SOSF West African manatee project leader Lucy Keith is currently blogging from the field in Congo:

Mamiwata is an African name for a spirit believed to be embodied by the manatee. This blog chronicles my search for the elusive West African manatee, and my exploration to understand its biology, habitat and preservation needs, economic and cultural significance. So little is known about this animal, yet it is intensely hunted almost everywhere it exists and may already be gone from much of its previous range. In 2006 I was inspired to go try to find and learn more about them, starting in Gabon.

Lucy’s blog is a fascinating account of the day-to-day life of a researcher in Congo, complete with all the difficulties, surprises and delights that are involved (including chubby West African manatee orphan Victor, below).

Victor, an orphaned West African manatee. Photo by Lucy Keith.

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The first 12-episode season of SOSF-sponsored podcast Naked Oceans, from Cambridge University-based Naked Scientists, has drawn to a close. We’re happy to announce that a second series is already in the works, but in the meantime, here is a recap of all the episodes so far:

1. July 2010. The problem of oil spills

We investigate the impacts of oil spills on the marine environment, hunting down the hidden world of microbes in Louisiana wetlands, tracing the fingerprint of oil in open oceans plankton communities, and we discuss the likely fallout from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And 14 years on, we head to the south coast of Wales to find some of the survivors of the Sea Empress Oil Spill.

2. August 2010. Climate change and the oceans

One of the most pervasive problems in the oceans today, we dive into the science of climate change to find out what changes are we already seeing and what the prospects are for the future. We call in on the Arctic and the Antarctic to find out what’s going on in some of the most vulnerable parts of the…

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A high-level international workshop on the state of the world’s oceans took place at the University of Oxford earlier this year, where 27 participants from 18 organisations in 6 countries concluded that if the current trajectory of damage continues, the world’s ocean is at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history.

The scientific panel looked at the latest research focusing on the primary threats to the marine environment and came to some stark conclusions:

The combination of stressors on the ocean is creating the conditions associated with every major extinction of species in the Earth’s history. The rate of degeneration in the ocean is far faster than anyone has expected. Many of the negative impacts previously identified are worse than anyone had predicted. Although difficult to assess because of the unprecedented speed of change, the first steps to globally significant extinction may have begun with a rise in the extinction threat to species such as reef-forming corals.

Dr Alex Rogers, Scientific Director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) which convened the workshop said:

“The findings are shocking. As we considered the cumulative effect…

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The Antinea Changing Oceans Expedition – a ten-year adventure through the world’s most important marine eco-regions aimed at publicizing information on the state of our oceans – is currently in the Egyptian Red Sea, and they have some troubling news on the state of the local reefs:

“Our aim was to understand how human pressure was affecting the marine ecosystem. We were prepared to dive on some destroyed spots. But as I told you in my last email, we discovered that the impact was much bigger than what we expected. We were quite shocked by what we saw!”

Even the isolated “far south”, near the Sudanese border, has not escaped the effects of damaging fishing methods:

“The reefs we found there were indeed in a much better state than what we experienced before. But far from pristine!!! Even in this remote region dynamite fishing has destroyed the reefs and the life that depends on them. Very little fish and big scars in the coral… Ali, who dived there only 3 years ago for the last time did not recognize the place! No more sharks or mantas… very few big fish.”

The expedition crew includes Spanish scientists…

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Last month saw the release of “Reefs at Risk Revisited”, the most detailed and comprehensive analysis yet of the state of the world’s coral reefs. There are some bright spots, but overall, the findings are grim:

“75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures. For the first time, the analysis includes threats from climate change, including warming seas and rising ocean acidification. The report shows that local pressures— such as overfishing, coastal development, and pollution— pose the most immediate and direct risks, threatening more than 60 percent of coral reefs today.”

New in this report is a look at how ongoing reef degradation will impact countries that are dependent on economic benefits derived from coral reefs: providing food, sustaining livelihoods, supporting tourism, protecting coasts, and even helping to prevent disease. It identifies 27 of the most vulnerable nations with Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia being at the top of the list.

If the pressures on reefs are left unchecked, more than 90 percent of reefs will be threatened by 2030 and nearly all reefs will be at risk by 2050. Read more at Reefs…

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Save Our Seas is proud to announce that Outdoor Photographer Magazine has named SOSF Chief Photographer, Thomas P. Peschak as one of the 30 most influential nature photographers in the world. He is being recognized for his hard-hitting reportage work on shark fisheries and his inspirational documentations of our planets last pristine ocean realms. This recognition is a great way to finish off a very busy 2010 for Peschak and the SOSF Conservation Photography Unit.

Conservation photography expeditions to Sri Lanka, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Canada, South Africa and the Maldives have kept him in the field for more than 300 days.

Photo (Left): The cover of the Lost World book

Amongst dozens of conservation feature magazine articles in publications such as BBC Wildlife, WEND, Africa Geographic, Virginia Quarterly Review and others, a major highlight of 2010 was the publication of the book LOST WORLD: The Marine realm of Aldabra. With a foreword penned by the President of the Seychelles, this book garnered great reviews and is well on its way to becoming an important tool to ensure that Aldabra remains one of the most pristine marine environments in the Indian Ocean. Images from the expedition received awards…

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The annual Wavescape Surf Art Auction is taking place tonight at Depasco Cafe in Kloof Street, Cape Town. The event will be hosted by comedian Mark Sampson and is sure to be a great night out.

Eleven surfboards uniquely decorated by artists including a mix of beat poets, illustrators, street artists, graffiti legends, painters, cartoonists, graphic designers and township kids, will be auctioned.

The proceeds of the auction will go to the National Sea Rescue Institute, Shark Spotters and the Ticket To Ride Foundation, with a donation also going to Surfing Heritage South Africa.

Each of the eleven boards to be auctioned features a unique design. Photo © Jonathan Trusler.

Presented by the Save Our Seas Foundation, the exhibition forms part of the Wavescape Surf Film Festival that runs from 9-20 December. Supporting sponsors are Pick ‘n Pay, Quiksilver, 2oceansvibe Radio, Men’s Health, the Cape Times and Wavescape.

Please call 079 0260 669 for more information about the evening. We hope to see you there!

Download the invite here. See all the boards here.

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