Category Archives: High Seas

Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) play an important, though sometimes opaque, role in fisheries management and governance. In the last few years, with the help of pre-competitive collaborations like the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA), supply chain companies have become more engaged in RFMO management issues to the benefit of the entire industry.

The first in a four-part series covering the role regional fisheries management organizations in the global seafood trade. The series is intended to help seafood companies better understand the role and impact of RFMOs and the opportunities to engage with those bodies.

RFMOs are international organizations and arrangements formed by countries with fishing interests in a geographical area or a highly migratory species, such as tuna. These organizations have the authority to establish fisheries conservation and management measures on the high seas outside of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of individual nations.

An RFMO is formed by both countries in the region (coastal states) and countries that have interests in those fisheries but arent necessarily geographically there (distant-water fishing nations). Theyre [RFMO members] the ones who decide what happens, so they decide quota allocations, effort controls, closures at sea, and they set all of the other requirements, GTA Executive Director Tom Pickerell said.

There are 17 RFMOs in total, of which five are focused on tuna management and together cover about 91 percent of the worlds oceans. A majority of commercial marine fish stocks are managed by one or more RFMOs.

In terms of tuna management, tuna is a high-seas fishery, so it appears in the high seas in international waters as well as exclusive economic zones. Because of that, we need to have management that goes beyond national waters. To address that, there are the five tuna RFMOs," Pickerell said.

RFMOs have a significant impact on the seafood industry, as they create fishing limits of certain species including bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna, and perform stock evaluations. RFMOs also create rules regarding transshipment, labor, and retaining of bycatch species. These rules have overall impacts on catch limits and import/export legalities that impact the entire seafood supply chain.

RFMOs are often categorized into three different types: geographical/general RFMOs, tuna RFMOs, and specialized RFMOs. General RFMOs have a wide scope to adopt measures for most fisheries in their specified geographical areas and tend to focus on fishing methods, such as bottom fishing, pelagic, and bentho-pelagic fishing, instead of fish species. Tuna RFMOs aim to protect tuna stocks in specific areas such as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Specialized RFMOs focus on specific types of fisheries or species and tend to have less of a geographic coverage due to their specification.

Though the RFMOs are generally categorized in these three types, each RFMO has the ability to manage specific species or fisheries based on the need of that area. For example, many RFMOs based in a geographical category will still have quotas on a specific commonly caught endangered species or non-migratory stock, rather than just fishing methods.

Establishment of the RFMOs occurred at a time when ocean resources were believed to be unlimited. Therefore, it was not a high priority to create a structure that could limit fishing. RFMOs can play an important role in protecting fish stocks and the overall long-term sustainability of the global seafood supply, but continued challenges like illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and transshipment, as well as the challenge of implementing science-based solutions via the RFMOs consensus-based decision-making process, all reduce the effectiveness of RFMOs, according to Pickerell.

RFMO participants are, to varying degrees, flexible and open to influence through lobbying. This is evident by the substantive engagement of the catching sector in RFMOs, both on flag-state delegations and as observers. In comparison, the influence of retailers and other supply-chain members has been far less significant and often apparently completely absent, Pickerell said. We are relying on the RFMOs to effectively manage the fisheries they are responsible for. However, they have to improve. Some of the recent decision-making is not aligned to sustainable management and is driven by short-term thinking by many of the delegates.

The reliance of retailers and other supply chain companies on RFMOs can sometimes cause issues.Hamish Walker, the chief operating officer of Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.-based Seattle Fish Company and a member of the pre-collaborative nonprofit Sea Pact, said Sea Pact became involved with RFMOs as issues arose within the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), an RFMO covering tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. The main concern was the possibility of WCPFC fisheries losing Marine Stewardship Council certification, potentially damaging the sales and business relationships of seafood suppliers dealing in tuna from the region.

We, as a mid-supply chain company as all Sea Pact members are are not dealing directly with the producers abroad, so we dont have a lot of control of the upstream supply chain, but what we desperately need is product that meets our own sustainability requirements and that we can sell to our U.S. customers that our U.S. customers can trust. If the Western Central Pacific loses its MSC status, that takes out a whole chunk of supply that we then dont have access to; so, it suddenly becomes really quite economically important to us, he told SeafoodSource. That was why we got involved with the RFMO for the Western Central Pacific.

