Sunday, November 14, 2021

British Columbia

Fairy Creek protesters vow to stay in the woods, despite bad weather and court injunction

Police continue enforcement of a temporary injunction

allowing logging work to take place

Kathryn Marlow · CBC News · 
Protesters against old-growth logging stay warm and dry under a tent near the Fairy Creek watershed on Nov. 10, 2021. (Ken Mizokoshi/CBC)

About two dozen vehicles line the paved road that connects Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan, on southwestern Vancouver Island.

Many are old camper vans, sporting bumper stickers about saving the old growth forest. Soggy rain gear hangs from tailgates and side view mirrors. 

They're parked where a logging road meets the main road, and it's that logging road protesters have been blockading regularly since the spring. There's a big orange gate blocking the road, and it opens only for police and logging vehicles.

On Wednesday, a surprisingly dry day, the gate is opened for a police van containing people who have just been arrested for allegedly breaking an injunction. The arrestees bang on the inside of the van walls as it passes, and people seated in tents along the road cheer. 

The camps protesting old-growth logging are supported in part by donations of both money and goods. As the temperatures drop and the rains and wind increase, firewood deliveries come in handy. (Ken Mizokoshi/CBC)

Right now, there is a temporary injunction in place, banning protesters from blocking logging industry work. The original injunction was granted in April to Teal Jones, the logging company that owns the rights to harvest in the area.

In September, a B.C. Supreme Court justice refused to extend the injunction, ruling in part that the actions of police meant that an extension would harm the court's reputation. 

Justice Douglas Thompson wrote that while police have, for the most part, acted responsibly, there are instances where they used unreasonable force and displayed other behaviour that reflected poorly on the court.

Teal Jones immediately filed for appeal and were granted a temporary injunction until the appeal is heard on November 15 and 16.

In the meantime, police continue to enforce the injunction, arresting eight people between Nov. 5 and 12. There have been 1,168 arrests since enforcement began in May. 

Fewer protesters at the camps

Protesters at the camp say confusion about the injunction is one of the reasons their numbers have shrunk over the fall, along with news of coming old-growth logging deferrals.

Shyanne Gunville from Pemberton said the time of year is a factor too. University students who spent the summer at the camps are now back in class, and the wind, rain and hail have driven others away. 

But Gunville says she's not going anywhere. 

"Definitely, we pray for these [days]. We have a dry day today, I've got my rain gear drying as much as I can," she said.

Shyanne Gunville, who calls herself a land defender, has been living in her car at the Fairy Creek protest site. (Kathryn Marlow/CBC)

She says there's a community of support at the camp and everyone is prepared to tough out the winter.

As she explains this to a reporter, people with backpacks and sleeping mats head up the logging road on foot to take turns in the camps they say they have sprinkled in the woods.

While police are still enforcing the injunction, Gunville and others say the tension has dropped.

Charlotte Jones, a Haida woman who comes out to the protests camp on a regular basis from her home in Victoria, describes the scene as "chill." 

"Before, they'd usually ask us for ID, check our bags," Jones said of police. "But now, they're not doing anything." 

Sgt. Chris Manseau speaks for B.C. RCMP and says enforcement levels haven't changed, but there are fewer arrests because there are fewer protesters. The injunction doesn't ban people from using the road, just from stopping logging activity. 

There may be less tension between police and protesters, but Gunville says it remains between protesters and the logging company's workers. 

"I just experienced that on my way down —15 people yelling at me, yelling profanities, and our friends were [subjected to] death threats yesterday a couple of times as well," she said.

Conrad Browne, the director of indigenous partnerships and strategic relations for Teal Jones, said he had not heard of that particular incident, but he's not surprised there's tension. 

Protesters and police are shown at the base of a logging road just outside of Port Renfrew, on Vancouver Island. Protests continue against old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed. (Ken Mizokoshi/CBC)


Browne says the company regularly asks its employees and contractors to be respectful, but after more than a year of protests and disrupted work, some loggers are frustrated.

