King Crabs Invade Antarctica

ScienceDaily (Apr. 26, 2011)

It's like a scene out of a sci-fi movie -- thousands, possibly millions, of king crabs are marching through icy, deep-sea waters and up the Antarctic slope.

It's like a scene out of a sci-fi movie -- thousands,
possibly millions, of king crabs are marching through
icy, deep-sea waters and up the Antarctic slope.
(Credit: Image courtesy of University of
Alabama at Birmingham)

"They are coming from the deep, somewhere between 6,000 to 9,000 feet down," said James McClintock, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham Endowed Professor of Polar and Marine Biology.

Shell-crushing crabs haven't been in Antarctica, Earth's southernmost continent, for hundreds or thousands, if not millions, of years, McClintock said. "They have trouble regulating magnesium ions in their body fluids and get kind of drunk at low temperatures."

But something has changed, and these crustaceans are poised to move by the droves up the slope and onto the shelf that surrounds Antarctica. McClintock and other marine researchers interested in the continent are sounding alarms because the vulnerable ecosystem could be wiped out, he said.

Antarctic clams, snails and brittle stars, because of adaptation to their environment, have soft shells and have never had to fight shell-crushing predators. "You can take an Antarctic clam and crush it with your hands," McClintock said. They could be the main prey for these crabs, he said.

Loss of unique mollusks could jeopardize organisms with disease-fighting compounds, McClintock said. Sea squirts, for example, produce an agent that fights skin cancer. If the crabs eat them, it could bring McClintock's research with that organism to a halt.

McClintock's chemical ecology program has published more than 100 papers on species researchers have discovered, including the compound that combats skin cancer and one to treat flu, that are being explored by drug companies.

"I am very concerned that species could disappear, and we could lose a cure to a disease," he said.

McClintock's colleague Sven Thatje, Ph.D., an evolutionary biologist at the University of Southampton in England, saw the first signs of the king crab invasion in 2007. He spotted a lone crab climbing up the slope. McClintock and Rich Aronson, Ph.D., a paleoecologist at Florida Institute of Technology, put together a proposal to launch the first systematic search for king crabs in Antarctica. With Sven as chief expedition scientist, the team headed back with two ships and a submarine earlier this year.

"We ran transects up the slope and discovered hundreds and hundreds of king crabs, which could translate into millions across broad expanses of coastal Antarctica," he said. "They are adults, males and females. They appear healthy and have all the ingredients needed to produce a healthy population."

The king crabs' large numbers on the slope suggest that they are increasing in number at a rate faster than anticipated, McClintock said. "Before long, they could be in shallow water and on the shelf," he said. "This is a very visual, visceral way of thinking of an impact of climate change."

McClintock and his fellow researchers are exploring causes for the invasion, which they believe is linked to human-induced climate warming. Around 40,000 tourists visit the area each year.

"Antarctica has become a popular destination for tourists," McClintock said. Cruise ship companies have seen it as an opportunity to take visitors to "one of the most stunningly beautiful areas on our planet."

After cruising along the waters, tourists can then take a rubber boat called a zodiac to a beach covered with penguins as far as the eye can see. "The penguins will come right up to you," McClintock said.

And, now that the king crabs are on the Antarctic slope, some fishermen are anxious to head to Antarctica as well. McClintock has already gotten an email from a fisherman asking when he can come.

But the icy waters and dangerous logistics make fishing difficult, McClintock said. "There is a TV show called the 'The Deadliest Catch,'" he said. "Well this is the deadliest, deadliest catch."

For now, McClintock and his team are reviewing the thousands of images they captured during their submarine exploration. His team is analyzing the data and plans to have its findings published in a major journal within a year.

"The whole ecosystem could change," McClintock said. "And this is just one example of a species expanding its range into a new territory. There will certainly be more as the climate warms up."

