Best of our wild blogs: 29 Dec 10

Mystery Animals Solved!
from Psychedelic Nature

The Huntsman Spider's Babies
from Macro Photography in Singapore

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Resorts World Sentosa told to review dolphins by man who sold them the dolphins

From dolphin 'Darth Vader' to activist
Benson Ang The New Paper Asia One 26 Dec 10;

JUST two years ago, Mr Chris Porter, 40, considered the world's biggest dolphin broker, was reported to have sold 25 dolphins to Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

But the man who was once referred to as the "Darth Vader of dolphins" is now an animal activist.

After two of the dolphins he sold to RWS in 2008 died recently, Mr Porter has called for RWS to review its motivation for using these animals as a tourist draw.

His main beef: RWS is using the animals primarily to make money while telling the public that its aim is to educate the public on marine conservation.

Mr Porter wants RWS to be upfront with its intentions.

He told The New Paper in an e-mail: "I would like to see more information on the amount of direct conservation work RWS plans to do and the amount of direct impact its display will have."

By impact, he meant "not only for the economical benefit of Singaporeans, but also for the social benefit to wild dolphins".

Mr Porter was responding to The New Paper's queries after two bottlenose dolphins that RWS had planned to display in its upcoming Marine Life Park (MLP) died in October.

An RWS spokesman confirmed this and said that both dolphins were female.

One was under seven years old and the other was under 10 years old.

Both dolphins died from an acute bacterial infection that arose from contact with contaminated soil and surface waters, the spokesman added.

The two dolphins have been with RWS since January this year.

Because of the deaths, local animal group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) has called for RWS to reconsider its decision to include dolphins in its park.

Mr Louis Ng, Acres' executive director, told TNP that he was "disappointed" that RWS would continue with its plan.

"What can RWS really teach its visitors about dolphin protection?

"Would it not be an irony and contradiction for RWS to ask its visitors to protect dolphins when it obtained 25 individual dolphins from the wild and two have now passed away?" Mr Ng said.

"RWS must rethink its decision urgently. If Mr Chris Porter, a dolphin trader, can have a change of heart, then surely RWS can as well."

RWS currently has five dolphins in a holding area in Langkawi. Another 18 are being trained at Ocean Adventure Park in the Philippines, according to a report in Today newspaper.

These dolphins were caught from the wild in the Solomon Islands, near Papua New Guinea, by the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Center and Exporters, which was owned by Mr Porter, the Solomon Star news website reported.

Mr Porter, who has been dealing in marine life for 21 years, felt that caring for animals in the industry has generally been buried under the red tape of companiesand organisations.

Referring to both dolphin catchers and protesters, he saidhe felt that both sides tend to bemore preoccupied with their own concerns and "the animals themselves are secondary".

Animal ambassadors

"These (animals) are ambassadors of their wild species for human benefit through education and display and profit.

"They should be treated as importantly as all ambassadors around the world."

Responding to Mr Porter's comments, an RWS spokesman told TNP via e-mail: "The MLP has consistently pledged its commitment to develop a facility that will set the standard in Asia for animal care, learning and education."

He explained that the MLP began conservation efforts even before it opened by launching the Marine Life Fund, worth S$3.2 million, in May 2008 to help marine life-related research, education and conservation projects.

The spokesman said: "RWS has also undertaken coral conservation and today remains one of the few destination resorts in the world that does not serve sharks' fin soup in its restaurants."

On the death of its two dolphins, RWS said it did not announce the news immediately as it was awaiting conclusive pathology results.

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ExxonMobil refinery fire: SCDF withdraws charges

Leong Wee Keat Channel NewsAsia 28 Dec 10;

SCDF alleged previously that the oil giant had failed to let firemen put out a fire at one of its refineries.

SCDF did not elaborate on its latest decision during a brief court hearing on Tuesday.

When queried later by Channel NewsAsia, an SCDF spokesman said: "The management of ExxonMobil has appealed and also taken prompt corrective actions...in view of this, SCDF decided to issue a stern warning in lieu of proceeding with charges against the company."

The fire in question at the Pioneer Road refinery occurred on January 6, and SCDF officers were also not allowed in some two hours later to investigate and determine its cause.

A third summons was for allegedly failing to notify SCDF immediately about the fire.

ExxonMobil apologised on Monday for the company's "part in the circumstances leading to the charges". "We've since reviewed our internal processes to ensure that such an incident won't occur again," its spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia. "We're also working with SCDF to ensure a closer alignment in our operational processes with all the ground personnel."