He said there's a "laundry list" of instances where protesters have provoked loggers, including times they've hidden in cut blocks and jumped out to startle tree fallers. He argues that's a safety issue, in addition to the financial harm protest actions have on the company. 

Next week, Teal Jones will try to convince a judge to extend the injunction. Protesters say they're not going anywhere either way. 

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Abbotsford farmer says he's first in B.C. to grow saffron — the world's most expensive spice

Avtar Dhillon has more than 250,000 saffron crocus growing on his farm

Jessica Cheung · CBC News · 
Avtar Dhillon is shown at his saffron patch on his farm in Abbotsford, B.C. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

When Avtar Dhillon was looking for a crop to grow at his farm in Abbotsford, B.C., he thought, why not try the world's most expensive spice — saffron.

So Dhillon purchased a number of crocus sativus bulbs — commonly known as the saffron crocus — from Kashmir and planted them on his 25-acre farm.

Now Dhillon has more than 250,000 bulbs in his crop at Ramsar Berry Farm. He believes he's the first farmer to plant and harvest saffron in British Columbia — and one of only a handful of people to do it in the country.

When asked by CBC News, B.C.'s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said it doesn't know of any other farms in the province growing saffron.

"I want to do something different and profitable," Dhillon told CBC Vancouver. "Nobody is growing here, and then I'm thinking, 'Why [can't I] try the saffron?'"

Each flower from the saffron crocus is hand-picked and produces three crimson stigmas, or threads, of saffron. The threads are then dried at room temperature for a couple of days, after which they are ready to sell. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Saffron is an ancient spice with a distinctive taste and colour, commonly used for seasoning and as a colouring agent for food and textiles.

The saffron crocus usually grows in hot, arid weather, with 90 cent of the world's production coming out of Iran. But Dhillon found that B.C.'s wet climate has actually aided in the plants' growth.

Over five years, Dhillon tried different methods for growing the spice before finding one that works. He says the moisture in the air and rainfall keeps the soil moist and contributes to good growth, with flowers taking around four to five weeks to grow.

One bulb can grow up to 10 purple flowers, Dhillon said. Each flower is then hand-picked and produces three crimson stigmas, or threads, of saffron. The threads are then dried at room temperature for a couple of days, after which they are ready to sell.

Dhillon said 400,000 stems equals around one kilogram of saffron, which can be sold at around $50,000 to $65,000.

Dhillon has found that one saffron crocus bulb can grow up to 10 purple flowers. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

The farm is a family affair, with Dhillon running the business with his brother and their families. They all live together and everyone lends a helping hand when it comes time to gather the flowers and pick the threads.

"I'm very excited," said Dhillon. "And local businesses from Vancouver, they are already approaching me to ask to buy local saffron."

Around four businesses have already expressed interest in the locally grown saffron, he said.

The Acorn Restaurant in Vancouver is one of them. The vegetarian eatery has a focus on local farmers and foragers, with the aim of keeping the menu local.

"To have a farmer in B.C. who's growing saffron means, suddenly, we have access to saffron. Whereas before, it would be something that we probably wouldn't cook with, because we can't get it in Canada," said Kate Martin, one of The Acorn's cooks.

Ramsar Berry Farm is owned by Dhillon and his brother. Both of their families live together and lend a hand in harvesting the flowers and picking the saffron threads. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Warming weather pushing farmers to be creative with crops

Farmers experimenting with new crops is becoming more common, said Lenore Newman, director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley.

She chalks it up to a changing climate, which is pushing farmers to increasingly become creative with what they can grow. Dhillon's saffron venture is a perfect example, she said.

"People are always looking for better crops," said Newman. "The climate is getting significantly warmer, so there's a chance to try some interesting new crops."

Dhillon himself said he first began searching for a new crop to add to his farm when the prices he was getting for his blueberry harvests began to drop.

