News

This Premature Seal Pup was Rescued and Successfully Rehabilitated

Featured Image Source: The Providence Journal | Bob Briedenbach

Earlier this month, a harbor seal was returned to the wild waves of the ocean. The young harbour seal, Laysan, was rescued last May at a very young age.

The rescuers believed that he was only about one week old at the time of rescue. Apparently, the pup was born prematurely. In the wild, mother seals will abandon their young that have a low chance of survival.

Laysan was rescued in Falmouth, Maine. He was later transported to Mystic Aquarium where he was well taken care of. His treatment included a surgery to stop an infection, careful weaning, swim lessons, and plenty of TLC from the staff.

When it was time to release Laysan, the staff attached a satellite tag so that researchers can track his movements and see what this young seal chooses to do with his freedom.

Although Laysan is a lucky seal, many other prematurely born seals do not survive in the wild. It is difficult for the mother of a premature seal pup to feed and care for the pup in a way that would help it to survive. Many times these pups need specialized medical attention in order to survive. Laysan was very lucky and it is amazing to see the young pup returned to the wild in just a matter of months!

Check out the video below:

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Dozens of Stranded Seals are Causing Chaos in this Newfoundland Town

Featured Image Source: (Brendon Fitzpatrick/Reuters) (Social Media/Reuters)

In Roddickton, Newfoundland, a mass stranding of seals is causing a major problem. Dozens of seals have been stranded in the past week or so and it is apparently wreaking havoc on the resources of this small town.

Mayor Sheila Fitzgerald has said that the seals have been blocking traffic on roads, doors of buildings and driveways of homes. However, the locals are unable to do anything about it. It is illegal for the residents to touch any marine mammals according to a national law, but the mayor claims these seals are getting out of control.

It is unsafe for the seals to be in the roadways for both their own safety and the safety of humans. In fact, two seals have already been struck by cars. The other seals seem to be in extreme distress and are becoming hungry and tired according to the mayor.

Fitzgerald is requesting the help of the Fisheries Department to help return the seals to where they belong. A frozen inlet has trapped this group of 40 seals in the area of town. Although, a couple of seals are typically trapped each year, this is an alarming amount. The locals are concerned for the seals’ health and want to help but are restricted by law. The Fisheries Department may send help to the seals in this town but it is not yet determined if or when help will arrive.

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Meet the Robot Working to Recover the Great Barrier Reef

Featured Image Source:www.techly.com.au

Coral reefs around the world are suffering due to increasing temperatures and acidity. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the reefs that is suffering.

Researchers are working hard to find ways to stop the decline. One project has developed an underwater robot that is designed to help coral reefs recover.

The robot, LarvalBot, is only the size of a briefcase but it may have a big impact on struggling coral reefs. The robot is meant to deliver microscopic larvae to the reef in large quantities.

Peter Harrison, the director of the Marine Ecology Research Center at South Cross University, had this to say about the technology, “the reduced number of corals means we’ve lost the ability for coral to provide enough larvae to settle and restore these communities quickly. The idea here is to use an automated technique that allows us to target delivery of the larvae into damaged reef systems and increase the efficiency that new coral communities can be generated. “

The team is working with the robot on the northern portion of the Great Barrier Reef. The larvae being delivered are species that seem to be especially tolerant of warmer ocean temperatures. Hopefully this effort can help corals around the world recover quickly.

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Whale Carcass Washes on Shore a Hawaiian Beach

Featured Image Source: Hawaii News Now

A huge whale carcass washed onto a Hawaiian beach on Sand Island. Before it washed onto land, it was being devoured by tiger sharks. The officials on the scene are working on a plan to drag it back out to sea.

Whale carcasses form an important part of the ecosystem throughout the ocean. In the first days following death, large sharks from several miles around flock to the massive amount of flesh. The amount of calories on the carcass are usually enough to feed several large sharks. Eventually, the body will start to sink. When it reaches the bottom of the ocean, even more deep water sharks will continue to pick off of the body until there is nothing but bones left. After that, smaller creatures will use the marrow of the bones to get their nutrition. Nothing is left to waste in the complex food chain that depends on large whale deaths like this one.

It is crucial that the body is taken back out to sea for both the waiting food chain and the humans on shore who do not want to smell the death of a massive animal for several weeks.

It is likely that they will just strap the whale to a boat and tow it out.

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Rescuers are Rushing to the Aid of an Entangled Whale on the Coast of Scotland

Featured Image Credit: oceanwide-expeditions.com

In Loch Eriboll in northern Scotland, a large whale has recently become stranded.

The whale is about 30 feet long and is a juvenile sperm whale according to local officials. The stranding has occurred near the village of Durness.

On Thursday, a team from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue arrived at the scene. The young whale appeared to be entangled in ocean trash of some kind and it was clearly in distress. The animal became stranded because of the trauma of the entanglement.

The whale was spotted as it slowly swam into the loch from the ocean. The rescue effort is still underway.

An official from the Shetland Coastguard which is coordinating the operation, had this to say, “the whale is less than 100 meters from the shore. It is very close to the mouth of the loch and we are concerned it will come ashore. It appears to be entangled and in distress so we would ask people to stay away from the scene so as not to cause any more distress to the animal.”

Hopefully the rescue mission will be able to disentangle the whale and allow it to return to deeper waters soon.

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The City of Saint Petersburg, Florida is Banning Plastic Products

Featured Image Credit:http://nynjbaykeeper.org

Saint Petersburg, Florida, is a city situated on the Tampa Bay. The resident’s connection to the
water has inspired a new movement to keep it clean! Local leaders voted 5 to 2 to ban plastic within the
city limits. Straws, a piece of single-use plastic under fire from worldwide audiences, will only be served
by-request by 2020, while styrofoam products will be out of use just weeks into 2019.

Known by its brand name “Styrofoam”, the chemical polystyrene is commonly found as to go
boxes and insulated drink cups. The light and delicate material is known for degrading into tiny pieces
much faster than its other plastic counterparts, making it especially dangerous for humans and wildlife
alike. The soft material also absorbs environmental chemicals like a sponge, increasing the toxicity of the
material. According to a study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s National Institute of
Health, the chemicals in Styrofoam caused increased risk of lymphoma and leukemia in workers that
develop the compound.

Because of how polystyrene is made, it crumbles much faster than other types of plastic, shown in the photo above. This makes cleanup efforts much more difficult as the foam degrades into imperceptibly small dots. Source.

Harriet Spark of 1 Million Women shows how many plastic straws she collected swimming off of Australia’s coast. She removed over 150 straws on her solo mission, demonstrating the worldwide problem of plastic straw pollution. Source.

As much as 40 percent of debris found in streams is Styrofoam, largely due to how easily the
material blows around in the wind. The other subject of Saint Pete’s plastic ban, single-use straws, have
plagued beaches across the world. In The Ocean Conservancy’s citizen science project, the “International
Coastal Cleanup”, 9 million straws have been collected in just 30 years. The upcoming 2019 year will be
a phase-out period in which businesses will still be allowed to serve plastic straws without a customer
request. Starting in January 2020, businesses that serve straws automatically will be warned at the first
offense, then fined up to $80 for each additional offense.

Saint Pete joins cities and states across the United States that are banning single-use plastic
products. California, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Seattle are just a handful of other places that are
confronting plastic pollution head-on. Internationally, Scotland, Taiwan, and areas of Britain are also
limiting their consumption. Read more about Saint Pete’s plastic bans from our source here, and learn
more about how you can ban plastic from YOUR life at the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas page.