OCEAN: Stranded Whales in Scotland & more – 16th July 2024

Ahoy from BA! This is the Rorshok Ocean Update from the 16th of July twenty twenty-four. A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

The United Nations' International Seabed Authority is meeting from Monday the 15th until Friday the 26th in Kingston, Jamaica, to negotiate a comprehensive mining code, which aims to regulate the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor. Twenty-seven countries are advocating for a temporary suspension of deep-sea mining activities due to environmental concerns, causing division among nations over the final text. Many stakeholders believe that the process is being rushed and are calling for a more thoughtful approach. The Metals Company (or TMC) is pushing to complete the code in order to apply for a deep-sea mining license within the year. TMC admitted that deep-sea mining will have environmental consequences, but stated that it’s less dangerous than terrestrial mining.

Moving on to the coast of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, almost eighty pilot whales died after being washed ashore by the waves on Tresness Beach, Sanday Island. This mass stranding is one of the largest in recent decades. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue reported that twelve pilot whales were still alive when the rescuers found them, but efforts to return them to the water and save them have failed. The rescuers could do nothing but make the sad decision to euthanize them. Among the whales, there were males up to seven meters long, or twenty-three feet, along with females, calves, and juveniles. Experts suggest that one whale in distress may have caused the rest of the pod to follow it to shore, as this animal tends not to leave their fellows in trouble alone.

Speaking of whales, Tom Waddington, rowing solo across the Atlantic, filmed an extended encounter with a pod of long-finned pilot whales on Thursday the 11th. He was enjoying watching their playful behavior until one of the whales accidentally hit his small boat. Despite the scare, Waddington was amazed to see over 1,000 whales around him. His journey aims to raise funds for the British mental health charity Mind. He still carries on with enthusiasm even after this experience with the marine mammals. You can track his journey online - link at the show notes!

Still in the Atlantic. The MV Ultra Galaxy, a cargo ship leaning heavily on one side in the Atlantic Ocean northwest of Cape Town, rescued eighteen Filipino seafarers on Monday the 8th. The South African Maritime Safety Authority reported the incident, triggering an emergency response after the ship's Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon’s alert. Several vessels responded immediately to assist. Despite the not favorable weather conditions, with winds reaching twelve knots per hour and swells up to six meters (almost twenty feet), rescuers safely transferred all crew members to a fishing vessel called FV Malachite.

We’ll sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. According to a statement from China's Defense Ministry on Sunday the 14th, Chinese and Russian naval vessels recently completed their fourth joint maritime patrol in the western and northern Pacific Ocean. The ministry clarified that the patrol was not aimed at any third party and was unrelated to the current international and regional situation. In fact, this activity is part of the Joint Sea-twenty twenty-four exercise, which started on Friday the 12th in the waters and airspace near Zhanjiang, in Guangdong province, adhering to the annual military engagement plan and a bilateral agreement between the two nations' armed forces.

Moving on, the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington state has been trying to move hundreds of people from homes threatened by the rising Pacific Ocean for over a decade. According to an article published by ABC News on Friday the 12th, the people of Taholah, the tribe’s largest village, are facing challenges like mold and frequent house evacuations due to the seawater rise. Residents are trying to move their infrastructure to a higher ground, but they encounter limitations because of the lack of funds. The tribe secured some funds through federal and state grants, but they still need over 400 million US dollars (more than 360 million euros) to complete the relocation. The need for action becomes more urgent as sea levels continue to rise, despite some residents being hesitant to leave their coastal homes.

We’ll now sail to the Indian Ocean. On Sunday the 14th, Munu Mahawar, India's High Commissioner in the Maldives, called Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldivian President, at the President's Office to reaffirm diplomatic ties and discuss bilateral cooperation. During their meeting, they reviewed various ongoing Indian projects in the Maldives and confirmed their cooperation. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to maintain peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.

In other news, according to a recent research published on Thursday the 11th in the journal Nature - Communication earth and environment, the melting Arctic sea ice, once seen as a facilitation for Arctic shipping, is now causing challenges. The study, led by Alison Cook, reveals that instead of opening up new and shorter routes, the thin ice is releasing centuries-old and thick Arctic ice, creating constriction points in the Northwest Passage. The ship traffic data from two thousand seven to twenty twenty-one shows increased voyages in the Canadian Arctic but highlights reduced accessibility in key shipping routes due to ice risks. Coastal communities, which rely heavily on maritime traffic for supplies, face important challenges because of a shortened shipping season and increased costs for airlifted supplies. Wanna know more? Check out the Arctic Update with the link in the show notes.

Let’s go from one pole to the other. Arkady Aspinwall's study, published on Sunday the 14th in the journal Springer, explores the factors influencing the resting behavior of non-breeding Weddell seals in Antarctica. The research, conducted at Cape Royds in twenty seventeen, reveals that seals tend to haul out more in the afternoon, driven by warmer temperatures and calmer winds. These findings are crucial for improving the management of Antarctic marine resources and understanding the broader impacts of climate change on the Southern Ocean ecosystem. They integrate environmental parameters into previous research to refine the techniques to monitor animals’ population. This approach supports the comparisons of seal abundance across different sites, particularly in the Ross Sea region and coastal Antarctica, where climate changes in sea ice extent are increasingly affecting seal habitats.

On another note, the Panama Canal Authority is mitigating the drought impacts that have reduced canal capacity since June twenty twenty-three, a topic that we have discussed in many of our previous shows. Although Gatun Lake's water levels, crucial for canal functionality, hit their lowest in April twenty twenty-four, recent rains have restored them, allowing normal ship traffic to resume. As of Thursday the 11th, the Canal Authority increased daily transits up to thirty-three vessels, with a further rise of one more vessel planned for Monday the 22nd. The maximum ship draft also increased from forty-five to forty-six feet (or fourteen meters) on Monday the 15h. To prevent similar issues in the future, the Authority has announced a project that will cost 1.2 billion US dollars, and will support the transit of up to thirty-six ships daily. It will be operational in six years from now.

From Panama to the Suez Canal. On Sunday the 14th, the Egyptian government firmly denied rumors about selling the Suez Canal for one trillion US dollars (almost 920 billion euros). The Egyptian Cabinet's media center confirmed that the audio clip that is spreading these claims around is fake. The Suez Canal Authority reaffirmed that Egypt retains full ownership of the Canal and has complete control over its administration, functioning and maintenance. Furthermore, all operators in the Canal will remain Egyptian citizens.

The International Maritime Organization (or IMO) Council met in London for its 132nd session from Monday the 8th to Friday the 12th. There, IMO announced that World Maritime Day twenty twenty-five, which takes place on the 25th of September, will center around the theme "Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity". The theme highlights the ocean's important role in global trade, job opportunities, and environmental regulation. Shipping, as the largest ocean sector, will take a central role in safeguarding our oceans and managing ocean resources.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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