1.Seashell
A sea shell is the most universally identifiable part of a creature known as a mollusk. Mollusks (Sea Shells) are invertebrate animals (think of a snail) with an un-segmented, basically symmetrical body, generally consisting of head, foot, visceral hump and mantle.
Mollusks (Sea Shells) are descendants from primitive wormlike creatures inched around in the ooze of primeval seas millions of years ago. As dissolving land masses began to feed salts and chemicals into oceans, the first Mollusks (Sea Shells) digested them and eventually used them to build durable shelters.
Mollusk (Sea Shell)
Mollusk (Sea Shell), common name for members of a phylum of soft-bodied animals are usually with a hard external shell. Familiar Mollusks (Sea Shells) include the clam, oyster, snail, slug, octopus, and squid. The mollusk phylum is the second largest in the animal kingdom, after the arthropods. Earlier estimates of the number of mollusk species sometimes exceeded 100,000, but more recently this figure has been reduced to less than 50,000; the new estimates are incorporated here.
Mollusks (Sea Shells) are highly successful in terms of ecology and adaptation, with representatives in virtually all habitats, but they are most diverse in the sea. Among them are some advanced animals, such as the octopus and squid. Giant squid are also the largest invertebrates, weighing up to 900 kg (1980 lb). Most Mollusks (Sea Shells), however, are about 1 to 20 cm (about 0.4 to 8 in) long, and some are scarcely visible.
The first Mollusk (Sea Shell) fossils appear in early Cambrian rocks, about 600 million years old. Seven of the phylum's classes have living representatives: the wormlike, shell-less aplacophorans, with 250 species; the chitons, with 600 species; the monoplacophorans, with 10 species; the bivalves, such as clams, with 7500 species; the scaphopods, or tusk shells, with 350 species; the gastropods, such as snails and slugs, with 37,500 species; and the cephalopods, such as octopuses and squid, with 600 species. Several fossil classes and thousands of fossil species are also known.
Seashell - Mollusk - General Characteristics
Although few features are common to all Mollusks (Sea Shells), the animals are not readily mistaken for anything else, and all may be treated as variants on a common theme (not to be confused with a common ancestor). A theoretical, idealized Mollusk (Sea Shell) would crawl on a single flat, muscular foot, and the body would have at least a suggestion of a head at one end and an anus at the other. Above the body would be an external shell mounted on a visceral hump containing internal organs.
This shell, secreted by a sheet of tissue called the mantle, is complicated in Mollusks (Sea Shells), being made up of calcium carbonate and other minerals in an organic matrix produced in layers by the mantle at the edge of the shell and under it. An outer layer without minerals, called the periostracum, generally covers it. The shell may be multiple, as in chitons, or paired, as in bivalves. In various Mollusks (Sea Shells) the shell is reduced in size and is sometimes lost completely; in aplacophorans there is no direct evidence that a shell ever existed.
At the posterior end of the idealized Mollusk (Sea Shell) would be a groove or depression called the mantle cavity, with gills to each side of the anus, and openings to the kidneys and reproductive structures. A single pair of gills is common, but many gastropods have only one gill. The cephalopod nautilus has two pairs, and monoplacophorans and chitons have several to many pairs.
Generally the molluscan gut is equipped with jaws and a tongue like structure, called a radula, with teeth on it. Also present are a stomach and a pair of digestive glands. The nervous system consists of a ring of nerves around the anterior part of the gut, with one pair of nerve trunks to the foot and another to the viscera. Ganglia around the gut usually are developed into a brain with various sense organs; the nervous system of cephalopods is as complex and as highly organized as that of fishes. The heart is located at the posterior end of the body; it sends blood into an open system that forms the main body cavity. Associated with the heart is a complex of organs that includes the kidneys and gonads and sometimes other reproductive structures.
Seashell - Mollusk - Scientific classification
Mollusks (Sea Shells) make up the phylum Mollusca. In the class Aplacophora, the body is wormlike. No shell exists, only a tough mantle, and the foot has virtually been lost. The three orders of the class Polyplacophora (chitons) have a series of eight shell plates (valves) in a row and are well adapted to clinging on rocks. The mainly fossil Monoplacophora is now known to have one living genus, Neopilina, discovered in deep water in 1952. The animal has a single flat shell and multiple gills. The class Bivalvia has a shell divided into two valves, and they feed with their gills. As a consequence the head is poorly developed. Members of the class Scaphopoda (tusk shells) have a long, tapered, slightly curved shell and live on sandy bottoms. Members of the class Gastropoda (snails and slugs) are asymmetrical and have only one shell or, as in slugs, are shell-less. The three subclasses of the Gastropoda are the Prosobranchia (mostly marine snails, with three orders), Opisthobranchia (sea slugs and their allies, with eight orders), and Pulmonata (lunged mollusks, largely freshwater and terrestrial, with two orders). The class Cephalopoda is modified by reduction of the foot and shell and the development of arms around the mouth. The two subclasses are Nautiloidea (Nautilus, with four gills and other archaic traits such as an external shell) and Coleoidea (octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, with two gills and other advanced traits).
Seashell - Mollusk - Behavior
Although vision is poor in most Mollusks (Sea Shells), cephalopods such as squid have eyes with lenses, retinas, and other features remarkably like those of vertebrates. Some gastropods have a well-developed sense of smell and can locate food in the water at a considerable distance. Predators may similarly be detected by the chemical senses and are sometimes evaded by leaping or swimming. Some Mollusks (Sea Shells) exhibit complicated courtship behavior. Advanced cephalopods possess considerable ability to learn from experience.
Seashell - Mollusk - Reproduction
The basic Mollusk (Sea Shell) pattern is to have separate sexes, with sperm and eggs spawned into the water, where fertilization and early development occur. In most Mollusks (Sea Shells) a larval stage follows, in which the larvae swim about for a while and then settle on the bottom and mature; this stage is often modified or absent, however. Fertilization may also be internal, with glands secreting protective coverings around the eggs. Slow-moving creatures such as snails often evolve into hermaphrodites (both male and female), because this doubles the number of appropriate mates. Sometimes the mother protects the developing eggs. Some oysters are remarkable in caring for the young inside the mantle cavity and switching back and forth from being males to being females.
Seashell - Mollusk - Ecology and Importance
Mollusks (Sea Shells) are abundant and hence important in food chains in many habitats. A large number are herbivores or grazers, especially the chitons and many gastropods. Tusk shells and some other Mollusks (Sea Shells) feed on matter deposited on the bottom, whereas most bivalves filter suspended materials from the water. Many gastropods are carnivorous, most of them preying on slow-moving or attached animals. Cephalopods are active predators on larger animals such as crabs. Numerous Mollusks (Sea Shells) are important food sources for humans, but some gastropods damage crops, and others harbor disease-causing parasites.
2.Sea Sponges
Although they may look plant-like, sea sponges are the simplest of multi-cellular animals. A sea sponge is a bottom-dwelling creature, which attaches itself to something solid in a place where it can, hopefully, receive enough food to grow. The scientific term for sea sponges is Porifera, which literally means "pore-bearing." A sea sponge is covered with tiny pores, called ostia, which lead internally to a system of canals and eventually out to one or more larger holes, called oscula. Within the canals of the sea sponge, chambers are lined with specialized cells called choanocytes, or collar cells. The collar cells have a sticky, funnel shaped collar and a hair like whip, called a flagellum. The collar cells serve two purposes. First, they beat their flagella back and forth to force water through the sea sponge. The water brings in nutrients and oxygen, while it carries out waste and carbon dioxide. Second, the sticky collars of the collar cells pick up tiny bits of food brought in with the water. Another type of cell, called an amebocyte, takes the food to other cells within the sea sponge. Sea Sponges are very effective filter feeders, since they are able to capture and eat particles as small as bacteria as well as much larger particles.
The "skeleton" of the sea sponge is composed of tiny needle-like splinters called spicules, a mesh of protein called spongin, or a combination of both. Many sea sponges can only be identified by microscopic examination of the skeleton, which makes certain identification from photographs difficult.
Sea Sponges � Reproduction
Most sea sponges are hermaphroditic (having both sexes in one), but produce only one type of gamete per spawn. (i.e. some play the male role and the other plays the female role, even though they are both capable of playing either role). The sperm is released into the water column by the "male" sponge and finds its way to the "female" sponges, where fertilization occurs internally. Eventually, the planktonic larvae are released from the female sponge and float around in the water column as plankton for only a few days. They then settle down and start growing. The next time the sponges reproduce, they may change sexual roles.
