New Medical Complex at SeaWorld: Florida park to open dolphin & whale treatment/rehab center

It has been many years since Sea World Orlando was in the business of caring for sick or injured dolphins or small whales from the wild. With the outbreak of a deadly morbillivirus - a measles-like virus - in the Miami Aquarium, brought in by some sick pilot whales, which killed several of the aquarium's captive dolphins and other marine mammals, Sea World abruptly stopped the practice.

Until now.

In the next few weeks, SeaWorld Orlando will open a new facility dedicated to the treatment of sick, injured, or stranded wild cetacea. The medical complex will be isolated from the main park and its exhibits, with its own tanks, water filtration systems, and even separate decontamination showers for employees. The main tank will contain 40,000 gallons with enough room to hold a 13-foot pilot whale.

Of SeaWorld's research and rehab efforts of various marine animals, Brad Andrews, chief zoological officer for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said, "This is what we do. [It] gives us an extremely interesting example of what's going on with the wild populations. They're like the canaries in the coal mine as they come up on shore."

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, about an average of 51 whales, dolphins, and porpoises are stranded on Florida shores, analyzed from eight years worth of recent data. Of that number, about a third of them were sent to rehab facilities.

Marine amusement parks like SeaWorld have been criticized by many pro-cetacean activists for the treatment of dolphins and whales in captivity. These are open ocean animals that utilize echo-location and various long-distance sounds as a form of communication and hunting. It is said that the tanks provided by marine amusements parks can not possibly provide enough room to ensure that the animals have a healthy, mentally-stimulating environment.

While that is an argument that has merit (and I am one that basically sides with that position), organizations like SeaWorld have also spent millions of dollars on research and rehab. So, it presents a bit of dilemma as it is the revenue from their entertainment activities that supports efforts like the new medical complex.

Critics believe SeaWorld's new facility is simply a politically-correct way to acquire new captive animals: nursing a sick or injured animal back to health and then transferring it to permanent captive status. SeaWorld has not acquired any new animals from the wild since the late 1970s. And of the 200 cetaceans held throughout the entire company's string of parks, only 5 were sick or injured animals rescued from the wild.

In response to critics, Andrews said, "The goal here is to take care of the animal, treat the animal and let it go." To be sure, there will be many who will be watching whether SeaWorld sticks to that strategy. If they do, it will be welcomed indeed - and captive dolphins and whales will be a separate argument to be debated.

Read about the new facility in the Orlando Sentinel.

North Atlantic's Hydrothermal Vents: Irish expedition sets out to study the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Marine scientists have examined some of the world's deep ocean thermal vents that harbor remarkable sealife found no where else on the planet. Living without sunlight, sometimes in temperatures that could bake bread, bacteria, worms, and crabs flourish at the site of these vents which often spew what looks like smoke but is actually a rich cocktail of minerals. The vents typically exist along fault lines that run deep in the ocean.

Running basically down the center of the Atlantic ocean is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and scientists from Ireland are preparing to study the northern portion of the ridge, in search of deep water corals and thermal vents. Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), researchers from the University College, Cork and UK's National Oceanography Centre set out this past week to examine in greater detail the "45 degree North MAR hydrothermal vent field" which was first discovered in 2008. The ROV will be working at a depth of over 9,800 feet.

As reported in the Irish Weather Online, "'This expedition offers us the first opportunity to investigate mineral deposits and vent animals in this unexplored and important part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,' said Dr. Bramley Murton of the National Oceanography Centre, who is now leading the mineralisation study on the expedition. 'Nothing is known about the hydrothermal vents, their mineral deposits or the life they support on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the islands of the Azores to the south and Iceland to the north. Because this part of the ridge is trapped between these islands, vent animals may have evolved in isolation and be quite unique from elsewhere.'"

The expedition is being documented by National Geographic for an upcoming series on the ocean. Many of the research institutions involved are hoping that this research effort will help establish Ireland as a recognized deep sea science center. However, while a little nation pride can be a good thing, the focus of attention will be on the possible discovery of heretofore unknown animals. In addition, the economic potential of the types and quantity of minerals given off by the vents will be investigated.

