The staff here at Ocean Leadership works hard to make certain that each week we provide you with the most useful and timely information regarding our efforts, activities of the community, news from Capitol Hill, and all opportunities, jobs and internships that we feel you might find beneficial.

To contact the Ocean News Weekly Editor, email kkracke@oceanleadership.org.

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Democratic and Republican congressional leaders had lunch with the President at the White House this week to discuss the next debt-ceiling battle, which is expected later this year or possibly early next year.  There are several important pieces in the macro-budget debate, including the debt-ceiling, the annual appropriations process, the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, and the appropriations sequester set to take effect in January 2013.  It is unlikely that Congress and the President will rectify any of their differences on these matters before the November elections, meaning that there will likely be a frantic lame-duck session this fall.  If nothing is decided, then the tax cuts will expire and discretionary spending will be cut-across the board by approximately 8 percent.  However, given the fragile nature of the economy and the significant cuts that have already been placed on the Defense Department, some fashion of a deal or extension is likely.  So, stay tuned!

NSF is seeking input from scientists to help guide EarthCube, the new NSF initiative to create an integrated data and knowledge management system for the geosciences.  Researchers funded by NSF want to know your views on the needs in data and cyberinfrastructure across the geosciences.  Because data discovery, access, and use are such an integral part of ocean sciences now, I encourage you to take this survey at your earliest convenience.  To date, the oceanography community is not well represented and EarthCube is one of the NSF programs that could offer new funding opportunities for our community in these tight budget times.  I also urge you to register on the EarthCube website to get involved in the conversations that are taking place.  It is very important that our community participates in this effort. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy this weather.  Summer is right around the corner.

Bob

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(Click to enlarge) While most of the ship's wood has long since disintegrated, copper that sheathed the hull beneath the waterline as a protection against marine-boring organisms remains, leaving a copper shell retaining the form of the ship. The copper has turned green due to oxidation and chemical processes over more than a century on the seafloor. Oxidized copper sheathing and possible draft marks are visible on the bow of the ship. (Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program.)

During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA, BOEM and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago.

(From NOAA) – Scientists on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer used underwater robots with lights and high definition cameras to view remnants of the ship laden with anchors, navigational instruments, glass bottles, ceramic plates, cannons, and boxes of muskets.

Equipped with telepresence technology, Okeanos Explorer reached audiences around the world who participated in the expedition through live streaming Internet video. As members of the public ashore watched live video from the ocean bottom, they became “citizen explorers,” sharing in the discovery with maritime archaeologists, scientists and resource managers from a variety of federal, academic, and private organizations.

The NOAA-funded 56-day expedition that ended April 29 was exploring poorly known regions of the Gulf, mapping and imaging unknown or little-known features and habitats, developing and testing a method to measure the rate that gas rises from naturally-occurring seeps on the seafloor, and investigating potential shipwreck sites.

The shipwreck site was originally identified as an unknown sonar contact during a 2011 oil and gas survey for Shell Oil Company. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requested this and other potential shipwreck sites be investigated during NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico expedition. Surveys and archaeological assessments are required by BOEM to aid in its decision-making prior to issuing permits for bottom-disturbing activities related to oil and gas exploration and development.

“Artifacts in and around the wreck and the hull’s copper sheathing may date the vessel to the early to mid-19th century,” said Jack Irion, Ph.D., a maritime archaeologist with BOEM. “Some of the more datable objects include what appears to be a type of ceramic plate that was popular between 1800 and 1830, and a wide variety of glass bottles. A rare ship’s stove on the site is one of only a handful of surviving examples in the world and the second one found on a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Significant historical events occurring in the regions around the Gulf of Mexico during this time include the War of 1812, events leading to the Texas Revolution, and the Mexican-American War, he said.

“Shipwrecks help to fill in some of the unwritten pages of history,” said Frank Cantelas, a maritime archaeologist with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. “We explored four shipwrecks during this expedition and I believe this wreck was by far the most interesting and historic. The site is nearly 200 miles off the Gulf coast in over 4,000 feet of water in a relatively unexplored area.”

The expedition also discovered areas exhibiting rich biodiversity. At the base of the West Florida Escarpment, a steep undersea cliff, explorers found a “forest” of deep corals, several of which were new to scientists on the ship and ashore. For several days the expedition team also imaged deep-coral communities in the vicinity of the Macondo oil spill site. On another part of the expedition, team members designed and installed a device on the ship’s undersea robot system, or ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), to measure the rate that gas rises in the water column.

“Testing new methods and technologies is a priority,” said Tim Arcano, director of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. “We plan for ocean exploration to foster both follow-on research, and develop new technologies to help ocean resource managers and others better understand, use, and protect our largely unknown ocean and its resources.”

