A beautiful cluster of deep-sea coral, byozoans, anenome and other delicate life below 1,000 feet in the Bering Sea’s Pribilof Canyon

Yesterday I received wonderful news from colleague and friend, John Hocevar at Greenpeace, who has been on the front lines in Juneau seeking protection for the world’s largest underwater canyons, both in Alaska’s Bering Sea: Zhemchug Canyon and Pribilof Canyon, the “Grand Canyons” of the sea.

According to John, “the [North Pacific Fishery Management] Council unanimously adopted motions for both short term and long term measures. First, they agreed to identify coral areas in the canyons and weigh options to protect them. Second, they will develop a Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Bering Sea, with particular emphasis on the shelf break.“

Following eight days of often contentious hearings and tremendous pressure from powerful industrial fishing interests, this is very welcome news and exactly what our Greenpeace-led coalition had hoped for.

Over the weeks and months ahead our coalition will have a great deal of work to do helping ensure that the Council to follows through with strong measures that will ensure the health of the Bering Sea and the fisheries it sustains.

Our Ocean Doctor action alert set a new record for the number of responses. You added your voices to thousands around the world, and for that we are deeply grateful. And I am pleased to say that your voices were heard loud and clear. According to Greenpeace’s Jackie Dragon, Council member John Henderschedt thanked all who provided comments, saying “your voices are important to this process and they’ve been heard.” From all sources, more than 100,000 individuals submitted comments!

This victory is especially important as it underscores that the oceans represent the largest public trust in the United States, and not the exclusive domain of industrial fishing or any other commercial interest. They belong to and must be stewarded by all of us. You helped us make that point loud and clear, and for that, please accept my profound thanks.

Sincerely,

David E. Guggenheim, Ph.D. President, Ocean Doctor Director, Cuba Conservancy

Learn More: The Worst Thing I Ever Saw Underwater Action Alert: Grand Canyons of the Bering Sea VIDEOS: Return to the Arctic Depths BeringSeaCanyons.org (Greenpeace) Spoiler alert: Fishery Council votes in favor of the Bering Sea (Greenpeace)

Your oceans need you. Release your inner Ocean Superhero!

June 8th is World Oceans Day, and the message from our oceans is clear: They need you!

So duck into the nearest phone booth (if you can find one) and reveal the Ocean Superhero inside! We promise you’ll look just awesome in spandex.

Just pick an ocean critter sidekick, choose your look and swear to the Deep Pledge of the Legion of Ocean Superheroes, and we’ll mint a customized mini-poster (suitable for framing of course) and provide your very own “Ocean Superhero” badge you can share on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Now put those superpowers to work! And Happy World Oceans Day!

STEP 1 of 3 Choose your Superhero Ocean Critter Sidekick! Coral Dolphin Penguin Plankton Sea Turtle Seal Shark Whale -None- STEP 2 of 3 Choose Your Superhero Look! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 STEP 3 of 3 THE DEEP PLEDGE OF THE LEGION OF OCEAN SUPERHEROES I solemnly swear to use my superpowers responsibly to protect and restore the oceans of Planet Earth. I will take action to save the oceans, even if someone wakes me up in the middle of the night. If I eat seafood, I will eat it responsibly. I will ask many questions at restaurants, fish markets and grocery stores to be sure seafood I buy is sustainable. I'll refer people to a credible source on seafood sustainability, like Blue Ocean Institute's Seafood Guide. And I will never refer to Patagonian toothfish by its imaginary name, "Chilean seabass." If I see anyone throw plastic into the ocean, I will swoop down in my tights and cape, place my hands on my hips, and say, "Kind citizen, you have dropped plastic into the ocean where it can do harm. Please be more careful!" I will shamelessly boast to all that I am an Ocean Superhero and that our oceans need our help! Do You Agree to the Deep Pledge of the Legion of Ocean Superheroes? Yes, I agree!

An enormous scar on the bottom of the Bering Sea’s Pribolof Canyon at 1,000 feet left by a trawl net leaves a path of destruction miles long, having ripped corals, sponges and everything else in its path from the bottom. (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

On Friday, August 3rd, 2007, I landed the Deepworker submersible at 1,052 feet in the second largest underwater canyon in the world, Pribilof Canyon in Alaska’s Bering Sea. In the distance, I saw the lights of the other submersible, piloted by Michelle Ridgway.

