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Wetstuff News 21 May 2008
IN THIS EDITION:
MARINE AND COASTAL LEGISLATION, POLICY AND PLANNING
1. Draft Marine Bill "lacking", says renewable energy group (UK)
2. Great Barrier marine reserve application declined (New Zealand)
3. Australian budget tackles environment concerns (Australia)
4. Australia Budget - Great Barrier Reef In Frame In Climate Fight (Australia)
5. Deal reached to allow renewable energy projects in states’ ocean waters (USA)
6. We need a new Bill to protect our seabirds (UK)
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
7. Realities of Rudd's Murray water buyback sink in (Australia)
8. Murray-Darling outlook 'not promising': water commission (Australia)
9. Dead water (USA)
MARINE PROTECTED
10. Scientists voice concerns on marine park delays (Australia)
11. Questions to be answered at marine parks road show (Australia)
FISHERIES
12. A national study of crime in the Australian fishing industry (Australia)
13. Does Fishing On Drifting Fish Aggregation Devices Endanger The Survival Of Tropical Tuna? (France)
14. Fishy tune has eco message (UK)
AQUACULTURE
15. New report says we can have our fish and eat it too (Canada)
16. Bringing aquaculture into the classroom (New Zealand)
CLIMATE CHANGE
17. One in Eight Birds May Go Extinct Due to Habitat Loss, Warming (International)
18. Bird migration at mercy of weather patterns (International)
19. Ocean Nitrogen Only Limited Help For Climate – Study (International)
20. Scientists lament lack of Aust climate change research (Australia)
21. Man-Made Warming Altering Nature's Clock (International)
NATURAL HAZARDS
22. New Storm Deepens Misery In Cyclone-Hit Myanmar (Myanmar)
INVASIVE MARINE & COASTAL SPECIES
23. Invaders musselling in (Scotland)
MARINE SPECIES
24. Life discovered on ocean mountain (New Zealand)
25. Ancient Deep-sea Coral Reefs Off Southeastern US Serve As Underwater 'Islands' In The Gulf Stream (USA)
26. Iceland sets minke whale hunt quota (Iceland)
27. 'Snot a flatworm, it's a new jellyfish (Australia)
28. Wildlife numbers plummet globally: WWF (International)
29. Rapid, Dramatic 'Reverse Evolution' Documented In Tiny Fish Species (USA)
30. US lists polar bears as threatened (USA)
31. Fish conformity zealous but discerning (Australia)
32. Pilot whales are the sprinters of the deep (USA)
33. Shrimp can see beyond the rainbow (Australia)
34. Indian Ocean coral shows partial recovery (South Africa)
PETROLEUM AND MINERALS
35. Loggerheads over seabed mining (New Zealand)
36. US Changes Course, Bans Drilling In Arctic Wetland (Alaska)
37. Analysis - Polar Bear Listing Could Slow Arctic Oil Drilling (Alaska)
HERITAGE
38. Sulfur In Marine Archaeological Shipwrecks: The 'Hull Story' Gives A Sour Aftertaste (Sweden)
RECREATION & TOURISM
39. Testing times for boating simulator (Australia)
40. New York Subway Cars Find New Life On Ocean Floor (USA)
RESEARCH
41. Scientists Aim To Unlock Deep-sea 'Secrets' Of Earth's Crust (UK)
42. WA has best offshore wind site (Australia)
43. Abstract: Mitigating the atmospheric CO2 increase and ocean acidification by adding limestone powder to upwelling regions (Canada)
44. Ice Cores Reveal Fluctuations In Earth's Greenhouse Gases (Antarctica)
45. Gravity-defying Bird Beak Mystery Solved: Shorebirds Benefit From Surface Tension (USA)
46. Deep Sea Methane Scavengers Captured (USA)
47. Stressed seaweed lives under a cloud of its own making (UK)
PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITES
48. A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder -Slide Show (USA)
OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
49. Inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities (Australia)
GRANTS
50. Australian Government, Caring for our Country (Australia)
51. Community Coastcare Grants (Australia)
52. Nominations For Caring For Our Country Community Coastcare Small Grants Assessors (Australia)
AWARDS
53. Call for Entries to Reuters-IUCN Environmental Media Awards (International)
WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES AND E
54. World Ocean’s Day (Australia)
55. International Ocean Stewardship Forum 2008 (International)
56. The 3rd Congress of the International Society for Applied Phycology and the 11th International Conference (Ireland)
57. Asian Wetland Symposium 2008- Wetlands -The Heart of Asia (Vietnam)
CALL FOR
58. NZMSS & AMSA Conference Christchurch (Australia-New Zealand)
59. 29th Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology & Conservation (International)
60. Coastal Zone Asia-Pacific Conference (China)
61. International Marine Conservation Congress: call for papers (International)
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MARINE AND COASTAL LEGISLATION, POLICY AND PLANNING
1. Draft Marine Bill "lacking", says renewable energy group (UK)
Abridged from: Fishupdate.com
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.fishupdate.com
The UK draft Marine Bill was today described by the Renewable Energy Association as "lacking". The group said that, as a world leader for marine renewables, the UK needs clear goals and objectives for sustainable development and climate change mitigation, something it says is "sadly lacking" in the proposed draft...The UK holds 50% of Europe’s wave energy resources, and 35% of its tidal resource. Despite languishing near the bottom of the EU renewables league table, Britain is the acknowledged world leader for marine renewables.
