Failure to finalize Bohai Bay oil spill compensation angers locals

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-08-09

A lawsuit has been filed against China's State Oceanic Administration on August 2 by lawyers representing fishermen and fishing firms hurt by the 2011 Bohai Bay oil spill, the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald reports.

Bohai Bay in northeastern China is an area of the Yellow Sea partially enclosed between the Liaoning and Shandong peninsulas. The 2011 Bohai Bay oil spill was a series of oil spills that began on June 4, 2011. The spill itself however was not publicly disclosed until a month later, which fueled rumors of an official cover-up by the SOA.

Beijing DHH Law Firm attorney Wang Haijun and a Shandong attorney Xu Hongliang jointly represented Dongying villagers and two fishing firms to file an administrative lawsuit against the SOA at the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court. They claim that the SOA violated laws after its handling of the compensation offered by the US-based oil giant ConocoPhillips for the Bohai ecological damage.

In April last year, ConocoPhillips and its partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) agreed to pay 1.7 billion yuan (US$277.6 million) in compensation for the series of oil spills off Bohai Bay on the coast of northern China in 2011, the SOA said at that time.

The Beijing court accepted the recent filing, but whether it would accept the case remains unknown. After filing the lawsuit, Xu said officials at the Dongying fisheries service, informed by the SOA, have immediately tried to persuade the plaintiffs to withdraw the case. SOA has yet to release an official response to the accusation, the paper said.

On February 16, the SOA announced that ConocoPhillips will gradually resume its production in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in Bohai Bay, which had been sealed in late 2011 after the oil leaks polluted 6,200 square kilometer of water, killing off marine life in the area.

As the SOA has yet to finalize and receive the compensation, its choice to allow ConocoPhillips to continue production has triggered public anger, resulting in the lawsuit filed last week.

Lawyers claim that the SOA did not follow the law and failed to conduct any style of public hearing or win the support of related experts before making the decision. Several environmental protection organizations have repeatedly filed requests to ask the SOA to conduct public hearings or fully disclose related information, but the SOA has mostly ignored the requests or said it needs to seek a third-party, the 21st Century Business Herald said.

We have requested the SOA to unveil oil fingerprinting tests for the oil spills, vital evidence in the case, but the administration has yet to comply, said Xu.

Dolphins remember friends' whistles for decades: study

Google – AFP, By Mariette Le Roux (AFP), 7 Aug 2013

A bottlenose dolphin swims off the coast of Rangiroa, in French Polynesia

(AFP/File, Valerie Macon)

PARIS, France — Bottlenose dolphins can remember each other's signature whistles for more than 20 years, a study said Wednesday -- the longest social memory ever observed in an animal.

Elephants have long been credited with the animal kingdom's most prodigious memory, but evidence for that was anecdotal, said the study's author Jason Bruck of the University of Chicago's Institute for Mind and Biology.

Bruck claims to have compiled the first study showing social recognition in an animal persisting beyond two decades -- possibly "the longest pure memory of any kind in a non-human species".

For the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Bruck worked with 43 captive dolphins at six zoos and aquariums in the United States and Bermuda, collecting whistle recordings he played to them over speakers underwater.

Previous research had shown that dolphins design unique signature whistles to identify themselves, and answer when called by "name".

Baby bottlenose dolphins are shown at a

zoo in Duisburg, western Germany in 2011

(DPA/AFP/File, Roland Weihrauch)

They use these whistles like we identify people by their faces.

Bruck played dolphins the recordings of signature whistles from those they had once shared a tank with, as well as the calls of complete strangers.

"Dolphins got bored quickly listening to signature whistles from dolphins they don't know," he said in a statement.

But familiar calls often elicited an immediate response.

"When they hear a dolphin they know, they often quickly approach the speaker playing the recording," said Bruck. "At times they will hover around, whistle at it, try to get it to whistle back."

In one case, Bruck played the whistle of a female dolphin named Allie, who lives at Brookfield Zoo in the US, for Bailey, a female now in Bermuda. The pair had last lived together in the Florida Keys when Allie was two and Bailey four -- but Bailey clearly recognised the call.