As we both sat on the bottom conducting life support checks and communicating with the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza above, I peered through the dome and saw something strange. I reported that I had landed on what appeared to be some sort of geologic stratification — unusual layers and grooves of sediment in parallel lines across my path. What in the world was this? We hadn’t seen anything like it.

I briefly hovered the sub above the bottom to get a better look, and to my horror suddenly realized what I was looking at: A massive trawl “scar,” deep ridges in the bottom made by the wheels of a trawl net dragged across the bottom. A wide swath of bottom appeared as if it had been plowed like a cornfield, overturned sediment neatly piled along the edges. I remembered that Michelle had told me some of the trawls used in these parts are as wide as a Boeing 737′s wingspan. This one was enormous and its swath went on for miles in either direction.

In its path, there was nothing. On this Greenpeace-led expedition — the first of its kind to explore the two largest underwater canyons in the world — we were documenting the rich deepwater ecosystems of the Bering Sea, especially the exquisitely beautiful deepwater corals that covered many parts of the bottom and where, just like on warm, tropical reefs, fish find refuge.

The sublimely pink deepwater coral, Swiftia pacifica, photographed at 1,000 feet below the Bering Sea (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

Corals are the oldest living animals on our planet, some of them taking thousands of years to grow. But in the path of this scar, nothing was left. The corals were gone. The sponges were gone. The fish were gone. Even the rocks were gone. The level of destruction was overwhelming. The very fabric of this incredible ecosystem was ripped from the bottom, then sat briefly on the deck of a factory fishing trawler before it was tossed over the side as “bycatch.” It was truly the worst sight I have ever beheld underwater.

The good news is that there is something that we can do about this. Next week the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide whether to protect these important underwater canyons. Ocean Doctor is proud to be part of a coalition led by Greenpeace to protect the Bering Sea Canyons, and we are taking this opportunity to ask you to let the Council members know that you care. Please take just a few moments to let your voice be heard.

Alaska’s Bering Sea is home to one of the most remarkable places in the world, the “Grand Canyons of the Sea.” These canyons are over a mile and a half deep and home to fish, crab, skates, endangered sea lions, orcas, and humpback whales. It’s a truly remarkable ecosystem that begins with the fragile corals and sponges on the sea floor.

Tragically, this ecosystem – America’s natural resource – is under threat from industrial fishing fleets that carve up the corals and sponges with their massive nets. Bottom-tending fishing gear–especially trawl nets–destroys ancient corals and sponges that provide this essential habitat, including spawning and nursery areas for fish, crab, and other marine species.

Over a billion dollars of seafood is harvested along the Bering Sea shelf break each year. A select group of fishing fleets has secured the privilege of fishing, and profiting immensely, off of one of our nation’s richest natural resources.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has a responsibility to protect this vital habitat and ensure sustainable fisheries, but so far they have refused repeated requests, for over a decade, to protect these magnificent canyons.

Last year, after receiving new science confirming the existence of vulnerable coral and sponge habitat in the canyons, and a renewed request to protect the canyons signed on to by a broad coalition of organizations, Alaska tribal groups, 30,000 individuals, and even Safeway, the Council put the issue back on their agenda.

In just a few days the Council will decide, once again, whether or not the canyons should be protected. This time we want to bring over 100,000 voices with us demanding protection for our national treasure in the sea.

If we want the ocean to continue to provide fish (from wild king salmon to Fish Mc Bites), jobs, and all the other essential things it does, then we need to make sure our oceans are protected from corporate fishing fleets.

Send your voice with us to Juneau, Alaska to make a change. Together we can protect the Grand Canyons of the sea.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

David E. Guggenheim, Ph.D.
President, Ocean Doctor

Protect the Bering Sea’s Grand Canyons

Background

In 2007, Greenpeace launched a groundbreaking expedition to explore the two largest underwater canyons in the world, in the heart of the Bering Sea. It was the first time manned submersibles ever entered these canyons and human eyes gazed directly upon their treasures. Ocean Doctor president, Dr. David E. Guggenheim served as a sub pilot and scientific consultant during the 2007 expedition. The expedition revealed an extraordinary tapestry of life thousands of feet below the surface, including beautiful, brightly-colored deepwater corals, sponges, anemones, octopus and fish and resulted the discovery of new species and species ranges.

