Ocean Sentry
(From ap.google.com) ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two conservation groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the Bush administration”s decision to let oil companies unintentionally harass or harm polar bears and walruses off the northwestern Alaska coast. “These regulations set the parameters for how oil exploration will be done in the …
July, 2008
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9 July
House Moves to Keep Shark Fins Out of Fancy Soups
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House took steps Tuesday to keep shark fins out of soups served in pricey Asian restaurants. In a voice vote, the House tightened a 2000 law that bans the practice of shark finning, whereby mainly Pacific Ocean fishermen cut off a shark”s fin and throw the …
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9 July
Overfishing Worse Than Thought
(From nature.com) Tropical fishermen catch far more species than reported officially. Global fisheries statistics generally paint a grim picture of ocean health, revealing rampant overfishing and declining fish catches in various regions. But a new study suggests that, in the tropics at least, the statistics have been telling only half …
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8 July
Linda’s a Tough Old Bloke
(From smh.com.au) He is, despite being named Linda, one tough little penguin. When found by life savers on Bronte Beach on March 17, he was just one more victim of the deadly rubbish abandoned along the coast by thoughtless humans. Entangled in an abandoned fishing line, his left flipper had …
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8 July
Endangered or Threatened? Beluga Status Still in Llimbo
(From alaskajournal.com) Federal fisheries officials expect to have a final management plan in place in early August for future belugas whale hunts in Cook Inlet, but a larger decision on whether to list the belugas in that area as threatened or endangered won”t come until October. Endangered means there is …
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8 July
Global Shark Population Threatened
(From seattletimes.nwsource.com) The Mediterranean Sea, Francesco Ferretti says, is “a very dangerous place for a shark.” So dangerous that in the past two centuries, the shark population there has plummeted by more than 97 percent, both in relative numbers and collective weight, according to a study by the graduate student, …
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8 July
Sonar triggers Whales Beaching
(From divemaster.com) A judge rejected the Bush administration’s attempts to override a ruling that ordered the Navy to take measures to protect marine mammals while conducting sonar exercises. Now the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Navy’s appeal this fall.
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8 July
Sense of Urgency at Coral Reef Meeting
(From radioaustralia.net.au) The world”s largest scientific meeting on coral reefs is underway in the United States. This meeting”s taken the theme “Reefs for the Future”, and hundreds of presentations are focusing on the threats posed by overfishing, pollution, and the temperature rises and severe weather events linked to climate change.
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8 July
RVCA Presents “Sea No Evil Show” at Riverside Art Museum
(From surfline.com) This coming Saturday (12th July) RVCA is proud to support the SEA NO EVIL SHOW, an Art Benefit aimed to helping preserve and protect the oceans of the world.
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8 July
Rescuers Looking for Tangled Whale
(From kitsapsun.com) Whale experts are pondering when and where to launch another search-and-rescue operation to assist a young humpback whale tangled in fishing gear off the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula. The tangled humpback, which is young enough to be with its mother, was first sighted more than a …
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7 July
Fishing line can cause problems for environment
(From houmatoday.com) The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program is a local effort to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment. The program hopes to encourage recycling through a network of line recycling bins and drop-off locations, and to conduct volunteer monofilament line cleanup …
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7 July
Juvenile Dolphin Freed From Life-Threatening Debris
(From sciencedaily.com) Members of the Southeast Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network successfully removed a black rubber strap Tuesday that was wrapped around the head of a juvenile bottlenose dolphin, averting a life-threatening injury. This injury is an example of the growing threat of marine debris to mammals and other animals …