British man first to row non-stop across Pacific Ocean

British adventurer John Beeden has become the first person to row solo and non-stop across the Pacific Ocean, landing in northern Australia on December 27. He previously rowed across the Atlantic in 2011.

Deutsche Welle, 27 December 2015

The 53-year-old embarked on his journey from San Francisco on June 1 in his six-meter (20-foot) boat named Socks II, and landing in Cairns, Australia, on December 27. During the 7,400-nautical-mile journey he averaged 15 hours rowing for 209 days.

Thank you Cairns for the brilliant reception, I was overwhelmed, it made the last 209 days worth while. Wow it's over! #solopacificrow

— John Beeden (@solopacificrow) December 27, 2015

"To be the first person to achieve something like this on this scale is incredible really, and I haven't processed it yet," Beeden told Australian national broadcaster ABC.

His wife Cheryl and two teenage daughters greeted him at the dock in Cairns when he pulled in escorted by a string of local vessels.

4 miles to go! Just met up with family for the last little bit #solopacificrow #cairns #australia pic.twitter.com/OPddfN0bOb

— John Beeden (@solopacificrow) December 26, 2015

Pacific 'much harder' than Atlantic

Beeden missed his planned date of arrival by about a month because of weather conditions slowing him down. He repeatedly tweeted that the journey was proving far more difficult than he had thought.

Trying 2 recover lost milage, going for it, looking 4 the magical #50nm 2day. #OceanRowing #SanFranto #Australia pic.twitter.com/JbB5Hbj5KC

— John Beeden (@solopacificrow) October 8, 2015

A seasoned rower, Beeden had already rowed 2,600 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean solo in 53 days in 2011, but said that the Pacific was much harder to tackle.

I'm exhausted, heat & humidity horrible 2day. Have received some brilliant messages of support which will help get me to the finish line.

— John Beeden (@solopacificrow) December 25, 2015

Along his way, Beeden was met by a series of support boats as he passed islands and was given supplies. After seven months on his own at sea Beeden said he found it "strange" to be back among people and noise. For some of his time out on the Pacific, the nearest human beings were the crew of the space station 250 kilometers (150 miles) above him.

"It's strange, but it's good to be back, but it was kind of good to be out there as well," Beeden said.

Rower lost at sea during previous attempt in 1996

In 1983, British rower Peter Bird almost made the solo row from San Francisco to Australia, but was rescued near the Barrier Reef just 33 miles from the mainland by the Australian navy, after 294 days at sea.

Bird made several more attempts but was lost at sea in 1996.

ss/bk (dpa)

Snakes alive! Missing species found off Australia coast

Yahoo – AFP, December 22, 2015

Two short-nose sea snakes pictured off the coast of Western
Australia (AFP Photo/Grant Giffen)

Australian scientists Tuesday hailed the discovery of two sea snake species feared to have become extinct years ago off the Western Australia coast.

The short-nose sea snake and the leaf-scaled sea snake had not been seen since disappearing from their only known habitat on Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea more than 15 years ago, James Cook University researchers wrote in the Biological Conservation journal.

But they have since been "spotted alive and healthy" at Ningaloo Reef (short-nose sea snake) and Shark Bay (leaf-scaled sea snake), thousands of kilometres south.

"This discovery is really exciting, we get another chance to protect these two endemic Western Australian sea snake species," the study's lead author Blanche D'Anastasi said in a statement about the two species, listed by Australian authorities as critically endangered.

"But in order to succeed in protecting them, we will need to monitor populations as well as undertake research into understanding their biology and the threats they face."

e university said the short-nose sea snake was identified after a wildlife officer sent a photo of two of them to D'Anastasi in April 2013.

"What is even more exciting is that they were courting, suggesting that they are members of a breeding population," D'Anastasi added.

The scientists said it was a "real surprise" when they also discovered a "new and significant" population of the leaf-scaled sea snake in the seagrass beds of Shark Bay.

"The disappearance of sea snakes from Ashmore Reef could not be attributed to trawling and remains unexplained," said another researcher, Vimoksalehi Lukoschek.

