With the New Year upon us, the team at STRP is gearing up for another successful year of campaigning and advocacy.  As an intern, my focus has been primarily on the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery and its relationship to endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. A major goal for 2012 will be to put pressure on the lawmakers in Louisiana to develop and present a new bill addressing sustainable fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and specifically, increased enforcement of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).  In 1987 a federal law was passed mandating the use of TEDs by shrimpers.  Unfortunately Louisiana has managed to avoid most TED enforcement by establishing it’s own set of contradictory state laws that are deadly to sea turtles. 

In 2010, a bill was introduced that would have repealed the long-standing state laws prohibiting the use of state money to enforce the federal TED requirements.  However, after receiving overwhelming bipartisan support, the bill was vetoed by Governor Jindal.   This year, we hope to see another bill reintroduced and and then approved by the Governor.  This is just one strategy to reduce sea turtle deaths where some shrimp trawlers are ignoring national sea turtle protection laws. Together with allies, STRP has challenged the management of the entire shrimp trawl fishery by the federal government in a lawsuit that is still pending, an action provoked by the record number of sea turtle carcasses found on Gulf shores last year.

During a recent visit home to New Orleans for the holidays, I had the opportunity to meet with the Director of the Louisiana Humane Society to discuss their involvement in and support of the initiative to change Louisiana's out-dated statute on TED enforcement.  In addition to the Humane Society of the United States, GreenPeace, EarthTrust, and Sea Turtle Conservancy have all joined forces with STRP to demand increased enforcement of federal laws and more responsible, sustainable fishing practices from the Gulf of Mexico shrimping fleet.  A previous letter sent from a coalition of concerned scientists quite successfully garnered support for the cause; therefore, if you know of any organizations that may be interested in signing on to this cause, please let us know!

While 2011 was indeed a rough year for sea turtles, it also proved to be a year of successful and productive campaigning.  In response to a gruesome assault on sea turtles by shrimpers in March and April we rallied our members through our action alerts and petitions to call for action, and as a result the on-water enforcement of TEDs increased 10-15 times and sea turtle deaths were virtually eliminated in several months. Check the graph below depicting how our combined actions, including e-mails, letters, and phone calls, saved the lives of sea turtles! Now, how can you help?

Take action today! Demand Louisiana's Governor lead the Legislature and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to present a new sustainable seafood management bill this year that would require proper TED compliance and enforcement to ensure the safety the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle. Take the time to make a phone call, write a letter or an e-mail, or even pay a personal visit to the individuals you voted in to office to ensure that they are fulfilling their responsibilities to protect our precious coastal resources. Click here for those Louisiana Legislature contacts! 

I am looking forward to a productive 2012 with Sea Turtle Restoration Project, and I recommend that you check out our website to read more about the interaction between sea turtles and fisheries!

Chevron broke ground on its massive and environmentally destructive Wheatstone natural gas plant in Western Australia today, triggering a boycott of the official ceremony by the Australian Aboriginal community for the company's disregard for their interests. Read the story from the West Australian.

When I visited Onslow two years ago, I was shocked by the run-down, dusty, disheveled condition of the town that had experienced previous oil company booms and busts. No economic prosperity in sight, but lots of falling-down oil company signs and clumps of oil on the beach.

Peter Klinger, The West Australian December 1, 2011, 6:27 am

Today's ceremony near Onslow to mark the start of construction of the Chevron-led $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project threatens to be overshadowed by a rift between the US giant and traditional owners.
As of last night, disgruntled elders of the Thalanyji people, who hold Native Title rights for the area around Onslow, were threatening to boycott this morning's ceremony at the Wheatstone location, Ashburton North industrial precinct.
It would rob the ceremony, which will be attended by senior executives from project partners Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Apache and Kufpec as well as Premier Colin Barnett, of a traditional welcome to country, which has become a feature of ground-breaking and milestone ceremonies to recognise the importance of traditional owners.
Unlike Woodside Petroleum, Chevron has said little about its dealings with traditional owners other than to flag this year that a wide-ranging access and compensation package had been agreed with the Thalanyji.
Chevron and partners approved Wheatstone's development two months ago.
Despite agreement on appropriate compensation, it is understood the latest row between Chevron and the Thalanyji revolves around a request for the oil and gas giant to fund and build a Keeping Place for cultural materials, as well as a clash over the invitation list for today's first-sod turning ceremony.
Some elders were invited but others apparently not, leading to a decision by the Thalanyji leadership to not attend at all unless grievances with Chevron could be resolved by this morning.
A Chevron spokesman said it was "disappointed and regrets" that Thalanyji elders were planning not to attend.

