Energy and the environment CAN be related to marine life!

We know this quite well thanks to Accsys Technologies Engineering Director Robert Rapier and R-squared Energy blogger, who has shown TRT quite a connection between the three topics, proving a keen interest in marine biology meets energy topics such as alternative energy possibilities in the ocean and algal biodiesel.

The modest engineer told us at first that he does not expertise in these areas, but his answers in this Q&A prove a thorough knowledge of the importance and of marine biology and energy to society.

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are not terribly exciting to look at – two-inch, shrimp-like crustaceans – but they are an absolutely critical part of the Antarctic ecosystem.  Without them, many penguin, whale, and seal species would starve.  Krill is thus the base of the Antarctic food web, and of high importance.  Historically, krill have not been as desirable to humans as to marine life, due to their small size, salty taste, and tendency to spoil shortly after harvesting, but that may all be changing.  Antarctic krill harvests are rising due to a growing demand for krill oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and for cheap feed for aquaculture.  There are also a number of cosmetics that use substances derived from krill.

Krill are relatively abundant compared to other marine species (estimates range from 50- 500 million metric tones of total biomass).  However, even these large numbers cannot protect them the same problems of overfishing that plague so many other marine species.  Better fishing technologies enable much larger catches of krill at one time.  One recently updated ship is now capable of catching 120,000 tonnes in a single fishing season.  Onboard facilities have also improved, allowing for better and faster processing.  Krill fishing has become an increasingly profitable and attractive business.

As if writing for publications like New York Times, Popular Science, Discover, and National Geographic, publishing seven books, and keeping up the acclaimed science blog The Loom wasn't enough, Carl Zimmer has an incredible knowledge of the evolution of marine life to boot---from the intelligence of octopuses to the origin of four-legged vertebrates. 

What’s on your current work schedule? What are you doing these days?

“So.  What happened to our fish?” asks The Future.

“Um.  Well.  We ate them,” respond the people who were hired to protect the very marine life that directly or indirectly wound up on their dinner table: wild salmon, tuna, coral reefs.

The culprit of the overfishing crisis is small but insatiable: the human stomach.  But most people working in marine science and marine conservation still consume the animals they work to protect.  Often, this is done under the rationale that there is a way to manage fish sustainably and that if we followed that way, we would actually have more fish for human consumption.  That could be true.  But that is certainly not true today.

John Bruno kicks off another part of his Reef Science coral series, excerpting a modified version of an article he published last year on the Earth Portal about Coral Reefs and Climate Change. He covers global patterns of coral loss and several of the mechanisms through which anthropogenic climate change is contributing to this trend including coral bleaching, disease and ocean acidification.  Let him know know if there are particular topics you want to hear about.  You can reach him at jbruno@unc.edu.

In addition to the global and regional effects of climate change, there are several localized threats and impacts to coral reef ecosystems.  Reef fishes and some invertebrates are intensely harvested, which has greatly reduced their abundances and altered food web dynamics on all but the most isolated or intensely managed reefs.  Additionally, some fishing practices such as dynamite fishing and muro ami directly kill corals and can destroy the reef matrix. 

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory there was a news article posted that discusses "the other carbon dioxide problem." That problem is, of course, ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification is the result of CO2 released into the atmosphere finding its way into ocean waters. Estimates are that around one third of all human emissions of CO2 are currently absorbed this way. While that is good news for the problem of an enhanced greenhouse effect causing global warming, it is not good news for marine ecosystems.

In fact it is extremely bad news, and make ocean acidifications one of the most neglected aspects of the whole climate change policy debate. According to the article:

GrrlScientist has something on her mind when it comes to marine life and exotic animals in general and she's making it very well known on her popular science blog: Living The Scientific Life (Scientist Interrupted.)

Here's what she has to say about taking a stand on an of-the-moment hot-button issue.

A new proposed law, House Resolution #669 (HR 669) called The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act is coming through the US Congress. This resolution is scheduled to be heard by the House of Representatives on 23 April 2009. The purpose of this resolution is to prevent the keeping and the propagation of animals that are not native to the United States that are deemed to potentially be capable of harming the economy or the environment, people, native species or their habitats

What does a rock geologist know about the ocean? That's what we were wondering when we first encountered San Francisco Bay Area resident Brian, a sedimentary geologist and researcher who writes mostly about Earth Science and energy issues but who frequents the marine world (ocean topography, sea-floors, rocks located near the ocean) as part of his work. Like the climate scientists, marine biologist, and reef hobbyists that have come before, does Brian have what it takes to, in his own way, make the marine world a better place?   

In our first marine geology interview, answering a series of questions brought to him by the TRT crew, let Brian tell you himself...