Related Articles:

'Super' salmon resist climate change better: study

Endangered whales gathering off Cape Cod in record numbers

Endangered whales gathering off Cape Cod in record numbers

Boston.com, April 21, 2011, by Vivian Ho, Globe Correspondent

Whale watchers won’t even have to leave land to see a spectacular sight.

  

A record number of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales have gathered close off the beaches of Provincetown and Truro and is expected to stay there for at least another week, said Charles “Stormy’’ Mayo, senior scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

Researchers counted more than 100 whales during an aerial survey Tuesday, with a preliminary count of more than 200 total, a little less than half of the known population. At some points the whales can be seen just a few yards offshore, to a quarter-mile out.

The whales are drawn to the area this time of year by the stores of zooplankton. Mayo said he thinks there are a large number of the whales there now because the area is particularly rich in zooplankton this year.

“We don’t understand that particularly well, but it’s clearly a combination of oceanographic processes and a lot of marine biology,’’ he said. “There are currents that bring the plankton into the area and local currents that cause them to concentrate, and it’s probably an overlapping of a lot of physical processes. Right now, the situation is good for that, just as when you grow plants in your backyard. Some years, there are better situations than others.’’

North Atlantic right whales can weigh up to 90 tons and sport raised, roughened areas on their heads and snouts that make each mammal distinctive, said Mayo.

They live largely in the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia.

Mayo said the center had been spotting the whales in the area since February, but began seeing large numbers around two weeks ago. They appear to be concentrating around Race Point, but also can been seen down to Long Point in Provincetown and inside to Truro.

They now number so many that the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has issued a warning for boaters to steer clear of the animals. Because North Atlantic right whales are endangered — only 450 to 500 exist worldwide — federal law prevents any vessels, other than ones holding research permits, from getting within 500 yards of the creatures.

“The loss of one breeding female could be detrimental to the recovery of the species,’’ said Tanya Grady, a spokeswoman for the Center of Coastal Studies. “They really are teetering on the brink of extinction.’’

Mayo said anyone wanting to see the whales can do so just by walking on the beaches.

“We’re used to seeing right whales,’’ Mayo said. “But even though we do a lot of research on them, it’s a thrilling time. It is a very special occasion being around such an extraordinarily rare animal. The coastal waters off of Massachusetts is providing a home for one of the rarest creatures on earth, and it’s very exciting.’’

Vivian Ho can be reached at vho@globe.com.

Humpback Whales May Be Migratory Astronomers

Wired.com, by Dave Mosher, April 19, 2011

A humpback whale swimming underwater (gwoodford/Flickr)

An eight-year project that tracked humpback whale migrations by satellite shows the huge mammals follow uncannily straight paths for weeks at a time.

The results suggest a single migratory mechanism isn’t responsible. Instead, humpbacks may use a combination of the sun’s position, Earth’s magnetism and even star maps to guide their 10,000-mile journeys.

“Humpback whales are going across some of most turbulent waters in the world, yet they keep going straight,” said environmental scientist Travis Horton of the University of Canterbury, whose team will publish their findings April 20 in Biology Letters. “They’re orienting with something outside of themselves, not something internal.”

Satellite maps of nine humpback whales’
migratory patterns in the South Atlantic.
Triangles represent migrations in 2008
while circles represent migrations in 2009
(Biology Letters)

Humpback whales feed during the summer near polar oceans and migrate to warm tropical oceans for the winter, where they mate and calves are born. A one-way trip can last upwards of 5,000 miles, making the cetaceans one of the farthest-migrating animals on Earth. (One was tracked migrating 6,200 miles).

To better understand humpback migrations, Horton’s colleagues embedded satellite tags in seven South Atlantic and nine South Pacific whales from 2003 through 2010.

Each tag contained a battery-operated transponder that beamed its location to the researchers. The tags lasted from four weeks to seven months before falling out; altogether, they provided one of the most detailed sets of long-term migratory data for humpbacks ever collected.