Outside magazine profiles the "blue mind" of sea turtle visionary J. Nichols, a TIRN board member. J shares his vision for a new field of research that crosses conservation with neuroscience. He has captivated my mind and those of scientists, researchers, environmentalists, biologists, surfers and even sports magazine writers! This is an inspiring read. I hope that this story and his appearance on the cover of Outside, one of my favorite magazines (yes I subscribe), will take J's message that loving and caring for sea turtles and the oceans is good for you to new heights! Congratulations J! And thank you Outside!

Read the story here.

As the newest intern for the Sea Turtle Restoration project, I am excited to be a part of the campaign to demand that NMFS enforces the proper use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisheries.  A New Orleans native recently transplanted to the Bay Area, this issue hits particularly close to home for me.  

Although the Gulf of Mexico region has been devastated repeatedly by man made disasters ranging from broken levees to oil inundation, we cannot use those tragedies as blinders to ignore the ongoing and flagrant violation of a 25 year old federal law mandating the use of TEDs by shrimp trawlers in the region.  Having eaten as much fried shrimp growing up in bayou country as any other self-respecting y’at, I am growing increasingly aware of the unconscionable cost of this delicacy.  

With no scientific data supporting the argument that TEDs significantly reduce the amount of shrimp caught by fishermen, there is no base to the argument against them.  Though TEDs are a requirement on trawl nets, they are not yet required on the skimmer nets so often used in the Gulf of Mexico, creating yet another loophole for turtle bycatch to slip through.

Deeply rooted in a unique culture, desperately attempting to survive against the odds in a habitat where water represents more than recreation, but rather a way of life, Louisiana fishermen and law makers, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service overseeing regulation enforcement, need to realize that the only means of persistence is to adapt.  If I achieve one goal with this internship, I hope that I manage to successfully convey the message to my beloved home state that progress necessitates change, and in this instance, everyone involved, including the commercial fishing industry, stands to benefit from proper use of TEDs.  

If we allow this travesty to continue, it may reach a point of no return, a point where mutually cooperative policy no longer remains an option.  We cannot allow ourselves to reach a point where the policies needed to protect the five species of endangered and threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico necessitate drastic reductions in the fishing industry that sustains so much of the life and culture of my dearly beloved Cajun Country.  

STRP has compiled a list of concerned scientists, fisheries managers, and industry representatives who support the call for action by NMFS.  So come on Louisiana, work with me and the Sea Turtle Restoration Project to demand that our government agencies enforce the long standing federal law requiring the protection of our ancient, ailing sea turtles with no negative consequences for the shrimp fisheries of the Gulf Coast.   C

Take action and contact Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal, and urge him to welcome environmental progress and to grasp the low hanging fruit in the conservation of our Gulf ecosystem, such as the use of TEDs.

This summer has seen unprecedented success of our Leatherback Watch Program thanks to our growing team of interns, project partners, and citizen scientists contributing to our all-volunteer network monitoring the critically endangered West Pacific leatherback sea turtles off the U.S. West Coast. Just this week we shared a press release that put the Sea Turtle Restoration Project in the news in several California coast print and online media sources. The sightings information and contributions from our key project partners Blue Ocean Whale Watch in Moss Landing, The Oceanic Society in San Francisco, and Sea Turtles Forever along the Oregon coast, were quoted in the Pacifica Tribune online and print news story. We've teamed up with the Oceanic Society team to invite the general public on three Leatherback Watch Program fundraising expeditions through the Gulf of the Farralones National Marine Sanctuary where a leatherback was spotted on October 2, 2011. STRP members and guests received a discount price and STRP received a portion of the proceeds for these trips (win-win!). The amazing leatherback photos and videos have just been compiled into a video short by our intern Ming Ong and is now available for viewing on the Sea Turtle Restoration Project's YouTube Channel and posted below. Since we have the exact GPS coordinates from each photo and video, these amazing images will soon be hosted in the Ocean Explorer layer of Google Earth!

Watching the sun rise over San Francisco's skyline while on my way to the docks to board another offshore expedition to the Farallone Islands in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is always an inspiring moment, and this Sunday was no exception! Our vessel was booked full for an entire day of searching for the rare leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), watching whales, and experiencing all the wildlife diversity in and around these amazing islands. I gave a short talk to our group before departure, sharing facts on the biology and ecology of Pacific leatherbacks and our conservation successes in California and Hawaii. Many of the guests had no idea leatherbacks were present offshore of California and were energized by my talk to see one and help them!