There are many different types of sea sponges in the world's oceans, and, contrary to popular belief, they can be quite colorful and beautiful. Sea Sponges come in two basic types: encrusting or freestanding. Although neither of these names are part of the true classification of sea sponges, it does make it a bit easier to organize them.
Encrusting sea sponges typically cover the surface of a rock in the same manner that moss covers a rock on land. Freestanding sea sponges are a bit more interesting. These sponges have more inner volume compared with their outside surface area and sometimes grow into strange shapes, often reaching gigantic proportions.
Many of the freestanding sponges are well known to most people. For example, nearly everyone has heard of the barrel sea sponge, a large tropical sponge that sometimes grows large enough to fit a whole person inside. Equally well known are the tube sponges of the tropics, coming in nearly every color of the rainbow.
While not all sea sponges are as colorful or as large as those found in the tropics, sponges are an ancient and efficient design, which will probably continue to populate the world's oceans longer than people will populate the Earth.
Famous Sea Sponges
Tube Sponge
(Callyspongia vaginalis)
The Tube Sponge is one of the most common varieties of sea sponge to be found on the reef. It is distinguished by its long tube-shaped growths, and ranges in color from purple to blue, gray, and gray-green. Filtered water is ejected through the large openings on the ends. This is one of the few reef invertebrates that is blue in color.
Vase Sponge
(Ircinia campana)
The Vase Sponge is a common species found in the Caribbean off the eastern coast of Florida. A large bell shape with a deep central cavity characterizes it. This sea sponge grows up to 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. It ranges in color from purple to red and brown, and is found attached to rocks near the sandy bottoms.
Yellow Sponge
(Cleona celata)
This small Yellow Sponge species is commonly found throughout the Pacific coastal waters of the United States. It is found growing in small colonies, and ranges in color from orange to bright yellow. This sea sponge and can be found encrusting rocks on the reef face.
Red Tree Sponge
(Haliclona compressa)
This bright red sponge species is very common throughout the Caribbean Sea. This sea sponge usually grows to a height of about 8 inches. This is one species that is easy to keep and can do relatively well in a home aquarium environment. These sponges require a moderate water flow and dim light to do well.
Common Sea Squirt
(Didemnum molle)
This species of sea squirt is verry common on the reef, and is usually found in deep water. It can be found encrusting the rocks in large colonies. This squirt's leathery bag-like body has a white and gray or brown spotted exterior with a bright green interior. It is sometimes introduced into the aquarium on live rock.
Painted Tunicate
(Clavelina picta)
The tunicates are very similar to sea squirts. They take water in through a large opening where nutrients are filtered out. The water is then expelled through another opening. Painted tunicates are about 3/4 inch long and commonly grow in colonies. They are found in translucent red, purple, and yellow colors.
Skin rash from sea sponges
Sea sponges produce a large variety of toxin, which are present, either on the surface of the sponge or released into the water. The intended function of these toxins is to ward off predators that would otherwise feed on the sponges, but humans can become the unintended targets by handling sponges or by abrading against sponges. Small particles from the sponge surface (spicules) may also dislodge and remain adherent to the skin surface of the unfortunate traveler causing local inflammation.
Symptoms of Sponge Toxins
* Localized area of redness at the site of injury
* Pain
* Tingling at the site of injury (paresthesia)
* Itching (puritis)
* Swelling (localized edema)
* Small raised areas may form (papules) which may go on to form small fluid-filled bumps (vesicles)
* Although less common, systemic symptoms of nausea, malaise, and fainting (syncope) have also been reported.
Treatment of Skin injuries from Sponges
The above listed local reactions may be caused by either the sponge toxin itself or by an inflammatory reaction from the small sponge particles (spicules) that are adherent to the skin.
* Treat the affected area of the skin by applying a vinegar-soaked cloth for about 15 minutes. If you're out in the middle of nowhere and didn't bring any vinegar with you, your own urine will do in a pinch.
**NOTE: if you have a choice in the matter, use urine from a male, because male urine is consider more or less "sterile", females, are more prone to have occult urinary tract infections, and thus using female urine could introduce bacteria into the wound.
* Pat the skin dry with a nonabrasive cloth.
* Pat the skin with the sticky side of some adhesive tape to remove any fine particles (spicules) of sponge that may be present.
* Again soak the area with a vinegar soaked cloth for another 5 minutes.
* If the skin remains inflamed or itchy, you can apply over the counter
* Hydrocortisone cream 0.5% twice day the area for several days until the inflammation subsides.
* If symptoms persist for more that a three days seek medical attention.
Sea Sponges � Medical Research
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 300 million to 500 million cases of malaria occur annually, mostly in developing countries near the equator, and that the disease claims a million lives a year. Tuberculosis infects about a third of the world's population and kills an estimated 3 million people each year.
Several sponge species e.g. Sigmosceptrella and Prianos produce compounds that show great promise as a drug to combat malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
Many compounds extracted from sponges have also anti-viral, anti-neoplastic and anti-cancer properties. Back in the 1950s, chemists found compounds in a sponge in the waters off the coast of Florida that wound up as antiviral drugs Acyclovir (Zovirax®), to treat herpes, and Cytarabine (Cytosar®), to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma6.
Novartis Pharma AG licensed Discodermolide, a metabolite of the deep-sea sponge, Discodermia dissolute, discovered by Pomponi in the waters off the Bahamas, in 1998 for development as a candidate agent for treatment of cancers.
Halichondrin B, first isolated from the Japanese sponge Halichondria okadai, has shown promise in vivo as a treatment for melanoma and leukemia and is currently in pre-clinical trials at the NCI with material obtained from the New Zealand deep-water sponge Lissodendoryx.
Debromohymenialdisine (DBH), one of several constituents of the common Palauan shallow-water sponge Stylotella aurantium is an interesting druglike molecule that is easily synthesized and is being developed for treatment of osteoarthritis.
Sea Sponges � Biological and Economic Uses
Harvesting of sponges was once carried out by near-naked divers who were reputed to be able to dive to great depths while holding their breath for minutes at a time. Today sponges are harvested by hooking, harpooning in shallow waters, or by skin-diving.
Fossil evidence has led many scientists to believe sponges have remained relatively unchanged since around 500 million years ago. And, the way things are going; they will probably still inhabit the waters of the world long after all evidence of human occupation has gone.
3.Sea Caves
The forces of the sea form the sea-caves, waves seething at the rock face of a coastline, sometimes produce huge caverns, which are typically not very long. They are as long as the water reaches. The existence of this caves is not dependent on the kind of rock. Of course, it helps if the rock is weaker.
Typically sea caves are formed using a weakness in the rocks, like faults, other sediments or weaker layers. Faults in the rock sometimes produce chains of caves; everywhere the fault reaches the seashore.
The coastal erosion opens already existing caves and the water starts to widen the cave. Typically those caves are karst caves. Many karst areas at the coast have caves opening to the sea, where the entrance is widened by the waves. They are often called sea caves, which is only partly true.
Sometimes faults, existing caves or weaknesses in the rock produce a small hole to the surface. The water swashing into the sea caves build up a high pressure inside the cave, which emerges in form of water and air of the small hole. This is called a blowhole. They are found all over the world along the coasts.
The biggest sea cave of the world is Painted Cave on an island belonging to California, U.S.A. The island, called Santa Cruz Island belongs to the Channel Islands National Park. The cave is 402 meters long.
Sea caves are formed by the power of the ocean attacking zones of weakness in coastal sea cliffs. The weak zone is usually a fault, or fractured zone formed during slippage. Another type of weak zone is formed where dissimilar types of rocks are inter-bedded and one is weaker than the other. Typically this is a dike, or intrusive vein of more easily eroded rock found within a stronger host rock. The cave may begin as a very narrow crack into which waves can penetrate and exert tremendous force, cracking the rock from within. Sand and rock carried by waves produce additional erosive power on the cave's walls.
Sea caves rarely have formations like solution caves or lava tubes. Occasionally some flowstone or small stalagmites are seen, formed much as in solution caves. Typically these occur in caves formed in sandstone or basalt.
Sea caves are found all over the world, and may be one of the most numerous type of caves. Areas known for large concentrations of sea caves include the Pacific coast states of the USA (Washington, Oregon, and California, and especially, California's Channel Islands); the Na Pali coast of Kauai; the Greek Isles; and many other places with good solid rock to host the caves.
The Entrance Zone
Sea caves may be explored in several ways: with kayaks or other small boats; by swimming in; or in some caves, by wading or walking if the cave empties out at low tide. When entering a cave where the surf is active, it's best to wear a helmet and study conditions carefully before entering. Remember that the power of waves and swell will be amplified in the cave interior!
