Sushi

Bluefin tuna is very popular with todays demand for sushi and sashimi. The Bluefin tuna is fished in the Mediterranean Sea at four times the sustainable rate. In the past decade over 69 ranches have opened in the Mediterranean. This image is one of those ranches where the tuna is being fattened. These ranches are demolishing Bluefin tuna stocks

Bycatches

In this image, guitar fish, rays and other bycatch are thrown overboard from a shrimp boat in the Gulf of California. There has been efforts to reduce bycatch. In some cases thr efforts are beginning to pay off. In some places they now use a better design of hooks and nets, the have pingers on the nets to repel marine mammals. They even have streamers on the back of the boat to scare away seabirds so that they do not get caught.

Trawling

In this image from National Geographic, it shows everything that was caught by trawling in Mexican waters. Out of everything in this image, the only thing to be used and sold will be the shrimp. Everything else will go to waste.

Watery Wasteland

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0704/sights_n_sounds/index.html

This is a link from the National Geographic website. It has a series of very short slideshows of images with narration about the global fish crisis.

Squid to be Microwaved

In February fishers in the Antarctic caught a colossal squid weighing half of a ton. The squid was frozen to preserve it for studies, however now that they want to study it they are having difficulties figuring out a way to thaw it. If they just let the squid thaw out naturally it would take up to 4 days, and whithin this length of time some tissues would have decomposed while the center of the squid would still be frozen.

Museum scientists are leaning towards the idea of using an industrial microwave machine, like the ones used to dry timber. Some, however, believe that this is acrazy idea as it will ruin the specimen.
The final decision was to let the squid thaw naturally while circulating warm water around the harder mantle, and packing ice around the soft arms. the squid defrosted without and serious damage.

Global Warming PEI

On march 21 2007 Charlottetown Guardian had an article stating that global warming will have, and is having a major impact on P.E.I. Issues include, rising water level, storm surge, and subsidence of land. PEI's main assets are scenery, historic properties, and beaches, all of these are in danger. Areas which have already lost shoreline include Maritime Electric generating station, energy from waste plant, waste water treatment center and 335 heritage properties. P.E.I. National Park has already lost shoreline in the 2004 december storm because the shoreline was not protected by ice. Global warming is already presenting problemsand we must adapt quickly.

New Tax for the Environment

The Conservative government has made some environmental decisions in mondays budget. Gas guzzlers such as hummers and SUV's which are huge gas consumers, will now have a new tax of $4000 put on them. On the other hand, those who who chose to drive fuel efficient cars will recieve a rebate of $2000.

Bill C-45

Today in the PEI Guardian there were two letters to the editor about the new fisheries act, BillC-45. Fishermen are very concerned that this new bill will take away teir right to sell or transfer their fishing licences. However the head of PEI Fishermen's Association calmed them down by saying that section 30 of the bill has been misinterpreted and that the act is similar to the old one.

Mars Pole

On the National Geographic website I found an article on Mars. Scientists have used ice-penetrating radar to map the south pole of mars's underlying terrain. They say that the southern polar ice cap of Mars has about 2.2 miles of ice, enough to cover the planet with 36 feet of water. The article also says, that from the radar they have discovered that the ice is very pure, containing less than 10% dust.

Principles of Sustainable Fishing

Here are 10 principles that the David Suzuki Foundation’s Seas of Change report has posted in promoting sustainable fisheries:

The Principles of Sustainable Fishing;

1. Manage the entire marine ecosystem, rather than individual stocks;

2. Adopt a precautionary approach to fisheries management;

3. Ensure that all relevant stakeholders have a meaningful say in fisheries management;

4. Decrease fishing fleet capacity and plan for stock fluctuations;

5. Protect ecological and species diversity;

6. Protect critical ocean habitat;

7. Create marine reserves to protect representative marine habitats;

8. Manage for and minimizing by-catch and discards in commercial fisheries;

9. Ensure that aquaculture operates under sustainable standards;

10. Invest in monitoring, enforcement and data acquisition.

flipping ship

The FLIP - Floating Instrument Platform - was designed by engineers at San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography. It is used to study waves underneath the surface of the sea.

The ship is able to operate both horizontally and vertically using a complex water ballast system, and the quarters rotate with the ship, enabling the crew to move around easily whichever way up they are.

http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070207140746ymnews.html

The Oscars

Influenced by Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, the Oscars decided to be environmentally friendly this year. One of the first things they did was do an energy audit for the Kodak theater, and make the recommended energy saving changes. Most of the stars arrived in hybrid cars, instead of limousines. Where ever recycled paper could be used, it was. Even the envelopes and results used to announce the winners were recycled. They went so far as to serve only organic food at the Governor’s Ball. All of this was done as an example for the millions of viewers who tuned in.

Fishermen back setting fewer traps

In Lobster Fishing area 26A on Prince Edward Island, fishermen had noticed a decline in stocks. As a conservation measure to protect the future of lobster stocks in the area, a vote was taken by 402 licensed fishermen from the area. The vote was to make a minimun set of 6 traps instead of the previous ways of setting individual traps, which allowed lobsters not much oppertunity to avoid being captured. The vote turned out in favour of the new law, with the understanding that the change would be included on the fishermen's lobster licence, and it will be inforced by fisheries protection officers.

Charlottetown Guardian Feb 22 2007,

old -style light bulbs

On Feb 22nd in the Charlottetown news paper (the Guardian), was a tiny article on Australia's gouvernment planning on banning old-style light bulbs. They plan on phasing out incandescent light bulbs. If this is done and all light bulbs within Australia were replaced with enery-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, they would reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 000 000 tonnes by 2012. Doing this would also reduce household power bills by 66%.

