Dead fish wash up on shore as sewage flows into Adyar estuary Times of India Estuaries like mangroves and coral reefs are important for marine ecology as they act as a breeding ground for marine animals. "Beyond the Kotturpuram bridge, the water is too polluted for any life to be present. The conditions are better closer to the ... |
Essex, Old Saybrook libraries, Estuary Council holding art exhibits Middletown Press Essex, Old Saybrook libraries, Estuary Council holding art exhibits. Image courtesy of the artist 'Fragile Dunes" by Maryann Rupp, is part of a collection of art on display at the Essex Library. Posted: 12/31/14, 3:37 PM EST |. # Comments. Image ... |
A Florida manatee. Manatee’s had a better year in 2014 than they did in previous years. (Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region / Flickr Creative Commons)
- Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are typically found in the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. East Coast, but one of these endangered sea turtles recently stranded 5,000 miles from its home off the UK. Scientists say this turtle was likely cold-stunned with a drop in water temperature, and was carried across the Atlantic via the Gulf Stream. The Telegraph
A diver in a volcanic arch, pictured off Roques de la Hoya, El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain during the 2014 Ranger Expedition to the Atlantic Seamounts. (Photo: Oceana in Europe / Flickr)
From President Obama designating the world’s largest marine reserve to establishing the first-ever Task Force on tackling seafood fraud, 2014 was a big year for our oceans. Oceana was there every step of the way, advocating for clean energy, traceability in the seafood supply chain, sustainable fisheries, and more.
(Photo: Oceana / Jenn Hueting)
Earlier this summer, I wrote to you when President Obama established a Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud. President Obama established the task force in June at the global Our Ocean conference, hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. There, he directed federal agencies to work together for six months to develop recommendations to combat seafood fraud and illegal fishing.
A toothfish – know as ‘white gold’ by poachers – caught in the illegal gillnet left by the Thunder. Photo: Jeff Wirth In an operation that lasted for five days, the crew of the Sea Shepherd ship, Sam Simon, has successfully completed the retrieval of an illegal gillnet, abandoned by the poaching vessel, Thunder. The outlawed fishing gear was located at 62˚ 16’ South 081˚ 14 East, inside the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) area of management, in the Southern Ocean.
The thirty-strong crew, made up of volunteers from fifteen nations, worked 24 hours a day to retrieve the illegal gillnet, which measured a total of 25 kilometres in length.
Over 200 targeted Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish were found dead in the gillnet, the largest approximately 1.6 meters long. Scientists on board the Sam Simon confirmed that a number of the dead toothfish were females of a reproductive age, and were carrying eggs.
Non-target species including rays, jellyfish, crabs and a staggering number of grenadiers were also found dead after being caught in illegal fishing gear. A majority of the crabs caught in the net were still alive, and were able to be released back into the Southern Ocean.
Captain of the Sam Simon, Sid Chakravarty, said, “With the confiscation of the illegally laid gillnet set combined with the pursuit of the Thunder by the Bob Barker, Operation Icefish has achieved what it had set out to do in less than a month from when it was kicked-off. The shadowlands of Antarctica, used by this wasteful and destructive industry, are being cleared of their illegal vessels, and the marine life of this pristine ecosystem is being given the protection they deserve.”
The strategic gillnet retrieval operation as it unfolds on the aft-deck of the Sam Simon. Photo: Giacomo Giorigi He added, ““Having hauled in the illegally-set gill net continuously for 5 days, the Sam Simon crew has given the world a chance to observe first-hand the destruction caused by this fishing method. Never has any conservation movement seen the recovery, confiscation and documentation of such length of gear. The onus is now on the relevant international authorities to use this evidence to prosecute the Thunder.”
Starting tomorrow, the Sam Simon will continue to scout the region around Banzare Bank on the lookout for more gillnet sets laid out by the Thunder.
Captain Chakravarty has reported the salvage operation to the relevant authorities, including Interpol, CCAMLR, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and Australian Federal Police. The confiscated equipment will be kept as evidence of the Thunder’s illegal activity, and handed-over to the relevant port authorities to aid in the prosecution of the vessel.
A known poaching vessel, the Nigerian-flagged Thunder was issued with an Interpol Purple Notice following a joint effort by Norwegian, New Zealand and Australian authorities, and is currently included on CCAMLR’s black-list of IUU fishing operators.
The Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker, has been in pursuit of the Thunder since the vessel first fled on December 17. Yesterday, the conservation ship escorted the poachers out of the CCAMLR region.
