Three interesting articles about our ocean environment. Shout out to Cali!
California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to block new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast on Saturday. He also announced the state’s opposition to the federal government’s plan to expand oil drilling on public lands in California.
“Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” said Brown. “We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.”
SB 834 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and AB 1775 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) block the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil drilling by prohibiting new leases for new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure, such as pipelines, within state waters if the federal government authorizes any new offshore oil leases.
There has been no federal expansion of oil and gas drilling along California’s coastline for more than 30 years.
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The world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, Walney Extension, was officially opened last week. The Walney Extension is located in the Irish Sea – approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) from the Walney Island coast in Cumbria and covers an area of 145 square kilometers. Its total capacity is 659MW, enough to power almost 600,000 U.K. homes.
The 87-turbine project, owned by Ørsted (50 percent) and its partners, the Danish pension funds PKA (25 percent) and PFA (25 percent), leapfrogs London Array to become the world’s largest operational wind farm.
It is Ørsted’s eleventh operational offshore wind farm in the U.K. It is also the first windfarm to use turbines from two manufacturers: 47 MHI Vestas 8MW wind turbines and 40 Siemens Gamesa 7MW wind turbines.
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The environmental organization Sea Shepherd has received a vessel donation from philanthropist Benoit Vulliet which will be used in the organization’s campaign to save the most endangered marine mammal in the world, the vaquita porpoise.
The vessel is former U.S. Coast Guard Buoy Tender White Holly. The vessel was built at Basalt Ship Building in 1944 and served in World War II in Pearl Harbor delivering ammunition to naval vessels. She was acquired by the Coast Guard in 1946 and served until the 1970’s protecting the Alaskan coastline. The vessel was later transferred to Mississippi as a Buoy Tender to restore aids to navigation damaged by hurricanes until her retirement from the Coast Guard in 1998. Sea Shepherd also operates three former U.S. Coast Guard Island Class Cutters currently engaged in marine conservation and anti-poaching operations.
The vessel’s first new mission as part of the Sea Shepherd fleet will be joining their campaign in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. The campaign aims to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. Vaquitas are endangered because of gillnet poaching, mostly meant to catch the totoaba fish. Like the vaquita, the totoaba is endemic to the Sea of Cortez and critically endangered. The fish are being heavily targeted for their swim bladders, which are illegally sold for exorbitant amounts of money in Asian black markets. It is said that a totoaba bladder can fetch up to $20,000 in China.
All the above thanks to the maritime Executive.
