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An interesting study, and as suggested by one of the scientists involved, the implications/findings are also "horrifying."
Plastic Is Falling From the Sky. But Where’s It Coming From?
www.wired.com
At any given time, 1,100 tons of microplastic are floating over the western US. New modeling shows the surprising sources of the nefarious pollutant.
Good news for orcas and other marine life.
Cascadia Weekly: Court pauses Cherry Point refinery expansion
www.cascadiaweekly.com
Northwest Washington's Weekly Newspaper. Covering Bellingham, Whatcom County and Skagit County news, politics, music, film, and arts; movie times, club calendars, restaurant listings
Strange...hopefully this has a happy ending.
'The most bizarre thing I'd ever seen': Vancouver Island man spots sea lion along logging road
vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
A Vancouver Island man had a surprising encounter with a sea lion along a logging road kilometres away from the nearest coastline.
This short video on saving Pacific herring (i.e., restoring and demonstrating against DFO's mismanagement) aired on The National last night.
The fight to boost the Pacific herring population
youtube.com
The Pacific herring population has been dwindling for years. Efforts are underway to bring back the fish stocks, which are vital to the regional ecosystem an...
They shouldn't be allowed to transfer to/restock farms.
Salmon farms win court victory — but the battle’s not over yet
www.nationalobserver.com
A Federal Court judge has ruled in favour of Mowi Canada West and Saltstream, which challenged Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan’s policy decision to ban the restocking of pen sites in the Discovery Islands ahead of the June 2022 fish farm phaseout.
Great graphic...Herring are worth more in the water than in nets. Herring are most valuable to British Columbia as the foundation of the coastal ecosystem and herring contribute more to British Columbia’s economy by feeding other species than by being caught and processed. ![]()
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Better management of herring populations is an investment in the B.C. economy. Many of the fish species that eat herring sustain coastal economies through enabling commercial and sport fisheries. In 2016, the B.C. sport fishing industry employed 9,000 people and generated approximately $1.1 billion in gross revenue. Further, the whale populations that rely on herring, like humpbacks and orcas, draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to B.C. Marine-based recreation contributes over $4.3 billion to B.C.’s economy annually (2014). Meanwhile, the herring fishery generated approximately $19 million in 2019.![]()
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Revenue generated by B.C.’s commercial salmon fishery decreased by more than $44 million from 2016 to 2019. This indicates that salmon populations are not what they once were, either. By protecting herring—Chinook salmon’s primary food source—we are also supporting salmon populations.![]()
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Photo by Kali Wexler![]()
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Sources: ![]()
~ Fisheries and Oceans Canada![]()
~ BC Ministry of Agriculture![]()
~ David Suzuki Foundation
Canada's herring facing ‘biological decimation’, say First Nations and activists
www.theguardian.com
Herring off western coast will ‘teeter on edge of complete collapse’ if commercial fishing continues at current level, says report
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
Nice to see some signs of hope given the decimation of so many starfish species. A virus was suspected, although more recent research suggests that higher organic matter due to ocean conditions increases microbial activity, which in turn depletes oxygen in the water and this causes respiratory distress and ultimately death in starfish. Climate change may exacerbate the problem as the microbes thrive in warm waters with high nutrients and warm water also holds less oxygen. The researchers involved in this study don't think they have all of the answers yet, but are looking at the problem differently now.![]()
www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=301954&org=NSF&from=news#:~:text=As%20bacteria%20co.... ![]()
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www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.610009/full
Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease
www.frontiersin.org
Sea star wasting (SSW) disease describes a condition affecting asteroids that resulted in significant Northeastern Pacific population decline following a mass mortality event in 2013. The etiology of SSW is unresolved. We hypothesized that SSW is a sequela of microbial organic matter remineralizatio...
