Dec
13
The giant Pacific octopus
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long known for being a deep sea monster,The giant Pacific octopus grows bigger and lives longer than any other octopus species. The size record is held was 30 feet across and weighed more than 600 pounds. Averages are more like 16 feet and 110 lbs. in the wild they live between 3 and 5 years.both males and females dying soon after breeding. Females live long enough to tend fastidiously to their eggs, but they do not eat during this months-long brooding period, and usually die soon afterwards. Giant Pacific octopi have huge, bulbous heads and are generally reddish-brown in color. Like the other members of the octopus family, though, they use special pigment cells in their skin to change colors and textures, and can blend in with even the most intricately patterned corals, plants, and rocks.Highly intelligent creatures, giant Pacific octopuses have learned to open jars, mimic other octopuses, and solve mazes in lab tests. Their population numbers are unknown, and they do not currently appear on any lists of endangered or vulnerable animals. However, they are sensitive to environmental conditions and may be suffering from high pollution levels in their range.They hunt at night, surviving primarily on shrimp, clams, lobsters, and fish, but have been known to attack and eat sharks as well as birds, using their sharp, beaklike mouths to puncture and tear flesh. sometie they have even beenknown to eat another octopus.They range throughout the temperate waters of the Pacific, from southern California to Alaska, west to the Aleutian Islands and Japan.
Dec
9
global warming
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Global warming is of the new discovered issues harming the ocean. Global warming causes hotter summers, rising sea, intense floods, more frequent and harsher storms, coral bleaching, drowning polar bears and melting ice caps. The list could go on but, as you can see global warming affects both us and the oceans. The ocean regulates the earth’s temperature, so because of global warming the oceans are absorbing more heat the ever, therefore, causing a rise in the oceans temperature, which then leads to all the things listed above. We contribute to global warming by all the carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide is then absorbed be the oceans thus increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the ocean. Consequently this leads to alarmingly high acidity levels in the ocean. This process is know as ocean acidification. Ocean acidification affects the ability to produce calcium carbonate which is used to make skeletons and shells. This reduces the survival rate of marine animals like oysters, crabs, lobsters, clams and coral reefs. Though we are in to deep to completely fix the global warming problem anytime soon, there are ways we can help the ocean restore its self faster. Supporting low carbon fuels and becoming more energy efficient will contribute to the solution. Also reducing the stress we put on the ocean by over fishing and pollution will help the earth’s ability to recover faster.
Dec
9
pollution
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Pollution is a major way we are hurting our oceans. Dumping/marine debris , sewage run-offs, agriculture run-offs and oil spills are of the most common ways we pollute our oceans. How would you feel if someone let sewage run off into you home? How about if they just pulled in the front yard of your home and just dumped a load of trash? Its disgusting, literally people and even big companies are throwing their trash into the oceans like its their personal trash can. Many people don’t think about the animals they kill when they litter. Marine debris is urban or industrial trash. Mostly mistaken for food, marine animals get tangled or ingest the trash which could then kill them. Trash such as plastics and polystyrene (Styrofoam) don’t decompose easily, so it may remain in the ocean continuing the kill.
Oil spills may not seems like they don’t happen a lot but annually 32 million gallons are spilled into the ocean. Oil spill cause a number of problems for marine animals. Birds are not able to fly because the oil mats their feathers and mammals lose their water repellency and then can die from hypothermia. Also if ingested it may result in death.
Dec
3
seahorses
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the seahorse is among one of the most unique fish in the ocean. they have the face of a horse and the body of a fish with a long tall. overall there are 40 different types of seahorse. of the 40 only 4 live in the united states. they range in size from .6 inches to 14 inches. mostly found in tropic waters they prefer vegetated habitats in open waters because they are poor swimmers. they will generally always stay in this vegetation, not only to keep away from prey but to hang on to things so they don’t get pulled away by a current. seahorses mostly feed on small living creatures like daphnia, cyclops, larvae of water insects, or mysids. seahorse have no mouth or stomach so everything goes through their digestive system very fast therefore making them eat constantly to stay alive. believe it or not but they actually hunt in an ambush style. really hunting is the only time when the seahorse when unattach its self from whatever its holding on to. they are such poor swimmers because they only have one small dorsal fin on their back. a lot of times to help them swim better they will swim together in pairs linked together by their tails. to compensate for their poor swimming they were giving excellent camouflage to hide among seaweed and other vegetation. their breeding is unlike any other in that the males are the ones that become pregnant and give birth to the baby seahorse. the female will deposit her eggs into his pouch. they then carry the babies in this pouch untill they hatch. they will also stay will this mate for life.
