Sea Notes

Whale of a Report - 1

File this under Odd Science:

Our friends at the Zooillogix blog report that New England Aquarium researchers are in deep doo-doo -- whale doo-doo that is -- all in the interest of cetacean conservation.

I'll let you savor the details at Zooillogix, but for the weak of stomach, here's the CliffsNotes version.

Aquarium scientists are scooping and analyzing floating whale poop from North Atlantic right whales as a way to analyze the health of this critically endangered species.

And I thought our sea otter research team was doing well to help protect California's threatened sea otters from the perils of cat poop. In fact a visit to the sea otter exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium sparked legislation to help address the threat, and finance more research into other environmental threats facing otters.

Sounds like there's an emerging and very broad field of research out there: Scatology at Sea. Any other examples I'm missing? 

Whale of a Report - 2

Good news for whales & whale-lovers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The organization that maintains a global Red List of Threatened Species believes the humpback whale and southern right whale are recovering throughout much of their range, and will change their status from "vulnerable" to a category of "least concern" as a result.

The main reason: They've been largely protected from  commercial whaling. Kind of a no-brainer, really. Who knew that If you stop killing whales, you'd have more of them in the ocean?!

That doesn't mean humpbacks are out of the woods yet -- nor is the picture rosy for all cetaceans worldwide. The same IUCN report, to be released in October at its World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, still rates two species and 12 subpopulations as critically endangered.

Now the major threat not commercial whaling but the fact that so many animals are dying accidentally in commercial fishing gear. The impact of climate change on ocean ecosystems is running a close second.

The Yangtze River dolphin is considered "critically endangered, possibly extinct" by IUCN. And the vaquita -- a porpoise native to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico -- is down to 150 individuals in the wild and is also on the brink of extinction. Gillnet fisheries are killing about 15 percent of the population as bycatch each year, the IUCN says.

In general, according to Randall Reeves, a cetacean specialist with the IUCN Species Survival Commission, "Too many of these small coastal cetaceans end up as bycatch in fisheries. This remains the main threat to them and it is only going to get worse."

The Black Sea harbor porpoise, which moves from vulnerable to endangered, the North Atlantic right whale and the western gray whale, already listed as endangered and critically endangered respectively, are among the other cetaceans most at risk from the threat of accidental entanglement in fishing gear.

What's a human to do? First, make sure the seafood you're eating has minimal unintended consequences on marine life. That's what our Seafood Watch program is all about. Second, make sure your voice is heard on critical marine conservation issues, from creation of marine protected areas to campaigns to protect whales and other ocean animals. That's what joining Monterey  Bay Aquarium's Ocean Action Team is all about.

Monday's Inspirational Photo: Two good reasons to celebrate!

I never really need a good reason to blog about sea otters, but this week I have two good ones!

California State Legislature has just unanimously approved a resolution officially proclaiming the last week in September as Sea Otter Awareness Week throughout California. At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we have been celebrating this unofficial holiday for a number of years, culminating in our weekend "Otter Days" celebration. This year, it's official! You can come celebrate with us on the 20th and 21st September.

And in other great otter news, California tax payers have generously donated enough money to keep the sea otter fund tax check-off alive for another year. To date, the fund has received over $500,000 which will support federal researchers and their agencies working to understand the impacts threatening California sea otters and to find ways to recover their population.

We are proud of the role we played in all this here at the Aquarium, as the 2006 California sea otter law was inspired by a legislator's family trip to our sea otter exhibit. The legislation was supported at critical points in the process by the Aquarium's Ocean Action Team.

The law expands sea otter research, increases the fine for killing or harming sea otters, and requires a warning label on kitty litter alerting consumers to the danger of flushing cat feces down the toilet.

Even if you don't own a cat, you can help keep sea otters healthy by carefully choosing products for your yard that won't pollute the waterways and ocean. Taking your vehicle to a car wash helps keep chemicals out of storm drains too - and the water can be recycled or treated.

This year's annual spring census of the California population showed a slight decline in numbers from last year. Every small thing you do can make a difference.

Friday's Featured Film: Puddles

Today's film is a magical :30 second spot we've been using to promote the newly re-imagined Splash Zone exhibit here at Monterey Bay Aquarium. The visual effects are amazing -- created by elementFX studio, whose folks have worked for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic on films like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Terminator. Kudos to the team at BuderEngel and Friends, the ad agency that packs so much wonder and imagination into such a small package.

Sustainable Seafood Marches Forward

Great blog today by Deirdre Donovan in Zagat Buzz Los Angeles about the commitments chefs are making to source (and serve) sustainable seafood.

Looks like it was prompted by a survey Zagat conducted in which 54 percent of respondents said they “try to order sustainable seafood but can’t always keep track of what they are supposed to order.”

She cites programs like the Seafood Watch initiative here at Monterey Bay Aquarium, and similar efforts like Shedd Aquarium's Right Bite, New England Aquarium's Celebrate Seafood and the Blue Ocean Institute seafood program (among others) as ways consumers & chefs are getting good information to make better seafood choices.

She also recognizes chefs who are leading the way, including the amazing Ted and Cindy Walter of Passionfish, right next door to us in Pacific Grove, California.

Put this together with the fact that more food service providers are buying local and organic -- including the Kaiser Permanente health center in Oakland, California with public service announcements about food miles on Bay Area radio, its own on-site farmers market and a food blog on its website -- and you can feel the momentum growing.

