Sea Notes

The State of the Seas

Not a day goes by without a headline or broadcast report about something happening to the health of the ocean. The news isn't always good, but at least more attention is focused on the largest living space on the planet. With awareness, you open the door for solutions. (In the case of the ocean, ignorance definitely isn't bliss.)

With that in mind, the bad news first:

In the Mediterranean, new research estimates that shark populations are down more than 90 percent from historic levels 200 years ago -- with all the negative impacts on overall ecosystem health that result when you all but eliminate the top predators in the system. Hammerheads, mackerel sharks and blue sharks have been wiped out as accidental bycatch, or killed as pests by fishermen who don't value their place in the ocean's living web. And, sadly, there are still few regulations in place to protect sharks in the wild.

There's also disturbing news about the presence of chemical pollutants in the deep ocean. Scientists surveying deep-water cephalopods in the northwest Atlantic Ocean have detected chemical pollutants (like tributyltin and PCBs) in the tissues of deep-sea squids. Tissue samples from deep-sea squids and octopus -- including the cockatoo squid (Galiteuthis spp.) and the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) -- yielded surprising concentrations of persistent organic pollutants. Chemical like tributyltin (TBT, used in anti-fouling paint on boats), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT and flame retardants were documented in tissue samples collected by scientists in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

Why worry? Because these cephalopods are an important part of deep-sea food web -- including a source of food for deep-diving whales and dolphins.

On the good-news front, Southern California Edison is spending $40 million to create an artificial reef off the coast of Orange County as mitigation for damage to native kelp forests caused by discharge from its San Onofre nuclear power plant.

The 2.5-mile-long reef, mandated by the state Coastal Commission, is intended to provide footings to anchor giant kelp that will become the basis for a restored kelp forest ecosystem where wildlife can thrive.

Here in Monterey Bay, the return of sea otters from near-extirpation by fur hunters in the 18th and 19th centuries provided conditions for a similar revitalization of the kelp forests. Today, you'd never know that the bay was denuded of kelp by sea urchins, abalone and other grazers after otters were eliminated in the bay. They returned in the early 1960s, and the kelp forest followed them. Keep your eyes on San Clemente to see if the reef there has the same effect.

Finally, a celebration reported this week for "the most important microbe you've never heard of." NPR's Joe Palca took part in commemorating the discovery of a marine bacterium called Prochlorococcus. Why? Because it's super-abundant in the ocean, and is probably responsible for the oxygen in one out of every five breaths you take. Although it's one of the most abundant organisms on Earth, it was utterly unknown to science until 20 years ago.

Friday's Featured Film: Wingless Flight

When your goal is a future with healthy oceans, you have to keep a sharp eye on the land. That's because the impact we humans are having on planetary ecosystems don't stop at the shoreline.

With that in mind, and with gasoline prices in my neighborhood soaring toward $4.75 a gallon for regular, I was delighted to discover this small car company that plans to bring a sleek all-electric car with a 120 mile cruising range and a top speed of 85 miles per hour to market before the end of the year.

Called the Aptera and built in Carlsbad, California, it will retail for less than $30,000; carry two passengers, an infant/toddler car seat, and quite a bit of cargo ("15 bags of groceries, two full-size golf club bags or even a couple of seven-foot surfboards"); and is flat-out gorgeous, in a futuristic way.

By 2010 they intend to produce and sell a gas-electric hybrid that gets 120 miles PER GALLON of gas. The only bad news: Initially, it will only be be available here in California.

Check it out in this Popular Mechanics test drive:

Dia del Nino (Day of the Child)

On  April 27th, Monterey Bay Aquarium celebrated Día Del Niño, or ‘Day Of The Child’! Día Del Niño celebrated children and the enormous power they hold in their hands. Because it was their day, children under 12 were admitted free. Día Del Niño featured splendid family-oriented, educational events. There was so much going on at the event  I didn’t get to see it all but I’ll tell you about as much as I can.

