North of the Galapagos islands, there is an active spreading center. What this means is that there is a lot of underwater volcanic activity that is occurring here. According to this article, a group of 3 scientists are going to be using the Alvin submersible to go and examine this underwater activity. One of the crew is also a journalist who is going to be covering the story. The exploration will take about a month.
They will be doing a few things while down there. They will be mapping the area, and they will be collecting various samples. This research is supposed to help give us a better understand of how underwater volcanism affects that area. This is helpful to know, because the area lies on a tectonic plate boundary, and is home to other interesting geologic features. The area is expanding, caused by lava creating new seafloor.
They will have the help of the Alvin submersible and its crew. With Alvin, they will be able to go down and physically examine the area, which could be more accurate than just sending a camera down. They will also use an unmanned underwater vehicle to scout areas of the underwater terrain that were previously unexplored. All of this is to help advance knowledge on the global effects of underwater volcanism.
Could this spreading center have long term effects on the Galapagos?
Could studying this location help us understand other areas of underwater volcanism better?
A group of scientists at UC Santa Barbara have been studying hydras, and have made some amazing and conclusive discoveries. According to the article, they were able to find how human vision has originated in these studies. Hydras are in the phylum cnidaria, which has been around for 600 million years. The people in the study found what they call the “genetic gateway” that allows these cnidarians to be light sensitive. Apparently, this same “gateway” is shared with humans.
According to Todd H. Oakley, who is an assistant professor in the UCSB department of ecology, evolution, and marine biology, “there are many genes involved in vision”. Apparently, there is an “ion channel”, which is responsible for that starting of the neural impulse which makes vision. This gene is found in vertebrates, and is call osprin.
Oakley said that “This work picks up on earlier studies of the hydra in my lab, and continues to challenge the misunderstanding that evolution represents a ladder-like march of progress, with humans at the pinnacle,” said Oakley. “Instead, it illustrates how all organisms –– humans included –– are a complex mix of ancient and new characteristics.”
Can any practical knowledge or use be gained from learning our beginnings?
Does this mean anything for our current theory of human evolution? Does this change what we though before?
In the challenger Deep, there are small single celled creatures that have been observed building home using materials that sink down there from by the ocean surface. According to this article, the zone that they are in goes from 6 kilometers deep to the deepest parts of the Mariana Tench.
These little home builders are called foraminifera. Professor Andrew Gooday of the National Oceanography Centre, in Southamptom, says they use a varied range of particles that they glue or cement together with their own organic matter. Observations of these organisms had shown that there were parts of organisms associated with shallower waters, which surprised observers. They had also found some shells which were pitted. They examined some of these pitted shells and found that there had been pieces of minerals that used to fill those holes, and had dissolved. After seeing all of these signs, they were able to conclude that the foraminifera build shells and they use particles that fall from above to do it. This using of what falls from above was even compared to using manna which came down from heaven.
Do we need to explore more of the deep ocean?
Can humanity ever benefit from deep ocean research?
According to this article, an an environmental group called SeaGrass Grow is mitigate destruction of seagrass beds caused by coastal construction projects. They want to fix a 95 acre area of seagrass.
According to Roy Lewis, president of the non-profit Coastal Resources Group, “I’m not against mitigation . . . but this type of restoration doesn’t make ecological sense”. In the 70’s and 80’s, he took part in the biggest seagrass mitigation project ever done in the Florida keys, and he believes that the bet method to fixing this, is to let scars heal, and keep boats off of the banks. Many people believe that it would be a waste of money for this environmental group to attempt to mitigate the seagrass damage themselves, and that is why they have already been denied funds in the past.
One of the problems is that there are going to be more and more coastal projects in the future, and some people believe that the only way to save the local marine fauna is for aggressive restoration to happen.
Should we assess the outcomes and costs of projects more harshly, so that money can be spent where it is needed?
Can any economical solution other than just preventing boats from going near the coast and destroying plants be used?
A new study claims that rising temperatures and acid levels in the ocean are causing coral reefs harm, and that coral reefs could be dissolved in only 100 years. Apparently, rising levels of carbon dioxide are what is causing ocean waters to become acidic. Dr Jacob Silverman from the Carnegie Institution, has done studies on this, and has concluded that if carbon dioxide levels reach 2 times as much as pre-industrial levels, coral reefs will stop being able to grow, and that they will start breaking up due to acid damage. Apparently this happens because the acid in the water prevents coral from being able to pull minerals out of the water to build their skeletons.
Using a global map and calculations, the people participating in this study have found that the point where oral reefs start disintegrating will probably be reached by the end of this century. Coral bleaching events have become more common.
