Constantine Alexander's Journal

Whale and dolphin death toll during Deepwater disaster may have been greatly underestimated

Animal carcasses recovered represent a small fraction of fatalities

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 devastated the Gulf of Mexico ecologically and economically. However, a new study published in Conservation Letters reveals that the true impact of the disaster on wildlife may be gravely underestimated. The study argues that fatality figures based on the number of recovered animal carcasses will not give a true death toll, which may be 50 times higher than believed.

"The Deepwater oil spill was the largest in US history, however, the recorded impact on wildlife was relatively low, leading to suggestions that the environmental damage of the disaster was actually modest," said lead author Dr Rob Williams from the University of British Columbia."This is because reports have implied that the number of carcasses recovered, 101, equals the number of animals killed by the spill."

The team focused their research on 14 species of cetacean, an order of mammals including whales and dolphins. While the number of recovered carcasses has been assumed to equal the number of deaths, the team argues that marine conditions and the fact that many deaths will have occurred far from shore mean recovered carcasses will only account for a small proportion of deaths.

To illustrate their point, the team multiplied recent species abundance estimates by the species mortality rate. An annual carcass recovery rate was then estimated by dividing the mean number of observed strandings each year by the estimate of annual mortality.

The team's analysis suggests that only 2% of cetacean carcasses were ever historically recovered after their deaths in this region, meaning that the true death toll from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could be 50 times higher than the number of deaths currently estimated.

"This figure illustrates that carcass counts are hugely mis-leading, if used to measure the disaster's death toll," said co-author Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium "No study on carcass recovery from strandings has ever recovered anything close to 100% of the deaths occurring in any cetacean population. The highest rate we found was only 6.2%, which implied 16 deaths for every carcass recovered."

The reason for the gulf between the estimates may simply be due to the challenges of working in the marine environment. The Deepwater disaster took place 40 miles offshore, in 1500m of water, which is partly why estimates of oil flow rates during the spill were so difficult to make.

"The same factors that made it difficult to work on the spill also confound attempts to evaluate environmental damages caused by the spill," said Williams. "Consequently, we need to embrace a similar level of humility when quantifying the death tolls."

If the approach outlined by this study were to be adopted the team believe this may present an opportunity to use the disaster to develop new conservation tools that can be applied more broadly, revealing the environmental impacts of other human activities in the marine environment.

"The finding that strandings represent a very low proportion of the true deaths is also critical in considering the magnitude of other human causes of mortality like ship strikes, where the real impacts may similarly be dramatically underestimated by the numbers observed" said John Calambokidis, a Researcher with Cascadia Research and a co-author on the publication.

"Our concern also applies to certain interactions with fishing gear, because there are not always systematic data with which to accurately estimate by-catch, especially for large whales", noted Jooke Robbins, a co-author from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. "When only opportunistic observations are available, these likely reflect a fraction of the problem."

"While we did not conduct a study to estimate the actual number of deaths from the oil spill, our research reveals that the accepted figures are a grave underestimation," concluded Dr. Williams. "We now urge methodological development to develop appropriate multipliers so that we discover the true cost of this tragedy."

Contact: Ben Norman
[email protected]
44-012-437-70375
Wiley-Blackwell

 

Stanford researchers use river water and salty ocean water to generate electricity

The initial state of the battery developed by Yi Cui, with two electrodes immersed in fresh water. Purple and orange dots represent positively and negatively charged ions, respectively. In Step 1, a small electric current is applied to charge the battery, pulling ions out of the electrodes and into the water. Step 2, the fresh water is purged and replaced with seawater. Note much higher abundance of charged ions in the salt water. Step 3, electricity is drawn from the battery for use, draining the battery of its stored energy. Ions return to electrodes. Step 4, seawater is discharged and replaced with river water, for the cycle to begin anew. (Courtesy of Yi Cui, Stanford University)

Stanford researchers have developed a battery that takes advantage of the difference in salinity between freshwater and seawater to produce electricity.

Anywhere freshwater enters the sea, such as river mouths or estuaries, could be potential sites for a power plant using such a battery, said Yi Cui, associate professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research team.

The theoretical limiting factor, he said, is the amount of freshwater available. "We actually have an infinite amount of ocean water; unfortunately we don't have an infinite amount of freshwater," he said.

As an indicator of the battery's potential for producing power, Cui's team calculated that if all the world's rivers were put to use, their batteries could supply about 2 terawatts of electricity annually – that's roughly 13 percent of the world's current energy consumption.

The battery itself is simple, consisting of two electrodes – one positive, one negative – immersed in a liquid containing electrically charged particles, or ions. In water, the ions are sodium and chlorine, the components of ordinary table salt.

Initially, the battery is filled with freshwater and a small electric current is applied to charge it up. The freshwater is then drained and replaced with seawater. Because seawater is salty, containing 60 to 100 times more ions than freshwater, it increases the electrical potential, or voltage, between the two electrodes. That makes it possible to reap far more electricity than the amount used to charge the battery.

The manganese dioxide nanorods used to make the postiive electrode of Yi Cui's new battery that generates power by using the salinity contrast between fresh and salt water. (Courtesy of Yi Cui.)

