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Operators honor activities ban at Ahihi-Kinau
By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer

KEONEOIO - For the most part, commercial operators at Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve and the adjoining Keoneoio coastline continued to observe over the weekend new state regulations that prohibit such activities there.
"It was a thing of beauty to go out there and not see a string of kayaks strewn out on the shore," said Randy Awo, Maui County branch chief of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. "We're so happy to be a part of this."

Awo and a team of state enforcement officers were on hand over the weekend to make sure that the ban on commercial activities was enforced. Although the Board of Land and Natural Resources amended its rules more than a year ago to forbid companies doing business in state parks, forests, the Natural Area Reserve System and on unencumbered lands without permits, the regulations were not carried out until a permitting process could be drawn up.

However, two weeks ago, the NARS Commission voted 7-2 to prohibit limited commercial kayaking at Ahihi-Kinau. On Friday, signs went up at the reserve announcing that the rules would be enforced on all commercial operators, including hiking and snorkeling companies. The unencumbered lands of Keoneoio, where many companies launch their kayaks, were included in the ban.

As might be expected, those kayaks didn't completely disappear from the Maui seascape. Rob Parsons, executive assistant to Mayor Alan Arakawa on environmental concerns, said he's received complaints of crowded waters at Makena Landing and Olowalu.

Parsons said he was told that late last week, when some kayak companies said they would no longer take tours into the reserve, there were reports of seven businesses and 45 kayaks at Makena Landing. A week earlier at Olowalu, 30 double kayaks angered residents who were fishing when the crafts got tangled up in their lines.

Parsons said he would be following up on activities at both places.

Awo said one operator attempted to do business at Keoneoio on Sunday. The operator told state enforcement officers that he was only letting his family and friends use his kayaks at no charge, but his paying customers were located near the shoreline. When the clients were given details about the situation, they voluntarily agreed to cancel their trip into the reserve.

With the coast clear of commercial activities, members of the public continued to enjoy the resources in a much calmer atmosphere.

"So many people were coming up to us and expressing their overwhelming gratitude," Awo said. "It says a lot about the importance of listening to the community. We heard from residents as well as from tourists who visit on a regular basis. They were all so glad to be able to be out there and not have to deal with commercial activities."

Awo said state officials would continue to make random patrols of the area. The state isn't equipped with enough enforcement officers to assign anyone specifically to Ahihi-Kinau and Keoneoio. Later this summer, two rangers funded by a grant from the Hawaii Tourism Authority will be stationed at South Maui spots to educate visitors and alert officers of any infractions.

Violators face a fine of up to $2,500 per incident. They will not be arrested but will be taken before the land board on a civil complaint.

The newly appointed Ahihi-Kinau/Keoneoio Advisory Group made up of residents, kayak operators and officials will have its initial meeting on May 3 to further discuss the future of the area.

Better ferry facilities eyed
By EDWIN TANJI, City Editor

LAHAINA - Lahaina Harbor, the most congested of the small boat harbors in Maui County, is eligible for major improvements from a federal funding program specifically to make way for ferries.
But of four harbors in Maui County that are being lined up for improvement funds provided through the Federal Transit Administration, Lahaina Harbor is facing the roughest sailing.

It is located in the Lahaina Historic District, and a conceptual plan for building a new ferry wharf and a secondary pier will affect the ocean area in front of the Lahaina Public Library, which includes several historic sites.

Eric Iwasa, project manager with the engineering division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the state already has been authorized for a grant to construct a new loading wharf for the ferries that operate out of Lahaina, along with a new comfort station and harbor master's office.

But to actually get the funding, the state will need to have completed an environmental impact statement by April next year in order to be able to encumber the funds by the end of the 2005 federal fiscal year. The federal funds are available as a matching grant, with the federal government providing 80 percent of the funds and the state putting up 20 percent of what is expected to be a $10 million project.

Maui District Boating Administrator Carol She said the state already is moving to utilize transit funds for improvements to Manele Harbor on Lanai. A $5 million project will construct a harbor master's office, bring in electricity and other utilities and make other infrastructural improvements, she said.

Other harbors projects would include Kaunakakai Wharf, which now serves the Maui-Molokai ferry, and Maalaea Harbor, which does not yet have a ferry service, but could.

Two boating businesses now operating ferries out of Lahaina, Expeditions and Sea Link of Hawaii, are hopeful they can get the improvements, but their operators also know there are obstacles.

"We're in favor of a new ferry terminal," said Steve Knight, whose Expeditions company operates the Lahaina-Lanai ferry. "But some people think it's going to bring more cruise-ship traffic. We're already being inundated by the cruise ships."

The cruise-ship traffic at Lahaina is one of the reasons the harbor needs a terminal for the ferry systems, said David Jung, president of Sea Link, which operates the Maui-Molokai ferry.

"As pier space becomes more and more congested, there's more and more pressure on the harbors staff to try to keep everybody happy. It's very difficult," Jung said.

To avoid the usage disputes that can occur, he said the state will need to specify that any improvements to accommodate interisland ferries must give priority to the ferries over tenders from cruise ships and even other commercial vessels.

"We need better ferry facilities. There's no question that the Molokai ferry was supposed to have preferential treatment over everyone else. But all the cruise ships have kind of displaced us and the current facilities are stretched beyond belief," he said.

Keoki Freeland, executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, said the foundation supports improvements to the harbor that will provide safer operations. But he said there are concerns over impacts of the historic sites in the area, and questions over whether the plans presented by the state are viable.

"They've proposed putting two piers out there without any breakwater to protect them. That is a major question," Freeland said. "I was surprised they didn't seem to realize that the surf comes up sometimes."

He said the location of the two proposed piers would require a significant amount of dredging to create channels for boats to use the facilities.

"At low tide, you can't even get a canoe in there. If they dredge it, when the surf comes up, the rip tide will either fill in all the dredged area, or the other possibility is it will erode away the sea wall.

"I was surprised that they had no concept that there is a strong rip tide," he said.

Any threat to the sea wall around the library property is a significant concern since the area includes the kuula rock, a sacred stone in Hawaiian tradition that royalty had used as a birthing stone. The kuula is a large stone with a indentation on the top that now sits in the wash of the waves alongside the sea wall.

Iwasa said the plans for two new piers at Lahaina are intended to alleviate the congestion now occurring at the harbor, which has one main loading dock used by the ferries, commercial tour boats and cruise-ship tenders.