Okeanos Explorer is equipped with: a state-of-the-art multibeam mapping sonar; the Institute for Exploration’s Little Hercules ROV, which made 29 dives; and telepresence technology that uses satellite and high-speed Internet pathways between ship and shore, allowing scientists ashore to participate in the mission in real-time, and general audiences to be “citizen explorers” as the mission unfolds, live.

Background information, web logs from scientists at sea and ashore, video clips, still images, and education lesson plans describing the expedition are available online.

Partners in the 2012 Gulf of Mexico expedition included a number of NOAA offices, BOEM, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, C&C Technologies, Florida Atlantic University, Geoscience Earth & Marine Services, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University’s Science and Technology Center at Stennis, Naval History and Heritage Command, NOAA Northern Gulf Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, Tesla Offshore LLC, Institute for Exploration, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Joint Office for Science Support, University of New Hampshire,  University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of Rhode Island, University of Texas at Austin, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

BOEM manages the exploration and development of the nation’s offshore energy and mineral resources. The bureau seeks to balance economic development, energy production, and environmental protection through oil and gas leasing, renewable energy development and environmental reviews and studies.

The NOAA Ocean Exploration Program is the only federal program dedicated to systematic exploration of the planet’s largely unknown ocean. NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is operated, managed and maintained by NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations which includes commissioned officers of the NOAA Corps and civilian wage mariners. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research operates, manages and maintains the cutting-edge ocean exploration systems on the vessel and ashore.

For more photos and video, click here.

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Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Exeter, and the Government of Mexico have published the first-ever satellite telemetry study on the manta ray, the world’s largest ray species. The findings will help inform ecosystem-based management plans for the rays, which are in decline worldwide due to fishing and accidental capture. (Photo Credit: Photo : Kaile Tsapis)

Using the latest satellite tracking technology, conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Exeter (UK), and the Government of Mexico have completed a ground-breaking study on a mysterious ocean giant: the manta ray.

(From Science Codex) – The research team has produced the first published study on the use of satellite telemetry to track the open-ocean journeys of the world’s largest ray, which can grow up to 25 feet in width. Researchers say the manta ray—listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—has become increasingly threatened by fishing and accidental capture and now needs more protection.

The study was published today in the online journal PLoS One. The authors include: Rachel T. Graham of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Exeter; Matthew J. Witt of the University of Exeter; Dan W. Castellanos of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Francisco Remolina of the National Commission of Protected Areas, Cancun, Mexico; Sara Maxwell of the Marine Conservation Institute and the University of California-Santa Cruz; Brenden J. Godley of the University of Exeter; and Lucy A. Hawkes of Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.

“Almost nothing is known about the movements and ecological needs of the manta ray, one of the ocean’s largest and least-known species,” said Dr. Rachel Graham, lead author on the study and director of WCS’s Gulf and Caribbean Sharks and Rays Program. “Our real-time data illuminate the previously unseen world of this mythic fish and will help to shape management and conservation strategies for this species.”

The research team attached satellite transmitters to manta rays off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula over a 13-day period. The tracking devices were attached to the backs of six individuals —four females, one male, and one juvenile.

“The satellite tag data revealed that some of the rays traveled more than 1,100 kilometers during the study period,” said Dr. Matthew Witt of the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute. “The rays spent most of their time traversing coastal areas plentiful in zooplankton and fish eggs from spawning events.”

Like baleen whales and whale sharks, manta rays are filter feeders that swim through clouds of plankton with mouths agape.

The research team also found that the manta rays spent nearly all their time within Mexico’s territorial waters (within 200 miles of the coastline), but only 11.5 percent of the locations gathered from the tagged rays occurred within marine protected areas. And the majority of ray locations were recorded in major shipping routes in the region; manta rays could be vulnerable to ship strikes.

“Studies such as this one are critical in developing effective management of manta rays, which appear to be declining worldwide,” said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS’s Ocean Giant Program.

In spite of its malevolent, bat-like appearance, the manta ray—sometimes referred to as the “devilfish”—is harmless to humans and lacks the stinger of the better-known stingray. The manta ray possesses the highest brain to body ratio of all sharks and rays and gives birth to live young, usually one or two “pups” every one or two years. Manta rays are apparently declining in the Caribbean and in other tropical regions of the world’s oceans, in part because they are captured for shark bait and a demand for gill rakers (small, finger-like structures that filter out the ray’s minute zooplankton prey) in the traditional Chinese medicinal trade.

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The Antarctic octopus does not like to travel. Antarctic octopuses 10,000km apart are “genetically similar.” (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Liverpool)

Scientists at the University have found that genetic information on the Antarctic octopus supports studies indicating that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could have collapsed during its history, possibly as recently as 200,000 years ago.

(From ScienceDaily) – Genes from more than 450 Turquet’s octopuses, collected from species in the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica, were analysed to shed new light on how animals disperse across the varied ocean landscape. Adult Turquet’s octopuses tend to live in one place and only move to escape predators, leading scientists to believe that creatures from areas either side of Antarctica would be genetically different.

