Recent Posts - page 24

  • The Sea & Climate Change

    By on • ( 0 )

    Tropical coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean, but they are home and nursery to 25% of all marine species; billions of fish, mollusks and other creatures rely on reefs for their food and shelter. Their wonder and beauty generates needed tourism dollars for many poor nations, and they act as natural barriers providing storm surge protection for many millions of coastal residents.

  • Japan Defies Whaling Suspension

    By on • ( 0 )

    “There is no need to kill whales in the name of research,” he added. “Non-lethal research techniques are the most effective and efficient method of studying all cetaceans.”

  • Biggest Whale Stranding Discovered in Chile

    By on • ( 0 )

    David Lusseau, senior lecturer in Marine Top Predator Biology at the University of Aberdeen, told IBTimes UK this does appear to be the largest whale stranding for any type of baleen whales. He said: “I do not know of other events with such large numbers of individuals involved. Seeing multiple sei whales stranded together in clusters is beyond the ordinary.”

  • Massive Algae Bloom on Lake Erie

    By on • ( 0 )

    The kind of toxic algae that forms each summer on Lake Erie and other lakes around Ohio feeds on phosphorus, a key element of livestock manure and sewage. Much of the phosphorus that gets into the lake comes from the Maumee River, which flows through eastern Indiana and western Ohio, depositing its waters into the western part of Lake Erie near Toledo.

    Manure and sewage wash from soil and into the rivers and streams that feed the Maumee. More rains mean more runoff.

  • “Whole Ecosystem Change” in Pacific Ocean

    By on • ( 0 )

    “This El Nino is building up to be quite a doozy, but we also have a series of other changes going on,” said Steve Palumbi, director of the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University. “We are having changes in wind patterns, changes in upwellings along the coast. It’s like your whole basic ecosystem is being shifted around in different ways.”

  • Entangled Whale’s Body Goes to Art & Science

    By on • ( 0 )

    A humpback whale entangled in fishing gear in Unalaska Bay ended up giving its body to art and science last week. The whale was last seen barely alive, trailing lines from a big fishing pot, perhaps a crab pot, but… Read More ›

  • A Mayday Call for Gulf of Maine

    By on • ( 0 )

    Two cold winters have given the gulf some breathing space, but climate models and recorded trends indicate our seas are going to keep warming, with the conditions experienced in the “ocean heat wave” becoming the new normal by mid-century. The result will be dramatic changes in an ecosystem Mainers have relied on since the end of the last ice age, ones for which our communities, industries and government are poorly prepared to face.

  • Warming Ocean Cause of Starving Seabirds

    By on • ( 0 )

    “We are seeing starvation, these birds are emaciated,” says Senior Environmental Scientist John Thompson, Department of Fish and Wildlife.

    Thompson claims it is the changing weather pattern with El Niño conditions and the boost in ocean temperatures.

  • LA’s First Swath of Marine Debris from Recent Rains

    By on • ( 0 )

    Some parts of Southern California have already had record rainfalls this wet season, thanks to storms that moved through in mid-September. The state desperately needs the rain, but not the marine debris that comes with it. Major rainstorms inevitably lead… Read More ›

  • Common Murres Washing Ashore “In Droves”

    By on • ( 0 )

    One phrase people are using these days is “global weirding.” And I think that that is something that we’re seeing, the “blob” of warm water offshore is something that’s really never been seen before on this scale in the North Pacific, and I think we really don’t understand the implications of that yet, or what’s causing it exactly.