Nemo's garden off Italy offers hope for seabed crops

Yahoo – AFP, Olivier Morin, and Angus MacKinnon in Rome, 1 July 2015

Project coordinator of Nemo's Garden, Gianni Fontanesi, checks condensation

inside immerged Biosphere (AFP Photo/Olivier Morin)

Noli (Italy) (AFP) - In the homeland of pesto, a group of diving enthusiasts have come up with a way of growing basil beneath the sea that could revolutionise crop production in arid coastal areas around the world.

The pungent green herb has long been synonymous with the steep, terraced cliff-sides of Liguria, the northern Italian region known for its spectacular Riviera coastline and for producing one of the world's best-loved pasta sauces.

Those two standout features of the region could now become even more intimately associated thanks to the pioneering efforts of Sergio Gamberini.

A diving nut and specialist in under-water communications, Gamberini has begun growing basil in large plastic spheres anchored to the sea bed 100 metres off shore and eight metres below the surface in an experiment he has dubbed "Nemo's garden".

"The idea came to me because I wanted to create more interaction between the surface and the diving activity," Gamberini told AFPTV.

Having started with a simple plastic ball into which he place a tub with herb seeds planted in compost, he is now in his fourth season of production from an under-water garden comprised of three "biospheres" which he is allowed to keep in the water for three months a year.

Project coordinator of Nemo's Garden, Gianni Fontanesi, checks immerged

Biospheres, in Noli (AFP Photo/Olivier Morin)

"I chose a typical activity of farmers, and I said 'why not bring it under water?'" he said. "I realised that there was an opportunity to create a new site to grow vegetables."

Evaporation ensures humidity between 80 and 90 percent inside the spheres, the condensation provides the necessary moisture and, even well below the waves, there is enough light in this sunny corner of Europe to ensure the plants themselves regenerate their oxygen supply via photosynthesis.

Having proved the system works, Gamberini's challenge now is to prove that it can produce herbs and vegetables in a cost-efficient way.

"I don't know if it will be the future because we have to prove that it can be self-supportable," he said. "If a pound of lettuce (grown underwater) costs too much, it won't have a future."

Parasite-free zone

The primary advantage of underwater growing is the stability of thermal conditions.

"The sea maintains the temperature without a great difference between day and night," said Gianni Fontanesi, who is in charge of running the project.

In late June, at the start of the European summer, the water on the coastal shelf of the northern Mediterranean is 25 degrees C (77 degrees F), while inside the spheres the temperature reaches 29 degrees C.

Ocean Reef CEO Sergio Gamberini, head

 of Nemo's Garden project, pictured in Noli 

(AFP Photo/Olivier Morin)

The plants are thriving in an environment where they are protected from the insects and parasites that would normally be giving a basil grower headaches at this time of year.

The results so far have have been encouraging, with the spheres producing more densely-leafed plants than is usual -- perfect for being ground up with pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil to produce authentic Ligurian pesto.

An experiment with lettuce is already underway and mushrooms, tomatoes, tomatoes and green beans will all be given a go this summer.

"In the longer term, this could be a solution for arid regions next to the sea," said Gamberini, who admits there is still much work to be done to work out how to apply his principles on a larger scale.

But he is not the only one to have faith in his idea: under-water basil was one of the 20 food-related innovations chosen to represent Italy at the ongoing World Expo in Milan which has "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" as its theme.

Coral gardening beckons ecotourists to restore reefs

Yahoo – AFP, Kerry Sheridan, 30 June 2015

Diving instructor Patti Gross plants coral and scrubs algae off coral as part of a

 gardening project at Alligator Reef in the Florida Keys on May 23, 2015 

(AFP Photo/David Gross)

Miami (AFP) - Coral reefs are fragile and in danger worldwide, but a growing movement to restore them is based on the science of breaking off pieces in order to grow more, known as coral gardening.

It works like this: marine biologists cut off the tips of live branching corals, hang the pieces on man-made underwater trees where they grow, and later "outplant" them on real reefs on the ocean floor.

