The marine mammals of the Dutch Caribbean: a comparison between EEZ sectors, contrasts and concerns

We here provide a synoptic overview and preliminary update of the marine mammals of the Dutch Caribbean EEZ based on 279 cetacean sighting and stranding records. The Dutch Caribbean EEZ is composed of two distinct sectors. One is centered around the leeward Dutch islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (71,000 km2) while the other is centered around the windward Dutch islands of Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten (22,000 km2). The previous principal review (of cetaceans) dating from 1998, was based on only 70 records from the leeward sector and confirmed the occurrence of some 13 species for Dutch Kingdom waters. Now, with a 4-fold increase in number of records, 19 species can be documented for the Dutch Kingdom waters (18 species in the leeward sector and 8 species in the windward sector). The windward sector stands out for its large number of humpback whale sightings (45% of records) and may form part of its former (or current) calving grounds. This species remains relatively rare in the leeward sector (5% of records) and continues to be targeted by aboriginal fishing in its destination wintering grounds to the east, where the relict breeding population is having difficulty to rebound. The species is of growing interest to tourism in the region and urgently needs full protection from all fishing in the southern Caribbean. The leeward EEZ sector further lies down-stream from seasonal upwelling areas off Venezuela that support the largest fishery of the Caribbean. This sector stands out for its high occurrence of beaked whales and the Bryde’s whale. Marine mammal strandings are much more common here (26% of records) than in the northern sector (3% of records). Human induced mortalities (first suggested in 1974) and disturbance due to coastal tourism and recreation are key and growing concerns in the southern Dutch EEZ sector. The marine mammal fauna of the Dutch Caribbean is evidently rich and varied but continues to suffer man-induced mortality and disturbance. Several nations, including the USA, the Dominican Republic and France, have recently established marine mammal sanctuaries in Caribbean waters. The Netherlands should consider doing the same

A Proposal Towards a Dutch Caribbean Marine Mammal Sanctuary

Based on the goals set forth in the Dutch Biodiversity Policy Programme, The Netherlands has a traditionally strong commitment to protect biodiversity and marine mammals both internationally and in its own national and Kingdom waters. Last year the responsible ministry, namely the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I), developed a management plan for the biological resources of the recently declared Dutch Caribbean Exclusive Economic Zone. The Dutch Caribbean EEZ was formally declared on June 10, 2010, and amounts to more than 90.000 km2 of diverse tropical marine habitats. One of the key ambition coming forth from that plan was to develop a Dutch Caribbean Marine Mammal Sanctuary (MMS). This report provides the necessary review and background on which to base such an endeavour. Our updated review establishes beyond doubt that the Dutch Caribbean EEZ has a rich and diverse marine mammal fauna which merits more extensive protection. Even though the fauna is only poorly known, based almost exclusively on incidental sightings and strandings, it amounts to a minimum of 19 marine mammal species, and possibly up to more than 30. Without exception, all documented species appear on protected species lists of one or more treaties ratified by the Kingdom, and/or its constituent countries. Large differences are apparent between the leeward and windward sectors of the Dutch Caribbean EEZ, both in terms of species composition and conservation issues. Throughout the region, cetaceans are playing an increasingly important role in island economies as an important natural attraction for eco-based recreation and tourism, and in this respect the Dutch Caribbean also possesses major potential. We here propose the establishment of a MMS as the cornerstone to sustainable conservation and management of these charismatic animals. Ecological arguments for the establishment of habitat protection by means of the concept of sanctuaries are outlined, as are the many environmental issues that would eventually need to be addressed within the sanctuary. Legal designation of a marine mammal sanctuary (MMS) would form the first and most important step which provides the framework for all broader (international cooperation) and in depth (knowledge and conservation development) initiatives. Once established, the fuller implementation of a marine mammal sanctuary should be seen as a gradual process, involving development of knowledge, policy, rules and regulations, public and stakeholder participation. In this the Netherlands would follow and importantly reinforce the efforts of other nations who have already established MMS’s within the region. Favourable pre-conditions for the establishment of a MMS in the Dutch Caribbean include the fact that a) all cetaceans are already have a legal status in the Dutch Caribbean EEZ which calls for actual protection, b) the most deleterious fishing practices are already significantly limited and controlled within Kingdom waters, c) the key enforcer, namely the Coastguard, is already strongly present (largely due to other reasons), d) the islands generally have a strong tradition of marine protected areas in coastal habitat, e) the incremental costs for research and enforcement needed to establish a sanctuary is modest, f) public support is high, thanks to the generally high level of development and awareness of the public, g) indigenous fishery practices do not conflict with cetacean conservation, and h) whale watching interests are only in their infancy. We conclude our review by proposing the following key action points to establishing a MMS: a) Legal designation of the EEZ (one or both sectors) as MMS, along with establishment of legal guidelines for interacting with cetaceans (whale watching). b) Establish bonds of cooperation with sister sanctuaries in the region (France, USA, Dominican Republic), (e.g. regional stranding and sightings data network). c) Conduct baseline quantitative surveys of cetacean distribution and assessments in light of sources of deleterious sound sources and risks of vessel strikes. d) Review and adapt existing national and insular legal frameworks to improve these, preferably by developing separate and standardized marine mammals legislation. e) Develop information systems to promote the development of a whale (cetacean) watching industry. f) Train and equip marine parks and island veterinarians to conduct elementary autopsies and collect basic stranding specimens for analysis of causes of mortality, contamination levels and genetics, and link them to international academic institutions who will accept and analyse the specimens in regional context. g) Develop species action plans (e.g. humpback). h) Conduct cetacean surveys and management reviews every 5 years to assess marine mammal status and conservation progress

