Category Archives: High Seas

Today, we review a Limited Series that turns a pirate adventure on the high seas into a sitcom; and a film that insists action heroes abs heroines can always be exhumed.

This Flag Means Death (HBO Go) You take the fascination people showed for the action/comedy blend of Pirates of the Caribbean, then turn it into a silly sitcom, and you have This Flag Means Death. The premise is that a gentleman would be so disillusioned by his marriage, staid business, and family that he would harbor dreams of becoming a pirate, and actually set out to do that. With a crew of misfits, hes traversing the high seas, but the real issues hounding him are stuff like he abhors doing anything criminal that would entail taking the life of another, hes squeamish at the sight of blood, and insists on traveling with a full library and wardrobe of clothes. Lots of potentials here, as its one ridiculous situation piled on top of each other.

And what if Blackbeard himself gets wind of this self-proclaimed Gentleman Pirate?Taika Waititi directs the first episode and then shows up as Blackbeard in the fourth episode. Hes a Blackbeard thats bored with his success, and very conscious of how he was raised in poverty, while Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) has been cut from a much finer cloth. Blackbeard marvels at the quality of Stedes marmalade, his overcoats and books; and pretty soon, the threat of murdering Bonnet dissipates and a strange friendship between the two flourishes. My issue with the series is how its all pretty tame and outrageous in too safe a manner. Some promising plot devices like that of a woman disguised as a man on board the ship never takes off. Funny, but misses out on being hilarious.

Jolt (HBO Go) Ever since the likes of Liam Neeson and Keanu Reeves turned little action films into outright Box-Office franchises, every Hollywood studio has been out to exhume some action hero or heroine of yesteryear, and turn their reincarnation into franchise film magic. The latest to attempt this is Jolt, which stars Kate Beckinsale. After all, she carried the Underworld film installments in the past, and has been absent long enough to make this qualify as a Hollywood the Return of narrative. And Jolt takes its Action pedigree seriously. As directed by Tanya Wexler, its about this girl named Lindy who had really extreme anger management issues. So bad that at one point, as we see in the prologue, she had to be institutionalized, and turned into a Guinea pig for behavioral scientists.

We fast-forward years later, and Lindy (Kate Beckinsale) wears a crazy contraption on her body that allows her to jolt herself with some charge that helps relax her and keep her from going ballistic. Its a device that Dr. Munchin (Stanley Tucci) has to regularly tinker with and adjust. Things go South when a date that Lindy had, and actually enjoyed the company of, turns up dead. Shes off to find out who killed him and why, and exact some revenge and justice. Nice set designs and use of color palettes to enhance movement and action. But if I had given an award for non-movement, my winner would be Kates face. Not sure what was used to plump up her face and smoothen age lines, but it looks like its been Botox-ed to death, and never moves. Tries so hard to be a compelling action film, but I dont think franchise with this outing.

SIGN UP TO DAILY NEWSLETTER

Read the original:

STREAMING REVIEWS: The art of reviving pirates & action heroines - Manila Bulletin

You can now vote for Mollusc of the Year!

In 2021, the Great Paper Boat (Argonauta argo) was the winner this year five other mollusc species are competing in a public vote for the title Mollusc of the Year 2022. They were selected from around 50 nominations from all over the world, by a jury of scientists. For the winning species, scientists will decode its entire genetic information.

Hardly any group of living organism is as diverse and species-rich as molluscs, which form the second largest animal phylum after arthropods. But as much as they differ in size, shape, behaviour and preferred habitats: What they have in common is that they have neither bones nor teeth and their bodies consist of a head, a foot a strong muscle for locomotion and a sac for the intestines. Most species live in the water.

Although molluscs evolved about 500 million years ago, they are still one of the largely unexplored groups of animals, especially from a genomic point of view. Many species are even still waiting to be discovered. There is also a lot of information missing that could help to understand their evolutionary development, relationships, adaptations and behavioural patterns. While the decoding of the genetic material of many other animal tribes is in full swing, there are only a few species among the molluscs whose genome has been completely sequenced.

This is where the international Mollusc of the Year competition comes in, which was launched at the end of 2020 by scientists from the Senckenberg Natural History Museum, the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) and Unitas Malacologica, the worldwide society for mollusc research. Our goal is to draw more attention to molluscs and make them better known, explains Dr Carola Greve, laboratory manager at the LOEWE Centre TBG. Last year we were very surprised and pleased to see how many interesting and rare species were nominated by researchers, but also from the public. Now we are excited about the new competition!

Among the five nominated species are three species of snails, one species of mollusc and one barge-foot, commonly known as elephants tusk shell. The snails are represented by the delicate, transparent sea butterfly (Cymbulia peronii), a sediment snail with a conical, evenly structured shell (Telescopium telescopium)and a colourful, air-breathing land snail (Polymita picta) which was also nominated last year. Could 2022 be its break-through year? Marine bivalves include shell-less shipworms (Teredo navalis), which digest wood and play a key role in the global carbon cycle by processing plant biomass in the oceans. The barge-foot (Fustiaria rubescens) lives in the seabed and its long shell shape is reminiscent of a small elephants tusk.