After years of trial and error, scientists in Florida are now bringing their methods to the public -- via diving trips, ecotourism outings and summer camps for teens -- to counter the harmful effects of climate change, pollution and industrial development.

Scientist Diego Lirman (R) from the 

University of Miami, shows a volunteer

 how to make coral cookies, which will

 be nailed onto the ocean floor in 

Biscayne Bay, Forida on May 23, 2015

(AFP Photo/Kerry Sheridan)

"It is just like if you had a rosebush in your garden. As you prune that rosebush back, it grows back healthier, bushier, a little more lively," explains Stephanie Schopmeyer, senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine Science, which runs a program called Rescue a Reef that allows citizen scientists to join the project.

"Corals that are fragmented actually grow back faster and with more branches," she said.

On a recent outing, Schopmeyer and about a dozen other divers and snorkelers spent a sunny spring morning on the water, traveling first by boat to an underwater nursery in Biscayne Bay where they scrubbed algae off the man-made trees on which Staghorn corals hang, and later to another area where they planted nursery-grown bits of coral on an existing reef.

Certified scuba divers did the underwater work, while a handful of tourists and students helped make cookies -- small discs on which they use epoxy to affix finger-sized pieces of coral. Then, the volunteers snorkeled, watching the divers nail their handiwork on the ocean floor.

Nicole Besemer, a graduate student at the University of Miami, says she was surprised to learn that corals can survive and thrive after being cut and nailed in a new place.

"As a diver in south Florida, I want to make sure that my reefs are as healthy as they can be," Besemer says.

"I know they are not what they used to be."

Reefs in danger

Corals may look like rocks or plants but they are actually animals in the same family as jellyfish and anemones. Each individual coral is called a polyp, and the reef grows as polyps grow copies of themselves. Most corals reproduce by releasing eggs and sperm into the water.

Coral reefs are important because they provide habitat and food for fish, turtles, seahorses, sea urchins and other creatures.

But the reefs are struggling, with their numbers down 50-95 percent in some parts of the world.

Pollution cuts off their light and food supply, overfishing removes the creatures that keep them clean and healthy, development and dredging cause sediment to smother them, and ocean acidification makes it harder for them to grow.

Storms can also kill them. Diego Lirman, an associate professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami, did his dissertation some 30 years ago on the impact of hurricanes on a place nearby called Elkhorn Reef.

Now, he says, there are no Elkhorn corals left there.

"It got to the point where I was getting tired of just watching things die and learning about them in the process. I wanted to be able to do something to recover them," says Lirman.

He credits scientists in nations like Israel, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines for coming up with the coral gardening techniques that Florida researchers are now using, and says sharing knowledge across borders helped everyone perfect their techniques.

"We are now reaching ecologically meaningful scales," Lirman says.

"We realized it is all about the numbers -- the numbers you can grow, the numbers you can put back."

Explosive growth

A major part of the movement in Florida and the Caribbean is led by the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), which employs about 10 staff and leads an army of volunteers on regular expeditions.

CRF and the University of Miami's reef programs were initially funded in large part by the Recovery Act of 2009, a White House initiative to kickstart the US economy following the global financial crisis. Donations have poured in as well.

Volunteers prepare to make a dive to plant coral as part of the University of 

Miami Rosentiel School’s Rescue a Reef program, in Biscayne Bay, Forida

on May 23, 2015 (AFP Photo/Kerry Sheridan)

"We are kind of at the explosive growth stage," says CRF president Ken Nedimyer.

A few years ago, the foundation planted a few thousand corals per year. Now they have 500 underwater trees in Florida that are growing 40,000-50,000 corals at any one time, he says.

For those who want special training, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) offers courses and certifications in coral reef restoration.

Scuba divers must be aged 14 or older, and must be able to control their buoyancy underwater so as not to harm the reefs, says Patti Gross, a master diving instructor with PADI who says she has certified around 250 people in coral restoration in the past four years.