Sea snakes are often vulnerable as by-catch by prawn trawlers.

"Clearly we need to identify the key threats to their survival in order to implement effective conservation strategies if we are going to protect these newly discovered coastal populations," Lukoschek added.

Australia approves coal port expansion near Barrier Reef

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Parry, December 22, 2015

Australia has approved a controversial port expansion to support coal mining
 projects and the dredging of spoil despite conservationists' fears it threatens
the Great Barrier Reef (AFP Photo/Sarah Lai)

Australia on Tuesday approved a controversial port expansion to support mining projects and the dredging of 1.1 million cubic metres (2.4 million cubic feet) of spoil despite fears it threatens the Great Barrier Reef.

The decision, creating a huge port capable of handling up to 120 million tonnes of coal per annum, comes two months after the government green-lighted an Indian-backed plan to build one of the world's biggest mines in the same area of Queensland state.

The Aus$16.5 billion (US$12.1 billion) Carmichael project by Adani Enterprises in the Galilee Basin, home to vast coal reserves, has attracted fierce criticism, requiring the fossil fuel to be shipped through the deepwater Abbot Point Coal Terminal which is currently at capacity.

Environmentalists have argued that any expansion at Abbot Point risked the World Heritage-listed reef's health and would destroy local habitats.

Environmentalists argue that any expansion

 at Abbot Point risks the health of the World 

Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef and 

destroy local habitats (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

"The Queensland state Labor government's Abbot Point Growth Gateway project has been approved in accordance with national environment law subject to 30 strict conditions," a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Greg Hunt said.

Earlier plans were for at least three million cubic metres of material to be dredged and dumped into waters around the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, but this was later abandoned after an outcry.

The approval now permits 1.1 million cubic metres to be dredged, allowing more freighters to dock at Abbot Point, near the town of Bowen, but spoil must be disposed of on existing industrial land.

"No dredge material will be placed in the World Heritage Area or the Caley Valley Wetlands," said Hunt's spokeswoman. "The port area is at least 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) from any coral reef and no coral reef will be impacted."

The decision comes barely a week after 195 nations, including Australia, agreed in Paris to try and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

Hunt said he was comfortable that good-quality Australian coal would feed Indian electricity consumption.

"If they didn't have Australian participation... they would be using lower quality fuel," he told ABC radio.

"So lower quality fuel and lower efficiency (power) stations -- so the net global impact of not using Australian fuels would be for emissions to go up, not down."

'Illogical, irresponsible'

Adani, which has previously accused environmental activists of exploiting legal loopholes to stall its massive open-cut and underground mine which is forecast to produce 60 million tonnes of thermal coal a year for export, welcomed the decision.

"The expansion of Abbot Point, the lifeblood of Bowen, is key to Adani's plans to deliver 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and Aus$22 billion in taxes and royalties to Queensland," it said in a statement.

Critics argue that plunging coal prices make the development financially unviable, while major European and US banks have refused funding due to environmental concerns.

Greenpeace said the Abbot Point go-ahead was "irresponsible for the reef, illogical and unnecessary".

"Adani hasn't got the Aus$16 billion, no-one's lending it to them, and coal prices are tanking. Even the International Energy Agency is questioning the project," said Greenpeace reef campaigner Shani Tager.

WWF-Australia said the waters around Abbot Point were home to dugongs, sea turtles and snubfin dolphins while the dredge spoil would be dumped on land adjacent to wetlands used by migratory birds.

"It's disappointing that the minister has approved this project within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, despite the damage it will do," spokeswoman Louise Matthiesson said.

Zeeland farm claims breakthrough with land-bred oysters

DutchNews, December 21, 2015

File photograph of oysters in Yerseke.
Photo: Takeaway via Wikimedia Commons

An oyster farm in Zeeland is claiming a world first after successfully raising the clams on land, NOS reports. 

Father and son team Sam and Sybe Smit cultivated the creuse or Japanese oysters at their high-tech facility in Kats, on the Oosterschelde estuary. The first batch is being taken to market this week so they are available in restaurants and specialist fishmongers in time for Christmas. 

