Swimming alongside an animatronic dolphin, a person learns about hydrodynamics. Edge Innovations
Life-sized, ultra-realistic robotic dolphins could help end animal captivity by replacing living creatures in aquariums and theme parks.
<p><a href="https://www.edgefx.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Edge Innovations</a>, a New Zealand company that created of some of Hollywood's most famous animatronic animals from movies like "Free Willy" and "Flipper," has developed robot dolphins that look and act almost identical to their living counterparts. This is "bringing art and technology to life," its <a href="https://www.edgefx.com/" target="_blank">website</a> says.</p><p>Edge hopes its designs will be used in movies and aquatic theme parks instead of living animals. If the idea is expanded, swimmers could dive with life-like robot dolphins, great white sharks, or even Jurrasic-era marine reptiles, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/robot-dolphin-edge-innovations-theme-park-peta-b1048362.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/13/robot-dolphins-the-cruelty-free-20m-animal-you-cant-tell-from-the-real-thing" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, the first phase of the prototype's development was sponsored by a Chinese development group that pledged in a statement to use the robotic animals instead of live ones in new aquariums being built.</p><p>Test audiences were unable to tell that the dolphin was not real, The Guardian reported. The model dolphin is controlled remotely by humans and can interact as a natural dolphin would.</p><p>"Everyone wants to know if using an animatronic dolphin is different than using a real dolphin, Roger Holzberg, Edge's creative director of their animatronics program, told <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2020/10/19/could-this-robot-dolphin-replace-captive-animals-in-marine-parks/" target="_blank">Aljazeera</a>. "The truth is, in many ways, they're the same."</p>
<p>But, because it is a robot, Edge's dolphin can also nod yes in response to a child, swim in a tiny tank in a mall or a chlorinated pool, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals-captivity-brain-damage-2647869196.html" target="_self">withstand very close contact that would be harmful to real animals</a>, The Guardian reported.</p><p>"We realized that using animatronics instead of using live animals enabled us to create characters that truly were loveable, that could really deliver on the idea that we won't hurt what we fall in love with," Holzberg told Aljazeera.</p><p>Animatronics could also help bring back audiences turned off by aquatic parks using live animals and turn the industry around, reported <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/tech-conservation-robot-dolphin/the-robot-dolphin-that-could-replace-captive-animals-at-theme-parks-one-day-idUSL1N2H41Q6" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>"The marine park industry has had falling revenues for over a decade due to ethical concerns and the cost of live animals, yet the public hunger to learn about and experience these animals is still as strong as ever," Holzberg told The Guardian. "We believe that it's time to reimagine this industry and that this approach can be more humane, and more profitable at the same time."</p><p>The cost would be around $26.3 million per animal, four times the amount of a natural dolphin.</p><p>"We have to persuade [potential clients] that it is a profitable business, even more profitable than live animals," Li Wang, a business developer for Edge, told The Guardian. Wang pointed out that the robots do not require the same expensive caretaking or carefully monitored water temperatures as real dolphins do. Edge noted also that the robots will "outlive" their wild counterparts, who typically die within 20 years in captivity, the news report said. Wild dolphins live between 30 to 50 years.</p><p>According to Reuters, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/animal-rights" target="_self">animal rights</a> group PETA is in support and even held an event featuring the prototype dolphin.</p><p>PETA activist Katherine Sullivan told The Independent that the invention could help usher in the end of "cruel 'swim with dolphins' programs, for which young dolphins are traumatically abducted from their ocean homes and frantic mothers, sometimes illegally."</p><p>"In 2020, cutting-edge technology allows us to experience nature without harming it," PETA's UK director, Elisa Allen, told The Guardian.</p>
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Rescuers assist beached long-fin pilot whales at Hamelin Bay, Australia on March 23, 2009. Tony Ashby / AFP / Getty Images
Alexander Freund
Pilot whales, sperm whales, beaked whales and deep-sea dolphins are the marine mammals most commonly involved in mass strandings. Baleen whales, on the other hand, a group to which all big whales except the sperm whale belong, strand very rarely.
<p>If these mammals become stranded, they can dry out, overheat, suffocate or suffer severe inner injuries because of their enormous dead weight.</p><p>Individual strandings have been observed at many locations, while most mass strandings have been registered in <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australia-rescuers-save-100-whales-after-mass-stranding/a-55062181" target="_blank">Western Australia,</a> New Zealand (with up to 300 stranded whales annually), and on the east coast of North America and Patagonia (Chile). Occasionally, however, there are also mass strandings in the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/iceland-tourists-find-50-pilot-whales-dead-on-beach/a-49662301" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">North Sea.</a></p>
How Do Whales and Dolphins Navigate?
<p>Like <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-science-of-migratory-birds/a-47812308" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migratory birds,</a> some whale species travel great distances every year. In winter, whales migrate from the cold northern seas to warmer waters in the south, and whales from southern waters move to the north in the same season. Months later, they then begin to travel back home.</p><p>The smaller toothed whales, such as dolphins, have a powerful underwater sonar. They orient themselves on their journeys by emitting sound waves in the form of clicking noises. When these sound waves collide with an object, they are reflected back as echoes to the animals' ears, which in the case of whales are shielded from the skull in foam-filled chambers inside the body to enable spatial hearing. The faster the sound returns, the closer the prey, an obstacle or the coast.</p><p>However, in the case of the large baleen whales, which have horn plates (baleen) instead of teeth in their upper jaws for filtering krill, animal plankton and small fish from the water, this underwater sonar is not very highly developed.</p><p>This echolocation works very well as a rule. However, sound reflection does not function reliably in certain circumstances, particularly when there are shallow or semicircular bays, sandy underwater embankments or silt banks. These types of coasts and obstacles do not produce an unambiguous echo from any particular direction, so the warning system fails.</p>What Influence Does the Earth's Magnetic Field Have?
