Ocean Acidification

Picture taken by Anonymous

"Instruments within tent chambers help gauge the health of coral reefs."

A group of researchers headed by Nichole Price at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography located in UC San Diego are researching the acidification of today's oceans. Specifically researching the affects of acidification of the health of coral reefs. Acidification is the process by which the pH of seawater is increased due to carbon dioxide intake increasing. A raise in carbon dioxide intake could result in massively negative affects that could "reverberate across coral reef ecosystems and extend to the human societies that depend on [the coral reefs]."

Picture taken by Anonymous

Another picture of "instruments within tent chambers help gauge the health of coral reefs."

The study was conducted in two different primary areas: uninhabited and inhabited reefs. Tents, as seen above, contained instruments that would take pH readings every 5 minutes for 24 hours. The researcher team used "feedbacks to ocean chemistry at the Line Islands through field deployments of school desk-sized, pyramid-shaped tents over diverse coral reef 'footprint' areas" to determine responses to pH changes. The researchers found that pH changes happened daily. Acidification of these waters could result in a severe change in the range of pH swings exhibited on the ocean floor.  

Price believes that "the localized human influence and related stressors such as fishing and pollution can change the living function of the reef to compound the impacts due to global change."

Original Article: http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=1310

DOR-E: Deep Ocean Remus

"Using techniques borrowed from how whales hunt, a new underwater exploration device can scan vast areas of the ocean and tell us about ecosystems of which we have hardly any understanding."

Modeled after whale hunting patterns and techniques, the Deep Ocean Remus, (also known as DOR-E), will be used to research and explore the deepest areas in the ocean. Kelly Benoit-Bird along with a group of fellow researchers and oceanography experts from Oregon State University, built the DOR-E from a Remus torpedo. The Remus torpedo is favored by the American Navy, is about 16 feet long, and uses sonar.  It can be seen below:



The DOR-E will be a technological advancement in the world of oceanography, because it will be able to "use a two-frequency system to transmit and receive sound waves as it dives up to 2,000 feet.".  The DOR-E will be autonomously run, and will map the ocean floor.

                                                      (Picture from original article)
The focus in regards to marine life, will be on squids; a favorite Subject of Bird's. She believes that the DOR-E will aid in the tracking and measurements of deep sea squids. Other experts were hesitant and believed that "sonar would never pick up squids’ gelatinous bodies, since they lacked air-filled swim bladders." Bird provided them wrong by successfully tracking the size and movements of deep ocean squids. She even managed to attain information about jumbo squids in the Gulf of California.

Overall, the future of DOR-E in oceanography research is promising. Technology such as this provides viewpoints into natural areas, where humans could not go.

Original Article: http://www.fastcoexist.com/mba/1680893/an-autonomous-sub-speaks-whale-to-explore-the-deepest-ocean

Goby Rescue: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Coral and Fish

Fish Rescue: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Coral and Fish


According to scientists and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the inch-long fish known as "gobies, respond to the chemical signals from the coral in a matter of minutes." Certain types of coral can send out chemical signals that act like calls for help to fish “bodyguards” when they are being attacked or feel threatened. Gobies are among the types of fish bodyguards that respond to these signals and sometimes minimize the threat. A common threat to coral is toxic seaweed. Once the gobies receive the signals, they can trim back the poisonous seaweed. The researchers studied Acropora nasuta, a species of coral that is key to coral reef ecosystems.

The gobies form the family Gobiidae. The Gobiidae family is one of the largest families of fish, with more than 2,000 species. Gobies grow to 4 inches long on average, but can reach up to 12 inches in length. Different species of gobies can be found in freshwater, saltwater, or brackish water. The majority of the goby species"spend their entire lives in the crevices of specific corals, receiving protection from their own predators while removing threats to the corals."

Original Article: http://personalliberty.com/2012/11/12/corals-use-chemicals-as-911-calls-to-fish/

Culling Invasive Species From Yellowstone Lake

Culling Invasive Species From Yellowstone Lake

(Pictured Here; Yellowstone Lake)

In an effort to reduce the amount of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, officials have allowed fisheries to fish and cull over 300,000 trout this year, alone. The lake trout is an invasive species of trout that “has decimated populations of cutthroat trout, which are native to Yellowstone Lake.” The lake trouts, also known as mackinaws, were introduced illegally to Yellowstone Lake. The cutthroat trout are a key fish species in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystems. Officials say that about 224,000 lake trout were fished from Yellowstone Lake in 2011. This reduction in the invasive species has allowed some small ‘breathing room’ for the cutthroat trout to hopefully start replenishing the population.

(Pictured Here: a lake trout)

The officials from Yellowstone Lake were so pleased with the amount of invasive trout culled, that they “plan to hold netting at current levels into the near future.” Although 224, 000 lake trout were caught last year, the total kill for the ten years is only 500,000. The cutthroat trout are important to the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem because of food source they provide to the predators. Prior to the introduction of lake trout, cutthroat trout would swim up small streams in the thousands each spring to spawn. This spawning time "made them an easy catch for predators, and cutthroat were once an important food source for grizzly bears, bald eagles, ospreys and river otters."

