New Energy's EnCurrent Tidal Turbine

Nova Scotia, a province on Canada’s east coast,  has taken another step towards turning its abundant ocean energy resources into an affordable supply of clean, renewable electricity.  The province released a plan this week, that outlines how it will use local expertise and knowledge to develop the emerging energy sector.

The Marine Renewable Energy Strategy contains broad policy, economic and legal conditions for renewable energy projects and technologies for commercial development in the province.  ”It represents a provincial commitment to cleaner and made-in-Nova Scotia energy solutions,” said Energy Minister Charlie Parker. “It continues the careful approach we have already taken to explore the potential of tidal electricity in Nova Scotia.


“The strategy will guide work related to in-stream tidal development. We have tapped into the expertise and knowledge of local experts to ensure it is implemented in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.”  It incorporates feedback from consultations with interested groups and the Mi’kmaq.

It focuses on three main areas: research; development; and regulatory planning. The regulation framework, which is being developed, will protect Nova Scotians’ interests and the environment while providing opportunities to invent, design, test and develop the right technologies to harness the province’s marine renewable energy.

This report acts on recommendations by Dalhousie University oceanographer Bob Fournier, whose September 2011 report recommended developing a provincial marine renewable strategy and legislation. He outlined 27 recommendations in Marine Renewable Energy Legislation: A Consultative Approach, which focused on in-stream tidal development.

The strategy addresses all of Mr. Fournier’s recommendations.   ”After five years of intense activity in the pursuit of marine renewable energy, the Department of Energy has produced a strategic plan,” said Mr. Fournier. “This plan, grounded in public consultation and thoughtful decision-making, is a roadmap that establishes goals, defines priorities and sets benchmarks against which Nova Scotians will be able to measure their progress. This is a useful and important document.”

Elisa Obermann, Atlantic director, Ocean Renewable Energy Group, said the announcement enhances the province’s global reputation.  ”This strategy will ensure that Nova Scotia plays a major leadership role in the marine renewable energy industry worldwide,” said Ms. Obermann. “It provides the conditions to realize industrial-scale development of tidal energy.”

“This plan shows Nova Scotia is thinking long term about tidal energy,” said FORCE chair John Woods. “The province is considering everything from environmental effects to costs to economic benefits; all of this is important if tidal is to become part of our future energy mix.”

NOAA Photo

New analysis of updated data has shown that eight percent of U.S. waters are currently designated as marine protected areas (MPAs), with the vast majority of these areas open to fishing and other activities, according to NOAA. U.S. sites are cataloged in the recently updated MPA Inventory, available online.

“These data show that the U.S. has a representative network of MPAs, both geographically and for different purposes, and eight percent is good progress,” says Lauren Wenzel, acting director of the National Marine Protected Areas Center. “We need to make sure that we’ve protected examples of all of our diverse ecosystems and habitats and that existing MPAs are effectively managed.”


The eight percent figure does not include MPAs specifically established to sustain fisheries production, which often have specific restrictions on fishing gear over large ocean areas. Other inventory analyses including these fishery MPAs, however, show that 92 percent of the area within U.S. MPAs allows some type of activity, and 85 percent is open to fishing.

The analysis also showed that more than two-thirds of all U.S. MPAs were created, at least in part, to conserve natural heritage values, such as biodiversity, ecosystems, or protected species. About a quarter of sites focus on sustainable production, such as those established to recover overfished stocks, protect species readily taken as bycatch, or preserve essential fish habitats, while the remaining approximately ten percent were established to conserve our nation’s cultural heritage.

Data in the updated MPA Inventory are available in tabular and spatial form, and can be viewed through the MPA Center’s interactive MPA mapping tool. The mapping tool allows users to see all the MPAs in a specific location or region and to search for specific attributes, including conservation purpose, managing agency and level of protection, among others.

“The MPA inventory and mapping tool give both planners and the public an easy way to see the big picture of all the marine protected areas in our oceans and along our coasts. By including MPAs from all federal and state agencies, managers can better cooperate to protect shared resources, and the public can easily find their local MPAs and see the types of uses they allow,” said David M. Kennedy, assistant NOAA administrator for the National Ocean Service.

Developed with extensive input from state and federal MPA programs and drawn from other publically available data, the MPA inventory contains information on more than 1,700 sites and is the only such comprehensive dataset in the nation. Information in the inventory is current as of March 2012.

MPAs are conservation areas that include the marine environment, such as some national parks and national wildlife refuges, national marine sanctuaries and similar areas managed by state, local and tribal governments. They protect natural and cultural marine resources, and many allow a variety of activities such as fishing, recreation, and research.

NOAA Okeanos Explorer Photo

During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago. Scientists on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer used underwater robots with lights and high definition cameras to view remnants of the ship laden with anchors, navigational instruments, glass bottles, ceramic plates, cannons, and boxes of muskets.