The reaction was not affected by how long the animals had lived together, nor their sex or kinship status, the biologist said.

"I was expecting five, maybe 10 years. Memory for over 20 years just has not been systematically shown in animals so I was amazed by what I found," he told AFP.

In the wild, bottlenose dolphins have an average life expectancy of about 20 years, though some can survive for 45 years or longer.

Bruck said the study revealed a social memory "very consistent" with that of humans.

It may even be more long-lasting than facial recognition abilities by humans whose faces change over time while dolphin whistles remain the same.

Long-term social memory may help animals assess threats and opportunities for hunting alliances while preventing inbreeding.

Fowl play? Taiwan city to upstage rival with giant duck

Google – AFP, 6 Aug 2013

Thousands crowd the Hong Kong waterfront to see a giant duck conceived

by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, June 9, 2013 (AFP/File, Richard A. Brooks)

TAIPEI — Taiwan's second largest city has announced plans to display a larger version of the giant inflatable yellow duck that captivated Hong Kong -- upstaging similar plans by another city on the island.

In a surprise announcement, the southern city of Kaohsiung said an 18-metre-tall (59-foot) version of the duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman will go on show for a month, beginning in September.

This will be around three months earlier than the start of a similar duck exhibit planned by Keelung, a port city in the north bordering the capital Taipei.

Keelung announced last month it had signed an agreement with Hofman to create its own duck, also 18 metres tall, for public display around mid-December.

Keelung city council speaker Huang Jing-tai declined to comment Tuesday on Kaohsiung's upset move.

"I don't want to compare Keelung with other cities," Huang told AFP.

"The yellow duck represents welfare, happiness and peace. By introducing it to the city, I hope it can bring our citizens the feeling of happiness."

Kaohsiung city's government, which announced its move Monday, insisted that it had signed a memorandum with Hofman in June, a month ahead of Keelung.

"We've kept our promise not to make the announcement until Mr Hofman came to Taiwan to sign the full contract," Zeno Lai, the head of the city government's information bureau, told AFP.

Lai said a total of 23 Taiwanese cities or groups had approached Hofman asking to display his duck.

"Throughout, we had been the leader and the first to sign the deal with Hofman," said Lai.

He estimated that the duck would draw three million visits and generate business worth Tw$1 billion ($33.3 million), given Hong Kong's experience.

Residents there cheered when a 16.5 metre duck took to the waters of Hong Kong harbour in May.

The cheerful giant bath toy replica touched off a craze in Hong Kong. Shops sold numerous models of it, restaurants created special duck dishes and thousands turned out to admire the artwork.

Taiwanese travel agencies got into the act by touting "visiting yellow duck" trips to Hong Kong, while copies appeared in several cities in mainland China.

Since 2007 the original duck has travelled to 13 different cities in nine countries ranging from Brazil to Australia in its journey around the world.

Hofman has said he hopes it will act as a "catalyst" to connect people to public art.

According to Lai, both Kaohsiung and Keelung will be able to keep their own versions of the duck, but will have to pay extra royalties to Hofman for any subsequent displays.

Related Article:

Chinese Imitators Copy Hong Kong’s Giant Duck

Marine Life Reacts Faster to Warming Than Land Species

Jakarta Globe, Alex Morales, August 5, 2013

A scuba diver swims near a whale shark as it approaches a paddleboat off
 the beach of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu,
 March 1 2013. (Reuters Photo/David Loh)

London. Species that depend on the sea are reacting more quickly to global warming than land-based life, according to a study in scientific journal Nature Climate Change, with implications for fisheries and food supplies.

Areas occupied by marine species including fish, corals and plankton are moving by an average of 72 kilometers a decade, typically toward the poles, the study by researchers at 17 institutions in 8 countries said on Sunday. That’s more than 10 times the 6.1 kilometer rate that land creatures are shifting.