Fisheries management by RFMOs isn't without its obstacles, however. IUU fishing presents a significant challenge, because scientific committees depend on transparency and accountability oncatch totals in forming fishing mandates and limits. When unknown amounts of fish are taken by illegal activities, limits can be set at unsustainable levels, causing harm to legitimate businesses. A 2020 report by researchers at the University of British Columbia and University of Western Australia found illegal fishing costs between USD 26 billion to USD 50 billion (EUR 24.7 billion to EUR 47.5 billion) in annual economic impact due to this diversion of fish from legitimate trade.

Transshipments another problem confronting the worlds RFMOs occur when fish are loaded from one ship to another to complete a journey, often outside EEZs. These shipments are not subject to clear rules through RFMOs, and are sometimes linked to illegal activity, including illegal fishing. The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates at least USD 142 million (EUR 134.9 million) of tuna and tuna-like species are moved via illegal transshipments each year in the western and central Pacific Ocean alone.

Tackling those issues, Walker said, is essential for the seafood industry.

If we are going to have a future in seafood business, we need product for the long-term and we need product that our customers can trust. Its hard for our smaller customers to know all the specifics of the fisheries they buy from and they do look to us as a trusted source and to have confidence were doing the right thing. We need to honor that trust and back it up, Walker said.

The last major challenge for RFMOs is their decision-making process. RFMOs are structured around a principal decision-making body the commission composed of a number of delegations made of each participant country. There are members that actively participate in voting and are subjected to regulation, as well as cooperating non-members that do not vote or have financial obligations but are subject to the same regulation as members. Lastly, RFMOs have subsidiary bodies to provide advice and specific functions, such as a compliance committee, which ensures compliance with RFMO decisions, and a scientific committee, which provides advice to the commission on decisions regarding fishing management options.

The voting system for rule changes in RFMOs can be consensus-based or based on a simple majority vote. The consensus-based system, which requires the agreement of every RFMO member for a motion to pass, can make passing new rules or changes to existing rules difficult.

The scientific committee gathers the data to develop stock numbers for the annual commission meeting and then propose those standards to the commission, everyone must agree for it to pass. There is a tendency for one or two countries to hold the process back which hampers any progress for a year or two. In that time, not only can stocks plummet, but also any enforcement to reduce IUU or illegal activities is paused allowing these illegal organizations to develop advanced methods to hide illegal operations.

I dont know if this is all of them, but certainly for the tuna RFMOs, you can object to a regulation and if you do then you dont have to follow it instead the previous measure, if there is one, applies, Pickerell said. We have this in the Indian Ocean, where the yellowfin [tuna] is overfished. The [Indian Ocean Tuna Commission] created a rebuilding plan last year in the Indian Ocean. It was the absolute minimum and even then, six countries objected and said the regulations didnt apply to them. If the [objecting countries] catch what they caught previously, the rebuilding plan will be shot to pieces and itll be the second-highest catch of yellowfin ever. It just demonstrates the futility of it all.

RFMOs cover a majority of the high seas and could be an important tool to monitor fish stocks for long-term ocean health and food security. But many organizations believe RFMOs have failed to prevent depletion of high-seas fish stocks and degradation of marine ecosystems. Changes must be made for confidence to return and for active and effective management of globally important fish stocks, Pickerell said. The creation of pre-competitive collaborations like the GTA is one way companies are trying to make those changes.

GTA have added a market voice to it [RFMO decisions]. If the supply chain doesnt buy the tuna, there is no industry for anyone. Were trying to come in with a voice to say this is what we want to say and it is very aligned with what the NGO community has to say. In order to change the dynamic, we are trying to use commercial power to influence whats happening, Pickerell said.

Some stakeholders are working collaboratively to develop proposals to improve the performance of RFMOs, including efforts to replace the decision-by-consensus process with a two-thirds majority system. Individual seafood businesses and nonprofits and NGOs have issued proposals to implement automatic catch-allocation schemes, such as harvest-control rules and petitions to require RFMOs to conduct regular performance assessments. Some have called for a greater use of intersessional decision-making across multiple annual meetings, rather than one high-stakes meeting annually.

On these efforts and in relation to future advocacy for reform and advancement, there seems to be broad agreement on the need for greater industry engagement with RFMOs, Sea Pact Executive Director Sam Grimley said.

Being able to get the global industry together that are working through these pre-competitive efforts, such as Sea Pact or the Global Tuna Alliance, and align them so theyre collectively working to engage the RFMOs is critical, Grimley said. Its a challenge to be a single company trying to approach a delegate that is going to an RFMO and expressing their support for a management measure. In order to efficiently drive impact, it has got to be a coordinated effort across the global industry thats dependent on these resources to advocate for change at the RFMO level.