ExxonMobil gave assurances about the safety of its workers and the community.

"The Singapore refinery, as with other ExxonMobil sites, has an emergency response plan, and the employees prepare themselves through regular training and drills," said its spokesperson.

She said the company was equipped with a range of fire fighting equipment, which are subject to SCDF audits, and response teams were staffed with personnel trained at the SCDF Academy.

Under the Fire Safety Act, authorised personnel have the right to enter any premises to check for fire hazards and to determine the causes of a fire, among other duties.

Breaching the law carries a maximum fine of S$10,000, up to six months in jail, or both.

-CNA/ac

SCDF drops charges against ExxonMobil
Straits Times 28 Dec 10;

OIL giant ExxonMobil was cleared of three charges of refusing to allow firefighters into its premises to put out a fire earlier this year.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) withdrew the charges against the company during a night court session.

Its assistant director of corporate communications, Major Leslie Williams, said: 'The management of ExxonMobil has appealed and also taken prompt corrective actions... The SCDF decided to issue a stern warning in lieu of proceeding with charges.'

The company was acquitted of refusing to allow SCDF personnel into its Jurong Refinery in Pioneer Road and Shipyard Road on Jan 6 to extinguish a fire, determine the cause, and ensure that the fire safety manager notified the Commissioner of SCDF immediately of the incident.

An ExxonMobil spokesman expressed gratitude to the SCDF for acceding to its representations and withdrawing the charges.

'We regret and are sorry for our part in the circumstances leading to the charges.

'We have since reviewed our internal processes to ensure that such an incident will not occur again, and we continue to work with the SCDF to ensure a closer alignment in our operational process with all their ground personnel.'

She assured the public that the Singapore refinery, like all other ExxonMobil sites, has an emergency response plan and employees prepare themselves through regular training and drills.

ELENA CHONG

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Poaching Decimates Fish Stocks in Tambelans: Scientists

Ismira Lutfia Jakarta Globe 28 Dec 10;

Fish stocks in the Natuna Sea between Kalimantan and the Malay Peninsula have declined sharply in the past 30 years because of poaching, Indonesian scientists said on Monday.

Fahmi, a member of a scientific expedition that recently returned from the area, said the population density of demersal, or bottom-feeding fish, around the Tambelan Islands was 0.27 tons per square kilometer.

“This is a sharp decline from the last figure we had in 1974, which showed the fish population density there was 1.8 to 2.3 tons per square kilometer,” he said.

He added scientists had carried out the research around 12 of the 76 islands that make up the Tambelan archipelago.

Suharsono, director of the Oceanography Research Center at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), blamed the decline on poaching by foreign fishing vessels in the largely unpatrolled waters.

He also said local fishermen may have inadvertently helped these foreign fishing fleets without knowing they were operating illegally.

He said this called for the government to raise awareness of the issue among local fishing communities on all of the country’s outlying islands.

“We can help fish stocks recover quickly if we can control human activities in those areas,” Suharsono said.

Earlier this month Agence France-Presse reported that foreign fishing boats sometimes flew Indonesian flags in order to fish illegally in the Natuna Sea.

  Endang Sukara, LIPI’s deputy head of biosciences, said last month that up to 100 million tons of fish were illegally poached from Indonesian waters each year, threatening the country’s lucrative fish stocks.

The Natuna expedition also assessed the feasibility of turning the Tambelan Islands into a marine sanctuary, an idea proposed by the Bintan Island administration in Riau Islands province, which has jurisdiction over the Tambelan archipelago.

The Bintan administration cited the islands’ importance as a dugong habitat and nesting place for sea turtles as a reason for turning it into a sanctuary.

However, the scientists concluded that not all of the islands there were suitable for a marine sanctuary.

“There are only four islands that we have recommended as suitable for this purpose,” said Dirhamsyah, the research coordinator for the expedition.

Fahmi said the scientists would compile their findings to serve as a reference for the Bintan administration on the feasibility of turning the Tambelan Islands into a sanctuary.

Another finding made by the team was of the strong sea current around the islands, consistently registering at more than one meter per second. They suggested this could potentially be harnessed to generate electricity.

“Some of these islands would also be suitable for development as ecotourism areas,” Fahmi said.

The expedition involved marine biologists, oceanographers and social scientists from LIPI and 19 universities across the country, who sailed on board the Baruna Jaya VIII research vessel, operated by LIPI.