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2. Great Barrier marine reserve application declined (New Zealand)
Abridged from: Scoop.co.nz
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.scoop.co.nz
(NZ) Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton today rejected the proposal for a marine reserve covering 495 square kilometres on the northeast coast of Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Jim Anderton said he had flown over the proposed reserve, and met with residents and the local hapu, Ngati Rehua, and the iwi, Ngatiwai on Great Barrier Island itself. “I agree that it is a magnificent area that many value for different reasons. However, I don’t believe the interests of the public would be best served by creating such a large no-take marine reserve in this relatively remote area where access to the sea is a large part of life on the Island.
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3. Australian budget tackles environment concerns (Australia)
Abridged from: New Scientist
14 May 2008
Full text: http://environment.newscientist.com
In its first budget, Australia's new labour government has made good on last November's election promise to tackle climate change and the ongoing water crisis. But although it honoured its commitments to the letter, there were no additional allocations, and, according to critics, the government has not gone far enough to save the huge Murray-Darling Basin. The huge river system is drying up under the pressure of Australia's epic drought and excessive water extraction for irrigation.
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4. Australia Budget - Great Barrier Reef In Frame In Climate Fight (Australia)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
14 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
Australia will spend A$3.8 billion to fight climate change, including A$200 million to rescue the Great Barrier Reef, as part of a four-year plan outlined in the government's budget on Tuesday. More than A$1 billion would be spent to improve renewable technologies like solar, wind and geothermal energy over six years, as well as clean-up heavy-polluting coal power, centre-left Labour said in its first budget since it last held power in 1995....The Great Barrier Reef, Labour budget papers said, was particularly sensitive as the world's largest coral system to rising sea temperatures and acidification in the oceans.
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5. Deal reached to allow renewable energy projects in states’ ocean waters (USA)
Abridged from: Boston.com, The Green Blog
14 May 2008
Full text: http://www.boston.com
Massachusetts legislative leaders have agreed on a bill that would allow wind farms and other renewable energy projects in state waters, and the measure is on track to become law in the next few weeks. House and Senate political leaders agreed Tuesday night to create the nation’s first comprehensive ocean zoning plan, to ensure fisheries, renewable energy production and marine conservation can co-exist in the waters extending three miles from shore.
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6. We need a new Bill to protect our seabirds (UK)
Abridged from: icWales.co.uk
13 May 2008
Full text: http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk
Thousands of seabirds are already nesting on coastal cliffs and islands around the country, providing a fantastic wildlife spectacle....While nesting on land, seabirds are protected by law but it is worrying to think that once they leave for the open water, they do not have the same level of protection. With only one Marine Nature Reserve created in Welsh waters in the last 27 years, more legal protection is long overdue. The RSPB has just published a report, Safeguarding our Seabirds: Marine Protected Areas for the UK’s Seabirds, that outlines work done by the RSPB to identify more than 70 near shore sites that are of UK importance for breeding seabirds and are worthy of protection.
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Marine and Coastal Legislation, Policy and Planning
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NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
7. Realities of Rudd's Murray water buyback sink in (Australia)
Abridged from: ABC 7:30 Report
20 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30
The $12.9 billion National Water Plan mostly focused on the Murray-Darling is expected to be ratified at a Council of Australian Governments meeting in July, but it's already hitting snags. A big part of the scheme to save the rivers, rests on the Federal Government buying water back from irrigators, and returning it to the environment. But as the first forays into the water market begin, alarm bells are sounding along the river.
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8. Murray-Darling outlook 'not promising': water commission (Australia)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
The latest report from the Department of Water and Energy indicates that flows in rivers and streams throughout the Murray-Darling Basin are now extremely low or have stopped...The chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Dr Wendy Craik, says the outlook is not promising.