First, there were two great presentations including “Working With White Sharks” presented by Associate Curator Manny Ezcurra and “Seahorse Magic”. Both were presented in English and Spanish.  El Teatro Campesino was also there presenting, Basta Basura (or Enough Trash), a great musical that teaches us about the dangers of throwing garbage into the ocean.

 

Next, there was lively music and infectious dance wherever I went. There was a mariachi performance by Mariachi California De Javier Vargas and  an incredible harpist named William Faulkner.  There were also dancers from Águila Real and although I have never thought of myself as a dancer, even I was moving to the music at this event!

 

There were also hands-on activities in the craft room.Here people made a traditional Mexican toy called a Boleros Cup. A Boleros Cup is a cup - usually wooden, although ours were paper- with a little ball or figurine attached to it with a string. The object of the game is to get the little ball into the cup. Sounds easy, right? I thought so too, until I tried it. It’s really is hard! But the paper cones that everyone decorated were gorgeous! There were so many bright colors and unique designs! I had a lot of fun there, but I have to admit I had just as much fun at the Prize Wheel.

The Prize Wheel is a lot like the Wheel of Fortune, except there is no letter- guessing. Someone would spin the huge wheel on a table. Then, depending on what color the spinner it landed on, the person spinning would get one of four prizes. The prizes were; a rubber otter, four tickets for the Aquarium, a Wild About Otters poster, or some fantastic stickers. The prize wheel was so cool! Sometimes, all of the people would start chanting the name of the prize they wanted! It seemed all of the adults wanted tickets, but the most popular prize among the children was the rubber otter. And when the person won the item they wanted, everyone whooped and hollered with excitement.  I had fun making prize announcements as interesting and varied as I could.

 

Día Del Niño was groovy and the best news is that more events like this one are planned for the future.  Mark your calendar for October 12th so you can come party at Fiesta Del Mar! This event celebrates the Latin American culture and rejoices in our magnificent and mysterious seas. The highlight of the day will be the Heroe del Medio Ambiente (Hero of the Environment) award ceremony. Like Día Del Niño, children 12 and under will be admitted all day for free! I will definitely see you there!

Who You Calling Ugly?

Cartoonist Jim Toomey, creator of Sherman's Lagoon, was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium last weekend for World Ocean Day festivities. During one of his presentations, he mentioned that he could never dream up more cartoonish creatures than actually exist in the ocean -- animals much more varied and unusual than the diversity found among land animals. ("Lots of things with four legs and fur" is how he put it.)

Unusual, OK. Diverse, sure. Just don't go calling them ugly.

Wauifekt.com used the U-word to single out its choices for the Top 10 ugliest fishes in the sea.

Of course what the photo parade doesn't mention is that all of these "ugly" animals are successful at what they do: using a diversity of strategies and adaptations to survive in a challenging environment.

Not to take it too personally on behalf of the aquarium, two of the Top 10 are regular inhabitants of our exhibits -- the wolf-eel and the ocean sunfish.

Granted, they're not classic beauties, but they have a certain....charm.

The wolf-eel in particular is amazing. Like many marine fishes, it undergoes a variety of transformations on its way to its final adult appearance.

As a juvenile, it's nearly transparent. A bit older, and its head takes on a pale orange tint, with a blush of red on its cheeks. Still older, and it has a spotted pattern that resembles a slinky aquatic giraffe. Older still and it's almost mauve with a snakeskin camouflage pattern. Only as an adult does it take on a mature blue-grey color.

That's hardly what I'd call ugly.  But beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder.

 

A Seafood Webcast

Want to sharpen your sustainable seafood smarts? And pick up some tips on selecting and cooking  seafood?

You'll find all that and more during a Monterey Bay Aquarium video webcast this Friday, June 13 featuring Dory Ford, executive chef of our Portola Restaurant, Seafood Watch Outreach Manager Sheila Bowman, and yours truly.

