Blog

New info on Marine Debris

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:55:59 -0700

I’ve been at the board meeting for the International Sea Turtle Society in Washington, DC, this week. Where I’ve had some great conversations with the new ISTS President, Dr. Colin Limpus. He has shared reports, data and photos related to ingestion of plastic by sea turtles.

Here are two relevant reports by the late Lance Ferris: this one and this one.

Lance did excellent work and was committed to ocean wildlife. His reports are worth checking out.

Irene Kinan Kelly at NOAA has also passed along this report on marine debris that compiles new and old information. It concludes:

“Everyone, no matter how close to or far from the ocean, can contribute to the solution. It’s simple: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle --

Try to Reduce the amount of disposable items you use on a daily bases;
When you head to the beach this summer or have picnics in the park, make use of items that are Reusable rather then disposable; and
When you do use disposable items, try to remember to recycle! “

I’ll add one more: REMOVE. Be sure to participate in the September 20th International Coastal Cleanup!

“Sea turtle plastic bag”

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 18:33:46 -0700

The plastic industry website, savetheplasticbag.com says:

“THE FAMOUS TURTLE PICTURE

This photograph of a turtle eating a plastic bag is published thousands of times on the Internet. This particular turtle is the poster child of the anti-plastic bag movement.

We don't know where the photograph came from. We can't tell if the turtle is eating a plastic bag or something else. We can't even tell whether the photograph is authentic.

We have been unable to find another photograph of a turtle eating a plastic bag anywhere on the Internet. To check for yourself, search for "turtle plastic bag" on Google Images.”

And they are right, when you Google search “sea turtle plastic bag” you don’t get much. But it turns out that there are LOTS of photos out there that fit the “sea turtle plastic bag” description stored in the hard drives of those of us who study sea turtles for a living.

seaturtle.org has set up a Photo Library just for this purpose, and the images are flowing in. Not all of them are of “sea turtle plastic bag”, some are plastic chunks, plastic wrapping, various items that sea turtles have eaten and sometimes died from.

Check back and see as the images come in, if you are unsure about where lots of our plastic goes, and what animals are eating it.

And please do your part to use less plastic, recycle/reuse the plastic you do use and help remove the plastic that end up in our ocean, on our beaches and polluting our waterways.

They (heart) plastic bags?

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 17:42:35 -0700

I recently sent an email to the folks at...

http://www.savetheplasticbag.com

...explaining how we have pulled plastic bags out of the cloaca of sea turtles and have found parts of bags in stomach contents over the past two decades...something that colleagues around the world have also experienced.

According to their site..."We have been unable to find another photograph of a turtle eating a plastic bag anywhere on the Internet." (that’s odd, see below)

They are mounting an industry-funded campaign to SAVE the plastic bag, a nobel enough cause. ; )

Sounds like they need our help finding more photos of wildlife and plastic bags.

In my opinion, as an ecologist, the best answer to the "paper or plastic?" question is "Neither. Bring your own". And offer biodegradable bags for a fee because they don’t last forever (and can be reused for other purposes).

Feel free to share your thoughts, data and photos with them at: savetheplasticbag@earthlink.net

Please cc me, if you don't mind.

Recently Randall Arauz shared a stunning series of recent photos of a green turtle in the Cocos Islands with a black plastic bag extruding from its cloaca (see above).

Fortunately, they were able to remove it. Granted, it's not a photo of a sea turtle EATING a plastic bag, but one can certainly conclude that in order for the bag to get into the turtle's digestive tract, at some point it WAS eaten.

The hard working folks at Karumbe have shared others (right and below), as have our colleagues in Australia, Texas and Spain.

Below-left (from seaturtle.org photo library):

1. Get an ecomaniac bag and support sea turtle conservation!

2. A sea turtle passing a large plastic bag (Sea Turtle Inc.).

3. A plastic bag in the esophagus of a leatherback turtle (Karumbe)

4. Plastic bag debris ingested by sea turtle, Aroha.
(Project Aegina, Nuria Varo)

5. Plastic bag at sea (HM Gitirana)

“Big Oil’s Lie” Ad

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 16:49:43 -0700

Ocean Revolution Words

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:24:09 -0700

Discovery: “I Love the World” & my response

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 14:41:28 -0700

I Love the World

I love the mountains
i love the clear blue skies!
I love big bridges,
I love when great whites fly!
i love the whole world
and all it's sights and sounds
boom de ada, boom de ada

I love the oceans
I love real dirty things!
I love to go fast!
I love egyptian kings!!
i love the whole world
and all it's craziness
boom de ada, boom de ada

I love tornadoes!
i love arachnids!
I love hot magma!
I love the giant squid!
i love the whole world
it's such a brilliant place
boom de ada, boom de ada
boom de ada, boom de ada

Blue + Red = Plums!

