Current Phase: Pre-Production and Fundraising
Destination Japan: Our guide, Professor Alexander from the University of Kobe, will lead us into Fukushima Township to glimpse the aftermath of nuclear fallout on the seaside residents. The Professor will also present banners made for the residents from caring souls in far-off lands, to send a token of support and hope. We will also explore how the debris field impacted the local marine environment and efforts at rebuilding, as well as any changes to the computer modeling of the trajectory of the debris field traveling on ocean currents.
Moratorium broken: We follow-up on the heated issue of whaling, as the Japanese fleet sails each November for the Antarctic despite the UN ban on so-called scientific whaling. The illegal commercial killing appears likely to continue as the defiant hunters target intelligent long-lived mammals, often sold as designer sushi. Enforcement is expensive as well as difficult, leaving many targeted whale species dwindling and vulnerable to extinction.
Also to be explored: Will the overfishing of high demand and lucrative species such as Bluefin Tuna lead to the commercial extinction of these " straddling stocks" in the absence of targeted conservation programs? Lucrative species such as the tuna are being depleted rapidly and stored in vast freezer vaults to meet future demand. Instead of protecting the stock populations the bet is that rarity will be increasingly lucrative. Overfishing is a great threat to ecosystem collapse as many species cannot replenish or be effectively estimated. To maintain these world-wide resources, all countries must be compliant with international regulations and agreements.
Links:
https://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?Division=FRD&id=20593
https://ready.arl.noaa.gov/READY_fdnppwmo.php
https://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/fukushima-radiation
http://www.deepseanews.com/2013/11/true-facts-about-ocean-radiation-and-the-fukushima-disaster/