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Smaller tankers after all?
Chief enemies of Europe's birdlife are persistent pesticides (in particular organo-chlorine insecticides, like DDT, and mercury compounds), oil pollution (for marine species), and an overall reduction of food and nesting/breeding areas. Among the principles put forward by the Council for improving protection are the extention of natural reserves, the maintenance of the essential nesting areas, such as natural marshes and other wetlands, and much tighter controls of the use of pesticides, with the replacement of the most persistent types.
Mop Up A pipeline owned by the Shell Oil Company ruptured on 17 January, spilling hundreds of barrels of crude oil into the Mississippi River. The oil gushed into the river just below Shell's Norco Plant, about 30 miles up river from New Orleans, Louisiana. At least a couple of days before the major spill, a small leak had apparently developed in the pipeline, but the source could not be located at the time. However, the rupture point was indeed located when the oil began to gush out, and the pipeline was then shut off. The oil cover was particularly heavy near the point of escape (and the bends in the river had trapped pockets of oil) but it had thinned out considerably down river. Two clean-up companies have been contracted by Shell to take care of the spill. One of the companies operates a 'mop' which can be thrown out over the oil on the water, brought back, squeezed out and thrown out again dean.
More Shrimp Cocktail Consumption of shrimp in the United States has rocketed in recent years, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA. The amount has risen from 140 million pounds (a figure derived from measurements with the heads off) consumed in 1950 to 412 million pounds in 1970, an average of over one million pounds per day. Understandably, this rapid increase has been accompanied by a parallel increase in shrimp imports, despite a fisheries service report that US shrimpers have increased their vessel capacity and modernized their fleets. The United States now consumes over one third of the entire world catch of shrimp each year, with much of this increased consumption coming in the form of frozen shrimp.
Self-Help Six San Francisco Bay area organizations, among them the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Berkeley, have recently banded together to form the 'Wildlife Rehabilitation Council'. These organizations already care for literally thousands of injured and orphaned wild creatures every year. Like so many other small but worthwhile bodies, the majority are financed strictly by public donation. Members of the new Council feel that, by working in closer co-operation, valuable time, money and information can be better circulated and utilized. One of the first official moves of the Council was to appoint a special Wildlife Disaster Study Committee, which will work towards the development of techniques for a co-ordinated response to future oil spills, and to
any other chemical, epizootic, fire, or similar ecological disaster that may affect wildlife. In order to assist other individuals and organizations in the field of wildlife rehabilitation, both throughout the country and the world, the Council is now initiating a centralized library of resource materials, and planning conferences and the publication of a journal.
Dolphin Census A Moscow news agency has just reported that a census of dolphins has recently been carried out in the Black Sea, taking approximately three months and involving aircraft and sea-going ships. Since the ban on dolphin killing in 1965, their number has trebled to reach some 800,000, with the greatest concentration off the coast of the Crimea. A scientific centre is to be established there to study the animal and for this reason, a dolphin basin and underwater laboratories are to be built.
Law of the Sea A recent preliminary session prior to the Law of the Sea Conference in Caracas, Venezuela (20 June29 August, 1974) has produced a list of officers, although it failed to agree on the rules of procedure. Particularly in dispute was the majority voting procedure, with the United States holding out for two thirds present and voting and the USSR asking for nine tenths. Adoption of the rules was deferred until the first week of the conference.
Duck Soup An oil tank at the Mobil Oil facility on Duck Island just south of Trenton, New Jersey, ruptured on January 3, 1973, and 600,000 gallons of No. 2 oil spilled out. Fortunately, 570,000 gallons were contained within the dike system surrounding the tank; but 10,000 gallons were trapped in a swamp and about 20,000 gallons entered the Delaware River. Approximately five miles of the river were affected, the width of which being one mile in the area of the spill. The oil trapped by the dikes is being returned to the tank through a separator system, that in the swamp is being removed, and the Almo Clean-up Company has been contracted to dean up the water. The extent of the damage to flora and fauna is as yet unknown.
, Smaller Tankers After All? Mr Ravi Tikkoo, Chairman of Globtik tankers said in London recently that when the Middle East oil crisis is finally resolved a new pattern of oil transportation will evolve that could lead to smaller tankers doing well. The United States, Mr Tikkoo said, could eventually end up supplying oil to Europe and Japan. 'With this change in pattern many super-tankers above 200,000 tons could be made redundant. This will hit many companies, but smaller ships of 42 ft draught would not only survive, but thrive.' This expansion in the market for tankers up to 65,000 tons could hit many shipping companies. Globtik owns two 480,000 ton tankers and has a 700,000 ton tanker on order. A sharp reduction in tanker size would be ironic as 19
many of the provisions of last month's convention agreed by the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation apply chiefly to tankers over 75,000 tons, larger than the size which Mr Tikkoo predicts will become commoner.
