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Adopt A Nest

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 26, 2010

By Sea Turtle Restoration Project, seaturtles.org

Make a Difference Today
 
 

ORDER NOW!  

You can become a steward of the environment by adopting a nest of sea turtle hatchlings! The Adopt A Nest Program is tax deductible, and makes a wonderful gift or classroom project. 

$45 for addresses within the U.S., $55 outside the U.S.

When you adopt a nest of sea turtle hatchlings, you will receive:
 

  • Personalized certificate of adoption
  • Fascinating facts about the turtles
  • A color photograph of hatchlings emerging from their nest
  • A one-year membership in the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (includes our newsletter Viva La Tortuga!, a bumper sticker and action alerts)

By adopting a nest of baby turtles, you will be helping protect a species that has existed since before the dinosaurs. Adoption funds support sea turtle conservation work, including:
 

  • Projects to protect sea turtle nesting beaches
  • Efforts to ensure that sea turtles are not needlessly caught and drowned in industrial fishing lines and nets
  • International programs to teach local communities about sea turtle conservation.

To order by credit card:
Click here to Adopt A Nest online. You may also mail us your credit card information or call us at 415-663-8590.
We are open Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00 Pacific time.
 
 

To order by check:
Send a check for $45.00 U.S. (
$55 for non-U.S. addresses) to: 

STRP/Adopt A Nest
P O Box 370
Forest Knolls CA 94933-0400

 

Please include:
 

  1. The recipient’s name exactly as you wish it to appear on the adoption certificate.

  2. If this is a gift, please write the name of the giver as you want it to appear on the gift note. You may include a short message if you like.

  3. The delivery address where you wish the Adopt A Nest to be sent.

Please allow up to three weeks to receive your Adopt A Nest (two weeks for processing, and up to one week for First Class U.S mail).
 

Deadly Bacteria Lurking in Warm U.S. Waters

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 26, 2010

By Salvatore Cardoni, takepart.com

There’s a predator in Florida’s warm waters. No, it’s not a BP tar ball or even a man-eating shark, though it is a killer. Meet Vibrio vulnificus—the deadly bacteria that has sickened 138 and killed 31 people since 2005.

The little-known virus predominantly infects the “open wounds of beachgoers and incites a life-threatening illness in those with weakened immune systems,” reports the Miami Herald.

“The high mortality rate makes it a big deal,” Juan A. Suarez, a regional environmental epidemiologist for Florida Department of Health, told the Herald.

Click here for full article 

New Plan Aims to Protect False Killer Whales from Tuna and Swordfish Longliners in Hawaii

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 22, 2010

By Sea Turtle Restoration Project, seaturtles.org

A plan to protect endangered false killer whales from being killed or injured in the Hawai‘ian longline fishery for tuna and swordfish calls for modifications in fishing gear, no-fishing areas, more observers on fishing vessels and a number of voluntary crew training measures. The Take Reduction Plan resulted from litigation by Turtle Island Restoration Network and conservation partners that forced National Marine Fisheries Service to protect the whales as required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. [See previous press release and links to litigation.] A public comment period on the plan will be opened soon.

Each year, the Hawai‘i-based longline fleet hooks and entangles as many as 10 or more false killer whales, resulting in serious injury or death through drowning. National Marine Fisheries Services studies show that, for nearly a decade, the Hawai‘i longline fishery has been killing Hawai‘i’s false killer whales at rates far beyond what the population – which currently numbers only about 500 – can sustain. The current plan allows for 2.5 interactions with fishing gear per year.

Under the Take Reduction Plan released July 19, 2010:

Circle hooks will be required for the tuna fleet

Testing of “weak hooks” that break away if a whale is hooked

Closure of an area north of the Main Hawai‘ian Islands to longline fishing year round where take levels were high (both tuna and swordfish fisheries)and a conditional closure of much of the southern half of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone around Hawai‘i to deep-set longlining for tuna if overall take rate doesn’t go down. 

 Read more at the NMFS Protected Resources site.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/interactions/trt/falsekillerwhale.htm

Deep-Sea Mining: Good, Bad or Really Ugly?

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 22, 2010

By Jon Bowermaster, Takepart.com

If you think the long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon explosion is going to be harmful on countless fronts, wait until the ocean floor is harvested for copper, nickel, gold, silver, cobalt and other minerals a mile below the surface. 

If the Chinese have their way, that’s just what is about to happen in international waters in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Papua, New Guinea.

So-called “deep-sea mining” was first proposed as far back as the mid-1960s, in a book called Mineral Resources of the Seas by J.L. Mero. He described the potential as “limitless.”

Click here for full article

Calling on Divers to Help Protect Sharks, Mantas and Mobulas in Raja Ampat!

