The Ocean People Podcast

Hello, ocean people!  This post includes a podcast, so you get to hear me talk.  Sorry.  But thanks for listening anyway!

The Top 10 Most Amazing Things I Learned Writing This Blog

The Ocean People Podcast

A pregnant seahorse
By Jaro Nemčok, via Wikimedia Commons

By Derbeth, via Wikimedia Commons

By Becks, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Associated Press (2005).  Killer whale bumps but doesn't bite boy.  Juneau Empire.

Fulton-Bennet, K. (2012).  MBARI researchers discover what vampire squids eat.  MBARI News Release.

Hawkins, D. (2003).  Pretty horses.  U.S. News & World Report 134(2).

Shoshani, J., ed. (2000).  Elephants: Majestic Creatures of the Wile.  Checkmark Books.

Warner, D.A. & Shine, R. (2008).  The adaptive significance of temperature-dependent sex determination in a reptile.  Nature 451: 566-568.

The Hufflepuffs of the Sea

This post is going to be about one of my very favorite ocean animals.  Gentle and curious, but sadly endangered and underrated, I present to you: manatees!  The Hufflepuffs of the sea.  

How do they behave?
Manatees are solitary, peaceful mammals that live in shallow waters such as rivers and estuaries.  They spend about half of the day sleeping, coming to the surface every 20 minutes or so to breathe.  They are slow-moving, generally only reaching speeds of three to five miles per hour, but they are capable of reaching speeds of 20 miles per hour.  

I just think they're sweet.
By Ahodges7 and Nellie Anger, via Wikimedia Commons

Manatees are born in the water, typically one calf per cow (female manatee).  The mother pushes the baby up to the surface to take its first breath, but the baby learns to swim after that!  When the baby stops nursing, it leaves its mother to go eat plants alone.  They live, on average, around 40 years in the wild, but there is a manatee named Snooty alive in captivity who is now 66 years old.  

They are herbivores; they graze the bottom of estuaries and rivers, eating plants growing in water.  This behavior, as well as their shape, has earned them the nickname "sea cow."  

Manatees are known to be quite curious, frequently investigating things at the surface of the water.  Unfortunately, this behavior has proven to be very dangerous for them, as it often results in the animals being injured by boats.

Fun Facts:
Okay, true, all the stuff above is life cycle business.  But here are some really interesting things!

Manatees do not have eyelashes.  They blink in a circular motion, so they don't need them!

Also, manatees' closest living relatives are elephants!  Similarities between the animals can be found in their teeth.  Manatees, like elephants (and kangaroos, but that's probably a coincidence), have no canine teeth or incisors, but they do have a set of cheek teeth.  Throughout their lives, the manatees lose those teeth and they are replaced by new ones.  Manatees never have more than six teeth in their mouths at a time.

Manatees have been the subject of folklore and mythology for centuries.  They were thought to be mermaids by Christopher Columbus and his men when they reached the shores of North America, and it was rumored that they were once human in some West African cultures.  

What's their conservation status?
Manatees are endangered.  They have no natural predators, so the biggest threats to them are human-related.  Boating accidents account for approximately 25% of manatee deaths, and indeed boating injuries are so rampant that manatees can often be distinguished from one another by the injuries on their backs.  

Another human related threat to manatees comes from nuclear plants that empty into rivers or estuaries.  Runoff from these plants heats the water, making it comfortable for manatees.  Instead of traveling to warmer waters during winter as they normally would, the manatees stay put.  This warmth is not enough to stand up to winter cold, however, and manatees can suffer what is known as "cold stress" death as a result.

How can I help?
If you live inland, then some of the best things you can do are the best things you can do for the environment in general.  Limit plastic use, control where your litter ends up--remember, it's all connected down the line.  

You can also check out this website, which is dedicated to manatee conservation!  You can even sponsor one, if that's something you'd like to do.  They call it "adopting" on the website, which I think is adorable.  

