SPREP :: Forum

Re: asbestos management (the asbesto saga goes on ) [by kall]

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:16:33 -1100

WASTE DISPOSAL:: asbestos management
Dealing with asbestos is about responsibility and I am sorry to see that we are not responsible enough. After all these victims that have spoken out and after all the asbestos lawsuits we still refuse to understand that asbestos is a real danger.

Welcome to Solid Waste Discussions [by Forum Admin]

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:33:53 -1100

SOLID WASTE:: Welcome to Solid Waste Discussions
Here is the first News Letter for Solid Waste provided by your moderator Yurie Kawabata

Mercury Taint Divides a Japanese Whaling Town [by Forum Admin]

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:50:37 -1100

Whales and Dolphins:: Mercury Taint Divides a Japanese Whaling Town
By MARTIN FACKLER
TAIJI, Japan � For years, Western activists have traveled to this remote port to protest the annual dolphin drive. And for years, local fishermen have ignored them, herding the animals into a small cove and slashing them until the tide flows red.

But now, a new menace may succeed where the activists have failed: mercury.

This is an old seafaring town, Japan�s version of Nantucket long ago. The 3,500 residents on this majestic stretch of rocky coastline are fiercely proud of their centuries-old tradition of hunting dolphins and whales.

Dolphin meat is a local delicacy, served raw as sashimi or boiled with soy sauce. People here are used to the international scorn that accompanies the dolphin hunt and have closed ranks in the face of rising outrage � until now.

Last June, laboratory tests showed high levels of mercury in dolphin and pilot whale, a small whale that resembles a dolphin, that were caught and sold here. Schools stopped serving pilot whale meat for lunch, and some local markets removed it
as well as dolphin from their shelves.

The scare has divided the community. Most local officials and the fishermen�s union insist that the mercury danger is overblown, while some others have begun to question a tradition.

�We are not against whaling,� including the dolphin hunts, said a council member, Junichiro Yamashita, who paid for the mercury tests himself after the town refused to do so. �This is a small town, where people are afraid to speak out. But we
can�t sit silent about a health problem like this.�

The problem is hardly limited to Taiji. Japan is one of the world�s largest whale- and dolphin-consuming nations, yet the health and agriculture ministries, as well as the news media, have said little about the growing mercury levels found in whale
and dolphin meat. Indeed, the whaling industry seems to enjoy a protected status, mainly as a tradition to be defended against foreign interference.

�There is a real danger in whale and dolphin meat, but word is not getting out,� said Tetsuya Endo, a professor at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido and an expert on mercury in sea animals.

Like tuna, dolphins and small whales are predators that appear to be accumulating mercury as they eat fish in increasingly contaminated oceans.

The Japanese kill 1,000 minke and other great whales every year in hotly disputed �research whaling� in the Antarctic and the northern Pacific. Japan calls the hunt research to avoid the international ban on commercial whaling, but then allows
the sale of the meat in supermarkets.

In addition, about 100 whales and 21,000 dolphins are killed annually in coastal waters, according to Japan�s fisheries agency. The meat is hardly a vital food source. A minority of Japanese eat whale meat, and dolphin is less common,
consumed in a handful of rural areas as well as regional cities like Osaka.

Taiji is the best-known source of dolphin meat, partly because the most animals are killed here, about 2,000 annually, in a season that runs from September to April. Fishermen use a method called oikomi, or �the drive,� in which they bang on
metal poles to create a wall of sound that pushes panicked dolphins and pilot whales into a cove for killing.

Gruesome photos of the blood-filled waters, and protests by largely Western environmental groups, seem to have only strengthened the town�s resolve to hold fast to its customs.

According to the local whaling museum, the people of Taiji have hunted coastal whales for 400 years. Whaling is a mainstay of the economy, and every year Taiji sends off young men as harpooners and sailors aboard Japan�s whaling fleet. �We
are a whaling community, and we don�t want to lose that,� said Katsutoshi Mihara, chairman of the town council. �Here, all boys grew up dreaming of hunting whales.�

The mayor and most other politicians point to a health ministry report saying that dolphin and whale meat are safe in moderation. Strong proponents of whaling like Mr. Mihara say they fear that the warning about mercury may reduce the
popularity of dolphin meat, which accounts for about a third of the town�s roughly $3 million annual fishing industry, according to the fishermen�s association.

Dolphin also fetches higher prices than other locally caught seafood: in a Taiji supermarket, a pound of frozen dolphin meat recently sold for nearly $14, roughly the price of sashimi-grade tuna.

The worries about mercury reflect rising worldwide concern over mercury in other, more accepted types of seafood, particularly tuna. In fact, dolphins can build up far more mercury in their bodies than tuna because dolphins live longer � about
40 years, compared with a decade for some large tuna species, according to Professor Endo of the University of Hokkaido.

