Below, more updates on the
Year of the Turtle and other stray news.
The Malaysian state of Terengganu (see map) is having a little trouble with its state symbol, the sea turtle. It seems there aren't many any more. The solution of course is to just dump it and get a new one
. . . amid allegations by conservationists of embarrassment at the creature's demise.
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Back in the 1960s, 10,000 Leatherbacks would land on the state's beaches to lay their eggs each year. But recently, only two or three have made an appearance.
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Little action is taken over the selling of the amphibian's {sic - you expect a little more from the Beeb somehow} eggs in local markets and they have also suffered from the effects of deep sea fishing.
Orissa: Theater and Spin
(Note: One lakh = 100,000. I find it easier to just think in these terms rather than constantly make calculations. And always watch your commas in this part of the world.)
Tired of local official throwing up their hands, pleading lack of funds, and suggesting that "someone else" should be responsible for protecting sea turtles in and around the Orissa sanctuary, Greenpeace India took the battle to Delhi and the residence of the Chief Minister for Orissa.
Turtle Massacre in Orissa: Greenpeace holds Chief Minister responsible
In an early morning wake-up call, Greenpeace activists today confronted Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Orissa, with evidence of his government's ineptitude and inability to protect the endangered Olive Ridley turtles that arrive each year to nest on the beaches of Orissa. The activists laid out carcasses of three turtles, along with skulls, bones and carapaces of several others, at the doorstep of the Chief Minister's temporary residence in New Delhi, along with a banner stating "Orissa Turtles: Killed on arrival. Chief Accused: Chief Minister".
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Greenpeace has documented over two thousand dead turtles along the coast from Ramchandi to the Jatadhar river mouth. The vast majority of these deaths are caused by illegal fishing, particularly trawling, in no-trawling zones.
"It's time the Chief Minister woke up to the urgency of the situation. He can no longer evade his responsibility for the annual turtle genocide in Orissa," said Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace India, "The evidence is before us - the state's failure to protect this endangered species could well result in the total collapse of the turtle population. He needs to take action, and do so now!"
(photo ©Greenpeace, Namrata Chowdhary)
The government responded with arrests. Three Greenpeace activists who had brought the decomposing carcasses of turles from Orissa were charged with illegal possession of a protected species. This has proved to be a gift to Greenpeace. See their latest headline:
Witnesses arrested, accused walks free!
The Orissa government responded with a blizzard of figures to prove that everything is just fine: Turtle toll has dipped: govt
A news release issued by the government claimed that around 4.65 lakh Olive Ridley turtles had laid eggs this year, the highest in the past five years. While about 35,000 turtles had nested along the Orissa coast in 2001-02, the number had gone up to 4.42 lakh in 2003-04.
Although the number of nesting turtles declined to 3.23 lakh next year, it again went up to 4.65 lakh last year.
Quoting figures from chief wildlife warden's office, the release said around 2.46 lakh turtles had nested at Gahirmatha beach in the first phase (February 7-March 5) and another 21,000 in the second phase (April 4-6). The corresponding figures of turtles nesting at the Rushikulya river mouth were 1.22 lakh and 7,000 during the two phases.
(photo ©Greenpeace/Sanjiv Gopal)
Villagers down the coast have protected nests and hatched turtles by the thousands. This might be called an act of faith in that a one percent return would be success.
More Olive Ridley nests saved this season
Various factors contributed to the better protection of nests this season, including increased patrolling both by forest officials and volunteers of the Kadal Aamai Padhukavalargal Sangam.
Supraja Dharini, founder of TREE Foundation, said significantly the nesting sites in Nainar Kuppam, Uthandi and Pannaiyur were found in areas shrouded in darkness. The organisation protected a total of 82 nests and kept track of 13 in situ nests during the season. ........In March, the volunteers released 368 hatchlings from Peria Neelangarai, 1,138 from Injambakkam, 1,287 from Panayur, 1,371 from Nainarkuppam and 520 from Reddy Kuppam into the sea. This month, so far the volunteers of the Sangam released 1,382 hatchlings.