<p>Whales such as the pilot whale do not use just underwater sonar to orient themselves, but — again, like migratory birds — seem to rely on the lines of the earth's magnetic field, as their migration routes often run parallel to those lines. The slight fluctuations of the earth's magnetic field appear to function like a kind of map.</p><p>Magnetite crystals have been found in the skulls of these animals. The whales could be confused by disturbances of the geomagnetic field near the coast. Magnetic fields running perpendicular to the mainland are also thought to play a role in mass strandings of whales in certain coastal regions.</p><p>Every few years, solar storms and sunspots that occur amid heightened activity on the sun's surface also cause fairly large changes in the Earth's magnetic field. It is at such times that sperm whales, for example, which also use geomagnetism as a natural navigation system, get lost and become stranded in the North Sea.</p>Why Do Whales and Dolphins Become Stranded?
<p>Navigational errors are thus believed to be the main cause of whale strandings, but all the reasons have not yet been conclusively investigated.</p><p>One of them is certainly the social behavior of many whale species, which travel in groups, so-called pods, and are guided by a leader. For example, in the case of sperm whales, a male leads the way from the Arctic Ocean back into warmer waters. By contrast, when orcas are on their travels, a mother or grandmother leads the group.</p><p>If leaders lose their orientation, perhaps because they are confused or because parasites have attacked their ears, rendering them incapable of hearing the echoes of the clicking sounds that have been sent, the accompanying animals will follow them in the wrong direction. If a leader is stuck in shallow waters, the rest of the group stays with it, even if this means their certain doom.</p><p>Sometimes, as has been observed, for example, with orcas on the South African coast, this group cohesion can go so far that whales who have already been saved after a mass stranding return to the beach if another stranded whale calls for help.</p><p>But strandings can also have other natural causes. Sometimes, smaller dolphins become beached because they have taken refuge from orcas and other predators in shallower waters or because they have ventured too far into shallow areas when hunting shoals of fish.</p><p>Occasionally, individual animals are also washed ashore dead after being previously injured by collisions with ships, fishing nets or shark attacks or becoming ill from infections or parasite infestation. </p>Which Human Influences Exacerbate the Situation?
<p>In addition to natural factors, man-made underwater noise from ships, icebreakers, drilling platforms or military sonar equipment can also massively impair the orientation and communication of marine mammals. They flee the strong sound waves in a state of confusion. And since the density of water is much higher than that of air, sound propagates underwater about five times faster than in the air.</p><p>Military sonar operations employing very loud sounds have particularly drastic effects. After NATO maneuvers, for example, beaked whales have washed up dead on the coasts of Cyprus, the Canary Islands and the Bahamas. The sonars, which are louder than 200 decibels, triggered the formation of gas bubbles in the blood vessels and organs of marine mammals (as happens with diving sickness), obstructing the blood supply and leading to their death. </p>How Can You Help Stranded Whales and Dolphins?
<p>When a whale stranding is discovered, there is usually not much time left. Teams of helpers can do little more than try to cool the stranded animals, keep them moist and combine forces to get the heavy animals back into the sea as quickly and gently as possible.</p><p>In some countries, hotlines have been set up so that as many helpers as possible can be mobilized quickly. For many exhausted animals, however, even these immediate measures often come too late. </p>From Your Site Articles
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Bottlenose dolphins are seen swimming off the coast of Miami in the Atlantic Ocean. Brandon Trentler / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Andrea Germanos
The federal government and fossil fuel industry announced at a legal hearing Thursday that seismic blasting will not be carried out in the Atlantic Ocean this year—and possibly not in the near future either—a development welcomed by conservation groups who lobbied forcefully against what they said would have been an "unjustified acoustic attack on our oceans."
<p>"Communities can breathe a little easier knowing the Atlantic is now safe from seismic airgun blasting in 2020," said Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins, who called the news "a bright spot and in line with the court of public opinion."</p><p>Confirmation of the pause on the blasting, an initial step in searching for offshore oil, came at a status conference for ongoing <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/groups-sue-feds-to-stop-seismic-airgun-blasting-in-atlantic-ocean" target="_blank">litigation</a> over the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-atlantic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issuance</a> of so-called Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) that would have <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/authorizations-issued-for-marine-mammal-impacts-from-atlantic-geophysical-surveys" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allowed</a> fossil fuel companies to "incidentally, but not intentionally, harass marine mammals" including the <a href="https://oceana.org/RightWhaleToSave" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">endangered</a> North Atlantic right whale, humpback whale, and bottlenose dolphin.</p><p>The risk was particularly acute for the right whale. Alice M. Keyes, vice president of coastal conservation for One Hundred Miles, warned that "seismic blasting in the Atlantic would sound the death knell for this magnificent species."</p>
<p>Ocean conservation advocates have long sounded alarm about widespread harms caused by airgun tests that "<a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/seismic_blasting/" target="_blank">generate the loudest human sounds in the ocean, short of those made by explosives</a>" and can trigger hearing loss in marine mammals that rely on echolocation. Such blasts can be "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/24/scale-threat-seismic-blasting-poses-whales-dolphins-laid-bare" target="_blank">repeated every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for days to weeks at a time</a>."</p><p>Confirming a legal filing from Tuesday, government attorneys said Thursday that the IHAs in question expire at the end of November, and there is no legal or regulatory ability to extend them. Industry lawyers also indicated to the judge at the tele-hearing that even if they were issued new permits, it was unfeasible to begin seismic testing this year. Moreover, acquiring new permits is a lengthy process.</p><p>"There will be no boats in the water this year, and because this resets the clock, there will be no boats in the water for a long time," said Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.</p>
<p>Beyond the direct harm from seismic surveys, ocean defenders pointed to the folly of looking for more fossil fuels amid the deepening climate crisis.</p><p>"Seismic blasting harms whales in the search for offshore oil that we should leave in the ground. We can't allow the oil industry's greed to threaten endangered North Atlantic right whales and other vulnerable species," said Kristen Monsell, ocean legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity.</p><p>"We're happy these animals will have a reprieve from this unjustified acoustic attack on our oceans," she said, vowing to "keep fighting to ensure the oil industry stays out of the Atlantic."</p><p>That necessitates a full ban on offshore drilling activities, said Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at NRDC.</p><p>"The only way to end the threat," he said, "is to prohibit offshore oil and gas exploration for good."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/huge-victory-ocean-defenders-seismic-blasting-halted-atlantic?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank"> Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Protesters March Against Oil Spill 'Incompetence' in Mauritius as More Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore
31 August
Animals
People protest against the government's response to the oil spill disaster in front of the prime minister's office in Port Louis, Mauritius on Aug. 29, 2020. FABIEN DUBESSAY / AFP via Getty Images
Protestors filled the streets of Mauritius's capital city, Port Louis, over the weekend to demand resignations of officials and an investigation into the oil spill that has jeopardized the future health of the country's marine reserves, according to Reuters. The protests were catalyzed by more than a dozen dead dolphins with traces of oil washing up on Mauritian beaches.
