Ocean Conservation & Tidalpunk

• In Baja California Sur, Mexico, a private tourism company, Aquamayan Adventures, and the port administration have reached an agreement that allows mega cruise ships to enter Bahía de La Paz. Environmental organizations are urging the government to cancel the agreement.
• The agreement allows at least 150,000 annual visitors, a figure four times that of cruise passengers received in 2023 and equivalent to 60% of the resident population of the city of La Paz, the state’s capital.
• In addition, the company intends to build a large tourism and commercial complex that could have serious environmental, social and economic impacts on the city and surrounding area, according to organizations concerned about the project.
• Bahía de La Paz is a critical location for marine species like the whale shark, which was affected by the presence of a high number of mega cruise ships in 2020, and which could now be the victim of collisions with vessels arriving to port.

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

The FRONTLINE project will use autonomous underwater vehicles, satellite remote sensing and other surveys to investigate how the rapid expansion of FLOW and climate warming is likely to affect oceanographic processes and marine life.

This study aims to bridge that knowledge gap, providing insights to guide measures that protect marine ecosystems amid the increasing demands on our oceans. The findings will also help ensure that the rapid expansion of offshore wind farms, vital for achieving global net-zero targets, is delivered sustainably.

Austrian scientists uncovered a hidden undersea world with gigantic ‘worms’ lurking beneath the Earth’s crust.

Shell has agreed to settle its controversial multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Greenpeace after its campaigners boarded an oil rig last year as part of a peaceful protest.

As part of the final settlement, Greenpeace will accept no liability and pay no money to Shell. The group will instead donate £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Recent studies have revealed that variations in ocean density significantly influence the efficiency with which marine plankton incorporate carbon into their shells. This finding has important implications for carbon cycling and the ocean’s ability to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels in the context of climate change. Traditionally, research has focused on the impacts of ocean chemistry and acidification on the biomineralization process of marine plankton. Nonetheless, this pioneering study redirects attention to the essential role of physical ocean characteristics on this important process.

Norway has suspended plans to start giving licences for deep-sea mining next year that had faced opposition from environment groups and international institutions, a party allied with the centre-left government said on Sunday.

"There will be no announcement of exploration rights for deep-sea mining in 2024 or 2025," the party said in a statement.

an eco-terrorist to some and a brave environmentalist to others

Watson does not describe himself as a protester. He regards himself as an enforcer of international treaties on whaling and animal welfare.

I feel like I'm the only one that gets inspired by these videos, but just in case someone else has the motivation to watch a video and feels the joy of tangible progress, I thought I would share anyway.

• Antarctic krill trap vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere in the ocean floor through their sinking fecal pellets, a new study reports.
• The annual amount is similar to that stored by “blue carbon habitats” such as mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes, highlighting the importance of protecting krill.
• Global warming, melting ice and overfishing pose threats to krill, say researchers who call for new fishing policies to conserve them.

The study

• In the next 50 years, 80% of the Maldives may become uninhabitable, creating human security and livelihood issues of epic proportions for its nearly 400,000 population.
• The rise in ocean temperatures and acidification are leaving severe impacts on coral reefs, affecting both tourism and fisheries in the Maldives and also damaging the country’s critical first line of natural defense.
• Before a 1998 El Niño bleaching event, the archipelago’s coral reefs remained in good condition, but it killed a significant portion of the fragile ecosystem, which continues to be impacted by climate change.
• Among the solutions proposed are the prosperity plans under the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) to help countries overcome debt traps and attract investments through debt for environmental swaps.

Researchers seeking the construction of a massive underwater structure to shield Antarctica’s melting ice sheets from ongoing erosion by seawater could be met with unexpected international challenges, new research reveals.

While scientists debate the logistics of installing a proposed gigantic undersea curtain to protect Antarctic glaciers against melt from warmer seawater they encounter, researchers at Kobe University are looking at a different problem: how the questions of international authority and related security and sovereignty issues might impact such efforts.

The Antarctic Treaty System

(...) In December 1959, the first twelve countries signed the treaty to protect their scientific operations around the Antarctic. Treaty meetings since then have managed to keep their eyes on science, avoiding discussion of territorial disputes and instead pushing for environmental regulations.(...)

Expert knowledge of how early sea surface temperature measurements were taken has helped to explain a cold anomaly in early 20th century climate

Research highlights impacts of military sonar devices on dolphin behaviour

Explore the discovery of a massive coral in the Solomon Islands, visible from space and teeming with marine life