April 20 marked the four-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In the process of filming a short film about the aftermath of the spill, “Drill, Spill, Repeat,” Oceana staff met Al Sunseri, co-owner and president of P&J Oyster Company. His company has been in business for 138 years. … Read more
– Fishermen have killed a record number of whale sharks over the past 13 months in India’s Godavari region. It’s estimated that 15 whale sharks have been killed, but many fishermen are not aware that the government has sanctions in place to reward fishermen with cash prizes if they accidentally catch and then release the … Read more
Last week, the New England Fishery Management Council took an important step forward for ocean conservation by agreeing to allocate $800,000 to support fishery research in the struggling groundfish fishery for cod, haddock and flounder. The Council has funds to support several projects and included bycatch reduction and solutions as themes in the call for … Read more
I wrote to you recently about the U.S. government’s plans to allow seismic airguns in the U.S. Atlantic. This technology, used to search for oil and gas deposits, could injure an estimated 138,200 dolphins and whales and usher in offshore oil drilling. A similar battle is occurring across the Atlantic, where the Spanish government is … Read more
Last weekend, PBS NewsHour Weekend Edition aired a feature story on Oceana’s campaign to end drift gillnet use off California. This commercial fishery sets out mile-long nets at dusk to catch swordfish and thresher sharks, but these nets also capture an abundance of other marine wildlife—including whales, dolphins, sea lions, sharks, and other ecologically and … Read more
Tucked between the Jutland mainland and the island of Fyn lies Denmark’s Little Belt: a marine strait composed of lagoons and common eelgrass beds that’s home to a diverse array of marine life. The southern part of Little Belt is protected under Europe’s Natura 2000 network—a network of protected areas that form the backbone of … Read more
– White band disease has been killing off staghorn and elkhorn corals in the Caribbean since the 1970s, causing the outer layer of corals to turn white and peel off. Earlier this week, scientists linked three bacterial strains as causes for white band disease. New Scientist – The United Kingdom has given the green light … Read more
Bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Western Australia are stealing the spotlight from Aussie surfers, and are proving that humans aren’t the only ones capable of catching that perfect wave. Researcher David Riggs set out to document sharks with his camera-equipped quadrocopter, but stumbled upon something entirely different: a pod of bottlenose dolphins off the … Read more
– The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Species designated the Japanese eel as “endangered” this week, citing that this delicacy is at high risk of extinction. Japanese eel are catadromous, meaning they spawn in salt water but spend part of their lives in freshwater. The Associated Press – A record number … Read more
It’s not every day that celebrities help with scientific research, but earlier this month, Austin Nichols (“One Tree Hill,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Wimbledon,” and “John from Cincinnati”) shared his passion about sharks with researchers at the University of Miami. He spent two days off the coast of Florida tagging sharks with Oceana and the … Read more
We have already protected over 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
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