A conceptual plan that was discussed with harbor users two weeks ago involves a ferry wharf that would be located north of the existing loading dock, with a secondary, multipurpose pier constructed another 60 feet north of the ferry wharf.

The ferry wharf would be 145 feet long by 48 feet wide, extending out from the sea wall, with a 60-foot walkway to the multipurpose pier that would be 15 feet wide and 90 feet long.

The multipurpose pier and walkway would be 35 feet away from the sea wall to avoid impacts to the area where the kuula rock is located, Iwasa said.

He said the conceptual plan didn't determine how much dredging would be required, but an environmental impact statement would need to address that as well as any concerns over how currents would be affected and any effects on the sea wall.

Access to the new ferry wharf and the multipurpose pier would be from the existing wharf, Iwasa said, to avoid creating additional traffic around the kuula stone and other cultural sites on the library grounds.

"We were very aware of the cultural sites, and we were made more aware of them as a result of our meeting," he said.

Iwasa said the proposed new piers should not affect the surf break off the Lahaina Harbor channel, and the multipurpose pier would actually provide surfers an easier access to the break, which starts about 200 yards outside the harbor.

"It shouldn't impact the surf break. We're going to do an environmental impact study and as part of the EIS, we will do a hydrographic survey of the bottom and oceanic engineering, cultural and ecological impact assessments," he said.

The concept also involves constructing a two-story harbors administration building on the new wharf, with a covered waiting area on the first level and restrooms and administrative offices on the second "that would give the harbor master a good vantage point of the whole harbor," he said.

The design would match the architecture of the Pioneer Inn to attempt to maintain the image of the historic district.

Freeland said he questioned whether the state could put together the project design within the one-year time frame that was outlined. Iwasa agreed it will be difficult, but his office will try because there is a feeling there is need for the facilities.

"There's a whole bunch of permits that will be required," Iwasa said.

Any work in the ocean requires permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, state Department of Health on clean water standards and on consistency with Coastal Zone Management standards and the Board of Land and Natural Resources for work in the conservation district. There will need to be federal, state and county historic site reviews, shoreline setback variances and a special management area permit from the Maui Planning Commission.

"Even through the EIS process, we anticipate many more meetings. We're not even sure how many permitting hearings we will have to have," Iwasa said.

But the need is urgent, and the state will try to get the approvals to encumber the federal funds, he said.

"There's only one pier there, for loading for commercial recreational vessels and two ferry operations, and the cruise vessels. There's only one pumpout facility at the harbor and one area for fueling," he said. "That one pier is actually overused. There's a definite need for a new pier and being there's federal money for ferry improvements, we thought this was a good opportunity to take advantage of the federal match."

Jung said he hopes the state can meet all of the deadlines, and that the Lahaina Harbor community can set aside differences to help it happen.

"It's a great windfall for the state because there's so much federal money there. We've got to avoid the internal squabbling and jurisdictional disputes."

Sierra Club Maui marks Earth Day with events from land to sea to sky

MAALAEA - Sierra Club Maui is celebrating the 166 anniversary of the birth of Sierra Club founder John Muir with a free earthday/birthday celebration from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Ocean Discovery Center at Maalaea. The free event includes cake, ice cream and a powerpoint presentation by biologist Art Medeiros about ongoing efforts to restore thousands of acres of koa forests on the slopes of Haleakala.
Sierra Club Earth Day activities also included an Earth-in-Space Adventure from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday in Olowalu, led by astronomer Harriet Witt.

Armed with her telescope, Witt will explain, "You're a passenger on a planet that's transporting you around the sun each year. A date on your calendar is a place in our orbit. You can tell where you are in our yearly journey by watching the sky scenery change.

Official astronomer of the Maui Film Festival at Wailea, Witt has a unique way of presenting astronomy and linking it to Hawaiian lore.

Participants should dress comfortably and bring something to sit or lie on. Admission is $5 for Sierra Club members, $10 for the public, free for young people under 14.

For more information, call 579-9802 or you may also visit hi.sierraclub.org.maui on the Web.

Shark sighting closes beach (S. Kihei)
Friday, April 16, 2004, Maui News

Officials closed a 2-mile stretch of beach in Kihei for more than three hours Thursday morning after a large shark was seen off Cove Park.
The stretch of shoreline, including Kamaole beach parks I, II and III, was reopened at 11 a.m. after Maui County lifeguards and state enforcement officers patrolled the area but found no sign of a shark.

As officers arrived at the beach following the 7 a.m. report, beachgoers were yelling warnings to two surfers who were in the water, said Randy Awo, Maui enforcement branch chief of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

"They did not realize the shark was fairly close," he said.

While no one was attacked, the report Thursday reflects an increasing number of shark sightings off Maui in recent years, Awo said.

"In the past several years, more incidents are occurring of shark sightings and close encounters," he said.

Police received the initial report of a large tiger shark mauling a turtle about 200 feet from shore, Awo said.

Fifteen people reported seeing the tiger shark, said police Lt. Hamilton Rodrigues of the Kihei Patrol District.

Awo said lifeguards worked with DLNR enforcement officers to patrol the area by personal watercraft and boat.

A lifeguard, arriving at the beach first, saw a large shark in the area, Awo said.

Shortly afterward, a DLNR officer spotted a smaller shark in the same general area, Awo said.

As a precaution, he said officials decided to close the beach for one mile on both sides of Cove Park.

Man gets prison time, fine for stealing coral
April 16, 2004, Honolulu Advertiser

A 51-year-old Hale'iwa man was sentenced in Los Angeles Wednesday to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay the Hawai'i Department of Land & Natural Resources $30,000 for his part in a conspiracy to remove more than 150 tons of "live" rock and coral from Kane'ohe Bay.

John Marquardsen pleaded guilty Aug. 23 to removing live rock, which is considered wildlife under both state and federal laws, from a protected area and shipping it by commercial airlines to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from 1994 through 1998 using bills of lading falsely describing the rock as "smoked fish."

The coral was distributed on the Mainland to fish and marine supply shops.

The estimated value of the stolen coral is between $350,000 and $1 million, according to the U.S. attorney's office of Central District California, where Marquardsen was sentenced.

King Wong, 57, of Honolulu was previously sentenced to serve 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,000 restitution to the state of Hawai'i. Three others involved in the conspiracy have been convicted.

Hawaii now in violation of EPA rules on beaches
Associated Press, April 10, 2004

After today, 70 percent of the nation's Great Lakes and coastal states, including Hawaii, risk having the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tell them how they must run state programs to monitor beach water quality.

