Ocean Spirits' animated introduction to its Web site has to be one of the best on the Web. I enjoy watching it over and over. Check it out here.
Ocean Spirits is a non-profit conservation organization based in Grenada.
From a story by John McPhaul posted on Reuters' Web site:
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has ordered the expropriation of lucrative beach-front land to protect the endangered leatherback sea turtle, the government said on Thursday.Read more...
Arias began expropriation procedures for some 30 hectares (74 acres) of land in northwestern Costa Rica, the most important leatherback sea turtle nesting site on the Pacific Rim, Energy and Environment Minister Roberto Dobles said.
"We are only complying with the law that established Las Baulas (national marine park) in 1995," Dobles told Reuters.
Some of the expropriated land owners, mostly Europeans and U.S. citizens, had resisted the expropriation even though the land was made a national park by law in 1995.
Environmentalists hailed the move to protect the turtles, which have been declining in alarming numbers in recent years.
From a story by William E. Gibson in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
WASHINGTON - Backed by ocean research groups in Florida, Congress is poised to give developing nations in the Caribbean and elsewhere a chance to pay off some of their debt to the United States by preserving forests and coral reefs.Read more...
Every dollar that qualified nations spend to preserve these fragile ecosystems would reduce their debt by a dollar under a bill passed by the House on Tuesday evening and cleared for passage in the Senate.
"This bill is truly a win-win-win situation," Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, told the House. He and co-sponsor Mark Kirk, R-Ill., say it would help friendly nations in the Caribbean, South America and Asia while nurturing the environment.
"By providing incentives for developing nations to conserve their coral resources, we are in effect protecting coastal landscapes and maintaining coastal quality of water of some of the most important coral reef ecosystems in the world," Hastings said.
From the Web site of the International Coral Reef Initiative:
Training Workshop on Coral Damage Assessment, Restoration and MonitoringRead more...
La Parguera, Puerto Rico
December 4-5, 2007
Background: Cumulative impacts from small boat anchors, recurring recreational boat groundings and larger incidents, such as the April 2006 grounding of the oil tanker Margara near Tallaboa, Puerto Rico, demonstrate the need to prepare for and respond to the physical destruction of coral reefs, sea grasses and associated habitats. In response to this need, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is organizing a training workshop on coral damage assessment, restoration and monitoring for resource managers in the wider Caribbean region. The workshop will be conducted by NOAA specialists responsible for assessing, restoring and monitoring damaged coral, sea grass and mangrove habitats in NOAA's national marine sanctuaries. In addition to building capacity, the workshop organizers hope to promote consistent assessment, restoration and monitoring protocols and technique s to facilitate information and personnel exchanges across jurisdictions during major impact events. . . .
To apply: For more information, please contact Joe Schittone, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (Joe.Schittone@noaa.gov, 301-713-7265). To apply to the workshop, please submit a one-page summary of your qualifications and responsibilities and describe how the workshop will enhance your coral reef management responsibilities.
Oceana seeks entries for its annual freaky fish contest:
This Halloween, we’d like to pay homage to this ghoulishly delightful day by celebrating the creepy, crawly critters of the deep – the ones that are too bizarre to live on land.Read more about the blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) on Wikipedia. Read more...
Last year, we crowned the blobfish the Freakiest Fish of 2006. This year’s winner is up to YOU.
Tell us why your fish is freaky using the form posted here, and our freaky experts will narrow down the contenders. Get your friends to vote for your fish starting October 10, and the winner will be announced this Halloween.
If your fish wins, you’ll be entered into a special Halloween raffle.
From an article by Sara Miller Llana in the The Christian Science Monitor:
Playa del Carmen, Mexico - Rosalio Mezo dips his feet in the Caribbean Sea and points from one end of Xpu-Ha Bay to the next. There used to be nothing along this inlet, he says, save a few fishermen's homes and the jungle.Read more...
Now a 200-room hotel stands to his right; a 700-room resort to his left. In fact, along this stretch of shore south of Cancún called the Mayan Riviera, developers are devouring land in a boom that has made this region, by many accounts, the fastest-growing in Latin America.
Once a swath of small fishing communities made up of simple, palm-covered homes like that of Mr. Mezo, this coastline has become the trendy new vacation spot as Cancún has morphed into a concrete jungle of high-rise hotels. Now the number of hotel rooms along this strip on the Yucatán Peninsula's eastern coast has surpassed that of Cancún.
Critics say the transformation is threatening fragile ecosystems (such as the region's mangrove forests), exceeding the capacity of the current infrastructure, and forever changing the area's tranquil way of life. Tourism and local officials say they are planning responsibly and providing an alternative to Mexicans who might otherwise head to the US in search of employment.
From a report on Local6.com:VOLUSIA COUNTY, Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Buckets filled with hundreds of baby turtles were rescued over the weekend after they were unable to make it out to the sea because of rough waters off the coast of Central Florida.
Officials with the Marine Science Center said the green sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles were at risk because a tropical system located off the coast.
"The turtles started arriving about a week ago," said Michelle Bauer, sea turtle rehab specialist. "We've received more than 600 this weekend. Mostly green sea turtles and loggerheads are coming in. We've had two Kemps Ridley turtles come in as well."
The Volusia County Marine Science Center cares for injured sea turtles, freshwater and terrestrial turtles, injured sea birds and nonreleasable hawks and owls, wood storks, pelicans, and seagulls.
"Most have arrived in relatively good shape," said Bauer. "Unfortunately, we lost some hatchlings. Some were just too far gone to be saved and some arrived dead. We've seen turtles ranging from hatchling to about 2 months old. . . ."
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