Paul Watson continued as a crewmember, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard
several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a
founding member of Greenpeace
and Greenpeace International, a claim
Greenpeace disputes. Friends noted that his personality, his liking to "push
himself front and centre", was to blame in addition to his espousing direct actions that
Greenpeace did not agree with In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a
vote of 11 to 1(Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong,
"front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's
interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisiveWatson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at
the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against
Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the
anti-sealing campaigns. Watson
accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt
because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the
organizations Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment
on his activities
Fukushima: TEPCO mulling release of low-level radioactive water in sea
Via The Mainichi Daily News: TEPCO mulling release of low-level radioactive water in sea. Excerpt:
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it is considering releasing into the Pacific Ocean low-level radioactive water now stored in tanks at the premises of its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as storage capacity may run short by next March.
The plant operator known as TEPCO said the water would be released only after it clears the country's legal concentration limit of radioactive substances, including cesium and strontium, but a fisheries group immediately expressed strong concerns.
The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations filed a protest against the plan with TEPCO, saying it cannot accept such an action that could affect the fishing industry by lowering fish consumption.
Nobutaka Tsutsui, senior vice minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a press conference he cannot approve of the plan.
He said he has already asked Tadahiro Matsushita, senior vice minister for economy, trade and industry which oversees the nuclear industry, to reconsider the TEPCO plan and will work on relevant parties to prevent TEPCO from implementing the plan.
The plant has been plagued with highly radioactive water accumulating inside reactor turbine buildings as a result of the continuing injection of water to cool the stricken Nos. 1 to 3 reactors.
The water is currently recycled as a coolant after reducing its radioactive level through a water processing facility, installed after the plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
But as about 200 to 500 tons of groundwater a day flows into the reactor turbine buildings, the amount of water that is processed has exceeded that needed for injection into the reactors, according to TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto.
He said the capacity of tanks installed at the plant's premises is expected to total 15.5 tons but there is a possibility the capacity would fall short possibly by early March.
"We cannot keep on increasing the number of tanks in the next year or two. So we're considering the possibility of releasing water into the sea," Matsumoto told a press conference.
The water processing facility reduces the amount of radioactive cesium, but does not remove radioactive strontium, which tends to accumulate in bones and is feared to cause bone cancer and leukaemia.
TEPCO has not only accidentally released highly radioactive water into the sea after the nuclear crisis, but also intentionally dumped low level radioactive water as an emergency measure in April, drawing concerns from neighboring countries.
In a doubtless related article, we learn that the Japanese government is taking TEPCO under direct control.
Gov't to put troubled TEPCO under its control with infusion of 1 trillion yen
The TEPCO headquarters building, center. (Mainichi)
The government is set to provide Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) with an infusion of 1 trillion yen in public funds to place the utility plagued by the Fukushima nuclear crisis under its control, government sources said.
In return for the public funds, the government intends to replace a majority of the current members of its board led by Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata.
The action is in response to fears that the power supplier would otherwise fall into capital deficit, a situation in which its debts surpass its assets, in fiscal 2012 because its response to the nuclear crisis will cost it massive amounts of money.
A panel of Cabinet ministers working on the reform of TEPCO and the electric power industry as a whole, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, will officially propose the planned infusion of public funds early next year.
TEPCO has been strongly urging the government to grant it permission to raise its electric power bills and resume operations at nuclear power plants suspended for trouble or regular inspections.
However, the government is reluctant to do so because "it's no easy task to win public understanding because a consumption tax hike is under discussion."
From the viewpoint of ensuring a stable supply of electric power, the government intends to take the opportunity of the infusion of public funds to take the initiative in reforming TEPCO's management instead of liquidating the utility.
TEPCO is estimated to suffer about 576.3 billion yen in net losses in the current business year ending in March 2012, while its net assets will decrease more than 50 percent from the year earlier to 708.8 billion yen by the end of this business year.
Furthermore, the company will be required to recapitalize itself as its capital adequacy ratio has dropped to the 6 percent level. However, it will likely be difficult to raise funds on financial markets because the rating of its corporate bonds has significantly declined.
The government has already extended 890 billion yen in financial assistance to TEPCO via the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund to help the utility pay damages to those affected by the nuclear crisis. However, the utility is strictly prohibited from diverting any of the money to purposes other than compensation payments.
It is believed certain that the company would fall into a capital deficit in the business year ending March 2013 without recapitalization since it will shoulder the heavy financial burden of decontaminating areas tainted with radioactive substances from the crippled nuclear plant and decommissioning the crippled nuclear reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., (TEPCO) Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, right, speaks during a news conference at the company's head office in Tokyo, Wednesday, March 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A subcommittee within the Cabinet Office's Japan Atomic Energy Commission compiled a report on Dec. 7, detailing a roadmap to decommissioning and dismantling the crippled reactors at the Fukushima plant.
A government third-party committee estimates that it will cost TEPCO approximately 1.15 trillion yen to decommission and dismantle the crippled No. 1 to 4 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. The amount is expected to sharply increase if the plant's No. 5 and 6 reactors that remain intact are also done away with.
