Dutch defence minister: 'irresponsible' Russian jets harassed frigate in Black Sea - Reuters

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AMSTERDAM, June 29 (Reuters) - The Netherlands' defence minister said on Tuesday that Russian fighter jets armed with air-to-surface missiles had harassed a Dutch navy frigate in the Black Sea earlier this month, conducting mock attacks and jamming communication systems.

The Russian defence ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets and bombers to prevent the frigate from entering Russian waters, according to news agencies.

The Russian military said the warplanes flew at a safe distance from the vessel and in line with international regulations.

The Netherlands' defence ministry said the Russian actions took place over the span of five hours on June 24 and violated rights to free use of the sea.

The frigate, Evertsen, was sailing with Britain's Carrier Strike Group, which was carrying out a patrol in the area at the time. read more

Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten called the Russian action "irresponsible".

The "Evertsen has every right to sail there," she said in a statement. "There is no justification for this kind of aggressive act, which needlessly increases the chance of accidents."

She indicated the Netherlands would raise the matter with Russia at the diplomatic level.

Reporting by Toby Sterling; additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Editing by Catherine Evans and Gareth Jones

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June 30, 2021 at 01:38AM
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Pacific island of Nauru sets two-year deadline for U.N. deep-sea mining rules - Reuters

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President of Nauru Lionel Rouwen Aingimea addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

• Nauru says draft exploitation rules "nearly complete"
• Lawyer says debate over royalties and rules ongoing
• Nauru, The Metals Co say seabed mining more sustainable
• Environmentalists seek ban, saying too little is known

June 29 (Reuters) - The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru has notified a U.N. body of plans to start deep-sea mining, giving the International Seabed Authority (ISA) two years to complete long-running talks on rules governing the new and controversial industry.

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea notified ISA about the mining plans to be carried out by a subsidiary of The Metals Co in a letter dated June 25 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Reuters reported on Friday that Nauru planned to trigger the so-called "two-year rule", which allows for a mining plan to be approved after two years under whatever rules are in place at that time. read more

Nauru is a sponsoring state for Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Metals Co, formerly known as DeepGreen, which plans to list on the U.S. Nasdaq in the third quarter in a merger with blank-check company Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) (SOAC.N).

Aingimea's letter asked the ISA "to complete the adoption of rules, regulations, and procedures required to facilitate the approval of plans of work for exploitation in the area within two years" from June 30.

The Metals Co, which aims to start mining in 2024, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Nauru's ambassador to the ISA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the sea floor at depths of 4-6 km (2.5-4 miles). They are abundant in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the North Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico.

The Metals Co has deals with Nauru, Tonga and Kiribati for CCZ exploration rights covering 224,533 square km, roughly the area of Romania.

Aingimea's letter said Nauru believed draft deep-sea mining regulations were nearly complete after seven years of talks.

But environmental groups, some of which have called for a ban on the activity arguing that too little is known about its impact, said the draft was far from ready.

"Forcing the regulations through prematurely and without due process or enough scientific knowledge about the deep sea is not in line with the precautionary approach and other principles of international environmental law," the World Wildlife Fund said.

ISA states still differ over issues including a royalty regime for deep-sea minerals, said Duncan Currie, a lawyer who has followed the ISA talks since 2012.

U.N. law defines resources on the international seabed as the common heritage of mankind, so benefits should be shared among all countries, not just nations sponsoring mining firms.

Alphabet's Google, carmaker BMW and battery producer Samsung SDI back WWF's call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. read more

Nauru, with 12,000 inhabitants, said 80% of its land was uninhabitable because of colonial-era phosphate mining and deep-sea mining was more sustainable. The Metals Co has said deep-sea mining would have less impact than mining for battery metals on land.

But SOAC said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week it was not yet known whether mining the seabed would have less impact on biodiversity than mining for the same quantity of metals on land.