EPA officials confirmed late yesterday that only nine states have updated their laws fully in accordance with Congress's requirements: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

Another 21 of the 30 states with ocean or Great Lake beaches have failed to meet Congress's deadline today for adopting federal health standards that aim to protect swimmers from unsafe levels of contamination.

Those states are Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
"We are preparing to issue federal standards for those states that aren't meeting the Beach Act requirements," the agency said in a statement yesterday.

In 2000, Congress required beach states to adopt uniform standards for monitoring the quality of their beach water. Some of the 21 states not meeting the deadline have made partial progress toward changing their laws, according to EPA and Oceana, an environmental advocacy group.

In New Jersey, for example, lawmakers adopted the recommended standards for their ocean waters but not for Delaware Bay, Oceana said.
EPA's health guidelines recommend that states declare a beach's water quality unsafe if bacteria levels should exceed an amount equivalent to what would probably cause illness in 19 of every 1,000 swimmers.

Marine biologist Jackie Savitz, Oceana's pollution program director, said it is unclear what leverage EPA has to force action, but she noted it has a $10 million-a-year grant program shared by the 30 states. "EPA could deny them the grant money," Savitz said.

Death of killer whale off Lanai is a mystery
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 9, 2004

A whale rarely seen in Hawaiian waters was found dead Tuesday in shallow surf off the southeast coast of Lanai.

The 4,000-pound, adult female orca -- or killer whale -- was spotted Tuesday afternoon by scientists off the coast who were conducting research on humpback whales. They said the whale appeared to be alive but stranded in waters that were about 3 feet deep.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration team was at the site within an hour. By that time, though, the orca was already dead. A necropsy of the animal found no cause of death. Its remains were buried on Lanai.

The orca's age had not been determined yesterday. Killer whales can live to be 50 to 80 years old.

NOAA spokeswoman Delores Clark said tissue samples sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in California could provide more information on whether the animal was suffering from a disease.

Orcas prefer colder water, and only about one is seen in waters off the islands annually, Clark said. The killer whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act but not listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

"It's uncommon to see the whales here," Clark said.

Clark said the dead animal was one of two orcas reported off the coast of Lanai Tuesday. The scientists who saw the stranded whale also spotted another orca nearby, she said. NOAA researchers were not able to find the healthy orca.

Brad Ryon, of NOAA, said in a statement that Lanai residents helped bury the whale and offered equipment and transportation to agency personnel. "Some of them even brought their kids," Ryon said, "and turned the experience into an educational event."

While researchers worked with the whale's corpse on the Lanai shore, the Federal Aviation Administration instituted a no-fly zone to guard against "aerial harassment," Ryon said.

Man dies after shark attack
April 08, 2004, Maui news

KAHANA - A shark inflicted a massive wound to the upper right leg of a 57-year-old Kahana man around 7 a.m. Wednesday as he was paddling his surfboard to catch waves at the popular surf spot known as "S-Turns."
Despite efforts of fellow surfers and paramedics to save him, Willis McInnis died at the scene, becoming the first confirmed shark attack fatality in Hawaii in nearly 12 years.

State officials and Maui County lifeguards posted shark warning signs and closed a 2-mile stretch of beach from Honokowai Park to Little Makaha near Napili Bay. Lifeguards on personal watercraft patrolled the ocean Wednesday but didn't see any sharks, said Archie Kalepa, Maui County ocean safety supervisor.

He said lifeguards helped state conservation enforcement officers put up warning signs after the fatal attack. Tina Cooper, 47, of Napili said she, McInnis and Rodger Coombs are usually the "early birds" at the surf spot. "We surf together early in the morning," she said.

Cooper said McInnis went in the water first and had caught at least two waves as she and Coombs paddled out to join him. "We were watching him," she said. "I caught one wave, got off a wave and turned around to paddle back out."

Cooper said she thought she heard McInnis making "joyful noises" as he would after riding a wave.

"That was common," she said. "He was a real happy guy."

Cooper said she quickly realized he was crying for help. "Rodger and I paddled towards him," she said. "We just saw his bloody leg."

Coombs, a 60-year-old retiree from Lahaina, said he had been paddling out in a channel to waves that were waist-to-shoulder-high when he saw a friend he knew as "Will" was in distress.

"I heard him yelling, 'Help! Help me!' " said Coombs. He estimated he was about 100 yards away from the victim, who was lying on top of his 10-foot surfboard about 200 to 300 yards offshore in water 10 to 15 feet deep.

Coombs paddled over to him and asked, "Will, what's wrong?"

"He didn't answer me," he said.

But Coombs said he could see a "big chunk had been taken out of the right back thigh . . . just below the buttocks." He also could see McInnis was losing massive amounts of blood.

Police said McInnis suffered severe lacerations to his upper right thigh and midcalf. The wound measured 12 to 14 inches long.

Coombs said he didn't see the shark and didn't know its size or species. He said he got off his board and began pushing McInnis in to shore while Cooper paddled in to use her cell phone to call for help.

He said McInnis was approximately 6 feet tall and weighed about 175 pounds.

"He said, 'My leg is toast,' " Coombs recalled. But he said he kept trying to give the man encouragement as it took another 10 to 15 minutes to get him in to shore.

Coombs said he told McInnis: "We're going to make it. . . . Just stay with me. . . . We're almost there." He said McInnis was conscious most of the way to shore, although he clearly was in, or going into, shock.

"My only thought was to get him in to shore and get him help," Coombs said.

He said the ordeal left him exhausted. "I did what I think anybody would have done," he said. "My whole focus was to try to get him in to shore to get him help."

Bystanders and friends helped bring McInnis to shore and give him medical treatment.

One of McInnis' friends, Curtis Kaiwi, said he jumped into the water and got cut by rocks to help two surfers pull the victim to shore.

Kaiwi, 45, of Honokowai said it was hard to keep McInnis' body on the board and push him to shore. He said McInnis' cut was "just meat. No blood."

"Blood was in the water around us," he said.

When the group brought McInnis to shore, a group of bystanders was waiting to help. One was Jeffrey Woznicki, a fire captain vacationing from Milwaukee. He said McInnis was unconscious, "still breathing, but very pale."

Woznicki, 46, said he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but it didn't seem to work. "You got to have blood" pressure for CPR to work, he said. "You try anyway. There was a lot of circles of blood out there," he said.

