Constantine Alexander's Journal

The Tilos Park Experience.

Tilos Natural Park Map.  Credit: Constantine Alexander

"I promised the rainbow a better earth, a season full of soil fresh with immaculate chamomile at the bare feet...With pure white birds I filled the wind that will go to the morning inauguration of the sea! And here we are both ready, holding hands...When we blow the veil opens...to beautiful years yet to come...From that point, toil will begin and happiness will enter the crystals we awaited."

From "The Whole World" by Odysseus Elytis, 1979 Nobel laureate 

And so it was on October 5, 2003 that the thirty-three founding members whom I had recruited, representing individuals and organisations from around the world, gathered together on Tilos that day to publicly declare their dedication to the conservation of Tilos and its 14 uninhabited islets through the formation of the Tilos Park Association (TPA), a Greek registered non-profit NGO, that grew into a well-funded organization supported by an international dues-paying membership that included 2/3 of the island residents, island visitors and national government officials including the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias.

The pristine natural environment of Tilos and its islets radiate the beauty, vitality, and resilience of the indigenous flora and fauna that have evolved for centuries in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The founding members of the TPA were inspired by the irreplaceable value of the island’s unspoiled, interdependent ecosystems that consist of 16 different biotopes fed by underground springs of clean, fresh water that nourish the 63 sq km island.

The documentation of more than 378 botanical species; 162 resident and migratory wild bird species, of which one quarter require protection under the EU Birds Directive 79/409/EEC; the rare Mediterranean monk seal classified by IUCN as "critically endangered"; and a myriad of other terrestrial and marine wildlife species clearly warranted the designation of the island and islets as an EU registered Special Protection Area, a Natura 2000 Network site and a 2004-2007 host to the EU Tilos Life Nature program of which the newly founded TPA became a full partner.

Yet awareness by the TPA founding members of growing societal pressures, imposed by economic as well as recreational interests that threatened the survival of the island's natural environment, inspired the TPA to devote its efforts to the conservation of the island SPA and the ecologically sensitive development of the islanders' socio-economic needs. This partnership of equally respected endeavours was manifested in the aims of the organisation and, more importantly, in the actions of the TPA.

The TPA welcomed members from around the world who generously contributed their time, effort and creative ideas which represented the organisation's most valuable asset. Within the first 3 years of the TPA’s existence, these ideas were transformed into actions that included (i) the successful lobbying of the Hellenic government at national, regional and local levels for the approval of the Tilos Natural Park establishment which was officially granted in 2006, (ii) securing the 100% EU funding approval of a wetlands development project incorporating interdependent bio-systems and a discreet visitor observation centre following the loss of the natural island wetlands due to construction development, (iii) actively working with local residents in their establishment of long term ecotourism businesses that showcase the island's natural beauty, (iv) inviting and cooperating with renewable energy experts in keeping with the Kyoto Protocol, (v) coordinating the implementation of the entire EU Tilos Life Nature program, (vi) extending invitations to and organising excursions for non-resident student science groups to study the island ecology for academic credit, (vii) the development of ecological maps and guides for visitors, (viii) local high school presentations and weekly visitor discussion groups to heighten public awareness about the island's natural resources, (ix) the establishment of an Avian Recovery Centre to care for injured birds and other wildlife species; (x) the creation of a library containing visitor guides in 7 languages along with island botanical, geological and marine as well as terrestrial biological information; and (xi) island tours covering the history, ecology and culture of the island. These actions reflect the energy, enthusiasm and goal orientation of the TPA staff, volunteers and membership whose commitment deepened with each accomplishment that could not be achieved without a collaborative effort.

This team effort was best exemplified by the September 2004 Avian Recovery Centre [ARC] establishment as a facility to house, feed and care for birds found on the island suffering from injury, migratory exhaustion and/or trauma. In the first 24 months of operation, the ARC received 26 birds representing 16 resident and migratory avian species including Eleonora’s Falcon, Long Legged Buzzard, Gray Heron, Kingfisher, Little Bittern, Kestrel, Song Thrush, Scops Owl and Moorhen. The interior landscape design of the large outdoor cages featured bay trees, berry vines, rosemary, thyme, marjoram and lemon verbena as well as water pools to offer shelter, shade, wind protection and a natural habitat for the birds. Without any avian or veterinary professionals on the island, we were fortunate to have located non-resident volunteer experts who informed us about the proper care and feeding of each species. Island residents and the TPA volunteer staff provided the birds’ necessities from their own personal resources during the ARC’s daily operation.