Inside a Sea Cave
Inside, a sea cave may be dry or wet, depending on the tide, time or year, or the locale. On the left is a long cave formed along a fault, visible along the sloping wall on the right. The white material on the walls is calcite deposit. On the right is a sea cave floored with just sand, having emptied out at low tide. Colorful marine algae adorn the ceiling.
Life in a Sea Cave
Sea caves may abound with life, both on their walls and floors. Besides the kind of critters seen in normal tide pools, such as anemones, starfish, and sponges, sea caves with dark zones may harbor organisms not commonly seen. In California, the Giant Anemone is normally green because of algae that live inside of it; but in sea caves with dark zones, these anemones may be white because the green algae don�t get enough sunlight to grow.
Famous Sea Caves
Famous sea caves include the Blue Grotto of Capri, and Fingal's Cave on the British island of Staffa (formed in columnar basalt). While spacious inside, they are only moderate in length, neither of them exceeding 250 feet from end to end.
Sea Caves - Painted Cave
Painted Cave, so called because of its colorful rocks, lichens, and algae, is the longest sea cave in the world. Unfortunately it is rather difficult to visit this cave, as there are no regular tours or boat trips. The cave belongs to the Channel Islands National Park and it is allowed to visit it. Of course it is recommended to talk to the rangers first.
It is also possible to kayak to the cave, but it is not recommended. The water currents and waves are rather difficult and the advice of the rangers must be obeyed.
Sea Caves - Merlin Cave
Tintagel Castle is, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain, written 1139, the birthplace of King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon and Queen Igraine. But this is just legend. There is no evidence to either prove or disprove this story.
According to the archaeologists, this place was a Roman settlement and military outpost, most likely called Durocornovium.
There was some kind of monastic settlement here in the 5th or 6th century, maybe the stronghold of a Celtic king. This would seem entirely possible, as the site would have made an impressive fort and would be almost impenetrable to any enemies attempting to storm the headland.
A finding during a 1998 excavation increased the possibility of a connection with King Arthur: a slate of 20 by 30 cm with the inscription ARTOGNOV, the Latin version of the British name Arthnou. It�s from the 6th century, which is most likely the time when Arthur lived.
This castle fits the legend very well, because of another fact: Merlin's Cave below the castle. Merlin is said to have lived in a cave below the fortress of Tintagel while King Arthur grew up, to be his teacher. In one version of the legend, Merlin found Arthur washed ashore in a cave below the castle.
Below Tintagel Castle a fault or a layer of weaker rocks crosses the Tintagel Head, the castle is built on. It also crosses several other heads to the north and south, as can be seen from the castle. The rocks were eroded by the sea so several irregular sea caves were formed, all in one row.
Two caves are easy to access from the footpath to Tintagel Castle. Both are high enough to walk through, both are going through the whole head to the other side.
Sea Caves - Grotta Azzurra
The Grotta Azzurra is one of the most famous caves of the world! And the reason why it is famous, led to its today name: the blue light shining through the salt water of the Mediterranean Sea and filling the cave with blue reflections.
So the cave is called Grotta Azzurra, which means Blue Grotto. Once, the locals called Grotta Azzurra Gradola after the nearby landing place of Gradola. It was said to be inhabited by witches and monsters and was avoided.
But the cave was well known much earlier by the Romans, as proved by antique statues found in the Grotto. This discovery, the remains of an ancient landing place and the work on an underground tunnel, creates an image of a natural cavern adorned by statues: a nymphaeum built around the intense and brilliant blue of the sea.
Swimming into the grotto is a unique experience. But it is only possible when no boats with visitors are frequenting the cave.
In summer this is just early in the morning and in the late afternoon. Unfortunately this time is not very good concerning the light. The blue color is best, when sunlight shines on the water in front of the cave entrance.
If you visit the cave by boat, you have to lie down on the bottom of it - in order to fit through the narrow natural opening.
The ceiling is hardly high enough to allow the low boats to enter. The waves of the sea make this a bit tricky; the gondolier has to wait for the lowest water between two waves to enter the cave. Then he hurries to drag the boat into the cave on a rope along the wall.
This situation restricts the access to the cave. Boat tours are only possible with calm sea. High waves, which are even with good weather possible, make the cave visit impossible. But cloudy weather is also a drawback. No sun on the water means no blue light in the cave. So the boats will not enter the cave is one of those weather situations takes place. Please consider this when planning a trip to the cave.
Sea Caves - Sea Lion Caves
As the name Sea Lion Caves says, this cave is used by the Sea Lions. The cave itself is a huge sea cave at the dramatic Oregon coastline. In the Sea Lion Caves region lives a herd of 200 Northern sea lions or Steller sea lions.
Steller sea lions are named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist, who accompanied the Russian explorer Vitus Bering in 1741 on his second Alaskan expedition. Steller was the first who studied and classified these animals.
Sea Caves for Seals
It is the use that grey seals make of the remote and extremely exposed sea-caves of Cornwall, Devonshire and Lundy, which makes their lives uniquely different from nearly all other seals of any species living along the margins of any of the world�s oceans.
Even among the grey seals, only very few breed in sea-caves. At the northernmost sites, they breed on the ice. Elsewhere, they breed on remote or uninhabited islands, usually above the high-water mark and beyond the reach of the waves. In such places, the grey seal pups remain largely untroubled by the sea. Only after weaning, the first moult and a brief period of starvation do they venture into the marine environment.
The atmosphere of the sea-caves is entirely primaeval. Most of the sea-caves used by the seals remain inaccessible to man even in moderate sea conditions. Typically, all have deepwater entrances. The waters in the cave entrance are almost always unquiet, as where the sea funnels into the cave entrance, it piles up and quickens between the walls. From outside, it is possible to peer into the gloom of the cave and glimpse or hear the breaking of the cave wave as it turns to surf around some invisible obstacle or upon the beach within.
Then, to venture as a human being into the cave, hurried in by the gathering wave, spilled with the broken water upon the unseen obstruction or upon a shore as yet unknown, can be a fearful time. It recalls something of the atmosphere and the fears, which must have become familiar to our aboriginal ancestors. Fear of the dark. Fear of what the dark might contain, of being trapped by the rising tide, that the waves may increase in size and intensity, of trapping a limb among large, unstable boulders. It is all written indelibly on the subconscious. In the sea-caves, the lettering becomes luminous. In order to study grey seals in such an environment, it is necessary to confirm which sites they use. This might be achieved by seeing them there, by hearing the eerie ululations emanating from the dark mouth of the cave, by seeing their distinctive tracks in the sand or gravel. It is even possible to smell where they have been, a musky, fishy scent lingering for a while after they have abandoned a sea-cave beach. It is essential, therefore, to where sea-caves were found to be used by seals, accurate measurements informed plan views of the cave, with the reach of water at high and low tide being included. In addition, the extent of all bedrock, sand, shingle and boulders was measured, as were the size and depth of all waters within the cave.
This included the reach of the sea at low tide as well as the location and dimensions of any landlocked pools left by the ebb-tide. The height and nature of any potentially awkward obstacles had to be described. At those caves subject to regular scrutiny, the plan view was measured and redrawn at monthly intervals.
These measurements proved conclusively that the substratum the sea-cave floor was highly mobile. Greatest changes would occur at times when heavy seas were running. A boulder beach might become a sandy beach overnight while a landlocked pool might shrink to one half of its former length and one third of its former depth. Such changes would have important implications for the seals, rendering a cave more or less accessible by humans and their dogs, and therefore unattractive to the seals.
There are also important implications for the observer. It is a habit of grey seal bulls, at certain sites during the breeding season, to rest on the bottom of a sea-cave pool. At no other time have they been found to exhibit this behaviour. The eyes of the bull are open, ever watchful. At such times it is rather like discovering a submarine.
A stealthy approach requires that boulders and cubby-holes serve as places of concealment and, where there is no hiding-place, movement be in a prone position along the base of the cave wall. It is essential to appear as little like a human being as possible and to be mindful of the excellence of their senses of smell and of hearing.
In the sea-caves, an interesting web of sounds exists, chief among which are those of the sea, of surf breaking around boulders, racing across the beach or thundering against a wall of rock. Fresh water may drip from the roof into a pool.
Questing rock pipits call as they hit between boulders inside the cave entrance where they forage for food. Nesting shags, feral pigeons, swallows, martins, kestrels and even peregrine falcons all have their voices. There are the sounds the seals make: punctuated breathing, reminiscent of scuba divers, the snoring of the sleepers, a lone and eerie moaning made by one seal toward that other who drew too close, the thin whine of a hungry pup and perhaps a snarl, uttered in threat or fear.
