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#marine conservation
reasonsforhope · 3 months
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[Warning: Graphic (some very graphic) shark-fishing pictures at the link.]
"Suhardi isn’t your average snorkeling guide. Born on the Indonesian island of Lombok, he’s spent his life on water. While he now seeks out sharks for the enjoyment of tourists, he once hunted sharks to help earn money to feed his family and educate his two children.
Suhardi was a fisherman for more than 20 years. He first started fishing working on his parents’ boat, but was then asked to join the crew of a shark boat where he was told he could earn a lot of money. Back on deck, he looks embarrassed to divulge what a meager wage it was, but finally confesses he earned around $50 for up to a month at sea.
Now he and 12 other former shark fishermen are part of The Dorsal Effect, an ecotourism company that helps ex-shark hunters find a new vocation. Each week, the team takes groups of tourists, schoolchildren and university students to off-the-grid locations and guides them around pristine reefs. Each trip is designed to take guests on an exploratory journey of both the shark trade and marine conservation through the eyes of the Sasak people of Lombok.
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Lombok is a hotspot for marine diversity, sitting just east of the Wallace Line, a biogeographical boundary separating Asia and Australia and their respective fauna. Pristine coral gardens and around 80 species of sharks can be found in its waters. The island is also part of the world’s largest shark-fishing nation. Only the whale shark (Rhincondon typus) is protected in Indonesia; all other sharks can be legally caught.
The Dorsal Effect first launched in 2013, a year after Suhardi met Singaporean ecologist Kathy Xu, who had traveled to Lombok to find out more about the shark trade. The diminutive but quietly determined Xu wanted to protect sharks, but because she knew shark fishing was poorly paid and dangerous, she wanted to hear the fishermen’s stories too. They told her how once they could fish for sharks close to shore, but now with the shark population dropping, the fishermen said they needed to travel farther out to sea, only to come home with a relatively poor catch. The reduced catch also meant reduced pay, so they often couldn’t cover their costs...
Yet, when Xu asked why fishers didn’t seek out another trade, she learned they didn’t want to be separated from the sea. They saw it as part of their heritage.
But as they spoke longer, the shark fishermen talked about the coral gardens that could be found under the waves, ones that only they knew about. Inspired by a whale shark diving trip she’d taken with scientists on the Great Barrier Reef, Xu had an idea. “If such spots exist,” she recalls telling the fishers, “I could take tourists out with you and pay you more than you earned shark fishing”.
At first, Xu guided the former shark fishermen on how to become eco-friendly tour operators. They dropped anchor away from the reef, served guests plant-based dishes, and made sure all trash was taken back to shore. But then Xu saw that something special was happening: The former fishermen had started to take the guest experience into their own hands, making sure tourists felt at home. Suhardi painted “Welcome” in large letters over the front of his boat, fitted green baize to the top deck for outdoor seating, and hung curtains in the cabin so his guests could enjoy some shade.
Suhardi has already bought a new boat with his earnings from snorkeling trips. “Every day is my best day,” laughs Suhardi, whose smile always travels from his mouth to his eyes.
While they were receiving tourists from across the globe, there was another group that Xu wanted to reach out to. “I think it was the teacher in me who felt impassioned about influencing the young,” she says. She reached out to schools and created a five-day program that would help students understand the shark trade and local conservation efforts. During the program, paid for by the school and students, participants would not only meet the ex-shark fishermen so they could ask them about their lives, but also hear from NGOs such as the Wildlife Conservation Society about their efforts to slow the trade. The Dorsal Effect also hired marine biologists to host nightly lectures and help the students with their field surveys...
The students were faced with the realities of the fishing trade, but they were also encouraged to take a balanced view by The Dorsal Effect team. The villagers weren’t just taking the fins, and throwing away the rest of the shark; they processed every piece of the animal. While they did sell the meat and fins to buyers at the market, they also sold the teeth to jewelers, and the remains for pet food.
The Dorsal Effect also takes students on an excursion to the fishermen’s village, a small island that lies off the coast of Lombok. Marine biologist Bryan Ng Sai Lin, who was hired by The Dorsal Effect team, says that on one trip with students he was surprised by how quickly the young people understood the situation. “One of them said it’s good to think about conservation, but at the same time these people don’t really have any other choice,” Lin says....
