Ocean rapidly deteriorating, facing ‘fundamental and irreversible ecological transformation’

By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy NewspapersPosted on Sunday, July 4, 2010 WASHINGTON — A sobering new report warns that the oceans face a “fundamental and irreversible ecological transformation” not seen in millions of years as greenhouse gases and climate change already have affected temperature, acidity, sea and oxygen levels, the food chain and possibly major […]

NOAA count confirms critical status of endangered right whale: About 30 remain in the eastern Pacific Ocean

After more than a decade of monitoring the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, scientists have released the first count of one of the world’s most endangered group of whales. Approximately thirty right whales inhabit the eastern Pacific Ocean, they reported on Tuesday — slightly more than previously thought. Whether enough remain to prevent […]

First ever footage from inside a purse seine tuna net — ‘Seeing death on this scale has quite an impact on the team’

About 5 minutes into the video above, a film crew dives in the South Pacific waters and films for what is probably the first time ever (that’s what they claim, anyway) the inside of a gigantic purse seine tuna net. You really have to see it to believe the scale of this kind of commercial […]

Severe impacts of Chile salmon farms on coastal ecosystem discovered

ScienceDaily (June 22, 2010) — Until recently, the disastrous scale of the threat posed by salmon farms to the fauna and National Park of the Aysén region of southern Chile was entirely unknown. The unexpected discovery was made by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and the University of Göttingen, who […]

Fishing industry starving whales of food

By Samantha Hayes Sun, 20 Jun 2010 6:00p.m. A marine biologist says he’s discovered a new threat to whales that has nothing to do with Japanese boats. Steve O’Shea studies beached whales in New Zealand and believes the fishing industry is starving them of their food supply. Twenty-one pilot whales have beached themselves at Aotea […]

The secret talks that threaten two decades of whale conservation

By Michael McCarthy, Environment EditorTuesday, 22 June 2010 The future of the international whaling moratorium, one of the world’s great conservation achievements, is being decided behind closed doors today and tomorrow, after whaling’s governing body went into a secret session to discuss proposals that would end it. The future of the international whaling moratorium, one […]

The mackerel war has started in Cornwall

By Charles Clover June 13, 2010 Off the coast of Cornwall and Devon the mackerel are in. The big shoals of summer have arrived. Over the next few months these tiger-striped, blue-black-and-green relatives of the tuna will forage northwards, eating anything that will maintain their astonishing energy levels. The generous mackerel will oblige inexperienced anglers, […]

‘Noise pollution’ threatens fish

By Matt WalkerEditor, Earth News Fish are being threatened by rising levels of man-made noise pollution. So say scientists who have reviewed the impact on fish species around the world of noises made by oil and gas rigs, ships, boats and sonar. Rather than live in a silent world, most fish hear well and sound […]

Manta rays next on restaurant menus as shark populations plummet

By Frank Pope, Ocean Correspondent Conservationists fear a falling shark population is prompting Asian chefs to look for manta and devil rays to help meet the voracious demand for shark fin soup. Found in coastal waters throughout the world, rays present an easy target as they swim slowly near the surface with their huge wings. […]

Ocean fish extinct within 40 years

By Sebastian Smith (AFP) NEW YORK — The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned Monday. “If the various estimates we have received… come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, […]

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