Sleep - or lack thereof - and climate change

Yikes - I've not done too well on the keeping the momentum-going-on-the-blog-front these days.!
Truth be told this week has been somewhat of a blur :o| I worked pretty intense hours over the weekend trying to get an updated draft of my UNEP report in -- which I did... albeit at 5 am on Monday. 3 hours of sleep later I had to be at school ... the last couple of days have been filled with running all sorts of errands that need to be taken care of and trying to get back up to speed on the PhD front. My second chapter is coming together slowly ... though will still require quite a substantial amount of work before it's ready for publication... which is ok, but on some days the light at the end of the tunnel seems incredibly dim :o| and I just want to hide under the covers and make it all go away.
Give me a few days and extra sleep and the light will come back shining bright and clear I know it ;o)

In the mean time here's an interesting story from this week's nature, written by Lovelock and Rapley, about how our planet could be helped to heal in the face of climate change by setting up a pipe system that would be "say, 100 to 200 metres long, 10 metres in diameter and with a one-way flap valve at the lower end for pumping by wave movement. [This nutrient rich water] would fertilize algae in the surface waters and encourage them to bloom. This would pump down carbon dioxide and produce dimethyl sulphide, the precursor of nuclei that form sunlight-reflecting clouds."

Let the tongues go wild!

how we're losing nature

So the other day I pointed out how I truly believe nature makes some of the most amasing art... Trying to finish (FINALLLY!!!!) a second draft of my second thesis chapter -- this has been somewhat of a protracted affair to say the least, I keep on coming across numbers that are just startling... and I've always wanted to put them up on my website. One day I'll get around to it - in the mean time they'll be here for everyone's discomfort.
So here goes a few of them:

• More than half of all natural habitat on agriculturally useable land has already been cleared
• 3/4 of harvested fish populations are overexploited
• Caribbean green turtles have declined in numbers by 99.9% since the arrival by Columbus
• Australian dugong populations and Chesapeake Bay oyster harvests have declined by 98% in the past century
• Shark numbers in the northwest Atlantic have plummeted to 75% of their size in the last 15 years alone

This all has serious economic repercussions for humanity , including for e.g. a $2 billion bill for income support and restraining following the collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery due to overexploitation.

Today in the news I read that the European Union decided to ban bluefin tuna fishing for the rest of the year. Why? because the imposed quota has already been reached ... yet, how much of a difference this will make is debatable as about one in every three bluefin landed is caught illegally .. an activity not least perpetrated by the French! Yes there are definite moments when I am not very proud of my heritage!!!!
The story of the bluefin tuna is a sad one -- not very many are left roaming the sea... and in the Med, in the Sea of Sicily, where ancient tradition had local men's lives intricately linked to that of tuna (in many villages tuna fishing was considered a right of passage) by fishing using tonnaras, a thousand-year old ritual, the last such operation closed last year.

I'll paste here a description of it taken from the National Geographic, who recently dedicated an entire edition to the fisheries crisis:

"The story of giant bluefin tuna began with unfathomable abundance, as they surged through the Straits of Gibraltar each spring, fanning out across the Mediterranean to spawn. Over millennia, fishermen devised a method of extending nets from shore to intercept the fish and funnel them into chambers, where they were slaughtered. By the mid-1800s, a hundred tuna traps—known as tonnara in Italy and almadraba in Spain—harvested up to 15,000 metric tons of bluefin annually. The fishery was sustainable, supporting thousands of workers and their families.

[...] In 1864, Favignana's fishermen took a record 14,020 bluefin, averaging 425 pounds (190 kilograms). [...] One sign of the Favignana tonnara's diminishment is that it is run by a Rome marketing executive, Chiara Zarlocco, whose plan for the future is to dress the fishermen in historic costumes as they reenact the mattanza, [which occurs when the tuna are channeled into a netted chamber and lifted to the surface by fishermen who kill them with gaffs]. "

the mighty leatherback and why nature makes the best art

Today i went to visit my friend T Todd (Jones) who lives (at times quite literally) out on south campus; to say hello as I had not seen him in ages and to show my friend Ben Todd's in captivity reared leatherback. 2 years, 2 months and 2 days is how old it is. Pretty incredible when you think that these creatures typically foray in pelagic waters. Yes they look a bit awkward and aren't necessarily pretty - but they are truly stunningly beautiful creature; and there's something mythical in a way about them.
On the way back to the AERL - the lovely (ironic!!!) building in which my office sits - under the warm sun and staring straight at the blue sky I couldn't help but think of an email my sister had written me about an exhibit she had gone to see in Edinburgh by Richard Long. He turns nature into art or as he calls it "art made by walking in landscapes". Actually I'd like to think nature is art all in and of itself ... it's just that some particularly talented and perceptive folks such as Long and Andy Goldsworthy are incredibly apt at bringing out the beauty and catching it's sometimes ephemeral aspects.
Nature simply is truly and astoundingly beautiful :)

fishkini on the northwest passage

With global warming heating us up, you'll soon be able to strut and display the latest swimwear fashion, aka the fishkini (read on if you want to find out more about this!!) on the deck of a cruise ship whilst navigating through bits of icebergs along the northwest passage route.The most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia is fully clear of ice for the first time since records began in 1978, says the European Space Agency.
That is CRAZY! - and of course raises the concern that all sorts of political mayhem may ensue... well in a way it's already happening.
Canada of course is saying that since the route passes through its territory it gets the right to decide who can and can't traverse it; while the EU and the US, of course, are arguing that it should be considered 'international waters' hence usable by anyone. Then back in August there was the whole Canadian versus Russian versus Danish geological quest going on - with the Russians planting a titanium flag on the seabed thereby claiming it was their bit of underwater land... the Danes then later set out on a similar mission - whilst Canada's Foreign Minister quite wittingly said that Russia's tactics were so 15th century! Tensed battles are to ensure that's for sure whether it be for the Northwest right of passage itself or all the ores that have been sleeping far far below that ice :o(

