How are Fishermen Changing the Genetics of the Ocean

A little while ago in my ecology of fishe course we discussed an interesting topic that has to do with both gentics and fisheries management. There are a great many fish that have been fished for a long time. Fishermen tend to fish for the biggest catch. The reason that this is such a problem, is that traditionally in certain species, there are a few genes that promote dwarfed sized fish. These dwarfed sized fish if mate with bigger fish will cause the resulting offspring to be much smaller than the big fish. Therfore as fishermen continue to overfish the big fish of different species, it is not only depleting the fish resource, but is caausing a shift in the allele frequencies of the dwarf fish genes in the population and thus the the trend observed in the oceans, are that there are not only far less fish available, but the majority of the fish are small. Just something to think about.

Coastal Barriers

There are three main types of coastal barriers that are formed. These include spits, barrier beaches, and barrier islands. All of these barriers are formed by similar processes, such as wave induced, tidal range, sea level rise, and fluvial sources. The only real fifference between the three structures has to do with the form of each. Spits are barriers that are attached to either the mainland or from and island (flying spits). One very local exmaple of a spit, is Buctouche spit, which is a great example for looking at the evolution of spits over time. The general premice, is that sediment is eroded from the proximal end (the end connected to land), this can include beach material as well as material from the dune. This sediment is then transported by longshore drift and is deposited on the distal end. As well a lot of sediment foes off shore and eventually is reworked to form new spits further down shore of the original. (Ollerhead and Davidson Arnott, 1995). Barrier islands are only really different from spits due to the fact that they are not connected to shore. This allows there to be many inlets in between barrier islands, which allow ocean water to move in to the back barrier environment. Barrier beaches are slightly different then bouth spits and barrier island in that they are completely made up of beach material and do not contain dunes. Therefore they are less protective structurs due to the absence of dunes. Barriers in general are very protective structures that protect lagon, ponds, salmarhes, and mangroves from intense wave and tide action that would normally occur along the coast. This allows for prime spawning grounds for many fish in these estuarine conditions as well as allows for the devlopment of larvae. Barriers unfortunately have been negatively effected by human greed, as dredging, building of causeways, and jetties have all caused changes to the system. Dredging which commonly occurs in the estuary hurts these fragile habitats as well as the reulting filling in of sediment for more recreational land changes the ecosystems present. Causeways can impede tidal flow and thus cause there to be a negative impact on the coasal geomorphology of barriers as well as on the biology that lives there. Things such a jetties cause the deposition of sediment in areas that it would normally not occur and thus can cause a negative sediment budget situation that may cause the continued erosion and eventual elimination of spits and the like, thus causing back shore areas to become exposed to natures whim.

Culinary Lab

Today in my Ecology of Fishes class we all had to bring a fish/invertebrate dish to share with the class. We also had to give a short presention on it. The dish that I prepared was Tuna pita pockets. I did a little bit of research to find out what species of Tuna it was(since they are all quite different), and found it to probably be the Skipjack Tuna. The reason I was able to decipher that this was the one, is from a number of things. First off the fact that it was really the only tuna species that tends to have pinkish meat was a huge clue. Secondly the fact that it is heavilly consumed in the United States was a further clue, as many Tuna species are only eaten in Japan. A third clue, was the fact that because it is the smallest tuna species, it is easy to make into chunks for canning purposes (which was what I used). These three things left me pretty certain that this was the Tuna species that I had made. one very important fact about this small Tuna (350mm long), is the fact that unlike other Tuna does not really impact Dolphins. The fact that it does not swin with Dolphins as many bigger Tuna species do almost guarantees that it be Delphin friendly (this was even on the package for the canned no name Tuna). A second interesting fact, is that this tuna is currently caught at 1.5 million metric tonnes per year and is probably the maximum that the world as an ecosystem can sustain and thus maked it a threatened species.

Some other important facts:
1) Most popular Tuna for consumption
2)Swims in upper layers of ocean
3)Highly migratory (found all over the worlds tropical waters)
4)Live on average about three years

Links:
1)http://www.atuna.com/species/species_datasheets.htm#Skipjack_tuna

Contaminants in an Arctic Shark

The only sharks found in the Arctic are so called sleep sharks. These include the Greenland shark which we heard about from the guest lecturer in Ocean Use and Management. These sharks are large (4-5 meters), and very slow moving. As we learned in class these sharks have been said to feed off of seals near sable island. They also feed off of flounders. There positioning in the Arctic food web was not known until very recently as they have not been very heavilly studied. Recent studies have shown thier tissue to contain a high level of organochlorine contamination. These are compounds that are long lasting pollutants and they concentrate as they move up the food web(bioaccumulation). What this means for the ecology of the species is that it is feeding at a high trophic level (fourth and fifth level). This is where the seals come in as they are at that trophic level. These sharks still tend to live a very long time, however the possible implications from the contaminents likely imapct tings such as reproduction and could have worst impacts in future generations.

Information found for this was from Fishes an introduction to Icthyology 5th edition, Peter Moyle.

