Ok so this blog is going to be taking a different direction in the next couple of weeks as I prepare for an internship at the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas. I will be mostly serving as an Aquaculture intern, but I will also be assisting with fish surveys for the lionfish research aspect of the Institute. The Aquaculture branch of the institute breeds Cobia in a giant open water pen at around 85 feet, as well as, as far as I can tell, sharknose gobies and rotifers. My responsibilities will include cleaning, cleaning, and monitoring water parameters in the giant tanks on land that are used for raising the baby cobias and the other fish, and power-washing the netting of the open water pen. Although I don't know exactly what I will be doing, I update regularly. Hopefully I will be able to make a couple of posts every week for the two months I will be down there ranging from discussion of daily activities, the science of what I am doing, and musings on whatever I am reading/seeing at the time. Please subscribe to be kept up to date!


 I've been doing some reading from different scientific journals about lionfish, and I feel that I should give a brief summary of the lionfish problem in the Caribbean. The populations of the Pterois volitans, or the Volitans Lionfish, in the Caribbean are not native - they are invasive species that originally hail from the indo-pacific. Although we don't know exactly how they got into the Caribbean, we think that Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was responsible, as the Miami Seaquarium was inundated by the surge and it is thought that several individuals on exhibit escaped. Anyways, the problem now is that they are really, really, really successful predators. Part of this is due to the native fish populations' not being used to this new type of predator. While the Caribbean has it's share of other sit-and-wait predators like frogfish, the rapacious hunger of these guys in addition to their increased mobility over frogfish, etc. are making their populations explode (see Arias-Gonzalez, J.E.,et al.,Predicted impact of the invasive lionfish Pterois volitans on the food web of a Caribbean coral reef.Environ.Res.(2011)) Personally, I still wonder why lionfish are so much more successful than the other sit-and-wait native predators, but that is something I hope to find out. So the lionfish are decimating native fish populations, and part of the research CEI is involved in are reef fish surveys, where they survey the biodiversity and biomass of fish populations in lionfish infected zones. While I'm not sure if I will be participating, many SCUBA divers have taken matters into their own hands and have started a spearfishing rampage in an attempt to slow the spread of the lionfish. Apparently they are good eating, and some restaurants are now using them on their menu. Personally, I have started to wonder if the marine aquarium trade will start importing Atlantic, invasive lionfish in lieu of the indo-pacific populations.

Thanks for reading this, and I hope you will stay tuned for further updates!

Marianas Trench Exploration Update

So i've come across some more sites relating to the "race" for challenger deep that i found interesting from Marinebio.org (a great site, check them out)

BBC has come up with a great mini-site about the race where you can see the physical obstacles the explorers will meet as well as the vessels they intend to use: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17013285 . There wasn't any info on James Cameron's sub, so I did some digging and found this video which was released within the last week: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/habitats-environment/habitats-oceans-env/deepsea-challenge-first-attempt/
I'm excited to hear that they plan to launch in the next few weeks, so I will make sure to keep up to date on that.

Although it appears Cameron will be the first to reach Challenger Deep on over 50 years, I'm kind of bummed that the scientific contestant, Google's DOER, won't be the first. At the same time, such a monumental feat will be better shared by Cameron and his fleet of HD cameras.

My Picture of the Trieste, the first and last sub to reach Challenger Deep.

Pressurized Aquariums

I have been a marine aquarist for three years, and it has been quite a thrilling, and sometimes frustrating, hobby of mine. Now I have a tank that looks somewhat like a reef, perhaps a Pacific patch reef or rubble zone. I will try to talk about it in a later post. This tank has educated me about coral propagation and fish breeding (tank-raised animals I believe will enable us to maintain captive populations of reef organisms that will go extinct in the next few decades) the impossibly delicate water balance required to keep such corals and fish in health. Reef tanks have allowed thousands of amateur marine biologists like myself to make extensive observations on the habits of many organisms (albeit in a controlled environment, by no means perfect), helping scientists understand habits, food preferences, breeding behaviors, etc.
But what about the Deep Ocean? Aside from Tropical Reefs, I would posit in my unprofessional opinion that the Deep Oceans contain the second most threatened ecosystems, particularly Lophelia reefs and hydrothermal vents. Gulf of Mexico Lophelia reefs were hit particularly hard by the Deepwater Horizon spill and are extremely selectable to deep water trawling. Hydrothermal Vents contain unsurpassed species diversity in a mineral rich ecosystem. While somehow (another unanswered question!) species are able to survive the mercurial geological nature of these vents that are the lifeblood to these organisms, deep sea drilling will become a major industry in the next few decades (see Nautilus Minerals) We know nothing about how this ecosystem will cope with increased human activity, so we need to start picking up the pace on species description.
I'd like to see pressurized tanks that allow scientists, aquariums, and even hobbyists like myself to cheaply set up pressurized, cooled, dark tanks in which deep sea critters, be they pelagic jellies or benthic corals, can be observed over long periods of time. Sure we have subs and rovs that allow us to occasionally peak down into this environment, and we do have fixed data collecting stations (actually pretty cool - video) but none of these allow a consistent environment where experiments and observations are much easier, human contact becoming a constant.
Some pressurized tanks exist, such as this one for deep sea rockfish from Monterrey Bay Aquarium. See this discussion for a really good rundown of what technology is available for such a venture. I see several obstacles right now that are preventing us from enjoying aquariums of anglerfish and gulper eels in our living rooms; the pressure/temperature change from the time the organism leaves the depths until it reaches a pressurized tank is too much for many organisms, particularly fish whose swim bladders swell and gelatinous pelagic invertebrates which just disintegrate make just collecting organisms difficult (although some have tried - see this ngm article) Also, I'm no expert in physics, but to create cost-effective tanks with spacious viewing windows to contain water at a pressure of from 90-1000 atm seems near impossible.
Coral reefs are at the forefront of our imagination when we say Ocean Conservation because it is a highly accessibly environment; one can go to the aquarium downtown or build one in your own home for less than $2000. Although the glamor factor of deep sea worms is significantly less than sprawling brain corals, the uniqueness factor and importance of deep sea ecosystems should stand along with the recognition granted to reefs, polar seas, and mangroves. I believe the best way to do this will be to create these pressurized aquariums, so that we all can marvel at the deep.