Image courtesy of The Pew Charitable Trusts

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RFMOs What are they and are they enough to protect high-seas fish stocks? - SeafoodSource

Just a few days ago, Maersk was hailed as being one of the most attractive companies to work for by students starting their careers.

But women looking to join Maersk for a career on the high seas may want to reconsider following the firms admission that it has a #MeToo problem.

Following a sexual assault case last autumn, the shipper started interviewing its 350 female maritime workers to get an overview of the situation. And it seems that the case was only the tip of the iceberg.

The scope of the problem has surprised us. In connection with that [the interviews] we are investigating a number of other cases that have surfaced,Palle Laursen, Maersks head of fleet, told DR Nyheder.

I dont want to give a specific number, but its enough for us to admit that we have a problem. The way weve handled these issues until now has been inadequate.

READ ALSO: Maersk and Novo Nordisk rated among most attractive companies for students

Rooting out the bad applesLaursen said that the company is taking big steps to change the culture aboard its ships, including establishing a 24-hour hotline for employees to reach out.

Should it come to light that an individual has behaved in an unacceptable manner, that person will be terminated.

The #MeToo wave has washed over the Swedish maritime sector recently and here over a thousand women revealed how they had experienced harassing behavior from colleagues while at sea.

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#MeToo on the high seas: Maersk admits it has a problem - The Post - The Copenhagen Post - Danish news in english

Under the terms of the agreement, Carnival's U.S.-branded cruise ships will allow their passengers to partake in BetMGM-branded digital and cash-based betting options as soon as those ships enter international waters.

Last Updated: Jun 17, 2022 6:40 PM ET Read Time: 2 min

BetMGM is partnering with the British-American Carnival Corporation and plc to provide cruise-ship passengers with retail and mobile sports betting.

Over the coming months, BetMGM's online sports betting and casino gambling platform will begin a phased rollout on more than 50 ships ported in the U.S. that are part of the global Carnival Cruise Line and its two subsidiaries, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises. In addition, BetMGM and Carnival will collaborate on a variety of joint marketing and promotional ventures.

"Weve found an ideal partner in Carnival Corporation and look forward to providing our sports betting and iGaming products to its millions of passengers," BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said in a press release. "This is another great opportunity for us to further expand BetMGMs footprint."

Casinos have long been a feature of cruise ships, but gaming was limited to slots, blackjack, roulette, and other table games. Last October, Carnival was the first cruise line to introduce sports betting on its Princess Cruises ships through its Ocean Sportsbook, but BetMGM will now be replacing those mobile and kiosk offerings with its more extensive array of gaming options.

Previously, Royal Caribbean experimented with limited sports betting on some of its cruise ships prior to the pandemic but this consisted merely of win/loss wagering against the line on major sporting events.

Now, though, BetMGM, one of the leading operators of online sports betting in the United States, and Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise line company in the world by market share, are joining forces.

In 2021, Carnival maintained its dominance of the cruise industry by virtue of its 45% market share, which was greater than that of its two nearest American-owned rivals, Royal Caribbean (25%) and Norwegian (15%), combined. Carnival is now betting that its partnership with BetMGM will give it an additional competitive edge over its two rivals.

Under the terms of the agreement, Carnival's U.S.-branded cruise ships will allow their passengers to partake in BetMGM-branded digital and cash-based betting options as soon as those ships enter international waters. International maritime law stipulates that international waters start about 12 miles off the coast of any host nation and this is the point where stringent U.S. regulations that govern land-based casinos and online betting sportsbooks no longer apply.

The announcement that BetMGM will help turn Carnival cruise ships into floating casinos and sportsbooks also comes in the wake of last month's news that all three of the cruise industry's big players Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian had reactivated their entire fleets.

"Were very proud to be able to deliver the excitement and engagement of sports betting and iGaming to our guests through our partnership with BetMGM," Marty Goldman, vice president of global casino operations for Carnival, said in the release. "Our two leading global hospitality organizations will provide a wide array of immersive digital content as a complement to our exceptional shipboard casinos."

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BetMGM Taking Sports Betting to the High Seas with Carnival Cruise Partnership - Covers

You know it's truenot only kids love toys. Cruise lines have been upping the ante on ways to delight you. Here are some fine examples.

