State of the Oceans — Log 95
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
This image by the NOAA. Header image by Agustin Lautaro.
GLOBAL HEATING
Two weeks after a Canadian ice sheet larger than Manhattan fell into the sea, experts have announced that the vast Greenland Ice Sheet has passed the point of no return. Even if emissions and global heating were to stop today, the country’s ice sheet would continue to shrink. The finding comes from a new study that examined over 40 years of satellite data.
“What we've found is that the ice that's discharging into the ocean is far surpassing the snow that's accumulating on the surface of the ice sheet,” said the lead author. As for the South Pole, scientists just published a paper that demonstrates 4 trillion tons of Antarctic ice have melted since the mid-1990s. This trend adds to sea level rise, but it could also warm and disrupt ocean currents: “People talk about how increased ice shelf melt can lead to more discharge of grounded ice and sea-level rise, but the immediate influence of ice shelves on the ocean is also very important.”
OIL SPILL
The Japanese cargo ship that ran aground off the island nation Mauritius split apart over the weekend, threatening to spread further devastation following the 1000+ tons of fuel it has already spilled into the marine ecosystem. The mess so far is larger than all of 2019’s oil spills combined, but the majority of the oil on board has now been removed. The Mauritian government said Thursday that while most of the oil that remained in the MV Wakashio had been pumped, around 166 metric tons of fuel were still inside the bulk carrier and authorities were working to remove it. Meanwhile on shore, hundreds of volunteers have donned gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment and plunged neck-deep into the oil, cleaning the mangroves and ocean as best they could. Thousands of species around the pristine lagoons of Blue Bay, Pointe d’Esny and Mahebourg are at risk, and schools have been forced to close given the toxic fumes.
DEEP SEA MINING
The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has written an opinion piece in Scientific American, claiming that the oceans can be mined sustainably and that harvesting resources from the deep is necessary to tackle climate change. He argues that a renewable, low-carbon economy will need a 500% increase in lithium and cobalt to make batteries and that the seabed holds a significant portion of those metals. He goes on to assure readers that over 25 years of research has gone into the ISA’s forthcoming Mining Code. However, there is still a lot we do not know about seafloor mining and the deep ocean ecosystem. Recently, a new paper warned that noise pollution and sediment plumes from deep sea mining could disrupt the midwater zone (200-5,000 meters), which holds 90% of life on Earth. And just this week, another paper found “underestimates of mining footprints and a poor understanding of deep-sea ecosystems.”
CONSERVATION
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has partnered with the Peruvian government to help establish multiple protected areas off the country’s 1,500 mile coastline. Peru’s waters are home to 60 shark species, 30 different marine mammals, and the world’s largest anchovy population. But despite this richness, less than 0.5% of the country’s marine habitat is currently protected. “Sea Shepherd is proud to support the initiative of the government of Peru to bring more of its sovereign waters under conservation protections while also recognizing the importance of getting eyes on the water – both to properly assess threats to biodiversity and to deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing,” said Sea Shepherd’s Campaigns Director. “We are excited for our ship and crew to work with world-class scientists, under the direction of the government of Peru, on the front line of marine conservation.”
SHARKS
Troubling news for sharks this week – first, a new study shows that sharks in the North Atlantic could be ingesting high amounts of microplastics. The study, which took samples from four bottom-dwelling species, found that 31 out of 46 sharks (that’s 67%) had swallowed plastic pollution. It’s believed that the sharks ingested plastics in sediment or inside of their crustacean prey. Both possibilities suggest that plastics are ubiquitous in this ecosystem. Next, a fishing fleet continues to threaten endangered sharks just outside marine reserves in the Galapagos. In response, experts are advocating for increased protections. “First of all, we need to expand our marine reserve,” said a biology professor from the Unversidad san Francisco de Quito. “But we also need to play a more prominent role in the development of the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction agreement currently underway.”
… and is it time to start taxing plastic?
More than a billion tons of plastic could enter the environment in the next 20 years. It's past time, advocates say, to put a tax on single-use plastic.
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