Articles by Andrew Sharpless

European fisheries ‘poor,’ island nation Palau rich in corals

Stakes in the seas are high, but in at least one case, an interest in ocean health can lead to cooperation between unlikely teammates ...

... the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution held an international conference on the possibility of mitigating global warming by seeding the ocean with iron, a controversial procedure which would theoretically boost phytoplankton populations ...

... meanwhile, the scientist behind the theory that the earth is a living organism suggested installing a series of giant pipes in the oceans to circulate water, creating algae blooms, under the theory that the algae would consume carbon dioxide and promote cloud production ...

New study shows turtle populations on the decline

Loggerhead sea turtle nesting subpopulations in the North Atlantic are on the decline, according to a new study released by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The study, a five-year status review for loggerhead sea turtles required by the Endangered Species Act, confirms what Oceana has been telling the federal government all along.

If there is to be any real chance for restoring sea turtle populations, the federal government is going to have to take major steps to protect sea turtles from commercial fishing gear, including increased time and area closures and increased monitoring on commercial fishing fleets.

Icy creature populations to deplete as temperatures rise

Reports are all over the headlines recently of creatures, particularly Arctic and Antarctic marine creatures, being threatened by extinction because the Earth is warming too fast for them or their icy environments to be able to sustain themselves.

A colony of Antarctic penguins, for one, could be extinct in as little as eight years, according to one researcher who's been documenting their population since the mid-1970s. Upward of two-thirds of the Arctic polar bears could be wiped out by 2050 because their habitat is melting, according to one study.

Sounds a little like the Science report released last fall that said commercial fisheries will effectively collapse by mid-century at the rate we fish our oceans. There's definitely a pattern here -- is anyone else noticing this dismal trend?

This week in ocean news

• the European Union closed the bluefin tuna fishing season in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, calling the stocks "exhausted" ...
• a developer proposed dredging up 2.6 million cubic yards of sand from the ocean floor in order to build an artificial beach in Nantucket. The developer will replace the 105 acres of seabed habitat with 28,000 concrete railroad ties over 60 acres ...
• A New York coastal manager told the state government that its 3,200 miles of coastline were in danger from pollution and overfishing. "New York was born on the waterfront, and its future depends on managing those resources," he said ...
• Australian authorities detained 61 crew members of six illegal fishing boats. A catch of trepang, a sea slug, was found on board one of the ships. It was thrown back into the water ...