Whale Sharks

The whale shark although imposing in size is a gentle, filter feeding animal. It is the largest known fish and for that reason alone it needs to be protected. This shark is found in tropical and warm temperate oceans (species range). It is both a pelagic species (feeding in open waters) and a benthic species feeding near the coasts.This shark has been found roaming about as far inland as estuaries and lagoons helping to show its great adaptablility to a multitude of habitats.This shark along with the megamouth and basking sharks is one of three known filter feeding shark species on Earth today. The Whale shark is commericially fished in many areas of the world and for that reason it is considered to be a vulnerable species.Although their enormous size Whale sharks are one of the most friendly creaturs in the sea and divers can play with these sharks with minimal risk of being injured. A magnificant species

Ancient Hurricanes

While searching throught the oceans channel link on Cathy's blog, I came accross an article that looked interesting to me. This article was all about how Ancient hurricanes can be used to presict the probablility of a certain magnitude hurrican occuring in the future. The part that I fund extremly interesting was their methodology for conducting this research. Basically they already had data showing hurricanes of the last 150 years but after hurricane Katrina, the notion of a category 5 hurricane making landfall on a place such as New Orleans along the gulf became a concern. The facts hurrican Katrina was a category 3 and no category 5 storm has made landfall around the gulf as far back as history can tell us (150 years). However Dr. Liu wanted to know what occured in the time before that with regards to the storm. This was accomplished by "pulling sediment cores from coastal lakes and analyzing the sand layers might give us the information" (http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=7778&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=), this along with things such as radiocarbon analysis allowed it to be shown roughly when hurricanes of certain magnitudes hav occured. The result 10-12 category 5 storms in the last 3,800 years. This means we have a percent chance of having a category 5 reach landfall along the gulf at a rate of 0.3 percent each year. WOW

Link: http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=7778&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

Heading for Troubled Waters?

In todays newspaper there was an article shown on the front page about a Dalhousie study which has sown support for the argument that the mass depletions of sharks will have huge impacts on other sea life. Just as you learn in intro biology courses it has been found that the reduction in shark species has resulted in booms in the populations of the things that sharks feed on. They have found that many small shaks, skate, and rays that normally large sharks would feed off of are undergoing an increase in numbers which in turn is depleting nutrients as well as many other smaller organisms. This article is great as it helps to show that the word is getting out to the public about the issues of shark hunting. As well t is great to see that there are many leading scientists working on this very important issue. The thing I find most interesting is the fact that there is actually an increase in numbers of many smaller species. I just didnt think that was the case and just goes to show that more research needs to be done. As well it is interesting that fundamental things learned in junior high such as food webs are basically the main science that is being studied by these main researchers. WOW we can all be scientists.

Link. Mail Star newspaper, Friday, March.30, 2007 Page A1 and B5

The Fisheries Museum in Lunenbourg

This past saturday in afternoon I attended a tour of the fisheries museum along with students from my Ocean Use and Management class. It was a little different then I expected (being that I had never been there before). I was truly amazed by the species of fish that they had in the bottom level of the museum, as well in particular by the aquarium in the center of the room that was simulating a marine environment with codfish, and flounders. In a way it was a bit disapointing that a lot of species that they normally have on hand during the season were not there; however I plan on making a trip back sometime this summer to see what it looks like at the heat of tourist season. As well it was a little frustrating that lots of the outdoor sections of the museum were not viewable. I know this would have added to the experience. Another thing that I really liked about the museum was how it seemed to hold true to the areas traditions and does not seem to be as heavilly dominated aby the tourism industry as others of its kind. Lets just hope that this museum stays open so that future generations can enjoy a little bit of history of Nova Scotia.

Some Of the Weird Species Found Recently In New Zealand

Link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3017078.stm

Fangtooth and his Friends

Weird ocean life surprises

By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor


New species of underwater life, including a giant sea spider and armoured shrimps, have been discovered by a expedition trawling in deep water northwest of New Zealand.

Behold fangtooth
Researchers on a joint NZ and Australian voyage also found deep-sea sponges and a prickly shark.

The scientists have just returned from four weeks aboard the Research Vessel Tangaroa collecting and photographing species at depths up to 2.1 kilometres (1.3 miles).

According to Mark Norman, of Victoria Museum in Australia, the survey around Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands was the most complex research expedition ever conducted in Australasia.

"Many species new to science were recognised, including new sharks and rays, redfish, rattails, and a range of invertebrates," he says.

Each way bet


The wonky-eyed squid
One newly discovered creature, called the fangtooth, has teeth longer than its head. To avoid piercing its own brain when it shuts its mouth, its teeth fit into opposing sockets.

The so-called viperfish has a hinged head and the coffinfish walks along the sea floor on short leg-like fins with a glowing lure on its head to attract prey.

They also found two rare spiked dogfish, a small type of shark, doubling the number of known specimens.

One of the strangest creatures was a Pacific spookfish which has a long snout that probes for electrical signals from its prey.


New species of armoured shrimps were found
There was also a squid, nicknamed the wonky-eyed jewel squid, which has a left eye much larger than its right eye. It seems that the big eye looks up for food while the small eye looks down for predators.

The spiders found on the sea floor are not related to terrestrial spiders. They have such small bodies that some of their internal organs are pushed down inside their hollow legs.

Work starts here

The strange characteristics of the new lifeforms are adaptations to conditions beneath kilometres of water where the pressure is hundreds of times greater than at the surface; and it is also completely dark.

The researchers also found a huge fossilised tooth of an extinct shark known as a megalodon. The tooth had been lying undisturbed on the sea floor for millions of years.

In total, 500 species of fish and 1,300 of invertebrates were discovered. It will take over a year to classify them all.


A spider but not as we know it
"We are only just beginning to understand our marine environment and voyages like this help us fill in pieces of the puzzle," says Australia's National Oceans Office deputy director Sean Sullivan.

"Scientists know roughly as much about Australia's ocean environments as we did about the Australian land 150 years ago."

The month-long voyage on the RV Tangaroa also found extinct volcanoes as they mapped the ocean floor during the 10,000-kilometre (6,200 miles) voyage.

