Panama Canal

With the Caribbean Sea as my topic for my research paper, I have been finding out something interesting stuff. One of the main things that I was interested in was the Panama Canal. This canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Panama Isthmus. I was astonished when I found out that there is a 19 foot difference in the tide heights at these 2 locations. The lock system allows the ships to be lifted and dropped these 19 feet. Without that lock system (there are 3 locks along the canal) it would be extremely difficult for ships to travel the canal safely and maneouver up and down this 19 foot difference. France began building the canal but The United States assumed control of the project and finished building it. The Canal opened in 1914 and has only been closed once since. Without the canal, ships would be required to travel around the southern tip of South America in order to reach the opposite sea. The canal cuts days of travel off the route. Interstingly, the United States has been managing the canal for many years, despite its location (not connected directly to the United States). However, on December 31, 1999, the canal was returned to Panama. It is amazing to think of the history that the canal went to just ot allow the passage to connecting seas. As for the Caribbean, it has increased interest in the sea as well as traffic.

open ocean habitats

The video on open ocean habitats that we watched in class was very interesting. I had never really thought about the types of living conditions that occured in open ocean environments. Most videos and photographs that I had seen this semester involved the ocean floor, or coastal areas. However, I know that the oceans are cast and now I am able to see that many forms of marine life are occuring in these open areas. I especially liked the section that involved that small fish eating bacteria and such off of larger species for food, and in turn cleaning off the larger fish. It is interesting to see the way that species in the oceans work together like this. I also liked the section about fish using trash and floating debris for protection and hiding purposes. In such large, open areas, there would be few places that fish could hide. It was suprising to see that floating nets and other trash like buckets could be used to hide out in. Like the video said, trawling nets that normally destroy marine habitats can be used for protection when they are floating in the open ocean.

Humpback Bubbles

Today in class one of the groups discussed the bubble net fishing method of the humpback whale. Previously, I had never heard of this bubble feeding. I found it very interesting and unique and decided to do a little research of my own. On the left I have an image of a whale creating a bubble net. As the whale swims upwards, it slowly begins to spiral. While doing this it blows bubbles creating a bubble net that is free of bubbles in the middle. The fish, afraid of the disorienting bubbles, remain within the calm centre of the net. Finally, the whale swims up through the net with its mouth open, which is know as "lunge feeding" and swallows the fish that are swarmed in the middle. Apparently, as mentioned in class, other whales help to blow bubbles on the net to intensify the bubble wall, and more make loud noises to further disorient the fish. This is also a cue for all of the whales to be ready to lunge at the same time. Furthermore, accoustics in water reacts differently with bubbles compared to bubble free water. The bubbles keep much of the sound within the net (the bubbles act as a sort of barrier), which allows for more efficient disorienting of the prey in terms of noise. On the top is a photograph of the bubble net as seen from the surface. I found this all very interesting, the way the whales work together in order to all get a nice lunch.

Sable Island, being off the coast of Nova Scotia, is a very isolated area. I was interested in finding out the quality of the Ocean near the island in terms of pollution. Because it is isolated, I figured there would be very little pollution. However, I was incorrect. I found a study conduscted in to 90's about pollution in the area, mainly pieces of trash and garbage. It turns out that each month 200 pieces of trash float ashore per km of coastline. (This is just counting plastics). Sable island is approximately 40km long, so this trash washes onto the shore at a rate of about 8000 pieces a month. Considering the isolation and lack of human population, thats a lots of trash. The island is home to many forms of marine life. Since there is a lack of humans generally in the area, the island provides isolated beaches and such for marine species. Trash and garbage pieces float ashore and disrupt their haibtat. Pictured above are a herring gull and a seal caught in plastic in 2002. Another negative impact that this garbage has is on search and rescue. Apparently, when rescue missions are required in the area, it is often difficult to distinguish between the search mission and pieces of trash (rescuers can't see the people in danger, or they mistake it for garbage). So even though we are polluting areas along our own shores, humans deposit great amounts of trash that flot long distances and can have severe impacts many miles away.

