Study Reveals Mercury Contamination in Fish Nationwide Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released today.

Ocean Drilling Expedition Cites New Evidence Related to Origin and Evolution of Seismogenic Faults New research about what triggers earthquakes, authored by Michael Strasser of Bremen University, Germany, with colleagues from the USA, Japan, China, France, and Germany, will appear in the Aug. 16 2009 issue of Nature Geoscience (online version).

From the President's Office - 7/31/09 Summer is supposed to be a slow time in Washington, but with the President’s desire for a National Ocean Policy recommendation in 90 days, things are moving like a freight train.

From the President's Office - 7/24/09 The President's agenda has this town buzzing; every week things keep getting busier! His request to the Council on Environmental Quality for a National Ocean Policy is in full swing with numerous meetings and presentations occurring daily. The Presidential Ocean Policy Task Force (http://www.oceanleadership.org/2009/06/22/president-issued-a-memorandum-establishing-an-interagency-ocean-policy-task-force/) continues to work diligently to meet its 90 day deadline for establishing [...]

A Total Ban on Whaling? The International Whaling Commission is lurching from crisis to stasis, unable to impose a complete ban on whaling, yet equally unwilling to allow a formal resumption. So the IWC meets every year and watches ever more whaling ships depart from Iceland, Japan, and Norway in contravention of the spirit -- and sometimes the letter -- of its 23-year-old whaling moratorium.

From the President's Office - 7/17/09 This week I had the pleasure of testifying on behalf of the ocean sciences community before the newly appointed Presidential National Ocean Policy Task Force. Needless to say, we were delighted to be asked to make this presentation. The meeting took place at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which has been charged with recommending [...]

Early Initiation of Arctic Sea-ice Formation Significant sea ice formation occurred in the Arctic earlier than previously thought is the conclusion of a study published this week in Nature.

U.S. Research Vessel En Route to Bering Sea Climate Change Investigations The JOIDES Resolution, the U.S.-supported, newly equipped and modernized scientific ocean drilling vessel, is docked in the port of Victoria, British Columbia as it readies to embark on a eight-week international marine research expedition to investigate the role of the Bering Sea in climate change.

From the President's Office - 7/10/09 I knew when President Barack Obama took office that some major changes were going to occur in this town, especially with respect to colleagues and friends taking important leadership positions here within the federal government.  I was absolutely delighted to learn the news yesterday that Marcia McNutt has been nominated as the next Director of [...]

Keeping Watch on the Planet from the Bottom Up A new series of deep-sea observatories, developed by Canadian researchers, will allow submarine science to get an unprecedented view - and report back via the undersea Internet.

From the President's Office - 6/12/09 The ocean was front and center in Washington this week. World’s Ocean Day launched the beginning of the week's activities along with Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW). The House Appropriations Committee adopted its FY10 spending bill for several of the ocean agencies including NOAA, NSF and NASA while the other ocean agency budgets, such as [...]

From the President's Office - 6/05/09 Last week, the Ocean Leadership Members and Trustees gathered in Washington for their Annual Meeting.  A number of important business items were handled, most importantly, the appointment of newly elected Trustees. Joining the Board of Trustees for 3-year terms each are: Don Boesch (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science), Rob Dunbar (Stanford University), Larry [...]