Antarctic Ocean Alliance: committed to protecting critical areas in the Southern Ocean

The Antarctic's Ross Sea is considered by many to be one of the most pristine marine environments to be found down under. Facing New Zealand to the north, it has had proposals for basic protection sponsored by the United States and New Zealand, but now a more coordinated and international plan is being initiated, one that will possibly lead to the world's largest fully protected marine reserve.

The recently launched Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA) represents the coming together of several leading international conservation organizations, along with renown ocean conservation experts and even celebrities - all bound by one common purpose: to protect the Antarctic's marine resources. As a first step, they hope to establish a protected marine reserve in the Ross Sea, one that will ultimately expand to reach over 2.2 million square miles.

“The Ross Sea is one of the most amazing and relatively untouched marine environments on earth,” said the Alliance’s Chuck Fox. “While there are two proposals on the table to protect some of it, our report shows that we need a much broader and ecosystems-focused approach if we are to ensure this environment remains healthy and stable.“

The AOA includes, as its supporters, Greenpeace, WWF, Humane Society International, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), the Blue Marine Foundation (UK), Mission Blue (US), Oceans 5 (US), Deep Wave (Germany), The Last Ocean, Forest & Bird (NZ), the Environment and Conservation Organizations of New Zealand, and many others, along with individuals like oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and actor/conservation activist Edward Norton.

While the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR) is the regulatory body that has agreed to work with AOA to establish a network of marine protected areas in and around the Ross Sea, they tend to work more behind the signs. The AOA will take a more proactive position when it comes to public exposure and media attention. This is meant to help ensure that all nations involved in implementing plans for marine protection will be better held accountable for the policies and plans they put in place.

“The fate of the Antarctic’s Ross Sea is likely to be decided by 24 countries and the EU this year and the global public knows nothing about it,” said Alliance Campaign Director Steve Campbell. “Now is the time to protect this amazing environment but we’ll need the global public involved to make that happen.”

Antarctic waters, which include the Southern Ocean, the Ross Sea, the Weddell Sea, and the Amundsen Sea, represents some of the richest marine ecosystems on earth with as many as 10,000 species calling it home. This environmental bounty has, over the years, been seen as a commercial bounty, too, with industrial fishing taking a heavy toll on many species.

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance seeks to curb commercial overfishing in the Antarctic and, with the Ross Sea protections as a start, the Alliance will be identifying 16 other critical habitats within the Southern Ocean that need protection.

To learn more about the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, including videos and AOA's initial report, visit its website at www.antarcticocean.org.

Source: World Wildlife Fund Global
Source: Antarctic Ocean Alliance

Japanese Whaling: ships located by Sea Shepherd headed to Southern Ocean

When Japan's Fisheries Agency announced that their whaling fleet would be again heading south towards Antarctica to hunt whales, it once again brought a chorus of complaints from several non-whaling nations and vows from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to take them head on, at sea, as they have done for many years. At one point, it seemed that the whaling fleet might not go out, having been thwarted in their attempts last season by Sea Shepherd. In fact, all seemed quiet enough for a while that Sea Shepherd diverted their attention to the illegal tuna fishing taking place in the Mediterranean. But with the Japanese announcement back in the fall, Sea Shepherd was able to put their ships in pursuit and, having recently spotted the lead factory vessel by aerial drone, are now preparing to engage the fleet using controversial "eco-terrorist" techniques that are praised by some and questioned by others.

According to the Sea Shepherd website, "The Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin, deployed a drone to successfully locate and photograph the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru on December 24th. Once the pursuit began, three Japanese harpoon/security ships moved in on the Steve Irwin to shield the Nisshin Maru to allow it to escape. This time however the Japanese tactic of tailing the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker will not work because the drones, one on the Steve Irwin and the other on the Bob Barker, can track and follow the Nisshin Maru and can relay the positions back to the Sea Shepherd ships."

In previous posts I have written of my reservations regarding the eco-terrorist techniques employed by Sea Shepherd, or any conservation group for that matter, as it typically does not engender the support of those governments or international agencies necessary to bring about the regulations or diplomatic pressure required for real change. Australia is actively seeking legal remedies through its actions in the International Court of Justice, but it can be a slow process. In opposition to Sea Shepherd, the Japanese government-sponsored Institute for Cetacean Research has filed a lawsuit against the Sea Shepherd Society in U.S. federal court to seek an injunction against Sea Shepherd - one which, I am sure, Sea Shepherd will vigorously defend against while at the same time ignoring it at sea.

It's not difficult to understand the frustration of whaling supporters with Japan's continual reliance on a loophole in the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) regulations that allows for whaling to continue if it is for "legitimate scientific research." Japan has been able to work the loophole to where it is big enough to run a blue whale through it.

Japan's The Mainichi Daily News reported, "Japan's Fisheries Agency said the Japanese whaling fleet -- three whaling vessels escorted by a Fisheries Agency guard ship -- plans to kill some 900 minke whales and fin whales this season for what the Japanese government describes as scientific research purposes."

The idea that Japanese researchers require 900 whales to study for this year and that none of these whales will be processed for commercial purposes, as required by the IWC, is absolutely ludicrous. Fresh whale meat has been found in Japanese markets or other food outlets and, while this is evidence of blatant IWC violations, it also poses a health risk as these whale products can contain high levels of pollutants similar to what has been found in tuna and dolphin meat, also sold in Japan.

