by Underwatertimes.com News Service – September 17, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO, California — The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition today with the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the orange clownfish — star of the movie Finding Nemo — and seven similarly coral-dependent damselfish threatened by climate change, ocean acidification and the marine aquarium trade.
“We risk losing the s
triking fish that inspired Finding Nemo forever if we don’t put the brakes on global warming and ocean acidification,” said Shaye Wolf, the Center’s climate science director. “Carbon pollution harms these fish and destroys their coral reef homes. If we want these beautiful animals to survive in the wild, not just in a movie, we have to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.”
Clownfish and damselfish are at risk from ocean acidification — caused by the oceans’ absorption of man-made carbon dioxide pollution — which damages their hearing, sight, and smell. Ocean acidification interferes with the ability of young fish to avoid predators and find their coral reef homes. Some of these fish suffer predation rates five to nine times higher than normal at CO2 levels that are expected later this century. Read the full article on Underwatertimes