Author Archives

Reporter, journalist and author who has owned and operated a bookstore, a pool and spa full service business, an apple farm, and is now committed to environmental issues. She has written four books: The Gathering Basket, Connection with 48 Natural Contemplations, Seek Beauty, Find Joy: a Companion Journal to Natural Contemplations; and children's book, Isu Learns to Swim.

• Capt. Moore: “Great Pacific Garbage Patch (is) Much Worse”

  By Charmaine Coimbra on August 17, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Editor’s Note:  Captain Charles Moore recently completed the most recent research tour “Gyre Voyage 2014.”  The following is a reduced version of the blog Captain Moore posted August 15, 2014.  To read the entire blog click this link:  Final Blog… Read More ›

• Gulf Oysters Impacted Since 2010 BP Oil Spill

  By Charmaine Coimbra on August 13, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Fisherman Randy Slavich drags a clunky metal net through an underwater oyster bed in Lake Machias, a brackish body opening into the Gulf of Mexico. For generations, this has been a bountiful lake for harvesting oysters, long before millions of… Read More ›

• Mercury “Tripled” Near Ocean Surfaces

  By Charmaine Coimbra on August 7, 2014 • ( 0 )

  Deep waters in the North Atlantic showed more mercury content than similarly deep waters of the South Atlantic and the Southern and Pacific Oceans…

• Plastics: Choking the Sea–and Us

  By Charmaine Coimbra on August 1, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  With 10-20 tons of plastic entering our oceans every year, the dire results are now obvious. This video showcases the latest statistics and data about how plastics are choking our seas, and likely us.

• Acidification Impacting Alaska Fisheries

  By Charmaine Coimbra on August 1, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Studies show that red king crab and tanner crab, two important Alaskan fisheries, grow more slowly and don’t survive as well in more acidic waters. Alaska’s coastal waters are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification because of cold water that can absorb more carbon dioxide, and unique ocean circulation patterns which bring naturally acidic deep ocean waters to the surface.

• Whales “Ocean Ecosystem Engineers”

  By Charmaine Coimbra on July 16, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Staff Report FRISCO — Whales may play a much bigger role in ocean ecosystems than previously thought, according to a University of Vermont researcher who studied how the great cetaceans recycle and move nutrients from one region to another. “For… Read More ›

• English Channel–“Scraping the Barrel” for Finfish

  By Charmaine Coimbra on July 16, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Staff Report FRISCO — The English Channel is all but fished out, leaving fishermen scraping the bottom of the barrel in their quest for a commercial haul. Sharks, rays, cod, haddock and many other species at the head of the… Read More ›

• A Workshop for Teachers/Students in Microplastics

  By Charmaine Coimbra on July 14, 2014 • ( 0 )

  By HANNAH LANDERS A group of K-12 teachers stepped off a skiff onto the southern tip of Tybee Island on Tuesday morning. Slathered in sunblock and carrying large plastic buckets, they weaved through lounging beachgoers and shouting children, sifting sand… Read More ›

• Florida Shorelines Named Critical Habitat for Loggerheads

  By Charmaine Coimbra on July 11, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  On Wednesday, hundreds of miles of shoreline were designated as critical habitat to protect endangered loggerhead sea turtles.   BY MONICA DISARE MDISARE@MIAMIHERALD.COM The federal government extended substantial protection to loggerhead sea turtles on Wednesday, designating hundreds of miles of… Read More ›

• Chesapeake Bay & Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Predictions

  By Charmaine Coimbra on June 27, 2014 • ( 0 )

  Excerpt from the Baltimore Sun “Scientists are predicting that the Chesapeake Bay’s oxygen-starved “dead zone” will be slightly larger than average this summer. Using computer modeling underwritten by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, researchers forecast that by next month,… Read More ›