Many of these birds recovered and were released; unfortunately, some did not survive as their injuries were too severe. Regardless of the outcome, however, each shared with us its own characteristic behaviour, unique personality and struggle to survive. And just as important, each individual enriched our knowledge about those with whom we shared this beautiful island SPA.

The Tilos Park Journal was published by the Tilos Park Association. The purpose of the Journal was to acquaint the public with then-current island news having international relevance. The articles reported on such topics as island renewable energy development; the island challenges associated with endangered marine turtle species conservation; island wildlife conservation actions in compliance with mandatory EU Directives; comparisons and contrasts among Tilos, European and north African EU Life Nature program experiences; wetlands restoration; ecotourism developments; the significance, restoration and sustainable uses of historical sites; Tilos botanical history, mythology, ancient trading products and existing rare species; and more.

As of winter 2008, the Journal was electronically distributed to more than 6,250 international subscribers including European Commission and European Parliament Members, Hellenic government officials and Hellenic Parliament Members, international NGO's, European multi-national industry executives, private individuals and TPA members from Canada, South Africa, Europe, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey and the US.

Our TPA experience filled with socio-economic and environmental conservation progress, sustainable development programs, volunteer support from island residents as well as visitors, and, most important of all, memorable group collaborations can be replicated in any community around the world when the strength of shared values succeeds in breaking the burdensome chains made of individual differences.   

Constantine Alexander

Δημόσια Διαβούλευση για το Σχέδιο ΠΔ «Χαρακτηρισμός χερσαίων και υδάτινων εκτάσεων της περιοχής νήσου Τήλου ως Φυσικό Περιφερειακό Πάρκο και ορισμός Φορέα Διαχείρισής του»

The Tilos Park Journal:

• Download TPA Journal EN 1
• Download TPA Journal EN 2A
• Download TPA Journal 2B
  
• Download TPA Journal EN 3
• Download TPA Journal EN 4
• Download TPA Journal EN 5
• Download TPA Journal EN 6
• Download TPA Journal EN 7

References:

• Download The Tilos Park Experience
• Download TILOS LIFE PROJECT
  
• Download TILOS LIFE PROJECT Final Report
• Download TILOS AFTER LIFE CONSERVATION PLAN
• Download Brochure EN
• Download Brochure GR
  

Tilos Natural Park:

• Download Presidential Decree
• Download Tilos Park Presidential Decree Draft
  
• Download Governor's Council Park Approval
• Download Ministry of Agriculture Approval
• Download Ministry of Development
• Download ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY APPROVAL
• Download Map Tilos Park
• Download Natural Park of Tilos Ministry of Environment
  

Press Articles:

• Download ELEFTHEROS TYPOS 03-08-2007
• Download ELEFTHEROS TYPOS 25-08-2007
• Download KATHIMERINI 01-27-2007
• Download Liberation
• Download OON Austria
• Download Freiheit fur Tiere
• Download On BLUE
• Download Holiday Express
• Download PASSPORT MAGAZINE
• Download GEOTROPIO
• Download GNOMI Nespaper December 10 2007
• Download RODIAKI 2 NOVEMBER 2008
• Download Kathimerini English August 31 2012

 

 

 

The Tilos Park Experience. by Constantine Alexander is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.constantinealexander.net/2011/04/the-tilos-park-experience.html.

Performance goals needed now for offshore wind turbine industry in US

Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation, a new report from the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board, examines standards and practices that could be used to design U.S. offshore wind installations.