The team from Liverpool, in collaboration with National University of Ireland Galway, and La Trobe University, Australia, however, found that the octopuses from Ross and Weddell Seas, which are now separated by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, are genetically almost identical, suggesting that these two regions may have once been connected. Findings may contribute to recent studies demonstrating the potential impact that increasing global temperatures could have on the changing Antarctica environment.

Dr Phill Watts, from the University’s Institute of Integrative Biology, explains: “We looked at information gathered by the Census of Antarctic Marine Life, which allowed us to examine genetic data on a scale that had not been done before in this area of the world. We expected to find a marked difference between Turguet’s octopuses living in different regions of the ocean, particularly between areas that are currently separated by approximately 10,000km of sea. These creatures don’t like to travel and so breeding between the populations in the Ross and Weddell Seas would have been highly unusual.

“We found, however, that they were genetically similar, suggesting that at some point in their past these populations would have been in contact with each other, perhaps at a time when the oceans were connected and not separated by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. These findings agree with climate models indicating repeated periods in history when the climate was warmer, which would have released water from the ice and increased the sea levels, allowing dispersal of creatures between the Ross and Weddell Seas.”

Data on octopuses from other parts of Antarctica, not separated by this particular ice sheet, support the theory that the creatures are genetically different. They found that the depth of the ocean and its currents limited the movement of the octopus in certain areas, as would have been expected for those living on either side of the West Antarctic Ice sheet. This added further evidence that at some point in recent history this particular ice sheet might have collapsed.

The research is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the collaborative scheme for systematic research (CoSyst). It is published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

Dr Louise Allcock, from the National University of Ireland, Galway, added: “A previous study has shown evidence that the Ross and Weddell Seas could have been connected. We wanted to investigate whether there was any genetic information that could tell us what the past environment could have been like, and this octopus species, with its large populations around the region and limited movements, was an ideal species to use.

“The fact that we found more similarities than we did differences supports the theory that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could have collapsed in the past. It also provides further evidence that scientists should continue to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on Antarctica today.”

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Image Credit: Photos.com

Researchers have been able to capture the rise and collapse of an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

(From redOrbit / by Lee Rannals) – The team studying Monowai volcano near Tonga has recorded large changes in height of the volcano in just two weeks.

The researchers gathered images by sonar on a ship, unveiling new details about the submarine mountains.

There are as many as 32,000 underwater mountains that have been identified around the world, and the majority of the volcanoes are believed to be volcanic in origin.  Several thousand of these volcanoes could be active, but are too deep and remote for scientists to study.

The new Monowai volcano research helps to provide new insight into the world of submarine geology.  The volcano was first spotted from an aircraft in 1944, and surveys over the years that followed helped reveal significant changes.

Scientists performed studies between 1978 and 2007, and showed Monowai’s summit has repeatedly risen and fallen over the years.

However, the most recent analysis of images taken over a few weeks last year reveal that even in a short period, the volcano had transformed.

The scientists first spotted that the sea above the volcano had turned a yellowy-green and gas bubbles were rising to the surface.

“I had butterflies,” Tony Watts of Oxford University and lead author of the paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience told the BBC. “The gas was smelling awful – like rotten eggs. We saw a slick ahead of us and with something venting, there could have been a sudden shallowing of the water.”

The team left the region and was later warned that seismic detectors on the Cook Islands had detected violent activity around the volcano.

“If we had been over the volcano during the eruption, rocks could have hit the hull of the ship – that could have been potentially dangerous,” he told the British news agency.

The researchers returned later and were surprised to see how much the volcano had changed after the eruption.  The volcano’s summit had dropped by about 62-feet, and new lava flows has raised another the area another 260-feet.

The authors wrote that only Vesuvius and Mount St Helens had recorded larger growth rates.  They said the speed of growth and change is “a reminder of how rapidly geological processes like submarine land sliding and volcanism can occur.”

“Any movement on the seabed has the potential to create a tsunami,” Watts told BBC. “An earthquake suddenly dislocates the seabed. Here a violent disturbance lasted five days with magma oozing out which might be too slow to trigger a tsunami – but it’s unknown.

“This is a violent exchange of rock into the water – it could destabilize the cone and cause a landslide which in principle could cause a tsunami.

The researchers believe that in order to account for Monowai’s growth between 2007 and 2011, the volcano would have needed 10 to 13 events like the one the team witnessed.

“Terrestrial volcanologists get very excited when they see differences of 10 or 20 centimeters,” Watts told MSNBC. “What we’ve seen here is on a scale that has rarely — if ever — been repeated.”

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Sea lions.( Credit: SATC)

Like whales, sea lions are contributing to marine ecosystems in the most fundamental way possible, research by a Flinders graduate has found.

