State of the Oceans — Log 96
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
This image by Ollie Clarke, from a Parley Indonesia cleanup. Header image by Tim Sheerman Chase.
A SURGE IN DRIFT NETS
Stretching up to 30 miles long and 160 feet deep, drift nets are typically made of fine mesh suspended from buoys across fish migration paths. They were banned in international waters by the UN in 1992 for any length above 1.5 miles, due to the high bycatch rates for species of dolphins, whales, sharks and sea turtles. But authorities say the use of these illegal drift nets, sometimes dubbed “walls of death” due to their deadly impact on marine life, has surged. Figures show the Italian coastguard alone has seized 62 miles of drift nets so far in 2020, compared to just 37 miles km in all of 2017, and experts say those numbers are likely to be a major underestimate.
PLASTIC MARINE POLLUTION
There may be at least ten times more plastic in the Atlantic Ocean than previously thought, according to new research. The mass of 'invisible' microplastics found in the upper waters of the Atlantic was approximately 12-21 million tonnes. Significantly, this figure is only for three of the most common types of plastic litter in a limited size range – but is comparable in magnitude to estimates of all plastic waste that has entered the Atlantic over the past 65 years. This suggests that the supply of plastic to the ocean have been very substantially underestimated.
PLASTICS AND HEALTH
Microplastic and nanoplastic particles are now discoverable in human organs thanks to a new technique. It’s important to note researchers haven’t found them yet, but they now expect to find plastic particles in human organs and have identified chemical traces of plastic in tissue. Meanwhile, a huge fire at a plastics plant in Texas this week comes as another reminder of the health impacts of the plastic industry. Officials urged local residents to stay indoors because of the dark, toxic plume of smoke rising from the massive fire.
MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP
Scientists have discovered 31 new marine species in the Galapagos Archipelago, it was announced this week. Ten new species of bamboo corals and four species of octocorals – which has eight symmetrical colonial polyps – were found in the deep waters off the islands. Along with sea stars and sponges, the team also found four new species of squat-lobsters. Closely related to hermit crabs, they lack shells on their back and have sharp claws to defend themselves from predators. In a separate study, researchers discovered a massive 'Darth Vader' sea bug in the ocean near Indonesia. The newly described species is one of the biggest isopods known to science, and is nicknamed for its sinister appearance.
GLOBAL HEATING
The world recorded another grim climate record this week, with a new hottest ever reliable temperature measurement in Death Valley, California. At 3:41 p.m. last Sunday, conditions at the aptly named Furnace Creek reached 130° Fahrenheit – 54° Celsius. If verified by climate scientists, a process that could take months, it would be the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth. It comes amid a devastating fire season elsewhere in the US state, which has seen an unprecedented lightning siege and even spawned firenadoes. Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes were documented during a 72-hour stretch this week in the heaviest spate of thunderstorms to hit California in more than a decade, igniting 367 individual fires.
… and the return of sea turtles
With resorts on the Thai island of Koh Samui, largely deserted, 838 baby sea turtles have scuttled across its beach since February,
making this a record year.
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