Equipped with telepresence technology, Okeanos Explorer reached audiences around the world who participated in the expedition through live streaming Internet video. As members of the public ashore watched live video from the ocean bottom, they became “citizen explorers,” sharing in the discovery with maritime archaeologists, scientists and resource managers from a variety of federal, academic, and private organizations.

The NOAA-funded 56-day expedition that ended April 29 was exploring poorly known regions of the Gulf, mapping and imaging unknown or little-known features and habitats, developing and testing a method to measure the rate that gas rises from naturally-occurring seeps on the seafloor, and investigating potential shipwreck sites.

The shipwreck site was originally identified as an unknown sonar contact during a 2011 oil and gas survey for Shell Oil Company. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requested this and other potential shipwreck sites be investigated during NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico expedition. Surveys and archaeological assessments are required by BOEM to aid in its decision-making prior to issuing permits for bottom-disturbing activities related to oil and gas exploration and development.

“Artifacts in and around the wreck and the hull’s copper sheathing may date the vessel to the early to mid-19th century,” said Jack Irion, Ph.D., a maritime archaeologist with BOEM. “Some of the more datable objects include what appears to be a type of ceramic plate that was popular between 1800 and 1830, and a wide variety of glass bottles. A rare ship’s stove on the site is one of only a handful of surviving examples in the world and the second one found on a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Significant historical events occurring in the regions around the Gulf of Mexico during this time include the War of 1812, events leading to the Texas Revolution, and the Mexican-American War, he said.

“Shipwrecks help to fill in some of the unwritten pages of history,” said Frank Cantelas, a maritime archaeologist with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. “We explored four shipwrecks during this expedition and I believe this wreck was by far the most interesting and historic. The site is nearly 200 miles off the Gulf coast in over 4,000 feet of water in a relatively unexplored area.”

The expedition also discovered areas exhibiting rich biodiversity. At the base of the West Florida Escarpment, a steep undersea cliff, explorers found a “forest” of deep corals, several of which were new to scientists on the ship and ashore. For several days the expedition team also imaged deep-coral communities in the vicinity of the Macondo oil spill site. On another part of the expedition, team members designed and installed a device on the ship’s undersea robot system, or ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), to measure the rate that gas rises in the water column.

“Testing new methods and technologies is a priority,” said Tim Arcano, director of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. “We plan for ocean exploration to foster both follow-on research, and develop new technologies to help ocean resource managers and others better understand, use, and protect our largely unknown ocean and its resources.”

Okeanos Explorer is equipped with: a state-of-the-art multibeam mapping sonar; the Institute for Exploration’s Little Hercules ROV, which made 29 dives; and telepresence technology that uses satellite and high-speed Internet pathways between ship and shore, allowing scientists ashore to participate in the mission in real-time, and general audiences to be “citizen explorers” as the mission unfolds, live.

Background information, web logs from scientists at sea and ashore, video clips, still images, and education lesson plans describing the expedition are available online.

Partners in the 2012 Gulf of Mexico expedition included a number of NOAA offices, BOEM, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, C&C Technologies, Florida Atlantic University, Geoscience Earth & Marine Services, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University’s Science and Technology Center at Stennis, Naval History and Heritage Command, NOAA Northern Gulf Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, Tesla Offshore LLC, Institute for Exploration, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Joint Office for Science Support, University of New Hampshire, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of Rhode Island, University of Texas at Austin, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

BOEM manages the exploration and development of the nation’s offshore energy and mineral resources. The bureau seeks to balance economic development, energy production, and environmental protection through oil and gas leasing, renewable energy development and environmental reviews and studies.

The NOAA Ocean Exploration Program is the only federal program dedicated to systematic exploration of the planet’s largely unknown ocean. NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is operated, managed and maintained by NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations which includes commissioned officers of the NOAA Corps and civilian wage mariners. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research operates, manages and maintains the cutting-edge ocean exploration systems on the vessel and ashore.

Statoil has reached an agreement to use Seadrill’s West Aquarius deepwater drilling rig for Statoil’s 2012-2013 exploration activities offshore Newfoundland, Canada.

“We have ambitious exploration targets offshore Newfoundland, and securing rig capacity is essential for reaching those targets,” says Geir Richardsen, head of Exploration for Statoil in Canada. “We look forward to putting this rig’s capabilities into action.”


Starting late 2012, Statoil will begin a three-well drilling program, offshore Newfoundland, including two exploration wells in the Flemish Pass Basin as well as an exploration well in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin. “I am pleased that the company has acquired future rig capacity as exploration activity is a key component of Statoil’s ambitions to become a producing operator offshore Newfoundland,” says Kjell Magnus Myge, head of Procurement for Statoil in Canada.

The West Aquarius drilling rig is a sixth generation semi-submersible DP3 vessel built in South Korea in 2009. The vessel can operate in harsh environments up to 3,000 m water depth. The rig has been taken on as an assignment from ExxonMobil Deepwater Rig Limited.