“You can’t stick a large whale in a box like you can with a bird to study its migratory behavior. This is why detailed field data on whales is so important,” said research biologist John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective, who wasn’t involved in the work.

The researchers found that, despite surface currents, storms and other distractions, the humpbacks never deviated more than about 5 degrees from their migratory courses.

In about half the segments mapped by the researchers, humpbacks deviated by one degree or less.

“When we first starting seeing data, we thought, ‘Wow, these are really, really straight paths,’” said marine biologist Alex Zerbini of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a co-author of the study who led the satellite-tracking effort. “We immediately wondered how they accomplish that.”

Decades of research on long-range animal migrations has identified geomagnetic and sun-tracking mechanisms, but that work focuses primarily on birds. Humpbacks don’t seem to rely on either method alone.

Earth’s magnetism varies too widely to explain the whales’ arrow-straight patterns, and solar navigation requires frames of reference that water doesn’t often provide. “The open ocean is an endless horizon of blue,” Horton said.

See Also:

• The Curious Tale of a Far-Flung Whale
• Listen: Humpback Whale Songs That Swept the Pacific
• Male Humpback Whales Sing Duets
• 12 Elegant Examples of Evolution
• Blue Whale Song Mystery Baffles Scientists

Horton suspects humpbacks rely on both mechanisms, and perhaps the position of the moon or stars. His team is preparing to submit a second study on reference frames in marine mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. After publishing that work, Horton hopes to further investigate the humpbacks’ abilities.

Calambokidis suggested a fourth mechanism for steering: long-distance songs that can carry for hundreds or thousands of miles underwater, and may provide navigational cues or help migrating whales coordinate their movements.

“These whales are clearly using something more sophisticated to migrate than anything we’ve surmised,” said Calambokidis. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what this team does next.”

Using a long fiberglass pole, researchers tag a humpback whale
for satellite tracking (Paul Hilton).

Citation: “Straight as an arrow: humpback whales swim constant course tracks during long-distance migration.” Travis W. Horton, Richard N. Holdaway, Alexandre N. Zerbini, Nan Hauser, Claire Garrigue, Artur Andriolo and Phillip J. Clapham. Biology Letters. Published online April 20, 2011. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0279

Related Articles:

Humpback whales spread catchy tunes to each other, study reveals

"The Akashic System of Remembrance" - Sep 2010 (Kryon Channeling) - Reference to Whales/Dolphins/Animals/Pets .. > 28:00 min

Dolphin Rescuer Richard O'Barry Has an Indonesian Mission

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia, April 17, 2011

A scene from the 2009 documentary ‘The Cove,’ which detailed Richard
O’Barry’s  attempts to expose the live-dolphin trade in Japan. (Photo
courtesy of Sony Pictures) 

     

In the 2009 Academy Award-winning feature documentary “The Cove,” Richard O’Barry says if there is a dolphin in trouble anywhere in the world, his phone will ring — and that is exactly what happened when 72 captive dolphins in Indonesia needed to be taken back to the open sea.

The phone call came from the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, a nonprofit animal rights group which is sponsored by the Earth Island Institute where O’Barry works as a marine mammal specialist.

The group needs O’Barry’s help to help rescue illegally-captured bottlenose and spinner dolphins and release them back to the sea in Karimun Jawa National Park, located off the northern coast of Central Java. It is part of a five-year cooperation program involving JAAN, the Forestry Ministry and the Earth Island Institute.

The dolphins are held captive by traveling animal shows and other groups that falsely claim to be concerned with their welfare. It didn’t take long before O’Barry landed in Indonesia to supervise the building of a 90-square-meter sea pen — the largest ever in the world for a dolphin rehabilitation program — that will house the aquatic mammals, once they are rescued, before their release back into the wider sea.

O’Barry and the JAAN team flew over the coast on a chartered airplane to look for a suitable location for the sea pen. They finally settled on a spot about a quarter of a mile away from the shore of one of the islands in the national park, where the dolphins could be supervised while they readjusted to their natural habitat.