Dhillon bought his saffron crocus bulbs from Kashmir, India, and planted them on his farm in Abbotsford, B.C. (Gian -Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

With files from Baneet Braich and Gian-Paolo Mendoza

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'Those are our ancestors in the sky:' Sacred beliefs about the Northern Lights


Joely Bigeagle-Kequahtooway is Nakoda Cree Saulteaux and says she was taught at a young age not to look at, whistle at or disturb the sacred lights.
(Photo courtesy Chris Ratzlaff)


Teri Fikowski
CTV News Calgary Video Journalist
Updated Nov. 10, 2021 

CALGARY -

Albertans have been spoiled with a lot of sightings of the Northern Lights recently but not everyone believes you should actually look at the Aurora Borealis.

Simply put, the recent increase in those magical night skies in the prairies comes down to the sun’s cycle and longer nights.

“We’re starting to see the sun pick up in its 11 year cycle and in its activity and we’re seeing an uptick in sun spot numbers. Associated with sun spots are these solar flare events,” explains Roland Deschene with Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.


There are scientific explanations but there are also cultural ones. Many Indigenous peoples have a special relationship with the Northern Lights.

Joely Bigeagle-Kequahtooway is Nakoda Cree Saulteaux and says she was taught at a young age not to look at, whistle at or disturb the sacred lights.

“Those are our ancestors in the sky and what that means literally and figuratively is we’re not alone on this planet,” she says. “The stories I was told were those Northern Lights represent this timeless energy, timeless energy period of when our ancestors lived on this land.”

BigEagle-Kequahtooway says she remembers an experience when she was younger driving with a group of friends when they spotted the Northern Lights.

“As young people you want to challenge the teaching of 'don’t whistle' or 'don’t be loud or boisterous' or 'don’t be looking at the Northern Lights' because those are our ancestors and if you do they might come down because you’re calling them,” she says. “I remember this one drive between where I’m from and this city...we seen the Northern Lights and we were challenging this teaching and suddenly it seemed like the Northern Lights surrounded us and we became quiet, because were weren’t sure to why it seemed they were closer than they should have been.”

She says she’s heard different stories from different cultures but all have the same theme.

“The overall teaching is just a respect for Mother Nature and the respect for the natural laws of this earth,” she says.

She says while many don’t agree with taking images of the Northern Lights she believes culture has to evolve.

"To me it comes down to if you do take photos of Northern Lights and you have reverence and respect and also know the meaning, then for me I think you can take photos."

CHASING THE NORTHERN LIGHTS

Chris Ratzlaff is behind the Alberta Aurora Chasers and has been hunting down the Northern Lights for more than a decade.

“When you’re looking up at the sky and it’s dancing and shimmering and moving all over the place, every time it’s magical. Every time you’re just like, ‘holy cow!’”

He has been thrilled with the recent increase in light shows and says it’s hard to know exactly when they’ll make an appearance and that’s something the Facebook group tries to flag and educate people about.

CALGARY
(Photo courtesy Chris Ratzlaff)

“Not only is it about catching the aurora and knowing when to be out and see it which means going out in the middle of the night and staying out to three or four a.m. sometimes,” he says. “There is also the community we’re involved with. The community has exploded in the last year we’ve almost tripled in size to close to 150,000 members.”

Ratzlaff finds the Indigenous lens on the Northern Lights fascinating and says it makes him appreciate the spectacular sights even more.

“It really brings out the sense how cultural and how much apart of our identity aurora can be.”
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‘Trickery and bad faith’: The Ontario government approved new mining permits using a map a local First Nation says is outdated and inaccurate

When deciding to approve a flurry of mining permits in the province’s northwest corner, the Ontario government turned to a more than 30-year-old map of the Grassy Narrows First Nation.

The exploratory drilling would happen beyond the fringe of the First Nation, according to the map. So, the government decided, there was no need to consult the nearby Indigenous community.

The government was knowingly using an outdated and inaccurate map, members of the First Nation charge, green-lighting drilling and excavation in areas where the residents say they go for moose hunting, picking berries and camping.

“Grassy Narrows has been crystal clear for many years about the area that we use and want to protect. The only reason I can see to use a different map is trickery and bad faith,” Grassy Narrows spokesperson JB Fobister said.

