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Bottlenose Dolphin with Calf (Tursiops truncatus) Females as old as 45 years have given birth!. Bottlenose dolphins are commonly found in groups of 2 to 15 individuals. Offshore herds sometimes have several hundred individuals. This species is often associated with pilot whales and other cetacean species. They frequently ride the bow wakes of ships and sometimes ride in the surf caused by storms. This species is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972, as amended. The Western North Atlantic Coastal stock of bottlenose dolphins is listed as "depleted" under the MMPA. In addition, NMFS has classified five U.S. stocks of bottlenose dolphins as "strategic" stocks: Eastern Gulf of Mexico Coastal; Western Gulf of Mexico Coastal; Northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal; Gulf of Mexico Bay, Sound and Estuarine; and Western North Atlantic Coastal. Photo and Text: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Greenhouse gases are putting the world’s oceans at risk of becoming too acidic to support coral reefs and marine life, warned over 150 scientists who on January 30, 2009, called on governments to take immediate action to sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions in a declaration drafted as a result of a United Nations conference.

The leading marine scientists noted in the Monaco Declaration on Ocean Acidification that levels of acidity were accelerating and that its negative socio-economic impacts can only be limited by cutting back on the amounts of greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere.

Prince Albert II of Monaco urged political leaders to take notice of the Declaration which was drafted by scientists from 26 different countries in advance of  negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to be held at the end of the year.

“The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable,” said James Orr of the UN Marine Environment Laboratories, a Monaco-based subsidiary of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Declaration is based on a report outlining the most important areas of research related to oceanic pollution, which was developed by participants attending a UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization symposium last year called “The Ocean in a High-CO₂ World.”

“The report from the symposium summarizes the state of the science and priorities for future research, while the Monaco Declaration implores political leaders to launch urgent actions to limit the source of the problem,” said Mr. Orr, who chaired the symposium.

“The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen,” he added.

The information in this article is from UN News on January 20, 2009.