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:32:40 -0700

Yesterday we picked 2 sinks full of plums from the tree in the front yard...and today we are making plum preserves, cake, ice cream and muffins.

The story of the plum tree is that not long ago it was just a pretty tree, but with no fruit. We played in the sandbox under it, buried our two dogs Blue and Red under it, who both lived to be 13, planted flowers under it and had picnics under it.

Then one day it started putting off a little fruit, then a lot of fruit, now TONS of fruit so that the branches break off from the weight.

Grayce says, Blue + Red = Purple plums!

And when you ask her what happened to Blue and Red (the dogs) after they died, she'll tell you that they became part of the soil, the tree, the leaves and the plums, the Stellars Jays that eat the plums, and that they are spread all over the canyon.

Which is true.

Now, through the plums, Blue and Red are a part of us.

And of you, if you share some plum jam.

But the thing is they already were part of us, and everyone who knew them.

Photo: J, Red and Blue, Vizcaino Peninsula, Baja California, Mexico (~15 years ago)

El Salvador’s Sea Turtles Video 1

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:31:38 -0700

We transport, tag and release Pajarita, an endangered hawksbill sea turtle with a satellite transmitter attached to her shell. You can follow her movements HERE

Native Oceans Council Report

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:24:00 -0700

Mexican Cultural Exchange Report

[listen] A report has been produced by the Australian delegation that participated in a cultural exchange with Comcaac or ‘Seri Indian’ people in Mexico earlier this year.  Djawa Yunupingu, Frank Loban, Kenny Bedford and Stephen Ambar collaborated with NAILSMA to produce the report for funding partner The Christensen Fund and coordination partner Ocean Revolution.  The eight page report was so well received that Ocean Revolution's Timothy Dykman had it translated into Spanish for submission to the Mexican government.  The report features stunning photographs that were taken by the guys on their trip and includes lots of quotes from them that are insightful and moving.  The coordinator of NAILSMA's Kantri Laif magazine took the time to review the report.  "Deadly." Samara Erlandson, Coordinator of Kantri Laif.  The report "Oceans Apart; United in Action" can be downloaded from the NAILSMA website. (In English and Spanish!)  You can read more about the Mexican cultural exchange from stories in past editions of the DMTP newsletter: Mexican Cultural Exchange and Mexican Cultural Exchange: Seri Indians Inspired.  Colourful Spanish: In the report, Djawa talks about the stirring moment the Seiri Indian people heard the yidaki (didgeridoo) played for the first time. He said that "It made hair stand up on end." For the Mexican audience, the Spanish translation read something like "I had hedgehog hair"!

Mutual Appreciation Loop

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:30:09 -0700

View the slideshow to see Marvella Ortega and others with your thank you notes.

Forward to a friend
Photo by: Tim Dykman
Have you ever been in a circle of thanks and appreciation... what I call a "mutual appreciation loop"?
It's when one person says “thank you,” and the other person says, "no, thank YOU.” And then the first person replies, "au contraire, thank YOU!" And around it goes. Both are deeply sincere in their appreciation, gratitude, and admiration. And both simply want to convey those things, at the same time.
Recently, we found ourselves in a wonderful circle of thanks... but this time, it was a three-way loop!
Not too long ago, we told you the story of how the Seri Indians and their ancient songs and stories honoring leatherback sea turtles had inspired our sea turtle conservation work. You responded with many heartfelt notes of appreciation for them. Ocean Conservancy's Ocean Wildlife Action Fund provided the Seri Indians with financial support to conduct sea turtle patrols in their protected waters. Our colleague Tim Dykman of Ocean Revolution delivered the cards and the funds to the Seri, who then shared these photos. And now, here I am thanking YOU for your cards thanking the Seri. See how this goes? Around and around...
Here's the thing: it's really great when these loops happen. And I don't think they happen often enough. They help all of us keep going with this challenging work. And the Seri are having successes protecting their ocean and the sea turtles in it. We should give heartfelt thanks to those on the front lines of conservation as often as possible.
So, thank YOU for your cards and letters of support. They mean a lot. To me, to the Seri, and to the sea turtles.
Mil Gracias,

Wallace J. Nichols, PhD Senior Scientist Ocean Conservancy
P.S. - Visit our website to learn about the different ways you can support Ocean Conservancy today!