In order to develop offshore wind energy in the United States, a clear set of requirements is needed, the report says. As the U.S. currently lacks standards, the committee that wrote the report recommends that the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) immediately establish performance goals for structural integrity that project developers must meet. Performance goals, rather than prescribed regulations, would encourage innovation in this nascent industry. The industry should then rely on a combination of international standards and guidelines developed by classification societies, as well as designs appropriate for U.S. waters and weather conditions, to develop projects that comply with the performance goals. The committee also suggests roles for third-party reviewers and identifies expertise required to advise BOEMRE on the suitability of industry proposals.

The study was sponsored by BOEMRE. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. 

Contact: Maureen O'Leary
[email protected]
202-334-2138
National Academy of Sciences

Water currents of South Africa could stabilize climate in Europe

An international team of marine scientists studies the effects salt water from the Agulhas Current can have on global warming

One of the ocean currents which particularly interests oceanographers and climatologists is the Gulf Stream. This current, originating in the Gulf of Mexico, transports enormous amounts of warm tropical waters to the North Atlantic and is the cause of Europe's habitable climate. Climate predictions point to the fact that this will change in the future and affect especially the climate in countries of the Mediterranean region, with more dry spells. As global warming progresses, the North Atlantic will receive more precipitation and a greater amount of water from the melting of glaciers in Greenland, thus reducing the salinity of ocean water and weakening the Gulf Stream's effects.

The article published in Nature describes an alternative approach which suggests that flows from the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic, near the tip of Africa, also are important in relation to future current systems in the North Atlantic.

The Agulhas Current, located in the southwest of the Indian Ocean, transports high density salt water to the southern tip of Africa, where part of it escapes to the South Atlantic, contributing to the strength of the global circulation of this ocean. The study describes how this inflow of salt water from the Indian Ocean can compensate the decrease in salinity in the North Atlantic and therefore stabilise the Gulf Stream and the climate in Europe. These processes have been simulated using computational climate models.

The article reviews information available until now and enumerates the steps which must be taken with the aim of carrying out a better assessment of the processes involved in this current system. To demonstrate the dynamics of the Agulhas Current, its sensitivity to climate change and the way it transmits its signals to the North Atlantic, researchers point out the need to combine long-term studies on temperature variation and salinity of the Agulhas Current, analyses on climate changes in the past and detailed computer simulation models.

The existence of connections between the Agulhas Current and Europe's climate has been the focus of study these past six years of the research group directed by Dr Rainer Zahn.

The authors of the research article are members of a consortium of marine scientists from United States, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and Spain working together with the objective of studying the effects of the Agulhas Current on regional and global climates. This group forms part of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), member of the International Council for Science. Other member institutions include the US National Science Foundation, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) and the International Marine Global Change Study (IMAGES).

Contact: Maria Jesus Delgado
[email protected]
34-935-814-049
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Eddies found to be deep, powerful modes of ocean transport

Study finds connection between atmospheric events and the deep ocean

Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and their colleagues have discovered that massive, swirling ocean eddies—known to be up to 500 kilometers across at the surface—can reach all the way to the ocean bottom at mid-ocean ridges, some 2,500 meters deep, transporting tiny sea creatures, chemicals, and heat from hydrothermal vents over large distances.

The previously unknown deep-sea phenomenon, reported in the April 28 issue of the journal Science, helps explain how some larvae travel huge distances from one vent area to another, said Diane K. Adams, lead author at WHOI and now at the National Institutes of Health.

"We knew these eddies existed," said Adams, a biologist. "But nobody realized they can affect processes on the bottom of the ocean. Previous studies had looked at the upper ocean."

Using deep-sea moorings, current meters and sediment traps over a six-month period, along with computer models, Adams and her colleagues studied the eddies at the underwater mountain range known as the East Pacific Rise. That site experienced a well-documented eruption in 2006 that led to a discovery reported last year that larvae from as far away as 350 km somehow traveled that distance to settle in the aftermath of the eruption.

The newly discovered depth of the powerful eddies helps explain that phenomenon but also opens up a host of other scientific possibilities in oceans around the world. "This atmospherically generated mechanism is affecting the deep sea and how larvae, chemical and heat are transported over large distances," Adams said.