A New Race for the Deep

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So I stumbled upon this clip from MSNBC and I wanted to quickly highlight the race that is quietly going on to revisit Challenger Deep, as well as to provide affordable vehicles to access the deep (which I see as the biggest obstacle right now in underwater exploration). I've known about Virgin Oceanic for a while and their plan for reaching Challenger Deep, and I was impressed with their slick sub design, more of a cruising sub than a scientific sub, one built for distance travel.

     But this was the first I had heard of Triton making an attempt to the bottom (I had only known them as a luxury, recreational sub maker). I have to say, their design may not be as sexy, but it looks cheaper to produce and more practical to the marine scientist. Anyways, I am following these stories with interest (and yes, with jealousy) and here's hoping to another renaissance in deep sea technology. On a similar note, I will discuss Underwater habitats and different underwater breathing mechanisms later.

Deep Sea Nudibranchs and Ocean Acidification: A Meditation

My favorite nudi pick ever, Nembrotha kubaryana Credit: NatGeo

I would like to apologize in advance for this long post, this is really just a stream of though exercise for me. Please comment!

Nudibranchs have always been some of my favorite marine animals. Their defensive mechanisms and bright coloration (called Aposematism) have always elicited fascination from me. My research project (please see Research Project ) on one particular species, Onchidoris bilamellata, revealed to me the amazing toughness of these shell-less creatures, despite their delicate appearance. They are found all over the world, from beneath the ice in the frigid Antarctic Ocean to temperate tidal pools to warm tropical reefs. They may be tiny, but they are found in every single habitat on earth. Everywhere, it seems, but the deep ocean, specifically hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and methane seeps.

Dendronotus comteti Credit: SSF

    Why is this? Sure, the deep sea is an enormously harsh environment. But hundreds, possibly thousands, of species of animals live at these sites, from almost every phylogenetic clade of life (except Plantae). The species here are of such great diversity and have such fantastic adaptation that one would think that one would think that such  fantastic adapter like the nudibranch would be able to adapt to these demanding habitats. Yet, this is not the case. Only one species has been named to date (Dendronotus comteti)in the Atlantic and a few unnamed specimens seen in the Bering Sea (Source 1).Why are there so few specimens in such a small area of this hardy organism in the deep sea?

Vent Snails Credit: DSN

Vent Mussels Credit: MBARI

        Although this question is unanswerable at the moment, I’d like to pose another interesting quandary. Nudibranchs may be rare in the deep sea, but mussels and snails are hugely abundant at these depths. Why would other shelled mollusks be much more present in the this environment than an animal as adaptive as the nudibranch? The mystery deepens when we realize that hydrothermal vents often are extremely acidic – around 2.8 pH. Since high acidity keeps dissolved calcium carbonate from settling out, how are there shelled mollusks that live at these vents? Calcium carbonate is necessary for building a shell, and if high acidity prevents snails and mussels from taking calcium carbonate out of the water, how can they grow? Acidic waters can even begin to dissolve shells, so how do they survive? One would think that snails and mussels would not be able to live in these acidic environments, leaving a niche open for the shell-less nudibranchs.

     

      What does this mean for the ocean of the future? Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and in the water is quickly acidifying our oceans, and it will be more and more difficult for shelled mollusks (as well as a host of other hard-shelled creatures) to grow, much less exist. One would think that being shell-less like the nudibranch would be a great benefit in these future acidic seas. Yet, we still face the perplexing dilemma of the acidic vents. Perhaps these snails and mussels have a special mechanism for absorbing CaCO₃, and perhaps nudibranchs have one physiological trait that prevents them for living successfully at depth or near vents. Either way, I am perplexed by the question I’ve raised, if anyone has a hypothesis, please comment below!

Launch

Well, this is my first blog post. I'll cut right to it and give a sneak peak about this blog; it has everything to do with the ocean, particularly the life within it, as well as exploration, photography, and a few stories about Terra firma that catch my eye. I will post scientific articles/reviews, photography, personal projects, etc.
As a quick introduction, I am a student who will graduate high school this spring and am looking to major in Marine Biology, but I find everything fascinating, from history to literature to music. I've worked at the Natural History Museum and the National Zoo as an assistant curator and assistant zookeeper, am a Rescue level SCUBA diver, avid whitewater kayaker, hiker, and an amateur photographer.
I will be putting up some of my first real posts within the next few days, and if you like what you see, please subscribe! Please message me (if blogger allows that, I don't know) with things to share and questions and I will try to post them/answer to my best ability.
Thanks, and Peace!