It was always assumed that virtually nothing could survive in the deepest reaches of the ocean. But with the discovery of hydrothermal vents and deep water corals, scientists are having to re-write some of the rules as they continue to discover ecosystems based on entirely new biological principles.

Read about the expedition in the Irish Weather Online.

Conservation and the Deficit: Nature Conservancy CEO makes his case

Nature conservationists know that preserving our natural resources is not simply a passion for liberal tree-huggers. It makes environmental sense and it makes economic sense. But it is also one of those endeavors that can be dismiss as a luxury when there are trying economic times - as we are experiencing now.

The Nature Conservancy is one of the major conservation non-profits and has enough resources and clout to be able to sit down and work with many of the regulatory agencies regarding conservation issues. Mark Tercek, the organization's CEO, contributed an interesting article in The Huffington Post today, pointing out that conservation did not cause the deficit crisis and cutting conservation will not solve the crisis either.

One of his main concerns is the Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that is currently before the House of Representatives. In keeping with the mood in Washington these days, the bill seeks to trim spending on conservation and environmental protection programs, and Tercek understands the need for all government departments to carry their fair share of the load.

However, Tercek's concern is that the bill goes too far at the expense of important programs that actually provide some very important cost-preventative benefits. He sites as an example, the federally-protected marshlands along the Mississippi River that were successfully used as a flood basin when water was released from levees pushed to their limits by a rain-swollen Mississippi this past spring. Without federal protection, those lands would not be available, most likely developed for housing - the kind of housing developments that were impacted by water released elsewhere along the river.

Despite the calls for reduced federal government, this is a perfect example of where the federal government can make a difference. If all that existed were a patchwork of state-only regulations all along the Mississippi River, you could very well have had more disastrous outcomes from a body of water that cares not for state boundaries.

Another concern that The Nature Conservancy has with the appropriations bill is language that impacts the application and effectiveness of important environmental protections. Simply reducing funding is one issue, but changing how the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, or the Endangered Species Act can function - under the guise of appropriations - reminds me of the steps taken by the former administration to limit the powers of these bodies to act as they were originally intended. One can almost see the fingerprints of corporate-supported lobbyists all over the legislation.

From wild-eyed liberals to Tea Baggers, the whole spectrum of politics is vulnerable to the influence of lobbyists and campaign contributions. An ideal world would have scientists, conservation experts, and economic/corporate interests - stripped of all influence other than the logic of their arguments - all sitting down at the table with our elected officials, hammering out legislation that addresses short- and long-term environmental goals. But that is not the reality we live in and, until we address that issue, conservation interests - even those that speak to the future of this planet - will be struggling to get their fair share of attention at the dinner table.

Despite the odds, it's a struggle worth pursuing because the consequences in doing nothing are too dire and totally unacceptable. Read Mike Tercek's perspective, Cutting Conservation Cannot Fix the Deficit, in the Huffington Post.

Largetooth Sawfish: unique predator to be on U.S. Endangered Species List.

My friend and shark advocate colleague, David Shiffman, ran an interesting post in his blog, Southern Fried Science, on the Largetooth Sawfish and its new inclusion on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is an amazing member of the elasmobranch family. Its "saw" is an elongated rostrum or snout-like projection, with a row of formidable teeth on each side. The sawfish uses its appendage to lethal effect, taking a quick swing at passing prey or using it to dig in the sand for small animals hiding there.

During my tenure as a Dive Team Leader at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, I had the opportunity to get up close to a sawfish the Aquarium had on display in its Shark Lagoon exhibit. It is a striking, awesome animal to see. One always had to approach slowly and carefully from the side, making sure the sawfish was comfortable with your presence - the last thing you wanted to do was to make it feel cornered or threatened in any way and have it lash out with its saw.

The Aquarium was able to score a first in aquarium veterinary medicine, when the sawfish's rostrum was snapped by some aggressive sand tiger sharks. A team, led by Dr. Lance Adams, was able to reattach the broken saw - glued and held in place by wooden splints. Well, okay, they were Popsicle sticks, but it worked and the sawfish fully recovered from a wound that would normally be considered fatal - particularly if it occurred in the wild.

The largetooth sawfish is plagued by a loss of habitat and by ending up as bycatch - a result of its saw getting entangled in fishing nets.