In the Andaman Sea, heated arguments between stakeholders over a meter-high wall to protect an island from tsunamis. Villagers, park officials, local administrators, all at loggerheads. What a mess. Chaos and confusion after a flood event? I guess these things happen in the third world. Interesting that some local villagers are among those most adamantly opposed to the wall.
Tsunami wall adds to turtle extinction crisis
"The area is the last site along the Andaman coast where all four of the Andaman turtle species can be found spawning. The concrete wall is causing them great problems in trying to lay their eggs on the beach," said Songpol Tippayawong, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Thailand's head of marine and coastal resource unit.
Sawakhon Sangkhorn, 52, from Tai Muang village which is nearest to the spawning site, said the wall had been constructed by the local tambon administrative organisation (TAO) without consultation with local villagers or park officials.
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Wattana Phornprasert, chief of Khao Lampee-Had Tai Muang National Park, supported Sawakhon. He said the park had filed a lawsuit against the wall's construction on the grounds that the contractor had encroached on a park. Part of the wall, which is still being added to, is in a park area.
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In an attempt to reverse the crisis before it is too late, Songpol said WWF Thailand and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resource would draw up an action plan and guidelines to conserve the species. It will be ready in two months, he said.
Monica Raises Ghosts
Abandoned fishing nets are usually out of sight and out of mind, regardless of the damage they do. Cyclone Monica stirred up miles of net, with predictable results. No final count on the number of sea turtles killed.
Ghost net turtle toll rises as cyclone nears
The largest net found in the Gulf was a Taiwanese gill net about four kilometres long, with a drop of 12 metres and weighing an estimated five tonnes.
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"We estimate there's between 400 and 1000 nets on a 10-kilometre stretch of beach north and south of Mapoon and probably one in 10 nets has a turtle in it.
"It's just laziness. When the nets get snagged, they just cut them loose."
Mr. Wright said it was important to raise public awareness overseas about the problem of ghost nets.
And from Zamboanga
The Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area is a transnational protected area consisting of nine islands, six in the Philippines and three in Malaysia. At this point, the Philippine islands operate under a 60-40 rule, meaning that 60% of turtle eggs are allowed to be harvested by local people only and the other 40% are protected in one way or another. The system has an unfortunate history of lax enforcement and administration, and the Philippines has had trouble policing the islands. In an attempt to make lemonade of this history, the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU Secretariat produced a case study, Lessons Learned from the Philippine Turtle Islands, which explores the failures and successes of this attempt at locally managed conservation.
Now the vice mayor of Zamboanga is suggesting stricter conservation and policing along the Malaysian model, perhaps in closer cooperation with the Malaysian military.
Turtle Islands must be totally protected
The vice mayor here has urged the government to consider the total protection of the five turtle islands in southwestern Mindanao similar to what Malaysia did to preserve its natural resources.
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Vice Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco said the Malaysian government has declared as protected areas all the three turtle islands and strictly implemented the law against trespassers or violators.
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"We hope we can learn from Malaysia and consider the total protection of these turtles in the Turtle Islands," she said.
Climaco issued the statement concerning the state of the five turtle islands after she met officials from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) led by First Admiral Mohd Rashid Harun, who paid her a courtesy visit on Tuesday morning . . . . Environmental concerns, capability of the Malaysian Navy and Air Force and their Filipino counterparts and the protection of territorial boundaries were among the topics discussed during the courtesy call.
The Southeastern US
As the season began, officials at Padre Island National Seashore were enthusiastic about this years numbers for Kemp's Ridleys in Texas.
National Park finds record number of turtle nests
"Finding 10 of the Kemps Ridley nests on the first day...that we found nests on the Texas coast this year is really exciting. It's a great start to the season."
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Of the ten nests that were found, some 921 eggs were collected that will hatch sometime between the June 12 and June 17. Unfortunately, no more than one in a hundred will survive to adulthood but the signs for the future of this endangered species look very good right now.
"We had a record 51 Kemp's Ridley nests found on the Texas coast last year and we think we're going to beat that record this year and that the numbers are just going to continue to grow in the future."
The news from Florida doesn't sound so good, with deaths and strandings running ahead of 2005. Many of the deaths have no obvious cause. Turtles having a rough year
A dead loggerhead washed up on the beach in Naples near the Fifth Avenue North walkover -- the 23rd dead sea turtle reported so far this year in Collier County.
