US Navy evacuating virus-struck aircraft carrier Roosevelt

Yahoo – AFP, Paul HANDLEY, April 1, 2020

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he does not see US military adversaries
taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to threaten the United States (AFP
Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

The US Navy is evacuating thousands of sailors from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam after its captain warned a coronavirus outbreak was threatening the lives of the crew.

With dozens of COVID-19 cases discovered, a senior official said the navy was rapidly arranging hotel rooms on the Pacific island for many of the 4,000-plus crew, while organizing a skeleton team of uninfected sailors to keep the ship operational.

Pentagon officials admitted the Roosevelt's plight was a challenge for military readiness, noting that defense forces worldwide are equally confronted by the pandemic.

"The plan at this time is to remove as many people off the Teddy Roosevelt as we can, understanding that we have to leave a certain amount of folks on-board to perform normal watch-standing duties that keep the ship running," Rear Admiral John Menoni, commander for the Marianas region, told reporters in Guam on Wednesday.

Earlier this week the captain told the Pentagon that the new coronavirus was spreading uncontrollably through his ship and called for immediate help to quarantine its crew.

"The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating," Captain Brett Crozier wrote in a letter to superiors.

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," he pleaded.

"Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed US nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure," Crozier said. "This is a necessary risk."

Hotels in Guam

Menoni said a plan was being developed to get as many sailors off the ship as possible, and they were awaiting the arrival of 40 US Marines health specialists to help in testing.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he does not see US military adversaries 

taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to threaten the United States (AFP 

Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

He said only sailors deemed healthy would be housed outside the Guam naval base, a strategically important Pentagon port in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean.

"No one is allowed off the base unless they have tested negative for COVID-19," Menoni said.

Crozier did not give the number of infections aboard the ship, and the Navy is not offering figures for security reasons.

But one official said it was fewer than the 100 reported by US media.

More than 1,400 Defense Department employees, contractors and dependents have been infected by the novel coronavirus, including 771 military personnel, the Pentagon said.

Balancing health and security

The Roosevelt's docking in Guam on March 28 left both of the Pentagon's western Pacific aircraft carriers in port, with the USS Ronald Reagan berthed in Japan, also reportedly suffering an unknown number of coronavirus cases.

On Tuesday Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly admitted it was a challenge for US forces' defense readiness.

"This is a unique circumstance and we're working through it, and trying to maintain that proper balance, to ensure our friends and allies, and most importantly our foes and adversaries out there, understand that we are not standing down," he told CNN.

"We have the responsibility to protect the seas and to protect our friends and allies around the world. We have to adjust the best way we can to do that."

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he did not see anyone testing US military readiness amid the pandemic.

"Not at this time," he said on Tuesday.

"What we find, tend to find right now, it's that a lot of countries have turned inward and are focusing inward," he said.

Anxiety aboard US cruise ship as NY declares coronavirus emergency

Yahoo – AFP, Jocelyne ZABLIT, March 7, 2020

Princess Cruises said there were 3,533 people currently onboard the Grand
Princess, including 2,422 passengers and 1,111 crew (AFP Photo/Handout)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Passengers trapped aboard a US cruise ship, stranded by a coronavirus outbreak, spoke of their growing anxiety on Saturday as New York state announced a state of emergency over a spike in new cases.

One of the holidaymakers onboard the Grand Princess told AFP the captain announced early Saturday there was "still no word on when or where we will be docking."

Carolyn Wright, a professional photographer traveling with a friend, said passengers were earlier told it was unlikely the ship would dock on Saturday.

Authorities have said 21 people on the ship languishing 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of San Francisco tested positive for the new coronavirus -- 19 crew members and two passengers.

The fast-spreading virus has already killed 19 people in the United States, most of them residents of a nursing home in the western state of Washington.

New York on Saturday became the latest state to declare an emergency over the virus as the number of patients there rose to 76, including a driver who apparently worked for ride sharing company Uber.

Emergency declarations allow federal, state and local officials quicker access to funds to battle the outbreak.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said 57 of those infected in New York have links to the Orthodox Jewish community in New Rochelle, a city in Westchester County, 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of New York city.

Florida Senator Rick Scott, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and 

Vice President Mike Pence discuss the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the 

cruise industry on March 7, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (AFP Photo/JOE RAEDLE)

"Westchester is an obvious problem," Cuomo said. "We talk about contagion in clusters; clusters tend to infect more and more people."

Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the US government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak, met on Saturday in Florida with cruise line executives and reiterated that the government was doing its utmost to prevent the spread of the virus.