Overfishing

This is an image that I found that represents overfishing in many areas. Although it is only a cartoon, I think it does a good job at displaying the issue at hand. Basically, so many areas of the world's oceans have been overfished that there are hardly any fish left to catch. At one point, there were so many fish that people believed that the oceans could never be overfished and people took whatever amount they pleased. However, like most resources, when extracted too rapidally without allowing time for renewal, the resources can dissappear. This is especially true with fishing and I think that it is terrible that in many cases it is almost too late. If used in oderation, many species of marine life would be able to replenish itself, but with the speed that many types of fish and other life in the oceans have been caught, they were unable to do so. Fish are thought to have been one of the first creatures on Earth, and they were around a long time before humans. Furthermore, the first vertebrates are decendants of fish. This being said, we are extremely distand ancestors of fish and they have inhabited this Earth for millions of years longer than humans, it is a shame that it is taking an extrememly short amont of time in respect to Earth/marine life history for us to overfish and destroy many species.

Halifax Explotion Tsunami

Until discussing tsunamis yesterday in class, I didn't realize that Halifax had ever been affected by one. Although not caused by geological processes like most tsunamis are, it still managed to reach heights of 18 metres above the high water mark in Halifax. The wave was so strong that it washed the ship Imo ashore on the Dartmouth side where it stayed until the following spring. It is inateresting to find out that there are no official records or accounts of the tsunami itself. Many people were already dead form the explotion, and the people and buildings that were in the immediate downtown areas had already been destroyed before this wave hit. However, in 1918 a man by the name of Archibald Macpherson interviewed survivors and wrote an article about their accounts of the explotions. A firefigter named William Wells survived both the explotion and then encountered the tsunami, and this is what he told of his experience:

"The force of the explosion flung (Wells) across the street against a telegraph, or electric light pole. His own account is that he left the engine, or the engine left him, he did not know which, but anyhow they parted company. There he lay until the sea drove over the road, washing him as far as the middle of Mulgrave Park. He was drenched and almost drowned and when picked up was not expected to live. He did, however, recover and regained his usual health."

Tsunami

This photograph shows tourists literally running for their lives from a tsunami wave in Asia December, 2004. After discussing such waves in class today I was interested to see more footage. After watching many videos I realized that most of them show people standing around staring at the waves. It is terrible that they had absolutely no warning at all. This photograph shows people running at the last minute. Many people thought the waves looked like interesting big waves coming toward them and did not realize just how big and dangerous they were. I am sure that after such events, major research projects and warning systems have been set up in the area. However, before the 2004 tsunamis, no such tracking/warning station was set up. It makes me wonder what sort of losses could have been avoided if there had been more warning. Although there had been no recent destructive waves in the area prior to these events, there are records and signs of massive destructive waves along many coastlines from many years ago. If they were possible then, and seismic activity triggers them, which we already knew, another destructive event was clearly possible. It is unfortunate that it took such a catastrophe to occur for more research and planning projects to go into the this area of ocean.

Polar Bears

This has been the first post in a while as I have been away over the break. Anyways, I have been interested in the news about the impacts of climate change on polar bears in the oceans. It is crazy what is happening to these animals. Many websites provide statistics to this issue and it is unbelievable what the impacts are. I wanted to get some more local results to understand these impacts close to home. On a site for the Times there was an article that stated that since 1987, the population of polar bears in Hudson Bay has dropped by 22% due to climate change. With the increase in temperatures, the ice is melting and the bears are forced to swim long distances. Four carcasses were found in a one month period from bears that had drowned off Alaska (in 2005). It makes me wonder what other types of impacts these temperature changes will have on other marine life and also humans. I know that there are many warnings from scientists and such, but to see these deadly results just proves the threat that climate change can pose.

