The World is Just Awesome

We as people have had a major affect on global worming. All of our cars and oil and stealing the natural recourses have drastically changed the earths climate. The earth’s atmosphere is heating up and melting the polar ice caps, which is increasing our water levels and changing the temperature of the ocean. Not to mention the climate out side of the water, hot, freezing, feet of snow and, crazy storms.

         Global Worming has a huge impact on ocean life! Especially in the Caribbean where there is a large growth of coral reef or should I say used to be. Do to the affects of global worming the mass majority of coral reef in the Caribbean is gone. It has flattened out or receded/ died. There have been many studies done to support this theory (please refer to link).

       The killing of the coral reef is a huge problem. Because, not only will another living organism be on the endangered list but the coral reef is a living space for small fish and a whole little system of its own. There are lots of little fish and, living creatures that live and strive on the coral reef. With out the coral reefs the ecosystem could take a drastic turn (for the worst).

Overfishing occurs when fish are caught or killed faster than they can reproduce, and this is a huge environmental issue because when one species becomes extinct the rest will start to follow. Fishermen know that overfishing is an increasing problem yet they still do it, and heartless people shrug off the issue and pretend that overfishing has not yet become a big problem. Overfishing impacts the ocean and its marine life because without fish we wouldn’t be able to survive. Even if you don’t eat seafood or fish it still effect’s you; if life in the ocean (such as whales) were to run out of smaller fish to eat they would move on to bigger fish and eat them. If man-kind ran out of tuna, or crab, or lobster, and all other small fish, they would move on to hunting bigger fish. You can see where I’m going with this because eventually bigger fish (whales, sharks, etc.) will no longer be available. If fish aren’t available then man will hunt meat until that runs out too. Overfishing has an impact on humans because as I’ve pointed out eventually everything will run out. Once we run out of fish we will move on to meat and, I believe, eventually eat each other. As gruesome as it seems you can’t help but think the same thing, and in order to fix this problem we as a human race need to be more conservative with our food, and more resourceful. Instead of hunting the same type of fish until it runs out we need to span out, by this I mean we need to hunt a variety of fish and eat more of the fish itself. We’re so used to eating what we want and throwing the rest away when were done but really we should be eating every part of the fish we can instead of just the “good” part. I’m not saying we should eat the eye’s or bladder or anything like that I’m just saying we should be eating the fin’s and the body both instead of just one or the other. I honestly believe that as a society if we start doing this and using our resources more wisely we can fix this problem and prevent overfishing from becoming a huge problem that can’t be fixed.

Aundrea: Blog #4

New York Times; online; April 20, 2009; By Henry Fountain:

Why Mussels’ Grip is Stiff but Stretchy;

In this article I learned about mussels and why they’re so stiff. Mussels are stiff because the shell contains Calcium Carbonate, and without Calcium and Iron the mussels wouldn’t be as stiff as they are today. One fact I found was: A hard material will crack when you try to stretch it where as a soft material is flexible and anything but stiff. However there was no data to support this. An inference about this article i found was: “removing calcium and iron from the cuticle of a mussel reduces it’s stiffness by 50 percent” (thanks to researchers J. Waite & N. Holten-Anderson who released their findings in this article). I believe that if mussels didn’t have either iron or calcium in their body’s they wouldn’t have the strenth they do now and might not be able to survive because they would be an easy prey for other animals.

New York Times;  online; April 17, 2009; By Lauren Porcardo Dorment:

Gaurdian of the Fish with the Golden Eggs:

The fist part of this article stated a very broad fact: Dr. Doukakis is on a mission to protect the sturgeon, a fish particularly vulnerable because its eggs are used to make caviar. This article jumped out at me because i thought of the convenience stores such as Safeway in town, or the Sushi Restaraunt in Bonneylake where caviar is available. I’ve heard of people loving caviar and eating it at fancy dinner’s but it never occured to me how harmful eating such a dilectable food could be. Although no data proved present this article intrigued my insterests, because i have recently heard of caviar being sold in the Black Market illegally which was mentioned toward the end of this article.  I am a pescitarian but i have never had cavair (nor do i wish to) and i believe Dr. Doukakis is doing a great thing to protect “The Fishes Rights” by “Whacking” the overfishers/wrong do-er’s because the numbers are becoming increasingling smaller out there in the big bad ocean.

New York Times; online; April 15, 2009; Andrew C. Revkin:

Coral Fossils Suggest That Sea Level Can Rise Rapidly:

Everyone has a different theory about Global Warming whether it be: “it’s a hoax” or “start stocking up now, it’s coming” and i personally dont know what to believe yet. The author of this article claims: “Evidence from fossil coral reefs in Mexico underlines the potential for a sudden jump in sea levels because of global warming, scientists report in a new study” as a fact. But how is anybody expected to believe this without any real data? I believe that the waters are rising and may in fact be due to global warming, but i also believe that this whole thing is blown completly out of proportion. The coral reefs in the ocean near Mexico have in fact shown signs of the waters rising but both humans and animals (marine life included) cant do anything drastic at the moment to prevent this from occuring. I think we all just need to calm down, take a breather, and find some recent data to support our ‘theories’.

-Aundrea; Blog #2

Fact:  Corals are from the class Anthozoa

Data:  Scientists have predicted that over 50% of the coral reefs in the world may be destroyed by the year 2030

Inference:  Scientists fear that ocean acidification may inevitably result in the severe degradation or destruction of coral species and ecosystems.