"We cannot predict ... whether the environment and biodiversity is impacted by our activities, and if so, how long the environment and biodiversity will take to recover," it said.

In a statement reacting to Nauru's move to trigger the two-year rule, Greenpeace said: "This is now a test of governments who claim to want to protect the oceans."

The ISA in a statement acknowledged Nauru's letter and said it aimed to resume this year work on mining regulations, which had earlier been delayed due pandemic travel restrictions.

Reporting by Helen Reid; additional reporting by Jeff Lewis; Editing by Edmund Blair and Louise Heavens

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June 29, 2021 at 10:03PM
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Pacific island of Nauru sets two-year deadline for U.N. deep-sea mining rules - Reuters

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Increasing plastic pollution harming sea turtles along the Gulf Coast - WKRG News 5

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DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WKRG) – Increasing plastic pollution is harming sea turtles along the Gulf Coast.

Volunteers with Share the Beach, who monitor nests and hatchlings on the Alabama Gulf Coast, say they have seen an increase in plastic pollution along the beaches this nesting season.

Plastic pollution bitten by sea turtles found along Alabama beaches (Source: Share the Beach)

“Plastic, once it gets into the water, does something called biofouling and that’s where tiny microorganisms and things attach to them and produce a smell. That smells like food to sea turtles so anything that has that scent they are going to bite it and eat it and they can’t process it. Over time, that slowly impacts their overall health,” says Sara Johnson, the Director of Share the Beach.

Share the Beach patrols the beaches for nests and hatchlings from May through October every year.

They focus their efforts on the Florobama shoreline all the way to the west end of Dauphin Island.

So far this season, 26 nests have been laid on Alabama beaches by sea turtles.

Johnson says this is less than previous years, and it raises the question if plastic pollution is contributing to the decrease in nests and sea turtles.

Johnson says the best thing we can do to protect the turtles and cut down on plastic pollution, is reduce our plastic-use.

“There is always a big push for recycling but reducing our plastic use in general is going to be our biggest impact to all of this,” says Johnson.

Anyone visiting Alabama beaches is also encouraged to keep a safe distance away from sea turtles and never disturb a nest.

Click here for more information and tips from Share the Beach.

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June 30, 2021 at 02:32AM
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Increasing plastic pollution harming sea turtles along the Gulf Coast - WKRG News 5

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Russia tests Crimean air defence systems as Ukraine, U.S. hold Black Sea drills - Reuters

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MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) - Russia tested the readiness of its air defence systems in Crimea, the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as Ukraine and NATO countries held military drills in the Black Sea, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

The Sea Breeze exercise, which began on Monday, follows a rise in tensions between NATO and Moscow, which said last week it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea. read more

Russia's Black Sea fleet was cited by Interfax as saying it had deployed around 20 warplanes and helicopters, including Su-24M bombers, as well as S-400 and Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems in the readiness tests.

Moscow considers Crimea part of Russia, but the peninsula is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine which wants it back.

"The Black Sea Fleet is doing a number of things to monitor the actions of ships from NATO and other countries taking part in Sea Breeze 2021," Interfax quoted the National Defence Management Centre as saying in a separate statement.

Moscow called for the Sea Breeze military exercises to be cancelled before they began, and the Russian defence ministry has said it will react if necessary to protect national security. read more

Sea Breeze 2021 will last two weeks and involve about 5,000 military personnel from NATO and other allies, and around 30 ships and 40 aircraft. U.S. missile destroyer USS Ross and the U.S. Marine Corps will take part.

Russia last week warned Britain and the United States against "tempting fate" by sending warships to the Black Sea, and said it would defend its borders using all possible means including military force. read more

Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Heavens

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June 29, 2021 at 02:25PM
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Controversial geoengineering scheme will dump iron filings in the sea - New Scientist

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By Adam Vaughan

Phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic Ocean

Stocktrek Images, Inc./Alamy

A former UK chief scientific adviser is planning experiments to drop sand naturally containing iron in oceans to tackle climate change and restore marine life, in a major geoengineering project that is likely to prove controversial.