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9. Dead water (USA)
Abridged from: Economist
15 May 2008
Full text: http://www.economist.com
New life generally flourishes in the spring, unless it is marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Every spring the coastal waters turn into a scene of devastation and death. Known as a “dead zone”, this vast oxygen-depleted area extends along the coast between Louisiana and Texas. Hundreds of the world's coastal regions have dead zones. They mostly occur when spring rainfall gathers on land, makes its way into streams and rivers, and eventually tumbles down to the ocean. The rivers carry with them a cargo of nutrients, in particular nitrogen, from farms in the watershed. When this nitrogen reaches the sea it causes a brief frenzy of algal growth which depletes the water of oxygen. Fish, clams, shrimp, crabs, entire mussel reefs and other bottom-dwelling animals can be wiped out.
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MARINE PROTECTED AREAS
10. Scientists voice concerns on marine park delays (Australia)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
17 may 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
About 70 marine scientists have signed a statement of concern over what they say is the lack of progress in implementing a statewide system of marine parks in New South Wales. The scientists are urging the Government to follow through on its promise to create a series of marine parks to conserve marine life, as well as flora and fauna on estuaries. Dr Bill Gladstone from the Australian Marine Sciences Association says marine parks have an important role to play.
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11. Questions to be answered at marine parks road show (Australia)
Abridged from: The Transcontinental
16 May 2008
Full text: http://portaugusta.yourguide.com.au
Curious Port Augusta marine enthusiasts will be able to have their questions about marine parks answered tomorrow. A marine parks road show will have organisers ready to answer questions about the proposed development of 19 marine parks in South Australian waters by 2010, including several in the Spencer Gulf. Port Augusta, Port Germein and Port Pirie communities will be able to learn about the marine parks at the information sessions. Environment and Heritage Department community engagement officer Andrew Burnell encouraged residents to go along for one-on-one discussions about the marine parks.
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FISHERIES
12. A national study of crime in the Australian fishing industry (Australia)
Abridged from: Report by Judy Putt and Katherine Anderson, Australian Government, Australian Institute of Criminology
Full text: http://www.aic.gov.au
The Australian aquaculture and fisheries industry is worth over $2 billion annually, and supports numerous communities across the country. This report presents the results of research, funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, that sought to investigate the extent of illegal activity in Australia's fishing industry and the threat posed by more organised criminal activity.
Further information:
Download report (122 pages): http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/76/rpp76.pdf
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13. Does Fishing On Drifting Fish Aggregation Devices Endanger The Survival Of Tropical Tuna? (France)
Abridged from: Science Daily
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Biologists studying tropical tuna fisheries aimed to establish if the use of drifting fish aggregation devices, a technique employed increasingly for industrial-scale tuna fishery, could act as just such an ecological trap for these species. Examination revealed that the tuna species caught from under the floating objects were less healthy than those taken from free schools. Results suggested that the tuna, in following the artificial rafts, move away from their usual migration routes, which leads them into ecologically less appropriate waters.
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14. Fishy tune has eco message (UK)
Abridged from: Oxford Mail
13 May 2008
Full text: http://www.oxfordmail.net
There is something fishy about an Oxford band's latest single. Acoustic folk band Stornoway have released their latest track The Good Fish Guide to encourage people to eat fish ethically. Based on the Marine Conservation Society (UK) guidelines of the same name, the band want to raise awareness of the problems facing marine life caused by over-fishing. All the profits from the sale of the single - which is now available to buy on iTunes - will be donated to the MCS.
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Commercial and Recreational Fishing Impacts
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AQUACULTURE
15. New report says we can have our fish and eat it too (Canada)
Abridged from: CFTK TV, By David Suzuki Foundation
18 May 2008
Full text: http://www.cftktv.com
A new report released today by the David Suzuki Foundation and Georgia Strait Alliance shows that a shift from open to closed-system fish farming is not only a viable alternative to open net cage farming, but is also a vibrant and rapidly developing global industry. “It’s time to move,” said Jay Ritchlin, of the David Suzuki Foundation. “Science clearly shows us that open net fish farming causes considerable environmental damage, including possible extinction of wild salmon in Canada’s Broughton Archipelago.”
Further information: http://www.davidsuzuki.org
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16. Bringing aquaculture into the classroom (New Zealand)
Abridged from: Scoop
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.scoop.co.nz
Investment in student learning is a key step in the growth of sustainable aquaculture and the communities in New Zealand supported by it, Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said. Jim Anderton said environmentally sustainable aquaculture was already an important part of New Zealand’s economy.
