"Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood."
"Three years of talks aimed at reducing whaling activity by Japan, Norway and Iceland broke down Wednesday, leaving management of the population of the world's largest animals essentially in the hands of whale hunters."
"Canada, which has a disputed sovereignty claim to the Northwest Passage, will require all larger ships plying the Arctic sea route to register starting on July 1, the government said on Tuesday."
"As much as 1 million times the normal level of methane gas has been found in some regions near the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, enough to potentially deplete oxygen and create a dead zone, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday."
As nations meet in Morocco to consider whether to ban or allow whaling under the International Whaling Commission, Japan's bid to continue whaling is a hot issue. Despite Japan's defiant insistence on whale-hunting, few if any Japanese have any desire for whale meat.
"Iraqis are calling on their incoming government to devote more energy to resolving the country's chronic water problems, with some experts stating that water will be more important than oil in the long-term development of the country."
"U.S. EPA has quietly released a full list of ingredients in the two controversial dispersants BP PLC is using to combat the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, following weeks of complaints from members of Congress and public health advocates that the dispersant manufacturer had kept its complete formula a secret from the public."
"Just a quarter of Americans back expanding offshore drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill, and most fault federal regulators for the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."
Wastewater treatment plants can't mitigate the problem, which is compounded by other sources of water contamination, such as drugs that end up in landfills or flushed down toilets, and metabolites or unutilized drugs that pass through people who take the drugs.
Jane Lubchenco, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told reporters yesterday that funding cuts in recent years for instrumental ocean observation programs have left scientists trying to track the movement of spilled oil partly in the dark.
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