4.Coral Reef and Sea Plants
Coral reefs are one of the best and busiest ecosystems that the earth has. Many types of creatures are found and build their lives around these reefs from the tiniest crustaceans to large creatures such as sharks and turtles, which use the reefs as a feeding ground.
Coral reefs can have different sizes, shapes, and colors. Coral reefs are found in shallow waters of the ocean. Hawaii and Australia are famous for their coral reefs. Some animals that live in coral reefs are starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones, fish, clams, crabs, and sea horses.
Coral reefs are the most luxuriant and complex of all benthic communities. The largest coral reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef, stretches more than 2,000 km, from New Guinea southward along the east coast of Australia. Corals are colonial animals, and individual coral animals are called polyps. A coral polyp is very similar to a tiny sea anemone, but extracts calcium carbonate from the water and forms a calcareous skeletal cup. Large numbers of these polyps grow together in colonies of delicately branched forms or rounded masses. Most shallow-water coral colonies also have symbiotic algae living in their skeletons. The algae get protection from the coral and, in turn, provide nutrients for the coral polyps. These shallow reef-building corals require warm, clear, shallow, clean water and a firm substrate to which they can attach. Because the water temperature must not go below 18 degrees C and the optimum temperature is 23 degrees C to 25 degrees C, their growth is restricted to tropical waters between 30 N latitude and 30 S latitude and away from cold water currents. Water at depths greater than 50-100 m is too cold for significant secretion of calcium carbonate. Also, reefs usually are not found where sediments limit water transparency. Until recent legislation banned trawling in deep-sea coral beds off the coast of Norway, the existence of deep-sea corals was known only to a handful of scientists and a large number of fishermen. Along the American east coast several deep-water corals, such as the octocoral Primnoa resedaeformis and gorgonian Paragorgia arborea, are common inhabitants of the upper and middle slope faunas in the canyons south of Georges Bank. Deep-water coral colonies can be found in a variety of shapes and forms, from branched trees to conical mounds. Like shallow corals, they require a hard surface to settle on and grow.
Given that the existence of these remarkable species has been known for more than a century, it is striking that almost nothing is known about their biology, population status, the role they play in enhancing local species diversity, and their role as habitat for deep water fishes, including those recently targeted by fishermen. The rarity of encounters with octocorals during recent submersible dives across the shelf of the northeast U.S. suggests that distribution of these species has significantly declined in the past three decades. These slow-growing species may live for centuries, yet be destroyed in seconds by human activities such as trawling and dredging. Trawling with rolling gear has allowed even larger and heavier gear into their rugged canyon homes.
Sea Corals � Symbiosis
The most important part in the building of a coral reef is the symbiotic relationships with zooxanthellae. There are also many natural polymers found within the species that occupy these realms. The most commonly found polymers are protein and cellulose, and cellulose is by far the most abundant.
There are creatures called sea cucumbers, obviously because they look like cucumbers, but are really living animals. They have strong muscles that contain protein.
Sea cucumbers also have a slime trail that they secret. The slime trail is made up of mucopolysaccharides. To better understand this I will break this word down. Muco means mucus, or in other words slime. Polysaccharide is a natural polymer; in fact it is the building block for many things. It is also known as a type of sugar.
Polysaccharide can be broken down into glucose molecules, which can be found in virtually all of the food we eat!
Another creature that lives around coral reefs and also secretes a mucopolysaccharide is a nudibranch. The nudibranch uses this secretion to find prey or possibly attract a mate. They are also known to contain Glucosaminoglycans (GAGS) that is used in medical applications for treating joint, ligament and tendon conditions. Chondroiten, a Glucocaminoglycan substance, is thought to have uses in treating arthritis.
Among the many creatures living within coral reefs are plants. These plants provide photosynthetic operations. This just means that they use sunlight to make oxygen, which has to be really interesting since they are under the water. They also contain cellulose. Cellulose is not the only polymer found in plant cell walls. There are other materials, but they have not been researched completely enough to explain all of their potential uses.
The group of organisms called Sea anemones is similar to the jellyfish only these creatures don't move around as much. They mostly stay in one place, such as a coral reef, but they do have the ability to move. Sea anemones, such as Metridium senile have layers of mesoglea that are a source of collagen, a type of protein. Plus their inside core is made up entirely of protein.
Coral looks like a flower but can sting like a bee. Thousands of coral polyps live in a colony to form a coral reef. Reefs are like underwater versions of rain forests full of fantastic shapes and structures and life. The builders of the reefs, the coral polyps, have radial (rotational) symmetry. In this lesson, students will learn about radial symmetry and then have an opportunity to build symmetrical designs using pattern blocks. The lesson will take about an hour but the post viewing symmetry activities can continue as long as interest is sustained. Students will learn about coral reefs while listening to a narrator read a New England Aquarium book, Dive to the Coral Reefs. Students will discover scuba diving as a way of exploring the coral reefs. They will get a chance to "pretend" dive with a partner, check dive equipment before diving, and then explore the wonderful underwater world of the reefs!
Sea Coral Research
In recent years scientists have discovered deep-sea corals and/or coral reefs in Japan, Tasmania, New Zealand, Alaska, California, Nova Scotia, Maine, North Carolina, Florida, Colombia, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, UK, Ireland and Mauritania. Because research submarines and remotely operated vehicles suitable for studying the deep sea are few and expensive to operate, scientific investigation of these remarkable communities is in its very early stages. But it is increasingly clear that deep-sea corals usually inhabit places where natural disturbance is rare, and where growth and reproduction appear to be exceedingly slow. Deep-sea corals and sponges may live for centuries, making them and the myriad species that depend on them extremely slow to recover from disturbance.
Sea Coral Conservation
Unfortunately, just as scientists have begun to understand the diversity, importance and vulnerability of deep-sea coral forests and reefs, humans have developed technologies that profoundly disturb them. There is reason for concern about deep-sea oil and gas development, deep-sea mining and global warming, but, at present, the greatest human threat to coral and sponge communities is commercial fishing, especially bottom trawling. Trawlers are vessels that drag large, heavily weighted nets across the seafloor to catch fishes and shrimps. Scientific studies around the world have shown that trawling is devastating to corals and sponges. As trawlers become more technologically sophisticated, and as fishes disappear from shallower areas, trawling is increasingly occurring at depths exceeding 1,000 meters.
It is not too late to save most of the world's deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems. It is commendable that nations including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Norway, which have already taken initial steps towards protecting some coral and sponge ecosystems under their jurisdiction. United Nations and appropriate international bodies should establish a moratorium on bottom trawling on the High Seas. Similarly, individual nations and states should ban bottom trawling to protect deep-sea ecosystems wherever coral forests and reefs are known to occur within their Exclusive Economic Zones. They should prohibit roller and rock hopper trawls and any similar technologies that allow fishermen to trawl on the rough bottoms where deep-sea coral and sponge communities are most likely to occur. They should support research and mapping of vulnerable deep-sea coral and sponge communities. It is expected of them to establish effective, representative networks of marine protected areas that include deep-sea coral and sponge communities.
5.Sea Cucumber
The shape of the sea cucumber is an elongate cylinder with a mouth and anus on opposite sides. It has a worm like body that lays parallel to the ocean's floor. The external surface of the sea cucumber is very soft because it is an invertebrate (without a spine), it also has five rows of tube feet that are all along the length of their body. Around the mouth there can be more than ten ambulacral appendages, branched, oral tentacles, and ambulacral feet that can be on all sides.
The internal structure of sea cucumbers consists of an alimentary canal, which is a long tube that runs from the mouth of the sea cucumber at the forward end to the anus, which is at the posterior end of the sea cucumber. The posterior end of the sea cucumber is enlarged and becomes narrower towards the anterior end. There are two types of respiratory organs; they are the respiratory trees and the curvier's organ. These organs function as a pair to pump water through the system. The body wall of the cucumber consists of powerful longitudinal muscles running along the radii and transverse muscles in the inter-radii.
Sea Cucumber - Reproduction
Sea cucumbers tend to be having separate sexes. Spawning behavior tends to be seasonal. Many sea cucumbers on the Great Barrier Reef spawn during the mass spawning events seen in November. During spawning, sea cucumbers travel to the top of reef structures and release their gametes into the surrounding currents. A range of developmental modes is seen among sea cucumbers. Development via feeding larvae (Planktotrophy) or non-feeding larvae (lecithotrophy) occurs in a large number of species. In others, embryos and larvae may be brooded by the female. The feeding larva of sea cucumbers (when present) is very distinctive and is called an auricularia larva. It swims for about 10-40 days before settling on the bottom and metamorphosing into a baby sea cucumber.