'Practice common sense'

He said the stranded cruise ship would be brought to a non-commercial dock over the weekend and all 3,533 passengers and crew would be tested.

"All passengers and crew will be tested for the coronavirus and quarantined as appropriate," he told reporters. "Those that require additional medical attention will also receive it."

He underscored that while the risk of contracting the virus was low for the average American, older people with underlying health issues are particularly vulnerable.

"If you are yourself a senior citizen with a serious underlying medical condition, or if you have a loved one with a serious underlying medical condition, it is just a good time to practice common sense," he said.

The Grand Princess had been scheduled to dock in San Francisco on Saturday after a 14-day cruise but has been held off the coast since Wednesday after it emerged that two passengers who had been on a previous voyage had contracted the virus. One of them later died.

The international departure terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in 

New York was nearly deserted on March 7, 2020 (AFP Photo/SPENCER PLATT)

Wright said although there didn't seem to be panic among passengers, there was growing concern and frustration.

"So far we are both fine and we are really hoping to stay that way," she told AFP, speaking about her traveling companion.

"My friend has COPD (pulmonary disease) and she is extremely concerned about the virus."

Little information

She said passengers -- who have been confined to their cabins since Thursday -- at one point on Friday were told they would be allowed out for fresh air, but the idea was nixed by health authorities.

Another passenger, quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, said he and his wife had also received little information about the outbreak from crew members.

Daniel Healy, 56, told the paper he has run out of diabetes medication and wasn't getting much help from the crew.

Gloves and face masks were delivered to the Grand Princess by helicopter late Friday.

Worldwide, the number of virus cases exceeds 100,000 and the overall death toll is more than 3,500 across 95 nations and territories, according to the latest count by AFP.

Floating Petri dishes? Coronavirus puts cruise industry in the dock

Rfi – AFP, 23 February 2020

The coronavirus cluster detected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship is by far
the biggest cluster of cases outside mainland China AFP/File

Hong Kong (AFP) - Deadly viruses, chickenpox outbreaks and mass cases of the runs: sometimes luxury cruise ship holidays are not the trips of a lifetime elderly passengers had hoped for.

Cruise-goers have fallen sick en masse in the past, their predicament on the high seas coming into sharp focus because the holidays can cost thousands of dollars and are often marketed as trips of a lifetime.

"Cruise ships are very prone to outbreaks of common cold and the vomiting virus," said John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary University of London.

"Invariably the ships are overcrowded and with so many passengers, hygiene levels can slip."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) logged eight outbreaks aboard cruise ships last year of the highly contagious norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhoea -- hardly the stuff of a dream holiday.

Measles, E. coli, chickenpox and salmonella poisoning have all broken out on cruises in recent years.

"Unfortunately, the more elderly demographic found on a typical liner are more likely to be susceptible to anything which might present a serious health challenge," warned Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor at Britain's University of Reading.

With global concerns mounting about the threat of the new coronavirus, an elderly Japanese man and woman died on Thursday having been on the virus-stricken Diamond Princess.

The vessel, moored in Yokohama, was by far the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the epicentre in China. Some have pointed the finger at Japan's authorities for how they handled the 14-day quarantine of hundreds of passengers.

For now, US authorities have recommended that travellers "reconsider" cruises to or in Asia, citing the risk of coronavirus-linked travel restrictions and quarantines.

Annual growth

Stewart Chiron, a leading industry expert, says that cruise ships are nothing like the hotbed of viruses that they are painted out to be and cruise lines take "extensive precautions to keep ships clean".

"When viruses are introduced, cruise lines have various protocols and procedures to clean ships and prevent further spreading of the virus," he added.

US-based Chiron says that the image of thousands of people crammed together on board -- ripe conditions for the spread of illness -- is also wide of the mark.

"Cruise ships are much larger than most people realise. There's plenty of space for passengers to spread out in to have enjoyable, healthy experiences," he said.

According to Chiron, citing CDC figures, of the more than 31 million people who holidayed on cruise ships last year, there were 1,038 cases of norovirus, or 0.003 percent.

Chiron and other experts say that the cruise industry has successfully shrugged off past negative headlines and will quickly bounce back once the coronavirus passes.

Cruise Lines International Association, the world's largest cruise industry trade organisation, says 17.8 million people took an ocean cruise in 2009, compared with last year's 31 million, demonstrating its continually growing popularity.

About half of all passengers are from North America and analysts say they are unlikely to be perturbed by events on vessels in Asia.

