Charles Darwin News

Almost two centuries after Charles Darwin's voyage around the world, environmentalists plan to follow in his footsteps by undertaking a two-year journey across four continents to study endemic wildlife and boost conservation.The group will set sail on board a 105-year-old schooner on Tuesday from the southern English port of Plymouth, from where British naturalist Darwin's own expedition began in 1831, leading him to develop the theory of evolution by natural selection.The 40,000 nautical mile "Darwin200" expedition hopes to anchor in 32 ports, including all the major ports visited by Darwin's

The IMO has launched a video about the work of the GloFouling Partnerships project. Filmed amongst the stunning wildlife of the Galapagos, it illustrates the urgent need to tackle the threat of biofouling to vulnerable marine ecosystems and shows the work that IMO and its partners are doing to protect the precious biodiversity of the world’s oceans. The IMO's Glofouling Partnerships project team recently travelled to the Galapagos Islands, 1,000km off the coast of Ecuador, to…

Ecuador’s navy is conducting surveillance of a massive Chinese fishing fleet that is operating near the protected waters of the Galapagos Islands, amid concerns about the environmental impact of fishing in the area of the ecologically sensitive islands.The navy conducted a patrol mission on Friday that included a flyover of the region where the hulking vessels are fishing, as well as reconnaissance by military patrol ships. A total of 340 vessels are currently in the area, the navy said…

Ecuador is monitoring a large fleet of fishing vessels, many of them Chinese, off the Galapagos Islands and has increased patrolling to ensure the ships do not enter the area of the ecologically sensitive islands, the defense minister said on Thursday.Chinese fishing vessels appear each year near the Galapagos, attracted by marine species such as the hammerhead shark, which is in danger of extinction.A Chinese vessel in 2017 was captured in the Galapagos Marine Reserve carrying 300 tons of marine wildlife.“We are on alert, (conducting) surveillance, patrolling to avoid an incident such as what

Ecuador's environment minister, Raul Ledesma, said on Monday that a situation involving a sunken barge in the Galapagos Islands which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel is under control but added that authorities are "very concerned" about the vessel's recovery.The barge sank on Sunday after a crane at the La Predial dock of San Cristobal - the easternmost island of the Galapagos archipelago - fell while unloading cargo, Ecuador's navy said in a statement on Twitter.Located around 1…

3D printing technology developed in Darwin will be deployed by the Royal Australian Navy in a world-first trial that will streamline the maintenance of patrol vessels.The Morrison Government will invest $1.5 million in the two-year Supersonic Deposition 3D printer pilot, which will lead to a significant increase of parts availability compared to what the regular supply chain can provide.Minister for Defense Industry, the Hon Melissa Price MP, congratulated the Charles Darwin University’s Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, along with industry partner SPEE3D, for producing the cutting edge and uniquely Australian capability.“This high-tech machinery enables metal components to be produced quickly and efficiently…

Jan De Nul Group completed the capital dredging works for the Channel Risk and Optimization Project (CROP) in Port Hedland, Western Australia, and can look back on a successful three-year cooperation with the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA).Over the past three years a combination of Hopper Dredgers, a Cutter Suction Dredger and Split Hopper Barges were deployed to dredge sections of the 42-km long navigational channel and to further enhance the safe and sustainable access to the port of Port Hedland.

Biofouling was a backburner issue until 5 March 2017. On that day the Government of New Zealand ordered the bulk carrier DL MARIGOLD out of NZ waters after the vessel’s hull was determined to be excessively fouled with potentially invasive organisms including barnacles and tube worms. The bulker was not allowed back until it showed that the underwater surfaces had been thoroughly cleaned. This was the first known instance of a vessel expulsion due to biofouling. It was also significant…

Shifts in trade winds and ocean currents powered a resurgence of endangered Galapagos Penguins over the past 30 years, according to a new study led by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). These changes enlarged a cold pool of water the penguins rely on for food and breeding—an expansion that could continue as the climate changes over the coming decades, according to the study. The Galapagos Islands, a chain of islands 1,000 kilometers west of mainland Ecuador, are home to the only penguins in the Northern Hemisphere.

Grounded cargo ship Floreana was refloated by T&T Salvage on April 4, 2015 in San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Leading operations in the Galapagos Islands World Heritage Site, T&T Salvage ensured all fuel, oil and other pollutants were successfully removed prior to refloating the ship wreck that lie sunk on a rocky volcanic shoreline for over two months. The salvage team’s efforts were credited with protecting the historic and environmentally sensitive island where the HMS Beagle first landed in 1835 with naturalist Charles Darwin.

Mammoet Salvage and its partner, CPT Remolcadores SA of Chile, recently responded to a State of Emergency issued by the government of Ecuador after cargo ship Galapaface 1 – loaded with 19,000 gallons of fuel, petroleum products, chemicals and tons of various cargo – ran aground while departing the island of San Cristobal. Recognizing the imminent disaster and threat of pollution to the UNESCO world heritage site, the Government of Ecuador contracted Mammoet Salvage and CPT to begin immediate operations to remove the ship.