Statoil is an international energy company with high ambitions for international growth, and with business operations in 37 countries around the world. Statoil’s North American activities are managed out of two main offices located in Houston, Texas, USA and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Statoil also has offices in Anchorage, Alaska, Austin, Texas, Stamford, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Williston, North Dakota, USA and St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

SOURCE Statoil Canada Limited

Source: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1bHPn)

Jenny Fenton is passionate about swordfish. After all, they are a top ocean predator whose survival is vital to balancing the ocean’s ecosystem as well as being an important food source.

But years of overfishing in the Florida Straits — where America’s swordfish nursery is located — have depleted their population. So much so that longline fishing gear is now outlawed in the Straits and juvenile swordfish caught there measuring 47 inches or less must be released. Longline gear uses up to 1,000 hooks strung on a single line to catch large quantities of fish.

Fenton, a graduate student in marine biology at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center, decided to make her passion a research project. During the last two years, she has been analyzing the survival rates of juvenile swordfish caught by fishermen using rod and reel and buoy gear. Her research is the first study of its kind.

Of the 20 satellite tags she plans to put on the captured fish, data from 16 have been analyzed. Five of the fish have died within a day, while nine survived without problems.

Her findings are important because the federal government is considering a measure that would allow recreational fishermen to catch swordfish for commercial use. If that happens, the number of juvenile swordfish caught could skyrocket in the Florida Straits, which goes through South Florida. Most of the adult swordfish found in waters throughout the Eastern Seaboard were born in the Florida Straits.

Swordfish were once abundant in South Florida. However, longline fishing gear dramatically depleted the species. In response, federal authorities banned this type of gear in the Florida Straits in 2001.

In 2003, a limited swordfish buoy gear fishing method developed in the Straits that uses only about 15 single hooks and float combinations, near the ocean’s surface. However, NSU Oceanographic Center research Scientist David Kerstetter, Ph.D., Fenton’s graduate advisor, conducted a study from 2007 to 2010 that found a few juvenile swordfish deaths from the buoy gear.

More than a decade after the longline ban, local swordfish stocks have returned to healthier levels. However, catch-and-release fishing has resulted in some dead swordfish. A potential decision to allow recreational fishermen to sell their catch commercially would put more juvenile swordfish at risk.

Fenton, whose study is sponsored by the NOAA Fisheries Service, will share her data with the federal agency. Then it will be up to resource managers to decide whether allowing swordfish anglers to sell their catch commercially is worth the fishing pressure it would put on their nursery grounds.

“This has been a fascinating project working with such an important species to both recreational fishing and the commercial fishing industry,” Fenton said. “I hope my data will be used to sustain healthy populations of swordfish for future generations to enjoy, as well as balancing the ecosystem.”

Fenton, who is using this project as her master’s thesis, said the four remaining tags will be deployed soon.

About Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center:

A world leader in marine biological research with focus on coral reef science and shark conservation, Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center has been at the forefront of graduate and undergraduate marine science education and oceanographic research for over 48 years. Students, scientists, faculty and staff come to the Center from all corners of the globe, with the common goal of learning from the ocean’s living classrooms — in one of the most diverse ecosystems known to man. http://www.nova.edu/ocean/

About Nova Southeastern University:

Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University is a dynamic fully accredited research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at all levels. NSU is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally with more than 28,000 students. NSU awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification. www.nova.edu

SOURCE Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center

During SEAPLEX, sea skaters and plastic trash were collected with a fine-meshed net called a "manta net," seen here being deployed from R/V New Horizon by Miriam Goldstein and Mario Aguilera. Photo credit: J. Leichter, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

 In 2009 an ambitious group of graduate students led the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) to the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon. During the voyage the researchers, who concentrated their studies a thousand miles west of California, documented an alarming amount of human-generated trash, mostly broken down bits of plastic the size of a fingernail floating across thousands of miles of open ocean.

At the time the researchers didn’t have a clear idea of how such trash might be impacting the ocean environment, but a new study published in the May 9 online issue of the journal Biology Letters reveals that plastic debris in the area popularly known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” has increased by 100 times over in the past 40 years, leading to changes in the natural habitat of animals such as the marine insect Halobates sericeus. These “sea skaters” or “water striders”-relatives of pond water skaters-inhabit water surfaces and lay their eggs on flotsam (floating objects). Naturally existing surfaces for their eggs include, for example: seashells, seabird feathers, tar lumps and pumice. In the new study researchers found that sea skaters have exploited the influx of plastic garbage as new surfaces for their eggs. This has led to a rise in the insect’s egg densities in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

Such an increase, documented for the first time in a marine invertebrate (animal without a backbone) in the open ocean, may have consequences for animals across the marine food web, such as crabs that prey on sea skaters and their eggs.

“This paper shows a dramatic increase in plastic over a relatively short time period and the effect it’s having on a common North Pacific Gyre invertebrate,” said Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein, lead author of the study and chief scientist of SEAPLEX, a UC Ship Funds-supported voyage. “We’re seeing changes in this marine insect that can be directly attributed to the plastic.”