The scientists departed on their two-leg expedition last month from the Muara Baru fishing port in North Jakarta.

The first leg of the trip was to the Natuna Sea from Nov. 4 to 16, while the second leg of the trip was to the waters off South Kalimantan from Nov. 19 to Dec. 1.

The scientists now expect to publish 25 research papers on their findings in scientific journals in the country, Dirhamsyah said. “We’re looking to have some of them published in international journals, but that might take some time since the peer-review process takes at least one or two years,” he said.

The Rp 5 billion ($560,000) tab for the entire expedition was picked up by the government through the National Education Ministry’s Directorate General of Higher Education.

Overfishing depleting Tambelan Islands maritime resources
The Jakarta Post 5 Jan 11;

Scientists are warning that the ecosystem of the Tambelan Islands, located at the southern part of the Natuna Islands in Riau, has been severely degraded by overfishing, threatening several endangered species including sea turtles.

Erlinda Yurisanthae, a marine scientist from Tanjungpura University in West Kalimantan, said that the use of illegal fishing methods, such huge trawling nets, explosives and poisons such as potassium cyanide, were endangering Tambelan’s biodiversity, including its coral reefs and sea turtles.

“Economic activity has had a significant affect on Tambelan’s coastal areas,” she told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a two-day workshop titled “The Natuna Sea and South Kalimantan Waters Expedition”.

Erlinda was part of the expedition, which was comprised of 36 scientists from the Oceanographic Research Center at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and 22 lecturers from several local universities.

The expedition visited Natuna from Nov. 4 to 16 and South Kalimantan from Nov. 19 to Dec. 1.

Erlinda said illegal fishing had been carried out primarily by fishermen from outside of the Tambelan Islands, although some local fishermen were allegedly paid to direct outsiders to good fishing locations.

The Tambelan Islands cover 356,905 hectares of Bintan Regency, the administrative center of Bintan Island in Riau Islands Province.

Tambelan, which has a northern border on the South China Sea, can only be reached by sea from Bintan Regency.

The sea turtle is one of the most endangered animals in the world, according to the list of the most protected animals, which prohibits international trade in protected species.

Fahmi, a LIPI marine scientist, said the expedition also discovered that the population of the sea turtles was declining, despite a huge initial turtle population, especially on Uwi Island and Pejantan Island.

Aside from overfishing, an ongoing local tradition of eating turtle eggs might also have contributed to bringing the sea turtles to the brink of extinction, Fahmi said.

“They won’t stop consuming turtle eggs, so to the population decreases,” he told the Post.

Fahmi said local residents claimed that they were preserving the turtle population by protecting turtle nesting places along the beaches and prohibiting the slaughter of turtles.

In fact, they were making it easier to harvest turtle eggs, which were sold for at very low prices ranging from Rp 600 (7 US cents) to Rp 1,200, depending on their size, he said.

Over the last several years, the Riau administration has advocated the development of a national park for Tambelan Islands. By establishing a national park, exploitation of biodiversity would be effectively illegal.

“The local government has suggested that a marine national park be established over an area of 15 million hectares, mostly located in the Tambelan Islands,” said Husni Azkab, a LIPI scientist.

A proposed regional law on the Tambelan National Park should have been deliberated this year, but was delayed due to several obstacles, including a lack of scientific data.

The local residents of Tambelan depend on the sea and its marine resources for their livelihoods, but resources were continuously depleted by overfishing, he said.

According to LIPI’s Oceanographic Research Center, the coral reef ecosystem of the Tambelan Islands has been continuously degrading since the 1990s.

According to the Natuna Expedition, only 6.41 percent of Indonesia’s coral reefs, including those in Tambelan, were in very good condition, while 24.3 percent were in good condition, 29.22 percent were in moderate condition and 40.14 percent had been damaged.

Apart from establishing a marine conservation park in Tambelan, Erlinda said the local government should designate fishing areas for local fishermen so they would not lose their livelihoods. Alternative economic activities should also be provided for local people during the transition period.

“I don’t see any rejection of these ideas from the local people because they understand that the Tambelan ecosystem has been severely degraded by illegal fishing and the use of prohibited fishing methods,” she said.

“They have seen the decrease in fish catches from year to year. They want to end this difficult situation.”