Ontario is now looking into being the first Canadian province to follow Australia in banning incandescent light bulbs. Premier Dalton made an estimate that if all old fashioned light bulbs were replaced, it would allow for one power plant to shut down.

25 million dollar contest

Last night on the news, a press conference with Al Gore and Richard Branson was shown. Richard Branson of the Virgin Empire is offering 25 million dollars to a scientist who can come up with a way of extracting green house gases from the atmosphere. Because Richard Branson owns planes and trains, some environmentalists are not happy with this announcement because it seems contradictory, but on the other hand, he is taking profits from his company and making an effort in reducing greenhouse gasses and helping out the environment.

The National

Last nights episode of CBC's The National, discussed the top 10 ways to help save the environment. These are the top 10,

10) Don't idle or warm up your car
09) Lower the heat in your home by 2 degrees Celcius
08) Use a blue box, and recycle
07) Use compact fluorescent bulbs
06) Reduce air travel
05) Switch to renewable power
04) Buy less, and buy local
03) Use appliances efficiently, and use energy saving appliances
02) Drive less
01) Retrofit your home

sex-changing chemicals

The waterway outside of Washington DC has been noticing a large number of fish whos sex has been changed. Scientist have discovered large quantities of a chemical in the water which causes a sex change in animals. The scientists analyzed blood plasma of 30 smallmouth bass in six different sites, and all fish contained at least one of the listed chemicals as contributors. The contributing chemicals were pesticides, flame retardants and fragrances from hygene products like soap. These chemicals are known as endorcine disruptors, which mimick or block the production of hormones. This may cause the alteration of the animals sex.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-sex-change.html

I feel this is how a lot of people think!

http://faculty.virginia.edu/setear/courses/globwarm/images/sciam/comic.jpg

The Yellow River

An article in this months issue of National Geographic titled, " A Third of Fish Species in China River Extinct, Officials Say", by Brian Handwerk, discusses the dangerous pollution and water levels in Chinese rivers. The Yellow River has lost more than 30% of its fish species, and the species that remain are becoming scarce. The MOA official reported that the fish catch in the river is down 40%. He says that, " Over fishing, persistent dumping, and hydropower projects along the river have degraded the underwater ecological environment." The government estimates that 66% of the Yellow River is polluted and undrinkable. Aside from the Yellow River, the government thinks that around 70% of the Country’s rivers and lakes are seriously polluted.
Due to extended droughts and over usage of the water, the river has suffered from decreased flows. With low water levels the concentration of the pollution becomes greater and more species will suffer.

Deadly Sonar

This short article I found at ocean.com titled Deadly Sonar The Brain Crushing Sound was about the use of sonar affecting and even killing marine mammals. High power military sonars send off acoustic signals which can cause biological damage to the mammals such as brain injuries, behavioral changes and sometimes death.

"On March 15, 2000 the Navy conducted an intense active sonar exercise in the Bahamas, emitting high-energy, mid frequency sonar at between 215 and 235dB, creating powerful sound and pressure waves through the water. Sound at 235dB produces a pressure wave 300,000 times more intense than an 180dB sound, and 100 billion times more intense than a 120dB sound, which is like a loud motorboat engine."
In this case, on March 15th 2000, 14 animals ( whales and dolphins) were stranded on the shores of the Northeast and Northwest Providence Channel, and 7 of them had died, they believe the sonar used that day was the cause.

( www.ocean.com )

Sea Smoke

Jan 17th,
I wasn't able to go to class today, but I was watching TV, and because it was so cold they were discussing sea smoke. Apparently, when the air temperature is much colder than the water temperature, vapor or sea smoke appears. Today due to the very cold weather, it showed up in many places in the maritimes.

Giant Squid

I really enjoyed watching the documentary on giant squid yesterday in class. I’ve seen a documentary in the past on Giant Squid and find that this species of squid is interesting and mysterious. I came across a website ( http://www.unmuseum.org/squid.htm ). This website discusses past sightings of the Giant squid, mostly by sailors who thought that they were seeing a sea monster.
I’ve heard about whales fighting with Giant Squid. In this article it talks about a lighthouse watchmen from danger point in South Africa, who has actually seen the battle between a right whale and a Giant Squid. It was said that they struggled with each other for an hour and a half staying underwater for about ten minutes and the whale only coming up for air for around three seconds. In this case the squid won and the whale was never seen. I could imagine it would be quite the sight to see a whale and a giant squid fight!

Captain James Cook

An interesting fact acbout Captain James Cook:

- Unlike most ships during the 17oo's, few of the crew on Cook's ships developed scurvey. Captain Cook kept his ship clean, and required the crew to eat fruit and vegetables when available. He also had carrot marmalade and sauer kraut on board when fruits and vegetables were not available. This made sure that they had sufficient vitamin C, which prevented most of the crew from developing scurvey.

Desert Sea

This image titled Desert Sea cought my eye in National Geographic. It is a photograph by David Doubilet and was taken on the Sinai coast of Marsa al Muqabilah in 1981. I find it really strannge to look at because there is absolutely no visible life in the image. The write up that goes along with this image discussed the photographer more than the actual image itself, so I'm not exactly sure why there is no life. Maybe there is usualy fish but the image was captured when no fish were around. I just thought this was an interesting image to look at.