Phillipines Files Suit Against China Over South China Sea

The Philippines will file a case against China over the disputed South China Sea at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague next week, subjecting Beijing to international legal scrutiny over the increasingly tense waters for the first time.

Manila is seeking a ruling to confirm its right to exploit the waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), its team of U.S. and British lawyers said.

A ruling against China by the five-member panel of the Permanent Court of Arbitration could prompt other claimants to challenge Beijing, experts said. But while legally binding, any ruling would effectively be unenforceable as there is no body under UNCLOS to police such decisions, legal experts said.

China, which has refused to participate in the case, claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

link.

Neandertals Loved Salmon

Were bears or lions involved in salmon accumulation in the Middle Palaeolithic of the Caucasus? An isotopic investigation in Kudaro 3 cave

Authors:

Bocherens et al

Abstract:

Bone fragments of large anadromous salmon in the Middle Palaeolithic archaeological layers of Kudaro 3 cave (Caucasus) suggested fish consumption by archaic Hominins, such as Neandertals. However, large carnivores such as Asiatic cave bears (Ursus kudarensis) and cave lions (Panthera spelaea) were also found in the cave and could have been responsible for such an accumulation. The diet of these carnivores was evaluated using carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes in faunal bone collagen. The results suggest that anadromous fish were neither part of the diet of either cave bear (vegetarian) or cave lion (predators of herbivores from arid areas) and therefore provide indirect support to the idea that Middle Palaeolithic Hominins, probably Neandertals, were able to consume fish when it was available.

Russia and Ukraine Scuttle Plans for Antarctic Marine Sanctuary

Russia and the Ukraine on Friday again scuttled plans to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary in Antarctica, pristine waters rich in energy and species such as whales, penguins and vast stocks of fish, an environmentalist group said.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources wound up a week-long meeting in Hobart, Australia, considering proposals for two "marine protected areas" aimed at conserving the ocean wilderness from fishing, drilling for oil and other industrial interests.

"It seems pretty clear that a small group of countries led by Russia wanted to wreck the agreement," Steve Campbell, director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance which campaigns for protecting the Antarctic seas, said by phone from London.

For the sanctuary proposals to pass, they need backing from all 200 delegates from 25 member countries, many of which have conflicting interests.

Russia and Ukraine also actively blocked the two proposals in July, with China withdrawing support for one.

link.

The Battle of the Oyster Farm in West Marin

Sad, but typical.

I patronize the oyster farm up in Marin.  It's where I learned to love BBQ oysters.  They are delicious and every year I have made sure to get some to roast and smoke and slather with BBQ sauce. 

This is sad and typical of the extremes taken today.  No common ground.  No way to compromise.  

I'm all for environmental restoration, but at the same time, this place has been in business for a very, very long time and a local jewel.  

I think I will see in the next few weeks if I am able to go up and buy oysters in support.

Fish Didn't Help Us: Neandertals Consumed Marine Resources as Early as Did Modern Humans

Earliest Known Use of Marine Resources by Neanderthals

Authors:

1. Miguel Cortés-Sánchez (a)

2. Arturo Morales-Muñiz (b)

3. María D. Simón-Vallejo (c)

4. María C. Lozano-Francisco (d)

5. José L. Vera-Peláez (d)

6. Clive Finlayson (e,f)

7. Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal (g)

8. Antonio Delgado-Huertas (h)

9. Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo (h)

10. Francisca Martínez-Ruiz (h)

11. M. Aranzazu Martínez-Aguirre (i)

12. Arturo J. Pascual-Granged (i)

13. M. Mercè Bergadà-Zapata (j)

14. Juan F. Gibaja-Bao (k)

15. José A. Riquelme-Cantal (h)

16. J. Antonio López-Sáez (l)

17. Marta Rodrigo-Gámiz (h)

18. Saburo Sakai (m)

19. Saiko Sugisaki (m)

20. Geraldine Finlayson (e)

21. Darren A. Fa (e)

22. Nuno F. Bicho (n)

Affiliations:

a. Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

b. Laboratorio de Arqueozoología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

c. Fundación Cueva de Nerja, Nerja, Malaga, Spain

d. Museo Municipal Paleontológico de Estepona, Estepona, Málaga, Spain

e. The Gibraltar Museum, Gibraltar, United Kingdom

f. Department of Social Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

g. Departamento de Geodinámica y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Huelva, Spain

h. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad de Granada, Armilla, Granada, Spain

i. Departamento de Física Aplicada I, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

j. Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

k. Departamento de Arqueología del Spanish Scientific Research Council, Barcelona, Spain

l. Grupo de Investigación Arqueobiología, Instituto de Historia, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Spanish Scientific Research Council, Madrid, Spain

m. Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan

n. Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal

Abstracts:

Numerous studies along the northern Mediterranean borderland have documented the use of shellfish by Neanderthals but none of these finds are prior to Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3). In this paper we present evidence that gathering and consumption of mollusks can now be traced back to the lowest level of the archaeological sequence at Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, Spain), dated during the MIS 6. The paper describes the taxonomical and taphonomical features of the mollusk assemblages from this level Bj19 and briefly touches upon those retrieved in levels Bj18 (MIS 5) and Bj17 (MIS 4), evidencing a continuity of the shellfishing activity that reaches to MIS 3. This evidence is substantiated on 29 datings through radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and U series methods. Obtained dates and paleoenvironmental records from the cave include isotopic, pollen, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological analyses and they are fully coherent with paleoclimate conditions expected for the different stages. We conclude that described use of shellfish resources by Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in Southern Spain started ~150 ka and were almost contemporaneous to Pinnacle Point (South Africa), when shellfishing is first documented in archaic modern humans.

holy crap. Was this a physics paper or something?!