<p>After the initial wave of dead dolphins, the government revised the number of dead whales and dolphins, bringing the total up to 39, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/29/mauritius-sees-popular-protests-over-handling-of-the-wakashio-oil-spill-and-whale-deaths/#d2c5b7452531" target="_blank">Forbes</a>.</p><p>Roughly 100,000 people filled the streets on Saturday, according to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mauritius-oil-spill-protests-dolphins-dead-port-louis-a9695591.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>, marking it the largest protest the island nation has seen in 40 years. On Saturday, the protestors were dressed in black and held drawings of dolphins and signs saying, "citizens wake up citizens." Others held signs that said, "Dolphin Lives Matter."</p><p>Some protestors carried Mauritian flags and draped them around statues, including one of Queen Victoria.</p>
<p>The demand for the march came from an ordinary citizen, Jean Bruneau Laurette, a maritime security expert who has taken a strong stance against the country's prime minister. Laurette has insisted that the government is hiding information about the oil spill and has filed a case in court against the country's environmental ministry, according to <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3099425/massive-oil-spill-prompts-largest-protest-mauritius-40-years" target="_blank">Agence-France Presse</a> (AFP).</p><p>Some in the peaceful protest called for the government to step down. They wore t-shirts that read, "I love my country. I'm ashamed of my country," according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53959889" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The normally idyllic island is a paradise tourist destination known for its warm waters and vibrant marine life. It seldom sees political movements rise up, underscoring the anger felt by the citizens over what some experts have called an ecological disaster.</p>
<p>One demonstrator told the BBC: "I am present today because we want the truth. They didn't do anything when the ship approached our coastline – 12 days they didn't do anything until the oil spill and now thousands of people and marine people are affected."</p><p>The ship the woman referred to is the Japanese cargo ship the MV Wakashio, which was awaiting instructions about its next port after delivering goods, when it struck a coral reef on July 25. The damage to the ship's hull caused the ship to leak roughly 1,000 tons of fuel and to break apart.</p><p>The larger part of the boat was dragged out to sea where it was allowed to sink, while the remaining third sunk where the ship struck the corals. The government's handling of the crash and the sinking of the ship have drawn anger from the public.</p>
<p>As The Independent reported, Christian Merle, 18, said, "This didn't have to happen. It is sheer incompetence. What did [the government] do during those nearly two weeks between [the bulk carrier MV] Wakashio running aground and the oil spill? Nothing! Nothing!"</p><p>"This rally is an occasion to send a message to tell [Prime Minister] Pravind Jugnauth he has messed up," marcher Jocelyne Leung, 35, told AFP.</p><p>"This is the first time that a citizens' demonstration has gathered such a big crowd," said Ajay Gunness who holds the number two post in the opposition party, as the AFP reported.</p><p>The demonstration was not just confined to Port Louis. Demonstrators who have a connection to Mauritius turned out in solidarity in cities around the work including in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany and the UK, as Forbes reported.</p><p>Hans Balgobin, 31, demonstrated in front of the High Commission of Mauritius in London. "Mauritian society is unique," he said, as The Independent reported. We all mix together and we live in mutual dignity. I was present today to show my support from abroad."</p>
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Trending
At least 17 dead dolphins washed up on Mauritius' beaches Wednesday, raising questions about what effect the oil spilled from the Japanese cargo tanker MV Wakashio, which ran aground on July 25, is having on marine life surrounding the Indian Ocean island-nation, according to Reuters.
