Blog Archives

Waikiki algae cleanup to save reef

The coral reef in waikiki is being suffocated by an invasive algae. Researchers from the University of Hawaii and Waikiki Aquarium are teaming up to fight back and save the reef.

Dozens of volunteers removed about 700 pounds of this invasive algae just from a small stretch of beach near the Waikiki Aquarium.

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Biorock giving new life to coral reefs

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the world’s oceans. Like their terrestrial counterparts, they occur in tropical and sub tropical environments, support a bewildering variety of species and are diminishing at an alarming rate.

Marine biologists across the world are desperately trying to protect our remaining reefs from the impacts of global warming and destructive fishing. Others are building repositories of the known coral species

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Sea Shepherd offers to police Coral Sea

Anti-whaling crusaders Sea Shepherd have offered to help the Australian government police a proposed marine park in the Coral Sea against illegal fishing.

In a statement, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society made the offer, after former federal Liberal MP Peter Lindsay said it would not be possible to properly police the proposed park.

Sea Shepherd says it will provide vessels and welcome representatives of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority aboard their ships.

“The organisation would work alongside the appropriate Australian authorities to design strategies, implement appropriate programs and facilitate prosecution of illegal fishing activities,” Sea Shepherd said.

The proposed marine park in the Coral Sea covers an area more than half the size of Queensland and includes critic...

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Zones ‘will benefit Welsh coast’

A government adviser is trying to allay concerns about restrictions imposed by planned marine conservation zones (MCZs) around the Welsh coast.

The Welsh government will create three or four MCZs by 2014 from a list of 10 potential sites identified by experts.

Campaigners say the zones will destroy fishing and tourist industries in the Llyn Peninsula and Anglesey.

But Dr David Parker says “normal recreational activities” will not suffer and fish stocks will improve.

Dr Parker, chief scientist with the Countryside Council for Wales, said activities, including swimming and diving, will still be allowed within the proposed “highly protected” zones.

But such zones will put a stop to both commercial and recreational fishing as well as other “damaging” activities such as dredging and renewable e...

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World’s largest marine reserve

Australia says it will create the world’s largest network of marine parks ahead of the Rio+20 summit.

The reserves will cover 3.1 million sq km of ocean, including the Coral Sea.

Restrictions will be placed on fishing and oil and gas exploration in the protected zone covering more than a third of Australia’s waters.

Environment Minister Tony Burke, who made the announcement, will attend the earth summit in Brazil next week with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“It’s time for the world to turn a corner on protection of our oceans,” Mr Burke said. “And Australia today is leading that next step.”

Australia has timed its announcement to coincide with the run-up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit – a global gathering of leaders from more than 130 nations to discuss protecting key parts of the environment...

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Mexico axes Baja resort

Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he is cancelling the construction of a huge tourist resort in Baja California over concerns it could damage a nearby marine reserve.

Mr Calderon said he had withdrawn the permits from the Spanish developers.

He said developers Hansa Baja had not been able to prove the planned resort would not harm the environment.

Activists said it would have damaged the Cabo Pulmo coral reef and park, a haven for marine life.

Speaking from his official residence, President Calderon said that “because of its size we have to be absolutely certain that it wouldn’t cause irreversible damage, and that absolute certainty simply hasn’t been proved”.

Environmental battle

Mexican authorities had granted Hansa Baja initial permits to build about 30,000 hotel rooms, two golf co...

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90% of Balikpapan Reefs Destroyed

Only a tenth of Balikpapan Bay

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Asteroid Splashdown

British astronaut Tim Peake is going on a mission to an asteroid… at the bottom of the ocean.

“Major Tim” is joining Nasa’s latest Neemo expedition to an underwater lab located near Key Largo, Florida.

He will spend 12 days in the Aquarius habitat with three crewmates, testing new tools and techniques that could be used on a real mission to a space rock.

Nasa is planning a huge new rocket to send an advanced manned capsule to an asteroid sometime in the 2020s.

Astronauts have long trained in deep pools to simulate the weightlessness of working in orbit, but the Neemo expeditions take that idea to another level, allowing crews to simulate extended periods off Earth but without actually leaving the planet.

“It’s an excellent analogue for what we do in space,” explained Major Tim, a former B...

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Biorock giving new life to reefs

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the world’s oceans. Like their terrestrial counterparts, they occur in tropical and sub tropical environments, support a bewildering variety of species and are diminishing at an alarming rate.

Marine biologists across the world are desperately trying to protect our remaining reefs from the impacts of global warming and destructive fishing. Others are building repositories of the known coral species

Read More

Crown-of-thorns in mass stranding

Hundreds of crown-of-thorns starfish found on a beach in southern Japan in January stranded themselves because they were starving, say researchers.

More than 800 were discovered on a 300m stretch of sand on Ishigaki island.

The starfish population “outbreak” was first identified in 2009, when masses of juveniles were seen feeding on the island’s outer coral reef.

The coral-eating starfish then took three years to move onto the beach where they perished.

The reason for the starfish population boom is not clear, but the strange behaviour has shown marine scientists what can happen when these slow-moving creatures completely deplete their food source.

“The shortage of food, corals, is a probable cause of the stranding,” said Go Suzuki from the Fisheries Research Agency, who witnessed the phen...

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