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Europeans' Fashion Victim: Adapting to Extinction

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Europeans' Fashion Victim: Adapting to Extinction

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Chapter 1: Listen

"It is dangerous to be discovered." p. 16

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Steller's sea cow: the first historical extinction of a marine mammal at human hands

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Unusually for a modern mammal, we know little of it from a true natural history perspective.

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Whales in the carbon cycle: can recovery remove carbon dioxide?

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Chapter 2: Breathe

"There are at least three ways to love you: as you were, as you are, as you will be. I love you. That means I choose all three." p. 22

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Chapter 3: Remember

"Tuxuci, named in the Tupi language, has kept her name through all this colonization, while most other marine mammals are named after a colonizer at worst and hailed by a bland western description at best. It's a miracle. We say her name." p. 30

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River Dolphins - Protecting River Dolphins worldwide

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IUCN Red List Conservation status: Endangered

Tucuxis overlap in range with Amazon river dolphins inhabiting the central region of the Amazon river basin. However, tucuxi are easy to distinguish from Amazon river dolphins because they are smaller, uniformly grey in colour (as opposed to pink), occur in larger groups, and swim faster. The tucuxi’s range is limited by natural barriers, such as rapids that prevent access to upstream stretches of rivers.

Tucuxis are believed to be the guardians of rivers and a symbol of good luck, as their ability to avoid rocky and shallow sections of rivers guides local populations and their boats to safe sections of the river.

Tucuxi dolphins are found in the central Amazon river basin, with presence confirmed in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The species’ range largely overlaps that of the Amazon river dolphin. However, unlike the Amazon river dolphin, the tucuxi does not enter into flooded forests, side channels or lakes, or upstream waters beyond rapids. As such, the species is found predominantly in the centre of large main rivers (>200 m width) with rapid flow and depth 1, 2.

Tucuxi range map provided by WWF Brazil.

There is no available estimate for the total number of tucuxi river dolphins in South America. The species appears to have been relatively abundant throughout most of its range at one time, and may still be in some areas 35. Where population estimates are available at different sites, they range from just 147 in Ecuador5, to approximately 9,000 in the Purus River, Brazil6. Given the species broad distribution and the remote and inaccessible nature of some of the rivers it inhabits, carrying out surveys across the full range of the species is impossible. As such, research teams focus on a few key areas have been resampled to assess trends in abundance. For example, the population inhabiting the upper Amazon River in Colombia appears to be relatively stable 7, while in the central Amazon river basin there is evidence of decline8.

Map depicting areas of gold mining. Produced by WWF Brazil.

One of the greatest threats to the continued survival of the tucuxi river dolphin is entanglement in gillnets as bycatch. Although considered the main threat to this species, quantitative data on bycatch rates is not available, making it challenging to design adequate conservation measures. Like Amazon river dolphins, tucuxis are threatened by  intensive fishing and other harmful fishing methods, mercury contamination from gold mining, disturbance by river traffic, water-related infrastructure such as dams and large navigation projects, sand and gravel mining, river pollution and unusual drought exacerbated by climate change causing low water levels 8.  Dam construction leads to shifts in habitat use and movements along the rivers 9, 10.  Dams also affect river habitats by reducing water availability and quality, and blocking nutrients, sediments, dolphins and migratory fish (river dolphins’ main prey) from their spawning or feeding grounds. As the price of gold has soared, so too has gold mining and the related pollution it causes in the Amazon. In fact, the small-scale gold mining sector is the main source of mercury emissions in Latin America. Indigenous and traditional communities in the region, as well as river dolphins, accumulate mercury in their tissues over time through their consumption of mercury-contaminated fish11. Although there are no studies of mercury contamination in tucuxis, it is reasonable to assume that the species is affected the same way that Amazon river dolphins are, since they share most of the dietary components (fish). Gold mining along rivers also destroys gravel beds where the gold is found, and that migratory fish depend on for habitat and spawning. These cetaceans are bio-indicators and a sentinel species of water health 5, 12. Changes in their well-being should be interpreted as an (early) warning red flag indicating ecosystem degradation and human health risk.

Tucuxi look somewhat similar to bottlenose dolphins, with broad flippers and pronounced beaks. Their bodies are muted blue-grey in colour, while their bellies are much lighter shades of ivory, grey or pink. Tucuxi have low, triangular dorsal fins. They are quite small compared to the other river dolphin species, only growing to about 1.5 metres long and weighing around 50kg at adult maturity.

Like other dolphin species, tucuxi rely heavily on echolocation to communicate, navigate and find food in the dark and sometimes turbid waters where they live13. However, unlike Amazon river dolphins that enter into flooded forests, tucuxis have less pronounced melons (foreheads where echolocation clicks are amplified), since they do not need to navigate through many obstacles.

Tucuxi. Illustration by Uko Gorter.

Reproduction and growth

Gestation is estimated at 11-12 months14. Calving peaks during the low water period of the Amazon in October and November, and they live to be about 15-16 years old 15.

Diet

Feeding habits of the tucuxi are believed to be generalist, including a variety of fish and crustaceans, as is the case with Amazon river dolphins. However, studies on tucuxi diet are scarce due to difficulties in sampling this animal.

Behaviour

(c) Jessica Melo IDSM

To human observers, tucuxi appear playful, vivacious and extremely sociable. The tucuxi is the only river dolphin that jumps out of the water, like its marine cousins. This species seems to be more social than Amazon river dolphins, congregating in groups of up to 30 individuals2. Tucuxi are fast swimmers, and display short dive times of only 30 seconds to one minute.

1. Pavanato, H.J., G. Melo-Santos, D.S. Lima, M. Portocarrero-Aya, M. Paschoalini, F., Mosquera, F. Trujillo, R. Meneses, M. Marmontel & C. Maretti. 2016. Risks of dam construction for South American river dolphins: a case study of the Tapajós River. Endangered Species Research 31: 47-60.

2. Martin, A.R., V. Da Silva & D.L. Salmon. 2004. Riverine habitat preferences of botos (Inia geoffrensis) and tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the central Amazon. Marine Mammal Science 20(2): 189-200

3. da Silva, V.M.F. & R. Best. 1996. Sotalia fluviatilis Gervais, 1853. Mammalian Species (527):1-7.

4. Leatherwood, S., R.R. Reeves, B. Wursig & D. Shearn. 2000. Habitat preferences of river dolphins in the Peruvian Amazon. Pp. 131-144In: Reeves, R.R., B.D. Smith & T. Kasuya (eds.). Biology and conservation of freshwater cetaceans in Asia. Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission

5. Gomez-Salazar, C., F. Trujillo, M. Portocarrero-Aya & H.Whitehead 2012a. Population density estimates, and conservation of river dolphins (Inia and Sotalia) in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. Marine Mammal Science 28: 124-153

6. Frias. M.P. 2019. Estimating density and population size for South American river dolphins,  boto and tucuxi: improving methods and ecological approaches / Tese (doutorado) Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas. Programa de PósGraduação em Ecologia. 144 p.

7. Williams, R., J.E. Moore, C. Gomez-Salazar, F. Trujillo & L. Burt. 2016. Searching for trends in river dolphin abundance: Designing surveys for looming threats, and evidence for opposing trends of two species in the Colombian Amazon. Biological Conservation 195: 136-145

8. da Silva, V., Trujillo, F., Martin, A., Zerbini, A.N., Crespo, E., Aliaga-Rossel, E. & Reeves, R. 2018. Inia geoffrensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T10831A50358152. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T10831A50358152.en.

9. Pavanato, H.J., G. Melo-Santos, D.S. Lima, M. Portocarrero-Aya, M. Paschoalini, F. Mosquera, F. Trujillo, R. Meneses, M. Marmontel & C. Maretti. 2016. Risks of dam construction for South American river dolphins: a case study of the Tapajós River. Endangered Species Research 31: 47-60.

10. Paschoalini, M., Almeida, R. M., Trujillo, F., Melo-Santos, G., Marmontel, M., Pavanato, H. J., … & Zerbini, A. N. (2020). On the brink of isolation: Population estimates of the Araguaian river dolphin in a human-impacted region in Brazil. Plos one, 15(4), e0231224

11. Venturieri, R., Oliveira-da Costa, M., Gama, C., & Jaster, C. B. (2017). Mercury contamination within protected areas in the brazilian Northern amazon-amapá state. American Journal of Environmental Science, 13, 11-21

12. Trujillo, F., F. Mosquera & N. Franco. 2019. Delfines de rio: especies indicadoras del estado de salud de los ecosistemas acuáticos de la Amazonia y la Orinoquia. Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cienc. Ex. Fis. Nat. 43(167):199-211. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.765.

13. May-Collado, L. J., & Wartzok, D. (2010). Sounds produced by the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) from the Napo and Aguarico rivers of Ecuador. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals, 8(1-2), 131-136.

14. Da Silva, V. M., Carter, A. M., Ambrosio, C. E., Carvalho, A. F., Bonatelli, M., Lima, M. C., & Miglino, M. A. (2007). Placentation in dolphins from the Amazon River Basin: the Boto, Inia geoffrensis, and the Tucuxi, Sotalia fluviatilis. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 5(1), 1-6.

15. Flores, P. A., Da Silva, V. M., & Fettuccia, D. D. C. (2018). Tucuxi and Guiana dolphins: Sotalia fluviatilis and S. guianensis. In Encyclopedia of marine mammals (pp. 1024-1027). Academic Press.

© WWF-Brazil / Adriano Gambarini

Amazon river dolphin

The Amazon River dolphin is a unique freshwater species found only in the rivers of South America.

© WWF Mohd Shahnawaz Khan

Ganges river dolphin

The Ganges river dolphin is known as the “Tiger of the Ganges” for the role it plays as a top predator, and an ecosystem indicator species; much like a tiger does in a forest.

© Nyal Mueenuddin / WWF-Pakistan

Indus river dolphin

Indus river dolphins are also known as the blind dolphins because over millions of years they have lost the use of their eyes.

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Tucuxis overlap in range with Amazon river dolphins inhabiting the central region of the Amazon river basin.

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Chapter 3: Remember

"In 2016, reports circulated with evidence that dolphin mothers sing to their babies while they are in the womb, and for a few weeks after so they can learn their names." p. 31

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(Image credit: vkilikov | Shutterstock.com)

DENVER - Humans aren't the only species whose members speak to their babies in the womb. Dolphin mamas appear to sing their own name to their unborn calves.

New research suggests that dolphin mothers teach their babies a "signature whistle" right before birth and in the two weeks after. Signature whistles are sounds that are made by individual dolphins, which the animals use to identify one another. Calves eventually develop their own signature whistle, but in the first few weeks of life, mothers seem focused on teaching their offspring their signature sound, the scientists said.

"It's been hypothesized that this is part of an imprinting process," Audra Ames, a doctoral student at the University of Southern Mississippi, said here on Friday (Aug. 5) at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. [ Deep Divers: A Dolphin Gallery]

Dolphin chatter

Earlier studies had shown that mother dolphins start whistling their signature whistle much more in the days before birth, and then in the calf's first two weeks of life, Ames told Live Science. There are multiple theories about why, including that perhaps moms are trying to get babies to develop their own signature sound.

But no one had studied signature-whistle rates not only before and after birth, but also in the same dolphin mother, Ames said. She and her colleagues had the opportunity to do that in late 2012 and early 2014, when a baby dolphin named Mira was born to a 9-year-old mother at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California.

