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Eating seafood high in mercury is hazardous to your health, especially for women and children. The "Got Mercury?" calculator below helps you make healthier seafood choices. Just enter your weight, the seafood type, the amount of seafood you will eat during a week, and click the calculator button. These calculations are based on EPA and FDA data...

Groundbreaking Gene Scientist Is Taking His Craft to the Oceans

March 5, 2004 - Dr. J. Craig Venter defied skeptical biologists by decoding the human genome in a scant three years. Now he has set his sights on an even grander goal cataloging all the microbial life in the world.

Dr. Venter said yesterday that he and colleagues had discovered at least 1,800 new microbial species and more than 1.2 million genes by sequencing the DNA from a sample of seawater from the Sargasso Sea, off Bermuda. The findings revealed a diversity of life in the ocean ... [More]

Half of endangered turtles snared each year

February 2004, NewScientist.com - Loggerhead and leatherback turtles have only a 50 per cent chance of avoiding being accidentally snared by a deep-sea fishing line each year, a new study has revealed.

This rate of capture of the endangered turtles is unsustainable, say the researchers. They are calling for the creation of "ocean wildlife reserves" maintained by tracking the turtles using satellite transmitters.

Longline fishermen hunting tuna or swordfish regular... [More]

Harnessing Consumer Power for Ocean Conservation

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF SEARCHING, a NASA biologist found a way to track urban sprawl in probably the least obvious place

By Carrie Brownstein, Mercédès Lee, and Carl Safina
Fall 2003 (Vol. 4, No. 4) - Conservation magazine is published by the Society for Conservation Biology

How many fish in the sea? Census of Marine Life launches first report

24.10.2003 - An estimated 5,000 previously unknown ocean fish species and hundreds of thousands of other marine life forms are yet to be discovered, according to scientists engaged in a massive global scientific collaboration to identify and catalog life in the oceans.

The new marine fish species, being identified at an average rate of 160 per year (roughly three new species per week since year 2000), are being catalogued and mapped by the Census of Marine Life (CoML), an unprecedente... [More]

Hunt seeks unique Arctic sealife

June, 2004 - An international scientific team is to record and list the species thought to live deep in the Arctic Ocean's chill.

One very deep area they will search, undisturbed for millennia, is said to contain the Earth's oldest seawater.

The team, based at the University of Alaska, US, believes it is likely to find species never recorded before, and some commoner lifeforms in abundance.

It says its task is now urgent because the onset of climate change requir... [More]

Illegal Fishing Threatens Galápagos Islands Waters

March 12, 2004 - Jennifer Hile, a correspondent for National Geographic On Assignment, traveled to the Galápagos Islands to investigate illegal fishing and shark fin harvesting by poachers. Here she reveals the difficulties faced by the park rangers fighting the problem.

Interior says survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska threatened

February 5, 2004 - WASHINGTON – The Interior Department said Thursday the survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska is threatened and proposed adding them to the government's endangered species list.

If the proposal were adopted, it would lead to a recovery plan requiring conservation efforts for the northern sea otter. It inhabits waters in the western Gulf of Alaska stretching toward the Bering Sea, including the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island.

[More]

Jumbo squid invade California beaches

July, 2002 - Scientists in California have been baffled by the appearance of hundreds of jumbo squid which are being washed up along the San Diego coastline.

The jumbo flying squid, which are normally found in their natural habitat of the eastern Pacific Ocean, have been swarming into California waters.

Biologists are also puzzled as to why the apparently healthy squid are being washed up dead in the surf.

Some believe the arrival of the squid, whose scientific n... [More]

Lead Levels in Water Misrepresented Across U.S.

Utilities Manipulate or Withhold Test Results to Ward Off Regulators

Washington Post, Tuesday, October 5, 2004

Cities across the country are manipulating the results of tests used to detect lead in water, violating federal law and putting millions of Americans at risk of drinking more of the contaminant than their suppliers are reporting.

Some cities, including Philadelphia and Boston, have thrown out tests that show high readings or have avoided testing homes mo... [More]

Marine Mammals on Active Duty

March 29, 2003 - Military briefings from the Pentagon and Central Command in Qatar have detailed the use of high-tech precision weapons in the war in Iraq. But in southern Iraq, in the waterway leading to the port of Umm Qasr and in the harbor of Bahrain, the more ancient and precise work of marine mammals is under way. Dolphins are using their natural sonar to detect mines in the water near Umm Qasr. And in Bahrain, sea lions are guarding boats and piers from potentially threatening swimmers...

Marine scientists alarmed by rising sea temperatures

February , 2004 - HAMISH ROBERTSON: From the political heat of the Middle East to the heat on our own Eastern seaboard. If you're thinking of cooling down with a dip in the sea this weekend, it might not be as pleasant as it sounds.

A vast pool of warm water has been simmering off Australia's east coast for the past two weeks, as sea temperatures from northern Queensland right down to Tasmania have been a degree or two above average and off south east Queensland have nudged a tepid 28... [More]

Mass Extinction Not Inevitable

3.20.04 - Two new studies published this week in Science that show steep declines in bird, butterfly and plant populations across Great Britain provide the strongest proof yet that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction of life.