Sea Cucumber - Distribution and Habitats
The sea cucumbers are found in most oceans and in all depths. Some move over the bottom of the sea, some swallow sand and or mud and others catch small organisms. Most of the sea cucumbers live near rocks, corals or seaweeds. Although most of the sea cucumbers live among the sea grasses some do live in the mud or in the sand.
Predators
Sea cucumbers have tough skins that probably lessen the risk of predation. However, they do face the problem of being eaten by large fish. Sea cucumbers, however, don�t just lie around and let this happen. They have a number of neat tricks. The first is that some sea cucumbers have the ability to throw up their entire digestive systems! They do this to distract the predator that generally focuses on the yummy bits thrown up with the stomach. The sea cucmber then crawls away and regrows its entire digestive tract over the next couple of months. Amazing huh! The second trick is that some other sea cucumbers have fine sticky threads that they are able to eject out their bottoms when trouble brews. These threads are called Cuverian Tubules and are as sticky as any glue you can buy in a shop. These threads are thrown out over the potential predator who gets them stuck all over it. This usually makes the potential predator desist from attacking the sea cucumber.
Sea Cucumber as Food
To prepare the sea cucumber after it is collected, the internal organs are removed, and dirt and sand are washed out of the cavity. It is then boiled in salty water and dried in the air to preserve it. When readied for use in making food, it is softened in warm water and then boiled.
According to analysis by principles of traditional Chinese medicine, the sea cucumber nourishes the blood and vital essence (jing), tonifies kidney qi (treats disorders of the kidney system, including reproductive organs), and moistens dryness (especially of the intestines). It has a salty quality and warming nature. Common uses include treating weakness, impotence, debility of the aged, constipation due to intestinal dryness, and frequent urination. Sea cucumber is traditionally served in the form of a soup.
From the nutritional viewpoint, sea cucumber is an ideal tonic food. It is higher in protein (at 55%) than most any other food except egg whites (at 99%), and it is lower in fat than most foods (less than 2%). For nourishing essence and blood in persons who suffer from emaciation, it is combined in soup with pork. For impotence, frequent urination, and other signs of kidney deficiency, sea cucumber is cooked with mutton. For yin and blood deficiency, especially manifesting as intestinal dryness, sea cucumber is combined with tremella (yiner, the silvery tree mushroom).
For modern applications, the dried or extracted sea cucumber is useful as a nutritional supplement, prepared in capsules or tablets. The fully dried material has a protein concentration as high as 83%. From the Western medical viewpoint, the reason sea cucumber is valuable is because it serves as a rich source of the polysaccharide condroiton sulfate, which is well-known for its ability to reduce arthritis pain: as little as 3 grams per day of the dried sea cucumber has been helpful in significantly reducing arthralgia. Its action is similar to that of glucosamine sulfate, which is useful for treating osteoarthritis. Sulfated polysaccharides also inhibit viruses; there is a Japanese patent for sea cucumber chondroitin sulfate for HIV therapy.
Economical Uses and Biological Significance
Although about 200 species of sea cucumber have been recorded from Australian waters, only a few large tropical species were collected for processing as b�che-de-mer. The process itself involved boiling the body in salt water, gutting it, smoking it and finally sun-drying it. The finished product is hard, dry and a fraction of the weight of the live animal. Although there is still considerable demand for b�che-de-mer throughout much of Asia, there is very little commercial fishing for it in Australia today. The local industry wound down in the late 1940s largely because of lesser demand and poor prices.
There are a number of animals that live with sea cucumbers. Tiny polychaete worms that look almost identical to the skin of the sea cucumbers crawl across the skin and are probably responsible for cleaning the surface of the sea cucumber in return for getting a place to live. There are also some very strange relationships. There is a little fish that lives in the back end of sea cucumbers. Again, in return for being a cleaner, the fish gets a pace to live and something to eat.
The many varieties and species of Sea Cucumbers around the world are an essential part of the ecosystem of the ocean. They are both predators and prey to many different organisms. Their main food source is plankton (incredibly small drifting organisms in the sea,) they also provide food for certain Sea Stars. Because they are living animals, they are part of the ecosystem and will become a food source one way or another. As mentioned previously, the most fascinating characteristic of the sea cucumber is their ability to eviscerate their guts, thus providing food for their predators while still being able to survive themselves. The ability to provide food for other organisms labels the Sea Cucumber as a provider (of food) in their marine environment.
Chinese studies reveal that sea cucumbers also contain saponin glycosides. These compounds have a structure similar to the active constituents of ginseng, ganoderma, and other famous tonic herbs. Additional Chinese studies indicate anticancer properties of both the sea cucumber saponins and the polysaccharides.
Sea cucumbers are harmless. Unfortunately, they are good to eat and are considered a delicacy by many cultures. Did you know that a ton of dried sea cucumbers will fetch as much as a million dollars in some countries? This has lead to uncontrolled exploitation of sea cucumbers around the world. In some places they have almost completely disappeared. Several projects (e.g. Solomon Island) are currently underway to start growing sea cucumbers in aquaculture farms to try and reduce the fishing pressure on sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers are seriously endangered in many parts of the world. As all other marine creatures, it is essential to protect both the Sea Cucumbers themselves, and their environment to ensure the continuing survival of diversity in the oceans.
Parastichopus Californicus
Common Name: California Sea Cucumber
The Parastichopus Californicus can be identified by their prominent, stiff, conical papillae (cone-shaped spines). They also have tube feet on their ventral side. They are dark red or brown in color and have an approximate length of 40 cm (16 inches). They are found on the Northwest coastal waters from Alaska to Isal Cedros in Baja, California. They live in a sub tidal habitat, as well as feeding on detritus and small organisms. They are currently the only Sea Cucumber harvested in British Columbia, however only every three years to control population decline. They are eaten for their five muscle strips and body wall. One California Sea cucumber is shown below, this one is currently being kept at the Bamfield Marine Station and we have nick named him "Mike."
Cucumaria Miniata
Common Name: Burrowing Sea Cucumber
This bright orange sea cucumber has ten branched tentacles and five rows of tube feet. They are 25 cm (10 inches) long and live along the western coast from Gulf of Alaska to Avila Beach in California. They live in rocky areas with lots of crevices to hide from their predators, particularly the Sea Star Solaster Stimpsonii. They live in the intertidal zone all the way out 24 m (80 ft) or so. Their branched tentacles are used to collect drifting food. The photograph below shows a Burrowing Sea Cucumber, along with sea grass, its favorite environment.
Eupentacta Quinquesemita
Common Name: White Sea Cucumber
These Sea Cucumbers cannot completely contract their tube feet. They have ten yellow or white-branched tentacles, eight long and two short. They are ten cm (four inches) in length and live both off the coast of Japan, as well as the Sacramento Reff, Baja, California. They like rocky places ranging from lower intertidal to 15m off shore. Their tentacles remain retracted during daylight hours. A White Sea cucumber is shown below, lying on a
Thursday, October 15, 2009
FACTS OF THE BIG FIVE:
1.Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia).
Location : Body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia.
Geographic coordinates : 20 00 S, 80 00 E
Area Total : 68.556 million sq km. This includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : About 5.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 66,526 km.
Climate : Northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean.
Terrain : Surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Java Trench -7,258 m.
* Highest point : Sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules.
Natural Hazards : occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches.
Environment - Current Issues : Endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea.
Geography - Note : Major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait.
Economy - overview : The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Ports and harbors : Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa).
Disputes - international : Some maritime disputes.
2.Southern Ocean
A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).
Location : Body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica.
Geographic coordinates : 65 00 S, 0 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude.
Area Total : 20.327 million sq km. This includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly more than twice the size of the US.
Coastline : 17,968 km.
Climate : Sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter.
Terrain : The Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes.
Natural Hazards : Huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue.
Environment - Current issues : Increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish.
The now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Environment - International Agreements : The Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing).
Many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
Geography - note : The major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds.
Economy - overview : Fisheries in 2000-01 (1 July to 30 June) landed 112,934 metric tons, of which 87% was krill and 11% Patagonian toothfish. International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and antarctic toothfish. In the 2000-01 antarctic summer 12,248 tourists, most of them seaborne, visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 the previous year.
Ports and harbors : McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica.
Few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7).
Transportation - note : Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal.
Disputes - International : Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west.
3.Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways.
Location : Body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere.
Geographic coordinates : 0 00 N, 25 00 W.
Area Total : 76.762 million sq km. This includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 111,866 km.
Climate : Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November.
Terrain : Surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones.
Natural Hazards : Icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December).