Marine environments face a range of changes brought on by the rising carbon emissions that scientists blame for global warming. Arctic sea ice is melting at record rates, while the carbon dissolved in the oceans is causing acidity to rise, harming corals and shellfish. The latest analysis will have implications for fisheries, an author of the paper said.

“If the food a fish is eating is moving at a different pace, then the fish and their prey aren’t arriving at the same point at the same time,” Pippa Moore, a lecturer in aquatic biology at Aberystwyth University in Wales said in a telephone interview. “That has implications for the abundance of species and it will undoubtedly affect our food supplies and the species we’re used to seeing at our shores.”

The researchers compiled data from 208 prior studies that examined 857 species. They found species of phytoplankton are shifting their ranges at almost 470 kilometers a decade and bony fish are moving at 278 kilometers every 10 years. Less mobile species such as corals are moving more slowly, Moore said. The study included seabirds, seals and polar bears in the assessment as they live in a marine environment and feed mostly on sealife.

Researchers also uncovered shifts in seasonal behavior, or phenology, such as breeding, egg-laying and migration. Marine life is displaying behavior typical of both spring and summer about 4.4 days earlier a decade. That compares with estimates of 2.3 to 2.8 days for land-based creatures, the researchers said.

“This is the first comprehensive documentation of what is happening in our marine systems in relation to climate change,” Camille Parmesan, a co-author of the report and professor of oceans at Plymouth University in southwestern England, said in an e-mailed statement. “The changes that are occurring on land are being matched by the oceans. And far from being a buffer and displaying more minor changes, what we’re seeing is a far stronger response from the oceans.”

Bloomberg

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Caribbean has lost 80% of its coral reefs in recent years

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."

Sri Lanka eyes South Asian hub with Chinese mega port

Google – AFP, Amal Jayasinghe (AFP), 4 Aug 2013

This photograph taken on July 24, 2013, shows a container ship at the

state-run Jaya Container Terminal (AFP/File, Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

COLOMBO — A $500 million Chinese-built port opens Monday in Sri Lanka, giving Beijing a vital foothold on the world's busiest international shipping lane as it seeks to secure maritime supply routes.

The massive terminal in Colombo is located mid-way on the lucrative east-west sea route and has facilities on a par with Singapore and Dubai.

The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), which is 85 percent owned by the state-run China Merchant Holdings International, is designed to handle mega ships -- a first for Sri Lanka which is aiming to become the region's shipping hub.

The involvement of such a large Chinese company appears to conform to a pattern by Beijing after it sealed a deal in January to acquire the Pakistani port of Gwadar at a time when it is also building a $14 million "dry port" in the Nepalese city of Larcha, near Tibet.

Chinese loans and expertise were also instrumental in the construction of a new $450 million deep-sea port at the southern Sri Lankan city of Hambantota which opened in June 2012.

Independent shipping expert, Rohan Masakorala, says the new terminal made economic sense for China to tap in to the growing South Asian container cargo and gave Beijing a foothold along a strategic sea route.

"Terminal investments are a good business which can give a very good return," said Masakorala, a former secretary-general of the Singapore-based Asian Shippers Council.

"Through this investment, China is also securing the safety and efficiency of their main supply chain."

Masakorala, who heads the Shippers' Academy Colombo, said about half of all world sea trade passed through the east-west shipping route and a presence at a mid-way point along that gives China a commanding position.

"For China to maintain economic growth at home, they also need to go out and secure their supply routes. In that sense, coming to Colombo is a strategic commercial investment."

The Chinese investment in Sri Lanka, which is under pressure from Western powers and India over its human rights record, has raised fears in New Delhi about Beijing's influence in the neighbourhood.

But Priyath Bandu Wickrama, chairman of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), insisted that India had nothing to fear from the new Colombo port and could in fact be a major beneficiary.

"We will not allow any military base at our ports nor will we allow them to be used for any strategic military purpose by anyone," Wickrama said.

Wickrama said shippers in India could save up to four days by routing their cargo through Sri Lanka rather than using Singapore or Dubai.