The British analyzed six surveys covering virtually all of their native species populations over the last 40 years. They discovered birds and native plants had declined 54 percent and 28 percent respectively while butterflies experienced a shocking... [More]

Massive growth of ecotourism worries biologists

March 2004 - Exclusive from New Scientist

Something weird is happening in the wilderness. The animals are becoming restless. Polar bears and penguins, dolphins and dingoes, even birds in the rainforest are becoming stressed. They are losing weight, with some dying as a result. The cause is a pursuit intended to have the opposite effect: ecotourism.

The massive growth of the ecotourist industry has biologists worried. Evidence is growing that many animals do not react well t... [More]

Mercury damage 'irreversible'

2/8/2004 - Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that methyl mercury contamination of seafood can cause heart damage and irreversible impairment to brain function in children, both in the womb and as they grow.

"If something happens in the brain at development, you don't get a second chance," says lead researcher Philippe Grandjean.

The findings come a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doubled its estimates of how many U.S.... [More]

Military sonar may give whales the bends

October 2003, NewScientist.com - Whales blasted by military sonar appear to die of the bends. The finding suggests the use of sound waves to detect submarines under the sea might need to be restricted.

Scientists from Spain and Britain have uncovered the first evidence that cetaceans suffer from the formation of nitrogen bubbles in their vital organs. This is a classic symptom of the decompression sickness suffered by divers who surface too quickly, and can be fatal.

Lesion... [More]

New "bumpy" jelly found in deep sea

February 2004 - MOSS LANDING—Wart-like bumps of stinging cells cover the feeding arms and bell of a newly described deep-sea jelly, published by MBARI biologists in this month’s issue of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. This softball-sized, translucent jelly moves through the water like a shooting star, trailing four fleshy oral arms—but no tentacles—behind it. This and other unique features resulted in the jelly's categorization as ... [More]

New evidence points to pollution as main cause of much coral reef destruction

Feb-2004 - Scientists agree that coral reefs are in an alarming global state of decline. However, determining the main cause or causes of this decline has proven a much more contentious issue. In the current edition of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (JEMBE), Harbor Branch marine scientist Dr. Brian Lapointe and colleagues present new evidence they hope will help settle one major debate: whether pollution or overfishing is the main cause of the coral-smothering spread of s... [More]

New giant squid predator found

January, 2004 - A little known shark that lives in waters off Antarctica is only the second creature known to science that hunts giant squid for food.

Sleeper sharks even appear to target the biggest species of large squid - the colossal squid, which is about double the size of the shark.

The huge sperm whale was previously the only animal thought to rely on giant and colossal squid for food.

Details of the study are featured in the journal Deep Sea Research.
[More]

New plan for Great Barrier Reef a stunning achievement

03 Dec 2003 - Sydney, Australia - Australia's Federal Parliament today tabled a plan to protect more than 11 million hectares of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park — creating the largest network of marine sanctuaries on Earth. The plan comes after three years of campaigning by WWF, and will raise protection of the Great Barrier Reef from 4.6 per cent to more than 33 per cent. The Great Barrier Reef, which is larger than the entire area of the UK and Ireland combined, comprises over 2,900 r... [More]

New radioactivity limit could sink shellfish

October 2004, NewScientist.com - Thousands of tonnes of British shellfish currently eaten in Europe could be banned under new international safety limits for radioactivity in food, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned.

Lobsters, cockles and scallops from the north west of England and the south west of Scotland are so contaminated with plutonium from the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria that they will breach limits due to be introduced by the United Nations in 2005.
... [More]

Noxious undersea eruptions killing billions of fish

February 2004 - Exclusive from New Scientist

Undersea eruptions of noxious hydrogen sulphide are having a major impact on one of the world's richest fisheries. Satellite images show that toxic eruptions off the coast of Namibia are more frequent and widespread than anyone realised.

The world's most productive fisheries are found in upwelling regions of ocean, where wind-driven currents fertilise surface waters with nutrients from the deep. The Benguela upwelling along Namib... [More]

Observed Impacts of Climate Change in the United States

Observed Impacts of Global Climate Change in the U.S.

Prepared by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
November 2004.

By: Camille Parmesan, The University of Texas at Austin
Hector Galbraith, University of Colorado-Boulder and Galbraith Environmental Sciences

Press Release

Download Report (pdf)

Pollution 'changes sex of fish'

July, 2004 - A third of male fish in British rivers are in the process of changing sex due to pollution in human sewage, research by the Environment Agency suggests.

A survey of 1,500 fish at 50 river sites found more than a third of males displayed female characteristics.

Hormones in the sewage, including those produced by the female contraceptive pill, are thought to be the main cause.

The agency says the problem could damage fish populations by reducing their ... [More]

Predatory fish health warning

May, 2002 - Women and children have been advised against eating shark, swordfish and marlin.

The Food Standards Agency is advising that pregnant women, women who intend to become pregnant, infants and children under 16 to avoid the fish.

Officials said the advice was precautionary and follows a survey, which found high levels of mercury in those fish.

Mercury can harm the nervous system of an unborn child if the fish is eaten regularly by its mother.

I... [More]

Total: 79 Displaying: 26 - 50 Pages: < 1 2 3 4 >