This summer has been very rewarding for our all-volunteer Leatherback Watch Program, which kicked-off with a huge party at the Cal Academy of Sciences on June 16, World Sea Turtle Day, and has tallied over twenty leatherback sightings from Point Sur, California up to British Columbia, Canada this summer and fall. The majority of the leatherbacks seen have been in California's National Marine Sanctuaries,  so our expedition to the Farallones was buoyed by high hopes that we would be rewarded with another leatherback sighting.

Within the first half an hour of smooth sailing, I spotted two floating balloons on the surface of the sea, a potentially harmful meal for feeding leatherbacks that might mistake them for jellyfish (which are also round, and float on the surface). Research shows that one-third of all leatherbacks have plastic in their stomachs, and these balloons are a grim reminder why that is true. During the two hour journey out to South Farallone Island, I spotted two more cases of plastic pollution in what is proposed to be critical habitat for the endangered leatherbacks; a mylar and another plastic balloon.

We reached the islands in just under two hours, and immediately spotted a young gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) feeding in shallow water. As the whale meandered, we passed by two shark-diving operators, some marine researchers, and two more wildlife viewing vessels. We spotted the leatherback's favorite food, the brown sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens), in the highest abundance on the leeward side of the south island, but no leatherbacks were seen. We headed offshore to the edge of the continental shelf when an offshore blow directed us to two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding on what appeared in our sonar to be a dense aggregation of krill. These whales were bringing us farther and farther off course, but were thrilling to watch as they repeatedly dove to feed, showing us their flukes on several occasions. Our captain reversed our course and we headed home, passing close to middle rock, and then directly into a pod of Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli). Three more balloons littering the Marine Sanctuary surface were spotted, but still no leatherback sea turtles.

Passing under the Golden Gate bridge on our way home, we all felt mixed emotions; sadness that we had not seen a leatherback sea turtle and that our journey was coming to an end, and elation at the amazing marine mammals we had witnessed. New friends and supporters of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project were made during hours of engaging discussions, and many of the guests left with fantastic photos of the humpbacks. We will continue to partner with the Oceanic Society in the San Francisco Bay and beyond, and look forward to joining them again for another expedition on October 29!

Thanks to the activism and connections of a dedicated Australian woman, an Australian news team followed her to the Amazon where she showed them the oily mess left behind by California-based Chevron. The company is now building massive new liquid natural gas plants in the remote Kimberley of Northwest Australia. Why won't the U.S. media make these links? Perhaps they don't want to lose Chevron's advertising?

Read the story and link to the news segment here.

I was thrilled to learn of the latest victory in the campaign to halt the cruel practice of shark finning.  As an intern with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, one of my assignments has been to work to support AB 376, which bans the sale, purchase or possession of shark fins in the state of California. Yesterday, it passed the Senate floor on a bipartisan 25-9 vote, and now goes to the Governor Jerry Brown’s office for a signature.  Brown has 12 days from the time it reaches his desk to sign or veto the measure. Since he has not indicated publicly whether he intends to sign the bill or not, I am now focusing my efforts on outreach to his office and encouraging our members to join me.

Click here to take action now and send an email to Governor Jerry Brown urging him to sign AB 376 into law!

STRP members sent 817 email messages and made countless phone calls directly to their Senators in support of AB 376. In our office we made many phone calls to Sacramento and sent a hand-written letter to our Senator via overnight mail last week prior to the final vote. It is always encouraging to see this hard work pay off.

The AB 376 bill was supported by many ocean conservation groups, including the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, as a way to help end the cruel practice of shark finning, which is largely the cause of the drastic decline of shark populations worldwide.  AB 376 supporters, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Bo Derek, emphasize that our ocean’s apex predators play a crucial role in the health of our ecosystems and are thus, important to conserve and protect. Time Magazine describes the practice of shark finning to be “wasteful, cruel and, most significantly unsustainable for the ocean ecosystems as it threatens to deplete the numbers of these top predators and spoils the natural balance of the seas.   According to The Washington Post, activists have begun pushing for shark fin bans across the U.S. in an effort to combat the global shark fin trade, which scientists estimate kills between 26 million and 73 million sharks each year.

Many of those that opposed the bill claimed that it is an attack on Asian culture and cuisine, as shark fins are the key ingredient for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy. But, when one of China’s most famous celebrities, Yao Ming, is also in support of banning shark finning and ending the cultural use of shark fin soup, it is clear that not all Chinese are heartless shark-killers.

There were several key provisions added to the bill during its evolution in Sacramento this summer, including an exemption allowing taxidermists to possess shark fins and letting licensed fishermen donate shark fins to research institutions.  Also, a companion bill was introduced and passed that allows for a longer grace period until July 2013 for retailers to sell in-stock shark fins and requires the California Ocean Protection Council to submit a yearly report on any sustainable shark fisheries operating.