Legislation has been favorably reported out of the Senate Committee in Commerce, Science, and Transportation that would, if enacted, constitute the first official steps by the federal government to come to grips with biofouling of the hulls of ships. The Ballast Water Management Act of 2007 (S. 1578) would, among other things, require the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a study of vessel-borne vectors (other than ballast water and sediment), specifically including vessel hulls, anchors, and equipment.

U.K. Roch, Rosa Delmas and the Ursula Delmas. Midocean manages these vessels on behalf of the Delmas group. This delivery comes after successful evaluation of an initial test ship to ensure that Midocean’s demanding purchasing requirements were met. brings the total delivered to four out of the seventeen managed. our Marine Planned Maintenance and Office Planned Maintenance systems. after recently being delivered to the Delmas group. RRS Discovery. both RRS Discovery , and the RRS Charles Darwin. UAE. operating from La Spezia, Italy. set up the planned maintenance system, is delivering the Leonardo to NATO.

Mind boggling” is the only phrase to describe recent events in the marine market. Last month the industry was front-page material for most major consumer press publications, which is rarely a positive sign. At press time, salvage operations were underway aboard Castor to prevent the vessel from splitting open and spilling thousands of tons of gasoline into the western Mediterranean. The ship, which developed a 60-ft. crack in its deck during a voyage through rough weather in late December 2000, has become a lightning rod for the debate on safe haven for damaged ships carrying volatile cargo. Attempts to bring the ship into Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco were repeatedly thwarted.

The global conservation body WWF called on Sunday for limits to shipping off Ecuador's Galapagos islands where oil pouring from a grounded tanker is threatening some of the world's rarest land and sea animals and birds. A statement from the Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature said the spill could have "a deep and lasting impact" on the creatures of Galapagos which were observed by British naturalist Charles Darwin as he developed the theory of evolution 165 years ago. The damaged vessel, the Ecuadorean-registered Jessica, ran aground last Tuesday half a mile (800 m) from the archipelago's main port in its easternmost San Cristobal island while its way to service an Ecuadorean navy operation and a private tour boat operator.

Ecuadorean naval officers struggled on Tuesday to right a wrecked ship half a mile (800 m) off the shore of Ecuador's famed Galapagos islands after nearly all the fuel it was carrying spilled into the ocean, threatening some of the world's rarest species. Ecuador's navy said officers were attempting to pull the "Jessica," an 835-ton ship that ran aground near the archipelago's capital, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, a week ago, back to an upright position from its 45-degree list in order to get the remaining 15,000 gallons of diesel and bunker fuel off the craft. Some 160,000 gallons of the 240,000 gallons of diesel and bunker fuel -- a heavy…

Ecuador's Galapagos islands should make a full recovery from the oil spill that tarnished its sandy shores, a sign of hope for the hundreds of unique species there that inspired British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, scientists said. With ecologists scouring the archipelago's surface for animals affected by the 160,000 gallon spill, the question remained as to what would happen to thousands of ocean critters that form the basis of Galapagos' ecosystem, nourishing the sea lions, iguanas and blue-footed boobies that have made the Ecuadorean islands famous worldwide. Several local ecologists have expressed concern that remnants of spilled bunker…

It seems that the stricken oil tanker that fouled Charles Darwin's Galapagos island paradise cannot be moved and is set to become an artificial reef, teeming with fish and home to seals and exotic birds, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Sunday. The Ecuadorean Navy had hoped to clear the semi-submerged "Jessica" from the tiny harbor of San Cristobal island where it ran aground last week, leaking the bulk of its 240,000 gallon fuel cargo into the archipelago's pristine waters. But while the wreck may be an eyesore in the prophetically named "Shipwreck Bay," in time it will become an artificial reef and a new habitat for marine life, Coast Guard salvage chief Ed Stanton said. "Seals will start living on it, birds will begin perching on it. It has already attracted fish," Stanton said.

Marine scientists from across Australia are meeting at laboratories this week as part of an ambitious $1 billion international attempt to record all life in the world's oceans, officials said on Wednesday. The International Census of Marine Life, being led by U.S. groups, could settle once and for all whether fabled animals such as Jules Verne's giant squid populate the uncharted ocean depths. Only around five percent of the world's oceans have been surveyed for marine life - mostly in coastal regions. The international census, expected to take 10 years, is being promoted by Jesse Ausubel of the U.S.-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that fosters scientific programs.

Tarquino Arevalo, captain of the Ecuadorean-registered Jessica which last week fouled the Galapagos waters with oil after running aground, told Reuters he had misjudged his entry into the prophetically named Shipwreck Bay outside the tiny harbor of San Cristobal island. "The truth is I didn't even know the rock was there. It was over-confidence on my part, I am completely to blame," the 58-year-old sailor said in an interview. "I didn't do it on purpose. This has nothing to do with my crew, it was my fault, not theirs," he added. The Galapagos are home to birds, tropical fish, sea lions and the famous Galapagos giant tortoises, but the only known damage so far to wildlife has been four dead pelicans and a dozen sea lions smeared with oil.