The farmers used containers filled with purified river water and home-grown plankton to mature the oysters, which were bought from a sea oyster farm as immature specimens. 

The technique allows oysters to mature and be sold all year round and reduces damage through disease. Eventually the team hope to cultivate the oysters from seed. 

The Smits’ next aim is to breed the European flat oyster, which is a more valuable species on the fish markets.

Related Article:

Flamingo flock moves into Zeeland

Flamingo flock moves into Zeeland

DutchNews, December 21, 2015

A colony of about 50 flamingos has moved into the Grevelingenmeer in Zeeland for the winter rather than moving on to warmer climes in Africa.

The group of distinctive pink birds is known to breed just over the border in Germany and appears to have moved north to the Netherlands because the lake contains just enough salt to stop it freezing.

‘The Grevelingenmeer is very suitable for them because they can find sufficient crabs and shrimp,’ William van der Hulle, of the Dutch forestry commission, told BNR radio. 

Flamingos are regular visitors to the lake but never in such large numbers, he said. 

Bijzonder! Gewoon in Nederland, flamingo's op het Grevelingenmeer. #flamingos #grevelingenmeer pic.twitter.com/shakNXx3Ko”

— ineke zonneveld (@inekezonneveld) March 14, 2015

Rescue crews in Indonesia battle high seas to reach ship with 120 on board

Rescue crews in Indonesia are braving high seas to rescue more 120 passengers aboard a boat at risk of sinking.

Deutsche Welle, 19 December 2015

The ferry boat carrying around 120 passengers was hit by 3 to 5 meter waves off the coast of the Sulawesi on Saturday, forcing the captain to send out a distress signal.

Initial media reports suggested the fiberglass boat carrying passengers from Kolaka to Siwa on Sulawesi island had sunk, but authorities later said the boat was taking in water and its engine had broken.

"The ship has not sunk," a South Sulawesi police spokesman said by phone.

A search and rescue official told Reuters that rescue teams were trying to reach the stranded passengers, including at least 19 children.

There was no mention of casualties, but Indonesia's search and rescue agency and navy have been notified.

Indonesia relies heavily on passenger boats to connect 17,000 islands but the transport sector has a poor safety record.

cw/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Dutch courts to judge Shell in landmark oil spill case

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop,December 18, 2015

Four Nigerian farmers and fishermen, backed by the Dutch branch of environmental
 group Friends of the Earth, first filed the case in 2008 against Shell in a court
case thousands of kilometres (miles) from their homes (AFP Photo/Carl Court)

The Hague (AFP) - A Dutch appeals court ruled Friday that four Nigerian farmers may take their case against oil giant Shell to a judge in the Netherlands, in a landmark ruling involving multinational corporate governance.

"The Dutch courts and this court consider it has jurisdiction in the case against Shell and its subsidiary in Nigeria," Judge Hans van der Klooster said at the appeals court in The Hague.

The four farmers and fishermen, backed by the Dutch branch of environmental group Friends of the Earth, first filed the case in 2008 against the Anglo-Dutch company in a court case thousands of kilometres (miles) from their homes.

They want Shell to clean up devastating oil spills in four heavily-polluted villages in the west African country's oil-rich Niger Delta, prevent further spills and pay compensation.

The three-judge panel also denied Shell the power to take its decision before the Netherland's top court.

Shell did not specifically say whether it would seek a review of Friday's judgement, but it said that the case over their responsibility for the spills "will be the topic of continuing litigation."

The farmers also wanted Shell to disclose a number of documents they believe could show the company's negligence in maintaining its oil pipelines and guarding against sabotage.

In return, court documents reveal, Shell wanted the judges to scrap Dutch jurisdiction over cases in Nigeria and rule the farmers' appeal inadmissible.

An aerial view of the Shell Cawtharine channels at Awoba in the oil-rich Niger 

Delta of Nigeria (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

Nigeria is the world's 13th largest oil producer, pumping out more than 2.4 million barrels a day, but much of the Niger Delta region remains deeply impoverished.

In January 2013 a lower Dutch court threw out most of the farmers' lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs could not hold Shell's parent company responsible for the pollution which has for years blighted the southeastern delta system in Africa's largest oil producer.