A survey conducted by JAAN has revealed that many dolphins are held in captivity by institutions in Indonesia operating under the guise of conservation, education and therapy. The group carried out the survey after receiving reports of abuse from members of the public concerned about the aforementioned traveling circuses.

“Traveling dolphin shows are the most abusive shows in the world. They’ve been outlawed in other countries,” O’Barry said.

When moving between cities, the dolphins are confined in small tanks, which is very stressful for mammals that normally travel about 40 miles a day, O’Barry said.

The conditions are even worse than those experienced by animals in zoos, since dolphins are very sensitive to sound and lose their sonar ability when confined in a small space.

Unfortunately, O’Barry’s initial dolphin-saving mission in Indonesia last month came to a halt when he and the JAAN team — along with his son, who was supposed to film the event for the “Blood Dolphin” television series on Animal Planet — had to cancel the rescue of the first three dolphins for reasons O’Barry said were still unclear.

“I have no idea why it takes so long to do such a simple thing,” he said. “Just take them from the tank into the sea pen, it’s a simple move.”

O’Barry conceded, however, that such a problem was not uncommon in other countries, since business entities that feature dolphins are usually backed by affluent people with powerful connections.

“It is a multi-billion [dollar] industry around the world. That is why there are such shows, they pay taxes to the government, and the government supports them. That’s the problem,” he said.

O’Barry’s efforts to raise public awareness of the reality that lies behind the dolphin’s smile — which he refers to as nature’s greatest deception, because it gives people the illusion that the mammals are always happy — is just one of the many missions he has been involved in over the past 40 years. He has worked in over 70 countries since he turned from a renowned dolphin trainer to a dolphin rescuer.

O’Barry used to capture and train dolphins for the 1960s children’s television series “Flipper,” a job that catapulted him to international stardom. His change of heart came in 1970 after Kathy, one of the five dolphins he had trained for the series, died in his arms.

“I was young and foolish. When you’re a dolphin trainer, you have to lie to the public every day and to yourself and I got tired of doing it,” he said.

As a result of O’Barry’s new outlook and the popularity of “The Cove,” a 2009 documentary that analyzes and questions Japan’s dolphin-hunting culture, dolphin shows at marine mammal parks and oceanariums around the world have been on the decline.

According to O’Barry, the claim that dolphin shows educate the public and promote scientific research couldn’t be further from the truth.

“What does it teach you to see a dolphin suffer and what do the young children really learn from the dolphin? They learn that abusing nature is alright and that is really dangerous to their young minds.”

What should be inspiring to children, O’Barry said, is the fact that 8,000 people who inhabit Karimun Jawa are getting involved in the rehabilitation project.

However, even though dolphin hunting is on the decline, he said, there have been increased efforts to breed the mammals in captivity.

“If it was my decision, there would be birth control for dolphins. There is no need for a dolphin to be born in captivity just to do a show and tricks. Nobody learns anything from it and there is no connection between dolphins and conservation. You don’t have to put them in captivity to like dolphins,” he said.

One of the activities that is still in high demand is swimming with dolphins, which, O’Barry said, unfairly tasks dolphins with amusing and entertaining. “It’s an endless line of swimmers that the dolphins have to amuse,” he said.

Another culprit is dolphin-assisted therapy, whose practitioners claim it can help autistic children overcome the disorder. According to O’Barry, such so-called therapy is just a money-making scam and there is no scientific proof that dolphins can help to heal people.

He backed his arguments with scientific research by Lori Marino, a neuroscientist and behavioral biology expert from Emory University in the United States, which shows that dolphin-assisted therapy is nothing but a fad that has not been proven to work as a treatment for mental or physical disorders.

“It is hypocritical to capture the dolphins and destroy their lives to enhance ours,” O’Barry said.

He added that instead of improving the life of autistic children, the costly treatments would only improve the lifestyle of the business owners who prey on desperate parents willing to go to any lengths to make their child’s life easier.