Just another example of marine biodiversity that we never knew existed
STOP bottom trawling.

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

Today while talking to some students about their presentation on the Gulf of Mexico they mentioned the biological environmental condition known as hypoxia. I decided to look up some more info on this phenomena just to get a better understanding as I find biological processes very interesting.
First off, every summer in the Gulf of Mexico along the coast of Louisiana a zone called the dead zone forms. This so called dead zone is an area of oxygen depleted waters, and due to the need of oxygen to sustain most life many organisms just cannot live there. The cause of this condition is due to the Mississippi River depositing nitrogen into this area and it is a growing concern for commercial fishing, shrimping, and recreation. As well we as humans are largely responsible for this damaging condition, as we are the one responsible for putting excessive nitrogenous waste into the Gulf. thus I believe it is up to us to find a solution to this ecological problem.

Weapons-Grade Uranium

Russia Building Floating Nuclear Power Plant

A couple of weeks ago in my Ecology of Fishes course, we were given a handout of an article about how Russia was planning on building a floating nuclear plant. To me this raises many concerns, such as what will happen if there is an accident and nuclear waste will get into the oceans. A catastrophge at sea is avery real possibility as they would be using weapon grade uranium to generate electricity. The one key beneift to this would be the ability to provide remote regions with energy for their coastal communities; however I believe that the risk is just to hight to take.I agree that the concept is amazing as the new ship would be anchored along any coastline where there is no threat of a tsunami or hurricane and all that would have to be done is attach a few cables and done. As well many countries have already expressed interest in this new technology such as China, India, Indonesia, and states in the Persian Gulf.The environmental group Green Cross Russia not only believes that it is a danger to the worlds oceans, but also not in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Link:www.spiegal.html

Great White Shark

The great white shark is found in almost all coastal and offshore waters with a water temperature between 12 and 30 degrees C.The average length of a great white shark is 4-4.8 meters with a weight of 1500 to 2450 lbs. Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt.To more successfully hunt fast moving and agile prey such as sea lions, the poikilothermic great white shark has developed adaptations that allow it to maintain a body temperature warmer than the surrounding water. One of these adaptations is a "rete mirabile". Great white sharks primarily eat fish, smaller sharks, turtles, dolphins, whale carcasses and pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions. Great whites have also been known to eat objects that can't be digested. In great white sharks above 3.41 meters (11 ft, 2 in) a diet consisting of a higher proportion of mammals has been observed.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_white_shark
http://oceanlink.island.net/oinfo/biodiversity/Great%20White%20Shark/shark.html

Great Barrier Reef Down River

A stunning series of satellite imagery of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef released by the CSIRO shows for the first time visual confirmation of the theory that sediment plumes travel to the outer reef, and beyond.
The remotely sensed images, taken from February 9 to 13 this year, challenge conventional thought that sediment travelling from our river systems into the GBR is captured by the longshore current and travels no more than 10 to 15km offshore, affecting only the inner Great Barrier Reef Lagoon and the inner reef corals.
Images captured by CSIRO show large plumes of terrestrial material following unconventional patterns and travelling quite fast as far as 65 to 130km, to the outer reef and, in some instances, travelling along the outer reef and re-entering the reef.
The plumes are the result of heavy rainfalls in northern QLD around late January to early February 2007, with the resulting flood waters carrying a larger sediment load than during regular rainfall and river flow. As such floods have not occurred for a while the accumulated material in the creeks ands rivers coupled with increased sediment runoff from the land is causing a significant transport of terrestrial material to all areas of the affected reefs and reef waters.
Managers of the GBR have long been examining the effects of run-off of sediments, including pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, on the reef corals.
The images challenge the traditional school of hydrological modelling, which says sediment plume movement in the mid to northern GBR usually go north and never directly flow to the outer reef is spared the direct effects of such river floods.
“A re-think is needed now that we know where flood plumes go,” says CSIRO scientist Arnold Dekker, ”and what this means as organic micropollutants may be travelling to parts of the reef scientists hadn’t thought to look before.”
The images were taken from NASA’s MODIS satellite by GeoScience Australia’s Alice Springs site for a new product being developed by the Wealth from Oceans Flagship to track coastal and ocean events in real-time, building on the technology behind the successful SENTINEL bushfire tracking system.
While extreme coastal events have been captured by remote sensing before, this is the first time they can be seen and analysed straight after the event as there are now more satellites imaging the Earth and CSIRO has invested in fast information delivery systems.
by CSIRO

Link:
http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=7661&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

Hammerhead Sharks- Are They Misunderstood ?

When many people see a picture of a Hammerhead shark the first thing that comes to their minds are that the head of this shark is a powerful weapon used to kill. They could not be more wrong.The head of all nine known species of Hammerhead sharks are special in that it provides lift to keep the shark buyant and improves its swimming. It also extends the sharks sensory system as its eyes are placed very wide apart and can see more than a shark with a normal shaped head. These sharks are also extra sensitive with regards to their head due to their extension of their lateral line system(found along most fishes bodies)and their ampullae of Lorenzini. Even though these sharks do not use their head as a weapon they are still very fierce predators that feed on bony fishes, sharks, crustaceans, and sting rays. They us their ampullae of Lorezini to find their food and thus are alos a very efficient predator.

