Tag: marine environment

NOAA researchers measured pollutants in the sediments of Guánica Bay, Puerto Rico, and found these were among the highest concentrations of PCBs, chlordane, chromium and nickel ever measured in the history of NOAA's National Status & Trends (NS&T) Program. NS&T is a nationwide contaminant monitoring program that began in 1986. These results were released in a NOAA study earlier this month. The researchers, from NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), studied the reef's ecology to help establish baseline conditions that coastal managers can use to measure changes resulting from new efforts to manage pollution. Among the items studied were habitat types, coral cover, fish, and pollution stressors such as nutrients, sedimentation, and toxic contaminants in Guánica Bay. These new measurements demonstrate the importance of long-term contaminant monitoring programs like National Status & Trends, which allow new data to be placed in national and historical perspective. Funding was provided by NCCOS and NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program. NOAA is the co-chair of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, which had designated Guánica Bay as a priority watershed. Project partners included NOAA's Restoration Center and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Source and Image Credit: NOAA You can also ...

​IMO is hosting an Expert Workshop on Underwater Noise and its Impacts on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity which will be held from 25 to 27 February 2014. The workshop is going to be organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), with financial support from the European Commission. IMO's MEPC 66th session (31 March to 4 April) will consider draft Guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise from commercial shipping. Workshop participants will be invited to share, through open discussions, their global, regional and national experiences and knowledge on underwater noise and its impacts on marine and coastal biodiversity, including information on short- and long-term negative consequences for marine animals and other biota in the marine environment. For its deliberations, the workshop will focus on: Role of sound in the behaviour and well-being of marine species and ecosystems; Major sources, and trends in the prevalence and magnitude, of underwater noise; Impacts of underwater noise on various types of species, as well as broader impacts on ecosystem health, including implications of cumulative impacts of multiple sources of noise; Major knowledge gaps regarding the short- and long-term negative consequences for marine animals and other biota in the marine environment, as ...

European Commission released Final Communication regarding the European strategy for more growth and jobs in coastal and maritime tourism. The Blue Growth Communication of 2012 listed coastal and maritime tourism as one of five focus areas for delivering sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. The European Parliament's 2013 report on Blue Growth welcomed this European framework and recommended a series of actions to boost the sector and support the development of sustainable tourism in coastal destinations. The tourism sector is growing and the challenge is to exploit its potential in a way that sustainably produces economic benefits. This Communication proposes joint responses to the multiple challenges, with a view to capitalise on Europe's strengths and enabling it to substantially contribute to the Europe 2020 objectives for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Challenges and a new framework for coastal and maritime tourism in Europe Strengthening sustainability Tourism depends on a healthy environment and the sustainable use of natural capital, but activities are often concentrated in already densely populated areas, leading to vast increases in water demand, more waste and emissions from air, road and sea transport at peak periods, more risks of soil sealing and biodiversity degradation (from infrastructure developments), eutrophication and other pressures. Scarcely populated and pristine areas can be ...

The Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association-HELMEPA is delighted to announce that the Association has been nominated to receive the prestigious Thor Heyerdahl International Maritime Environment Award 2014. The prize recognizes candidates from within the shipping industry that have made an outstanding contribution towards the environment. The Award has been named for the late Norwegian adventurer and explorer, Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), who made first-hand observations of marine pollution during various expeditions. His reports to the United Nations about the state of the marine environment raised the awareness of the issue of pollution throughout the International maritime community and clearly focused a spotlight onto it. Indeed among his work, is included an Academy-Award-nominated documentary, Kon-Tiki, that he compiled telling of his journey across the Pacific aboard a papyrus raft. In collaboration with the Norwegian Shipowners΄ Association, the Awards were first launched in 2001, with just six recipients of the prize since then. A specifically-appointed Expert Committee, comprised of eight members, representing international and Norwegian maritime bodies, will assess each nominee and pass down their final judgement for who will be the recipient of this year΄s award. HELMEPA is very proud to be distinguished among such reputable company. The award will be given ...

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) will host a training workshop on ballast water management in Papua New Guinea. Ballast water management is a significant issue for the shipping industry. Many ships, including cruise ships and bulk carriers, can use a large amount of ballast water and this is often taken on in the coastal waters of one region and discharged at its next port. Ballast water can contain aquatic organisms or pathogens which may be harmful to a country's marine environment if not managed appropriately. A number of government and non-government organisations involved in shipping services have been invited to the National Training Workshop on Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC), which will be held over two days from 24-25 February in Port Moresby. The workshop will be presented by representatives from AMSA and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP). It is held under the framework of the Regional Strategy on Shipping Related Invasive Marine Pests in the Pacific Islands and the activities of the IMO/SPREP Pacific Ocean Pollution Prevention Programme (PACPOL) and the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloBallast Partnerships Project. AMSA's Chief Executive ...