What is it?Hi! I amFustiaria rubescens, a scaphopod, you may know me as a tusk or tooth shell, although some people think that I look more like an ear swab. But do not panic, despite my tooth shape I wont bite you because I feed on little microscopic organisms, especially foraminiferans. Only a few scientists have been able to study me, and so there are still great secrets to be discovered in the youngest class of molluscs (ca. 359-323 million years ago).

Where do they live?You may find me in both the Mediterranean Sea and in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting muddy bottoms, normally offshore. Yet, other scaphopodscan be found all over marine environments.

What do they look like?My shell is an elongated tusk perforated on both sides. I live upside down buried in the bottom, and you can only see the thinnest tip, through which water enters and circulates along the mantle for the exchange of water and oxygen, as well as excreting waste. Completely blind and with my head buried, I search for food with special sensory tentacles known as captacula.

What secrets will this genome reveal?Knowing my genome could shed light on the processes of shell spiralization of me and my other molluscs mates, particularly my relatives the gastropod snails, as well as have a broader knowledge about my development (e.g., nervous system). I dont know why, but my group is one of the most unknown molluscs and there is no single scaphopod complete genome sequenced to date. So, I think it is time to pay the attention we deserve and help me solve this puzzle. Would you take a step forward and vote for me?

What is it?The Telescope snail, also known as the Horn snail, Berongan, Rodong and Mudcreeper, is a rare type of gastropod mollusk that is associated with the Potamididae gastropod family.

Where do they live?Mangrove forests along the Indian Ocean are its native environment.Currently known dwellings include the mangrove regions of the following countries: Pakistan,Goa (India), Chantaburi Prov. (SE Thailand), Panglao (Philippines), Queensland (Australia),Northern Territory (Australia), Western Australia, Singapore, Madagascar, Runion Island,Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea.

What do they look like?Telescopium telescopium shells are either black or very dark reddish brown. It can be easily recognizable by its long, cone-shaped shell with even like structure. They also have a fold on the columella of their shells, which makes them the only gastropod in the Potamidiae family to have so. Despite the obvious color of the shell they are often covered in barnacles and mud obscuring the natural color.

What secrets will this genome reveal?Telescopium is a mangrove inhabitant. Mangroves are found in two different areas (pristine and polluted) on Pakistan coastline. Many gastropod species of mangrove areas have been disappeared due to anthropogenic and industrial pollution, while T. telescopiumis surviving under pollution stress. The genome will reveal the secret how the present species is surviving in polluted areas and what changes it has adopted from the environment while other species of gastropods have been diminished from the same areas. Also it will be comparative findings between polluted and non-polluted areas representing the important habitats of the mentioned species.

What is it?Cymbulia peroniiis a large species of pteropod, snails that spend their entire lives drifting in the open sea. It is the species that inspired French fishermen to coin the term papillon de mer or sea butterfly in the eighteenth century.

Where do they live?The species has been reported from all oceans around the world. We dont know how many there are, because they avoid plankton nets, and occur deeper than most other plankton (below 200 meters depth).

What do they look like?As a remarkable example of adaptation to pelagic life, these 6 cm wide mesmerizing animals have a gelatinous external shell in the form of a transparent slipper. They also have a snail foot that has transformed into two wing-like structures that enable them to fly through the water column.

What secrets will this genome reveal?Its genome will provide general insight into adaptation to life in the open ocean as well as shed light onto the molecular machinery needed to build their fragile shells. As our oceans are becoming more acidic, sea butterflies are widely used as canaries in the coal mine to indicate the impact of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers. Knowing their genome will be important for understanding their ability to adapt to the rapid ocean changes.

What is it?An endangered Cuban snail famed for its colourful shell variation and enigmatic love dart, a device to stab mating partners to transfer sexual hormones.

Where do they live?Only in Eastern Cuba, in a wide variety of habitats, from xerophytic shrubs woodland to rainforests, and plantations where they benefit local agriculture by eating the moss and lichen on the leaves.

What do they look like?Possibly the most beautiful snail in the world, 2-3 cm across, in yellow, red, green, orange, white, black, or pink, with bold spiral bands. They are hermaphrodites, breeding in the rainy season with elaborate traumatic mating rituals, and living for around 1-2 years.

What secrets will this genome reveal?An assembled genome of this iconic species would provide the basis for understanding the evolutionary origin of the shell color variation and love dart shooting behaviour. Moreover, as the snails are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and poaching genomic resources would help establish units of conservation, ultimately protecting this species and as an umbrella to protect other species in the same habitatP

What is it?Im a clam, but I look worm. In fact, people call me a shipworm. This is because, for thousands of years, I used to eat through the hulls of wooden ships. I even changed the course of history just ask Columbus, I ate all his ships and stranded him in Jamaica! Sadly, maritime engineers have now come up with new paints and materials to stop me eating their boats.

Where do they live?I live worldwide throughout the tropics and subtropics. You can find me anywhere where there is plenty of wood in the waterfrom the pier at your favourite beach, to driftwood on the high seas, and the trees in mangroves swamps. Some of my shipworm cousins can even eat and burrow into rock!

