Farewell Spit, a beach on New Zealand’s south island, recently had hundreds of pilot whales wash up onto it’s shore. It has been described as a whale trap because of its shallow waters and unusual shore shape. More than 400 whales were stranded on the shore at the beginning of February, and approximately 300 died. Whales do not have a good sense of direction, and because of this, many returned to the shore they were first freed from. Once one whale was lost, many decided to follow out of instinct.
This occurrence is sad because so many whales died and it was no ones fault, and there was no way to prevent it from happening. It is significant because so many whales died as a result of confusion, and 20 had to be euthanized because they continuously returned to the shore and volunteers wanted to end their suffering. The volunteers also tried to guide and swim the whales back to sea, but the whales wanted to go where they wanted to go. This relates to class material because we are talking about whaling, which is slightly similar. Although whaling is the hunting of whales, this occasion also resulted in hundreds of deaths. It is definitely important because this occasion killed so many whales, and there was no way to prevent it anytime soon, although volunteers did what they could. A possible solution could be to block off where the water becomes shallow and confusing for whales, so they can no longer wash up onto the shore. The general public should know about this because they could maybe help take actions towards ending this problem. If the whales are not being used for their meat, blubber, oil, etc., why would people want them to just die? Killing whales for that reason is not justified, and both whaling and the Farewell Spit problems are horrible for the whales and their decreasing population. Website: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/11/514677975/as-200-more-whales-are-stranded-in-new-zealand-heroics-turn-to-heartbreak
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The strong decline in marine life, such as fish, marine mammals, reptiles, and birds has significantly increased over the past several decades. Although this decrease of organisms in the ocean affects the food chain, it also harms those who rely on the sea as an income. The author of the article, O’Gorman, suggests that seafood businesses and nations must make a commitment to sustainability. Many fisheries are striving for more sustainability by lessening by-catch, overfishing, cutting carbon pollution, and also no longer tolerating unregulated fishing.
My initial thought was that O’Gorman’s idea of sustainability is a very good start to helping our oceans. If fishermen and seafood businesses could realize what they are doing and how it could eventually hurt their businesses in the future, it could make a difference. The current outcomes of problems such as overfishing could get significantly worse in just several years. Without putting an end to what the companies are doing, so many of the species living in the ocean now may never exist again. This relates to class material because we are talking about how overfishing, by-catch, unregulated fishing, and ocean acidification is really affecting our oceans. We are talking about how all of these problems could end up hurting us and our economy as much as it hurts the oceans. With a growing global seafood demand along with how our oceans are treated now, we may no longer have the seafood provided, and/or the cost of the seafood will be significantly higher with a much smaller supply. How our oceans are treated now is definitely a problem, and needs to be fixed. The best start is to sustain fishing practices, and put a limit to how much fishing businesses can fish. If the general public knew about this problem and knew how it could end up hurting our economy, I feel like they would try to put an end to it. If the general public also knew how awful things like ocean acidification, by-catching, etc. were, they might want to just put an end to these problems because they see how these organisms suffer. Website:https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/16/overfishing-is-as-big-a-threat-to-humanity-as-it-is-to-our-oceans Overfishing, nutrient pollution, and increased temperatures are all factors contributing to stress for coral reefs, as well as an increase pathogens. These all cause a decline in coral reefs, by both weakening and killing them, which are a necessity to marine life. Many studies show that the combination of overfishing, pollution, and global warming are what cause the decline, because it can result in excess nutrients, microbiota of corals becoming more pathogenic, or even bleaching.
A decline in coral reefs show how overfishing, nutrient pollution, and global warming are affecting marine life. Without coral reefs, fish wouldn’t have habitats or a reliable source of algae for food. It is upsetting that a decline in one species could result in a decline in so many others. This relates to class material because we are talking about how all of these factors can and do affect coral reefs, and how in the end that could also affect us. These factors are large problems in our ecosystem because it could result in a decline of fish, which is a good source of food for both humans and other marine life. Some solutions could be trying to put an end to overfishing, by attempting to lessen illegal fishing practices, or by using less fertilizers. This research is worthwhile because we are discovering some reasons why coral reefs are dying and may find more factors. I believe that the general public knows that overfishing, pollution, and global warming are all problems, however they may not know that it is directly affecting our oceans. I think they should know about this because it may influence them to put an end to these problems, especially if they knew that they may lose their supply of fish. website: https://phys.org/news/2016-06-coral-reefs-fall-victim-overfishing.html Bionic Yarn is a company getting a step closer decreasing the amount of pollution in our oceans by recycling the used plastic bottles found on shorelines, and turning them into clothing! Not only does the company make clothing, but they also create other goods from recycled plastics such as furniture. The company has changed over 7 million plastic bottles into something more useful rather than letting it add to the over 165 million tons of plastics in our oceans.
