Latest News about coral reefs

US Navy Ship Removed from Philippine Reef; US to be Fined for Damage to World Heritage Site

Joe — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:47:43 -0600

Source: The Washington Post
March 31, 2013

MANILA, Philippines — Workers in the southwestern Philippines have removed the last major part of a U.S. Navy minesweeper from a protected coral reef where it ran aground in January, and the damage will be assessed to determine the fine Washington will pay, officials said Sunday.

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Coral Reef Severely Damaged off Palm Beach County: State Divers Assess Damage to Sponges and Coral

Joe — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:59:58 -0600

Author: Marissa Bagg
Source: WPTV
March 21, 2013

LAKE WORTH INLET, Fla. - State divers are trying to solve an environmental mystery. How did a three mile stretch of coral reef get heavily damaged, and who is to blame?

Van Blakeman dives into the waters near Palm Beach County almost daily. What he saw 45 feet below the surface broke his heart.

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Sharks, Manta Rays Win Global Trade Protection

Joe — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:51:42 -0600

Source: SBS World News
March 12, 2013

Several shark species and the manta ray won international trade protection in a move hailed by conservationists as a breakthrough in efforts to save them from being wiped out by overfishing.

The deal at a major wildlife conference in Bangkok marked a rare victory in the fight by environmentalists to reverse a slump in populations of sharks -- the world's oldest predator -- due to rampant demand for its fins.

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Fidgeting Clownfish Benefit Anemones

Joe — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:18:47 -0700

Author: Ella Davies
Source: BBC Nature News
February 28, 2013

The relationship between the reef animals is well known, with the fish hiding in the anemone's stinging tentacles to avoid predators.

But US researchers have discovered the anemones also benefit from the night-time presence of the fidgety fish.

As clownfish move around, they boost water flow over the anemone and increase its oxygen consumption.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

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'Blood Test' for Coral Reefs

Joe — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:42:10 -0700

Source: Science Alert
February 27, 2013

Using a world-first scientific discovery, Australian researchers are developing a stress-test for coral, to measure how coral reefs are being impacted by pressures from climate change and human activity.

The scientists have found hemoglobin genes in the microalgae which live symbiotically with coral, which may provide a readout on how stressed a particular coral is – and how likely it is to bleach and die.

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Salvage Crews Break Up US Ship in Philippines

Joe — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:12:48 -0700

Source: Gulf Times
February 27, 2013

Salvage teams have begun cutting up a US Navy ship stranded on a UN World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines in a process that could take almost month, the coastguard said yesterday.

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Scientists Create New Maps Depicting Potential Worldwide Coral Bleaching By 2056

Joe — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:33:25 -0700

Source: UnderwaterTimes.com
February 25, 2012

MIAMI, Florida -- In a study published today in Nature Climate Change researchers used the latest emissions scenarios and climate models to show how varying levels of carbon emissions are likely to result in more frequent and severe coral bleaching events.

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Animal Attraction: Texas Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Ban Trade in Shark Fins

Joe — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:57:10 -0700

Author: Stacy Fox
Source: KHOU.com
February 18, 2013

The Humane Society of the United States and Shark Stewards praises Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-District 38, and Sen. Larry Taylor, R-District 11, for introducing H.B.852/S.B 572 to prohibit the sale, trade, purchase and transportation of shark fins in Texas. The market for shark fins fuels the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning, which is banned in the waters off of the United States but remains unregulated in many parts of the world.

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Sperm Bank Could Save the Great Barrier Reef

Joe — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:35:33 -0700

Source: Practical Fishkeeping
February 15, 2013

A zoo in Australia has created the largest collection of frozen coral in the world, which could one day be used to re-seed the Great Barrier Reef.

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Big Bowl of Cruelty - Shark Fin Soup Still on the Menu in Australian Chinese Restaurants

Joe — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:11:28 -0700

Author: Malcolm Holland
Source: News.com.au
February 14, 2013

Shark fin meals are high on the menu list at banquets across Sydney this week as the city's Chinese population celebrates the Lunar New Year.
But the Federal government has no idea if any of the fins have come from countries where they are sliced off living sharks before their twitching bodies are dumped back into the ocean.