<p>As thousands of tons of fuel spilled into the ocean, activists and scientists were quick to warn that an ecological disaster was in the making as the island's unique <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-reefs" target="_self">coral</a> species and fish would be threatened. Now, the death of a significant portion of a dolphin pod may be a signal of the cascading effects from the spill, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53917793" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>While the fisheries ministry says the dolphins were killed by sharks, environmental campaigners are calling for a probe to find out if the deaths are connected to the spill.</p>
<p>"The dead dolphins had several wounds and blood around their jaws, no trace of oil however. The ones that survived, around ten, seemed very fatigued and could barely swim," said Jasvin Sok Appadu from the fisheries ministry, as Reuters reported.</p><p>However, Greenpeace Africa finds the timing raises doubts.</p><p>"This is a deeply sad and alarming day for the people of Mauritius," Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa's senior climate and energy campaign manager, said in a statement on Wednesday, as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/calls-probe-dead-dolphins-wash-mauritius-oil-spill-200826152007439.html" target="_blank">Al-Jazeera</a> reported. "Greenpeace appeals to the authorities to carry out a swift, transparent and public autopsy on the bodies collected."</p><p>In a tweet, Greenpeace Africa said, "this incident must be investigated fully and transparently! If the oil spill was indeed the cause of this tragedy, then the polluters must be held accountable for the harm done to coastal communities and their #Biodiversity."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This incident must be investigated fully and transparently! <br><br>If the oil spill was indeed the cause of this tragedy, then the polluters must be held accountable for the harm done to coastal communities and their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Biodiversity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Biodiversity</a> >> <a href="https://t.co/OHBtIChDzf">https://t.co/OHBtIChDzf</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreakFreeFromFossilFuels?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BreakFreeFromFossilFuels</a></p>— Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeaceafric) <a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeaceafric/status/1298584858617360384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Scientists have warned that the effects of the spill could last for decades. As <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/26/anger-as-dead-dolphins-wash-up-on-mauritius-beaches-a-day-after-wakashio-oil-ship-deliberately-sunk/#5038d9b026ff" target="_blank">Forbes</a> reported, there has been a steady stream of dead animals washing ashore since the spill, including turtles, fish, shellfish and crabs. The effect the oil is having on dolphins seems evident as videos and photos have emerged showing oil in their mouths. There was also oil around the blowholes and on the skin of the dolphins. Oceanographer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo told reporters that the dolphins smelled of fuel.</p><p>"In my opinion, this situation will continue to deteriorate as time goes on," he said as local media reported, according to the BBC.</p><p>It is extremely rare for so many dead dolphins to wash ashore at the same time, according to the BBC. "Waking up this morning to witness so many dead dolphins on our seashore is worse than a nightmare," said Nitin Jeeha, a Mauritian resident.</p><p>"I have seen around eight to 10 dead dolphins. Are there more in the lagoon?"</p>
<p>Some of the dolphins washed ashore were still alive, but extremely distressed.</p><p>"This is a terrible day. We are seeing these dolphins swim up to the shore in distress and then die," said Sunil Dowarkasing, an environmental consultant and former member of parliament, as <a href="https://apnews.com/752a74c6a7afdb85f9232db46aef2870" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported. "We have never seen deaths of these very intelligent marine mammals like this. Never."</p><p>Dowarkasing told the AP that it was likely that more dolphins have died out at sea.</p><p>"I think there are two possibilities: Either they died from tons of fuel spilled in the sea, or they were poisoned by the toxic materials on the bow of the ship that was sunk offshore," said Dowarkasing to The Associated Press. "We've been worried about this. The oil spill and sinking of the bow are ruining what had been the best-preserved area of our island."</p>
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Toxic Chemicals From Fossil Fuels Are Poisoning East Coast Dolphins and Whales, Study Finds
06 August
Animals
Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute staff and volunteers try to help a stranded bottlenose dolphin in Cockroach Bay near Ruskin, Florida on Sept. 17, 2015. FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
A new study gives a first look at the presence and potential effects of plastics and new forms of synthetic chemicals in stranded dolphins and whales along the coast of the southeastern U.S.
<p>New toxins and chemicals entering the market are bombarding the ocean and its inhabitants on an unprecedented scale, according to the research that was published Wednesday in <em><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00630/full" target="_blank">Frontiers in Marine Science</a></em>, as <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00630/full" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. Large ocean mammals that washed up ashore between 2012 and 2018 are similar to a canary in a coal mine, according to <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/humanitys-newest-toxins-found-in-stranded-whales-and-dolphins/" target="_blank">Courthouse News</a>, since these animals retain chemical deposits in their blubber and offer a window into the health of the larger ocean ecosystem.</p><p>The animals tested comprised toothed whales, which include dolphins, porpoises and other whales like the melon-headed whale and the Cuvier's beaked whale, according to CNN.</p>
<p>"Marine mammals are ecosystem sentinels that reflected anthropogenic threats through their health — which has implications for human health as well," says lead author assistant professor Annie Page-Karjian of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, in a <a href="https://blog.frontiersin.org/2020/08/05/tracking-humanitys-latest-toxins-in-stranded-whales-and-dolphins/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>"For example, many of the species in this study prey upon fishes that are also preferred species for human consumption — so monitoring concentrations of contaminants in these animals provides a relatively low-cost snapshot of the potential exposure risk in humans, as well as other marine animals."</p>
<p>The stranded animals included 11 different species, providing the first evidence for two rarer species: white-beaked dolphin and Gervais' beaked whales, according to <em><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00630/full" target="_blank">Frontiers in Marine Science</a></em>. The stranded animals represented males and females, young and old, which allowed the scientists to look at differences between the groups.</p><p>The results showed that species such as bottlenose dolphins had higher amounts of lead and mercury in their system than pygmy sperm whales. Female bottlenose dolphins had higher levels of arsenic than their male counterparts. Dolphins stranded in Florida displayed higher concentrations of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead">lead</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mercury">mercury</a> and selenium and lower iron levels than those stranded in North Carolina, according to Courthouse News.</p>
<p>These toxic chemicals mostly enter the ecosystem from the burning of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> and mining, said Alistair Dove, vice president of research and conservation at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, to CNN. Dove was not involved in the study.</p><p>Dolphins like to eat a wide variety of fish, many of which are also eaten by people. For example, dolphins are known to enjoy shrimp and octopus, and on the U.S. East Coast, dolphins like to eat animals like herring, mackerel and flounder, said Page-Karjian, as CNN reported.</p><p>"If humans eat a lot of fish that contain too much arsenic and mercury, these metals can poison the liver and other organs, or cause neurological damage to the brain and nervous system," said Dove to CNN.</p>
<p>As Courthouse News noted, the most oceanic pollution begins on land. Septic tanks, vehicles, farms and ranches all use or produce pollutants that eventually make their way into the ocean thanks to runoff. Trash produced far inland eventually makes its way into the ocean via rivers and canals. The scientists note that curbing this upstream pollution from runoff and the use of single plastics would go a long way to helping the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a> heal.</p><p>"If we reduce the use of fossil fuels, we can slow the rate of climate change and put fewer pollutants into the ocean," Dove said to CNN. "This applies to mercury, which most often comes from coal-fired power plants, and even plastics, which are ultimately produced from natural gas."</p>
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By Fino Menezes
Everyone adores dolphins. Intelligent, inquisitive and playful, these special creatures have captivated humans since the dawn of time. But dolphins didn't get to where they are by accident — they needed to develop some pretty amazing superpowers to cope with their environment.