California, home to approximately 1.1 million Chinese-Americans, is one of the largest importers of shark fins outside Asia.  As quoted in Reuters, state Senator Christine Kehoe, a San Diego Democrat who was one of the bill’s chief proponents, said, “(This bill) addresses an important environmental threat to our oceans’ health.  It’s our market here that drives the slaughter.”  She further cited in The Huffington Post estimates that 85 percent of dried shark fin imports to the United States come through California, giving the bill an impact beyond efforts to restrict the practice in the U.S. and abroad.  This is why I am especially excited that the state may soon join Washington, Oregon and Hawaii by passing this ban on shark fins.  Passing this strict law banning the possession of shark fins, will put an end to the legal shark fin trade in California.  Hopefully we can use California as an example to ban shark finning in international waters.  In January, President Obama signed federal legislation tightening an 11-year-old ban on shark finning in U.S. waters. While that law prohibits finning, it does not prohibit the possession and sale of shark fins, like the new California law would.

This shark fin ban is representative of the passion and collaboration of diverse individuals that can come together around a unified goal.  Unwavering determination and grassroots outreach by organizations such as ours and the local non-profit Sea Stewards helped gain momentum and enormous support of those who wanted to put an end to the inhumane practice of shark finning.  We can now celebrate another victory for sharks and a victory for everyone who helped make this ban come to life. Just one more signature is needed from Governor Brown before the true celebration begins!

August 15, 2011 was Shark Day at the Capitol Building in Sacramento, California.  Representing the Turtle Island Restoration Network as a new intern, I joined supporters of the bill to ban the practice of shark finning, AB 376.  We gathered outside the Capitol, with a big blow-up shark, tents filled with organizations in favor of the ban, and posters with shark statistics to raise awareness about sharks and to show our support for AB 376.  This bill would make it unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin in the state of California.  Click here to learn more and take action in support of AB 376!

Sharks around the world are in grave danger, and the practice of shark finning is causing the decimation of shark populations.  Shark finning involves hacking off the fins of live sharks, then leaving the crippled bodies to die in the ocean.  This gruesome practice is often combined with longline fishing, which is largely contributing to the major decline in many sea turtle and shark species.

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature, some 30 percent of shark species are threatened or nearly threatened with extinction, and up to 73 million sharks are killed each year.  Sharks are apex predators and their demise has a cascading effect on other marine species. Their fate is of particular importance as sharks play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy and balanced marine ecosystem.  A scientific study showed that when 11 species of sharks were nearly eliminated, 12 of the 14 prey species those sharks once fed on became so plentiful that they damaged the ecosystem, including wiping out the species farther down the food chain.

California is a large part of this unsustainable practice of shark finning, serving as the main entry point for shark fin distribution in the US.  By passing AB 376, California would strengthen the U.S. West Coast bans against shark fin trade by enacting the strongest of the regional shark fin laws, a significant step towards reducing pressure on rapidly declining shark populations.

When I entered the crowded room of the hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee, co-authors Huffman and Fong were in the process of introducing the bill to the Appropriations committee.  They were followed by three witnesses, including actress Bo Derek. 

“Sharks have been around for nearly 400 million years, and yet many stocks may be wiped out in a single human generation due to the increasing demand for shark fins,” Bo Derek told the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Derek, who is a U.S. secretary of state special envoy opposing wildlife trafficking, highlighted the importance for California to pass this ban as 85 percent of dried shark fin imports to the United States come through California, a total of at least 30 tons of dried fins annually.  According to ABC News, the actress called the process, which may sell for up to $400 per pound, “deplorable."

Once the witnesses were heard, supporters of the ban, including myself on behalf of TIRN, were given the opportunity to introduce themselves at the microphone and state that they support the ban.  We filtered through after one another and the diversity of the individuals and organizations was inspiring.  Some individuals made a point to ask for the ban to pass with no amendments, others were cut off for expanding on their thoughts. 

When I turned away from the podium, I paused for a moment and scanned the room.  Lined up behind me was an unending row of supporters for AB 376 who had each added some flair to their outfits with shark costumes, stickers, or shark backpacks.  Meanwhile, the opposition, who were seated in the center of the room, was largely represented by an older generation of Chinese restaurant owners.  Knowing that individuals were traveling from all along the California coast to show their support for the ban, I was honored to be part of this historic day. 

I was pleased to represent not only the majority of the Californian population, but also a large proportion of the Asian-American population that are in favor of the ban.  Like others who have shown their support for the ban, I believe that I have to do my part as I not only know that it is extremely unsustainable, but is also entirely inhumane.  Support from not only celebrities, but everyday members of the society are what helps put an end to practices such as shark finning.

