OCEAN ACIDIFICATION TICKING TIME BOMB : SEA LIFE CRISIS

THE GUARDIAN : SEA ACIDITY CRISIS TICKING TIMEBOMB 

Excerpt: It found that by 2020 the average ocean condition worldwide was already very close to – and in some regions beyond – the planetary boundary for ocean acidification. This is defined as when the concentration of calcium carbonate in seawater is more than 20% below preindustrial levels.

The deeper in the ocean they looked, the worse the findings were, the scientists said. At 200 metres below the surface, 60% of global waters had breached the “safe” limit for acidification.

“Most ocean life doesn’t just live at the surface,” said PML’s Prof Helen Findlay. “The waters below are home to many more different types of plants and animals. Since these deeper waters are changing so much, the impacts of ocean acidification could be far worse than we thought.”

Siren here: Animals and plants cannot live in acidic waters.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION REPORTS ON WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD ADMIST FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS EFFECTING HUNDREDS OF EMPLOYEES

NCEI NOAA : GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT  

Siren here!  Look at those maps.  Is your city going to be under water within your lifetime?

If you took your umbrella today, it may just be because of a scientific report from NOAA.

TIME MAGAZINE : THE TRUE COST OF NOAA CUTS - CLIMATE CHANGE

Excerpt: If you’ve ever avoided a hurricane, ducked a tornado, evacuated ahead of a wildfire, or merely relied on a weather forecast to take an umbrella to work, you likely have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to thank. As America’s—and indeed the world’s—leading weather and climate watchdog and the parent organization of the National Weather Service (NWS), NOAA runs a standing army of personnel and hardware on and off the planet to keep an eye on the Earth’s often stormy temperament. The agency owns or operates 13 weather satellites; manages more than 200 deep-water buoys: and gathers weather and climate information from a storm of data provided by no fewer than 10,600 state, local, and federal governments, as well as universities and private companies nationwide.

Excerpt: But NOAA is now threatened. As the Associated Press and others have reported, the agency’s already stretched workforce of 13,000 people is facing a deep cut of more than 1,000 of those employees mandated by the Trump Administration—a move that follows an earlier purge of about 1,300 in late February. The personnel reductions not only imperil NOAA’s ability to carry out its core chore of tracking and warning about upcoming severe weather events, they also hamper its ability to conduct basic research into climate change—carried out to help humanity better prepare for the sweeping environmental upheaval already evident in a steadily warming world.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE SIGHTINGS : BOATS ORDERED TO SLOW DOWN TO TEN KNOTS

MARTHA'S VINYARD TIMES ; RIGHT WHALE SIGHTINGS 

Excerpt:

An aerial survey team from the New England Aquarium has detected a number of North Atlantic Right Whales south of Martha's Vineyard, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to enact 'slow zones' for marine vessels in the area.

According to an aerial survey report by the New England Aquarium, 10 general survey tracklines detected 14 Right Whales, in pods of varying sizes, on Friday, March 10.

"North Atlantic Right Whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast off the U.S.  If seen, remember that approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law," NOAA stated in a press release issued Monday.  "Right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and scientists estimate there are fewer than 350 whales remaining.

TWENTY THREE RECENT EAST COAST WHALE DEATHS SPARK ALARM : SHIP STRIKES KILLING MINKE, HUMPBACK, and NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES

NEW YORK TIMES - 23 RECENT EAST COAST WHALE DEATHS 

These whales have washed ashore in recent weeks.  North Atlantic Right Whale - critically endangered. Minke whale.  Humpback whale.  Could it be that we just have to order things on line that are exported by other countries, rather than buying American made products and produce grown in the U.S. so that more ships are coming in and colliding with whales.

Well, my priority is not to buy anything from another country without an exhaustive search for MADE IN THE U.S.A. because most of the things you see for sale we really do not need.

Also windfarms offshore may be a problem for sea life.

BUT THERE IS ANOTHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR

Excerpt: The population of humpbacks, hunted legally until 1985, has rebounded, thanks in part to decades of efforts to clean the Atlantic Ocean and heavily polluted tributaries like the Hudson River. As the climate changes and oceans warm, whales and favored prey, menhaden, are migrating and feeding in new locations, often closer to shore.

TINY SEA TURTLE DEAD WITH PIECES OF PLASTIC IN IT"S LITTLE BODY

DAILY MAIL: TINY TURTLE DEAD FLORIDA BEACH - 104 PIECES OF PLASTIC

It would fit in the palm of your hand so this little turtle was stuffed with plastic. 

SHIPWRECKS - HURRICANES - AND TREE RINGS : WHAT WE CAN LEARN ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

WASHINGTON POST - ANCIENT SHIPWRECKS - CLIMATE CHANGE

EXCERPT:

To study shipwrecks, the new research drew upon historical records of no less than 657 wrecks of Spanish ships in the Caribbean between 1495 and 1825 — a period that started just after Columbus’s first expedition to the new world. All of the storms that were inferred to have wrecked these ships occurred prior to the earliest year in today’s official Atlantic hurricane database, which is kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and begins in 1851.... But to strengthen the analysis, the researchers also cross-referenced the shipwreck history with data from the rings of pine trees growing in the Florida Keys, which can also provide a record of hurricane history.

GHOST LIKE OCTOPUS DOWN 5000 FEET - NEW SPECIES - NECKER ISLAND - RIDGE AREA OFF HAWAII

HONOLULU SUN TIMES - NEW GHOST-LIKE OCTOPUS SPECIES OFF HAWAII

EXCERPT:

According to NOAA’s Michael Vecchione, the ROV was traversing a flat area of rock interspersed with sediments at 4,290 meters when it came across an octopod sitting on a flat rock dusted with a light coat of sediment.
         
The animal didn’t appear to be very muscular and lacked pigment cell, causing it to appear “ghost-like,” according to Vecchione, who also noted that the octopod was “unlike any published records and was the deepest observation ever for this type of cephalopod.”

The octopod is believed to be a member of the incirte octopods. These octopods lack fins and cirri. They are also similar in appearance to shallow water Octopus.

Cirrate octopods have been reported in depths of over 5,000 meters. However, the deepest published reports for incirrates are all less than 4,000 meters. ...

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National Geographic Video

SEA LION EMERGENCY - VOLUNTEER? -THOUSANDS WASHING ASHORE SICK AND DYING - THOUSANDS MORE DEAD ON CHANNEL ISLANDS

SACBEE - ENVIRONMENTAL - SICK STARVING SEA LION PUPS WASH UP IN RECORD NUMBERS   full intense article by Peter Hecht

EXCERPTS:

Along the length of the California coastline, an extraordinary rescue effort is underway. In January and February alone, 1,450 malnourished or dying sea lion pups have washed up on shore – compared with just 68 in the same period last year.

“These are pups that should be nursing on their mothers,” said Dr. Shawn Johnson, director of the veterinary science department at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. “They’re (arriving) extremely emaciated. They have no energy stores. They’re just skin and bones, wasting away and on the brink of death.”

From Sea World in San Diego to the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center in Del Norte County, seven California marine rescue facilities are tube-feeding fish gruel to skeletal pups, helping them learn to catch and digest whole fish and administering vitamins and medication to ward off pneumonia and skin infections....