CO2 and Sharks - Paper!

Read this.

Bingo.

Granted it's only one species, and the tests have been performed in a lab - but it stands to reason that under the same environmental conditions, those effects will be at least similar in the wild, and this for all Sharks.

Long story short?

Where many Shark conservationists are still stuck in species conservation (or god forbid, in finning bans), we really need to shift to a more holistic view that takes into consideration all the major threats to the marine ecosystem. Like Jaguars will not be able to survive without jungles, even the best protected Sharks will not survive if we continue to destroy their habitats and annihilate their prey.

You may want to re-read this.

It's old and thankfully, there has been progress on several fronts; and still, I believe it to be correct in its broad outlines - especially when it comes to the part about sustainability, and the need to refrain from uninformed activism and radical positions!
As in e.g. Jupiter - boy has that been an education!

Anyway.

I'm digressing as always.

Enjoy the paper!

It is not only Overfishing - Paper!

Click for detail.

Remember this post?

For Sharks, the principal threat is overfishing.

But the other threats are of course equally a cause of great concern, plus our increased encroaching into their habitats that is leading to conflicts and persecution. And now for possibly the first time, this paper is examining the likely effects of Global Warming and Acidification on a tropical Shark.

Synopsis here, so I need once again not elaborate.

Though this is perplexing.

From the Discussion.

Although the vulnerability of tropical sharks to climate change is species-specific, factors such as temperature, sea level rise and freshwater input are assumed to elicit the greatest effects upon estuarine, coastal inshore and reef species. Such effects are likely to be expressed through changes in species abundance and distribution (e.g. poleward movements and migrations to deeper waters).

Until now, ocean acidification was not considered as a primary climate-related threat to elasmobranchs; only indirectly through habitat and community changes (e.g. reef sharks).
Experimental approaches such as those shown in the present study are critical to directly assess risk and vulnerability of sharks to ocean acidification and warming, and can ultimately help managers and policy-makers to take proactive measures targeting most endangered species. 

Proactive measures?

As in...? Suggestions welcome!

Our Ocean!

Source.

Wow.

Posted especially for those self promoting charlatans that stipulate the need for direct action because those politicians are callous and don't care.

Website here, speakers here, program here - the latter with one major irritant!

Eagerly awaiting a transcript of those Remarks! :)

Anyway, kudos!

Zombie Ecosystems!

Painting of intact coral reef - increasingly becoming science fiction.

Please read this.

Not much to add is there.
I know that Rick the Mac and others are attending, so expect more informed analyses to hit the blogosphere soon.

After the folly of Ipanema the question remains.
Where is the f&%@ing leadership?

PS great post by RTSea here!
PS2 dissenting opinion here!

Marine Conservation - the principal Issues!

Just in case we lose sight of the context here.
Barring cataclysmic cosmic or geological events, these are the biggest threats to marine biodiversity - once again, very simplified.

First and foremost: there are too many people!
We are seven billion now and probably we will get as high as 9 billion, both of which is just not sustainable.
Moreover, billions of people are attempting to attain what they consider to be better life conditions, meaning that their ecological footprints are increasing as they progressively consume more resources and produce more waste. Even if we managed to stabilize or even turn around population growth, this will continue to exert tremendous pressure on biodiversity.
Those are monumental challenges indeed - solutions???
These are the root causes of all that follows.

The biggest anthropogenic threats to marine biodiversity are.

• Global Warming
• Ocean Acidification
• Pollution
• Habitat Degradation
• Overfishing including Bycatch & Discards

When it comes to Overfishing.
As far as can be ascertained, anthropogenic extinction rates so far have been substantially lower in the oceans than in terrestrial ecosystems. In fact and despite of our best efforts, there is probably not a single documented case of us having fished a marine Fish to extinction - and should there be one, it would be the exception and not the rule.
This is cause for hope.

