Fascinating research that may cut bycatch of sharks by commercial fishing operations.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/color-blind-sharks-110124.html
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Fire and Ice
Nowadays when I think about global warming, I think about that Robert Frost poem, "Fire and Ice".
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great,
And would suffice.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great,
And would suffice.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Reef Revelations: Saving Corals from Hotter Oceans
Written by Rod Salm
Published on August 4th, 2010
ShareThis | Discuss This Article
In 1990, I was living a conservationist’s dream.
While developing conservation plans along the coast of Oman, I found a place with great reefs and no people. It looked like protecting the reefs was going to be easy… until the waters heated, and heated, and heated.
This year, things are once again heating up, and we fear that we may witness the worst global coral bleaching event since 1998. But back in 1990, temperatures reached 95°F, hovering there for over a month and killing 95% of the corals through a process called bleaching. It raised a worrying question: how could we conserve coral reefs in the face of climate change?
This dilemma challenged me for a decade. I was based in East Africa when the 1997-’98 El Niño—and the following 1998-’99 La Niña—caused the greatest mass coral bleaching in recorded history, killing off 16% of the world’s coral reefs.
When I joined the Conservancy in 1999, I suddenly had access to a new range of project sites where I could study how climate change hastened coral bleaching. And the clear patterns in bleaching resistance and coral mortality in Palau helped me piece together a possible solution that could reduce bleaching caused by the current warming.
Bleaching is a stress response in corals caused by a number of factors, particularly hotter water temperatures and intense sunshine. So, it stands to reason that reducing the heat or light stress on corals will diminish the intensity of bleaching and reduce mortality.
The importance of this conclusion finally struck me when I was snorkeling around Palau’s Rock Islands. As I swam into the shade provided by one of the island’s rocky overhangs, I noticed live corals under my facemask of the same species that were dead under my swim fins. It all fell together: corals were alive and healthy when protected by cooler water or by shade.
Coral reef scientists were at their wits’ end about what to do regarding coral bleaching. But our observations of factors that help corals survive—and our knowledge of how to design networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect and expand natural refuges—resonated with people around the world and prepared us for the impending bleaching event.
We have waited more than 10 years for another mass bleaching event to be able to test and refine the resilience hypotheses and the principles that Stephanie Wear and our Global Marine team have helped popularize. So, we are mobilizing our field teams and partners to track the current bleaching event in Indonesia and Palau as well as the Caribbean. This new information will allow us to better design MPA networks and ensure that they protect the most resilient corals that will repopulate and heal more vulnerable reefs.
While it’s tragic to witness another major bleaching event, this one can help us improve our methods and the prospects for global coral reef survival. Reefs provide fish, diving and coastal protection: hopefully, we can ensure that enough of them remain to fulfill any conservationist’s dream.
Rod Salm is the Conservancy’s director of marine conservation programs in the Asia Pacific.
(Image 1: Shaded corals with no bleaching. Credit: Rod Salm/TNC. Image 2: Fantasy Reef pale corals with early heat stress. Credit: Rod Salm/TNC.)
You might also like:
Expedition to the Raja Ampat Islands: Monitoring Coral Reef ...
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LinkWithin
Published on August 4th, 2010
ShareThis | Discuss This Article
In 1990, I was living a conservationist’s dream.
While developing conservation plans along the coast of Oman, I found a place with great reefs and no people. It looked like protecting the reefs was going to be easy… until the waters heated, and heated, and heated.
This year, things are once again heating up, and we fear that we may witness the worst global coral bleaching event since 1998. But back in 1990, temperatures reached 95°F, hovering there for over a month and killing 95% of the corals through a process called bleaching. It raised a worrying question: how could we conserve coral reefs in the face of climate change?
This dilemma challenged me for a decade. I was based in East Africa when the 1997-’98 El Niño—and the following 1998-’99 La Niña—caused the greatest mass coral bleaching in recorded history, killing off 16% of the world’s coral reefs.
When I joined the Conservancy in 1999, I suddenly had access to a new range of project sites where I could study how climate change hastened coral bleaching. And the clear patterns in bleaching resistance and coral mortality in Palau helped me piece together a possible solution that could reduce bleaching caused by the current warming.
Bleaching is a stress response in corals caused by a number of factors, particularly hotter water temperatures and intense sunshine. So, it stands to reason that reducing the heat or light stress on corals will diminish the intensity of bleaching and reduce mortality.
The importance of this conclusion finally struck me when I was snorkeling around Palau’s Rock Islands. As I swam into the shade provided by one of the island’s rocky overhangs, I noticed live corals under my facemask of the same species that were dead under my swim fins. It all fell together: corals were alive and healthy when protected by cooler water or by shade.
Coral reef scientists were at their wits’ end about what to do regarding coral bleaching. But our observations of factors that help corals survive—and our knowledge of how to design networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect and expand natural refuges—resonated with people around the world and prepared us for the impending bleaching event.