What do they look like?As a juvenile, I take the form of a free-swimming larva, much like other bivalves. Once I have settled down on a tasty piece of wood and take my adult form, I look like a cross between a snake and a clam long and bendy like a snake, but with a pale yellowy flesh like a clam.

What secrets will this genome reveal?There is outstanding potential (unfortunately for me!) for us shipworms to be a food of the future, reared on a mass scale for benefit to human health and the environment. We grow incredibly fast some of us can reach over a metre in length in just 6 months. We can survive on waste wood and algae which can be grown using by-products from industry. We are incredibly nutrient rich, containing high levels of omega-3 and other important micronutrients. Our gills also contain many bacteria which could help develop new drugs, including antibiotics. In the past, we were considered villains. But our future (and our genome) may just help save humanity.

Vote here

Read the original here:

Vote for the Mollusc of the Year - SCUBA News - SCUBA News

According to Aemet, storm Celia will affect almost the entire peninsula and the Canary and Balearic archipelagos as well, with abundant rainfall and sometimes mud, strong winds and rough seas.

The State Meteorological Agency has announced that a new storm will form in the southwest of the Peninsula throughout Sunday afternoon, which will influence the weather for the next few days throughout Spain.

On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the storm will remain stationary in the southwest of the Peninsula.

Storm Celia in the Canaries

Storm Celia is also expected to affect the Canary Islands, at least on Monday and Tuesday, with rainfall that will be persistent in the north of the islands and will be accompanied by northerly winds with strong or very strong gusts and rough seas.

The Canary Islands remain on alert for strong wind and high waves on Monday and Tuesday as well

There's an orange alert activated in the Canary Islands this Monday due to strong winds and waves, which has been extended for Tuesday as well, including also the possibility of snow at altitudes over 1500 m in Tenerife and La Palma.

Maximum wind gusts of 70 to 90 km/h are expected, as well as high waves of 5 to 6 meters, which is why the alert is also in place for coastal phenomena.

Aemet remarked that in this type of situation there's a high degree of uncertainty, since small variations in the position of the storm can lead to a significant change in the geographical distribution and intensity of rainfall.

Below is the official announcement from Aemet, but the document is available only in Spanish

Continued here:

Storm Celia will affect the Canary Islands on Monday - GuideToCanaryIslands

Since the war began, about 150,000 Ukrainians have been fleeing every day into neighbouring states. That rate has begun to fall as the conflict grinds toward its fourth week, but it may tick back up with potentially intense fighting looming in Kyiv, Odessa and western Ukraine. Either way, the total number of Ukrainian refugees looks set to hit three million this week and could surge past four million by the end of the month.

Already the Ukrainian wave washing over Europe is twice the size of the 2015-16 tide of mostly Muslim refugees that shook the West. Back then, Europe and the US seemed horrified at the prospect of millions of new Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan neighbours perhaps you remember the former US president Donald Trumps so-called Muslim ban or the German far-rights warnings of a coming Eurabia.

An installation by activists, next to Berlin's Reichstag, using 300 life vests originally left behind by migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos on December 5, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. Getty

The installation in Berlin, on December 5, 2021. Getty

Today the prevailing western view seems to be that desperate Ukrainians are like us, so let them come. Many observers have noted the not-so-subtle racism in the Wests response. However condescending this may be toward Middle Easterners, it is good news for desperate Ukrainians, who have the added advantage of EU land borders and thus need not brave the high seas to find sanctuary.

Since 2014, more than 25,000 migrants have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, according to German firm Statista. Although I can personally confirm that crossing the border from Ukraine into the EU is no picnic, as far as I know, no Ukrainians have died during processing.

Poland has stood out with its generosity, welcoming nearly two million Ukrainians

Ukraines conflict, however dire, is not yet the Syrian civil war: since 2011 more than 13 million Syrians have been forced from their homes, more than half the countrys pre-war population, including nearly seven million refugees. Thus far, about 11-12 per cent of Ukraines 45 million citizens have been displaced and 7 per cent have fled abroad.

Still, thats a sizable slice of humanity, particularly in such a short period of time, and Europe deserves applause for its willingness to process millions of arrivals in a matter of days. Western countries, particularly EU states, have to their credit largely flung open their doors, even as their leaders have been busy determining the wisest military and economic response.

Perhaps driven by its own historical clashes with Russia, Poland has stood out with its generosity welcoming nearly two million Ukrainians with no help from top aid groups like the Red Cross or UN refugee agency because Poles have opened their homes, hotels and hearts. Its a good start, but more than likely, it really is merely the beginning.

As much as I would prefer to not consider the possibility of a years-long conflict or Russian occupation of Ukraine, Europe may soon need to figure out a long-term approach for handling and even integrating all the Ukrainians having to leave their country. One model that comes to mind is Turkey, which has hosted more than four million mainly Syrian refugees for nearly a decade and offers some parallels with the current crisis.