In that ruling, judges said Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was partly responsible and ordered it to compensate farmers and fishermen in one claim, in the Delta village of Ikot Ada Udo, but not in the three other claims.

On Friday morning, the Dutch appeals judge however -- in a verdict lasting less than five minutes -- agreed with the Nigerian farmers' appeal.

"All appeals by Shell are rejected," judge Van der Klooster said as he also ordered the massive energy group to hand over the documents.

'Major victory'

"The ruling is a major victory, not only for the farmers, but indeed for the people of Nigeria," Friends of the Earth spokesman Geert Ritsema told journalists afterwards.

"It sets a massive precedent, which means that Dutch courts can make judgements about Dutch companies in other countries," he said.

None of the four farmers were at court, but a Friends of the Earth official said they followed proceedings via Skype "and were overjoyed with the verdict."

"It is vital that multinationals are made to answer for action abroad that would never be accepted in their home countries," added Amnesty International researcher Mark Dummett.

Four Nigerian farmers, seen here in court in The Hague in 2012, first filed 

the case against Shell in 2008 (AFP Photo/Robin Utrecht)

Shell reacted with disappointment.

"We are disappointed the Dutch court has determined it should assume international jurisdiction over SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria)," the oil giant said in a statement.

"In 2013, the court found that Royal Dutch Shell has no liability in relation to these claims," it added.

"As the claims against SPDC relied on the Royal Dutch Shell claims to establish jurisdiction in the Netherlands, in our view the court should have declined to exercise jurisdiction over SPDC on this occasion," the statement said.

Judge Van der Klooster also denied leave to take the case to the Dutch highest Supreme Court for a further decision, saying the four farmers' case will be heard next year.

'Double standards'

Environmental groups have long accused multinationals of following less stringent standards in developing countries than in Europe and North America.

They want the Netherlands and other Western nations to pass laws ordering companies to enforce the same environmental responsibility standards where they operate as are used at home.

Shell has been drilling in Nigeria for the last half-century and is the country's biggest producer.

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 a quarter of a million people and saturated waterways downstream with dense

orange sediment that could wreck the ecosystem for years to come.

Costa Rica wins bitter territory row with Nicaragua

Yahoo – AFP, Ariela Navarro and Nicolas Delaunay, December 16, 2015

The San Juan River is the natural border between Nicaragua and
Costa Rica (AFP Photo/Yuri Cortez)

The Hague (AFP) - Costa Rica won a lingering, bitter territorial row with Nicaragua Wednesday when a top UN court ruled it had sovereignty over a small patch of wetlands on the river San Juan.

The court "finds that Costa Rica has sovereignty over the disputed territory as defined by the court," the judges from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled, in a statement read to the hearing.

Basing its ruling in part on an 1858 treaty between the two countries, the court also reproached Managua for violating San Jose's right to navigation in the waters which form their joint border.

By "excavating" three channels in the river and "establishing a military presence on Costa Rican territory, Nicaragua has violated the territory and sovereignty" of its neighbour, the 16-judge panel found.

A satisfied Costa Rica hailed the decision, and while Nicaragua lamented the loss of the territory it took heart from some sharp criticism of its neighbour for building a road along the banks.

"The ICJ resolution... constitutes total vindication of the national viewpoint on the integrity of our territory," Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis told a news conference in San Jose.

He said he hoped a "horizon of dialogue" would now start between the countries.

Nicaragua's deputy foreign minister, Cesar Vega, told reporters in Managua that his country "will abide by the verdict".

Tensions have flared for years between the two Central American nations over the land -- called the Isla Portillos by San Jose and Harbour Head by Managua.

The fight first reached the ICJ in 2010 when Costa Rica complained Nicaragua's army had occupied a three square kilometre (just over one square mile) block near the mouth of the river San Juan as it flows into the Caribbean.

Nicaragua maintained the territory historically belonged to it, and in a separate 2011 counter-claim to the ICJ argued that Costa Rica was causing environmental damage by building a road next to the waterway.

