Tag: life onboard

Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve The world's largest marine protected area will be created in the Coral Sea under a federal government plan to limit the use of nearly 1 million square kilometres of ocean.As revealed by The Age, the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve - extending from the edge of the Great Barrier Reef to 1100 kilometres from the mainland - will have different levels of environmental protection.The western half of the reserve will be open for restricted recreational and charter fishing. The eastern half will be a ''no-take'' reserve in which fishing is outlawed.The decision falls short of a campaign by conservationists for the entire sea to be declared ''no-take'' due to its largely unspoilt environment and military significance.Source: The Age

The programme supports the sustainable use of the seas and oceans The Council today adopted a regulation establishing an EU programme to further promote the development and the implementation of the EU's integrated maritime policy (55/11 and 16614/11 ADD1).The Union's integrated maritime policy will foster coordinated decision making related to coastal, insular and outermost regions and maritime sectors in the EU.The programme, which will support the sustainable use of the seas and oceans, and the expansion of scientific knowledge, has the following general objectives:(a) to foster the development and implementation of integrated governance of maritime and coastal affairs;(b) to contribute to develop synergies and to support sea or coast-related policies, particularly in the fields of economic development, employment, environmental protection, research, maritime safety, energy and the development of green maritime technologies;(c) to promote the protection of the marine environment, in particular its biodiversity, and the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources, in line with the "marine strategy framework directive" (2008/56/EC);(d) to support the development and implementation of sea-basin strategies;(e) to improve and enhance international cooperation;(f) to support economic growth, employment, innovation and new technologies in maritime sectors in the Union.The budget for the implementation of the programme in accordance ...

After being contaminated by an oil spill off New Zealand Forty-nine little blue penguins rescued and cleaned up after being contaminated by an oil spill off New Zealand nearly seven weeks ago were released into the sea on Tuesday.Maritime New Zealand, which is supervising salvage of the 47,000-ton Rena, said it was the start of a staged release of wildlife over the next few weeks.More than 2,000 seabirds died after about 360 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from a cargo ship that grounded on a reef 22 kilometres off the east coast port of Tauranga, on October 5.More than 300 penguins are still being held at a wildlife centre after the country's worst marine environmental disaster.Salvage workers managed to pump most of the 1,700 tons of oil from the Liberian-registered Rena. The ship remains on the reef, severely damaged and listing 21 degrees.Veterinarian Brett Gartrell told the Bay of Plenty Times the penguins were made to swim for six hours in their pool on Monday to test their ability to survive in the wild again.'We're simulating the fact the penguins have to spend the whole day out on the water,' he said. 'They were then checked to make sure ...

Concerns for the threats of violence The United States deeply regrets that Japan has decided to continue its controversial whaling in the Southern Ocean. The United States also expresses its deep concern about the possibility of violence in connection with such whaling."We are very concerned about Japan continuing its whaling program in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary," said Monica Medina, U.S. commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and principal deputy under secretary of commerce for NOAA. "These catches will only increase the growing friction within the IWC over how to deal with the large number of whales that continue to be killed while a moratorium remains in place. There is no reason to kill these creatures in order to learn about them. All the necessary science that we need for the management of whales can be achieved using non-lethal techniques."The United States is also concerned by statements by anti-whaling activists that suggest life-threatening tactics would be employed during protest activities in the Southern Ocean."The safety of vessels and life at sea is the highest priority for the United States." said Medina. "I ask all parties to respect the Commission's wishes and immediately refrain from any acts at sea that risk ...

The Dogger Bank is home to a fantastic array of sea life and habitats An area of sandbank in the middle of the North Sea that is almost double the size of Devon is set to become Britain's latest marine protected area.The Dogger Bank, in the offshore waters of the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, is home to wildlife including crabs, a type of starfish known as brittlestars and clams, and is an important site for fish such as plaice, sole and sand eels.The 12,000 sq km (4,600 sq mile) UK section of the shallow seabed has been submitted to the European Commission (EC) to be included in a Europe-wide network of nature protection sites.It now has candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) status, which means it must be protected from damaging activities which could harm the wildlife and habitats within it.The Government said the Dogger Bank was the largest marine site to be submitted by a European Union (EU) country and the UK section will link up with existing protected areas in German and Dutch waters.Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon said: "The thousands of species and habitats in our seas need just the same protection as those on land."The ...

According to Global Marine Census A team of international scientists is urging measures to protect the Earth's most vast and uncharted territory: the deep sea. The deep sea and its denizens are already facing threats from human activities such as resource exploitation and global warming. Experts say even more threats lie ahead and they warn that while the deep sea environment may be "out of sight and out of mind," the consequences of its destruction could be far-reaching and irreversible.The Census of Marine Life was a scientific survey of the flora and fauna in the world's oceans, including five deep-sea ecosystems. Cindy Van Dover, Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke University, explains the purpose of the Census."It was designed to explore what creatures live in the sea, what are they doing there, what were they like in the past, what will they be like in the future," said Van Dover. "It was an effort to bring an international community together to ask questions, where there were synergies that could be developed from working with people from different countries different assets, and begin to build our understanding of what lives in the sea and what will live in the sea."During the ...

About 30% of Hawai'i's marine species are endemic The question of why there are so many species in the sea and how new species form remains a central question in marine biology. Below the waterline, about 30% of Hawai'i's marine species are endemic - being found only in Hawai'i and nowhere else on Earth - one of the highest rates of endemism found worldwide. But where did this diversity of species come from? Hawai'i is famous for its adaptive radiations (the formation of many species with specialized lifestyles from a single colonist) above the water line.Still, spectacular examples of adaptive radiations such as Hawaiian honeycreeper birds and fruit flies are not found in Hawaiian waters. Marine species were thought to colonize Hawaii and eventually diverge into an isolated native species, but were doomed to an evolutionary "dead end" with no further specialization and speciation.Dr. Chris Bird and fellow researchers at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), however, have shown that Hawai'i hosts three limpets (cone shaped marine snails, locally known as 'opihi) that defy classification as dead-enders.The standard explanation for three species of 'opihi is that Hawai'i was independently colonized three times; however, using DNA, fossil, and geologic evidence, ...

Marine life facing mass extinction Reflective aerosols would be sent into space under a series of radical "geo-engineering" measures being considered by the UN climate science body to tackle climate change, leaked documents disclose.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) papers, leaked ahead of a key meeting in Peru next week, outline the series of techniques in which scientists hope will manipulate the world's climate to reduce carbon emissions.Among the ideas proposed by a group of 60 leading scientists from around the world, including Britain, include producing "lighter coloured" crops to reflect sunlight, blasting aerosol "mirrors" into the stratosphere and suppressing cirus clouds.Other suggestions include spraying sea water into clouds as another reflection mechanism, depositing massive quantities of iron filings into the oceans, painting streets and roofs white and adding lime to oceans.Experts suggested that the documents, leaked from inside the IPPC to The Guardian, show how the UN and other developed countries are "despairing" about reaching agreement by consensus at the global climate change talks.But the newspaper reported that scientists admit that even if the ideas theoretically work, they could cause irreversible consequences.Source: The Telegraph

Ocean life on Brink of extinction