While I may not condone the techniques employed by Sea Shepherd, I understand their motivation but what raises my ire is the level of inaction on the international front, save for Australia. Japan has an interesting, almost schizophrenic, cultural mindset - on the one hand, an industrious international trading partner whose products and innovation command respect worldwide while, on the other hand, a historically protective, isolated culture that resists any suggestion of change from the outside, regardless of insurmountable evidence that their practices, like whaling, are environmentally destructive if not, at the least, antiquated.

So, once again, two ecological foes are pitted against each other. More sound bites, more footage for reality television, more threats and counter-threats. But until more nations band together with Australia to play diplomatic hardball, the game will continue and the whales, whether in the Southern Ocean or Japan's local waters, will be at risk.

Source: The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Source: The Mainichi Daily News
Source: BBC News - Asia-Pacific

Antarctic Krill: study finds krill releases iron, a part of the CO2 absorption process

Krill is one of the primary foundations in the ocean's food chain. And iron is an important component of sea water, involved in the complicated process of absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) by microscopic plants. These two elements, krill and iron, were brought together in a press release released today from the British Antarctic Survey:

"A new discovery reveals that the shrimp-like creature at the heart of the Antarctic food chain could play a key role in fertilizing the Southern Ocean with iron – stimulating the growth of phytoplankton (microscopic plant-like organisms). This process enhances the ocean's capacity for natural storage of carbon dioxide.

Reporting this month in the journal Limnology and Oceanography, an international team of researchers describe how Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), once thought to live mostly in surface waters, regularly feed on iron-rich fragments of decaying organisms on the sea floor. They swim back to the surface with stomachs full of iron, releasing it into the water.

Antarctic krill is the staple diet for fish, penguins, seals and whales; and is harvested by commercial fisheries for human consumption.

Lead author from British Antarctic Survey, Dr Katrin Schmidt says, 'We are really excited to make this discovery because the textbooks state krill live mainly in surface waters. We knew they make occasional visits to the sea floor but these were always thought as exceptional. What surprises us is how common these visits are – up to 20% of the population can be migrating up and down the water column at any one time.'

The scientists painstakingly examined the stomach contents of over 1000 krill collected from 10 Antarctic research expeditions. They found that the krill, caught near the surface, had stomachs full of iron-rich material from the seabed. The team also studied photographs of krill on the sea floor, acoustic data and net samples. All these provided strong evidence that these animals frequently feed on the sea floor.

This finding has implications for managing commercial krill fisheries and will lead to a better understanding of the natural carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean."

Iron is known to enter the seas through the upwellings of deep sediments, run-off and wind-blown dust from land, and melting icebergs. Iron stimulates plankton growth which, in turn, takes in CO2. Dying plankton settle on the bottom thereby capturing and holding the CO2 - and the iron. This new study indicates that krill may also be a vital component in the recycling of iron, thereby stimulating plankton growth, and the CO2 absorption cycle is further stimulated.

The need for managing commercial krill fisheries to ensure a healthy food cycle for a variety of sealife in the Southern Ocean is now given extra importance based on what disruptions could occur to the carbon cycle should krill be over-harvested.

Read the press release from the British Antarctic Survey.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center: 25 years studying the Antarctic seas

Twenty-five years ago the Southwest Fisheries Science Center was formed in La Jolla, California. And since that time, federal researchers have been plying the Antarctic seas, monitoring the health and biodiversity of that chilly region to the south.

Their studies have resulted in the declaration of as many as 30 biological hotspots that need protection from overfishing and destructive bottom-harvesting techniques. In addition, the researchers continue to monitor the impact of commercial fishing on species such as Chilean sea bass (renamed from Antarctic or Patagonian toothfish) and the overall population of krill, currently being harvested for vitamins and fish meal.

A popular commercial fish, Chilean sea bass numbers have plummeted by as much as 80 to 90% and more, according to some experts. But even with conservation efforts in place and many chefs and restaurants choosing not to carry the tasty fish on their menus, their numbers remain drastically low.

“That is one of the key things we want to unravel,” said George Watters, director of the Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division at the fisheries center. “Why haven’t these things recovered? We want to know that so that in the future we can prevent that kind of thing from happening again.”

The work undertaken by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center is by no means easy. Two month-long expeditions take place every January and February when sea conditions in the Southern Ocean are most favorable. But at best, it's bone-chilling work as the researchers monitor seal and sea birds movements, take video and samples from the sea floor, and basically spend time in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet for the purpose of gauging the overall health of an ecosystem that, as remote as it is, is closely tied to all of us.

“The real challenge with our work is to sort out the causes of the different trends we see,” said Mike Goebel, a wildlife biologist with the program. “Sometimes it can make sense and other times it doesn’t make sense, so you are always searching for the best possible explanation of what we observe.”

Of particular interest to the researchers, has been the study of krill populations and the impact of commercial harvesting on this fundamental ocean food source. If you have sprinkled fish meal on your plants or popped an Omega-3 vitamin supplement in the morning, there's a good chance that it consists of krill. Since krill is the principal food source for many ocean species, a decline in krill populations can have tremendous adverse effects on other species. And there are indications that krill populations have declined by as much as 80% in some areas.

One of the many challenges facing the seas of the Antarctic is a confusion or outright lack of unifying international regulations and management to protect the Southern Ocean. Many interested nations are looking to solve the situation and avoid a disastrous exploitation of the region from legal or illegal harvesting activities.

“There is a huge emphasis globally on maintaining the uniqueness and special character of Antarctica,” director Watters said. “Decision-making is supposed to be made on the basis of the best available scientific evidence. That is where we come in.”

Read more about the center's studies in the San Diego Union-Tribune.