Take me to the Ocean: Marine Biology Blog

Bachelor's of Marine Science degree dealing with landlocked blues.

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Scuba fund

http://www.gofundme.com/z6gpe6g

Please consider helping me make my dream come true. Love and light💙💚💛

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Melisa Pinnow

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Happy Holidays 500PX!! by Jeff Walker

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“Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp. What is the message signaled by the hordes of diatoms, flashing their microscopic lights in the night sea? What truth is expressed by the legions of...

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Collingwood’s Chromodoris - Seraya  | Rowland Cain

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[mermaidwithascubatank]

i’m so in love with this. i can’t even. ah. my favourite feeling in the world is putting your head beneath the water and entering an entirely different place, so peaceful, so quiet. what i miss more than anything when i’m living away from the ocean is being able to duck under and leave all my worries on the surface.

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[mermaidwithascubatank]

Seamounts

Ecotones-area where habitats meet Seamounts-75% of the seafloor is between 3 and 6 Km deep Mostly covered by muds(abyssal plains) Seamounts provide hard substrate Seawater upwelled on upcurrent sides, eddies form on leeward sides Water movements decrease sedimentation, allowing for greater light penetration High diversity of primary producers to deeper depths and cold nutrient rich water= biodiversity hotspots Endemism of species higher than 30% (Richer de Forges et al. 2000) Rich 3-D benthos allows excellent cover and nurseries site for many species of bony fishes, sharks, cephalopods and other higher order predators Rich feeding grounds and obvious “landmarks” may be important stopping grounds for migratory fishes, birds, and marine mammals Conservation--- We could begin by establishing marine reserves around key seamounts either isolated or in a series (for long dispersing larvae) Satellites can easily spot underwater seamounts and help enforcement Cautionary note: right now, with fishing pressure pushing fleets farther offshore, the high diversity and biomass of seamounts is a favorite target for expanding fisheries. We must act to protect these areas before it is too late IUCN has programs and research to preserve seamounts Non-Seamount Epipelagic -surface areas away from seamounts are also more heterogeneous than was thought -eddies, shear zones, Langmuir circulation cells, current divergences and convergences create local areas of upwelling concentration of phytoplankton, gelatinous inverts, zooplankton in these areas -food resource and migratory stopping point for many marine fish, bird, mammals All lead to hotspots on the ocean surface between seamounts Why not develop reserves around such hotspots away from seamounts in such a way as to create potential corridors for migratory species as well as long-range plankton dispersers? Conservationists starting to discuss dynamic boundaries, the idea that a marine reserve’s boundary may move in space and time Floating buoy markers or AUVs that move with set physical or chemical parameters or follow populations Additional benefit: scientific research of hot spots and a deeper understanding of the ecology of these areas What about protecting a moving target If a whale(or other large nekton) were targeted, when it surface a signal could be sent warning fishing boats to stay outside a set distance We have internationally recognized signals for bar codes, why not whale codes? Some regional agreements made remarkable differences 1991 Protocol on environmental protection to the Antarctic treaty, member nations agree to establish “Specially Protected Areas” 1995 Protocol of Specially Protected Areas and biodiverstity to the Barcelona convention for the Mediterranean These agreements show nations can establish legal frameworks for the common good(although they are virtually powerless against agents from outside member nations)

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Marine Conservation- place based management

Place Based Management- temporarily or permanently protecting a place from at least once preventable anthropogenic harm may be seasonal, specific areas for spawning or complement permanent protection(Marine Reserves) Marine Reserves- any removal of resources prohibited -insurance policy for management errors in catch limit -conserving variation in life history traits -maintaining productivity for longer lived iteoparous species -provide reference for scientists in unfished areas --sucks for poor fishermen/women 20-50% of target area is best -best if easily found by cardinal directions -include all habitats -complete fishing ban needed even in Marine reserves anthropogenic harms like pollution apply good news- examples where it worked biodiversity is important rather than specific species Marine National park- may allow limited fishing or recreation Habitat/species: removal under strict management controls protected seascape- limited management for a shore area, aimed at maintaining overall use sustainable areas: wide variety of management schemes from heavy to very limited low abundance renders some species unworthy of study rockfish Boccacio--red list Halper(2003)--increased biomass, incrases abundance and size Catch per unit effort- eventually levels off to constant --if CPUE is up more fishermen will join and then it levels out -fishers leave when CPUE gets bad Apo Island-reserve fishing improved, political debate led to fishing again, CPUE decreased by 1/2

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I want this blown up to like 42” x 62” and plastered on my living room wall.

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Japanese Bonnet Snail (Semicassis bisulcata)

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☽☯☾

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Mirrored Dream

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(via 500px / Manta Dreaming by Christian Miller)