PLANET IN PERIL

BuzzFeed News A weedy sea dragon. Photo by Richard Ling. There's been hardly any research into most residents of the deep oceans, despite it being the biggest habitat on Earth – and it's making them harder to protect, according to a new review. Story here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES  When the Crystal Serenity, a 1000-passenger luxury liner, sails in August on a month-long Arctic cruise through the Northwest Passage, it will have a far more utilitarian escort; a British supply ship.     Story here.

The Washington Post More than 9 billion tons of plastic has been produced since 1950, and the vast majority of it is still around. Story here. Plastic waste on a beach in India. Photo by  Hajj0 ms

Common Dreams Daunting new report shows coastal communities are at-risk and unprepared for flooding caused by climate change. Story here. RELATED: "Angry Oceans - Pt. #1" and "Pt. #2."

theguardian Satellite data confirms ‘calving’ of trillion-tonne, 5,800 sq km iceberg from the Larsen C ice shelf, dramatically altering the landscape. Story here. The Larsen ice shelf as it was in 2004. NASA photo.

|NATIONAL                            |OBSERVER - David Suzuki Orcas breaching - photo credit - Robert Pittman - NOAA Two of British Columbia’s most iconic species, chinook salmon and southern resident killer whales, are in trouble. The whale depends on the salmon for survival. Is it time to manage chinook fisheries with killer whales in mind? Story here.

ScienceDaily Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research. Story here.

Universal agreement on need for measures to reverse ocean deterioration. Details here.

by Larry Powell An international team of scientists  is calling for more marine reserves  as a way to lessen the impact of manmade climate change.  The researchers believe, even if greenhouse gases are reduced in order to meet targets set out in the Paris Climate Accord, life on Earth will still face “serious stress and damage.” So more still needs to be done.  A blue rockfish in the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.  NOAA Photo Library Marine reserves are areas of ocean where fishing and development are declared illegal.  They’ve been shown to result in greater biodiversity, density, mass and size among fish and other marine life living there.  Yet only a very small percentage of the world’s oceans have been set aside for this purpose. The team suggests, well-managed marine reserves would help people adapt to “five prominent impacts” of climate change. These are; ocean  acidification, sea-level rise, worsening storms, the distribution of marine life and decreas

UN News Centre NOAA photo centre. The vital link between oceans and climate change is among the issues at the forefront of discussions at the United Nations Ocean Conference taking place in New York from 5 to 9 June.  Story here.

Canada should keep its 10 per cent marine protection promise Dear Larry,  I’ve loved oceans my whole life. So I’m watching as world leaders gather in New York this week to discuss how to conserve and sustainably use them. Canada’s government is starting to take action on its 10 per cent marine protection commitment. But with less than one per cent protected, there’s still a long way to go. Please encourage the federal government to meet its targets while creating high-quality protection for orcas, belugas, salmon, puffins and more.  Send your letter to government now . Protect oceans now

The Washington Post With coral reefs all over the world suffering ongoing bleaching and death at the hands of warming ocean waters — from remote coral atolls in the Indian Ocean to Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef — the future of these beloved marine ecosystems appears increasingly grim. But while experts almost universally agree that climate change will continue to shape the future of the world’s corals, some scientists insist that there’s still hope for them. Story here.

EcoWatch Green Sea Turtles in Australia's Great Barrier Reef are some of the world's most majestic creatures. They have a lifespan of up to 50 years, but after recent results from blood tests on the marine animals, their health might be in jeopardy. Story here.   Photo by Nize @ English Wikipedi

The Guardian Surveys taken throughout 2016 show escalating impact from north to south, with 70% of shallow water corals dead north of Port Douglas. Story here. Blue Starfish in the Great Barrier Reef 2004.  Photo by Richard Ling

Associated Press When researchers traveled to a tiny, uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they were astonished to find an estimated 38 million pieces of trash washed up on the beaches. Story here. What's left of an albatross chick (found on another remote island) after  ingesting bottle caps & other plastic debris.  

S ALON Stephen Hawking is one of many scientists who see the possible near-term demise of our species.  STORY HERE.

Sierra Club Canada Foundation. Larry I'm devastated to report that the licence for oil and gas drilling has been approved in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and there’s not one thing whales can do to stop it. We're not giving up and neither are they. At this very moment – mile by mile, heading north – they’re coming back. Over the next few weeks, blue whales will be making their way back to Canadian waters. It’s a brave and often perilous journey.  But they do it because their ancient DNA tells them to come north, as they have for millennia. While some of these whales have been south this winter,  you and I have been working to keep their northern waters safe.

Interprets Agency Service News Agency The available data is enough for the United Nations to literally declare war on oceans plastic: more than 8 million tonnes of it leaks into their waters each year – equal to dumping a garbage truck of plastic every minute, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife, fisheries and tourism, and costing at least 8 billion dollars in damage to marine ecosystems. Story here.

The Washington Post A Mexican beach. PinP photo. A  new report , released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the last day of Barack Obama’s presidency, presents a series of updated estimates for future sea-level rise, both in the United States and worldwide. It suggests that, under extreme future climate change, global sea levels could rise by more than eight feet by the end of the century — one of the highest estimates yet to be presented in a federal report.   Details here.

The Washington Post A Mexican coastline. PinP photo.  Intense future climate change could have a far different impact on the world than current models predict, suggests a thought-provoking new study just out in the journal Science Advances.   Story here.