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CLIMATE CHANGE
17. One in Eight Birds May Go Extinct Due to Habitat Loss, Warming (International)
Abridged from: Bloomberg.com
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.bloomberg.com
An eighth of all birds, including a sandpiper and an albatross, face extinction because their habitats are being destroyed and weather patterns are altered by global warming, the Red List of endangered species said. Of approximately 10,000 known species of birds, more than 1,200 are now threatened, the conservation groups International Union for Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International, which prepared the inventory, said today in an e-mailed statement.
Related articles:
http://environment.newscientist.com
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18. Bird migration at mercy of weather patterns (International)
Abridged from: New Scientist
17 May 2008
Full text: http://environment.newscientist.com
Could the flocks of migrating birds we associate with the changing seasons disappear? It's a distinct possibility if they fail to adapt to changing weather patterns, as a result of climate change. High winds and atmospheric instability could make it impossible for small birds to muster the energy needed to fly the long distances to and from their winter feeding grounds.
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19. Ocean Nitrogen Only Limited Help For Climate – Study (International)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
Rising amounts of nitrogen entering the oceans from human activities are less beneficial than previously thought as a fertiliser for tiny marine plants that help slow global warming, scientists said on Thursday.
Related articles:
http://www.sciencedaily.com
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20. Scientists lament lack of Aust climate change research (Australia)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
15 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
Around the world, glaciers are melting, flowers are blooming out of season and hibernating animals are waking up earlier than they used to. A report in the journal Nature suggests human-induced climate change is having an impact on the natural environment much earlier than scientists had predicted. But while the evidence from North America and Europe is overwhelming, there is a gap in the research coming from Australia.
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21. Man-Made Warming Altering Nature's Clock (International)
Abridged from: Scientific American
14 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciam.com
Starving polar bears are eating one another in the Arctic. Flowers are blooming too soon and dying. The ice caps are melting so swiftly that rising water levels will threaten coastal towns as far away as Florida within several decades. These are just a few examples of the dire consequences of climate change supported by a new analysis in Nature that paints a dark portrait of what a warming world will look like in the years to come.
Related articles:
http://www.enn.com
http://environment.newscientist.com
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Climate Change
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NATURAL HAZARDS
22. New Storm Deepens Misery In Cyclone-Hit Myanmar (Myanmar)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
Torrential tropical downpours lashed Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta on Friday, deepening the misery of an estimated 2.5 million destitute survivors of Cyclone Nargis and further hampering the military government's aid efforts.
Related articles:
http://www.sciencedaily.com
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INVASIVE MARINE & COASTAL SPECIES
23. Invaders musselling in (Scotland)
Abridged from: Growfish
17 May 2008
Full text: http://www.growfish.com.au
For decades, the Scottish blue mussel has been the choice ingredient for discerning diners feasting on moules marinières in London's top restaurants. Unrivalled for its quality and taste, the native mussel has reigned supreme in kitchens across the country. But the Scottish-bred mollusc, mytilus edulis, is facing a twin threat from two "foreign" invaders. One is a French interloper which has steadily moved into northern waters as the seas have warmed up due to climate change. But, astonishingly, scientists suspect that the second species which is posing a threat to Scotland's indigenous mussel industry may have survived unnoticed in an isolated pocket in a Scottish loch since the Ice Age.
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MARINE SPECIES
24. Life discovered on ocean mountain (New Zealand)
Abridged from: Science Alerts, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
20 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencealert.com.au
Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists, plumbing the secrets of a vast underwater mountain range south of New Zealand, captured the first images of a novel “Brittlestar City” that colonized against daunting odds the peak of a seamount – an underwater summit taller than the world’s tallest building. Its cramped starfish-like inhabitants, tens of millions living arm tip to arm tip, owe their success to the seamount’s shape and to the swirling circumpolar current flowing over and around it at roughly four kilometres per hour.
Related articles:
http://www.stuff.co.nz
http://environment.newscientist.com
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25. Ancient Deep-sea Coral Reefs Off Southeastern US Serve As Underwater 'Islands' In The Gulf Stream (USA)
Abridged from: Science Daily
20 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Largely unexplored deep-sea coral reefs, some perhaps hundreds of thousands of years old, off the coast of the southeastern U.S. are not only larger than expected but also home to commercially valuable fish populations and many newly discovered and unusual species. Results from a series of NOAA-funded expeditions to document these previously unstudied and diverse habitats and their associated marine life have revealed some surprising results.