"The voltage really depends on the concentration of the sodium and chlorine ions you have," Cui said. "If you charge at low voltage in freshwater, then discharge at high voltage in sea water, that means you gain energy. You get more energy than you put in."

Once the discharge is complete, the seawater is drained and replaced with freshwater and the cycle can begin again. "The key thing here is that you need to exchange the electrolyte, the liquid in the battery," Cui said. He is lead author of a study published in the journal Nano Letters earlier this month.

In their lab experiments, Cui's team used seawater they collected from the Pacific Ocean off the California coast and freshwater from Donner Lake, high in the Sierra Nevada. They achieved 74 percent efficiency in converting the potential energy in the battery to electrical current, but Cui thinks with simple modifications, the battery could be 85 percent efficient.

To enhance efficiency, the positive electrode of the battery is made from nanorods of manganese dioxide. That increases the surface area available for interaction with the sodium ions by roughly 100 times compared with other materials. The nanorods make it possible for the sodium ions to move in and out of the electrode with ease, speeding up the process.

Other researchers have used the salinity contrast between freshwater and seawater to produce electricity, but those processes typically require ions to move through a membrane to generate current. Cui said those membranes tend to be fragile, which is a drawback. Those methods also typically make use of only one type of ion, while his battery uses both the sodium and chlorine ions to generate power.

Cui's team had the potential environmental impact of their battery in mind when they designed it. They chose manganese dioxide for the positive electrode in part because it is environmentally benign.

The group knows that river mouths and estuaries, while logical sites for their power plants, are environmentally sensitive areas.

The mouth of the Amazon River, where the world’s largest drainage basin flows into the Atlantic Ocean. A location such as this, where fresh and sea water mix, is a good spot for generating electricity with Yi Cui’s new battery. Credit: NASA

"You would want to pick a site some distance away, miles away, from any critical habitat," Cui said. "We don't need to disturb the whole system, we just need to route some of the river water through our system before it reaches the ocean. We are just borrowing and returning it," he said.

The process itself should have little environmental impact. The discharge water would be a mixture of fresh and seawater, released into an area where the two waters are already mixing, at the natural temperature.

One of Cui's concerns is finding a good material for the negative electrode. He used silver for the experiments, but silver is too expensive to be practical.

His group did an estimate for various regions and countries and determined that South America, with the Amazon River draining a large part of the continent, has the most potential. Africa also has an abundance of rivers, as do Canada, the United States and India.

But river water doesn't necessarily have to be the source of the freshwater, Cui said.

"The water for this method does not have to be extremely clean," he said. Storm runoff and gray water could potentially be useable.

A power plant operating with 50 cubic meters of freshwater per second could produce up to 100 megawatts of power, according to the team's calculations. That would be enough to provide electricity for about 100,000 households.

Cui said it is possible that even treated sewage water might work.

"I think we need to study using sewage water," he said. "If we can use sewage water, this will sell really well."

Contact: Louis Bergeron
[email protected]
650-725-1944
Stanford University

Icebergs in the Antarctic play important role in carbon cycle

After following the path of a drifting iceberg, research team’s discoveries could have implications for climate change studies.

		This is the C18a iceberg in the Weddell Sea with the moon in the background. Credit: Diane Chakos

Icebergs cool and dilute the ocean water they pass through and also affect the distribution carbon-dioxide-absorbing phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, according to a team of researchers from UC San Diego and the University of San Diego.

The effects are likely to influence the growth of phytoplankton in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean and especially in an area known as "Iceberg Alley" east of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Enhanced phytoplankton growth would increase the rate at which carbon dioxide is removed from the ocean, an important process in the carbon cycle, said the leaders of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study.

The results appear in the journal Deep-Sea Research II in a paper titled "Cooling, dilution and mixing of ocean water by free-drifting icebergs in the Weddell Sea." The main results from this paper were also highlighted in Nature Geoscience's March issue.

"Iceberg transport and melting have a prominent role in the distribution of phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea," said paper lead author John J. Helly, who holds joint appointments at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. "These results demonstrate the importance of a multi-disciplinary scientific team in developing a meaningful picture of nature across multiple scales of measurement and the unique contributions of ship-based field research."

		The exposed portion of an iceberg in the Weddell Sea rises 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 feet) above the sea surface. Overhanging icicles result from thawing and freezing of the surface of the iceberg. Credit: John Helly/SDSC

"The results demonstrate that icebergs influence oceanic surface waters and mixing to greater depths than previously realized," added paper co-author Ronald S. Kaufmann, Associate Professor of Marine Science and Environmental Studies at the University of San Diego.

The findings document a persistent change in physical and biological characteristics of surface waters after the transit of an iceberg. The change in surface water properties such as salinity lasted at least ten days, far longer than had been expected.

Sampling was conducted by a surface-mapping method used to survey the area around an iceberg more than 32 kilometers (20 miles) in length. The team surveyed the same area again ten days later, after the iceberg had drifted away. After ten days, the scientists observed increased concentrations of chlorophyll a and reduced concentrations of carbon dioxide compared to nearby areas without icebergs.