Right now, O’Barry’s main priority is releasing the 72 dolphins back to the wide open sea, and giving them back their natural habitat. “I can read their body language and I can tell when they are ready to go,” he said. “Hopefully, their family will come to the sea pen and that will be the best time to let them go.”

Dolphins have a life expectancy of up to 60 years but for O’Barry, it is not a question of how long the dolphins’ life-span is but their quality of life. “Right now, those dolphins are on death row. Putting them back in nature is not a science project but it is the right thing to do,” he said. “They need us to leave them alone. That’s what we need to do. Leave them alone.”

Chinese white dolphins -- "giant panda in the sea"

English.news.cn   2011-04-17

Two Chinese white dolphins play in the Sanniang Bay of Qinzhou city,
southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 16, 2011.
Sanniang Bay scenic zone is one of the habitats of the Chinese white dolphins,
 which is under the state first-grade protection and known as the "giant panda
 in the sea". In recent years, the Chinese white dolphins in Sanniang Bay have
attracted numerous tourists from home and abroad. (Xinhua/Zeng Kaihong)

Tourists watch the Chinese white dolphins on a boat in the Sanniang Bay
 of Qinzhou city, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
 April 16, 2011. Sanniang Bay scenic zone is one of the habitats of the
 Chinese white dolphins, which is under the state first-grade protection
and known as the "giant panda in the sea". In recent years, the Chinese
 white dolphins in Sanniang Bay have attracted numerous tourists from home
and abroad. (Xinhua/Zeng Kaihong)

Humpback whales spread catchy tunes to each other, study reveals

Hit versions of whale song are adopted across populations, while other tunes are judged a failure and dropped

• The cultural life of whales

• Eyewitness: Having a whale of a time

guardian.co.uk, Press Association, Friday 15 April 2011

Male humpback whales often combine snippets of classic tunes with
new material. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Humpback whales spread catchy songs to each other through the ocean, research has shown.

Male whales whistle mating tunes that either prove a hit or miss. Catchy "remix" versions of the songs quickly spread across the ocean, almost always travelling east to west, scientists have found.

Usually the songs are made up of blended old and new material. But sometimes a song is judged to be a failure and dropped altogether, making way for a new tune.

Researcher Ellen Garland, from the University of Queensland in Australia, said: "Our findings reveal cultural change on a vast scale."

She said popular songs moved like "cultural ripples from one population to another", causing all the males to start singing the new version.

The scientists made the discovery after spending a decade searching for patterns in songs recorded from six neighbouring Pacific whale populations.

They found it took about two years for male mating songs to spread from Australia to French Polynesia.

"The songs started in the population that migrates along the eastern coast of Australia and then moved – just the songs, and probably not the whales – all the way to French Polynesia in the east," said Garland. "Songs were first learned from males in the west and then subsequently learned in a stepwise fashion repeatedly across the vast region."

The eastward movement may be due to differences in population size, said the researchers, whose study is reported online in the journal Current Biology. Humpback whales exist in much larger numbers on Australia's east coast than in other areas.

It is thought that either small numbers of whales take their songs to other populations, or whales in neighbouring groups hear the new songs as they swim together.

Garland described how the whales combined samples of "classic" tunes with new material.

"It would be like splicing an old Beatles song with U2," she said. "Occasionally they completely throw the current song out of the window and start singing a brand new song."

Once a new song emerges, it quickly catches on among the males, rising to the "top of the chart" over the course of one breeding season.

The scientists still do not know why the whales' songs are spread in this way.

It is unclear whether the purpose of the songs is chiefly to attract females or to repel rival males.

"We think this male quest for song novelty is in the hope of being that little bit different and perhaps more attractive to the opposite sex," said Garland. "This is then countered by the urge to sing the same tune, by the need to conform."