Alongside Bo Derek, a host of Hollywood celebrities are lending their names (and popularity) to awareness campaigns.  NBA star Yao Ming has joined the crusade against shark fin soup in China to help discourage people from eating shark fin soup and reduce the demand for the product.

TIRN is proud to stand behind this legislation, and is actively working to support it.

My time as an STRP intern has made me realize that there is so much to be done regarding conservation. I knew I wanted to be involved in this field before coming here, but being in the midst of such an influential organization made me realize that this is really the kind of work I want to be doing with my life. STRP made me realize that every person can make a difference.

The event that that spoke to me the most during my time here was the Chevron Annual Shareholders Meeting. This event attracted people from all over the world, and it made me more aware of how a lot of issues really are universal problems that need to be addressed. At this event, I participated with other volunteers to protect endangered flatback sea turtles by protesting the proposed oil drilling off the Kimberly, the Western coast of Austrailia.

Another event that I was very interested in was the World Ocean’s Day event held in San Francisco. In this event, I tabled with another intern to provide information about STRP, and help get signatures for our petitions.

I was very proud when and two other interns and I were able to build a small scale replica of a shrimp trawl net with a turtle excluder device for Cal Academy Nightlife. The Event was for World Sea Turtle Day, and it meant a lot to know that something I helped to make would be used to educate the public.

I am extremely grateful towards my supervisor and the other people in the STRP office for making me feel welcomed and mentoring me in my first interning position.

Overall, interning with STRP has been an experience I won’t soon forget. This experience has definitely solidified my passion for helping all marine creatures!

Dow Jones reported this afternoon that California-based Chevron is appealing the weak environmental conditions imposed by the compliant environmental authority in Western Australia on its massive Wheatstone LNG mega-project. Seems that big, bad Chevron can't even meet the lowest environmental bar without kicking and screaming. Read the story.

The project is getting green-lighted all the way even though it is being built on top of sea turtle and whale habitat, not to mention destroying dugong habitat, polluting the air, and trouncing on small coastal communities that are already suffering from years of oil company abuse.

I guess since Chevron didn't have to do diddly-squat to protect anything at the nearby Barrow Island nature reserve where it is squatting its Gorgon project, why should it have to lift a finger onshore?

 What's even worse is that no reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area or the U.S. for that matter will cover Chevron's mid-deeds and bullying in Australia, not to mention the company's involvement in human rights abuses in the U.S., Nigeria, Ecudor, Angola, Burma, and dozens of other countries.

I think I'll contact Earth First Journal.

When I was in elementary school I absolutely loved visiting aquariums, learning about the different kinds of fish and snorkeling in the ocean. Even at that age I hoped that someday I would make a difference working with the oceans in some way. This past January I finally made this dream a reality and began my internship with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project as a part of a cooperative education program through Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Looking back over the past six months I have been fortunate enough to participate in a handful of intriguing and inspiring campaigns. From the very beginning I was very passionate about contributing to STRP’s Bag the Plastics campaign. As a part of this campaign, I was heavily involved in sending out letters of support for plastic bag bans in cities across California, I wrote a short article about plastic for STRP’s Viva La Tortuga newsletter, and I made three short videos about plastics and sea turtles for STRP’s YouTube channel. Ultimately, the most rewarding effort I put into the Bag the Plastics campaign—and the most memorable time spent with STRP—was attending the 31st International Sea Turtle Symposium (ISTS) in San Diego and presenting a poster I put together about plastic bag ban advocacy. Attending this symposium was the greatest experience I could have asked for: I was able to connect with individuals from all over the world and expand my limited knowledge of sea turtle biology and conservation efforts happening around the globe—all while spreading the word of plastic’s harmfulness to sea turtles to those who were unaware.

I was also involved in a few other projects, such as the distribution and promotion of STRP’s newest documentary The Heartbreak Turtle Today, communicating with ocean supporters through social networking, creating and uploading posts about sea turtle conservation to Google Oceans, creating short videos for the STRP YouTube channel, initiating contact with members of our Leatherback Watch Program, and tabling at several events including the March 29th screening of The Heartbreak Turtle Today, ISTS from April 11th through 15th, and World Sea Turtle Day at Cal Academy’s Nightlife on June 16th.  Another memorable event was the Chevron annual shareholder’s meeting rally where myself and other sea turtle supporters donned large sea turtle costumes and protested on behalf of the Australian flatback sea turtles along the Kimberley Coast in Western Australia.

In the end I am so glad that I made the decision to intern with STRP, and I am exceptionally grateful for all the guidance, support, and mentoring received from my dedicated supervisor and colleagues. I will never forget my time spent with STRP, and for the rest of my life I will be dedicated to marine conservation wherever I am!