Paramedics arrived shortly after McInnis had been taken to shore, Coombs said. Coombs said he knew McInnis only as a fellow surfer.

"He was a nice guy to talk to, very friendly, very outgoing," he said.

Coombs said the shark attack, while tragic, won't deter him from continuing to surf. "I'm not going surfing at S-Turns right away," he said, "but I'll go back and go surfing again. . . . It will be a few days before I go in the water again.

"Sharks live in the ocean," he said. "It's just really unfortunate that that happened. . . . I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough."

McInnis' friends watching from shore caught a glimpse of what may have been the attack. Fellow surf club member, Charlie Nakagawa, said he was across the street from the park preparing for work.

"I saw Will take off on a wave. He fell back on the wave, when I saw splashes. Big splashes," Nakagawa said. "Oh wow," Nakagawa said to himself, thinking it could have been a shark attack.

Nearby, Woznicki's 45-year-old wife, Cassandra, was on a Noelani Condominium Resort balcony overlooking the waters off Pohaku Park. She was videotaping McInnis surfing.

She remembered saying: "He's really great." She put her camera down to eat her cereal and noticed something looked funny. "It looked like he was laying down on his board," she said.

Woznicki said she then heard a surfer asking people onshore to "call 911."

"I didn't see a shark," she said. But "there was a lot of blood in the water."

Police received a call at 7:08 a.m. about a surfer in distress about 300 yards in front of the Noelani condominium, said Capt. Charles Hirata, commander of the Lahaina Patrol District.

Hirata said no one reported seeing the shark, although a witness described "seeing a flash after the shark attacked." He said the water was murky with 4-foot surf at the time of the attack.

Kalepa said shark sightings were reported in the area a couple of years ago, but no attacks have occurred at the surf spot. "It's really not known for having sharks," Kalepa said.

He said the beach would be closed for 24 hours for one mile in either direction of the shark attack site, in keeping with standard procedures after such incidents.

Randy Honebrink, spokesman for the Shark Task Force of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said there are an average of about four shark attacks off the Hawaiian Islands every year. Tiger sharks are the most common in Hawaii, he said.

"They do feed an awful lot at things at the surface," Honebrink said. "They have a nonspecific diet. They'll eat just about anything."

It was not immediately known how large the shark involved in the attack was, but wildlife authorities will try to estimate that by the bite marks, which were estimated to be as long as 14 inches across. "It has to be a fairly good size shark to do that damage," Honebrink said.

Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr., a Native Hawaiian member of the Hawaii state Shark Task Force, went out to Pohaku Park to survey what had happened. Maxwell, who headed the successful effort to not have sharks killed said: "I'm happy they are not going to kill the shark."

Maxwell said the water looked murky and that was probably what contributed to the attack. He said the shark will bite once if it realizes it was not a seal or turtle, which is what it usually preys on. In this case, the victim was bitten once.

"When the water is murky like this, that's when these animals come out," Maxwell said.

There were four shark attacks reported in Hawaii in 2003, including an Oct. 31 incident off the north shore of Kauai in which then 13-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm. The last confirmed shark attack death in Hawaii was in 1992 when 18-year-old surfer Aaron Romento of Pearl City was attacked off Oahu.

On Nov. 26, 1991, Martha Joy Morrell, 41, was killed by what was reported to be a 15-foot shark while she was swimming with a friend in the ocean fronting her Olowalu home.

Seal Hunt Extended on Canada's East Coast
BARRY BROWN, Associated Press

TORONTO - Seal hunting will be allowed for another month off Canada's east coast because the annual quota of 350,000 has not been reached, an official said Thursday.

Christie Parcigneau, a media officer with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said about 280,000 harp seals have been killed so far.

"The hunt can go on until May 15, depending on the weather and if the quota has been reached," Parcigneau said.

Canada's seal hunt has been the target of protests from animal welfare activists since the 1960s. Carried out with rifles and spears, the hunt begins about 12 days after the seal pups are born and their fur changes from white to gray.

Many countries, including the United States, still ban imports of seal products, but Canada supports the hunt to help its economically suffering coastal towns. The industry earned about $15 million last year, primarily from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark and China.

Aboriginal and Inuit subsistence and commercial hunters begin the kill Nov. 15 in Canada's vast expanse of frozen Northern waters that reaches from the Yukon Territories near Alaska through the Arctic Ocean and down into the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Labrador.

From March 26-30, the second commercial hunting season opens in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The third and largest hunt takes place in "the Front" an arc of the Atlantic Ocean sweeping out from 30 to 40 miles off Newfoundland.

That kill was supposed to end in the east on April 13. But because a preliminary count determined the quota has not been reached the hunt has resumed, Parcigneau said.

Because Inuit and aboriginal sealers typically never fill their quota, hunting there and in the Front often continues until the ice breaks up or the season officially ends on May 15.

This year's quota was the largest since a limit was instituted in the 1960s. Wildlife officials said the harp seal population is growing at 5.2 million and pelts are garnering record prices of about $50 each.

Panhandle dolphin die-off appears over, investigation goes on
Mon, Apr. 12, 2004, Associated Press

CAPE SAN BLAS, Fla. - A die-off that claimed 105 bottlenose dolphins in the Florida Panhandle apparently has ended, but an investigation of the cause will continue, officials said Monday.

Ron Hardy, co-owner of Gulf World Marine Park at Panama City Beach, said he recommended that the team investigating the deaths declare it over. He expected the team to make a decision within a few days.

"We haven't had any new animals die now in over a week," said Hardy, the team's on-scene coordinator. "Red tide is still the No. 1 suspect." Red tide is an algae bloom that kills sea life.

The die-off began March 10 and the last death was reported April 3. Most of the carcasses were found in and along St. Joseph's Bay and nearby waters of the Gulf of Mexico surrounding Cape San Blas. A few, however, turned up as far west as Panama City Beach, about 50 miles from here.

Scientists have found a high level of brevetoxin, a powerful neurotoxin released by red tide, in the marine mammals' stomach contents, urine and feces, but internal lesions usually associated with the poison have been absent.

"We still have a lot of unanswered questions," said Blair Mase, Southeast stranding coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service. "Even though the event is over, the investigation will go on for several months."

Mase agreed that red tide is the chief suspect, but she said scientists also will try to determine if another naturally occurring toxin, domoic acid, common to California waters but rare in the gulf, played any part. The substance also was found in the carcasses.

