Oceans Shift Color to Green & more– 25th July 2023

Ahoy from Tibidabo! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 25th of July twenty twenty-three A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in salt water

Oceans are turning green.

A new study, based on the last twenty years of NASA satellite data, has shown that more than half of the oceans on Earth have turned green due to climate change, which is impacting marine ecosystems. Scientists said the shift of color is related to global warming, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. B. B. Cael, the lead author of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, declared that this shift of colors from blue to green is probably linked to an increase in phytoplankton because it contains a green pigment. Phytoplankton is at the base of the food chain and is fundamental in the production of oxygen since the amount of CO2 the oceans absorb depends on how much plankton it contains and of which kind.

In other environmental concerns…

On Tuesday, the 18th of July, Mexican NGOs reported an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Satellite images confirmed the spill and revealed that it had actually started on the 4th of July. In two weeks, the oil has spread over 400 square kilometers (or 154 square miles). The oil spill is coming from a gas production platform of the company Pemex, the same offshore platform where on Friday, the 7th of July, an explosion killed two workers. Pemex released a statement confirming the leak but assured that “the volume of hydrocarbons that escaped was minimal”. The spill has been reported to the government and the Navy for repairs. Pemex has sadly collected several incidents. Many workers died in fires over the last ten years.

Moving on to fisheries.

The fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco expired on Monday, the 17th of July. Now, European trawlers can no longer fish off Moroccan coasts.

Grande-Marlaska, the Spanish Minister of Interior, said he’s optimistic about the renewal of the agreement. For geographical reasons, Spain wants the renewal of the agreement, as it is the closest European country to Morocco. Nasser Bourita, Morocco’s Foreign Minister, announced that the country seeks to impose a fee to foreign trawlers to fish in Moroccan waters. The European Commission, Spain, and Morocco are working on the agreement.

Also on Monday the 17th, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (or FAO) launched a new scientific database on Black Sea fisheries. The platform was created within the BlackSea4Fish project and it’s going to collect all fisheries-related information of the area. It’s also meant to create a network among scientists, universities, and researchers in Black Sea countries and to facilitate access to publications. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean said it was crucial to create this database in order to coordinate resources on an international level.

In other news, on Sunday, the 16th of July, an entire pod of fifty-five whales died after a mass stranding on a Western Isles beach. Only fifteen of them were alive when The British Divers Marine Life Rescue intervened, trying to refloat one of the most active, unsuccessfully. All the remaining whales have been euthanized for safety reasons. One of the found-dead whales had a vaginal prolapse, which led to thinking that this female specimen was giving birth, but that she was having troubles. So the rest of the whales started following her, as it is their nature not to leave another of its kind alone when it is in trouble.

In lighter news, an incredible story from the Pacific Ocean.

An Australian sailor and his dog were stranded on the ocean for three months and survived by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater. Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock was finally rescued by a Mexican trawler that spotted his stricken vessel on Wednesday, the 12th of July. Shaddock was headed to French Polynesia. He had started his expedition in April in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. The last time he saw land was in May when he sailed out of the Gulf of California.

Still on the Pacific Ocean.

American Samoans are scared to lose their livelihood after the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary proposed limiting tuna fishing in the region. Tuna fishing is an essential asset for the U.S. economy, providing around five thousand jobs in American Samoa. The proposed Sanctuary is going to cover 770,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean, making it bigger than the State of Alaska. The goal of establishing National marine sanctuaries is to preserve environmental resources.

Moving on, a mystery object was found on Monday, the 17th of July, on an Australian beach in Green Head, in the north of Perth. The object is cylindrical and the size of a small car. The Authorities investigating believe it could be part of a rocket. Andrea Boyd, engineer of the European Space Agency, said that the object might have come from the Indian Ocean after the launch of an Indian satellite. Whoever had launched the rocket into space will be responsible for its disposal, as agreed in the Outer Space Treaty.

In other news, between the 10th and the 16th of July, China launched its 40th Antarctic expedition along with its 13th Arctic mission. The goal of these expeditions is to expand its footholds in the polar regions. The researchers involved in the missions are mostly focusing on the impact of climate change in the poles and conducting oceanic ecosystem investigations. Researchers will collaborate with scientists from Russia and Thailand, aiming to promote international cooperation on Arctic expeditions. Since Polar regions are changing due to climate change, new shipping routes are opening and giving countries the chance to explore new ecosystems and resources.

Moving to the Atlantic Ocean…

According to the National Hurricane Center, a tropical storm named “Don” developed from a subtropical storm on Monday night, the 17th of July. Meteorologists announced the storm winds reached up to 105 miles or 169 km. However, tropical storm Don will remain in the open waters of the Central Atlantic. On Monday, the 24th of July, meteorologists downgraded Don into a post-tropical cyclone.

Shocking news of sharks on cocaine. Scientists observed sharks with inconsistent behaviors off Florida Keys. Their erratic behavior could stem from cocaine that was thrown into the sea by drug traffickers. Just last month, in June, the US Coast Guard announced they have found 185$ worth of illegal narcotics in the Caribbean Sea. Scientists threw bales of concentrated fish powder - to resemble cocaine - into the water as an experiment, and many sharks ate them. Sharks are not the only drug-addicted sea animal: previous research suggested fish might be addicted to methamphetamine.

Closing with watersports. The Fastnet race started on Saturday, the 22nd of July, and lasted the whole weekend. The crew of François Gabart and Tom Laperche won and broke the record, with one day, eight hours, thirty-eight minutes, and twenty-seven seconds.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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