A refugee camp in the border town of Yayladag in Turkey's Hatay province. The Turkish Red Crescent set up several camps in Yayladag when the first Syrian refugees arrived. Osman Orsal / Reuters

For starters, Turks and Syrians are both primarily Muslim, just as Poles and Ukrainians are mainly Christian, though the former favour Catholicism and the latter the Orthodox church. The flip side of the Wests apparent refugee bias is that the idea of integrating Ukrainians into Poland and other mainly Christian EU states should be much less panic-inducing.

The cuisines and cultures of eastern Poland and western Ukraine are in some areas nearly interchangeable

In addition, Turkish territories along the border with Syria are steeped in Arab and Levantine culture, from food to language and music. Hatay became a province of Turkey only in 1939, a move still disputed by Damascus. Unsurprisingly, these areas have shouldered much of Turkeys refugee burden: Syrians now make up about one third of the population of the Turkish city of Gaziantep and a quarter of neighbouring Sanliurfa, compared to 6-7 per cent of Istanbul.

Similarly, eastern Poland and western Ukraine have a great deal of shared history, including the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Holocaust and stints under Russian control. Lviv, which has in recent days emerged as Ukrainians main domestic refuge, was Polish-controlled and known as Lwow for much of the Middle Ages. Separated by a language, as with borderland Syrians and Turks, the cuisines and cultures of eastern Poland and western Ukraine are in some areas nearly interchangeable.

The situation seems ripe for Poland to now play the Turkey role in response to its destabilising next-door war. Even before the conflict, Poland was home to more than a million Ukrainians, their largest diaspora in Europe, and served as a key recruiting ground and logistical conduit for Ukrainians returning home to fight. Polands population is only half that of Turkeys, yet already its two biggest cities, Warsaw and Krakow, have taken in about a million Ukrainians combined. But the strain is starting to show: on the weekend, Warsaws mayor said the city had absorbed as many Ukrainians as it could and the need for an international relocation system had become urgent.

It seems contradictory, given all the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders of the past two years, but perhaps its fitting that this pandemic era is also an age of exile. Never before in human history have so many people been displaced from their homes, more than 85 million, according to the UN refugee agency, or more than 1 per cent of humanity.

For many Europeans this wave might recall the vast displacement of the Second World War, which highlights another historical tie between Poles and Ukrainians. After the war, tens of thousands of both refused to return to their home countries, which had become part of the USSR. In early 1946, western powers united to create a refugee organisation meant to assist those with legitimate fears of persecution that body later became the UN refugee agency.

Beyond my concern for the Ukrainians who were so recently my friends and neighbours in Kyiv, for me this refugee wave has me thinking of Turkey, where I lived as the number of arriving Syrians ticked into the millions. Many viewed Ankaras open-door policy as an extension of then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans opposition to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and an attempt to gain regional popularity as the champion of oppressed Muslims.

Whatever its reasoning, Turkey was widely and rightly lauded for its generosity. But today, a decade on from the first Syrian arrivals, Turkish citizens facing high unemployment and rampant inflation have tired of their refugee guests, who are seen as taking too many jobs.

Opposition parties have vowed to return all the Syrians and Afghans home should they come to power after next years elections, and have of late been out-polling Mr Erdogans long-ruling AKP party. This, sometimes, is the cost of doing good. Its now Europes turn, once again, to bear that burden.

Published: March 14, 2022, 4:00 PM

Go here to read the rest:

Europes refugee burden is looming and Poland has set an example - The National

The first hope when this article is written is that health, people and economy have returned to the normal situation in every corner of the world, or at least that positive trends exist to reach it.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has brought suddenly a lot of changes. The teleworking, telecommuting or working from home has been accelerated and implemented by necessity: to work remotely now in a lot of sectors, such as Information Technology (IT), is a must and not an option.

Focusing on IT, it can be read in a lot of places headlines announcing, or claiming, that the productivity of IT companies or IT departments has been increased (due to this remote working) or that at least this productivity has not decreased. Regarding this productivity concept, from the metrics point of view, it is interesting to recall that for managing the productivity we need to know the size of the work done, and the effort needed to do that.

We can say that the tasks have been accomplished on time, or that the effort spent in a concrete activity has been according to the planned effort, but standard productivity is something different. An interesting detail is that it is essential to have a high-precision recording of the effort because when working from home the effort can be more volatile and difficult to measure with precision.

IT strategic standard metrics in this virtual time (physically speaking) are essential for creating strong trust, transparence and sincerity between clients and IT providers, sharing clear and understandable metrics by all the parties, without any kind of cooking the books. For avoiding creating ad-hoc indicators and KPIs to project level, application level or even to company level, the eyes might be put in the highest-level perspective, applying worldwide standard metrics and indicators that bypass applications, companies and countries.

Recalling the IT software productivity, nothing can be measured without the size (so in enhancements as in creating IT products), and at this point IFPUG, like a lighthouse, brings light with its three worldwide methods: 1) IFPUG Functional Size, the ISO/IEC 20926 standard and even father and inspirator of other methods, 2) SiFP (Simple Function Points), and 3) SNAP (Software Non-Functional Assessment Process) method, the standard IEEE 2430-2019 that measures the Non Functional requirements.