"As with previous crises, there may be new-booking slowdowns as people get caught up in news cycles," said Chiron.

"Once this period concludes, there will be a surge of bookings and booking patterns will return to normal."

'You're trapped'

Tara C. Smith, professor of epidemiology at Kent State University in Ohio, is not so convinced.

"Granted, I could become ill via any type of travel or even via a staycation with my kindergartener," said Smith, who trained in microbiology and infectious diseases.

"But cruise ships take those risks of background infection and amplify them due to the constant shared quarters of travellers on board."

Smith conceded that coronavirus was an "extreme example" and said that most cruise passengers will experience no problems at all.

"But personally, I'd rather not take the risk," she said.

"One never knows what infections might enter on a cruise ship and it's a location where you're trapped with all your fellow passengers.

"It just doesn't sound like a fun vacation to me."

Tiny penguin's clean bill of health after epic NZ-Australia swim

France24 – AFP, 18 September 2019

Sydney (AFP) - A tiny penguin that made the mammoth journey from New Zealand to Australia has been nursed back to health and released into the wild -- in the hope it will find its own way home.

The emaciated Fiordland penguin was found struggling on rocks near Lorne, south of Melbourne, about 2,500km (1,500 miles) from its native habitat of New Zealand.

Melbourne Zoo head of veterinary services Michael Lynch said the bird was so underweight it had to be gradually reintroduced to food and the water over several weeks.

"Over time it began to put on weight again," he said.

"We then started to reintroduce it to water when it was strong enough to swim to help build up some muscle."

Fiordland penguins are known to swim large distances to forage for food, sometimes even spending so long in the ocean that they grow barnacles on their tails.

They are classified as a threatened species, with an estimated 5,000 left in the wild.

After two months of care it earned a bill of good health this month. It has now been microchipped and released at a beach on Phillip Island, off the Victoria state coast.

"It's a tough life out there in the ocean, but we're hopeful this penguin will find its way back to New Zealand and eventually breed," Lynch said.

"We've given it every chance to do so."

Ray of hope: scientist use contraceptive to curtail ‘highly fertile’ fish

DutchNews, December 17, 2018

An eagle ray. Photo: Steve Jurvetson via Wikimedia Commons.

Researchers at a Dutch zoo have used a contraceptive method to control the breeding habits of a highly fertile species of ray for the first time. 

The breakthrough by biologist Max Janse and vet Henk Luten at Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem was announced in the Journal of Fish Biology. The pair used an implant to interrupt a female speckled eagle ray’s hormone cycle and stop her reproducing. 

The zoo was involved in a breeding programme for the eagle ray (aetobatus ocellatus) which is a protected species, but after producing 58 offspring since 2009 it had run out of partner zoos who were willing to take the young rays. 

Previous specimens born in Arnhem have been sent to aquaria in Valencia, Tenerife and Denmark, but the scientists said that trying to rehouse the mother was too difficult. ‘You need a lorry to move a ray that size. And in the meantime she kept on reproducing.’ 

The large number of offspring also risked causing other problems in a confined space, wrote the researchers: ‘We found that 21 young originated from one female ray. If all the fish are from the same specimen, they become too genetically similar, which can lead to complications.’ 

The researchers said the long-term effects of the contraceptive implant were unknown. ‘It will probably stop emitting hormones at some point, but we don’t know that for sure. It could also be that the hormonal balance is permanently affected so that the fish can no longer produce young.’

Ouch! Sea lions attack swimmers in San Francisco Bay

Yahoo – AFP, December 16, 2017

Experts say attacks by sea lions and other marine mammals in San Francisco
Bay are rare but not unheard of (AFP Photo/Ina Fassbender)

Washington (AFP) - Hearty souls that brave the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay for a morning dip have a new reason to shiver: attacks by sea lions, including one that nearly netted a guy's genitals.

A cove known as Aquatic Park has been closed to swimmers for a few days by the National Park Service because of three attacks in just a week. Such attacks are rare but not unheard of.

A man named Rick Mulvihill suffered a severe bite Friday morning and was hospitalized, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, quoting the fire department.

Mulvihill belongs to a club whose members take early morning swims in waters with an average temperature in December of about 53 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius).

"It hit him right here, close to the family jewels," said fellow club member Bob Roper, 79, pointing at the inside of his upper thigh.

"I've been here 50 years and I've never heard of anything like this," Roper told the Chronicle. "You have a lot of very, very nervous swimmers now and I don't blame them."