Christopher Ison

The Amenity: Cunard's flagship, the Queen Mary 2, is the only ship that carries pet dogs and cats across the Atlantic, housed in 24 kennels. The Details: The pampered pets have their own uniformed attendant, an exercise area with a lampost from Liverpool and a fire hydrant from New York, and an owners lounge for socializing. The Brag: You can make new animal-loving friends, and Fido can say that he too has sailed the ocean blue.

Courtesy of Celebrity.

The Amenity: Luxury suites with pools are almost de rigueur on land but a rarity at sea. The duplex Edge Villas on Celebrity's three newest ships (Beyond, Apex, and Edge) come with private, three-foot-deep plunge pools, giving land resorts a rum for their money. The Details: The pools are not big enough for laps, but they're ideal for cooling off during Mediterranean and Caribbean sailings. There are six Edge Villas on each ship, and they also include butlers. Pool cocktails, anyone? The Brag: Floating in your own "pond" outside your own "villa" while gazing at constantly changing ocean views takes the overwater bungalow concept to a whole new level.

Courtesy of Viking Cruises.

The Amenity: Viking's ocean fleet of nine identical ships has some of the best spas a sea. with oversize whirlpools, heated loungers, andlisten up, cryotherapy enthusiastsSnow Grottos. The Details: Embrace Nordic cold-hot therapy in a tiny glass-fronted chamber in which you sit amid rocks and actual snow before warming up in the saunaand repeating. The Brag: You can say with no exaggeration that you've thrown a snowball in the middle of the ocean while wearing a bathing suit.

Artist

The Amenity: In this age of immersive travel, it's not enough to see the sights above the waterone wants to plumb the deep. The Seabourn Venture's sub, as well as Scenic Eclipse's, both hold six passengers and can dive 900 feet below the surface of the seaor, in Antarctica, below the ice. The Details: These are no ordinary subs! Both have comfortable leather-upholstered seats set in giant acrylic spheres for 360-degree views. Seabourn's also has a champagne cooler. The Brag: You watched penguins dive-bombing underwater while you sipped bubbly under the polar ice. (What in the world would Shackleton say?)

Christophe Dugied PONANT

The Amenity: For those who don't wish to get wet or use a submarine, the French luxury line Ponant has fitted a multisensory "Blue Eye" lounge below the waterline of its six Explorer ships. The Details: You'll both see marine life and hear it via hydrophones on the ship's hull. The Blue Eye can accommodate up to 40 (so you want the front row) and it has a bar. The Brag: Describe lying back in rippling blue underwater light watching for the shadowy figures of approaching whales and listening to their haunting song.

T&C TIPMany luxury ships have impressive wine cellarswith markups to match. Silverseas Connoisseur list, which features more than 160 choice vintages, is sold virtually at cost. Some passengers even buy bottles to take home.

This story appears in the Summer 2022 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW

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Cruise Ship Amenities - New Perks on the High Seas - Town & Country

Im standing on the bridge of the USS Ross waiting for the Russian warplanes to arrive. Its a clear day on the Black Sea with little wind or waves. The mood on the US Navy destroyer is focused. The crew display the confident calmness that comes from good training and absolute trust in ones comrades and commanders.

A few sailors gathered around a radarscope tell me that two Russian Su-24 attack aircraft are inbound, coming in from the destroyers aft, port side. I step into the open air and stare into the distance, trying to pick out the incoming warplanes above the blue horizon. I strain my eyes in vain for a few moments until at last I pick out the faint, twin trails of jet exhaust. And then I see the two aircraft. Theyre low, definitely less than 1,000 feet high. The little dots quickly grow into the telltale shapes of two swivel-winged, Russian Su-24s. Denoting their high subsonic speed, there is no sound until the warplanes are practically abeam the US destroyer.

The Russian jets roar past and bank hard into a climb. They come back for a second, third, and fourth time. All the while, the silhouettes of two Russian warships loom like shadowing sharks a few miles out in the distance.

This is what great power competition looks like.

It does feel different. Ive very rarely been on a ship where were being tailed by someone like the Russians, says Rodolfo Lopez, command master chief of the USS Ross. We gotta make sure that were standing a vigilant watch, that were ready for anything, and that we are out here to support our allies and keep the Black Sea and the 6th Fleet [area of responsibility] safe.

The USS Ross is in the Black Sea as part of a NATO naval exercise called Sea Breeze, taking place in June and July 2021 and co-hosted by the US Navys 6th Fleet and Ukraine. With Russia increasing its military capability in the Black Sea, the annual naval drills are meant to send a strong message that NATO and its partners are not willing to cede the Black Sea region to Moscow.