The eddies are generated at the surface by atmospheric events, such as wind jets, which can be strengthened during an El Niño, and "are known to have a strong influence on surface ocean dynamics and production," say Adams and Dennis J. McGillicuddy from WHOI, along with colleagues from Florida State University, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, and the University of Brest in France. But this "atmospheric forcing…is typically not considered in studies of the deep sea," they report.

Moreover, the eddies appear to form seasonally, suggesting repeated interactions with undersea ridges such as the Eastern Pacific Rise. The models "predict a train of eddies across the ocean," Adams said. "There may be two to three eddies per year at this location," Adams said. Each one, she says, "could connect the site of the eruption to other sites hundreds of miles away." Elsewhere, she adds, "there are numerous places around the globe where they could be interacting with the deep sea."

In her 2010 report on larvae traveling great distances to settle at the eruption site, WHOI Senior Scientist Lauren S. Mullineaux , along with Adams and others, suggested the larvae traveled along something like an undersea superhighway, ocean-bottom "jets" travelling up to 10 centimeters a second. But conceding that even those would not be enough to carry the larvae all that distance in such a short time, the researchers speculated that large eddies may be propelling the migrating larvae even faster.

Adams's current work follows up on that possibility. "The mechanism we found helps explain what we saw in the first paper," Adams said.

It is the larger picture, over longer periods of time, however, that Adams and her colleagues find particularly intriguing. "Transport [of ocean products] could occur wherever…eddies interact with ridges—including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Southwest Indian Ridge, and the East Scotia Ridge—and the surrounding deep ocean," the researchers say.

And because the eddies appear to form repeatedly, the high-speed, long-distance transport can last for months. "Although the deep sea and hydrothermal vents in particular are often naively thought of as being isolated from the surface ocean and atmosphere, the interaction of the surface-generated eddies with the deep sea offers a conduit for seasonality and longer-period atmospheric phenomena to influence the 'seasonless' deep sea," Adams and her colleagues write.

"Thus, although hydrothermal sources of heat, chemical and larval fluxes do not exhibit seasonality there is potential for long-distance transport and dispersal to have seasonal to interannual variability."

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, WHOI, and the U.S. Department of Defense. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment.

Contact: Media Relations
[email protected]
508-289-3340
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Protecting Oceans from Illegal Fishing

The FishNET project has developed a low-cost, collaborative monitoring system to stop illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in international waters and coastlines. This project is a nominee for the Katerva award. The Katerva Awards are an annual set of awards for the very best sustainability initiatives on the planet.

 

 

 

Record number of whales, krill found in Antarctic bays

Scientists have observed a "super-aggregation" of more than 300 humpback whales gorging on the largest swarm of Antarctic krill seen in more than 20 years in bays along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.

The sightings, made in waters still largely ice-free deep into austral autumn, suggest the previously little-studied bays are important late-season foraging grounds for the endangered whales. But they also highlight how rapid climate change is affecting the region.

The Duke University-led team tracked the super-aggregation of krill and whales during a six-week expedition to Wilhelmina Bay and surrounding waters in May 2009. They published their findings today (April 27) in the online science journal PLoS ONE.

"Such an incredibly dense aggregation of whales and krill has never been seen before in this area at this time of year," says Duke marine biologist Douglas Nowacek. Most studies have focused on whale foraging habitats located in waters farther offshore in austral summer.

Nowacek and his colleagues observed 306 humpback whales or about 5.1 whales per square kilometer, the highest density ever recorded in Wilhelmina Bay. They measured the krill biomass at about 2 million tons. Small, floating fragments of brash ice covered less than 10 percent of the bay. The team returned in May 2010 and recorded similar numbers. Smaller but still higher-than-normal counts were also reported in neighboring Andvord Bay.

Advancing winter sea ice used to cover much of the peninsula's bays and fjords by May, protecting krill and forcing humpback whales to migrate elsewhere to find food, Nowacek says. But rapid climate change in the area over the last 50 years has significantly reduced the extent, and delayed the annual arrival, of the ice cover, says Nowacek, who is the Repass-Rodgers University Associate Professor of Conservation Technology.