In spring, the government estimated that it will need to provide TEPCO with an infusion of up to 2 trillion yen in public funds. One government source says it now needs to inject at least 1 trillion yen into the utility judging from the company's financial situation.
The government will inject public funds into TEPCO by having the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund buy preferential shares to be issued by the utility.
TEPCO is allowed by its internal regulations to issue up to 1.8 billion shares, but has already issued approximately 1.6 billion shares. To provide TEPCO with an infusion of sufficient public funds, the company will be required to revise its internal rules at a shareholder meeting to issue more shares than the current upper limit.
If additional shares are issued, however, the value of shares that TEPCO shareholders currently own will likely decrease.
Preferential shares to be issued by TEPCO will likely be exchangeable for ordinary shares that allow their holders to vote in shareholder meetings. The holders of preferential shares are given priority in the allocation of remaining assets if the company is liquidated as well as in dividend payments, but their right to vote in shareholder meetings is restricted. Financially troubled companies that need to rehabilitate themselves typically issue preferential shares as a means to recapitalize themselves.
The Mariana Trench in the western Pacific runs for about 2,500km and extends down to 10,994m.
This measurement for the deepest point - known as Challenger Deep - is arguably the most precise yet.
The survey, conducted by the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM), was completed to help determine the exact extent of US waters in the region.
"We mapped the entire trench, from its northern end at Dutton Ridge, all the way to where it becomes the Yap Trench in the south," explained Dr Jim Gardner from CCOM, which is based at the University of New Hampshire.
"We used a multibeam echosounder mounted on a US Navy hydrographic ship. This instrument allows you to map a swath of soundings perpendicular to the line of travel of the ship. It's like mowing the grass. And we were able to map the trench at a 100m resolution," he told BBC News.
The distance to the bottom of Challenger Deep has an error associated with it of about plus or minus 40m.The figure of 10,994m is slightly less than some other recent measurements in the modern era, but they are all broadly similar.
A location in the trench about 200km to the east of Challenger goes almost as far down. This spot, known as HMRG Deep, has a depth of 10,809m. It is extraordito think that both Challenger and HMRG extend deeper below sea level than Mount Everest rises above it.
Dr Gardner said his team's survey put a huge effort into getting the "sound speed profile" of the water column correct - this measure of how the echosounding signals speed and slow as they descend is the largest source of error in the measurement.
He presented the results of the mapping here at the 2011 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the world's largest annual gathering of Earth and planetary scientists.
The US State Department funded the study because it wants to know whether the exclusive economic zone encompassing the American territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands can be pushed out beyond its current limit of 200 nautical miles (370km).
This may be possible if the shape of the seafloor fulfils certain requirements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
But the data also has high scientific interest in that it gives geologists a clearer picture of the structures in one of the most fascinating subduction zones on Earth.
It is at the trench where a huge slab of Pacific oceanic crust is being pulled down under the adjacent Philippines tectonic plate.
Researchers are keen to know what happens when underwater mountains, or seamounts, go over the edge and are swallowed.
There has been considerable debate over whether the descent of the seamounts can influence the frequency and scale of big earthquakes. It has been suggested they might create extra friction that can then be released suddenly to trigger major tremors.
"Our data shows they're getting really fractured as they go down," said Dr Gardner.
"As soon as the Pacific Plate starts bending down, it cracks that old, old crust. That crust is really brittle. It cracks right through the seamounts. Certainly in the Mariana Trench, the seamounts get splintered and whittled away, and then get subducted.
"What I don't see are remnants of seamounts being accreted to the inner wall of the trench."
What is evident, however, is the pile of material this creates across the axis of the trench in a number of places. Dr Gardner describes four "bridges" that stand as much as 2,500m above the floor of the depression.
'Race to the bottom'
The survey is also highly topical in that four teams are about to send manned submersibles into the trench to explore its depths.
So far, only two humans have visited Challenger Deep - Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in the research bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960.
But those that are racing to return to the deepest of the deep are Virgin's Oceanic submarine, which will be piloted by Chris Welsh; Triton submarines, which is based in Florida; James Cameron is said to be backing another effort in a bid to film the Mariana Trench; and DOER Marine, which is backed by Google's Eric Schmidt and oceanographer Sylvia Earle.
Dr Earle told BBC News: "In 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard knew only that they were descending in the bathyscaphe Trieste to what was thought to be the deepest place in the sea - the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.These missions will be a huge gamble for those involved, both in terms of finance and reputation, as well as posing a serious safety concern for the pilots.
"The terrain was unknown, unmapped - truly a dive into a deep mystery. Today, as explorers begin to return to that deepest place, they can do so with a high-resolution map in hand, thanks to technologies that did not exist half a century ago.
"In broad strokes, the ocean's great mountain ranges, valleys are now defined in maps derived from satellite observations and sonar swaths from research vessels, but only about 5% of the ocean has been explored and mapped with the detail comparable to Earth's above-ocean terrain, or the surface of the Moon, Mars, or Jupiter.