Headquartered in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and with about 30 countries participating, Sea Breeze 2021 is also meant to underscore NATO solidarity with Ukraine, a country thats been locked in a low-intensity land war with Russia since 2014. During the Sea Breeze exercise, the USS Ross and its coterie of Ukrainian and NATO warships pass within about 20 miles of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that Russia invaded and seized in 2014.

A US Arleigh Burke-class destroyer such as the Ross packs a lot of firepower. In addition to a 5-inch gun on the forecastle, the Ross is armed with land attack cruise missiles, ship-to-ship missiles, and antiaircraft missiles. Altogether, when this single ship is in the Black Sea, its a balance of power game-changer.

Were capable of defending ourselves, in the event that we need to, says Navy Cmdr. John John, commander of the USS Ross.

Russian warships begin shadowing the USS Ross only hours after we embark from Odesa. During the three days of at-sea war games, the Russian vessels remain within visual range advancing to within about 1.5 miles of the Ross by the third day. The interactions at sea with the Russian warships and warplanes never exceed what the Americans deem safe and professional behavior. Nevertheless, the Russians constant presence within visual range of the Ross clearly signals Moscows discontent with having a US Navy destroyer operating in the Black Sea.

I have to admit, my senses are on overdrive amid all the Russian run-ins. This is exciting stuff but youd hardly know it based on the outward demeanor of the American crew, who collectively brush off the Russian encounters as business as usual.

I think the message that [the Russians] are trying to send is that theyre operating in international airspace just like were operating in international waters, John says. We expect to have routine, safe, and professional interactions with every military that we encounter on the high seas and in international waters.

On the third day of drills, a pair of Ukrainian Su-25 attack aircraft conduct simulated attack runs on the Ross as part of an air defense exercise. Its impressive to observe the Soviet-era aircraft snarling low over the horizon. But theres an unexpected twist to this days war game, which supplies a dose of real-world gravitas.

As the Ukrainian attack planes circle in again and again, a Russian warship lingers about 1.5 miles off the Ross port side. Incidentally (and Im sure this is just a coincidence), the Ukrainian Su-25s repeatedly fly directly over the Russian ship on each pass. It does not escape me that just a few hundred miles to the northeast of here, Ukrainian and Russian troops lob artillery at each other every day along an entrenched front line in Ukraines embattled Donbas region.

After three days of war games, the Ross returns to Odesa. As the Ukrainian citys skyline slowly emerges over the horizon, I think about what the view looks like in the opposite direction what the Ross and its American flag must symbolize to Ukrainians after seven long years of war.

It motivates us to be able to support what the Ukrainians are doing, John says. Because ultimately, were inextricably linked by the sea. Our safety, security, and prosperity are all linked together. We dont just raise our right hand and take an oath to defend our nation we do it for the world.

This article first appeared in the Fall 2021print edition ofCoffee or Die Magazine as Toe-to-Toe With Russia on the Black Sea.Exercise Sea Breeze 2021 took place from June 28 to July 10.

Read Next:Tim Kennedy Reveals What the Fall of Kabul Was Really Like in New Memoir

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Embedded With the US Navy in the Black Sea - Coffee or Die Magazine

Monday, June 20th 2022 - 09:02 UTC Negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten sustainability of fish stocks had been going on at WTO since 2001

After two decades of discussions, the World Trade Organization, WTO, finally reached a deal aimed at curbing overfishing which was hailed by conservation groups as a major turning point, even if it was the result of compromises to seal the long-sought agreement.

The deal marks a crucial step in moving the worlds fisheries toward long-term sustainability and in multilateral efforts to address subsidies that harm the natural environment and the well-being of vulnerable communities, said the International Institute for Sustained Development, which also congratulated WTO members.

Negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability of the planet's fish stocks had been going on at the World Trade Organization since 2001. The text was watered down compared to what had originally been envisaged, but WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala insisted it was better to get an agreement rather than keep negotiating for years to come.

The deal on fishing subsidies had environmental sustainability at its heart, Okonjo-Iweala said. The deal, she said, targets subsidies that contribute to illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing, and bans support to fishing in areas where fish stocks are overstretched.

The agreement, she added, marks a first but significant step forward towards reducing the fishery subsidies that contribute to overfishing on unregulated high seas.