"The lack of sea ice is good news for the whales in the short term, providing them with all-you-can-eat feasts as the krill migrate vertically toward the bay's surface each night. But it is bad news in the long term for both species, and for everything else in the Southern Ocean that depends on krill," says Ari S. Friedlaender, co-principal investigator on the project and a research scientist at Duke.

Antarctic krill are shrimp-like creatures that feed primarily on phytoplankton and live in large swarms in the Southern Ocean. Penguins, seals, seabirds and many whale species rely on the protein-rich, pinky-sized crustaceans as a source of food. Commercial fisheries are allowed to harvest up to 3 tons of the krill a year as food for farm-raised salmon and for oil, rich in omega-3 acids, which is used in human dietary supplements.

Around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, krill migrate in austral autumn from open ocean waters to phytoplankton-rich bays and fjords, where juveniles feed and the population overwinters under the protective cover of ice. There is a strong correlation between the amount of sea ice and the amount of krill that survive the long, harsh Antarctic winter.

"If there are more areas with large aggregations of krill hanging out in waters where sea ice has diminished, you could see a big decrease in the standing krill stock, especially if we have a few years of back-to-back bad ice and the krill can't replenish themselves," Friedlaender says.

Scientists already have documented drops in krill abundance over the last 50 years related to reduced sea ice cover. Further drops could have far-reaching consequences. Seals and penguins have a relatively small foraging range, and some can't eat any prey other than krill or hunt without the presence of sea ice. Whales can migrate longer distances and might be able to find food elsewhere, but may be affected in other ways, as evidenced by snippets of unexpected sounds being transmitted by 11 whales the Duke team tagged in the study.

"We're starting to hear songs being produced by whales in the Antarctic sexual advertisements typically heard only in humpback breeding grounds that are located thousands of miles away from these bays," Friedlaender says.

Humpback whales typically reproduce once every three years, "so if a female doesn't have to go to the breeding grounds every year if she has access to food here and isn't being forced out by sea cover why should she leave?" Nowacek says. The presence of more females, coupled with access to a nightly krill feast, entices more males to stick around too. "So this may affect the timing and location of humpback breeding and other important lifecycle events."

Consideration of these factors, and the effects of rapid climate change, on krill dynamics will be critical to managing sustainable krill harvests and the continued recovery of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean, he says.

Contact: Tim Lucas
[email protected]
919-613-8084
Duke University

Animals have personalities, too

An individual's personality can have a big effect on their life. Some people are outgoing and gregarious while others find novel situations stressful which can be detrimental to their health and wellbeing. Increasingly, scientists are discovering that animals are no different.

A new study led by Dr Kathryn Arnold, of the Environment Department at the University of York has added important experimental evidence showing that animal personalities are reflected in their oxidative stress profiles. The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Dr Arnold teamed up with graduate student Katherine Herborn, at the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow, to classify the personalities of 22 greenfinches.

They tested each bird's reactions to a novel situation by adding a brightly coloured cookie-cutter to each greenfinch's food bowl, and timing how long it took for the birds to pluck up courage to approach the food. The researchers found that the boldest birds took only a few seconds to overcome their fear while more timid birds took up to 30 minutes to approach their meal.

Dr Arnold and Katherine Herborn also measured the greenfinches' motivation to explore by attaching an intriguing object to the birds' perches and timing how long it took them to land next to it. However, there was no correlation between the birds' courage and curiosity.

The researchers then measured the birds' damaging reactive oxygen metabolite levels and their defences against them. Comparing the bird's blood oxidative profiles with their personalities, the team found that the most timid birds had the highest levels of damaging oxygen toxins and the weakest defences, so they suffered more oxidative stress than braver individuals. Also, the scientists found that the most curious birds (those that approached objects fastest) had better defences against oxidative damage than less curious greenfinches.

Dr Arnold wants to extend the work to establish how personality traits affects birds in the wild. She says, "Neophobic birds – those that are afraid of new things -- may suffer high costs of oxidative stress and die early because they paid these physiological costs, but they might also be less likely to be eaten by a predator because they are more wary than bolder birds ."