But that's of course not the whole story.
Several Fishes have become locally extinct and the populations of many marine Fishes that have been targeted commercially are severely depleted and but a shadow of what they used to be.
There is a line of thought stipulating that those populations have accumulated extinction debt and that they could be driven into extinction by an environmental catastrophe.
That environmental catastrophe could be Global Warming.

Sharks?
They are obviously subjected to the same pressures.
In particular, several larger species are being severely overfished and although to my knowledge this has not been specifically documented, it also stands to reason that Shark populations will be affected by the overfishing of their direct prey or of even lower trophic levels like forage Fishes.
Some of those larger Sharks are also apex predators and keystone species and there is research documenting that their removal can ripple down through the trophic levels via cascading effects, hence exacerbating the ecological consequences of their demise.

This as far as I can see are the principal issues.
The problems are enormous and eminently intractable as documented by the frustratingly slow progress of conservation and above all, by the many conservation setbacks and defeats. Yes there have been many successes - but alas, everything points to the fact that in the big scheme of things, those successes are simply too small and the pace, simply too slow. Especially if we don't get a handle on Global Warming, the future for marine biodiversity looks very bleak indeed.

Solutions?
If we so wish, there is a role for each of us to play - the most basic one being that it behooves all of us who live in relative opulence to reduce our ecological footprint, including limiting our carbon emissions! And those of us who want to do more and get involved in advocacy will find unlimited opportunities to make a difference as e.g. discussed here in the case of Shark conservation.

Orgs I personally like: Shark Foundation and Save our Seas Foundation for sponsoring research; Shark Trust, Shark Savers and Shark Defenders for advocacy; Pew Environment for all of the above.

But please, let us be rational and credible.
Let's please stop the esoteric balderdash and the pseudoscience.

The sooner we do that, the sooner we will be able to effect real, positive change.
Yes?

Reefs at Risk - Fiji?

Click for detail.

It sure aint looking good!
I was alerted by this article stating that 75% of Coral Reefs are at risk and went rummaging for more detailed info about the situation in Fiji.

Turns out that this country is particularly vulnerable.
According to the report, it fatally combines High to Very High Threat Exposure (see picture on top) with High to Very High Reef Dependence with Low to Medium Adaptive Capacity (see below).
Click for detail: Fiji is the cluster of larger islands north of New Zealand.

And what about Shark Reef?
Pretty grim if you ask me! Since the reef is situated within a highly vulnerable coastal belt where the usual global threats like Climate Change and Acidification are compounded by high population pressure, predictions are dire.

Present2030

Not nice!
Solutions? I haven't got the slightest clue!
Old timers tell me that Shark Reef has always been pretty barren, and this is why the villages were more than happy to agree to its protection and to exchange their fishing rights for monetary compensation. So far, their gamble has more than paid off as on top of jobs and regular income for the villages at the tune of over FJD 40,000 per year, the fish population has miraculously recovered, with many fish spilling over to other reefs were the local fishermen are welcome to harvest them.

The corals however have never quite managed to recover.
Whilst 20% of Shark Reef is heavily frequented by our clients, the remainder is not at all. Especially the fragile shallow coral gardens are very much off limits - and yet , especially for the Acropora, it has been a long and frustrating cycle of growth and demise, the latter owing to several explosions of Crown-of-Thorns Starfish and the occasional cyclone. Although those would appear to be "natural" causes, people in the know tell me that in Fiji, the Starfish invasions appear to be correlated to ENSO events - and these in turn are likely to be (oh, yes, of course it's complicated!) accelerated and exacerbated by anthropogenic Climate Change. With that in mind, the future of Shark Reef does rather look grim indeed, with totally unknown consequences for its Shark population.

But having said this: we'll continue trying never the less!
All I can say is so far so good, as we're seeing ever more Sharks and continue to identify ever more Fishes - with some likely excellent news to be published soon, so keep watching this space! And when it comes to the big picture, Mangroves for Fiji remains our very own contribution to Climate Change mitigation, both locally where there is now a huge belt of restored Mangroves lining the shores of our partner village Galoa and neighboring Culanuku; and Fiji-wide, where a veritable explosion of sites will enable us to become completely carbon neutral very, very soon indeed - again, keep watching this space!