When eaten by humans over a long period, mercury can cause birth defects, brain damage and death. The world�s worst case of mercury poisoning occurred in Japan in the 1950s, when thousands were killed, sickened or crippled in the city of
Minamata because of mercury dumped into the sea as industrial waste.

Professor Endo participated in the studies that first brought mercury risks in dolphin to light. Since 2000, he has tested hundreds of samples of dolphin and whale meat throughout the country. In dolphin and pilot whale, he said he has typically
found mercury levels ranging from 10 to 100 parts a million, far above the Japanese government�s advisory level of 0.4 part a million.

The most heavily contaminated sample he has ever found, he said, was from the internal organs of a pilot whale sold in a Taiji supermarket, which had 2,000 parts a million.

Despite the public awareness of mercury poisoning in Japan because of the Minamata disaster, the health and agriculture ministries have done little to inform people about mercury levels in whale and dolphin meat, Professor Endo and other
biologists say. While the health ministry has conducted surveys of dolphins and pilot whales that show levels of 10 to 50 times the advisory level, the only warning it has issued is for pregnant women.

Ministry officials maintain that broader warnings are not needed because the higher mercury levels are not a health risk for most people if they eat the meat infrequently, giving the body time to discharge the mercury. But critics accuse the
government and the news media of ignoring the mercury problem, including the dispute in Taiji.

Many town residents complain of a wall of silence here as well. Mr. Yamashita and the other councilman who raised the mercury issue, Hisato Ryono, said local newspapers had not written about their warnings, and city hall has said little in
public about mercury.

To get the word out, the two had 1,900 fliers printed, with their own money, and sent them to residents.

Several of these people said they were alarmed when they read the fliers last summer. They also said they were angry at the town government�s failure to address the concerns over mercury, saying they no longer ate dolphin meat.

The residents refused to give their names for fear of being ostracized by their neighbors.

�The flier is all I know about the mercury issue,� a 42-year-old woman said, adding that she was worried because her third-grade child had eaten pilot whale meat at school.

Older residents dismissed the mercury fears, saying they had eaten dolphin all their lives without ill effect.

Such generational differences may be what finally ends the dolphin hunt. While Taiji residents over 60 are enthusiastic consumers of dolphin and whale meat, most of those under 40 no longer eat it at all, according to many people here.

�We�re not saying that consumption of dolphin should disappear, but I think it�s inevitable that it will,� Mr. Ryono, the councilman, said. �As the older generation disappears, so will demand for dolphin meat.�

Hardworking Turtles [by Forum Admin]

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:12:15 -1100

Turtles:: Hardworking Turtles
These animals travel thousands of kilometer to look for a mate, thats hardwork (romantic too?)

LHS Students and Amanave residents save 142 baby turtles [by Forum Admin]

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:48:40 -1100

Turtles:: LHS Students and Amanave residents save 142 baby turtles
Leone High School students and Amanave residents save 142 baby turtles
/by Tina Mata'afa
Samoa News Writer/

Quick thinking by a group of sea turtle-savvy Leone High School students and Amanave residents has saved the lives of 142 baby sea turtles and 25 unhatched eggs found over the weekend in Amanave village.

Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) believes it is the largest group of Hawksbill hatchlings to have been found in American Samoa.

Seniors and juniors of LHS who live in Amanave found the baby turtles crawling on the road toward the Assembly of God (AOG) Church in Amanave on Sunday, Oct. 28, around 10 p.m., DMWR said in a statement.

Hatchlings often make their way toward the moonlight, however, because the moon was 'not out' on Sunday night, the baby turtles made their way towards the streetlights, said DMWR officials.

LHS students Mikey Kelemete, Ryan Taifane, Nofo, Saini and Mine Tupou, with the help of Rev. Viliamu and Mrs. Rita Pa'aga, Fata Fefe, Angel Amosa, two-year-old Fa'atupe Tupou and additional church and family members took action to save the turtles.

The group now being called "The Turtle Life Savers" by DMWR took great care to make sure the turtles were kept safe until DMWR arrived Monday morning.

"This is the first time in the 20 years we have been here that turtles have laid their eggs near our church," said Mrs. Pa'aga. "Usually they lay their eggs at Lo'a, further down."

She said it was after a church gathering that Kelemete took a walk down the road and upon returning, discovered the little turtles crawling across the road.

"The turtles were heading towards the land," Mrs. Pa'aga explained. "Mikey ran to the house to grab a container to collect the turtles to save them. It's a good thing there was no traffic while they were
crossing the road."