The research also involved scientists at The Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology at Oxford and the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The research was part-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Royal Society.

Contact: David Garner
[email protected]
44-190-432-2153
University of York

Scientists can track origin of shark fins using 'zip codes' in their DNA

Studies show that coastal sharks have 'DNA zip codes' that can reveal where they were born; underscores potential of DNA testing to monitor fin trade

		This is an assortment of dried shark fins in the process of being shipped from Fiji to Hong Kong. Tens of millions of fins are exported from nations around the globe to Asia, where they are used to make shark fin soup. Scientists have found that "zip codes" in the fin's DNA can reveal where the fin came from and thus contribute to improved shark conservation. Credit: Institute for Ocean Conservation Science

An international team of scientists, led by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, has used DNA to determine that groups of dusky sharks (Carcharhinus obscurus) and copper sharks (Carcharhinus brachyurus) living in different coastal regions across the globe are separate populations of each species. Both are large apex predators that are heavily exploited for the shark fin trade, which claims tens of millions of animals every year to produce the Asian delicacy, shark fin soup. Many of these species are declining as a result of this fishing pressure for their fins.

The dusky shark is classified as "Endangered" in the Western Atlantic by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as its population is below 20 percent of what it was two decades ago. These new studies show that the genetic differences among populations of these sharks are large enough for scientists to be able to track the actual origin of the fins on sale in Asian markets, enabling better regional monitoring and management of these threatened predators.

These research findings appear in two scientific articles. "Global phylogeography of the dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus: implications for fisheries management and monitoring the shark fin trade," has been published online in the journal Endangered Species Research. "Phylogeography of the copper shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) in the southern hemisphere: implications for the conservation of a coastal apex predator" will soon be published in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research. The primary objective of these studies was to identify any genetic differences among regional groups of dusky and copper sharks and establish how many distinct populations there are. The second objective was to determine if these population differences were great enough to allow scientists to reconstruct their contributions to fin trade in the future. Like many large sharks, these species have a wide distribution around the globe but are tied to coastal areas for reproduction.

		The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) is classified as "Endangered " in the Western Atlantic by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as its population is below 20 percent of what it was two decades ago. Credit: NOAA

"By analyzing part of the genome that is inherited solely through the mother, we were able to detect differences between sharks living along different continents – in effect, their DNA zip codes," said Dr. Demian Chapman, leader of the research team and assistant director of science of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. "This research shows that adult females faithfully give birth along the continental region where they were born. If fished too much, the population will collapse, and it is extremely unlikely that it will be replenished from immigration of sharks from another region."

This is precisely what has happened along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, where the once common dusky shark is now rare and a species of concern for listing under the Endangered Species Act. At one time, these animals were common in ocean waters off the United States; however, a recent stock assessment of the sharks along the U.S. East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico showed an 80 percent decline even though they have been protected since 2000. The recovery of the species is extremely slow because the average age of maturity is 20 years, its reproductive cycle only occurs every three years – including a two-year pregnancy – and its litter size is relatively small (three to 14 offspring).

"Here in the United States, it took only a few decades to nearly wipe out our dusky sharks, and it will probably take a few centuries for their stocks to be replenished," said Martin Benavides, lead author of both studies and research assistant at the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. "Our results dash any hopes that dusky sharks from other areas of the world will replenish the depleted U.S. stock. The sight of a dusky shark swimming off our shores will be a rare experience for generations to come."

"We know very little about the shark fin trade, but by using DNA-zip coding we can identify source populations that are contributing most to the trade, and prioritize them for management," added Dr. Chapman. "We, therefore, really need to establish sampling programs of fins on their way to Asia or in the markets to regulate the global trade before many more populations suffer the fate of the dusky shark in the United States."

		The copper or bronze whaler shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) is a large, coastally oriented top predator that is vulnerable to overexploitation. Credit: Robert Nyman

For years, it was difficult to determine the origin of these fins and whether they were from threatened species. A study by Dr. Chapman, which was published in 2009 , used DNA testing to trace scalloped hammerhead shark fins from the Hong Kong market all the way back to the sharks' geographic origin and found many came from collapsed Western Atlantic populations.* These new research results demonstrate that this type of testing also can be used to trace the origins of the fins of dusky and copper sharks.