The use of gillnets has been outlawed by CCAMLR since 2004, and the Commission has specifically expressed concerns regarding the impact of this fishing method on the marine ecosystems of Antarctica.
Operation Icefish is Sea Shepherd’s 11th Southern Ocean Defence Campaign, and the first to target IUU toothfish fishing operators in the waters of Antarctica.
 The Sam Simon crew, triumphant after completing the operation. Photo: Jeff Wirth |  Veterinarian, Colette Harmsen and Biologist, Bia Figueiredo find eggs in a deceased female toothfish. Photo: Jeff Wirth |
Staghorn coral. This coral has declined in recent years, but scientists recently found a large area of it off Florida. (Photo: Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / Flickr Creative Commons)
- Scientists have discovered “forests” of staghorn coral off of Southern Florida—a rare discovery since these corals are experiencing large declines. Staghorn coral has declined from coral reef bleaching and white-band disease in recent years. Sun Sentinel
Brothers survive crash landing in Whananaki estuary Northern Advocate A pilot on his way home from visiting friends was forced to crash land his two-seater plane into the sea after it lost power soon after take-off. Holidaymakers at the popular coastal settlement of Whananaki North, 25km northeast of Whangarei, witnessed ... |
Hindustan Times | Langkawi, the land of mystic mangroves Hindustan Times The mangroves weave magic in the rains. As our motorboat sets out, cutting between forest-loaded islands with a white eagle or two on the watch, the rain, growing from a drizzle to a full-fledged diamond dance on the surface of the sea, sets the greens ... |
Mangroves Reborn on India's Tsunami-Ravaged Coast Wall Street Journal In India, the 2004 tsunami prompted villagers and scientists to revive long-dead coastal mangroves to protect against future floods. The WSJ's Jesse Pesta visits a pilot project. Transcript +. This transcript has been automatically generated and may ... |
Commentary by Sea Shepherd Founder, Captain Paul Watson
“You have not lived until you have risked your life so that others may live.”
~ Captain Paul Watson
Humpbacks off the Gold Coast of Australia
File photo: Sea Shepherd If Sea Shepherd holds the position that a whale’s life is worth risking our own lives, we must also hold the position that it is worth investing whatever we must to protect the lives of whales and dolphins.
It also means we must face, overcome and accept all consequences of our actions of compassion and our concern for the survival of bio-diversity in the ocean.
Global Sea Shepherd organizations have launched ten campaigns to the Southern Ocean since 2005; Sea Shepherd USA participated in eight of them.
Those ten campaigns cost an average of $2 million each, meaning that Sea Shepherd organizations worldwide have invested more than $20 million dollars towards protecting whales.
This is what is important.
In total, that’s 5,367 whales saved.
And when you consider that more than 50% of the whales killed have been female and many have been pregnant, the number of whales saved is even higher.
The campaigns resulted in not a single humpback whale being killed, despite humpbacks being on the quota list. And less than 10% of the fin whale quota was taken during the past decade.
The Sea Shepherd campaigns contributed to the decision by the Australian Federal Court to issue an injunction to Humane Society International Inc. in 2008 against the Japanese whalers for killing whales in the Australian Antarctic Territorial Waters.
The Sea Shepherd campaigns contributed to the decision by the International Court of Justice in The Hague to rule that Japan’s so-called scientific whaling operation was bogus and illegal.
The Sea Shepherd campaigns produced six years of the television program Whale Wars that sent the message of defending whales to an international audience of millions of people.
And now Japan has been forced to scale down their plans to a quota of 333 whales, and although they intend to kill whales for the 2015-2016 season, they will be doing so in continued violation of international law.
Sea Shepherd took on one of the most economically powerful governments in the world to expose their illegal activities and to physically save the lives of 5,367 whales in the internationally established Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
This was never intended to be easy. It was however intended to be effective.
It was effective.
Red crabs migrating on Christmas Island. (Photo: frogtrail images / Flickr Creative Commons)
Australia’s Christmas Island—located south of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean—is named for the day of its discovery in 1643. But, if you’re familiar with the incredible natural phenomenon that occurs there around this time of year, you may have thought the island was aptly named for the sea of red that blankets the island each year around Christmas time.
A bottlenose dolphin. The deadly morbillivirus has hit dolphins in the Florida Keys. (Photo: Oceana)
Editor’s Note: In light of the holidays, this is the last ocean news round-up to be published over the next week. In the meantime, please check our Twitter channel for ocean updates. Happy holidays!
