Sea Notes

Algae Energy?

We admit it: We're big fans of algae at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After all, we grew the first living kelp forest at any aquarium and our executive director has a species of marine algae named after her.

So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that researchers around the world are working to turn algae into a viable source of energy.

With oil approaching $100 a barrel, it seems that these simple plants may offer a truly GREEN solution to the growing energy demand of Earth's human population.

Stay tuned.

Conservation Made Easy

More good news on the energy front:

A new study released Thursday finds that the United States can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one-third to one-half by 2030 "at manageable costs to the economy" -- assuming there's a national commitment to incorporate energy conservation into government policies and business practices.

It's especially encouraging that the estimates of potential savings aren't based on breakthrough technologies or even major changes in the way people live. (Imagine the potential if we factor THOSE into the equation!)

One key finding, according to the San Jose Mercury News report on the study: "About 40 percent of the options studied, principally in improved energy efficiency in buildings, appliances and vehicles, will produce net savings for the economy. In some cases, short-term costs -- such as gradually replacing lighting with more efficient systems -- will be more than balanced by long-term savings."

You can read the full report from McKinsey & Co. here. It was prepared for PG&E, Shell, Detroit Edison, Honeywell, National Grid, Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Friday's Featured Fishy Film: Manatees

It may be possible to see too many photos and too much video about manatees -- but we figure two video clips and a featured photo in one week isn't pushing the limit. (Please let us know if we HAVE tipped you into manatee overload!)

So, here's a clip posted to YouTube of two manatees swimming cheek to cheek. Enjoy!

Archived White Shark Webcast

You can now watch and listen (at your leisure) to the archived white shark webcast we first presented on Nov. 16 with two of our white shark experts. It runs about an hour. We're also posting answers on the Monterey Bay Aquarium website to questions that listeners asked during the webcast but that we weren't able to respond to during the broadcast.

Enjoy!

 

Eyes on the Ocean

You can only understand what you know, so it's very good news that the misunderstood ocean is getting a lot more attention these days.

On one front, the Sloan Foundation has been leading the charge with its Census of Marine Life, a multi-year effort to learn what used to live in the ocean, what lives there now and what will inhabit the ocean in the future.

Here in Monterey, we're involved through our collaborations in the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics project, where researchers tag and track highly migratory animals like white sharks, albatross and leatherback sea turtles. (Just this week they're featuring some cool albatross information from nine tagged fledglings -- including a young black-footed albatross that's setting new records for the flight of a fledgling. It's already flown more than 15,000 miles -- 25,000 km. That's more than most people travel in a lifetime!)

Now comes news that the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) is moving forward with another multi-year, multi-billion dollar effort to create a network of research ships, ocean buoys, satellites and tagged ocean animals feeding in data that helps us get a better handle on what's happening to the ocean worldwide.

It's all part of a larger effort to create a Global Earth Observation System of Systems with the aim of using planet-wide observations of natural systems "to support decision making in an increasingly complex and environmentally stressed world." Planners meet this week in South Africa to move the process forward.

We wish them well.

A Limit to Love

The weather was beautiful over Thanksgiving weekend in San Diego County, and the full moon contributed to mid afternoon minus tides. With a few restless kids in hand, a tide pooling trip seemed like the perfect way to spend a few hours and work off the calories from two days of feasting.

And so it was -- almost.

Conditions at Swami's Beach in Encinitas were ideal, for a few dozen surfers and a couple hundred folks who, like our group, skipped the malls to get a closer look at intertidal life.

But it was also a reminder of the effects we ocean lovers can have on fragile habitats like tide pools. Yes, tide pools can withstand pounding surf, scouring sand and periods of exposure to air and sun. But over time their biological richness is diminished by too many visitors -- each eager for a direct connection, the briefest touch of something they may never have seen before: a brittle star, a red octopus, a sea snail or hermit crab, a sea hare or Spanish shawl nudibranch.

We encountered all of these, along with a few sculpins, a juvenile spiny lobster, clusters of mussels and fields of sea grasses and aggregating anemones in our short time by the shore. But we also saw one over-eager "naturalist" trying to wrestle a small octopus from its niche under a rock, while also displaying a brittlestar in an otherwise empty pink plastic bucket. And not every family's feet stepped lightly on bare rocks or sand.

Researchers have documented the decline of once-rich tide pools in Southern California from human impacts. Fortunately, by following proper tide pooling etiquette it's possible to help tide pools recover.

On the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, you can find a wealth of information about tide pools (and even create a tide pool of your own)!

Yes, by all means check the tides and experience nature directly with friends and family -- especially with children. But please do so with respect for the animals and plants.

When you do, it's an inspiration, as this quote from Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck in The Log from the Sea of Cortez reminds us:

"Man is related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable; plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."

Monday's Inspirational Photo - Manatee

This most graceful of marine herbivores is once again under threat in U.S. waters, with a proposal looming to downgrade its status from "endangered" to "threatened" - even though it has just been officially classified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as an endangered species.

Find out how you can help keep Florida's waterways safe for manatees, now and in the future.

Check out this great video from Defenders of Wildlife and hear the sea cow in action!

Image courtesy of Nature's Resort

Salmon & Jelly - Recipe for Disaster

This week, a bloom of small jellyfish known as mauve stingers invaded an organic salmon off the coast of Northern Ireland. Although the jellies were too small to have salmon on their list of prefered menu choices, the combined stinging power of millions of jellies resulted in the total loss of the entire stock of the organic farm.

In the U.S., organic designation has not been afforded to any seafood items. In fact, the USDA has not yet even determined that carnivorous fish, such as salmon, can ever be farmed in a way that could be considered organic.

At Seafood Watch, we currently consider all methods of farming salmon to be problematic, and therefore our recommendation is to avoid it. Check our website for more information, and for farmed seafood items on our best choices list.

Friday's Feature Film - Feathered Friends Fly Free

Although over 1,000 seabirds sadly fell victim to the recent oil spill in San Francisco, an equal number were collected alive and taken to the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) for treatment. To date, the IBRRC has released over 120 birds back to the wild, with more releases to come.

We hope you enjoy watching this short video of the first release of 37 birds back to the wild.

The IBRRC still has over a thousand birds at its facility in San Francisco. While they are not currently taking new volunteers, there are a number of other ways to help. Check out the list of items the center is in need of right now, which you might be able to donate.

Thanks to the San Francisco Chronicle for the photo and video.

Turkey-Free Thanksgiving Recipes

We recently invited Aquarium foodies, via our monthly Seafood Watch newsletter, to enter a sustainable seafood recipe contest hosted by our friend Jacqueline Church at Leather District Gourmet.

Jacqueline received many great entries, some from well-known U.S. chefs, but also from seafood lovers around the world.
Check out this great round-up of recipes; find your favorite seafood or pick out a new fishy dish to try, perhaps as an alternative for those with turkey fatigue! 

Don't forget you can download your Seafood Watch pocket guide from our website, so you have it with you each time you dine or shop for seafood.
A special version of the pocket guide is also available for mobile devices with Internet access.

Thanks to Jacqueline for volunteering to host this great event and for all the hard work involved in making this happen. Find out how you can become a Seafood Watch Advocate and help us spread the word about ocean-friendly seafood.

Turkey-fish head courtesy of Aquarium Pros