- Email: [email protected]
Hong Kong
Volume 9 / N u m b e r 5 / M a y 1978
equipment is $650. The Caribbean expedition from 25 June to 15 July, will be centred on Port Royal on Roatan Island. Fee also including air fare $1800. Toyon Bay on Santa Catalina Island in southern California is the site of the Pacific expedition; fee $600. From 18-27 July. And the South Pacific expedition from 31 July to 30 August; fee $3,400 including air fare, is to the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, north of Papua, New Guinea. For further information contact Lucy Mack, USC, Los Angeles.
New WWF-U.S. President Russell E. Train, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been elected President of World Wildlife Fund-U.S. Mr. Train served as vice-president of WWF-U.S. from 1959 to 1969 and is currently a trustee of W W F International. In electing him, the Board of Directors has restructured the position of President to the status of a full-time chief executive officer. At the public announcement of his presidency, Mr. Train said, "the protection of species and their habitats is an urgent and world-wide task. "We require nothing less than a comprehensive and coordinated global strategy for the conservation of nature. " I t is essential that those of us who care about wildlife be sensitive to the fact that over much of the globe, particularly in less developed areas, there can be no long-term future for wildlife unless human problems such as malnutrition and over-crowding are effectively addressed. The fate of wildlife is inextricably bound up with the future of human well-being." In 1970, after serving for one year as Under Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Train was appointed the first Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, Subsequently, he became Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a post he held until January 1977.
More Oil Bibliographies I Following hard on the.heels of the second supplement to the Plymouth Bibliography on Marine and Estuarine Oil Pollution (see Mar. Pollut. Bull., 8 (1978) 91) come two more bibliographies of the recent literature relating to oil pollution. These are from the Canadian Environment Protection Service. The first is A Selected Bibliography on the Fate and Effects of Oil Pollution Relevant to the Canadian Marine Environment (EPS-3EC-77-23) and contains 598 titles and a KWIK (Keyword in context) index. The second is A Selected Bibliography on Oil Spill Dispersants (EPS-3-EC-78-2), prepared by K. G. Doe, G. W. Harris and P. G. Wells of the Atlantic end of the Environmental Protection Service. It has 402 titles and author and keyword indices. Both bibliographies are obtainable from the Environmental Protection Service, 5151 George Street, Halifax, N.S., Canada.
Saving Oiled Seabirds There have been a number of booklets purporting to provide instruction on how to rehabilitate oiled birds over the years. The latest, Saving Oiled Seabirds, prepared by the International Bird Rescue Research Center, Berkeley, California, and distributed by the American Petroleum Institute (2101 L St. NW, Washington DC 20037, single copies free, larger numbers up to 100 priced 35 c. each, special discounts on larger numbers) summarizes the best established techniques and describes an additional one, tube-feeding to restore fluid and electrolyte balances. No rescue centre is complete without it. W. R. P. BOURNE
Cromarty- Moray Firth Monitoring A marine monitoring scheme has been devised by the UK Water Research Centre and the Highland River Purification Board on the Cromarty and Moray Firths to aid the detection of any environmental deterioration during construction and the subsequent operation of the planned crude oil refinery and marine terminal at Nigg Point on the Cromarty Firth. The refinery will discharge a continuous flow of cooling water and intermittent discharges of treated effluent on the ebb tide. The area has extensive sand and mud flats and is rich in inter-tidal invertebrates and larger areas of salt marsh. In addition to considerable commercial and private fishing interests the region is of international importance as a winter resort for waders and shore birds.
Round-the-World News United Kingdom Pollution of rivers and canals in England and Wales is gradually being reduced. The latest river authority survey published by the Department of the Environment last month reveals that there has been a slow but steady improvement in the chemical quality of the water and a decrease in the number of effluents discharged into these waterways.
Hong Kong A series of anti-pollution measures have been taken by the Hong Kong government to combat oil spills which, during 1977, totalled almost 40. With a total of 400 tankers bringing about 6 million tons of oil to the islands during that period and a further 4 million tons being moved around local waters as bunker fuel carried on nearly 9000 cargo vessels entering port the incidence of spills is reasonably low. Most of the spills involving an average of about 50 tons were described by the Government's oil pollution coordinator, Mr. J. H. Gould, as 'bunkering spills'. 117
Marine
The government is giving high priority to improving navigational safety and consultants are investigating the feasibility and cost of establishing a radar and television surveillance system to enable shipping movements to be monitored in all weather conditions. Facilities under the control of the Marine Department include a purpose built pollution control launch backed up by 20 smaller craft, oil booms, 30 000 gallons of low toxicity oil dispersant, and a recently acquired hydraulic powered Komara Miniskimmer which can remove oil at the rate of 10 tons per hour in waves up to 0.6 m high.
Israel 1,000 acres of farmland along the 48 km shoreline of Lake K i n n e r e t - t h e biblical Sea of G a l i l e e - i s to be turned into an area for recreational use to reduce pollution caused by agricultural fertilizers. While this change of use will increase the number of visitors to the lake 4-fold the Israeli government is confident the result will be an improvement of the Kinneret's water supply.