When I first read the title of the article, I was surprised that I had never heard anything like it. Turning plastic bottles into clothing sounds impossible to me, until the process was explained. The process seems so easy, so why don’t other companies try to do the same thing? Why don’t more companies try to fix the amount of trash found on our beaches and try to lessen the pollution? Personally, I would think many people would want to buy something they knew was recycled. I believe that the public should know about the company, because it is a great way to recycle plastics and decrease the amount of plastics in our oceans. I am sure if people knew that recycled clothing existed, they would love to try to make an impact. If the company grew or other companies tried to mimic, it could make a huge impact on our oceans. Like the article said, even though Bionic Yarn will not be able to kill plastic off, it can at least slow down the production of it, as well as slow down the production of new polyester. This relates to class material because we are talking about how pollution is a big problem, and there are small steps towards reducing plastic, such as using reusable grocery bags or water bottles. Not only does marine pollution harm the animals but the pollution can also end up in humans bodies and affect them. Article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-company-turns-used-plastic-bottles-from-shorelines-into-clothing_us_57d17909e4b06a74c9f301f3 In National Geographic’s article, Marine Pollution, the pollution affecting our oceans is mostly by mankind’s doing, and has been for thousands of years. In the past three centuries, the degradation has significantly increased which comes from places like industrial discharge, coastal cities, and runoff from farms. The article mentions how pollution can result in HAB’s, dead zones, garbage patches, as well as what some pollutants are such as solid waste and noise pollution. The conclusion mentions that we have been slowly taking steps towards preventing marine pollution.
When hearing about marine pollution and how it effects our oceans, I think of so many small ways that anyone and everyone could do to make a difference, such as using reusable bags and bottles, put trash in trashcans, recycling, not put harmful chemical down drains or toilets, etc. Steps towards reducing marine pollution can save our wildlife and reduce bioaccumulation, as well as many other positive outcomes to save marine life. The general public should know about not only that pollution is bad, but the specific outcomes it has. The pollutants can suffocate animals or can be eaten by small marine organisms, resulting in bioaccumulation, which can eventually end up in our own bodies. Bioaccumulation accumulates the pollutants which causes it to travel up the food chain, therefore ending up in our own bodies. That means that the pollution we are creating, is just ending up in our own bodies. I believe that if people saw pictures of dead zones, garbage patches, or the results of a HAB (Harmful Algal Bloom), they would realize what they are doing to our environment. People may not think that just one person cannot make a difference, which is wrong. Knowing the specific things that go into our waters and what it can do, really puts it into perspective and makes me want to fix the ongoing problem. Website: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/pristine-seas/critical-issues-marine-pollution/ My last experience at The Florida Aquarium has been different from times before. The times before, the aquarium was just a place to walk around and look at interesting, colorful, sometimes intimidating fish. I might have been able to name some of the organisms they have on display, but now I am able to determine different characteristics about them. If I go, I can classify and organize the fish into three different groups: agnathans, cartilaginous fishes, and bony fishes. Knowing this, I can determine how the fish’s gills function; the agnathans have gill pores, bony fishes have an operculum to cover the gills, and cartilaginous fish have gills slits, or even locating the spiracles on bottom swimming fish. The different fins can be established, as well as determining it’s lifestyles according to physical characteristics. By observing the fish, the different types of swimming can be distinguished, and many other things like whether or not they have developed their fins into being able to walk on the sea floor or glide through the air. There are many other things able to be determined by just observing, such as defense mechanisms, feeding based on the size of their mouths to body or teeth to mouth, but a lot of the characteristics can only be known by dissection.
The different things I have learned this semester are important because I am now able to apply my knowledge with the things I see in a marine environment. Not only can you impress your friends, but you can prove to yourself that you are able to apply what you learned to outside situations. One of my favorites things that I observed was seeing the one of the eels use their gill slits. I saw that the eel opened its mouth, let the water go through to the gills, and then use muscles inside it to push the water through the gills then out the gill slits. I also observed that the eel had an anguilliform swimming type, which is a slithering motion, and hid in a small space for protection. Another interesting observation was with the rays, and seeing their spiracle on top of their body, while their mouth was on the bottom. The horseshoe crabs were located in the same tank, and I could observe their carapace, telson, and other characteristics of the arthropods that they had. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s article about how researchers are creating a new camera tag for white sharks is a technological advancement and will be able to further enhance scientists information on these sharks. Scientists know that white sharks are important marine predators, however they are unaware of other aspects of their lives. These sharks leave the coast of California and travel halfway to Hawaii every winter, and gather to the “White Shark Café”. The males continually dive to deep depths, and scientists are unsure of what they are doing, but they predict it is either mating or catching prey. Despite that there have been tags and other things to track where the shark goes and their feeding activities, the new camera will be designed to be able to do many other tasks such as: staying on the shark for up to nine months, survive deep depths, small and easy to attach, withstand bursts of acceleration, have a long battery life, be programmable, and more.