Seagrass meadows have tremendous biodiversity value and are also commonly believed to mitigate ocean acidification due to their high productivity and organic carbon. More research is needed to understand the full magnitude and timescale of potential buffering effects. In the case of the California coast, an extensive study involving seven seagrasses over six years found that to varying degrees and with seasonal differences, the seagrasses studied did indeed provide buffering capacity. One counterintuitive finding is that they even did so at night when there is no photosynthesis and the plants are respiring.
Seagrasses turn back the clock on ocean acidification
yubanet.com
March 31, 2021 – Spanning six years and seven seagrass meadows along the California coast, a paper from the University of California, Davis, is the most extensive study yet of how seagrasses ...
Here's another article on heron predation on juvenile salmon. The lead author suggests: "This predation could benefit salmon stocks by weeding out the weak and allowing for less competition and higher growth among other fish in these critical juvenile life stages."
Scientists identify major predator of juvenile B.C. salmon
www.theweathernetwork.com
Pacific great blue herons may make off with three to six per cent of juvenile salmon each year, but the researchers say that's not necessarily a bad thing.
On top of the potential impacts on the Salish Sea, it makes no sense to build for a future we do not want and must not create. Canada has some decent climate policy in place - we just need to ratchet up the ambition so the transition happens more quickly. The rate of transition matters because the longer we delay, the more long lived carbon pollution accumulates in the atmosphere.
Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will lead to $11.9B in losses for Canada, study says | CBC News
www.cbc.ca
A new study from researchers in B.C. estimates that Canada will lose $11.9 billion because of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
A good article. The challenge is convincing people to remove these structures.
Apparently there are some orcas hunting around the south end of Denman on the Baynes Sound side.
bit.ly
A ground-breaking scientific study from 26 international experts offering the most comprehensive assessment to date of where to ramp up strict ocean protection to increase seafood security, curb biodiversity loss, and provide a cost effective solution to climate change, as well as economic benefits.
It's certainly my experience, although it applies to much more than just species of birds. Imagine living in a world without our more than human kin. Of course, we humans are part of the web of life too and as Aldo Leopold said so well many years ago in reference to our impact on other species: “The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”
www.sciencedaily.com
A high biodiversity in our vicinity is as important for life satisfaction as our income, scientists found. All across Europe, the individual enjoyment of life correlates with the number of surrounding bird species. An additional 10% of bird species therefore increases the Europeans' life satisfactio...
It's a kelp forest themed morning. This is an interesting article on the use of gravel in kelp forest restoration after 'The Blob' marine heat wave. Unfortunately, the trend is not promising as the number of moderate to extreme marine heat waves has been growing since the 1980s.
Scientists use gravel to help regrow kelp forests after “The Blob”
www.theweathernetwork.com
A marine heat wave from 2013 to 2016 caused the deaths of many kelp forests, so scientists are exploring how gravel can be used to regrow this aquatic species.
Kelp forests change over time. Ocean conditions, predation pressures, large storms—these can all affect how much kelp we see from year to year. Tracking this change is key to understanding how kelp is doing across the massive BC coastline, and satellites are a key tool scientists use to track trends.![]()
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Landsat satellites have been taking pictures of the BC coast every 16 days since 1984, and capturing a lot of potential photos of kelp forests in the process. But even when cloudy days (the nemesis of coastal mapping) are filtered out, 35+ years of data is still too much to handle.![]()
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That’s where the Google Earth Engine Kelp (GEEK) Tool comes in. It helps narrow this huge amount of data down to the most useful photos. To see it in action, check out the GEEK Tool ArcGIS StoryMap created by Hakai geospatial scientists Luba Reshitnyk and Will McInnes:![]()
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storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f29e19c6b23a4227a5eca87edb61ea97![]()
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The scientists who developed this newly-launched tool are looking for feedback to make it even better, and you can help! Local historical knowledge helps refine the GEEK tool’s algorithm.![]()
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So where are the BIGGEST kelp forests—either giant or bull kelp—you’ve seen in British Columbia? When did you see them? Send your comments to data@hakai.org.![]()
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📷 : Markus Thompson