Is there any way to keep water acidity from causing any further problems to coral?
Can anything be done to reverse the harmful effects of water acidity on coral that has already been damaged?
The article I read talks about how scientists are seeing if they can train octopuses to recognize which container out of many carries their preferred food. They Use little plastic eggs that are colored differently and have different textures to see if the octopus can learn which egg has what kind of food, and if it has a favorite food that it will go for instead of the other options available. This is helping us learn to what extent these animals can learn.
It excites scientists because they get to see the potential for real intelligence in a form of life that doesn’t even have a backbone. It also helps to tell us the habits of these animals, so we can better know them and study them later on.
I think that this is amazing. These octopuses do not even have a backbone, and appear to be pretty simple animals. However, despite the fact that they appear this way, they can easily learn more than something we could even teach a pet dog. I think that if we study this further, we could better learn how intelligence forms and evolves in other animals, especially in ones without backbones.
One of the questions I have is: How far does the intelligence of an octopus go? Can it learn more complicated tasks if we tried teaching it?
An artificial reef off the coast of Maui might be damaging live coral. The department of Land and Natural Resources has been submerging concrete modules to help build up an artificial reef and create a habitat for marine life.
Apparently, they have been dropped in the zone designated for artificial reef zone, but about 2 to 3 percent of the area might have live coral that could be destroyed by the artificial reef, which contradicts the point of building the reef.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?a71fe553-8b2d-419c-b1e4-099b3348d9e4
How badly could the area end up being affected?
Could the potential surge in marine life be worth the loss of the coral in that area?
In Oregon and Washington state, there is a very large algae bloom. It isn’t exactly known why the algae is blooming, but recent storms have whipped them up and pushed them onto the shore. When they are mixed into the water, the algae becomes sticky and soap-like. This is a problem because it can remove the waterproofing of seabirds. Without this waterproofing, the seabirds can get hypothermia.
This type of algae doesn’t pose a threat to humans, but it has a possibility of killing fish by clogging their gills up. So far, thousands of different birds have died because of the algae foam. The only way for a seabird to get its waterproof coating back is when volunteers from local wildlife shelters take them in, feed them vitamins and let them preen themselves while they sit in a freshwater tank.
Could this foam have any serious effects on the ecosystem?
Can anything really be done at all by humans, or are we only able to watch?
Recently, a nutritionist from James Cooks university, Dr. Tony Parker, believes he has a solution for the problem of a big cause of methane emissions. Methane is considered to be worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide is. Another thing to be considered, is that cows count for 20% of the methane emissions.
A study is going to be started, and they will see if cattle will be able to live off of a seaweed based diet. They believe that if the cows eat seaweed, their digestion will be improved, and the cows will produce less methane.
Not only will this reduce methane, but seaweed has been shown to be more healthy in general. Aquafarms use seaweed to clean their farms, and after they’re done, they have no use for the seaweed. With the “Reef and Beef” project, that seaweed will have a use other than just being thrown out. With seaweed being able to be sold for profit, this means that there will be more incentive for aquafarmers to use seaweed, which is more environmentally friendly, to clean their farms.
How might a change in diet such as this affect the quality of beef and other products collected from cattle?
Would this method of dealing with harmfuls emissions be considered a short term fix, or another step towards a permanent solution?
On Thursday, the first of October, Scuba divers for the non-profit group Palm Beach County Reef Rescue were in the water, when they stumbled upon a large field of coral. it turned out to be the largest field of staghorn coral in the county. This turns out to be significant, because officials have been debating over whether or not these should be considered protected waters, because, until now, there have only been small amounts of coral discovered.
According to other officials, this is coral that is uncommon to the waters of Palm Beach, Florida. The National Marine Fisheries Service, in the past, has designated around 1,300 miles of ocean floor as protected habitat, because it is critical for the survival of coral. People hope that this discovery will be reason for them to designate even more area for protection. Staghorn coral, as of 2006, has been designated an endangered species. NOAA even says that human activities have wiped out over 90% of the Staghorn coral since 1980.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2009/10/01/1001staghorncoral.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=76
How exactly have human activities been causing such large amounts of coral to die? Can any steps be taken to protect it other than designating protected areas?
They will be doing a few things while down there. They will be mapping the area, and they will be collecting various samples. This research is supposed to help give us a better understand of how underwater volcanism affects that area. This is helpful to know, because the area lies on a tectonic plate boundary, and is home to other interesting geologic features. The area is expanding, caused by lava creating new seafloor.
