Ocean Sentry
(From thenational.ae) The smell of dead fish meat mixed with diesel fuel was almost overpowering but did not bother the people crowding around as a shark hung from its tail was weighed on the dockside. Half of the shark’s intestines were falling out of its mouth as proud fishermen and …
July, 2008
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4 July
Campaigners Tackle Fishing Lines
(From Cayman”s National Newpaper) Conservationists are beginning campaigns to convince fishermen to retrieve fishing lines and hooks that can injure or kill wildlife that get entangled or caught in the discarded equipment. Cayman Wildlife Rescue, in association with the Department of Environment, will begin a poster campaign this month featuring …
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4 July
American Samoa Alarmed At Turtle Poisoning
(From rnzi.com) A young hawksbills turtle found dead near the village of Aua in American Samoa appears to have been poisoned by garbage. An autopsy has shown the animal’s stomach contained plastics, rubber bands, twine, bottle caps and Lego pieces.
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3 July
Higher Whale Quota Than Biologists Recommend
(From sermitsiaq.gl) The government has set the combined quota for the haul of white and narwhales at 200 white whales and 300 narwhales in the coming quota year. In many areas the quotas are larger than the Institute for Natural Resources recommends. The applicable quota for white whales in west-Greenland …
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3 July
Habitat Protection Sought for Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal
(From ens-newswire.com) Three conservation groups filed a formal petition today asking the federal government to protect areas on the main Hawaiian islands as critical habitat for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal under the Endangered Species Act. As monk seal populations plummet on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the main islands are …
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3 July
More Misery As Wild Dolphin Captures Continue In Solomon Islands’ Waters
A further 12 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins have recently been captured and are waiting in sea pens to be exported to marine parks with major holiday companies doing little to stop this exploitation. This comes nine months after the controversial exports of 28 wild caught dolphins from the Solomon Islands to …
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3 July
Marine Mammal Parks: Let Freedom Ring
(From americanchronicle) On July Fourth, Americans from sea to shining sea will celebrate our independence and right to self-determination. But for the countless fish, dolphins, whales, sea lions and other animals kept in chlorinated tanks in aquariums and marine mammal parks—where the “shining sea” is a fading memory—July Fourth is …
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3 July
Puffin Numbers Plummet On Main Breeding Site
(From telegraph.co.uk) A dramatic drop in the population of puffins at their main North Sea breeding site has alarmed scientists. After almost 40 years of breeding success puffin numbers on the Isle of May have plummeted by 30 per cent.
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2 July
Two men charged in East Coast seal hunt protest plead not guilty
(From The Canadian Press) SYDNEY, N.S. — The lawyer for two men facing charges of getting too close to Canada”s spring seal hunt was in a Nova Scotia courtroom on Wednesday to enter not guilty pleas on their behalf. Lawyer Guy LaFosse said his clients, Alexander Cornelissen, captain of the …
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2 July
Sea Birds Die In Fishermen’s Nets
(From telegraph.co.uk) Sea birds are dying entangled in fishermen”s nets off the Yorkshire coast. So many birds were being killed that the Environment Agency ordered the temporary closure of the fishery. But the two-week cooling-off period has now ended and the nets have once again been set off the beaches …
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2 July
Washington: Sentences for Hunt
(From nytimes.com) Five Makah Indian whalers who killed a gray whale in an illegal hunt last September have been sentenced in federal court. The two men considered leaders of the group, Wayne Johnson and Andy Noel, were sentenced to five months and three months in jail, respectively. They will also …
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2 July
Oceans In Crisis
(From telegraph.co.uk) One of the long-established ecological principles is that large animals are less abundant than smaller ones. There are fewer elephants than antelope, which are less numerous than rabbits. Because larger animals need more resources, and ecosystem can support fewer of them. The one glaring exception to this principle …