Carbon Dating of Deep-Sea Corals

New research from Lawrence Livermore, Stanford University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz has determined that deep-sea corals off the coast of Hawaii are much older than previously assumed. In fact, this new research shows that deep-sea corals might be the oldest living marine organism in the world.

Gerardia (gold) coral (Photo: NOAA Hawaiian Undersea Research Lab)

Most significantly, the researchers found samples of Leiopathes sp., or deep-water black coral, that dated as old as 4,265 years. They also found samples of Gerardia sp., or gold coral, that were dated at up to 2,742 years old. This research was published in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

We have many deep-sea corals and sponges here on the Pacific North Coast, but like in Hawaii, our corals are threatened by harmful fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, that destroy the ocean floor. Deep-sea corals are also threatened by natural and man made changes in surface ocean conditions - such as ocean acidification and changing ocean temperatures.

Reference: E. Brendan Roark, Thomas P. Guilderson, Robert B. Dunbar, Stewart J. Fallon, and David A. Mucciarone. Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0810875106

PNCIMA - One step closer to integrated management?

Last Thursday and Friday, individuals representing many communities along the British Columbia coast came together in Richmond for the first-ever Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area or PNCIMA forum. At this forum were representatives from Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and First Nations government. Also present were representatives from many other interests: including commercial and recreational fisheries, academia, renewable and nonrenewable energy, environmental organizations, transportation, and aquaculture.

Over the two days, we heard informative presentations and had many discussions about what integrated marine planning on our coast should entail. While there were limited opportunities for the public to be heard during the plenary sessions, I hope that the two small group break-out sessions allowed everyone the ability to ask questions, give comments, and provide feedback about the future direction of PNCIMA. There certainly was not consensus about the best way to move forward with PNCIMA, but no one in attendance seemed to debate the fact that integrated planning on our coast is necessary and overdue.
This first PNCIMA forum has certainly sparked a dialogue about marine planning on our coast; and I hope that planning for PNCIMA continues to gain momentum as time goes on. Personally, I would like to see the PNCIMA steering committee out in the communities in the upcoming weeks and months, disseminating the knowledge gained at the Forum and collaboratively charting the way forward with concrete action items and deliverables.

Did you participate in the PNCIMA Forum last week (either in person or via webcast)? What were your overall impressions? How do plan to be engaged in the management of our coast in the future?

The Exxon Valdez - 20 Years Later

The Exxon Valdez, 3 days after running aground (Photo: NOAA)

It was 20 years ago today that the oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, ran aground in the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska in one of the most devastating (if not THE MOST devastating) oil spill of our time. Even now, the effects of this spill are still felt in the surrounding coastal communities, through the loss of livelihoods and irreversible environmental damage. It is heartbreaking to read some of the testimonials from community members who, 20 years later, are still feeling the economic and environmental effects today.

Could this sort of tragedy occur on our own coast? With industry advocating for the 37-year moratorium on oil tankers to be lifted, this type of disaster might be a lot more imminent than we realize. For more information about what the lifting of the moratorium could mean for B.C.'s coastal communities, click here. Also, check out this Oil Spill Model that graphically illustrates how oil spills from shipping accidents would affect ecosystems and communities on the North Coast of B.C.

Underwater Volcano Erupts in South Pacific

Check out this video:



Last week, an underwater volcano erupted close to the Tonga coast, in the South Pacific ocean. This is just another one of Mother Nature's wonders that I thought I would share!

What's in a name?

A recent article in the Seattle Times tells of a retired Western Washington University marine biologist who is lobbying officials to adopt the name Salish Sea for an area of Washington and British Columbia's shared coastal waters.

Bert Webber, a Canadian-born longtime resident of the USA, is the driving force behind this proposal, and he "hopes a common name will help energize efforts to restore the damaged waters, by raising awareness that this is one shared ecosystem spanning the border between Canada and the United States." If adopted by Washington's Geographic Names board, the Salish Sea would be the official name for the grouping of Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

What's in a name? It seems like every day someone else is coming up with different names for various areas of our coast. What do you think we should call our coast? Who do you think should be responsible for assigning names to our waters: government, academics, or coastal community members themselves?