Dory and Sheila will will offer recommendations on what to order at restaurants and what to buy at the market. And they'll share some exquisite sustainable seafood recipes from our annual Cooking for Solutions celebration.

Along with everything else, you'll learn how you can be an advocate for our oceans and spread the word about sustainable seafood in your community. And you can submit questions via email for a Q&A session during the webcast.

You can register here for the hourlong webcast.

I hope you'll join us!

Monday's Inspirational Photo: Hawksbill

For the second year, Monterey Bay Aquarium invited folks to celebrate World Ocean Day by submitting their best, most beautiful and most inspirational ocean photos to our annual Ocean Action Team photo contest.

We received more than 200 incredible entries and had a hard time selecting just three to recognize. Our 2008 winner is Becky Kelly, for her photo, "Hawksbill in Cozumel, Mexico 2008".

Hawksbills, like most sea turtles, are critically endangered and are on the IUCN red list as a protected species. The beauty that Becky captured in her photograph documents just one reason why our world is richer for their continued existence.

Congratulations to Becky and all the other entrants. Please: keep enjoying the ocean, and taking great photos. We'll be seeking new submissions for the contest in 2009.

Happy World Ocean Day

Today, is officially, the unofficial day we celebrate our oceans. Although aquaria and conservation organizations across the world will recognize today as "World Ocean Day", in reality, there has only been one world ocean day, and that was in 1992, at the first ever Earth summit.

"Earth Day" of course, is officially recognized every year, and there's no doubt that the oceans are celebrated in those festivities. But, as we all know, our ocean planet is 70% water, and those that live both in our oceans and on the land not only depend on water, but are composed of water. The human brain is 70% water, which may explain a lot!

Our oceans provide a major source of protein for much of the world's population. Our oceans drive our climate, provide us with a large percentage of the oxygen we breathe, and are absorbing ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, which we are all producing each year.

Is it a lot to ask to dedicate a day in honor of our oceans?

For many years, Oceana has been petitioning the UN to make this day a permanent tribute.

But at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, every day is Ocean Day. Every day we seek to inspire our guests to find new ways to tread lightly on our planet and to take responsibility for our footprint - whether that be through the seafood choices we make, or through the way we get engaged in local, state and national ocean policy issues.

Thank you for caring about our oceans. Together we can make a difference.

Celebrate the Ocean

We'll celebrate World Ocean Day this weekend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and I hope you'll find ways to connect and celebrate as well.

For all the threats to ocean health (and they are abundant), there is still great cause for hope. And our connections with the ocean are joyful, whether it's a walk on the beach or a whalewatching trip, or just the view of a sunset over the sea.

So in honor of the day, here are some celebratory photos and items of news -- starting with this incredible photo of a breaching humpback whale in Monterey Bay. (Yes, that's the aquarium in the background.)

There was more encouraging news on the marine mammal front in a report from the National Marine Fisheries Service that both spotted and eastern spinner dolphin populations are finally recovering from the huge losses they sustained from tuna fleets before the mandate for "dolphin-safe tuna".

As scientists tell us repeatedly, the oceans and marine life are incredibly resilient -- if only we'll give them a chance to recover.

And overfishing is on the agenda, here in the United States and around the world. NBC News featured the issue in a Thursday night broadcast, and will highlight it again as part of The Today Show on Sunday -- World Ocean Day. (Part of the solution -- both Seafood Watch and the Marine Stewardship Council certification program -- are featured prominently.)

We'[re not there yet, but step by step we're getting closer.

And that's cause for celebration, today and every day.

Carnival of the Blue 13

To get you ready for your World Ocean Day celebration on June 8, check out the first anniversary edition of Carnival of the Blue, the monthly compendium of the best of ocean blogging. Blog Daddy Mark Powell, of The Ocean Conservancy and Blogfish, put together this month's entertaining -- and encouraging -- roundup.

Read and enjoy!