The chock of plastic bags in the oceans

Plastic debris in the oceans - Photos by Google Images

If we have the minimum of conscience about the plastic trash we produce we could improve the health of our oceans.

Click on the link bellow, watch the video, enjoy and share this conscience with your friends!

Plastic is choking the oceans

Coral's fish crushing raises conservation dilemma

Parrotfish Species from Great Reef - Photo by Simone Marques

Parrotfish species are considered a key species in several communities of reef ecosystems promoting balance mainly by the coral polyps as their preferencial food. In last 20 years the hard exploitation mainly from artisanal fisheries have declined several species of parrotfishes in reef ecosystems around tropical regions. 

Actually several studies from this reef fishes species have shown feeding behavior and their main function in reefs ecosystems. To know more about this interesting reef fishes and how they feed on coral reefs click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends.

Bumphead parrot fish declare their arrival with a crunch

The beauty and importance of Kelp Forests

Kelp Forests - Photos from Google Images

This wonderful coastal and ecosystems ever surprise us with beautiful kinds of habitats and biodiversity. The Kelp Forests are so beautiful to appreciate and a great relevance for marine and coastal ecosystems as well in several parts of the oceans Pacif, Indic, Atlantic and Mediterranea Sea.

This special ecosystem shelter thousand of species and keep balance provide protection and food for fishes, invertebrates and also marine mammals. Many species of kelps are distributed mainly in temperate regions of Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

To know more about this ecosystem click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!

Seaweed Spotlight: A Rare Glimpse into Beautiful Ocean Kelp Forests

The harsh reality of fisheries

Artisanal Fisheries in the Northeast of Brazil - Photo by Simone Marques

"Most seafood eaters know the sad story of the Atlantic cod. The ill effects of the postwar buildup of industrialized American fishing are epitomized by that fish’s overexploitation: Gorton’s fish sticks and McDonald’s Filets-o-Fish all once rode on the backs of billions of cod. The codfish populations of North America plummeted and have yet to return."

"...According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, even though the United States controls more ocean than any other country, 86 percent of the seafood we consume is imported."

"...most wild Atlantic salmon populations have been fished to commercial extinction, and today a majority of our lox comes from selectively bred farmed salmon, with Chile our largest supplier."

"To make things triply strange, a portion of that salmon, after heading across the Pacific, returns to us: Because foreign labor is so cheap, many Alaskan salmon are caught in American waters, frozen, defrosted in Asia, filleted and boned, refrozen and sent back to us. Pollock also make this Asian round trip, as do squid — and who knows what else?"

"We can have no more intimate relationship with our environment than to eat from it."

These texts above were copied from a great report about where the fish that you eat come from, written by PAUL GREENBERG. 

After read this  terrific report about fisheries, the reality in my country is not so different. Really we don't know nothing about where the fishes and other marine organisms (lobsters, slumps, shrimps) that we eat come from and what's happen after the fisheries in the foreign trade. In these days all of us living in busy way, and we never stop to thinking about what we are eating and where this animal, fruit, vegetal come from. And how are the population of each species from marine ecosystem that humanity like and consume since they begun to explore?

In Brazil several products from fisheries are exported and we don't know what will make with this fishes in the other countries. Is a "swap"? In the other pathway several fisheries products are imported and we think this a good product produced by other country as salmon, Kani and others products used in Japanese and Chinese food for example. 

Now is time to think about it and look for where this food come from, how they were fished and where they were produced. Our country should have the rules and legislation in each food that you consume and how they are produced. You as a citizen could be informed better and try to consume more natural products from the coastal and marine ecosystems produces by our own country.

To know more about what's happening in the fisheries and their trade around the world click on the image bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!

Rising Sea Level

Image by Helm et al., The Cryosphere (2014)

Climate change is great matter of concern. During the last decades many changes and forecasts about climate change, global heating, rising sea level, ocean acidification have been recorded. So it was and is happening or this will happen independent about the human impacts in the natural environments?

Most of forecasts of climate change sounds that the human impacts are accelerating the effects of global heating, rising sea level and negative impacts on the coastal and marine ecosystems. The IPCC (Intergovernamental Painel on Climate Change) also make forecasts with several projects and researches with great expertise in climate change showing what will happen in the next 40 years in our oceans and earth surface. Every forecast is true?

Click on the link bellow, think about what's happen, and share with your friends!

Antarctica and Greenland 

Losing Ice at Fastest Rate Ever Recorded

Threats for coral reefs

Healthy Coral (Millepora brasiliensis) - Photo by Simone Marques

Bleach Coral (Millepora brasiliensis) - Photo by Simone Marques

Do you knew why coral reefs can loss their colour?