President of the International Court of Justice Ronny Abraham (2R) looks at 

a document during the case on the border dispute between Costa Rica and

Nicaragua, in the Hague on December 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Turning the page

The case has ping-ponged back and forth in the International Court of Justice -- the UN's highest court founded in 1945 to rule on border and territorial disputes between nations.

Costa Rica had maintained in a hearing earlier this year that Nicaragua had "invaded" the tiny stretch of territory on its northeast coast.

And while the 16 judges did not go so far, the ICJ did award Costa Rica compensation for "material damages caused by Nicaragua's unlawful activities on Costa Rican territory."

The two countries now have 12 months to negotiate a fair settlement, otherwise the court warned it would be prepared at the request of one of the parties to step in and set the amount of compensation due.

"Nicaragua has lost 250 hectares of wetlands that we considered to be ours," said Nicaragua's ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos Arguello Gomez.

But he insisted his country now wanted to "turn the page. This ruling will help ties between our two countries. When things are cleared up, then problems go away and that is the most important thing."

He also welcomed the judges' ruling in the 2011 case brought by Nicaragua, which found that San Jose had failed to carry out an environmental impact assessment when it built the road that veers close to the river.

However, the judges refused to award any damages to Nicaragua, saying the ruling in its favour was "satisfaction" enough and Managua had failed to prove the road had caused "significant transboundary harm".

A third dispute between the countries is also before the ICJ, as Costa Rica has asked it to rule on their maritime borders.

The court has no power to enforce its rulings, but two countries must agree before a case can be brought before the tribunal.

Colombia finds treasure galleon, ending 300-year mystery

Yahoo – AFP, Paula Carrillo, 6 Dec 2015

The remains of the Spanish galleon San Jose sunk off the Caribbean coast

 of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia in an undated picture released on 

December 5, 2105 by the Colombian Culture Ministry's press office (AFP Photo)

Cartagena (Colombia) (AFP) - Colombia says it has found the shipwreck of a storied Spanish galleon laden with gold, silver and precious stones, three centuries after it was sunk by the British in the Caribbean.

"This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity," President Juan Manuel Santos declared on Saturday.

He was speaking from the northern port city of Cartagena, close to where experts made the hugely valuable find.

Treasure hunters had searched for the ship for decades, described by some as the holy grail of shipwrecks.

The loot is estimated to be worth around $2 billion, its value having dropped significantly due to the falling price of silver, according to US-based company Sea Search Armada.

SSA, whose subsidiary claimed in the early 1980s that it had found the galleon's final resting place, was engaged in a long-running battle with the government of Colombia.

The find was not confirmed and a US court ultimately ruled it was Colombian property.

The San Jose has long been the source of fascination and popular legends, and even figures in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera."

Mystery solved after centuries

Although they found plenty of other wrecks, the San Jose's location had remained a mystery until now.

The San Jose was sunk in June 1708 near the Islas del Rosario, off Colombia's Caribbean coast, during combat with British ships attempting to take its cargo, as part of the War of Spanish Succession.

The galleon was the main ship in a treasure fleet carrying gold, silver and other valuable items from Spain's American colonies to King Philip V.

Only a handful of the ship's crew of 600 survived when the San Jose sank.

A team of Colombian and foreign researchers, including a veteran of the group that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, studied winds and currents of the Caribbean 307 years ago and delved into colonial archives in Spain and Colombia searching for clues.

The remains of the Spanish galleon San Jose sunk off the Caribbean coast of 

Cartagena de Indias, Colombia seen in an undated picture released on December 5, 

2105 by the Colombian Culture Ministry's press office (AFP Photo)

Experts confirmed that they found the San Jose on November 27 "in a place never before referenced by previous research," Santos said.

At least five other major shipwrecks were discovered when searching the ocean floor.

The experts confirmed that they located the San Jose, which was lying on its side, identifying it by its unique bronze cannons with engraved dolphins.

"The amount and type of the material leave no doubt of the identity" of the shipwreck, said Ernesto Montenegro, head of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

There could be up to 1,000 shipwrecks off the Caribbean coast of Colombia, but of those only between six and 10 had a large cargo of treasures, anthropologist Fabian Sanabria told AFP.

