5th International Marine Debris Conference, in Hawaii
The conference brought together over 440 participants from 35 countries to discuss the most pressing issues surrounding plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways.
Plant Poisons More Than 100 Villagers, Coastal Zhejiang Province China
A total of 139 villagers in a village near Taizhou city in coastal Zhejiang province have been found to have elevated lead levels in their blood, Xinhua cited the provincial health department as saying in a statement.
The Plastic Found In a Single Turtle’s Stomach
This collection of hundreds of coloured, jagged shards could be a work of abstract art. But the objects in the photograph are the contents of the stomach of a sea turtle, found off the coast of Argentina, that lost its battle with plastic pollution.
European Coastal Pollution Harms Ecosystems, Study Finds
The bodies of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), which live in estuaries or along coastlines where industrial activities take place, are highly contaminated. This is the result of a European study, involving Spanish participation, which warns of the danger to all the other species that share their ecosystem from ports throughout Europe, even in the Mediterranean.
Shipwreck causes oil slick and threatens penguin colony on South Atlantic island
A vessel has grounded on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic, causing an oil slick around the island which is home to nearly half the world’s population of northern rockhopper penguins. 1,500 tonnes of heavy crude oil from the MS Olivia, is leaking into the sea.
Kenya Bans Plastic Bags
In January, Kenya outlawed the manufacture and import of plastic bags for damaging the environment, effective in March.
Norway Rejected Oil Drilling in Ecologically Sensitive Waters
Norway on Friday rejected oil drilling in ecologically sensitive waters just above the Arctic circle, partly because of worries over a disaster like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Marine Spill Prevention Policies in Spain Analyzed
The study analyzes the actions adopted by a dozen countries after suffering disasters similar to that of the Prestige, the oil tanker which sank off the coast of Galicia, provoking a spill of fuel-oil which turned out to be one of the biggest ecological disasters in the history of Spain.
Toxin Found in Fishes That Clogged US Marina
High levels of domoic acid were found in the sardines, which may have distressed them off the Los Angeles coastline and caused them to swim into the Redondo Beach marina.