Week in Review: Did the Recent LA Sewage Spill Contaminate the Ocean?

1. Los Angeles Sewage Shuts Down Ocean 20 Miles Away

Last week, 1.5 million gallons of sewage spewed from a 90 year old pipe that burst in Los Angeles. The cause of the rupture is not known yet and officials estimate that around 100,000 gallons spilled into the Los Angeles river.  The spill occurred on Monday, July 18th but additional ruptures occurred during the repair. Officials have taken samples of the ocean water to see how extensive the damage is and how far the sewage traveled before the containment.   Read more...

According to an updated article, a total of 2.4 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the streets and into storm drains that feed into the river. Although the initial test results of the waters off of Long Beach and Seal Beach look safe, officials have kept the beach closed. The first samples show no excessive levels of bacteria.  

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2. US Navy Brakes Marine Laws

The San Francisco federal court ruled that the US Navy violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Although the low frequency active sonar system was approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service, it was concluded that the fisheries service " did not give adequate protection to areas of the world's oceans flagged by its own experts as biologically important".  The naval sonar systems can reach 235 decibels and can travel for hundreds of miles under water. It is difficult to prove but, some scientists believe that sonar has changed the behavior of whales. Read more...

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3. Queensland is Setting Shark Catch Limits

Last week, we reported on the shark conservation activity that the WWF is undergoing by purchasing a fishing license. This week an article was released about a catch quota on endangered sharks. The Queensland government is allowing commercial fishers on the Great Barrier Reef to catch 600 tonnes of sharks and rays every year. Although Australia signed the international treaty in 2014 protecting scalloped and great hammerhead sharks, they decided to opt out of the protection and allow the fishing. There is some heavy negotiation on the sustainable yield of the species and which data can be reviewed to determine that value.  Read more...

Photo by Avi Klapfer

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4. Ocean Acidification- The Limits of Adaption

An article published in the journal Science Advances reveals that a single cell of alga will divide considerable faster when adapted to high carbon dioxide levels than when non-adjusted to the lab modeled ocean acidification condition. After one year, the growth rates relative to the control cultures did increase slightly but appears to level off. According to Dr. Lothar Scouter, the author of the study, "apparently the adaptation has its limits, and the negative impact on the growth rate can not be compensated completely by evolution".  Read more...

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Sea Save Foundation is committed to raising awareness of marine conservation. The Week in Review is a team effort produced by the Sea Save staff to provide a weekly summary of the latest in marine research, policy, and news.

Week in Review: World Wildlife Fund Buys Shark Fishing Licence

1. World Wildlife Fund Buys Shark Fishing Licence

This week, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that it was seeking funds to cover the cost of the commercial shark fishing licence on the Great Barrier Reef. The group will retire the licence in order to save the sharks that it would otherwise be used to catch. The licence allows the owner to drag a 1.2km net anywhere along the length of the Great Barrier Reef. Last year, it was estimated that that licence was used to catch 10,000 sharks each year.  Read more... 

Picture from Jeff Rotman/NaturePL

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2. British Colombia Humpback Whale Sightings Becoming More Common

The Pacific Whale Watch Association says that the number of whales around the southern end of Vancouver Island are now being found in groups up to 20 whales. It was reported that there are now more than 21,000 humpbacks in the eastern North Pacific, up from 1,600 when whale hunting was banned in 1966. It is possible that the species has now adapted to the shift in habitat.  Read more...

Photo: CP

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3. Clouds Get High on Climate Change

This week, an article was published in the journal, Nature, revealing that changes in cloud patterns during the last three decades match those predicted by climate model simulations. The research team is comprised of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California Riverside, and Colorado State University. Clouds substantially impact Earth's energy budget by reflecting solar radiation back to space and by restricting emission of thermal radiation to space. According to Mark Zelinka, the co-author of the paper, "increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and a recovery from volcanic radiative cooling are the primary causes in these decades".   Read more...

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4. Fish Get Arthritis, Too

According to the USC-led discovery, zebrafish and other ray-finned fish have synovial joints that can get creaky and are susceptible to arthritis. These joints produce a protein very similar to what lubricated joints in humans named lubricin. The research team found that removing the Lubricin gene from the zebrafish genome causes the same early onset arthritis in their jaws and fins. This regenerative ability in the species may help reveal potential arthritis cures which affect 52 million people.  Read more...

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Be sure to "LIKE" http://facebook.com/SeaSave to ensure our "Week in Review" is delivered to your newsfeed every Monday. 

Sea Save Foundation is committed to raising awareness of marine conservation. The Week in Review is a team effort produced by the Sea Save staff to provide a weekly summary of the latest in marine research, policy, and news.

Week in Review: Are We Saying Goodbye to More Marine Species?

1. Whale and Winged Sharks Move Steps Closer to Extinction

The International Union for the Conservation of Natural (IUCN) recently redefined whale and winged sharks as endangered species on the group's 'Red List'. The population of whale sharks has halved in the last 75 years! A lot of this is a result of increased human disturbances. Whale sharks continue to be killed by ship and propellers and fishing fleets. "While international whale shark trade is regulated through the species' listing on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), more needs to be done domestically to protect whale sharks at a national level", said Simon Pierce, the INCU's lead Red List assessor.  Read more...

