February 21, 2008
The Oceana Scanner
BY: Andy Sharpless
This week in ocean news,
…scientists studying the sea floor near Antarctica discovered new species of fish, plankton and jellyfish. “We had some of the world’s experts on Antarctic fish and they were completely, completely flabbergasted,” said the leader of the expedition…
…a researcher studying a dead zone off the U.S. Northwest coast saw nothing on the ocean floor. “It appeared that everything that couldn’t swim or scuttle away had died,” she said…
…the government of Chinese Taipei allocated $1 million in Chinese Taipeian new dollars to clear the shore of dead fish, both wild and farmed, that had died during a recent cold snap…
…developers planned a world-class aquarium in Moscow to open by 2012. “The aquarium will feature seven different species of shark, which will cost more than $10,000 apiece,” said the project’s public relations manager…
…shark migration routes were under scrutiny, with the hope that mapping shark “superhighways” could help lead to more protections for threatened species…
…NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Service was able to estimate the age of fish based on trace radiocarbon from Cold War-era nuclear testing found in the fish’s ear bones…
…the one billion gallons of partially treated sewage that flows into the ocean every day could be responsible for the feminizing of male fish…
..the University of California at Santa Barbara created the first world map to display the level of total human effects on the ocean, demonstrating that essentially no waters were still pristine…
…and the Florida shore was set to become a test site for underwater turbines that would convert the Gulf Stream current into energy.