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry recorded that the volume of commercial marine species in Natuna waters was 0.27 tons per square meter in 2010, down from between 1.8 to 2.3 tons per square meter in 1974, due to overfishing. (ebf)

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Manatees paddle to warm water to escape Florida chill

Associated Press Google News 29 Dec 10;

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — People aren't the only ones in Florida who don't like cold weather.

Manatees — those giant aquatic mammals with the flat, paddle-shaped tails — are swimming out of the chilly Gulf of Mexico waters and into warmer springs and power plant discharge canals. On Tuesday, more than 300 manatees floated in the outflow of Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station.

"It's like a warm bathtub for them," said Wendy Anastasiou, an environmental specialist at the power station's manatee viewing center. "They come in here and hang out and loll around."

Cold weather can weaken manatees' immune systems and eventually kill them. State officials said 2010 has been a deadly year for the beloved animals: between Jan. 1 and Dec. 17, 246 manatees died from so-called "cold stress." During the same time period in 2009, only 55 manatees died from the cold. In 2008, only 22 manatees succumbed to chilly temperatures.

Manatee deaths documented from Jan. 1 through Dec. 5 are nearly double the five-year average for that time period, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission statistics.

"Obviously we're very concerned as an agency about the unusually high number of manatee deaths this year," said Wendy Quigley, a spokeswoman with the state-run Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

A total of 699 manatees were found dead between Jan. 1 and Dec. 5; state officials say it's likely the cold temperatures also contributed to many of the 203 deaths in the "undetermined" category and the 68 deaths of manatees whose bodies could not be recovered.

Quigley noted that the statistics don't even include this week's cold snap, which sent temperatures plummeting into the 30s in parts of South Florida overnight and into the teens in the central part of the state.

Tampa Bay and Gulf water temperatures are hovering around 50 degrees, said Anastasiou. When the water dips below 68, manatees seek warmer waters — usually springs or the power plant discharge canals. The water temperature in the power plant's Big Bend canal ranges from about 65-75 degrees, Anastasiou said. Even though they're huge animals, manatees are very cold sensitive.

"They're not blubbery mammals. They're very lean mammals," Anastasiou said. "They need the warmth. They need a warm place to go."

The herbivores will brave the cold temperatures to forage for sea grass but will sometimes stay in the warm canal without eating for days.

Adult manatees can weigh up to 1,200 pounds and grow to be 10 feet long. During the warmer months, manatees leave Florida and can be found as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts — although sightings along the Gulf Coast and near the Carolinas are also common.

During last year's cold snap, some 329 manatees congregated at the Tampa Electric power station. In Broward County on Tuesday, some 50 manatees gathered in the outfall of a Florida Power and Light plant.

State officials are also warning boaters to slow down and be on the lookout for manatees in the warmer, shallow water, where the mammals can fall victim to boat propellers. Hundreds have been spotted in local waters, state wildlife officials said.

Officials say most of the manatees were in the warmer waters near Florida Power and Light's power plants. However, some small groups were spotted in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Meanwhile Tuesday in coastal Mobile, Ala., a 700-pound manatee died during a rescue attempt.

Ruth Carmichael, head of the manatee program at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said she and a team from the Mobile Manatees Sighting Network wrapped the animal in warm towels when they were called Saturday to a Mobile Bay beach.

Carmichael said rescuers used a stretcher made of car towing straps to move the manatee onto a trailer, and had hoped to haul the animal to the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss.

The young male was supposed to have migrated to Florida waters about two months ago, though it was unclear if the animal died because of chilly conditions, Carmichael said.

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New species abound in Peru, but so do threats

Roberto Cortijo Yahoo News 27 Dec 10;

LIMA (AFP) – Each year, a new bird is found and every four years a new mammal discovered in the Peruvian Amazon, a haven for biodiversity where conservation and danger often go hand in hand.

Although Peru is known for its Andes mountain range, the Amazon actually covers 60 percent of the country's territory. It is a hotbed of bio-activity and is home to 25,000 species of plants -- 10 percent of the world's stock.

Thanks to the Amazon, Peru has the world's second-largest bird population (1,800 species) and is among the top five countries for mammals (515 species) and reptiles (418 species).

This year alone, scientists stumbled upon a previously unknown leech and a new type of mosquito.

The animal population has grown in recent years, namely adding a mini poison dart frog with a fire-red head and blue legs (Ranitomeya amazonica), a purple-throated Sunangel hummingbird (Heliangelus viola) and a "tyrannosaurus leech" with eight teeth (Tyrannobdella reina).