"We were quite surprised to find the persistence of the iceberg effects over many days," said Helly, director of the Laboratory for Environmental and Earth Sciences at SDSC.

The new results demonstrate that icebergs provide a connection between the geophysical and biological domains that directly affects the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean. This research significantly extends previous research results conducted in the same environment and reveals the dynamic properties of icebergs and their effects on the ocean in unexpected ways.

"These findings confirm that icebergs are a dynamic and significant component of polar ecosystems," said Roberta L. Marinelli, director of the NSF's Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Program.

NSF manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, through which it coordinates all U.S. research on the southernmost continent and aboard ships in the Southern Ocean. The research was conducted as part of a multi-disciplinary project involving scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, University of South Carolina, University of Nevada, Reno, University of South Carolina, Brigham Young University, and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. Scripps Oceanography graduate student Gordon Stephenson and research biologist Maria Vernet are also co-authors of the paper.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,400, and annual expenditures of approximately $170 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates robotic networks, and one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. Birch Aquarium at Scripps serves as the interpretive center of the institution and showcases Scripps research and a diverse array of marine life through exhibits and programming for more than 415,000 visitors each year. 

Contact: Robert Monroe or Mario Aguilera
[email protected]
858-534-3624
University of California - San Diego

Russian boreal forests undergoing vegetation change, study shows

Russia's boreal forest – the largest continuous expanse of forest in the world, found in the country's cold northern regions – is undergoing an accelerating large-scale shift in vegetation types as a result of globally and regionally warming climate. That in turn is creating an even warmer climate in the region, according to a new study published in the journal Global Change Biology and highlighted in the April issue of Nature Climate Change.

The Great Russian forest, which includes much of Siberia, is the size of the contiguous United States. It has experienced significant documented warming over the last several decades. As a result, tree species that are more tolerant of warmer weather are advancing northward at an increasing rate as species that are less tolerant to a warmer climate are declining in number.

"We've identified that the boreal forest, particularly in Siberia, is converting from predominantly needle-shedding larch trees to evergreen conifers in response to warming climate," said the study's lead author, Jacquelyn Shuman, a post-doctoral research associate in environmental sciences in U.Va.'s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. "This will promote additional warming and vegetation change, particularly in areas with low species diversity."

Larch trees drop their needles in the fall, allowing the vast snow-covered ground surface of winter to reflect sunlight and heat back into space. This helps keep the climate in the region very cold. But evergreen conifers, such as spruce and fur, retain their needles year round. These trees absorb sunlight, which causes ground-level heat retention. This creates ideal conditions for the proliferation of evergreens, to the detriment of the leaf-dropping larches. The result is a northward progression of evergreens and a farther-northward retreat by the larch forests.

"What we're seeing is a system kicking into overdrive," said co-author Hank Shugart, a U.Va. professor of environmental sciences. "Warming creates more warming."

The researchers used a climate model to assess what would happen if evergreens continued to expand their range farther north and larch species declined. The "positive feedback" cycle of warming promoting warming showed an increase of absorbed surface warming. The model takes into account detailed information about tree growth rates, and the results agree with actual field studies documenting changes in cone production and movement of evergreen treelines northward.

"Such changes in that vast region have the potential to affect areas outside of the region," Shuman noted.

The Russian boreal forest sits over a tremendous repository of carbon-rich soil frozen in the permafrost. As the forest changes in species distribution from larch to evergreens, warming of the ground surface would cause decomposition of the soil, releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – possibly as much as 15 percent of the carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere.

"This is not the scenario one would want to see," Shugart said. "It potentially would increase warming on a global scale."

The study is derived from Shuman's Ph.D. dissertation. Shugart served as her adviser. Their paper is co-authored by Thomas Liam O'Halloran, previously a doctoral student in environmental sciences at U.Va. and now a post-doctoral research associate at Oregon State University. Shuman and Shugart recently received a $987,000, three-year grant from NASA to continue their studies.

Contact: Fariss Samarrai
[email protected]
434-924-3778
University of Virginia

The intriguing sound of marine mammals

Peter Tyack, a senior scientist in biology at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has always been intrigued by animal behavior. A class at Woods Hole while still in college led Peter down his current path of research on acoustic communication and social behavior in marine mammals. 

He has studied the songs of humpback whales, the signature whistles of dolphins and the echolocation pulses of sperm whales and dolphins. Tyack has pioneered several new methods to sample the behavior of these mammals, including the development of sound-and-orientation recording tags.

As a result of his work recording the sounds of whales, Tyack is concerned that the ubiquitous noises from human activity in the ocean -- sonar, oil rigs, motorboats, shipping traffic -- are disturbing marine mammals.