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Tiny Marine Creature Spreading Through Ocean, Stabilizing Reefs and Islands With Calcareous Shells

Lisa — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:43:40 -0700

Source: Science Daily
February 6, 2013

Gulf’s Coral Reefs to Be Studied for Thermo-Tolerance

Lisa — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:01:40 -0700

Source: Khleej Times
February 11, 2013

US to Compensate PH for Damage to Tubbataha Reefs

Joe — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:45:36 -0700

Author: Christine O. Avendaño
Source: Inquirer Global Nation
February 5th, 2013

The US government has apologized and pledged to provide “appropriate compensation” to the Philippines for the damage caused by the grounding of a US warship at the protected Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea.

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Living Reefs, Under Fire

Joe — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:03:56 -0700

Author: C. Drew Harvell
Source: The New York Times
February 1, 2013

It was hardly a cheerful group that settled onto the flight from Ujung Padang (also known as Makassar, Sulawesi) to Biak, Papua, at 1:30 in the morning, nor that trooped off the plane 2 1/2 hours later. But we snapped awake when we reached the hotel at 5 a.m. to find grass-skirted, bare-chested and head-dressed men gathered in a lovely old Kipling-esque hotel, signaling that we had reached a remote place in the world.

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US Navy Will Dismantle Minesweeper Stranded on Coral Reef

Joe — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:27:39 -0700

Source: The Guardian
January 30, 2013

The US navy said on Wednesday that it would dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the Philippines after carefully studying all options on how to remove the damaged ship.

The navy spokesman James Stockman said dismantling the USS Guardian was determined to be the solution that would involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary where the ship got stuck 17 January.

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Despite Strong Efforts, Shark Fin Still King In China

Joe — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:02:38 -0700

Source: Inquisitr.com
January 28, 2013

Despite the best efforts of conservationists and environmentalists, the popularity of shark fin soup in China is not fading.

A recent environmental survey in Beijing found that out of 249 luxury hotels in Beijing, Shenzhen and Fuzhou, only 17 have stopped serving shark fin soup. Most of these hotels are owned by larger multinational companies like Marriot and Sheraton.

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Typhoon Bopha Decimated Coral Reefs

Joe — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:31:46 -0700

Author: Jeremy Hance
Source: MongaBay.com
January 24, 2013

When Typhoon Bopha, also known as Pablo, ran ashore on Mindanao, it was the largest tropical storm it ever hit the Philippine island. In its wake the massive superstorm left over 1,000 people were dead and 6.2 million affected with officials saying illegal logging and mining worsened the scale of the disaster. However, the Category 5 typhoon also left a trail of destruction that has been less reported: coral reefs.

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U.S. Envoy Apologizes for Ship’s Grounding on Philippine Coral Reef

Joe — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:56:49 -0700

Author: Floyd Whaley
Source: The New York Times
January 25, 2013

MANILA — The United States ambassador to the Philippines apologized on Friday for the grounding of an American naval ship on a reef in a marine sanctuary, the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents for the United States military in the country.

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Great Barrier Reef May be Stripped of World Heritage Status, Say Environment Groups

Joe — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:43:59 -0700

Source: IBN Live
January 22, 2013

Sydney: The Great Barrier Reef near Australia could be stripped of its world heritage status if action is not taken to better protect the natural icon from coal and gas developments, environment groups have said. A coalition of such groups has launched the "Fight for the Reef" campaign in Canberra, saying politicians were putting the reef's international reputation at risk, the Australian Associated Press reported.

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US Navy Fined for 'Illegal Entry' at Philippine Coral Reef

Joe — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:26:37 -0700

Source: RT
January 21, 2013

The Philippine government has fined the US Navy for unlawfully entering and damaging a World-Heritage listed coral reef aboard the USS Guardian, even after receiving radio warnings by park rangers to avoid the reef.

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