(From PHYS.org) – Dr. Trish Lavery, who established that Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon emissions by defecating iron on phytoplankton, has found that the digestive mechanisms of Australian sea lions mean that they too are making vital nutrients available to the first tier of the marine food chain.

Her research, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, found that the sea lion gut has a characteristic microbiome, or bacterial profile, that is high in types of bacteria able to metabolise iron and phosphorus.

“While bacteria are net consumers of nutrients in energy-poor environments, in nutrient-rich environments like the surface of a faecal particle, bacteria can make soluble more vital nutrient elements from faecal matter than they require for their own growth,” Dr Lavery said.

“This leads to leaching of these nutrients into the surrounding waters where they can become available for free living phytoplankton microbes.”

Dr. Lavery said the sea lions may therefore help to keep nutrients where they can be incorporated into the food chain.

“The bacteria in Australian sea lion faeces may limit nutrient sinkage to depth and enhance the persistence of nutrients in the photic zone where they are available to support primary production by phytoplankton.”

And for creatures whose cold marine environment makes a layer of protective fat a valuable asset, Dr Lavery also found evidence that the metabolism of sea lions is actually geared towards obesity.

Her study found a ratio of crucial bacteria similar to that in previous studies of obese humans and obese mice.

“This suggests that the gut microbiome may confer a predisposition towards the excess body fat that is needed for thermoregulation within the cold oceanic habitats foraged by Australian sea lions,” she said.

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Congress made more progress this week on the budget although the future remains cloudy.  The House passed the FY13 science funding bill, but included some controversial policy riders which will make it hard for a deal to be struck with the Senate.  The House also took steps to avoid the impending cuts (aka sequestration) to the Defense Department by making changes to entitlement programs.  I expect another budget/deficit showdown after the Presidential and Congressional elections in November where almost everything including tax and entitlement reform will be on the table.  If a deal is not reached by January then discretionary programs (including Defense and science) will see across the across-the-board cuts of 8%.

Last week, I was pleased to serve as the Moderator of the Ocean Research Panel at the AGU Science Policy Conference here in Washington.  At this well-attended session, I was joined by panelists Dr. Holly Bamford, Deputy Assistant Administrator of NOAA’s National Ocean Service; Rear Admiral David Titley, Director of Maritime Domain Awareness and Space, and Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy; Dr. Bruce Corliss, Professor of Earth and Ocean Science at Duke University and Chair of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System Council; and Dr. David Gallo, Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

The panel presented a wide range of topics on how ocean science has not only advanced our knowledge of ocean processes, but how it has also provided numerous benefits to society, from predicting an managing natural and human-induced disasters to understanding the long-term effects of climate change and the new technology that has been brought to bear on these issues. There was some excellent dialogue involving the audience and overall, I felt that the session went quite well.

Enjoy your weekend.

Bob

Related Posts:

• From the President’s Office – 5/17/2012
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The staff here at Ocean Leadership works hard to make certain that each week we provide you with the most useful and timely information regarding our efforts, activities of the community, news from Capitol Hill, and all opportunities, jobs and internships that we feel you might find beneficial.

To contact the Ocean News Weekly Editor, email kkracke@oceanleadership.org.

To follow Ocean Leadership on Facebook and Twitter, visit:

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Note: Please make sure that you are using the very latest version of your preferred web-browser. You can download the latest version of Internet Explorer here or the latest version of Firefox here.

Related Posts:

• ONW: Week of May 14, 2012 – Number 164
• ONW: Week of April 23, 2012 – Number 162
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Phytoplankton is at the base of many aquatic food webs, and its disappearance could have wide-reaching effects. (Credit: NOAA)

Changes in the ocean’s chemistry, as a result of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, threaten marine plankton to a greater extent than previously thought, according to new research.

(From ScienceAlert) – The research, published in Nature Climate Change, revealed around half the CO2 released through human activity dissolves in the ocean, where it forms carbonic acid leading to a decrease in seawater pH.

Scientists found the changes in the pH levels, along with global warming, could lead to poor growth if not death of marine plankton.

Professor John Beardall from the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University collaborated with international researchers from Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, who led the study, the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, the University of Dundee and the University of Technology in Sydney.

Professor Beardall said the impact that ocean acidification-induced changes have on plankton was a major concern.

“This research suggests the impact of oceanic acidification upon marine plankton could be more serious than previously thought,” Professor Beardall said.

“Acidity levels will more than double by the end of the century as a result of the increase in CO2 levels in the ocean, but it is unclear how the growth of plankton will respond to this increase.”

Using mathematical modelling and their understanding of cellular physiology, the team has found that many marine plankton will experience a substantially more acidic environment than currently suggested.

Professor Beardall plans to develop the research further to understand the effects of ocean acidification and other aspects of climate change on key Australian phytoplankton species.

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Phytoplankton

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