... and so what was that about the fishkini? Well, turns out that you can do much more with tilapia than just marinate it and eat it!!! It's skin can be dried and dyed to make funky 'leather' accessories: bags, wallets... and now bikinis... it's neat and comfy because it breathes and is waterproof boats a model wearing one of them at a fashion show in Thailand.
Not only that, but it adds value to the farmed fish too! Here take a look (you'll have to suffer through some advertising first) -

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the sun's still shining .. and the salmon dancing.

Not a salmon picture this is -- I confess; but a pretty picture to start your day nevertheless I hope. It was taken on Mayne Island at the end of July.

About salmon though....yesterday, my friend John sent me the link to one of the most hilarious (and space chicken-ey) videos I have seen in a long time. It is really fun (and the pufferfish is just hilarious), though what a shame they couldn't get the species right!!!! Especially considering the text is actually pretty clever and i guess raises awareness about the salmon's plight !!!

My friend Jennifer and I were just talking about how given the animation quality there must have been quite a bit of money that went into it -- she's going to blog about it (so keep an eye on the website!) and give them hell for getting the species wrong .... hehehehe!

It's actually quite fascinating the attention marine beasties are getting in the name of economic promotion. TELUS' campaign is all about animals in general - of late though many of their campaigns use seahorses, or (coral reef) fishes to sell their products. Now I am not too sure what a reef fish and a phone may have in common but... it makes for colourful ads and I guess that's part of the selling package! I was going to include a link to one but their website only has a Canada goose on there....
This also reminds me of an add I saw a while ago for some washing machine which convinced you that it was 'deeply different' by having the inside of it turn into an ocean - socks got transformed into sponge reefs, mittens into whale sharks! I must confess I thought it was very clever and... I really quite liked it! hmmm - I miss the oceans and the fishies

Right enough philosophizing about washing machines (though never too much philosophising about the oceans - hehehehe!) - it's 10 am and I better get to work. On the agenda today, more papers to read so I can finalise (FINALLLY!!!!) a draft of my second chapter - hopefully by next Wednesday it'll be in good enough shape that I'll feel comfortable circulating it to my committee. Fingers crossed. Also need to do more contract work .... The sun beating down on my bed is so tempting though ... sigh ;o)

10 days later...

Sometimes I truly can't believe just how quickly time goes by. For the past 2 weeks more or less I've been super motivated by work and to work. All I want to do to some degree is just get things moving. I must admit, there is something about a sense of accomplishment that just adds somewhat of a rose tint to your glasses! It's not easy every day to feel motivated to sit indoors starring at a screen all day - especially when the weather has consistently been sunny of late and the temperature ranging in the 20s. That being said it is a nice treat to be able to go and sit in the sunshine for a brief while, take in the rays and read a book at lunch time ... before getting back to it.

Last week I had been working on entering much of my Caribbean Marine Protected Areas (MPA) data into MPAGlobal - a database compiling the most up to date data of Marine Protected Areas worldwide. The project itself is the PhD thesis of a good friend of mine and colleague Louisa Wood at the Fisheries Centre. We work a fair bit together and it's been nice to be able to collaborate on the Caribbean portion as it were of the data.

The other bits of my time have mainly been taken up by (i) finishing putting together a report for UNEP Caribbean office on lessons learned from a number of activities implemented at various MPAs in the region: Sian Ka'an in Mexico, Hol Chan in Belize, Bonaire in the Netherland Antilles and Soufriere in St Lucia; (ii) trying to put together an abstract for a presentation and/or poster at the upcoming sea turtle symposium in Loreto, Mexico; and (iii) getting all the data I have for Kaloko Honokohau marine park together so i can start putting it all together for my ecological model.

I did manage to escape not this past weekend but the one before that though. Neil, two of his friends and I all hiked up to Brandywine meadows close to Squamish. The weather was very soggy which also made for very very muddy trails.... but despite the rain and the goo it was wonderful to be outdoors :O) ..and there actually is something quite special and mystical even about hiking when it's foggy and quite damp out. The forest smells different and you somehow feel like you're being hugged by the forest's cocoon. Once we got to the top we got greeted by an amasing view of the meadows full of wildflowers. The rain kindly stopped whilst we were setting up the tents, but it only meant that the bugs came out in full force!!! before dinner time we all decided to go for a walk ... which we kind of broke short because I landed 40m away from a grizzly bear!!!!!!! bot really noticing it was there as I was too focused on where I was putting my feet (the ground was basically slush). Somewhat nervous we all hiked back to the camping spot, only to discover the bear was about 100m away... eventually though he moved away. never to be seen again... apart from his paw + claw prints along the footpath going back down the next morning! Quite the spectacle!
What saved our dinner and made for general pleasantness of the evening and morning was Josh's tarp!!!! It allowed us to huddle and keep both warm and dry - a definite wise investment I say!

I am not too sure what this weekend will bring - with several deadlines looming ominously over me I know I'll want to work most of it ... but the sun will know how to tempt me out ;o)