Having trouble getting a perspective on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf coast?  Well, Paul Rademacher developed a unique utility that works with Google Earth to overlay the size of the spill as it appeared on May 6th with well-known geographical locations…and customizable to include your own hometown.

As I just returned from the Big Island of Hawaii, I thought it appropriate to share a screenshot of just how bad the problem was last week.   

And if you’re interested in keeping track of the devastation as it continues to grow and consume the marine ecosystem, PBS has created a widget displaying how much oil has leaked and how much continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico . Unfortunately a mere widget does not do justice to this ecological disaster.

Oil and water don’t mix.  Do I really need to say more?

The heavy rains currently beating down on the East San Francisco Bay Area has reminded me about the incredible amount of debris that will be entering our waterways and oceans.  We are all aware of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but there is an enormous amount of other debris that is left to surf the waves.  Take for instance fishing nets.  Unattended and discarded fishing nets pose danger to the entire ocean system, even whales.  Check out the following pictures from The Marine Mammal Center and the results of their necropsy of a dead sperm whale recovered in March 2008.

“On March 16, The Marine Mammal Center’s Director of Veterinary Science, Dr. Frances Gulland, assisted in the necropsy of a 51-foot-long sperm whale that  had washed up on a beach near Tomales Point in Point Reyes, CA. When the necropsy team reached the animal’s internal organs, they discovered nearly 450 pounds of fishing net, mesh, braided rope, plastic bags, and even a plastic comb in the whale’s stomach.“

The Marine Mammal Center, August 2008

Photo: Chris Whittier

Photo: Chris Whittier

In honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day 2009!

California Coastal Cleanup Day
Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup

International Coastal Cleanup Day is Sept. 19, 2009 – Marine debris is any man-made, solid material that enters our waterways directly or indirectly. A problem that not only damages our marine and coastal ecosystems, litter that finds its way into the environment affects wildlife as well as beach goers  Nearly 80% of debris, found on beaches, coastal waters, estuaries, and oceans, is washed, blown, or dumped from shore, while 20% is from recreational boats, ships, fishing vessels, and ocean platforms.

Cigarette butts, soda cans, plastic bags, and fishing gear are slow to degrade and present horrific problems to the life they encounter. Studies have shown that marine debris threatens over 265 different species of marine and coastal wildlife through entanglement, smothering, and interference with digestive systems.

Whether a small or large-scale polluter, the litter entering our seas and oceans is reducing fish and wildlife populations.  In fact, the cumulative impact of continuous, small-scale pollution can be dramatic.  The increase in the use of various kinds of plastic as durable, lightweight packaging has heightened the need for proper management and disposal.  Because of the abundance of plastic in our daily lives, it is of no surprise that it is ubiquitous in our world’s oceans.

Besides the threats to wildlife, certain types of marine debris, such as broken glass and medical waste wash-ups, can pose a serious threat to public health.  This type of debris and pollution has resulted in beach closures and swimming advisories that have robbed coastal communities of significant tourism dollars.

So go beach combing this weekend and forget the shells…GET THAT TRASH AND SAVE WILDLIFE!

California Coastal Cleanup Day
Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup

Should we be surprised?  I guess those signs we once saw sporadically posted around our rivers and streams are now a ubiquitous warning.

Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released today.

About a quarter of these fish were found to contain mercury at levels exceeding the criterion for the protection of people who consume average amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than two-thirds of the fish exceeded the U.S. EPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

Read more:  All Fish in Streams Contain Mercury

Last Saturday my wife and I made the 2 hour journey to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which marks our first visit in about 4 years.  As with each and every time before, I left wondering why it took me so long to get back, and most importantly how can I swing a personal 28 foot tall kelp forest aquarium…OK I admit I’m a fish lover.  But the show was not only within the confines of the plexiglass walls as the wildlife visible from the outside amphitheatre at the Great Tide Pool was amazing.

In the distance wrapped in kelp were approximately 9 sea otters. Kayaks would approach (all at a distance to prevent disturbance) and then wander away after a few minutes of enjoying the view.  Throw in a couple harbor seals, cormorants, murres, and sea lions and the bay becomes a picturesque wildlife refuge. 

Interestingly enough though, on June 30th the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.8% drop in sea otter numbers during the 2009 census.  A decrease of 106 individuals may not seem like a terribly large decline overall, but it keeps them below the criteria needed to remove them from the Endangered Species Act (the 3-year running averages would have to exceed 3,090 for 3 continuous years), it represents a population growth plateau for the last three years, and according to Dr. Tim Tinker of the USGS,

“This year’s census results demonstrate that sea otters continue to experience levels of mortality sufficient to limit their recovery. This highlights the need for continued efforts to understand and mitigate threats to sea otters and other species in the nearshore ecosystem.”

