Off the hook: Manta ray asks divers for helping hand

Yahoo – AFP, July 15, 2019

Manta rays are considered one of the most intelligent underwater creatures and are
common off parts of the west coast of AustraliaManta rays are considered one of
the most intelligent underwater creatures and are common off parts of the west
coast of Australia (AFP Photo/VALERIE MACON)

Sydney (AFP) - A giant manta ray with several fishing hooks caught below its eye appeared to ask two nearby divers for help in removing them, and then waited patiently for them to do so.

Underwater photographer Jake Wilton was diving off Australia's west coast when the three-metre wide animal moved toward him, footage showed.

"I'm often guiding snorkelers in the area and it's as if she recognised me and was trusting me to help her," Wilton said in a statement Monday.

"She got closer and closer and then started unfurling to present the eye to me."

Incredible footage shows Wilton repeatedly diving down toward the animal and removing the hooks, before the manta ray departs after the final impediment is dislodged.

"She never moved. I'm sure that manta knew that Jake was trying to get the hooks out," said marine biologist and fellow diver Monty Hall.

Manta rays are considered one of the most intelligent underwater creatures and are common off parts of the west coast of Australia.

The ocean giants can grow up to seven meters wide and live for about 50 years.

They don't have the sharp barb of a stingray and are harmless to humans.

VIDEO: Off the hook! A giant manta ray with several fishing hooks caught below its eye appeared to ask two nearby divers for help in removing them, and then waited patiently for them to do so https://t.co/KJCbjjnjHC pic.twitter.com/Hm0IBwDViR

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 15 juli 2019

Indonesia to send 210 tonnes of waste back to Australia

Yahoo – AFP, July 9, 2019

The eight containers seized in Surabaya city should have contained only waste
paper, but authorities also found hazardous material and household trash,
including used diapers (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia said Tuesday it would send more than 210 tonnes of garbage back to Australia, as Southeast Asian nations push back against serving as dumping grounds for foreign trash.

The eight containers seized in Surabaya city should have contained only waste paper, but authorities also found hazardous material and household trash including plastic bottles and packaging, used diapers, electronic waste and cans, a spokesman for the East Java customs agency told AFP.

Following the inspection the Indonesian environment ministry recommended "the items be re-exported," the agency said in a separate statement Monday.

"This is done to protect the public and Indonesian environment, especially in East Java, from B3 waste," it added, referring to hazardous and toxic materials.

Australian company Oceanic Multitrading sent the waste to Indonesia with help from Indonesian firm PT. MDI, authorities said.

China's decision in 2018 to ban imports of foreign plastic waste threw global recycling into chaos, leaving developed nations struggling to find places to send their waste.

Southeast Asian nations are pushing back against serving as dumping grounds 

for foreign trash (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Huge quantities of rubbish have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, but opposition to handling exported trash is growing in the region.

Indonesia announced last week it was sending back 49 containers full of waste to France and other developed nations.

In May, neighbouring Malaysia announced it was shipping 450 tonnes of imported plastic waste back to its sources, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The Philippines, meanwhile, returned about 69 containers of rubbish back to Canada last month, putting an end to a diplomatic row between the two countries.

Global concern over plastic pollution has been spurred by shocking images of waste-clogged rivers in Southeast Asia and accounts of dead sea creatures found with kilos of refuse in their stomachs.

Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), with much of it ending up in landfills or polluting the seas, in what has become a growing international crisis.

Two wartime shipwrecks go missing off coast of Malaysia

DutchNews, July 8, 2019 

An unnamed Dutch submarine during the Second World War. Photo: Wikipedia

Two Dutch Second World War shipwrecks have disappeared from Malaysian waters, months after the two countries agreed to step up efforts to protect war graves. 

The two submarines are suspected to have been recovered illegally for their scrap metal value. Debris from one was found on the sea bed, while at the other site only the imprint of the wreck was visible. 

‘This news has hit us very hard,’ said defence minister Ank Bijleveld. ‘These shipwreck locations are the last resting places of those who served on them and are a place of remembrance. The relatives have been informed. 

‘Out of respect for the survivors a commemoration has been held at both sites by members of the expedition.’ 

Last year foreign affairs minister Stef Blok signed a deal with his Indonesian counterpart to locate and protect vulnerable wrecks in the Java Sea, after it emerged that three sunken ships had disappeared.

Thailand's orphaned baby dugong becomes conservation star

Yahoo – AFP, 3 July, 2019

Female dugongs usually breastfeed their babies while they are swimming, so vets
at Phuket Marine Biological Centre cradle the oprhaned baby Mariam instead
(AFP Photo/Sirachai ARUNRUGSTICHAI)

Trang (Thailand) (AFP) - Cuddles at feeding time are one of many techniques vets in Thailand are using to raise an orphaned baby dugong named Mariam, and which have helped spread interest in ocean conservation in the process.

Found stranded on a beach in May at six months old, the ocean mammal has been receiving daily care from park officials, local conservation groups, and veterinarians at Phuket Marine Biological Centre.

Her star took off after photos showing her being cradled by the vets went viral on social media, and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has posted frequent updates on her condition.

Vet Pathompong Kongjit told AFP that Mariam -- who now lives in the waters around Ko Libong island of Trang province -- has become a symbol of the dire need for a clean-up in Thailand's plastic-choked seas.

"Mariam has ignited the interest among Thai people to care about marine animals, Thai seas and nature in general," he said.

But so far, her biggest challenge is feeding herself, as she has trouble digging out the seagrass buried in the ocean floor.

"Mariam can only eat the protruding seagrass," he told AFP, adding that she's "getting better" at it.

Female dugongs also usually breastfeed their babies while they are swimming -- something the vets cannot do.

