out how you can make your own boating experience safer by taking a boating safety course. For more information on classes, go to the Manatee Protection Tips for Boaters page.
Florida business owners, marinas, dive shops, parks, libraries, and schools who are interested in obtaining a free “Boat Safely” manatee conservation poster should contact Save the Manatee Club via e-mail at education@savethemanatee.org, by regular mail at 500 N. Maitland Ave., Maitland, FL 32751, or by calling toll free at 1-800-432-JOIN (5646). Please include your contact information along with full information on where the poster will be displayed.
Florida boaters can also request a free, “Please Slow: Manatees Below” bright yellow waterproof banner by contacting Save the Manatee Club via e-mail at education@savethemanatee.org. Include full mailing information along with the area where you boat in Florida. The banners can be used to quickly alert other boaters that manatees are present in the area.
Also, if you are a Florida shoreline property owner, you can get a free aluminum sign for your dock which reads, “Please Watch for Manatees: Operate With Care.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s 2007 Boating Accident... more
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Wait... dolphins 'mysteriously' leap out of the water en masse 12 miles from a Royal Navy live fire exercise? And the official line "It is considered extremely unlikely that this operation could have affected [them] in any way."
What are the odds this had nothing to do with it? For a species that 'sees' with its ears?Wait... dolphins 'mysteriously' leap out of the water en masse 12 miles from... more
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Your sunscreen and birth control pills may be affecting the size and efficacy of alligator penises, among other things. On a positive note, your Prozac makes mussels happy.
From the article:
"Most people don't see a stockpile of environmental contaminants when they look in their bathroom cabinets, but pharmaceuticals and personal care products contain thousands of chemicals that could impact aquatic life. ...
Unlike agricultural and industrial pollutants, chemicals in PPCPs [pharmaceuticals and personal care products] enter the environment at low but often continual levels by thousands or millions of people in towns and cities around the world.
Some of these chemical compounds are endocrine disruptors that act like hormones and can interfere with reproduction.
Perhaps the most widely publicized study of the impact of endocrine disruptors came in the 1990s when researchers reported male alligators with abnormally small penises and high blood levels of female hormones in a Florida lake with a declining alligator population.
Mitra said scientists have discovered that fish stopped reproducing within a few weeks after low levels of the active ingredient in birth control pills was added to experimental lakes.
Endocrine disruptors aren't found only in oral contraceptives and therapeutic hormones though.
Preservatives called parabens, found in many shampoos and sunscreens, are endocrine disruptors also.
And, at North Carolina State University, scientists found that adding a small amount of a common antidepressant to the water altered the reproductive behavior of freshwater mussels.
Other research is looking at whether low levels of prescription antibiotics could promote pathogen resistance in aquatic species."Your sunscreen and birth control pills may be affecting the size and efficacy of... more
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3 years ago
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While low voltage electrical currents are helping to revive patches of coral reef off Bali's coast, this won't solve the widespread destruction caused by human factors, environmentalists say.While low voltage electrical currents are helping to revive patches of coral reef off... more
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khsing
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4 years ago
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