Balisage

On July 7th 2011 a maritime border agreement between Russia and Norway entered into force. This new dividing line ends a 44 year dispute over 175,000 square kilometres in the Barents and Arctic seas and opens up the former so called “grey zone” for exploration. The day following the entry into force Norway deployed the Harrier Explorer (Imo 7807380) a seismic vessel to start exploration in the zone.

This border agreement follows a Treaty on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic on May 12th 2011. It is the first legally binding treaty under the circumpolar intergovernmental forum the Arctic Council and was signed in Nuuk Greenland by Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States of America. The Treaty so called the “Nuuk Agreement” is focused on saving lives. It is an important step towards policy-making as there is an increasing amount of traffic venturing into the Arctic, which includes tankers and passenger ships of which a number were not constructed to navigate in ice-covered waters.

The port of Rouen wants to open a new disposal site for the sludge from dredging in the Seine’s bay. The public inquiry was closed yesterday. This 2 million meters³ “experience” covers itself in scientific fuss like the follow-up of the bioaccumulation of toxic elements contained in the sludge, thanks to the placing of 7 cages of mussels laid 2 to 10 km from the disposal site. This animal experimentation led by Ifremer is totally useless in regards to the ecological disaster that strikes a blow from heavy metals and PCB, endocrinal disruptors, at the ensemble of the Seine’s bay from the east to the west and from the top to the bottom.

The port of Rouen wants to open a new disposal site for the sludge from dredging in the Seine’s bay. The public inquiry was closed yesterday. This 2 million meters³ “experience” covers itself in scientific fuss like the follow-up of the bioaccumulation of toxic elements contained in the sludge, thanks to the placing of 7 cages of mussels laid 2 to 10 km from the disposal site. This animal experimentation led by Ifremer is totally useless in regards to the ecological disaster that strikes a blow from heavy metals and PCB, endocrinal disruptors, at the ensemble of the Seine’s bay from the east to the west and from the top to the bottom.

The port of Rouen wants to open a new disposal site for the sludge from dredging in the Seine’s bay. The public inquiry was closed yesterday. This 2 million meters³ “experience” covers itself in scientific fuss like the follow-up of the bioaccumulation of toxic elements contained in the sludge, thanks to the placing of 7 cages of mussels laid 2 to 10 km from the disposal site. This animal experimentation led by Ifremer is totally useless in regards to the ecological disaster that strikes a blow from heavy metals and PCB, endocrinal disruptors, at the ensemble of the Seine’s bay from the east to the west and from the top to the bottom.

During the 63rd Plenary Session of the International Whaling Commission, Japan has demonstrated its ability to debilitate initiatives for the protection of whales and distort debates on environmental threats to cetaceans. This year, a loophole in the rules of the IWC has been subtly exploited by Japanese jurists to push aside a proposed sanctuary in the South Atlantic.

The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will take place from July 11th to 14th on the Channel Island Jersey.

Pro-whaling countries often state that whales must be culled to avoid competition with human fisheries. Japanese “scientific” documents show images of whales’ stomachs overflowing with small pelagic fish. According to Robin des Bois a defender of whales, one must continue to demonstrate that whales have positive effects not only on the world’s marine ecosystem but on all ecosystems. We cannot accuse whales of taking all and giving nothing to the oceans, while it is Man who takes all and gives nothing but pollution and increasing disturbances.

The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will take place from July 11th to 14th on the Channel Island Jersey.

Pro-whaling countries often state that whales must be culled to avoid competition with human fisheries. Japanese “scientific” documents show images of whales’ stomachs overflowing with small pelagic fish. According to Robin des Bois a defender of whales, one must continue to demonstrate that whales have positive effects not only on the world’s marine ecosystem but on all ecosystems. We cannot accuse whales of taking all and giving nothing to the oceans, while it is Man who takes all and gives nothing but pollution and increasing disturbances.

The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will take place from July 11th to 14th on the Channel Island Jersey. Robin des Bois would like to take this opportunity to express strong concerns about the deterioration of sanitary state of whales following the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi which hit Japan and the North Pacific.

 1- Radioactive Pollution

Iodine-131, cesium 137, strontium 90, plutonium are among the identified radionuclides which are spreading across Japanese soil by atmospheric emissions. The Northwest Pacific has become primary recipient for not only liquid discharges coming from Fukushima but also for atmospheric fallout. The sources of whale contamination are multiple: permanent contact with artificial radioactivity, ingestion of contaminated plankton, prey and waste, and the transmission of radioactivity to calves during nursing periods. The external and internal effects of this contamination are potentially mutagenic (mutation of the gene pool), teratogenic (abnormal development of the embryo) and carcinogenic, all very serious impacts on whale populations whose future before the disaster of March 2011 was already menaced.

The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will take place from July 11th to 14th on the Channel Island Jersey. Robin des Bois would like to take this opportunity to express strong concerns about the deterioration of sanitary state of whales following the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi which hit Japan and the North Pacific.

Only in French.