COVID-19 is synonymous to a big-bang economic crisis, in spite that the most important are the health consequences. In just a few weeks a lot of things have changed: unemployment, sales drop, loss of benefits and crisis are words too common. A lot of things have collapsed like a house of cards.

We can say that the less affected are the essential ones or the best ones. But how essential or good is a company? What add value does the company or its products provide? Metrics, trends, analysis and projections are essential and companies might take advantage of those analysis.

It can be said that a first group of companies consider IT metrics as something essential and taken into consideration to base decisions on for years. For this group, metrics are a must and are essential to take strategic decisions to Cs levels, in addition to other levels. They provide a long past historical perspective that help to anticipate future trends, a kind of what if?, or even what happened when we did a set of actions in the past?

Those companies have a set of golden information to multiple levels, starting from the drivers that can affect positively or negatively the productivity, the quality and the time-to-market, amongst others. To know, for example, how competitive is a company versus the competitors, or even what can happen if enter into scene a set of scenarios. Those metrics will bypass projects, technologies and companies.

A company can focus mainly in financial metrics, without putting too much focus in having deeper indicators such as why the company has good results? or which ones are the drivers that have contributed in the previous years, and now, in the economic success? or in what position is the company versus competitors or versus standards? Even, in the case of having excellent economic results, if the productivity is low, if the product quality is just normal and if the product cost (for example due to dinosauric company costs or to a high non-productive pyramid, all of this combined with a low productivity) is high, then actions might be taken.

The objective is not only to have strategic info but that this info is sincere, without any kind of cooking the books or fabrication. Multi-axis info and with multiple objectives might be managed, such as if the company or IT provider has an excellent ratio productivity vs quality vs time-to-market vs costs vs value vs service spirit. If all of this is accomplished, if the company has a good vision, mission and common sense, and if the product is innovative then it can be offered the best valued product.

A second group of companies or IT departments implement metrics programs, but perhaps more focused in just having metrics or fulfilling requirements (such as to be able to affirm that Productivity metrics, for example, are managed) or certifications (such as we fulfill the Measurements and Analysis CMMI process area) than in providing strategic information and taking advantage of them. Metrics will exist but sometimes can be more focused on having good numbers than on ensuring the numbers are the real ones. Something like if you publish a picture from yourself in Instagram but to publish it, you have taken previously 100 pictures, you have selected the best one from those 100 pictures and even you have applied some magic touch of Photoshop to the selected one. This picture is yours? Yes. This picture refers to your real you? Perhaps not.

Facts such as to penalize projects or teams with bad indicators but with honest numbers that give credibility to the metrics, and in the opposite way to reward projects with perfect metrics results but adding non-nice practices such the mentioned above (select the best picture and to apply Photoshop-to-the numbers techniques) are indicators to non-mature companies because you will not have the real numbers, the real reasons and the real conclusions.

Obviously a third group exists. It considers that to manage metrics, to know them and to take advantage of them are just fiction because they have the perception (feelings more than numbers) that they are the best ones. During crisis times, they can recall the idea of not having strategic, and recorded, info was not a good idea. Implementing metrics plans is something that takes time: not only to implement the plan but to have historical info and metrics objectives, historical changes, revisions and corrections. Even, not having those dozens of What if? and Why? questions answered in numbers for years is not a good idea, too. These companies can be a little bit like a great ship on the high seas, in the middle of the storm, without an engine, and carried by the high waves.

To be in the first group might be something essential. To know the competitivity using standard metrics might not be considered as an option, but as a must. In these changing times, and always, it is needed to bring the best high value to customer and to companies.

Metrics and metrics areas or departments might not be considered as a cost but as an investment: strategic activity that provides golden-key information and provides guidance to companies and to its Cs levels. If providing this guidance is important in sunny days, it is even more important in the night or in dark times, perhaps synonymous to the actual time. The IFPUG standard worldwide methods that permit to manage strategic metricsand to compare indicators and trends with internal and external worldwide indicatorsare essential and might be a lighthouse to help IT projects, IT products and companies to arrive correctly and safely to the port. In just a few months a lot of things have changed.

Published in MetricViews IFPUG.

Read the original post:

Has Software Productivity Increased or Decreased During COVID-19? - Finextra

The world has a once in a lifetime chance to protect the high seas from exploitation, warned scientists and environmentalists, as negotiators meet at the UN headquarters in New York this week to hammer out a new treaty on the oceans.

One scientist described the treaty, which will set out a legal framework to protect biodiversity and govern the high seas, as the most significant ocean protection agreement for four decades.

Its extremely important it happens now, said Prof Alex Rogers, science director of Rev Ocean, an ocean research NGO. Weve continued to see industrialisation of areas beyond national boundaries, including distant-water fishing and potentially deep-sea mining.