The researchers captured a total of 80 hours of recordings from the two months before and the two months after the dolphin's birth. They recorded the mom and the calf as well as the five dolphins housed with them. It was important to capture the noises of the mother's peers to understand whether the communication was exclusive to the mother-baby pair, Ames said.

Learning mom's name

The recordings showed that the increased signature-whistle production was, in fact, the purview of the mother dolphin. She began increasing her signature whistle two weeks before the birth, possibly starting the learning process while her calf was still in utero.

A seemingly related phenomenon has been observed during human pregnancies, according to Ames. "We actually do see that human babies develop a preference for their mother's voice in the last trimester," she said. "We don't know if that's something that's going on here, but it could be something similar." [ Photos: World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals]

The mother dolphin also produced her signature whistle at high rates until two weeks after the calf's birth, after which she tapered off. Interestingly, Ames said, the other dolphins in the group didn't produce their own signature whistle at very high rates during the first two weeks of the calf's life. But after mama stopped the repetitions of her own whistle, the other members of the group started producing their own whistle at higher rates.

"What the other dolphins might be doing here is remaining quiet so the calf does not imprint on the wrong signature whistle," Ames said.

Baby dolphins don't usually develop their own signature whistle until they're around the age of 2 months, with much variation in timing, Ames said. The baby's whistle tends not to be similar to the mother's or to the other dolphins in the group.

"You don't want to have a signature sound that is going to be similar to someone else you're around quite often," Ames said.

Ames and her colleagues are now studying other sounds in the mother-calf repertoire of communication, and they're studying other marine mammals such as beluga whales as well as dolphins.
Original article on Live Science.

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Mama Dolphins Sing Their Name to Babies in the Womb

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(Image credit: vkilikov | Shutterstock.com) DENVER - Humans aren't the only species whose members speak to their babies in the womb. Dolphin mamas appear to sing their own name to their unborn calves. New research suggests that dolphin mothers teach their babies a "signature whistle" right before birth and in the two weeks after.

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Chapter 4: Practice

"I love you for your breath, your dense, your stubborn growth impossible. Your evolution happening right now." p. 45

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Changes in Dorsal Fins Are a Challenge for Dolphin Identification

One of the most challenging aspects of dorsal identification is positively identifying a fin over time as changed markings to the fin can make a dolphin look, sometimes, significantly different. While some fins are dramatically changed, others are more subtle.

Recently, we've noticed new markings in a seasonal visitor, Divo. Divo is believed to be pair bonded with another dolphin named Alon. This animal was originally identified based on a large divot (hence the name) located on the front or leading edge of its dorsal fin as well as its association with Alon, a more easily recognizable dolphin. Apart from the front divot, Divo was considered a clean fin.

Divo 2017 (top) and 2018 (bottom).

In November 2018, the pair was recently spotted traveling in Clearwater Bay. From this sighting, we noticed new markings to the upper trailing edge of Divo's fin and were able to confirm a positive ID for this animal based on its divot and presence of Alon nearby.

Alon (rear).

Notches and Rake Marks

Tidal is another dolphin whose added nicks and notches make it a more easily identifiable animal. In April 2016, Tidal was spotted with multiple rake marks to its dorsal fin. When seen again in January of the following year, it had acquired a new semi-circle type notch in the lower portion of the trailing edge of its fin and a larger space in the notch already observed in the same area. Rake marks are a sign of socialization with other dolphins, formed when dolphins rake their teeth over one another's body. Although we do not know whether or not raking was the cause of Tidal's new notch, we can allude to Tidal being involved in some type of high level activity similar to that found with conspecific (same species) socialization.

Tidal 2016 (top) and 2017 (bottom).

Changes in Dolphin Calves

As seen with these two dolphins, finding new markings on mature dolphins can result in making that animal easier to identify. Still, the most important formation of markings come with those formed on calves. Nola, Cali's second observed calf in our study, started its life with a clean fin as all calves do; however, unlike most calves, Nola started acquiring notches within the first year of its life. Born in spring of 2017, Nola was seen with a series of small nicks on the trailing edge of its fin in October of the same year.

Nola spring 2017 (top) and spring 2018 (bottom).

There are some calves in our study, such as Faren, calf of Kelvin, who still lack markings at several years of age. Thanks to Nola's markings, when this animal leaves Cali, it will be easily recognizable whereas Faren would not be.

Faren February 2017 (top) and November 2018 (bottom).

See how many dorsal fins you can identify and match below!

[h5p id="2″]
Learn more about different kinds of dorsal fins.
Research conducted and photographs collected under the NMFS Scientific Research Permit No. 19749.

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How Wild Dolphin Dorsal Fins Change Over Time - Clearwater Marine Aquarium

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One of the most challenging aspects of dorsal identification is positively identifying a fin over time as changed markings can make a dolphin look different

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Chapter 4: Practice

"The bowhead whale lives for centuries and could potentially grow forever." p. 46

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The Evolutionary Trick that Lets Bowhead Whales Grow So Big | Hakai Magazine

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Young bowhead whales may deconstruct their own bones to help fuel the growth of their huge baleen.

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Chapter 5: Collaborate

"I believe collaboration is natural and can be reclaimed." p. 51

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What We Do

Conservation & Management

NOAA Fisheries is committed to the protection of Fraser's dolphins. Targeted management actions taken to secure protections for these whales include:

Overseeing marine mammal health and stranding response

Addressing ocean noise

Educating the public about Fraser's dolphins and the threats they face

Learn more about our conservation efforts

Science

Our research projects have discovered new aspects of Fraser's dolphin biology, behavior, and ecology and help us better understand the challenges that all Fraser's dolphins face. Our work includes:

Stock assessments

Monitoring population abundance and distribution

Learn more about our research

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Fraser's dolphins are found in deep, tropical waters worldwide. They are active swimmers and are usually found in groups of 10 to 100 individuals, but they sometimes travel in groups of up to 1,000. Francis Fraser, a scientist from the British Museum, first described this species in 1956 based on a skull found on a beach in Borneo.

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Chapter 5: Collaborate

"When I can't see the shore I'm here timing my breathing to yours. Knowing collectively we can leap, we can dive, we can practice our faith in each other." p. 53

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Pantropical spotted dolphins are found in all tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. These relatively small dolphins are quite social and often school with other dolphin species. Learn more about the pantropical spotted dolphin.

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Adapting to Echolocation for Everyday Life

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Adapting to Echolocation for Everyday Life

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Chapter 7: Be present

"Most cetaceans have a crystalline lens over their eyes so they see underwater. The South Asian river dolphins do not. So they look instead with their voices." p. 68

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River Dolphins - Protecting River Dolphins worldwide

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IUCN Red List Conservation status: Endangered

Indus river dolphins are endemic to the Indus river basin, where their naturally murky and silt-laden river habitat means that their eyes are of limited use. Indus river dolphins therefore rely on echolocation clicks to navigate and find food. Both Indus and Ganges river dolphins are considered to be living fossils, as they are the most ancient dolphin species still alive.

The South Asian river dolphin consisted of two sub-species, the Ganges river dolphin and the Indus river dolphin. The taxonomy of the group is in the process of being revised so that they are recognised as separate species in the course of 2021.

Indus river dolphins are found mostly in the lower parts of the Indus River in Pakistan. The dolphins historically swam freely through about 3500 km of the Indus River system from the Indus estuary, through the plains to the foothills of the Karakoram mountains. The dolphins' range has been reduced by approximately 80% due to the construction of irrigation barrages, and now most of the remaining animals are in a 690 km stretch of the Indus River in three separated populations. A handful of Indus river dolphins also occur in the Beas River in India, trapped above an irrigation dam.

The most recent estimate of abundance for the Indus river dolphin, based on surveys conducted in 2017, was close to 2000 animals. The largest dolphin population, which also occurs at very high density, is found between the Guddu and Sukkur barrages in Sindh province, and smaller populations are found in Punjab and KPK. Regular dolphin counts conducted since the 1970s show a clear increasing trend in dolphin abundance over the last 50 years. The increase coincides with dolphin hunting being banned and is assumed to be the reason for population recovery now that hunting has stopped, in combination with other effective conservation actions.

The major threats to the Indus river dolphin include water-related infrastructure such as dams, barrages and diversions, which cause flow regulation and habitat fragmentation, as well as mortality from entanglement in fishing nets, and pollution from domestic, industrial and agricultural sources. Dams and barrages fragment the dolphins habitat, reducing population connectivity and isolating animals in river sections. They also affect river habitats by reducing water availability and habitat quality, and blocking passage for migratory fish. Indus river dolphins, as with most other cetaceans, frequently become entangled in fishing nets and then drown. They also become trapped in irrigation canals and die unless they are rescued. As long-lived top predators, Indus river dolphins are vulnerable to negative health effects from living in waterways contaminated with heavy metals, industrial pollution and agricultural run-off. River cetaceans, including the Indus river dolphin, are considered to be indicators of river health.

Indus river dolphins are light brownish-grey, though they sometimes exhibit lighter undersides. They have a long thin rostrum with many long teeth that are visible even when their mouths are closed. Their dorsal fin is rather small compared to other river dolphins, and is more like a triangular hump. They have large flippers and flukes, and flexible necks.

This species is functionally blind. Therefore, like other dolphin species, it relies heavily on echolocation to navigate and hunt. Externally, the eye appears to be barely larger than a pinhole, restricting light from reaching the retina, there is no lens, and the optic nerve is very narrow, leading scientists to conclude that their eyes are incapable of forming clear images, but that they may still serve as light receptors.

Reproduction and growth

Indus river dolphins reach sexual maturity when they are approximately 10 years old. Mating occurs throughout the year but births appear to peak between March and May. After a gestation period of 8-9 months, a single calf is born, generally around 70cm in length, and feeds on milk from the mother. They can grow up to 2.5 metres in length and weigh 70-110 kg. Limited data is available about their lifespan, but the oldest known animal was 39 years.

Diet

The Indus river dolphin eats a large variety of prey including river prawns, catfish and carp.

Behaviour

Like Ganges river dolphins, Indus river dolphins have developed a unique side swimming behaviour which is an adaptation to help them navigate through shallow waters. Although the dolphins have occasionally been found in groups consisting of as many as 30 individuals, they are mainly solitary.

Individuals are at the surface for only about 1 second, and they then dive for just over a minute. Like other dolphin species, they navigate using echolocation, but reflecting the complexity of the river environment, Indus river dolphins emit sound almost constantly. Generally, these animals are shy towards humans.

For more information see:

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Indus river dolphins are endemic to the Indus river basin, where their naturally murky and silt-laden river habitat means that their eyes are of limited use. Indus river dolphins therefore rely on echolocation clicks to navigate and find food. Both Indus and Ganges river dolphins are considered to be living fossils, as they are the most ancient dolphin species still alive.

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Breath of a Whale Portrays Rainbows When Interacting With Sunlight

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Breath of a Whale Portrays Rainbows When Interacting With Sunlight

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Chapter 8: Be fierce

"But if I could breathe a rainbow, I would grow myself towards you. I would brighten what's between us, filter nourishing possibilities." p. 82

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Whales Breathe Rainbows in Newport Beach, California

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Chuckles the River Dolphin Adapts to Zoo Life

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Chuckles the River Dolphin Adapts to Zoo Life

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Chapter 10: Honor your boundaries

"Amazon river dolphins have not done well in captivity. Less than 20 percent have been able to survive in aquariums worldwide." p. 88

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During my interview with Corbin Maxey, he asked me what surprises have popped up in my zoo history research. My answer was not included in the final release of the interview; I answered that I was surprised about the extreme difficulty of caring for penguins in captivity until the late 1960s-too sad a topic to include in a fun podcast. Corbin told me that his zoo history surprise was that the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium exhibited an Amazon river dolphin (a species often called pink dolphin, or boto) for many years. River dolphins are a species rarely found in captivity, so I assured Corbin that I would further investigate this animal!

