Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Source: IUNC.org
A team of the world’s leading marine experts, paired with scientists from the Indian Ocean region, have just returned from a six-week research expedition above seamounts in the high seas of the Indian Ocean with a whole new understanding of seamount ecosystems. They gathered a very rich collection of data and specimens, including some strange-looking marine creatures.
The scientific survey was organized by IUCN and its partners to improve knowledge of seamounts across the southwest Indian Ocean ridge. Seamounts, underwater mountains of volcanic and tectonic origin, are known to be hotpots of biodiversity and attract a range of oceanic predators, including seabirds, whales and sharks. They also attract deepwater fisheries, as they host many species of commercial interest, most of which are very vulnerable to over-exploitation. The results of the research do not only have a scientific interest, but will help improve conservation and management of Indian Ocean marine resources.
“I am extremely pleased with the data that we have collected and the number of species that we have encountered”, says Dr Alex David Rogers, Chief Scientist of the Cruise and Senior Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London. “The diversity of species that we sampled is higher than what I would have expected. Some species have been recorded for the first time in the region, and we hope to have found some species new to science. It was also very interesting to discover that the six seamounts we surveyed are very different from each other, and I believe our findings will certainly improve our global knowledge of seamount ecosystems”.
The Norwegian research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen left on 12 November from Reunion island, and travelled 6,000 miles in 40 days to study five seamounts on the southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and one seamount further north on Walters Shoal, south of Madagascar, before docking in Port Elisabeth, South Africa, today. All features were located in waters beyond national jurisdictions, at two to three days’ sailing from the nearest land. Two of them had been set aside on a voluntary basis as protected areas by the Southern Indian Ocean Deepsea Fishers Association, which would allow comparison between fished and unfished seamounts.
“It is gratifying to know that this work is not an isolated scientific trip, but will directly feed into conservation and management recommendations”, says Sarah Gotheil, Programme Officer with IUCN’s Global Marine Programme. “Through our study we hope to confirm the conservation benefits of protecting seamount features on the ridge. This will inform future management of deep-sea ecosystems in the high seas globally”.
In total, nearly 7,000 specimens have been collected and labeled, from two-metre long fish to tiny crustacean larvae. They include an impressive variety of fish, shrimps, squids and gelatinous marine creatures. Many more microscopic species of phytoplankton and zooplankton, representing the base of the food chain in the ocean, have also been collected. The two seabird and marine mammal observers recorded thousands of seabirds from as many as 36 species, and 26 marine mammals. Two of them, majestic humpback whales, even offered the team a wonderful 30-minute show of jumping around at just a few metres from the ship.
A team of the world’s leading marine experts, paired with scientists from the Indian Ocean region, have just returned from a six-week research expedition above seamounts in the high seas of the Indian Ocean with a whole new understanding of seamount ecosystems. They gathered a very rich collection of data and specimens, including some strange-looking marine creatures.
The scientific survey was organized by IUCN and its partners to improve knowledge of seamounts across the southwest Indian Ocean ridge. Seamounts, underwater mountains of volcanic and tectonic origin, are known to be hotpots of biodiversity and attract a range of oceanic predators, including seabirds, whales and sharks. They also attract deepwater fisheries, as they host many species of commercial interest, most of which are very vulnerable to over-exploitation. The results of the research do not only have a scientific interest, but will help improve conservation and management of Indian Ocean marine resources.
“I am extremely pleased with the data that we have collected and the number of species that we have encountered”, says Dr Alex David Rogers, Chief Scientist of the Cruise and Senior Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London. “The diversity of species that we sampled is higher than what I would have expected. Some species have been recorded for the first time in the region, and we hope to have found some species new to science. It was also very interesting to discover that the six seamounts we surveyed are very different from each other, and I believe our findings will certainly improve our global knowledge of seamount ecosystems”.
The Norwegian research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen left on 12 November from Reunion island, and travelled 6,000 miles in 40 days to study five seamounts on the southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and one seamount further north on Walters Shoal, south of Madagascar, before docking in Port Elisabeth, South Africa, today. All features were located in waters beyond national jurisdictions, at two to three days’ sailing from the nearest land. Two of them had been set aside on a voluntary basis as protected areas by the Southern Indian Ocean Deepsea Fishers Association, which would allow comparison between fished and unfished seamounts.
