State of the Oceans — Log 2
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
Photo by Frank Busch
LAWSUIT AIMS TO EXPAND ORCA WHALE HABITAT
The non-profit Center for Biological Diversity is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service for its failure to protect killer whales off the west coast of America. There are just 75 orcas remaining in the Pacific Northwest population – the lowest number in 34 years.
CALIFORNIA SET TO BAN STRAWS
Following Seattle's lead, politicians in California have voted to "prohibit full-service, dine-in restaurants from offering plastic straws to customers unless they are requested". The move follows past legislation to ban single-use plastic bags and phase out plastic microbeads by 2020.
KOREA + CHINA TEAM UP AGAINST ILLEGAL FISHING
Korea and China will resume their joint patrols against illegal fishing activities in the Yellow Sea this October. Under the agreement, each country's coast guard will monitor operations by unregistered ships, violations of territorial waters and other infractions.
HIGH SEAS, HIGH STAKES
Government officials from around the world will gather at the United Nations next week to discuss the most important ocean treaty of the last twenty years. Here's our look at what's at stake, why it matters and what big issues to watch for when the negotiations begin.
CARBON DIOXIDE COULD KILL OFF THE OCEANS
The oceans are currently experiencing unprecedented acidification due to rising carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. According to a sobering new study, if we don't curb emissions fast the seas could become as acidic as they were 14 million years ago, killing off marine life as we know it.
IN SEARCH OF OCEANS IN SPACE
NASA researchers are using the Lō`ihi seamount in Hawaii to simulate a mission to explore icy oceans in deep space. The temperatures and pressures there are similar to those believed to exist on the seafloor of Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn.
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