The new study follows a report published last year by Scripps researchers in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series showing that nine percent of the fish collected during SEAPLEX contained plastic waste in their stomachs. That study estimated that fish in the intermediate ocean depths of the North Pacific Ocean ingest plastic at a rate of roughly 12,000 to 24,000 tons per year.

The Goldstein et al. study compared changes in small plastic abundance between 1972-1987 and 1999-2010 by using historical samples from the Scripps Pelagic Invertebrate Collection and data from SEAPLEX, a NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer cruise in 2010, information from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation as well as various published papers.

In April, researchers with the Instituto Oceanográfico in Brazil published a report that eggs of Halobates micans, another species of sea skater, were found on many plastic bits in the South Atlantic off Brazil.

“Plastic only became widespread in late ’40s and early ’50s, but now everyone uses it and over a 40-year range we’ve seen a dramatic increase in ocean plastic,” said Goldstein. “Historically we have not been very good at stopping plastic from getting into the ocean so hopefully in the future we can do better.”

Coauthors of the study include Marci Rosenberg, a student at UCLA, and Scripps Research Biologist Emeritus Lanna Cheng.

Funding for SEAPLEX was provided by the University of California Ship Funds, an innovative program that allows a new generation of scientists to gain valuable scientific training at sea, Project Kaisei/Ocean Voyages Institute, the Association for Women in Science-San Diego and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. The NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program (2010 Always Exploring expedition) and National Marine Fisheries Service provided support for the 2010 samples. Other study support was provided by Jim and Kris McMillan, Jeffrey and Marcy Krinsk, Lyn and Norman Lear, Ellis Wyer and an anonymous donor. Other support was provided by the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) program, part of NSF’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service is issuing two incidental harassment authorizations to Shell for energy exploration activities in shallow waters in the Arctic during a limited period this summer. The authorizations specify measures to protect marine mammals and the subsistence interests of Alaskan Natives, and are informed by the latest science as well as lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

While the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has primary responsibility to authorize exploratory activities on the Outer Continental Shelf, DOI’s conditional approvals of two Shell exploration plans for activities beginning in 2012 in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas each required Shell to seek incidental harassment authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act from NOAA as one of a series of conditions prior to commencing any activity.

“We’re issuing these authorizations to Shell after conducting extensive scientific review and considering public comments,” said Sam Rauch, acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “Shell will be required to put in place a number of mitigation measures that reduce or eliminate direct impacts to these animals and any negative effects on the ability of Alaskan Natives to conduct subsistence hunts for marine mammals.”

NOAA’s role in granting incidental harassment authorizations is to ensure that authorized activities do not harm or kill marine mammals, such as bowhead whales, beluga whales, and ice seals. Upon review of Shell’s application, NOAA does not expect Shell’s exploratory drilling activities to result in serious injury or death to marine mammals if mitigation measures are implemented. Additionally, NOAA does not expect these activities to alter the availability of marine mammals for Alaska Native subsistence hunters.

Under the authorization, Shell is required to follow measures to minimize effects to marine mammals, including:

•  Using trained observers to monitor and record animal behavior.
• Lowering ship speeds when marine mammals are spotted during aerial surveys or by observers on deck, and flying helicopters at higher altitudes to minimize noise.
• Communicating with Alaskan Native communities about exploratory activities and vessel routes.
• Suspending operations in certain areas during certain times, so Native subsistence hunters can conduct their hunts.

These measures are intended to minimize the potential for marine mammals to be harmed and to significantly reduce the number of marine mammals exposed to activities that could adversely affect their behavior. Additionally, NOAA will review Shell’s monitoring results to use new information to modify mitigation or monitoring measures in future authorizations.

A new nationwide survey shows that 77 percent of Americans across the political spectrum agree that Congress and the Administration should adopt a broad whale conservation program, and 89 percent believe that the U.S. should help enforce the global ban on commercial whaling. To help inform how to better protect the planet’s whales, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW; www.ifaw.org) today released Blueprint for U.S. Whale Conservation.

Developed over many months by IFAW and informed by broad consultations across the conservation community, this new blueprint action plan highlights the most urgent threats facing whales including commercial whaling, entanglement and entrapment, ship strikes and shipping noise, navy sonar, oil, gas and industrial development, pollution and cumulative threats; identifies current solutions; and recommends simple, effective next steps the U.S. government should take to secure a better future for whales in waters around the world.

“Thirty years after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) declared a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling, our planet’s great whales are far from saved,” said Patrick Ramage, Global Whale Program Director, IFAW. “The United States has consistently been among the leaders in the efforts to protect whales and from sea to shining sea the American people want their political leaders to act to protect this legacy.”

Among voters of both parties, 78 percent support having high-level U.S. government officials speak out publicly against commercial whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Sixty-two percent of respondents even stated that they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who took a firm stand against commercial whaling.

“Rarely do we see an issue that achieves as intense a level of support, across voters of all parties and ideologies, as we see when it comes to protecting the whales,” said Joel Benenson, President, Benenson Strategy Group who conducted the poll. “Voters of all parties are demonstrating a strong desire for action from Washington on this issue.”

