DEMA WORKS WITH FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION (FWC) TO PLACE FAIR LICENSURE LANGUAGE IN FLORIDA BILL
Culmination of Effort That Began Last Year Clarifies Responsibility and Ensures Options for Divers and Dive Operators in Fishing and Lobster Licensing Law Following months of close collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), DEMA has succeeded in placing language regarding the licensure of dive charter vessels in Florida House Bill 7025. This Bill amends a previous law which would have forced dive charter operators to purchase a fishing and lobster license … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Boats, Conservation, Diver, Earth, Featured, ocean, Open Water, Reefs, Reference, Report
Underwater World Offshore Jacksonville Florida Event
Thursday March 29th, 2012 @ 7PM Intuition Ale Works 720 King Street, Jacksonville, Fl. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Conservation, Diver, Earth, Events, Featured, ocean, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report, Volunteer
Shark fin soup to blame for blue shark decline
by Tamera Jones hey discovered that the sharks feed in exactly the same places in the ocean that long-line fishing boats operate, which means they get caught along with other target fish. The researchers add that such regions are ideal places to implement so-called marine protected areas, where fishing is banned, to safeguard blue sharks and other vulnerable species. ‘These sharks aren’t simply by-catch; we think along with mako sharks they’re being targeted for the shark fin market … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Earth, Featured, Fish, ocean, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report, Sharks
Amazon.com Confirms New Policy to Ban Sale of Whale and Dolphin Products
On March 2, 2012, Divetalking posted Petition Amazon To Ban the sale of Whale/Dolphin Today, Internet giant Amazon.com has now officially banned the sale of all whale and dolphin products from its wholly owned Japanese website, following global outrage that these products were offered for sale. Amazon confirmed the prohibition on its main website by adding language under the Food and Beverage section that prohibits “Products containing shark, whale, or dolphin” and Amazon’s Japanese website contains a similar ban on selling whale and dolphin products. The Environmental Investigation Agency and Humane Society International revealed last month that Amazon Japan not only sold products from endangered and protected whale species, but also products containing dangerous levels of mercury. In response, Amazon withdrew all whale products from Amazon Japan within 24 hours, but declined to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Earth, Events, Featured, ocean, Reference, Report, Rescue, Whales
Oceans Turning Acidic Faster than Past 300 Million Years
By Wynne Parry | LiveScience.com The oceans are becoming more acidic faster than they have in the past 300 million years, a period that includes four mass extinctions, researchers have found. Then, as is happening now, increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warmed the planet and made the oceans more acidic. These changes are associated with major shifts in climate and mass extinctions. But while past increases in the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide levels resulted from volcanoes and other natural causes, today that spike is due to human activities, the scientists note. “What we’re doing today really stands out,” lead researcher Bärbel Hönisch, a paleoceanographer atColumbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said in a news release. “We know that life during past ocean acidification events was not wiped out — new species evolved to replace those that died off. But if industrial carbon emissions continue at the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Earth, ocean, Reference, Report
Petition Amazon To Ban the sale of Whale/Dolphin
Last week, public outcry forced Amazon.com to pull over one hundred whale and dolphin meat products from its Japanese site. Consumers were outraged that the world’s largest online retailer supported the killing of whales and dolphins — and Amazon.com listened. But now, Amazon.com is refusing to put a permanent ban in place to protect these animals in the future. Melissa Sehgal, an Amazon.com customer, is in Taiji, Japan — the site of an annual dolphin hunt that was exposed in the documentary The Cove. Every day she is witnessing how dolphins are captured and killed, and she wants Amazon.com to help stop it. That’s why Melissa started a petition calling on Amazon to never again sell meat from dolphins and whales. Click here to sign Melissa’s petition asking Amazon.com to permanently ban whale, dolphin, and porpoise meat … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Dolphin, Events, Featured, ocean, Promotions, Report, Rescue, Whales
See the 90-Mile-Wide Storm Brewing Underwater