"This is way harder than it appears on land," she says.

"But it is very rewarding in the end."

Jiangsu man finds fairy (shrimp) at bottom of his garden

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-29

Fairy shrimps. (Photo/CNS)

A man in Lianyungang in eastern China's Jiangsu province has found a fairy shrimp in the water tanks that he uses to plant lotus, reports the online media outlet Jiangsu China based in Nanjing.

Zhang said he put out two water tanks for the lotus in his winter garden. He changes the water in the tanks regularly because the garden gets a lot of sunshine in the afternoon. He found it remarkable that a shrimp could survive in the high temperature of the water.

Zhang took the shrimp out of the tank and placed it in a glass bowl. The shrimp is about five centimeters long, mostly green color with a little bit of red on its tail.

Speculating on how the shrimp arrived in his tank, Zhang said there is no way the shrimp could have been hiding in the tank when he first set it out or came through the tap water. He suspected it may have come in dirt from the mountain that he added to the tanks.

An expert said the shrimp Zhang found is a fairy shrimp (anostraca), a type of crustacean that has been on Earth for around 200 million years.

The expert said fairy shrimp require soil that is high in sodium and its life cycle is around one to three months. Its eggs are small with a tough shell that can protect against heat and drought. In the soil, an egg can remain unhatched for years until the conditions are right.

China, US agree to deepen cooperation on ocean protection

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-06-26

Yang Jiechi, left, and John Kerry during the session on ocean protection,
June 24. (Photo/CNS)

China and the United States on Wednesday praised the huge progress achieved in their cooperation on ocean protection, while agreeing to make new efforts to explore opportunities of deepening such cooperation.

The two countries held a special session on ocean protection under the framework of the seventh China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), which started on Tuesday. The meeting was co-chaired by Chinese state councilor Yang Jiechi and US secretary of state John Kerry.

Yang lauded the positive contributions by the two great ocean powers to promoting maritime research, development, maintenance and protection, citing the increased maritime policy exchange and practical cooperation, and the fruitful cooperation in the areas of oceanic scientific research, maritime enforcement, maritime security, maritime search and rescue, and sustainable use of maritime resources.

Yang expressed the hope that China and the US will build on the progress achieved to turn ocean protection into a new area of growing bilateral cooperation.

He called on the two sides to create more channels of communication and increase frequency of dialogues in order to jointly explore ways of conducting practical cooperation in the spheres of maritime ecological civilization construction, oceanic environmental monitoring and protection of fishery resources through sharing experiences and complimenting each other with each side's respective advantages.

He also suggested the two sides join hands in building a peaceful and safe maritime environment, by increasing the contacts between their maritime enforcement agencies, and elevating the level of cooperation in cracking down on illegal drift net fishing on high seas, conducting maritime humanitary search and rescue, and managing transportation of hazardous materials.

The two countries, he added, also need to jointly maintain a fair and reasonable international maritime order, and promote prosperity and the sustainable development of the ocean, through practical cooperation within the framework of international institutions, such as the United Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

For his part, Kerry said the US and China, as the two largest economies and maritime powers that lead maritime scientific research, should cooperate to tackle tough challenges in ocean protection and its sustainable development. They should play the leading role in ocean protection through cooperation, which benefits not only both countries but also the world as a whole.

The US is willing to work together with China to expand cooperation in areas of ocean protection and promoting maritime sustainable development, he pledged.

Australian fishermen lure rare monster shark

Yahoo – AFP, 24 June 2015

An official measures a giant basking shark that was accidentally picked up by

 a fishing trawler in the Bass Strait off the Australian mainland's most southeastern 

point (AFP Photo)

Fishermen off Australia who accidentally caught a whopping basking shark have provided scientists with a rare opportunity to study the second-biggest fish on the planet.

The 6.3 metre (20 feet) fish is causing a sensation Down Under where little is known about the species -- smaller only than the whale shark -- as it is not often captured in southern hemisphere waters.

