Satellite Detection of Ghost Nets and Plastic Debris in Pacific Atolls

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangrong Ling ◽  
Lauren Biermann ◽  
Mark Manuel ◽  
Ellen Ramirez ◽  
Austin Coates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Spectral Angle Mapper ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Derelict Fishing Gear ◽  
Satellite Analysis

<p><span>Since 2014, the NOAA Satellite Analysis Branch has used high resolution optical satellite imagery in an effort to detect ghost nets (derelict fishing gear) and other large plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean and its atolls in support of clean-up efforts (by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ocean Voyages Institute, etc.). Until recently, reliable detection has proven challenging. With the application of Worldview imagery matched to <em>in situ</em> information on known net locations, we have been able to extract spectral signatures of floating plastics and use these to detect and identify other instances of plastic debris. Using ENVI’s Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) target detection method, a number of likely locations of nets/plastics in the Pearl and Hermes atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) were highlighted. The resulting locations of the 41 debris detections were strikingly similar to the distributions along the coast reported in surveys, and are consistent with those that would be expected due to the seasonal ocean currents. This satellite imagery analysis procedure will be repeated shortly before the next NWHI clean-up effort, which will better enable us to support the removal of ghost nets and other marine plastics, and also assess the accuracy and rapid reproducibility of the technique.</span></p>

The World’s Oldest Tsunami Victim at the Gateway to the Pacific—and Beyond

Tsunami ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Walter Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Settlement Abandonment

The 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami was a significant puzzle for scientists who finally cracked the cause, but it also marks the most recent event of many that can be dated back to at least 6,000 years ago where the skull of the oldest tsunami victim in the world was found. Papua New Guinea was also the starting point for the most remarkable navigational feat in the world, with Polynesians moving rapidly east into the Pacific Ocean, their settlement of the region being punctuated by hiatuses caused by catastrophic tsunamis approximately 3,000, 2,000, and 600 years ago. It was on isolated Pacific islands that humans first came into contact with the deadly Pacific Ring of Fire. Settlement abandonment, mass graves, and cultural collapse mark their progress.

scholarly journals Spinal Anaesthesia for Caesarean Section in the Solomon Islands

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Sparks ◽  
H. Perndt ◽  
K. Agiomea ◽  
J. Fa'Arondo
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Caesarean Section ◽  
Spinal Anaesthesia ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
General Anaesthetic ◽  
Tropical Country ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Results were kept on 43 spinal anaesthetics performed for caesarean section in the Solomon Islands, a developing tropical country in the Pacific Ocean. A 25-gauge Quincke needle was used and either 2.5 ml of heavy bupivacaine 0.5% or 2.0-2.5 ml of plain bupivacaine 0.5% were injected. Hypotension down to 85 mmHg occurred in four patients and there were no spinal headaches. Five patients had to be given a general anaesthetic. We recommend this technique to other doctors working in the Pacific Islands.

scholarly journals Envisioning an Interconnected Ocean: Understanding the Links Between Geological Ocean Structure and Coastal Communities in the Pacific

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
Megan Lubetkin ◽  
Nicole Raineault ◽  
Sarah Gaines
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Seafloor Mapping ◽  
Marine Management ◽  
Ocean Science ◽  
Ocean Exploration ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
The University

Abstract Covering nearly one third of the Earth's surface, the Pacific Ocean contains many significant interconnected geologic features extending into the coastal zone and the islands themselves. Trenches, ridges, seamount chains, faults, and fracture zones are not only fundamental expressions of Earth processes but also fundamental to life. Without awareness of these features and their natural and cultural importance, marine management and global understanding will remain disjointed. The Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) will spend the next several years in the Pacific conducting scientific expeditions to better understand the ocean through seafloor mapping and ocean exploration. Western ocean science is one of many ways to perceive and value the structural features of the Pacific. Communities across Pacific islands—often volcanic peaks emerging from deep below—are interconnected by water and by the underlying seafloor. We acknowledge the knowledge from local communities and recognize the multitude of ways to conceptualize and relate to the Pacific. With the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Resources Center (CRC), OET seeks to collaborate with local communities to reveal the structural significance and interconnected nature of oceanic features, making a link to the livelihoods of Pacific islanders. Further objectives would be co-designed with partners from local communities.

scholarly journals Predicting bycatch hotspots for endangered leatherback turtles on longlines in the Pacific Ocean

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1777) ◽  
pp. 20132559 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Roe ◽  
Stephen J. Morreale ◽  
Frank V. Paladino ◽  
George L. Shillinger ◽  
Scott R. Benson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Leatherback Turtles ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fisheries Bycatch ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Nesting Beaches