DeepWorker sub films a giant grenadier at 1,900 feet in the Bering sea (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

The expedition also revealed the terrible damage being done to these intricate ecosystems by trawling nets, even more than 1,000 feet below the surface. Coldwater corals are the oldest living animals on the planet, some of which are roughly 4,000 years old and still alive today. But what may take decades, centuries or millenia to grow can be wiped out in the blink of an eye by a factory trawler net.

In 2007 Greenpeace explored the two largest underwater canyons in the world, both of which are in the Bering Sea. In 2012, Greenpeace returned to the Bering Sea and is also exploring the Chukchi sea

In 2012, Greenpeace returned to the Bering Sea and also explored the Chukchi Sea with submersibles. Ocean Doctor compiled and published a special page to commemorate the five year anniversary of the 2007 expedition: Return to Arctic Depths.

The sublimely pink deepwater coral, Swiftia pacifica photographed at 1,000 feet below the Bering Sea (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

Greenpeace refers to the Bering Sea as “one of the wildest regions in the world.” It supplies fully half the seafood caught in the United States. It’s huge — more than 770,000 square miles — and stretches between Alaska and Russia. But its bounty is not unlimited and the impacts of fishing — especially trawling — can be devastating.

Ocean Doctor is proud to be part of a coalition of environmental organizations dedicated to protecting the Bering Sea Canyons. Now we are calling upon our supporters to take action to bring badly-needed protection to the Bering Sea.

The Bering Sea is home to millions of sea birds, whales, walrus, and fur seals and more. But, it’s also prime fishing grounds for our nation’s largest industrialized fishery, where more than a billion dollars of seafood is hauled from the water each year. Fish-eating predators in the region, including fur seals, endangered Steller sea lions and sea birds, are witnessing a steady decline in numbers, or no growth in their already depleted populations. After subsisting for thousands of years, tribal communities are facing food security issues today.

The world’s largest underwater canyons, even bigger than the Grand Canyon, exist here along the “Green Belt,” a highly productive continental shelf break. Out of sight in the canyon depths, corals and sponges that take thousands of years to develop into the complex structures that support this vibrant ecosystem, are being destroyed. They provide nurseries, shelter and protection that fish and wildlife can find no place else. A single pass of a trawl can destroy them, taking with it the very habitat that sustains our nation’s biggest fisheries.

An enormous scar on the bottom of the Bering Sea’s Pribolof Canyon at 1,000 feet left by a trawl net leaves a path of destruction miles long, having ripped corals, sponges and everything else in its path from the bottom. (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

Protected marine reserves are a proven management tool to help maintain biodiversity and rebuild fish stocks. The “Grand Canyons” of the Bering Sea deserve as much protection as their smaller counterpart in Arizona.

Help create protections for the Bering Sea Canyons. From California to Colorado to the Carolinas – we all have a stake in these waters. Let fishery managers know that we expect them to protect the canyons to ensure fish and fishing for the future.

Take Action

Write to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council

For your convenience, use our Action Alert email form below:

Additional Information

• Ocean Doctor Special Presentation: Return to the Arctic Depths
• BeringSeaCanyons.org (Greenpeace)

Support Our Work

Please consider helping us continue our efforts to protect the Bering Sea Canyons by making a tax-deductible donation to Ocean Doctor.

Your donation through our fiscal sponsor, The Ocean Foundation, is secure and tax-deductible in the U.S.

It was a battle cry in the ’60s and ’70s and the earliest Earth Days: “Save the Whales” bumper stickers reflected a burgeoning green movement and deep concern about the decimation of the world’s whale populations. But decades later, do the whales still need saving?