Sources: 

Cooper, J.C. (1992).  Symbolic and Mythological Animals. London: Aquarian Press.

Flamn, R.O., Haymark C. and Reynolds J.E. (2012).  Improving conservation of Florida manatees. Environmental Management.

Kennedy, Kelli (2006).  Florida boaters killing endangered manatees.  Cyber Diver News Network.

Shoshani, J., ed. (2000).  Elephants: Majestic Creatures of the Wild.  Checkmark Books.

Q&A with a Marine Biologist

I have been very fortunate while working on this blog to have gotten the opportunity to interview, not one, but two professionals working with the UT Marine Science Department. 

My first interview with Dr. Erdner can be viewed below--and if you have not had the opportunity to look at it, I highly recommend it!  My second interview was with Dr. Fuiman, who is currently studying seals in Antarctica.  Since my interview with him was conducted via email, I have decided to format this post as a true Q&A rather than the way that I have formatted my previous posts.

Q: What advice would you give readers who wish to become marine biologists?
If you really want to become a marine biologist, stay focused on your goal.  It takes a lot of time to fulfill the coursework requirements, and those requirements can be difficult.  But stick with it and your effort will be rewarded by having a career you truly enjoy.

Q: Take us through a typical day as a marine biologist, if there is such a thing as a "typical" day?
There is no single "typical" day.  The job has many different kinds of typical days.  Right now, for instance, I am conducting research on seals in Antarctica.  My typical day is to arrive at my office by 7:30 am and spend half an hour going through emails (like this one).  Then I might go into the field for 5 or 6 hours to collect data.  When I return to the office, I'll work at the computer on the data I just collected.  On another day here I might need to go into the field to catch a seal and move it to a different location so we can study how it navigates.  When I am not doing field work and I am back at the University, one kind of typical day would start at my desk at 8 am.  Between then and 6:00 pm, I would spend a lot of time working on the computer.  That includes handling email, analyzing data, and writing scientific papers or research proposals.  I would also meet with my graduate students and research assistants to discuss their research projects and help them through their questions.  Or, I might spend a few hours working in the laboratory.  On another typical day, I might be attending an international scientific conference to listen to presentations by colleagues on their research.

Q: Is there a particular topic in marine science that is seeing breakthrough research currently?
There are many areas of marine science that are making big breakthroughs.  In fact, I suspect all areas have a "cutting edge" where the research is especially exciting.  New technologies are playing a big part.  For example, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are allowing oceanographers to collect data from all the world's oceans much faster and more efficiently.  "Bio-logging" is a new field of research in which sophisticated instruments containing many different kinds of sensors are attached to animals, such as seals, whales, and large fishes, to collect data about the animals and their habitats.  New instruments and methods in molecular biology and genetics are helping to understand marine organisms and their populations.  These are just tips of the iceberg (sorry, I couldn't resist).

Q: What are you researching in Antarctica?

By Photographer: Giuseppe Zibordi via Wikimedia Commons

Here in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, our team of researchers are investigating the possibility that Weddell seals navigate underwater using Earth's magnetic field.  Weddell seals live where the sea surface is frozen solid from shore to shore with only a few cracks or holes.  Being mammals, they must locate the cracks or holes so they can breathe.  These dives generally last 15-20 minutes and the seals travel up to one and a half kilometers from the hold before they return to the hole.  So the question is, how does a seal who has chased fish one and a half kilometers from a breathing hole and 300 m below the ice-and-snow-covered surface (where it is totally dark) find its way to a very small hole in the ice?  We think they need a compass, and that requires the ability to sense Earth's magnetic field.  We are testing this by conducting carefully designed experiments and monitoring the behavior of the seals.



Q: What advice would you give readers who want to protect the ocean?  What about people who do not live on the coast?
The first step toward protecting the ocean is understanding why the ocean is worth protecting.  Think back to the time of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and all the impacts that spill had on society.  That was a relatively short-term disaster (compared to climate change or more subtle but progressive deterioration of the oceans), but it serves as an example of how important the oceans are to us and what we lose when we don't care for them.  My favorite way to be reminded of how important the oceans are is by listening to or reading Science and the Sea (www.ScienceAndTheSea.org).