"As apex predators at the top of marine food webs, it is essential for ocean health that we take steps, such as monitoring and regulating the fin trade, to protect these large sharks," said Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science.

Both research projects were conducted by a collaborative international team of scientists from the United States, Australia, South America, Asia, New Zealand and southern Africa. The scientists collectively analyzed part of the mitochondrial DNA in nearly 400 sharks sampled from all over the globe.

This research was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts through a grant to the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University. Sequence data were collected in the Field Museum's Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, operated with support from the Pritzker Foundation. Additional sequence data were collected at the Guy Harvey Research Institute with operational funds and a grant from the Save Our Seas Foundation. Funding was also provided by the Turner Fellowship Program and the Tinker Foundation.

For more information on "Global phylogeography of the dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus: implications for fisheries management and monitoring the shark fin trade," visit this website.

For more information on "Phylogeography of the copper shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) in the southern hemisphere: implications for the conservation of a coastal apex predator," visit this website.

The Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University is dedicated to advancing ocean conservation through science. The Institute transforms real-world policy while pursuing serious science, both of which are essential for ocean health. 

*Chapman DD, Pinhal D, Shivji MS (2009) "Tracking the fin trade: genetic stock identification in Western Atlantic scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini)," Endangered Species Research.

Contact: Cindy Yeast
[email protected]
720-542-9455
Stony Brook University

Identifying beaked whale foraging habitat in the tongue of the ocean, Bahamas

In a recent study to be published on April 27, 2011, in the peer-reviewed open-access journal PLoS ONE, Dr. Elliott Hazen and colleagues found that oceanographic and prey measurements can be used to identify beaked whale foraging habitat. The research team from Duke University, Woods Hole, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center listened for foraging beaked whales and measured ocean features and distributions of prey off the east coast of Andross Island in the Bahamas.

Their manuscript provides evidence that these difficult to study deep-diving creatures use specific ocean features such as salinity and temperature to find their prey. This is the first study describing their distribution and feeding habitat relative to ocean features Blaineville's beaked whales regularly dive over 1000 meters for over an hour in search of prey which varies from 400-1000 meters. The shy and elusive toothed whales feed primarily on fish and squid in the ocean's deep scattering layer, an important prey resource for many species throughout the world's oceans. In addition, Blaineville's beaked whales are listed as data deficient by the IUCN, and very little is currently known about the ecology of these creatures. Beaked whale species are thought to be sensitive to noise arising from certain human activities; in 2000, beaked whale strandings were observed coinciding with naval sonar exercises in the Bahamas. Understanding the distribution and behavior of these species is important to minimize harmful impacts from human uses of the ocean. Researchers worked aboard the R/V Revelle, an 86-meter vessel out of Scripps Institute of Marine Science. Fisheries acoustics data found scattering layers of prey on the western edge of the tongue of the ocean were denser than those at the eastern edge. Eighty-two bottom-mounted hydrophones also recorded increased foraging activity on the western edge of the basin.

The hydrophone range at AUTEC allowed for unprecedented measurements of the habitat and behavior of these elusive predators providing "necessary insight into how beaked whales interact with their environment". Studies on harbor porpoises and bottlenose dolphins have shown how modeling habitat can be a powerful tool to inform spatially adaptive management of pelagic predators (Bailey and Thompson 2009, Embling et al. 2009). Further work is necessary to determine whether this foraging model could be extrapolated to other seasons or populations.

Citations:

Embling C, Gillibrand P, Gordon J, Shrimpton J (2009) Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143: 267-279.

Bailey H, Thompson P (2009) Using marine mammal habitat modelling to identify priority conservation zones within a marine protected area. Marine Ecology Progress Series 378: 279-287.

