Sent 1 March 2018. Part of Little Blue Letter.

"It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose,
should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. 
But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist."

~ Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

Debt for dolphins
The Seychelles is blessed with deep blue waters, white sand beaches and rich marine life. In 2016, the Government completed an innovative $20m debt swap: a $15m loan from The Nature Conservancy and $5m of grants were used to purchase $20m of the national debt, in exchange for pursuing ambitious marine conservation commitments. The tiny island nation has now marked a major milestone in this pioneering marine conservation initiative, moving to protect more than 210,000 square kilometers of Indian Ocean coral reef surrounding the Aldabra atoll.
An Aldabra Giant Tortoise

The Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the world's largest population of giant tortoises, critically endangered dugongs, and the spawning grounds of a number of rare and endangered species, including the hawksbill turtle. The Seychelles government has signed a bill restricting nearly all human activity in and around Aldabra’s waters. All extractive activities, like fishing and oil exploration, are banned; other activities can be conducted where follow sustainable practices.
But it isn't all plain sailing. Two days after the announcement, state-backed PetroSeychelles announced their plans to fast track permission for exploratory oil drilling in the country's waters. The company reckons it could strike oil as early as 2020.
Oil at sea
Clumps of oil are washing up on the shores of southern Japan, feared to be the heavy fuel oil released from an Iranian crude tanker that sank in the East China Sea earlier this year following a collision. Japan’s environment ministry previously said there was little chance the spill would reach Japanese shores. The spill was the first of its kind - the ship was carrying 130,000 tons of natural gas condensate, used to make jet fuel. The highly flammable cargo set the tanker ablaze, with the fire burning for over a week before sinking in Japan’s waters.
$60 million worth of natural gas condensate goes up in flames on the stricken cargo ship Sanchi.
(Chinese Ministry of Transport via AP)
Little ocean actions
Ocean opportunities
  • Professional writers, producers and editors from around the world can apply for a weeklong, marine science fellowship.
  • The International Seabed Authority is seeking nominations for the Secretary-General’s Award for Excellence in Deep-Sea Research, which recognises the achievements of young deepsea researchers from developing countries.
  • MarXiv, the free repository for ocean and marine-climate science, is running a webinar on how to keep your marine science freely available to all.
Gif of the week
Spinner dolphin
From the editor
A deep dive into ocean conservation and the open access movement. A handy twitter list of marine conservation funders. This long read about tiny sea dragons in Hakai Magazine (I only just realised that they also do podcasts). What does China want in the South China Sea? Read about how Franz Anthony's beautiful illustrations are promoting #JusticeForCephalopods:

Little Blue Letter was curated this week by Aneika Angus. Aneika is a Small Island Development State Ocean Protector at a Governmental Agency. Her interests include working with various local entities to spread ocean awareness of critically endangered marine life.

Editing etc. by Glen Wright. Glen is a researcher studying marine governance, the high seas, and ocean energy. He is a drinker of tea, lover of the sea, and an Oxford comma user. Glen recently published Academia Obscura: The Hidden Silly Side of Higher Education. 
 

 

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