Marine Biology

Shark Tales!

meyekyl — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:22:24 +0000

Great white sharks, not the most beautiful thing in the sea but captivating all the same. This article tells the tale of biologist Greg Skomal and his search for answers about the lives of the deadly great whites off the coast of Monomoy Island. The plan was simple; attach electronic tags to five great whites and then watch as they travel. Vital research information such as when their surfacing schedule is, and tracking their thousand mile trek southward. The first shark was tagged off the coast Chatham in September where it hung around New England for awhile. It stayed in and around the cost of Nantucket until rapidly traveling south. This sudden change has been equated as a sudden cold snap that disagreed with the great white. in November the shark reached Virginia Beach. By December it reached the shores of Jacksonville, it must have found this area of nominal conditions as it didn’t stray past Daytona Beach.

This information I found particularly surprising as I had assumed that great whites were well studied as far as their traveling habits. Apparently I was wrong.

The only question I have to ask is:

At what point in the year would the sharks begin traveling back to New England.

A restoration project that makes little sense

mcgipat — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:20:38 +0000

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?

SMART ROBOT!

tabiarl — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:15:50 +0000

I read in this article that Scientists in the U.S are using an underwater robot that can plan its own experiments on the sea floor. This robot is called the Gulper AUV, its programmed to look for the information that scientists want and also to plan its own route, while avoiding hazardous currents and obstacles. The AUV will be able to dive and explore places underwater where no man was able to go. The AUV will be able to take scientific research notes while it is exploring the ocean. the AUV uses a program called “t-rex”.

utonomous underwater vehicle, (AUV) is an unnmanned probe designed for under water research, the AUV will be able to dive and explore places underwater where no man was able to go.

The AUV will be able to take scientific research notes while it is exploring the ocean. the AUV uses a program called”t-

Do you think this is a good idea?

How long do you think this took to construct?

ANCIENT CORAL

barbarn — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:14:04 +0000

From: http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2010/03/100301182106-large.jpg

In this article that I read that reef ecosystems were able to continue through massive environmental changes forced by sharply falling sea levels during previous ice ages, an international scientific team has found. Also I learned that they have studied 8 fossils reefs in Papua New Guinea’s Huon Gulf region. Another thing I learned is that Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are showing signs that coral reefs might be able to withstand today’s human activity.

Do you think that Coral reefs will be able to withstand today’s human activity?

Do you think that these studies will be important for the future?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100301182106.htm

A Red Outlook

erbekay — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:11:34 +0000

This article describes a recent release by the scientists of the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity project. They issued an outlook for a huge regional bloom of red tide along the northeastern coast.

The toxic algae Alexandrium fundyense swims through the water and divide multiple times until they “bloom”. Those organisms that do not bloom become cysts that lie dormant in the ocean bottom. A cyst survey conducted late in 2009 revealed the highest amount of cysts the NOAA team had ever collected, up 60% from the prior historic high of red tide in 2005.

In order to protect public health, the shellfish beds are closed during blooms. The 2010 bloom is expected to reach from the Gulf of Maine down towards the waters near Massachusetts. Since the bloom is projected to be so large, it is a huge potential threat to the New England shellfish industry.

Are there any ways to slow the spread of red tide?

Are there any other areas that are expecting record red tide blooms?

Garbage Island…future paradise?

alleern — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:10:25 +0000

In this article I read about a huge garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about the size of the continental U.S. About 80% of this comes from land and it’s estimated that there’s about 100 million tons of debris. The remaining 20% comes from cruise ships and other boats, a cruise ship drops off about 8 tons of solid waste weekly. A lot of the plastics that don’t biodegrade just break up and are ingested by the marine life which could lead to problems in the ecosystem.

Shark Ring

baliset — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:09:53 +0000

Two local divers Chip Garber and John Dickinson were diving off the coast of Palm Beach Florida when they seen a shark at the bottom of the ocean floor at what they thought was dead. Dickinson went up to the animal and grabbed it by the tail, but the shark swam away a little bit. While it was swimming away they both seen that the shark had a Frisbee kind of ring stuck around its neck. They both decided that it would be a good idea to help the shark out. So Chip grabbed the shark by the tail and wrestled his way up the shark. After a tough tussle he finally got the ring off its neck. The ring was making it so it couldn’t eat, so it was slowly dying. Hopefully the shark will begin eating again and live a long healthy life,” says Dickinson. This is a very good story and its very cool they did this but it is terrible how polluted the water is.
My questions are can we have even more people trying to stop this pollution? And my other question is how many other animals are suffering my stuff like this?

I got this information at http://www.wptv.com/content/news/topstories/story/Local-divers-save-shark-frisbee-removed/7BmlaIvde0ed_WQTvtVdpw.cspx

Decreasing Sea Ice Stirs Up Arctic Ocean

borojen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:11:52 +0000

Science News discusses the normally still Arctic Ocean in the article, “Loss of Sea Ice Stirs Up Arctic Waters.” The Arctic Ocean usually does not mix because the wind, which would generally create internal waves, is foiled due to a shield of sea ice.

Strong winds are unable to trigger a response when the ocean is blanketed with ice. However, when the ice melts in the summer, the wind creates “large internal oscillations.” The area of sea ice that is present in the summer has dwindled recently because of internal waves. Due to this adaptation, the Arctic Ocean will experience changes. What types of changes will the Arctic Ocean encounter? How will this affect the already limited marine life?

Additional Information

Sea Stomper

platbla — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:10:44 +0000

I have recently read in this article http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100302083451.htm that the sea squirt can actually put a prevention on the spread of alzheimer’s disease by actually making a protein forming plaque that actually prevents the disease from spreading to any harsher more serious stages… lately I have had reason to believe for every land caused disease, in the water there is a cure for it… 70 % of the earth is water so 30 % of the earth is land… the ratio is about a 2/3 so for ever 1 disease I think there could be a cure.

1| Could sea squirts become extinct from over harvesting..

2| What is your opinion on Alzheimer’s?

Census discovers 5,000 marine species

brocchr — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:24:04 +0000

In this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8523389.stm

A lot of these new species are very colorful and weird looking. “The final report will be realesed in october 2010. This project has involved more than 2,000 scientists from 80 countries.” The researchers presented images of some very bizarre species in the last decade.some examples are:

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8523389.stm

Kiwa hirsuta, a crab that was so unusual it had to be in a whole new family designation, This member of the new Kiwaidae family of crabs.It’s named this because of it’s hair.

“Shirley Pomponi, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University, highlighted a new species of sponge. It was found in Florida Keys. Further investigation revealed that it produced a chemical with anti-cancer properties, which is now being investigated as a potential therapeutic.”

How could these discoveries help us?

How is this important?