tagged w/ archipelago
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Strong earthquake hits off Antarctica's coast
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 6:58 PM EST, Sun January 15, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The quake struck Sunday morning near Antarctica's Shetland Islands
The USGS reports it struck at a depth of 6.2 miles
A U.S. agency warns there's a "small possibility of a ... regional tsunami"
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(CNN) -- A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday off the coast of Antarctica, prompting a warning that there was a "small possibility" it could trigger a tsunami.
The tremor was centered in waters south of South America's southern tip, about 334 miles (539 kilometers) west of Coronation Island and 388 miles northeast of Palmer Station in Antarctica, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
It hit at 9:40 a.m. local time (8:40 a.m. ET) on Sunday, according to the federal agency, and had an estimated depth of 6.2 miles.
Afterward, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center released a statement saying that there appears to be no threat of "destructive widespread tsunami" because of the quake.
But the agency did state "there is a small possibility of a local or regional tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a few hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter.
"Authorities in the region near the epicenter should be made aware of this possibility," the warning center added.
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Strong earthquake hits off Antarctica's coast
By the CNN Wire... more
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Penguin rescue operation under way after south Atlantic oil spill
By David Ariosto, CNN
April 2, 2011 9:36 p.m. EDT
The M.S. Oliva ran aground, fracturing its hull and ultimately splitting the vessel in two.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Rescuers are struggling to save tens of thousands of Northern Rockhopper penguins
The penguins are threatened by an oil spill following a shipwreck near remote island chain
At least 300 penguins have died since the spill, local officials say
(CNN) -- On an island chain located halfway between Africa and Argentina, local authorities say a massive penguin rescue operation is under way.
A mix of island officials and resident volunteers are struggling to save tens of thousands of Northern Rockhopper penguins threatened by an oil spill in the remote stretches of the south Atlantic, roughly 1,500 miles west of Cape Town, South Africa.
The islands' conservation director said at least 300 penguins have died after a cargo ship leaked thousands of tons of heavy oil, diesel fuel and soya bean near Nightingale Island, a British territory part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago.
"I've seen about 15 to 20 dead penguins just today," director Trevor Glass said.
Thousands more are covered in the ships' oil and diesel fuel, according to local officials and conservationists.
"The danger now is getting the rest of these penguins past that oil slick," Glass said.
The rescue operation began shortly after March 16, when the M.S. Oliva -- a Maltese-registered ship -- ran aground, fracturing its hull and ultimately splitting the vessel in two.
The ship was heading from Santos, Brazil, to Singapore and had been carrying 60,000 metric tons of soya beans and 1,500 metric tons of heavy fuel, according to islands' administrator Sean Burns and Transport Malta, the Maltese shipping authority.
The agency said in a statement that it "is investigating the grounding and subsequent complete hull failure" of the bulk carrier cargo ship.
The dramatic rescue of the ship's 22 crew members was captured on video, along with the spills' aftermath, which showed penguins soaked in heavy oil.
It was shot by an expedition team from an eco-tourism ship -- called SilverSea -- whose crew used inflatable boats to help ferry the sailors to safety, according to David E. Guggenheim of the Washington-based Ocean Foundation. Guggenheim witnessed the rescue aboard the vessel, called the Prince Albert II.
Since then, an oil sheen has surrounded the island chain, which officials say could lead to an environmental disaster.
Rescue workers, using inflatable watercraft and fishing vessels, are now ferrying penguins to a series of makeshift rehabilitation centers at the main island of Tristan da Cunha, according to Glass.
There, he added, conservationists and volunteers are working in an effort to nurse the blackened penguins back to health.
"We need help," said Katrine Herian, a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who is also apart of the ongoing rescue effort.
"The priority is to get food into the birds as they are very hungry," she said. "We are trying locally caught fish and some are starting to take small half-inch squares of the food."
Herian noted that some of the islands' residents had emptied their personal freezers in an effort to help feed the animals.
By Friday, Glass said his team had corralled and transported a total of nearly 5,000 penguins, despite harsh winds and high seas that had hampered earlier rescue attempts.
But the timing of their task is daunting.
The shipwreck, having occurred at the end of the birds' molting season -- a period during which penguins shed their feathers, do not eat and largely stay out of the water -- left the birds "at their weakest possible state," Guggenheim explained. "They're very hungry."
The season's end also marks the beginning of a period when penguins re-enter the sea, now laden with heavy oil and soya beans.
In a written statement, Tristin da Cunha administrator Burns said it is unclear what the impact of the ship's cargo will have on the local marine environment, particularly "any long-term effect on the economically valuable fishing industry for crawfish, crayfish or Tristan Rock Lobster ... which is the mainstay of Tristan da Cunha's economy."
Fewer than 300 people live on the island chain, eclipsed by the its massive penguin population -- estimated at 150,000 -- which accounts for roughly 40 percent of the world's total, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a global network of conservationists.