Fisheries support the livelihoods of millions of people, including some of the worlds poorest, who rely on marine resources for food as well as income. But the worlds fishing fleet is far too large for the size of the resource it exploits; by some estimates, it is 2.5 times larger than what would be required to fish sustainably. The final treaty reached in Geneva seeks to ensure support provided to often vulnerable fishing communities does not undermine the sustainability of the resource they depend on.

The agreement prohibits subsidies for vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing and establishes new rules for subsidies for the fishing of stocks that are already over-exploited. It also prohibits subsidies for fishing of stocks on the high seas that are not managed by regional bodies. The treaty contains certain flexibilities for developing country WTO members, known as special and differential treatment.

This agreement matters because it will require governments to think critically about their subsidy policies and how they interact with efforts to manage natural resources sustainably, said Alice Tipping, Lead, Sustainable Trade at IISD.

The new agreement is the product of compromise among 164 countries, so it's not perfect, said Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International. But the ocean needs help now, and marine ecosystems as well as coastal communities cannot wait for a perfect solution, he said.

What the WTO has delivered is an agreement that should be a catalyst for further subsidy and fisheries reform.

Another NGO, Bloom, called it a first historic step for the ocean and a giant step for transparency. A study co-authored by Bloom found that subsidies to the fishing sector amount to US$ 35.4 billion worldwide in 2018, with 80 percent going to industrial-scale fishing.

The deal bans subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, with a two-year exemption for developing countries within their exclusive economic zones, or 200 nautical miles.

In addition, the text allows for subsidies if they are implemented to rebuild the fishing stock to a biologically sustainable level.

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WTO reaches deal to curb overfishing and subsidies, with the target of fisheries sustainability - MercoPress

In the 1995 film Waterworld, severe climate change has caused global changes to the Earths surface, forcing humans to live on boats or floating cities and scrape out a living on the high seas. It also drove evolution in at least some humans, as evidenced by the Mariners gills, tucked neatly behind his ears. Audiences may have found that unbelievable, but it might not have been as impossible as it seems.

If you trace our evolutionary lineage far enough into the past, humans and all other land-living vertebrates will find primitive fish as their many-great grandparents. Of course, there are millions of years of evolution standing between our gilled ancestors and ourselves, and its highly unlikely wed adapt them again on so short a timescale, but the positioning behind the ears might have been right on the money.

Zhikun Gai from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and colleagues, analyzed the 3D braincases of ancient jawless fish dubbed Shuyu and found evidence that our ears evolved over millennia from their gills. Their findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

Many important structures of human beings can be traced back to our fish ancestors, such as our teeth, jaws, middle ears, etc. The main task of paleontologists is to find the important missing links in the evolutionary chain from fish to humans. Shuyu has been regarded as a key missing link as important as archaeopteryx, ichthyostega, and tiktaalik, Gai told SYFY WIRE.

Scientists found the Shuyu specimens, which hail from a species of galeaspid fish, in a quarry in the Changxi Zhejiang Province in the early 2000s. Despite having skulls only about the size of a fingernail, they held within them incredible knowledge which answered a question paleontologists have been trying to answer for a century.

Prior to the discovery of Shuyu, scientists were able to trace the origin of the middle ear back to fish spiracles tiny openings which are used to pull water into the body before flushing them out through the gills but the origin of the spiracle was unclear. Consequently, there was a gap in our knowledge regarding the evolution of the ear.

Now, we show that the fish spiracle evolved from a complete gill between the mandibular and hyoid arches, which bears gill filaments, Gai said.

Over evolutionary time, those spiracles shifted function, particularly in vertebrate animals, and became the small vibrating bones in the middle ear which are responsible for picking up and transporting sound to the inner ear. In essence, without the tiny breathing holes of ancient fish living 438-million-years-ago, our method of hearing might have been entirely different. Meanwhile, we needed a new way of breathing and shifted that function to the mouth and nose, at least in humans. Some animals, namely insects, still use spiracles to breathe while some vertebrates have adapted even more unusual respiration techniques.

Getting to the data inside the fossilized brain cases was a particular challenge. Scientists needed a way to see inside their mineralized heads without destroying the specimens. To do that, they used synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM), a high-powered scan which allowed them to create slice images of the bones without causing damage.

SRXTM provides a means of nondestructively investigating the internal structures of organisms with high spatial resolution and it has been applied to address a number of paleontological problems that would be undesirable by destructive means. This approach [was] applied successfully to characterize the cranial anatomy of Shuyu, Gai said.

All told, it took the team five years to reconstruct seven virtual models of the Shuyu braincase and solve the mystery. The next time you hear the brain-bending sounds of your favorite music, you can thank a fish for the privilege.