“From the vital role whales fulfill in the marine ecosystems to the strong economic impact of the $2 billion whale watching industry, whales have become the totems of the environmental movement and increasingly widely appreciated worldwide as living beings, with their own intrinsic value,” added Ramage. “Now is the time for our leaders to seriously consider how we are going to protect these majestic creatures. We place these recommendations in their hands—just like the fate of these species.”

To download a full copy of the Blueprint for U.S. Whale Conservation, please visit www.ifaw.org/whaleblueprint.

About IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare)

Founded in 1969, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals, and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare

The two-year anniversary of the BP oil spill was marked by additional delays in the settlement of ongoing litigation and reports of new threats to the Gulf’s commercial fisheries industry. Florida’s Attorney General asked a federal court to delay granting preliminary approval of the settlement and U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans is lengthening the proposal review period.

Meanwhile, area fishermen and researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and Louisiana State University (LSU) are reporting mutated Gulf marine wildlife. This new threat to the beleaguered Gulf’s recovery is increasing pressure on already stressed commercial fishermen and local businesses. RD Legal Funding, LLC , a leading provider of lawsuit funding solutions, will offer settlement funding to plaintiffs and their attorneys as soon as their settlement amounts are determined.

A USF study released last summer found more sick fish in the area of the 2010 oil spill than in other areas. Scientists and commercial fishermen are describing shrimp and crabs without eyes, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don’t have their usual spikes. Damaged immune systems are being held responsible for the stranding of more than 600 dolphins along Gulf beaches since the spill, ten times the normal number for some areas. LSU oceanography professor James Cowan points to chronic exposure to oil and dispersant impacting Gulf marine wildlife’s genomes and compromising immune systems.

BP’s Macondo well blew out on April 20th, 2010, triggering the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the deaths of 11 rig workers, and a gusher that released more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the worst offshore oil spill in the nation’s history.

BP funded the Gulf Coast Claims Facility with $20 billion to compensate businesses that suffered disaster-related economic damages. More than 221,000 claims were processed for over $6 billion.

On March 2nd, 2012 BP agreed to settle additional lawsuits brought by more than 100,000 fishermen who lost work, cleanup workers who got sick, and others. A court-supervised administrator took over the claims process on March 8th, 2012. BP and plaintiffs’ attorneys presented a federal judge with the formal terms of a proposed class-action settlement to resolve these lawsuits on April 14th, 2012.

Concerned that Florida claimants not residing in Florida’s Panhandle and west coast might be excluded from the settlement, Florida Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi requested that New Orleans U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier delay preliminary approval of the settlement.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs in the BP Oil Spill Litigation, as well as plaintiffs themselves, should contact RD Legal at 1-800-565-5177 for more information about settlement funding solutions. Interim lawsuit settlement funding does not require any kind of payments until the settlement is paid; there are no monthly interest or principal payments, no upfront points or fees. Once the necessary documentation is received, RD Legal can wire funds within days. RD Legal provides personalized service and quick turnaround.

Paul Gauguin Cruises, operator of the highest-rated and longest continually sailing luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, the m/s Paul Gauguin, is the first travel company to earn the “e-Stewards Enterprise” designation for pursuing globally responsible recycling practices for its electronics.

The “e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment” was created by the Basel Action Network (BAN), who developed the world’s most rigorous standard for electronics recycling. As an e-Stewards Enterprise, Paul Gauguin Cruises agrees to always make the best efforts to work with recyclers that meet this standard.

“Paul Gauguin Cruises has committed to a new arena of increasing global importance and joins a growing number of business, academic, and government leaders taking action for responsible electronics recycling,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN.

The e-Stewards Standard incorporates the global ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems, plus many industry-specific performance requirements. The e-Stewards Certification is the only program supported by the environmental community (endorsed by more than 70 environmental organizations around the world). For more information on e-Stewards, visit www.e-stewards.org.

Pacific Beachcomber, Paul Gauguin Cruises’ parent company, is dedicated to eco-friendly practices that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. In addition to the cruise line, Pacific Beachcomber owns six award-winning hotels in French Polynesia that have garnered the prestigious EarthCheck certification—an internationally recognized environmental management program designed for the tourism industry. Additionally, its InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa was the first hotel in the world to implement “Sea-Water Air-Conditioning System” (SWAC) technology, using deep seawater for all the cooling requirements of the resort. SWAC is clean, quiet, maintenance-free, and a fully renewable non-fossil source of environmentally friendly energy that results in electricity savings of more than 90 percent for the resort in comparison to conventional cooling methods. For more information, visit www.tahiti.intercontinental.com and www.hotelmaitai.com.

Pacific Beachcomber’s next project is The Brando, a luxury eco-resort on the private island of Tetiaroa in French Polynesia. The Brando has set a goal of being fully self-sustaining with renewable sources of non-fossil energy. The company is also building an eco-station dedicated to scientific research, which will be home to conservation and education about the biodiversity in Tetiaroa and French Polynesia. For more information on Tetiaroa, visit www.tetiaroa.pf and www.storyoftetiaroa.com.