Dec
3
About our oceans
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as a planet we are unique in that we have liquid water. no other planet in our solar system or no planet that we have found has liquid water on it. on our planet there are five oceans.the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. though earth is said to have five oceans, oceanographers would say that there is one big connected ocean. the ocean mainly effects our weather and temperature. in our oceans we have tides, tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the water. so what we call ‘low” and high” tide are really just big waves. there are two tidal cycles per day.
Pacific- this is our biggest ocean. it also contains our deepest point, the Mariana trench, which is 36,0 feet deep. its name comes from the Latin name Mare Pacificum which means peaceful ocean.
Atlantic- second largest. contains the mid-atlantic ridge which divides the oceans floors. saltiest of the oceans.
Indian- third largest ocean. the body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Southern-also known as the Antarctic Ocean. fourth largest. average is 10 to -2 degrees celsius. has the strongest winds on earth.
Arctic- smallest and shallowest of the oceans. located in the northern hemisphere. has the lowest average salinity. body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle. there is continuous darkness because of the winter.
Nov
18
Sharks
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Sharks have been around since dinosaurs. There are about 386 known species of sharks, ranging in size from 7 in. to 30 ft in length. They have been around so long because they are such great hunters. Both the lower and upper jaw of a shark moves, this is to help tear food apart. Inside these jaws, sharks never have to worry about loosing a tooth because if they do another one will grow in its place. In a lifetime a shark can use over 20,000 teeth. Almost all sharks are carnivorous sometimes even eating other sharks. To find their prey they rely mostly on there sense of smell, which two-thirds of a sharks brain is dedicated to. Of the most famous, and now endangered of these hunters is the Great White. They have such a storng sence of smell that they can even smell a drop of blood in 25 gallons of water. This shark averages about 15 to 20 feet long and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds. Unlike most sharks the Great White can lift its head above water too. Something to be thankful about is that the Great White’s close cousin, the Carcharodon Megalodon is now extinct. They lived millions of years ago. They could grow over 40 ft in length ad had teeth the size of a humans hand. The lifespan of an average shark can be 20-30 years old, but some spiny dogfish, a breed of shark, has been recorded to live over 100 years. Sadly overfishing is once again the destruction of a lot of sharks because they get caught in huge cast nets.
Nov
10
Coral Reefs
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I read about coral reefs and their destruction. Reefs support over a million plants and animals, hence why they are so important. They also give us medicinal drugs. In my readings I agreed with the overall fact that our reefs need to be more protected. In places all over the world coral reefs are dead or severely degraded. This can happen from over and destructive fishing, bad practices of run-offs, disease, and coral bleaching. We are destructing them when they are one of things we need the most.Corals reefs even provide protection for people that live on shorelines. When storms come in coral reefs act as a barrier to slow things down. More importantly coral reefs also provide fish for us and they are tons of fishermen abusing this by overfishing. Overfishing every year is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Its hard to tell a fishermen to stop fishing so much because he wants to provide for his family. What the fishermen does not realize is that the more he takes this year, the less there will be next year. With our population always on the rise our demand for fish is become more. Therefore the world’s fish population is declining at a alarming rate. We also affect our coral reef by global warming. Global warming and increasing seawater temperatures causes coral bleaching. This then causes mass destruction of the coral reefs. Of course the United States has laws to protect coral reefs but we import from countries that don’t. Things need to be done now before all the coral reefs are destructed. We don’t have much to spear because coral reefs only cover 1% of the world.