Coral reefs are so fragile and due the increase temperature of the ocean and also the increase of carbon dioxide. These physical and chemical water changes promote negative changes in the life cycle of coral reefs and first the corals losing their beautiful and varied colours to white colour and second they became vulnerable to diseases by bacterias and virus as well die by increase of algae growing over the reef.

This bleaching phenomenon in coral reefs have happened in last 10 years fasten than we can imagine reducing the biodiversity in their communities mainly among the coastal ecosystems from tropical regions. Several researches have studied this bleaching process in coral reef trying to find solutions to avoid it.

One of the main solutions is so close to human diary life... who lives near to the beaches and coastal regions may have attention on the amount of water used, the garbage, waste and the drain and efluents produced day by day..

To know more about the threats of coral reefs click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!

Falling ocean pH levels means rising threats for coral reefs

The ghost of marine ecosystems

Figure representing the effects of marine debris - Image by Google Images

The main impacts in marine ecosystems are the marine debris by human waste caused by lack of conscience or attention with the garbage produced day by day.

Fisheries as a important livelihood and water services for many coastal communities also have brought a lot of problems to seabed. Recent studies have showed that several kind of fishing gear which are abandoned or lost over the sea have been compared as a dangerous ghost that have threatened and killed many species of fishes, turtles, seabirds and cetaceans.

Your worry and behave can change the sea life and protected them in their natural habitats.The next time that you'll go to the beach and get in to the water think and help us to save our marine ecosystems only collecting your garbage and telling your friends about this consciousness.

To know more about the marine debris click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!

Os verdadeiros Monstros do Mar

How to know more about coral reefs without leaving home?

Google Maps for Coral Reefs - Image by Google Images

Example of mapping of Coral Reefs - Image by Google Images

In last years the Google Earth develop several tools to see in a high definition scale more details about our land and aquatic ecosystems. Actually Google Earth in partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOOA) is developing a new app to mapping the underwater ecosystem. This tool will be essential to monitoring the health of coral reefs in tropical regions without leave the office or home and generate a huge dataset among these fragile ecosystems.

To know more how  this tool works click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends.

Google 'street view' maps coral reefs

Relationship between humans and sharks

Sharks - Photo by Thomas P. Peschak

This adorable fish was a nightmare for someone and fascinate animal for others. In last few years many projects of research about several species of shark has increased mainly due the threatens that they face. Among these studies some photography works have showed how this animal behave near humans and despite they are wild and dangerous in their natural habitat we can respect and admire them.

To know more about about this amazing marine fishes and appreciate wonderful photos click on the link bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!

THOUGHT PROVOKING PHOTOGRAPHS EXAMINE OUR COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH SHARKS

Great example of seabirds' monitoring

Atobá-marrom - Sula leucogaster. Photo by Simone Marques

Seabirds decorating the sky, islands and coastal regions around the world. But several species became vulnerable or critically endangered due the effects of human impacts mainly by fisheries, human occupation or a simple presence of more than 10 people with high frequency.

In last 2 years a great project of identification and monitoring of species of seabirds in Marine Protected Area created in 2014 in coastal island of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) had contributed so much with the preservation of Atobá's species (Sula leucogaster). This wonderful study could be enjoy visiting the activities of this project in site http://maradentro.org.br/ilhasrj/

Also one of the expeditions of the seabirds' monitoring can be watched in the link bellow filmed by Globo TV. Click, enjoy and share with your friends!

Protected Areas and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Great Barrier - Australia - Photo by Simone Marques

Protected areas in general constitute an important stock of natural, cultural and social capital, yielding flows of economically valuable goods and services that benefit society, secure livelihoods, and contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. Moreover, protected areas are key to buffering unpredictable impacts of impending climate change. The CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas provides a globally-accepted framework for creating comprehensive, effectively managed and sustainably funded national and regional protected area systems around the globe.


To know more about this goal in the CBD Programe click on the link bellow enjoy and share with your friends and colleagues.

Take care of sealion

Sealion Otaria flavescens - Photo by Google Images

The sealion Otaria flavescens is a huge marine mammal whom eat some fishes in cold water of south America. Some years ago some fishers thinking this species is a guilt for stealing the most of fishes during the fisheries. But recent studies showed the otherwise where this amazing species eat some smaller fishes during their swimming and this fishes are not target for the fisherman. Now many environmental education about the biology of this sealion species is being made with the local communities and mainly with the fishermen.

To know more about the researches with this species click on the link bellow, enjoy and share!

Se a pesca está ruim, não culpe os leões-marinhos