The Northern Rockhopper penguin had been listed as "one of the world's most threatened species of penguin," according to the RSPB.Penguin rescue operation under way after south Atlantic oil spill
By David Ariosto,... more
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Travel | Spears
Penelope Bennett unfurls her sarong, slips into her fanciest flip-flops, fastens a hibiscus behind one ear and samples the swishest of Bali’s new resortsTravel | Spears
Penelope Bennett unfurls her sarong, slips into her fanciest... more
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Arctic where he called to take urgent steps to preserve the polar bear population.
Putin visited the Alexandra Land, one of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean and along with the Russian scientists mounted a special collar with a tracking device on a huge polar bear, which was put to sleep shortly before.
"The polar bear is in danger, there are only 25000 of them left in the world and of course the main problem is environmental, the shrinking of the ice cap," said Putin after weighing the bear.
Apart from global warming, the polar bear population in the Arctic also has another deadly enemy - pollution.
Thousands of rusty barrels with fuel and lubricants were brought to Alexandra land for the needs of the Soviet military in the 1960s, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union the barrels were abandoned there because of the expense of taking them away. The rusty barrels started to leak and poison the land around them.
"According to various estimations from 40.000 to 60.000 thousand tonnes of fuel and lubricants and the level of pollution is almost six times higher than normal here. Now we need to organise a major cleanup of the Arctic," said Putin during his visit to Alexandra Land.
The cleanup operation should be initiated by the state, but private investors should take part in it too, said Putin.
Several endangered species, including the polar bear, live in the archipelago, scientists say .Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Arctic where he... more
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Skilled architects, experienced soldiers and sharp-witted diplomats – between the glittering blue sea and the glistening white sand of a small island, a new empire is developing. But we still need resources and housing and have to form commercial treaties with other islands to ensure our success. Lead your island kingdom to prosperity, found alliances and follow in the footsteps of history with four advisers by your side.Skilled architects, experienced soldiers and sharp-witted diplomats – between... more
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Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures.
Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons.
Although Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius.
The Sunday Herald reported in 2007 that stealth bomber hangers on the island were being equipped to take bunker-buster bombs.
They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran
Dan Plesch, director, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, University of London
Although the story was not confirmed at the time, the new evidence suggests that it was accurate.
Contract details for the shipment to Diego Garcia were posted on an international tenders’ website by the US navy.
A shipping company based in Florida, Superior Maritime Services, will be paid $699,500 to carry many thousands of military items from Concord, California, to Diego Garcia.
Crucially, the cargo includes 195 smart, guided, Blu-110 bombs and 192 massive 2000lb Blu-117 bombs.
“They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran,” said Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London, co-author of a recent study on US preparations for an attack on Iran. “US bombers are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours,” he added.
The preparations were being made by the US military, but it would be up to President Obama to make the final decision. He may decide that it would be better for the US to act instead of Israel, Plesch argued.
“The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely,” he added. “The US ... is using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.”
According to Ian Davis, director of the new independent thinktank, Nato Watch, the shipment to Diego Garcia is a major concern. “We would urge the US to clarify its intentions for these weapons, and the Foreign Office to clarify its attitude to the use of Diego Garcia for an attack on Iran,” he said.
For Alan Mackinnon, chair of Scottish CND, the revelation was “extremely worrying”. He stated: “It is clear that the US government continues to beat the drums of war over Iran, most recently in the statements of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
“It is depressingly similar to the rhetoric we heard prior to the war in Iraq in 2003.”
The British Ministry of Defence has said in the past that the US government would need permission to use Diego Garcia for offensive action. It has already been used for strikes against Iraq during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars.
About 50 British military staff are stationed on the island, with more than 3,200 US personnel. Part of the Chagos Archipelago, it lies about 1,000 miles from the southern coasts of India and Sri Lanka, well placed for missions to Iran.
The US Department of Defence did not respond to a request for a comment.Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from... more
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The Brijuni archipelago, in Croatia, it's on sale for 2,5 billion euros. Fourteen islands that, today, are a National Park will be in the richest man hands'. But only if the Government won't say it's untruth.
Now you can go overthere to take a look at it.The Brijuni archipelago, in Croatia, it's on sale for 2,5 billion euros. Fourteen... more
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Had Charles Darwin explored the Volcan Wolf volcano when he visited the Galápagos in 1835 he might have spotted this pink land iguana, a species that originated in the islands more than five million years ago.
The northernmost volcano on the island of Isabela is the only home of the "rosada" iguana, a newly identified species of the land iguana Conolophus, scientists said today.
Genetic analysis of the rosada and other species of land iguanas performed by the scientists show that the rosada iguana diverged from the Galápagos's other iguana populations more than five million years ago, when the archipelago was still forming.
Earlier genetic studies suggest that the split of the marine and land iguana lineages could have occurred as late as 10.5 million years ago, when the archipelago did not have the current configuration and none of the present islands had yet emerged, the paper noted.
"Despite the attention given to them, the Galápagos have not yet finished offering evolutionary novelties," the researchers wrote in their paper.
They called for efforts to conserve the new species before it becomes extinct.Had Charles Darwin explored the Volcan Wolf volcano when he visited the... more
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