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3858286e8fe1451b5a8a716a5d140d67"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/brightvibes/videos/870290333157607/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p><em>These extraordinarily intelligent creatures have been seen to display culture, use tools, and display altruism, traits long-thought to be unique to humans. </em><em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/brightvibes/videos/870290333157607/" target="_blank">Facebook / BrightVibes</a></em></p>
Adapting to Life in the Ocean Required Some Serious Skills for a Mammal
<p>Dolphins have developed some incredible abilities that continue to amaze researchers.</p>1. Sleep
<p>Everything needs to sleep, but dolphins have found a clever workaround. They shut down only half their brain at a time while the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090501090908.htm" target="_blank">other half remains conscious</a> and takes over all functions. What's more, the mammals seem to be able to remain continually vigilant for sounds for days on end.</p>2. Vision
<p>Besides sonar, which is itself pretty incredible, <a href="https://brightvibes.com/915/en/10-surprising-superpowers-of-dolphins" target="_blank">dolphins have excellent eyesight</a>. A panoramic range of vision of 300° allows them to see in two directions at once and even behind themselves — both in <u>and</u> out of the water.</p>3. Super Skin
<p>Dolphin skin grows about 9 times faster than ours, and an entire layer of skin is replaced every two hours. Their skin secretes a special non-stick <a href="https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/bottlenose-dolphins/physical-characteristics" target="_blank">antibacterial gel</a> to deter barnacles and parasites.</p>4. They Rescue Other Species
<p>There are many tales of <a href="https://www.dolphins-world.com/dolphins-rescuing-humans/" target="_blank">dolphins helping humans</a> in the high sea. Sometimes they'll even go out of their way to help other aquatic species.</p>5. Respiration
<p>Bottlenose dolphins can hold their breath for 12 minutes and dive to 550 metres (1800ft) due to <a href="https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/bottlenose-dolphins/adaptations" target="_blank">hyper-efficient lungs</a>. Dolphins have more red blood cells with greater concentrations of hemoglobin than we do.</p>6. Healing
<p>Scientists are baffled by dolphins' ability to not only heal quickly but seemingly <a href="https://www.livescience.com/15150-dolphin-recovery-human-healing.html" target="_blank">regenerate missing parts</a>. And dolphins won't bleed to death despite huge wounds, having the ability to <a href="https://www.rebelmouse.com/wordpress-vip-2401656056.html" target="_blank">constrict blood vessels</a> to stem the flow.</p>7. Pain
<p>Dolphins are as <a href="http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/dolphin-healing/" target="_blank">sensitive to pain as humans</a>, but when inflicted with serious wounds scientists believe they are able to produce <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/dolphins-shark-attacks-dolphins-heal-regenerate-wounded-fins/story?id=14165362&page=2#.T6OOkuiWm8A" target="_blank">natural morphine-strength painkillers</a> that are nonaddictive.</p>8. Thrust
<p>While an Olympic swimmer can produce around 60 or 70 pounds of thrust, a dolphin is capable of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124131334.htm" target="_blank">300 to 400 pounds of thrust</a> and is one of the oceans most efficient swimmers.</p>9. Infection
<p>How dolphins are able to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/07/26/138677504/shark-bites-no-match-for-dolphins-powers-of-healing" target="_blank">swim with open wounds</a> in the bacteria-riddled ocean and not die of infection, scientists still don't know for sure, but the best guess is that dolphins have managed to siphon off <a href="http://www.jidonline.org/" target="_blank">a</a><a href="http://www.jidonline.org/" target="_blank">ntibiotics made by plankton and algae</a>.</p>10. Electroreception
<p>Dolphins can actually <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/07/guiana-dolphins-can-use-electric-signals-locate-prey" target="_blank">sense the electrical impulses</a> given off by all living things. They probably use this ability to hunt fish in turbid water and muddy sediments.</p><p>These extraordinarily intelligent and graceful creatures have also been seen to display culture, use tools, and display altruism, traits long-thought to be unique to humans.</p>
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If you are worried about herring worm, just cut your piece of sushi in half before eating it. Nandaro / CC BY-SA 3.0
The population of a marine parasite that sometimes worms its way into sushi has increased by 283 times in the last nearly 40 years, a University of Washington (UW)-led study has found.
<p>The study, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15048" target="_blank">published in Global Change Biology Thursday</a>, reviewed the literature and found a significant rise in the abundance of the parasite <em>Anisakis</em>, or "herring worm." This isn't especially concerning for humans, who experience the worm as a nasty bout of food poisoning that then resolves, but it could have serious consequences for marine mammals, who play host to the parasites for years.</p><p>"One of the important implications of this study is that now we know there is this massive, rising health risk to marine mammals," study coauthor and UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences assistant professor Chelsea Wood said in the UW press release. "It's not often considered that parasites might be the reason that some marine mammal populations are failing to bounce back. I hope this study encourages people to look at intestinal parasites as a potential cap on the population growth of endangered and threatened marine mammals."</p>
<div id="f87f9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="24416e58f4dc5112fd635f2dc87516cb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1240735574232891400" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The next time you eat sashimi, nigiri or other forms of raw fish, consider doing a quick check for worms. 🍣😳
https://t.co/juL5dW2NDu</div> — UW SAFS (@UW SAFS)<a href="https://twitter.com/UW_SAFS/statuses/1240735574232891400">1584649387.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The researchers looked at a total of 123 papers published between 1967 and 2017 to assess how the abundance of two marine parasites had changed over time: <em>Anisakis </em>and another parasite known as <em>Pseudoterranova</em>, or "cod worm." <em>Anisakis </em>abundance rose 283-fold from 1978 to 2015, while <em>Pseudoterranova </em>abundance did not change. This means that Anisakis has risen from less than one for every 100 hosts caught to more than one in every host caught, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/parasitic-worms-in-raw-seafood-have-increased-280-fold-but-it-s-not-sushi-we-should-be-worried-about" target="_blank">ScienceAlert explained</a>.</p><p>Ironically, while <em>Anisakis </em>might threaten the health of marine mammals, its rise may have been triggered by their success.</p><p>"My gut is that this is about the improvements we've made in marine mammal <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a>," Wood told ScienceAlert. "The time frame of our study directly overlaps with when a bunch of really important marine mammal legislation went into effect like the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972 and the international whaling commission moratorium on commercial whaling which came in the 1980s."</p>