And on this happy note (is it?): have a good weekend everybody!

PS should you be intrigued by the Google Earth pictures: download the KML files here (scroll to bottom of page) and have a look for yourself - very interesting and alas, equally disheartening!

Awesome Video!

Forget the detractors - this is what is happening!

Once again, excellent work by the BBC!

This, I believe, is a must-see.
It is about the recently completed Census of Marine Life, Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, and Overfishing - all the stuff anybody interested in marine conservation needs to know about.
This could have very easily precipitated into utter gloom and doom but as always with the BBC, it is a compelling presentation featuring the usual amazing footage and fantastic editing.

Lean back, relax and enjoy!

Kiss your Oysters goodbye!

Well, here we have it.

The Oyster industry in the Pacific Northwest appears to be the first spectacular casualty of Ocean Acidification, the sinister cousin of Anthropogenic Climate Change.
You can read the full sad story here.

When following the links, I came across this informative video by the NRDC who have also published this fact sheet along with a list of publications providing for the scientific evidence. More related videos can be found here.

This is truly frightening stuff, stuff the could very much end up by wiping out all the advances we've made in Marine Conservation - if the building stones of Oceanic habitats are literally being dissolved, all life that depends on them is doomed.

Yes it is long - still, please take the time to watch, this is really important.

"Are we screwed?"

Yes these are boats! Click on pic!

See for yourself.

I've blogged about it before: if you thought that the main consequence of CO2 emissions will be Sea Level Rise, think again.
Remember Cleopatra's wager?

And no, it's not a conspiracy! Ask the Pacific oysters!
Movie review here.







Want to watch a lecture about the whole disheartening fiasco?
Grab a bag of popcorn and sit back - yes, it's half an hour long!
Things have certainly not improved since then in 2005!
Scary, scary stuff!

One more Threat!

This is a Shark Conservation Blog - so why this obsession with Global Warming?

The why is that Species Protection doesn't work: it needs to be Habitat Protection!
That's why we have established a Marine Protected Area, Shark Reef Marine Reserve, and that's why we have established the 30-mile long Fiji Shark Corridor once our data suggested that the area of the SRMR was too small for the Bulls and Tigers. Our present acoustic tagging exercise may well reveal that we may have to expand the area even further.

As if Coral Bleaching, Sea Level Rise and more Extreme Weather weren't enough in terms of threats to the South Pacific, here comes yet another one - and this one is bloody serious: Ocean Acidification.

In brief, the rise of CO2 levels is lowering the pH of the Oceans.
The consequence: increasingly, those organisms who precipitate Calcium Carbonate to build their shells will be unable to do so. Yes, that would mean the gradual disappearance of the reef-building Corals and of Sea Shells, Crustaceans and important planktonic components like the Foraminifera. It has happened before and we can observe the likely consequences around present-time carbon dioxide vents.
And Corals are already disappearing fast!

And on top of the demise of the Coral Reef Habitats, the Ocean would lose, and even reverse its present function as the most important Carbon Sink, obviously with further devastating consequences for the whole planet.

But to get back to what we really do: our Marine Reserve would die and the Fish and our Sharks would have no more place to live in.

Just scaremongering?
Just a Conspiracy by the Liberals and the Scientists (and I may add: the Reptilian Humanoids)? To rule the word, promote a socialist agenda and get more funding - and steal a Nobel Prize and an Oscar in the process?
Really!, who are those people who come up with this garbage?

But granted: may there be an element of hysteria and may some of the predictions be exaggerated?
Sure, most probably! As in all marketing!

But whatever the full Truth: can we really afford not to heed the warnings and continue to waste time by engaging in pointless discussions instead?