We have waited more than 10 years for another mass bleaching event to be able to test and refine the resilience hypotheses and the principles that Stephanie Wear and our Global Marine team have helped popularize. So, we are mobilizing our field teams and partners to track the current bleaching event in Indonesia and Palau as well as the Caribbean. This new information will allow us to better design MPA networks and ensure that they protect the most resilient corals that will repopulate and heal more vulnerable reefs.
While it’s tragic to witness another major bleaching event, this one can help us improve our methods and the prospects for global coral reef survival. Reefs provide fish, diving and coastal protection: hopefully, we can ensure that enough of them remain to fulfill any conservationist’s dream.
Rod Salm is the Conservancy’s director of marine conservation programs in the Asia Pacific.
(Image 1: Shaded corals with no bleaching. Credit: Rod Salm/TNC. Image 2: Fantasy Reef pale corals with early heat stress. Credit: Rod Salm/TNC.)
You might also like:
Expedition to the Raja Ampat Islands: Monitoring Coral Reef ...
Expedition to the Raja Ampat Islands: Ecoresort Protects ...
Expedition to the Raja Ampat Islands: The Beauty of ...
LinkWithin
Monday, July 19, 2010
Dr. Seuss for 2010
Dr. Seuss for 2010...
I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam.
I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books.
I do not like when Congress steals,
I do not like their secret deals.
I do not like this speaker Nan,
I do not like this 'YES WE CAN'.
I do not like this spending spree,
I'm smart, I know that nothing's free,
I do not like your smug replies, when I complain about your lies.
I do not like this kind of hope.
I do not like it. nope, nope, nope!
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Witches Chant over an Oil Spill...
Drdiverspeare. Apologies to Bill and MacBeth.
A dark Gulf. In the middle, an oil well spewing, Thunder.
1 WITCH. Thrice the BP corpse hath cried'd.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the Obama whin'd.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the oil well go;
In the junk, steel bolts throw.—
Oil , that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping hell,
Boil thou first i' the charmed well!
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a dolphin ,
In the spewing oil and bake;
Eye of turtle, and fin of mullet,
Feather of pelican, and oil in gullet,
Moray eel’s mouth, and fire worms sting,
Gator’s leg, and egret’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble
3 WITCH. Scale of gator; tooth of snake;
Tuna’s mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of turtle grass digg'd i the dark;
Liver of Goliath grouper;
Gall of frigate, and slips of snapper
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of wrasse, and parrot fish lips;
Fin of Jack Crevalle
Beach found by a crab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add there to a tiger shark,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a politician's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
A dark Gulf. In the middle, an oil well spewing, Thunder.
1 WITCH. Thrice the BP corpse hath cried'd.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the Obama whin'd.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the oil well go;
In the junk, steel bolts throw.—
Oil , that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping hell,
Boil thou first i' the charmed well!
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a dolphin ,
In the spewing oil and bake;
Eye of turtle, and fin of mullet,
Feather of pelican, and oil in gullet,
Moray eel’s mouth, and fire worms sting,
Gator’s leg, and egret’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble
3 WITCH. Scale of gator; tooth of snake;
Tuna’s mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of turtle grass digg'd i the dark;
Liver of Goliath grouper;
Gall of frigate, and slips of snapper
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of wrasse, and parrot fish lips;
Fin of Jack Crevalle
Beach found by a crab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add there to a tiger shark,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double oil and trouble;
Fire burn, and methane bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a politician's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
A poem to the Gulf Walrus courtesy of BP's Spill Response Plan
Who has seen the Gulf Walrus?
Neither I nor you.
But inhale enough BP dispersant
And you can see one too.
He's quite a fellow.
...He's green and yellow.
And he's beyond petroleum too.
copyright Bwana Doc Adventures
Neither I nor you.
But inhale enough BP dispersant
And you can see one too.
He's quite a fellow.
...He's green and yellow.
And he's beyond petroleum too.
copyright Bwana Doc Adventures
1st thoughts on my oil spill visit
I’m an environmental scientist and author that works for a private company that produces natural biological products for the bioremediation of crude oil among other things. I have worked in environmental cleanup for over twenty years in locations all over the world. We were invited to send our products to one of the parishes in Louisiana to carry out a test of its effectiveness in cleaning up oil damaged beaches and wetlands. The opportunity to visit the oil spill area was a life changing experience.
We were struck by the overwhelming beauty of the Louisiana wetlands. They are vast. We drove for hours through a diverse habitat of grass and water that supports huge populations of fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and all of the other organisms that make this area of the world an environmental treasure to be protected. A living treasure house that nourishes a rich culture of hardworking people that make their living from the sea and that fills our grocery stores and restaurants with a sustainable bounty of seafood.
Or it used to.
I can tell you we didn’t see a single walrus, sea otter or sea lion in Louisiana. There might have been some at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, but we didn’t make it there. Those animals were listed in the BP spill response plan for the Gulf as “sensitive biological resources” even though they are not found in the Gulf. That shows you how much they care about the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico. But maybe they were planning for an even bigger spill that would reach all the way to the Arctic. Who knows, with the success they’ve had in plugging the leak, the oil may make it to the North Pole before the year is out.
Now that’s planning ahead.