A more in depth examination into the cause of the declining sea otter population trend was sought out by the San Francisco Chronicle.  In a July 1st article, it was reported that deceased otters have been testing positive for bacteria, viruses, and parasites often associated with sewage, urban, and farm runoff.  Thus, are we witnessing the first signs of a pollution problem along the California coast?

And what about overfishing?  Well an inadequate amount of available favored invertebrates may be limiting nutritional intake, resulting in otters that are more susceptible to diseases and preventing the population from reaching a healthy status.

Although there are currently more questions than answers, it would not be surprising to find that the southern sea otter of California is being hindered by a combination of multiple factors.

**USGS: To reduce the influence of anomalously high or low counts during any particular year, three-year running averages of the survey results are also used to assess whether the population is growing or declining. Factors that can influence the count include viewing conditions, abundance and species composition of surface canopy kelp, observer experience, and distribution and movements of the animals.

Intertwined amongst the scientific publications in latest Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology is an essay harboring questions aimed at current environmental themes such as species management , climate change, and terrestrial ecosystems. The idea behind the essay, One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity, is to evoke thoughts that will ultimately drive solutions for conservation practice and policy…in short protect biodiversity in the long-term.

And of the 100 most critical questions, 8 were organized under the section of Marine Ecosystem and are as follow:

• How will ocean acidification affect marine biodiversity and ecosystem function, and what measures could mitigate these effects?
• What are the ecological, social, and economic impacts resulting from the expansion of freshwater and marine aquaculture?
• Which management actions are most effective for ensuring the long-term survival of coral reefs in response to the combined impacts of climate change and other existing stressors?
• Which management approaches to fisheries are most effective at mitigating the impacts of fish extraction and fishing gear on nontarget species and their habitats?
• How does the effectiveness of marine protected areas vary with biological, physical, and social factors and with connectivity to other protected areas?
• What will be the impacts of climate change on phytoplankton and oceanic productivity, and what will be the feedbacks of these impacts on the climate?
• How will multiple stressors, especially fishing, pollution, sea temperature fluctuations, acidification, and diseases, interact to affect marine ecosystems?
• Which mechanisms are most effective at conserving biodiversity in ocean areas occurring outside the legal jurisdiction of any single country?

I anticipated an addressing of bycatch, climate change, and overfishing, but what I found most intriguing is the all encompassing question of the affect of multiple stressors on marine ecosystems.  This is akin to the model for the theory of everything as such an answer is the universal question.  The marine ecosystems are not defined by a single species or environmental threat, but are an interconnected world in which pollution, overfishing, bycatch, and declining biodiversity culminate in a determination of the state of our oceans.   The more stressors we continue to add to the list, the more difficulty we will have in maintaining healthy oceans.

Plastic washing ashore and littering our beaches, the incredible Pacific Ocean garbage patch twice the size of Texas, and piles of trash blotting our seafloors left me wondering if the plastic pollution problem had reached a plateau. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I discover that plastic, under the guise of plankton, is becoming an inadvertent food source for all forms of life that rely on our oceans for survival. The main culprit appears to be tan plastic fragments that mimic the keystone species krill…

Apparently there is no need to worry about the high cost of pharmaceuticals and pesticides as our waterways are full of them and free by the glass full.  In just a matter of days multiple reports have been released describing the poor quality of our waters and identifying yet another threat to the long-term sustainability of endangered species and our fisheries.

On the eve of  Earth Day, the National Marine Fisheries Service has found commonly used agricultural pesticides are endangering Pacific salmon and steelhead populations.  According to the Associated Press, “Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs.”

And that’s not all as the AP is also reporting, ” U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water.”

If only I was done with contaminated water as a Washington Post article from last week described the EPA is getting onto the ‘pesticide in our water bandwagon’ by ordering manufactures to test 67 chemical components for endocrine disruptive properties.

“Researchers have raised concerns that chemicals released into the environment are interfering with animals’ hormone systems, citing problems such as male fish in the Potomac River that are growing eggs. The chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors, may interfere with the hormones that humans and animals produce or secrete.”

EPA to test effects of chemicals in pesticides

US biologists say 3 pesticides harm salmon

Tons of released drugs taint US water