MONALISA 2.0 had its debut in Western Norway during the ‘Green Fjord' conference in Geiranger, January 22/23, 2014. Green Fjord 2020 is the forum which is about to outline a green future for the unique UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site of ‘Western Norwegian Fjords', famous for its fantastic panoramic scenery with steep mountains and deep fjords. With a vision of ‘leaving no footprints behind', the conference gathered local, regional and international expertise on how to achieve sustainable regional development within a framework of environmental initiatives, green technologies and conservation of existing cultural values. Increasing the profile of the area and sharing the popular travel destination with many visitors from across the globe, provides both challenges and opportunities. Transport - by sea and by land - is one of them; most of the hundreds of thousands of guests visit Geiranger by cruise-ship during the summer season. Air pollution and traffic control issues were some of problems addressed by the conference. Annelise Chapman (Møreforsking AS, Norway) gave a talk where she presented MONALISA's work on Maritime Spatial Planning in the context of ‘environmental transport at sea'. The Southern Norwegian Sea, including the UNESCO world heritage area around Geiranger, is one of three ...

Chair of SEStran (South East of Scotland Transport Partnership), Russell Imrie says that a bid to cut sulphur at sea may sink, The Scotsman reports SEStran supports moves to improve the environmental friendliness of water transport, as a mode that already has the potential to play a major role in sustainably transporting passengers and freight within the region and further afield. Mr Russell Imrie says that despite their potential to move large quantities of traffic off-road, ferry services present environmental problems as they use "bunker" fuels which produce high quantities of sulphur and other pollutants. The EU Sulphur Directive which comes into force from next year,  will reduce the acceptable sulphur output from engines from the current 1.5 per cent to 0.1 per cent in ships plying the North Sea routes. Although this measure will make a significant contribution towards reducing carbon emission from merchant vessels, it presents operators with problems. There are many solutions available to shipping lines affected by the Directive. They can refit vessels with new engines that use cleaner fuels. These alternative fuels would improve upon the sulphur output of bunker fuels, but they are more expensive, have potentially major implications for the fuel production industry ...

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) program has completed its review of an important new research project on burning oil in ice cavities and published the final results. The research project, funded by the bureau and completed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a lab, led to the discovery that the average burning rate is greater in an ice cavity than in a similarly-sized vessel or a pan. The objective of this study was to assess the In-situ burn efficiency of oil spills in icy conditions and explore oil spill burning on ice. The fundamental problem of burning oil in an ice cavity is new to the fire science community, as such there were no prior experiments on the subject. This study included a series of experiments that were conducted to develop an understanding of the burning of crude oil in ice cavities. Alaska North Slope crude oil (~1.5 cm thick) was placed within ice cavities (5 - 100 cm wide and 6 - 25 cm high). It was found that because of the cavity expansion the average mass transfer of crude oil in the ice cavity is greater than in a similar-sized vessel ...

EMSA has issued its Annual Report on Network of stand-by oil spill response vessels. The vessels are ready to respond to oil spills at sea caused by ships as well as by offshore installations following the request of a coastal State or the European Commission. By the end of 2013, the Network comprised 18 fully equipped vessels ready for immediate mobilisation. As of 1 March 2013, with the entry into force of Regulation (EU) No 100/2013, EMSA has a new mandate to respond to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations. As one of the actions to implement this new task, in October 2013 EMSA vessels participated for the first time in an operational exercise scenario to test response to oil pollution occurring during offshore operations in the western Black Sea. To achieve the level of performance for pollution response required by the Agency, vessels and their crews participate regularly in training, drills and operational exercises.   The number of drills and exercises carried out annually has increased significantly over the years in line with the development of the Network. The figures for 2013 are summarised in the table below. Summary of Drills and Exercises carried out in 2013 ...

At a press conference under the suspended blue whale replica at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society USA joined with partners Bionic Yarn and Cookies for All for the U.S. unveiling of The Vortex Project, an unprecedented partner campaign to clean the oceans of plastic debris and transform it into fashion, and its first collaboration, G-Star's ‘RAW for the Oceans,' a long-term partnership between denim brand G-Star RAW and Bionic Yarn to turn ocean plastic into denim. The New York Fashion Week event is part of Parley for the Oceans, an initiative comprised of artists, activists, tastemakers, entrepreneurs and innovators to address and solve the plastic pollution problem impacting ocean ecosystems. Sea Shepherd is an official partner of Parley for the Oceans and together with Bionic Yarn is cofounder of The Vortex Project. The Vortex Project takes waste from the oceans and shorelines, and recycles, enhances, and reuses it for yarn, fabric, and other elements in consumer products. Parley collaboration partners will use the reclaimed plastic waste from the oceans to create exclusive products with a unique product story. They will also seek to close the loop by again recycling these products at ...