The rare specimen has been donated to Museum Victoria, in the southern city of Melbourne, where scientists plan to use the body to research the shark's genetics, diet and life history.

The museum -- which currently has only three samples from basking sharks, all over 80 years old -- said Wednesday it also plans to use the head and fins to build a full-scale exhibition model.

"These rare encounters can provide many of the missing pieces of knowledge that help broader conservation and biological research," said the museum's senior curator of ichthyology, Martin Gomon.

Basking sharks are slow-moving plankton feeders which can grow up to 12 metres long. Unlike other sharks, their teeth are tiny -- about two millimetres long -- and they feed by trapping tiny plankton and jellyfish in their huge mouth, the museum said.

They are migratory and widely distributed, but only regularly seen in a few favoured coastal locations such as such as Cornwall in England as they can dive deep into the depths of the sea in search of food.

A giant basking shark that was accidentally picked up by a fishing trawler in

the Bass Strait off the Australian mainland's most southeastern point (AFP Photo)

The shark was accidentally picked up by a fishing trawler in the Bass Strait off the Australian mainland's southeast.

Museum Victoria's senior collection manager of vertebrate zoology, Dianne Bray, said basking sharks had been sighted over the years off Australia's Victoria state, but never in large numbers.

"They are rare in southern waters, but not that rare in northern waters," she said. "We have no idea of what their numbers may be."

Bray she had been inundated with requests for tissue and other samples from around the world as opportunities to study an entire animal were rare.

Japan and China to sign off on maritime liaison mechanism

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-23

A standoff between Chinese and Japanese coast guard vessels in the waters

 near the Diaoyutai, July 2012. Japan would nationalize the islands a few months

later. (Photo/Xinhua)

China and Japan are likely to establish their first liaison mechanism next month to prevent a war over disputed East China Sea islands currently under the administration of Tokyo as the Senkaku (Diaoyu to China, Diaoyutai to Taiwan), reports our sister paper Want Daily.

Sources from China told Want Daily that representatives from the two nations have held five meetings to discuss the creation of a maritime liaison mechanism for members of the two nation's naval or coastal guard units to communicate with each other in English in the event of a contingency in the waters near the islands. It is very likely to be formalized in July, the sources said. Beijing has yet to decide whether it will establish a similar mechanism in the disputed South China Sea, they added.

The maritime liaison mechanism regulates Chinese and Japanese activities in the air defense identification zone, exclusive economic zone and open waters declared by both nations in the region of the East China Sea. It does not include the territorial waters and airspace of China or Japan.

According to the agreement, the People's Liberation Army Navy will notify Tokyo whenever Chinese aircraft or warships go near the waters of Okinawa in the future. The Ground Staff Office of the Japan Self-Defense Force and the General Staff Department of the PLA will also establish a hotline, according to the report.

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'Moral duty' to save Mediterranean migrants, says Gauck

The German president has called for more compassion toward migrants in view of Germany's own experiences with forced migration after WWII. He said providing them with sanctuary was 'non-negotiable.'

Deutsche Welle, 20 June 2015

 Refugees on board a ship REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello

Speaking on Saturday at a ceremony in Berlin to remember victims of displacement, Gauck said he hoped that the memory of German expellees who were forced to flee the country's former eastern territories during and after World War II would deepen understanding for migrants today.

He described how 12 to 14 million Germans lost their homelands by the end of the war, leading to a population increase of 20 percent in the former West and East Germanies.

Gauck pointed out that if Germany had been able to integrate millions of refugees 70 years ago when it was "poor and devastated," it should be able to do more in the present refugee crisis, and even benefit from it.

"Why should a Germany that is economically successful and politically stable not be able to recognize future opportunities in today's challenges?" he asked.

"Let us remember what a great part refugees and forced migrants played in successfully rebuilding Germany," he added.

More European help

He also called on European Union countries to do more to help cope with the current growing wave of refugees coming to Europe.