A vast portion of the ocean, 64% by surface area, lies outwith the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that cover approximately 200 nautical miles from the shorelines of individual states. Referred to as the high seas, they host a wide array of ecosystems and species, many insufficiently studied and recorded. The increasing reach of shipping vessels, seabed mining and new activities such as bioprospecting of marine species have put the high seas and its biodiversity at increasing risk of exploitation.

A group of 50 countries has signed up to the 30x30 coalition, which launched in January 2021 and aims to protect 30% of the planets land and sea by 2030. But without an agreement, these much-heralded pledges will have no legal basis in the high seas.

Currently, all countries have the right to navigate, fish and carry out scientific research on the high seas with few restrictions. Only 1.2% of this marine area is protected.

Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University who has quantified the rise in human pressures on the marine environment, describes a blue acceleration, or dash for resources, over the past two or three decades. You have a race for the ocean in all these different sectors, but there is no overview.

One of the fallacies about the high seas is that you have this great big empty space. The other is that it is a quiet space. Both of those are untrue, said Doug McCauley, associate professor of ocean science at the Benioff Ocean Initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

By all indicators it is busier that it has ever been. Shipping has increased by 1,600% since 1982, when Unclos [the UN law of the sea] was signed. Industrial fishing takes place farther and farther from shore and more than 55% of the ocean is fished. There is new interest in offshore oil and gas. And there is the threat of mining in the deep sea.

McCauley contributed to a paper for the Pew Charitable Trusts highlighting 10 biodiversity hotspots in the high seas that would benefit from protection. They include the Costa Rica Dome nutrient-rich waters that attract yellowfin tuna, migratory dolphins, endangered blue whales and leatherback sea turtles and the Emperor Seamount chain, which arches north-west of the Hawaiian islands towards Russia, a highly biodiverse series of seamounts.

The paper concludes that, while a patchwork of international bodies and treaties manage resources and human activity in areas beyond national jurisdiction including fishing, whaling, shipping and seabed mining they vary greatly in their mandates, and their jurisdictions often overlap. This piecemeal approach leads to a degradation of the environment and its resources, said the paper. It also makes setting up marine protected areas legally challenging.

The treaty wont create protections for hotspots but will hopefully create a structure so that we can create international parks for the first time, said McCauley. Its a starting place and a really important starting place.

Peggy Kalas, of the High Seas Alliance, said: After decades of negotiations and planning, the world has a once-in-a-generation chance to build meaningful protections for an environment that supports life as we know it.

It is hard to exaggerate how crucial these talks are for the multitrillion-dollar global ocean economy, a vital food source for billions of people and perhaps the best protection the planet has from climate change.

However, NGOs expressed concern over being excluded from this weeks negotiations, after the UN restricted entry to delegates and intergovernmental organisations due to Covid.

Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace, which has long campaigned for a network of ocean sanctuaries, said it set a worrying precedent. These negotiations are simply too important to avoid proper scrutiny; the UN should review its decision and allow civil society to participate in a safe and meaningful way.

The UN general assembly voted on 24 December 2017 to convene a multi-year process to develop a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Three of the scheduled negotiations have taken place. The fourth and final set, previously scheduled for March 2020 but postponed due to Covid, is now running from 7 to 18 March at the UN headquarters in New York.

The draft treaty addresses four key areas: marine genetic resources; area-based management tools, including marine protected areas; environmental impact assessments and capacity building; and the transfer of marine technology.

Last month, at the One Ocean summit in Brest, France, more than 100 countries, including the UK and 27 members of the EU, agreed to achieve a strong and robust UN high seas treaty, giving the talks a powerful political boost.

Excerpt from:

UN ocean treaty is once in a lifetime chance to protect the high seas - The Guardian

Two-Minute Masterpiece: When tea clippers raced on the high seas Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. Linked In An icon of the Linked In logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo.

Continue reading here:

Two-Minute Masterpiece: Revisit the days when tea clippers raced on the high seas - The Press & Journal

Called ReShore, the company was established by Frej Gustafsson and Mitchell Williams in 2020, soon after graduating from Wageningen University with degrees in aquaculture and marine resource management respectively.

Our plan was to create a business model for ecosystem services, explains Gustafsson. Wed had a couple of ideas. Initially we were looking into growing seaweed for carbon credits.

That ran into obstacles apparently their plan to give away any seaweed that was harvested was deemed to be illegal. However, their next idea involved coastal protection and they began to investigate the possibility of combining aquaculture with floating breakwaters.

Mangroves, corals and wetlands are natural breakwaters but theyre hard to sell, so we decided to look at selling grey-green infrastructure instead. This combines the reliability of engineering infrastructure with the benefits of nature.

We realised that it was easier to sell the breakwaters as the primary product, and use the prospect of the ecological services delivered by the product as a bonus, Gustafsson reflects. Mangroves, corals and wetlands are natural breakwaters but theyre hard to sell, so we decided to look at selling grey-green infrastructure instead. This combines the reliability of engineering infrastructure with the benefits of nature.

Their imaginations were fired by paper from researchers in Scotland which examined the use of a double pontoon to break waves.

The double pontoon makes it more effective for protecting against large waves. Meanwhile aquaculture systems can be suspended underneath for aquaculture production, potentially even on a commercial scale, Gustafsson explains.