Related Articles:

"The Akashic System of Remembrance" - Sep 2010 (Kryon Channeling) - Reference to Whales/Dolphins/Animals/Pets .. > 28:00 min

Do Animals Reincarnate? - NOV 22 (Kuthumi channeled by Lynette Leckie-Clark)

Jupiter floatel sinking off Mexico

The Jupiter accommodation platform in the Gulf of Mexico has partially sunk after listing heavily on Tuesday, operator Pemex said.

Upstreamonline.com, Aleya Begum, 13 April 2011 09:12 GMT|

Sinking: the Jupiter floatel (Image courtesy of STRINGER /

MEXICO/Scanpix/Reuters)

“After several attempts to rescue the platform failed, it partially sank at 14:30 (local time),” said Pemex in a statement.

“No one is injured, the entire staff is safe.”

Water depth in the area is 38 meters, and given the dimensions of the semi-submersible platform, which is 50 meters wide, the partially sunk floatel remains 13 metres above water levels.

An incident onboard the floatel was first reported at 7:39am yesterday morning when 638 personnel were immediately evacuated to the nearby Abkatun-Alfa platform.

It is believed that a valve problem caused the unit to take in water.

“According to procedures, we applied the emergency response plan of the system and the majority of staff onboard were immediately evacuated,” said Pemex.

“Seventy five crew members remained to meet the contingency.”

Specialised divers attempted to review water entry into the vessel and seal the pontoon, but the work had to be suspended for the safety of the divers, said Pemex.

“Bilge pumps from the installation were insufficient to counteract the ingress of water so we proceeded to complete evacuation at 13:30,” said the operator.

The floatel, which is owned by Cotemar and managed by PEP, has 2075 barrels of diesel stored in the pontoons and 82 barrels of jet fuel stored in containers on the deck.

“There is no evidence of leakage,” said Pemex.

" We will continure to monitor the area to detect the presence of any spill around the platform."

The company said it now plans to start investigations into the cause of the incident and review salvage options for the platform

Giant ocean whirlpools puzzle scientists

Pravda.ru, 12.04.2011

US scientists discovered two giant whirlpools in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Guyana and Suriname. It became a sensational discovery because this part of the ocean has been studied thoroughly, and no one expected anything like that to appear in the area. More importantly, no one can understand where the whirlpools came from and what surprises they may bring to people.

According to Brazilian scientist Guilherme Castellane, the two funnels are approximately 400 kilometers in diameter. Until now, these were not known on Earth. The funnels reportedly exert a strong influence on climate changes that have been registered during the recent years.

"Funnels rotate clockwise. They are moving in the ocean like giant frisbees, two discs thrown into the air. Rotation occurs at a rate of one meter per second, the speed is sufficiently large compared to the speed of oceanic currents, on the border hoppers is a wave-step height of 40 cm," Castellane said.

Even during the dry months, when the movement of oceanic currents and the flow of the Amazon River practically comes to a standstill, the funnels do not disappear. Therefore, the nature of the funnels does not depend on the flow of water, which one of the world's biggest rivers brings into the ocean. The natural phenomenon, which creates the whirlpools, is unknown to modern science.

As a matter of fact, the phenomenon of giant whirlpools in the World Ocean is not new to science. In most cases, the craters, or rings, as scientists call them, are formed as a result of so-called vertical currents. The latter, in their turn, appear because of differences in water density which appear because of difference in temperatures of water layers. It is an open secret that cold water is thicker and heavier, so it goes down, underneath the masses of warm water, which is lighter. This is the reason why warm currents in the World Ocean always flow closer to the surface, whereas colder currents flow closer to the bottom.

However, such movement of water may not always depend on the difference of temperatures of the water column. The difference in salinity can also be a reason. The mechanism here is the same. The density of saltier water is higher, this water is heavier and it moves closer to the bottom, pushing less saltier water up. This type of vertical fusion occurs frequently in the tropics because high temperatures lead to the evaporation of water from the surface. The salt does not evaporate with water, though. It stays in the ocean, which raises the level of salinity on the upper layer of water. This layer "drowns" and gives way to less saltier waters of the depth.