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26. Iceland sets minke whale hunt quota (Iceland)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
20 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
Iceland's commercial whale hunt is set to begin, after the government granted a small minke quota. Whalers had been seeking a quota of about 100, but ministers settled on 40, which they say is commercially viable. The decision came after weeks of delay, reportedly because of disagreements within government.
Related articles
http://www.planetark.com
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27. 'Snot a flatworm, it's a new jellyfish (Australia)
Abridged from: Stuff.co.nz
17 May 2008
Full text: http://www.stuff.co.nz
It looks like snot, it's the size of a grain of rice, and it's taking the marine science world by storm. A new jellyfish species has been discovered inside the seahorse exhibit at the Reef HQ aquarium in Townsville, in north Queensland. Scientist Dr Lisa Gershwin said she found the species by accident. The expert in marine stingers said she was delighted at the find, because it was unlike anything she had ever seen. The jellyfish, of the family Coeloplana, has its mouth on its underside and its anus wrapped around its brain. It looks more like a flatworm than a jellyfish, and moves by gliding along the seagrass.
Related articles:
http://www.abc.net.au
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28. Wildlife numbers plummet globally: WWF (International)
Abridged from: AFP
17 May 2008
Full text: http://afp.google.com
The world's wildlife populations have reduced by around a quarter since the 1970s, according to a major report published Friday by the WWF conservation organization. Marine species have been particularly hard hit as the human population booms, while numbers of birds and, fish and animals have also gone down, said the WWF in a report. The study comes ahead of next week's UN convention on biological diversity in the former West German capital Bonn, which will discuss aims to achieve a "significant reduction" in the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Further information: http://www.panda.org
Related articles:
http://environment.newscientist.com
http://ukpress.google.com
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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29. Rapid, Dramatic 'Reverse Evolution' Documented In Tiny Fish Species (USA)
Abridged from: Science Daily
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Evolution is supposed to inch forward over eons, but sometimes, at least in the case of a little fish called the threespine stickleback, the process can go in relative warp-speed reverse, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre and published online ahead of print in the May 20 issue of Current Biology.
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30. US lists polar bears as threatened (USA)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
15 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
Polar bears have been listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act because their sea ice habitat is melting away, US Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced. Mr Kempthorne acknowledged that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions contribute to the global warming that is damaging the Arctic ice but stressed that the protective status for polar bears will not target climate change.
Related articles:
http://www.sciencedaily.com
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31. Fish conformity zealous but discerning (Australia)
Abridged from: Science Alerts, University of Sydney
15 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencealert.com.au
Fish have a strong urge to follow one another. Research by Dr Ashley Ward, from the School of Biological Sciences has shown for the first time in vertebrates just how strong the desire to follow a leader can be in animals that are alone compared to those in a group.
Further information: http://www.usyd.edu.au
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32. Pilot whales are the sprinters of the deep (USA)
Abridged from: New Scientist
14 May 2008
Full text: http://www.newscientist.com
Pilot whales are the cheetahs of the oceans, focusing their hunting effort on short, intense chases after a few rich food items. They are the first deep-diving whales known to follow such a strategy. Whales such as sperm whales and beaked whales, which feed during deep dives that take them hundreds of metres below the surface, have to find and capture prey while holding their breath.
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33. Shrimp can see beyond the rainbow (Australia)
Abridged from: Reuters
14 May 2008
Full text: http://uk.reuters.com
A giant shrimp living on Australia's Great Barrier Reef can see a world beyond the rainbow that is invisible to other animals, scientists said on Wednesday. Mantis shrimps, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, capable of seeing colours from the ultraviolet to the infrared, as well as detecting other subtle variations in light. They view the world in up to 12 primary colors -- four times as many as humans -- and can measure six different kinds of light polarization, Swiss and Australian researchers reported.
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34. Indian Ocean coral shows partial recovery (South Africa)
Abridged from: Reuters Africa
14 May 2008
Full text: http://africa.reuters.com
Coral reefs in the Indian Ocean have partly recovered from the 1998 spike in sea temperatures, but climate change will probably hamper future conservation, a coral expert said on Wednesday. An unusual spike in sea temperatures a decade ago killed coral throughout the Indian Ocean, dropping the average healthy, hard coral cover to 15 percent of reefs from 40 percent before. Tim McClanahan, a coral expert with the Wildlife Conservation Society said hard coral cover had recovered to 30 percent by 2005, although the data masked big variations.