While the concept is innovative, the duo decided against attempting to reinvent the wheel.

We wanted to incorporate existing systems, such as oyster bags, seaweed lines or mussel ropes, says Gustafsson.

They also plan to use steel and concrete as the main components of the pontoons themselves.

Aquaculture is an increasingly important source of safe, nutritious, and sustainable seafood for people worldwide. Globally, aquaculture production must double by 2030 to keep pace with demand. These increases in demand for aquaculture products, food security considerations, and job creation have generated an increased need for skilled workers.

Discover how you can be part of this rapidly expanding industry.

These materials are reliable and safety comes first, he notes.

Floating breakwaters are less common that fixed versions, but are becoming increasingly popular.

Floating breakwaters are typically used in marinas and ports some are on a very large scale, such as in Monaco, where the breakwater has a parking lot inside it, notes Gustafsson.

They are largely deployed in areas that are no longer protected by nature and are most effective in sheltered areas, rather than being used as the first line of defence against waves, he adds.

In terms of integrating aquaculture into ReShores designs, Gustafsson notes that shellfish spat settle naturally on a range of structures, so theres scope to combine the two with minimal effort. However, he also admits that it makes the most sense to focus on areas where theres an existing shellfish farming sector.

Shellfish can be grown anywhere but to do so on a commercial basis you need to have existing industrial infrastructure, so you don't have to start from the bottom up, he notes.

However, Gustafsson adds that not all of those interested in the novel breakwater designs are seeking to harvest the shellfish or seaweed commercially.

Many of the potential customers weve spoken to see aquaculture is a bonus, not as the core business so harvesting the end products is not necessarily required.

"Many of the potential customers weve spoken to see aquaculture is a bonus, not as the core business so harvesting the end products is not necessarily required, he explains.

The company demonstrated proof of their designs concept at Marins wave basin in the Netherlands last year. These trials have shown that combining mussels and breakwaters adds to the efficacy of the structures when it comes to reducing the impact of high seas, according to Gustafsson.

ReShore has been awarded a number of government grants and the commercialisation process has benefitted from the two founders taking part in the StartLife accelerator programme, which finished in December 2021. The company is now looking put a demonstration unit in the water this year and build their first commercial unit in 2023.

In terms of potential customers, Gustafsson reports good traction for their idea with harbours in several European countries, in areas that face increasingly regular storms and rising sea levels and have a need to improve their infrastructure.

We offer an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional breakwaters. We can improve developers social licence to operate as well as help developments to be approved more easily by regulators, says Gustafsson.

In order to install a pilot scale breakwater the company is now looking to raise a bit north of 1 million, but the cost to produce ReShores design is not significantly more than conventional breakwaters, according to Gustafsson.

The company has had mixed feedback from existing aquaculture operators in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, only a limited area is allocated for use in aquaculture, so some farmers are concerned that our breakwaters could reduce the areas where they are permitted to operate, but I don't think that would be the case, says Gustafsson.

Oyster farmers have been showing an interest in the design because the Dutch government wants them to move further offshore. What's more, producing oysters in high energy environment is good for the oyster growth.

Oyster farmers have been showing an interest in the design because the Dutch government wants them to move further offshore. What's more, producing oysters in high energy environment is good for the oyster growth, he adds.

While the founders are armed with aquaculture qualifications, they are now looking to hire at least one person with an engineering background and are also open to working with partner organisations.

We pride ourselves on good collaboration and have worked with the Dutch construction business, as well as the Marin research institute, Gustafsson explains. "And we're actively looking for collaborators to continue to develop and realise our concept, both in terms of aquaculture and engineering. We'd love it if any interested parties got in touch via our website."

Gustafsson is convinced that projects such as ReShores which capitalise on the ecosystem services provided by low trophic aquaculture species are set to become more common.

There is a change in the way aquaculture is seen and more people are exploring the potential for environmentally positive practices. The biggest driver is that people are really willing to pay more for sustainably produced seafood, he concludes.

Rob Fletcher has been writing about aquaculture since 2007, as editor of Fish Farmer, Fish Farming Expert and The Fish Site. He has an MA in history from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in sustainable aquaculture from the University of St Andrews. He currently lives and works in Scotland.

Originally posted here:

Can aquaculture and engineering combine to protect our coastlines? - The Fish Site

A

high-stakes game of cat and mouse is playing out in the high-seas as yachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires try to evade seizure.

Under severe sanctions announced by the US and Europe, members of the Russian elite who have aided Putin in his invasion of Ukraine have been warned they will have assets frozen and property blocked from use.

Solaris, a superyacht owned by Roman Abramovich, yesterday hit by UK sanctions, slipped out of Barcelona port on Wednesday afternoon where it was being maintained, and headed southeast.

According to ship traffic data from Marine Traffic, the 430 million vessel was most recently tracked off the coast of Sicily as it joined a scramble of Russian-owned vessels hastily leaving European ports.

Amore Vero: French authorities have seized an 88-metre yacht linked to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin

The 458-ft yacht has several swimming pools, a helipad and an outdoor beach club. Its not even his biggest boat, an accolade that goes to the 533ft Eclipse which has a gym, a nightclub and can accommodate 62 guests and 50 crew. The Eclipse is also on the move, from the Caribbean island of St Maarten towards international waters.

Last week French authorities announced they had seized an 88-metre luxury yacht Amore Vero linked to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, who has been sanctioned by the UK, EU and US, in the port of La Ciotat.

In Italy other Russian-owned yachts, were impounded in the countrys northern ports, while there were also claims Germany had seized the Dilbar, a 450m superyacht owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov who has also been sanctioned by all three blocs.

The super-sized Dilbar includes a 25-metre swimming pool that holds an incredible 180 m of water, the largest pool ever to have been installed on a yacht.

Authorities in the port city of Hamburg denied it had been confiscated, but Forbes has reported that its crew were fired due to US and EU sanctions.

Dilbar: a 450m superyacht owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov which has the largest pool ever to have been installed on a yacht

Meanwhile a Ukrainian mechanic in Mallorca decided to take matters in his own hands and tried to sink the 157ft Lady Anastasia, a yacht owned by the CEO of a Russian arms exporter, Alexander Mikheev, in retaliation for the invasion. Mikheev is not currently on any sanctions list.

Many oligarchs yachts are thought to have already set sail for safer places like the Carribean. Other safe spots include the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation with no extradition treaty with the United States.

With port authorities on the lookout for luxury yacht flight risks, an army of social media users are getting involved in the search, using Marine Traffic to track vessels owned by those on the sanctions list. There is even a hashtag: # YachtWatch.

The data shows that Titan, a 76m superyacht owned by billionaire Alexander Abramov, arrived in the Maldives last week from Turkey. Like Mikheev, Abramov does not appear on the sanctions list.

The Titan: a 76m superyacht owned by steel magnate Alexander Abramov is in the Maldives

The UK authorities have not yet seized any vessels, but a Dutch cargo ship was turned away from Poole and Portsmouth this week due to concerns it might be carrying Russian-owned yachts.

Ben McInnes, harbour master at Portsmouth International Port said it had received a last-minute request to receive the ship on Wednesday afternoon.

We had been made aware that the ship had not been allowed in to Poole, as there were questions raised whether the cargo of yachts aboard were Russian owned.

On this basis, the Deo Velonte was not allowed in to Portsmouth, in line with UK legislation. According to Marine Traffic, the cargo ship then docked at Cuxhaven in Germany, though it is unclear if the cargo was unloaded.

Graceful: Putins yacht left Germany two weeks ago for Kaliningrad

The US president, Joe Biden, said last week the US was actively working to seize oligarchs assets including superyachts, luxury apartments and private jets, warning: We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.

As for what is believed to be Putins own yacht, Graceful, it left Germany two weeks ago and is now safely back in the Russian port of Kaliningrad.

Visit link:

Roman Abramovichs superyachts are on the move as vessels owned by Russian elite sail away from sanctions - Evening Standard

The fishermen had ventured into the high seas for fishing on February 17 this year in an Andaman registered fishing vessel.

ByHT Correspondent, Chennai

Tamil Nadu chief minister (CM) M K Stalin on Thursday wrote to external affairs minister S Jaishankar seeking his intervention with the authorities in Indonesia and Seychelles over the arrest of fishermen.

Stalin said that five fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu and another three fishermen from Kerala were apprehended by the Indonesian Air and Sea Police on charges of entering into the Indonesian waters. They were taken to Ditpolairud Pier, Aceh, Indonesia for legal proceedings, the CM said.

The fishermen had ventured into the high seas for fishing on February 17 this year in an Andaman registered fishing vessel. He said that they learnt through the fishermen associations that 33 fishermen and three registered mechanised fishing boats had ventured out from the Cochin Harbour in Kerala on February 22.

And on March 7, they were apprehended by the Seychelles Authority for allegedly entering into Seychelles waters.

I request your personal intervention in this matter and request you to take this up with the Indonesian and Seychelles authorities so as to secure the immediate release of the fishermen and their fishing boats, Stalin said in a statement.

After the ruling DMK formed the government last May, Stalin has written at least a dozen letters to Jaishankar and to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to draw their attention to the issue of Tamil fishermen being apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. He raised concerns over the alarming frequency with which the states fishermen were harassed, attacked and detained and has demanded their release.

It continues despite several letters having been sent from the Tamil Nadu government highlighting the escalation of such instances of harassment and arrest of our fishermen, Stalin had said in his letter to Modi on February 28. The repeated attempts by the Sri Lankan Navy to infringe on historic fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Bay has to be permanently ended through concerted efforts by the Government of India.

BLURB On March 7, the fishermen were apprehended by the Seychelles Authority for allegedly entering into Seychelles waters

Subscribe to our best newsletters

Subscribed to newsletter successfully

Thank you for subscribing to our Daily News Capsule newsletter.

View post:

Stalin urges Jaishankar to secure release of Tamil Nadu fishermen - Hindustan Times