"The Endangered Species Act protections, the result of a petition by WildEarth Guardians, take effect on August 11. The U.S. will also work with nations where these animals are found to encourage similar protections. 'By adding largetooth sawfish to the Endangered Species List, the U.S. government is taking an important step toward preventing extinction of this remarkable animal and raising awareness about the plight of all sawfish species,' says Sonja Fordham [Shark Advocates International]."

Read about the largetooth sawfish in Southern Fried Science.

Our Environment in Print: articles to ponder on oceans, fish, and climate

A short post as I am immersed in preparing camera gear for an upcoming shoot. I wanted to highlight a couple of interesting articles I have recently read that not only touch on ocean and environmental issues but also deal with the human, political, or economic components that we must be prepared to deal with if we expect to make real progress.

The Ocean Health Index: Miller-McCune.com ran an interesting article, actually the first of a three, on the development of an Ocean Health Index. Three of the lead scientists in this multi-disciplined project explain how the index is being developed. The Ocean Health Index intends to express more than just the state of ocean biodiversity. There are hoping to attain a more holistic indicator of ocean health that incorporates plants and animals, people, economic or commercial viability, and more.

"Each of us individually, and each of our organizations, is vested in defining and measuring ocean health from a more holistic perspective than has been attempted in the past. The rationale for doing so is to evaluate what is happening to individual and very different parts of the ocean (such as fisheries, water quality, and carbon-sequestering coastal habitats) without losing sight of how the ocean as a whole is changing from place to place and from time to time. The litmus test for the success of our efforts will be whether the Ocean Health Index helps policymakers and the public to make better decisions about what they get from, and leave in, the ocean."

The Ocean Health Index project entails hundreds of scientists, government officials, and other subject matter experts, plus in various academic, research, government, and conservation organizations. It is hoped that the index will be ready for use in early 2012.

The Future of Fish: TIME Magazine's latest cover story looks at the stake of our commercial fisheries and the need to turn to effective, environmentally-viable fish farming, or aquaculture. The article details the status of many commercially-sought after species and what fish holds promise within a farming model.

Anyone who has spent any time reading this blog knows that I am an advocate of aquaculture, despite its challenges to doing it in an environmentally-safe manner, as it poses the most logical solution to pulling fish from the wild - the same solution man realized long ago with cattle and poultry.

Says TIME writer Bryan Walsh, "With 7 billion people, however, the planet doesn't have much space for such freedom. It's not that commercial fishing will disappear; in fact, sustainable fisheries like Alaska's wild-salmon industry may even produce boutique foods, finally earning what they're worth. There's no doubt that something will be lost in the transition to mass aquaculture, as fish — the last true wild food — are domesticated to support human beings, in much the same way we tamed cattle, pigs and chickens thousands of years ago. But if we're all going to survive and thrive in a crowded world, we'll need to cultivate the seas just as we do the land. If we do it right, aquaculture can be one more step toward saving ourselves. And if we do it well, we may even enjoy the taste of it."

Climate of Denial: In some circles, the term global warming is being jettisoned in favor of climate change. Why? Because the deniers of the effects of our dependence on fossil fuels take aim at every heavy snowfall or extended rain and declare "What warming?" But that's just part of the orchestrated games that are played by those who prosper from our continued expelling of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - and by the media who prefers to feed off of the controversy rather than deal with the overwhelming facts.

In its latest issue, Rolling Stone, that venerable instigator of alternative thinking disguised as an entertainment magazine for the youth, presents Climate of Denial: The Media & the Merchants of Pollution, written by former Vice President Al Gore. It is, perhaps, not the usual detailed assessment of our current climate condition given by someone who has been leading the charge for several decades now.

This time, Vice President Gore looks at why we are not further along in dealing with this earth-threatening issue. And he does so in some very pointed descriptions, "Most politicians and the media, sadly, fall into two categories: those who cheerlead for the deniers, and those who cower before them." The gloves are off as he identifies the political motivators and economic supporters behind the politicians who choose to deny that climate change exists. From Republicans to President Obama, no one is spared a critical assessment - in a word, the Veep's p.o.'d.