When we think of dolphins, we usually conjure up images of Flipper and the playful saltwater variety. Their freshwater cousins, however, are rarely portrayed in popular culture. River dolphins are smaller in order to propel through shallower water. They have tiny eyes, very flexible necks, longer snouts, and strong sonar to help snag fast-moving prey in muddy water. They are mostly concentrated in South American rivers, particularly the Amazon and Oronoco basins-with other species of river dolphins located in Asia (China and India). They are extremely rare in captivity even today, with only a few on exhibit around the world, mainly due to high mortality, aggression, and level of difficulty in training. Between 100 and 140 Amazon river dolphins were brought to the United States aquariums between the 1950s and the mid-1970s, and 90 percent of them lived only one to five years. Given this gram statistic, the story of Chuckles is an extremely remarkable one.

When Pittsburgh's AquaZoo opened in 1967, it was the second largest aquarium in the country. To fill the tanks with attractive specimens, zoologists set out on a three-week "aquafari" to the upper Amazon River of Columbia. They returned to Pittsburgh in June 1967 via C-46 airplane with 11,000 pounds of fish, reptiles, and amphibians; 500 excited fans greeted them at the airport, along with an orchestra playing South American music and a motorcade waiting to escort the new Pittsburgh residents to their home.

The stars of the aquarium were predicted to be three Amazon river dolphins-two adults (one very pregnant) and a baby. Sadly, both adults died a few days after arriving at the aquarium, one of pneumonia and the other of an infection stemming from a harpoon wound. (The only other immediate deaths reported were three red-tailed catfish, so the overall fatality rate of the large shipment was quite low.) The baby, a six-month-old named Pinky, seemed to thrive initially-eating well, taking vitamins, and enjoying the company of her human keepers. Keeping this baby alive, the first baby to survive in captivity, was an all-hands-on-deck affair, with pathologists and dieticians from the local Magee-Womens Hospital assisting. After Pinky's mother passed away, dieticians were able to obtain samples of her milk so that they could learn to simulate the high-fat, low-sugar formula that she required.

While Pinky was soaking up the attention, in August zoo officials acquired three companion Amazon porpoises, two females and a male, secured by fishermen a few weeks after the initial aquafari trip. Two dozen reporters were on hand for the initial introduction to their pool. Pinky was kept in a separate pool from the adults as she was received around-the-clock care. The behaviors of these creatures had not yet been understood, so they were not risking the larger adults hurting or killing the young dolphin.

The AquaZoo opened its doors on October 1, 1967. Aside from the porpoises, visitors were awed by the penguins, sharks, otters, electric eels, and rare specimens such as the tiger-fish (more vicious than piranhas) and South American gar. Zoo staff were quite proud of the health of the animals and smooth operation of the filtration systems of the $1.6 million facility. One newspaper article called the Amazon exhibit the only one of its kind in the world. The exhibit resembled their natural environment as closely as possible, and the thousands of visitors who showed up for the opening walked away super impressed.

Twelve days after the grand opening, baby Pinky's fragile life ended. She had been dealing with an eye infection, but her care team suspected that pneumonia is what ultimately killed her. In 1970, seven more Amazon river dolphins arrived. Then in 1972 three Amazon River dolphins died after emergency digestive surgery at Magee-Womens Hospital. They had swallowed coins and other debris (even a rail spike) that had been thrown into their tank. Eventually, only one dolphin remained: Chuckles.

By the time Chuckles arrived in 1970, the zoo (in Pittsburgh as well as other zoos) had learned a very important lesson in keeping river dolphins healthy in captivity. Their natural environment is not a vast ocean but a shallower body of water. In a deep tank, the river dolphins, which do not float, were expending a tremendous amount of energy attempting to rise to the surface for air and had difficulty sleeping in the deep water. The stress on the body was making them more susceptible to illness. Chuckles, at 6′3″ and over 200 lbs, was moved to a much smaller, four-foot-deep tank with a sloped area where he could beach himself. The smaller living space upset visitors but no doubt contributed to his record-breaking longevity. Amazon river dolphins are also mostly solitary in the wild, so his single lifestyle also kept his stress level lower but made him a target of cries that he looked lonely.

By the 1980s Chuckles was only one of two Amazon river dolphins living in U.S. aquariums-the other was Buster in Niagara Falls, New York. After Buster passed away around 1987, Chuckles was the only living freshwater dolphin in captivity in North America. He had outlived them all.

Although his species was generally believed to be less intelligent than their ocean-dwelling cousins, Chuckles proved extremely smart, and keepers started to notice that he would invite interaction with humans. He engaged visitors, particularly children, in play, and his care team would occasionally swim with him. After 15 years in captivity, it was time to use this rare opportunity to formally study him.

In 1982, when Chuckles developed a severe case of gout around his pectoral fins and required treatment, trainers started entering his pool and interacting with him on a more routine physical level. That April, after a University of Pittsburgh student who worked with Chuckles as well as marine dolphins noticed his aptitude for learning, thirteen trainers became involved in an intensive training program (23 other trainers were on a waiting list). Throughout his daily regimen, Chuckles learned more than a dozen routines, including tossing and fetching balls and frisbees, swimming through hoops (freshwater dolphins do not jump like the ocean dwellers), shaking with his fin, rolling over, and jump-hugging humans. With thirteen of them, not every trainer gave the dolphin a command in the exact same way, but he figured out what they wanted anyway. He was also a perfectionist, often re-performing a behavior if he wasn't pleased with the initial attempt. AquaZoo director Randy Goodlett noted that Chuckles' mental well-being had improved dramatically as well. "Before the training Chuckles was very blasé, just moping around in his tank. Now, he's like a puppy. He looks forward to the training sessions." By the time of his death, he knew over 30 behaviors.

Amazon river dolphins are born gray and tend to become pinker in color as they get older, or as they become more excited. Perhaps a trick, perhaps not, Chuckles appeared to be able to change his coloring from pink to gray at will. "Chuckles can go pink. He can go gray. He can go so gray that there's no pink on his body. He can be slightly pink. He can be brilliant pink. If they do have emotions, it might be tied into that. It might be vascular. It could be diet and old age," Goodlett suggested.

Chuckles was well trained, but that didn't mean he was always on his best behavior. In 1990 he bit a zoo volunteer while she rubbed his belly with a brush. He was in "reproductive stage," a time when aggressive behavior tends to peak in males. The volunteer required stitches on her finger, but claimed that Chuckles was still her buddy and would continue to work with him. The volunteer eventually sought $50,000 in damages from the zoo and won, but in 1996 the decision was overturned; the zoo was ultimately found not at fault. Chuckles also bit one of his trainers on the hand and leg during a training session in 1993, again while he was in reproductive stage. Three years later he bit a female visitor who, attempting to pet him, stuck her hand in his exhibit though a screen barrier while shouting his name. The zoo had to remind visitors that Chuckles was not dangerous, but he was a wild animal.

Every single trainer was bit. I was bit. He got me good a couple of times on the fingers. -Randy Goodlett, AquaZoo director

Chuckles' popularity helped bring awareness to the plight of his species in the wild. In 1986, a group of Pittsburgh conservationists, as part of the California-based "Pink Dolphin Project," journeyed to Brazil to help save around 150 Amazon river dolphins that had become trapped in dammed areas that were drained for irrigation during the dry season. As their situation became dire, the dolphins were transported to lakes and undammed streams. (The previous year, 200 river dolphins perished from starvation and sun exposure during the dry season.) To prepare for the trip, volunteers studied Chuckles to learn how to care for and handle the species for safe transport. The efforts to save the trapped river dolphins became a yearly project.

Chuckles lived out his final few years in a new home. In 2000, a newly renovated $17 million AquaZoo was opened (and renamed PPG Aquarium). The entire space was twice the size as the former iteration, and Chuckles was transferred to a customized pool five times the size of his previous home.

Chuckles died two years later on February 20, 2002, at the elderly age of 34. (Buster, the oldest Amazon river dolphin in captivity prior to him lived to the age of 23, so Chuckles smashed the longevity record for his species.) Pittsburgh had lost its smiley treasure. A makeshift memorial of flowers, photos, letters, and other mementos adorned the aquarium. One of his trainers added her whistle. Asked if the zoo would replace him with another river dolphin, a spokesperson said they would not. He was irreplaceable-their miracle dolphin.

On a wintry day our two sons, then about 6 and 10, and I were alone in front of Chuckles ' tank when he threw a ball out to us. We immediately threw it back, and this catch game went on for some minutes to the delight of the kids. We just wanted to describe our experience, which shows how intelligent and playful Chuckles was. -Radmilla Raikow, Pittsburgh resident ("Mourning Chuckles." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 23, 2002)

Today only three Amazon river dolphins exist in captivity-one each at Acuario de Valencia (Venezuela), Zoologico de Guistochoca (Peru), and the Duisburg Zoo (Germany). The Dallas World Aquarium attempted to acquire them in the mid-1990s as the main attraction of their new facility. However, the plan to capture them was strongly opposed by citizens, federal agencies, and advocacy groups and ultimately abandoned. In the wild, the Amazon river dolphin population is considered endangered and declining due to habitat loss (deforestation), commercial fishing, hydroelectric dam construction, and toxic mercury from gold mining. The largest effort to conserve the species occurred in 2012 when Bolivian president Evo Morales signed a law that banned fishing river dolphins and declared the species a national treasure; Brazil enacted a similar law in 2015. Additionally, the organization World Animal Protection has created a "Boto Guardians" program to help educate locals and enforce fishing laws. The Guardians number 300,000, and an estimated 1,600 river dolphins have been saved from illegal hunting through the organization's efforts.

Sources

"1967: First penguins arrive in Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photo archive. https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2014/06/11/1967-first-penguins-arrive-in-pittsburgh/

"Amazon River Dolphin." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_river_dolphin

Amazon River Dolphin fact sheet. World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin

"Aquafari's Porpoises Die in Highland Zoo." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 6, 1967): 1.

"Aquafarians Will Return on Sunday." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Daily Magazine (June 2, 1967): 1.

"Aquarium Opening to Public on Sunday." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 29, 1967): 25.

"Bolivia enacts law to protect Amazon pink dolphins." BBC News (September 18, 2012). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19642422

Bonar, Christopher et al. "A Retrospective Study of Pathologic Findings in the Amazon and Orinoco River Dolphin ( Inia geoffrensis) in Captivity." Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 38 (2007): 177-91.

Bradley-Steck, Tara. "Rare Dolphin Taught at Pa. Zoo." Philadelphia Inquirer (March 7, 1985): B18.

---. "Conservation Group Trying to Rescue Amazon River Dolphins." The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.) (July 23, 1986): 25.

Butler, Ann. "Chuckles: Aqua Zoo's dolphin is teaching trainers." The Pittsburgh Press (January 7, 1985): C1.

