Sea Notes

Finding Bluefin Nurseries (and What It Means)

New confirmation today that Atlantic bluefin tunas get together on their feeding grounds but are born in nursery areas on opposite sides of the ocean. And a new chance for you to take action to protect these threatened fishes.

In an article published today in Science, researchers used the chemical composition of otoliths -- the bones in the ears of tunas -- to identify precisely where young fish spent the first year of their life. Turns out there are distinct nurseries in the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Mediterranean to which parent fish return to give birth.

This is further confirmation of data gathered  in more than a decade of field tagging of adult tunas by Dr. Barbara Block and other scientists at the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, a collaboration between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University.

And it lends new urgency to calls for better management of these critical habitats -- and better protection of tunas while they're in those waters.

Action is happening on two fronts. First, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meets next month in Morocco to discuss declining tuna stocks and ways to better manage species.  To date, the commission has failed to incorporate the new scientific findings into its management practices as it presides over the collapse of bluefin tuna populations in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. (Remember what happened to North Atlantic cod?)

Second, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes that bluefin spawning grounds and juvenile bluefin feeding groups be given additional protection in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast. It is taking public comment on policies that would define "essential fish habitat" for bluefins and other highly migratory Atlantic species, including several kinds of sharks and other tunas.

It recommends that key waters be designated as a federal "Habitat Area of Particular Concern" (HAPC) that would "highlight the importance of the area for bluefin tuna spawning and provide added conservation benefits."

The aquarium, and other ocean conservation organizations, called three years ago for just such a designation in the Gulf of Mexico. It could happen now -- with your help. Through November 18, you can weigh in with comments on the NMFS proposal. Here's how.

Friday's Featured Film: Ocean Odyssey

Since President Bush was able to find time to see the Smithsonian's new Ocean Hall today, it seemed appropriate to give you a peek inside as well. This is a clip from Ocean Odyssey, a high-definition film of marine life that screens in the hall, created by Feodor Pitcairn. It's designed to "transport you into the realm beneath the waves."

The Sant Ocean Hall (free to the public as are all Smithsonian exhibits) opened to the public today.

Bush's Growing Blue Legacy

President George W. Bush, who earlier this year indicated interest in creating or expanding marine protected areas in U.S. waters, took action in that direction during grand-opening ceremonies for the Smithsonian's new Sant Ocean Hall today.

He announced that the Davidson Seamount, a pristine undersea mountain off the Big Sur coast in California, will become part of a 565-square-nautical-mile addition to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The proposal has been under consideration for the past couple of years, and is strongly supported by marine scientists and environmentalists.

The sanctuary--the largest in the continental United States--was designated by Bush's father in 1992.

In his remarks at the dedication ceremonies today, Bush also singled out and praised Pietro Parravano, a commercial fisherman from Half Moon Bay, California who was a member of the Pew Oceans Commission and who is a current member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium board of trustees and the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative that's working to put reform of ocean management into action.

Pietro's been honored in the past as an Environmental Hero by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, and was quoted by Bush as saying: "[Conservation] needs to be everyone's priority, because the oceans belong to all Americans."

White House Getting Blue Again

George Bush issued a memo on Monday to his Cabinet that could prove good news for marine life in the South Pacific. He asked for detailed reports on the waters surrounding remote islands under U.S. jurisdiction, and specified three areas in this isolated part of the Pacific that are under consideration for a vast marine protected area.

One of these areas includes an ocean icon – the Mariana Trench, the deepest canyon on the planet which reaches 36,000 feet below the surface. Thousands of species thrive in the nearly pristine waters, and hopefully Bush will create a broad, strong reserve which limits commercial fishing and bans destructive offshore drilling and mining. He's certainly hoping to go out on a high note with his environmental legacy (or should I say low note? Get it, the trench...anyway.)

The Pew Environment Group estimates that 19 species of whales and dolphins live in the area of the Mariana Trench, as well as the most sharks anywhere in the Pacific.

We blogged about this back in May when Bush was also considering marine reserves in the Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. But these areas are also important to the U.S. oil and fishing industries.

Bush created the world’s largest marine protected area in 2006, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, and maybe he’ll make history again in the South Pacific before his time is up.

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.

Carnival of the Blue 14

It's that time again -- when the best ocean blogging from across the web comes together in the monthly Carnival of the Blue.

This month's edition is hosted by Anthony Townsend at The Blue Economy. Check it out.

Blue Legacy for Bush?

Say what you will about President George W. Bush's environmental record, he's willing to entertain big ideas when it comes to protecting the ocean.

According to National Public Radio, the Bush folks are looking at designating several marine national monuments to safeguard exceptional sites in the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

While some of the proposals are drawing early opposition because they could conflict with future commercial exploitation, those that remain on the table could leave Bush with a "blue legacy." He took a first step in that direction two years ago when he designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.

As the NPR story notes, the Administration is considering sites "without tremendous political blow back" that could be established before Bush leaves office next January. The proposals have the support of ocean conservation organizations, and at least one -- protecting deep sea coral reefs off the South Carolina coast -- is backed by that state's Republican governor, Mark Sanford.

It's an exciting prospect, and one consistent with a similar bold step taken by the first President Bush when he established the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in September 1992 -- two months before he lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton.

Strange Days on Planet Earth

This Earth Day, people around the world are getting active, seeking solutions to a host of environmental challenges that  more of us acknowledge must be addressed now, while we have time to make a difference.

Part of the path to solutions lies in understanding the nature of the problems. A great set of television programs exploring just that airs on Wednesday night.

"Strange Days on Planet Earth," narrated by actor Edward Norton, presents a second season with two hours of programs that look at threats facing the oceans -- including overfishing, unsustainable fish farming and the interconnections between what we do on land and the health of the seas.

It's a project of our friends at Sea Studios Foundation, just down the block on Monterey's Cannery Row. Created in collaboration with National Geographic Television, "Strange Days" will air on a PBS  station near you (our on your DVD player, if you buy a disc to share with family & friends).

"Dirty Secrets" and "Dangerous Catch" address threats to our water supply and the oceans, and the producers challenge us to "find out how we all can make a difference."

Their website offers tools so you can make a difference  --from buying seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council to using one of our Seafood Watch pocket guides when you shop for fish.

Check it out & tell your friends. The planet we save is, after all, our own.

Monday's Photo: Kiribati Coral

What better way to start the week that with a celebration of a great victory: the establishment of the world's largest marine reserve by the Pacific island nation of Kiribati.

The new Phoenix Islands Protected Area covers almost 160,000 square miles near the equator between the Hawaiian Islands and Fiji.

Our colleagues at the New England Aquarium, along with Conservation International, are helping Kiribati develop management and funding plans for the reserve.

The waters and islands in the protected area are home to more than 120 species of coral and 520 species of fish, some new to science.  The area also has some of the most important sea bird nesting sites in the Pacific, large fish populations and sea turtles, the aquarium and Conservation International say.

"The new boundary includes extensive seamount and deep-sea habitat, tuna spawning grounds and as yet unsurveyed submerged reef systems," Greg Stone, the New England Aquarium's vice-president of global marine programs, told the Reuters news agency.

If you want to see more, National Geographic has a great website devoted to the Phoenix Islands, with photos like this one, and other resources.

It's a wonderful day when any new protected area is created, especially one larger than either the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument (largest in U.S. waters) or the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in Australia.