Hindustan Times | Mumbai: Resident becomes crusader to save mangroves at Manori creek Hindustan Times Shetty wasn't always an expert on mangroves. It was the Mumbai deluge in July 2006 that opened her eyes towards these protectors of the shoreline. “Our area wasn't affected because of the mangroves. It got me intrigued and I started reading about it ... |
Free press journal | Govt vows to save mangroves Free press journal In a written reply to the question asked by Vijay Girkar, the minister said that debris were dumped on the mangroves forest and houses were built on the reclaimed land. Upon receipt of a complaint in this regard, the government searched for the ... |
Free press journal | Taking the right steps to protect mangroves Free press journal They came across several rare birds, crabs and other creatures during their visit and expressed their concern at wanton destruction of mangroves which are important feature of the ecosystem and help protect the coastal areas from natural calamities. |
Daily Mail | Bangladesh development threatens fragile Sundarbans mangroves Daily Mail Bangladesh's rapid development on the doorstep of the ecologically fragile Sundarbans mangrove forest means "environmental disasters" like this month's oil spill in the massive delta are increasingly likely, experts warn. A cargo ship last week crashed ... |
Sea Shepherd Senior Cove Guardian Campaign Leader Melissa Sehgal, Recently Denied Entry to Japan, to Call in Live During Streaming
Please Tune in at: http://ift.tt/1n55NTW.
After a long and grueling drive, the pod was held overnight in the cove to await their fate
Photo: Sea Shepherd A large pod of approximately 40-45 adult and juvenile pilot whales and at least eight bottlenose dolphins, including a calf of just a few months old, was captured yesterday and has been held overnight in Taiji’s infamous killing cove. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Cove Guardians will live stream today at ~1:30pm PT/4:30pm ET as the cetaceans — who have already endured a long and grueling drive into Taiji Harbor and hours without food or shelter — face captive selection or slaughter.
Sea Shepherd Senior Cove Guardian Campaign Leader, Melissa Sehgal, who has spent four seasons and six months at a time in Taiji, will call in at approximately 3 pm PT today (8 am Japan time tomorrow) to speak to the Cove Guardians on the ground in Japan and viewers around the world during the live stream, which can be viewed on Sea Shepherd’s website here: http://ift.tt/1n55NTW.
Sehgal was denied entry to Japan this month and escorted by police onto her flight home to Seattle after being interrogated for nine hours and held for 24 hours, despite never violating Japanese law.
Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians documented and live streamed to the world on the morning of Friday December 19 (Japan time) as what appeared to be a massive pod of pilot whales was chased toward the cove. The pod fought desperately for their lives, but were ultimately unable to escape the relentless drive of the hunting boats and the “wall of sound” produced by the banger poles struck against the side of the vessels. Once netted in, their fate was sealed: the pod would spend more than 20 hours confined to the shallow waters of the cove without food or shelter before the brutal processes of captive selection and slaughter begin. The young bottlenose calf clung to its mother’s side as they spy-hopped after the terrifying drive, surely exhausted, confused and uncertain of what is to come next.
As the Cove Guardians reviewed their photographs, they noticed that netted in the cove along with the pilot whales were several bottlenose dolphins. This multi-species pod is a profitable find for the killers and trainers of Taiji, and it is quite possible that some of the dolphins and whales will be sold for captivity in aquariums and marine parks in Japan or overseas.
Rare “finds” like this, though, would be even more profitable for Taiji if they were left in the sea, and not slaughtered or taken captive. Other rare finds and captures by Taiji’s hunters this season have been two albino dolphins and one piebald dolphin. If the hunters put down their weapons, and instead turned to whale- and dolphin-watching operations, ecotourism could create a significant tourist draw for Taiji — without harming the wild, migrating cetacean families that swim past its shores.
“This beautiful mixed pod, including mothers and their calves, will soon be violently ripped apart — several generations slaughtered or stolen from the ocean for captivity,” said Sehgal. “It’s time for the killers to realize that dolphins and whales do not belong to Japan or to any nation. They have inherent value because they are living, sentient beings and vital parts of marine ecosystems, not because of how much we can profit from their deaths or imprisonment.”
The multi-species pod, including approximately 40-45 pilot whales and at least eight bottlenose dolphins,
is a profitable find for the killers
Photo: Sea Shepherd Since the beginning of the 2014-2015 hunt season on September 1, the dolphin hunters have driven in a total of 22 family units, or pods, of cetaceans: one bottlenose dolphin pod, one pilot whale pod, two pods of striped dolphins and this most recent mixed pod of bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales. The majority of the season’s victims to date have been Risso’s dolphins, with 18 Risso’s pods captured and, with the exception of just a few, killed thus far.