The fear and anger of the local people toward BP can be felt in any conversation that you have with them. We heard over and over, “BP is calling the shots, we’re helpless to do anything.” In the words of one local woman working in a restaurant, “We don’t know what we’re going to do. All we know is fishing and shrimping. If we can’t do that, what will we do?” For the fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen, a way of life they have known for generations may be lost forever. BP’s response has been to pay them not to fish or to hire them to run boom boats and skimmers.
The extent that BP controls all aspects of the spill on land is terrifying. I attempted to get samples of the oil for research purposes in Grand Isle and was stopped by police. When I went to the Port Authority of Port Fourchon to get permission to enter the spill area I was told that permission would have to come from BP. The duly appointed law enforcement of the region was apparently powerless to give us access. To quote law enforcement, “BP controls access to the spill—we can’t let you go in without their approval.” A foreign corporation has taken control of part of America…one of America’s most fragile, beautiful and productive regions. Think about that.
The U.S. military is everywhere; Humvees, and Amphibious vehicles. We even saw a Stryker armored personnel carrier. We felt like we were in a wetland version of Iraq. An enormous amount of our taxpayer money is being spent on this military presence.
Our armed forces are apparently there to support BP’s security effort to control access to the spill; so much for the administration’s claim that they are in control of the spill. It is BP’s show 100% except for the Coast Guard skimming and boom setting operations. All the clean up we saw was from private contractors running bulldozers and other equipment scraping up contaminated sand or positioning booms.
Have you gotten tired of hearing, “It’s never been done in 5000 feet of water.” during the repeated failed efforts to stop the leak? Maybe that means we shouldn’t use a technology until we know we can take care of the consequences of its failure. What do you think?
I have to say a boycott is not enough. We must reduce our demand for petroleum based hydrocarbons through the use of electric cars and trains and alternative sustainable technologies. We need to DEMAND that our government begin work immediately on a nationwide network of high speed electric trains to replace aircraft, auto and truck transport. We need a Manhattan Project for trains and electric cars. We need to change our lifestyles to emphasize sustainable technologies that minimize the use of oil based hydrocarbons. Only when we do that will the victory finally be won.
We were struck by the overwhelming beauty of the Louisiana wetlands. They are vast. We drove for hours through a diverse habitat of grass and water that supports huge populations of fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and all of the other organisms that make this area of the world an environmental treasure to be protected. A living treasure house that nourishes a rich culture of hardworking people that make their living from the sea and that fills our grocery stores and restaurants with a sustainable bounty of seafood.
Or it used to.
I can tell you we didn’t see a single walrus, sea otter or sea lion in Louisiana. There might have been some at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, but we didn’t make it there. Those animals were listed in the BP spill response plan for the Gulf as “sensitive biological resources” even though they are not found in the Gulf. That shows you how much they care about the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico. But maybe they were planning for an even bigger spill that would reach all the way to the Arctic. Who knows, with the success they’ve had in plugging the leak, the oil may make it to the North Pole before the year is out.
Now that’s planning ahead.
The fear and anger of the local people toward BP can be felt in any conversation that you have with them. We heard over and over, “BP is calling the shots, we’re helpless to do anything.” In the words of one local woman working in a restaurant, “We don’t know what we’re going to do. All we know is fishing and shrimping. If we can’t do that, what will we do?” For the fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen, a way of life they have known for generations may be lost forever. BP’s response has been to pay them not to fish or to hire them to run boom boats and skimmers.
The extent that BP controls all aspects of the spill on land is terrifying. I attempted to get samples of the oil for research purposes in Grand Isle and was stopped by police. When I went to the Port Authority of Port Fourchon to get permission to enter the spill area I was told that permission would have to come from BP. The duly appointed law enforcement of the region was apparently powerless to give us access. To quote law enforcement, “BP controls access to the spill—we can’t let you go in without their approval.” A foreign corporation has taken control of part of America…one of America’s most fragile, beautiful and productive regions. Think about that.
The U.S. military is everywhere; Humvees, and Amphibious vehicles. We even saw a Stryker armored personnel carrier. We felt like we were in a wetland version of Iraq. An enormous amount of our taxpayer money is being spent on this military presence.
Our armed forces are apparently there to support BP’s security effort to control access to the spill; so much for the administration’s claim that they are in control of the spill. It is BP’s show 100% except for the Coast Guard skimming and boom setting operations. All the clean up we saw was from private contractors running bulldozers and other equipment scraping up contaminated sand or positioning booms.
Have you gotten tired of hearing, “It’s never been done in 5000 feet of water.” during the repeated failed efforts to stop the leak? Maybe that means we shouldn’t use a technology until we know we can take care of the consequences of its failure. What do you think?
I have to say a boycott is not enough. We must reduce our demand for petroleum based hydrocarbons through the use of electric cars and trains and alternative sustainable technologies. We need to DEMAND that our government begin work immediately on a nationwide network of high speed electric trains to replace aircraft, auto and truck transport. We need a Manhattan Project for trains and electric cars. We need to change our lifestyles to emphasize sustainable technologies that minimize the use of oil based hydrocarbons. Only when we do that will the victory finally be won.
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