Some facts:
1)Of the 9 species of hammerheads 3 can be dangerous to humans (Scalloped, Great, and Smooth hammerheads)
2)Found in warm waters along coast lines and the continental shelf
3)2-6 meters in length.
4)They form schools during the day and go solo in the night
5)have very small mouths (bottom feeders)

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerhead_shark
http://www.sdnhm.org/kids/sharks/shore-to-sea/hammerhead.html

Check Out This Wave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vkwy2vdP4

How Important Are Tiny Krill To Ocean Turbulence

It has been studied this past september that the movement in coalescence of tiny Krill is very important in generating Ocean turbulence which results in the movement of nutrients from the deeper depths of the ocean to the surface. The study of this phenomena occurred in British Columbia and is the direct result of daily migration patterns of this animal from deep waters to surface waters for food. This mass movement of these tiny animals generates currents which upwell nutrients from the nutrient rich waters near the bottom of the sea floor. It was also found that gases such as Carbon Dioxide and heat were being cycled in the same way. It has not yet been documented how crucial this activity is for the ecosystems in these area; however it is likely of great significance as everything is in nature.
I personally believe that this is another great example of how there are likely so many processes that occuring in the oceans that we do not even no about. Things such as bottom trawling and dumping of toxic sewage into the oceans disturbs these ecosystems as well as a lot of the species that would normally have been there. What if humans wipe out or greatly diminish this tiny krill species? The entire ecosystem could be thrown out of whack as not only are these tiny creatures crucial as food and consumers but as shown have other effects on the ecosystem as well.

Link:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060921-krill-turbulence_2.html

Don't We Wish All Kids Were This Passionate About Global Warming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EaXwEIujvc

Shark Discoveries In Indonesia

March.2/2007 by CSIRO

At least 20 new species have been discovered in the first comprehensive survey of Indonesia’s sharks and rays since the 1850s.
The five-year survey of catches at local fish markets provided the first detailed description of Indonesia’s shark and ray fauna – information which is critical to their management in Indonesia and Australia.
Based on the survey’s findings, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has published a 330-page, full-colour, bilingual ‘field guide’ entitled: Economically Important Sharks and Rays of Indonesia.
“Indonesia has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark and ray fishery in the world, with reported landings of more than 100 000 tonnes a year,” says one of the guide’s co-authors, Dr William White of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. “Before this survey, however, there were vast gaps in our knowledge of sharks and rays in this region.
“Good taxonomic information is critical to managing shark and ray species, which reproduce relatively slowly and are extremely vulnerable to over-fishing. It provides the foundation for estimating population sizes, assessing the effects of fishing and developing plans for fisheries management and conservation.”
The survey represents the first in-depth look at Indonesia’s sharks and rays since Dutch scientist Pieter Bleeker described more than 1100 fish species in 1842–1860. Many of Bleeker’s proposed new shark and ray species were rejected by his peers who were skeptical of such high levels of diversity.
“The five-year survey of catches at local fish markets provided the first detailed description of Indonesia’s shark and ray fauna – information which is critical to their management in Indonesia and Australia.”
After more than 250 days ‘in the field’, Dr White and his colleagues agreed with Bleeker’s findings and uncovered further taxonomic riches.
From 2001–2006, they photographed and sampled more than 130 species on 22 survey trips to 11 ports across Indonesia. More than 800 specimens were lodged in reference collections at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense at Cibinong, Java, and the Australian National Fish Collection at Hobart.
Six of their discoveries have now been formally described. These include two species found only in Bali: the Bali Catshark and Jimbaran Shovelnose Ray, and one found only in West Papua: the Hortle’s Whipray.

I think this article is great as it shows that there are things being done to prevent the over exploitation of various marine species. As this article show it is being mapped what shark and ray species are in indonesian waters, as well as in what numbers. I believe this along with the continued study of the biology of marine mammals and their interactions with the environment (ecology) are crucial in developing good management decisions. Something needs to be done, we have gone far too long without truly understanding the results of our actions.

Link:

http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=7603&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

Shark Water- How Biased Is It

First off, I would like to say that the movie shark water is a very entertaining and informative movie that I believe holds a lot of potential with regards to improving the situation on the hunting of sharks. I personally believe it is great that this film allows for many people to see the tradgedy that is occuring with these remarkable fish, especially when it comes to informing the public about wasteful issue such as shark finning. On the other hand I think that a couple ill advised cheap shots were put into this video that were un- called for. One such thing was the fact that the seal hunt issue was quickly shown. The reason that this was such an inappropriate forum for this issue to be displayed is that they are not really related at all. The people clubbing seals are doing it legally as opposed to shark finning which is done illegally in many places, as well the seal hunt is a much more humane practice as the seals die relatively quickly as opposed to the shark hunt which occurs very slow and painfully for sharks as they are caught by long lines as well as their fins are cut off and they are thrown back into the ocean to slowly die. As well the seal hunt so far is a sustainable practice as the population numbers are so high and are likely not to dwindle much as opposed to sharks which have declined by about 90 % of their former number. These two issues are direct opposites and I believe that Rob Stewert should not have included it in his film. Another thing that I disagree with, was with regards to how the fishermen were portrayed. They were portrayed as evil and law breakers when in reality they are just poor people trying to make a living any way they can. I believe that it would have been much more effective for the Sea Sheppard and Stewart to go to the source of the problem (China ands its surrounding areas) to bring awareness to the people about how harmful things such as shark fin soup really are. Overall, I believe this film was great and should help very much with this issue; however I believe Mr. Stewart should have been more careful with how he portrays certain things as well as certain people.

Basking Sharks- Deep Sea Monsters?

