Tag Archives: marine reserves

How are you celebrating World Penguin Day?

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It’s World Penguin Day today, and a fine excuse to celebrate the majesty and silliness of fine-flippered friends. In that spirit, I thought it would be good to pull together some fun facts about penguins. Some are fun, some are facts, and some are both at once.  And don’t miss the how you can help bit at the end.

Penguin facts

All wild penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, and although they are synonymous with the ice,  only two species live on the continent of Antarctica. The Galapagos penguin is the only penguin that ever naturally ventures into the Northern Hemisphere on especially long feeding trips

The first bird actually called a ‘penguin’ was the now-extinct Great Auk found in the North Atlantic. Tragically, early explorers and their contemporaries found Great Auks a little too tasty, and the birds were all killed off. Continue reading →

New hope for the world’s largest marine reserve

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Greenpeace's Oceans Campaign director John Hocevar high fives a penguin, a species whose habitat would be included in the world's largest marine reserve in the Ross Sea

The United States and New Zealand have agreed on a joint proposal to establish the world’s largest marine reserve in the Ross Sea. If adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) this week, the proposal, will cover more than 600,000 square miles. While quite a bit short of the 1.4 million square miles that Greenpeace and the Antarctic Ocean Alliance have been working to protect, this would clearly be a major step forward. Continue reading →

Greenpeace explores underwater canyons, calls for their protection

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Greenpeace has returned to the world’s largest underwater canyons, here in the Bering Sea, to continue our efforts to protect these amazing ecosystems.

Today, factory trawl ships pull up over a million tons of fish here each year and their enormous nets scrape along the seafloor, destroying coral habitats in these submarine canyons that are critical for fish, crabs and other marine life.

After years of Greenpeace and others calling for their protection, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council declined once again in 2006 to protect these canyons, saying there wasn’t enough information available about the canyons to justify action.

We are not very good at taking no for an answer when it comes to defending the planet, so we took the Council’s decision as a challenge. In 2007, we set out with the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, along with two small submarines, to explore the canyons and provide the council with the data it said was missing.

Zhemchug CanyonThese corals, sponges, and other marine life are currently unprotected, and could be destroyed by enormous trawl nets dragged through Zhemchug Canyon. Continue reading →

Return to Report: St. George and the Bering Sea

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Community Meeting on St. George Island, Bering Sea Alaska

George Pletnikoff speaks at a community meeting on St. George Island, Bering Sea Alaska. Photo: Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

By George Pletnikoff, Alaska Oceans Campaigner

Coming home to St. George sparks a lot of memories. I was very fortunate to grow up in this close knit island community of friends and family that provided for me in my formative years. The abundance of northern fur seals and over 150 different species of marine birds, nesting on thousand foot cliffs lining the northern shore, were a natural laboratory in which to grow. I always new this was a place I had to protect and my family continues to make a pilgrimage each year to return to the seal rookeries and bird cliffs.

A Kitiwake off St. George Island, Bering Sea Alaska

A fulmar flies off St. George Island, Bering Sea Alaska

It also sparks memories of the Esperanza’s visit during its 2007 tour to protect the Bering Sea, the largest food fishery in the United States, that is threatened by large industrial fishing trawlers. Continue reading →

Photo Essay: Dutch Harbor and the Industrialization of the Arctic

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Steller Sea Lion in Dutch Harbor

Steller sea lion in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Photo: Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

We stopped in Dutch Harbor, Unalaska this week,  A remote area with spectacular views and wildlife, that will be the staging area for Shell’s Arctic drilling program later this month. Continue reading →

From Alaska to Panama, whales need saving more than ever

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HUMPBACK WHALES IN ALASKA

Humpback whale feeding amongst a colony of seabirds, seen from onboard the Esperanza in the Unimak Pass, Alaska. Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

The crew of the Esperanza scrambled to grab cameras and binoculars this morning to get a glimpse of so many humpback whales, maybe 40 of them blowing and diving by us, as we made our way through Unimak Pass crossing from the Gulf of Alaska into the Bering Sea.

Serendipitously, as we snapped pictures of these majestic giants swimming through water peppered with hundreds of seabird’s scouting for leftovers, an took in the rich and peaceful sounds of their massive exhaling blows, other Greenpeace activists in Panama at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) were trying to end to whaling, for good.

Between climate change, the industrialization of our seas and continued whaling, whales need saving today more than ever. Continue reading →

A Big Step Forward For Our Oceans

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By Nathaniel Pelle

For a long time organizations like Greenpeace, backed by people like you, have been calling for stronger protection of our oceans. This week showed our voices were heard. The Australian Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke announced a new ocean protection plan that is a great step forward for marine protection.

Unfortunately, however, it was not the leap we were asking for – or what the scientists say is needed. Continue reading →

It’s Time to Think Outside the Can

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Vegan "Tuna" Salad Sandwich!

When my partners and I set out to start a restaurant in San Francisco, we had a novel idea: to give people the opportunity to savor the beauty and delicacy of Japanese cuisine while at the same time protecting the fragile biodiversity of the world’s oceans.  We immersed ourselves in the art of sustainable sushi, came up with a remarkable number of delectable alternatives environmentally dubious choices like bluefin tuna, eel, and hamachi — and in the process became a major cuisine destination for the Bay Area.

It is possible — in fact, it is imperative — to find ways to enjoy the foods we love without destroying the oceans. Unfortunately, this lesson is lost on some of the major seafood brands like Chicken of the Sea.  These companies continue to employ destructive fishing practices such as fish aggregating devices (FADs) and conventional longlines, despite the overwhelming evidence that they are ripping up the oceans.

Continue reading →

New Hope for the Grand Canyons of the Sea

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Today, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council initiated a new process that could lead to protections for the largest underwater canyons in the world. The decision came in response to requests from more than twenty organizations, including conservation groups, tribal organizations, and even seafood businesses.

The Council noted that new scientific information merits a review, referencing a recent study published by scientists from the University of California–Santa Barbara, Greenpeace, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. The study reported that the canyons are host to a high density of deep sea corals, which provide habitat for fish and other marine life. Deep sea corals can live for hundreds or even thousands of years, and are highly vulnerable to damage from fishing gear.

The Council’s measure, introduced by Council member John Henderschedt, initiates a new process to review the available science relating to the canyons, with consideration of new conservation measures as appropriate.

Council member Bill Tweit was quoted in the Washington Post today: “After getting that [scientific update], we would then assess our current fishery management, as well as habitat-protection measures, and think about whether they’re adequate or not.”

Many have been struck by the beauty of the images taken during our expedition to survey the deep sea habitats of these canyons. Now, you can explore the canyons yourself for the first time, by taking part in this submarine adventure.

The fate of these Grand Canyons of the Sea still hangs in the balance, but our hope is that we will now be able to work with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and a wide range of stakeholders – including you! – to find a solution that ensures the long-term protection of the Bering Sea ecosystem as well as the fisheries it sustains.