Two young dolphins died at Gulf World during the same period and another pair became ill but are recovering, Hardy said. He said test results are still pending, but he doubted his dolphins were affected by the same thing that killed the wild animals.

Scientists Lose Target of Imperiled Whale
Apr. 07, 2004, Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Scientists working to cut fishing gear from the body of a rare right whale have lost their target after a fishing vessel accidentally cut the tracking device loose of the coast of Cape May, N.J.

"We are standing down logistically," said Joanne Jarzobski of the Massachusetts-based Center for Coastal Studies, the nonprofit group leading the rescue operation. "We certainly are still planning in case the whale is seen."

The tracking buoy contained radio and satellite transponders. It was recovered by the fishing vessel, which rescuers say did not come into direct contact with the yearling, dubbed Kingfisher by rescuers.

The animal, one of only an estimated 350 North American right whales, is in danger because the fishing gear is pinning its flippers to its body. As its size increases from its current 34 feet, the gear will tighten around its body and likely kill the whale.

Kingfisher was spotted off Jacksonville, Fla., in mid-March. Scientists worked off the Florida coast to free the whale but were unsuccessful and decided to try to sedate it.

But as the whale moved up the coast, rough seas scuttled a rescue mission off the South Carolina coast and then the animal turned for the open sea.

June Move Eyed for Lost Whale Off Canada's Coast
April 6, 2004, REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

A June family reunion is being eyed for a lonely killer whale that has become a public nuisance on Canada's Pacific coast, Canadian and U.S. officials said yesterday.

The one-ton whale, nicknamed Luna, will be captured and transported to the southern tip of Vancouver Island where experts hope he will link up with his family pod when it returns to the border region this summer.

Luna has been swimming alone in an isolated bay on western Vancouver Island since 2001, and experts are worried about a repeat of last summer's incidents when he had run-ins with boats in an apparent search for companionship.

"We all very much hope that he rejoins his pod," said Marylin Joyce of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which is co-ordinating the move with the U.S. government and two private groups.

Orcas, or killer whales, normally spend their entire lives with other members of their pod, and scientists do not know if Luna, whose official designation is L98, became lost or was kicked out of the family unit.

The countries agreed late last year to move Luna, but had to wait until L-Pod returned to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where it spends the summer swimming in both U.S. and Canadian waters.

Once L-Pod has returned, whale experts plan to capture Luna, check his health, and transport him to a holding pen. It is hoped he will recognize the sounds of the other whales and want to join them.

Officials had thought of using a holding pen in Washington state, but the legal difficulties of transporting a whale across the border made it simpler to use a site on the Canadian side of the strait.

"Once a whale goes over a border, then it seems to become neither government's responsibility," said Vancouver Aquarium director John Nightingale.

Two years ago, experts reunited Springer, a sick and orphaned juvenile orca found in Puget Sound near Seattle, with her family pod, which summers in Canadian waters off northern Vancouver Island.

Unlike Springer, Luna is healthy, but officials want to move him before he becomes a threat to public safety in Nootka Sound where he is now living.
The orca population off southern Vancouver Island has dropped to near-endangered levels, and if Luna remains a wild whale Joyce said she will consider the move a success, even if he does not rejoin his pod.

Officials acknowledge they may have to take additional steps, including putting Luna in captivity, if he continues to seek the attention of boats at his new location.

The move is expected to cost at least $420,000, and while the U.S. and Canadian governments have contributed about $175,600, the rest will have to be raised from private sources.

State lists Puget Sound orca as in danger
April 05, 2004, Seattle Times

Hoping to send a message to the federal government, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission has added the region's killer whales to Washington state's list of endangered species.

The commission voted unanimously Saturday to approve the listing, while the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) weighs whether to grant the orcas federal endangered status. Covering the killer whales under the federal Endangered Species Act would likely mean significant policy changes ranging from waterfront construction to cruise-ship operations.

"It's critical that the federal government looks into this and that they don't just blow it off," said Russ Cahill, a Fish and Wildlife commissioner. "This is the major flag that waves over the Puget Sound as far as I'm concerned."

Two years ago, the NMFS decided not to list the whales as endangered. But in December, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik ruled that the agency had ignored available science when it made that call, and observers remain hopeful that NMFS will add Puget Sound orcas to the endangered list this year.

The state decision was made after the commission discovered the local orca population has declined 18 percent since 1995, according to a department report. Several possible factors were cited, including declining salmon populations, increased pollution and harassment by marine vehicles.

Three social groups make up the region's resident orca population: the J, K and L pods. Cahill said he was particularly concerned with the L pod, which has only one breeding male.

Coincidentally, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is expected to announce plans today to reunite Luna, a 4-year-old orca, with the L pod. Luna has been stranded for two years off Vancouver Island. The Canadian government has already declared the region's killer whales endangered.

While the Washington state listing doesn't carry the weight of a federal endangered-species listing, the state can assist with recovery efforts indirectly.

"This may be a step toward some significant changes," said David Bain, an affiliate assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington who has been researching local whales for 25 years. "One of the reasons killer whales have been troubled is that food supply has been depleted. The state has a major role to play in salmon."

For instance, the state could close certain areas to sport fishing, or make it more difficult to get development permits in sensitive areas, Bain said. Tightening state regulations to prevent oil spills would also protect the orcas, he said. At a minimum, the state could provide more research funding.

But "listing under the federal Endangered Species Act would be much more significant," Bain said. "The fact that Washington state and Canadian government has already listed increases the chances that will happen."

Alarm sounded on narwhal decline
BBC News Online, April 2, 2004

The narwhal, a marine mammal known best for its single, unicorn-like tusk, may be under threat after aerial surveys showed a decline in its numbers.

Hunting and local climate change in the Greenland waters where it usually lives may be to blame, researcher Dr Mads Peter Heide-Joergensen believes.

The monitoring suggests there is a population fall of about 10% per year - and this may be an underestimate.

Details are outlined in a zoological journal called Marine Mammal Science.

Dr Mads Peter Heide-Joergensen, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Dr Heide-Joergensen, of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, conducted his investigation of Narwhal numbers in the Inglefield Bredning area of the island and its adjacent fjords.

He carried out two separate surveys in August 2001 and August 2002, using two digital cameras that continuously download images to separate laptop computers.

Image survey

The 2001 survey, repeated four times, covered an area of 840 sq km and counted 360 narwhals. The 2002 survey, repeated seven times covered an area of 2,208 sq km and counted 566 narwhals.