That's all good news for the future of the oceans.

Refill not landfill

I recently took a tour of one of Monterey's other prize winning destinations - the landfill! The Monterey Regional Waste Management District is one of the country's leaders in its field -- finding ways to limit the amount of waste we "dump". Anyone using the D-word on the tour was gently reminded that the correct term is landfill. It's more than semantics. Dumping and throwing things "away" allows us to disconnect from our responsibility. Excavating land to fill with our trash (an average of 3 pounds per day, per person), is another matter altogether.

I learnt many new things, but the one thing that struck me most was the statement, "You are not truly recycling if all you are doing is sending your recyclables to a recycling facility." Hmm. "True recycling", we were told, is "buying recycled products and creating a market."

With this in mind, I was excited to find a new product this weekend. A non-toxic, biodegradable, eco-friendly bathroom cleaner. But the neatest thing about it, was that it was contained in a recycled soda bottle! Terracycle has a range of products using containers reclaimed from the waste stream, including worm poop fertilizer!

I haven't tried the product yet, but I'm sold on the concept! And of course, when I'm done, I can recycle it!

Carnival of the Blue #15

What an honor to host the ocean fest this month! It’s so inspiring to see all the different blogs touching our watery world in so many unique ways and reaching out to different audiences with one common message:
The ocean is full of cool stuff and let’s keep it that way!

To kick off this month’s festivities let’s go first to…drum roll…..Kevin Zelnio of Deep Sea News. Kevin claims his life as a deep-sea marine biologist is not as glamorous as it appears on TV, but on the other hand, he does get to discover previously unknown life forms –- so I’m guessing that makes up for the lack of black-tie opportunities?

Jacques Cousteau perhaps, was known for glamour, but as Emmett Duffy at Natural Patriot dives into Jacques Cousteau’s first novel Silent World, he discovers “an explorer in the classical mould of Columbus….”

Heating things up, we move to climate change and Carl Safina’s (Blue Ocean Institute) recent trip to the Arctic and a Climate Action Summit.  As Carl notes,” We can take the measure of humanity and can understand just how much has been lost elsewhere and how much can be maintained or regained, if and when and where we decide to share the world.”

Rick MacPherson (Malaria, Bedbugs, Sealice & Sunsets), blogs from the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, where one of the “hot” topics was ocean acidification. Some interesting insights as we all struggle with how to talk to non-science audiences about the “big bad” as Rick calls it!

“No no no no  no no”  says James Hrynyshyn, Island of Doubt, to the notion of liming the ocean to help sequester carbon. This blog has my favorite comment: “You put the lime in the coconut!”

From living with climate change to sustainable living, Anthony Townsend at Blue Economy explores what it will mean when South Korea hosts the World Expo in 2012, with a theme of sustainable development in a country where (surprisingly) most of its citizens don’t live close to the coastline.

And speaking of sustainable living, Miriam Goldstein of The Oyster's Garter in the UK asks whether the development of clean energy from tidal power is worth the environmental cost, at least for one project in Great Britain.

On a distant coastline, Hugh Powell of Surf.Bird.Scribble offers a proxy blog this month, with a shout out to Cnido-site Discharge. Check out “Heartland Kid Takes Sabbeachical” the tale of a land lubber up to his knees in Belize!

Jarrett Byrnes of I’m a chordate, urochordata! (Wish I had come up with that one!) says of his submission: “In brief, I discuss an elegantly designed experiment teasing out the causes of zonation within subtidal temperate reefs.” Apparently, it’s all about light! “Silly algae,” (he adds).

Talking of silly…did you know that flatfish are not born with both eyes on one side of their heads? So, how did this evolve? Even Charles Darwin was baffled by this, apparently. Do we now have an answer?  Grrl Scientist at Science Blogs does!

What if you just want to eat a flatfish and it’s red-listed by environmental groups like, say, Seafood Watch? Mark Powell at Blogfish asks, “Is it Sophie’s choice?”

What if the catch of the day is an invasive species, like a lionfish? Mark Hall at Daily Kos investigates why this Southeast Asian, venomous fish is showing up in New England. Find out why they’re here and what if feels like when you test out the sting!

Moving up the vertebrate chain, Mike Bergin at 10,000 Birds poses the question, “What is a tern?” If you thought an elegant tern was a dance move, then you need to update your larid knowledge here.

And here at SeaNotes, my colleague Ken Peterson, in tern told this story of Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, a restored wetland that is hosting terns, elegant and otherwise.

In a much less happy story Caspar Henderson of Barely Imagined Beings offers melancholy manatee musings indeed: declining seagrass beds, and tangled bodies in nets, and the similarity between sirenia and their cousins on land.

Since we're pondering the imponderable, Angelo O'Connor Villagomez of The Saipan Blog asks whether the increased militarization of the seas will mean more incidents like the leak of radioactive water from the USS Houston during a recent visit to the island.

On a lighter note, Wallace J Nichol’s blog reviews Battle in Seattle which he believes deserves an Academy Award for "Best Sea Turtle Activist in a Major Motion Picture." If in doubt, check this out…

And finally, thanks to Zooillogix for these stunning images of migrating golden or cow-nosed rays. Images like this perhaps give us a window into what our oceans once must have looked like to our seafaring ancestors. Before they ate it all!

That's all for August. Enjoy the rest of your summer. And check The Saipan Blog in September for the Sweet 16 edition of Carnival of the Blue.

-- Alison Barratt