BIOtheNUMBERS

There are about 80 species of cetaceans, which includes dolphins, porpoises and whales.

The great whale grouping includes all baleen whales and the toothed sperm whale, and range in size from 30 to 100 feet in length.

In 1994 the International Whaling Commission established a sanctuary in the waters around the Antarctic, which permanently bans whaling.  However, a loophole provides exemptions for “scientific research”.  As of November 2008, Japan reduced its  whale take from 945 minke whales to 750. However, they did not alter their quota of 50 endangered fin whales.

Great Whale Populations (IWC population estimates)

Minke whale – 970,800
Blue whale – 2,300
Humpback whale – 63,600
Fin whale – 33,200
Gray whale – 26,420
Bowhead whale – 11,730
Right whale – 7,800
Pilot whale – 780,000

In the South Tasman Rise, high seas south of Australia, fishing records show that 1.6 tons of coral was hauled aboard trawling vessels per hour in 1997.  In that year, more than 10,000 tons of coral bycatch was estimated to be captured, but less than 4,000 tons of their actual orange roughy target was caught (Deep Sea Conservation Coalition).

The United Nations Environment Programme recorded more than 4.4 million pounds of coral and sponge bycatch in the Aleutian Islands between 1990-2002.

In September 2008, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization failed to reach an agreement that would protect threatened deep-sea zones, although they partially closed two seamount areas with the caveat that 20% is still open to exploratory fishing (NAFO).

“Orange Roughy, one of the most commercially fished deep-water species. Orange Roughy can live for around 150 years and do not begin to breed until they are around 25 years old, making them extremely susceptible to over-fishing.” (NOAA)

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NOAA (April 2, 2009) released new information regarding Arctic sea ice based on research at the University of Washington and the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean in Seattle-

-Arctic summers may well be ice-free in 30 years, an update to previously released projections that such an event would occur by the end of the century.

- Summer sea ice is expected to decline from its current 4.6 million square kilometers (about 1.8 million square miles) to about 1 million square kilometers (about 390,000 square miles)

-This represents a loss of an area two-fifths the size of the continental U.S.

“Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest (an area larger than Greece) and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.”

60-70% of deforestation in the Amazon results from cattle ranches

Remaining 30-40% results from small-scale subsistence agriculture.

“Despite the widespread press attention, large-scale farming (i.e. soybeans) currently contributes relatively little to total deforestation in the Amazon. Most soybean cultivation takes place outside the rainforest in the neighboring cerrado grassland ecosystem and in areas that have already been cleared. Logging results in forest degradation but rarely direct deforestation. However, studies have showed a close correlation between logging and future clearing for settlement and farming.”

Data: Mongabay

-As of April 2004, the National Wilderness Preservation System contained 662 wilderness areas totaling 105.7 million acres, or 4.67 percent of all land in the United States.

-There are approximately 43.6 million acres in national parks, 34.8 million acres in national forests, 20.7 million acres in national wildlife refuges, and 6.5 million acres on the western heritage lands of the Bureau of Land Management.

-More than half, or 57.5 million acres, of all designated wilderness is in the huge national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests of Alaska; more than one-third is in the 11 westernmost contiguous 48 states.

Stats: Wilderness Society

International Coastal Cleanup 2008

-Volunteers traversed 17,000 miles of coastline and collected 11,439,086 million pieces of trash, from cigarette butts to grocery bags to fast-food wrappers.

-This is equivalent to more than 400 pounds of debris for every mile of beach cleaned.

-Via boats, 1,236 people collected 38,224 pounds of debris that could not be reached from land, and 10,600 divers (organized by the Project AWARE Foundation), dove below the water’s surface to haul out 219,528 pounds.

-A total of 6,485 sites, spanning beaches in South Korea to rivers and waterways in Kansas, were cleaned.

Stats: Ocean Conservancy