All the attacks might be by the same animal, which could be a sea lion or a harbor seal, said Claire Simeone, a veterinarian.

Swimming with dolphins in virtual reality to aid disabled

Yahoo – AFP, Jo Biddle, November 19, 2017

A Dutch non-profit has developed virtual reality glasses to enable the
disabled to feel close to dolphins for therapeutic purposes

Swimming with wild dolphins is something most can only dream of, and jumping into pools with captive animals has become increasingly controversial with environmentalists condemning it as cruel.

But a Dutch non-profit believes it has found a way to bring people, especially the disabled, closer to such a joyful experience through the technological, immersive advances offered by virtual reality (VR).

The Dolphin Swim Club is the realisation of a more than two-decade journey by artist Marijke Sjollema, who had her first chance encounter with a dolphin in 1993 while snorkeling off the coast of Mexico.

"I saw this grey shadow under the water and my first thought was this is the end. I thought it was a shark," she told AFP.

She tried to stay calm "but this shadow was following me. And then there was this split second that I realised that it wasn't a shark. It was a dolphin."

"I didn't know anything about dolphins, but I instinctively knew, 'Oh a dolphin, I'm fine. This is a good thing'."

From that moment on, Sjollema's love of dolphins and all cetaceans was born.

"We know that there is something magical about dolphins. We think of joy, and playfulness and happiness and innocence when we meet dolphins. And this is even a healing quality," she told AFP.

She and her business consultant husband, Benno Brada, have devoted their spare time, energy and personal resources to their mission of enabling people to discover their own encounter with dolphins.

The VR dolphin therapy is designed as an alternative to dolphin-assisted 

therapies using dolphins in captivity

Healing qualities

Their first project using normal VR headsets playing a film of the dolphins launched in late 2015.

But last month they went a step further, unveiling waterproof VR glasses, which allow people to drift around a pool watching bottlenose and spinner dolphins playing around them in virtual reality.

This VR dolphin therapy in a pool, still at the trial stage, is thought to be a world first.

"The dream was to find an alternative to dolphin-assisted therapies using dolphins in captivity," Brada told therapists at a residential community for disabled people run by the 's Heeren Loo organisation who were testing out the waterproof goggles in the pool.

The centre has been using the land version of the VR glasses since 2016, and has seen noticeable benefits.

"Some 82 percent of our clients feel actually relaxed by seeing the films," said the organisation's policy advisor Johan Elbers.

"It takes them away from the world they are in, they enter a new world in another mindset, think differently, feel differently, see differently, and relax completely."

He recalled how one young woman, who had long had trouble sleeping, now watches a VR film of the dolphins swimming at night, and falls quietly asleep.

Another man is able to completely forget an agonising pain in his arm.

Dion, a 21-year-old resident of the community, said watching the film made him feel "peaceful."

"The dolphin noises and the water calms me down, that calms me from all the noises that there are, then you're zen," he said.

The VR glasses allow people to float around a pool watching dolphins playing 

around them in virtual reality, helping people relax and enter another world

Sharks next?

The pool-safe VR goggles, developed thanks to 50,000 euros ($59,000) grant from the Dutch government, consist of a waterproof Samsung smartphone in a waterproof backing mounted on a special 3D-printed rig made of recycled plastics.

"Stress is very important as a driver of all kinds of psychiatric problems," explains psychiatrist Wim Veling, from the University of Groningen.

"So we are trying in therapy to make people more relaxed," said Veling, who has been studying the use of VR to help people with mental health disorders.

"The power of virtual reality is in the immersion" into another world, he says on the Dolphin Swim Club site.

For Sjollema, the VR glasses offer huge advantages. Not only can they bring the dolphins to disabled people, who would not be able to travel to see them, but they also avoid the use of captive dolphins.

"Right from the beginning we wanted to make this an alternative for existing therapies with dolphins in captivity," she said.

The films were made during a 10-day shoot in December 2015 at the Red Sea, by a specialist VR team Viemr, using free divers capable of holding their breath for up to five minutes so as not to scare away the dolphins.

The dry version glasses are already being used in more than 150 universities, hospitals and community centres around the world.

And the hope is that the waterproof ones will prove equally beneficial. Sjollema and Brada are looking for a partner to launch their commercial production.

But Dion is ready for something a little more exhilarating.

He would like to watch "a film with sharks" or lions "where the animal is hunting a prey. It would be fun to see a little bit of action."