"Earlier, Indians along the east coast had to send their cargo to Singapore if they wanted to catch a mega ship going West. Now these mega ships will be going through Colombo and picking up Indian cargo," he told AFP.

"That saves time and a lot of money."

The two major ports of south India, the Port of Cochin and the Port of Tuticorin, are too shallow for mega vessels such as the world's largest container ship, the MV. Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller.

Saliya Senanayake from the London-based Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport says that "India is about five to six years behind Sri Lanka when it comes to port infrastructure".

Sri Lanka has been an important stop in the ancient Silk Sea Route and today hundreds of ships pass its southern coast daily while plying the world's busiest international shipping lane.

With a capacity of over 18,000 containers, the M.V. Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, which was commissioned about two weeks ago is expected to make up a fleet of 20 mega ships in the next two years plying the East-West route.

The SLPA is pouring millions of dollars into infrastructure around the island and says it is on course to increase container handling capacity by 1.6 million containers to 6.4 million by April.

It hopes to have a container capacity of 10 million by 2020, while revenue is forecast to triple to one billion dollars by 2020.

Hambantota, which is just 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away from the East-West sea lane, is being promoted as a key service centre and industrial port where large ships can re-fuel or take on fresh food.

In April, Colombo's port is due to open another mega terminal just next to the Chinese-managed CICT. The new addition will initially be able to handle about 800,000 containers a year, according to the SLPA.

Professor Tsz Leung Yip, head of the International Centre for Maritime Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said Chinese expertise coupled with Colombo's strategic location would make Sri Lanka a key stop-over for international carriers who want to avoid the threat posed by Somali pirates operating off the Gulf of Aden.

"In the presence of Somalia pirates, it is safer for ships (from the Far East to Europe) to stop over at Sri Lanka and head to Cape of Good Hope, without calling at Dubai port," he told AFP.

Caribbean has lost 80% of its coral reefs in recent years

Comprehensive survey of the Caribbean's reefs is expected to act as a warning of problems besetting the world's coral

The Guardian, Fiona Harvey, Thursday 1 August 2013

As much as 80% of the Caribbean coral is thought to have been

lost in recent years. Photograph: moodboard/Corbis

A major survey of the coral reefs of the Caribbean is expected to reveal the extent to which one of the world's biggest and most important reserves of coral has been degraded by climate change, pollution, overfishing and degradation.

The Catlin scientific survey will undertake the most comprehensive survey yet of the state of the region's reefs, starting in Belize and moving on to Mexico, Anguilla, Barbuda, St Lucia, Turks & Caicos, Florida and Bermuda.

The Catlin scientists said the state of the regions' reefs would act as an early warning of problems besetting all of the world's coral. As much as 80% of Caribbean coral is reckoned to have been lost in recent years, but the survey should give a more accurate picture of where the losses have had most effect and on the causes.

Loss of reefs is also a serious economic problem in the Caribbean, where large populations depend on fishing and tourism. Coral reefs provide a vital home for marine creatures, acting as a nursery for fish and a food resource for higher food chain predators such as sharks and whales.

Stephen Catlin, chief executive of the Catlin Group, said: "It is not only important that scientists have access to this valuable data, but companies such as ours must understand the impact that significant changes to our environment will have on local economies."

Globally, coral reefs are under threat. The future of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is in doubt as mining and energy companies want to forge a shipping lane through it to form a more direct link with their export markets.

Warming seas owing to climate change can lead to coral being "bleached" – a state where the tiny polyps that build the reefs die off. The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts increasing frequency and severity of mass bleaching events as global warming takes effect.

Richard Vevers, the lead scientist, told the Guardian that one important role of the new survey would be to describe a new "baseline" to establish how far such problems have taken their toll to date, which will enable future scientists to judge how degradation – or conservation – progresses.

He said the team of scientists would also probe the underlying reasons for such degradation, with a view to informing conservation efforts.

The team will use satellite data as well as direct observations to assess the reefs. As part of the survey, they will develop software that marine scientists can apply to other reefs around the world. A new camera has bee constructed to assist their efforts.