Special Thanks: 
I would like to thank both Dr. Erdner and Dr. Fuiman for taking the time to get in touch with me and share their experience.  They are both very busy and taking on great work, and I am very grateful to have had such interesting and knowledgeable people contribute to this blog!

Phytoplankton: Earth's Floating Fortune

Hello again!  Last week, I was very fortunate to be able to interview a marine scientist.  Dr. Erdner, who works for the UT Marine Science Department, specializes in the study of phytoplankton.  The information she shared with me is fascinating and showcases just how invaluable phytoplankton are to our planet.  I pass this information, now, to you!

What are phytoplankton, exactly?
Dr. Erdner explained that phytoplankton are microscopic, single-celled organisms that live in the ocean.  They are plant-like, but they are NOT plants.  Their name has Greek roots; the word "plankton" means "floater."  

What is their life cycle like?
There are lots of different types of phytoplankton, so there is not one life cycle that all groups follow.  Most phytoplankton have both sexual and asexual phases.  In asexual phases, phytoplankton reproduce by splitting into "daughter" cells.  Their sexual reproduction is very interesting.  While they do not have genders, phytoplankton do have opposite mating types, which Dr. Erdner referred to as "plus" or "minus."  Two plankton of opposite mating types fuse together, but then have to divide into two different plankton so that they have the correct number of chromosomes again.  

Phytoplankton do not live very long.  There is an estimated turnover rate of one generation of phytoplankton giving way to the next every week.  That's an estimate for the entire ocean!

How do phytoplankton affect humans?
Phytoplankton provide numerous invaluable resources for humans!  They fix carbon in the atmosphere by performing photosynthesis--the same process that land plants use to make their own food.  The photosynthesis happening in the ocean is equal to the photosynthesis happening on land.  That is major!  Dr. Erdner's exact words were, "Every other breath you take is phytoplankton."  

Phytoplankton under a microscope
By NOAA MESA Project, via Wikimedia Commons

Humans are even reaping benefits from phytoplankton that died millions of years ago.  Those organisms floated to the bottom of the ocean after they died, and we now use them as fossil fuels!

And that's not all.  Phytoplankton are also used in vitamins and nutritional supplements, as well as in baby formulas!  The use of phytoplankton in these formulas helps to support eye and brain development in infants.  

Not all affects are positive, however.  Dr. Erdner also pointed out that phytoplankton cause harmful algael blooms.

How is climate change affecting phytoplankton?
Although it seems as though more carbon dioxide would be helpful for phytoplankton, this is not always the case.  As oceans get warmer, phytoplankton growth actually reduces because there aren't enough nutrients to go around.  This changes the species dominance of phytoplannkton; the smaller phytoplankton are more likely to survive in these conditions, while larger ones die off.   

What can people do to in their everyday lives to protect phytoplankton?
To protect phytoplankton, it is advisable to do the things that help protect any ecosystem.  Try to produce less carbon dioxide, in order to prevent the warming of ocean temperatures.  Additionally, try to be careful about what goes into the ocean.  

"In some parts of the ocean, there is more plastic than plankton," Dr. Erdner told me.  Considering how many there must be in order to produce an equal amount of oxygen as all land plants, I would say that is too much plastic.  Dispose of litter properly, and try to utilize reusable containers!  

Even if you live inland, take care of all the water around you.  Rivers lead to the ocean--it's all connected.

Fun Fact:
I asked Dr. Erdner to give me a fun fact about phytoplankton.  After much deliberation, she decided to share with me the feeding habits of a plankton called Dinophysis.  Not all phytoplankton are producers, she explained.  Some make their own food.  Dinophysis are among this group, but there's a twist to them.

