South Orkneys Become the Newest Marine Protected Area

News broke yesterday that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) declared its first Marine Protected Area below the Southe Orkney Islands in the Southern Ocean. With the CCAMLR meeting still fresh on the minds of ASOC campaigners this is an encouraging victory for them and the Antarctic community. It is also a huge step forward in working to conserve the delicate marine ecosystems around Antarctica. This and (hopefully) future MPAs will encourage further scientific investigation of differences between fished and protected areas of the Southern Ocean.

What makes this area especially important is that its unique natural features make it a key habitat for krill, which are both one of the main draws for fishing vessels to the Antarctic and an essential food source for so many of the Antarctic's marine species.

Save the Krill, Save the Penguins

For the past two weeks, ASOC campaigners have been working hard at the annual meeting of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources (CCAMLR). CCAMLR is the body that manages fisheries in the Southern Ocean, and its management of the krill populations is particularly critical. Krill stocks are declining just as improved technology and a growing market for nutritional supplements are making the species more interesting to fishers. This year, ASOC delegates were urging that the krill catch be divided geographically even though it has not reached the size that CCAMLR previously decided would warrant such a division. The reason the catch needs to be divided further is that local depletions of krill can directly impact krill predators that forage nearby. Making sure that fishing vessels don't all target the same area makes it less likely that penguins, whales and seals will be affected by the catch.

A lot of companies that produce krill oil often note that the size of the krill catch is small compared to the estimated krill population. However, as mentioned local depletions can have a big impact, and as krill populations continue to decline hard choices may have to be made. As in, do penguins deserve life even if it means someone can't purchase a cheap nutritional supplement of dubious effectiveness (the American Heart Association doesn't recommend fish oil supplements for people without heart disease)? I know which one I'd rather have.

NASA tracks polar ice by plane

Sometimes it seems that most people only care about the melting ice at the North Pole because, of course, there's the prospect of oil. But NASA hasn't forgotten about the South Pole, and despite losing a critical satellite, has started the Ice Bridge mission to make sure it keeps abreast of how Antarctic ice changes. Interestingly, the article mentions that Antarctic ice is less studied than Greenland's ice - even though Antarctica is much bigger. Its bigger size and miles-deep land ice sheets could result in rising sea levels as global temperature heats up.

Mission Ice Bridge will use a DC-8 plane that is perhaps less fancy than the ICESat satellite it will replace, but some scientists argue it has just as much ability to take useful measurements. The DC-8 missions have already helped scientists get information on Pine Island, an Antarctic island whose glacier is melting into the ocean.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the article was a scientist's description of the differences between land and sea ice:

"Sea ice is like the ice cube that's already floating in a glass of water, he says. As it melts, it doesn't raise the water level.

But land ice is like the ice in your freezer Martin says. When you add a new cube to your glass, the water level rises.

And the glaciers of Antarctica represent a very large ice cube."

South Park on Japanese whaling

South Park is planning to do an episode tonight dealing with the issue of Japanese whaling/dolphin slaughter. Wonder how this'll turn out? The show is famous for making excellent, if not PG-rated, satire.

Prince Albert to Receive Revelle Prize

ASOC is pleased to be a community partner with this year's Roger Revelle Prize of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which will honor Prince Albert of Monaco. The Prince is a highly visible supporter of climate change research who has worked hard to raise awareness of polar environmental issues. Last year, he hosted marine scientists in Monaco, who produced the Monaco Declaration calling for dramatic emissions reductions to prevent further acidification of the ocean, which threatens species critical to marine ecosystems. Prince Albert is truly a leader in this arena, and we wish other world leaders would take their cues from him. Learn more about the Revelle Prize here.

Separating fact from fiction on Antarctic melting

Climate change is a big deal. It's all over the news. But sometimes too much coverage is a bad thing. Take this press release: West Antarctic ice sheet may not be losing ice as fast as once thought. If you actually read the article, you'll see that while the rate is slower, the ice sheet is still losing ice and contributing to sea-level rise. If you just see the headline, you might think that this is once again evidence that scientists have been getting all worked up over global warming for no reason. Too bad most people don't have the patience to try to sort out all the details, or read the full story. If you're not one of those people, I suggest you listen to today's Diane Rehm show, on which geophysicist Henry N. Pollack (segment available online soon if not already) really broke it down on climate change, even repeating my favorite argument that an unusually cool summer, or even a really warm winter does not disprove or prove climate change is occurring. It's the averages that are important. Also that the whole "hey, I'll enjoy being able to grow bananas in Michigan" crowd needs to realize that not everyone will be so lucky, especially not the millions of people who will lose their homes.

Check me out at The Reef Tank

The Reef Tank team has graciously reposted my Sylvia Earle blog post, in which I managed to combine two of my greatest loves: ocean conservation and fake news. Go on over there and check it out - they have lots of great posts on all kinds of marine issues!