"In 1960, it seemed that nothing humans could do could alter the nature of the ocean - or if we did, it wouldn't matter. Now we know that the ocean is Earth's 'life support system', the blue heart of the planet, the key to climate, weather, planetary chemistry. We also know that the ocean is in trouble owing to what we are putting into it - and what we are taking out.
"High-resolution maps of the iconic Mariana Trench may inspire action to fill in the blanks for the rest of Earth's surface - under the sea. At the very least we should have a good map of the part of the Earth that keeps us alive."
Dinosaurs like Velociraptors owe their fearsome reputation to the way they breathed, according to a UK study.
They had one of the most efficient respiratory systems of all animals, similar to that of modern diving birds like penguins, fossil evidence shows.
It fuelled their bodies with oxygen for the task of sprinting after prey, say researchers at Manchester University.
The bipedal meat-eaters, the therapods, had air sacs ventilated by tiny bones that moved the ribcage up and down.
"Finding these structures in modern birds and their extinct dinosaur ancestors suggests that these running dinosaurs had an efficient respiratory system and supports the theory that they were highly active animals that could run relatively quickly when pursuing their prey," said Dr Jonathan Codd, who led the research.
"It provides a mechanism for facilitating avian-like breathing in non-avian dinosaurs and it was there long before the evolution of flight occurred," he told BBC News. Bony projections
Modern-day birds have a highly specialised respiratory system, made up of a small rigid lung and around nine air sacs.
The bellows-like movement of the sternum and ribs moves air through the system.
The researchers examined fossils, including the famed 'fighting dinosaurs'
Bony projections on the ribcage known as uncinate processes play an important role in both respiration and locomotion.
The small bones act as levers to move the ribs and sternum during breathing. They have become adapted in different types of birds to deal with different ways of getting around.
The bones are shortest in runners like emus that don't need large breast muscles for flight, intermediate in flying birds and longest in divers such as the penguin.
The Manchester team studied a wealth of fossil remains of dinosaurs and extinct birds such as Archaeopteryx, and compared these with skeletons of living birds.
They found that uncinate processes are also found both in the extinct ancestors of birds, the theropod dinosaurs, and in modern species.
Dinosaurs are most like diving birds in their morphology.
"The dinosaurs we studied from the fossil record had long uncinate processes similar in structure to those of diving birds," said Dr Codd.
"This suggests both dinosaurs and diving birds need longer lever arms to help them breathe," he added.
The data, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, may provide clues to how dinosaurs evolved and how they might have lived.
Brazilian police are investigating an oil spill in an offshore field operated by the US company Chevron.
Ships are working to disperse the slick 120km (75 miles) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, and Chevron says it has plugged the oil well.
Brazil's Energy Minister Edison Lobao has said the company will be "severely punished" if it is found to have failed in its environmental responsibilities.
In recent years Brazil has discovered huge oil reserves in the Atlantic.
The oil is leaking from a well in the Frade oil project, 370km (230 miles) off the Brazilian coast.
Chevron initially estimated that 400-650 barrels of oil had formed a sheen on the water after seeping from the seabed near the well.
But the international environmental group Skytruth said satellite images suggested the spill was many times bigger.
Brazilian energy minister Edison Lobao said the spill "was not as serious as had been announced" and was not moving towards the Brazilian coast.
But he said Brazil's oil agency ANP was monitoring the situation closely and would apply the full force of the law.
"If Chevron is not fulfilling its responsibilities, it will be more severely punished," he said.
ANP said underwater images showed Chevron's effort to permanently seal the well with cement appeared to have been successful, although there appeared to be a residual flow of oil from the seabed.
"The slick is continuing to move away from the coast and dispersing, as is desired," it added.
'Bad faith'
Police environment experts have been sent on navy helicopters to assess the scale of the spill.
Green Party members of the Brazilian Congress have called for a debate on the matter.
Federal deputy Jose Sarney Filho said Chevron appeared to have underplayed the scale of the accident.
"What has alarmed us is the lack of transparency on the part of the company and the attempt to minimise the size of the disaster," he told the official news agency Agencia Brasil.
"This is a clear demonstration of bad faith," he added.
Chevron said on Thursday the flow of oil from the ocean floor has been reduced to "infrequent droplets" and the remaining oil sheen on the surface was estimated at less than 65 barrels.
"Chevron continues to fully inform and work with Brazilian government agencies and industry partners on all aspects of this matter," the company said in a statement.
In recent years Brazil has discovered billions of barrels of oil in deep water that could make it one of the world's top five producers.
So far there has been little public debate about the environmental dangers of offshore drilling.
Political discussion has instead focused on how future oil revenues should be divided between different states.
Undersea volcano about to create new Canary Island Nibiru 2012 In the Atlantic Ocean, off the Canary Island of El Hierro, 20-meter high jets of water are being spat into the air as the sea boils amid the stench of sulfur. The undersea volcano, which is set to create new land, is growing ever-nearer to the surface -- but is the existing island at risk from the explosive eruptions?
These missions will be a huge gamble for those involved, both in terms of finance and reputation, as well as posing a serious safety concern for the pilots.