Pacific Beachcomber’s Chairman, Richard Bailey, is a world leader in the field of sustainable tourism and environmental responsibility. He is also co-founder of the non-profit foundation, Te Mana O Te Moana. The organization strives to protect the marine environment, provides public education, scientific research, and continuously promotes eco-friendly practices through its properties and local communities. Pacific Beachcomber is also a founding member of Sustainable Travel Leadership Network (STLN) which is a forum convened by Sustainable Travel International. STLN identifies and assesses key issues and provides a forum for information exchange on good business practices that facilitate social, environmental, and economic sustainability, both locally and globally. For more information on Pacific Beachcomber, visit www.pacificbeachcomber.com.

Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has  announced  that the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved the primary contract terms of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for ORPC’s Maine Tidal Energy Project located in Washington County.

The PUC’s order directs the three Maine investor-owned utilities, Bangor Hydro, CMP and Maine Public Service, to negotiate 20-year PPAs with ORPC for the project’s approximately 4-megawatt output based on the approved term sheet. ORPC expects to complete the PPAs in the next several weeks. These will be the first long-term PPAs for tidal energy in the United States.

This historic PUC decision is vital to the commercialization of tidal energy in Maine, and underscores Maine’s industry leadership in the U.S and abroad. It also formally recognizes the substantial benefits of tidal energy. The PPAs will greatly enhance ORPC’s ability to attract the additional investment needed to complete the project’s build-out over the next four years. They also mean that the significant economic development benefits ORPC has already created in Washington County will expand dramatically going forward.

“Today is a major milestone in the 80-year effort to commercially harness the vast power of the tides. For longer than most of us have been alive, it has been a dream deferred. Now that dream will finally be realized,” said Maine Senate President Kevin Raye, who represents all of Washington County and eastern areas of Hancock and Penobscot Counties, and who was a Senate member of the Ocean Energy Task Force.

“We are very excited for ORPC, the state of Maine, and the entire tidal energy industry. This means that ORPC will continue without pause towards our commercialization goals, and will further expand our creation of local jobs and economic benefits in the regional economy,” said Chris Sauer, ORPC’s President and CEO.

“We thank the citizens of Eastport and Lubec for helping ORPC succeed by consistently voicing their strong support and embracing tidal energy development in their communities,” said John Ferland, ORPC’s Vice President of Project Development.

The enabling legislation for the approved term sheet was established in April 2010, when the 124th Maine Legislature unanimously passed the Recommendations of the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force (Sec. 1-6, Public Law, Chapter 615, LD 1810). In so doing, the many and substantial benefits of tidal energy became a state priority. Tidal energy benefits include creating jobs and other significant economic development opportunities, mitigating risks associated with fossil fuel price volatility over the next 20 years, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving public health, and providing long-term energy security.

Installation of the first phase of the Maine Tidal Energy Project began in March 2012 with the installation of the bottom support frame for the first grid-connected, commercial TidGen™ Power System at ORPC’s Cobscook Bay site near Seward Neck, Lubec. ORPC expects to have the TidGen™ Power System installed by late summer, and to begin delivering electricity under the PPAs by October 1, 2012. In fall 2013, ORPC plans to install four additional TidGen™ devices at this site, creating a five-device TidGen™ Power System with a design capacity of 900 kilowatts, enough to power over 100 homes. In addition to Cobscook Bay, ORPC’s Maine Tidal Energy Project includes expansion into nearby Eastport- and Lubec-area tidal energy sites in Western Passage and Kendall Head, Maine. When completed, the project will generate up to 4 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity, enough to power over 1,000 homes.

Established in 2004, ORPC is a privately-held industry leader in tidal, river and deep-water ocean current power generation technology and projects. ORPC’s hub at Eastport and Lubec, Maine has become an internationally recognized center for tidal energy development. Here, in 2010, the company completed its Beta TidGen™ Power System project, the largest ocean energy device ever installed in U.S. waters at the time. In February 2010, ORPC was issued a pilot project license for its Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Maine Tidal Energy Project is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Maine Technology Institute.For more information, visit www.orpc.co.

ConocoPhillips China Inc.  and  will pay an aggregate amount of RMB 1.683 billion, among which COPC will contribute RMB 1.09 billion to compensate for the marine ecological damage caused by the Penglai  oil spill in June, 2011.

In addition, CNOOC and COPC will each fund RMB 0.48 billion and RMB 0.113 billion to resume the social responsibility for Bohai environmental protection. According to SOA release, the above mentioned funds will be used for ecological and environmental protection in Bohai, reduction on oil pollutants discharge at entrance to Bohai, habitat restoration of damaged marine ecological environment, as well as monitoring and researching on oil spill impact on ecological environment.

CNOC  will continue to support and assist Conoco Phillips  to deal with the subsequent issues.