The First Nation says it has provided the government with an updated map of the area — what is now called an Indigenous Sovereignty and Protected Area — multiple times over the last decade.

For Grassy Narrows, where generations of residents have suffered from mercury poisoning after a pulp mill upstream dumped its industrial waste into the river, the mining permits present yet another threat to their community.

“Our land and our way of life are already at the breaking point because of the ongoing impacts of residential schools, hydro dams, mercury poisoning, and clear-cut logging,” Fobister said.

Mining, he added, would “further fragment and degrade” the environment.

Drew Campbell, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, wrote in an email that Ontario is committed to meeting the Crown’s duty to “consult with Indigenous communities and strives to strengthen relationships with these communities.”

Campbell said the government is “reviewing the circumstances in which these permits were issued,” and the ministry is willing to meet with members of Grassy Narrows “to discuss and resolve these issues.”

Grassy Narrows officials say they were not informed about the exploration permits before they were issued between August 2019 and February 2021. They only stumbled upon the active permits in April.

The eight permits collectively cover more than 42,000 acres, about a third of which falls within Grassy Narrows’ area, according to the First Nation.

Under Ontario’s Mining Act, the government has a duty to consult Indigenous communities potentially affected by mining activities before deciding whether to issue a permit.

The ministry spokesperson said the province consults with Indigenous communities about exploration mining applications where they understand that proposed project activities have a potential to “adversely affect a community’s established or credibly asserted Aboriginal and/or treaty rights.”

The ministry did not notify Grassy Narrows about the eight mining permits because they “lay outside” of what the government understood at that time was the First Nation’s traditional land, a spokesperson said.

“Over time, (Grassy Narrows) has asserted jurisdiction over a significantly larger area of provincial Crown land than community members had previously identified as the community’s traditional land use area,” Campbell said.

Grassy Narrows officials told Torstar the old map was hastily made in the 1980s and was not accurate. They say it had been replaced a decade ago.

As early as 2011, the First Nation submitted an updated map of Grassy Narrows during a court battle to determine whether the government had the power to authorize clear-cut logging in the area.

Over the last decade, Grassy Narrows says it has submitted the same updated map to the Ontario government on multiple occasions. In 2017, the updated area map was included in the province’s 10-year management plan for logging part of the Whiskey Jack Forest, home to Grassy Narrows and where clear-cut logging has been suspended.

The area of the new map was not challenged by the government, according to Grassy officials.

Grassy Narrows has also requested the land outlined in the map be designated by the federal government as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).

IPCAs are lands and waters where Indigenous governments take on a primary role in protecting and conserving an ecosystem. That role includes determining the boundaries and land management plans. No decision on the designation has been made.

Campbell said in September 2018 the ministry reached out to Grassy Narrows about an additional permit application — not one of the eight permits that cover 42,000 acres — that overlapped Grassy Narrows territory according to the old map. He said there was no response.

Fobister said Grassy officials never received any correspondence on the application.

Eight recently approved mining permits collectively cover more than 42,000 acres, about a third of which falls within Grassy Narrows' area, according to the First Nation.

The ministry approved that permit in 2019.

“In general, it is not honourable to send a letter to a community in crisis and then to charge ahead with potentially damaging industrial activities if you don’t hear back,” Fobister said.

Grassy Narrows officials say they requested dispute resolution under the Mining Act as a response to an email from the ministry staff inviting discussion on the map for the Indigenous protected area.

The invitation came June 25 — more than a year after the first of the eight permits was approved — and after the Indigenous community repeatedly wrote to the ministry for information about the permits.

Minister Greg Rickford has agreed to meet Grassy Narrows officials to discuss dispute resolution and the early exploration permits in question.

Ontario approved these exploration permits at a time when Grassy Narrows saw a surge in active mining claims.

An April 2021 Torstar investigation found the area covered by mineral claims had expanded fourfold on Grassy Narrows territory since October 2018, when the First Nation made a land declaration banning industrial activities — including mineral staking and mining — on its territory.