Estuaries Federation Meeting The Second International Estuarine Research Conference was held atMyrtle Beach, South Carolina on the 15-I 7 October, 1973. The Conference, 'Recent Advances in Estuarine Research', was sponsored by the US Estuarine Research Federation, a consortium of regional estuarine groups; co-sponsors were the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the UK Estuarine and Brackish Water Sciences Association, and the Federation of Institutions concerned with the Adriatic Sea. The aims of the US Federation are to promote research, implement communication between members, to arrange biannual conferences, and to be available as a source of advice in matters concerning estuaries and the coastal zone. Growth of interest in estuaries and the coastal zone has been worldwide, as industrial, shipping and commercial developments have put increasing pressures on this sector of the environment. At the same time, there is growing recognition of the special features of this environment, such as the high biological productivity of estuaries, salt marshes and wetlands, or the mineral resources of the coastal fringe, and sediment trapping in estuaries; all of these demand wise management based on knowledge and understanding if estuaries are to be maintained in a healthy and productive state. It is with this background of need that a conference of this nature is to be-welcomed, bringing together scientists from a wide range of disciplines to review recent advances and new currents of thinking. The conference itself was divided into a series of concurrent or succeeding sessions in chemistry, engineering, biology, geology, and systems analysis. Abo.ut 850 scientists took part, representing laboratories, institutes, and universities from both eastern and western seaboards of the North American continent, as well as a few from Europe and Australia. Professor L. E. Cronin (Chesapeake Biological Laboratory), as President of the Estuaries Research Federation, opened the meeting. All sessions were summed up at a final plenary meeting at which convenors of the disciplinary session reviewed the proceedings. Chemistry sessions had focussed on two major aspects of estuaries: Dr J. H. Carpenter (University of Miami), convenor, distinguished between the contributions relating to the processes involved in element cycling, and budgetary distribution of elements in estuarine components. Sediment water interchange in estuaries is of particular interest since the sediments are a major reservoir of elements. There is evidence of a greater influx of elemental material to estuaries over the last seventy years or so, reflecting industrial development, greater populations near estuaries and changing land uses. Much of this material is recycled in estuaries through the agency of algae, phytoplankton, and the emergent vegetation of coastal wetlands; the exchanges both within estuaries and with the open sea have hitherto been underestimated, and recent studies have demonstrated that sedimented materials are a dynamic feature of the ecosystem. Coastal engineering is a significant current activity in 20
most developed countries, and too often is based on little knowledge or understanding of the dynamic, living or non-living characteristics of estuaries and the coastal zone. A session of papers convened by Dr Thorndike Savile Jr, was devoted to the uses of vegetation in coastal engineering and on the biological and other effects of estuarine dredging and was to be welcomed as an exercise in bringing engineers and biologists together. Hopefully, a new climate of close co-ordination between engineering and ecology will generate new programmes for coastal development that will protect rather than destroy, and perhaps even positively enhance desirable natural features in the environment. The dialogue between engineers and natural scientists should be encouraged after this promising beginning, to improve the awareness of the engineer of the biological consequence of his proposals, and to bring before the biologists the practical needs of the engineer. The biology sessions convened by Dr John Costlow, covered a wide range of studies which could, perhaps, be summarized in terms of energy transfers through_ the major biological components: detritus, heterotrophic bacteria and other micro-organisms, plankton, nekton and benthos. Particularly welcome were papers evaluating the role of micro-organisms in the ecosystem, as components of the food chain, agents of detritus cycling, or of pollutant degradation. A brave attempt at analysing the role of Protozoa demonstrated not only their diversity in this environment, but also their important function in energy transfers and in recycling processes within estuaries. Some useful techniques for working with this ecologically neglected group also emerged. Geology was strongly represented by local laboratories studying morphological processes of the eastern US coasts. Professor Miles Hayes, convenor, reviewed the papers which had focussed largely on these areas and their problems, mostly microtidal environments with, for comparison, a few accounts of meso- and macrotidal estuaries in the Bay of Fundy, and places further afield. The influence of tidal currents in shaping the bedforms of sandbanks at the estuary mouth was illustrated in masterly style by the convenor's summing up. A thoughtful session convened by Dr R. B. Williams (NSF), on systems modelling of estuarine processes, drew a predictably diverse response from its participants, ranging from those who have accepted modelling to a degree that predetermines the kind of data to be sought, and those that shun models in the belief that the biological complexity, diversity and variability makes a nonsense of the assumptions and simplifications bred by the modelling process. The truth lies surely somewhere in between; one or two speakers demonstrated convincingly the way in which models could clarify and quantitate dynamic processes in the environment. The difficulties and detailed expositions of those with less than complete mastery of modelling techniques serve only to confuse the less numerate biologists, who retreat to classical observational procedures. The Federation proposes quick publication of the conference proceedings, so that a larger audience can benefit from these 'Recent Advances'. With a new federal act governing 'Coastal Zone Management' in the United States, and similar legislative moves elsewhere, the volume looks likely to serve a ready market. G. HOWELLS
Mop Up A pipeline owned by the Shell Oil Company ruptured on 17 January, spilling hundreds of barrels of crude oil into the Mississippi River. The oil gushed into the river just below Shell's Norco Plant, about 30 miles up river from New Orleans, Louisiana. At least a couple of days before the major spill, a small leak had apparently developed in the pipeline, but the source could not be located at the time. However, the rupture point was indeed located when the oil began to gush out, and the pipeline was then shut off. The oil cover was particularly heavy near the point of escape (and the bends in the river had trapped pockets of oil) but it had thinned out considerably down river. Two clean-up companies have been contracted by Shell to take care of the spill. One of the companies operates a 'mop' which can be thrown out over the oil on the water, brought back, squeezed out and thrown out again dean.