Well, last night I went to see Shark Water and not only was I truly pleased with the film, but it also peaked my interest in sharks. In this film there was a lot of information of hammerhead sharks and sharks in general; however I found that I wanted to learn a little bit more about specific shark species. For today I am going to write a little bit about the Basking Shark. First off when someone looks at the Basking shark they instantly think monster. As with all sharks this is a misconception. A lot of the fear of Basking sharks stems from their appearance as a wide opened mouth shark waiting to swallow humans whole. As well if you look back in the history of sea monsters many people considered the Basking shark not a shark but a sea monster. Both of these things have contributed to the Basking Sharks image but they are just not true. To help debunk the sterotype on the Basking shark it is first very important to note that they are not big toothed animals. These creatures are filter feeders, feeding on small plankton as well as fish eggs and larvae. This is the total opposite of what many people believe, as they believe that the Basking shark is a huge carnivore that feeds on huge mammals. This is impossible as they do not even have big teeth.

Some facts on Basking Sharks:

1) Second largest fish in the world (whael sharks are first)

2) Can grow up to a length of 10 meters.

3) Slow swimmers, using their entire bodies to move (3 mph)

4) Females reach sexual maturity at 4-5 meters and give birth to live young

5) Pelagic animals occuring in warm coastal and cool temperate waters

6) Often stray inshore and spend most of their time near the surface of the water

7) Migrate to deeper water in winter

8) Common along the coast of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

Links:

1) http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/species/basking.html

2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basking_shark

3)http://www.baskingsharks.co.uk/

Global Warming and Pathogens

I hear from day to day a constant steady stream of information lately on global warming and how it will increase sea level rise do to melting glaciers, how we will be having more intense tropical storms and how the temperature is gonna cause certain animals to become extinct due to their degree of tolerable habitat ranges being destroyed due to continued warming. One thig that I do not hear much if any information about is the impacts of rising temperatures on pathogens. Many pathogens such as viruses and bacterium thrive in warmer climates (due to the quicker development of larval stages in warmer waters etc). Thus one could expect that this could have a profound impact on the arctic marine mammals in the north. This is magnified due to the fact that many terrrestrial species that have parasites living on them will migrate northwards due to their expansion of their tolerable habitat nranges due to global warming. These animals ca and will bring with them many diseases that coul wipe out entire species of organisms in the arctic. As well arctic ecosystems are fragile anyway due to their low degree of flux with regard to their climate, they are just not adaptable to large scale changes such as bioinvasion etc. I think we have a little more than meets the eye to worry about. its not just polar bears losing their habitat. All species will be affected (some for the worst and some for the better)

Arctic Ice Shrinking Faster Than We Thought- Satellites Show

A Nasa satellite has documented startling changes in Arctic sea ice cover between 2004 and 2005.
The extent of "perennial" ice - thick ice which remains all year round - declined by 14%, losing an area the size of Pakistan or Turkey.
The last few decades have seen summer ice shrink by about 0.7% per year.
The drastic shrinkage may relate partly to unusual wind patterns found in 2005, though rising temperatures in the Arctic could also be a factor.
The research is reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The change we see between 2004 and 2005 is enormous
The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the global average; and recent studies have shown that the area of the Arctic covered by ice each summer, and the ice thickness, have been shrinking.
September 2005 saw the lowest recorded area of ice cover since 1978, when satellite records became available.

Its absolutely alarming that this is happening. This will directly lead to so many problems from loss of habitat for many arctic mammals to massive sea level rise globally that could wipe out entire coastal communites. Just when we thought we knew how bad it was getting and we find out it is worst. Damn!

Link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5344208.stm

Some facts on Arctic fish adaptations to their environment

Arctic fishes have many physiological adaptations to help them cope with life in the cold environment of the arctic. The fats in their cell membranes are less saturated than those of southern fishes, a chemical exchange that is equivalent to replacing butter with olive oil – the latter remains more liquid when put in the fridge. This will thus allow fish in the arctic to be able to move much better then say if there cell membranes were more saturated with fats. The enzymes of arctic fishes also tend to be better able to carry out chemical reactions at low temperatures, which is another good example of an organism response to the ecological situation of living in the arctic. However, these cellular compensations are only partially effective. Arctic fishes have much slower metabolisms at 2ºC than southern fishes do at 20ºC. This is evident in the slow movements of many polar fishes, like sculpins, snailfishes, and eelpouts, which can be caught by hand, unlike their temperate counterparts. However, southern fish exposed to low temperatures have much lower metabolic rates than Arctic fish, which shows that although they are slower moving when placed into warmer waters they would actually be more active then temperate fish thus showing that their enzymes are allowing their metabolism to work much more effectively than their southern counterparts. Moreover, slow metabolic rates are not necessarily a disadvantage in cold environments. The slower you use energy means that less energy is required. Thus, arctic fish may benefit from their lethargic lifestyle as their lower energy requirements mean that they do not need as much food to survive and thus would be more adapted to food shortages. This is a great piece of information to know when it comes to the study of arctic biology which is my topic for the major research project in this course

Links

My physiology textbook and introductory biology textbook

Global Warming: "Is It Really Caused By Man"

Today the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change released a report stating among other things that they do not believe global warming can be reversed and that it is 90 % certain that global warming is the result of man (humans). I was curious and researched a little more into the topic and came across a very interesting article just published by the National Post, citing that global warming is not the result of man and that the answer to "global warming extends to mars" (National Post). Imediately I thought to myself how is this possible? Then i read a little further and the explanation came out. One key fact noted is that just like Earth, Mars is experiancing its warmest temperatures in decades as well their polar ice cap is shrinking. This is directly correlated to the same thing that is occuring on Earth. One key arguement stated is that Mars is experiancing a a very similar global warming event without the martians (in our case humans), nor the greenhouse gas increase. The explanation given for this is called a long term change in solar irradiance. It is stated that this change in solar irradiance from the sun is not only responsible for increased warming but also the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This occurs because the warming of the worlds oceans causes an increase in the release of CO2 into the atmosphere due to the capacity of warmer water to hold less carbon dioxide. Another key statement made is that solar irradiance will begin to fall and cooling will begin around 2012 and we will enter a mini ice age begining around 2050.