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
Major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.
Ports and harbors : Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden).
Economy - overview : The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).
Ports and harbors : McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica.
Few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7).
Transportation - note : Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways; significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of US.
Disputes - International : Some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
4.Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.
Location : Body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle.
Geographic coordinates : 90 00 N, 0 00 E.
Area Total : 14.056 million sq km. This includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 45,389 km.
Climate : Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November.
Terrain : Central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge).
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Fram Basin -4,665 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones.
Natural Hazards : Ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May.
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack.
Geography - note : Major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months.
Economy - overview : Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Ports and harbors : Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US).
Transportation - note : Sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways.
Disputes - International : some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
5.Pacific Ocean
A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).
Location : Body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere.
Geographic coordinates : 0 00 N, 160 00 W.
Area Total : 155.557 million sq km. This includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : About 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world.
Coastline : 135,663 km.
Climate : Planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December.
Terrain : Surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish.
Natural Hazards : Surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December.
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
Geography - note : The major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Economy - overview : The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.
Ports and harbors : Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Kao-hsiung (Taiwan), Los Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US), Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan).
Transportation - note : Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state).
Disputes - International : Some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia).
Location : Body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia.
Geographic coordinates : 20 00 S, 80 00 E
Area Total : 68.556 million sq km. This includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : About 5.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 66,526 km.
Climate : Northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean.
Terrain : Surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Java Trench -7,258 m.
* Highest point : Sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules.
Natural Hazards : occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches.
Environment - Current Issues : Endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea.
Geography - Note : Major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait.
Economy - overview : The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Ports and harbors : Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa).
Disputes - international : Some maritime disputes.
2.Southern Ocean
A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).
Location : Body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica.
Geographic coordinates : 65 00 S, 0 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude.
Area Total : 20.327 million sq km. This includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly more than twice the size of the US.
Coastline : 17,968 km.
Climate : Sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter.
Terrain : The Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes.
Natural Hazards : Huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue.
Environment - Current issues : Increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish.
The now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Environment - International Agreements : The Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing).
Many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
Geography - note : The major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds.
Economy - overview : Fisheries in 2000-01 (1 July to 30 June) landed 112,934 metric tons, of which 87% was krill and 11% Patagonian toothfish. International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and antarctic toothfish. In the 2000-01 antarctic summer 12,248 tourists, most of them seaborne, visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 the previous year.
Ports and harbors : McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica.
Few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7).
Transportation - note : Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal.
Disputes - International : Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west.
3.Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways.
Location : Body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere.
Geographic coordinates : 0 00 N, 25 00 W.
Area Total : 76.762 million sq km. This includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 111,866 km.
Climate : Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November.
Terrain : Surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones.
Natural Hazards : Icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December).
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
Major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.
Ports and harbors : Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden).
Economy - overview : The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).
Ports and harbors : McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica.
Few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7).
Transportation - note : Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways; significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of US.
Disputes - International : Some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
4.Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.
Location : Body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle.
Geographic coordinates : 90 00 N, 0 00 E.
Area Total : 14.056 million sq km. This includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : Slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US.
Coastline : 45,389 km.
Climate : Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November.
Terrain : Central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge).
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Fram Basin -4,665 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones.
Natural Hazards : Ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May.
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack.
Geography - note : Major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months.
Economy - overview : Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Ports and harbors : Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US).
Transportation - note : Sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways.
Disputes - International : some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
5.Pacific Ocean
A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).
Location : Body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere.
Geographic coordinates : 0 00 N, 160 00 W.
Area Total : 155.557 million sq km. This includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Area - comparative : About 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world.
Coastline : 135,663 km.
Climate : Planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December.
Terrain : Surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest.
Elevation extremes :
* Lowest point : Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m.
* Highest point : sea level 0 m.
Natural Resources : Oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish.
Natural Hazards : Surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December.
Environment - Current issues : Endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
Geography - note : The major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Economy - overview : The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.
Ports and harbors : Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Kao-hsiung (Taiwan), Los Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US), Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan).
Transportation - note : Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state).
Disputes - International : Some maritime disputes (see littoral states).
OCEAN FACTS:
OCEAN FACTS
OCEAN GEOGRAPHY
There are 328,000,000 cubic miles of seawater on earth, covering approximately 71 percent of earth's surface.
By volume, the ocean makes up 99 percent of the planet's living space- the largest space in our universe known to be inhabited by living organisms.
* About 97 percent of all water on earth is in our oceans, 2 percent is frozen in our ice caps and glaciers, less than 0.3 percent is carried in the atmosphere in the form of clouds, rain, and snow. All of our inland seas, lakes and channels combined add up to only 0.02 percent of earth's water.
* The Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost twice the size of the United States.
* Earth's ocean is made up of more than 20 seas and four oceans: Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Pacific, the oldest and the largest.
* The ocean accounts for 0.022 percent of the total weight of earth, weighing an estimated 1,450,000,000,000,000,000 short tons (1 short ton = 2,000lbs).
* The average worldwide ocean depth is about 12,460 feet (3,798 meters), with the deepest point of 36,198 feet (11,033 meters) which is located in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean; the tallest mountain, Mount Everest, measures 29,022 feet (8,846 meters). If Mount Everest were to be placed into the Mariana Trench it would be covered with sea water more than a mile (1.5 km ) deep.
* Although Mount Everest is often called the tallest mountain on Earth, Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii, is actually taller. Only 13,796 feet of Mauna Kea stands above sea level, yet it is 33,465 feet tall if measured from the ocean floor to its summit
* A slow cascade of water beneath the Denmark Strait sinks 2.2 miles; more than 3.5 times farther than Venezuela's Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on land.
* Earth's largest continuous mountain chain is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, stretching for 40,000 miles, rising above the surface of the water in a few places, such as Iceland. It is four times longer than the Andes, Rocky Mountains, and Himalayas combined.
* Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans. In 1993, scientists located the largest known concentration of active volcanoes on the sea floor in the South Pacific. This area, the size of New York State, hosts 1,133 volcanic cones and seamounts. Two or three could erupt at any moment.
* The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 53 feet 6 inches, the equivalent of a five-story building.
* Canada has the longest coastline of any country, at 56,453 miles or around 15 percent of the world's 372,384 miles of coastlines.
* In 1958, the United States Coast Guard icebreaker East Wind measured the world's tallest known iceberg off western Greenland. At 550 feet it was only 5 feet 6 inches shorter than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
* The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.
THE WEATHER MAKER
* The ocean determines climate and plays a critical role in Earth's habitability. Most of the solar energy that reaches the Earth is stored in the ocean and helps power oceanic and atmospheric circulation. In this manner, the ocean plays an important role in influencing the weather and climatic patterns of the Earth.
* Two hundred million years of recorded geologic and biologic history of the Earth are found in the ocean's floor. By studying ocean sediments, scientists can learn about ancient climate, how it changed, and how better to predict our own climate.
* The top 10 feet of the ocean hold the same amount of thermal energy as exists in the entire atmosphere.
* El NiZo, a periodic shift of warm waters from the western to eastern Pacific Ocean, has dramatic effects on climate worldwide. In 1997-1998, the most severe El NiZo of the century created droughts, crop failures, fires, torrential rains, floods, landslides--total damages were estimated at more than $90 billion (United Nations)
* Undersea earthquakes and other disturbances cause tsunamis, or great waves. The largest recorded tsunami measured 210 feet above sea level when it reached Siberia's Kamchatka Peninsula in 1737.
OUR USE OF THE OCEAN
* Substances from marine plants and animals are used in scores of products, including medicine, ice cream, toothpaste, fertilizers, gasoline, cosmetics, and livestock feed.
* Examine the foods in your own kitchen and you may find the terms "alginate" and "carrageenan" on the labels. Carrageenans are compounds extracted from red algae that are used to stabilize and jell foods and pharmaceuticals. Brown algae contain alginates that make foods thicker and creamier and add to shelf life. They are used to prevent ice crystals from forming in ice cream. Alginates and carrageenans are often used in puddings, milkshakes, and ice cream. The commonly used color additive beta-carotene often comes from green algae as well as many vegetables, including carrots. Many people don't realize that kelp is harvested like wheat; a substance called algin is extracted and is used in lipstick, toothpaste and ice cream. You might be wearing kelp right now, since it is used in the dyes that color our clothes.
* Oils from the orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, a deep-sea fish from New Zealand, are used in making shampoo.
* The remains of diatoms, algae with hard shells, are used in making pet litter, cosmetics, pool filters and tooth polish.