Antarctic fur sea pups play in front of the abandoned Stromness whaling station on South Georgia Island

For 50 years there has been an international moratorium on whaling. Two years ago, in South Georgia Island in the subantarctic I saw the remains of the Stromness whaling station — where Ernest Shackleton famously first reentered civilization and found rescue for his crew after his ship was lost in the Antarctic. Today, Antarctic fur seal pups frolic among the wreckage. What you can’t see are the immense mountains of whale bones still lying at the bottom of the inlets and bays around South Georgia. It’s a terrible legacy that we should be happy about leaving behind.

But today it’s a surprise to many that we still haven’t “saved the whales.” Today’s challenges, like ship strikes, entanglement with fishing gear, noise, and climate change are increasingly complex issues to solve, made more complex because of the way that we manage our oceans. Even though the salt water portion of the United States is actually 20% larger than our land mass, we have no “Department of the Oceans.” More than two dozen agencies, including NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, Interior, EPA among others, must navigate a confusing array of laws, regulations and responsibilities in order to solve problems.

Last week, the White House issued its final plan for managing the nation’s oceans, the National Ocean Policy,  outlining a strategy that strives to coordinate the work of these agencies and help reconcile the many different — and sometimes competing — interests, such as recreation, fishing,  and oil drilling.

It may sound a bit dry, boring, and bureaucratic, but it is exactly the kind of medicine our oceans need. I’ve become convinced by seeing a growing number of examples of how the National Ocean Policy can work by making it easier for federal agencies, state and local governments, NGOs and private industry to get around the table and work out solutions.

One of the best examples of how this can work is in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a rich stretch of ocean at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay,  home to several species of endangered whales including humpback whales and North Atlantic right whales. There are only an estimated 400 right whales remaining in the world. The shipping lanes of Boston Harbor traverse through directly the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, drawing large ships through whale feeding grounds, resulting in collisions with whales that are often fatal.

Using the latest research on the great whale’s travels and analyzing their sounds and songs, marine biologists, together with shipping executives, marine biologists, NOAA, the Port of Boston and an energy company came together and found a solution that worked for both commerce and whales.  In 2007 the Port of Boston became the first port in the nation  to move the shipping lanes to protect whales, reducing the risk of ship strikes to endangered right whales and other whales by more than 80 percent.

Whales along the California coast, including blue whales, face ongoing collisions from passing ships. (See Great Whales Face Grave Threats.)  If we can fix the problem in New England, we can do it in California. It’s critical and it’s clearly doable.

A full-sized inflatable Blue Whale sits proudly in Washington, DC’s Freedom Plaza

Today, the Great Whale Conservancy celebrated Earth Day 2013 by bringing a life-sized 90-foot inflatable blue whale to Washington, DC’s Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, in eyeshot of the Capitol dome to spread the message about the situation in California and the need for the Administration to take action. Her presence was a delight for hundreds who dropped by, snapped photos, and marveled at the sheer size of the largest animal ever to inhabit the earth.

On Earth Day our focus is on this wondrous planet and the rich and diverse plants and animals that inhabit its lands, waters and skies. But Earth Day is also every bit as much about our own species. Because in the end, how we treat our fellow non-human inhabitants — including the majestic great whales of the world — may be the best measure of our own humanity.

David E. Guggenheim is a member of the Board of Directors of the Great Whale Conservancy

New Orleans, LA, February 8, 2013 – Today, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council – the body that advises the National Marine Fisheries Service on fish and fishing in the Gulf – voted to push forward regulations that would permit industrial fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico. The Council did so in violation of a number of procedural laws, as well as in direct conflict with the members’ oath of office to conserve and manage the marine resources of the Gulf of Mexico for the benefit of the nation. Open water fish farming is well documented to be highly problematic for both people and our planet.

The original plan to be implemented by the new regulations was completed back in 2009, and many things have changed substantially from then to today, four years later. Existing operations based in Hawai`i, cited as examples in the plan, are now bankrupt and violated numerous safety laws beforehand. New studies shed light on the major damage that can be done by open water aquaculture, and we know well that dilution is not the solution to pollution. The plan does not even comply with the National Aquaculture Policy – guidelines finalized in 2011 by the National Marine Service itself.