More Shrimp Cocktail Consumption of shrimp in the United States has rocketed in recent years, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA. The amount has risen from 140 million pounds (a figure derived from measurements with the heads off) consumed in 1950 to 412 million pounds in 1970, an average of over one million pounds per day. Understandably, this rapid increase has been accompanied by a parallel increase in shrimp imports, despite a fisheries service report that US shrimpers have increased their vessel capacity and modernized their fleets. The United States now consumes over one third of the entire world catch of shrimp each year, with much of this increased consumption coming in the form of frozen shrimp.
Self-Help Six San Francisco Bay area organizations, among them the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Berkeley, have recently banded together to form the 'Wildlife Rehabilitation Council'. These organizations already care for literally thousands of injured and orphaned wild creatures every year. Like so many other small but worthwhile bodies, the majority are financed strictly by public donation. Members of the new Council feel that, by working in closer co-operation, valuable time, money and information can be better circulated and utilized. One of the first official moves of the Council was to appoint a special Wildlife Disaster Study Committee, which will work towards the development of techniques for a co-ordinated response to future oil spills, and to
any other chemical, epizootic, fire, or similar ecological disaster that may affect wildlife. In order to assist other individuals and organizations in the field of wildlife rehabilitation, both throughout the country and the world, the Council is now initiating a centralized library of resource materials, and planning conferences and the publication of a journal.
Dolphin Census A Moscow news agency has just reported that a census of dolphins has recently been carried out in the Black Sea, taking approximately three months and involving aircraft and sea-going ships. Since the ban on dolphin killing in 1965, their number has trebled to reach some 800,000, with the greatest concentration off the coast of the Crimea. A scientific centre is to be established there to study the animal and for this reason, a dolphin basin and underwater laboratories are to be built.
Law of the Sea A recent preliminary session prior to the Law of the Sea Conference in Caracas, Venezuela (20 June29 August, 1974) has produced a list of officers, although it failed to agree on the rules of procedure. Particularly in dispute was the majority voting procedure, with the United States holding out for two thirds present and voting and the USSR asking for nine tenths. Adoption of the rules was deferred until the first week of the conference.
Duck Soup An oil tank at the Mobil Oil facility on Duck Island just south of Trenton, New Jersey, ruptured on January 3, 1973, and 600,000 gallons of No. 2 oil spilled out. Fortunately, 570,000 gallons were contained within the dike system surrounding the tank; but 10,000 gallons were trapped in a swamp and about 20,000 gallons entered the Delaware River. Approximately five miles of the river were affected, the width of which being one mile in the area of the spill. The oil trapped by the dikes is being returned to the tank through a separator system, that in the swamp is being removed, and the Almo Clean-up Company has been contracted to dean up the water. The extent of the damage to flora and fauna is as yet unknown.
, Smaller Tankers After All? Mr Ravi Tikkoo, Chairman of Globtik tankers said in London recently that when the Middle East oil crisis is finally resolved a new pattern of oil transportation will evolve that could lead to smaller tankers doing well. The United States, Mr Tikkoo said, could eventually end up supplying oil to Europe and Japan. 'With this change in pattern many super-tankers above 200,000 tons could be made redundant. This will hit many companies, but smaller ships of 42 ft draught would not only survive, but thrive.' This expansion in the market for tankers up to 65,000 tons could hit many shipping companies. Globtik owns two 480,000 ton tankers and has a 700,000 ton tanker on order. A sharp reduction in tanker size would be ironic as 19
many of the provisions of last month's convention agreed by the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation apply chiefly to tankers over 75,000 tons, larger than the size which Mr Tikkoo predicts will become commoner.