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Marine Species
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PETROLEUM AND MINERALS
35. Loggerheads over seabed mining (New Zealand)
Abridged from: TVNZ
20 May 2008
Full text: http://tvnz.co.nz
Opinions are split between two major government departments over the impacts of seabed mining. Crown Minerals and the Department of Conservation are at loggerheads over the environmental risk posed by prospecting for mineral sands. Crown Minerals considers it poses only a minor risk and argue any sand removed will be negligible compared with overall deposits. DOC, on the other hand, believes environmental impacts could be significant and wants any mining activities examined to determine effects on marine mammals and other marine habitats.
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36. US Changes Course, Bans Drilling In Arctic Wetland (Alaska)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
The Bush administration on Friday proposed keeping potentially oil-rich wetlands in Arctic Alaska off-limits to drilling because of their ecological sensitivity, a reversal of its earlier plan.
The Bureau of Land Management proposed a 10-year leasing moratorium for 430,000 acres of wetlands north and east of vast Teshekpuk Lake in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
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37. Analysis - Polar Bear Listing Could Slow Arctic Oil Drilling (Alaska)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
Oil drilling in the Arctic may need to slow down, now that polar bears, iconic symbols of global warming, are headed for protection under the US Endangered Species Act, experts said. US Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne this week added polar bears to the list of threatened animals under the act because their sea ice habitat is rapidly melting - a move that comes just as the oil industry is pushing into offshore Arctic Alaska frontiers. Experts said the additional protections for the bears will reduce the chances oil companies will be allowed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dimming hopes that the oil-rich wilderness would help the United States curb its dependence on energy imports.
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HERITAGE
38. Sulfur In Marine Archaeological Shipwrecks: The 'Hull Story' Gives A Sour Aftertaste (Sweden)
Abridged from: Science Daily
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Advanced chemical analyses reveal that, with the help of smart scavenging bacteria, sulfur and iron compounds accumulated in the timbers of the Swedish warship Vasa during her 333 years on the seabed of the Stockholm harbour. Contact with oxygen, in conjunction with the high humidity of the museum environment, causes these contaminants to produce sulfuric acid, according to a new doctoral thesis in chemistry from Stockholm University.
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RECREATION AND TOURISM
39. Testing times for boating simulator (Australia)
Abridged from: ABC News Online
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.abc.net.au
Work is progressing in northern Tasmania on a computer simulator that behaves like a small boat. Pivot Marine at Legana has received a $1 million Federal Government grant to produce boat simulators, so that new boat owners can learn about the hazards of the water. The program designer, Dr Jeffrey Hawkins says he is still refining the software but hopes to have simulators on the market in three years. "In the end we're going to have a simulator which is ideal for people in small boats, so they can learn the skills before they get out on the water," he said.
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40. New York Subway Cars Find New Life On Ocean Floor (USA)
Abridged from: Planet Ark
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.planetark.com
After four decades carrying millions of New Yorkers, 44 of the city's subway cars are now home to millions of fish. The worn-out cars were dumped on Friday into the Atlantic Ocean, 21 miles off the Maryland coast, to create an artificial reef, designed to attract fish for the state's lucrative sport-fishing industry. "These reefs provide quality habitat for marine life off our coast which benefits not only the environment but also local businesses," said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan.
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RESEARCH
41. Scientists Aim To Unlock Deep-sea 'Secrets' Of Earth's Crust (UK)
Abridged from: Science Daily
19 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Scientists from Durham University will use robots to explore the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to study the growth of underwater volcanoes that build the Earth's crust. The Durham experts will lead an international team of 12 scientists aboard Britain's Royal Research Ship James Cook which will set sail from Ponta Delgada, San Miguel, in the Azores. During the five-week expedition they will use explorer robots to map individual volcanoes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge tectonic plate boundary.
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42. WA has best offshore wind site (Australia)
Abridged from: Science Alerts
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencealert.com.au
The winds of change blow longer and stronger in WA than in any other state in Australia according to recent research to find the best site in Australia for an offshore wind farm. As the race to reduce our carbon emissions becomes critical many scientists are tipping offshore wind energy will become the world’s most important and widely used renewable energy source. Some have called it “the new North Sea oil”, with more than 40 offshore installations either operating or under construction throughout Europe.
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43. Abstract: Mitigating the atmospheric CO2 increase and ocean acidification by adding limestone powder to upwelling regions (Canada)
Abridged from: AGU, L. D. D. Harvey, Department of Geography, University of Toronto
May 2008
Full text: http://www.agu.org
The feasibility of enhancing the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere by adding calcium carbonate powder to the ocean and of partially reversing the acidification of the ocean and the decrease in calcite supersaturation resulting from the absorption of anthropogenic CO2 is investigated.