Conservation scientist Hollie Booth of Save Our Seas, which does not work directly with The Dorsal Effect, says the need to provide legal profitable alternatives to shark fishing is critical: “We are never going to solve biodiversity and environment issues unless we think about incentives and take local people’s needs into account. These kinds of programs are really important.”"
-via Mongabay, December 15, 2023
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noaasanctuaries · 1 year
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BREAKING NEWS
NOAA considers sanctuary in waters around Pacific Remote Islands
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Today, NOAA announced it is starting the process to potentially designate a new national marine sanctuary in the Pacific Remote Islands area under the Biden-Harris Administration. The proposed area in the central Pacific Ocean includes marine areas within the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as well as currently unprotected submerged lands and waters, an area totaling about 770,000 square miles. 
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A sanctuary designation would help conserve the atolls, shoals, seamounts, banks and reefs surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands. This area is home to some of the most diverse and remarkable tropical marine ecosystems on the planet, and provides a haven for a host of wildlife, including corals, sharks, fish, marine mammals, seabirds and invertebrates.
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NOAA invites the public to comment on the proposed sanctuary designation through June 2, 2023.
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hope-for-the-planet · 9 months
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Usually, sharks don't have much interest in lionfish--this is due partially to their venomous spines, but also to the fact that the sharks don't recognize the nonnative fish as prey. The lack of predation by native predators like sharks is part of what makes lionfish such a damaging invasive species.
However, sharks became more interested after spearfishermen working to cull invasive lionfish started feeding the fish they were killing to nearby sharks. After receiving many lionfish "handouts", the fishermen observed sharks hunting and eating lionfish on their own.
This spurs hope that sharks could be "taught" to view lionfish as a viable source of food and contribute to limiting their numbers.
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todropscience · 9 months
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Vessel sound is temporarily causing hearing loss in squids
Globally, anthropogenic sounds have become louder and more persistent, however, little is known about how invertebrates detect and respond to human-made sound. Now, new research shown noise associated with boats causes  causes temporal hearing loss in squids across different stages of their life cycle.
The hummingbird bobtail squid (Euprymna berryi) has a short lifespan of at least 6 months, which make them a convenient animal for lab studies. Hearing and behavioural observations were made by researchers before, during and after 15 minutes of vessel sound playback, to test how these squids react to noise pollution, and noted that these squids decrease their hearing sensitivity after exposure to noise, and particularly noise affected juveniles. Juvenile squids experienced an important hearing loss sensitivity after noise exposure between 400 and 800 Hz, while adult and mature squids decreased their sensibility after 200 to 600 Hz exposure, showing more resistence. All squids recovered auditory sensitivity within two hours.
Researchers aim the inclusion of cephalopods within management and policy, because anthropogenic activities and associated sound levels in the ocean are increasing, while the role sound plays in cephalopod life history is only just beginning to be understood.
Photo by Pascal Girard
Reference ()  Putland et al. 2023. Vessel sound causes hearing loss for hummingbird bobtail squid (Euprymna berryi). Frontiers in Marine Science 
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cipher-the-sidhe · 5 months
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You guys want Orca pun tea that helps fund orca conservation and research in the Salish Sea? (The names are, of course, based on the names of these three bull Transient orcas, all with big reputations)
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Gorgonias in the Mediterranean coast of Cap de Creus Natural Park (Comarques Gironines, Catalonia).
“The disappearance of gorgonias can cause a chain reaction that will affect the entire Mediterranean ecosystem” - Janire Salazar, Marine biologist from ICM - CSIC.
Gorgonias are organisms that make up entire underwater forests: areas in which many other species go to shelter, breed and grow. Mediterranean gorgonias currently suffer the daily impact of traditional fishing methods like gillnets. And like in any other forest, if the elements that make it up are not protected, the wildlife that it harbours will disappear. The ResCap project, which is carried out by ICM – CSIC, Fundación Biodiversidad and the fishermen’s associations of Port de la Selva and Cadaqués, aims to protect and recover all deep-sea gorgonias found in the Cap de Creus Natural Park.