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How our ears evolved from the gills of 400-million-year old fish - Syfy

Anybody in the mood for a little swashbuckling? The summer may just be starting, but we're in the mood to sail the high seas and get a chance to fight some deadly ghosts and pirates (well, not necessarily the latter). If you're like us, then there's a good chance you're ready to watch Disney's beloved Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Based on the beloved Disney World ride, the movies follow Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he's on a quest for ... whatever he's looking for, depending on the film we're talking about. Along the way, he meets Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), an unlikely blacksmith and socialite who somehow find themselves rescuing the scorned pirate time and time again.

Thankfully, finding the movies on a streaming site isn't that difficult, as they're all available to watch on Disney+ and Amazon. In fact, it might be the perfect time to start watching, considering that a new sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which may star Margot Robbie, appears to be in the works. But the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has a lot of films to get through, and it may help to understand the timeline that connects them all. Well, we're here to help you, and here's how you can watch them in order:

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Let's start with the first film, shall we? This is where we first meet Jack, Elizabeth and Will for an epic adventure saving (or, more like recapturing) the pirate's beloved ship the Black Pearl. Do they succeed? Do Will and Elizabeth make an enemy out of a powerful (and cursed) man? You'll have to watch to find out.

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RELATED: How to Watch All the DC Movies in Order

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How to Watch the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Movies in Order - Good Housekeeping

Even sea beasts are adorable when theyre babies. But watch out when they get big! They can smash the hull of a ship with their giant horns, or pull a boat to the bottom of the ocean with long, snake-like tentacles. At least, thats consistent with the legends we were told when unfinished maps labeled uncharted waters here there be monsters. But what if those monsters were real? Thats the jumping-off point for Disney veteran Chris Williams first Netflix feature, The Sea Beast, a spectacular high-seas adventure of the kind most directors know better than to attempt.

But Williams had a distinct advantage: Hes an animator. The accomplished cartoon helmer, who cut his teeth on Bolt and Big Hero 6, first took to the open waters with Moana a dry run of sorts for some of the thrilling ideas he hoped to implement here. Never work with kids or animals, experienced film crews caution. Stay on dry land, if at all possible. When live-action filmmakers disobey those rules, the job winds up being far more difficult than they bargained for. (Waterworld, anyone?) But if making an animated movie, why not embrace those obstacles?

In the end, The Sea Beast is a movie about challenging conventional wisdom and figuring things out for yourself, and thats a philosophy that worked on both sides of the camera. Its two main characters are both orphans who lost their parents at sea, doing battle with terrifying dragon-like creatures. The similarities to DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon franchise will be lost on no one.

In the impressively staged prologue, The Sea Beast shows young Jacob Holland you may as well call him Ishmael clutching to shards of a broken boat. Its a breathtaking sight, rendered all the richer via you-are-there sound design and Mark Mancinas classical horns-and-drums score. The ship blazes red above water before the virtual camera plunges below the surface to reveal the hull torn in two. This traumatic sea beast attack gave Jacobs life meaning: Rescued soon after by one-eyed Captain Crow (a salt-and-vinegar-sounding Jared Harris), he will spend the rest of his days chasing these creatures to the ends of the earth.

The movies other orphan, a Black girl named Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator), is a good deal younger. Both of her parents were hunters the naval heroes dispatched by the king and queen to keep the monsters in check who went down with the monarch. Now stuck in a group home, Maisie reads books about how courageous sailors like her mom and dad fought the beasts that once attacked human towns, plotting her escape so that she might join the hunters. At a tavern in town, she begs Jacob to bring her along. Its a great scene, whose dialogue like the lively body language and facial expressions reveal the characters individual personalities and the assertive way this girl addresses grown-ups.

Maisie is more than just precocious; shes downright disobedient, which is consistent with the recent trend in studio animation where defiant kids are put on Earth to teach their elders a lesson (see Turning Red, Luca and Encanto, wherein conventional villains have been replaced by obstinate adults). Taking another page from How to Train Your Dragon, The Sea Beast concerns a civilization built on the premise that humans must unite against dangerous supernatural species. But what if the books are wrong?

Back in the orphanage, Maisie believed every word of what she read. After stowing away on the Inevitable, shes thrilled to be meeting her heroes a motley group of characters, whose diversity is a welcome departure from other pirate-movie ensembles. But shes not too shy to question their assumptions, even going so far as to cut the ropes mid-battle with the Red Bluster, the Moby Dick of sea beasts, a scarlet colossus with powerful jaws and a snout like a boiled lobsters claw, which Captain Crow has been pursuing for nearly three decades.