Dutch non-profit uses virtual reality to bring disabled people closer to a healing swim with wild dolphins https://t.co/Cp1AuBGqj7 pic.twitter.com/InmtnuRz7n

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 20, 2017

Could a green sponge hold cancer-fighting secrets?

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis SANTINI, July 27, 2017

A small green sponge, photographed by an ROV camera, seen in the waters
off the coast of Alaska (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - A small green sponge discovered in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska could be the first effective weapon against pancreatic cancer, researchers said on Wednesday.

Pancreatic cancer, with particularly aggressive tumors, is notoriously difficult to treat.

"One would never have imagined looking at this sponge that it could be miraculous," Bob Stone, a researcher at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a briefing by phone.

Stone discovered the sponge, dull in color, called "Latrunculia austini" in 2005 while on a seabed exploration expedition in Alaska.

It lives on rocks in patches at depths of 230-720 feet (70-219m).

Lab testing has shown that several molecules in this sponge selectively destroy pancreatic cancer cells, said Mark Hamann, a University of South Carolina researcher working with Fred Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit.

"This is undoubtedly the most active molecule against pancreatic cancer that we see," said Hamann. "Although there is still much work to be done, it marks the first key step in the discovery and process of developing a treatment," he said.

Pancreatic cancer progresses slowly, a circumstance which leaves patients in a tough position as late diagnosis means little chance for successful treatment.

Patients' chances of survival at five years for this tumor are only 14%, according to the American Cancer Society.

"I've looked at 5,000 sponge extracts over the last two decades," Valeriote said. "In terms of this particular pattern of pancreatic and ovarian cancer selective activity, we’ve only seen one (other) sponge with such activity, and that was one collected many years ago in Indonesia."

In the United States, 53,670 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in 2017 and more than 43,000 people will die.

Hoping for a fresh sea breeze aboard a cruise ship? Better hold your nose!

French TV journalists have secretly measured the air quality on a cruise ship. The results are devastating: The air is significantly worse polluted than it would be in thick urban traffic.

Deutsche Welle, 26 January 2017

Cruises are increasingly popular among today's tourists. They offer relaxation with 24-hour service for stressed out office workers.

Forget about searching for the perfect, pristine beach - which most people will never find, anyhow. Instead, just go to the pool on the upper deck, enjoy some tasty drinks and take in breathtaking views of the ocean from high above. For people who need less contemplation, cruises offer theater and show performances, generous meals, bars and shopping opportunities.

That doesn't mean you're in for a boring vacation: Adventure comes as part of the risk free deal. Even frail seniors can now feel like mystic characters such as Long John Silver from Treasure Island or real explorers like Roald Amundsen - be it by cruising the romantic Carribean, visiting savage South Sea islands or admiring polar bears on impenetrable arctic shores. Finally you can do something for your health by going to the ship's gym and getting a good work out.

Tourists want to enjoy themselves - and the fresh sea breeze.

But you better think twice about taking a deep breath. The German Environmental Association "Naturschutzbund Deutschland"(NABU) now warns that it is more likely you inhale polluted air than a fresh breeze. NABU says that it cannot recommend any of the large European cruise ships.

"Pamphlets lead you to believe that there are blue skies and white ships - a dream-like setting," Daniel Rieger, who is in charge of transportation policies at NABU, said. "The truth is that clouds of black soot are emitted from the funnels."

Measuring results are worse than expected

Recent measurements of actual air quality onboard a cruise ship seem to support NABU's view. French TV journalists from broadcaster France 3 conducted covert measurements while on a cruise. They boarded a ship in Marseille for a cruise of the Mediterranean.

Results show that "the shipping companies are exposing their travelers to high concentrations of harmful substances," NABU managing director Leif Miller concluded.

Even environmentalists were surprised by the high concentrations that the journalists detected. Right after leaving Marseille, air pollution was roughly 200 times that of a heavily trafficked urban street.

Besides fine dust and soot, the combustion of marine diesel fuel and heavy oil also set free other harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides and heavy metals.

Former captain and ship broker Helge Grammerstorf, who is the German national director of the Cruise Lines International Association CLIA, defends his industry. He told the daily "Hamburger Abendblatt:" "We don't know these measurements. The claim is completely unsubstantiated."

Grammerstorf argues that the measurements were taken only selectively and that one would need to run a more systematic test to collect data over a longer time period.

Hardly noticeable for passengers

"The passengers can only smell or see the particles before they get mixed up with the ambient air," NABU spokesman Rieger said after the France 3 test results were published.

