Ocean News

One of our members, Erwin Kodiat, an underwater photographer from Bali, Indonesia, recently launched a new image-based nudibranch identification website. According to the mission statement: "Nudi Pixel is an online resource for nudibranch and sea slug identification using photographs.This is a useful resource for all nudibranch enthusiasts like scuba divers, snorkelers, underwater photographers, naturalists, dive guides, and for educational purpose. This is basically a repository of nudibranch photographs from all over the world, and we further proceed the data to make it suitable for species identification"...
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Tens of Thousands of Loggerheads Killed Annually By Destructive Fishing Gear Washington (Sept 13, 2007) - All loggerhead sea turtle nesting subpopulations in the North Atlantic with trend data available are declining according to a new study released yesterday by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This includes sea turtles that nest in the United States, Caribbean and along the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. 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 for the past five years...
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New Yorkers explore the depths of the sea in this stunning shuttle wrap execution. Photos: Chris Cassidy I was intrigued when I learned of the new campaign from Westin Hotels to wrap the inside of NYC subway cars with nature themes. It's part of their "This is How It Should Feel" campaign. Fortunately Westin has a website with pictures of the entire campaign, which I must say was brilliantly executed. The agency's involved were Deutsch and MediaVest...
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One of our concerned members, Edward Dorson, brought this issue to my attention this week, after he responded to an appeal recently made by underwater photographer Walt Stearns. Somehow the fisheries management groups in Florida have decided that the best way to learn more about the reproductive and other biological aspects of the Goliath Grouper is to enlist fishermen to take 800 of these beautiful creatures over the next 2 years for scientific research. Once popular residents on the reefs in southeast Florida, they virtually disappeared from fishing pressures. But in recent years the Goliath Grouper staged a comeback. As a diver, I take issue with pulling 800 of these magnificent creatures from the ocean. In an era where the large, easy targeted fish are disappearing before our eyes, I'd rather opt to understand less about them and allow them continue roaming the seas. However, the fisheries departments don't see it that way...
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A Place Like No Other Raja Ampat is considered by many to have the greatest marine biodiversity of any place on the planet. Recent findings are mind blowing, with approximately 1,000 species of reef fish, 565 species of hard corals, and 700 species of mollusks. In addition, many large pelagics make their home in these waters. Huge schools of jack and tuna, pods of dolphins, turtles and other game fish abound. Mantas, mobulas and even the giant whale shark frequent these waters. With such a prolific marine environment, it is no surprise that Raja Ampat has been nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
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Members of the International SHARK - L Discussion List have recently got together to write the following letter to Discovery Network regarding Shark Week programming. If you feel that you agree with this letter and wish to add your name to the list of signatures, please click here...
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"In recent weeks a fishing boat has been coming into Speyside in Tobago and shark fishing off little Tobago. This kind of targeted fishing is indiscriminate. They are catching sharks of all species, including endangered hammerheads and tiger sharks, many too young to breed. This is not the livelihood of entire communities, nor is it the local fishermen of Speyside. The culprits are four individuals who are trying to get rich quick by plundering the waters around the precious Speyside reef. For several weeks now they have been catching ten or more sharks each day and selling the shark meat in Trinidad...
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An initiated global correspondence toward issue recognition, situational awareness and public information regarding biological destruction of sharks and related or associated species and systems. A demonstrated consensus and petition. We, the shark researchers of the world, are compelled to urge the governments of all nations to take immediate steps to conserve remaining shark populations worldwide. There is a dire and immediate need to raise human awareness globally about the threat to shark populations and to promote their management, before it is too late...
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FiNS Magazine Associate Editors, DPG Contributors and marine life book authors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari (link http://www.reefwonders.net) have been lucky enough during a recent trip to Bali to encounter and photograph the elusive and yet undescribed Bali Wobbegong, a local and strictly localized subspecies of the Ornate Wobbegong Orectolobus ornatus, commonly found from Southern Japan to Australia...
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July 6th -15th 2007 Commonwealth of Dominica Dominica Watersports Association Dive Fest is an annual event, now in its 14th year, organized by the Dominica Watersports Association (DWA) to focus attention the sport of diving, to educate the public about scuba diving as a tourism product and possible career path, and to raise awareness about Dominica's stunning and unique marine environment...
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