Opinion:  Reefs also provide recreational scuba diving and snorkeling tourism

Claim:  Scientists have predicted that over 50% of the coral reefs in the world may be destroyed by the year 2030

Premise:  Millepora boschmai colonies near Panamá were bleached and died within six years – this species is now thought to be extinct

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral

Kylie

Everyone always talks about the Ring of Fire being this big scary ring, and will be the death of us, that could destroy life as we know it at any moment but i beg to differ. If the volcanoes in Hawaii can explode every other day and still welcome it’s inhabitants to visit and watch it then why should these volcanoes be any different? The earthquakes that occur and cause these volcanic eruptions are usually the result of our tectonic plates shifting so if we should be worried about anything it should be these plates crashing into each other all at once. I believe that volcanoes are beautiful master pieces that Mother Nature has created for us, not these terrible monsters that their made out to be. It is true that if the Ring of Fire were to erupt we would be in a pretty sad shape and as these volcanoes may do the damage, they are not the cause for the destruction. I believe we should be afraid of Techtonic Plates, not Volcanoes.

Aundrea: Blog #1

Killer Whales otherwise known as Orca Whales, can be found in all the oceans throughout the world. These predators are beautiful, but vicious animals. Their food chains are very diverse, they hunt anything from fish life to marine life including: Sea-lions, Seals, Walruses, and even other Whales. I personally love Killer Whales because they can survive in any climate whether it be in the ice cold Arctic regions where the ice caps engulf the sea or in the warming Tropical Antarctic regions where the sun blazes through the open waters all day, this is a very unique characteristic. Their unique spots also give them beautiful characteristics, and along with their beauty Orca’s are very social and playful (they play with their food) which some people describe as a cruel characteristic. “Although Killer Whales are not considered endangered as a whole, some local populations are being threatened by their decreasing food supply. Along with all Marine life these whales are treading in polluted water, and being captured to be put into the Zoo’s we visit which is why they were put on the endangered list in 2007″ claims Wikipedia.org. On the bright side every year with the new tide comes new baby Killer Whale to continue in the ever changing cycle of life.

Aundrea: Blog #3

“The influence of the phases of the moon on the ocean and its inhabitants.”

• The moon has a major influence on the ocean and it tides. As the moon rises and falls every day the ocean tides change. Depending on the pull of the moon, when there is a full moon the pull is stronger the is there is only a crescent. As the moon rises the tide gos out and depending on what phase the moon is in tells how strong the pull is. The moon as the strongest pull in a full or new moon state. so twice a month there are large areas of beach exposed and this is good for sea life and feeding patterns.

part 2:

“The marine food chains are affected by the tide changes.”

• As the tide changes the feeding patterns of sea life are exposed. These feeding patterns have been researched are seem to be very consistent with the tides. When the tide gos out the smaller sea life is exposed,  there are small crab that are land bouned that re lie on the tide going out for there food, they eat the microscopic organisms. There are also birds who feed on the small fish in the shallow water and the small crabs that crawl on the beach. In the case for large marine life they wait for the tide to come in and pray on the small animals that it exposes, such as the animals that relay on the protection of the out tide.

     The intertidal, or littoral zone, is home to a variety of marine life. These marine animals must be able to adapt to the changing tides. There are usually 2 high tides and 2 low tides daily depending on where you’re located.     

• Moisture

     Marine animals need moisture, and when the tide goes out they need to either follow the tide or adapt to this change some other way. For example, periwinkles, a type of sea snail, have a natural “trap door” called an operculum. They can use their operculum to trap remaining moisture to survive when they run out of water.

• Waves

     In some areas, waves coming into the intertidal zone may be very forceful and powerful. Marine plants and animals need to be able to protect themselves from these waves. Kelp, for instance, use a structure called a “holdfast” which they use to attach themselves to rocks or mussels so they can keep themselves in place.

• Salinity

     Due to changes in rainfall, water in the intertidal zone can be more or less salty. This means that the marine life living in the intertidal zone have to be ready to adapt in constantly changing salinity in the water they breathe.

• Temperature

     As the tide goes out in the intertidal zone, the marine life that were submerged underwater, are now exposed to the weather. Either hot or cold, the animals will have to adapt to the changes.

Articales 3;

Coral Reef Bleaching

• P.W.Glynn

Fact; Whitening coral reefs is done by, results from the loss of symbiotic zooxanthellae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in zooxanthellae residing within the gastrodermal tissues of host animals.

Data;Published records of coral reef bleaching events from 1870 to the present suggest that the frequency (60 major events from 1979 to 1990), scale (co-occurrence in many coral reef regions and often over the bathymetric depth range of corals) and severity (>95% mortality in some areas)

Inference; Of particular concern are the consequences of bleaching of large numbers of reef-building scleractinian corals and hydrocorals.

• http://www.springerlink.com/content/k12w48311274206n/

Artical 2;

Marine Reserves  could save coral reefs

• ScienceDaily (may 16, 2007)

Fact; That threatened coral reef could be given a helping hand by establishing marine reserves.

Data; Marine reserves have already proved to be a successful wau of protecting marine life against commercial fishing.

Inference; This shows for the first time how marine reserves could also help in the recovery or the coral.

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070515074933.htm