Sent 3 December 2018. Part of Little Blue Letter.

“I am not afraid of storms. For I’m learning to sail my ship”
~Louisa May Alcott
Ocean update
  • The climate COP is taking place right now in Katowice, Poland. The signatories and partners of the Because the Ocean declaration are making sure that ocean issues are on the agenda (watch their event here).
  • The UN Decade of Ocean Science is set to begin on January 2021: meet the team of experts helping to prepare.
  • The Our Ocean conference took place in Bali at the end of October, with over 300 wide-ranging commitments adding 14 million km2 of new protected areas and unlocking $10,7 billion of new financing.
  • Plastic needs replacing and Biofabricate 2018 is showcasing the materials of the future.
  • The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the European Commission have launched MSPglobal, a new initiative to promote cross-border maritime spatial planning.
Gif of the week
Keep calm and enjoy water sports!
Credit: Benglabs
Cod-bothering  
The growing number of ships traversing the western Canadian Arctic is generating noise that can affect marine animals. Shipping traffic can drown out other sounds, reducing the ability of cod and other marine animals to communicate, forage, avoid predators, reproduce, and navigate.
Endangered Species Act is Endangered 
The US' Endangered Species Act, a crucial piece of environmental protection legislation, may itself be facing extinction. The Supreme Court recently restricted the scope of the law (in an unusual case regarding a particularly rare frog) and Congress is cutting funding. Ocean is fighting back.
Water in your ears
  • Dugongs might use tiny hairs to sense ocean currents (Pew podcast).
  • Meet two women planning to embark on an unsupported exploration in the Arctic (World Ocean Radio)
From the editor
A new species of giant salamander has been discovered in Florida. The third CommOcean conference just wrapped up in Southampton. A $30,000 per year scholarship is available for emerging conservation leaders to do graduate studies on conservation of the Galápagos Islands. The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) is looking for a Research Associate to help develop the first Marine Regions Forum.
Credit: Pierson Hill/National Geographic
Little Blue Letter was curated this week by Donalda Karnauskaite. Donalda is researcher at Marine Research Institute of Klaipeda University. Her main research interests are focused on the development methods and tools for supporting sustainable coastal and marine management.
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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