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44. Ice Cores Reveal Fluctuations In Earth's Greenhouse Gases (Antarctica)
Abridged from: Science Daily
17 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists reported May 14 in the journal Nature.
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45. Gravity-defying Bird Beak Mystery Solved: Shorebirds Benefit From Surface Tension (USA)
Abridged from: Science Daily
17 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths.
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46. Deep Sea Methane Scavengers Captured (USA)
Abridged from: Science Daily
16 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig and the California Institute of Technology succeeded in capturing syntrophic (means "feeding together") microorganisms that are known to dramatically reduce the oceanic emission of methane into the atmosphere.
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47. Stressed seaweed lives under a cloud of its own making (UK)
Abridged from: Times Online
12 May 2008
Full text: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Brown seaweed is to blame for some of those cloudy days at the seaside, scientists believe. Stress among the plants can alter weather patterns, according to researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of Manchester. On an overcast day kelp are comfortable when the tide goes out, as they stay damp until it comes in again. But on a bright day they dry, releasing iodide. The iodide rises, causing clouds to form overhead, sheltering the kelp from the unwelcome sunshine.
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Marine and Coastal Research
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PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITES
48. A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder -Slide Show (USA)
Abridged from: American Scientist
14 May 2008
Full text: http://www.sciam.com
In A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder, Gary Greenberg takes us to exotic locales in our larger world to explore extraordinary beauty witnessed on a microphotographic scale.
View slideshow: http://www.sciam.com/slideshow
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OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
49. Inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities (Australia)
Abridged from: Media Release, House Of Representatives Standing Committee On Climate Change, Water, Environment And The Arts, Inquiry into the Australian Coastal Zone
The House of Representatives Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts Committee is to conduct an inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on Australian coastal communities. Committee Chair Jennie George welcomed the co-referral of this inquiry by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett MP and the Minister for Climate Change and Water Senator Penny Wong. The committee will accept submissions until Friday, 30 May 2008. Further details about the inquiry, including how to make a submission, can be obtained from the committee’s website at http://www.aph.gov.au/ccwea.
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Interested in this topic? View MCCN’s website for more: Act Now
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GRANTS
50. Australian Government, Caring for our Country (Australia)
Abridged from: Australian Government, Natural Resource Management website
Caring for Our Country provides $2.25 billion in funding over five years from 1 July 2008 to June 2013. It will integrate a number of existing natural resource management measures into a consolidated program. These include the Natural Heritage Trust, the National Landcare Program, the Environmental Stewardship Program, and elements of the Working on Country program.
Further information: http://www.nrm.gov.au/funding/cfoc-faq.html
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51. Community Coastcare Grants (Australia)
Abridged from: Australian Government, Natural Resource Management website
Community Coastcare is part of the Caring for our Country package of activities contributing to the coastal environments and critical aquatic habitats priority outcome. Applications are being sought now for funding in 2008-2009. Applications close on 25 July 2008.
Further information: http://www.nrm.gov.au/funding/coastcare.html
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52. Nominations For Caring For Our Country Community Coastcare Small Grants Assessors (Australia)
Abridged from: Australian Government, Natural Resource Management website
The Australian Government is seeking nominations from individuals interested in contributing to the assessment of applications for Community Coastcare small grants. Assessors may provide advice relating to individual applications, contribute to grants review panels and / or provide advice in the development and review of Community Coastcare processes. Assessors will be appointed for up to three years beginning in 2008.
Further information: http://www.nrm.gov.au
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AWARDS
53. Call for Entries to Reuters-IUCN Environmental Media Awards (International)
Abridged from: Reuters-IUCN Media Release
Reuters Foundation and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) launch the 2008 Media Awards, a worldwide competition aimed at raising global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues, by encouraging excellence in environmental reporting worldwide. The deadline for entries is 15 June 2008.
Further information: http://www.foundation.reuters.com and http://www.iucn.org/media_awards.