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 22, 2010

By Shark Savers, sharksavers.org

Raja Ampat in Eastern Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse ocean environments on earth, but its shark populations have been ravaged and its manta populations are now under siege. 

 Shark Savers is working with the Misool Eco Resort, Conservation International’s Indonesia Marine Program, WildAid, and other NGOs and ecotourism companies on a proposal to the Raja Ampat government to prohibit all fishing of sharks, mantas, and mobulas.  

 A key element of this proposal is a petition to demonstrate to the Raja Ampat government that these animals are very valuable to their local economy — ALIVE!  

 

The proposal will be presented the first week of August, so now is the time to show your support!

 Why is this petition important?

  • Worldwide, sharks are disappearing due to the demand for their fins. 
  •  Raja Ampat’s sharks have been plundered – mainly by outsiders.  
  •  Sharks, as apex predators, are necessary to keep fish stocks and corals healthy. 
  •  Sharks and mantas reproduce very slowing cannot recover from heavy fishing. If they are not protected now, they can disappear forever.
  •  Healthy shark and manta populations will result in increased tourism revenue for the people of Raja Ampat. 

 

This petition can demonstrate the intense international appeal of protecting sharks, especially among people like us who are the shark enthusiasts, divers, and eco-tourists most likely to travel to Raja Ampat.

 Link to sign the petition here:

 http://www.sharksavers.org/en/get-involved/sign-these-petitions/664-petition-to-protect-sharks-in-raja-ampat.html

 Please sign and share before the end of July!

 Who is Shark Savers?

Shark Savers is an organization started by divers (the majority of whom are SDG’s!).  As divers we feel a strong connection with the ocean and its inhabitants.  We have seen the breathtaking beauty and the heartbreaking destruction.  And we want to do something to make a difference.  

 Shark Savers goal is simple: to save sharks. Our objectives are to:

  • Reduce the demand for shark fin soup using media and grassroots campaigns.
  • Serve as the “voice of sharks” by showing people the importance of sharks and their conservation, and counter the negative myths about sharks.
  • Help to establish and support more areas where sharks are protected– “Shark Sanctuaries” — that are enforced and that benefit the local people.

Global Warming a Triple Whammy for Sea Turtles

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 20, 2010

By Sea Turtle Restoration Project

We are all starting to feel the effects of global warming with increased hurricanes in the South, heat waves in the West and just more intense and crazier weather patterns around the globe.  Due to the unique natural history of sea turtles, the impacts of global warming are likely to deliver a triple whammy that will be devastating- unless we act quickly. See our report on sea turtles and climate change, Boiling Point.

Where Will Sea Turtles Nest? 

Sea turtles “imprint” on the sandy beach where they hatch and return to that site decades later to repeat their ancient nesting ritual.  With melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels, these beaches are starting to disappear. The direct impacts of sea level rise include loss of beaches, ecologically productive wetlands and barrier islands. Will turtles be able to adapt to rapidly rising tides?  Genetic studies of sea turtle colonies suggests the answer is no; it may take 10,000 years for new turtle nesting sites to become established.

Where Have All the Male Hatchlings Gone? 

The gender of a sea turtle is determined by the temperature at which the egg incubates. Increasing nest temperatures could result in all female sea turtles, which in and of itself, would cause the extinction of all the species.

What About Increasing Ocean Temperatures?

Global warming will also increase water temperatures, changing ocean currents that are critical to migrating turtles, especially baby hatchlings that are mostly transported by the currents into the open ocean thousands of miles from their nesting sites.  Warming ocean temperatures are also likely to negatively impact the food resources for sea turtles and virtually all marine species.

What Can We all Do? 

On an individual level, many things: reduce, reuse and re-cycle (or better yet pre-cycle).  Simple things include insulating our homes, purchasing energy efficient “Star Saver” and compact fluorescent devices , and generally reducing our consumption of natural resources (most of which are produced and transported  by burning fossil fuels).  Even reducing water use is helpful, as municipal water districts are major users of energy. Planting native trees in strategic locations around your home also helps, the shade the trees cast can reduce your energy consumption.  Trees store carbon during photosynthesis and a single tree can remove 50 pounds of carbon in a year. Native trees are adapted to your local environment and will require less watering.

We must also push our national, state and local government officals to create policies that require reduction of greenhouse gasses and to promote and adhere to international protocols now in place.

How is the Sea Turtle Restoration Project doing its part?

  • We will continue to educate and empower our members to take action, whether it’s local or international.
  • We will continue to work in coalition and support other NGOs that focus on global warming issues.
  • We will continue to work toward being “carbon neutral” by mitigating our energy use through  plantings and protection of thousands of native trees.  We accomplish this through our sister program, SPAWN, which works to protect endangered salmon and re-create native forests by propagating and planting local native trees along salmon stream banks in California.


