Oceans News: Massive Offshore Wind Farm Given the Green Light, Coral Reef Deaths Linked to Bacteria, and More - Oceana USA
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June 20, 2014

Oceans News: Massive Offshore Wind Farm Given the Green Light, Coral Reef Deaths Linked to Bacteria, and 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 to one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms off the coast of Suffolk. The 240-turbine wind farm would generate enough electricity for 820,000 homes and support several thousand jobs. The Guardian

– Costa Rica’s Playa Ostional, located on the Pacific Coast, had their first arribada of the season last weekend. This phenomenon occurs from June to December each year as thousands of olive ridley sea turtles lay their nests at once before each full moon. The Tico Times

– Officials say that phosphorous levels—a pollutant that causes algae blooms and dead zones—have not exactly decreased throughout the Chesapeake Bay, and some levels are actually on the rise. “We’re seeing some trends not headed in the right direction. We’ve got to step back and refocus on phosphorus,” Rich Batiuk, associate director of the Environmental Protection Agency‘s bay program office in Annapolis, told The Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun

– Whale watchers off the coast of Eden, Australia caught this year’s first glimpse of Migaloo, a famous albino humpback whale. According to press, Migaloo was the only known white whale in the entire world until 2011, when an all-white calf was discovered. The Guardian