 

News in Brief (March 28, 2011)

Biomass recovery in marine reserves

One of the reasons that serve to justify and rationalize the establishment of no-take marine reserves is the potential of these reserves to provide a solution to the loss of biodiversity (including fishery species) and ecosystem structure. The topic of fish biomass recovery after depleted and degraded coral reefs acquire full protection from fishing is, therefore, of great interest to many scientists as well as fishers. For the predatory reef fish species belonging to the families Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Serranidae, and Carangidae, the biomass recovery period of time has been estimated at about 15-40 years, based on our 17 years of data (Russ and Alcala, 2004). …

Call of the Whales Leads to a Retreat’s Discovery

By studying whale calls, scientists have discovered that thousands of humpbacks may be wintering and breeding in the remote northwestern Hawaiian islands. Although the main Hawaiian islands are the principal breeding ground for North Pacific humpbacks, serving as a home to more than 8,000 whales from December to May, it was previously unknown that they also bred farther west in the archipelago. …

Naval sonar drives whales from feeding grounds

The first detailed study of the effects of naval sonar on whales shows that whales flee from prime feeding sites when navy tests begin – leaving them famished when they finally return. Blainville's beaked whales, Mesoplodon densirostris, use echolocation clicks to track down prey in the lightless depths they hunt in, a kilometre or more below the surface. …

Dolphins die after underwater Navy training exercise near San Diego

Three of the marine mammals were found dead this month during explosives training near the coast. The long-beaked common dolphins showed injuries consistent with blast trauma. …

Tsunami 2011 (Midway Atoll National Refuge)

A tsunami generated by a powerful earthquake off the coast of Japan struck Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at 11:36 PM on Thursday, March 10th and continued for the next few hours. Fortunately, Midway residents received approximately 4 hours of advanced warning and successfully implemented its tsunami emergency plan. All essential infrastructure and equipment were secured and all staff, contractors, and visitors evacuated to the third floor of the Charlie Hotel.  Fortunately, no one was injured and no major damage occurred to the island’s infrastructure. Debris washed onto the airfield which caused its temporary closure for less than 24 hours. The Short-tailed albatross nest was washed over again, but the chick was found unharmed about 35 m away and returned unharmed to its nest area. A minimum of 1,000 adult/subadult and tens of thousands of Laysan Albatross chicks were lost. Thousands of Bonin petrels were buried alive. Spit Island completely washed over. Eastern and Sand Island were 60% and 20% washed over, respectively. Thousands of dead fish were found in the interior of Eastern. Two live green turtles were rescued from the middle of Eastern.  The impacts on Laysan ducks and monk seals are unknown. …

Rare albatross is unique species

The world's rarest albatross has been confirmed as a separate species by scientists. The genetic analysis solves 20 years of debate over the status of the Amsterdam albatross. Canadian researchers have proven that the birds' DNA varies significantly from wandering albatrosses, their closest living relatives. Only 170 of the birds remain on Amsterdam Island, where the whole population breed on a single plateau. …

Dozens of musk oxen found dead near Bering Strait

Thirty-two musk oxen were found dead in the ice along the Bering Strait, apparently killed when they drowned in water that surged ashore during a winter storm, the National Park Service said on Tuesday. …

Pollution-trawling voyage finds ocean's plastic 'soup'

If you trawl a fine mesh net through any of the globe's five subtropical gyres – giant ocean vortexes where currents converge and swirl unhurriedly – you will haul on deck a muddle of brown planktonic goop, the occasional fish, squid or Portuguese man-of-war – and, almost certainly, a generous sprinkling of colourful plastic particles, each no larger than your fingernail. Every flake of plastic cup or shard of toothbrush handle is a sponge for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – potentially hazardous compounds that do not degrade easily and cling to any hard surface they find. The fate of all this plastic determines not only the health of marine life, but also our own; if fish are feasting on these toxic morsels, then we probably are too. …

Japan’s losses open excellent prospects for Chile’s coho salmon

The March 9 earthquake and tsunami destroyed most of Japan’s profitable salmon industry, but Japan’s loss may be Chile’s gain. The catastrophe directly hit the main fishing areas in the provinces of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiaba, destroying 20% of the salmon industry and completely shutting down fishing ports. …

Pacific salmon run helps shape Canada's ecosystems

Pacific salmon plays an important role in providing nutrients to part of the world's largest old-growth temperate rainforest, a study has shown. The annual migration sees salmon return to western Canada to spawn, but many are caught by bears and wolves, which carry carcasses away from the streams. …

Beavers set for return to Wales for Ceredigion project

Beavers are to be re-introduced to the Welsh countryside for the first time in at least 900 years. Ceredigion-based Wales Wild Land Foundation will create an enclosed habitat for a pair of European beavers at Artist's Valley, near Machynlleth. An observation area will also be built for visitors. Monitoring and research will also be carried out to evaluate whether the beaver can be introduced into more enclosed sites or back into the wild. …

Sea eagles given more protection

Sea eagles are to be given further protection in a new three-year scheme. The £80,000 project involves Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) working with farmers and crofters to help the birds throughout the areas where they breed. Scotland's sea eagle population has reached a record high since the birds were re-introduced on the Isle of Rum 36 years ago. But they are still considered to be rare with just 52 adult breeding pairs across the country. Sea eagles lay up to three eggs in March with chicks leaving the nest in late July or August. SNH will help to protect the birds, which usually nest in trees. …

Cuckoo in egg pattern 'arms race'

