Marine News Roundup

Welcome to this week's Marine News Roundup... As always, feel free to comment and let us know what you think!

"Fears in Miami That Port Expansion Will Destroy Reefs"
Miami's Department of Environmental Protection is on the verge of granting a final permit to the Army Corps of Engineers which will allow them to conduct 600 days of blasting to deepen, widen and dredge its port to accommodate supersize freighters. At the same time, environmentalists are attempting to protect threatened coral reefs and acres of sea grass that they say would be destroyed by the expansion.

"Happy Feet finally set free"
Following last week's story following "Happy Feet's" rehabilitation and journey to the Antarctic, we are pleased to report that Happy Feet the penguuin has now been released, about 700 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island. He needed "some gentle encouragement" to leave the safety of his crate and is now expected to complete the 2,000 kilometer journey South to his Antarctic home. He has been fitted with a satellite tracker and microchip and his progress can be followed online.

"Dogger Bank to get special marine protection"
The UK section of the Dogger Bank is home to a fantastic array of sea life and habitats and has been submitted by the Government to the European Commission. It now has candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) status, with over 12,000 square kilometers of species rich sandbank having become a marine protected area to safeguard the important sea life and habitats. This is the largest European Marine Site to be submitted by any Member State for protection and links up with the existing sites in Germany and the Netherlands. Candidate SAC status means that the site must be protected from damaging activities to ensure its features are conserved.

"Unbelievable photo of shark spotted along San Diego's coastline"
A two-mile stretch of coastline at Casa Reef in La Jolla, San Diego was shut down last week after several people reportedly spotted a twelve-inch dorsal fin in the water in an area close to a seal colony. The area was reopened on Thursday because lifeguards, patrolling the area since the early morning, found no evidence of a shark. This was the third confirmed shark sighting along San Diego's coastline in a week and it is believed that this shark was a 10-12 foot Great White.

"Hawksbill Sea Turtles Not Extinct In Eastern Pacific"
Until recently, scientists had assumed that the Hawksbill Sea Turtle was functionally extinct in the eastern tropical Pacific. However, a group of researchers in Central and South America are now saying this is not the case. The new findings, published this month in Biology Letters, show that Hawksbills went undetected because they are "living among in-shore mangrove estuaries rather than the coral and rocky reefs for which they [were] previously known to inhabit". The researchers believe that conservation efforts will be easier than for turtles in the ocean, although the turtles' mangrove habitats are also close to human populations, putting them at greater risk for destruction and habitat degradation. The habitats are under pressure from fishing, tourism, development and other human activities.

"Sharks likely to get more protection"
State fishery managers will recommend at this week's Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in Naples that anglers can catch more sea trout but need to kill fewer sharks. The state regulatory board also begins reviewing a budget for the next fiscal year that proposes to institute a 10 percent cut ordered by the Florida Legislature. In fishery matters of interest to the Florida Keys, the FWC board on Thursday will hear staff proposals on protecting sharks. Tiger sharks and three species of hammerhead sharks (great, smooth and scalloped) all should be added to Florida's no-take list, which now includes 22 shark species, says the recommended action. A series of seven statewide workshops on sharks, including one in Key West, found widespread support for adding the four shark species to the protected list. Two other shark proposals, to require use of circle hooks in shark fishing, and to ban chumming from shore, did not get endorsed by FWC staff. Encouraging reports on the spotted sea trout fishery could lead to a year-around recreational season on the Gulf of Mexico food fish. The agency also will recommend extending the season for the "small" commercial fishery on sea trout. The FWC meets from Wednesday through Friday at the Naples Grande resort.

"Sardine fishery growing sustainably"
The South Australian sardine fishery has been developing quickly since 1991, but has not harmed the surrounding ecosystem, according to a seven-year study by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). The fishery is Australia’s largest by weight, with around 30,000 tonnes harvested annually. Most of this goes to feed farmed tuna but is increasingly destined for human consumption. “This study shows that South Australia’s pelagic marine ecosystem is in good health. The evidence suggests that the precautionary approach to management that the sardine fishery has taken, is achieving its goal of ensuring ecological sustainability,” said Associate Professor Tim Ward, who has led the SARDI Wild Fisheries research team since 1998.

"Shark Savers congratulates California Senate for banning the shark fin trade"
The California state Senate has passed a historic bill to protect all shark species from the environmentally destructive shark fin trade. AB 376 makes it unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin. The bill was sponsored by Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance and supported by a diverse coalition of organizations that included Shark Savers and thousands of individuals. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 25 to 9 and now moves to Governor Jerry Brown to be signed. Opposition was raised on the grounds that the bill was discriminatory to Asian communities but polls have indicated 70% of the Asian American community and 76% of California voters supported the shark fin ban. A companion bill, AB 853, was also passed that allow sales of shark fin until 1st July 2013 for all fin stock on-hand prior to January 1st 2012. Sharks are essential to the health of our oceans and maintain balance within the marine ecosystem and the AB 376 bill represents a fantastic step towards protecting sharks.

"Giant crabs make Antarctic leap" Scientists have found a large, reproductive population of King crabs in the Palmer Deep on the edge of Antarctica, probably as a result of warming in the region. The researchers believe the crabs may have been washed in during an upsurge of warmer water, and have warned that the crabs are likely to profoundly change the ecosystem of the area as the population spreads. It is estimated that they may be around 1.5 million King crabs in the basin and that they have been there for about 30-40 years. The species cannot tolerate water colder than 1.4 degrees Celcius but the seas there get warmer as you descend, and the crabs were only found below 850m. The crabs are voracious crushers of sea floor animals and local extinctions of other species are expected.