“It is gratifying to know that this work is not an isolated scientific trip, but will directly feed into conservation and management recommendations”, says Sarah Gotheil, Programme Officer with IUCN’s Global Marine Programme. “Through our study we hope to confirm the conservation benefits of protecting seamount features on the ridge. This will inform future management of deep-sea ecosystems in the high seas globally”.
In total, nearly 7,000 specimens have been collected and labeled, from two-metre long fish to tiny crustacean larvae. They include an impressive variety of fish, shrimps, squids and gelatinous marine creatures. Many more microscopic species of phytoplankton and zooplankton, representing the base of the food chain in the ocean, have also been collected. The two seabird and marine mammal observers recorded thousands of seabirds from as many as 36 species, and 26 marine mammals. Two of them, majestic humpback whales, even offered the team a wonderful 30-minute show of jumping around at just a few metres from the ship.
Labels: Indian Ocean, Octopus, PSMI, Silver spinyfin, ecosystems, marine mammals
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
21st century explorers return with unique data from Indian Ocean
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sport fishermen have always tossed back the little fish they caught. In theory the young ones are released back into the water so they can fully mature. But, little fish make more little fish.
“It’s not the young ones that should be thrown back, but the larger older fish that should be spared.” says George Sugihara of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. “Not only do the older fish provide stability…to the population, they provide more and better quality offspring.”
In a four-year study that was released back in 2002 that was headed by David O. Conover at the Marine Sciences Research Center at State University of New York at Stony Brook, harvesting the largest of a population leaves only the smaller fishbehind to breed which practically ensures more small fish in the long run.
Science magazine published Conover and a graduate student’s findings in July 2002. When the smallest fish in a group were removed the remainder became individually larger. (4.5 grams) When the largest in a group were removed the mean weight of individuals left was decreased. (2.5grams) In a third group where random sized fish were removed the remaining fish stayed similar to the size they started out at which was about 3.5 grams.
A member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said when striped bass were protected up to 36 inches, the fish of that size were depleted until the minimum limit was lowered to 28 inches.
Taking only the larger older population of fish creates an age-imbalanced population. A lack of older fish induces early maturation in the younger fish.
Young fish left behind, thought to be too small to bring to market, are also more vulnerable to suffering from changes in their environment.
The absence of only the larger fish being harvested must have a ripple effect on the whole ecosystem.
It’s a tangled web we weave. There is one bit of conventional wisdom that remains constant…It’s not wise to fool with Mother Nature…
Labels: Environment, Fish, Ocean, Size limit, ecosystems
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Size Does Matter! Conventional Wisdom Proves Wrong when it comes to fish. Size limits have backfired!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Like a rock-n-roll guitar player that stands too close to his amplifier, climate change is now creating a dreaded ‘feedback’ affect.
Loss of ice in the Arctic means less ‘white’ which reflects the sunshine back into space. In the summer we wear white or light colored clothing to reflect the heat of the sun away from us. In the winter we wear dark colors that absorb the heat. The tundra is melting absorbing more heat. The heat is rapidly decomposing plant material and in return releasing methane. Methane is over 20 times more potent than other greenhouse gases.
A study done at the University of East Anglia shows that the North Atlantic Ocean is only absorbing half of the C02 it once did, and southern oceans have stopped absorbing it, and are now releasing C02 back into the atmosphere.
The ocean’s ability to absorb C02 is called C02 sink. Merchant ships equipped with instruments to measure carbon dioxide (C02) in the water have been collecting data every month and have generated more than 90,000 measurements in just the past few years.
The North Atlantic Ocean’s ability to absorb C02 abruptly declined, while the Indian Ocean’s absorption ability was making more of a taper.
Emissions of carbon dioxide from the ocean have actually increased by 40% since 1981.
International team leader Dr. Corinne Le Quere, from the University of Eat Anglia and British Antarctic Survey says, “This is serious. All climate models predict that this kind of ‘feedback will continue and intensify during this century.”