" Dr. Abdussamatov concluded. "A global freeze will come about regardless of whether or not industrialized countries put a cap on their greenhouse- gas emissions."

Just something to think about!

Links:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=edae9952-3c3e-47ba-913f-7359a5c7f723&k=0

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070202-09443400-bc-un-globalwarming-crn.xml

The Warty Frog-Fish "Antennarius maculatus"

This is a rather cool looking species of fish that is found often as a bottom dweller in indo-pacific waters. It is due to the fact that it is found in such deep waters that it is extremely rare to find. This species helps us show how by methods like bottom trawling, many species of fauna and flora found near the oceans floor may never be discovered. The common name for this fish is the Wart frog-fish and its taxonomic name is Antennarius maculatus. It can be found in a huge variety of colurs; however one common feature is that it is covered by warts. It is similar to other species with the common name frog-fish; however its distinguishing feature is its warts.

Links: www.deepseaimages.com

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/antennaridi/ANTAntennariusmaculatusen.htm

While researching for scientific articles to do with factors that effect marine mammals in the arctic for my major research paper, I came across a very interesting article on the predictions of the effect of climate change on arctic mammals. This to me caught my eye for two reasons; 1) I am very interested in general about global warming and its potential effects and 2) It was great to find a well written scientific article about something such as global warming and its impacts on some of my favorite things "Marine Mammals". This article also ties in many other factors that could affect the diversity and population numbers of marine mammal species such as, salinity, atmospheric pressure etc. Overall, I plan on heavilly using this article as one of my key resources for completing my major paper as I believe it greatly shows what maine mammals must deal witt in regards to climate change and its effects on the habitat and ecosystems of the marine life.

Bottom Trawling

Today while scouring the mail star newspaper I came accross an interesting article about industrial fishing and more specifically bottom trawling. This article focused on Marine biologist Boris Worm's opinion that a global marine apocalype will occur by 2050 if nothing is done to prevent it. One key point he makes is that we should be moving away from thing such as trawling as it not only destroys habitat but also promotes many by-catches in which many fish and marine life are killed without there actually being a use for them. This can occur from bottom trawling as because lots of fish and other things are trawled from the sea at such great depths, when brought to the surface its useless for fisherman to even thorow them back as they are already dead from the dramatic pressure differences from sea floor to the surface. Thus tons and tons of fish and other things go to waste everyday from these industrial methods. Dr. Worm does bring up one very easy solution in that people should return to hook and catch techniques. I believe that even though hook and catch techniques are not as efficient right now as the more high end industrial techniques, in the long run it will be more than worth it so that people of the future will not be left with a barren sea with no life.

Below is another great article I found while searching the web

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0216-05.htm

Just an Interesting Article

YELLOWKNIFE - Not long ago, John Robins quietly snapped up what could well be called one of Canada's hottest properties, even though it's so near the top of earth it's almost always frozen.
It's an uninhabited, 130-hectare island that he has all to himself, complete with thick-shouldered cliffs that look out on wild polar bears and some of earth's most pristine ocean waters.
And it only cost him $57, a modest price for a place that's been written up in many of the world's major papers: Hans Island.
''I'm thinking of starting a little tourist resort. You could be my first visitor,'' joked the Arctic prospector, speaking from his Vancouver office with Hunter Exploration Group.
''We're going to get some killer T-shirts made up, too: 'Hands off Hans Island','' he said, laughing.
Of course, Robins doesn't exactly own the island, a speck of barren land midway between Canada and Greenland that's just 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole and unremarkable save for one fact: both Denmark and Canada claim it as their own.
But on Feb. 1, Robins inked his own claim when Indian and Northern Affairs Canada awarded him a prospector's permit for the entire island. That gives him the exclusive right for five years to explore for treasure beneath its dark and windswept shores.
''Who knows, maybe there's a huge diamond mine lurking there,'' he said.
That may be a long shot but Robins, who obtained the permit through a paper application and has never been to Hans Island, is a serious prospector. In the past five years, his company has taken out permits on some 10 million hectares of Arctic land, including one plot that's now a prospective diamond mine.
He tacked on the Hans Island application to make both mischief and a statement.
''We weren't doing it completely on a lark. Part of it is the fact that it's a highly-contentious piece of ground, it was open and available for acquisition, so we did it,'' he said.
''But I feel that in the past our government has not done nearly enough to assert its sovereignty in the North. As Canadians, we tend too often to acquiesce to other countries' demands, and if you say something's yours then you better act like it's yours.''
Denmark, however, begs to differ.
''Our position on the sovereignty over the island is not changing,'' said Peter Taksoe-Jensen, the head of the legal service in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding Robins's permit ''was no surprise for us,'' since Canada and Denmark have agreed to notify each other over anything related to the island.
''This is an issue that has proven that the new procedure E is working,'' he said.
The dispute over Hans Island took hold in 1973, when Canada and Denmark failed to agree on who owned the island when they sat down to draw their international border. Instead they left Hans Island as a no-man's land, with the border line running up to the island's southern coast, disappearing, and then reappearing just off its northern coast.
Denmark, however, soon began securing its claim, ordering government representatives to plant the Danish flag. Canada responded last year, sending first a contingent of soldiers to erect a Canadian flag and stone inukshuk, then Bill Graham, the then-foreign minister. The dispute came to a head last September, when the two countries publicly agreed to resolve the issue.