<p>The one wrinkle in this theory is which mammals usually play host to the worm. <em>Anisakis</em> hatches in the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> and first infects small animals like shrimp, the UW explained. They then make their way up the food web as the shrimp are eaten by fish, who are eaten by bigger fish, until they end up in the intestines of Cetaceans like <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales" target="_self">whales</a> or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dolphins" target="_self">dolphins</a>. Here they can live and reproduce for years, reentering the ocean in the animals' feces to start the cycle again.</p><p>While <em>Anisakis</em> abundance has risen, <em>Pseudoterranova</em>, which typically infects fish, sea lions and seals, has not. However, seals and sea lions have done much better than whales, Wood told ScienceAlert, which means one would expect <em>Pseudoterranova </em>abundance to have increased instead. However, she speculated it was possible the parasite was actually increasing because it had fewer hosts to pass through.</p><p>Other factors that could have caused the rise include the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and increased runoff from fertilizers, according to the press release.</p><p>So what happens if humans happen to ingest one of the worms? Nausea and vomiting that is unpleasant, but temporary.</p><p>"When they enter the intestine of a human, it's a great disappointment to the worm. They're not going to be able to complete their life cycle there," Wood told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237951-fish-used-for-sushi-now-carry-283-times-more-parasites-than-in-1980s/" target="_blank">New Scientist</a>.</p><p>Wood said that sushi lovers shouldn't worry, as chefs were expert de-wormers.</p><p>"I still eat sushi all the time," she told New Scientist.</p><p>However, if you are concerned, just cut your nigiri in half and look for worms yourself, she advised in the press release.</p>
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Dolphins leap out of the Indian Ocean near a fishing boat. Andrew TB Tan / Moment / Getty Images
Fishing operations in the Indian Ocean have decimated dolphin populations over the last 70 years, according to a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research.
<p>The fishing operations that have had dolphins swept up as bycatch have meant that nearly 4 million dolphins have died since 1950 and the population of dolphins in the Indian Ocean has declined by nearly 80 percent, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Those numbers just represent the dolphins killed directly as bycatch of drifting <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">nets</a> that trail behind large fishing boats and do not represent the number of dolphins, porpoises or whales killed by floating ghost nets, harpoons, other types of tuna fishing or animals that are injured and succumb to their wounds later. That means the actual number of dolphins killed from commercial fishing may actually be much higher, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>.</p>
<p>Looking at driftnets, which account for just over one-third of Indian Ocean commercial fisheries, the researchers were able to calculate that the number of dolphins, porpoises, and whales killed directly each year as bycatch peaked at around 100,000 from 2004 to 2006. That number has come down slightly and is now around 85,000 cetaceans annually, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>.</p><p>Unfortunately, the authors do not believe the decline in bycatch is the result of improved practices, which are essentially unregulated. Instead, they believe it reflects the declining dolphin population, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The study's lead author, Charles Anderson of the Manta Marine organization in the Maldives, estimated that the dolphin numbers had probably dropped to only 13 percent their pre-1980 levels, which is when large-scale tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean began, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"Declining cetacean bycatch rates suggest that such levels of mortality are not sustainable," the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> says. "Indeed, mean small cetacean abundance may currently be 13 percent of pre-fishery levels. None of these estimates are precise, but they do demonstrate the likely order of magnitude of the issue."</p>
<p>There are many limitations in obtaining the exact number of mammal deaths due to bycatch, one of the study's author's told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, especially considering that most dolphins caught up in driftnets were not registered and were likely tossed over the side of the boat. These types of nets also snare turtles, whales and sharks.</p><p>The researcher, Puti Liza Mustika, from James Cook University's College of Business, Law and Governance, clarified that most of the bycatch was dolphins and that there was some reliable data from observers on boats and from previous studies. However, as a researcher, some clearer numbers would be helpful.</p><p>"That bycatch number is alarming, but there are a lot of uncertainties because the datasets are insufficient," Mustika told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Adding to an element of uncertainty is that Iran and Indonesia, the countries that run the two largest tuna operations in the Indian Ocean, have no system of reporting cetacean bycatch. Consequently, Iran's average annual bycatch of 214,262 tons of tuna likely kills more than 30,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales every year, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.<br></p><p>"It's a painful death. Dolphins are clever, but because the net is very thin in the water, the dolphins' sonar misses them," said Mustika to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. She added that the impetus to solve the problem is on scientists and tech companies. "The solution has to be technology, as well as using fishing gears that are more sustainable. But banning these fishers is not a solution for developing countries."</p>The <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> concluded that oversight is needed, saying its findings showed "the need for much improved monitoring, mitigation and management."
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Government officials are offering an up to $20,000 reward for information that helps solve two brutal Florida dolphin murders.
