Ocean Sentry
(From ap.google.com) Washington- Two years ago with fanfare, President Bush declared a remote chain of Hawaiian islands the biggest, most environmentally protected area of ocean in the world. It hasn”t worked out that way. Cleanup efforts have slowed, garbage is still piling up and Bush has cut his budget request by 80 percent.
Ocean currents are still bringing an estimated 57 tons of garbage and discarded fishing gear to the 10 islands and the waters surrounding them each year. Endangered monk seals are still being snared and coral reefs smothered by discarded fishing nets. Albatrosses are still feeding on indigestible plastic and feeding it to their young.
(By DINA CAPPIELLO)
