Brisingids look like crinoids, but they are actually sea stars, just kind of turned over. this particular beauty is Freyella sp. from near hydrothermal vents in the Lau Basin back-arc spreading center. They typically are on rock outcrop faces facing the current. Their tube feet are modified for filter-feeding.
That poor little squat lobster (Munidopsis, probably ‘lauensis‘, Galatheidae) looks like he is being ambushed.
Do you ever get bored when you’re scuba diving on a Caribbean shipwreck, and wish you had a Mermaid guide to show you around? Thanks to the fabulous new mer-suit technology from Otter Bay your wish may come true. Seashells not included. The video is one of a series from UWvideographer at YouTube.
Who knows why mermaids wear seashells, anyway? *
Answer below the fold.
China has a knack for naming their exploration vehicles. They gave the world the Shenzhou (or “divine vessels”) to reach outer space and the Taikonauts to fly them. Now China is planning an ocean exploration program ‘equally important’ to their space endeavours, including plans to build a sub-sea base station and a manned submersible capable of diving to 7000m by year 2010. So, how do you say “sea dragon” in Mandarin?
You can never have too many deep diving manned submersibles. Less than a dozen vessels I know of are capable of working beyond 1000m depth. Between the Chinese submersible, the Alvin, it’s replacement, the Russian MIRs, the French Nautile, and the Japanese Shinkai we’ll have maybe 6 manned submersibles capable of diving deep enough to explore ~90% of Earth’s seafloor as we enter the next decade. We need more.
The photo above shows the new submersible on display at the ninth China Hi-Tech Fair in October, 2007. Image from People’s Daily Online.
…maybe as retaliation for killing them off. The last estimate of 71 in 2007 compared to 63 in 2006, continues a four year increase. One of those 71 occurred not 5 minutes from my house. The latest in 2008
An Austrian tourist died on Monday after a shark attack in the waters between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas. Markus Groh was out on a shark-spotting trip with Scuba Adventures, which sails seven-day live-aboard cruises out of Riviera Beach, Florida. Unlike some tour operators, Scuba Adventures doesn’t send its divers under in a cage.
From the dive community the reaction is mixed
Critics of shark-diving contend interacting with the predators leads them to associate humans with food, potentially leading to more attacks. When the practice was outlawed in Florida about seven years ago, it forced those who wanted the up-close experience to find new places to go. Despite the risks, avid divers are quick to point out that attacks are uncommon, and deadly attacks are virtually unheard of.
My only encounter with a shark, and one I will not easily forget, occurred while diving was off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The question left to you is what are the costs and benefits of diving with sharks? How does the rarity of shark attack compare to potential reverence for these species.
You are a giant swarm of Antarctic krill migrating daily from sunlit surface waters down to the 4500m in the abyss. Some portion of your population is bound to get hungry by the time you reach the bottom. Whattya gonna do? Wait for food to rain down from above?
Not according to a new article in Current Biology, that illustrates the behavior of Euphausia superba krill that dive into the sediment in deep-water, kick up particles, and scavenge a meal of fallen algae from the seafloor. Secondary production occurs within the benthic boundary layer, in this case, rather than raining down from above.
The Euphausia superba krill are primarily known as “whale feed”, and they occur in great numbers, up to 30,000 individuals per cubic meter. They account for such high biomass that they have been called “the most successful species on the planet“.
A recent paper by Dr. Andrew Clarke of the British Antarctic Survey and Dr. Paul A. Tyler of the University of Southampton reports on the discovery of a deep-water refuge for Euphausia superba at 3500m near Marguerite bay in Antarctica that was characterized by high density of krill, with gravid females and many “exuvia”, or floating exo-skeltons that signify near-bottom molting events. Science Daily provides more information on the story.
The research is important because people generally think of the abyssal plain as barren and featureless, but phytodetritus exported from the surface might create patchy spawning habitat and refugia for this keystone species; an important resource to birds, whales, and crabeater seals. The female euphausiids molt after spawning, so one implication of the exuvia described in the paper is that krill may use the abyssal plains as a spawning ground.
Euphausia superba krill are perhaps less than unique because they molt en masse, with hundreds of thousands of individuals synchronously tossing off their coats like its happy hour at the Moulin Rouge.