Mariam the baby orphan dugong swims in the waters around Libong island in 

southern Thailand (AFP Photo/Sirachai ARUNRUGSTICHAI)

"So we hold her while feeding her milk, and after that we have to get her to swim around to exercise her digestion system," Pathompong said.

Her caretakers also use an orange canoe -- nicknamed "Mother Orange" -- for her to follow around in the water for exercise.

Despite Mariam's seeming dependence on her human friends, Pathompong said she's "learned to adjust to the environment" and no longer gets stranded on the beach.

But "it doesn't matter how many marine animals we can save... if their sea homes are in bad conditions," said the vet, adding that Mariam will likely be under their care for at least another year.

The avalanche of public interest in Mariam's progress has prompted the DMCR to set up a livestream for the growing baby, expected to be broadcast at the end of this week.

Another baby dugong was also found stranded in Krabi earlier this week.

The Phuket Marine Biological Centre said in a statement that dugongs get stranded on beaches because of fishing and other human activities.

Southern Thailand's waters are home to about 250 dugongs.

Whaling ships set sail as Japan resumes commercial hunts

Yahoo – AFP, Harumi OZAWA, July 1, 2019

Japan whaling ships set sail for the first commercial hunts in over three decades,
with their harpoons covered while in port (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro NOGI)

Kushiro (Japan) (AFP) - Whaling ships set sail on Monday from Japan as the country resumed commercial hunts for the first time in decades after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.

Five ships from whaling communities around the country left port in northern Japan's Kushiro with their horns blaring and grey tarps thrown over their harpoons.

Japan's decision to withdraw from the IWC was slammed by activists and anti-whaling countries, but the resumption of commercial hunts has been welcomed by Japanese whaling communities and the departure from Kushiro was celebrated with a send-off ceremony.

"My heart is overflowing with happiness, and I'm deeply moved," said Yoshifumi Kai, head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association, addressing a crowd of several dozen politicians, local officials and whalers.

"This is a small industry, but I am proud of hunting whales. People have hunted whales for more than 400 years in my home town."

Whaling vessels will also leave Monday morning from other ports including in Shimonoseki in western Japan.

The country's Fisheries Agency said Monday it had set a cap for a total catch of 227 whales through the season until late December.

The quota includes 52 minke, 150 Bryde's and 25 sei whales, the agency said.

"I'm a bit nervous but happy that we can start whaling," 23-year-old Hideki Abe, a whaler from Miyagi region in northern Japan told AFP before leaving.

"I don't think young people know how to cook and eat whale meat any more. I want more people try to taste it at least once."

Whaling has long proved a rare diplomatic flashpoint for Japan, which says the practice is part of the country's tradition and should not be subject to international interference.

As an IWC member, Japan was banned from commercial hunts of large whales, though it could catch small varieties in waters near its coastline.

But it also exploited a loophole in the body's rules to carry out highly controversial hunts of whales in protected Antarctic waters under the banner of "scientific research".

Activists said the hunts had no scientific value, and Japan made no secret of the fact that meat from whales caught on those hunts ended up sold for consumption.

With its withdrawal from the IWC, Tokyo will now carry out high-seas whale hunting off Japan, but will end the most controversial hunts in the Antarctic.

New Zealand bans single-use plastic bags

Yahoo – AFP, Neil SANDS, July 1, 2019

Companies that break New Zealand's plastic bag ban will face heavy penalties
(AFP Photo/Drew Angerer)

Wellington (AFP) - New Zealand officially banned single-use plastic shopping bags Monday, introducing hefty fines for businesses that continue to provide them.

Plastic pollution has become a growing global concern, with a million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals injured or killed every year by becoming entangled in packaging or ingesting it through the food chain.

Companies that break New Zealand's ban will face heavy penalties, including fines of up to NZ$100,000 ($67,000).

"New Zealanders are proud of our country's clean, green reputation and want to help ensure we live up to it," environment minister Eugenie Sage said.

"Ending the use of single-use plastic shopping bags helps do that."

Under the new rules, thin plastic single-use shopping bags can no longer be supplied -- but the law allows reusable carriers to continue being provided.

The legislation -- which was announced in August last year and came into force on Monday -- will have little practical effect, as New Zealand's major supermarkets have already voluntarily banned the bags.

However, Sage said it was putting the issue of recycling on the agenda.

"(The ban) doesn't go far enough, but what is really great is it's started the conversation," she told Radio New Zealand.

A million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals worldwide are injured 

or killed every year by plastic packaging (AFP Photo/Silke Struckenbrock)

"People are now talking about single-use plastics and how we can phase them out."

Britain's Royal Statistical Society estimates 90.5 percent of all plastic waste -- some 6,300 million metric tons -- has never been recycled and is either in landfill or accumulating in the natural environment.

If current production and waste management trends continue, the ocean of plastic waste is estimated to almost double to 12,000 million metric tons by 2050.

More than 80 countries have already introduced bag bans similar to New Zealand's, according to the UN Environment Programme.

While it praised such initiatives, it said more needed to be done to minimise other sources of plastic waste including microbeads and single-use items such as straws.

Canada last month announced plans to ban disposable plastic items such as straws, cutlery and stir sticks from 2021.

The Pacific nation of Vanuatu will implement a ban in December on disposable diapers, which not only have non-biodegradable plastic linings but also use chemical absorbents which leach into the environment.

Sage said the New Zealand government was committing NZ$40 million ($27 million) to find ways to reuse plastic waste instead of sending it to landfill overseas.

"We have been sending our waste offshore for too long," she said.

"China and other countries refusing to take our waste is the wake-up call we need."

The issue of wealthy developed nations using poorer countries as trash dumps was highlighted this week when Canada had to accept back tonnes of rubbish it shipped to the Philippines years ago.

For years, China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world, but closed its doors to foreign refuse last year in an effort to clean up its environment.