For six months of each year — day in and day out, from September until March —entire pods of dolphins and small whales are driven into Taiji’s killing cove. Banger poles are hit against the side of the hunting boats to create a “wall of sound,” disorienting the sound-sensitive marine mammals and making it nearly impossible for them to escape the drive. Once netted into the cove, the dolphins and whales face brutal slaughter or a lifetime in captivity. Killers and trainers work side-by-side to select the “prettiest” dolphins and small whales, those without visible scars, to be sold for captivity. Others are slaughtered before the eyes of their family. In a drive just as stressful as the drive into the cove, any remaining pod members — usually juveniles and infants — are driven back out to sea with little chance of survival on their own.
Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians are the only group on the ground in Taiji every day throughout the entire six-month hunting season, documenting and live streaming every capture and every slaughter for the world to see. The 2014-2015 season marks the fifth year of Operation Infinite Patience, and the Cove Guardians will not stop shining a spotlight on this atrocity until the slaughter ends.
Humpback whales feeding in Alaska. (Photo: AkXpro / Vimeo)
Apart from their massive size, humpback whales are most known for their extensive, complex “songs” that male humpbacks use for communication. But, humpback whales also have some fascinating feeding behaviors that are also worthy of attention—particularly bubble-netting.
A Risso’s dolphin. These dolphins have been stranding in high numbers along Tasmania. (Photo: Images by John 'K' / Flickr Creative Commons)
- A federal report released this week found that temperatures in the Arctic are warming at twice the rate of those in lower latitudes. The report also discussed how these temperature and sea ice changes are negatively impacting polar bear populations and fish migrations. The Washington Post
Mangrove forest planted as tsunami shield New Scientist "They are very important for protecting coastal areas, because they can absorb wave energy," he says. And, thanks to the thousands of hectares of mangroves planted round Aceh since the tsunami, next time they would do the job – or at least, that's the ... |
Thunder is a CCAMLR black-listed vessel and has been issued with an Interpol Purple Notice. Yesterday, at approximately 2152 AEDT, the Sea Shepherd conservation ship, Bob Barker, intercepted the illegal fishing vessel Thunder, at 62˚ 15’ South, 81˚ 24’ East, inside the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) region of management.
Fishing gear, marked by the presence of three orange buoys, was also located in close proximity to the Thunder.
A known poaching vessel, the Nigerian flagged Thunder was issued with an Interpol Purple Notice following a joint effort by New Zealand, Australia and Norway. Thunder is also on CCAMLR’s black list of illegal operators, and is known to utilise gillnets in its poaching operations – a method of fishing that is outlawed by CCAMLR.
In the 2006/07 Austral summer, the Australian Customs and Fisheries patrol vessel, Oceanic Viking and the Australia research vessel Aurora Australis, sighted the vessel – then named Typhoon - within the CCAMLR area. In 2013, Australian Fisheries Management Authority reported that regional strike force denied Thunder port access in Penang, Malaysia, and Bali after it tried to offload millions of dollars worth of illegal catch.
Captain of the Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, immediately ordered the Thunder to Fremantle, Australia, to report to Australian law enforcement authorities.
GPS coordinates confirm Thunder’s location within the CCAMLR area. “I have notified the Captain of the Thunder and his crew that they have been placed under citizen’s arrest; that they must cease their illegal fishing activities immediately and report to the Australian authorities. Should they ignore this order, I have notified the Thunder that Sea Shepherd has no choice but to directly intervene in order to obstruct their continued illegal activities.”
Captain Hammarstedt then notified CCAMLR authorities, the Australian Federal Police and Australian Fisheries Management Authority that the vessel had been located within the CCAMLR region.
Captain Hammarstedt has urged Australian authorities to take action against the poachers. “Australia is an integral member of CCAMLR, and has dedicated much time and many resources to combat IUU fishing that targets toothfish in the Southern Ocean. We call on them now to uphold this reputation and take action against these criminal operators.”
Thunder is currently heading in a westerly direction. The Bob Barker is in pursuit.
IUU (Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported) fishing of toothfish continues inside the CCAMLR region, despite the Commission’s efforts to eliminate this threat to the Antarctic ecosystem. Currently six operators are known to be involved in IUU fishing of toothfish inside the area.
Operation Icefish is Sea Shepherd’s 11th Southern Ocean Defence Campaign, and the first to target IUU toothfish fishing operators in the waters of Antarctica.
all photos: Simon Ager / Sea Shepherd