This fantastic blog post was originally published on Deb's Planet Ocean News blog:

The Cal Academy of Science was packed on Thursday night with an estimated 2,400 people who came to celebrate sea turtles on World Sea Turtle Day.  They came to enjoy demonstrations, interactive exhibits and an amazing show using the Planetarium’s dome showing how these gentle and endangered creatures migrate thousands of miles across the vast ocean as they travel from their nesting beaches to faraway foraging grounds. The evening won’t soon be forgotten, it was pure blue magic.

Staff & volunteers from The Sea Turtle Restoration Project, SPAWN, and Got Mercury.org, along with supporters from Sea Stewards and The Center for Biological Diversity transformed African Hall into a teaching hospital about everything from ‘what does a turtle egg look like’ to international threats such as commercial fisheries, poaching and big oil interests. On the central piazza stage was a model of a TED (Turtle Extruder Device) required by Federal Law to be installed on commercial shrimping boats to give sea turtles an escape hatch from their nets to avoid drowning. It was clear that many were surprised to learn about the consequences to marine life caused by their appetite for seafood, especially shrimp.

Scott Benson from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s leatherback turtle program took us on a grand tour across the Pacific using the biggest computer monitor at the Cal Academy of Science – the planetarium’s dome itself -  to demonstrate the incomprehensibly large distances covered by these turtles as they migrate from Indonesia & Papua New Guinea to Northern California, Oregon & Washington in search of their favorite eats, the Brown Sea Nettle.  Little did the audience know that just 20 minutes before the show, there had been a malfunction in the dome. No problema, the CAS geniuses crossed a few wires and fixed it in plenty of time for the World Turtle Day Presentation.

Sadly this year has been a tough one for sea turtles. Between the Deepwater Horizon Disaster and an international community that still doesn’t ‘get it’ about how many ways we compromise wildlife, it’s been hard for endangered turtles to rebound. All we can hope is that by continuing to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and educating the public, life will get better for our sea turtle friends in years to come.

Follow the Kimberley actions on Hands Off Country.

Photo: An environmental protestor waves an Aboriginal flag atop a camel next to a grader that has been blockaded from reaching James Price Point. (ABC Local: Ben Collins)

Protesters have blockaded the road to a controversial gas hub site in Western Australia's Kimberley.

About 25 people gathered on a dirt track north of Broome to stop Woodside contractors from accessing the site at James Price Point.

They set up banners early this morning and one protester called Shaun chained himself to a bulldozer.

He agreed to free himself in exchange for seeing a document giving Woodside permission to clear the land.

Another man has since chained himself to the bulldozer and protester Dave Mann says they are holding their ground.

"We don't want to see them do their business so we're here to make it difficult for them," he said.

Inspector Geoff Stewart says while the police respect the protesters' right to have their say, it is illegal to block traffic.

"Certainly people can't impede the vehicles, even by standing or by vehicles, and we're just negotiating with them to move," he said.

A convoy, including the bulldozer, several cars and a truck, was prevented from accessing the site.

Organiser Will Thomas says even though the police will try to move them on, the protesters will not let the Woodside convoy through today.

The blockades come as the Australian Heritage Council officially recommends 20 million hectares of the West Kimberley be declared a national heritage site.

In its final report to the Government, the Australian Heritage Council has expanded the recommended boundary to include the gas hub site.

The Wilderness Society's Peter Robertson says the new report contradicts the State Government's claims that the area is not significant.

"The Government's proposal pretty much dismissed the significance of the dinosaur footprints, especially in the James Price Point area," he said.

"This report and these recommendations contradict that dismissive appraisal and it will definitely force the federal minister to focus his mind much more clearly on the significance of that coastal environment."

Mr Robertson says the inclusion of the site will create problems for supporters of the development.

"It will certainly make it more difficult for the federal government to approve it and it will also make it more difficult for the joint venture partners like Woodside to argue what they are doing is environmentally responsible," he said.

In a statement, Woodside said the site was preferred over others because the WA Environmental Protection Authority recommended that heritage and environment issues at James Price Point could be managed.

It also said that any sites of heritage value at the precinct will be managed in accordance with the conditions of the environmental and heritage approvals the project requires to proceed.







Tags: environment, conservation, wa, broome-6725

First posted Tue Jun 7, 2011 12:30pm AEST

Almost six weeks after releasing an adult male Pacific green turtle, captured at Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica, the turtle, equipped with a satellite transmitter, has traveled 1,062 miles NE (1,709 km) and is currently offshore of El Salvador. 

His name is Back Country, and you can watch Back Country’s daily tracks on our website.