Cuckoos' egg forgery skills are increasingly being put to the test, as host birds evolve better defences, say scientists. These brood parasites, as they are called, are master deceivers - hiding their eggs in other species' nests. To avoid detection, cuckoos have evolved to mimic colour and pattern of their favoured host birds' eggs. But researchers have developed "birds eye view" models to find out how the hosts see the intruders' copycat eggs. …

Frightened birds grow longer wings

It seems that the constant threat of predation could have a more subtle effect on prey animals than first thought. Female birds that are exposed to predators while they are ovulating produce smaller offspring than unexposed females, researchers have found. The chicks may be smaller, but surprisingly, their wings grow faster and longer than those of chicks from unexposed mothers —an adaptation that might make them better at avoiding predators in flight. …

Ecological disaster in Tristan da Cunha: penguins and lobster at risk plus threat of rats

A race to rescue up to 20,000 endangered northern Rockhopper penguins from an oil spill in an isolated South Atlantic British island group was under way this week after a cargo ship ran aground. …

EU seal pelts import ban dispute goes to WTO court

Seal pelt exporter Canada won the right on Friday to have its grievance against a European Union import ban heard through the World Trade Organization's (WTO) court system. …

Anglers call on new weapon to ward otters off their fish – lions

The return of the otter in England is causing problems for commercial fisheries, which are resorting to unusual remedies. Otters threatening an angling club's prize fish, worth thousands of pounds, are being kept away with a novel deterrent – lion dung. …

World’s first five country protected area to conserve “Europe’s Amazon”

Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia today signed a historic declaration to establish a trans-boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to protect their shared nature and wildlife along the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, “Europe’s Amazon”. The declaration - signed during the Informal Ministerial Meeting within the Hungarians EU-Presidency - paves the way for creating the world’s first five-country protected area and, with an overall size of about 800,000 ha, Europe’s largest riverine protected area. …

Women in science discuss being women in science

One woman listened as a male professor told her she should not go to graduate school because she would be depriving a man of an opportunity to support his family. Another had to nix her male colleagues’ chivalrous notion of slinging a porta-potti by helicopter to the volcano she was studying. A third was told she could not be promoted to supervisor because men don’t like being supervised by women. Women scientists face unique challenges and sometimes find distinctive opportunities. To mark Women’s History Month, I sent a questionnaire to a few Alaska women scientists who have excelled at their craft for a few decades. …

A Conversation With Helene York, Sustainable Dining Expert

Imagine a different kind of university café or corporate cafeteria—one that cares about sustainable seafood and fair-trade chocolate, in addition to serving real, from-scratch food and keeping people healthy. The chances are good that if you know a dining facility like this one, Helene York has been involved. As director of strategic initiatives for the Bon Appétit Management Company and director of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation, York has helped develop sustainability practices for a leading sustainable foodservice company with more than 400 locations in 29 states. She is also a longtime contributor to TheAtlantic.com, writing on everything from the myth of "green" beef to how to find a food-world internship. Here, she discusses fake artisanal food, the impact of rising commodities prices, and Bollywood dance music. …

New international co-operation to tackle marine debris

Government representatives, major industries and leading marine researchers have come together to make a new set of commitments to tackle the widespread problem of debris in the world's seas and oceans.

Despite decades of efforts to prevent and reduce marine debris, such as discarded plastic, abandoned fishing nets and industrial waste, there is evidence that the problem continues to grow. A lack of co-ordination between global and regional programmes, deficiencies in the enforcement of existing regulations and unsustainable consumption and production patterns have aggravated the problem.

By bringing together experts from some 35 countries, governments, research bodies, corporations including the Coca-Cola Company, and trade associations such as Plastics Europe, the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference resulted in new commitments and partnerships to address the issue of marine debris at global, national and local levels.

A key outcome of the conference, which was co-organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and held in Honolulu, Hawaii from 20 to 25 March 2011, the Honolulu Commitment marks a new, cross-sectoral approach to help reduce the occurrence of marine debris, as well as the extensive damage it causes to marine habitats, the global economy, biodiversity and the risks posed to human health.

The Commitment encourages sharing of technical, legal and market-based solutions to reduce marine debris, improving local and regional understanding of the scale and impact of the problem and advocating the improvement of waste management worldwide.

"Marine debris - trash in our oceans - is a symptom of our throw-away society and our approach to how we use our natural resources. It affects every country and every ocean, and shows us in highly visible terms the urgency of shifting towards a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy as nations prepare for Rio+20 in 2012," said United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in a message to conference delegates. "The impact of marine debris today on flora and fauna in the oceans is one that we must now address with greater speed," added Mr. Steiner

"However, one community or one country acting in isolation will not be the answer. We need to address marine debris collectively across national boundaries and with the private sector, which has a critical role to play both in reducing the kinds of wastes that can end up in the world's oceans, and through research into new materials. It is by bringing all these players together that we can truly make a difference," said Mr. Steiner.

The Commitment marks the first step in the development of a comprehensive global platform for the prevention, reduction and management of marine debris, to be known as the Honolulu Strategy.