I personally think that this article shows just how important defining things such as the oceans boundarys are. By having this to be more clearly defined I believe that it will only result in less confusion and more peace in general.

Source: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4bd93446-551a-4257-ad33-867b01c3afbe&k=45279

The Arctic

The other day in class i found out I was going to be doing my major research paper on the biology of the Arctic ocean. In my opinion this is a great topic , as because of the extreme climatic conditions in this area certain marine fauna and flora are found here that are completely different (physiologicallt and behaviourally) than any other spot on earth. I decided to start my research by just learning a little more about the arctic in general, as I feel that to truly underdtand the biological organisms in this area it is important to understand the environmental conditions that restrain them and that they must adapt to in order to live in this area. The first notable fact I found was that the Arctic ocean is unique in that it borders three amin continents of Europe, Asia, and North America. No other oceans border these three industrial and economic powerhouses and thus I believe it it important to note this. Another important fact to note when studying the marine organisms of the arctic, is that even though the climate of the area is very extreme it still has a very narrow temperature range. This is because of the latitudal position of the arctic ocean, and thus because of the relatively stable climate that this area has, minor fluctuations can have a dramtic effect on the fauna and flora of the area as they are not heavilly adapted to varying temperatures (they are adapted to cold and extreme, but not a wide variation around this). Another important note is that many of the marine mammals of this area are endangered. This ties into what perturbations in the ecological system are impacting it (humans, exotic species, climatic change etc.) As well if marine mammals are at risk then what will the futur hold for samller organism such as fish etc. (think food chains and trophic levels). Lots of very charismatic species are endangered in the arctic including beluga whales, and walruses. The ecosystem of the arctic is fragile due to many factors including species low tolerance to temperatur variation as well as ph.

All in all for my major research paper, I intend to focus on the ecology of the arctic ocean marine life (primarily mammals), and look at how the chemistry of the oceans impacts these organisms over time (evolution). This will promote a change in the allele frequencies of individual populations of species towards either extinction or adaptation. We must find out what is happening to marine species of the arctic.

Links

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xq.html

Why Sea Critters Go Where They Go?

While searching the various links on Dr.Conrad's blog, I came accross an interesting article titled "Why sea critters go where they go". This article was found on the ocean channel link, and talks about how the physical property of ocean temperature can have such a dramatic an influential effect on where marine animals will end up as well as how to manage them effectively. This study is being conducted at the University of North Carolina, and it looks at how temperature can alter the number and diversity of marine organisms in the sea. Temperature has been shown to have an effect on how far larvae will travel before they mature and make home. Larvae in colder waters tend to travel further than larvae in warmer water due to the animals physiological response with respect to their development, as in warmer water they develop sooner and thus dont travel as far. This holds important considerations for their survival as if they dont travel as far they may never reach where they are supposed to and may not have enough food and may die. This article greatly shows how when studying marine life and conservation it is important to know that many changing physical, and chemical properties not influenced so much by humans can have a profound imapct on species evenness and species richness in our oceans, as well as affect how we should manage them.

Linkhttp://www.ocean.com/resource.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=6803&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

Artficial Habitats- Effective or not?

Today in the newspaper there was an interesting article regarding work done by Marine biologist Glyn Sharp of B.I.O regarding the creation of artificial habitat for crustaceans to help battle their loss of habitat prompted by creation of wharfs, infilling, dredging and pipeline creation in coastal waters. They had intially hoped that this creation of artifial habitat made up of coral reef, would allow lobsters to have a new home. What they found however was that lobsters were not going to these areas, but still seemed to prefer rocky areas. This leads to the question of whether or not this means of sustainablility is effective or if it is a waste of time and resources is up for debate; however I personally believe that it is great that something is being done to help these organisms even if it possibly is only for monetary gains. Also as shown in the article even though lobsters did not go to these artificial habitat areas, other organisms did. This shows that by doing this it was not a complete waste as they learned some important information regarding other species.

Global Warming and the Oceans

When many people think of global warming they think of carbon dioxide levels causing the earth to become much warmer than it was before. One aspect that many people do not think about is the worlds oceans and the marine fauna that lives there. If the world continues to warm at this alarming pace there will be a dramatic effect on the flora and fauna that live in the oceans as well as land. Many marine organisms have specific physiological tolerance to things such as temperature, ph, salinity etc. If the climate continue to warm and melting og glaciers causes ocean currents to change a dramatic effect will be felt on fauna and flora of many regions, as not onky could there habitat become inhospitable but an unfair advantage could be given to certain species over others resulting in mass extinction. Another key thing that must be noticed, is that if sea level continues to rise due to melting glaciers caused by global warming, many organisms that live on the coastline will have thir habitat significantly alterered. From a human perspective think what will happen to those nice houses built along the coasts.

The following article shows an example of how incompetent some people can be when it comes to pressing needs like the ones listed above.

written by:Jonathan Rowe

Really, it sounds like something that would come out of the mouth of Stewie Griffin. But it comes out of the mouth of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein.
Mr. Klein has stirred controversy in the past by rejecting scientific data suggesting industrial pollution is one of the leading causes of global warming.
He has even said global warming trends that occurred millions of years ago may have been caused by “dinosaur farts.”

