President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum protecting the waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay from future oil and gas drilling. Bristol Bay provides 40 percent of America’s seafood, hosts one of the world’s largest salmon runs, and is home to many threatened species, including orcas, right whales, beluga whales, seals, and sea otters. Read more…

 

3. Cuban Waters Open to American Tourists and Businesses 

With diplomatic ties restored between the US and Cuba, the island’s unspoiled coral reefs will now be available to American SCUBA divers and tours, although trade and tourism will continue to be limited unless Congress lifts the trade embargo. Read more…

 

 

Chevron has put a plan to drill for oil in Canada’s Beaufort Sea on hold indefinitely due to falling oil prices. This is the largest drilling project canceled in the past six months since oil prices started to decline. The Beaufort Sea is a major habitat for beluga whales, polar bears, and cod. Read more…

———————————————–

The deep sea is carpeted with tiny plastic fragments, according to a recent analysis of sea floor sediment taken from wide-ranging sites. The results of the study are a “big step forward” in solving the mystery of the world’s missing plastic. It’s bad news for the ocean, however, because the deep sea is a biologically rich habitat. Read more…

 

Shells found in deep sediment in the Arctic Ocean seafloor have been identified as a new species of bivalve mollusk. The discovery was made during geological surveys of the seafloor conducted to study trapped pockets of methane hydrates that could melt in warming waters and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Read more…

 

A new robot called Nereid will cruise for miles at a time under Arctic ice, returning with data and video that will improve understanding about the little understood food web in these waters. Early results have revealed that these ecosystems are richer and more complex than previously thought. According to Antje Boetius, chief scientist of the Nereid expedition, says that ultimately, “learning more will tell us what ice loss means for life on earth.” Read more…

 

 

 

A White House task force aims to strengthen enforcement of US seafood regulations and block the import of illegally caught fish. The changes should make it easier for consumers to know if the fish they buy is contributing to the problem of overfishing and poaching. Read more…

 

 

Estuaries along the California coast are vulnerable to damage by farmland runoff filled with fertilizer, which encourages the overgrowth of algae. It turns out otters play an important role in restoring the health of these vital ecosystems. As otters have returned to estuaries in recent decades under government protection, they have reduced crab populations, which has increased the population of insects that eat algae. As a result, eelgrass, an essential habitat for many marine animals, is rebounding. Read more…