Ships will be sent to three locations across the world’s oceans in the next four years to trial the technique – known as ocean iron fertilisation – David King at the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge (CCRC), UK, tells New Scientist.

The plan is to emulate and …

Article amended on 29 June 2021

We clarified the form of the iron involved

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June 29, 2021 at 04:57PM
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Pacific island of Nauru sets two-year deadline for deep-sea mining rules - Reuters

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By Helen Reid

4 Min Read

* Nauru says draft exploitation rules “nearly complete”

* Debate over royalties, rules continues, lawyer says

* Nauru and The Metals Co say seabed mining more sustainable

* Environmentalists seek ban, saying too little is known

June 29 (Reuters) - The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru has requested approval for deep-sea mining plans for a subsidiary of The Metals Co, giving the U.N. International Seabed Authority (ISA) two years to decide on rules for the new and controversial industry.

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea notified the president of the council of ISA in a letter dated June 25 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Reuters reported on Friday that Nauru planned to trigger the so-called “two-year rule” which allows for mining to proceed after two years under whatever rules are in place at that time.

Nauru is a sponsoring state for Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Metals Co, formerly known as DeepGreen, which plans to list on the Nasdaq in the third quarter in a merger with blank-check company Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.

“Nauru requests the council to complete the adoption of rules, regulations, and procedures required to facilitate the approval of plans of work for exploitation in the area within two years of the operative date of this request, which is Wednesday 30 June 2021,” Aingimea wrote.

Aingimea said the international community had been negotiating for more than seven years over a draft code, adding that “in light of the most recent progress, we are of the view that the draft Exploitation Code is nearly complete”.

But differences remain between ISA member states over the regulations and no agreement has been reached on a royalty regime for deep-sea minerals, said Duncan Currie, an international lawyer who has attended the ISA since 2012.

The Metals Co, which has previously said it aims to start mining in 2024, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called “polymetallic nodules” which pepper the sea floor at depths of 4-6 km (2.5-4 miles) and are particularly abundant in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the North Pacific Ocean, an area spanning millions of kilometres between Hawaii and Mexico.

Resources on the international seabed are defined as the common heritage of mankind under U.N. law, so benefits of deep-sea mining are meant to be shared among all countries - not just those sponsoring a mining company - but how those benefits should be shared is still being debated.

NORI holds exploration rights to four blocks covering 74,830 square km in the CCZ. The Metals Co also has agreements with Tonga and Kiribati which bring its total CCZ exploration rights to 224,533 square km, roughly the area of Romania.

Nauru, an island with about 12,000 inhabitants, said in its letter that more than 80% of its land had been made uninhabitable by colonial-era phosphate mining and said deep-sea mining was more sustainable.

The Metals Co has said deep-sea mining would be a cleaner way to source battery metals, saying it would produce less waste and fewer emissions than land mining.

Some environmentalists and scientists have called for a ban, saying too little is known about deep-sea ecosystems and mining could wipe out as-yet undiscovered species.

Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Edmund Blair

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June 29, 2021 at 04:50PM
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Photo shows sea turtles kissing during Powerboat Grand Prix festivities in Sarasota - WFLA

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Police in Sarasota managed to capture an adorable image of what looks like two sea turtles kissing in the water during Powerboat Grand Prix festivities over the weekend.

The Sarasota Police Department’s marine unit was patrolling the water to protect sea life during the event and snapped a photo of the turtles, catching the smooch by chance.

The agency shared photos of the turtles and the Grand Prix on Facebook.

The Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix Festival is a week-long event surrounding the Fourth of July. The event is part of Suncoast Summer Fest which helps raise funds for six local charities.

You can find the full schedule on their website.

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June 29, 2021 at 07:36PM
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Photo shows sea turtles kissing during Powerboat Grand Prix festivities in Sarasota - WFLA

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