Sunday, February 8th, 2009, Eastham, Cape Cod - Last Thursday a Finback whale beached itself and died on an icy Dyer-Prince beach (aka "Doggie Beach"). Finback's are the second largest creatures on the planet, growing up to 80' in length. The only animal that's larger is a Blue Whale. This unfortunate creature is approximately 35' long.

Friday, February 6, 2009 - On snowy Outer Cape beaches along Cape Cod Bay there was sadness mixed with relief on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday a 35' finback whale beached on ice and died on Dyer Prince beach in Eastham. On Wednesday, while a veritable blizzard was blowing, what was thought to be a minke whale was in danger of beaching near Wellfleet Harbor as the tide was going out. The whale would almost surely have stranded and died if help had not come in the form of Wellfleet Harbormaster Michael Flanagan. Flanagan steered a small boat behind the whale to nudge it along into open water - this whale may have been the finback that died yesterday. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Earlier on Wednesday day four common dolphins were beached in Wellfleet and successfully returned to the sea. Here's more on these stories from CNN (video) and boston.com.

 

January 20th, 2009 - Off the southern coast of Australia the Tasman Fracture Zone drops from 1.2 miles to 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the ocean. Recent explorations by Woods Hole's deep sea submarine "Jason" have discovered bizarre carnivorous sea squirts, large spider-like creatures and a 10,000 year old fossilised coral reef. "We set out to search for life deeper than any previous voyage in Australian waters... Our sampling documented the deepest known Australian fauna," said Ron Thresher from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation. Jason made 14 dives lasting up to 48 hours each and reaching a maximum depth of more than 4 km (2.5 miles).

The scientists also inspected a coral reef located nearly 4,000 feet deep. They found that found that some of the reef was dying: "We need to closely analyse the samples and measurements we collected before we can determine what's caused this, as it could be the result of several factors, such as ocean warming, disease or increasing ocean acidity," said Thresher.

Here's more from Amy Coopes at Yahoo News

January 19, 2009 - Tomorrow a new era will begin in American history when Barack Obama takes the oath of office. Polls show that most Americans consider the Presidency of George W. Bush to have been a failure. But even the soon to be ex-President's harshest environmental critics agree that there has been one area where he shined - the oceans. On January 6th President Bush designated three areas in the Pacific Ocean as National Monuments, protecting 195,280 square miles, including the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot in the ocean. The protected areas surround US territories. International law recognizes 200 mile territorial limits so tiny islands provide anchors for protecting waters surrounding the following areas:

* Mariana Islands in North Pacific - The protected area covers the Northern end of the Northern Mariana Islands, including the Mariana Trench.
* American Samoa - the Rose Atoll.
* Wake island in the Central Pacific - coral reefs, pinnacles, sea mounts, islands and surrounding waters of Johnston Atoll, Howland, Baker and Jarvis Islands, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island.

"These locations are truly among the last pristine areas in the marine environment on Earth," said James Connaughton, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.