Thriving Oceans

Learning from our mistakes is one thing, but mixing half a ton of dynamite with a dead beached whale is another.  Setting aside any comments for now regarding last week’s discovery that a NOAA contracted vessel struck and killed an endangered blue whale, an apparent question weighing on state officials minds was what to do with the enormous carcass.  Although they opted to let nature run its course, the folks in Oregon County were a little bit more ambitious, or perhaps watched a little too much Myth Busters for their own good. Try explaining this one to your auto insurance company.

 

Let’s send out some positive ocean vibes and get a jump on the weekend with a photo session of one of my favorite sea creatures…Seahorses!

Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus which includes more than 47 species.  Showcasing a multitude of colors and sizes, they  are adept at camouflaging themselves amongst seagrasses, coral reefs and mangroves in the shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world.  And for those keeping track the Leafy Sea Dragon rounding up the session belongs to the genus Phycodurus, but but nonetheless is still a seahorse relative…

On October 3rd I had the great opportunity of attending the Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Francisco.  The speakers were not touching on ocean topics (if interested check out my posts on JournOwl.com), but there was an array of conservation groups in attendance that managed to cover marine wildlife.  And a couple of those groups persuaded me to pose for photo ops in support for whales and 350 species threatened by climate change (i.e. polar bears, orcas, penguins, walrus).

The International Fund for Animal Welfare’s program Tails for Whales has me doing exactly what the program set out to do…making a whale tail with my hands.  And what does the photo accomplish?  “By adding your photo you’re becoming part of a worldwide people power movement petitioning governments everywhere to stop whaling.”  So perhaps you may just find my picture in the future U.S. version of the Tails for Whales book and using my voice (or photo) to help end whaling.

The second opportunity for a photo petition came from an organization of which I am a member, The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).  OK, this might be an ocean site, but I chose to pose with the frog at the delight of the CBD representative.  I was the first to choose the frog at the event, perhaps starting a small trend for the day.

The program is designed:

“To dramatically illustrate why we must reduce carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million to save the planet from climate catastrophe, we are creating 350 Reasons We Need to Get to 350 - a Web-based photo installation with descriptions of 350 species we may lose to global warming if we don’t act soon and strongly.”

“Your photo will become part of a collection of Center photos that 350.org will deliver to media and world leaders at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen this December.”

All in all it just took a few photos to lend support to a couple of worthy conservation organizations so set modesty aside and save those whales!

Sometimes it takes a meal  to get some notice.  And the next time you try to order fish and chips and the basket comes back heavy on potatoes don’t blame the waiter or waitress.  Our ocean gluttony has decimated the popular batter-dipped fish over the last 40 years.  Gluttony is the key word as our fishing practices are less than sustainable to say the least and the result of consuming a species faster than they can reproduce should not surprise any of us. 

The fact is that cod are vanishing, which is why the European Union is calling for sharp cuts to fishing quotas.  But are “sharp” cuts up to 25% in some fishing areas enough to ensure the species fully recovers? I’m not convinced!

Here are a few points to consider:

• In the 1970s more than 250,000 tons of cod were estimated to fill fishing zones in the North Sea, eastern British Channel and Scandinavia’s Skagerrak Strait
• Stocks are now hovering around 50,000 tons, a mere 20% of historical estimates
• “…will seek to cut the catch in some fishing grounds around Britain, France, Spain and much of Scandinavia from 5,700 tons this to 4,250 tons in 2010″
• “The scientific prognosis for most stocks is not encouraging, with many in a worse state than last year,” Britain’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• “Overfishing off Canada’s maritime provinces exhausted the world’s richest cod grounds and forced the government to impose a fishing moratorium. The collapse wiped out more than 42,000 jobs, and 18 years later the fish have still not returned. Some Canadian scientists believe the collapse of cod stocks off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia changed the marine ecosystem so dramatically that it may be impossible for cod to recover.”
• In the U.S., the two major New England cod fishing waters have witnessed steep declines with catches totaling only 3,868 metric tons in 2007. This is about 19% of historical catches in the 1980s (20,000 tons annually)

Reference: EU officials warn of disappearing cod