Organizations representing more than 3 million people nationwide submitted a letter in opposition to allowing fish farming in the Gulf. Additionally, local fishermen came to the meeting and testified how horribly damaging fish farming would be in the already stressed Gulf, still recovering from various major hurricanes and the BP oil spill. These were ignored.

All of the discussion regarding the regulations was put forward by the Fisheries Service – both the regional administrator for the southeast region and the agency attorney – persuading the Council to move forward.

The entire process has been an expensive farce, funded by precious public dollars, for the Fisheries Service to push forward their long-time agenda of developing ocean aquaculture around the U.S. Because the agency has been unable to persuade Congress to pass national legislation due to overwhelming public opposition, the Fisheries Service now has turned to the regional fishery management process, because it is far less public and easier to manipulate. This is problematic under existing law, as the Fisheries Service has no express authority over aquaculture.  It is clear that the agency is tired of dealing with wild fisheries, and prefers instead to promote artificial production of seafood in the ocean, where it can overtake fishing.

If the regulations become final, between 5 and 20 new farms, that could raise up to 64 million pounds of fish annually, will compete with both recreational and commercial fishermen for space, lower the value of fishing quotas, and pollute the Gulf; all completely unnecessary harms as there are other more ecologically and economically sustainable methods of fish farming.

The Recirculating Farms Coalition came into being in opposition to dirty and dangerous open water fish farming. We promote sustainable aquaculture on land, in recirculating water systems. These farms can be all the things open water fish farming is not – they can be energy and water efficient, need not rely on public dollars or conflict with other uses for space, they can recycle waste and do not use natural waters for draining or sourcing.

If the Council and Fisheries Service want to support aquaculture – they should support the kind that will not, by its very nature, compete with local fishermen or harm the environment. They should promote the kind that is innovative and clean. Sadly, that is not what was voted for today.

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The Recirculating Farms Coalition is a collaborative group of farmers, educators, non-profit organizations and many others committed to building local sources of healthy, accessible food, through eco-efficient farms using clean, recycled water. We believe these recirculating farms can create stable green jobs and supply sustainably grown food — fruits, vegetables, herbs and humanely-raised seafood — in diverse communities nationwide, and someday, worldwide. The Recirculating Farms Coalition is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Media contact: Marianne Cufone — 813-785-8386 or info@recirculatingfarms.org

Statement by Recirculating Farms Coalition Executive Director, Marianne Cufone
Statement020813OOA.pdf

Original press release of statement by Recirculating Farms Coalition Executive Director, Marianne Cufone regarding Gulf of Mexico Council's decision on offshore aquaculture

Author:	Marianne Cufone
Platforms:	Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Requirements:	PDF Reader
Category:	Resources
License:	Freeware
Date:	February 8, 2013

412.5 KiB
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Stop Offshore Factory Fish Farming in the Gulf of Mexico

Background

The Gulf of Mexico has been battered by hurricanes, covered in oil and then sprayed above and below with chemicals in an effort to mask the terrible effects of the spill. Now, the Gulf faces another serious threat that can harm the rest of our ocean waters, marine wildlife and people too.

Years ago, the people that make management decisions about the Gulf of Mexico approved a plan that would allow development of giant floating fish farms in Gulf waters, despite that tens of thousands of people clearly voiced opposition to it. Soon after that decision, the federal government announced they would create a national policy to guide the building of ocean fish farms in U.S. waters. That policy was finalized last year over many objections. Now, the plan for allowing fish farms in the Gulf is up for renewal so it matches the new federal policy – this means we have one last chance to stop this! Let the federal government know we have had enough damage in the Gulf!

And this is not only about the Gulf of Mexico – it is a back door way to promote ocean fish farming in all our oceans waters. For years, proponents and the federal government have been pushing to pass national laws that would allow development of ocean fish farms all around the country – but Congress listened to the thousands and thousands of people like you who spoke out against this – and last time they did not even get one supporter for the bill that was introduced in Washington, DC. So now, allowing ocean fish farms through the fisheries management process is how proponents hope to make this happen – and the Gulf of Mexico is first in line for where these giant dirty fish farms may be!