When compared with the results of surveys conducted in 1985 and 1986, the estimates currently show a 10% decline per year. However, Dr Heide-Joergensen said the decline could be much bigger because the 80s studies did not correct for perception bias, which is designed to take account of the fact that some whales may be present at the surface and not seen by the observers.

Narwhals ( Monodon monoceros ) are hunted intensively by the indigenous people of Greenland, the Inuit. In 1999, a long-standing policy of regulating the hunt in Nunavut, eastern Canada, was abandoned. In Greenland, no direct measures for regulating the hunt have ever been taken.

"They take [the narwhals] for the tusk but they also hunt them for the skin and the meat. The skin is rich in vitamin C, which is a good defence against scurvy when you don't have vegetables," Dr Heide-Joergensen told BBC News Online.

Fishing grounds

However, several other factors also threaten the animals. The developing halibut fisheries in Greenland may impact the narwhals because the animals rely on the fish when they winter in central Baffin Bay.

There are fears this growing industry could soon reach a commercial scale, severely depleting an important narwhal food resource.

Dr Heide-Joergensen said increases in sea ice in some parts of Baffin Bay caused by the local cooling of temperatures might also be placing pressure on the animals.

"They winter in heavy pack ice and we know that they occasionally succumb in the ice when it closes over completely," he explained. He added that there had been a steady increase in ice in parts of Baffin Bay over the last 50 years.

Officials pressed to back fish farming
April 5, 2004, WASHINGTON BUREAU

Congress passed a law in 1980 declaring a United States policy to encourage "ocean ranching." At the time, half the seafood consumed in the United States was imported. The country now imports about 75 percent of its seafood and much of that, federal officials say, is from aquaculture.
But still no Americans are scooping finfish out of floating cages in federal waters to compete.

Bureaucrats and fishery managers have explored offshore aquaculture for more than 20 years. But they have yet to pass a law that would allow the United States to combat this growing contributor to last year's $7.8 billion seafood trade deficit. An unsuccessful application by entrepreneurs in Florida last year to raise fish in the Gulf of Mexico, however, has added pressure on federal and regional officials.

"The country needs to go forward and support aquaculture development," said Linda Chaves, aquaculture coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Federal officials say they intend to finally spark a national debate about ocean ranching. Existing law doesn't address offshore fish farming, which otherwise would be subject to the same size and bag limits imposed on fishing in federal waters.

NOAA, a division of the Department of Commerce, submitted draft legislation to the secretary of commerce about three weeks ago that would allow and regulate offshore fish farms, said Timothy Keeney, deputy assistant secretary for NOAA. The aquaculture bill, which has been in development since during the Clinton administration, could be ready for Congress within weeks if the White House approves, he said.

At the same time, members of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council are working on a framework that would be used to regulate offshore fish farms in the Gulf. But federal officials and environmentalists don't like the idea of regional councils going forward without national standards in place.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, a presidential task force looking at broad ocean issues, is expected to release a draft of a long-awaited report on April 20. Officials at NOAA who wrote the draft legislation have been briefed on the commission's position on aquaculture. "They're very supportive," Keeney said. "We're very much in sync with what we expect them to be recommending."

Researchers have experimented with pens in deep water, but raising finfish offshore for the commercial market is nonexistent here.

One reason: Aquaculture is a political landmine. Touching it has not been a priority, but the decline of some domestic fisheries and the rise of global aquaculture are pushing officials cautiously ahead.

Putting thousands of fish in offshore pens raises questions about pollution, genetic engineering, invasive species control, global trade and competition with traditional fishermen.

Some insiders say the Florida proposal made clear that the United States cannot coast any longer. The partners in Florida Offshore Aquaculture asked federal permission to float eight huge cages 33 miles off St. Petersburg as a commercial and scientific pilot under a fishing exemption. Their request was denied in December amid concerns about the applicants' experience and holes in the application.

During that debate, the Gulf council embarked on its regulatory effort and federal officials got busier. "We moved the dime a little bit," said Joseph Symons, a principal in the Madeira Beach-based venture, who is considering a second attempt. "I like to say we're on the cutting edge."

Many people involved with that application say that a St. Petersburg Times report last summer raised red flags by looking at the partners' pasts. Symons once declared bankruptcy, and a partner, Thomas Powell, served time on a federal drug smuggling conviction. The permit was denied on other grounds, however. Symons and Powell say they are undeterred.

Federal and regional officials say this is not a matter of if or by whom, but of when and under what rules. "I'm sure it's going to be inevitable," said Wayne Swingle, executive director of the Gulf council, which voted 8-7 to recommend against the permit for Florida Offshore Aquaculture.

The council is working on rules on the assumption that aquaculture should be allowed. Swingle said he would like federal approval by fall 2005.
Environmental groups want to minimize pollution, antibiotics, escapes by fish into nonnative waters and other problems.

"It's probably coming soon, but there isn't a burning need for it to happen right now without us being prepared for it," said Marianne Cufone, a program manager with the Ocean Conservancy's St. Petersburg office.

One argument for a domestic industry is that Americans are eating seafood raised overseas by countries that don't have adequate health and environmental standards, U.S. officials said. The United States cannot influence their practices without setting its own, they said.
U.S. fishermen working the open water have resisted consideration of aquaculture that could turn them into sharecroppers. Swingle said some oppose fish farming because it could drive down prices for wild fish. Others, however, see farming as a solution to dwindling stocks.

"As we've seen capacity going down and down and down in fisheries, some are thinking about alternatives," said Nicol Andrews, a spokeswoman for the House Resources Committee.

But when Congress does consider a national aquaculture law, it is unlikely to move quickly. The issues could take years to resolve.

"We have to sort out aquaculture, who has jurisdiction over it, because it is going to happen," a Senate Commerce Committee aide said. "We are way behind the curve on aquaculture in the United States."

Freeing Nemo: Aquarium owners releasing non-native fish could endanger marine ecosystems
7-Apr-2004, University of Washington

Flushing your pet tropical fish to set it free is a bad idea. So is releasing it at the beach. Intentional and unintentional aquarium releases have been a leading cause of freshwater fish invasions, but now researchers from the University of Washington and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation have found 16 non-native species of fish – apparently set free from home aquariums – in ocean waters off the southeast coast of Florida.

