“Today’s action by British Prime Minister David Cameron will protect the true bounty of the Pitcairn Islands — the array of unique marine life in the surrounding pristine seas,” said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, head of the Society’s Pristine Seas project. “Our scientific exploration of the area revealed entirely new species as well as an abundance of top predators like sharks. It was like traveling to a new world full of hidden and unknown treasures, a world that will now be preserved for generations to come.”
Month: March 2015
Warmer Ocean Waters Possible Cause of Sea Lion Crisis on West Coast
Since 2015, over 1,200 California sea lions have been calling rehabilitation centers home across the state. In Sausalito’s Marine Mammal Center, more than 400 sea lions have been admitted, with others in the hospital recuperating. Experts are of the belief… Read More ›
Gulf Stream Weakening Could Impact Weather and Marine Ecosystems
Editor’s Note: Neptune 911 has included several videos that include animations of the Atlantic overturning system and scientific workshops. The Atlantic overturning is one of Earth’s most important heat transport systems, pumping warm water northwards and cold water southwards. Also… Read More ›
Supercomputer Shows How Ocean Captures Carbon
The ocean sink for carbon won’t be able to keep up with what humans and nature are emitting. “Carbon emissions from fossil-fuel burning is far greater than capacity of oceans to take it up. We are sort of doubling the carbon in the atmosphere on a time scale of 100 years,” he said. “The carbon uptake into the ocean is on the scale of 1,000 years or 10,000 years.”
Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter @StaciMatlock.
Seabird Count Drops in Gulf of Alaska
U.S. Geological Survey experts found the seabird population density declined 2 percent annually from 1975 to 2012 in the northeast North Pacific, said John Piatt, research wildlife biologist at the USGS Alaska Science Center.
A Short Winter for the Arctic
(Reuters) – Arctic sea ice this year is the smallest in winter since satellite records began in 1979, in a new sign of long-term climate change, U.S. data showed on Thursday. The ice floating on the Arctic Ocean around the… Read More ›
Rescuing Entangled Stellar Sea Lions
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpted report from the Times Colonist, “Human discards mean slow torture for B.C.’s marine mammals.” Highlighted portions by Neptune 911. Marty Haulena positions himself atop a federal fisheries patrol boat, his CO2-powered dart rifle… Read More ›
Marine Sanctuaries Approved for California Coast
WASHINGTON — After more than a decade of effort by California lawmakers, the Obama administration gave final approval Thursday to a giant expansion of two marine sanctuaries off the coast north of San Francisco that will protect one of the… Read More ›
Scientists Warn of “Catastrophic” Effect of Seismic Exploration
March 5, 2015 Washington, D.C. — Today, 75 of the foremost marine scientists from world-class institutions including Duke, Cornell, the New England Aquarium, Stanford, and the University of North Carolina, sent a letter to the Obama Administration warning of the… Read More ›
High Numbers of Dolphins Dying in Gulf Waters
Dolphins are dying in great numbers in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Since February 2010, 1,308 dead or dying marine mammals — mostly bottlenose dolphins, including juveniles or aborted fetuses — have washed ashore on beaches and wetlands from Texas… Read More ›