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2. Turtles Struck by Tumor Epidemic

Turtles in Australia's Great Barrier Reef have been affected by a herpes virus that causes fibropapollomatosis, a condition in which disfiguring tumors grown on and inside the body. See the very sad picture of this on the right. According to Karina Jones of James Cook University, " the tumors are benign but can grow up to about a foot in size and block the turtles' vision..this means they can't find food or see predators or boats". The results from Jones's team have not bee published yet but, roughly half the turtles in Cockle Bay at Magnetic Island were found with fibropapillomatosis. Read more...

Picture taken from the article in The Washington Post, photo taken by Karina Jones

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3. How Sea Otters Help Save the Planet

A recent study published in Serendipity: An Ecologist's Quest to Understand Nature revealed that terrestrial and sea predators can change land and marine environments. The sea otter, referred to as "teddy bears of the oceans", has eating habits that make a huge impact to their environment. Sea otter's main prey are sea urchins and they need to eat about a quarter of its own body weight in food every day. James Estes, an American marine biologist, studied areas with diminished otter populations and found that huge sea urchins had littered the sea floor and completely consumed the kelp forests. These forests provide nourishment for fish an other sea animals. Sea otters are a "keystone species" and their position in the food chain is critical. To learn more about other keystone species read here.. For more information on the book Read more... 

Photo taken by Veronica Craft

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4. Nearly 2,000 Pounds of Illegal Shark Fins Found in Cargo

This week, National Geographic's Special Investigations Unit which focuses on wildlife crime released another summary of illegal activity. The largest bust this week was in Hong Kong where authorities discovered 1,940 pounds of illegal shark fins. The fins are suspected to have come from an endangered hammerhead shark. Hong Kong accounts for half the global legal trade in shark fins and last year 92% of the 6,300 tons of shake fin imports reached the country. Read more...  To learn more about busts on loggerhead sea turtle eggs, timber, and ivory read here...

Want to make a difference today? Add your picture to our ocean protection billboard. It will only take one picture and a few minutes to help the international cause. Read more here... 

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Be sure to "LIKE" http://facebook.com/SeaSave to ensure our "Week in Review" is delivered to your newsfeed every Monday. 

Sea Save Foundation is committed to raising awareness of marine conservation. The Week in Review is a team effort produced by the Sea Save staff to provide a weekly summary of the latest in marine research, policy, and news.

Week in Review: Climate Change Threatening Penguins in Antarctica

1. Climate Change Threatening Penguins in Antarctica

This week, an article published in the journal Scientific Reports estimated that Adelie penguin colonies could decline by as much as 60 percent by the end of the century. The team from the University of Delaware led by Megan Cimino revealed that the warming climates and melting glaciers are no longer beneficial for this penguin species. Camino stated that " it is only in recent decades that we know Adelie penguins population declines are associated with warming, which suggests that many regions of Antarctica have warmed too much and that further warming is no longer positive for the species". Climate change may decrease the quality and availability of nesting grounds and food.  Read more...

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2. Which Location will be the World-First Whale Heritage Site?

The World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) will begin a program to name Whale Heritage Sites. According to the WCA website, it had received 11 applications for sites. The three top locations are Hervey Bay in, North Vancouver Island in Canada, and Port Stephens in New South Wales. The locations will be destinations which implement and celebrate responsible and sustainable whale and dolphin watching.  Read more...

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3. Texas Bans Shark Fin Trade

On Friday, Texas put a ban on shark fin trade. The state is currently one of the main US centers for the product. Texas has seen a 240% increase in its trade in shark fins since 2010. Although shark finning is illegal in US waters, fins can still be exported and imported out of US states. Other states that have enacted a ban are Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Massachusetts. Read more...

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4. Slowing Ocean Acidification with Kelp!

A team of scientists are researching a local fix for acidifying seawater. The scientists are experimenting with 150 feet of line holding thousands of tiny spores of kelp in Hood Canal in Washington state. The line will be submerged 10 feet underwater and the kelp seedlings will form thick, slimy ribbons of brown seaweed and in the process take up carbon dioxide and other nutrients. According to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund's senior scientist Joth Davis, "we know that kelp plants take up carbon dioxide and incorporate that carbon into their plant tissues. So we're very hopeful that not only carbon but nutrients can be taken up and essentially removed from the water column".    Read more...

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5. Still Skeptical About Climate Change?

A new study published in Nature Geoscience revealed that changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean have attributed to the Arctic sea ice growth. This is the opposite of what is happening in the Arctic where the sea ice is declining rapidly. According to the study's lead scientist Gerald Meehl, "when you get changes in sea surface temperature in some areas of the tropics, you affect precipitation, that affects the amount of energy released in the atmosphere". Read more...

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Be sure to "LIKE" http://facebook.com/SeaSave to ensure our "Week in Review" is delivered to your newsfeed every Monday. 

Sea Save Foundation is committed to raising awareness of marine conservation. The Week in Review is a team effort produced by the Sea Save staff to provide a weekly summary of the latest in marine research, policy, and news.