<p>The first dolphin was discovered shot or stabbed late last week by biologists with the <a href="https://myfwc.com/" target="_blank">Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission</a> off of Naples, Florida, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries</a> <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/dolphins-stabbed-and-shot-florida-noaa-enforcement-seeks-tips" target="_blank">reported Tuesday</a>. The second was found within the same week by experts at the <a href="http://emeraldcoastwildliferefuge.org/" target="_blank">Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge</a>, who discovered the animal on Pensacola Beach with a bullet in its left side.</p><p>"[These are] some of the worst cases we have seen," Tracy Dunn, who leads the law enforcement team of NOAA's southeast division, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/us/dolphins-shot-stabbed-florida.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>The deaths bring the total for dolphins stranded in the southeastern U.S. up to at least 29 since 2002, according to NOAA. The dolphins appear to have been shot or stabbed with arrows or fishing spears. Four of these strandings occurred within the past year. This includes one dolphin who was found off Captiva Island, Florida in May 2019 with a fatal puncture wound in its head. The case remains unsolved, and authorities are also offering a separate reward for any information about that case.</p><p>The underlying problem is that people feed dolphins illegally, NOAA officials explained.</p><p>"When dolphins are fed, their behavior changes. They lose their natural wariness of people and boats," NOAA bottlenose dolphin <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> coordinator Stacey Horstman told The New York Times.</p><p>This means that when dolphins encounter boats, they adopt a begging position, Horstman further explained to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-dolphins-fatal-injuries-found-florida-coast-n1135911" target="_blank">NBC</a>. They either stick their heads out of the water with their mouths open or look up at the boats while on their sides. When they do this, they are only one to two feet from a boat. It is thought both of the dolphins killed last week were in a begging position when they died.</p><p>"The best advice is not to feed them, not to reach out to them. The seemingly innocent act of feeding dolphins can lead to harm and something like this," Horstman told The New York Times.</p><p>Bottlenose dolphins are not listed as an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a> in the U.S., but, because they swim close to shore, they are at risk from human activity such as development and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fishing" target="_self">fishing</a>.</p><p>They are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA explained, which means it is illegal to hunt, harass, kill or feed them, or to attempt to do so. Anyone caught violating the act can face criminal or civil penalties of up to $100,000 in fines or up to a year in jail.</p><p>NOAA is asking for anyone with information about the recent deaths to call its enforcement hotline at (800) 853-1964.</p><p>"It's very difficult to solve without the community coming forward," Dunn told The New York Times.</p>
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In this photo taken Oct. 26 vegetation is covered in oil after diesel spilled into the Karnaphuli River following a collision of two tankers at Padma jetty in Chittagong. The oil spread about 16 kilometers during high tides and low tides in the river, posing serious threat to the local biodiversity, especially the Ganges river dolphins breeding ground. STR / AFP / Getty Images
An oil spill in the endangered Ganges river dolphin breeding grounds located in southeast Bangladesh has been called a "major disaster" by environmentalists, reports Agence-France Presse (AFP).
<p><br/></p>
<div id="99227" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1FCOX31576661225"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1188719781408575488" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Ganges River dolphins are in crisis after a tanker carrying 1,200 tonnes of diesel collided with another ship on th… https://t.co/Z0hALyLWs4</div> — RiverDolphins (@RiverDolphins)<a href="https://twitter.com/RiverDolphins1/statuses/1188719781408575488">1572247855.0</a></blockquote></div><p>A tanker carrying 1,200 tonnes of diesel collided with another ship in the Karnaphuli river near Chittagong port last week, spreading 10 tonnes of diesel across 16 kilometers, port authority spokesman Omar Faruk told the publication. The Department of Energy issued a fine for polluting the environment, reported local media agency <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2019/10/27/diesel-spill-in-karnaphuli-lighter-vessel-fined-tk3-crore" target="_blank">Dhaka Tribune</a>. The <a href="https://maritimebulletin.net/2019/10/26/tanker-breached-in-collision-massive-oil-spill-chittagong/" target="_blank">Marine Bulletin</a> reports that as of Oct. 26 about eight tonnes have been collected.</p><p>Around 60 Ganges river dolphins (<em>Platanista gangetica gangetica</em>) use the area as a breeding ground and could inhale toxic petroleum vapors when surfacing to breathe. At least 20 dolphins in the last four years have died of unnatural causes including pollution in the river and in the adjacent Halda river, reports AFP.</p>
<p>The Ganges river dolphin is one of just three freshwater dolphins in the world and is unique to two river systems in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4235892/" target="_blank">2014 study</a> found that their population has dwindled dramatically since their 4,000 to 5,000 population in the 1980s. Today, the total population is around 2,000 individuals, <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/ganges-river-dolphin-dire-straits#targetText=Dolphin%20hotspots%20must%20be%20protected,according%20to%20a%20recent%20study.&targetText=Estimates%20have%20put%20the%20total,River%20Dolphins%20at%20around%202%2C000." target="_blank">according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>. Declared by the government of India as a National Aquatic Animal in 2009, the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/ganges-river-dolphin" target="_blank">World Wildlife Fund</a> notes that the species is a key indication of ecosystem health but are largely endangered due to human activities.</p><p>Ganges river dolphin habitat is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and is used for fishing. Individuals are often caught as bycatch after becoming tangled in fishing nets used for shrimp and fish. They are also hunted for meat and oil, which is both used medicinally and to attract catfish for fisheries.</p><p>One of the biggest threats to the Ganges river dolphin is pollution. The <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/river_dolphins/ganges_river_dolphin/#targetText=WWF's%20objective%20for%20freshwater%20cetaceans,and%20habitat%20degradation%20by%202012." target="_blank">WWF reports</a> that the essentially blind cetaceans have likely lost a majority of their eyesight due to pollution in their home waters.</p><p>"Pollution levels are a problem, and are expected to increase with the development of intensive modern industrial practices in the region," wrote the organization. "Compounds such as organochlorine and butyltin found in the tissues of Ganges River dolphins are a cause for concern about their potential effects on the subspecies."</p><p>In addition to oil spills, industrial and agricultural runoff seeps into their marine ecosystem with an annual input of more than 8,000 tonnes of pesticides and nearly 5.4 million tonnes of fertilizers that are used in their region, according to <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/ganges-river-dolphin" target="_blank">WWF</a>. A 2016 report outlined the threat from "unabated dumping of toxic industrial and household waste," reported the <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/10/14/karnaphuli-dire-straits" target="_blank">Dhaka Tribune</a> at the time.</p>
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Whales and Dolphins Found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for the First Time
30 October 2019
Animals
Adult and infant sperm whales have been spotted in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Inf-Lite Teacher / CC BY-SA
By Chandra Salgado Kent
Scientific research doesn't usually mean being strapped in a harness by the open paratroop doors of a Vietnam-war-era Hercules plane. But that's the situation I found myself in several years ago, the result of which has just been published in the journal Marine Biodiversity.