In view of the huge number of migrants who have died attempting the perilous boat crossing from Africa to Europe over the Mediterranean, Gauck said it was a "moral duty" to save people from drowning.

"We would lose our self-respect if we left people drifting on waters near our continent to cope for themselves," he said, adding that all European states had an obligation to provide people with a safe refuge.

This obligation was "non-negotiable," and lasted until migrants either could return home without danger or had found a place to live in safety either in Germany or elsewhere, he said.

'No easy solutions'

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere also spoke at the ceremony, warning that there were no "easy solutions" to the current migration crisis.

Last year, the German government declared the 20 June to be a day of remembrance for refugees and displaced people, in conjunction with the United Nations' World Refugee Day.

The German day is partly to commemorate the millions of Germans who were forced to flee their homes in several eastern European countries as a result of World War II and seek refuge in Germany and Austria, greatly swelling the populations there.

tj/sgb (AFP, dpa, KNA, epd)

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Rohingya hope for peaceful Ramadan in Indonesia

Rohingya women are seen standing at a confinement area in Kuala Cangkoi,

Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

EU approves military mission to tackle migrant smugglers: sources

Yahoo – AFP, Alix Rijckaert, 19 June 2015

EU member states approved plans on Friday to launch as early as next week

 the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean,

sources said (AFP Photo/Jason Florio)

Brussels (AFP) - EU member states approved plans Friday to launch as early as next week the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean, sources said.

"Everything is now in place so that EU foreign ministers meeting Monday can approve the launch of the mission," one EU diplomat told AFP.

Other sources said member states have committed to supply enough ships and aircraft to allow the first, intelligence-gathering, phase of the operation to go ahead.

Stung into action by the loss of an estimated 800 migrants when their rickety boat sank off southern Italy, EU leaders agreed at an emergency summit in April to formulate a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem at source.

As well as boosting search and rescue efforts, they called on EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini to draw up military options against the ruthless traffickers exploiting the waves of humanity seeking to get to Europe across the Mediterranean.

The first phase of intelligence gathering is meant to be followed by active intervention to board and disable smuggler vessels and arrest the traffickers.

A third phase would extend these actions into Libyan territorial waters and possibly inside the country itself.

While some EU states such as Britain and France favour moving promptly to Phase 2 and 3, others have serious reservations about direct involvement in a chaotic Libya where rival factions are fighting for control and the internationally-recognised government has fled Tripoli to take up residence in Benghazi.

To meet these reservations, the EU April summit agreed that Phase 2 and 3 would only go ahead if the bloc obtained Libyan consent -- a difficult prospect -- and a UN Security Council resolution.

Russia, one of the five UNSC permanent members, and others "want a clear Libyan consent; we are still working on it," said a senior EU official who asked not to be named.

"We are rather optimistic that in the end there will be a UNSC resolution to go on with the other phases; there is no absolute certitude but there is a very good prospect," the official said.

Newly arrived migrants huddle together as they try to protect themselves from

 the rain while waiting to be registered in Mytilene, Greece, on June 19, 2015

(AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Opposition to sharing burden

Some 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, most of them landing in Italy, Greece and Malta which all want their EU peers to share more of the burden.

The European Commission has proposed that 40,000 Syrian and Eritrean asylum-seekers who have arrived in Europe should be redistributed and that 20,000 Syrians living in camps outside Europe should be resettled across the 28-nation bloc.

Many member states are prepared to contribute to the humanitarian efforts of search and rescue but are less forthcoming when it comes to taking in more migrants or backing the military option.

Migration is a hugely sensitive issue and far-right and eurosceptic parties have capitalised on public concerns about a massive influx of refugees to make considerable inroads at the expense of established parties.

Earlier this week, EU ministers could not reach agreement on the Commission proposals.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday that member states remained "far from consensus" on how to distribute refugees between them.

"These are difficult discussions we're having at the moment and all my conversations with European colleagues show that we remain far from consensus and that a lot persuasion will still be necessary," he said.

