RTSea

Shark conservation continues to make progress and continues to run up against serious challenges simultaneously. It's a long road that will need to be traveled to reach the ultimate goal of seeing decimated populations of iconic shark species begin to return to some level of normalcy, but it's a trip worth taking. One of the biggest challenges the movement faces is demand for shark products, particularly shark fins . The shark fin market is centered in Asia where a long cultural history... Read Full Story

Green or nature-sustainable thinking in design and products is not just a hot topic among major industrial nations in the West; it's also finding its way into countries like Thailand, as evidenced by the exhibit "Everything Forever Now: Designs for a sustainable future" currently on display at the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) in Bangkok. Some of the exhibit's many highlights include a bicycle made from nylon powder, a lamp powered by moss, benches made from seaweed, and artificial... Read Full Story

Here is a long but valuable post script to my comments at the start of the month regarding the pseudo-scientific concept that without sharks the Earth would lose it's oxygen. My shark advocate colleague, David Shiffman (aka WhySharksMatter), weighed in with his detailed scientific perspective (see below). So I hope this will bring some closure on the subject. For those shark advocates who have supported this idea, I hope that you will re-assess your position and stick to scientifically-proven... Read Full Story

Was just finishing a short opinion piece by Brian Taylor for New Zealand's Otago Daily Times about how best to deal with the wilding pines that spread throughout both the north and south islands. Wilding pines, also referred to as wilding conifers, are invasive species of pine trees, the result of a combination of early settlers stripping indigenous scrubland for agriculture and cattle grazing which provided a fertile base for various imported pine tree species to explode across the valleys... Read Full Story

Possible good news/bad news for ocean noise pollution. First the bad news. A research study from the New England Aquarium in Boston provides the first documentation of harmful stress on whales due to elevated noise levels from ships. A "Before & After" Research Opportunity The issue of ocean noise pollution has been around for some time and hotly debated depending on whose side you're on. Construction noise from oil drilling platforms or other such ocean-based structures, sonar signals from... Read Full Story

This past Saturday in Australia, the ocean conservation and the motion picture community lost two of its great adventurers. Mike DeGruy of Santa Barbara, California, and Andrew Wight of Victoria, Australia were killed when a helicopter owned by Wight crashed just after take-off in North South Wales. The two were reportedly preparing to scout locations for a documentary film they were working on when the helicopter came down. An investigation by Australian authorities is underway to determine... Read Full Story

New research from an international team of researchers indicates that humans pose a higher risk of extinction for marine mammals. Now, for many ocean conservation advocates I can hear the collective "Duuuuuh" right now, complete with eyes rolling round in their sockets. But wait. This particular study, " Drivers and Hotspots of Extinction Risk in Marine Mammals " published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA , has the potential for catching the attention of... Read Full Story

Nature is a very complex, interwoven web of plant and animal species, ecological and environmental relationships, and an endless multitude of actions and reactions. To survive, it is constantly changing, adjusting to shifts in conditions - sometimes slowly and sometimes dramatically. Therefore, to predict the totality of change that occurs with the loss of a species is, to say the least, challenging. We like are answers neat and tidy. We are prone to look for silver bullet solutions, one size... Read Full Story

Most of the exotic wild cats still living in the wild are considered threatened or endangered to one degree or another. They are often pressured by a loss of habitat which either pushes them towards starvation or an increase in encounters with people - both of which usually lead to the loss of the animal. This is true of the leopard found throughout Asia, extending towards the Middle East. However, in Pakistan steps are being to taken to learn more about the current condition of the leopard... Read Full Story

Surfers of the Pacific Northwest are a pretty hardy lot. Their passion for the sport takes them into sometimes freezing cold water, they trek through virgin forest, and both in the water and out they encounter many of nature's wildest animals. And so that makes them ideal ambassadors for the conservation and preservation of rugged stretches of nature that could be threatened by the environmental damage of oil pipelines and tanker spills. The Vancouver Sun ran an article by Judith Lavoie of... Read Full Story