Sea Notes

Great Pacific Trash Patch

In the Peanuts comic strip, Linus spends each Halloween in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin -- to no avail. If he'd headed out to another patch, the Great Pacific Trash Patch any day of the year, there'd be a lot to find -- but no pumpkins.

The Patch is a swirling, 3-million-pound mass of plastic and other trash that covers an area twice the size of Texas, according to researchers with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which has been tracking the Patch for a decade. And it's not going away.

That's a big problem for ocean wildlife, like albatross that nest in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Foraging adults mistake trash for food, and fill the bellies of their growing chicks with debris (including cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, syringes, toys, clothespins and every other type of plastic). On Midway Atoll alone, 40 percent of albatross chicks die from trash filling their bellies. By some estimates, they feed their chicks about 5 tons of plastic a year.

There are rays of hope. A new law in California takes effect in 2009 and require manufacturers of nurdles -- the BB-sized pre-production plastic pellets that are the basis of all plastic products -- to prevent nurdle spills into waterways.

And each of us, wherever we live, can make a difference: by using fewer disposable plastic products, and by picking up plastic litter wherever we find it.

You can learn more in the Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Altered Oceans; and you can meet a Laysan albatross, and get the story firsthand, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Mystery of the Most Mature Mollusc

When it comes to longevity, ocean wildlife hold most of the world records.  This week, scientists announced that a clam, caught off the coast of Iceland, is the oldest animal ever discovered. By counting the clam's rings (like those in a tree), the clam was found to be over 400 years old!

Other marine record holders are sea anemones, which are believed to be able to survive for 100 years or more, as can large whales such as the bowhead.  But, perhaps, more surprising, is the age reached by some rockfish species, such as the thornyhead - which can live for a staggering 200 years. A comparative youngster, only 100 years old, was caught recently in Alaska.

Many fish species live long enough to qualify for Medicare. To ensure you never eat a fish that's older than your grandmother, remember to use your Seafood Watch pocket guide, or check out our ocean-friendly recommendations at www.seafoodwatch.org

'Humanity at risk'

We'll try to steer away from bag o' downers news posts, but this new report from the United Nations Environment Program underscores the urgent need for all of us to get much more active in addressing global threats, from climate change to destruction of critical habitat in the oceans and on land.

The good news? According to Achim Steiner, director of the Environment Program, the response to the threats over the past 20 years "has in some cases been courageous and inspiring."

The bad news? Also from Steiner: "...all too often [the response] has been slow and at a pace and scale that fails to respond to or recognise the magnitude of the challenges facing the people and the environment of the planet."

You can make a difference for the oceans by standing up and speaking out -- as a Seafood Watch advocate for sustainable fishing and fish-farming, as a member of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Ocean Action Team on a range of ocean conservation issues. Whatever you do, one thing is abundantly clear: All of us need to step it up -- for ourselves, for the planet and for the generations to come.

Saving Sea Turtles

It's always great to find encouraging stories in the news about individuals taking action to save ocean animals. My favorite this week comes from the Los Angeles Times, which on Oct. 21 profiled Arcelio Fuentes of Panama. With his family, Arcelio is saving sea turtles that nest on beaches in his native Panama. And he's not alone. According to the article by Chris Kraul, people across Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are protecting sea turtles "as part of their heritage, environment and just maybe the keys to better lives through eco-tourism."

There are many people like Arcelio around the world, doing similar work. And that's a very, very hopeful sign.

Celebrate Sustainable Seafood Month

October is National Seafood Month (or as we prefer to call it, Sustainable Seafood Month) —the perfect time to enjoy your favorite ocean-friendly seafood and let others know about your sustainable choices. Help Monterey Bay Aquarium spread the word about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources!

One easy way to start: Take our Seafood Smarts Quiz today and find out if you're a Bluefish Brainiac or a Floundering Flounder.

After you've completed the quiz (which is illustrated with some of Jim Toomey's notable Sherman's Lagoon cartoon characters), please share it with your friends and family.

Another great way to celebrate: Take part in the sustainable seafood recipe contest hosted by Jacqueline Church at Leather District Gourmet.  If you're a food blogger, home cook, chef, food writer or just a seafood lover, you can enter your sustainable seafood recipe & win accolades and fabulous prizes. Learn more and enter your ready-to-be-famous recipe today!