Environmental News: November 6 - November 12, 2009

Brown Pelican Soars Off U.S. Endangered Species List
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, November 11, 2009 (ENS)
The brown pelican, a species once nearly exterminated by hunting and the pesticide DDT, has recovered and is being removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species, wildlife officials said today.
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Toxic Fish Found in Lakes, Reservoirs Across 47 States
WASHINGTON, DC, November 11, 2009 (ENS)
Fish from lakes and reservoirs across the Lower 48 U.S. states are riddled with toxic chemicals, according to a new study released Tuesday by the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency.
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Obama Will Go To Copenhagen To Clinch Deal
10-Nov-09
Patricia Wilson and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he would travel to Copenhagen next month if a climate summit is on the verge of a framework deal and his presence there will make a difference in clinching it.
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Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash
November 10, 2009
By LINDSEY HOSHAW
ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.
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Threatened Maldives Urges Joint Action At Climate Talks
November 10, 2009
The Maldives, threatened by rising sea levels because of global warming, on Monday pleaded with developed nations to reduce carbon emissions and said developing nations could change the outcome at climate talks in Copenhagen.
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Whale-song recording goes deep
November 9, 2009
Nature.com
Underwater glider eavesdrops on cetacean communication.
Silently slipping to 1,000 metres below the ocean surface, an undersea glider equipped with a recording device is cruising off Hawaii to capture unprecedented detail on the sounds made by whales.
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Ocean Power Wins Grant For Australian Wave Project
09-Nov-09
Victoria Bryan
LONDON - Renewable energy firm Ocean Power Technologies has won a A$66.5 million ($61 million) grant from the Australian government for a project set to be one of the first to generate power from waves on a utility scale.
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Tuna demand threatens to wipe out albatross, conservationists claim
November 9, 2009
By Louise Gray
The Atlantic and Mediterranean tuna stocks are one of the most heavily fished in the world as demand rises for the cheap fish.
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As Oceans Fall Ill, Washington Bureaucrats Squabble
by Les Blumenthal
WASHINGTON - Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds, puzzling scientists. A thousand miles off California, researchers have discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex roughly twice the size of Texas filled with tiny bits of plastic and other debris.
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Taiwan Recycles Plastic Into Clothing
06-Nov-09

Nicky Loh
Daai Technology Chairman Walter Huang poses with scarves made from recycled plastic bottles at the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation building after a news conference in Taipei November 4, 2009.
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U.S. Requests Talks With Mexico Over Tuna Dispute
06-Nov-09

Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday sought formal talks with Mexico to settle a spat between the neighbors over which international body should hear a complaint about "dolphin-safe" tuna.
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Bluefin tuna on edge of extinction, environmentalists warn
November 5, 2009
An international fisheries group set up to protect Atlantic tuna has done the opposite and driven one species of the fish, the bluefin, to the edge of extinction, environmentalists said Thursday.
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Rapid change threatens foundations of human health – study.
5 November 2009
By Douglas Fischer
Daily Climate editor
Rapid changes already underway to the Earth's climate, ecosystems and land cover threaten the health of billions, undermining key human life-support systems and threatening the core foundations of healthy communities worldwide, according to a new report released Wednesday.
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California legislators strike a final water deal
By Bettina Boxall
November 5, 2009
Lawmakers capped months of discussions, weeks of tedious negotiations and years of chasing a water deal with approval of major legislation in a marathon session that ended Wednesday as the sun rose.
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Great Whites hang out in Pacific's 'shark cafe'
Wed Nov 4, 4:56 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – Great Whites may be loners, but the ocean's most feared predators also hang out together between Mexico and Hawaii at a deep sea watering hole known as the "White Shark Cafe," a study released Wednesday reveals.
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US scales down hopes of global climate change treaty in Copenhagen
4 November 2009
Suzanne Goldenberg & John Vidal
The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said today. The decision ends hopes of a legally binding deal being sealed next month.
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Ships Sailing U.S. Atlantic Coast Must Slow for Whales
WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2009 (ENS) - The U.S. Coast Guard reminds operators of vessels 65 feet or greater in length that the Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Rule took effect for the first time on Sunday.
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Renewed calls for fish farm changes after 40,000 salmon escape B.C. farm
Oct 26, 2009
VICTORIA, B.C. — The latest mass escape from a B.C. fish farm has led to renewed calls from the NDP to change how the farms are run. About 40,000 Atlantic salmon escaped last Friday from a Marine Harvest Canada farm off the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
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