USSR The Soviet Union is to send expeditions to areas of the Pacific to 'define new potential fishing targets' to compensate for areas now closed to their vessels by the introduction of territorial fishing limits. Although it has reached agreement with the USA, Canada, Japan, Norway, Sweden and several smaller states to continue coastal water fishing, the Soviet Union is intent on widening the scale of its fishing on the high seas and developing deep water fishing.
Marine Poilu/ton Bulletin, Vol. 9. pp. I 18-122 ~) Pergamon Pre',~. I Id. 1978 Primed in Great Brllain
Pollution
Bullclm
United States Both air and water quality in the United States are improving, according to the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In its annual report for 1977, CEQ states that there have been important improvements particularly in cleaning up waterways. The Council reports that the Detroit River now supports salmon, pike and trout, while pike and bass have returned to the Mohawk River in New York State and a similar improvement has been found in Connecticut's Naugatuck River. Council chairman Charles Warren said that a survey of 50 waters had found signs of heartening progress in pollution control but the goal of 'fishable, swimmable' water everywhere by 1983 was still far from attainment.
Wadden Sea Dutch environmentalists fear that the decreasing population of 400 seals in the Wadden Sea off the northern coast of Holland could disappear completely by the early 1980s unless pollution from the Rhine is reduced. The bird life in the a r e a - o n e of Europe's most important sanctuaries - is also reported to have declined alarmingly as a result of the Rhine water pollution. 200 cyclists recently undertook the 1300 km journey along the Rhine from Switzerland to its mouth in the Hook of Holland to publicize the urgent need for a clean-up of the river.
0025 326X 78'05111 I)118$02i~)II
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
pollution Resulting from the Release of Radioactive Waste Materials to the Sea H. J. DUNSTER
Mr. Dunster is Deputy Director General of the UK Health and Safety Executive. This agency is responsible for advising on, and enforcing, health and safety requirements aimed at protecting workers and members of the public from any ill effects of work practices.
In earlier and less complicated days it was not necessary to define the meaning of words in c o m m o n use at the beginning of scientific papers. That pedantry was confined to Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments. Lewis Carroll, always ahead of his time, foresaw the use of words to mean what the writer, but not
necessarily the reader, chose to mean. Rudyard Kipling had closely similar thoughts in more pungent terms. " . . . if you can bear to hear the words you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for f o o l s . . . " . The release of toxic and more specifically, radioactive materials to the environment including the marine
118
equipment is $650. The Caribbean expedition from 25 June to 15 July, will be centred on Port Royal on Roatan Island. Fee also including air fare $1800. Toyon Bay on Santa Catalina Island in southern California is the site of the Pacific expedition; fee $600. From 18-27 July. And the South Pacific expedition from 31 July to 30 August; fee $3,400 including air fare, is to the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, north of Papua, New Guinea. For further information contact Lucy Mack, USC, Los Angeles.
New WWF-U.S. President Russell E. Train, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been elected President of World Wildlife Fund-U.S. Mr. Train served as vice-president of WWF-U.S. from 1959 to 1969 and is currently a trustee of W W F International. In electing him, the Board of Directors has restructured the position of President to the status of a full-time chief executive officer. At the public announcement of his presidency, Mr. Train said, "the protection of species and their habitats is an urgent and world-wide task. "We require nothing less than a comprehensive and coordinated global strategy for the conservation of nature. " I t is essential that those of us who care about wildlife be sensitive to the fact that over much of the globe, particularly in less developed areas, there can be no long-term future for wildlife unless human problems such as malnutrition and over-crowding are effectively addressed. The fate of wildlife is inextricably bound up with the future of human well-being." In 1970, after serving for one year as Under Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Train was appointed the first Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, Subsequently, he became Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a post he held until January 1977.
More Oil Bibliographies I Following hard on the.heels of the second supplement to the Plymouth Bibliography on Marine and Estuarine Oil Pollution (see Mar. Pollut. Bull., 8 (1978) 91) come two more bibliographies of the recent literature relating to oil pollution. These are from the Canadian Environment Protection Service. The first is A Selected Bibliography on the Fate and Effects of Oil Pollution Relevant to the Canadian Marine Environment (EPS-3EC-77-23) and contains 598 titles and a KWIK (Keyword in context) index. The second is A Selected Bibliography on Oil Spill Dispersants (EPS-3-EC-78-2), prepared by K. G. Doe, G. W. Harris and P. G. Wells of the Atlantic end of the Environmental Protection Service. It has 402 titles and author and keyword indices. Both bibliographies are obtainable from the Environmental Protection Service, 5151 George Street, Halifax, N.S., Canada.