Image from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute article on krill in the Southern Ocean. Get yours here.
Citation:
Andrew Clarke and Paul A Tyler. 2008. Adult Antarctic Krill Feeding at Abyssal Depths. Current Biology 18, 282-285. DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.059
Thanks to Rick MacPherson, Program Director for the Coral Reef Alliance (and fin-tastic blogger!), for this shirt. We met a few weeks ago at the N.C. Science Blogging Conference where we co-moderated a session (along with Peter, Karen and Jason) on Real Time Blogging in the Marine Sciences. It was a great experience. Go over to CORAL today and check out the website and see what awesome projects they have going on. Such as, providing over $350,000 in microgrants for local efforts to preserve and protect coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. A truely noble effort empowering local people to make small changes with big environmental impacts. Well done Rick and thanks for the awesome shirt! It makes me feel warm here is snowy PA. Head over to CORAL to drop a few bucks in their coffers and go to Rick’s blog to read his current tales liveblogging his field work in Hawaii.
Oh yeah, photo by wifey, who caught me pulling out a crab, avocado and pineapple pizza from the oven while enjoy a Mad Anthony’s APA from the Erie Brewing Company.
Some readers dialed into the news might wonder why we have not blogged on a recent paper in Science by Halpren et al. In the paper the authors set out to provide a “synthesis of spatial data on the distribution and intensity of human activities and the overlap of their impacts on marine ecosystems” to “provide flexible tools for regional and global efforts to allocate conservation resources; to implement ecosystem-based
management; and to inform marine spatial planning, education, and basic research.” Indeed this is the first attempt to assess our global footprint on the oceans. The delay results from my want to contemplate the implications of the paper and the model itself. With any model there are assumptions that can affect the model output and the conclusions we draw from it.
The study focuses on multiple impacts including: Nutrients (fertilizer); Organic pollutants (pesticides); Inorganic pollutants (impervious surfaces); Direct human (population density); Pelagic, low-bycatch fishing; Pelagic, high-bycatch fishing; Demersal, destructive fishing; Demersal, non-destructive, low-bycatch; Demersal, non-destructive, high-bycatch fishing; Artisanal fishing; Oil rigs; Invasive species; Ocean pollution; Shipping; Seasurface temperature; UV; and Ocean acidification. Overall an impressive list with substantial effort that produces the above map. Mark Spalding, a Nature Conservancy marine scientist who coauthors the study, states “I think the big surprise from all of this was seeing the complete coverage of human impacts…There’s nowhere really that escaped. It’s quite a shocking map to see.” Over 41% of the oceans are strongly impacted. Overfishing and climate change remain the two biggest threats.
The request:Go to the Seafood Watch and download a chart for your wallet or purse. Carry it everywhere you go from now on. Adhere to it and harass others to to the same.
The reason:Again, I could lay out a well-reasoned argument for why you should do this, but you know all the reasons. The good news is that I’ve moaned about all this before, again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
Ongoing challenges:
1a.
1b. Keep reading DSN and participating in the Just One Thing Challenge
2. Use no plastic grocery and shopping bags for the next week. Use, and purchase if necessary, reusable bags. Recycle all plastic bags around the house at a participating location.
3. Start pestering the hell out of Trader Joes.
4. When you buy your groceries, if the option presents itself, buy organic. The goal here is to be conscious about your buying decisions buy organic, opt for less packaged goods, and buy locally when you can.
People accepting the Just One Thing Challenge: 1. Craig McClain 2. Kevin Zelnio 3. Peter Etnoyer 4. Sheril K. 5. Mike G 6. Farne 7. Jim Lemire 8. Kiki 9. Fish Guy Dave 10. CK 11. Karen James 12. Merisea 13. Keely 14. tonyj 15. Traci 16. Mrs. Hillary Victoria Minor 17. Peter Mc 18. Tony D 19. Mary Aloyse Firestone 20. Miriam Goldstein 21.John 22. Judith in Ottawa 23. tjewell 24. Slim 25. Ashley 26. Silver 27. Steve W. 28. John Hill 29. Rachel 30. tjewell 31. Eric 32. jebyrnes 33. Lynna Landstreet 34. Ole 35. Carrie 36. Max 37. You?
