Sea Turtles News

Humans have sailed the world’s oceans for thousands of years, but they haven’t all reached port. Researchers estimate that there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide, resting in shallow rivers and bays, coastal waters and the deep ocean. Many sank during catastrophes – some during storms or after running aground, others in battle or collisions with other vessels.Shipwrecks like the RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania and USS Monitor conjure tales of human courage and sacrifice, sunken treasure and unsolved mysteries.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday approved the construction of a 704-megawatt (MW) wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the fourth major offshore wind project the agency has greenlit as the Biden administration tries to meet a goal of bringing 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power online by 2030.The Revolution Wind project about 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith, R.I. is being developed by Eversource and Ørsted as Rhode Island and Connecticut's first utility-scale offshore wind farm…

The Dredging Contractors of America (DCA), a trade association representing the U.S. dredging and marine construction industry, said it strongly supports the development of a robust offshore wind industry.“As the industry grows in the United States and along the U.S. East Coast, the DCA and its companies are working with state and federal regulators on matters related to dredging operations,” said William P. Doyle, CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America.The U.S offshore wind…

Lobsters versus right whales: The latest chapter in a long quest to make fishing more sustainableMaine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of 2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.The rules would have required lobstermen to create new seasonal nonfishing zones and further reduce their use of vertical ropes to retrieve lobster traps from the seafloor. Entanglement…

Environmentalists on Thursday sued the agency overseeing U.S. fisheries, claiming it had failed to protect endangered humpback whales from entanglement in drift gillnets - sprawling curtains of nylon mesh - used in commercial fishing off California.The lawsuit accuses the National Marine Fisheries Service of violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing drift gillnets without safeguards and failing to take into account the harm posed to whales already at risk of extinction.The suit…

Global oil companies are pumping billions of dollars into offshore drilling, reversing a long decline in spending on the decades-long projects, including some in the remote iceberg waters far off Canada's Atlantic coast.Surging oil prices are encouraging the investments, along with Europe's mounting energy demand as the Ukraine-Russia war drags on. Offshore production sites are more expensive to build than onshore shale, the last decade's investment darling. But once they are up and running…

Mobile, Ala. boatbuilder Silver Ships announced it recently delivered a customized Ambar Series vessel to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).The vessel is a custom-built Ambar 6 meter (AM600), designed to be operated from NOAA oceangoing ships. At just under 28 feet in length, with a hull length of 20’ 5’’, this vessel is powered by two Mercury SeaPro 115hp, with an 80-gallon fuel tank, along with an 8’ 10’’ beam, 22’’ draft, a trailer, and a boat cradle for deck storage to make this custom vessel meet the needs for NOAA.Ambar series vessels…

Hundreds of turtles have washed ashore after a ship caught fire and sank off the west coast of Sri Lanka in June in the country's worst-ever marine disaster, a court in the capital Colombo heard this week.A fire erupted on the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl on May 20, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics. It sank on June 2 even as salvage crew tried to tow the vessel away from the coast.The Russian captain…

Thai fisherman Anan Jaitang used to pile tattered nylon fishing nets on the beach after hauls of wriggling crabs tore them beyond repair, but most of the nets wound up in the sea, threatening to entangle turtles and choke coral reefs.Now, Anan and others have an alternative that's not only lucrative and environmentally friendly but will help Thailand battle the coronavirus pandemic.A new community-based project is paying small-scale fishermen 10 baht (32 cents) per kilogram of discarded nets…

Brazilian investigators said on Friday a Greek-flagged ship carrying Venezuelan crude was the source of oil tarring thousands of kilometers of coastline over the past two months.While prosecutors and police did not name the vessel, a prosecutors' document obtained by Reuters identified the ship as the Bouboulina, owned by Greece's Delta Tankers Ltd. Police said the tanker appears to have spilled the crude about 700 km (420 miles) off Brazil's coast between July 28-29, bound for Singapore with oil loaded at Venezuela's San José terminal.Delta Tankers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Brazil's solicitor general said the country would seek damages in the case…

Brazil's federal police on Friday announced a potential breakthrough in the investigation into the causes of a mysterious oil spill that has baffled authorities and Brazilians for about two months.Police said they were investigating a Greek-flagged ship allegedly responsible for the oil spill, which they claim may have occurred about 700 km (420 miles) off the Brazilian coast between July 28-29 after the vessel made a stop in Venezuela.In a statement, federal police said they were carrying out search warrants at addresses linked to a company of Greek nationality.Brazilian authorities said they had also requested cooperation from international agencies…

Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) said that it has started a new approach to track loggerhead sea turtles (listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) in the Kishu Minabe Sea Turtle Research Project sponsored by NYK and conducted by the NPO Earthwatch Japan.Earthwatch, a non-profit organization established in 1971 in Boston, is an international nongovernmental organization. It provides researchers with both human and financial support for overseas field research and surveys."This research project is conducted at Minabecho in Wakayama prefecture, which is where most loggerhead sea turtles lay their eggs on the main island of Japan.