Vevers said: "The Caribbean was chosen to launch the global mission is because it is at the frontline of risk. Over the last 50 years 80% of the corals have been lost due mainly coastal development and pollution. They now are also threatened by invasive species, global warming and the early effects of ocean acidification — it's the perfect storm."

Related Article:

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."

Thai firm understating oil slick fallout: Greenpeace

Google – AFP, Apilaporn Vechaku (AFP), 31 July 2013

Thai Royal Navy personnel clean Ao Phrao beach on the island of Ko

Samet after a major oil slick on July 30, 2013 (AFP, Nicolas Asfouri)

KO SAMET, Thailand — Environmentalists accused a Thai energy firm on Tuesday of understating the extent of a major pipeline leak as the navy warned the oil slick might reach the mainland.

Tourists were leaving the resort island of Ko Samet in the Gulf of Thailand as workers in protective suits used hoses, buckets and shovels to clean up blackened sand and oil which washed ashore on a once-idyllic beach.

PTT Global Chemical said it was close to removing the oil from Ao Phrao beach on the island, which lies in the protected Khao Laem Ya National Park off the eastern province of Rayong.

"The clean-up operation is 80 percent complete," said PTT Global Chemical executive vice president Porntep Butniphant, who was overseeing the operation.

Map locating Ko Samet in Thailand where

 some 50,000 litres of crude oil gushed

into the sea from a leak (AFP/File)

"We expect by tomorrow (Wednesday) everything at Ao Phrao will be back to normal," he told AFP.

Conservationist group Greenpeace, however, said much more work needed to be done.

"It's not true to claim that 80 percent of the work is done. There is a lot of oil still in the bay," Greenpeace campaigner Ply Pirom said.

"It's very disappointing that this global company has no emergency plan to deal with the crisis."

A naval commander said there was a risk the oil would wash ashore on the mainland.

"A thin film of oil may reach the mainland. It has started to go towards there," Vice Admiral Roongsak Sereeswad told AFP, adding: "It might take a week to control it."

The government said 600 workers, including military personnel and PTT staff, were engaged in the clean-up.

Some visitors have cut short their holidays on Ko Samet, a popular destination for weekend breaks for Bangkok residents.

"About 30 percent of the tourists have left the island", Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Rayong Tourist Association, told AFP.

"There are no tourists coming in any more, only people leaving. Some groups already cancelled bookings. Some are scared and started to leave," Chairat added.

Thai Royal Navy personnel work to clean

up oil from Ao Phrao beach on the island

 of Ko Samet on July 30, 2013 (AFP,

Nicolas Asfouri)

According to the pipeline operator -- which is part of state-owned giant PTT -- 50,000 litres of oil gushed into the sea on Saturday about 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast. Some environmentalists fear the leak might have been even bigger.

PTT said the spillage came as crude oil from an Omani tanker moored offshore was being transferred to the pipeline for delivery to its refinery.

Greenpeace on Monday urged Thailand to end oil drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Thailand in light of the leak.

Conservationists have voiced concern about the impact on marine life of the oil as well as the chemicals used to disperse the spill in an area frequented by fishermen.

"The effects on the coastal area ecology will be quite big," Ratana Munprasit, director of the Eastern Marine Fisheries Research and Development Center, told AFP.

Thai Royal Navy personnel clean up a 

beach after a major oil slick on the

 island of Ko Samet on July 30,

2013 (AFP, Nicolas Asfouri)

"It's like a feeding ground for fish where they lay eggs and there are baby fish, shellfish and plankton," Ratana said, adding that the food chain and corals would be affected in the long term.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is on an official trip to Africa, ordered the navy and various ministries quickly to solve the problem.

She also said PTT must bear responsibility for the spill.

One Bangkok tour operator launched an appeal for people to donate hair to make a boom to absorb the oil.

"An oil expert said hair can absorb spilled oil so we will collect hair to make a hair sausage," Thammtorn Junprasert said.

"I'm now contacting hotels for donation of old pillows stuffed with duck feathers," he added.

Koh Samet island (EPA)

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