Such vertical movements of water create giant whirlpools. The whirlpools, tens and even hundreds of kilometers in diameter, may last for months and even years, scientists say. The vertical movement of waters is a slow process, though. Why do those whirlpools exist for such a long time? This is partially the effect of Earth's magnetic field. In addition, marine water contains many charged ions, Na and Cl for example. To crown it all, water molecules are dipoles that are charged both positively and negatively.

Any dipole starts spinning when moving in the magnetic field. An oceanic ring gathers millions of billions of molecules together. That is why the giant circle movement triggered by the vertical movement of water may last for months and years mechanically. Ions also give more power to the craters. Natrium and Chlorum are charged as well, and their movement in the magnetic field of the Earth also leads to the appearance of the circle movement.

It is not ruled out that the reason for the appearance of the whirlpools off the coast of South America is the same as in other parts of the World Ocean. Scientists are currently studying the influence of those giant funnels on the climate of Latin America and Africa. Such whirlpools show influence on the atmosphere and form cyclonical air mass. They can also affect the movement of air mass formed in other places. For the time being, scientists do not know how the newly discovered water craters can affect the climate of Central and South Americas.

Anton Yevseyev

Pravda.Ru

Read the original in Russian

Lampung University students to transplant coral reefs

Antara News, Tue, April 12 2011

"In this time the forests became subjected conservation, and wish to try to do this at sea."

Related News

• Forests, coral reefs in Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua damaged the worst
• Around 96 Percent of Mangroves in Lampung Gone
• PLN Lampung expects electrification ratio of 60 percent
• Hundreds of houses damaged in Lampung flash flood
• East Lampung chief reinstated to active duties

Bandarlampung, Lampung (ANTARA News) - Students of the Biology Division, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Lampung (Unila), will transplant coral reefs in Lampung Bay, the work coordinator Novriadi said here Tuesday.

(ANTARA Photo/Rosa Panggabean)

The activity is the one of the Natural Resources Conservation Week (PKSDA) XV themed "Enhancing Public Awareness and Concern for the Importance of Education and Marine Conservation for a Better Future."

"In this time the forests became subjected conservation, and wish to try to do this at sea," he added.

He said at least 50 divers will be involved, but only 10 with a job of transplanting are certified.

He said that the divers who with the job of transplanting will write their names on the reefs which are not harmful to the coral reefs and other biota.

"The observation will be conducted once in every three months," Novriadi explained .

He added, the activity would be conducted on April 18, 2011 in Ringgung beach, Pesawaran district, with at least 72 organisms to be grown and develop.

In addition, the other activities in the Natural Resources Conservation Week include environmental action themed "Show Real Action in Our Sea" and under a water photography contest themed "My Million Marine Charms of Nature".

The other activities are coloring and a drawing contest themed "Save Coral Reefs Now For Future Marine Life", Friday Good Day themed Toward the (Clean Environment) BERLIN Sea and cabaret "My sea my heart, my reef and my guardian."

"The participants of the coral transplantation are students, lecturers and diving clubs in Indonesia, while the environmental action involved high school students, college students, and other people. The conservation photography contest is followed by the Bandar Lampung people," Novriadi noted.

Meanwhile the coloring contest is for kindergarten and the drawing contest for elementary school students.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

West Timor people to hold congress on Montara oil spill

Antara News, Tue, April 12 2011

...no scientific research has been conducted to solve the problem by the two countries as well ass PTTEP Australasia as the operator of the Montara oil field

Related News

• Mangrove Forest conservation needed to overcome climate change
• RI`s mangrove forests fortress against disaster
• Number of hot spots in Sumatra down to 17
• Australia calls for global disaster force
• Australian government helps Banjarmasin`s sanitation

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The West Timor Care Foundation (YPTB) and a number of elements of the public in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), will hold a congress in Kupang to discuss the Montara oil spill problem.