"Blind Cave Fish Tell Time On Biological Clocks"
How do animals that have evolved for millions of years underground, completely isolated from the day-night cycle, still "know" what time it is? A new study has attempted to tackle this question by investigating a species of cavefish, Phreatichthys andruzzii, which has lived isolated for 2 million years beneath the Somalian desert. The study has found that this cavefish has an unusual circadian clock; it ticks with an extremely long period (up to 47 hours) and is completely blind. The circadian clock is a highly conserved physiological timing mechanism that allows organisms to anticipate and adapt to the day-night cycle. The cavefish have given scientists a unique opportunity to understand how profoundly sunlight has influenced our evolution.

Marine News Roundup

Welcome to our weekly Marine News Roundup, bringing you the best marine stories of the week!

"The Strangest Creatures on Earth"
BBC Earth have revealed their top six strangest creatures on Earth, with the Wolf Eel at number 1 and the Giant Candiru - "a bizarre flesh eating parasitic fish that lives inside the Amazonian Catfish and makes the local piranhas seem positively tame", at number five! The BBC also have some lovely underwater videos, so make sure you take a look.

"New Zealand's lost penguin sets sail for home"
In mid-June, an Emperor Penguin was found on a beach in Wellington, more than 1,900 miles from his home in the Antarctic. He was weak and emaciated and needed surgery to remove sand and sticks from his stomach before being fed-up on a diet of fish milkshakes. The penguin, nicknamed "Happy Feet", has been recuperating for two months at Wellington Zoo but has now set sail for home in a custom-made crate. He will be released into the Southern Ocean, where it is hoped he will rejoin other Emperor penguins before making his way back to Antarctica. Good luck, Happy Feet!

"Hundreds of baby sea turtles lose their lives after Hurricane Irene"
In Florida, hundreds of baby sea turtles have been unearthed by Hurricane Irene, with higher waves and erosion affecting the chances of survival of eggs and hatchlings alike. The public are being advised to take any hatchlings not near the water to approved turtle rehabilitation centres.

"Scientists call for better management of the deep sea"
A recent study by a team of twenty researchers from all over the world has found that the deep sea (waters deeper than 200m) is being damaged by human activities. Exploitation is currently the number one problem, but climate change and dumped waste also play their parts. Scientists are now calling for better management and conservation of entire deep-sea ecosystems, which cover 360 million square kilometers - around half of the Earth's surface.

"Red grouper returns to menus as population rebounds"
The population of Red Grouper in the Gulf is back to healthy levels after years of federal management of the fishery. Grouper fisheries were closed in 2005 and grouper fishermen worked with the federal agency to create a program modelled on one used in 2005 to manage Red Snapper. The Red Grouper population is now strong enough that the NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service plans to increase the maximum amount commercial fishing operations can haul from the water to 5.2 million pounds, up from the 4.3 million it established at the beginning of 2011.

"Female seals drawn to deadly ship propellers because they sound like male mating call"
Experts at the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University believe that female seals that have suffered mysterious "corkscrew" injuries have been drawn into ship propellers because the blades produce the same acoustics as a male seal's mating call. Acoustic tests carried out on both captive and wild seals seem to back-up the theory. The number of deaths from corkscrew injury has risen to 90 this year. It is hoped that, if the type of propeller making the noises can be identified, then it can be changed and these types of death avoided in future.

"15 Irrefutable Signs That Climate Change Is Real"
"From rising air and ocean temperatures to shrinking glaciers and widespread melting of snow and ice, evidence of a changing global climate is all around us." The article includes sign 4 - "Average Arctic temperatures have increased at almost twice the global average rate in the past 100 years." - and many others.

"Great white sharks 'could be in British waters'"
The chairman of the Shark Trust, Richard Peirce, has said that Great White sharks could be, "occasional vagrant visitors" to waters around the British Isles. He said that it is surprising that we do not have an established Great White population in our waters as the conditions here mirror those in parts of South Africa, Australia and northern California and the sea temperature here is within the tolerable range for Great Whites. British waters are already home to several species of predatory shark, including Mako and Blue sharks.

"Marine species discovered on Gorringe seamount"
International marine conservation organisation Oceana have discovered more than 100 marine species on the Gorringe seamount in the Portuguese Atlantic. Oceana have called for greater protection of the biodiverse area, which is home to spotted dolphins, Minke whales, sea pens, slipper lobsters, dense kelp forests, deep-sea sponge fields, black coral, extensive oyster beds and an array of fish, including orange roughies, longspine snipefish, morays and conger eels.

"Cuttlefish decline prompts extended protection zone"
Critically low numbers of giant cuttlefish have been found in the upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia this season - just 25,000 compared to 250,000 in the past. Whilst scientists try to find the reason behind this, a protection area has been expanded and it will now be illegal to fish for cuttlefish or squid within the area. Whilst the additional protection is a temporary measure, the area previously protected is being made permanent. A monitoring program will also ensure there is comparable data over the years.

And finally, not a news story as such, but we came across The Daily Ocean blog recently and wanted to share a heart-warming humpback whale rescue video that is featured on the blog. Enjoy.