* The ocean holds immense quantities of protein. The total annual commercial harvest from the seas exceeds 85 million metric tons. Fish is the biggest source of wild or domestic protein in the world.
* Since the architecture and chemistry of coral are very close to human bone, coral has been used to replace bone grafts in helping human bones to heal quickly and cleanly.
* Horseshoe crabs have existed in essentially the same form for the past 135 million years. Their blood provides a valuable test for the toxins that cause septic shock, which previously led to half of all hospital-acquired infections and one-fifth of all hospital deaths.
* Over 90 percent of trade among countries is carried by ships.
* The ocean is a source of mineral deposits, including oil and gas.
* About half the communications between nations are via underwater cables.
* Many nations' battles have been fought on or under the water.
* Knowing oceanography can enhance the conditions for trade, communications, and defense.
OUR MISUSE OF THE OCEAN
* In 1993, United States beaches were closed or swimmers advised not to get in the water over 2,400 times because of sewage contamination. The problem is even worse than the numbers indicate: there are no federal requirements for notifying the public when water-quality standards are violated, and some coastal states don't monitor water at beaches.
* The largest amount of oil entering the ocean through human activity is the 363 million gallons that come from industrial waste and automobiles. When people pour their used motor oil into the ground or into a septic system, it eventually seeps into the groundwater. Coupled with industrial waste discharged into rivers, oil becomes part of the run-off from waterways that empty into the ocean. All of this oil impacts ocean ecosystems.
* The Coast Guard estimates that for United States waters, sewage treatment plants discharge twice as much oil each year as tanker spills.
* Animals may perish when the oil slicks their fur or downy feathers, decreasing the surface area so they are no longer insulated from the cold water. Or the animals may ingest the oil, then become sick or unable to reproduce properly.
* Each year industrial, household cleaning, gardening, and automotive products are added as water pollutants. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the United States today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year. Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity.
* It is estimated that medical waste that washed up onto Long Island and New Jersey beaches in the summer of 1988 cost as much as $3 billion in lost revenue from tourism and recreation.
* The most frequently found item in beach cleanups are pieces of plastic. The next four items are plastic foam, plastic utensils, pieces of glass and cigarette butts.
* Lost or discarded fishing nets keep on fishing. Called "ghost nets," this gear entangles fish, marine mammals, and sea birds, preventing them from feeding or causing them to drown. As many as 20,000 northern fur seals may die each year from becoming entangled in netting.
* The Mississippi River drains more than 40 percent of the continental United States, carrying excess nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico. Decay of the resulting algae blooms consumes oxygen, kills shellfish and displaces fish in a 4,000 square mile bottom area off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, called the "dead zone."
* The zebra mussel is the most famous unwanted ship stowaway, but the animals and plants being transported to new areas through ship ballast water is a problem around the world. Poisonous algae, cholera, and countless plants and animals have invaded harbor waters and disrupted ecological balance.
* There are 109 countries with coral reefs. Reefs in 90 of them are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.
* One study of a cruise ship anchor dropped in a coral reef for one day found an area about half the size of a football field completely destroyed, and half again as much covered by rubble that died later. It was estimated that coral recovery would take fifty years.
* Egypt's High Aswan Dam, built in the 1960s to provide electricity and irrigation water, diverts up to 95 percent of the Nile River's normal flow. It has since trapped more than one million tons of nutrient rich silt and caused a sharp decline in Mediterranean sardine and shrimp fisheries.
* The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that of the seventeen major fisheries areas in the world, four are depleted and the other thirteen are either fished to capacity or overfished.
* Commercial marine fisheries in the United States discard up to 20 billion pounds of non-target fish each year-- twice the catch of desired commercial and recreational fishing combined. Worldwide this adds up to a staggering 60 billion pounds each year!!
* With only 4.3 percent of the world population, Americans use about one-third of the world's processed mineral resources and about one-fourth of the world's non-renewable energy sources, like oil and coal.
FACTS ABOUT OCEAN LIFE
* Life began in the seas 3.1 billion to 3.4 billion years ago. Land dwellers appeared 400 million years ago; a relatively recent point in the geologic time line.
* The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest known animal ever to have lived on sea or land. They can reach over 110 feet and weigh almost 200 tons (more than the combined weight of 50 adult elephants). The blue whale's blood vessels are so broad that a full-grown trout could swim through them, and the heart is the size of a small car.
* The oarfish, Regalecus glesne, is the longest bony fish in the world. With its snakelike body, sporting a magnificent red fin along its 50-foot length horselike face and blue gills, it accounts for many sea-serpent sightings
* Green turtles can migrate more than 1,400 miles to lay their eggs.
* Bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, are among the largest and fastest marine fish. An adult may weigh 1,500 pounds and swim up to 55 miles per hour.
* Penguins "fly" underwater at up to 55 miles per hour.
* A group of herring is called a seige. A group of jelly fish is called a smack.
* Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs.
* Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant in the ocean, can grow up to 2 feet per day. Under optimal conditions, giant kelp can grow to a length of more than 100 feet in little more than a year and can grow to a maximum of 200 feet.
* Hydrothermal vents, fractures in the sea floor that spew sulphur compounds, support the only complex ecosystem known to run on chemicals, rather than energy from the sun.
OCEAN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
* At the deepest point in the ocean the pressure is more than 8 tons per square inch, or the equivalent of one person trying to hold-up 50 jumbo jets against the force of gravity.
* The major ions in seawater are Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, Sr2+, Cl-, SO42- (sulfate), HCO3- (bicarbonate), Br-, B(OH)3 (boric acid), and F-. Together, they account for almost all of the salt in seawater.
* At 39 degrees Fahrenheit (3.89 degrees Celsius), the temperature of almost all of the deep ocean is only a few degrees above freezing.
* If extracted, it is estimated that all the gold suspended in the world's seawater would give each person on Earth 9 pounds.
* If the ocean's total salt content were dried, it would cover the continents to a depth of 500 feet.
* When nitrogen and phosphorus from sources such as fertilizer, sewage and detergents enter coastal waters, oxygen depletion occurs. One gram of nitrogen can cause enough organic growth to require 15 grams of oxygen to decompose the resulting vegetation. A single gram of phosphorus will deplete about one hundred grams of oxygen.
OCEAN GEOGRAPHY
There are 328,000,000 cubic miles of seawater on earth, covering approximately 71 percent of earth's surface.
By volume, the ocean makes up 99 percent of the planet's living space- the largest space in our universe known to be inhabited by living organisms.
* About 97 percent of all water on earth is in our oceans, 2 percent is frozen in our ice caps and glaciers, less than 0.3 percent is carried in the atmosphere in the form of clouds, rain, and snow. All of our inland seas, lakes and channels combined add up to only 0.02 percent of earth's water.
* The Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost twice the size of the United States.
* Earth's ocean is made up of more than 20 seas and four oceans: Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Pacific, the oldest and the largest.
* The ocean accounts for 0.022 percent of the total weight of earth, weighing an estimated 1,450,000,000,000,000,000 short tons (1 short ton = 2,000lbs).
* The average worldwide ocean depth is about 12,460 feet (3,798 meters), with the deepest point of 36,198 feet (11,033 meters) which is located in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean; the tallest mountain, Mount Everest, measures 29,022 feet (8,846 meters). If Mount Everest were to be placed into the Mariana Trench it would be covered with sea water more than a mile (1.5 km ) deep.
* Although Mount Everest is often called the tallest mountain on Earth, Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii, is actually taller. Only 13,796 feet of Mauna Kea stands above sea level, yet it is 33,465 feet tall if measured from the ocean floor to its summit
* A slow cascade of water beneath the Denmark Strait sinks 2.2 miles; more than 3.5 times farther than Venezuela's Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on land.
* Earth's largest continuous mountain chain is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, stretching for 40,000 miles, rising above the surface of the water in a few places, such as Iceland. It is four times longer than the Andes, Rocky Mountains, and Himalayas combined.
* Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans. In 1993, scientists located the largest known concentration of active volcanoes on the sea floor in the South Pacific. This area, the size of New York State, hosts 1,133 volcanic cones and seamounts. Two or three could erupt at any moment.
* The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 53 feet 6 inches, the equivalent of a five-story building.
* Canada has the longest coastline of any country, at 56,453 miles or around 15 percent of the world's 372,384 miles of coastlines.
* In 1958, the United States Coast Guard icebreaker East Wind measured the world's tallest known iceberg off western Greenland. At 550 feet it was only 5 feet 6 inches shorter than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
* The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.
THE WEATHER MAKER
* The ocean determines climate and plays a critical role in Earth's habitability. Most of the solar energy that reaches the Earth is stored in the ocean and helps power oceanic and atmospheric circulation. In this manner, the ocean plays an important role in influencing the weather and climatic patterns of the Earth.