More than 1,200 new species of plants or animals have been discovered in 10 years in the Amazon, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. But paradoxically, the novel species are often discovered during the very activities that threaten the Amazon the most.

"Most of these discoveries don't happen during scientific expeditions, which are often costly. They most often come when workers are digging exploration sites for oil, mining or lumber companies," said WWF Peru's Amazon program director Michael Valqui.

"This type of discovery is also simultaneously endangering the species that is being discovered in its one and only habitat."

Peru, home to one of the biggest forest lands -- 700,000 square kilometers (270,270 square miles) -- is also a magnet for resource extraction.

The number of concessions granted has doubled since 2006 to cover 16 percent of the territory, according to the Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America.

At the same time, Peru boasts of being on the cutting edge of conservation, with 15 percent of its territory under protected status.

"And we're aiming for 30 percent," said Environment Minister Antonio Brack.

Environmentalists, though, worry about the future of biodiversity and the species living outside these protected zones.

"There are no clear signals as to what the country intends to do to protect biodiversity," said Ivan Lanegra, representative of the influential government-funded Peruvian ombudsman office.

Gerard Herail of France's IRD research and development institute in Lima noted that "a mining or hydrocarbons firm is not innately destructive. The key is whether or not it is 'clean'," or uses cleaner methods and technologies.

More species are disappearing than are being discovered around the world, noted Ernesto Raez, who heads the Sustainable Development Center at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima.

"In other words, species are disappearing before we discover them," he added.

But the IRD says the very context of their disappearance allows the group to "develop biodiversity conservation strategies," such as those deployed successfully for the huge arapaima or paiche fish (Arapaima gigas), one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.

Twenty-one species remain in "critical danger" of extinction in Peru, according to 2004 numbers, including the short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla brevicaudata) and the sharp-eared bat (Tompoeas ravus). The leaf-eared mouse (phyllotis andinum) is believed to have already disappeared.

The Lima gecko (Phyllodactylus sentosus), a minuscule nocturnal lizard also in critical danger, illustrates the sometimes complex relationship between threat and conservation.

The gecko finds its habitat in the darkest corners of the huacas, pre-Hispanic burial grounds or ritual sites that dot Lima and the coast.

"But archeologists' maintenance work, crucial for conservation, is exactly what's destroying the gecko's habitat" and triggering its downfall, said Valqui.

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Sand from Bangladesh may boost Maldives

UPI 28 Dec 10;

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Sand from Bangladesh may help to keep the Maldives above water under a proposed agreement between the two countries, an official said.

"We have received a proposal from the Maldives government regarding this. They want to import soil from our country in defense against rising sea levels," said Bangladesh Commerce Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan, the Business Standard newspaper of India reports.

The two countries are investigating the possibility and may sign an agreement within three or four months, Khan said.

Dredging Bangladesh's rivers has become necessary because of huge amounts of sediment -- totaling around 264 billion gallons -- that is naturally deposited from the Himalayas. As a result, the country's rivers are becoming increasingly difficult for vessels to navigate, Khan said.

Dredging would start with Mongla Port on the Posur River and isn't likely to have an impact on Bangladesh's environment, Khan said.

"We are more than happy if the deal works out because it will be beneficial for a brotherly nation," Khan said.

The Maldives' 1,200 low-lying islands and coral atolls, about 500 miles from the tip of India, are in danger of disappearing if the current pace of global climate change continues. In 2007, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that rising sea levels of up to nearly 2 feet would swamp many of the country's islands, which average 4.9 feet above sea level.

To keep back the ocean, the Maldives has had to build sea walls and residents of 16 islands need to be relocated to bigger islands. Those larger islands, in turn, are in the process of being reclaimed and recreated, Maldives' President Mohamed Nasheed recently told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Last October, Nasheed had the world's first underwater Cabinet meeting to call attention to climate change and has pledged that his country would go carbon neutral by 2020 by switching to 100 percent renewable energy.

In November, the Maldives was the first country to release a carbon audit, which calculated future emissions trajectories and included recommendations to reduce greenhouse gases and oil dependency.

Nasheed was ranked 39th in Foreign Policy magazine's listing of the most influential 100 people globally in 2010, referring to him as "the world's most environmentally outspoken president."

"He has made his tiny country -- a string of atolls in the Indian Ocean … a poster child for the need to stop global warming," the magazine said of Nasheed.

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