Oct
28
Endangered Marine Species
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ENDANGERED-THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION.
EXTINCTION-GONE FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
There are over 1,500 marine species on the endangered and threatened list. On this list there are fish, mammals, invertbrates, and coral. Most of this is from pollution, the spread of disease, loss of habitat and unsustainable fishing due to humans. Marine mammals on this endangered list are seals, dolphins, and seven out of thirteen great whale species, the recently added Beluga Whale(2008), Blue Whale, and Humpback Whale. Their endangerment is caused from over hunting. Some species of sharks are on the list, like the Basking Shark and Speartooth Sharks, even more popular ones like the Great White and Hammerhead Sharks are on the list. A resident of Florida and on this list as well is the Manatee. Humans cause many of their injuries from things like boat propellers and chemical watse. Also in Florida are five out of the eight endangered turtles. These include the Leatherback, Hawksbill, Atlantic Green Turtle, Kemp’s Ridley, and the Atlantic Loggerback. They are endangered because of loss of habitat and killing for jewelry, leather, etc. Of all this what bothers me the most is that these are innocent animals and have not brought this upon themselves, we have. There is hope for these animals because once an animal is recognized and put on the endangered list, acts are done to bring back their population. Acts like captive breeding, and zoning off preserve areas. Also many local and government conservation groups are doing a big part in helping as well. A lot of people don’t think that one extinct animal wont hurt anyone or anything, but this is wrong. That one extinct animal could be a part of another animals food chain and cause them to extinction.
Oct
28
Response Blog
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The blog i read was about marine pollution. One thing that was said that is very true is, “as the human population continues to grow and extend the range of its activities, so does our increase on its demands for marine goods and services.” He/She is simply saying that as the human population grows, so does the demand and stress we add to the oceans. In this blog it was brought to think that any harm done to the ocean can be considered polluting it. We as humans are hurting our oceans the most. We do this by nasty sewage run-offs, pollution, littering and many other things. What the sad thing is, is that there are simple ways we can stop or change this destruction. For example the techniqe dredging is where a big square metal cage is dropped on the sea floor, then dragged and brought back up to see what is found. This damages god knows what since no one is down there watching to see what they hit or if they break anything.I don’t understand how this technique, that has always been used, hasn’t gotten any upgrades. Overfishing is something that can easily be changed as well, all people have to do is stop fishing so much. Also some different types of fishing can be stopped like trawling. Trawling is where a big, weighted net is dragged behind a boat and suppose to catch fish, but it catches so much more like dolphins, turtles, sharks and ends up drowning them. Being a direct effect to our oceans we should do our best to save and protect our oceans.
Sep
29
Why Marine Ecosystems….
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Oceans and reefs have always been something that I’m passionate about. I have always felt as if it is a totally different world from my own, with weird creatures, bright colors and it’s own ecosystem. Hence why i have decided to “blog” about Marine Ecosystems. Man stepped foot on the moon before anyone ever saw the deepest parts of our oceans, which by the way is the Marine Trench(36,000 ft/over 7 miles deep). So little is know about our oceans, so many secrets, so many thing’s man-kind hasn’t discovered, the thought of what could be out in our oceans captivates me.Different from every other aquatic ecosystem, a marine ecosystem has a salt content much larger then any other. Included in marine ecosystems are shorelines, temperate oceans and tropical oceans. Also salt water (the ocean) covers most of the world, about 73%, in this the smallest and the largest creatures on our planets live. Therefore providing it with a wide array of fish, coral, marine mammals and marine plants. Now theses aren’t just places put on this earth for your viewing pleasure. Marine ecosystems have a big part in our own ecosystem. Without it there would be no rain, without rain no plants, without plants no animal’s, without plants and animals no humans. We are harming our own oceans by dumping things into it, pollution, over fishing etc. The ocean needs a lot of time to repair its self from the damage we are causing. For example 1 inch or coral take about 100 years grow. So we need to stop damaging our ocean now, if we don’t the worst is yet to come.