See PSMI’s Franken-plankton story in the archive.
Labels: Arctic, Climate Change, Environment, Frankenplankton, Global Warming, Ocean, Phytoplankton, Sea, carbon dioxide, ecosystems, greenhouse gas
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Oceans Losing The Ability to Trap CO2, they may be reaching the saturation point.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Plastic doesn’t pollute, people pollute?
It’s no surprise that a member of the American Plastics Council was quoted in 2004 saying the reason plastic is everywhere is because it’s such a good material that does so much so well.
Plastic does do so many things so well. One of the things we are finding out it does so well is cause Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome (TDS) which has been increasing daily. Plastics that contain Phthalates can migrate into the foods they come into contact with and be ingested and absorbed into our systems.
The chemical BPA, Bisphenol A, which has been used in the manufacturing of some plastics since the 1950’s is now being shown to cause ‘gender confusion’.
BPA has been found to actually pass from generation to generation in utero. This is a topic of conversation best left to other forums, but cosider the fact that there may be less gender confusion in underdeveloped countries where less plastic has been used customarily in every aspect of life for generations.
We have now been exposed to so much plastic that we are urinating the stuff!
Why would anyone be surprised to find there is a bundle of trash, estimated to weigh 3.5 MILLION tons of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean. 80% of this heap, larger than twice the size of Texas, is made up from plastic debris. Debris that is blown washed and flooded out to sea.
Tons of plastic that doesn’t find its way into land fills finds it way to the coastlines and is carried out to see into a giant vortex of currents.
Shame on you, shame on me. Shame on all of us.
We are being told at this point cleaning this mess up isn’t an option. Continuing to live as though there is no tomorrow, and letting the petroleum and plastics industry continue to dictate our futures isn’t an option.
Not anymore.
Labels: BPA, Bisphenol, Ocean, Ocean Habitat, Phthalates, Plastic, Trash, Urine, ecosystems
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
3.5 MILLION tons of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Mangrove ecosystems are used as habitat for a wide and strange group of aquatic and terrestrial species. There are about 110 species of vegetation identified as Mangal, and each one share a unique ability to overcome problems inherent to their habitat.
As if the the Mangrove plants aren’t interesting enough on their own, having the ability to grown in high salt content waters, low oxygen supplies and tidal flooding the mangrove forests are home to killifish.
The Killifish has always been known as a strange creature because it is actually able to produce its own eggs like a female and then as if by magic fertilize those same eggs like a male.
Now it has been discovered that the Killifish doesn’t just have the attributes of two sexes, but it also can live under the waters that the Mangroves live in but, they can live in the branches of those trees above water too.
The Killifish is able to live inside rotten branches and trunks of the Mangroves. apparently the killifish can turn itself into an air breathing machine. This makes the killifish one of the oddest fish known to man.
What seems even more odd than the ability to reproduce without a mate added to the killifish’s newly discovered ability to breath air is the fact that this trait is only now being discovered.
Biologists wading in the swamps that are home to the Mangroves discovered hundreds of killifish hiding outside of the water in tree branches. It’s suspected that the fish had flung themselves into the branches of the trees when the pools of muddy water they are normally found in began to dry up.
The fish were lined up end to end along grooves that had been previously carved out by insects munching away at the trees. These fish are said to be normally very territorial, adding even more paradox to this amazing creatures resume.
The Killifish has both male and female attributes, territorial and group traits and it can adapt its gills to utilize water or air to breath. There are other fish that are adapted to use both air and water such as South-east Asia’s walking catfish, and the climbing perch of India. But, the strangest fish award this week has to be given to the Killifish.
We are finding out daily that there is so much more we don’t know about the earth around us, than what we do know. Tragically we are loosing species daily that have yet to be discovered let alone studied.
Have these killifish always been flinging themselves into tree branches and hanging out, or are we in the midst of witnessing an evolutionary leap?
Labels: Killifish, Mangrove, aquatic, ecosystems, habitat
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Diminishing Habitat Investigation Nets Revelation: Mangrove Killifish Neither Fish nor Foul?