A rendering of a 20kW multi-use research turbine under development at FAU’s Center for Ocean Energy Technology which will be a platform to test and develop new ocean current technologies.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)has announced the next step in evaluating a proposed lease for testing marine hydrokinetic technology offshore Florida. The bureau is making available for public review and input an environmental assessment that considers the effects of issuing a lease for testing equipment designed to use the force of ocean currents to generate renewable energy.

 “Ocean currents contain an enormous amount of energy, and moving forward to test this new energy frontier offers exciting potential to expand our renewable energy portfolio,” said BOEM Director Tommy P. Beaudreau. “In this stage of the process, we are providing opportunities for public input on the potential environmental effects of deploying this technology for testing activities.”

Florida Atlantic University applied for a lease to deploy an experimental demonstration device. This is the first lease application that BOEM has received to test ocean current equipment.

The university proposes to deploy and test various, experimental turbines. The proposed activities will inform the future deployment of commercial-scale marine hydrokinetic energy production on the OCS. The proposed lease area is 17,080 total acres and is located approximately nine to 15 nautical miles offshore Fort Lauderdale.

Based on public comments generated from a previous notice of intent, BOEM prepared the environmental assessment to consider environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects associated with issuing a lease and associated activities including surveys, installing mooring and telemetry buoys, and testing, for limited periods, equipment designed to use the Florida current to generate electricity. The Bureau found that no historic properties would be affected by this proposed project.

BOEM will use all input regarding the environmental assessment to determine whether to issue a finding of no significant impact or conduct additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.

BOEM will hold a public information session in Florida to explain the proposed activities and provide additional opportunities for public input on the environmental assessment:

•  Broward County Main Library,  100 S Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301-7528 on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 2:00 p.m. EDT

The environmental assessment, information on the public session, a map of the proposed area and a copy of the lease application can be found online at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Florida.aspx.

The notice inviting public comment is available at: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html Comments will be accepted for 30 days in one of the following ways:

Electronically :http://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/Public-Engagement/Public-Engagement-Opportunities.aspx. Click on the “Public Comment” link and follow the instructions to submit public comments and to view supporting and related materials.

In written form, delivered to: Program Manager, Office of Renewable Energy Programs (HM 1328); Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; 381 Elden Street; Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817.

For more information on BOEM’s renewable energy program, visit: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Index.aspx.

Engineers have developed a new method of propelling a ship or displacement vessel while saving at least 75% of energy consumed by current propeller-based systems, yet maintaining the same performance.

The Gamma Propulsion System (TGPS) is easy to build and simple to retro fit to existing ships.

Lloyd’s Register test data certified ( www.lr.org ) demonstrates that TGPS delivers significant thrust with previously unthinkable efficiency. The developers claim that TGPS will, for example, replace an existing 4,000 HP engine with a maximum 1,000 HP TGPS and maintain the same thrust.

TGPS can save the shipping industry approximately 75% of current fuel usage and, consequently, 75% of pollutant emissions while maintaining current schedules.

The TGPS comprises a series of diesel electric units, strategically located completely inboard down both sides of the vessel — typically in the cargo hold on retro fits — with each unit occupying only 8 m(3).

“When TGPS is strategically positioned inboard along each side of the hull a ship can manoeuvre itself in all directions — forward, aft, sideways, spin in its own length and crab — using its power range up to full thrust”, said Doug Bruce, CEO of Gamma Light & Heavy Industries Ltd, www.gamma-lhi.com .

“TGPS positioning delivers built-in redundancy for the unlikely event of an electric motor failure, where a motor can be easily and inexpensively replaced, even en-route. Servicing is also inexpensive and simple to perform, as everything is located inboard”, said Bruce.

TGPS engineers also worked with technical staff at an Australian theme park. Their brief: to develop a more efficient circulating pump for a water ride. http://www.gamma-lhi.com/theme-parks/

Each of four original pumps in this ride delivers 87 litres/sec for 22kW energy consumption. The TGPS pump over-delivered at 97 litres/sec (12% performance increase) but only used 2.04 kW, some 10.8 times greater efficiency.

This same technology can be utilised in large transfer pumps for the marine and irrigation industries, emergency flood pumping and the mining industry.

SOURCE: Gamma Light & Heavy Industries Ltd

Warm ocean currents attacking the underside of ice shelves are the dominant cause of recent ice loss from Antarctica, a new study using measurements from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) revealed.

An international team of scientists used a combination of satellite measurements and models to differentiate between the two known causes of melting ice shelves: warm ocean currents thawing the underbelly of the floating extensions of ice sheets and warm air melting them from above. The finding, published today in the journal Nature, brings scientists a step closer to providing reliable projections of future sea level rise.

The researchers concluded 20 of the 54 ice shelves studied are being melted by warm ocean currents. Most of these are in West Antarctica, where inland glaciers flowing down to the coast and feeding into these thinning ice shelves have accelerated, draining more ice into the sea and contributing to sea-level rise. This ocean-driven thinning is responsible for the most widespread and rapid ice losses in West Antarctica and the majority of Antarctic ice sheet loss during the period studied.