This document - currently being developed by conference delegates, UNEP, NOAA and international marine debris experts - will aim to provide a strategic framework for co-ordinated action plans to prevent, reduce and manage sources of marine debris. The Strategy will be finalised following the conference.

"This conference comes at a critical time for our world" said Monica Medina, NOAA's Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere. "The oceans and coasts are facing a multitude of stressors, including marine debris, that lead to consequences that have both ecosystem and economic impacts. It is vitally important to bring together people committed to these issues to share ideas, develop partnerships and move us all a step closer to the changes that are badly needed for our oceans and coasts."

Marine debris: risks to livelihoods, wildlife and human health

The impacts of marine debris are far-reaching, with serious consequences for marine habitats, biodiversity, human health and the global economy.

• At least 267 marine species worldwide are affected by entanglement in or ingestion of marine debris, including 86 percent of all sea turtles species, 44 percent of all seabird species and 43 percent of all marine mammal species. 
• There is growing concern over the potential impact on human health of toxic substances released by plastic waste in the ocean. Small particles (known as 'microplastics') made up of disintegrating plastic items or lost plastic pellets used by industry, may accumulate contaminants linked to cancer, reproductive problems and other health risks. Scientists are studying whether these contaminants can enter the food chain when microplastics are ingested by marine animals. 
• Accumulated debris on beaches and shorelines can have a serious economic impact on communities that are dependent on tourism. 
• Marine debris may house communities of invasive species which can disrupt marine habitats and ecosystems. Heavy items of marine debris can damage habitats such as coral reefs and affect the foraging and feeding habits of marine animals.

Surfing for Solutions in Hawaii

One of the key themes to emerge from the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference was the need to improve global waste management.

The Honolulu Strategy will outline several approaches for the reduction of marine debris, including prevention at land- and sea-based sources, and the need to see waste as a resource to be managed. It will also call for public awareness campaigns on the negative impacts of improper waste disposal on our seas and oceans - targeting street litter, illegal dumping of rubbish and poorly-managed waste dumps.

Improving national waste management programmes not only helps reduce the volume of waste in the world's seas and oceans and subsequent damage to the marine environment, but can also bring real economic benefits.

In the Republic of Korea, for example, a policy of Extended Producer Responsibility has been enforced on packaging (paper, glass, iron, aluminium and plastic) and specific products (batteries, tyres, lubricating oil) since 2003. This initiative has resulted in the recycling of 6 million metric tonnes of waste between 2003 and 2007, increasing the country's recycling rate by 14 percent and creating economic benefits equivalent to US$1.6 billion.

Waste management is one of ten economic sectors highlighted in UNEP's Green Economy Report, launched in February 2011. The report highlights enormous opportunities for turning land-based waste - the major contributor to marine debris - into a more economically valuable resource. The value of the waste-to-energy market, for example, which was estimated at US$20 billion in 2008 is projected to grow by 30 percent by 2014.

The scaling-up of a transition to a low carbon, more resource-efficient Green Economy is one of two key pillars of the United Nations Sustainable Development conference to be held in Brazil next year. Also known as Rio+20, the conference aims to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development and address new and emerging challenges - twenty years after the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Contact: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of Media, on Tel: +254 733 632 755, E-mail: [email protected]

Large-scale assessment of the Arctic Ocean

Significant increase in freshwater content since 1990s

Large-scale assessment of the Arctic Ocean: significant increase in freshwater content since 1990s

The freshwater content of the upper Arctic Ocean has increased by about 20 percent since the 1990s. This corresponds to a rise of approx. 8,400 cubic kilometres and has the same magnitude as the volume of freshwater annually exported on average from this marine region in liquid or frozen form. This result is published by researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the journal Deep-Sea Research. The freshwater content in the layer of the Arctic Ocean near the surface controls whether heat from the ocean is emitted into the atmosphere or to ice. In addition, it has an impact on global ocean circulation.

Around ten percent of the global mainland runoff flows into the Arctic via the enormous Siberian and North American rivers in addition to relatively low-salt water from the Pacific. This freshwater lies as a light layer on top of the deeper salty and warm ocean layers and thus extensively cuts off heat flow to the ice and atmosphere. Changes in this layer are therefore major control parameters for the sensitive heat balance of the Arctic. We can expect that the additional amount of freshwater in the near-surface layer of the Arctic Ocean will flow out into the North Atlantic in the coming years. The amount of freshwater flowing out of the Arctic influences the formation of deep water in the Greenland Sea and Labrador Sea and thus has impacts on global ocean circulation.

Dr. Benjamin Rabe from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association and his colleagues have evaluated a total of over 5,000 measured salt concentration profiles. To measure the depth distribution of the salt concentration, researchers used sensors from ships or mounted sensors on large ice floes so the data were recorded during the ice drift through the Arctic Ocean. Furthermore, measured values from submarines were inputted in the analyses. Major portions of the data stem from expeditions during International Polar Year 2007/2008. "The well coordinated research programmes in the Arctic have substantially improved the database in these difficult to access areas," reports Rabe, who will again sail to the central Arctic on the research vessel Polarstern in the coming summer. The dense network of observations in recent years made it possible for the first time to come up with a comparative assessment of the freshwater content in the Arctic Ocean.