The most important and fundamental lesson of ecology is  “all things are connected.”  The survival of humans and sea turtles are intricately interwoven in the need to have functioning and healthy ecosystems. 
This means clean water and air, sane fishing policies that do not eliminate marine biodiversity (especially top predator marine species) and recognizing that there are limits to growth.  As we all work toward these goals, we can create an Earth that will support current and future generations of humans and turtles.

Scientists Part the Red Sea, Find Climate Change Is Killing Coral Reefs

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 20, 2010

By Salvatore Cardoni, Takepart.com 

Scientists have parted the Red Sea—and they don’t like what they’ve found.

Using CT scans, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have discovered that global warming is slowly eroding one of the Red Sea’s most prized underwater beauties—coral reefs.

In simple terms, carbon dioxide-induced surface temperatures have warmed the waters of the Red Sea, slowing the growth of its coral by 30 percent over the last 10 years.

 “The warming in the Red Sea and the resultant decline in the health of this coral is a clear regional impact of global warming,” said Neal E. Cantin, a co-lead researcher on the project, in a press release.

Click here for full article

Dolphin Hospital Treats Marine Animals at Cetacean Rehab

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 20, 2010

By Ben Murray, Takepart.com

Call it the dolphin ER.

Situated in the middle of the Pacific on the big island of Hawaii, with a tank full of water and a group of trained staff members on call, the Hawaii Cetacean Rehabilitation Facility is a new health center that specializes in ocean-going species. 

Cetaceans—that is, dolphins, whales and porpoises of all types—live in abundance in the waters around the Hawaiian islands. Sometimes when they get sick, injured, or just plain confused, they end up on local shores, stranded and in trouble.

Click here for full article

Shark Slaughter Caught on Graphic Video

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 20, 2010

By Ben Murray, Takepart.com

The horrors of the wasteful practice of shark finning (cutting off the fins of sharks to use for soup) are well-documented and oft-condemned.

New images from a Japanese fish dock may reignite furor against the habit.

Two London newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Sun, on Tuesday posted shocking images they say are from a Japanese fish factory, which show thousands of shark carcases being finned and hauled away in vast piles.

The photos and images document heaps of shark bodies being sliced and processed on the dock, sometimes in pools of blood.

Click here for full article

Conservation Plane to Fly Over Gulf Shrimp Boats to Watch for Sea Turtles

Posted By Scuba Diver Girl Anna on July 13, 2010

By Sea Turtle Restoration Project

Contact:    Carole Allen, Gulf Director, 281-444-0564, Carole@seaturtles.org
Chris Pincetich, Campaigner and marine biologist, 530-220-3687 chris@seaturtles.org

Shrimp season opening in Texas on July 15 – Enforcement of Turtle Excluder Devices in shrimp boats critical to protecting Kemp’s ridleys from capture

Galveston, Texas   Sea Turtle Restoration Project has announced that a LightHawk plane will be flying over the shrimp fleet along the Texas coast for several days this week with observers and photographers aboard.  Large numbers of shrimp boats from eastern Gulf states are anticipated to enter Texas waters since the BP oil spill has caused closures in their home waters. This could result in a spike of sea turtles being captured and drowned in shrimp nets if Turtle Excluder Devices are not used properly.

The annual Texas/federal shrimping closure will end Thursday evening, July 15, at sundown.  The annual closure begins in May and allows shrimp to grow to a more profitable size.

“ Mike Ray of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Coastal Division has assured us that there will be a strong law enforcement presence from the state, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Coast Guard,” said Carole Allen, Gulf Office Director of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.  “The LightHawk flights will enable us to gather information about shrimp boats in Texas waters as well as the number of law enforcement boarding shrimp boats and any presence of oil.”

LightHawk is a volunteer-based aviation organization with more than 100 volunteer pilots flying various missions in North and Central America.  Their pilots have been taking conservationists over the BP oil spill for several weeks.  

“Endangered Kemp’s ridleys are in the oil spill which may be headed to Texas soon;”  Allen said.  “They don’t need threats from shrimpers not using Turtle Excluder Devices or not using them properly.”

Early last week, the Sea Turtle Restoration Project used a volunteer pilot from On Wings of Care to fly over the massive oil slick offshore of Louisiana. The flight over Texas will also search for any signs of approaching oil. Dr. Chris Pincetich,  marine biologist and toxicologist, was on the previous flight and will be part of the Texas fly over this week.

“What we saw from the air was very different from what agency predictions are currently reporting. Hurricane Alex dispersed much of the oil slick into the water column and pushed it west towards Texas” says Pincetich.

The LightHawk project will remain in Galveston over the weekend to work with other non-profit groups monitoring habitat restoration and looking for the leading edge or any evidence of the massive BP oil spill in order to plan for its arrival.