Big Blue Bulletin #7
Plastic, plastic, everywhere
Welcome to the latest edition of the Big Blue Bulletin – a weekly roundup of marine conservation news and updates. Expect good news, bad news, and a cute creature in your inbox every Friday.
Let’s dive in 🐬
Ocean news
💡 Thought piece -
🪧 Victimise people who raise a voice in Britain? Then destroy their families? Not in my name
“Marcus Decker dared to protest on climate and was punished. Now he could be deported. Is that a humane democracy?”
🥤 As plastic treaty talks open, countries more divided than ever
“Countries are under pressure to make progress on a first-ever global plastics treaty this week.”
🐬 Whale experts confident orca calf will survive, find family if rescue plan succeeds
“The odds of a killer whale calf surviving in the open ocean on its own and reuniting with family members remain solid if a rescue team manages to free the orca from the Vancouver Island lagoon.”
🪧 Retired UK GP suspended for five months after climate protests
“Sarah Benn is first of three GPs facing disciplinary tribunals this year over climate activism.”
🐟 Brussels picks fight over UK ban on sand eel fishing
“The European Commission is demanding an explanation from the UK government over a biodiversity protection measure that bans the industrial fishing of sand eels in much of its territorial waters.”
🐧 Baby penguins jump from 50-foot cliff in never-before-seen footage
“The moment emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica has been captured on video for the first time.”
🇺🇸 U.S. East Coast adopts ‘living shorelines’ approach to keep rising seas at bay
“Dual destructive forces of rising sea levels and stronger storms pushed by climate change, resulting in ‘ghost forests’ of saltwater-killed coastal trees in the Carolinas.”
🌊 Ocean spray emits more PFAS than industrial polluters, study finds
“Research into release of ‘forever chemicals’ raises concerns about contamination and human exposure along world’s coastlines.”
🔥 Plastics industry heats world four times as much as air travel
“Pollution from the plastics industry is a major force behind the heating of the planet, according to a new report from the federal government.”
💰 Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
“Government, NGO and philanthropic delegates made 469 new commitments worth more than $11.3 billion to help protect the oceans, which was lower than in previous years.”
🩺 Doctors condemn suspension of retired GP over UK climate protests
“British Medical Association says decision to take Dr Sarah Benn off medical register for five months ‘sends worrying message’.”
💔 Dozens of whales die after 160 stranded on Australia’s west coast
“Marine wildlife experts rushed to the state of Western Australia to rescue four pods of pilot whales stranded in a remote estuary.”
🥤 Survey finds that 60 firms are responsible for half of world’s plastic pollution
“Study confirms Altria, Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are worst offenders.”
🇮🇳 Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
“Rising sea surface temperatures, near-shore overfishing, and the destruction of reefs have decimated fisheries, forcing India’s fishers farther out to sea where they face greater risk.”
🌊 Scientists’ experiment is ‘beacon of hope’ for coral reefs on brink of global collapse
“Recordings of healthy fish are being transmitted to attract heat-tolerant larvae back to degraded reefs in the Maldives.”
🇮🇶 Iraqi father in legal first against BP over son's death
“Hussein Julood alleges the burning off of gas at a BP-run oil field in Iraq - a practice known as flaring - caused his son Ali's leukaemia.”
🏞️ Estuaries, the ‘nurseries of the sea’, are disappearing fast
“Study reveals repurposing of ecologically vital land for homes or agriculture is happening particularly rapidly in Asia.”
⛴️ No protection from bottom trawling for seamount chain in northern Pacific
“A recent meeting of the body that manages fisheries in the North Pacific failed to confer new protections for the Emperor Seamount Chain, a massive and richly biodiverse set of underwater mountains south of the Aleutian Islands.”
🌍 World must come together to tackle plastic pollution, says chair of UN talks
“Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK is hopeful impasse can be overcome at treaty negotiations in Ottawa.”
💩 Untreated sewage: Some 20m tonnes spilled every year
“More than 20 million tonnes of untreated sewage and wastewater is being spilled into Northern Ireland's waterways annually, NI Water has said.”
🇺🇸 Biden administration races to safeguard environmental rules from congressional axe
“The Biden administration is racing to finalise a slew of major environmental regulations to help safeguard them from potential reversal.”
🇬🇧 Net zero has become unhelpful slogan, says outgoing head of UK climate watchdog
“Chris Stark says populist response and culture war around the term is inhibiting environmental progress.”
🦈 Baby and teenage great white sharks prefer shallow waters
“Experts believe staying close to the shore helps sharks avoid predators while aiding growth.”
🏞️ Metals have doubled in streams due to climate change
“A recent comprehensive study has revealed alarming increases in copper, zinc, and sulfate levels in the mountain streams of Colorado, influenced by acid rock drainage.”
🗑️ ‘Currents bring life – and plastics’: animals of Galápagos live amid mounds of waste
“As diplomats search for a deal to curb the world’s growing problem of plastic, piles of bottles, buoys, nets and packaging keep building up in what should be a pristine environment.”
🤖 A.I. Model Finds 119 New Ocean Biodiversity Hotspots—And Low Overlap With Existing Protected Areas
“A new artificial intelligence model has allowed scientists to map the locations of underwater biodiversity hotspots across 11 countries in the Western Indian Ocean.”
🇩🇪 Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
“One year ago, Germany took its last three nuclear power stations offline. When it comes to energy, few events have baffled outsiders more.”
🇬🇧 Rishi Sunak has set us back, head of climate change watchdog says
“Rishi Sunak has "set us back" on climate change and left the UK at risk of falling behind other countries, the head of a government watchdog has said.”
🐧 Penguins in the pond, kiwi in the back yard: how a city brought back its birds
“As nature falls silent in most cities around the world, New Zealand’s capital has been transformed by the sound of native birds returning to the dawn chorus.”
🦭 A celebrity seal was moved 125 miles away. He showed up again days later
“After he surfaced on a British Columbia beach this month, Emerson the elephant seal became a local celebrity.”
🌳 Labour says UK nature under threat and pledges to halt decline
“Shadow minister Steve Reed vows to uphold targets on biodiversity loss and protecting land and sea.”
“196 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists have registered for the critical fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to advance a global plastics treaty.”
❗ Ocean Action
✍️ The natural world is in trouble and we need to take action
“We want to see UK politicians show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership by making polluters pay, delivering more space for nature, putting a right to a healthy environment in law.”
Have a great weekend! 📸
Cover image by Sören Funk
This plastic situation just seems to be getting worse.
Stunning video of that baby penguin going off the cliff into the water.
Great roundup.
Outstanding issue, Amie! Thank you for what you're doing. The two oceans: the one of water and the one of air, are the fundamental regulators of life on this planet it seems to me and it's good to have you as a voice for the world-ocean.