Rabe and his colleagues have published the increase in the freshwater content between the periods 1992 to 1999 and 2006 to 2008 in the journal Deep-Sea Research. "The considerable changes in the upper water layers primarily comprise a decline in salt concentration," says Rabe. Another, though minor, effect is that the low-salt layers are thicker than before. The freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean may rise due to increased sea ice or glacier melt, precipitation or river inputs. Less export of freshwater from the Arctic – in the form of sea ice or in liquid form – also results in a rise in the freshwater content. The authors of the study point to altered export of freshwater and altered inputs from near-coastal areas in Siberia to the central Arctic Ocean as the most probable reasons.

Dr. Michael Karcher from the Alfred Wegener Institute, co-author of the study, simulated the observed processes using the NAOSIM coupled ocean/sea ice model. The model experiments make it possible to study longer periods, i.e. to map times for which no measurement data are available. The model also supplies important insights into the causes of the rising and falling freshwater content and points out the great significance of the local wind field. Measurements and the model additionally show that the changes in the Arctic freshwater content encompass far larger areas than assumed to date.

The title of the original publication by Benjamin Rabe, Michael Karcher, Ursula Schauer, John M. Toole, Richard A. Krishfield, Sergey Pisarev, Frank Kauker, Rüdiger Gerdes and Takashi Kikuchi is: "An assessment of Arctic Ocean freshwater content changes from the 1990s to the 2006-2008 period" and appeared in the journal Deep-Sea Research I 58 (2011) 173-185, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2010.12.002 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2010.12.002).

Contact: Folke Mehrtens
[email protected]
49-047-148-312-007
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

Sustainable Fishing Practices Spark Optimism

There are reasons for cautious, but nevertheless real, optimism about our potential for rehabilitating many degraded marine ecosystems and replenishing certain fish stocks with the expansion of sustainable fisheries practices under Catch Share programs that have been conducted within the last three and a half decades in 35 countries, including countries such as Iceland that depend heavily upon fisheries for important export revenue and island nations that depend on fisheries for the health and well-being of their populations.

Remarkable world-wide results from Catch Share fisheries management programs conducted in an extremely wide range of marine biological, topographical and weather conditions in both hemispheres among single and multi-species fisheries working in tropical, temperate and sub-Arctic zones have brightened the future outlook of many people who have long been deeply concerned about overfishing and the ecological impacts of certain fishing gear. Bottom trawlers in particular have been known to be destructive since at least 1376 when Edward III of Windsor (1312-1377), King of England, and the British Parliament received the following complaint along with a petition to ban trawling:

“Where in creeks and havens of the sea there used to be plenteous fishing, to the profit of the Kingdom, certain fishermen for several years past have subtily contrived an instrument called ‘wondyrechaun’ … the great and long iron of the wondyrechaun runs so heavily and hardly over the ground when fishing that it destroys the flowers of the land below water there, and also the spat of oysters, mussels and other fish upon which the great fish are accustomed to be fed and nourished. By which instrument in many places, the fishermen take such quantity of small fish that they do not know what to do with them; and that they feed and fat their pigs with them, to the great damage of the common of the realm and the destruction of the fisheries, and they prey for a remedy.” 

This optimism is tempered, however, by the inadequate responses of many world-wide government authorities, including many European national governments and the European Commission, to redress the continuing marine species and habitat damage inflicted by overfishing and environmentally harmful fishing gear.

A socio-economic study entitled Sustainable Fisheries Development was prepared pro bono for a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) on the European Parliament Fisheries Committee who requested a recommendation for a fisheries management system that could be adapted to the European Union and its myriad of fishing vessel types, marine conditions, harvested species and cultural differences. Of all the potential fisheries management systems assessed, only the Catch Share program offered: (i) a viable mechanism for a European-wide framework which national governments and regional authorities could tailor to their own special needs, especially given European Fisheries Commissioner Damanaki’s aim to delegate more fisheries management responsibility to Member States, (ii) enhanced enforcement of fisheries regulations to curb illegal fishing, (iii) improved fisheries industry profitability, employment stability and worker safety, (iv) reliable scientific assessments of fish stocks and habitats and (v) the means for enhancing fish stocks and allowing marine habitat recovery for the long term benefit of fisheries and marine ecosystems.

The Catch Share program has been endorsed by global fisheries experts including the President of the Nordic Council, the President of the Spanish Fishermen’s Association, WWF International and participating fishers, including Alaskan fisherman Rob Wurm who readily admitted that “We fought against the [Catch Share] program right up until the time it passed, but, to my surprise, it really has worked well. It has created a lot of stability, stopped the race for fish and changed the fishing environment in ways that have made it safer and allowed us to avoid bycatch.”

Let us hope that the European Commission in its current Common Fisheries Policy reform is focusing on the long term needs of the fisheries industry, marine ecosystems that contribute heavily to the annual US$26 trillion worth of valuable goods and services provided for free by nature and the global human population that relies on an adequate supply of fish, rather than the short term but politically expedient needs of the decision-makers themselves.