"In our view, the best way is mandatory quotas for the European member states."

Germany last year took in 200,000 asylum seekers and expects as many as 450,000 this year.

World's largest cruise ship takes to the water in France

Yahoo – AFP, 19 June 2015

Fishing boats pass by as the cruise ship "Harmony of the Seas" is towed by

 tug boats into its new moorings at the STX Shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, western

France on June 19, 2015 (AFP Photo/Georges Gobet)

Saint-Nazaire (France) (AFP) - The hulking shell of the world's largest cruise ship slid into the waters off western France on Friday, with workers aiming to have it ready for a 2016 inaugural trip.

The huge vessel, named "Harmony of the Seas", has been under construction since September 2013 in the shipyards in Saint-Nazaire.

When finished it will weigh some 227,000 tonnes and measure 362 metres (1,187 feet) in length, 50 metres longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower.

Harmony is also a metre wider than the current twin ocean-going monsters of the pleasure cruise world, which are also 362 metres long.

"Allure of the Seas" and "Oasis of the Seas", the world's biggest cruise ships in current service, are 65 metres wide and come in at 225,000 tonnes a piece. All three belong to Royal Caribbean International cruise lines.

Some 2,500 people are at work building Harmony, which will require 90,000 square metres (968,700 square feet) of carpet and 500,000 litres (132,000 gallons) of paint.

The test runs of the boat are presently set for mid-February 2016 and its first voyage is planned for May next year, a trip from Southampton in Britain to the Spanish city of Barcelona.

The ship will have room for some 6,360 passengers and 2,100 staff members.

Jokowi, in Rare Tirade, Threatens to Fire Officials Over Cargo Delays at Tanjung Priok

Jakarta Globe, Jun 17, 2015

President Joko Widodo telling officials and reporters what’s what, during a visit to
 Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port on Wednesday. The president threatened to fire
 officials responsible for the notorious delays in moving cargo through the port.
(Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo gave an uncharacteristic outburst during an inspection of Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port on Wednesday, threatening to fire officials responsible for the lengthy delays in moving containers through the port.

“The process takes too long because the people handling it don’t want to move fast,” he told an entourage of officials and reporters.

He noted that Tanjung Priok’s dwell time, or the amount of time a container spends at the port before moving on, was an average of 5.5 days – the longest in Asia, he said. He also said some items took up to a month to clear customs and excise.

Joko added he was well aware of the legendary delays at the port, which handles two-thirds of Indonesia’s international trade, from his experience running a furniture export business, and threatened to fire any officials responsible for the problem.

“Let it be known that if things get [even more] difficult, I can fire the director general, the people on the ground, even the minister. If that’s how you work that’s [what will happen],” he said.

He did not specify which director general or minister he was referring to. The director general of customs and excise is Agung Kuswandono, whose office falls under the purview of the Finance Ministry, headed by Bambang Brodjonegoro. The trade and transportation ministries, which also have a hand in operations at the port, are headed respectively by Rachmat Gobel and Jonan Ignasius.

Joko said it was apparent that no one involved in the process – from loading and unloading containers to clearing them through customs – understood their duties or responsibilities, and chastised the officials around him for glossing over the problems.

“Don’t say everything’s fine. The reality is that [Indonesia] is lagging far behind. So who? Customs or trade? Who should I be speaking to?” he said, repeating the question seven more times.

There was no response from any of the officials.

“Which agency takes the longest time [processing] exports and imports?” the president went on. “There’s gotta be one. So I’m asking again, which one? Fess up, and we’ll fix it.”

Again there was no response.

Joko said the average dwell time at Tanjung Priok should be brought down to 4.7 days if Indonesia was to be competitive with Singapore and Malaysia.

“I want this port to be faster, more efficient, to give the best import and export services, because our business is the service business,” he said.

Beijing announces end to South China Sea land reclamation

China has announced that it will complete its planned reclamation of some land in its disputed South China Sea within "upcoming days." The project has heightened tensions with nearby countries over exclusion zone fears.