by Liz Klimas What we may call a huge underwater vortex, scientists call an eddy — and a satellite spotted a huge one off the coast of Africa just before the new year. New Scientist reports that NASA’s Terra satellite caught the 90-mile-wide, blue, swirling mass in late December and NASA released the photos last week. But there is and was no need to worry, even though its size rivals that of many a tropical storm. New Scientist states that unlike above water cyclones, eddies actually create a nutritious, underwater haven: […] these ocean whirlwinds draw nutrients up from the deep, nourishing blooms of microscopic marine life in the otherwise barren open ocean. In fact, it’s the life — mostly plankton — inside this eddy that is giving it this bright blue color. The Daily … Read entire article »
Underwater ‘Seaview’ lets you explore coral reef
February 2012 by Paul Marks An underwater variant of the Google Street View service will from today begin giving web users an unprecedented photographic tour of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – and another reef in Bermuda will soon be getting similar treatment. Called the Catlin Seaview Survey, the project is a joint venture between Google, the University of Queensland and their sponsor, a multinational insurance firm called the Catlin Group. Part science project and part public outreach, the aim is to learn as much as possible about the reef’s state of health from a panoramic underwater photographic and video survey – and let the rest of us enjoy the reef’s untrammelled beauty online. “For the first time in history, we have the technology available to broadcast the findings of an expedition through Google. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Boats, Earth, ocean, Open Water, Photography, Reference, Report
Inshore reefs next for city artificial reef program
by Joe Wilhelm Jr., Staff Writer The City’s Waterways Commission was updated on the progress of the City’s Artificial Reef program Wednesday and learned of efforts to develop in-shore reefs. Dana Morton, City Aquatic Biologist and Artificial Reef Coordinator, was joined by City Planner Jody McDaniel in presenting an update requested by the commission City Waterways Coordinator Jim Suber also helps coordinate the program’s efforts. “Artificial and natural reefs are public resources that provide recreation benefits and income to local economies,” said McDaniel. “Fishing is a multibillion dollar industry in Florida and its estimated economic impact is $5.4 billion and 54,000 jobs associated with the fishing industry,” she said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission administers a state artificial reef program created by the Florida Legislature in 1982. The program provides financial and technical assistance … Read entire article »
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Dolphin strandings in Mass
WELLFLEET, Mass (AP) — There’s no good spot on Cape Cod for dolphins to continue this winter’s massive and unexplained beachings, but a group of 11 has chosen one of the worst. The remote inlet down Wellfleet’s Herring River is a place where the tides recede fast and far, and that’s left the animals mired in a grayish-brown mud one local calls “Wellfleet mayonnaise.” Walking is the only way to reach the animals, but it’s not easy. Rescuers crunch through cord grass and seashells before hitting a grabby muck that releases a footstep only after a sucking pop. One volunteer hits a thigh-deep “hole” and tumbles forward. The mud covers his face like messy war paint the rest of the morning. Rescuers make a quick assessment once they reach the animals. One dolphin is … Read entire article »
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Diver Rescues Killer Whale
A scuba diver in New Zealand diver has rescued an orca, commonly known as a killer whale, he found trapped in a fisherman’s rope. New Zealand media report the whale had become entangled in a rope attached to a crayfish trap off the coast of Coromandel Peninsula. Diver Rhys Cochrane said the whale did not seem to mind when he swam down to cut the rope and said it swam away quickly once it was freed. He said several other whales had watched from a distance. New Zealand orca expert Ingrid Visser watched the video Cochrane had taken of the experience. She said whales are smart enough to know when you are trying to help them. Visser said she could see bite marks on the whale, indicating other whales had tried to free it. Visser … Read entire article »
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Our Living Ocean
Did you know these facts about our oceans? How important is our oceans to you? Please share the knowledge that our oceans are under our care. It is up to you and you to stand up for what is yours and yours. That we, the citizen of this planet are all responsible for the stewardship of this one and only planet that supports our life. … Read entire article »
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