Arrrr

Since the annotated bibliography was due today, I have been kicking my research for my project into high gear lately. I am covering the history of the Caribbean Sea. Interestingly, most of the history that I have found covers the pirates of the area. Even accounts and logs of exploration and travel are those that were kept by pirates. I hope that the information kept by these pirates is valid and factual for my research. Anyways, it is interesting to find out that the pirates of the area did a better job at keeping records and logs than the actual explorers from Britain (Chritopher Columbus, etc). Either that or I just haven't been able to find these other accounts.

Climate Change...

This is a figure that I found that describes the process of carbon dioxide with the ocean. The paragrah below does a good job in explaining it. I thought it was interesting as a follow up to what we discussed in class on Monday about climate change and carbon dioxide levels as we dicussed last week. The explanation below it says:

There is ongoing chemical "dialogue" between the ocean and atmosphere that influences regional and global climate change in many ways. Sea spray and water vapor from low clouds ultimately cool temperatures at the surface. Meanwhile, desert dust and carbon dioxide settle into the ocean and act as a "fertilizer" to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, thereby enhancing the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere- a process kown as the "biological pump". Over geological time, more than 90 percent of the world's carbon has settled into the deep ocean.

Acidification

I was very interested in ocean acidification after we discussed it in class, and did a little research of my own. Most websites refer to studies conducted by scientists and the predictions made for the future. Many examples include the desrtuction of reefs and extinction of various species. However, I found this interesting diagram pictured above on the website for the Green Car Congress. At first glance it can seem a little confusing, but I think that it does a good job at showing the rapid increases in acidity expected for the future. The part that I found most interesting was the p.p.m. (parts per million), which predicts an increase from about 500 to 2,000 within the next 50 years. That's incredible. It is also interesting to see the pattern in which the acid levels reach below the surface over time. This must be very important when considering the life on different levels of the ocean. It is crazy to think of all of the effects of global warming, and at first thought, most people wouldn't think of the acidity in oceans as being a major factor. But knowing that warmer water can hold less carbon dioxide than warm, I can see the danger that is produced.

Arctic Microbes

Pictured here is Vincent Warwick, a biologist from the Universite Laval and his crew sampling tiny microbes that live in the Canadian Arctic waters/ice. He plans on studying the environment in which such microbes live, and their effects on other life. Vincent believes that these microbes live in these extreme environments of cold temperatures and darkness for a reason. With global warming, the temperatures of the water has been incresing drastically. If the microbes are linked to other types of life, the global warming could lead to the extinction of seals, fish and other species that live in the area. Warwick is also the Canadian Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems Studies. He claims that with the breakup of ice, many natural habitats are being lost in the area. He is trying to study these habitats before it is too late and they are completely lost.

Frilled Shark

This is a photograph of a female frilled shark taken shortly before it died last week. The shark, photographed by a Japanese scientist, normally lives approximately 2,000 feet below the surface and is rarely seen alive. The shark in this photo is 5 feet long and was weak due to illness or shallow waters. The scientists moved the shark to a marine park where it died shortly after. Because of the habitat of the species (deep waters, often where humans cannot explore), these sharks are normally seen after they have already died. They are usually found caught in trawlers nets and are hauled up dead. This particular shark did not live more than 2 hours after reaching shallow depths. The frilled shark is known as the "living fossil" because it has hardly changed since prehistoric times.

An Inconvenient Truth

This evening I attended the screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" put on by the Environmental Society and Ecology Action Centre. As you probably know, it is a film about global warming, presented by Al Gore. Anyways, while at the film I noticed many references to the oceans in connection with global warming. I thought I would share a few points. First off is the image above, taken from the movie. It shows Florida, with the coastlines covered by water. Apparently, with the melting of polar ice and a 20ft rise in sea level, this is what Florida would look like. So many people currently live in those areaa and I was suprised to see how much damage 20 feet could do. the film covered the idea of water current interruption due to the warming and many other basics that we all enjoyed in 203 and other introductory courses. However, I was interested on little tidbits of information. One of these was about polar bears. Apparently, many polar bears are being found each year having drowned because there is no ice to rest on. The film says that these bears can swim up to 60 miles looking for ice for rest and eventually drown because so much has melted to to increase in temperature, that there is none to be found. I can only imagine all of the other impacts that global warming would have on the oceans and life.