Gorgonias are marine organisms which, despite the way they look, are not plants or algae, but animals. They are stationary, live in depths of more than a hundred meters, show very slow growth and take many years to recover. They are vulnerable, but great biodiversity depends on their growth. “Gorgonias are a structural species to the Mediterranean ecosystem, as they favour the growth and survival of multiple species,” says Marina Biel, one of the biologists from CSIC involved in the project.
Biologists, fishermen and agents from the Cap de Creus Natural Park work together to rescue all those gorgonias that have been accidentally trapped in fishing nets. Once recovered, the gorgonias are taken to the lab’s experimental aquariums to be studied and treated before they are freed again. When they are ready to go back to the marine environment, they are affixed to a base made of stone so that its weight will create the so-called “badminton effect” when they are released back into the sea. “The badminton effect ensures that the gorgonia will land on its feet on the seafloor and will therefore be able to feed itself and survive with no problems,” Marina Biel says.
The Pleamar projects bring to the forefront how important it is for biologists and fishermen to work together on the restoration of sea floors and the preservation of an essential species for the Mediterranean ecosystem: gorgonias. “Both parties work towards the same goal: to protect the sea floor and its biodiversity,“ ICM - CSIC biologists Janire Salazar and Marina Biel point out. Salvador Manera, a fisherman from the fishermen’s association of Port de la Selva and driving force of other sustainable projects linked to the Mediterranean, highlights how valuable these synergies will be into the future: “They help to raise awareness and to make us understand that we need to fish in a sustainable way if we want to carry on doing our job.” 
Over the first year of the project (2018), more than 400 gorgonias were released back into the sea, with a survival rate above 90%. All parties involved hope to match or improve these results in 2019, as they also help to raise awareness about these kinds of initiatives. “There is an increasing number of people who are interested in marine conservation projects,” Janire and Marina say, as they insist on the meaning behind these actions: “The actions you take today will be rewarded tomorrow. It’s about giving something in return for the great things that the sea gives us each day.”
Shared from: Pleamar Projects: RESCAP & MITICAP. Institut de Ciències del Mar through Estrella Damm.
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“We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is that we must do these things to save ourselves. With or without us, the wild will return.”
Sir David Attenborough
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beautyunderthewaves · 5 months
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Powerful Photos by Naja Bertolt Jensen
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The orca uprising: whales are ramming boats – but are they inspired by revenge, grief or memory? | Whales | The Guardian
One of the things this article mentions is that the Gibraltar orcas targeting boats are thinner than we might expect and probably hungry.
We might joke about an orca uprising, it's entirely possible they are attacking boats as a form of revenge, but we ought to also be thinking about how all our actions are negatively impacting the ocean and the food sources that orcas rely on.
Another thing the article mentions is how loud we've made the ocean - imagine being an elderly orca and you remember when the sea was quiet. And now you're constantly being buffeted by sonar.
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bonzoobel · 3 months
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treasure & protect discovered & undiscovered marine life & ecosystems forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! id in rbs
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philippinewildlifeart · 3 months
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Take a dive with fish of all sizes, while staying dry! All you need is SEA-gnal!
Jessica Labaja swims with fish big and small, and works with fishers to understand the fish we all love and enjoy. She is Executive Director of Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines or LAMAVE. They are dedicated to the conservation of marine megafauna and their environment in the Philippines and the Southeast Asia region.
Gubataan (gubat + kabataan) is a program that teaches young Filipinos how to be catalysts for change through lessons in nature. Organized by Ashoka PH and Ecology of Changemaking.