With Mikey's alert, AOG church and family members of all ages joined in to help collect the tiny creatures which they initially thought were frogs.

"We all helped to collect them and put them in a safe place. We were so happy to be the ones to find them," said Mrs. Pa'aga.

They contacted DMWR and waited up with the sea turtles until 1 a.m., for someone to show. When DMWR did not respond immediately Sunday night, the turtles were kept overnight at the Tua'au family guest house.

The group collected sea water in containers, in which the turtles were placed, and fed them hibiscus flower petals until DMWR arrived Monday morning.

Why hibiscus flower petals?

Samoa News understands in the Samoan culture, sea turtles are regarded as the "sacred fish" or 'i'a sa' which eat hibiscus petals. Following old Samoan tales, and upon instructions issued by older Amanave women, the Turtle Savers placed hibiscus petals into the container with the
baby turtles.

DMWR Director Ufagafa Ray Tulafono and other DMWR staff including wildlife biologist Aldin Tagarino, assistant biologist Visa Vaivai and Pulemagafa Siaifoi Fa'aumu responded to the call from Amanave's Turtle Life Savers at 7 a.m., on Monday.

DMWR staff documented and photographed the number of baby turtles and eggs, and also checked the number of turtle shells found on the beach with the number of live sea turtles. DMWR found a total of 167 shells, and with the 142 live baby turtles found plus four that were dead, it
left 21 unaccounted for baby sea turtles.

DMWR staff buried the 25 unhatched eggs in the same hole where they were laid, and removed the empty shells, taking them back to the DMWR office for further study.

The Turtle Life Savers and DMWR set the turtles free, at Amanave Beach, across from the AOG church around 9 a.m., on Monday.

"We all went out to the ocean to let them go," said Mrs. Pa'aga. "It was sad to see them go but it was a nice thing to see them swim off. They were so strong. I really want to thank Mikey for his being alert and saving those turtles."

DMWR Enforcement Officer Rev. Peter Eves and Education Division's Maria Vaofanua with the assistance of Equator Schuster were at the village to congratulate the Turtle Life Savers.

"To all involved in saving the baby turtles fa'afetai tele and a big fa'amalo for a job well done," DMWR said in a statement. "The students of the home of the Mighty Lions, you set a wonderful example for other schools to follow."

Two weeks earlier, some Failolo residents found a larger female turtle in Amanave village. It is believed the turtle was attempting to nest, however, according to Amanave residents, several Failolo youth took the sea turtle to Failolo and set it free. DMWR conducted an investigation into the event.

All species of sea turtles are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The hawksbill turtle and green sea turtle-the two most common species in American Samoan waters-are both endangered species, which means they are on the verge of becoming extinct. Harming, harassing, killing, importing, selling or transporting any sea turtle, hatchling or eggs is considered a violation of federal law punishable by a stiff fine and jail time.

DMWR reminds the public that any turtle sightings should be reported to DMWR promptly at 633-4456 or 258-5536.

Endangered Turtle Makes Record 647-Day Journey [by Forum Admin]

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:22:31 -1100

Turtles:: Endangered Turtle Makes Record 647-Day Journey
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

January 24, 2008

A leatherback sea turtle recently completed the longest recorded migration of any sea vertebrate: 12,774 miles (20,558 kilometers) across the Pacific Ocean.

The journey, tracked by satellite, provides the first record of a trans-Pacific migration by a leatherback.

The giant reptile began the trek in Indonesia's warm tropical waters in the summer of 2003.

Traversing the equatorial line, it encountered strong, swift currents before passing close to Hawaii's Kauai island.

Along the way, the turtle may have encountered swordfish, tuna, and other migrating leatherbacks returning after a successful foraging season off the North American coast.

Some of the turtle's dives sent it plunging into the cold darkness 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) below the ocean surface.

After 647 days of swimming, the animal finally reached the cool waters of the Pacific Northwest�where a feast of jellyfish awaited.

The turtle made this "epic journey spanning tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific just to eat jellyfish off Oregon," said Scott Benson of NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Moss Landing, California.

Benson is a co-author of the study published recently in the journal Chelonian Conservation and Biology.

Steep Decline
The leatherback sea turtle is the world's largest turtle. It can grow as long as six and a half feet (two meters) and weigh up to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms).

Leatherbacks are also "patch feeders," eating only when food is abundant.

"Like large whales, their immense size allows them to store [food] reserves and travel great distances without eating regularly," Benson said.

"Although they are hatched at tropical beaches, they have unique adaptations for a reptile that enable them to tolerate cool, temperate waters."