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The same trend is playing out with sea turtles up and down the Southwest Florida coast, where monitors logged 76 sea turtle strandings between Pinellas and Collier counties through March compared to 66 for the same period in 2005.
Scientists are at a loss to explain the higher numbers, but are worried that they could be a sign of problems in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
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Since 1996, the number of sea turtle strandings in Collier County has shot above 40 in three years, all of them since 2000, when there were 108 strandings reported. Monitors reported 78 in 2003. The 10-year average of sea turtle strandings is about 45, according to county figures.
Caymans Gov't Defends the Indefensible
The disgrace is that they managed to find one ally in their bid to defy CITES and revive the trade in sea turtle products, led by the shady Cayman Turtle Farm.
Turtle export is legitimate
Criticisms leveled at the UK Government for approving a shipment of endangered sea turtles from the Cayman Islands to aquariums in Europe have been dismissed by a UK charity dedicated to protecting the marine environment and its wildlife.
Peter Richardson, Species Policy Officer of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) told Cayman Net News that they support the position of the UK Government that the export of twenty live Green Sea Turtles, raised at the Cayman Turtle Farm (CTF), to Sea Life Centres in Europe was legal.
The UK CITES authorities considered these animals captive-bred as defined by EC legislation, which provides criteria for trade. The Turtle Farm falls within the provision of that regulation and, furthermore, MCS saw no reason to object to this decision.
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Mr Richardson, co-author of a UK project report - "An Assessment of the Status and Exploitation of Marine Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Wider Caribbean" - is familiar with the CTF.
"We don't have a problem with the production of meat to satisfy the domestic market. This is probably the reason why wild turtles have not been hunted to extinction," he said.
Total, utter bullshit. CTF's antics threaten turtle conservation efforts just as they are beginning to succeed. Clearly, the sane view is delineated in the message signed by the representatives of the following groups gathered at the 26th annual sea turtle symposium:
Global Conservation Groups Join Costa Rican Government in Condemning an Illegal Shipment of Caribbean Green Turtles to Europe
Caribbean Conservation Corp.; The Ocean Conservancy; MEDASSET, Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society; Defenders of Wildlife; Teyeliz (Mexico), ARCAS, Humane Society International, Humane Society of the U.S., International Fund for Animal Welfare, OceanCare, Animal Defenders International, Cetacean Society International, PRETOMA, Costa Rica {Programa Restauracion de Tortugas Marinas- they have the coolest site in English and Spanish}; Canada Humane Society
Movies from PRETOMA
Current Action Alerts from The Ocean Conservancy
Troubled Dolphins
Bulgaria finds 25 dead dolphins on Black Sea coast The authorities say they do not suspect anything illegal, that the dolphins merely got confused. Romanian officials on the other hand weren't shy about suggesting the culprits were Bulgarian or Turkish when they found eleven dead dolphins washed up on their shore earlier this month - the nets they were tangled in gave it away.
Hunting dolphins is prohibited by Romania but their numbers have decreased dramatically because of illegal fishing. Only 3,000 dolphins are estimated to live in Romanian waters.
"Our patrols found several fishing nets in the Black Sea waters, 50 miles (80 km) off the Romanian coast, with 11 dolphins and 100 kg (220 lb) of plaice," said Adrian Burcea, police spokesman in the port town of Constanta.
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"We keep monitoring the area to catch the poachers because they might come to take back the nets. I can say it could be a Bulgarian or Turkish ship."
Environmentalists say a growing illegal trade in live dolphins for aquariums and other attractions over the past decade has threatened their survival.
Then there were the 400 dophins that washed up on Zanzibar on the 28th. The best guess so far by investigators from University of Dar es Salaam is that the dolphins
were lost, which doesn't seem very helpful. Of course, that still leaves what is becoming a standby suspicion in these cases:
Sonar use may be linked to deaths of hundreds of dolphins(Note this is CBC News)
There is a U.S. Navy task force that operates off of the coast of East Africa as part of counterterrorism operations, but the Americans have refused comment on the dolphin deaths.