"The climate crisis, in reality, is a struggle for the soul of America. It is about whether or not we are still capable - given the ill health of our democracy and the current dominance of wealth over reason - of perceiving important and complex realities clearly enough to promote and protect the sustainable well-being of the many. What hangs in the balance is the future of civilization as we know it."

However, by no means is Al Gore throwing in the towel. The article reviews many of the latest environmental indicators of the effects of global warming, then lays into the various players to whom we charge the responsibility for doing something about it, but then concludes with a measure of hope and optimism by turning to all of us and giving us some direction as to what we should be doing, how we can be the game-changers in ultimately making climate change the critical and pressing issue it needs to be.

Well, I thought it would be a short post. . .

Read about the Ocean Health Index in Miller-McCune.com.
Read about fish farming in TIME Magazine.
Read Al Gore's article on the politics of climate change in Rolling Stone.

Shark Conservation Progress: encouraging regional steps; next up - international regulations

Shark conservation has certainly been making some progress over the past couple of years. Several nations have instituted new regulations within their waters regarding commercial shark fishing or the total prohibition of shark fins. Here is a short list of developments:

Bahamas: The Bahamas National Trust, with support from the PEW Environment Group, was able to get substantial citizen support for its declaration of a Bahamas Shark Sanctuary. The sanctuary was created by adding an amendment to the Fisheries Resources Jurisdiction and Conservation Act to prohibit commercial shark fishing along with the sale, importation and export of shark products.

California, USA: Because of it's two large ports in San Francisco and Los Angeles, a considerable amount of shark product trade is done through California. Assembly Bill 376, a ban on import/export of shark fins similar to Hawaii's ban that went into effect last year, has passed the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee and now moves on to the Senate Appropriations Committee. While facing strong opposition from shark industry-supported groups that claim a racial prejudice, since most of the market for shark products is with Asians, the legislation has also received considerable support from a host of vocal pro-shark groups and celebrities. Though the legislative process is complicated, passage appears to be likely. The biggest concern is whether, in making its way through the political machinations, the legislation remains intact or becomes watered down with exceptions or loopholes.

Honduras: Honduras also established a shark sanctuary in late June. President Porfirio Lobo Sosa signed the sanctuary bill into law, making permanent a 2010 moratorium on commercial fishing for sharks in the 92,665 square miles of Honduras' exclusive economic zone, which covers both its Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Guam: The Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) issued a resolution in June stressing the need for additional actions to protect sharks. The resolution, reached at APIL’s general assembly conference in Palau, states that the association agrees with “protective legislation in Palau, Hawaii, CNMI (Northern Marianas) and Guam.” The member states of APIL are the Northern Marianas, Guam, Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, American Samoa, Nauru and Hawaii. The exclusive economic zones of all APIL member nations total an area larger than the land masses of the continental United States and European Union countries combined.

Washington, USA: Following the lead of Hawaii, the state of Washington passed legislation in May that bans the sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins. The legislation received near unanimous support in the House and 100% backing in the Senate.

Oregon, USA: The state of Oregon is moving forward with legislation to ban the sale and trade of shark fins. Legislation has passed the House and is awaiting hopeful passage in the Senate. As is the case with other US state legislation, it does not affect or eliminate existing legal commercial shark fishing regulations, but focuses on only shark fins.

Asian Markets: Taking aim at the heart of the problem, Asian market demand, a recent poll of 1,000 Hong Kong residents showed 78 percent of respondents considered it “acceptable” to leave shark fin soup off the menu at events like weddings. In another sign that the topic is getting top-level attention, a deputy of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, Ding Liguo, filed a proposal last month to ban trade in shark fins, according to a report from Xinhua, the state-run news agency. “Only legislation can stop shark fin trading and reduce the killings of sharks,” Mr. Ding said, adding that the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan consume 95 percent the world’s fins. There's still a long ways to go in altering Asian market demand, but these are encouraging signs.

The environmental argument for protecting sharks - the disruption of marine ecosystems caused by the loss of top predators like sharks - is having some resonance with various governments. Another motivator is, as is often the case, economics. More and more substantiated reports are coming out showing that a live shark has a much greater long-term value - sometimes in the millions of dollars - than a dead shark with respect to tourism dollars, either through shark ecotourism or simply the maintenance of a healthier reef for swimmers, snorkelers, and divers by the presence of a balanced shark population.