Saving Oiled Seabirds There have been a number of booklets purporting to provide instruction on how to rehabilitate oiled birds over the years. The latest, Saving Oiled Seabirds, prepared by the International Bird Rescue Research Center, Berkeley, California, and distributed by the American Petroleum Institute (2101 L St. NW, Washington DC 20037, single copies free, larger numbers up to 100 priced 35 c. each, special discounts on larger numbers) summarizes the best established techniques and describes an additional one, tube-feeding to restore fluid and electrolyte balances. No rescue centre is complete without it. W. R. P. BOURNE
Cromarty- Moray Firth Monitoring A marine monitoring scheme has been devised by the UK Water Research Centre and the Highland River Purification Board on the Cromarty and Moray Firths to aid the detection of any environmental deterioration during construction and the subsequent operation of the planned crude oil refinery and marine terminal at Nigg Point on the Cromarty Firth. The refinery will discharge a continuous flow of cooling water and intermittent discharges of treated effluent on the ebb tide. The area has extensive sand and mud flats and is rich in inter-tidal invertebrates and larger areas of salt marsh. In addition to considerable commercial and private fishing interests the region is of international importance as a winter resort for waders and shore birds.
Round-the-World News United Kingdom Pollution of rivers and canals in England and Wales is gradually being reduced. The latest river authority survey published by the Department of the Environment last month reveals that there has been a slow but steady improvement in the chemical quality of the water and a decrease in the number of effluents discharged into these waterways.
Hong Kong A series of anti-pollution measures have been taken by the Hong Kong government to combat oil spills which, during 1977, totalled almost 40. With a total of 400 tankers bringing about 6 million tons of oil to the islands during that period and a further 4 million tons being moved around local waters as bunker fuel carried on nearly 9000 cargo vessels entering port the incidence of spills is reasonably low. Most of the spills involving an average of about 50 tons were described by the Government's oil pollution coordinator, Mr. J. H. Gould, as 'bunkering spills'. 117
Marine
The government is giving high priority to improving navigational safety and consultants are investigating the feasibility and cost of establishing a radar and television surveillance system to enable shipping movements to be monitored in all weather conditions. Facilities under the control of the Marine Department include a purpose built pollution control launch backed up by 20 smaller craft, oil booms, 30 000 gallons of low toxicity oil dispersant, and a recently acquired hydraulic powered Komara Miniskimmer which can remove oil at the rate of 10 tons per hour in waves up to 0.6 m high.
Israel 1,000 acres of farmland along the 48 km shoreline of Lake K i n n e r e t - t h e biblical Sea of G a l i l e e - i s to be turned into an area for recreational use to reduce pollution caused by agricultural fertilizers. While this change of use will increase the number of visitors to the lake 4-fold the Israeli government is confident the result will be an improvement of the Kinneret's water supply.
USSR The Soviet Union is to send expeditions to areas of the Pacific to 'define new potential fishing targets' to compensate for areas now closed to their vessels by the introduction of territorial fishing limits. Although it has reached agreement with the USA, Canada, Japan, Norway, Sweden and several smaller states to continue coastal water fishing, the Soviet Union is intent on widening the scale of its fishing on the high seas and developing deep water fishing.
Marine Poilu/ton Bulletin, Vol. 9. pp. I 18-122 ~) Pergamon Pre',~. I Id. 1978 Primed in Great Brllain
Pollution
Bullclm
United States Both air and water quality in the United States are improving, according to the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In its annual report for 1977, CEQ states that there have been important improvements particularly in cleaning up waterways. The Council reports that the Detroit River now supports salmon, pike and trout, while pike and bass have returned to the Mohawk River in New York State and a similar improvement has been found in Connecticut's Naugatuck River. Council chairman Charles Warren said that a survey of 50 waters had found signs of heartening progress in pollution control but the goal of 'fishable, swimmable' water everywhere by 1983 was still far from attainment.
Wadden Sea Dutch environmentalists fear that the decreasing population of 400 seals in the Wadden Sea off the northern coast of Holland could disappear completely by the early 1980s unless pollution from the Rhine is reduced. The bird life in the a r e a - o n e of Europe's most important sanctuaries - is also reported to have declined alarmingly as a result of the Rhine water pollution. 200 cyclists recently undertook the 1300 km journey along the Rhine from Switzerland to its mouth in the Hook of Holland to publicize the urgent need for a clean-up of the river.
0025 326X 78'05111 I)118$02i~)II
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
pollution Resulting from the Release of Radioactive Waste Materials to the Sea H. J. DUNSTER
Mr. Dunster is Deputy Director General of the UK Health and Safety Executive. This agency is responsible for advising on, and enforcing, health and safety requirements aimed at protecting workers and members of the public from any ill effects of work practices.
In earlier and less complicated days it was not necessary to define the meaning of words in c o m m o n use at the beginning of scientific papers. That pedantry was confined to Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments. Lewis Carroll, always ahead of his time, foresaw the use of words to mean what the writer, but not
necessarily the reader, chose to mean. Rudyard Kipling had closely similar thoughts in more pungent terms. " . . . if you can bear to hear the words you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for f o o l s . . . " . The release of toxic and more specifically, radioactive materials to the environment including the marine
118