Ocean fish farming is dirty business:

• Fish waste and chemicals can flush straight into the open ocean.
• Fish can escape from farms and they can alter wild fish behavior, compete with wild fish and spread disease.
• Farmed fish usually eat food containing small wild fish. These small fish are an important food source for marine wildlife. An increase in factory fish farms can mean less food for marine wildlife.
• When fishmeal or oil isn’t used in fish feed, genetically modified soy is often substituted. Soy does not belong in the marine environment, and it can have various negative impacts.

Please use the form below to tell the Council we don’t want factory farmed fish in the Gulf of Mexico. At a minimum it needs to revise the Plan to be in line with the basic standards established in the National Aquaculture Policy and include the latest scientific findings. This means a meaningful open discussion with public input.

Finally, it is important to note that viable alternatives exist. Ocean Doctor has been promoting sustainable, next-generation aquaculture practices since its inception, including land-based, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), a clean technology that uses no antibiotics or chemicals, can recirculate up to 99% of its water, and has no effluent. Such farms can be placed virtually anywhere, including city centers close to where fish are consumed. Sadly, the federal government has focused on advancing offshore aquaculture at the expense of this more sustainable alternative.

The Latest

Additional Information

Food and Water Watch

Recirculating Farms Coalition

Please Take 5 Minutes to Protect Alaska’s Waters from Cruise Ship Dumping

Background

Cruise ships are floating cities that produce and discharge large volumes of sewage and other harmful wastes.  In 2006, Alaska voters passed a statewide ballot initiative requiring cruise ships to reduce their pollution dumping in Alaskan waters (i.e., from the shoreline out to 3 miles).  In response, cruise ship lobbyists pushed through legislation in 2009 to establish an industry-dominated “Science Panel,” which immediately set out gathering information to weaken the 2006 citizen initiative (industry lobbyists excluded the most knowledgeable public interest voice in Alaska from the panel because they did not want any opposition to their pollution rollback plans).

The Problem

The Parnell Administration – on behalf of the cruise ship corporations – has introduced companion bills in the Alaska House (HB 80) and Senate (SB 29) – which will once again allow cruise ships to rely on pollution “mixing zones” to meet state water quality standards.  Mixing zones embrace the long-discounted notion that “dilution is the solution to pollution,” and they create sacrifice zones which violate the fishable and swimmable goals of the Clean Water Act.

The Latest

Check back for the latest updates. Look for our alerts on Twitter @OceanDoctor.

Take Action

Write to Alaska Governor Parnell

For your convenience, use our Action Alert email form below. Alternatively, you can send an email to Governor Parnell at: governor@alaska.gov

Call Alaska Governor Parnell’s Office

Call: +1 (907) 465-3982

• If you’re from Alaska, please explain how important a particular place in State marine waters is important to you (a bay, an inlet, a part of the coast, a diving reef, a sailing route, etc.) Ask the governor to call you back and ensure that your special place will be protected through holding the line with the current regulations (i.e.,  holding off on this bill for now), or ask him to make sure your favorite place for fishing, sightseeing, subsistence gathering, or your own beach is off limits to discharge of partially treated human waste from the nearly 1 million visitors on cruiseships.
• If you’re not from Alaska, please mention where you have been in Alaska or where you hope to go as a worker, tourist or other purpose and how important the health of Alaska’s waters are to you.

Talking Points

• Alaska should seek solutions to wastewater challenges using the best science and technology. Toward this end, rather than rushing this bill through, please support a time extension to meet water quality criteria AT THE POINT OF DISCHARGE, the only place discharge volume and content can be measured, tested and monitored.
• Cruise are huge floating cities and the technology exists to reduce cruise ship pollution
• Cruise ships corporations rake in huge profits and can afford not to use Alaskan waters as their dumping grounds
• Alaskans spoke in 2006 and Governor Parnell and the legislature should listen to the will of the people
• Alaskans rely on our coastal waters for recreational and business, and it makes no sense to pollute what makes Alaska special
• Dilution is not the solution to pollution and cruise ships should not use mixing zones
• If cruise ships are allowed to discharge in Alaskan waters, there should be exclusion zones around critical habitat areas, shellfish farm and important fisheries.

Media Stories

Alaska House passes cruise ship wastewater bill Anchorage Daily News (2/5/2013)

Tlingit, Haida tribes oppose cruise ship bill. San Francisco Chronicle (2/2/2013)

EPA fines Princess Cruise Lines for 2011 Clean Water Act violation in Glacier Bay  KTOO, Juneau (Referenced EPA Report) (1/29/2013)

Public, scientists disagree on cruise ship wastewater KCAW Radio, Stika (1/28/2013)

Cruise ship wastewater standards testimony heard JuneauEmpire.com (1/28/2013)

Additional Information

Statement from Campaign to Safeguard America’s Waters (1/1/13)

ADEC Cruise Ship Website

Cruise Ship Bill Action Alert (316.9 KiB; 65 downloads)

Cruise Ship Bill Information Sheet (17.1 KiB; 83 downloads)

A magnificent Blue Whale fluke (Image courtesy of Michael Fishbach, Great Whale Conservancy)

The Great Whales need our help.  They face multiple threats today in many parts of the world: “scientific whaling,” ship strikes, habitat encroachment, decreasing food supplies, ocean acidification, etc.; it is up to us to take on these threats and do what we can to protect these magnificent, sentient beings.

The Great Whale Conservancy was created in 2010 to answer this call, and the first problem we are focusing on is the ship strike issue that plagues whales in oceans around the planet –where great whales and cargo ships, oil tankers, and cruise ships try to occupy the same place at the same time.  The whales have no choice: they need to follow their food and consumes tons of protein every day to survive.  The ships have a choice: they can adjust their transits to minimize the time they spend in Great Whale habitat.

Case in point: Blue Whales are dying from ship strikes every year along the California coast.  From July through October, the world’s largest subpopulation of Blue Whales (about 2,500 individuals) migrate to the continental shelf edge offshore of California to feed on massive blooms of krill. Unfortunately for the whales, this critical feeding area overlaps with one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes leading to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  Every year more whales are killed, rammed by the giant ships or cut to ribbons by their massive propellers.

Up close to a magnificent Blue Whale (Image courtesy of Michael Fishbach, Great Whale Conservancy)

The cost to the shipping industry of moving to new transit lanes further from this critical feeding habitat are minimal, and some members of the industry appear willing to move as long as there is somewhere to go.  Current voluntary efforts aimed at getting the vessels to slow down or leave the most densely used areas during these critical months, such as the Santa Barbara Channel, have been ineffective.

A new transit lane must be established through U.S. Navy controlled waters on the south side of the Northern Channel Islands.  The U.S. Coast Guard acknowledged the need to move the shipping lanes in this area to protect the whales in its Port Access Route Study of September 2011.  But recent efforts to move the transit lane far enough away from the continental shelf edge where the krill are most abundant are being blocked by the U.S. Navy, even though oil tankers have routinely transited nearby Navy-controlled waters for years and cargo ships have been using these waters the past two years to avoid California requirements to burn cleaner (more expensive) fuels.  The past and current “informal” use of these waters for commercial shipping demonstrates the Navy has no reasonable grounds to object.

The U.S. government must act to protect the endangered Blue Whales from the threat of extinction.  A century ago, Blue Whale numbers were reduced by commercial whalers from ~350,000 animals to the ~10,000 alive today. While an international moratorium on the hunting of Blue Whales has been in effect since 1966, death by ship strikes is no less lethal, and the number of Blue Whales has failed to rebound. Further losses and reduction in the genetic diversity of the species could be disastrous.

It took more than half a century to establish new transit lanes and speed reductions along the Atlantic Coast to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale.  Today, less than 500 North Atlantic Right Whales remain and the long-term chances for their survival are slim.  We must not wait until only hundreds of Blue Whales remain in the North Pacific before acting on their behalf.

Take Action: Stop Ship Strikes on Blue Whales

The Obama administration must open the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station waters, south of the Northern Channel Islands, to commercial shipping traffic at minimum for the months of July-October.  Please take a moment to ask the Administration to protect Blue Whales. For your convenience, use our Action Alert email form below.

Learn More

Please visit our colleagues at The Great Whale Conservancy to learn more about this issue and much more about these magnificent animals!