The Doug Ford government came under fire for facilitating mining on the territory while alleged mercury dumps upstream have not been excavated.

A ministry spokesperson had attributed the increase in gold claims to soaring mineral prices as well as the discovery of gold on a nearby property in 2018. He also noted that the overwhelming majority of claim registrations and exploration projects do not result in an operating mine.

Toronto Star investigations have previously identified two suspected mercury dump sites upstream from the Indigenous community, where residents have long suffered mental and physical health problems due to mercury poisoning.

Fish near Grassy Narrows remain the most contaminated in the province, and scientists strongly suspect that old mercury still contaminates the mill site and pollutes the river.

The spokesperson said the ministry is holding mill site owner Domtar responsible for assessing the extent of mercury contamination in and around the site.

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Vegan Glitter Is Here and Now We're Never Going to Be Rid Of It

Instead of vanquishing glitter, scientists just made it biodegradable. Thanks?

By Andrew Liszewski


“The photograph shows three vials containing an ensemble of photonic CNC particles dispersed in three different solvents: water, water: ethanol and ethanol. The particles are the same in the three vials, the colour difference between the three vials results from the ability of water to swell the structure of the particles. Higher water content means greater swelling of the cholesteric structures and a redshift of the colour of the particles.”
Photo: Benjamin Droguet


The only thing worse than getting a year older on your birthday is opening a card to find someone has hi-lariously pranked you with a mountain of glitter. It’s not only annoying, the stuff is bad for the planet—or at least it was. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have created a non-toxic vegan glitter alternative that ensures those shiny little particles aren’t going anywhere.

We now know that the thousands of tons of microplastics used in products like cosmetics and face-scrubbing soaps are especially bad for the environment, but not before the tiny non-biodegradable particles found their way into our oceans, our national parks, and even plants. It’s a serious pollutant we may never be able to clean up at this point, but we can work toward completely eliminating the production and use of microplastics.

Modern glitter is an absolute nightmare on many levels, and not just because it seems to end up on everything long after someone opened a sparkly birthday card or took their macaroni art to the next level. It’s made from tiny flecks of plastic and aluminum and is not only difficult to assemble, but requires a lot of energy to produce, including a trip through an incredibly hot energy-hungry furnace to make it shiny and reflective.


The photograph is a close-up of the glass slide that has been covered with gold flakes with high lighting contrast and observed at larger angle.
Photo: Benjamin Drouguet

The obvious and ideal solution would be to ban glitter forever, but now that’s not going to happen thanks to a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge. (Insert a sarcastic “thanks!” here.) In a recently published paper, the team details a new approach to creating glitter-like particles from “colloidal particles of cellulose nanocrystals” which are sourced from the cellulose building blocks of trees, plants, and fruits and vegetables. Instead of using pigments or dyes to generate color, it’s the structure of the nanocrystals themselves that bend and reflect light to produce vibrant and visible shades in a similar technique to how peacock feathers and butterflies produce their vibrant colors.

Even if these non-toxic vegan glitter particles lasted for a billion years, their color would not fade or change, assuming the physics of light in our universe remain the same. But these particles won’t be around that long because they’re completely bio-degradable and will eventually just break down when discarded. This type of glitter is also easier to manufacture, as the researchers have developed a process where a cellulose solution is applied to a thin material that can then be peeled away when it’s completely dry, leaving a film that can be ground up to produce a desired consistency of glitter. One day your anger toward a friend who filled a birthday card with glitter will still be completely justified, but maybe you’ll be slightly less furious—you know, for the environment.

Glitter is an environmental disaster. So scientists invented an eco-friendly version

Don't worry -- it's just as annoying as it has ever been.

Monisha Ravisetti
Nov. 11, 2021 

Normally, glitter microplastics pollute oceans and slowly enter the food chain. Scientists are rethinking the sparkly decoration and producing the environment-friendly glitter above.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge

We have a love-hate relationship with glitter. It's undeniably sparkly, cute and festive. But dip your hand into a jar of the iridescent plastic particles, and you'll spend the next year finding specks of it in surprising places.