Learn more by joining the session online, under or over the water. Thursday, Dec 21, 5pm to 6pm PH time. Register via Zoom: http://bit.ly/GBonfire6
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ellaandtheocean · 4 months
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Say no to oil exploration in Aotearoa New Zealand
The new National/Act/NZ First coalition government has promised to remove the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration. This could have horrific impacts on our marine environment and the species that live there, including but not limited to:
Oil spills, which smother and kill marine life
Total destruction of poorly-studied seabed habitats
Degradation of endangered species habitats - including the rarest dolphin subspecies in the world, the Maui dolphin
Noise which will disturb echolocation and communication of cetaceans
We can take action to try and stop this. If you live in NZ, write to your local MP (can find their contact details here: Members of Parliament - New Zealand Parliament (www.parliament.nz)) or the new ministers for Conservation (Tama Potaka), Oceans and Fisheries (Shane Jones) and Climate (Simon Watts). Let them know politely but firmly that you do not support this legislation change. There are also several petitions/open letters that are currently open:
Green Party of Aotearoa petition: https://action.greens.org.nz/saveoilandgasban
Greenpeace open letter: https://greenpeace.nz/resist-oil-exploration
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hasellia · 7 days
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The Time Fisher's Dinner
In a future without fish stock, fishers sail through the past to collect the catch of yesterday. But with 420 millions years of ocean life, even the past runs dry. No fish for tomorrow, they are left stranded in a world with only bugs and moss as extended community.
The children are getting hungry.
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My application for The Starving Artist's online marine conservation exhibit; not another fish in the sea. Free entry, however there is less than a day left if you want in!
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todropscience · 3 months
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DEEP-SEA MINING MIGHT HARM RARE JELLYFISH
New research shows mining of the deep ocean floor for rare minerals could harm deep-sea jellyfish by stressing them out with sediment plumes, suggests a study of how resource harvesting might affect the helmet jellyfish (Periphylla periphylla), a luminescent red-colored cnidarian of the deep sea.
While deep sea animals provide important ecosystem functions including climate regulation, species-specific responses to stressors remain poorly understood. Researchers collected helmet jellyfish and exposed them to sediment at concentrations that could be churned up by mining. After a day, the animals had mucus covering much of their bodies, among other signs that they were really not well, being stressed and using a lot of energy to rid out of the floating sediment, which could be harmful over extended periods.
Suspended sediment plumes provoked the most acute and energetically costly response through the production of excess mucus. Microbial symbionts appeared to be unaffected by both stressors, with mucus production maintaining microbial community composition. If these responses are representative for other gelatinous fauna, an abundant component of pelagic ecosystems, the effects of planned exploitation of seafloor resources may impair deep pelagic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Photo by Bjørnar Solhaug
Reference (Open Access): Stenvers et al., 2023. Experimental mining plumes and ocean warming trigger stress in a deep pelagic jellyfish. Nature Communications
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acti-veg · 1 year
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Currently, all countries can navigate, fish (or overfish) and carry out scientific research on the high seas practically at will. Only 1.2% of it is protected, and the increasing reach of fishing and shipping vessels, the threat of deep-sea mining, and new activities, such as “bioprospecting” of marine species, mean they are being threatened like never before.
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useless-catalanfacts · 6 months
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Information translated from Associació Cetàcea.
Photos taken by David Jara and Abel Tomás in the project "Foto-identificació: Balenes i dofins al litoral català" of Associació Cetàcea, with authorization and support from the government.
The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is the most common sea turtle in the Mediterranean sea. It used to be abundant, but nowadays is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
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Loggerhead sea turtles spend most of their lives at sea, but since they're reptiles they need to lay eggs on land. For this reason, females look for calm beaches, without much light nor noise. This is difficult, because humans have occupied almost all the coast.
When the eggs hatch, the newborn turtles are very vulnerable to noise and light, because they depend on them to head towards the sea. A very lit promenade can confuse them and make them go towards the coast instead of towards the sea, with the dangers that this entails.
Climate change can also affect this species. When the eggs are in the sand, the sand's temperature determines the baby's sex. When temperature rises, the usual balance between males and females will shift towards a higher proportion of females. In the long term, this can cause instability in the populations.
Once in the water, dangers continue, because the turtles are susceptible to ingesting floating plastics such as bags or balloons, because they mistake them for their prey: jellyfish. Accidental ingests of plastic are abundant, which cause them intestinal problems and even death. The turtles' risk can also come from main life sources: fishing nets -abandoned or in use- are a deadly trap for these animals.
Protecting sea turtles is in our hands. Let's be careful when we meet these animals, be aware if it's the laying eggs season and avoid ocean pollution.
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