Even so the estimated number of reproductive females has declined steeply in the past 25 years, and leatherbacks in the Pacific face extinction soon, according to Benson. The species is listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

"Leatherback populations face threats from egg harvesting, fishery bycatch [unintentional marine life caught during fishing], ingestion of marine debris, and in some areas, direct harvest," he said.

"Most of the large nesting beaches in the western Pacific are now protected by the local people who share these beaches with the leatherbacks, [but] we must also ensure that foraging grounds�and the migratory routes that connect them to nesting beaches�are safe," Benson added.

(Related news: "Glow Sticks May Lure Sea Turtles to Death" [April 27, 2007].)

Tracking Every Move

Little had been known about the migratory routes of leatherbacks that nest in the western Pacific region, including some of the largest remaining nesting populations in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.

Benson and his colleagues used satellite technology to track nine leatherback turtles from a previously unstudied population nesting on the beaches of Jamursba-Medi in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Transmitters were attached to nesting females using a backpack-like harness made of nylon webbing.

The transponders sent signals to satellites every two days, allowing the scientists to record diving behavior, sea temperatures, and high-resolution geographic positions.

While three animals traveled westward into the South China Sea, one turtle moved north to the Sea of Japan.

The remaining turtles traveled eastward, though only the one animal made it all the way across the Pacific Ocean.

"We had always assumed the leatherbacks occasionally spotted off California were from Mexico," said study co-author Peter Dutton, also with NOAA's Southwest Science Fisheries Service.

"Now we realize that conservation efforts need to be expanded across the ocean to the western Pacific breeding sites."

(Related news: "New Marine Conservation Area to Span Four Nations" [February 26, 2004].)

Satellite evidence suggests that the turtle with the longest transmission record (695 days) may have been captured at sea and brought on board a vessel.

Across Boundaries

Michael James, a leatherback turtle expert at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, was not involved in the research.

"This work is particularly significant because you're dealing with a species that is highly imperiled," James said.

"A lot of work is focused on nesting beaches, and that's very important, but it's equally if not more important to figure out what the animals are doing the other 99.9 percent of the time�and that's really where tools [such as] satellite telemetry [are] key," he said.

"Unless you can identify where the animals are outside of the nesting season, you really don't know the sorts of impacts that may be affecting them."

"Leatherbacks are global mariners that don't recognize international boundaries," NOAA's Benson said.

"They transit through waters of multiple nations as well as international waters and can face threats from many human activities."

Re: DVD(4gigabyte) that contains all information on Solid waste Workshop(Samoa,Fiji,Kiribati,PNG) [by ]

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:18:55 -1100

WASTE DISPOSAL:: DVD(4gigabyte) that contains all information on Solid waste Workshop(Samoa,Fiji,Kiribati,PNG)
Thanks Hiromi , I'll take a look

dumpsite and Landfill seen with the satellite photograph [by hiromih]

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:24:10 -1100

WASTE DISPOSAL:: dumpsite and Landfill seen with the satellite photograph
There is an image of dumpsite and Landfill seen with the satellite photograph from the sky seen with GoogleEarth in the place of the following URL.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/GHD00070/google-earth/index.htm

When you click the vicinity the arrow ahead because it is ClickableMap
..taking a picture photograph.. in photograph of new expansion or the ground.
These are picking up of hiromi of the place presumed to be Dump site from the satellite photograph.
A free vacant lot might be made dumpsite by mistake.
Please the person in charge of waste in each country of oceannia　must confirm the place, and report.

Climate threat to biodiversity [by Forum Admin]

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:10:31 -1100

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS:: Climate threat to biodiversity
Global temperatures predicted for the coming centuries could trigger a mass extinction, UK scientists have warned.
The temperatures are within the range of greenhouse phases early in the Earth's history when up to 95% of plants and animals died out, they say.

Experts examined the link between climate and diversity over 520 million years, almost the entire fossil record.

They found that global diversity is high during cool (icehouse) periods and low during warm (greenhouse) phases.

"Our results provide the first clear evidence that global climate may explain substantial variation in the fossil record in a simple and consistent manner," said Dr Peter Mayhew, one of the paper's co-authors.

"If our results hold for current warming, the magnitude of which is comparable with the long-term fluctuations in the Earth's climate, they suggest that extinctions will increase."

Warmer, wetter

The study by researchers from the Universites of York and Leeds, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, compared data sets on marine and land diversity against estimates of sea surface temperatures for the same period.

They found that four out of the five mass extinction events on Earth are associated with greenhouse phases (warmer, wetter conditions) rather than icehouse phases (cold, dry conditions).

These include Earth's worst mass extinction 251 million years ago when some 95% of all species were lost.

"We could - at worst - be experiencing that in the next century - only a few human generations down the line," Dr Mayhew told BBC News.

"We need to know why temperatures and extinctions are linked in this way."