The biggest find, and the most sought after, was the San Jose, he said.

The discovery "is an unprecedented event for the country," said Cartagena Mayor Dionisio Velez.

On Twitter, the issue was trending under #GaleonSanJose, as users of the one-to-many social network debated whether to return the loot to Spain, and made various estimates about its current value.

Azerbaijan mourns following deadly rig fire

Rescuers continue to search for 29 missing oil platform workers who had evacuated when an offshore rig in the Caspian Sea caught fire. Two workers have been confirmed killed in the mishap.

Deutsche Welle, 6 Dec 2015

Efforts to locate the missing offshore oil workers continued Sunday, two days after high winds damaged a gas line and caused a fire to break out on the No. 10 platform in the Caspian Sea.

Rescuers evacuated 33 people from the deepwater platform in the Guneshli offshore field, where they had been hanging in lifeboats 10 meters (35 feet) above the stormy sea.

The platform is owned and operated by SOCAR, the state energy company. In a joint statement with the emergency ministry it said two bodies have been recovered.

That's far fewer than the 32 people that an independent watchdog has claimed had died in the accident. The Azeri Press Agency reported there were 63 workers on the platform when the fire started Friday, but SOCAR has so far not released precise figures.

Inquiry opened

A still image from video footage shows
 the burning platform on December 5,
2015.

There were also indications that safety regulations had been violated, a judicial spokesman told the DPA news agency. A presidential commission was appointed Saturday to oversee the investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the president's office has announced that Sunday would be a day of national mourning for the lives lost.

"Flags will be at half-staff in Azerbaijan as well as its diplomatic missions in other countries," an unnamed government official told the AFP news agency. "Entertainment events and television concert program have been canceled.”

The Guneshli deposits were discovered in 1981 in the south Caspian Sea, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of the capital, Baku.

There have been a number of fatal incidents on offshore oil rigs in recent years. In 2011, a drilling platform sank in a storm off Russia's far eastern coast, killing 53 people.

jar/sms (AFP, dpa)

Imperilled African penguins pose scientific mystery

Yahoo – AFP, Lawrence Bartlett, 4 Dec 2015

Africa's only nesting penguin has been classified as endangered likely as

 a result of competition for food from commercial fisheries and shifting fish

stocks (AFP Photo/Stephane De Sakutin)

Cape Town (AFP) - In the cold, clear waters at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, the African penguins are so relaxed they swim among humans and waddle past sunbathers on the sands.

But their unique species is dying, and scientists are trying to solve the mystery of whether it is humans that are killing them, and if so, how.

As representatives from over 150 countries huddle at a Paris conference aimed at achieving a global agreement on fighting climate change, the scientific sleuthing off Africa's southwestern coast highlights the difficulties in pinning down the links between global warming and animal behaviour.

Young African penguins head out to 

sea, after being released at Stony Point 

about 130 km from Cape Town (AFP 

Photo/Rodger Bosch)

African penguins are found only in South Africa and neighbouring Namibia, where they feed on fish shoals in the nutrient-rich waters of the cold Benguela current that runs northward along the west coast.

The number of breeding pairs has dropped by 90 percent at South African colonies north of Cape Town, from about 32,000 in 2004 to just over 3,000 in 2014, according to official statistics.

There is little dispute that the reason for the sharp decline in the number of little jackass penguins -- so nicknamed for their braying calls -- is the strange behaviour of their main prey, sardines and anchovies.

The concentrations of fish have moved southwards and eastwards, leaving the penguins dying of hunger in their wake.

A search for answers

Scientists say an obvious culprit might appear to be overfishing, but there is some dispute about whether this is borne out by the results of periodic fishing bans around some of the penguins' major habitats.

"The fish have seemingly changed their distribution, but what caused that is still a big research question," said Rob Crawford, a scientist with South Africa's department of environmental affairs.

"Overfishing and climate change are the main two possibilities and it is very hard to disentangle them," he told AFP.

There is no question that humans were responsible for an initial steep decline in the number of African penguins, which are classified as endangered by the International for the Conservation of Nature.