These plankton freeze their prey (other phytoplankton) and eat their insides.  But that's not even the fun part.  The craziest thing about Dinophysis is that, once they've eaten the insides of another phytoplankton, they can photosynthesize using the chloroplast they stole from the other plankton!  That's brutal.  

In Conclusion:
You may not be able to see them without a microscope, but phytoplankton impact you every other time you take a breath!  With this in mind, always remember that there are consequences to everything you do.  It's our responsibility to live in a way that honors that knowledge!

Guest Blog Post

Hello!  This week, I have a guest blogger sharing his expertise on sea turtles.  His own blog, Turtles For Beginners gives advice about how to take care of pet turtles.  Everyone should check it out!  His interest in turtles--as well as his expertise--is inspiring!

One of Earth’s Living Fossils

Records show that sea turtles as a species have been living on our planet for at least 150 million years and that the species still alive today have been around for around 110 million years. After having been around for so long what have we learned about them? Let’s go over some of the basics.

Who’s left?

As far as marine scientists and biologists know there are seven species of sea turtles left. There’s the loggerhead, the green, the leatherback, the hawksbill, the kemp’s ridley, the olive ridley, and finally the flatback. If you look at a map showing where most breeding grounds are recorded you’ll notice that many locations lie somewhere along the Equator. This is because many of the environments contain the tropical and sub-tropical beaches that have the climate needed for the babies to hatch. Eventually when the hatchlings are born and make it to the ocean they will spend the rest of their life in the ocean, only ever returning to the shore for air. Only the females will return to the land so that they can give birth to the next generation.

What’s on the menu?

So what do sea turtles eat? Well, that depends on which sea turtle you are talking about. The different species all have different types of mouths for feeding. Loggerheads for example have large, powerful jaws that help them eat creatures with hard shells such as crabs and conchs. Hawksbill turtles have long, sharp and narrow mouths similar to a bird’s beak that let them reach into holes and crevices. Because of this, they are known for eating mostly sponges. Most of the species are either omnivores or carnivores with the exception of the Green turtle, which is an herbivore.

Why are they endangered?

A majority of the seven species of sea turtles are endangered, specifically the green, hawksbill, loggerhead, olive ridley, and leatherback. There are natural reasons certainly such as predators and weather. Unlike the species of turtles found on land, sea turtles cannot retract themselves into their shells making their heads and fins susceptible to larger fish, tiger sharks and killer whales. Coyotes and other large animals combing the beach for food can pillage the nests left on land. Even when the babies hatch gulls looking for a meal can pick them up. Severe weather such as hurricanes can and storms can disrupt their breeding and migration patterns.

A grazing sea turtle
By P.Lindgren (Own work)], via Wikimedia Commons

So what are some of the problems we cause?

Poaching for turtle skins and shells takes place as well as accidental capture in fishing equipment. While we may not be the ones performing these actions, it is important to be aware of them and inform others as well. A problem that may be more relatable is pollution. Plastics and other debris get thrown into the ocean along beaches and can kill sea turtles either through consumption or entanglement.

How can I help?

Helping out is not hard and can be as simple as turning off a light. If you live by a beach and are aware that sea turtles have been known to regularly hatch there try to turn off all your lights that would face the ocean at night. Baby turtles use the reflections made by the moon on the water to find their way to the ocean but sometimes confuse the lights from our houses as the reflected light. If you remember to turn off your lights at night then you are helping the next generation of turtles! Along with living by a beach that’s known for turtle hatchings, if you see a marked off area where a nest is just leave it alone. Baby sea turtles are adorable and fascinating but you also risk disturbing them or trampling over them when you invade their nests. Be respectful of your neighbors.

If you have the time or want to do more, try volunteering! There are several groups that try to help out wherever they can, whether it’s organizing a beach clean-up or by taking care of injured sea turtles.

I hope this helped answer any questions you have about these preserving creatures. They have existed longer than we have and have continued to adapt to the changing world. Try to keep these inspiring animals going!