A bulk cement carrier that ran aground off beaches of Al-Fazayah Beach, Salalah in Oman has been refloated in one piece and without no damage to the environment, said the company behind the salvage operation, Resolve Marine Group.The partially loaded vessel, RAYSUTT II, departed Port of Salalah in May of last year when the port was evacuated due to adverse weather conditions. The vessel lost headway and steerage and subsequently grounded on on May 26, 2018 on Al- Fazayah Beach…

Safeen, the provider of integrated marine services in the Middle East and subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, has collected over 120 tons of floating sea debris in Abu Dhabi waters last year, recycling more than ten tons of the collected material.Capt. Adil Banihammad, Acting CEO of Safeen, said: “The establishment of the Environment and Anti-Pollution Department at Safeen, under the Marine Services Directorate back in 2015, demonstrates Abu Dhabi Ports’ utmost priority to protect the environment, attain sustainability and preserve marine resources and life.”“The department, run by Emirati staff trained to the highest international standards…

At the end of December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) announced its selection of ten dredging projects that will form the core of a pilot program to advance the beneficial use of dredged material.The recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ announcement culminated a program required by Congress, established within the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, specifically Section 1122. Congress directed that the ten pilot projects selected were required to present environmental…

Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier…

French Frigate Shoals are located in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, between Kauai and Midway. The atoll consists of a twenty-mile long crescent-shaped reef, with 13 coral and sand islands and the 120-foot high volcanic rock Perouse Pinnacle, named for French explorer Jean-Francois de la Perouse, who charted the atoll in 1786 and nearly grounded his two frigates. Tern Island is the largest, covering 105,276 square meters or 26 acres. Second largest is (or was) East Island, with 35…

Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) USA Florida Chapter participated in a sea turtle release with the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program (BCSTCP) and Nova Southeastern University (NSU) on July 26, 2018.Forty nine WISTA members and guests attended the sea turtle hatchling release, which raised $1000 for the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program.“As maritime professionals, WISTA members understand the significant role we can play to protect the habitats, nesting areas, and life cycle of sea creatures.

Sinking a 6,000-ton, 371-foot former cargo vessel to help create an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico is a herculean feat, one only accomplished with strict adherence to rigorous federal and state environmental regulations. When the cargo ship Kraken was recently sunk 67 miles off the Galveston coast, Matrix New World Engineering helped the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program ensure that the vessel was free of environmental hazards and safe to support coral, fish, sea turtles and other aquatic life.

A quiet watch was the expectation for Leading Seaman Boatswains Mate James Cole in patrol boat HMAS Glenelg, but what he got was a lesson in ocean rescue for some entangled wildlife. “I stepped on to the bridge wing to get some fresh air and as I did, I noticed a net floating past,” he said. “As I looked closer, I saw that it was moving – there were three large sea turtles caught in the net,” Leading Seaman Cole said. A call was quickly made to Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Gary List, who decided to stop the boat and attempt to rescue the turtles. Glenelg launched one of her rigid hull inflatable boats with three sailors on board.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) have released a new report and interactive map and data sets that highlight what is known about the marine environment of the main Hawaiian Islands. The report, titled Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Main Hawaiian Islands, and its products make available information about marine life and the physical environment offshore Hawaii. Topics include: an overview of the physical environment, benthic habitats and corals, fishes, sea turtles, marine mammals and sea birds. An interactive Geographic Information System (GIS) map complements the report to describe marine biogeographic patterns around the islands.

Anthropogenic (manmade) sound is creating havoc among marine mammals and other aquatic species. These creatures have very sensitive hearing, which they rely on to find food and mates and (for some) to communicate and navigate. Sound waves can travel much further and with much less loss of strength in water than in air. In pre-industrial times, the oceans were relatively quiet. Sailing ships generated almost no subsurface noise. A whale’s call could be heard by another whale hundreds of miles away in ambient conditions.

Despite its remote location in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument faces a looming threat of global climate change that will affect its land and marine ecosystems, as well as its cultural resources, according to a new NOAA report. The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series report, Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, finds that sea-level rise, ocean acidification, ocean warming, and other climate-related changes are expected to significantly affect the monument. Projected sea-level rise, combined with likely increases in the strength of storms and ocean wave energy…