Those places could range from your hair and clothes all the way to oceans and lakes, where microplastics, or minuscule nonbiodegradable bits like glitter, become an environmental hazard.

Nevertheless, glitter continues to adorn the shelves of art studios, appear in cosmetics and star in holiday wrapping paper. That's why scientists from the University of Cambridge have invented an eco-friendly alternative inspired by fresh fruit and nature's own glimmery structures: butterfly wings, peacock feathers and buttercups.

The glistening invention is even vegan, as opposed to some other cosmetic glitter products that include glycerin, which is derived from animal fats.

"It will be just as annoying -- but it won't harm the planet and is safe for your little ones," Silvia Vignolini, a professor at Cambridge's Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, said in a statement. She's the senior author of a paper on the sustainable glitter published Thursday in the journal Nature Materials.


The glitter is vegan.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge

Instead of building glitter from toxic plastic, her team created thin, shimmery films from cellulose, a material found in the cell walls of plants, vegetables and fruit. They put the cellulose into the form of nanocrystals, which dictate the film's color through a phenomenon called structural coloring.

A shimmery film of nanocrystals will soon become beautiful and glimmery specks.
Benjamin Droguet

With structural coloring, the angle of the nanocrystals forces light to scatter in a particular way, emitting a certain color. It's the same thing that happens with butterfly wings and other beautiful features of nature, which is why some sparkly insects seem to change color when exposed to different types of lighting.

Traditional minerals used to produce color typically must be heated to a whopping 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 degrees Fahrenheit), said Benjamin Droguet, a researcher in the Cambridge chemistry department and first author on the paper. As you might imagine, that heating process takes up a ton of energy and indirectly harms the planet through the use of fossil fuels.

"Conventional pigments, like your everyday glitter, are not produced sustainably," Vignolini said. "They get into the soil, the ocean and contribute to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realize that while glitters are fun, they also have real environmental harms."

Once the team's opalescent film is ground up, the resulting nontoxic, glimmery grains are identical to plastic, hazardous glitter. They might even have a leg up. Unlike normal glitter, the vivid color won't fade even after a century, the researchers say.


A closeup of the team's gold glitter.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge

The mechanism of generation can also be easily scaled up, they say, ensuring that industrial equipment can replace toxic glitter with the biodegradable form for commercial use.

Aside from the issues related to pigments, microplastics like familiar glitter are also unsafe for the environment. They aren't biodegradable, so they end up clogging sewage pipes, hurting marine animals and even entering the human body.

A coating of the team's novel glitter on a wood plank.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge

While glitter on its own doesn't comprise a significant portion of microplastics in the ocean, its limited quantity has allowed it to escape scrutiny even though it's part of the bigger problem. Recently, makeup companies have attempted to cut back on their use of glitter to prevent adverse ecological consequences, but unfortunately, experts in the cosmetics industry have struggled to reach consensus on environmentally friendly, yet glittery, cosmetic products.

Said Vignolini, "We believe this product could revolutionize the cosmetics industry by providing a fully sustainable, biodegradable and vegan pigment and glitter."

First published on Nov. 11, 2021 at 9:32 a.m. PT.
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Humans Have Broken One of The Natural Power Laws Governing Earth's Oceans


(Má Li Huang Mù/EyeEm/Getty Images)


TESSA KOUMOUNDOUROS
12 NOVEMBER 2021

Just as with planetary or molecular systems, mathematical laws can be found that accurately describe and allow for predictions in chaotically dynamic ecosystems too – at least, if we zoom out enough.

But as humans are now having such a destructive impact on the life we share our planet with, we're throwing even these once natural universalities into disarray.

"Humans have impacted the ocean in a more dramatic fashion than merely capturing fish," explained marine ecologist Ryan Heneghan from the Queensland University of Technology.

"It seems that we have broken the size spectrum – one of the largest power law distributions known in nature."