Caldwell, M. C., D. K. Caldwell, and R. L. Brill. Inia geoffrensis in captivity in the United States. In W. F. Perrin, R. L. Brownell, Zhou Kaiya, and Liu Jiankang (Eds.), Biology and Conservation of the River Dolphins (IUCN, 1989): 35-41. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/SSC-OP-003_pp35-41.pdf

Carlisle, Anthony Todd and William Loeffler. "Chuckles the Dolphin Dies." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (February 21, 2002).

"Chuckles: No One Knew He Was So Smart." The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) (March 8, 1985): 7D.

Collier, Gene. "Random Points in the Zoo Time Continuum." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 14, 1998): G10.

da Silva, V. et al. Inia geoffrensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T10831A50358152. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T10831A50358152.en.

"Dallying Dolphin Puts Bite on Lady Friend from Pittsburgh." Dayton Daily News (March 22, 1990): 4A.

DeLaney, James K. "'Pinky the Porpoise' Dies at Zoo Aquarium." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 13, 1967): 21.

Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Cambridge, UK: IUCN, 1991. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RD-1991-001.pdf

Golightly, John. "'Aquafari' Hopes for Five-Ton Catch in Expedition to Waters of Amazon." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Daily Magazine (April 28, 1967): 1.

---. "Mama Caiman a Tough Jungle Fighter." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Daily Magazine (June 8, 1967): 1.

---. "Staff of Aquarium Ready for Opening." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 21, 1967): 1.

Grata, Joe. "Dolphin Bites the Hand That Feeds It at City Zoo." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 14, 1993): C1.

"Harpoon Wound Found Fatal to One Zoo Porpoise." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 8, 1967): 1.

Hopey, Don. "Chuckles the Dolphin, c. 1968-2002 - Smiler, Biter and Zoo Star for 3 Decades." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (February 21, 2002): A1. http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20020221chuckles4.asp

Loftis, Randy Lee. "Dolphin Exhibit Opposed-Aquarium Promises Good Care for Display." Dallas Morning News (April 20, 1997): 37A.

---. "Federal Agency Challenges Plan to Capture River Dolphins." Dallas Morning News (August 17, 1997): 6A.

---. "Aquarium Won't Import Dolphins-Dallas Facility Drops Plan After Prominent Scientists Object." Dallas Morning News (September 37, 1997): 31A.

McNulty, Timothy. "No Laughing Matter: 'Chuckles' Bites Zoo Visitor." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, (December 4, 1996): C7.

Moody, Chuck. "Amazon Dolphin 'Chuckles' Nears Record in Captivity." The Daily Herald (Tyrone, Pa.) (March 21, 1990): 9.

Pierce, Henry W. "Pinky Displays (Por)poise in an Underwater Interview." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (August 3, 1967): 25.

---. "Team Preparing to Rescue Dolphins." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 7, 1986): 7.

"Pink dolphin protection is a powerful success." World Animal Protection, February 26, 2018. https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/news/pink-dolphin-protection-powerful-success

"Race Is on to Move Dolphins." The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.) (July 12, 1986): A2.

Raikow, Radmila. "Mourning Chuckles." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (February 23, 2002): A10.

"Rare Amazon River Dolphin Amazes Researchers." The Evening Times (Sayre, Pa.) (March 8, 1985): 9.

Rosensweet, Alvin. "New Aquarium Pleases Crowd on First Day." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 2, 1967): 1.

Ryan, Jack. "Amazon Expedition Returns with Big Catch for Aquarium." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 5, 1967): 25.

Ryan, Jack. "Three Porpoises Join 'Pinky' in Zoo." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (August 5, 1967): 13.

Schreib, Sandi, Annie Burrows, and Tim Smith. "The Amazon River Dolphin ( Inia geoffrensis)." Soundings: Newsletter of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association 19:2 (Spring 1994). http://www.imata.org/uploads/issues/pdf/1994_q2_soundings.pdf

Siemers, Erik. "Zoo Remembers Chuckles, a Fan Favorite." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (February 28, 2002).

Stanley, Bruce. "Rambunctious Dolphin Judged Wild Animal in Pittsburgh." Cleveland Plain Dealer (December 25, 1996): 16A.

Walsh, Lawrence. "30-Year-Old AquaZoo to Be Renewed by 2000." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 29, 1997): A1.

"Zoo Need Not Pay for a Dolphin's Bite." New York Times (December 25, 1996): A22.

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Chuckles the River Dolphin: Pittsburgh Treasure, Defier of Odds

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During my interview with Corbin Maxey, he asked me what surprises have popped up in my zoo history research. My answer was not included in the final release of the interview; I answered that I was surprised about the extreme difficulty of caring for penguins in captivity until the late 1960s-too sad a topic to...

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Chapter 11: Respect your hair

"Who benefitted from the conspiracy to teach us that we were not beautiful? That we were not possible? Who first turned our adaptation into profit?" p. 99

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Meet the Narwhal, the Long-Toothed Whale that Inspired a Magical Medieval Legend - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Do you believe in unicorns? People in the Middle Ages did, and they even thought that unicorn horns had special healing powers.

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How Capitalism Is Destroying Marine Life

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How Capitalism Is Destroying Marine Life

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Chapter 12: End capitalism

"The actual suffering and endangerment of marine mammals on the planet right now is caused by the extractive, destructive processes and consequences of capitalism." p. 101

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Brett Clark teaches sociology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Rebecca Clausen teaches sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.

The world ocean covers approximately 70 percent of the earth. It has been an integral part of human history, providing food and ecological services. Yet conservation efforts and concerns with environmental degradation have mostly focused on terrestrial issues. Marine scientists and oceanographers have recently made remarkable discoveries in regard to the intricacies of marine food webs and the richness of oceanic biodiversity. However, the excitement over these discoveries is dampened due to an awareness of the rapidly accelerating threat to the biological integrity of marine ecosystems.1

At the start of the twenty-first century marine scientists focused on the rapid depletion of marine fish, revealing that 75 percent of major fisheries are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. It is estimated "that the global ocean has lost more than 90% of large predatory fishes." The depletion of ocean fish stock due to overfishing has disrupted metabolic relations within the oceanic ecosystem at multiple trophic and spatial scales.2

Despite warnings of impending collapse of fish stock, the oceanic crisis has only worsened. The severity is made evident in a recent effort to map the scale of human impact on the world ocean. A team of scientists analyzed seventeen types of anthropogenic drivers of ecological change (e.g., organic pollution from agricultural runoff, overfishing, carbon dioxide emissions, etc.) for marine ecosystems. The findings are clear: No area of the world ocean "is unaffected by human influence," and over 40 percent of marine ecosystems are heavily affected by multiple factors. Polar seas are on the verge of significant change. Coral reefs and continental shelves have suffered severe deterioration.

Additionally, the world ocean is a crucial factor in the carbon cycle, absorbing approximately a third to a half of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The increase in the portion of carbon dioxide has led to an increase in ocean temperature and a slow drop in the pH of surface waters-making them more acidic-disrupting shell-forming plankton and reef-building species. Furthermore, invasive species have negatively affected 84 percent of the world's coastal waters-decreasing biodiversity and further undermining already stressed fisheries.3

Scientific analysis of oceanic systems presents a sobering picture of the coevolution of human society and the marine environment during the capitalist industrial era. The particular environmental problems related to the ocean cannot be viewed as isolated issues or aberrations of human ingenuity, only to be corrected through further technological development. Rather these ecological conditions must be understood as they relate to the systematic expansion of capital and the exploitation of nature for profit. Capital has a particular social metabolic order-the material interchange between society and nature-that subsumes the world to the logic of accumulation. It is a system of self-expanding value, which must reproduce itself on an ever-larger scale.4 Here we examine the social metabolic order of capital and its relationship with the oceans to (a) examine the anthropogenic causes of fish stock depletion, (b) detail the ecological consequences of ongoing capitalist production in relation to the ocean environment, and (c) highlight the ecological contradictions of capitalist aquaculture.5

Marine Metabolism: Biological Richness, Energy Cycles, and Trophic Levels

Ecologists now appreciate the complexity of biological relationships at multiple scales, including primary productivity, carbon sequestration, and intricate food webs. New light is being shed on oceanic ecosystems offering an emerging picture of the sea's metabolism. In particular, research reveals great complexity and a resultant integrity among trophic level interactions (food webs) between microscopic organisms, plankton, and larger predators. Ivan Valiela, a marine biologist, states:

No topic within marine ecology and biological oceanography has changed more...than our notions about components and structure of planktonic food webs. Knowledge about marine water column food webs has been considerably enlarged, and made much more complex, by recent findings about the existence and role of smaller organisms, release and reuse of dissolved organic matter, and reassessment of the function of certain larger organisms.6

The metabolic interactions expressed among trophic levels are proving to be the underlying source of great biological wealth and ocean resiliency.

According to marine scientists, "the genetic, species, habitat, and ecosystem diversity of the oceans is believed to exceed that of any other Earth system." For example, ocean environments contain seventeen different taxa of life forms compared to eleven land-based taxa. Oceans account for 99 percent of the volume that is known to sustain life-most of which is still unknown. Scientists exploring the ocean's middle depths have discovered a host of new species composing productive ecosystems. The deep-sea bottom, of which little more than 1.5 percent has been explored, has recently been the object of great interest due to its abundant biodiversity.

For example, in one such Atlantic seafloor with an area of approximately twenty-one square meters, scientists sampled and found 90,672 individual organisms representing 798 species, of which 460 were previously unknown. These new discoveries have yielded important insights regarding marine ecosystems. At the same time, they produce an appreciation of the great uncertainty that still exists for much of the marine environment's processes, such as the role of currents, nutrient cycles, and biomass.7

Recent advances in trophic level understanding have developed in three areas: microbial interactions, multi-tiered trophic dynamics, and upper trophic level controls. First, the new array of facts offered by studying the base of the food web (diatoms, dinoflagellates, and other microalgae) has led marine researchers to propose a new view of the planktonic food web that includes a "microbial loop." In the microbial loop, organic matter cycles through microbes before entering the classic food web; this is a more complicated relationship than was previously assumed.

Second, it has been found that oceanic food webs often have five trophic levels or more, as opposed to freshwater systems where three levels are more typical. Valiela describes this yet-unexplained discovery as a significant qualitative difference between the two environments. Previously, trophic interactions among freshwater fish were thought to be analogous to pelagic fish and management decisions were based on such comparisons. Exploring the multi-tiered dynamics of ocean food webs as unique from freshwater systems provides a more complex research question for the scientific community. Uncertainty colors all speculation of how vulnerable ocean systems are compared to freshwater and land ecologies.8

Finally, researchers have found that species in the upper trophic positions seem to be closely coupled to food availability. This means that the top predators exist near the carrying capacity of their environment. This is not the case with most bony fishes in freshwater environments, which usually exist in an environment with an abundant prey population. The life history characteristics of the upper trophic creatures suggest they are easily susceptible to overexploitation. Little room exists in the population of top marine predators to absorb losses of food resources.

For example, the ability of whales to recover to their earlier abundance after massive human predation is now dependent on the availability of krill. Although the large-scale hunting of whales has dramatically declined, the massive exploitation of krill as a protein source and as an animal-feed additive may now jeopardize recovering whale populations dependent on krill as a food supply.9

There is a significant amount of interaction and dependence of the ocean's top predators on lower trophic levels. Trophic level interactions represent a marine food web based on energy flow and describe one element of the ocean's metabolism. Many other relationships besides trophic level interactions exist between ocean organisms, such as the relation between organisms and their immediate habitat, which can include coral reefs and kelp forests. Both of these realms, on which species depend, are highly vulnerable to resource exploitation.

