Archive for March, 2011
Coral Reef Fact:
Marrus orthocanna, a deep sea siphonophore. photo: http://www.siphonophores.org/
Siphonophores are gelatinous colonial creatures meaning they are made up of a collection of individual parts—each with a specialized function. Some species of siphonophore’s can reach be longer than a blue whale making them the longest animal. Learn more
Fact source National Geographic
Donate to Reef Relief today & help protect our marine environment. www.reefrelief.org/act/donate
Reef Relief was well represented at Florida Oceans Day 2011 held at the state Capitol last Tuesday, March 22nd.
Policy and Projects Director Paul Johnson was joined at our booth by Florida Keys State Representative Ron Saunders on the 3rd Floor Rotunda. “Coral Reefs are one of our signature ecosystems of importance to the state”, said Paul Johnson. “Oceans Day is a great opportunity to show them off to all our state legislators and the many visitors of the state Capitol while they are in session”. Reef Relief was joined by marine and coastal organizations from around the state, including the Florida Ocean Alliance, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Coastal and Oceans Coalition (which Reef Relief is a Steering Committee member of), Florida Institute of Oceanography, Florida Sea Grant , Gulf of Mexico Alliance, and many others to bring recognition and focus on the environmental and economic importance of our states Oceans. For more information and photos go to
Coral reefs are classified by estimated present threat from coastal development, which threatens approximately 25 percent of reefs globally. (Reef at Risk Revisited Report)
“Under the Reefs at Risk Revisited project, WRI and its partners have developed a new, detailed assessment of the status of and threats to the world’s coral reefs. This information is intended to raise awareness about the location and severity of threats to coral reefs. These results can also catalyze opportunities for changes in policy and practice that could safeguard coral reefs and the benefits they provide to people for future generations.”
Coral Reef Fact:
The Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari ) “ is capable of leaping completely out of the water when pursued. It swims by “flying” gracefully through the water via the undulation of the pectoral fins. When this ray is caught and taken out of the water, it produces loud sounds.” Learn more at the fact source site – FL Museum of Natural History
Donate to Reef Relief today & help protect our marine environment. www.reefrelief.org/act/donate
The App is free and allows users to access from their iPhone or iPad the most up-to-date commercial and recreational federal fishing regulations for species managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The App also provides information on fish identification, measurement guidelines, sanctuaries and closures, and important telephone numbers.
“The use of this technology allows us to get the regulations out to more people in a convenient format. It’s particularly useful because no internet connection is needed to access the App, so checking regulations or identifying fish while out on the water is easy.” said Dr. Steve Bortone, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
The Council hopes to develop a similar App compatible with other smart phones.
To download the new App, visit the App store from your iPhone or iPad, search for “Gulf Council,” and click on the Council logo. To preview the App from your computer, visit <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gulf-fisheries-management/id426286698?mt=8&ls=1>.
By Marilyn Heiman, Special to CNN
(CNN) — The Exxon Valdez catastrophe on March 24, 1989, no longer holds the distinction of being the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters. In sheer size, it was eclipsed last April by the disastrous well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. But as the Pew Environment Group’s video, “Lingering Oil,” shows, the lessons of the Exxon Valdez spill are more vital than ever as we approach the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and contemplate drilling in the even more challenging Arctic Ocean. Read the full article
Photo: NOAA
The Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 men and sent approximately 170 million gallons of oil into one of America’s most productive fishing grounds, was a national tragedy. To determine what went so terribly wrong, and to find out how to make sure such a disaster never happens again, President Obama appointed a bipartisan commission to investigate the root causes of the explosion and to make recommendations to correct them.
The commission’s recently released report is clear: the disaster was not a one-time fluke, but rather the result of systematic failures in government oversight and industry management. The commission concluded that another disaster will likely happen again unless Congress, the Obama administration and the oil industry undertake fundamental reforms that hold the industry to higher safety standards and strengthen the government’s authority to enforce more rigorous protections.
If we are serious about preventing the next disaster, Congress has to act.
What to do:
Send a message urging your senators and representatives to support and implement the recommendations made by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to reform offshore oil and gas drilling, and to protect and restore our nation’s oceans.
Coral Reef Fact:
Discarded or abandoned fishing equipment and other types of debris can entangle, maim and kill marine animals. Debris entanglement & ingestion has been documented in 43% of marine mammals, 44% of seabirds, and all put one species of sea turtle globally.
Learn more
Donate to Reef Relief today & help protect our marine environment. www.reefrelief.org/act/donate
Nature.com by, Gwyneth Dickey Zaikab
Specialist bacteria seem to be eating the plastic garbage we throw into the ocean. But whether they’re cleaning up our poisons or just passing them back up the food chain remains to be seen.
The ocean contains vast amounts of plastic, mostly as tiny shards floating just beneath the surface. Under an electron microscope, each scrap of “plastic confetti” becomes “an oasis, a reef of biological activity,” says marine microbiologist Tracy Mincer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Read the full article on nature.com
A paper published today in Conservation Letters suggests that the number of whales and dolphins killed during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill could be as much as 50 times that originally reported.
During the disaster, the US government compiled figures of injured and dead wildlife based on reports from US Fish and Wildlife Service and other authorized sources. Those numbers include approximately 115 whale and dolphin carcasses.
But after analysing data on abundance, mortality rates and strandings for whale and dolphin species in the Gulf, Rob WIlliams and his colleagues have concluded that that only two percent of the whales and dolphins that die in these waters are ever recovered. Read the full article
Source nature.com Blog