“We can lose an awful lot of ice to the sea without ever having summers warm enough to make the snow on top of the glaciers melt,” said the study’s lead author Hamish Pritchard of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, United Kingdom. “The oceans can do all the work from below.”

To map the changing thickness of almost all the floating ice shelves around Antarctica, the team used a time series of 4.5 million surface height measurements taken by a laser instrument mounted on ICESat from October 2003 to October 2008. They measured how the ice shelf height changed over time and ran computer models to discard changes in ice thickness because of natural snow accumulation and compaction. The researchers also used a tide model that eliminated height changes caused by tides raising and lowering the ice shelves.

“This study demonstrates the power of space-based, laser altimetry for understanding Earth processes,” said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Coupled with NASA’s portfolio of other ice sheet research using data from our GRACE mission, satellite radars and aircraft, we get a comprehensive view of ice sheet change that improves estimates of sea level rise.”

Previous studies used satellite radar data to measure the evolution of ice shelves and glaciers, but laser measurements are more precise in detecting changes in ice shelf thickness through time. This is especially true in coastal areas. Steeper slopes at the grounding line, where floating ice shelves connect with the landmass, cause problems for lower-resolution radar altimeters.

ICESat was the first satellite specifically designed to use laser altimetry to study the Earth’s polar regions. It operated from 2003 to 2009. Its successor, ICESat-2, is scheduled for launch in 2016.

“This study demonstrates the urgent need for ICESat-2 to get into space,” said Jay Zwally, ICESat project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “We have limited information on the changes in polar regions caused by climate change. Nothing can look at these changes like satellite measurements do.”

The new research also links the observed increase in melting that occurs on the underside of a glacier or ice shelf, called basal melt, and glacier acceleration with changes in wind patterns.

“Studies have shown Antarctic winds have changed because of changes in climate,” Pritchard said. “This has affected the strength and direction of ocean currents. As a result warm water is funnelled beneath the floating ice. These studies and our new results suggest Antarctica’s glaciers are responding rapidly to a changing climate.”

A different picture is seen on the Antarctic Peninsula, the long stretch of land pointing towards South America. The study found thinning of the largest ice shelf on the peninsula can be explained by warm summer winds directly melting the snow on the ice shelf surfaces. The patterns of widespread ocean-driven melting and summer melting on the Antarctic Peninsula can be attributed to changing wind patterns.

The study was carried out by an international team from the British Antarctic Survey, Utrecht University in Utrecht, Netherlands, the University of California in San Diego and the non-profit research institute Earth and Space Research in Corvallis, Ore.

Photo Credt: NOAA

Earth Day continues on Maui as area students and teachers from Baldwin High School and Kihei Charter School deployed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ocean drifter this week  from a Trilogy Excursions vessel that departed from Lahaina Harbor. The drifter will contribute to a global ocean drifter array that provides climate and other environmental data vital to helping track hurricanes, ocean pollutants, species migration and marine debris.

“The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is excited to be a part of this important program that involves students in real-world science aimed at better understanding the ocean,” said Malia Chow, sanctuary superintendent. “Today’s deployment is the second of its kind in Hawai’i, the first of which occurred in November of 2011. With these continued efforts to get students involved we hope to inspire the next generation of ocean stewards and scientists.”

“We’re extremely proud of our students. One student from each selected class won a prize in NOAA’s Adopt A Drifter contest, which gives students across the country and the world the chance to learn about our environment right in their classrooms, and with the same near real time data that ocean and climate scientists use,” said Lisa Davis, Science Facilitator for Kihei Charter School.

“Trilogy Excursions was proud to support this effort that contributes to learning more about the ocean, both locally and globally,” said Jim Coon, owner of Trilogy Excursions. “Trilogy Excursions continually gives back to the ocean by supporting local marine conservation initiatives and we were happy to support the sanctuary and NOAA with this effort that involved local students.”

NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program enables students to learn about the essential role the ocean plays in earth’s climate and weather and our own living conditions. Schools “adopt” a drifter equipped with climate sensors. As the drifter, or 44-pound floating ocean buoy, moves in the ocean currents, it measures and transmits sea surface temperature by satellite. The currents carry heat from place to place, which affects climate. Each drifter is part of a global ocean array that students can follow online, along with the particular drifter they adopted.

Drifters help forecast the path of approaching hurricanes, predict the movement of ocean pollutants, and track the migration of many species. And while satellite technology makes sea surface temperature measurements possible from space, drifters are needed to ensure these measurements are accurate. Without drifter observations to correct satellite measurements, these measurements can err due to dust and other elements in the atmosphere.

Student drifter events marking Earth Day are also underway this month in Boston, Miami, Mobile, Ala., Seattle, and Santa Barbara.

The sanctuary is administered by a partnership of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the State of Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources. The sanctuary works to protect humpback whales through research, education, conservation and stewardship.