marine environment

Blockchain, AI as new tools to protect high seas

Technologies as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain could help monitor the high seas aiming the preservation of the biological diversity of the world’s oceans, according to Reuters. Diplomats began negotiations, on September, on a legally binding treaty to protect oceans.

Namely, the meeting that was conducted at the United Nations in New York, aspires to have reached to an agreement by 2020.

The proposed treaty focuses on the ‘high seas’ – an area beyond the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone...

https://safety4sea.com/blockchain-ai-as-new-tools-to-protect-high-seas/

New project to explore deep-seafloor mineral deposits

The UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) has funded a new project aiming to reduce the potential environmental impact of future mining by making exploration for deep-seafloor mineral deposits much more effective. ‘Project ULTRA’ will use a robotic drilling rig to drill the deposits on the seafloor in a bid to ensure that the future exploration could be able to minimize disturbance.

Deep-seafloor mineral deposits can provide vital new metals for emerging technologies, including...

https://safety4sea.com/new-project-to-explore-deep-seafloor-mineral-deposits/

Marine Safety Technology Tracks Spawning Coral Slicks

Marine science and safety shared a birds-eye view of a natural phenomenon on the Great Barrier Reef when Australia’s two leading marine agencies joined forces to track ocean currents.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and oceanographers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) tracked coral spawn slicks on the Great Barrier Reef, which rode the currents of the East Australian Current in late November.

The Cairns-based AMSA Challenger jet aircraft was used to deploy...

https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/marine-safety-technology-tracks-spawning-coral-slicks/

US moves forward with seismic search for oil in Atlantic

The US decided to allow a first-in-a-generation seismic search for oil and gas in the Atlantic ocean. This move was made in spite of protests claiming that these tests will use loud air gun blasts that will harm marine animals.

The ocean is full of sound, with many animals depending on it to survive. By using sound, many marine organisms can communicate underwater and understand information about their environment.

However, underwater noise deriving from human activity, produces sounds that...

https://safety4sea.com/us-moves-forward-with-seismic-search-for-oil-in-atlantic/

Canada lifts speed restriction in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Canada lifted the mandatory speed restriction for vessels in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to make sure that ships can operate safely during winter. Transport Canada is not aware of any North Atlantic right whale deaths from vessel strikes this year and will ask vessels to voluntarily slow down if  a whale is spotted in or near the shipping lanes.

On April 28, 2018, Canada applied a speed restriction for vessels 20 metres or more to a maximum of 10 knots in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ships...

https://safety4sea.com/canada-lifts-speed-restriction-in-gulf-of-st-lawrence/

IMO Launches New Global Project To Protect Marine Biodiversity

Protect Marine Biodiversity

A new international effort to combat the negative environmental impacts of the transfer of aquatic species through ships has been launched this week. The GloFouling Partnerships project – a collaboration between the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) – will address the build-up of aquatic organisms on a ship’s underwater hull and on other marine mobile infrastructure.

Image Credits: imo.org

The...

https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/imo-launches-new-global-project-to-protect-marine-biodiversity/

Deep sea mining zone hosts CO2-consuming bacteria, says new study

Until now, scientists believed the main source of biomass on the seafloor was the organic matter, as dead fish and plankton, that floated down towards the depths. However, now scientists from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh discovered that bacteria in the deepest parts of the seafloor are absorbing CO2 and could be turning themselves into an additional food source for other deep-sea life. Bacteria living 4000m below the ocean surface in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) are...

https://safety4sea.com/deep-sea-mining-zone-hosts-co2-consuming-bacteria-says-new-study/

Watch: Ocean Cleanup works on solutions to prevent plastic from escaping

Four weeks after the cleaning System 001 was first deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), the largest accumulation of ocean plastic, The Ocean Cleanup informed of some problems in the operation. The plastic is exiting the system once it is collected, so the Foundation is currently working on causes and solutions to remedy this.

Because this is our beta system, and this is the first deployment of any ocean cleanup system, we have been preparing ourselves for surprises. Although we...

https://safety4sea.com/watch-ocean-cleanup-works-on-solutions-to-prevent-plastic-from-escaping/

Study monitors whales from space

Scientists have used high-resolution satellite images to detect, measure and describe four different species of whales. This study is considered a big step towards developing a method to study whales in remote and inaccessible places, in order to help scientists monitor them an understand their behaviour.

Each species was noted in one of their known aggregation areas, where individuals gather. Namely, southern right whales were spotted off Argentina, humpback whales off Hawaii, fin whales in the...

https://safety4sea.com/study-monitors-whales-from-space/

Russia urged to stop capturing wild Orcas

A group of prominent whale and dolphin biologists from across the world sent a letter this week, urging a Russian federal agency to stop capturing free-ranging orcas in the Sea of Okhotsk for sale to marine parks overseas. In a letter delivered Monday to the Far East office of the Russian Federal Service for Overseeing Natural Resources, 25 scientists noted that such captures are highly stressful to free-ranging orcas, leading to injuries, deaths, fractured social networks within pods and...

https://safety4sea.com/russia-urged-to-stop-capturing-wild-orcas/

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