Sense of Smell

I was researching baby fish and came across some interesting information about some that can smell their way home. The research was conducted on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Apparently, when many tropical fish are born, they are unable to swim well and are carried away from their home reef. The fish prefer the reef in which they were born. After the first few weeks of life, and being unable to swim, baby fish can be carried up to 20 miles from their home. By this time they are able to swim and use their sense of smell to find their way home again. Researchers of a few different articles that I found on the subject said that all reefs smell different from the last. I guess the fish can remember what their home smells like and are able to find where they were born by the way it physically smells. Pictured above is the "neon damselfish" which is not quite as picky. It can live on several different reefs but still remembers the smells and uses its nose to find a way home when currents carry it to open waters.

Furry Lobster?

In an article I found published by the BBC in March, 2006, marine biologists claimed to have discovered a crustacean in the South Pacific that was covered in fur. It has been nicknamed the "Yeti Crab" and was discovered 1,500 km south of Easter Island. Scientists have not been able to fully understand the use of this "hair" but have speculated that it could be used for either detoxifyong of poisons near hydrothermals vents for survival purposes, or possibly for feeding on the bacteria that lives in the hair strands. This second hypothesis, however, is unlikely due to observations leading scientists to believe it is a carnivore. Another interesting fact about these crabs is that they are completely blind. Due to the fact that the crab is so different from other types of crustaceans, it has been given its own taxonomic family, called the "Kiwa hirsuta". In Polynesian mythology, "Kiwa" is the goddess of crustaceans.

Blame Canada...

Today in class we discussed Ocean floor trawling. This is a short non-scientific video to describe the situation with the UN and the moratorium regarding trawling. Unfortunately, the video targets Canada as a major flaw in the plan in a sense that the country was trying to block the moratorium. However, in November of 2006, this was changed, says the video.

I found it interesting that Canada was targeted in such a way, because as a Canadian I had little knowledge of this subject before seeing the video.

An interesting point that I found out while searching the video, however, was that each year on the Ocean floors, an area approximately the size of the United States is trawled and destroyed. That's huge!

Algae

This image was taken from an article found at www.physorg.com and was published on January 12th, 2007. The image is a a picture (under a microscope) of a previously unknown algae that was found in the Arctic waters. The article states that this newly found algae is only a few thousandths of a millimetre. The algae is part of the microscopic category known as "phytoplankton". Apparently, up to 90 percent of this type of algae is still to be discovered, due to its tiny size and often the location (Arctic waters in this case). The article also states that as much as 50 percent of the globe's photosynthesis is conducted in areas of ocean that contain such microscopic algae. As suggested by the author, with findings like this and knowing that up to 90 percent of its kind is still to be discovered, it can be wondered how much in the Ocean waters has yet to be discovered.

H.M.S. Challenger

Seen here are two instruments that were used on the H.M.S. Challenger as bottom samplers. As stated in the article where the drawings were found, many sites provided a wide variety of samples from the floor. It is hard to believe that devices that were so simplistic looking were capable of collecting such samples. The device on the right was used for deep sea water while the one on the left was for more shallow waters. The images were found on a website titled "The Voyage of the Challenger" which can be visited at: http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/challenger.html

The article also describes these devices and gives the impression that they were lacking in many areas such as strength and the ability to close and trap samples inside. Therefore, it was believed that many samples were lost in the hauling process and it seems to me that perhaps there was many things that were left behind. I suppose it is impossible to see everything though, especially where enough information was collected to write 50 volumes.