Farmed Salmon "Good or Bad"

Today, while searching the links posted on the geography 2305 oceans blog, I came accross a very interesting article on salmon farming. Salmon farming which is done from a commerical standpoint to allow for less pricey salmon as well as to allow salmon to be available all year round has been shown to have some very negative impacts. These impacts as shown by the article on the oceans alive website, range from hurting the marine life as well as having negative effects on the human population as well. One such impacts on marine life documented by this article, was the fact that in farming salmon, although it does not directly result in overfishing of salmon from the oceans, it still can lead to lower salmon populations. How does this happen you may ask?, well for starters farmed salmon still have to eat just like any other biological entity. Because of this therfore the raising of salmon by humans results in less prey for the wild carnivourous salmon in the oceans. This is even magnified by the fact that salmon farmers want bigger and better salmon for eating purposes for humans and thus they are fed even more than their wild counterparts. As well not only are salmon populations harmed, but other organisms that use the prey that salmon farmers are feeding their farmed salmon are affected. This therfore has a profound effect on entire ecosystems as everything is connected in one way r another. Think of Dr. Conrad's saying of "pulling strings". The pulling of the strings is people farming salmon, and the impacts in species number can be felt throughout the marine fauna (and to some extent flora, because if organisms can not feed off of their original prey they must find other alternatives). Another reason that salmon farming is not such a great idea, grows from the fact that by feeding salmon excessive amounts of feed that are high in pcbs which can cause many health problems, we are actually hurting our own population. Salmon in the wild do not have this as much of a problem, due to their range of feeding of fish, krill, and other small animals from cleaner waters. Overall, I believe that this example of farmed salmon continues to show how interconnected the entire oceans ecosystems are and how changes in one thing not believed to be hurting the wild can actually have a harmful effect without us realizing it. I believe that people need to really think hard about the consequences that their actions may have on things such as the fauna, flora, and environment of our world. To think, this whole problem spurred from somebody wanting to cash in on humans wants.

Link:

http://www.oceansalive.org/explore.cfm?subnav=article&contentID=5323

John Harrison- "Without him where would we be"

One person that was discussed in todays lecture was John Harrison and his sea- chronometer. I found myself intriqued by this technological innovation and decided to research it a little bit. One interesting thing that I found about this topic was that even though many highly educated people attempted this problem of inventing a device that could measure longitude to an accuracy of half of a degree of a great circle, it was John Harrison, just your average person of the time without a lot of formal education, who accomplished this feat. This article helps to show that even though students rely on instructors to teach them what they know, it is not always the best way for innovation to occur. This is because sometimes determination and teaching yourself (as Harrison did) can work as good or better than learning from someone in the front of the room. I believe it is all about balance; however student should take thier own innitiative in accomplishing what they want to get out of thier education. As well I find it very interesting that Captain Cook and his voyages in some way are more well known than John Harrison; as without Harrison invention of the chronometer accurate navigation would not have been possible.

Links

http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/john_harrison.htm

Narwhals at risk- a loss of Biodiversity

While searching on Dr. Conrad's links on her blog, I came accross a very interesting article on one of my favorite marine mammals "The Narwhal". The article I found was from her link to ocean explorer. This article talks about how the University of Washington and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources have come up with a successful means for tracking migration patterns of the Narwhal. This is to be done by the use of satelites, and will help with a multitude of problems and interests. One such interest is that it will allow researchers to know a little more details about the whale as the satelites attached to them will tell them physical characteristics of the ocean such as temperature and PH. A key problem that will be benifited by this research is it will help to give an explanation for declining populations of these mammals. In another article found via internet on national geographic it shows a study done in 2004 that by using photos it has been shown on average that the Narwhale population has decreased about 6 percent each year for the last 17 years. This species is obviously in trouble and needs help, which is why I am very encouraged by current efforts to further study these whales in their habitat (The Ocean).

I personally am very interested in whales and marine fauna in general and really hope this marvelous creature does not continue to head down this path.

Any other information anyone has on the topic would be appreciated.

A few key facts about Narwhals

1) Relative of Beluga whales (look similar too)

2) Commonly found in the arctic

3) One or two teeth grow to form a tusk (up to 6 feet long)

4) Tusks covered by algae (shows mutualistic relationships between marine fauna/flora and shows that a loss of one species will impact other)

Interesting Links

1)www.narwhal-whales.com

2)http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0413

History of the Oceans- Vikings

One aspect of Monday Jan.8th lecture that I thought would be interesting to read more about was how the vikings in the middle ages impacted the development of oceanography. One key point that I noticed to be very intriquing was that fact that it was the vikings not Christopher Columbus who is frequently dicussed in history, that came accross North America first. his was accomplished by Leif Eriksson, who in 1002 sailed from Greenland (which they were also the first europeans to settle) to North America an amazing 500 years before Columbus. The vikings were the first people from the old world to arrive at the new world.
As a side note in the newspaper today Jan.9/07, there was an article that discussed how United States lobster fisherman should have a shorter season as well as use fewer traps to help sustain and protect right whales. This article helped show the interconnectedness that occurs within the oceans and its biological fauna, as people who are fishing lobster are not only depleting that resource by overfishing ,but their traps are also acting as a means of hurting the right whale population, which as a huge mammal requires many resources to survive and is fragile to begin with. This also hurts the diversity in the oceans, as if the right whale population decreases/becomes extinct the species evenness and species richness will both decrease and a ripple effect will be seen throughout the food chain. The United States government is doing a great thing by urging these fishermen to change their practice.