Autonomous Marine Robots detect and identify endangered whales

Dave Fratantoni, a scientist in the WHOI Physical Oceanography Department, does some work on the whale-detecting glider (Photo: Nick Woods, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Every year between November and January, endangered North Atlantic right whales are thought to use an area off the coast of Maine known as the Outer Fall as a breeding ground.

They are “thought to” because the ocean conditions at that time of year can make it difficult to locate them.

Two autonomous marine robots called gliders have now been used as a real time whale-detection system for researchers and to warn boats in the area to slow down to avoid striking the marine mammals.

Employed as part of an oceanographic research project led by Mark Baumgartner and Dave Fratantoni from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the two torpedo-shaped ocean-going robots are about six foot (1.8 m) long and come equipped with an iridium satellite antenna, underwater microphone, digital acoustic monitoring (DMON) instrument and specialized software that allows them to detect, classify and tally calls from four species of baleen whales – sei, fin, humpback, and right.

Used by oceanographers for around a decade, the gliders are able to move up, down and laterally through the water in a sawtooth pattern by changing their buoyancy and using their short wings to provide lift. They are also battery-powered, making them very quiet.

The two gliders were deployed on November 12 and surveyed the area for two weeks, surfacing every two hours to get a GPS position and transmit data to shore via satellite.

The scientific team arrived on November 28 with the gliders continuing their survey operations for another week, alerting the scientists to the presence of whales in the research area in real time.

“We found our first right whale on the first day that we were surveying in decent weather conditions because the gliders were up there doing the leg work for us, to tell us where the animals were in real time,” says Baumgartner.

Pollution endangers Rare Chinese white dolphin: DNA bank

An endangered Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis chinensis) swims off the coast of Hong Kong in August 2011.

A Hong Kong conservation group has set up a DNA bank for the rare Chinese white dolphin, also known as the pink dolphin, in a bid to save the mammals facing a sharp population decline.

There are about 2,500 Chinese white dolphins in the busy insutrialised Pearl River Delta region, the body of water between Macau and Hong Kong, with the majority of the mammals in Chinese waters and the rest in Hong Kong.

But experts say their number has dropped significantly in the past few years due to overfishing, an increase in maritime traffic, water pollution, habitat loss and coastal development.

In a bid to save the dwindling population, the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong said it had joined hands with a Chinese university to set up a DNA bank, which will also spearhead a genetic research project.

"We hope to offer the scientific community a standardised genetic analysis platform to assess the sustainability of Chinese white dolphin populations," Judy Chen, the foundation chairwoman said in a statement.

"The collected data will provide important reference to governments in the region for developing critical strategies of Chinese white dolphin conservation," she added.

The biological samples of these dolphins will be sent to the DNA bank to investigate the environmental impacts on the mammal, the statement said.

The Chinese white dolphins, a sub-species of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, are unique for their pink skin. They are listed as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The mammal was the official mascot at the handover ceremony when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, while dolphin watching is a favourite tourist attraction in Hong Kong.

Its population in Hong Kong has dropped from an estimated 158 in 2003 to only 75 in 2010, according to the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society.

British Geologocal Society: Endangered Metal Risk List

To coincide with the British Science Festival, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has today released a new ‘Risk List’ which ranks the risk to global supply of chemical elements of economic value.


The list highlights vulnerable elements where global production is concentrated in a small number of countries, including metals which are critical to development of a low-carbon digital economy.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has compiled a "risk list" of elements assessing the precariousness of our supplies.

The study examines the scarcity of each element in Earth's crust, how many countries produce it and the political stability of those countries. It says supplies of antimony, tungsten, mercury and the platinum group of elements are most endangered.

The problem is even more acute than that of the "rare-earth" elements used to make many consumer electronics goods, which hit the headlines earlier this year when power hungry China, the world's biggest acquirer of stocks, sites and companies that mine rare earth elements, blocked exports to the International market to restrict competition and boost pricing.

The risk list helps to focus future research on diversifying supply from new resources, using greener production technologies and cost effective recycling.

The new digital and environmental technologies on which we will rely to deliver a prosperous, low carbon economy often contain metals which have previously been of little interest to man. These ‘critical metals’ – the celebrities of the periodic table – are completely intertwined with modern life, present in thousands of products and increasingly indispensable.

The Risk List 2011 will be released to coincide with the ‘Metals, Mines & Mobiles’ event at the British Science Festival on the 12th September 2011 at the University of Bradford.