Capitalism and Marine Fishery Exploitation

Humans have long been connected to the ocean's metabolic processes by harvesting marine fish and vegetation. Harvesting methods and processes have varied depending on the structure of social production. Subsistence fishing is a practice woven throughout human history, beginning with the harvesting of shellfish along seashores and shallow lakes, and progressing with the development of tools such as stone-tipped fishing spears, fishhooks, lines, and nets. This was originally based upon fishing for use of the fish. What was caught was used to feed families and communities. Through the process of fishing, human labor has been intimately linked to ocean processes, gaining an understanding of fish migrations, tides, and ocean currents.

The size of a human population in a particular region influenced the extent of exploitation. But the introduction of commodity markets and private ownership under the capitalist system of production altered the relationship of fishing labor to the resources of the seas. Specific species had an exchange value. As a result, certain fish were seen as being more valuable. This led to fishing practices that focused on catching as many of a particular fish, such as cod, as possible. Non-commercially viable species harvested indiscriminately alongside the target species were discarded as waste.

As capitalism developed and spread, intensive extraction by industrial capture fisheries became the norm. Increased demands were placed on the oceans and overfishing resulted in the severe depletion of wild fish stocks. In Empty Ocean, Richard Ellis states, "Throughout the world's oceans, food fishes once believed to be immeasurable in number are now recognized as greatly depleted and in some cases almost extinct. A million vessels now fish the world's oceans, twice as many as there were twenty-five years ago. Are there twice as many fish as before? Hardly." How did this situation develop?10

The beginning of capitalist industrialization marked the most noticeable and significant changes in fisheries practices. Mechanization, automation, and mass production/consumption characterized an era of increased fixed capital investments. Profit-driven investment in efficient production led to fishing technologies that for the first time made the exhaustion of deep-sea fish stocks a real possibility. Such transformations can be seen in how groundfishing, the capture of fish that swim in close proximity to the ocean's bottom, changed through the years.

Industrialization began to influence the groundfishery around the early 1900s, as technological developments were employed to further the accumulation of capital. The introduction of steam-powered trawlers from England in 1906 heralded a significant change in how groundfish were caught and rapidly replaced the sail-powered schooner fleets. Prior to steam trawling, groundfish were caught on schooners with baited lines during long journeys at sea. Due to lack of refrigeration and freezing, most of the cod catch was salted.

The competitive markets organized under capitalist production welcomed the increased efficiency of steam-powered vessels, without a critical assessment of the consequences of increased harvest levels. More captured fish meant more profit. The switch to trawling was complete by 1920, and the consequences of the second industrial revolution organized under capitalist forces would soon change the human-nature relationship to the ocean, extending the reach of capital.

The expanded geographic range and speed of fishing fleets allowed for increased productivity of catch as well as increased diversity of captured species that were deemed "valuable" on the market. Technological developments and improved transportation routes allowed the fishing industry to grow, increasing its scale of operations. Cold storage ensured that fish would be fresh, reducing spoilage and loss of capital. In Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky explains, "Freezing [cod] also changed the relationship of seafood companies to fishing ports. Frozen fish could be bought anywhere-wherever the fish was cheapest and most plentiful. With expanding markets, local fleets could not keep up with the needs of the companies." Advances in the transportation infrastructure allowed people in the Midwest to consume the increased harvests of cod and haddock, leading to a significant expansion in the market. Major marketing campaigns promoted the consumption of fish to increase sales. Together these factors enhanced the accumulation of capital within the fishing industry, and companies invested some of this capital back into their fleets.11

By 1930 there were clear signals that the groundfishing fleet's ability to capture massive quantities of fish had surpassed natural limits in fisheries. A Harvard University investigation reported that in 1930 the groundfishery landed 37 million haddock at Boston, with another 70-90 million juvenile haddock discarded dead at sea. The sudden rise in fisheries harvest (creating a subsequent rise in consumer demand through marketing campaigns) resulted in stress in the groundfish populations, and landings plummeted.

Competitive markets create incentives to expand production, regardless of resource decline. Thus, in reaction to decreased stocks due to overfishing, groundfishing fleets moved farther offshore into waters off of the coast of Canada to increase the supply of valuable fish to new markets. The fleet's ability to continue moving into unexploited waters obscured recognition of the severe resource depletion that was occurring. As a result, the process of overfishing particular ecosystems to supply a specific good for the market expanded, subjecting more of the ocean to the same system of degradation.12

The distant water fleets were made possible by the advent of factory trawlers. Factory trawlers represent the pinnacle of capital investment and extractive intensification in the global fisheries. In Distant Water William Warner presents a portrayal of a factory trawler's capacity:

Try to imagine a mobile and completely self-contained timber cutting machine that could smash through the roughest trails of the forest, cut down trees, mill them, and deliver consumer-ready lumber in half the time of normal logging and milling operations. This was exactly what factory trawlers did-this was exactly their effect on fish-in the forests of the deep. It could not long go unnoticed.

Factory trawlers pull nylon nets a thousand feet long through the ocean, potentially capturing 400 tons of fish during a single netting. Industrial trawlers can process and freeze their catch as they travel.13 Such technological development extended the systematic exploitation and scale of harvesting of fishes.

The natural limits of fish populations combined with capital's need to expand led to the development of immense trawlers that increased the productive capacity and efficiency of operations. These ships allowed fishermen to seek out areas in the ocean where valuable fish were available, providing the means to capture massive quantities of fish in a single trip. Overcoming the shortage of fishes in one area was accomplished by even more intensive harvesting with new ships and equipment, such as sonar, in other regions of the oceans. The pursuit of vast quantities of commercial fishes in different areas of the ocean expanded the depletion of other species, as they were exploited and discarded as bycatch. The swath of the seas subjected to the dictates of the market increased, whether a fish was sold as a commodity or thrown overboard as a waste product.14

Competition for market share between companies and capital's investment in advanced technology intensified fishery exploitation. Competing international companies sought nature's diminishing bounty, causing further international conflict in the "race for fish." President Truman responded to these disputes by attempting to expand U.S. corporate interests. He issued two proclamations expanding U.S. authority beyond territorial waters trying to further territorial enclosure of its adjacent seas out to the limits of the continental shelf. Coastal states around the world struggled to transform the property rights of the open ocean to benefit their nations. In response to growing conflict, the United Nations convened the First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in Geneva in 1958.

Eventually, most nations voted to sign the UN Law of the Sea article, "irrevocably transforming" international law and constituting "a fundamental revision of sometimes age-old institutions."15 (The U.S. Senate, however, has still not ratified the Law of the Sea Convention.) In the end, the convention established a property regime according to the prescription of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The EEZ put regions of the high seas adjacent to coastal waters entirely within the management purview of the coastal state, up to two hundred miles from their shore. In this zone, states have exclusive rights to living and non-living resources for extraction and economic pursuits.

The collapse of fisheries due to overexploitation coupled with the expanding seafood market forced companies to look elsewhere for "the most traded animal commodity on the planet." African nations-such as Senegal, Mauritania, Angola, and Mozambique-confronting dire economic conditions sold fishing access to European and Asian nations and companies. In the case of Mauritania, selling fishing access provided over $140 million a year, which equaled a fifth of the government's budget. Few countries can resist such bait, given the need for monetary resources. Industrialized trawlers descended into African waters, combing their seas for the treasured fish commodities. In the past three decades, Africa's fish population in the ocean has decreased by 50 percent and thousands of fishermen have become unemployed.16 The expansion of capitalist fishing practices continues to decimate fisheries and spread ecological degradation, as profits and food are funneled back to core nations.

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the world capture from fisheries increased from approximately 20 million tons in 1950 to 84.2 million tons in 2005. A dominant narrative explains that human population growth is solely responsible for this increase in capture; however, recent research demonstrates that social structural factors such as economic growth are also propelling the depletion. Since around 1989 the world capture of marine fish has declined by 500,000 tons per year amidst increasing fishing effort.

There have been sharp declines in the populations of tuna, cod, and marlins. During the 1960s and '70s, shelf fisheries in the Atlantic started to collapse as a result of overfishing. Operations moved to the deep sea. Deepwater fishing has seriously affected the populations of deep-sea fish, such as the roundnose grenadier, onion-eye grenadier, spiny eel, spinytail skate, and blue hake. The populations of these deep-sea fishes have plummeted by over 87 percent in seventeen years. It is expected that these fishes will be driven to the point of extinction-to the detriment of the ecosystems in which they live. Part of the vulnerability of these fishes is that they can live to around sixty years of age and do not sexually mature until their late teen years.17

Changes in the market can transform the demand for particular fish species. In the early 1900s, bluefin tuna was seen as being only suitable for use as pet food. But given their strength and size-weighing up "to three quarters of a ton and [having] a length of four meters"-they were deemed worthy opponents to be hunted. In the later half of the twentieth century, bluefin tuna became "the most desirable food fish in the world" with the spread of sushi and sashimi restaurants. Given the machinations of capitalism, this has also caused them to become "the most endangered of all large fish species."

The bluefin tuna population continues to be decimated by overfishing, and the practice of capturing half-grown tuna at sea and placing them in floating pens-known as tuna ranches-where they are fed until they are ready for market has only worsened the situation. While this helps control the production process, it involves catching the fishes "before they are old enough to breed" and keeping "them penned up until they are killed." As a result of this practice and overfishing, bluefin tuna are threatened with depletion.18

The geographic span of ocean exploitation has widened as capitalist operations of extraction continue. Even the Antarctic waters are increasingly under assault as the fishing industry gears up to plunder the krill population. Since the 1970s the numbers of krill have declined by 80 percent, largely due to global warming. But fishing operations are adding to the depletion. These tiny crustaceans eat carbon-rich food near the surface of the water, thereby they help remove the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

They have long been one of the primary sources of food for seals, whales, and penguins. Progressively they have been incorporated into the insatiable appetite of global capital. "Suction harvesting" swallows up huge quantities that are processed, frozen, and stored on newly outfitted ships. From here, the krill are to be used as feed for fish-farms (aquaculture) or transformed into omega-3 oil and other health supplements.19

Fleets of ships burning fossil fuels to harvest from the open oceans have exacerbated the deterioration of marine ecosystems. The depletion of fish stock increases the distance that is necessary to travel in order to catch certain species of fish, such as tuna and swordfish. It also expands the regional scope of exploitation, the number of species captured as bycatch, and the scale of depletion. In 2000, 80 million tons of fish required the burning of 13 billion gallons of fuel and the release of approximately 134 million tons of carbon dioxide. This means that global fisheries used up to 12.5 times the amount of fuel energy that they provided as edible-protein energy.20

During the 1970s and '80s fishing ships became more automated, with the trend toward full automation becoming common. Today, navigational aids, such as geographic positioning systems (GPS), and weather prediction models enhance the ability of fishing fleets to catch the most amount of fishes in the shortest amount of time, with the least amount of human labor. The synthesis of technical development and transformed property rights under the competitive framework of global capitalism has resulted in the massive extraction of marine fish and an intensified social metabolism organized for the pursuit of profit.

Ecological Degradation of Marine Ecoystems

Species-Level Effects

The intensified extraction of fish from already stressed oceanic ecosystems-fueled by capital accumulation and the free appropriation of nature-has resulted in significant consequences to the metabolic interactions between marine trophic levels. Marine scientists note that the removal of 100 million metric tons (which includes both capture and aquaculture) of fish from the world ocean will lead to long-term, large-scale disruptions in marine ecology. Of direct concern are "species level effects," in particular the removal of target and non-target marine life. Continued harvest of fish species to population levels that are below the sustainable numbers required for reproduction will eventually lead to extinction.