In order to attach the cameras to the sharks, researchers travel to hot spot islands, such as the Farallon Islands. In places like these that are highly populated with white sharks, the sharks that swim close to the researchers boat will be clipped with the camera tag onto the dorsal fin. The tag is designed to be in sleep mode for a month or so, until the sharks make it to the White Shark Café. The tag is programmed to be able to detect when there are changes in their swimming patterns, and pause when their normal swimming routine continues. The camera is able to go back into sleep mode when the shark returns to the surface again, and would remain in sleep mode until the shark goes back to the California coast. When they return, the tag automatically releases itself from the shark and sends a signal by satellite to researchers in order to retrieve the tags. The significance of this tag shows how advanced we have become in technology and how easy it is now to track marine animal behavior. The new tags are programmed to be able to determine when to shut off and when to turn back on, or detach from the shark when needed, which are both examples of how far we have become. Simply attaching a camera to a shark has many downsides and would not have been able to survive the extreme depths the sharks travel and even last extended amounts of time. The research found with these tags will be able to enhance our knowledge on white sharks, as well as other sharks. But since we have been able to create technology to track one species, scientists and researchers should now attempt to make tracking systems for other marine organisms. Website: http://www.mbari.org/researchers-design-new-camera-tag-for-white-sharks/ Veronique LaCapra, the author of the article "Whale-safe Fishing Gear", describes the device the Two Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution engineers have discovered to prevent the harm lobster traps have on whales. Whales are commonly found caught in fishing gear, which causes damage to the animals, and later results in death. The traps require ropes that are able to connect from both the bottom of the ocean to the surface. This is needed for the fisherman to properly locate their traps and return them to the surface, but whales often get the gear caught on them, and drag it around for a long time, sometimes even months. LaCapra mentions that according to the New England Aquarium and the Center for Coastal Studies, 83% of endangered whales, such as the North Atlantic right whales and humpbacks, have scars from wounds caused by ropes and nets.
The outcomes that nets and other items fishermen use are harmful to whales, and may be part of the reason they are becoming endangered. When buoys are attached to lobster traps they have about 2,000 feet of line connecting them from the sea floor to the top of the water, which is what causes the danger to whales. However, the new buoy stores all of the line on the sea floor and keep it wrapped up until a timer goes off or a signal is sent. Then the line undos itself and float to the top of the sea for retrieval. The creators of the buoy, Partan and Ball, call their invention the "on-call" buoy. Partan says that keeping the line that is usually connected from the bottom of the ocean to the surface will be stored to keep the harmful lines out of the way of large marine animals. Not only does the new buoy have benefits for the marine life, but there are benefits for the lobster fishermen as well. The new buoys would prevent the gear from becoming tangled and losing expensive gear. It is also beneficial because during seasons where whales are in the New England offshore waters, they are unable to fish. With the "on-call" buoy, the fishermen will still be able to fish during those seasons and not lose business during those few months. Initially I thought about how this invention would be able to save the lives of many whales and possibly even take them off of the endangered list. Personally, I believe that this invention could have been thought of earlier with our technological advances in the early 2000's. We have had the technology to create this for a while, however recently scientists and many other people might have started to care more about whales because of their possibility of extinction. The general public most likely has not heard of this technology to protect whales, but they should know to hopefully influence fishermen to use this device. Of course, the invention will be more expensive than what they have now and they will not want to replace their traps, but if the public can influence them to then it would be perfect to decrease the number of whales harmed. Article: http://whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/whale-safe-fishing-gear A huge controversy going around is about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and whether it is dead or not. Even though it is a fact and should not be controversial, the assumptions about the reef are for attention and publicity. The reason for these beliefs is because the corals are “bleached”. It does sound dangerous for any organism, which it is, but that does not mean that they are dead. Most corals live in symbiosis with photosynthetic algae; symbiosis means either one or both of the organisms are benefitted by the other. Algae provides food for the coral, and the coral provides a habitat for the algae. Even though symbiosis is positive for the coral, the algae becomes destructive to the coral when water temperatures highly increase. The coral gets rid of the algae to protect itself, which as a result the coral loses all of its color from the coral tissue. The tissue becomes transparent, therefore the skeleton is able to be seen right through it. The appearance may seem like it is dead, but really the coral is without the algae.