However, as important as these national efforts are, they only impact regional waters or cause shark fin import/export centers to move elsewhere. International waters are still left wide open. While the shark conservation movement has begun to move beyond the early emotional position regarding the barbarity of shark finning to focus more on the environmental and economic impacts, thereby gaining more political traction, the next major step is to harness the momentum and weight of all these efforts to date to bring about change on an international level. Through United Nations environmental committees and other worldwide groups like the IUCN and CITES, regulations and protection can hopefully be put in place that, in essence, know no oceanic boundaries.

Encouraging steps forward, but there is still a long way to go. Hopefully, the shark is as patient as we are slow.

Read about the Bahamas Shark Sanctuary in the Caribbean News.
Read about California's AB376 in the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Read about the Honduras Shark Sanctuary in UPI.com.
Read about the push for greater protection in the South Pacific in Pacific News Center.
Read about Washington state's shark fin legislation in Shark Defenders.
Read about Oregons shark fin legislation in the Oregon Capitol News.
Read about Asian market demand for shark products in The New York Times.

Damaged Reefs or Sunburn?: corals threatened by sunscreen use

Many people, even those with only a passing interest in ocean conservation, know that many of the world's coral reefs are being threatened by a variety of environmental impacts. Ocean acidification, pollutants, runoff from urban development, and increasing water temperatures are having their effect, usually in the form of coral bleaching. Corals are supported in a symbiotic fashion by zooxanthellae, algae embedded in the very tissues of the coral. When environmental conditions are not right, the algae dies off and the weakened coral loses its color and starts a slow decline that can often lead to death.

With each summer, as tourism swells and swimmers, snorkelers, and divers entire the water, another threat takes aim at these beautiful but fragile marine ecosystems. And it is an unusual and seemingly unlikely danger. Sunscreen.

That's right. The very stuff that keeps you from looking like a lobster right out of the pot, is also a proven danger to coral. The effects of sunscreen on coral has been the subject of several studies over the past several years. One of the most revealing was conducted in 2008 and published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Researchers from Italy's Polytechnic University of Marche Region, studied the effect of several sunscreen compounds on corals in a controlled laboratory setting and found that four common ingredients caused dormant viruses in the zooxanthellae to awaken and replicate, killing the zooxanthellae and spilling into the surrounding water to do more damage to other corals.

The four ingredients - paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone, and camphor derivatives - are found in many leading brands of sunscreen. The research showed that even very small amounts of these compounds can induce coral bleaching in as little as four hours.

But really, how much of a threat can this be? The World Trade Organization (WTO) has some numbers to illustrate the problem's potential. Ten percent of all tourism takes place in tropical areas, amounting to approximately 80 million people visiting coral reefs annually. With that, the WTO estimates that as much as 6,000 tons of sunscreen lotions are released in reef areas each year, putting as much as 10% of the reefs at risk of death by sunscreen.

You can check your sunscreen label for the chemical culprits or look for sunscreens that are labeled as "coral or reef-safe." No one is suggesting that you fry in the sun and spend your later years in the dermatologist's office, dealing with skin damage. But by reading labels and purchasing sunscreen known to be safe for corals, you'll be taking a personal proactive step to protect coral reefs - while we focus worldwide efforts on the other challenges to the ocean's colorful undersea gardens.

Read a summary of the study in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Read more about coral death by sunscreen in National Geographic News.

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.

Yellowstone River Oil Spill: 1,000 barrels pour into Montana river

When we think of oil spills, we first turn to the oceans - like the Gulf of Mexico's Deepwater Horizon or Alaska's Exxon Valdez spill. However, the transportation of oil is not limited to just the seas and spills can occur on land, impacting fresh water bodies of water in the process.

Late this past Friday, an oil pipeline that runs six feet beneath the Yellowstone River in Montana ruptured and before crews from Exxon Oil could manage to shut it off, as much as 1,000 barrels of oil spewed into the river, according to Exxon officials. Other oil company officials estimated the quantity of oil at about 42,000 gallons.