New Wave Energy Project

The Canadian government recently gave $2.7 million to SyncWave Systems to fund the demonstration of an ocean wave converter on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"The SyncWave Power Resonator is a next-generation frequency-based wave energy converter that tunes itself to maximize energy capture from the everchanging ocean swell" says Nigel Protter, President & CEO of SyncWave Systems Inc. "Additionally, our device was designed from the start to be simpler to mass produce and support, imperative to the goal of obtaining low cost bulk renewable energy from the sea. We’ve also spent a lot of time establishing viable markets for this technology and feel the time is now to seize a significant position in this rapidly emerging, potentially enormous, global environmental technology opportunity". 1

What do you think about this? Was this money well spent? Is this technology that could be brought to the North Island?

Oil Spill Blackens One of Australia's Pristine Island Beaches

As many seafarers know, when things go wrong at sea, it doesn't take too many contributing factors to create a marine disaster.

This is what happened a week ago near Brisbane, Australia when the 185 meter container ship, Pacific Adventurer, enroute from Newcastle to Indonesia via Brisbane ran into heavy seas whipped up by the tail end of Cyclone Hamish, a category 5 storm. The Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre defines a Category 5 Cyclone such as Hamish as extremely dangerous with widespread destruction . Heavy seas can be encountered even after the cyclone has diminished in intensity.

The government of Queensland has declared Moreton Island and the southern area of the Sunshine Coast a disaster area. These are beautiful, pristine islands considered as sacred places by the local Aborigine people and the miles of sandy beaches are highly valued by tourists only a short ferry ride away from the greater Brisbane area.

Oil has washed up along a 20 kilometer stretch of Moreton Island's coastline. (Photo courtesy Government of Queensland)

The ship was seven nautical miles east of Cape Moreton when it reported losing 31 of a total 50 shipping containers of ammonium nitrate being carried on its deck. Several of the fallen containers pierced the ship's hull, resulting in an oil spill originally estimated at 30 tonnes.

"This is a very serious situation," said Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today, after a meeting of the emergency response group - members of key government agencies.

"I'm advised that it appears the volume of oil involved is much greater than originally reported by the Pacific Adventurer," she said. "And the effect of the oil spill is more widespread."

The Pacific Adventurer before the oil spill incident.

Photo by Peter Karberg MarineTraffic.com

So far more than 50 per cent of the 74 kilometres of coast polluted by the oil spill had been cleaned up. But fears remain over 31 missing containers of fertilizer. (ammonium nitrate)

The Federal Government yesterday called in navy minehunter HMAS Yarra to find the containers of ammonium nitrate, which could cause algal bloom in high concentrations.

Maritime Safety Queensland believes the containers have sunk 150 metres to the ocean floor. Three separate investigations are being conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Maritime Safety Queensland and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. They will look at the ship's seaworthiness, how the containers were stowed and circumstances surrounding the accident.

The captain has surrendered his passport and the ship will remain in port in Brisbane for at least two weeks as the investigations are carried out.

This marine disaster, while not huge, will still have long term environmental consequences for the region. You can check out a short news video on this oil spill here: http://media.theage.com.au/?rid=47024

Stories like this serve to illustrate what can happen with dramatic increases in large tanker traffic on the B.C. coast. http://www.marinergroup.com/oil-spill-history.htm

Almost every maritime nation has had numerous marine disasters like these, some more destructive than others. The link above lists many of them. Most are caused by ships collisions or groundings. Even with the most sophisticated marine traffic management schemes governing the most modern vessels, spills happen.

It is interesting to note that on March 26 and 27, in Richmond, B.C., the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management (PNCIMA) Forum, a two-day event that will engage people and organizations in the development of an integrated approach to oceans management for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) will have as it's first focus the establishment of a stakeholders working group on shipping and marine transportation in the PNCIMA region.

For more information on oil spill concerns and the potential impact of an oil spill on B.C.'s coast, check out Living Oceans Society's oil spill model here:http://www.livingoceans.org/programs/energy/model/

As the Local Ecological Knowledge Coordinator for Living Oceans Society I would be interested to know what your thoughts might be on the subject of increased tanker traffic on our coast, especially if all or some of the proposed pipeline mega projects slated for the ports of Kitimat and Prince Rupert come to fruition. You can post a comment to this blog article.