Maisies action spares the ship, but not without consequences, as the monster swallows both her and Jacob and swims off to its island sanctuary. Now, Williams and co-writer Nell Benjamin have the tough job of changing the pairs minds in the span of a few scenes. Remember, both characters have lost loved ones to these predators, and they spend a not-insignificant amount of time in the belly of the beast, like Jonah or Geppetto. But once they reach the island, the two survivors quickly switch from wanting to destroy all monsters to teaming up with Red to face down other threats together.

Williams stages an exciting Godzilla-like battle between Red and a giant purple crab, along with a couple brisk bonding scenes with baby sea beasts. In one, an enormous yellow slug-creature chases Jacob, until he realizes that this agitated mama was just trying to protect her young. (From this, Williams means for us to extrapolate that sea beasts are benign unless threatened a leap that asks audiences to ignore everything they know about wild animals.) In another, Maisie finds a blob-like mini-beast with rubbery indigo skin and widely spaced eyes, the sort that make internet sensations of deformed cats. She dubs him Blue, and immediately tries to domesticate the little guy.

That is not a pet! Jacob insists, but who is he kidding? The rest of The Sea Beast finds him and Maisie trying to convince the king and queen and all their subjects that monsters are not to be feared which is another idea that almost certainly wouldve failed if the project had been done via live action. Animated by the pros at Sony Pictures Imageworks, the film features incredibly nuanced facial expressions and dynamic camera moves (watch it swoop among the ships masts during the Bricklebat attack). A few of the backdrops look convincing enough to be real locations, but this is a cartoon through and through.

Still, Williams manages to sell the twist by appealing to audiences sympathies (80s movie Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend comes to mind, as animal lovers try to protect an endangered brontosaurus from evil poachers). The results, while not entirely persuasive, are just gorgeous worth seeing on the big screen if at all possible. Just dont let your kids try to convince you that killer whales are our friends, or that Jaws was such a lie that we neednt be wary of sharks.

The rest is here:

The Sea Beast Review: In Which an Orphan Girl Tames the Oceans Most Fearsome Monsters - Variety

Courtesy of Mary Jean Tully, Tom Baker, and Ashton Palmer.

Goldilocks had a simple predicament: choosing the right bed and bowl. When booking a cruise you need to consider, in addition to ship size (Small? Medium? Large? And whats the difference?), a slew of other factors that will affect your experience: the itinerary, the ships amenities and culinary cred, the excursions, the cabin types and locations. The advisers below focus on cruising. They know the cruise lines and all their ships. They know deck plans in detail. (Yes, every ship has bad cabinsyou do not, for example, want to be over the stern thrusters.) They know the ships different vibes, and will also, importantly, make sure that they understand your likes, dislikes, and interests. Think of them as matchmakers who will also help with logistics: private drivers and guides in ports of call (who wants to be on a bus?), pre- and post-cruise hotels, and the thicket of travel regulations. I have known and worked with all three for years, and they are also on travel guru Wendy Perrin's WOW List of trusted travel experts, where you can read consumer reviews.

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Ashton Palmer of Expedition Trips began as an expedition leader, guide, and naturalist. He specializes in small ship expedition cruisescompanies like Aqua Expeditions, Ponant, Lindblad, Scenic, Aurora, and more. He has been to Antarctica more than 50 times and spent three months in the Amazon. His email: Ashton@expeditiontrips.com

Tom Baker of Cruise Center specializes in large and medium-size ships from such lines as Celebrity, Oceania, Royal Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, and Silversea. He also has clout with river lines: AmaWaterways, Uniworld, Viking. But really there is nothing cruise-related he cant help with; he has sailed on more than 250 ships over the course of 50 years. His email: tom.baker@cruisecenter.com

Mary Jean Tully of Cruise Professionals by Tully Luxury Travel has for decades now sent a great many clients to all the luxury cruise lines. Her contacts enable her to secure the best cabins for her customers, as well as a wide range of onboard creditsi.e., she can be your ticket to special treatment at sea. Because she is intermittently in Africaher other passion, in addition to life on the high seas, is wildlife conservationher deputy, Cheri Ozimac, will take excellent care of you. Mary Jean's email: maryjean@tullyluxuryrtravel.com; Cheri Ozimac's email: cheri@tullyluxurytravel.com

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The Top Cruise Advisors 2022 - Town & Country