The orange roughy, for example, began to be commercially exploited ten years ago. This fish lives to be 150 years old and only begins to reproduce at age 25. By continually removing the oldest fish first, the industry has depleted the population of reproducing adults. (Harvesting this fish generally results in the destruction of coral forests.) The orange roughy species is now threatened with extinction. As mentioned earlier, the depletion of fish stock for commercial fishing in coastal waters led to the capture of fishes in the deep sea-such as roundnose grenadier, onion-eye grenadier, spiny eel, spinytail skate, and blue hake-subjecting them to the dictates of the market, driving them to the point of extinction.21

Industrialized capitalist fishing allows for vast quantities of target fish to be harvested at once. At the same time, it leads to an immense amount of non-target marine life-bycatch-being captured. Bycatch are commercially unviable species, thus they are seen as waste. The "trash fish" are often ground up and thrown back into the ocean. Part of the bycatch includes juveniles of the target fish, which, if the mortality is increased among this population, undercuts the success of recovery. Obviously, the populations of the discarded species are negatively affected by this practice, furthering the depletion of marine life. The most wasteful operation is trawling for shrimp. The capture and discarding of bycatch disrupts the habitats and trophic webs within ecosystems. The scale of the disruption is quite significant. It is estimated that an average of 27 million tons of fish are discarded each year in commercial fisheries around the world, and that the United States has a .28 ratio of bycatch discard to landings.22

Species extinction is the direct impact of overfishing, which is in part driven by the pursuit of capital accumulation and is facilitated by the technological innovations that are employed for this particular purpose, in what has become known as a "race for fish."23 Capitalist practices are creating a loss of marine biodiversity and undermining the resiliency of marine ecosystems. Valiela states, "The magnitude of the fishing harvest and the examples of major alterations to marine food webs by predator removal suggest that effects of fishing are ecologically substantial at large spatial scales." The "major alteration to marine food webs" due to overexploitation provides the clearest example of ecological degradation in the metabolic processes of the ocean.24

Fishing Down the Food Chain

Equally disrupting, but less apparent than species effects, are the ecosystem effects caused by fishery exploitation, especially "fishing down the food chain."25 As overfishing depletes the most commercially viable top predators (i.e., snapper, tuna, cod, and swordfish), competition drives commercial fishers to begin harvesting species of lower trophic levels. The downward shift is global, according to the model analysis of UN statistics describing worldwide catches of fish over a forty-year time span. If this quest is pursued to its logical end, scientists warn it will lead to the wholesale collapse of marine ecosystems. Fishing down the food chain erodes the base of marine biodiversity and undermines the biophysical cornerstone of ocean fisheries. The recent discoveries of marine trophic interactions suggest that the lower trophic levels of marine food webs provide an integral and complex foundation-disrupting this base undermines the metabolic cycle of energy flows within marine ecosystems.

Overfishing of lower trophic levels has shortened the food chain and sometimes has removed one or more of the "links," increasing the system's vulnerability to natural and human induced stresses. For example, in the North Sea the cod population has been so depleted that fishermen are now harvesting a lower trophic species called pout, which the cod used to eat. The pout eat krill and copepods. Krill also eat copepods. As the pout are commercially harvested, the krill population expands and the copepod population declines drastically. (In other areas of the ocean, krill are captured and used as an animal-feed additive, hindering the recovery of the whales that depend upon them for food.) Because copepods are the main food of young cod, the cod population cannot recover from initial fisheries exploitation.26

Fishing down the food chain illustrates how capture fisheries organized under competitive market conditions and the drive to accumulate capital are dismantling the marine ecological system that has been developing for millions of years. In addition, fishing for lower trophic level species deceptively masks marine fish extraction, as millions of tons of fish are harvested each year from the oceans. People continue to be provided with seafood on their menus, never realizing the full impact of overfishing the top predators. Fishing down the food chain, due to overfishing in the higher tropic levels, depletes the food resources on which predatory fishes depend. As noted earlier, marine predatory species are extremely vulnerable to losses of prey.

Collapse of Coastal Marine Ecosystems

The previous examples demonstrate how species extinction decreases the resiliency of trophic level interactions. Even more problematic, however, is the widespread collapse of entire ecosystems resulting from overfishing. Historical data suggests that species and population declines due to overfishing are direct preconditions for the collapse of entire coastal ecosystems. The collapse of whole-scale ecosystems not only threatens the ecological resiliency of the marine environment, but also disrupts the human populations that rely on the coastal ecosystem for subsistence or livelihoods. "Overfishing and ecological extinction predate and precondition modern ecological investigations and the collapse of marine ecosystems in recent times, raising the possibility that many more marine ecosystems may be vulnerable to collapse in the near future."27

Kelp forests, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and estuaries are examples of coastal ecosystems that have collapsed in parts of the world due to overfishing and other forms of environmental degradation. These ecosystems provide complex habitats for a multitude of species and often are the foundation of many local fishing communities. For example, the kelp forests of the Gulf of Maine experienced severe deforestation and widespread reductions in the number of trophic levels due to the population explosion of sea urchins, the primary herbivores that eat kelp. The following account details such a sequence of events:

Atlantic cod and other large ground fish are voracious predators of sea urchins. These fishes kept sea urchin populations small enough to allow persistence of kelp forests despite intensive aboriginal and early European hook-and-line fishing for at least 5000 years. New mechanized fishing technology in the 1920s set off a rapid decline in numbers and body size of coastal cod in the Gulf of Maine....Kelp forests disappeared with the rise in sea urchins due to removal of predatory fish.28

In other words, industrial fishing operations intensified the exploitation of marine ecosystems, transforming natural conditions.
A number of human activities are leading to the collapse of coral reefs. Overfishing is one of the causes. Deforestation is another. Clearing forests leads to muddy rivers filled with sediment, which moves downstream and smothers coral reefs. But the main force driving massive destruction of coral reefs is global warming. The increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to a warming and increase in the acidity of ocean water. As a result, multicolored, healthy coral reefs filled with a rich abundance of biodiversity are being bleached and turned into gray-white skeletons. Without radical changes to the social metabolic order, the death of the world's coral reefs could take place within a few decades. When coral reefs die, the fauna dependent upon them also die.29 Natural conditions, everywhere, are being transformed by the social metabolic order of capitalism. A general progression of environmental degradation accompanies this system of growth, creating ecological crises in the conditions of life.

The most recent changes to coastal ecosystems caused by overfishing involve microbial population explosions. The microbial loop has been found to be more sophisticated and complex than ever expected. Population explosions of microbes are responsible for increasing eutrophication, diseases of marine species, toxic bloom, and even diseases such as cholera that affect human health.30 Chesapeake Bay is now a bacterially dominated ecosystem with a trophic structure unrecognizable from that of a century ago. This rapid and drastic change in ecosystem composition is due to the overfishing of suspension feeders that filtered microbes out of the water column. Bacterial domination of Chesapeake Bay and the deforestation of kelp beds in the Gulf of Maine serve as two examples of how depletion of top predators leads to the collapse of entire ecosystems.

The immense problems associated with the overharvest of industrial capture fisheries has led some optimistically to offer aquaculture as an ecological solution. However, capitalist aquaculture fails to reverse the process of ecological degradation. Rather, it continues to sever the social and ecological relations between humans and the ocean.

Aquaculture: The Blue Revolution?

The massive decline in fish stocks has led capitalist development to turn to a new way of increasing profits-intensified production of fishes. Capitalist aquaculture represents not only a quantitative change in the intensification and concentration of production; it also places organisms' life cycles under the complete control of private for-profit ownership.31 This new industry, it is claimed, is "the fastest-growing form of agriculture in the world." It boasts of having ownership from "egg to plate" and substantially alters the ecological and human dimensions of a fishery.32

Aquaculture (sometimes also referred to as aquabusiness) involves subjecting nature to the logic of capital. Capital attempts to overcome natural and social barriers through its constant innovations. In this, enterprises attempt to commodify, invest in, and develop new elements of nature that previously existed outside the political-economic competitive sphere: As Edward Carr wrote in the Economist, the sea "is a resource that must be preserved and harvested....To enhance its uses, the water must become ever more like the land, with owners, laws and limits. Fishermen must behave more like ranchers than hunters."33

As worldwide commercial fish stocks decline due to overharvest and other anthropogenic causes, aquaculture is witnessing a rapid expansion in the global economy. Aquaculture's contribution to global supplies of fish increased from 3.9 percent of total worldwide production by weight in 1970 to 27.3 percent in 2000. In 2004, aquaculture and capture fisheries produced 106 million tons of fish and "aquaculture accounted for 43 percent."34 According to Food and Agriculture Organization statistics, aquaculture is growing more rapidly than all other animal food producing sectors.

Hailed as the "Blue Revolution," aquaculture is frequently compared to agriculture's Green Revolution as a way to achieve food security and economic growth among the poor and in the third world. The cultivation of farmed salmon as a high-value, carnivorous species destined for market in core nations has emerged as one of the more lucrative (and controversial) endeavors in aquaculture production.35 Much like the Green Revolution, the Blue Revolution may produce temporary increases in yields, but it does not usher in a solution to food security (or environmental problems). Food security is tied to issues of distribution. Given that the Blue Revolution is driven by the pursuit of profit, the desire for monetary gain trumps the distribution of food to those in need.36

Industrial aquaculture intensifies fish production by transforming the natural life histories of wild fish stocks into a combined animal feedlot. Like monoculture agriculture, aquaculture furthers the capitalistic division of nature, only its realm of operation is the marine world. In order to maximize return on investment, aquaculture must raise thousands of fish in a confined net-pen. Fish are separated from the natural environment and the various relations of exchange found in a food web and ecosystem. The fish's reproductive life cycle is altered so that it can be propagated and raised until the optimum time for mechanical harvest.

Aquaculture interrupts the most fundamental metabolic process-the ability of an organism to obtain its required nutrient uptake. Because the most profitable farmed fish are carnivorous, such as Atlantic salmon, they depend on a diet that is high in fishmeal and fish oil. For example, raising Atlantic salmon requires four pounds of fishmeal to produce every one pound of salmon. Consequently, aquaculture production depends heavily on fishmeal imported from South America to feed the farmed carnivorous species.37

The inherent contradiction in extracting fishmeal is that industries must increase their exploitation of marine fish in order to feed the farm-raised fish-thereby increasing the pressure on wild stocks to an even larger extent. Such operations also increase the amount of bycatch. Three of the world's five largest fisheries are now exclusively harvesting pelagic fish for fishmeal, and these fisheries account for a quarter of the total global catch. Rather than diminishing the demands placed on marine ecosystems, capitalist aquaculture actually increases them, accelerating the fishing down the food chain process. The environmental degradation of populations of marine species, ecosystems, and tropic levels continues.38

Capitalist aquaculture-which is really aquabusiness-represents a parallel example of capital following the patterns of agribusiness. Similar to combined animal feedlots, farmed fish are penned up in high-density cages making them susceptible to disease. Thus, like in the production of beef, pork, and chicken, farmed fish are fed fishmeal that contains antibiotics, increasing concerns about antibiotic exposure in society. In "Silent Spring of the Sea," Don Staniford explains, "The use of antibiotics in salmon farming has been prevalent right from the beginning, and their use in aquaculture globally has grown to such an extent that resistance is now threatening human health as well as other marine species." Aquaculturists use a variety of chemicals to kill parasites, such as sea lice, and diseases that spread quickly throughout the pens. The dangers and toxicities of these pesticides in the marine environment are magnified because of the long food chain.39

Once subsumed into the capitalist process, life cycles of animals are increasingly geared to economic cycles of exchange by decreasing the amount of time required for growth. Aquabusiness conforms to these pressures, as researchers are attempting to shorten the growth time required for fish to reach market size. Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) has been added to some fish feeds to stimulate growth in fishes in aquaculture farms in Hawaii. Experiments with fish transgenics-the transfer of DNA from one species to another-are being done to increase the rate of weight gain, causing altered fish to grow from 60 percent to 600 percent larger than wild stocks.40 These growth mechanisms illustrate capitalist aquaculture's drive to transform nature to facilitate the generation of profit.