Effecten van MZI's op de aanwezigheid en het gedrag van specifieke vogelsoorten en zeehonden

In dit rapport worden de resultaten beschreven van onderzoek dat is uitgevoerd naar aanleiding van de in de Passende Beoordeling gesignaleerde kennislacunes en om na te gaan of opschaling van MZI-activiteiten op deze locaties tot significante effecten zou kunnen leiden. Het meeste onderzoek is uitgevoerd in 2010-2012 in de Schaar van Renesse. De belangrijkste vraag voor dit gebied was in hoeverre de in het Brouwershavensche Gat aanwezige concentratie Roodkeelduikers negatieve effecten ondervindt van de aanwezigheid van MZI’s en van werkzaamheden aan MZI’s. Bovendien zijn gedragswaarnemingen en tellingen uitgevoerd van Gewone zeehonden, Eiders en Bergeenden in de Zuidmeep en enkele tellingen vanuit de lucht om de ligging van de ruigebieden van Eiders en Bergeenden in de Waddenzee in kaart te brengen

Biodiversity hotspots on the Dutch Continental Shelf: a marine strategy framework directive perspective

This report presenst hotspots of biodiversity for benthos, fish, birds, marine mammals and habitats on the Dutch Continental Shelf. These hotspots are based on a spatial application of biodiversity metrics developed in this study for the GES(Good Environmental Status)-descriptor 1 ‘Biological diversity is maintained’ of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) (EU 2008). The choice of the biodiversity metrics is based on the proposed indicators of biodiversity in the Commission Decision (EU 2010). The purpose of this study is to provide insight in possibilities for spatial protection measures in the framework of the MSFD. This report feeds information and ideas into further work for the MSFD in the Netherlands. IMARES has compiled this report for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (Ministry of EL&I) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (I&M)

The mechanically induced structural disorder in barium hexaferrite, BaFe12O19, and its impact on magnetism

The response of the structure of the M-type barium hexaferrite (BaFe12O19) to mechanical action through high-energy milling and its impact on the magnetic behaviour of the ferrite are investigated. Due to the ability of the Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopic technique to probe the environment of the Fe nuclei, a valuable insight on a local atomic scale into the mechanically induced changes in the hexagonal structure of the material is obtained. It is revealed that the milling of BaFe12O19 results in the deformation of its constituent polyhedra (FeO6 octahedra, FeO4 tetrahedra and FeO5 triangular bi-pyramids) as well as in the mechanically triggered transition of the Fe3+ cations from the regular 12k octahedral sites into the interstitial positions provided by the magnetoplumbite structure. The response of the hexaferrite to the mechanical treatment is found to be accompanied by the formation of a non-uniform nanostructure consisting of an ordered crystallite surrounded/separated by a structurally disordered surface shell/interface region. The distorted polyhedra and the non-equilibrium cation distribution are found to be confined to the amorphous near-surface layers of the ferrite nanoparticles with the thickness extending up to about 2 nm. The information on the mechanically induced short-range structural disorder in BaFe12O19 is complemented by an investigation of its magnetic behaviour on a macroscopic scale. It is demonstrated that the milled ferrite nanoparticles exhibit a pure superparamagnetism at room temperature. As a consequence of the far-from-equilibrium structural disorder in the surface shell of the nanoparticles, the mechanically treated BaFe12O19 exhibits a reduced magnetization and an enhanced coercivity.DFG/SPP/1415APVV/0528-11VEGA/2/0097/1

Shortlist Masterplan wind Aerial surveys of harbour popoises on the Dutch Continental Shelf

In het kader van het Shortlist Masterplan Wind programma zijn in 2010-2011 vliegtuigtellingen uitgevoerd om het seizoensgebonden voorkomen en de verspreiding van bruinvissen Phocoena phocoena op het Nederlands Continentaal Plat (NCP) in kaart te brengen. Dergelijke informatie is essentieel om het effect van menselijke activiteiten, i.c. offshore windparken op bruinvissen te begrijpen, te kwantificeren en uiteindelijk te minimaliseren

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele