Forget North Sea fishing – the Dutch export coral to British zoos

DutchNews, January 22, 2019

Photo: Burgers’ Zoo Arnhem

Over 300 corals, sea anemones and coral reef fish spawned and raised at the Burgers’ Ocean aquarium at Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem are being shipped to England on Wednesday, the zoo announced on Tuesday. 

Burgers’ Zoo, which has been exceptionally successful at growing coral in its tanks, has been supplying tropical coral to other European aquariums for a number of years. 

The London Aquarium is building a special tank to grow a living coral reef. The base of the reef is formed by some 170 stone corals capable of building a sturdy skeleton. Chester Zoo will receive 10 corals and 10 sea anemones from Burgers’ Zoo. 

Burgers’ Ocean boosts the biggest living coral reef in an aquarium in Europe which lives in a tank filled with 750,000 litres of water. Most of the corals shipped to England come from this reef and some were grown separately. 

‘We are happy that our coral reef is growing at such a rate that we have to cut it back from time to time,’ biologist Max Janse said. 

‘Overcrowding is not good for corals, they start to ‘fight’ and influence each other negatively. And it puts us in a position to give coral colonies to our European colleagues and safeguard corals for the future.’

Protected nuisance gulls must go, say Rotterdammers

DutchNews, January 9, 2019 

A lesser black-backed gull flies through a Dutch street. Photo: Wim Verhagen via HH 

Rotterdammers whose lives have been made a misery by black-backed gulls for the last seven years, have written a letter to the city council asking for help, local broadcaster Rijnmond TV reports. 

The gulls, a protected species, have taken up residence on the flat roofs of homes at the Telderweg, Kemperweg, Van Poeljeweg and Moltzerstraat, and are keeping the inhabitants awake with their incessant and piercing screeching, especially between March and September when they are breeding. 

The birds are also more aggressive when they have chicks and have been known to attack adults and children. 

The council and housing corporation Havensteder have said they cannot do anything because the birds are protected but the harassed locals are pointing to Alkmaar, Haarlem and Leiden which have taken measures against nuisance gulls by dipping the eggs in corn oil which stops them from hatching. 

They also want a subsidy to put up netting on the roofs, a measure they claim is allowed, even taking into account the birds’ protected status.

‘Young gulls will always return to the nests to breed. In 10 years’ time they will completely dominate the streets whilst still being protected. Who is protecting the citizens?’, the letter reads.

Ocean clean-up halted as plastic waste project hits new snag

DutchNews, January 4, 2019

Photo: The Ocean Cleanup

A Dutch project to clear plastic waste out of the Pacific ocean has had a second setback in a month – this time, one of the end parts of the boom used to catch rubbish has broken off.

This ‘structural malfunctioning of the cleanup system’ means the team is returning to port earlier than planned, the project founder Boyan Slat said on the organisation’s website. 

The 18 metre piece of the boom which has fractured off contains sensors and satellite communication systems. 

‘We are, of course, quite bummed about this as we hoped to stay out for a bit longer to collect more data on plastic-system interaction, and it introduces an additional challenge to be solved,’ Slat said. 

The boom is now being towed back to Hawaii for repairs.

System 001 has been safely opened and reconnected to the Maersk Transporter. 116 days after launching from San Francisco, the tow back to Hawaii for upgrade and repair has begun. Operations will resume as soon as possible. https://t.co/7H7V6YgvN5

— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) January 3, 2019

In early December it emerged that the plastic catcher, a 600 metre floating tube with a skirt attached to sweep up the plastic debris, was not moving fast enough to be able to hold on to the plastic. However, the problem is ‘fixable’, Slat said at the time. 

‘Although we would have liked to end the year on a more positive note, we believe these teething troubles are solvable, and the cleanup of the great Pacific garbage patch will be operational in 2019,’ he said.

Ship loses potentially dangerous cargo in North Sea: Coastguard

Yahoo – AFP, January 2, 2019

Ship loses potentially dangerous cargo in North Sea: Coastguard

The Hague (AFP) - A cargo ship caught in rough North Sea weather lost at least 270 containers, including four holding potentially dangerous substances, the Dutch and German coastguards said Wednesday.

The Panama-registered MSC Zoe shed the containers containing mostly toys, furniture and auto spare parts while battling a storm off the Frisian Islands, an archipelago off the northwestern Dutch coast also known as the Wadden Islands.

The Dutch coastguard tweeted that three of the containers contained, in powder form, highly flammable, potentially dangerous organic peroxides used in making plastics which can cause irritation if breathed in.

German coastguard sources said they had located one container holding organic peroxide among six containers that reached the country's coastline.

They also warned the public not to touch the containers if found, but to call police or the fire brigade.

The Dutch coastguard, which said the containers went overboard not far from the German island of Borkum, added they did not have information about the content of cargo beyond that of the 20 or so containers which washed up on the islands.

Dutch broadcaster NOS showed local people around one of the containers and pictured toys and other materials strewn across beaches as well as one man carrying off a flat screen television.

A Dutch coastguard spokesman told NOS it was likely the containers holding the peroxides had sunk.

A Dutch coastguard plane was due to undertake a new search on Thursday morning while strong winds were hampering the MSC Zoe's own attempts to carry out an inventory.

The mayor of Terschelling island, where some of the cargo washed ashore, told NOS he expected it would take several days to clear the beach of stray items from the containers.

The 2015-built MSC Zoe, which was headed to the northern German port of Bremerhaven, is one of the world's largest container vessels at 396 metres (1300 feet) long and 59 metres wide.

Photo: Kustwacht

Related Articles:

Photos show chaos on container ship as Dutch beach clean-up begins

The Dutch military joined beach clean-up efforts, two days after some 270 shipping containers tumbled from one of the world's biggest cargo boats into the North Sea in stormy weather https://t.co/GS6IPT8Pqz

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 4, 2019

Wil je straks helpen met #helpwad #CleanupWadden #OpruimActie na de #containerramp met #MSCZoe? In dit kaartje zijn we allerlei plekken aan het verzamelen waar je aan de slag kunt. https://t.co/oTwfqwbJ55

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— Ritzo ten Cate (@ritzotencate) January 5, 2019