Original Article: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/55263455-68/lake-yellowstone-trout-cutthroat.html.csp

Bull Sharks: Strongest Bite in the Sea

(Picture of a Bull shark taken by unknown photographer)

United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization states that there are 354 species of sharks, ranging in length from 6 inches (15 centimeters) to 49 feet (15 meters). Of all these predators, the bull shark has the strongest bite. According to U.S. researchers and European colleagues across the world, the bull shark has the strongest bite of any shark. University of South Florida professor, Maria Habegger, stated that "bull sharks, in relation to their body size, bite harder than other, larger predatory sharks". Bull sharks can reach a length of 12 feet and are found in warm, shallow waters. Bull sharks have also been found in both brackish and freshwater systems, such as rivers. They are named for their "large, stout heads and aggressive behavior." They are apex predators and rarely are attacked by other organisms. The collection of researchers "analyzed the bite forces of 13 species of shark" and determined through the "examination of the jaws and jaw muscles, that bull sharks can bite with more than 1,300 pounds of force."Bull sharks are known to prey on dolphins, turtles and other sharks.

Original Article:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/10/15/Study-Bull-sharks-have-strongest-bite/UPI-49291350328002/?spt=hs&or=sn

Odontosyllis- Bioluminescent Worms

Scientists have identified the green glow seen by Christopher Columbus over 500 years ago as Odontosyllis- a genes of worms commonly known as fireworms.  These bioluminescent worms are the source of the "circular mating dance before the twice-monthly quarter moon", that are often mistaken for reflections from the night sky. The worms reach up to 15 millimeters in size and are found in shallow coastal areas. These areas include the coastes of Southern California, Puerto Rico, Belize, Bermuda and sometimes British Columbia. Scientists suspect that their diet consists of coral and sponges found on the ocean floor.
(Photo taken by Dimitri Deheyn/Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

Dimitri Deheyn of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography stated that the "females swim in luminescent two-inch circles, while the males follow them, glowing in bursts of light." The breeding show only lasts for 20 to 30 minutes after sunset, so as to not attract predators. Scientists have identified the source of their bioluminescence as photoproteins.  These photoproteins are being applied to medical studies in hopes that the genes responsible for photoproteins will illuminate cancer cells or apoptotic cells.

Original Article:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/a-mysterious-light-gleamed-as-columbus-drew-near/

Exploring the Tonga Trench

The Tonga Trench in the South Pacific is the second deepest trench in the world, only beaten out by the Mariana Trench. The Tonga Trench is 35,700 feet deep at it's deepest point, only 56 feet less than the Mariana Trench. The goal of exploring the Tonga Trench is to gain a better understanding of the deep sea ecosystem. The Tonga Trench, along with other deep sea trenches, are home to a unique set of organisms that can withstand the immense pressure and extremely low water temperatures. The water is about 34 degrees Fahrenheit- on the verge of freezing.

A very talented and experienced group of scientists and graduate students journeyed to the South Pacific to collect data. The scientists originally planned to use wires to measure pressure, temperature, and take samples, but the trench is so deep that there were no wires long enough to reach the required depth. Instead, the team used deep sea robots that were able to take pictures and collect water samples. After the robot was done sampling, it would release it's ballest weights and float to the surface. The robots also "recorded ambient sound in the deep ocean and...[retrieved] 5-foot cores of mud from 30,000 feet." The samples were then "stored at pressures equivalent to the deep sea, and at fridgelike temperatures to keep the microbes intact and alive to be studied."

Overall, it was a successful expedition, and there is much to be learned from the data collected.

A picture of a team of scientists retrieving one of the deep-sea robots from an 8-hour sampling trip.

Original Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57519761/dipping-into-the-deep-mission-explores-tonga-trench/

Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS)

A new project titled "Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS)" has begun in the North Atlantic Ocean in order to understand the increase in salinity in the world's oceans.

The study will be completed over a three week period and will travel around the North Atlantic Ocean. The study will take place aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's (WHOI) ship, 'Knorr'. The researchers "hope [that] research like this will offer insight on the dynamics behind the dramatic changes in the ocean's salt content."

There has been a significant increase in salinity in the world's oceans over the past 50 years. Computer programs run in order to predict weather and climate changes have not accurately predicted the severe increase in salinity that has occurred these past 50 years. Scientist's believe global warming has resulted in "an increase in evaporation". This increase in evaporation results in the salt (and other substances of the oceans) being left behind, which increases the salinity of the remaining water. Not only is evaporation a possible cause for the salinity changes but, "such factors as winds can also contribute".

Data will be collected using the WHOI's advanced technology, including "a variety of drifting, remotely operated and moored sensors."Data from satellites will also be collected in order to compare temperature and salinity.



"The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Knorr docked before its scheduled departure on Sept. 6 to study salinity in the mid-Atlantic ocean."

Original Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/ocean-salinity-nasa_n_1871011.html?utm_hp_ref=green

AGOR 27: The Future of Research Ships

On Aug. 17, 2012, construction on the AGOR 27 and AGOR 28, two new high-tech oceanography ships, began in Dakota Creek, Washington. Woods Hole Oceanography Institute and the U.S. Office of Naval Research will be operating these ships in order to gain a better knowledge of the vast ocean that still has yet to be fully explored. The ships are expected to be finished in late-2014. 


WHOI is a leading institute in oceanography studies, and currently operates numerous oceanography-research vessels, as well as submersible vehicles.

The first ship, AGOR 27, "will represent the latest technology and will serve a pressing need for a general-purpose ship based on the East coast of the United States." The design will allow for the ship to "sail at a sustained speed of 12 knots with 20 berths allotted for crew members and 24 for scientists." One reason why oceanography is the future of the humanity is the simple fact that up to 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast. A better knowledge of the oceans will also provide more information and data that could help in future military-related missions. Newer, more technologically advanced ships are better because they replace "the currently aging ships with vessels of global endurance, current technological capability, and optimized number of science berths."


Picture representation of the AGOR 27

Original Article:
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/construction-begins-on-newest-ocean-research-ship