In addition, aquaculture alters waste assimilation. The introduction of net-pens leads to a break in the natural assimilation of waste in the marine environment. The pens convert coastal ecosystems, such as bays, inlets, and fjords, into aquaculture ponds, destroying nursery areas that support ocean fisheries. For instance, salmon net-pens allow fish feces and uneaten feed to flow directly into coastal waters, resulting in substantial discharges of nutrients. The excess nutrients are toxic to the marine communities that occupy the ocean floor beneath the net-pens, causing massive die offs of entire benthic populations.41 Other waste products are concentrated around net-pens as well, such as diseases and parasites introduced by the caged salmon to the surrounding marine organisms.

The Blue Revolution is not an environmental solution to declining fish stocks. In fact, it is an intensification of the social metabolic order that creates ruptures in marine ecosystems. "The coastal and marine support areas needed for resource inputs and waste assimilation [is]...50,000 times the cultivation area for intensive salmon cage farming."42 This form of aquaculture places even more demands upon ecosystems, undermining their resiliency. Although aquabusiness is efficient at turning fish into a commodity for markets given the extensive control that is executed over the productive conditions, it is even more energy inefficient than fisheries, demanding more fuel energy investment than the energy produced.43 Confronted by declines in fish stock, capital is attempting to shift production to aquaculture. However, this intense form of production for profit continues to exhaust the oceans and produce a concentration of waste that causes further problems for ecosystems, undermining their ability to regenerate at all levels.

Turning the Ocean into a Watery Grave

The world is at a crossroads in regard to the ecological crisis. Ecological degradation under global capitalism extends to the entire biosphere. Oceans that were teeming with abundance are being decimated by the continual intrusion of exploitive economic operations. At the same time that scientists are documenting the complexity and interdependency of marine species, we are witnessing an oceanic crisis as natural conditions, ecological processes, and nutrient cycles are being undermined through overfishing and transformed due to global warming.

The expansion of the accumulation system, along with technological advances in fishing, have intensified the exploitation of the world ocean; facilitated the enormous capture of fishes (both target and bycatch); extended the spatial reach of fishing operations; broadened the species deemed valuable on the market; and disrupted metabolic and reproductive processes of the ocean. The quick-fix solution of aquaculture enhances capital's control over production without resolving ecological contradictions.

It is wise to recognize, as Paul Burkett has stated, that "short of human extinction, there is no sense in which capitalism can be relied upon to permanently 'break down' under the weight of its depletion and degradation of natural wealth."44 Capital is driven by the competition for the accumulation of wealth, and short-term profits provide the immediate pulse of capitalism. It cannot operate under conditions that require reinvestment in the reproduction of nature, which may entail time scales of a hundred or more years. Such requirements stand opposed to the immediate interests of profit.

The qualitative relation between humans and nature is subsumed under the drive to accumulate capital on an ever-larger scale. Marx lamented that to capital, "Time is everything, man is nothing; he is at the most, time's carcase. Quality no longer matters. Quantity alone decides everything."45 Productive relations are concerned with production time, labor costs, and the circulation of capital-not the diminishing conditions of existence. Capital subjects natural cycles and processes (via controlled feeding and the use of growth hormones) to its economic cycle. The maintenance of natural conditions is not a concern. The bounty of nature is taken for granted and appropriated as a free gift.

As a result, the system is inherently caught in a fundamental crisis arising from the transformation and destruction of nature. István Mészáros elaborates this point, stating:

For today it is impossible to think of anything at all concerning the elementary conditions of social metabolic reproduction which is not lethally threatened by the way in which capital relates to them-the only way in which it can. This is true not only of humanity's energy requirements, or of the management of the planet's mineral resources and chemical potentials, but of every facet of the global agriculture, including the devastation caused by large scale de-forestation, and even the most irresponsible way of dealing with the element without which no human being can survive: water itself....In the absence of miraculous solutions, capital's arbitrarily self-asserting attitude to the objective determinations of causality and time in the end inevitably brings a bitter harvest, at the expense of humanity [and nature itself].46

An analysis of the oceanic crisis confirms the destructive qualities of private for-profit operations. Dire conditions are being generated as the resiliency of marine ecosystems in general is being undermined.

To make matters worse, sewage from feedlots and fertilizer runoff from farms are transported by rivers to gulfs and bays, overloading marine ecosystems with excess nutrients, which contribute to an expansion of algal production. This leads to oxygen-poor water and the formation of hypoxic zones-otherwise known as "dead zones" because crabs and fishes suffocate within these areas. It also compromises natural processes that remove nutrients from the waterways. Around 150 dead zones have been identified around the world. A dead zone is the end result of unsustainable practices of food production on land. At the same time, it contributes to the loss of marine life in the seas, furthering the ecological crisis of the world ocean.

Coupled with industrialized capitalist fisheries and aquaculture, the oceans are experiencing ecological degradation and constant pressures of extraction that are severely depleting the populations of fishes and other marine life. The severity of the situation is that if current practices and rates of fish capture continue marine ecosystems and fisheries around the world could collapse by the year 2050.47 To advert turning the seas into a watery grave, what is needed is nothing less than a worldwide revolution in our relation to nature, and thus of global society itself.

Notes
1. Ivan Valiela, Marine Ecological Processes (New York: Springer, 1995); Jeremy B. Jackson, et al., "Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems," Science 293 (2001): 629-37.
2. Pew Oceans Commission, America's Living Oceans (Arlington, Va.: PEW, 2003), v; Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (Rome: FAO, 2002), 23; Ransom A. Meyers and Boris Worm, "Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities," Nature 423 (2003): 280-83; Jennie M. Harrington, Ransom A. Myers, and Andrew A. Rosenberg, "Wasted Fishery Resources," Fish & Fisheries 6, no. 4 (2005): 350-61.
3. Benjamin S. Halpern, et al., "A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems," Science 319 (2008): 948-952; Jennifer L Molnar, et al., "Assessing the Global Threat of Invasive Species to Marine Biodiversity," Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6 (2008), doi:10.1890/070064; Callum Roberts, The Unnatural History of the Sea (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2007).
4. István Mészáros, Beyond Capital (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1995), 40-44; John Bellamy Foster, Ecology Against Capitalism (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2002).
5. Metabolism-the relationship of interchange within and between nature and humans, of regulatory processes that govern the regeneration of a system-is a foundational concept in ecology. Marx used a metabolic approach for studying the environmental problems of his day, looking at the metabolism of natural systems. Whereas the metabolic rift was originally described in the context of agriculture and the soil crisis, we extend its usage to study the interaction between society and the oceans. Mészáros notes that each mode of production creates a particular social metabolic order, which can be characterized by the material interchange between society and nature. See Mészáros, Beyond Capital, 40-45; John Bellamy Foster, Marx's Ecology (New York: Monthly Review). This essay, here, draws upon our article, "The Metabolic Rift and Marine Ecology," Organization & Environment 18, no. 4 (2005): 422-44, in which we extend and develop in detail metabolic analysis as it relates to marine ecosystems.
6. Valiela, Marine Ecological Processes, 275.
7. Pew Ocean Commission, America's Living Oceans; Elisabeth Borgese, The Oceanic Circle (New York: United Nations University Press, 1998).
8. Farooq Azam, et al., "The Ecological Role of Water-Column Microbes in the Sea," Marine Ecology Progress, Series 10 (1983): 257-63; Valiela, Marine Ecological Processes.
9. James A. Estes, "Exploitation of Marine Mammals," Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 36 (1979): 1009-17; M. Omori, "Zooplankton Fisheries of the World," Marine Biology 48 (1978): 199-205.
10. Richard Ellis, The Empty Ocean (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2003), 13.
11. Mark Kurlansky, Cod (New York: Walker and Co., 1997), 138-39.
12. Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accessed April 10, 2005, from Kurlansky, .
13. Today's trawlers now use technology developed by the military to fish waters as deep as one mile from the ocean's surface. They cost as much as $40 million to build, and they reach the length of a football field. There are currently over 37,000 industrial trawlers in the world's oceans, aiding in the total annual harvest of over 80 million tons of fish. See William Warner, Distant Water (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1983), viii.
14. Kurlansky, Cod.
15. Javier Perez de Cuellar, "International Law is Irrevocably Transformed," in United Nations, The Law of the Sea: Official Text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea with Annexes and Index, A/CONF.62/122 (New York: United Nations, 1983), xxix; Mike Skladany, Ben Belton, and Rebecca Clausen, "Out of Sight and Out of Mind: A New Oceanic Imperialism," Monthly Review 56, no. 9 (February 2005): 14-24.
16. Sharon Lafraniere,"Europe Takes Africa's Fish, and Boatloads of Migrants Follow," New York Times, January 14, 2008; Elisabeth Rosenthal, "Europe's Appetite for Seafood Propels Illegal Trade," New York Times, January 15, 2008; John W. Miller, "Offshore Disturbance: Global Fishing Trade Depletes African Waters," Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2007.
17. FOA, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (Rome: FAO, 2004), 6, 123; FOA, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006 (Rome: FOA, 2006), 3; Harrington, Myers, and Rosenberg, "Wasted Fishery Resources." Rebecca Clausen and Richard York, "Economic Growth and Marine Biodiversity," Conservation Biology 22 no. 2 (2008): 458-66; Jennifer A. Devine, Krista D. Baker, and Richard L. Haedrich, "Deep-Sea Fishes Qualify as Endangered," Nature 439 (2006): 29.
18. Richard Ellis, "The Bluefin in Peril," Scientific American (March 2008): 71-77.
19. Juliette Jowit, "Krill Fishing Threatens the Antarctic," Guardian, March 23, 2008.
20. Peter H. Tyedmers, Reg Watson, and Daniel Pauly, "Fueling Global Fishing Fleets," Ambio 34 no. 8 (2005): 635-38.
21. Valiela, Marine Ecological Processes; A. Lack, Katherine Short, and Anna Willcock, Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Deep-Sea Fisheries (Australia: World Wildlife Fund, 2003); Devine, Baker, and Haedrich, "Deep-Sea Fishes Qualify as Endangered."
22. Dayton L. Alverson and Steven E. Hughes, "Bycatch," Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 6 (1996): 443-62; Larry B. Crowder and Steven A. Murawski, "Fisheries Bycatch," Fisheries 23 (1998): 8-16; Harrington, Myers, and Rosenberg, "Wasted Fishery Resources" Lance E. Morgan and Ratana Chuenpagdee, Shifting Gears (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2003); Dayton L. Alverson, Mark H. Freeberg, Steven A. Murawski, and J.G. Pope, "A Global Assessment of Fisheries Bycatch and Discard," FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 339 (Rome: FAO, 1996).
23. Harrington, Myers, and Rosenberg, "Wasted Fishery Resources," 358.
24. Valiela, Marine Ecological Processes, 514.
25. The concept of "fishing down the food chain" was first introduced in 1998. Since then it has received international attention. See Daniel Pauly, Villy Christensen, Johanne Dalsgaard, Rainer Froese, and Francisco Torres Jr., "Fishing Down Marine Food Webs," Science 279 (1998): 860-63.
26. In addition to fishing pressures, cod populations are confronting different environmental conditions, which are making population recovery difficult. Global warming is increasing the temperature of the oceans. A warm-water copepod plankton available in late summer has displaced the cold-water copepod plankton, which bloomed at the same time that baby cod needed such food. The shifts in plankton species due to the warming of the oceans has further complicated the conditions for cod to regenerate their numbers. Additional capture of cod in the North Sea could decimate the population to the point of no recovery. See Debora MacKenzie, "Cod Starved to Extinction," New Scientist 180 (2003): 8.
27. Jeremy B. Jackson, et al., "Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems," Science 293 (2001): 629-37.
28. Jackson, et al., "Historical Overfishing," 631.
29. Carl Folke, et al., "Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Biodiversity in Ecosystem Management," Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics 35 no. 1 (2004): 557-81; O. Hoegh-Guldberg, et al., "Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification," Science 318 (2007): 1737-42.
30. Jackson, et al. "Historical Overfishing," 636.
31. Aquaculture can be broadly defined to include all historic forms of controlled rearing of aquatic organisms. For the purposes of this paper, we solely address capital intensive aquaculture of high trophic level species in the marine environment. For the remainder of the essay, the term "aquaculture" will only be referring to this contemporary form of capitalist aquaculture.
32. Snigda Prakash, "Soybean Industry Looking for Ways to Make Soy-based Food More Palatable to Farm-Raised Fish," National Public Radio, Morning Edition, May 26, 2004.
33. Edward Carr, "A Second Fall," The Economist 347 (1998): 3-4.
34. FOA, State of World Fisheries, 2002; FOA, The State of World Fisheries 2006, 3.
35. Rosamond L. Naylor, et al., "Nature's Subsidies to Shrimp and Salmon Farming," Science 282 (1998): 883-84.
36. Fred Magdoff, "A Precarious Existence," Monthly Review 55, no. 9 (February 2004): 1-14; Fred Magdoff, "The World Food Crisis," Monthly Review 60, no. 1 (May 2008): 1-15.
37. Naylor et al., "Nature's Subsidies."
38. Given the continual pressures placed on the fish stock in the oceans, compounded by the demands of aquaculture, capital is seeking out other forms of fishmeal as a substitute for marine derived protein sources. Corporations are working to modify soybeans as a fish feed substitute. See Prakash, "Soybean Industry Looking for Ways."
39. Don Staniford, "Silent Spring of the Sea," in Stephen Hume, et al., (eds.), A Stain Upon the Sea (Madeira Park, British Columbia: Harbour Publishing, 2004), 149; Ronald Hites, et al., "Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon," Science 303 (2004): 226-29; Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962).
40. Sea Grant News Media Center, "Bovine Hormone Could Provide Boost to Tilapia Aquaculture," http://www.seagrantnews.org/news/tips/tip_2003_feb.html; Thomas T. Chen, et al., "Transgenic Fish and Its Application in Basic and Applied Research," Biotechnology Annual Review 2 (1996): 205-36.
41. Naylor et al., "Nature's Subsidies."
42. Nils Kautsky, et al., "The Ecological Footprint," EC Fisheries Cooperation Bulletin 11, no. 3-4 (1998): 5-9.
43. Tyedmers, Watson, and Pauly, "Fueling Global Fishing Fleets."
44. Paul Burkett, "Natural Capital, Ecological Economics, and Marxism," International Papers in Political Economy 10, no. 3 (2003): 47; Paul Burkett, Marx and Nature (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999).
45. Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy (New York: International Publishers, 1971), 54.
46. Mészáros, Beyond Capital, 174; Foster, Ecology Against Capital.
47. Boris Worm, et al., "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," Science 314 (2006): 787-90.