<p>As part of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlIXcq2ijZQ" target="_blank">Ocean Cleanup's Aerial Expedition</a>, I was coordinating a visual survey team assessing the largest accumulation of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> plastic in the world: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.</p><p>When the aircraft's doors opened in front of me over the Pacific Ocean for the first time, my heart jumped into my throat. Not because I was looking 400m straight down to the wild sea below as it passed at 260km per hour, but because of what I saw.<br></p><p>This was one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, and the amount of floating <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic</a> nets, ropes, containers and who-knows-what below was mind-boggling.</p><p>However, it wasn't just debris down there. For the first time, we found proof of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0" target="_blank">whales and dolphins in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a>, which means it's highly likely they are eating or getting tangled in the huge amount of plastic in the area.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA0ODA4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTk4OTA3OH0.pWhKUDbLiGGlp5IY80LgBfTbrPpfzbEM_KyjYLhjt9Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="c5541" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1bdad49df02e4d1ee1b1ec84260b9ab8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A passive garbage collector floating through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. EPA / THE OCEAN CLEANUP HANDOUT
<h2>The Great Pacific Garbage Patch</h2><p>The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is said to be the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. It is located between Hawaii and California, where huge ocean currents meet to form the North Pacific subtropical gyre. An estimated <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5864935/" target="_blank">80,000 tonnes of plastic</a> are floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.</p><p>Our overall project was overseen and led by The Ocean Cleanup's founder Boyan Slat and then-chief scientist Julia Reisser. We conducted two visual survey flights, each taking an entire day to travel from San Francisco's Moffett Airfield, survey for around two hours, and travel home. Along with our visual observations, the aircraft was fitted with a range of sensors, including a short-wave infrared imager, a Lidar system (which uses the pulse from lasers to map objects on land or at sea), and a high-resolution camera.</p><p>Both visual and technical surveys found <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales">whales</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dolphins">dolphins</a>, including sperm and beaked whales and their young calves. This is the first direct evidence of whales and dolphins in the heart of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA0ODEyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTEwMDE2OH0.kbqnIhpFv_pijC7B3NSv7BeAp0O5jc9pJEyDXHs5lyo/img.jpg?width=980" id="7bd0d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38bcfe0f8d5795a62f64c2db1fad8b62" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Mating green turtles in a sea of plastics. Photo by Chandra P. Salgado Kent, author provided
<p>Plastics in the ocean are a growing problem for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life">marine life</a>. Many species can mistake plastics for food, consume them accidentally along with their prey or simply eat fish that have themselves eaten plastic.</p><p>Both beaked and sperm whales have been recently found with heavy plastic loads in their stomachs. In the Philippines, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47608949" target="_blank">dying beaked whale</a> was found with 40kg of plastic in its stomach, and in Indonesia, a dead <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/s/sperm-whale/" target="_blank">sperm whale</a> washed ashore with 115 drinking cups, 25 plastic bags, plastic bottles, two flip-flops and more than 1,000 pieces of string in its stomach.</p>
<h2>The Danger of Ghost Nets</h2><p>The most common debris we were able to identify by eye was discarded or lost fishing nets, often called "ghost nets." Ghost nets can drift in the ocean for years, trapping animals and causing injuries, starvation and death.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA0ODE2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzE4MTUzNn0.qT6-2Rx29XhAonTqRkEztIJF8j4_MhoWpGg2KLLoviI/img.jpg?width=980" id="f3399" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="302929d69288d883de9e20814d81b922" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Crew sorts plastic debris collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on a voyage in July 2019. EPA / THE OCEAN CLEANUP
<p>Whales and dolphins are often found snared in debris. Earlier this year, a young sperm whale almost died after spending three years <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/digit-sperm-whale-saved-from-rope-entanglement-ghost-net-fishing-gear-off-dominica/" target="_blank">tangled in a rope from a fishing net</a>.</p><p>During our observation we saw young calves with their mothers. Calves are especially vulnerable to becoming trapped. With the wide range of ocean plastics in the garbage patch, it is highly likely animals in the area ingest and become tangled in it.</p><p>It's believed the amount of plastics in the ocean could <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43477233" target="_blank">triple</a> over the next decade. It is clear the problem of plastic pollution has no political or geographic boundaries.<br></p><p>While plastics enter the sea from populated areas, global currents transport them across oceans. Plastics can kill animals, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718346072?via%3Dihub%22%22" target="_blank">promote disease</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322703874_Plastic_waste_associated_with_disease_on_coral_reefs" target="_blank">harm the environment, our food sources and people</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA0ODE3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTY1MTk0MX0.07OVBm48NGsGwnV-2SFeLfH33Mure6eo5EQNJT1hhVk/img.jpg?width=980" id="ce154" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d14338c5891b46e87b34859640c4c212" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A jellyfish entangled in plastic rubbish and ropes in the North Pacific Ocean. AAP Image / The Algalita Marine Research Foundation
<p>The most devastating effects fall on communities in poverty. New research shows the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22939-w" target="_blank">rapidly growing</a>, posing a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-019-00952-0" target="_blank">greater threat to wildlife</a>. It reinforces the global movement to reduce, recycle and remove plastics from the environment.</p><p>But to really tackle this problem we need creative solutions at every level of society, from communities to industries to governments and international organizations.</p><p>To take one possibility, what if we invested in fast-growing, sustainably cultivated bamboo to replace millions of single-use plastics? It could be produced by the very countries most affected by this crisis: poorer and developing nations.</p>
<p>
<em>Chandra Salgado Kent is an associate professor at the School of Science, Edith Cowan University.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Chandra Salgado Kent does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/whales-and-dolphins-found-in-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-for-the-first-time-122538" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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In a Sign of Cleanup Success, Dolphins Are Living and Giving Birth in the Potomac
08 October 2019
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Bottlenose dolphin surfaces in the Potomac River Sept. 25. Parker Michels-Boyce / The Washington Post / Getty Images
Dolphins have returned to the Potomac River and are even giving birth there, The Smithsonian reported.
The body of water that George Washington once called "the nation's river" used to host dolphins in the 1800s, but it had gotten so heavily polluted by the 1960s that wildlife struggled to survive and President Lyndon Johnson called it a "national disgrace." Fifty years of cleanup efforts have paid off, however, and now more than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins have been counted in its waters.
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