Hazen EL, Nowacek DP, St. Laurent L, Halpin PN, Moretti DJ (2011) The Relationship among Oceanography, Prey Fields, and Beaked Whale Foraging Habitat in the Tongue of the Ocean. PLoS ONE 6(4): e19269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019269

Contact: Jen Laloup
[email protected]
415-624-1220
Public Library of Science

Agulhas leakage fueled by global warming could stabilize Atlantic overturning circulation

This figure shows the Agulhas system and its leakage into the South Atlantic. The southward shift of the winds in a warming climate (right panel) cause a southward shift of the subtropical front (red arrows), enlarging the "gateway" for Agulhas leakage around the tip of Africa. Increased Agulhas leakage acts to enhance Atlantic overturning, which causes a feedback on climate. (Background colors are dynamic height integrated between 2000 m and the surface). Credit: Erik van Sebille, UM/RSMAS

Threading the climate needle: The Agulhas system

The Agulhas Current which runs along the east coast of Africa may not be as well known as its counterpart in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream, but researchers are now taking a much closer look at this current and its "leakage" from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean. In a study published in the journal Nature, April 27, a global team of scientists led by University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Associate Professor Lisa Beal, suggests that Agulhas Leakage could be a significant player in global climate variability.

The Agulhas Current transports warm and salty waters from the tropical Indian Ocean to the southern tip of Africa, where most of the water loops around to remain in the Indian Ocean (the Agulhas Retroflection), while some waters leak into the fresher Atlantic Ocean via giant Agulhas rings. Once in the Atlantic, the salty Agulhas leakage waters eventually flow into the Northern Hemisphere and act to strengthen the Atlantic overturning circulation by enhancing deep water formation. Recent research points to an increase in Agulhas leakage over the last few decades caused primarily by human-induced climate change. This finding is profound, because it suggests that increased Agulhas leakage could trigger a strengthening in the Atlantic overturning circulation, at a time when warming and accelerated meltwater input in the North Atlantic has been predicted to weaken it.

"This could mean that current IPCC model predictions for the next century are wrong and there will be no cooling in the North Atlantic to partially offset the effects of global climate change over North America and Europe," said Beal, "Instead, increasing Agulhas leakage could stabilize the oceanic heat transport carried by the Atlantic overturning circulation."

Dr. Lisa Beal, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Credit: Jerry Beard

There is also paleoceanographic data to suggest that dramatic peaks in Agulhas leakage over the past 500,000 years may have triggered the end of glacial cycles. This serves as further evidence that the Agulhas system and its leakage play an important role in the planet's climate.

"This study shows that local changes in atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the Southern Hemisphere can affect the strength of the ocean circulation in unexpected ways. Under a warming climate, the Agulhas Current system near the tip of South Africa could bring more warm salty water from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean and counteract opposing effects from the Arctic Ocean," said Eric Itsweire, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s physical oceanography program, which funded the research.

The study establishes the need for additional research in the region that focuses on Agulhas rings, as well as the leakage. Climate modeling experiments are critical, and need to be supported by paleoceanographic data and sustained observations to firmly establish the role of this system in a warming climate.

"Our goal now is to get more of the scientific community involved in research of the Agulhas system and its global effects. The emphasis has been too long in the North Atlantic," said Beal.

The scientific review team included UM's Lisa Beal, Wilhelmus P.M. de Ruijter of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Arne Biastoch of Leibniz- Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR) in Germany, and Rainer Zahn of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain, as well as members of SCOR Working Group 136 on the Climatic Importance of the Agulhas System, sponsored by the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research, the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans, and the World Climate Research Program. The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research is supported by the National Science Foundation, award no. OCE-0938349. Beal is funded by the National Science Foundation through the ACT (Agulhas Current Time-series) project, award no. OCE-0850891.

The ACT ocean observing program was launched in April 2010 to measure the variability of the Agulhas Current using a combination of current meter moorings and satellite data. Beal, who serves as chief scientist, spent one month aboard Research Vessel Knorr in the southwest Indian Ocean deploying oceanographic instruments. The data gathered in situ, when combined with along-track satellite information, will help increase our understanding of how the Agulhas system is changing in a warming climate.

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. Founded in the 1940's, the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world's premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. 

Contact: Barbra Gonzalez
[email protected]
305-421-4704
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science