The power law can be used to describe many things in biology, from patterns of cascading neural activity to the foraging journeys of various species. It's when two quantities, whatever their initial starting point be, change in proportion relative to each other.

In the case of a particular type of power law, first described in a paper led by Raymond W. Sheldon in 1972 and now known as the 'Sheldon spectrum', the two quantities are the body size of an organism, scaled in proportion to its abundance. So, the larger they get, there tend to be consistently fewer individuals within a set species size group.

For example, while krill are 12 orders of magnitudes (about a billion) times smaller than tuna, they're also 12 orders of magnitudes more abundant than tuna. So hypothetically, all the tuna flesh in the world combined (tuna biomass) is roughly the same amount (to within the same order of magnitude at least) as all the krill biomass in the world.

Since it was first proposed in 1972, scientists had only tested for this natural scaling pattern within limited groups of species in aquatic environments, at relatively small scales. From marine plankton, to fish in freshwater this pattern held true – the biomass of larger less abundant species was roughly equivalent to the biomass of the smaller yet more abundant species.

Now, Max Planck Institute ecologist Ian Hatton and colleagues have looked to see if this law also reflects what's happening on a global scale.

"One of the biggest challenges to comparing organisms spanning bacteria to whales is the enormous differences in scale," says Hatton.

"The ratio of their masses is equivalent to that between a human being and the entire Earth. We estimated organisms at the small end of the scale from more than 200,000 water samples collected globally, but larger marine life required completely different methods."


Using historical data, the team confirmed the Sheldon spectrum fit this relationship globally for pre-industrial oceanic conditions (before 1850). Across 12 groups of sea life, including bacteria, algae, zooplankton, fish and mammals, over 33,000 grid points of the global ocean, roughly equal amounts of biomass occurred in each size category of organism.

"We were amazed to see that each order of magnitude size class contains approximately 1 gigaton of biomass globally," says McGill University geoscientist Eric Galbraith.

(Ian Hatton et al, Science Advances, 2021)

Hatton and team discussed possible explanations for this, including limitations set by factors such as predator-prey interactions, metabolism, growth rates, reproduction and mortality. Many of these factors also scale with an organism's size. But they're all speculation at this point.

"The fact that marine life is evenly distributed across sizes is remarkable," said Galbraith. "We don't understand why it would need to be this way – why couldn't there be much more small things than large things? Or an ideal size that lies in the middle? In that sense, the results highlight how much we don't understand about the ecosystem."


There were two exceptions to the rule however, at both extremes of the size scale examined. Bacteria were more abundant than the law predicted, and whales far less. Again, why is a complete mystery.

The researchers then compared these findings to the same analysis applied to present day samples and data. While the power law still mostly applied, there was a stark disruption to its pattern evident with larger organisms.

"Human impacts appear to have significantly truncated the upper one-third of the spectrum," the team wrote in their paper. "Humans have not merely replaced the ocean's top predators but have instead, through the cumulative impact of the past two centuries, fundamentally altered the flow of energy through the ecosystem."

(Ian Hatton et al, Science Advances, 2021)

While fishes compose less than 3 percent of annual human food consumption, the team found we've reduced fish and marine mammal biomass by 60 percent since the 1800s. It's even worse for Earth's most giant living animals – historical hunting has left us with a 90 percent reduction of whales.

This really highlights the inefficiency of industrial fishing, Galbraith notes. Our current strategies are wasting magnitudes more biomass and the energy it holds, than we actually consume. Nor have we replaced the role that biomass once played, despite now being one of the largest vertebrate species by biomass.

Around 2.7 gigatonnes have been lost from the largest species groups in the oceans, whereas humans make up around 0.4 gigatonnes. Further work is needed to understand how this massive loss in biomass affects the oceans, the team wrote.

"The good news is that we can reverse the imbalance we've created, by reducing the number of active fishing vessels around the world," Galbraith says. "Reducing overfishing will also help make fisheries more profitable and sustainable – it's a potential win-win, if we can get our act together."

Their research was published in Science Advances.
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