To download a PDF file of the study, please click thefollowing  link:

• Download Sustainable Fisheries Development.
• Download President Barroso's Response to our CFP Proposals

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Scientists Offer Warning & Plan For Protecting Earth’s ‘Blue Carbon’

Urgent Action Needed To Halt Increasing Carbon Emissions from Destroyed, Degraded Coastal Marine Ecosystems.

Halodule uninervis; Keith Ellenbogen; Madagascar; Madagascar RAP 2010; Mangroves; Seagrass; Thalassia hemprichi; horizontal, Vohemar Bay. © Keith A. Ellenbogen/iLCP

The destruction of coastal carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes, is leading to rapid and long-lasting emissions of CO2 into the ocean and atmosphere, according to 32 of the world’s leading marine scientists.

That key conclusion highlights a series of warnings and recommendations developed by the new International Working Group on Coastal “Blue” Carbon, which convened its first meeting in Paris last month.  The Working Group was created as an initial step in advancing the scientific, management and policy goals of the Blue Carbon Initiative, whose founding members include Conservation International (CI), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. 

Much of the carbon emitted when mangroves, seagrasses or tidal marshes are destroyed is estimated to be thousands of years old because the CO2 stored in these ecosystems is found not only in the plants, but in layer upon layer of soil underneath. Total carbon deposits per square kilometer in these coastal systems may be up to five times the carbon stored in tropical forests, due to their ability to absorb, or sequester, carbon at rates up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest. The management of coastal ecosystems can supplement efforts to reduce emissions from tropical forest degradation.

According to recommendations from scientists in the Blue Carbon Working Group, whose collaboration pools expertise from 11 countries on five different continents, the existing knowledge of carbon stocks and emissions from degraded or converted coastal ecosystems is “sufficient to warrant enhanced management actions now.”

Dr. Emily Pidgeon, Marine Climate Change Director at Conservation International, and a leading blue carbon conservation scientist emphasized, “We have known for some time the importance of coastal ecosystems for fisheries and for coastal protection from storms and tsunamis. We are now learning that, if destroyed or degraded, these coastal ecosystems become major emitters of CO2 for years after the plants are removed. In the simplest terms, it’s like a long slow bleed that is difficult to clot. So we need to urgently halt the loss of these high carbon ecosystems, to slow the progression of climate change.”

Draining a typical coastal wetland, such as a mangrove or marsh, releases 0.25 million tons of carbon dioxide per square kilometer for every meter of soil that’s lost.  Global data shows that seagrasses, tidal marshes, and mangroves are being degraded or destroyed along the world’s coastlines at a rapid pace. In fact, between 1980 and 2005, 35,000 square kilometers of mangroves were removed globally – an area the size of the nation of Belgium. This degraded area still continues to release up to 0.175 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year – equivalent to the annual emissions of countries such as the Netherlands or Venezuela.

IOC Assistant Director-General and Executive Secretary Wendy Watson-Wright added, “Scientific studies have shown that although mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes account for less than 1% of the total plant biomass on land and forests, they cycle almost the same amount of carbon as the remaining 99%.  So the decline of these carbon-efficient ecosystems is a valid cause of concern.”

Over the course of three days in Paris, scientists concluded the meeting with a set of key priorities and recommendations:

• Enhanced national and international research efforts: such as developing inventory and accounting methodologies for coastal carbon; conducting carbon inventories, conducting targeted research and monitoring to more accurately quantity the greenhouse gas emissions from coastal ecosystem loss, and establishing a network of field demonstrations to build capacity and community input.
• Enhanced local and regional management practices: such as identifying and reducing the primary drivers of high-carbon coastal system degradation, (urban development, agriculture, aquaculture, pollutant and nutrient run-off, dredging, and introduction of artificial constructions), strengthening national to local conservation and protection measures of high-carbon coastal systems, and beginning restoration of lost/degraded systems
• Enhanced international recognition of coastal carbon ecosystems: through established international bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Scientists emphasized that improved management of coastal marine ecosystems is not meant to become a patent roadblock to nations’ economic development or food production, but rather, a targeted strategy that prioritizes conservation of specific, unique, high-carbon coastal zones, which act like global sponges for global CO2. They are recommending that nations and managers better recognize the vital services that these wetlands provide humanity, and prioritize their protection.

“The capacity of coastal wetlands to reduce climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide is considerable, but has been overlooked” says Jerker Tamelander, Oceans and Climate Change Manager for IUCN. “If valued and managed properly, coastal ecosystems can help many countries meet their mitigation targets, while supporting adaptation in vulnerable coastal areas.”
 
The working group will meet next in August, and continue their collaborative scientific study. Funding for the group has been provided by the Waterloo Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Conservation International (CI) - Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity for the well-being of humanity. With headquarters in Washington, DC, CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents.

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. 

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO promotes international cooperation and coordinates programmes in marine research, services, observation systems, hazard mitigation and capacity development in order to learn more and better manage the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas. Through the application of this knowledge the Commission aims to improve management practices and the decision-making process of its Member States, foster sustainable development, and protect the marine environment.