Freshwater dolphins aren't faring so well lately either.
Ganges river dolphins at risk from poaching, pollution
Around half a dozen dolphins have been killed by poachers and fishermen in the last one month in the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in this south east Bihar district, one of the four freshwater dolphin sanctuaries in the world.
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According to researchers, in the 1980s, the Gangetic delta zone had around 3,500 dolphins but their population is now estimated to be about 1,500.
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"On paper conservation work is going on but in reality the sanctuary has no formal conservation plan. Unless local people are involved in conservation and awareness created, dolphins will continue to be targeted," {wildlife expert} Choudhary said.
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The Ganges River Dolphins are among the four freshwater Dolphins found in the world - the other three are the Baiji found in the Yangtze river in China, the Bhulan of the Indus in Pakistan and the Buto of the Amazon river in Latin America.
Might want to recount that last. There are big plans afoot to save the Yangtze dolphin this November by relocating them all to cleaner waters. But a preliminary search in March in preparation failed to find any.
Last hope for river dolphins
The Chinese river dolphin may already have succumbed to pollution in the Yangtze River.
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The freshwater baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) once thrived in their only habitat, the Yangtze River, which runs though central China. But fewer than 100 dolphins are thought to be left in the river, which has become a busy, polluted highway. "If the giant panda is China's symbol of the destruction of forests, the baiji stands for polluted waters," says Wang Ding, from the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology.
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The baiji are so few and far between that the best way to spot them is with acoustic devices. But that's a challenge. "The river is so noisy you can't use traditional acoustic equipment," explains Jay Barlow, a marine mammalogist from the US National Marine Fisheries Service in La Jolla, California, who was on last month's cruise. He and his colleagues are working on a method to clean up recordings from hydrophones, to isolate the baiji's distinctive whistles.
The researchers were disappointed not to see a single baiji on their recent search, but their hopes are now focused on the full-scale survey in November. "If none are found then, the burden of proof will change," says Barlow. "The species will be considered extinct unless proven otherwise."
Freshwater Dolphin Species Guide
And You Give, And You Give
When it comes to reproductive strategies and techniques for rearing young, amphibians exhibit an enormous catalog of behaviors. There are "marsupial" frogs whose females carry their fertilized eggs in specialized pouches on their backs and even species whose males carry tadpoles for weeks in pouches of their own. But the recently documented behavior of some caecilians takes things to a whole nother level.
Caecilians are limbless, nearly eyeless, and largely subterranean in lifestyle. Hardly surprising then that we are only now getting to know them. It was already known that some caecilian young ate specialized tissue from the wall of their mothers oviducts prior to birth. Now, discovery of a species in which eating mom's flesh continues well after birth.
Yummy mummy: baby amphibians eat mother alive
A remarkable form of parental care, where young amphibians feed on their mother's skin, has been published in the journal Nature today.
Alexander Kupfer, Hendrik Müller and Mark Wilkinson at the Natural History Museum, with researchers from Brazil, Germany and the USA, witnessed the unusual behaviour when studying a group of worm-like amphibians called caecilians.
They say that young of the Boulengerula taitanus species crawled over their mother and ate her specially modified skin. The females transform their outer skin into a thick, nutrient-rich meal for their babies and the young peel and eat the skin with their specialised teeth.
Video of young feeding on mom. Some might find this gross.
Swiss Get Excited
And this time it isn't over Jerome carelessly flinging his empty Gauloises packs into the street. They have noticed the rapid loss of biodiversity, even in Switzerland. Critics allege that Switzerland is in danger of ruining its image internationally and slipping into violation of its international obligations, notably those of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Experts sound extinction alarm
Government inaction and obstruction is threatening increasing numbers of plants and animals in Switzerland, according to biodiversity experts.
The warning came from the Swiss Association for the Protection of Birds,which on Thursday launched a campaign to highlight the need for a concerted ecological strategy.
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Parliamentarian Ruedi Aeschbacher, the association's president, said neither the government's agricultural policy for 2007-2011 nor its revised forestry law made any mention of biodiversity.
He added that the cabinet rejects any parliamentary proposals concerning biodiversity despite Switzerland having international obligations.
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