Estuaries Federation Meeting The Second International Estuarine Research Conference was held atMyrtle Beach, South Carolina on the 15-I 7 October, 1973. The Conference, 'Recent Advances in Estuarine Research', was sponsored by the US Estuarine Research Federation, a consortium of regional estuarine groups; co-sponsors were the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the UK Estuarine and Brackish Water Sciences Association, and the Federation of Institutions concerned with the Adriatic Sea. The aims of the US Federation are to promote research, implement communication between members, to arrange biannual conferences, and to be available as a source of advice in matters concerning estuaries and the coastal zone. Growth of interest in estuaries and the coastal zone has been worldwide, as industrial, shipping and commercial developments have put increasing pressures on this sector of the environment. At the same time, there is growing recognition of the special features of this environment, such as the high biological productivity of estuaries, salt marshes and wetlands, or the mineral resources of the coastal fringe, and sediment trapping in estuaries; all of these demand wise management based on knowledge and understanding if estuaries are to be maintained in a healthy and productive state. It is with this background of need that a conference of this nature is to be-welcomed, bringing together scientists from a wide range of disciplines to review recent advances and new currents of thinking. The conference itself was divided into a series of concurrent or succeeding sessions in chemistry, engineering, biology, geology, and systems analysis. Abo.ut 850 scientists took part, representing laboratories, institutes, and universities from both eastern and western seaboards of the North American continent, as well as a few from Europe and Australia. Professor L. E. Cronin (Chesapeake Biological Laboratory), as President of the Estuaries Research Federation, opened the meeting. All sessions were summed up at a final plenary meeting at which convenors of the disciplinary session reviewed the proceedings. Chemistry sessions had focussed on two major aspects of estuaries: Dr J. H. Carpenter (University of Miami), convenor, distinguished between the contributions relating to the processes involved in element cycling, and budgetary distribution of elements in estuarine components. Sediment water interchange in estuaries is of particular interest since the sediments are a major reservoir of elements. There is evidence of a greater influx of elemental material to estuaries over the last seventy years or so, reflecting industrial development, greater populations near estuaries and changing land uses. Much of this material is recycled in estuaries through the agency of algae, phytoplankton, and the emergent vegetation of coastal wetlands; the exchanges both within estuaries and with the open sea have hitherto been underestimated, and recent studies have demonstrated that sedimented materials are a dynamic feature of the ecosystem. Coastal engineering is a significant current activity in 20
most developed countries, and too often is based on little knowledge or understanding of the dynamic, living or non-living characteristics of estuaries and the coastal zone. A session of papers convened by Dr Thorndike Savile Jr, was devoted to the uses of vegetation in coastal engineering and on the biological and other effects of estuarine dredging and was to be welcomed as an exercise in bringing engineers and biologists together. Hopefully, a new climate of close co-ordination between engineering and ecology will generate new programmes for coastal development that will protect rather than destroy, and perhaps even positively enhance desirable natural features in the environment. The dialogue between engineers and natural scientists should be encouraged after this promising beginning, to improve the awareness of the engineer of the biological consequence of his proposals, and to bring before the biologists the practical needs of the engineer. The biology sessions convened by Dr John Costlow, covered a wide range of studies which could, perhaps, be summarized in terms of energy transfers through_ the major biological components: detritus, heterotrophic bacteria and other micro-organisms, plankton, nekton and benthos. Particularly welcome were papers evaluating the role of micro-organisms in the ecosystem, as components of the food chain, agents of detritus cycling, or of pollutant degradation. A brave attempt at analysing the role of Protozoa demonstrated not only their diversity in this environment, but also their important function in energy transfers and in recycling processes within estuaries. Some useful techniques for working with this ecologically neglected group also emerged. Geology was strongly represented by local laboratories studying morphological processes of the eastern US coasts. Professor Miles Hayes, convenor, reviewed the papers which had focussed largely on these areas and their problems, mostly microtidal environments with, for comparison, a few accounts of meso- and macrotidal estuaries in the Bay of Fundy, and places further afield. The influence of tidal currents in shaping the bedforms of sandbanks at the estuary mouth was illustrated in masterly style by the convenor's summing up. A thoughtful session convened by Dr R. B. Williams (NSF), on systems modelling of estuarine processes, drew a predictably diverse response from its participants, ranging from those who have accepted modelling to a degree that predetermines the kind of data to be sought, and those that shun models in the belief that the biological complexity, diversity and variability makes a nonsense of the assumptions and simplifications bred by the modelling process. The truth lies surely somewhere in between; one or two speakers demonstrated convincingly the way in which models could clarify and quantitate dynamic processes in the environment. The difficulties and detailed expositions of those with less than complete mastery of modelling techniques serve only to confuse the less numerate biologists, who retreat to classical observational procedures. The Federation proposes quick publication of the conference proceedings, so that a larger audience can benefit from these 'Recent Advances'. With a new federal act governing 'Coastal Zone Management' in the United States, and similar legislative moves elsewhere, the volume looks likely to serve a ready market. G. HOWELLS