Tag: "Center for Biological Diversity"

UPDATE: Protected Areas for Loggerheads

UPDATE: Protected Areas for Loggerheads

Last Thursday, endangered loggerhead sea turtles won a federal commitment to protect important beach and ocean habitat.

The Keeling Curve, named after Charles David Keeling, the scientists who pioneered atmospheric CO2 research in the 1950s. Photo credit: Vancouver Island   University via photopin cc.

The CO2 Curve, a Deadly US Fishery and a Robot Turtle

Today’s highlights include the iconic CO2 (Keeling) curve, one of the US’s deadliest fisheries and a sea turtle robot built to help analyze the movement of sea turtle hatchlings.

UPDATE: FWS Proposes Protected Areas for Loggerheads

UPDATE: FWS Proposes Protected Areas for Loggerheads

In response to a lawsuit filed by conservation groups earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to designate 739 miles of critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles

Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Photo © OCEANA.

Follow-Up: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Yesterday, conservation groups filed a lawsuit against the NMFS and the FWS for their failure to protect critical habitat for threatened loggerhead sea turtles.

A loggerhead swimming in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Photo credit NOAA.

Lawsuit Launched to Protect Threatened Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Oceana recently announced their intention to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish & Wildlife Service over their failure to designate protected areas for threatened loggerhead sea turtles.

Blow of the Blue whale - Credit:  Fred Benko for NOAA

Legal Effort to Protect Endangered Blue Whale Underway

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency charged with the stewardship of the U.S.’s living marine resources, may be sued for failure to implement the 1998 Blue Whale Recovery Plan. Friends of the Earth, Pacific Environment and the Center of Biological Diversity have joined the notice of intent to sue submitted by the Environmental Defense Center last week.

Polar bear, Ursus maritimus, with cub - Credit: FWS

128 Million Acre Critical Habitat for Polar Bears

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to designate more than 128 million acres (200,541 square miles) of coastal lands and waters along the north coast of Alaska as “critical habitat” for the polar bear, the worlds largest carnivore species found on land and listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since May 2008.

Spotted seal, Alaska, Bering Sea - Credit: Captain Budd Christman for NOAA

Two of the Three Spotted Seal Populations Are Safe From Endangerment or Extinction

Of the three distinct populations of spotted seals, that inhabit the North Pacific Ocean, two total more than 200,000 individuals and are not currently in danger of extinction or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, but NOAA’s NMFS is proposing to list a third smaller population as threatened.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle - courtesy of Anand

One Step Towards Leatherback and Loggerhead Sea Turtle Increased Protection

The Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, and the Turtle Island Restoration Network reached an agreement with the federal government in a lawsuit over violations of the Endangered Species Act last week.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service have agreed to respond to the groups’ petitions for increased protections for both leatherbacks in the waters off California and Oregon as well as North Pacific and western North Atlantic loggerheads.

Arctic sea ice extent on September 12, 2009. Daily Arctic sea ice extent on September 12 was 5.10 million square kilometers (1.97 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. - National Snow and Ice Data Center

200 Dead Walruses in Alaska: Global Warming Blamed

The Arctic sea ice has reached the third-lowest level ever recorded, and up to 200 walruses, which appear to be mostly new calves and yearlings, have been reported dead near Icy Cape on the north coast of Alaska – further evidence of global warming’s brutal transformation of the Arctic.