"We are making preparations for the West Timor People`s Congress in Jakarta, because the Indonesian and Australian governments are incapable of dealing with the oil spill case," YPTB Chairman Ferdi Tanoni, who is also Timor Sea observer, said here Tuesday.

The Montara oil field explosion on August 21, 2009, has caused pollution in Timor Sea.

Thousands of coastal residents in NTT have been affected by the water contamination of crude oil spill, plumbum, and dispersant chemical powder of Corexit 9500.

"We have to organize the congress because since the Montara oil spill disaster which has been polluting Timor Sea covering around 80,000 km2 areas, no scientific research has been conducted to solve the problem by the two countries as well ass PTTEP Australasia as the operator of the Montara oil field," he said.

The governments of Australia and Indonesia had actually signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the prevention and handling of oil spill and pollution in seas, in 1996, he said.

However, the two governments have never implemented the MOU regarding the Montara oil spill, he added.

He also expressed his disappointment about the performance of the National Team on the Handling of Oil Spill Emergency Situation (PKDTML) led by Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, for making the Montara case so complicated.

The team has failed to ask for the accountability of the Australian government and the PTTEP Australasia as the Montara operator, according to him.

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Related Articles:

PTTEP acknowledges oil spill in Timor Sea: Minister

Kiara regrets PTTEP`s rejection of RI`s claim on oil spill

Shore leave

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Makassar | Mon, 04/11/2011

Shore leave: The USS Guardian-MCM 5, a US warship, docks at
 Soekarno-Hatta Port in Makassar on Monday. The ship, with a crew
 of 83, will be in Makassar for two days in a goodwill mission and to
 renew their logistics. (Antara/Yusran Uccang)

Kidnapped Indonesian Sailors Plea for Government's Help

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia | April 10, 2011

Related articles

• S Korea Charges Somali Pirates With Attempted Murder
• Malaysian Police Take Custody of 7 Somali Pirates
• South Korea Calls for Right to Prosecute Captured Somali Pirates

The captain of MV Sinar Kudus has pleaded to the Indonesian government to help him and his 20 Indonesian crew, who have been held hostage by Somali pirates for three weeks.

Captain Slamet from MV Sinar Kudus cargo ship.
Slamet and his 20 crews are still being held hostage
by Somali pirates. (Photo Source Metro TV)

In a telephone conversation with Metro TV on Sunday, Capt. Slamet Jauhari said he was in good health, but twelve of his crews were ill.

“There is no clean water, we are only fed once a day, and twelve of my crew are mentally crushed. To the Indonesian government, please rescue us,” Slamet said.

The 21 men were taken hostage on March 16 after Somali pirates ambushed their vessel, carrying 8,300 tons of nickel produced by PT Aneka Tamabang, in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, en route to Amsterdam.

Slamet said the pirates were demanding $2.5 million in ransom and that they had threaten to raise the amount unless they received confirmation from the ship's owner or the Indonesian government that the money would be paid.

“I am asking the Indonesian government, Bapak SBY [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] or any businessman who has the money, please save my crew,” Slamet said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Saturday that efforts were underway to secure the release of the Indonesian hostages.

"The Indonesian government is deeply concerned with this situation and we are investigating options to settle this problem as soon as possible," Marty said on the sidelines of a meeting between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

He said that the ship’s owner had been in constant communications with the pirates.

Marty declined to comment further on the efforts as he did not want to jeopardize the hostage's lives.

"For the moment we are working on their release and efforts to protect them are ongoing," he said.

Related Articles:

Somalia supports military action to free Indonesian hostage

Pirates Threaten to Kill Hostages: Sailor's Family

Military mulls sending troops to save hostages from Somali pirates

Up to 50 Somali Pirates Seize Indonesian Ship: EU

Indonesian ship hijacked off Somalia coast

Around 12,000 Indonesians working as sailors world-wide