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WORK
C
54. World Ocean’s Day (Australia)
8 June 2008
To help celebrate World Ocean’s Day, MCCN will profile Australia’s talented marine science students and their research work. To help us do this, Phoebe Hill, herself a PhD candidate and volunteer with MCCN, will compile a review of some of the research work being conducted in academic institutions across Australia. If you are a student doing a post-graduate marine science research project, or a supervisor of marine science research students, we would like to hear from you. Please send us a 100-200 word summary of your research including your supervisors name and any supporting images to Phoebe Hill at email: volunteer@mccn.org.au by Monday 26th May 2008. If we are able to include your project we will send you a copy of the completed article on the MCCN website so that you can circulate to your own networks. Further information T: 1800 815 332 E: volunteer@mccn.org.au
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55. International Ocean Stewardship Forum 2008 (International)
17-18 June 2008
The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK will host a major International Ocean Stewardship Forum with the aim of facilitating the effective integration of marine science, policy and law within ocean governance. World-leading experts in these disciplines together with principal users of ocean space represented by governments, industry and academia, will meet to assess the development of a sustainable operational strategy for marine policy.
Further information: http://www.oceanstewardship.com/ or email: info@oceanstewardship.com
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56. The 3rd Congress of the International Society for Applied Phycology and the 11th International Conference (Ireland)
21 - 27 June 2008
To be held at the National University of Ireland, Galway and will be hosted by the Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Further information: http://www.conference.ie
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57. Asian Wetland Symposium 2008- Wetlands -The Heart of Asia (Vietnam)
22- 25 June 2008
A symposium to reflect on the importance of wetlands to the daily life of people in Asia and to look into the progress and challenges in wetlands management and conservation. The Asian Wetland Symposium provides a single platform for discussions among various sectors including, national and local governments, NGOs, scientific experts, the private sector, and local and indigenous people engaged in wetland management to discuss issues, approaches and priorities in wetland management in the Asian Region.
Further information: http://www.aws2008.net/
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CALL FOR
58. NZMSS & AMSA Conference Christchurch (Australia-New Zealand)
7 – 10 July 2008
Held at the University of Canterbury, the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society and the Australian Marine Sciences Association are teaming up to bring New Zealand and Australian researchers together for a four day conference. Theme: Human Impacts and Functioning Ecosystems. Mini-Symposiums: Biosecurity, Climate Change, Aquaculture, Marine Natural Products, Ocean Acidification, and more. Registration is online and abstracts are due May 23 2008. Further information: http://nzmss.rsnz.org/conference.html
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59. 29th Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology & Conservation (International)
17-19 February 2009, Brisbane, Australia.
Creating Community Collaboration. This will be the first time the symposium has been held in Australia and the southern hemisphere. The symposium will explore themes such as building communication and networking at local, regional, and global scales. It aims to create linkages between communities and to connect policy-makers at all levels with the latest information coming out of sea turtle research and conservation programs. Abstract submissions are due by 15 September 2008. Further information: http://www.turtlesbrisbane2009.org/ or Email: info@turtlesbrisbane2009.org
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60. Coastal Zone Asia-Pacific Conference (China)
Held in Qingdao, China, 19-22 October, 2008. The conference theme is 'Sustainable Coasts and Better Life,' with a focus on how to manage coasts to cope with climate change and expanding populations. The conference will be hosted by Professor Guifang (Julia) Xue at Ocean University of China, Qingdao. Further information http://www.czapa.org and now open for on-line abstract submission. The deadline for submission is 15 June 2008.
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61. International Marine Conservation Congress: call for papers (International)
The Marine Section of the Society for Conservation Biology will be hosting its first stand-alone meeting, the International Marine Conservation Congress from 20-24 May 2009 at George Mason University near Washington D.C. This will be an interdisciplinary meeting that will engage natural and social scientists, managers, policy-makers, and the public. 1st Call for symposia and workshops: until 1 June 2008, decisions by 15 July 2008. Further information on submitting papers: http://www.conbio.org/IMCC ; E: IMCCprogram@conbio.org
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View full calendar of events on MCCN website: Workshops, Conferences and Events
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DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in Wetstuff-News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, or the Minister for Climate Change and Water.
While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication.
All material in Wetstuff-News may be reprinted unless it has been sourced from an unidentified publication whereby no reprint is authorised except by permission from the source publishers.
News articles are posted as a free community service for the purposes of non-commercial education, research, study review and news reporting, and are archived for reference of students and researchers as a 'fair dealing' activity under Australian Copyright Law.
Marine Coastal Community Network (MCCN) is a national, not-for-profit Network that facilitates government, industry & community involvement in marine and coastal conservation and sustainability initiatives. Marine Coastal Community Network is supported by the Australian Government.
Wetstuff-News is compiled by Anne Briggs for Marine Coastal Community Network.
Anne Briggs
Marine Coastal Community Network
PO Box 709
Spit Junction NSW 2088
Australia
E: anne@mccn.org.au
W: http://www.mccn.org.au
Supported by the Australian Government 