When I was looking at the other articles, all of the titles mentioned how horrible and what a loss it is to lose the Great Barrier Reef. Meanwhile, they should know the truth before they publicize an inaccurate article. First hearing that the reef is dead through those inaccurate titles, I was devastated that I could not see a beautiful place that is on my bucket list. Even though the reef is in trouble, there is a chance it will live. Deborah Netburn, the author of the article, mentions that there have been worse cases, and there were still corals that survived. This gave me a lot of hope, knowing that this has happened before and did not result in the complete destruction of the reefs. The general public does know about the Great Barrier Reef’s not so great health, but they do not know to what extent it is. A majority of the public has received their information from incorrect sources. The public should know about this because it is one of the most beautiful locations on Earth. The reason the public should know about this is because of its significance. It is important because this is not the worst El Nino, when the ocean’s temperatures rises for a period of time. The largest El Nino was from 1997-1998, but that does not mean that it was the worst one. This most recent one has been the most damaging because of the warming trend on Earth. This causes the bleaching to last for a longer period of time. The case in 97’-98’ was not as severe because even though more were affected, they were able to recover from the high temperatures faster. The damage the algae has done on the corals is a problem, but we are unable to fix it. The significance of this article is to explain why the 1,400-mile-long Great Barrier Reef is in trouble. It also proves the myths wrong that the beautiful reef is dead. This relates to class material because we are talking about symbiosis and HAB’s (Harmful Algae Blooms), which are also negative toward organisms. Article: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-great-barrier-reef-not-dead-20161014-snap-story.html In this article, Melissa Hogenboom, the author, publicizes the negative effects killer whales endure while being kept in captivity. She begins her article by mentioning Tilikum, the well known whale who killed his trainer, Dawn Brancheu, in 2010, as well as two previously in 1991 and 1999. Even though many called for Tilikum to be put down, marine scientists held their keepers responsible for the small, stressful environment that caused these actions. In the wild, observations and research show that wild orcas are not aggressive toward humans. Taking the wild marine mammals as adolescents into tanks started in the 1960’s for entertainment. At least 150 killer whales have been taken from the wild since 1961 according to the charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation. SeaWorld breeds the whales instead of taking them from the wild, which is just as bad. Their natural habitat in the ocean gives them the ability to travel extreme distances everyday, which in captivity is prevented. Most travel over 62 miles a day, and some travel nonstop for a couple of months. Orcas are considered the most social mammal on Earth, including humans. Hogenboom later goes on to describe how the animals live in distinct ecotypes, that are so distinct in their habits, “languages” and prey that some could be considered separate species.
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AuthorLauren Danahy from Tampa, Florida A healthy pilot whale
A picture of the whales on shore at Farewell Spit
Dead shark as a result of by catch
A picture of by catch
Pictures:
https://www.emaze.com/@AITIWOZC/Bycatch http://www.southernfriedscience.com/state-of-the-field-shark-conservation-policies/ Picture of a coral reef with a lot of fish
Overfishing
Make-up of the yarn
Some of Bionic Yarn's products
Turtle caught in net
Bioaccumulation chart
Garbage Patch
Pictures:
:http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/preventing-pollution/ http://mercurypolicy.scripts.mit.edu/blog/?p=499 http://inhabitat.com/another-giant-garbage-patch-found-in-the-atlantic-ocean/ https://startupfashion.com/bionic-yarn-sustainable-fabric-recycled-plastic-bottles/ https://www.wired.com/2014/08/bionic-yarns/ http://fishreef.org/reef/hawaii-reef/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing View From The Tag On A Shark
Researchers Attaching Tag
On-call buoy diagram
Whale caught in a net
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef bleached
Orcas in captivity at SeaWorld
Killer whale in the wild
A group of orcas
Pictures: http://www.danintranet.org/media/adimg/12009.jpg http://previews.123rf.com/images/vilainecrevette/vilainecrevette1504/vilainecrevette150400023/39087588-Underwater-ecosystem-shoal-of-juvenile-fish-swimming-near-mangrove-roots-Caribbean-sea-Belize-Stock-Photo.jpg http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/orca-feeding/morell-text http://www.gowhales.com/Features/WildKillerWhales1002.htm http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28817407 https://www.yahoo.com/news/large-parts-barrier-reef-dead-20-years-scientists-030028189.html http://matadornetwork.com/trips/44-surreal-scenes-from-australias-great-barrier-reef/ http://www.hamiltonisland.com.au/things-to-do/great-barrier-reef http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_fishing_gear_is_killing_whales_in_the_north_atlantic/2586/ http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/topics/technology Cone snail
Caribbean Mangroves
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