Deutsche Welle, 16 June 2015

State news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday that china will now begin building facilities on the Spratly islands and nearby Paracels, known to the Chinese as the Nansha and Xisha, respectively.

"Apart from satisfying the need of necessary military defense, the main purpose of China's construction activities is to meet various civilian demands and better perform China's international obligations and responsibilities," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Military and maritime help

The Ministry reiterated that beyond building military purposes, the construction also intends to aide maritime search and rescue in the area, disaster prevention, scientific research, meteorological observation, environmental conservation, navigation safety and fishing management.

China's controversial land reclamation project has ignited tensions in the region, particularly with Vietnam and the Philippines who have overlapping claims to the area through which some $5 trillion of ship-borne trade passes every year.

Exclusion zone

The US has also criticized the territorial claims, over fears that China will use the gains to assert control over navigation in the South China Sea which could limit the free movement of ships and aircrafts.

Just last month, a US Navy plane flying near to one of China's reclaimed islands was challenged several times by the Chinese military and told to leave the area.

Lu insisted on Tuesday, however, that the construction of airstrips and buildings on the Parcel islands and reefs was "lawful, reasonable and justified" and would not "affect and country's freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea."

ksb/jil (Reuters, AP, dpa)

Tidal energy project kicks off in the Netherlands

DutchNews.nl, June 16, 2015

The Netherlands is to produce its first commercial tidal energy by placing five turbines between the pillars of the Oosterschelde storm barrier in Zeeland. 

The tidal turbines will produce enough energy each year to power 1,000 homes, broadcaster Nos says. The energy will be sold to an international company. 

The turbines, which will be put in place this summer, are manufactured by Den Oever company Tocardo which has been developing them since the end of the 1990s. They are similar to wind turbines but with smaller vanes. 

The economic affairs ministry is subsidising the total €11m cost of development, placement and exploitation, the Nos says. 

The Oosterschelde barrier is one of the few places in the Netherlands where the tide is strong enough to produce energy.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Palau burns Vietnamese boats in warning to fish poachers

Yahoo – AFP, 13 June 2015

Vietnamese fishing vessels are set on fire off the coast of Palau, on 

June 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Richard Brooks)

The small Pacific island nation of Palau has set fire to four Vietnamese fishing vessels caught illegally operating in its waters, and delivered a stern warning that it will not tolerate poaching.

The 77 crew members were transferred to two other arrested fishing boats with enough fuel and provisions to get back to Vietnam.

"This message goes to the captain and crews of these vessels. Palau guarantees you will return with nothing," President Tommy Remengesau said after the boats were burned on Friday.

Palau President Tommy Remengesau

 delivers a speech at the 45th Pacific

 Islands Forum, in Palau, in July 

2014 (AFP Photo/Richard W. Brooks)

"Captains will be prosecuted and jailed. Boats will be burned. Nothing will be gained from poaching in Palau. From one fisherman to another, respect Palau."

The Vietnamese boats were caught in a protected area with more than eight tonnes of sea cucumbers and reef fish on board.

Since last year, 15 boats from Vietnam have been seized with more than 25 tonnes of Palau's marine species destined for the black market in Asia.

"We have a simple message for those who try to steal Palau's marine resources: We will not tolerate poachers in our ocean," Remengesau added.

"Palau is working with our military, diplomacy, and NGO partners from around the world to get tough on illegal fishers and protect our food security."

Palau hosted workshops last month involving maritime surveillance authorities from the United States, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, designed to develop a comprehensive marine enforcement plan.

"Illegal fishing is a major threat to Palau, given its location as a critical gateway to the Pacific," said Seth Horstmeyer of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Global Ocean Legacy programme.

"With a no-tolerance policy and growing enforcement capabilities, illegal fishing will be stopped in Palau."

Palau, in the western Pacific, has a fishing-reliant economy for its population of 21,000 people spread over 250 islands.