He argued that it wouldn't take the shipping companies much to change the pollution and to increase comfort. "Even switching from marine diesel fuel or heavy oil to regular road diesel fuel would make a big difference," he said.

In addition, it wouldn't be too hard to install effective exhaust cleaning systems, according to NABU. Such systems have long existed with established standards for trucks and trains.

"The question is whether the industry deliberately looks the other way," Dietmar Oellinger - NABU's transport expert - said.

He suggested that the tests taken by the French journalists were merely an example and could possibly be representative for the entire cruise ship industry.

"The reality is black soot from the chimneys," NABU environmentalists say.

"We should ask how much more proof the industry needs before they finally take action," Oellinger said.

Some cruise lines have pledged to install particle filters, but so far, there are none in use.

Covert measuring only in the harbor

Previously, NABU has only had the opportunity to measure harmful ultra fine dust particles in the air around cruise ships in harbors. They have done so in Hamburg, Venice and the north-eastern German city of Rostock-Warnemünde. The ship owners did not allow the environment agency to take measurements on board, Daniel Rieger said.

The results were devastating nonetheless: In all cases the ships were burning off heavy oil. Four of five ships were not equipped with any exhaust gas cleaning or they were only fulfilling the lowest legal standard for northern Europe - a system that only reduces sulfur oxide emissions.

Technical solutions to reduce particle and nitrogen oxide emissions have long been on the market, though. Therefore, NABU argues, not implementing them is largely due to greed. It would cost money to install the system and furthermore require the companies to use more expensive types of fuel.

Almost as dangerous as asbestos

The German Lung Foundation already recommended several years ago that people with chronic respiratory diseases only stay on certain parts of the deck when on a cruise ship and thus avoide breathing in the ship's exhaust.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that diesel exhaust is just as carcinogenic as asbestos. The ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 0.1 micrometer can get into the smallest pulmonary alveoli and from there into the blood stream and other organs.

NABU manager Leif Miller argues it's cynical that the cruise ship companies "pay huge sums to improve entertainment and gastronomical services on board, but save as much as they can when it comes to environmental protection."

Meanwhile, in Germany the cruise ship industry is getting ready for the next season: In Warnemünde, Hamburg and Kiel alone, more than two million passengers are expected to board the giants of the seas in 2017.

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US woman rushed to hospital with shark stuck to arm

Yahoo – AFP, May 16, 2016

Nurse sharks which can grow to up to 10 feet in length are normally peaceful
creatures (AFP Photo/Greg Wood)

Miami (AFP) - A woman in the US state of Florida was rushed to a hospital after being bitten by a shark -- with the whole animal still clutching on to her right arm, local media reported.

The small nurse shark, which was about two feet (61 centimeters) long, was killed by a beachgoer soon after the attack on Sunday, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The victim was an unidentified 23-year-old woman who was bitten while bathing at a beach in the coastal city of Boca Raton, city fire-rescue spokesman Bob Lemons told the newspaper.

Lemons said the woman was rushed to the city's regional hospital with the shark still attached to her right forearm.

"I have never seen anything like it," Ocean Rescue Captain Clint Tracy told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Never even heard of anything like this."

Nurse sharks, which can grow to up to 10 feet (three meters) in length, are common along Florida's Atlantic coastline, and are normally peaceful creatures.

This shark does not understand the concept of catch and release. A 23-year-old

 woman was brought to the hospital in Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday after a 

2-foot-long nurse shark bit her arm and refused to let go.

But one witness told the Sun-Sentinel that before the attack he saw swimmers bothering the shark and holding it by the tail.

The victim was initially calm when she approached a lifeguard station at the Red Reef Park beach seeking help.

A male companion was holding the shark and there was little blood, Tracy said.

"It was barely breathing but it wasn't letting go of her arm, like it was stuck to her or something," witness Shlomo Jacob told the Sun-Sentinel.

As time went by and a crowd gathered, the woman became agitated and when paramedics arrived they gave her oxygen.

Then they used a board to support her arm and the shark, placed her on a stretcher and drove to the hospital, Tracy told the newspaper.

Swimmer Bitten By Shark Rushed To Hospital With It Still Attached 

To Her Arm

According to the Shark Research Institute, nurse sharks are nocturnal creatures, and are often found lying motionless on the ocean floor in rocky coastal areas during the day.

The sharks eat small fish and creatures like lobster, squid, and sea urchins -- not human flesh.

Most grown nurse sharks are less than 9.8 feet (three meters) long, but are known to reach 14 feet (4.3 meters) in length.