There is no question that humans were responsible for an initial steep

 decline in the number of African penguins, which are classified as endangered

 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (AFP Photo/

Stephane De Sakutin)

The environmental affairs department says the overall South African population may have been around a million breeding pairs in the 1920s -- dropping to just 19,000 in 2012.

The exploitation of eggs for human consumption played a major role in the early disastrous decline, but egg collection was banned in 1967 and numbers have continued to plummet.

The population in Namibia has also fallen sharply, from 12,162 breeding pairs in 1978 to an estimated 4,563 pairs in 2008, according to Birdlife International.

"There is no clear cut answer that climate change (over long-term environmental variation) is a driver, but it is thought to be playing an important role," says Richard Sherley, a University of Exeter researcher and expert on the African penguin.

"Changes in sea surface temperatures in the 1990s and early 2000s have resulted in (amongst other things) a change in the area most suitable for spawning for anchovy and sardine," he told AFP in an email interview.

"As a result, the high-energy prey that the adults of these fish species represent for penguins is far from the penguin colonies on South Africa’s West Coast for much of the year."

Time to move?

A plan to establish a new colony for penguins on the south coast, closer to their shifting food source, is among proposals aimed at saving the species.

Before penguins are moved to the chosen site, it will be prepared to make it seem like an established colony, says Birdlife South Africa.

Decoys, sound recordings and mirrors will be used to give the illusion of penguins using the colony, and penguin chicks and young will be released there.

The number of breeding pairs of African penguins has dropped by 90 

percent at South African colonies north of Cape Town, from about 32,000 in 

2004 to just over 3,000 in 2014, according to official statistics (AFP Photo/

Stephane De Sakutin)

One of the colonies hardest hit is on Cape Town's Robben Island, where late liberation icon Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists were imprisoned.

Thousands of kilometres to the south, in Antarctica, the charismatic Emperor penguins -- the inspiration for the Oscar-winning animated film "Happy Feet" -- are also threatened by rising temperatures, international researchers have warned.

In Paris, delegates to the climate change conference, which runs until December 11, are haggling over an ambitious roadmap for achieving the UN goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

The UN's climate science panel says the emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal has to drop 40-70 percent between 2010 and 2050, and to zero by 2100.

As the wrangling continues, the African penguins may be a living warning of the cost of failure.

Japan's whaling fleet sets sail for the Antarctic

In spite of global outrage, Japan's whaling fleet has set out for the Antarctic to resume a decades-old whale hunt. Japan aims to take more than 300 whales in its "scientific whaling" program.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Nov 2015

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean should stop, and an International Whaling Commission (IWC) panel said in April that Japan had yet to demonstrate a need for "lethal sampling" as part of scientific research.

However, Tokyo, which vowed at the time to resume its "scientific whaling" program starting with the 2015/2016 season, retooled its hunt plan to cut the number of minke whales it intends to take to 333, down by two-thirds from previous hunts.

Japan has long maintained that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is part of its traditional food culture. Making use of a loophole in international whaling regulations, it began what it calls "scientific whaling" in 1987, a year after a global whaling moratorium took effect.

'A happy day'

"Last year, regrettably, the ICJ made its ruling and we were unable to take whales," said Tomoaki Nakao, the mayor of the western city of Shimonoseki, which is both home to much of Japan's whaling fleet and part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election district.

"There's nothing as happy as this day," he told the fleet's crew at a ceremony prior to their departure.

The ships set sail shortly before noon, with family members and officials waving from shore. The hunt is expected to last until March.

Conservationists' anger

Australia and New Zealand have led criticism of the resumption of Japan's whaling operations, with both expressing disappointment.

Sea Shepherd activists have in the past clashed with Japanese whaling ships

"It's not scientific research, it's straight up commercial whaling, and it's been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice," said Nathaniel Pelle from Greenpeace Australia.

Environmentalists from Sea Shepherd Australia, a conservation organization dedicated to protecting marine wildlife and habitats, have said they will pursue the Japanese fleet and will attempt to intervene in any slaughter of the animals.

av/tj (AFP, Reuters)