Fisheries bycatch is a critical source of mortality for rapidly declining populations of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea . We integrated use-intensity distributions for 135 satellite-tracked adult turtles with longline fishing effort to estimate predicted bycatch risk over space and time in the Pacific Ocean. Areas of predicted bycatch risk did not overlap for eastern and western Pacific nesting populations, warranting their consideration as distinct management units with respect to fisheries bycatch. For western Pacific nesting populations, we identified several areas of high risk in the north and central Pacific, but greatest risk was adjacent to primary nesting beaches in tropical seas of Indo-Pacific islands, largely confined to several exclusive economic zones under the jurisdiction of national authorities. For eastern Pacific nesting populations, we identified moderate risk associated with migrations to nesting beaches, but the greatest risk was in the South Pacific Gyre, a broad pelagic zone outside national waters where management is currently lacking and may prove difficult to implement. Efforts should focus on these predicted hotspots to develop more targeted management approaches to alleviate leatherback bycatch.

scholarly journals Emilia sonchifolia (red tasselflower).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Chemical Control ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Annual Herb

Abstract Emilia sonchifolia is an annual herb believed to be native to China and South-East Asia. Since spreading from its natural range, E. sonchifolia now has a pan-tropical distribution and is naturalized elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Australia, the Pacific Islands, Africa and the Americas. This species has been reported as a weed for a number of crops and has been shown to reduce yields and act as a reservoir for crop pathogens. Currently it is listed as invasive in India, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Costa Rica, the Galapagos, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Madeira, Réunion, Hawaii and on many other islands in the Pacific Ocean. Mechanical control has been shown to be effective, and chemical control has been effective in some annual and perennial crops.

scholarly journals 411 PB 054 ORIGIN OF HORTICULTURE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE DISPERSAL OF DOMESTICATED PLANTS TO THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

HortScience ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 489g-490
Author(s):  
Robert F. Bevacqua
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Fruit Crops ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Root Tuber ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
The Impact

Navigators from Southeast Asia began voyages of discovery into the Pacific Ocean four thousand years ago that resulted in the dispersal of an assemblage of domesticated plants that has come to dominate horticulture in the world's tropical regions. Archaeological, botanical, and linguistic evidence indicates the assemblage included coconut, banana, taro, yam, sugar cane, and other important food and fiber crops. An emerging view among scholars is that an origin of horticulture is associated with early Chinese civilization and that Southeast Asia was a center for the domestication of vegetatively propagated root, tuber, and fruit crops. This paper describes (1) an origin for horticulture in Southeast Asia, (2) the eastward dispersal of horticultural plants by voyagers, and (3) the impact of the introduction of horticulture on the natural enviroment of the Pacific Islands.

scholarly journals Plastics in the Indian Ocean – sources, transport, distribution, and impacts

Ocean Science ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Charitha Pattiaratchi ◽  
Mirjam van der Mheen ◽  
Cathleen Schlundt ◽  
Bhavani E. Narayanaswamy ◽  
Appalanaidu Sura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Sources And Sinks ◽  
Topographic Features ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Tremendous Amount ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
The Subject

Abstract. Plastic debris is the most common and exponentially increasing human pollutant in the world's ocean. The distribution and impact of plastic in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have been the subject of many publications but not so the Indian Ocean (IO). Some of the IO rim countries have the highest population densities globally and mismanagement of plastic waste is of concern in many of these rim states. Some of the most plastic-polluted rivers empty into the IO, with all this suggesting that the IO receives a tremendous amount of plastic debris each year. However, the concentration, distribution, and impacts of plastics in the IO are poorly understood as the region is under-sampled compared to other oceans. In this review, we discuss sources and sinks, which are specific to the IO. We also discuss unique atmospheric, oceanographic, and topographic features of the IO that control plastic distribution, such as reversing wind directions due to the monsoon, fronts, and upwelling regions. We identify hotspots of possible plastic accumulation in the IO, which differ between the two hemispheres. In the southern IO, plastics accumulate in a garbage patch in the subtropical gyre. However, this garbage patch is not well defined, and plastics may leak into the southern Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean. There is no subtropical gyre and associated garbage in the northern IO due to the presence of landmasses. Instead, the majority of buoyant plastics most likely end up on coastlines. Finally, we identify the vast knowledge gaps concerning plastics in the IO and point to the most pressing topics for future investigation.

scholarly journals Evidence of a previously unrecorded local tsunami, 13 April 2010, Cook Islands: implications for Pacific Island countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1371-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Goff
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zones ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Volcanic Origin ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Cook Islands ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Abstract. Tsunami hazard assessments for Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) tend to focus on subduction zone sources. It is generally recognised that while volcanic-related tsunamigenic sources exist, they are probably only of minor relevance to the overall hazardscape of the Pacific. This paper outlines the evidence for a previously unrecorded local tsunami that struck the uninhabited south coast of Mangaia, Cook Islands, on 13 April 2010. The tsunami had a maximum inundation of 100 m inland and a runup of 12 m a.s.l. This event was most probably caused by a small submarine slope failure, the most recent of an unknown number of previous inundations. Since most PICs have a volcanic origin, it is suggested that current perceptions about the local and regional significance of such events is inaccurate. A review of volcanic-related tsunamigenic sources throughout the Pacific reveals a wealth of data concerning submarine slope failures in particular and a more general background of active volcanism. These sources are as relevant to PICs close to or far away from subduction zones. As populations grow and the coastlines of many PICs and those on the edge of the Pacific Ocean become increasing occupied, the likelihood for loss of life from these events increases.

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