This is an unprecedented number of non-native marine fish in a concentrated geographic area, says Brice Semmens, a UW doctoral student in biology and lead author of a paper published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Using data on the aquarium trade and shipping traffic, the study is the first to convincingly demonstrate that well-meaning pet owners can cause a "hot spot" of non-native tropical marine fish, Semmens says. The 16 species were found in 32 different locales along the coast of Broward and Palm Beach counties and in the upper Florida Keys. Some were in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Most of the species were seen at more than one place meaning more than just a few aquariums have been dumped, Semmens says. It is not clear which, if any, of the non-natives have established breeding populations, he said.

The more times a species is released, however, the greater the chance of establishment, says Walt Courtenay, fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Gainesville, Fla., who is known around the world for his expertise on exotic fishes. He is not a co-author of the published paper.

"Typically, I'd say aquarium owners are more concerned with the status of our marine ecosystems than the general public is, yet many appear unaware of the potential pitfalls of releasing pets into the wild," Semmens says.

The study relied on information submitted by volunteer divers and snorkelers through the Exotic Species Sighting Program of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, or REEF, based in Key Largo, Fla. Sightings were confirmed with photographs, video or corroboration by other divers.

The introduced species are native to the tropical western Pacific and/or Red Sea. Emperor angelfish, with their blue masks and bodies striped in blue and gold, were the most commonly sighted non-native species and are imported by the aquarium industry in relatively large numbers. Indeed, the researchers found a compelling correlation between how commonly ornamental marine species are imported and how often they were sighted. Another commonly sighted non-native was yellow tang, a bright yellow oval fish that is the most commonly imported species of the U.S. aquarium trade.

In contrast, Semmens says it is unlikely the exotics arrived in the ballast water of ships. If the fish were being introduced through ship ballast, one would expect the native ranges of the fish to correlate to where the ballast water comes from. Analyzing data on shipping traffic to Florida ports, Semmens and his co-authors found no support for this correlation.

While only a small number of introduced species might have devastating impacts, scientists are unable to predict which species will be destructive. The largest set of intentionally released marine fish was carried out in temperate coastal and inland seas of Russia in the 20th century. Sixteen species became established, with ecologically and economically devastating results, including harm to valuable fisheries, parasite introductions and the endangerment and extinction of native species.

"Releasing non-native reef fish is like playing Russian roulette with tropical marine ecosystems," Semmens says. Then, too, even if introduced species do not have dramatic impacts, their presence is unnatural and unwanted.

"Divers visit the reefs of Florida to see the region's natural beauty and diversity. It is a unique and magical experience to dive on these reefs. Adding new species to the region is comparable to adding a few finishing touches to one of da Vinci's masterpieces."

Co-authors of the paper are Eric Buhle and Anne Salomon, both UW doctoral students in biology, and Christy Pattengill-Semmens, science coordinator for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.

Aquarium keepers need to be educated about the proper disposition of animals in their care, according to Paul Holthus, executive director and president of the Marine Aquarium Council, an international non-profit organization based in Honolulu that focuses on the way tropical fish are collected and handled before they are purchased.

"While it is against the law to release non-native marine fish into coastal waters, it's a problem that can't easily be policed," Semmens says. The authors say that education programs for dealers and aquarists could curtail exotic species introductions if implemented properly. Such programs would need to highlight the problems of introduced species and provide ways for aquarium owners to sell or trade unwanted fish.

Environmentalists call for cruise ships to clean up dumping
ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 8, 2004

SANTA MONICA – Environmentalists called on Royal Caribbean Wednesday to protect marine habitats and human health by cleaning up sewage and wastewater dumped from its cruise ships. A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A ship can dump up to 30,000 gallons of sewage a day, as well as 255,000 gallons of "gray water" from laundries, showers, sinks and dishwashers, the nonprofit advocacy organization Oceana and other groups said at a press conference.

"We're calling on them to end the wake of shame," said Moira Chapin, a field organizer for Environment California.

Oceana organizer Jesse Littlewood pollution from cruise ships contributes to oxygen-free ocean "dead zones" and algae buildup that kills marine life and may threaten human health.

Littlewood said the company should begin using advanced wastewater treatment systems on all its ships. Royal Caribbean has such systems on three vessels, but its other 25 ships use Coast Guard-approved marine sanitation devices that have been criticized as inefficient.

The company issued a statement saying the environmentalists were "grandstanding" and ignoring Royal Caribbean's cleanup efforts. Company spokesman Michael Sheehan said the company follows U.S. Coast Guard and international regulations on waste disposal.

The advanced water treatment systems haven't worked well on two of the three company ships that have them, and the company is seeking better designs, Sheehan said. Littlewood said the systems cost about $2 million a ship, but Sheehan said they would be more expensive.

Sheehan said Royal Caribbean has improved its environmental practices since 1999, when it paid $27 million after acknowledging it had polluted repeatedly and lied to the Coast Guard about it.

"We used that as a catalyst to try to be a leader in the industry," Sheehan said.

The company statement said Royal Caribbean dumps only 12 miles or more from shore, but Littlewood said loopholes in clean water laws allow cruise ships to dump three miles out.

Military renews drive to reshape environmental laws
April 07, 2004, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department wants the government to ease environmental laws to avoid costly cleanups of military ranges and give states more time to handle air pollution from training exercises.

The proposed changes were submitted to Congress on Tuesday, part of the Pentagon's renewed drive to ease several environmental laws in the name of military readiness. Since 2002, the Bush administration has sought more flexibility in complying with the laws, claiming that environmental restrictions are compromising training and readiness.

Congress has approved five of the eight changes sought by the Pentagon so far.

Defense officials told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon that lawsuits from environmental groups could cripple training exercises on 525 operational range complexes nationwide. For example, environmentalists routinely sue to force the government to designate more "critical habitat" — lands needed for endangered species to recover.

"We as a department cannot wait for a train wreck," Paul Mayberry, deputy undersecretary of defense for readiness, said, explaining the need for a third consecutive year of requests from Congress.

Raymond DuBois, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, pointed to the $4 billion spent yearly on military environmental programs. "Clearly, this obligation is taken seriously by this department," he said.

But environmentalists said the military has been trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist, seeking changes to laws that would undermine the nation's natural resources under the pretext of national security.

"They're asking for blanket exemptions here, and they're asking for exemptions even in cases where there's no problems," said Karen Wayland, legislative director for Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

In the name of good government and protecting public health, the military "ought to have to ask permission every time it wants to endanger military families and communities that live near the bases," Wayland said.

Congressional investigators in 2002 found little evidence to support the Bush administration's claims that environmental laws hamper military training.

