quote:

There are around 70 calving female North Atlantic right whales believed to be alive.

Organized pushback against federal efforts to reduce North Atlantic right whale deaths continues to grow in South Atlantic states as shipping and charter fishing interests try to stall or stop the implementation of new speed restrictions for vessels of 35 feet or larger.

As the days wound down on NOAA Fisheries’ public comment period, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott teamed up with fellow Republican Senators from the Carolinas to oppose the new rule.

Their main beef with the rule is it alters “the long-standing and effective navigation safety ‘deviation clause’ contained in the current regulations.’ With regard to port safety and commercial viability, the rule was originally amended in 2008 to provide a navigation safety deviation clause that would allow large commercial ships to safely navigate within the confines of the narrow offshore Federal Navigation Channels (FNC) along the U.S. east coast.”

That also came up in a recent meeting of the Port of Fernandina’s Ocean Highway and Port Authority, which ultimately decided not to take a position on the new vessel strike reduction rule. However, the Florida Ports Council did in a recent tweet.

“FL seaports have been tireless advocates and stewards protecting the environment and marine life, but the proposed amendments present significant life and safety risks for all commercial, recreational, and military mariners who rely upon FL seaports,” the Council tweeted.

Charter fishing captains have already expressed that the rule — 10 knots within the calving area from Nov. 15 to April 15 for vessels longer than 35 feet — will make part of their business impossible to conduct in a fashion similar to how it is today. Speed restriction rules were already in effect for vessels longer than 65 feet.

“Angler spending on impacted offshore recreational fishing trips is estimated at more than $15 million per year,” according to the Senators’ letter. “These trips are likely to be cancelled or significantly shortened if vessels used are subject to a 10 knot speed restriction.

“In addition, according to data from NOAA Fisheries, approximately 5.1 million recreational fishing trips were taken in this region by vessels 35-65 feet in length since 2008 thus the chance of a 35-65 foot recreational vessel striking a (North Atlantic right whale) during an offshore fishing trip is less than one in 1,000,000.”

The last recreational vessel strike occurred in February 2021, when the About Time, a 54-foot recreational vessel, slammed into a right whale calf at 20 knots, half a mile off St. Augustine Inlet.

There are so few right whales, and they reproduce so rarely, that each human-caused death is another step toward extinction. Scientists believe every North Atlantic right whale death over the past 50 years is human-caused, as the whales are not dying naturally and they have no real predators.

There are around 70 calving female North Atlantic right whales believed to be alive. In all, scientists believe there are around 340 total North Atlantic right whales remaining.

The only place these whales calve is off the coasts of Florida and Georgia, then the calves nurse on the long trip back up the East Coast to waters off New England and the Canadian Maritimes.

goochtit posted:

Hmmm how do the numbers change if we use a fleet of these?
https://twitter.com/PortofNewcastle/status/1584419448726749185
It's carrying 100,000 tons of coal

mistermojo posted:

another beautiful 70 degree November day here in Minneapolis

mawarannahr posted:

Literally bringing coals to Newcastle

mistermojo posted:

another beautiful 70 degree November day here in Minneapolis

Car Hater posted:

Does anyone have the image where it's the rise and fall of humans on the timeline and on one side it's stuff going up and then "you are here" and on the other it's the little caveman dude living in the shadow of a wind turbine?

blatman posted:

no but i have this in my biosphere thread jpg folder

hope this helps

Car Hater posted:

Does anyone have the image where it's the rise and fall of humans on the timeline and on one side it's stuff going up and then "you are here" and on the other it's the little caveman dude living in the shadow of a wind turbine?

Rectal Death Adept posted:

Hubbert posted:

original post

Hubbert posted:

original post

Hubbert posted:

original post

ubachung posted:

ubachung posted:

ubachung posted:

Shima Honnou posted:

an aussie friend of mine has become concerned because summer basically hasn't started and now she's looking at how the southern oceans are still cold and the northern oceans still hot and becoming a doomer

Shima Honnou posted:

an aussie friend of mine has become concerned because summer basically hasn't started and now she's looking at how the southern oceans are still cold and the northern oceans still hot and becoming a doomer

a strange fowl posted:

the romans thought crimea was the gates of hell

australia was magnificent before the white colonists came and annihilated the people who were taking care of it. it's the same story all over the world.

Mayor Dave posted:

https://twitter.com/curious_founder/status/1587581943763587072?t=od157n7sXbjevVhdIDbk_g&s=19

Minera posted:

an entire planet destroyed to make cotton shirts

Mayor Dave posted:

https://twitter.com/curious_founder/status/1587581943763587072?t=od157n7sXbjevVhdIDbk_g&s=19

Paradoxish posted:

The WaPo article that quotes this guy is exactly why reaching most people is very literally just impossible. Depending on your perspective, the media is either intentionally spreading misinformation or doesn't care enough to vet their sources or both. Either way, it means everyone needs to be an expert just to read a news article and parse whether or not it's bullshit.

Putting that burden onto the average news consumer is honestly a brilliant disinformation strategy. Good work, assholes.

Paradoxish posted:

The WaPo article that quotes this guy is exactly why reaching most people is very literally just impossible. Depending on your perspective, the media is either intentionally spreading misinformation or doesn't care enough to vet their sources or both. Either way, it means everyone needs to be an expert just to read a news article and parse whether or not it's bullshit.

Putting that burden onto the average news consumer is honestly a brilliant disinformation strategy. Good work, assholes.

ubachung posted: