Wildlife hotspots, Serengeti, cold and warm water animals, fishing records, animal scientists

Study Identifies Oceans' Wildlife Hotspots
Wednesday, August 6, 2003

By studying fishing records, a pair of scientists has identified oceanic biodiversity hotspots and is calling for them to be granted the same protections as rainforests, the London Independent reports today.

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and conducted by Boris Worm of Germany's University of Kiel and Ransom Myers of Canada's Dalhousie University, oceans should have their own parks where any form of exploitation is banned.

"We have discovered for the first time in the open ocean there are hotspots of species diversity which we have metaphorically called 'ocean Serengetis,'" Worm said, referring to the East African wildlife park. "We were looking for the equivalent of the Serengeti on land, which is an area that is important for many large animals but also where they are vulnerable to exploitation."

The scientists found that those areas tended to be in subtropical waters, where warm-water and cold-water animals live together. They also found that those areas are not out in the open ocean, but closer to the major landmasses.

If those areas are protected, the scientists said, many threatened marine species will survive. "This is not surprising because on land it has been shown over and over again that protection of hotspots is the most effective way to do conservation because you protect many species at once," Worm said.

He added that countries should not wait for an international consensus to be reached in order to protect these areas. Through national policies, countries can control overfishing, prohibit damaging fishing techniques such as trawling and drift nets and create conservation areas (Steve Connor, London Independent, Aug. 6).