Many ways we need and appreciate the Ocean

Short Thank You Ocean video. Reminds us how dependent we are on it.
"The “Thank You Ocean” campaign was designed to instill in Californians a sense of personal connection and responsibility to our ocean and coast. ThankYouOcean.Org provides access to everything ocean in California including how to learn about and where to experience the ocean, the impacts of daily decisions on ocean life, ocean conservation issues, and what to do to help the ocean."

Beautiful kelp forests

AMAZING....

Last class we saw part of a ocean video, which had a segment on kelp forests. I was amazed and have never seen such a thing before and had to check it out.
"Kelp forests occur in cold, nutrient-rich water and are among the most beautiful and biologically productive habitats in the marine environment. They are found throughout the world in shallow open coastal waters, and the larger forests are restricted to temperatures less than 20ºC, extending to both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. A dependence upon light for photosynthesis restricts them to clear shallow water and they are rarely much deeper than 15-40m. The kelps have in common a capacity for some of the most remarkable growth rates in the plant kingdom."
I find it so fascinating that kelp can grow up to 2 feet a day and can reach lengths of more than a 100 feet. It really does look like an underwater rainforest. A kelp forest also has so many functions: it provides food, a place to hide, prevents sleeping otters from floating away when sleeping.

Many products we use today have kelp ingredients: algin, a substance extracted from kelp is an emulsifier added to ice cream, salad dressing, toothpaste, cosmetics and hundreds of other products, and the demand for kelp ingredients is growing.

Unfortunately many countries don't have regulations on how much kelp can be harvested. Pesticides from land water run-off kill species that live in these forests. As everything is interconnected, this imbalance affects these forests by removing parts of the food chain that help control species that feed on the kelp. I learn more everyday of how vast human impacts are no matter how small they seem. Not only that, but what a parasite humans are on the food chain of life and how important it is to recognize our utter dependence on the environment.

Arctic environment

Small but interesting website on the Arctic environment. Covers marine waters, inland waters, land and sky. Has cool facts and for a small site, it has a lot of info.

Arctic species host to genetic wealth?

Other than drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic, there has been growing interest in biotechnology, using genetic material of Arctic plants and animals in products.

"Enzymes from Arctic fish that remain active near the freezing mark allow food processors to operate at lower - and safer - temperatures. Such cold-adapted enzymes show potential for improving products from bread to beer. Other companies are using so-called "antifreeze proteins" found in Arctic plants and animals as a way to improve the taste, texture and safety of frozen food.
One company is using antifreeze proteins from the Arctic pout, an eel-like fish found off Labrador, to make low-fat ice cream.
Some of those proteins may have medical value. Proteins from the Arctic squirrel, the only mammal known to be able to lower its body temperature below freezing, are being tested to see if they will help people recover from strokes."

read about it here and here.

Newly discovered slower moving currents in ocean

Buoys placed in the ocean to measure currents have also turned up new information on another ocean current never before discovered. It turned out that there were alternating strips of water running eastward or westward, a bit like parallel moving sidewalks. It is a 150 km wide bands of very slow moving water that reaches from the ocean floor to the surface pretty much cover all the oceans.

Microdocs: Crown of Thorns Starfish

The crown of thorns starfish was discussed in class the other day and I came upon this website called Microdocs which is the short attention span science theater on ecological sustainability. Thought that was interesting...good for all you people short on time or attention spans. Anyhoo..it gives a good overview on what the starfish is, are they good or bad, how people influence their outbreaks, biological and human ways to can control them, and so forth. This website focuses on sustainability, coral reefs and coral reef species.

How much is known about the Arctic?

My research project is on the Arctic Ocean..and along my searching travels I came across an article urging Canada to get a research station in the Arctic to start more extensive monitoring of the effects of climate change. Apparently Harper stated there was going to be one built, but no details have come of that since.