Due to record rains and a heavier than usual snowpack, the Yellowstone River is running fast and much deeper than normal, in fact it has caused some flooding as it runs from Montana to North Dakota, meeting up with the Missouri River. Moving at 5 to 7 mph, the oil plume was first reported to be 25 miles in length but later reports have suggested it has doubled that length.

Exxon response teams are using containment booms and absorbent sheets to clean up the spill as the oil makes it way into the river's marshland banks. No chemical dispersants have been suggested as of this writing - in reviewing several news reports, I did not find anyone venturing an opinion as to how a body of fresh water could handle oil broken down into micro-globules; whether there are organisms that can consume the oil as was always touted regarding ocean spills and dispersants.

The spill occurred near Billings and downstream 140 residents from the town of Laurel were evacuated for a brief time as strong, overpowering fumes and the fear of a possible explosion prompted city officials to take action.

The Associated Press reported, "'The timing couldn't be worse,' said Steve Knecht, chief of operations for Montana Disaster and Emergency Services, who added that the plume was measured at 25 miles near Pompeys Pillar National Monument. 'With the Yellowstone running at flood stage and all the debris, it makes it dang tough to get out there to do anything.'"

Oil can have the same disastrous effect on animal and plant life as occurs in ocean spills. However, in this case, it is complicated by a fast-moving river at flood level, making containment more challenging. Residents will have to wait and see as to what becomes of the river and its ecosystem due to this spill, both in the short-term and long-term consequences.

Read about it from Associated Press/Yahoo.
Watch a video from Associated Press/The Washington Post.

Ghost Fishing: derelict fishing gear continues to ensnare sealife

When you think of ocean trash, what comes to mind? Plastic bags? Soda can rings? Plastic water bottles? Divers sometimes see more unusual things: lawn chairs, shopping carts; I was diving off Southern California's Catalina Island and came upon a complete porcelain toilet sitting upright in the sand. There's plenty of debris in the ocean, whether floating or sedentary, and there are many organizations dedicated to rounding up as much of it as possible.

But there's another type of debris that can be even more sinister in its impact on the seas: fishing gear in the form of derelict nets and traps. These are items originally designed to catch animals and, when lost or abandoned, continue to ensnare and destroy sealife.

In the latest issue of Sport Diver magazine, Project AWARE reported that in northeastern United States' Chesapeake Bay, a recent removal project recovered more than 60,000 derelict crab traps. These traps would eventually corrode, but that can take well over a decade. In the meantime, they continue to trap crabs - "ghost fishing" as it is called. The Chesapeake Bay project also reported that as many as 150,000 traps are lost annually, with as many as a quarter of a million traps lost in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the west coast, fishing nets snagged on wrecks and reefs pose both a problem with ghost fishing and with damaging the reefs themselves. The nets can smother reef growth or, in some cases, animals like anemones, sponges, and mussels can begin to grow on the nets but, as the nets slowly break down, this artificial strata collapses and more sealife is lost.

Ocean Defenders Alliance, a non-profit based in Huntington Beach, CA, is working to address the issue. It solicits help from local divers and identifies wrecks or reef areas blighted by lost nets. Using volunteers to remove derelict nets, much of their efforts are limited to depths and diving conditions that are safe for recreational divers, but this has not stopped them from pulling up thousands of pounds of netting.

According to Project AWARE, fishermen themselves are now getting involved in the training, locating, and removal of abandoned fishing gear. The motivation? In some areas, they are unable to effectively lower their traps because of the level of debris. Now, for anyone strongly opposed to commercial fishing and thinks that whatever problems the fishermen may have in deploying gear could be a good thing, keep in mind that until clean, efficient aquaculture becomes the dominant commercial activity, these fishermen will continue to struggle with getting their traps out and, in the meantime, abandoned gear is wrecking havoc.

Project AWARE has established a Dive Against Debris program designed to develop, with the help of trained recreational divers, a database of information to assist government agencies and decision-makers in fully comprehending the scope of the problem and how it might be managed in the future. Interested divers can visit Project AWARE's website to learn how to get involved.

Visit the Project AWARE website.
Visit the Ocean Defenders Alliance website.