The panel of experts at the event will examine the life cycle of technology metals and includes Professor Frances Wall (CSM), Andrew Bloodworth (BGS), Dr Alan McLelland (NAMTEC) and Dr Paul Mitchell (Director, GreenHorizons Environmental Consultants Ltd.)

Download the risk list by clicking on the picture or from www.mineralsuk.com

Panorama: Palm Oil endangers Urangutan Conservation efforts in Indonesia

The challenge of saving the orangutan - man's closest relative - from extinction is trickling down to the weekly shop.

Many of the biscuits, margarines, breads, crisps and even bars of soap that consumers pick off supermarket shelves contain an ingredient that is feeding a growth industry that conservationists say is killing the orangutans.

The mystery ingredient in the mix is palm oil - the cheapest source of vegetable oil available - and one that rarely appears on the label of most products.

Palm oil is grown on land that was once home to the vast rainforests of Borneo, and the natural habitat of the orangutan.


To read the full article on the BBC Panorama website click here.....

Endangered Siberian Tigers Exploited by Chinese Authorities

A beautifil, rare and endangered species, the Siberian tigers, is compelled to sit up and beg for the amusement of dumb visitors. Part of an entertainment sideshow at a zoo on the second day of the Lunar New Year in Fuzhou, China.

China continues to treat endangered species with contempt and force them to perform humiliating acts for the amesement of an ignorant public.

This sends the completely wrong message; that these animals are put on this Earth for the exploitation and amusement of humanity.

Hong Kong merchants openly selling shark fins from endangered species

They found 21 percent of the Hong Kong fins came from endangered scalloped hammerhead shark stocks in the western Atlantic.

High-tech forensic methods show that some shark fins on sale in Hong Kong markets come from endangered shark populations, proving the need for stronger trade regulations, a new study said Tuesday.

US scientists using a type of DNA testing said they were able to trace the geographic origin of shark fins on sale in Hong Kong and show that endangered species are being targeted by the trade.

The group is calling for the March 2010 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to draw up trade regulations to protect hammerhead and other shark populations.

"This trade has operated for years and years under the cover of darkness," said Demian Chapman, a lead author of the research who is based at Stony Brook University's Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, near New York.

"Our work shows that the scalloped hammerhead fin trade is sourced from all over the globe and so must be globally tracked and managed."

The group's research, to be published Tuesday in the Endangered Species Research journal, describes how the team analyzed fingernail-sized DNA samples from 62 scalloped hammerhead shark fins they purchased in a Hong Kong market.

The researchers used a technique known as "genetic stock identification" or GSI to examine each fin's mitochondrial DNA sequence.

The process is based on a DNA test developed in 2005 to distinguish between similar types of hammerhead shark and has been used to trace the geographic origin of some fish, sea turtles and marine mammals.

The study was the first time the technique had been applied to sharks and allowed the researchers to trace the geographic origin of 57 of the 62 purchased fins.

They found 21 percent of the Hong Kong fins came from endangered scalloped hammerhead shark stocks in the western Atlantic.

"The fact that scalloped hammerhead shark DNA shows strong population DNA signatures means that we can trace the geographic origin of most of their fins sold at markets," said Mahmood Shivji, a senior author of the research.

"From a broader perspective, this type of DNA forensic testing of fins will be an incredibly useful tool to prioritize areas for conservation and ensure sharks aren't wiped out in particular regions by excessive fishing," added Shivji, who heads the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Save Our Seas Shark Center at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

Intensive French Frog Farming further endangers Asian Frog species

Giant frog farms could satisfy western diners' apparently insatiable appetite for frog meat, if pioneering French research is put into practice.

That's not just good news for the Europe's menus, but also for Asia's frogs, which conservationists say are in danger of being eaten to extinction.

Farming would also mean frogs could be raised close to where they're eaten, which could reduce the spread of diseases that are threatening frog populations around the world. But some ecologists and conservationists say that intensive frog farming could spawn a new range of problems.

The vast majority of frogs destined for European dinner tables are harvested from the wild in Asia, because previous attempts to farm frogs closer to home have ended in failure.

Disease spreads easily between frogs kept in close quarters, and they prefer expensive live prey to cheap food pellets, so they're not easy to raise. Another problem is that frogs hibernate for relatively long periods in cool European climates. So farming has thus far proven uneconomic.

Now, however, André Neveu at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Rennes says he's managed to raise common European frogs under intensive farming conditions.