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Monthly Review | The Oceanic Crisis: Capitalism and the Degradation of Marine Ecosystem

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Brett Clark teaches sociology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Rebecca Clausen teaches sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. The world ocean covers approximately 70 percent of the earth. It has been an integral part of human history, providing food and ecological services.

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Atlantic Gray Whales Making An Appearance After Speculated Extinction

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Atlantic Gray Whales Making An Appearance After Speculated Extinction

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Chapter 13: Refuse

"And all my love to you who preserve the mysteries. Whom the empire of binaries will never define." p. 110

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BOSTON, MASS. (March 5, 2024) - In an incredibly rare event, the New England Aquarium aerial survey team sighted a gray whale off the New England coast last week, a species that has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years.
**PHOTOS AVAILABLE HERE, WITH CREDIT TO NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM**
Aquarium scientists were flying 30 miles south of Nantucket on March 1 when they sighted an unusual whale. The animal repeatedly dove and resurfaced, appearing to be feeding. The aerial survey plane circled the area for 45 minutes, allowing observers to capture additional photos. After the encounter, the observers reviewed the images and confirmed their suspicions: It was a gray whale.

"I didn't want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy," said Orla O'Brien, associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, who has been flying aerial surveys since 2011.

While the whale was on a dive, O'Brien showed the photos to Research Technician Kate Laemmle, who was also in the plane.

"My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters," said Laemmle. "We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was-to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!"

Gray whales are regularly found in the North Pacific Ocean and are easily distinguished from other whale species by their lack of a dorsal fin, mottled grey and white skin, and dorsal hump followed by pronounced ridges. The species disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18 th century, but in the last 15 years, there have been five observations of gray whales in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, including off the coast of Florida in December 2023. Aquarium scientists believe the gray whale seen off New England this month is the same whale sighted in Florida late last year.

To explain the strange sightings, scientists point to climate change. The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has regularly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years, partly due to rising global temperatures. The extent of the sea ice typically limits the species range of gray whales, experts say, as the whales cannot break through the thick winter ice that usually blocks the Passage. Now, gray whales can potentially travel the Passage in the summer, something that wouldn't have been possible in the previous century.

"This sighting highlights how important each survey is. While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you'll find," O'Brien said. "These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance."

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder, psnyder@neaq.org; 617-686-5068

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Gray whale, extinct in the Atlantic, seen in southern New England waters - New England Aquarium

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In an incredibly rare event, the New England Aquarium aerial survey team sighted a gray whale off the New England coast last week, a species that has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years.

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Chapter 14: Surrender

"The role of ancestral power. Surrender and change. I wonder what happened over millions of years for a being known for its sharp teeth scientists now theorize are never used to chew, but are actually mechanisms that simply attune their echolocation." p. 123

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Deadliest Whale That Ever Existed | Livyatan Melvillei

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Habitat of Lissodelphis dolphins and How They Collaborate With Other Species

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Habitat of Lissodelphis dolphins and How They Collaborate With Other Species

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Chapter 15: Go deep

"How diligent your breath for staying deep. And all the noise that bounces off our lives. How powerful we are when we're together." p. 130

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What We Do

Conservation & Management

NOAA Fisheries is committed to the protection of northern right whale dolphins. Targeted management actions taken to secure protections for these dolphins include:

Overseeing marine mammal health and stranding response

Implementing the Pacific Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Plan

Addressing ocean noise

Educating the public about northern right whale dolphins and the threats they face

Learn more about our conservation efforts

Science

Our research projects have discovered new aspects of northern right whale dolphin biology, behavior, and ecology and helped us better understand the challenges that all northern right whale dolphins face. Our work includes:

Stock assessments

Monitoring population abundance and distribution

Learn more about our research

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Northern right whale dolphins are found in the deep, cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. They usually travel in groups of 100 to 200 individuals but sometimes travel in groups of up to 3,000. Learn more about the northern right whale dolphin.

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Chapter 16: Stay black

"How I love us, Black unicorns, I love the youth of our adaptation. I love every way our bodies tell us not to blend in to what surrounds us, but instead to break through with brave sensitivity." p. 132

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Black unicorns are real. They are young narwhal whales diving in the deep channels and sounds of the Arctic Ocean. The flukes at the ends of their tails look like butterfly wings. The tusks coming out of their heads can be 10 feet long. Narwhals are so good at hiding in the ice at the top of the planet that for centuries they were a myth. For many years, European hunters hid the fact that narwhals existed so they could sell "unicorn horns" at a premium. Queen Elizabeth I once bought one for the price of a castle.

Right now, scientists are watching narwhal movement patterns from outer space. On a clear day, space-camera observers will notice how narwhals "seek areas of complex shoreline" to avoid orcas. We can watch 12,000 narwhals converge every summer in a place called Eclipse Sound. We can speculate about why narwhals on opposite sides of Greenland, separated for 100 centuries and genetically distinct from each other, appear to be changing their migration patterns in similar ways to adapt to melting ice.

Despite all the available technology, scientific understanding of narwhals seems clogged by human ideas of a gender binary and fantasies about the meaning of any long, pointy thing. A narwhal tusk is a tooth, the only tooth this particular whale has-unless it has two tusks, which some narwhals do. Field guides say that narwhals with tusks are usually male. But some female narwhals also have them.

A narwhal's tusk is a sensitive organ. It transmits pleasure. That means the narwhal play that scientists sometimes explain as male-dominance sword-fighting may be something else entirely. What would you rub against if you had 10 million nerve endings concentrated in one spiral?

Pleasure is a navigator. The narwhal's tusk senses changes in temperature, pressure, percussion. It accurately measures the levels of salt in the water. It reaches forward and translates all that information through a nerve that goes directly to the brain. Information transmitted by the tusk changes a narwhal's heart rate. The tusk gives the heart and mind details about the ocean of the narwhal's own existence.

Cheers to the narwhal for making it nearly impossible for humans to categorize it from a distance. Our clumsy fantasies say more about the lives of humans. We are the ones projecting wild assumptions from far away. We are the ones who grow up distrusting where our pleasure is leading us. We are the ones getting on each other's last nerve for no good reason.

Calling all unicorns. Will you join me? I'm betraying the image of who I am in some far-off person's fantasy. I'm trading it in for the message in my teeth, the map of my pleasure, the precise and changing temperature of this massive possible ocean.
This article appeared in the Summer 2022 quarterly edition with the headline "Black Unicorns Are Real."

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Satellites Stalk Narwhals From Space, But They Still Keep Secrets

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On being a mysterious being in a massive possible ocean

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Background of the Melon-headed Whale that Collaborate With Specific Dolphins

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Background of the Melon-headed Whale that Collaborate With Specific Dolphins

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Chapter 16: Stay black

"Oh yes. I love the way you lived a layered Blackness where Black meets Black across itself as Black. How you make family out of need and tradition out of what is left and found." p. 133

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Melon-headed whales are robust small whales found primarily in deep, tropical waters worldwide. They are social animals and often occur in groups of hundreds to over 1,000 individuals. Learn more about the melon-headed whale.

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Harbor Seals and Their Adaptation to Both Water and Land

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Harbor Seals and Their Adaptation to Both Water and Land

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Chapter 17: Slow down

"And I can live this whole life from my heart. Despite all my impatience and my fear. I can know my heart, like love knows you. Has always known." p. 142