The second adult male we have satellite tagged at Cocos, “Yuri,” also headed east toward the Central American coast, then south, traveling all the way to the coast of Panama before we lost transmission. See his old tracks at the C-MAR Project page.

All of the other tagged turtles, most of them sub-adults, are seen in and around Cocos, including Adrienne who was also tagged last month and is still transmitting! She preferred to stay around Cocos, indicating the importance of Cocos Island National Park as a foraging area for young turtles where they can grow to maturity before migrating to their nesting grounds.  We don’t yet know where that is—the Central American coast or the Galapagos Islands, or ???.  Stay tuned.

You can see the tracks of all the turtles we have satellite tagged at the C-MAR Project page.

To learn more about our work at Cocos Island, click here.

Dr. Joe Flanagan, senior veterinarian at the Houston Zoo, had a call Tuesday from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Houston SPCA. Someone had brought in a small Kemp's ridley sea turtle that had been found crossing a street in Northeast Houston. It had a hook in its mouth and x-rays showed it had pneumonia. Dr. Flanagan removed the hook, treated the turtle's pneumonia and took it to the National Marine Fisheries Service sea turtle facility in Galveston. One lucky turtle! The US Fish and Wildlife Service has been notified of this illegal capture of an endangered sea turtle.

The Kemp's ridley is endangered and should never be taken home as a souvenir from a fishing trip.

Ocean conservationist David Helvarg posted this timely and insightful piece on the Huffington Post today.

The National Ocean Policy Coalition has one aim -- to undermine America's National Ocean Policy. Why am I not surprised?

by David Helvarg

In 1994 I wrote a book called, The War Against the Greens, about how industries created anti-environmental front groups and nurtured a 'Wise Use' movement that, along with traditional rallies and protests used threats, intimidation and violence to achieve its ends. These ends were mostly to promote the agenda of their extractive industry backers and protect federal subsidies for mining, logging and cattle companies operating on public lands. With support from Western politicians like Congressman Dick Cheney of Wyoming and Senator Larry Craig of Idaho they managed, among other things, to keep the Clinton administration from following through on its early pledge to reform public lands management.
Another corporate strategy was known as greenwashing, giving an environmental spin to environmentally destructive practices, taking credit for restoration work that the industry was forced to do as a result of lawsuits and regulations they'd fought against or creating green sounding front groups.
Some industry folks I talked to were quite proud of the names they'd come up with like the Alliance for Environment and Resources (a pro-logging group run out of a Forestry Association office), the Greening Earth Society (a coal and utility backed group claiming increased carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is good for plant growth and so could solve the problem of world hunger) and the National Wetlands Coalition, put together by contractors and developers opposed to Clean Water Act provisions that protect wetlands.
Which brings us to today's National Ocean Policy Coalition. In the wake of last summer's BP blowout disaster in the Gulf, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the nation's first National Ocean Policy to try and coordinate competing uses of our public seas in ways that will assure their continued health. The oil industry, which has generated a trillion dollars in offshore revenues since 1946, was not pleased. They formed the National Ocean Policy Coalition with the aim of promoting, "a sound, balanced ocean policy that... enhances commercial and recreational activities, such as oil and gas development," in other words, business as usual.
NOPC's membership includes the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, U.S. Oil & Gas Association, National Ocean Industries Association (offshore oil & gas) and Consumer Energy Alliance, an outfit formed by a D.C. lobbyist to fight against climate regulation. Among a handful of non-oil members is a sport fishing industry trade association that is leading the fight against the establishment of wilderness parks in the sea (known as Marine Protected Areas) where neither fishing nor drilling are allowed.
Just as the mining and timber industries in the West looked to use cowboy ranchers to front their Wise Use agenda in the 1990s, the oil industry is hoping to mobilize recreational fishermen as the visible face of opposition to public planning on our public seas. Despite pushback from some outdoor writers and conservation-oriented sportfishing groups they've had some success. Towards the end of the public hearings process that led to the new ocean policy an article appeared in ESPN Outdoors.com claiming the President was about to ban recreational fishing in large parts of the ocean. The story quickly went viral and was touted by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others on the right. Signs started showing up at Tea Party rallies reading, "Obama, get your hands off my fishing pole." In its final report the President's Ocean Policy Taskforce included language specifically reassuring recreational fishermen and women that they were an important element of the ocean stakeholder community and no one was out to take their poles away.
A little background might help: In 2003 and 2004 two blue ribbon ocean panels (a federal one appointed by President Bush, another led by now-CIA chief Leon Panetta) put out reports both stating that the ecological decline of U.S. waters posed a threat to our economy, security and environment and recommending better coordination and oversight of America's blue frontier. U.S. federal waters are presently run by 24 different agencies operating under 140 laws with little or no coordination among them. The result has been decades of overfishing, pollution, sprawl, oil spills and beach closures.
In 2009 President Obama established an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force to review the recommendations of the two commissions and examine new and changed realities. There followed a long process of public hearings by the taskforce attended by thousands of citizen stakeholders who were in the great majority supportive of their effort. The ocean policy's operating principle, now incorporated into the President's executive order, is called ecosystem-based coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP).
The CMSP idea is to take a more unified and mapped out approach to ocean management. Ultimately, if done correctly, it could involve cleaning up our coastal watersheds, greening our ports and designating offshore waters not only for shipping but also energy, fishing, national defense, wildlife and wilderness in a dynamic and regionally responsive manner (Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California have taken the lead).
For the oil industry, having to operate on a level playing field is not an attractive option however. One of their key allies on Capitol Hill, House Natural Resources Committee Chair "Doc" Hastings (R. WA) doesn't even pretend to want to work with the new ocean policy, calling the president's approach "irrational zoning" and pushing bills through the House to speed up offshore oil and gas permitting in federal waters. Not surprisingly the oil & gas industry was his largest campaign contributor last year.
Our public seas deserve better. They deserve well-coordinated management from all levels of government: federal, state, local and tribal to try and resolve user conflicts rather than simply respond to the demands of a single powerful industry lobby. Hopefully, despite big oil's "bluewashing," efforts citizens who work on, live by or enjoy the ocean will begin to engage more actively in determining its future and work for good ocean policies and practices that can help assure healthy waters and coastal communities from Maine to Hawaii and from sea to shining sea.