Defense officials submitted their proposal to lawmakers who approve military and budget spending.

The Pentagon wants the Clean Air Act amended so that any additional air pollution from training exercises wouldn't have to be counted for three years in the plans which states must approve for how they will meet federal requirements. States could require compensatory cuts in air pollution from other sources, such as power plants.

It also wants changes in toxic waste laws to let the military avoid cleansing land of munitions used for normal purposes on operational ranges, according to defense officials.

Some of the Pentagon's previous requests approved by Congress were fewer requirements for designating critical habitat and a lower threshold for what can be considered "harassment" of a marine mammal.

A global warming what-if
In as little as 1,000 years, Greenland's ice could be gone, and coastal areas could be swamped by the sea
April 8, 2004, Newsday

The upward trend of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions could virtually eliminate Greenland's massive ice sheet and swamp coastal communities with 23 feet of seawater in as little as 1,000 years, according to a climate modeling study by a trio of European researchers.

At that height, oceans would likely cover much of low-lying areas such as Florida, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, not to mention the coasts of Long Island and New York City.

A permanent loss of the ice cover on Greenland could be triggered by a rise in the island's average year-round temperature of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit or more, the study suggests, an effect precipitated by increasing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

"Even if atmospheric composition and the global climate were to return to pre-industrial conditions, the ice sheet might not be regenerated, which implies that the sea-level rise could be irreversible," the scientists write in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Climate modeling studies have traditionally carried a bevy of uncertainties, and the latest study is no exception. But lead author Jonathan Gregory, a climate scientist at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in the United Kingdom, said the "real possibility" of the ice loss represents "a severe consequence, so that is something one should think carefully about."

Gregory said his study applies previously developed modeling applications to the specific question of what might happen to Greenland's ice sheet under an array of warming scenarios.

Scientists consider carbon dioxide the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, and pre-industrial levels of the gas have been estimated at 280 parts per million, while current levels stand at about 370 parts per million. Most climate studies have predicted a rise in gas levels to beyond 450 parts per million by mid-century.

For the study, the researchers combined climate models based on atmospheric and ocean circulation patterns with a range of levels at which carbon dioxide levels might stabilize over the next 350 years - from 450 parts per million to 1,000 parts per million.

In all but one of the resulting 35 scenarios, Greenland's average annual temperature climbed by more than 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with temperatures in 1990.

After this threshold, past studies indicate, snow melt exceeds snowfall, initiating a contraction of the ice sheet. And beyond a 5.5-degree temperature rise, models have predicted shrinkage to the degree that only residual mountain glaciers would remain. This point of no return, the study suggests, could lead to irreversible sea level increases. The most extreme scenarios envision temperature gains of 14 degrees or more and a virtual meltdown in as little as 1,000 years.

The study contains several caveats, however. Experts say summer temperature increases - instead of average annual increases - are most relevant to the question of Greenland's ice melt since no melting would occur in the frigid winter air. And no firm "point of no return" has been established for summertime warming alone.

The researchers found that summer warming scenarios offer a somewhat rosier picture, with carbon dioxide levels stabilizing at a level below the point of expected ice loss in 11 of 35 cases.

Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, said the study's findings are consistent with past conclusions. But Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution physical oceanographer Raymond Schmitt said he's skeptical because the climate models used don't adequately account for ocean warming and heat capacity, so the amount of temperature change could be overestimated.

Nevertheless, Gregory said the study suggests actions taken in the next few decades could have profound implications for sea level changes far into the future.

Global danger
A new study suggests that carbon dioxide emissions could lead to Greenland's ice sheet melting in 1,000 years or more, threatening parts of Europe, Asia and North America.

About the ice sheet

Size: 1.1 million square miles
Age: 2 million years*
Thickness: 1.8 miles
Maximum height: 9,800 feet
Volume: 1.6 million cubic miles of ice

Melting away?
An average year-round temperature change of 5.4 degrees means melting will begin outpacing snowfall in Greenland. By 2350, forecasters believe the temperature could rise by that much or more due to increased carbon dioxide emissions. As ice sheet melts, seas will rise, threatening low-lying areas such as Florida, the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

*As measured at deepest points

SOURCES: THE GREENLAND GUIDE, THE PHYSICS FACT BOOK, REUTERS

Loggerheads Nesting Earlier Due to Warmer Ocean Temperatures
April 6, AScribe Newswire

Loggerhead sea turtles along Florida's Atlantic coast are laying their eggs about 10 days earlier than they did 15 years ago, a change that a University of Central Florida researcher believes was caused by global warming.

John Weishampel, an associate professor of biology, found that as the near-shore ocean temperatures increased by nearly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit from 1989 to 2003, the median nesting dates for loggerheads gradually became earlier. In 2003, half of the turtles' nests were laid before June 19, compared with before June 29 in 1989.

The earlier nesting dates raise several questions that need to be addressed in future studies, Weishampel said, including whether the turtles' food supplies -- crabs, shrimp and other invertebrates -- will be as plentiful earlier in the season and whether the hatchlings are less likely to survive if they are born earlier.

Additional studies, which will be conducted by UCF and other agencies, could lead to recommendations that governments change some of their regulations to protect sea turtles, Weishampel said. Loggerheads are classified as a threatened species by the federal government.

"Some of the management practices that have been in place -- such as lights out at certain times of the year and whether or not you're allowed to drive on the beach during certain times of the year -- could be affected," Weishampel said.

The turtles' fertility and the ratios of male to female hatchlings also could be affected by earlier nesting. The sex of hatchlings depends on the temperature of the sand.

Weishampel and two UCF colleagues, biology professor Llew Ehrhart and research associate Dean Bagley, analyzed data from about 25 miles of beaches in Brevard and Indian River counties where thousands of loggerhead turtles nest every year. About 25 percent of loggerhead nests in the United States are on that stretch of beach between Sebastian Inlet and the southern boundary of Patrick Air Force Base.

From 1989 to 2003, the average near-shore ocean temperature in May in that area increased from 76.3 to 77.7 degrees Fahrenheit, or from 24.6 to 25.4 degrees Celsius. An increase of that size is significant enough to affect animal behavior such as nesting and migration habits.

The UCF researchers' findings follow other studies showing that many species of birds are laying their eggs earlier in the year and that some flowers are blooming earlier as temperatures become warmer.

Weishampel, Bagley and Ehrhart presented their findings in late February at the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Costa Rica. Their findings also will be published in the journal Global Change Biology.