Link to Huffington Post.

I was invited to participate on a panel called “Finding Common Ground in Fisheries Management” at the International Sea Turtle Symposium this week, and I entitled my opening statement,

“TECHNO-FIXES ALONE WON’T SOLVE BYCATCH ISSUES ON AN OVERFISHED PLANET: Finding ‘Common Ground’ Requires Everyone Accepting Their Role in the Problem

Here is part of what I had to say…

For fisheries, sea turtles are the “canary in the coal mine” that we ignore at our own peril. In order to find common ground (between fishers and the environmental community) all of us must recognize and accept our individual and collective role in the problem. In my experience, the fishing industry often fails to accept, and the general public is generally unaware of the following well-established facts:

A. Overfishing by humans is one of the fundamental causes of the decline of marine species;

B. Global fish stocks are in major decline and current levels of global fisheries are not sustainable.

C. There are “too many vessels chasing too few fish.” The lost economic benefit to fishers (and society) caused by overfishing (calculated for yr. 2004 by the World Bank) was estimated at ~$50 billion.

Solutions to bycatch reduction must seek to secure healthy marine ecosystems. In addition to using all the best available bycatch reduction “devices,” the solutions must include:
(1) significant reduction of global fishing effort;
(2) no-fishing marine preserves;
(3) time-area closures;
(4) banning the use of the most destructive fishing technology; and
(5) adequate enforcement.

You can read my entire abstract at: http://www.seaturtles.org/downloads/Steiner%20ISTS%20Panel%20abstractV-Fin2.pdf

The one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill is drawing close and we are still learning the deadly impacts to sea turtles from the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Today, at the International Sea Turtle Society's annual meeting I presented on my experiences being kept "out of the box" while on a mission to save sea turtles and I learned some startling new facts about the oil impacts just released at the conference.

At least two critically endangered leatherback sea turtles were spotted in the oil slicks! During our negotiations with the U.S. Coast Guard following our successful legal action June 30, 2010 I specifically advised the rescue unit that they must have the ability to rescue an adult leatherback weighing 800 pounds or more. The technology exists, BP must pay to use it for the benefit of the leatherback.

Work is progressing towards improving rescue and response for sea turtles in the next oil spill. Our work is joined by work underway at the Oiled Wildlife Care Network who is taking lessons learned from the BP spill and updating their protocols for rehabilitation care.

The 2011 nesting season for Kemp's ridley sea turtles in the Gulf has begun, and at this same time a wave of dead Kemp's are washing ashore on Gulf beaches, especially in Mississippi. Already 87 dead sea turtle have been found, and the numbers increase almost every day. Click here for an update on the recent wave of dead sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. At least 50 dead sea turtles have washed ashore in April on Mississippi beaches alone!

This year and many more to come will tell the true tale of the deadly impacts from the BP oil spill to our endangered sea turtle populations. Knowing the chronic, long-term effects from oil exposure can cause cancer before death, it could be a long and painful road for the Gulf sea turtles who still forage in oily sands left by BP.