* Two hundred million years of recorded geologic and biologic history of the Earth are found in the ocean's floor. By studying ocean sediments, scientists can learn about ancient climate, how it changed, and how better to predict our own climate.
* The top 10 feet of the ocean hold the same amount of thermal energy as exists in the entire atmosphere.
* El NiZo, a periodic shift of warm waters from the western to eastern Pacific Ocean, has dramatic effects on climate worldwide. In 1997-1998, the most severe El NiZo of the century created droughts, crop failures, fires, torrential rains, floods, landslides--total damages were estimated at more than $90 billion (United Nations)
* Undersea earthquakes and other disturbances cause tsunamis, or great waves. The largest recorded tsunami measured 210 feet above sea level when it reached Siberia's Kamchatka Peninsula in 1737.
OUR USE OF THE OCEAN
* Substances from marine plants and animals are used in scores of products, including medicine, ice cream, toothpaste, fertilizers, gasoline, cosmetics, and livestock feed.
* Examine the foods in your own kitchen and you may find the terms "alginate" and "carrageenan" on the labels. Carrageenans are compounds extracted from red algae that are used to stabilize and jell foods and pharmaceuticals. Brown algae contain alginates that make foods thicker and creamier and add to shelf life. They are used to prevent ice crystals from forming in ice cream. Alginates and carrageenans are often used in puddings, milkshakes, and ice cream. The commonly used color additive beta-carotene often comes from green algae as well as many vegetables, including carrots. Many people don't realize that kelp is harvested like wheat; a substance called algin is extracted and is used in lipstick, toothpaste and ice cream. You might be wearing kelp right now, since it is used in the dyes that color our clothes.
* Oils from the orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, a deep-sea fish from New Zealand, are used in making shampoo.
* The remains of diatoms, algae with hard shells, are used in making pet litter, cosmetics, pool filters and tooth polish.
* The ocean holds immense quantities of protein. The total annual commercial harvest from the seas exceeds 85 million metric tons. Fish is the biggest source of wild or domestic protein in the world.
* Since the architecture and chemistry of coral are very close to human bone, coral has been used to replace bone grafts in helping human bones to heal quickly and cleanly.
* Horseshoe crabs have existed in essentially the same form for the past 135 million years. Their blood provides a valuable test for the toxins that cause septic shock, which previously led to half of all hospital-acquired infections and one-fifth of all hospital deaths.
* Over 90 percent of trade among countries is carried by ships.
* The ocean is a source of mineral deposits, including oil and gas.
* About half the communications between nations are via underwater cables.
* Many nations' battles have been fought on or under the water.
* Knowing oceanography can enhance the conditions for trade, communications, and defense.
OUR MISUSE OF THE OCEAN
* In 1993, United States beaches were closed or swimmers advised not to get in the water over 2,400 times because of sewage contamination. The problem is even worse than the numbers indicate: there are no federal requirements for notifying the public when water-quality standards are violated, and some coastal states don't monitor water at beaches.
* The largest amount of oil entering the ocean through human activity is the 363 million gallons that come from industrial waste and automobiles. When people pour their used motor oil into the ground or into a septic system, it eventually seeps into the groundwater. Coupled with industrial waste discharged into rivers, oil becomes part of the run-off from waterways that empty into the ocean. All of this oil impacts ocean ecosystems.
* The Coast Guard estimates that for United States waters, sewage treatment plants discharge twice as much oil each year as tanker spills.
* Animals may perish when the oil slicks their fur or downy feathers, decreasing the surface area so they are no longer insulated from the cold water. Or the animals may ingest the oil, then become sick or unable to reproduce properly.
* Each year industrial, household cleaning, gardening, and automotive products are added as water pollutants. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the United States today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year. Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity.
* It is estimated that medical waste that washed up onto Long Island and New Jersey beaches in the summer of 1988 cost as much as $3 billion in lost revenue from tourism and recreation.
* The most frequently found item in beach cleanups are pieces of plastic. The next four items are plastic foam, plastic utensils, pieces of glass and cigarette butts.
* Lost or discarded fishing nets keep on fishing. Called "ghost nets," this gear entangles fish, marine mammals, and sea birds, preventing them from feeding or causing them to drown. As many as 20,000 northern fur seals may die each year from becoming entangled in netting.
* The Mississippi River drains more than 40 percent of the continental United States, carrying excess nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico. Decay of the resulting algae blooms consumes oxygen, kills shellfish and displaces fish in a 4,000 square mile bottom area off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, called the "dead zone."
* The zebra mussel is the most famous unwanted ship stowaway, but the animals and plants being transported to new areas through ship ballast water is a problem around the world. Poisonous algae, cholera, and countless plants and animals have invaded harbor waters and disrupted ecological balance.
* There are 109 countries with coral reefs. Reefs in 90 of them are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.
* One study of a cruise ship anchor dropped in a coral reef for one day found an area about half the size of a football field completely destroyed, and half again as much covered by rubble that died later. It was estimated that coral recovery would take fifty years.
* Egypt's High Aswan Dam, built in the 1960s to provide electricity and irrigation water, diverts up to 95 percent of the Nile River's normal flow. It has since trapped more than one million tons of nutrient rich silt and caused a sharp decline in Mediterranean sardine and shrimp fisheries.
* The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that of the seventeen major fisheries areas in the world, four are depleted and the other thirteen are either fished to capacity or overfished.
* Commercial marine fisheries in the United States discard up to 20 billion pounds of non-target fish each year-- twice the catch of desired commercial and recreational fishing combined. Worldwide this adds up to a staggering 60 billion pounds each year!!
* With only 4.3 percent of the world population, Americans use about one-third of the world's processed mineral resources and about one-fourth of the world's non-renewable energy sources, like oil and coal.
FACTS ABOUT OCEAN LIFE
* Life began in the seas 3.1 billion to 3.4 billion years ago. Land dwellers appeared 400 million years ago; a relatively recent point in the geologic time line.
* The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest known animal ever to have lived on sea or land. They can reach over 110 feet and weigh almost 200 tons (more than the combined weight of 50 adult elephants). The blue whale's blood vessels are so broad that a full-grown trout could swim through them, and the heart is the size of a small car.
* The oarfish, Regalecus glesne, is the longest bony fish in the world. With its snakelike body, sporting a magnificent red fin along its 50-foot length horselike face and blue gills, it accounts for many sea-serpent sightings
* Green turtles can migrate more than 1,400 miles to lay their eggs.
* Bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, are among the largest and fastest marine fish. An adult may weigh 1,500 pounds and swim up to 55 miles per hour.
* Penguins "fly" underwater at up to 55 miles per hour.
* A group of herring is called a seige. A group of jelly fish is called a smack.
* Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs.
* Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant in the ocean, can grow up to 2 feet per day. Under optimal conditions, giant kelp can grow to a length of more than 100 feet in little more than a year and can grow to a maximum of 200 feet.
* Hydrothermal vents, fractures in the sea floor that spew sulphur compounds, support the only complex ecosystem known to run on chemicals, rather than energy from the sun.
OCEAN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
* At the deepest point in the ocean the pressure is more than 8 tons per square inch, or the equivalent of one person trying to hold-up 50 jumbo jets against the force of gravity.
* The major ions in seawater are Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, Sr2+, Cl-, SO42- (sulfate), HCO3- (bicarbonate), Br-, B(OH)3 (boric acid), and F-. Together, they account for almost all of the salt in seawater.
* At 39 degrees Fahrenheit (3.89 degrees Celsius), the temperature of almost all of the deep ocean is only a few degrees above freezing.
* If extracted, it is estimated that all the gold suspended in the world's seawater would give each person on Earth 9 pounds.
* If the ocean's total salt content were dried, it would cover the continents to a depth of 500 feet.
* When nitrogen and phosphorus from sources such as fertilizer, sewage and detergents enter coastal waters, oxygen depletion occurs. One gram of nitrogen can cause enough organic growth to require 15 grams of oxygen to decompose the resulting vegetation. A single gram of phosphorus will deplete about one hundred grams of oxygen.
SEA POLLUTION IN THE MARIN ENVIRONMENT
Nowadays, there are a lot of trashes such as plastics, steel, and so on that we can found at the sea. That means a lot of us still not show their responsibility towards our marine environment. It can affect our life either in the short or long time affected.
In this blog, we provide a little bit of facts which is very important to us so that we can realize to take care our marine system. We need your comment and feedback.
Plastic, the wonder material that we use for everything, is perhaps the most harmful of this trash because it does not readily break down in nature. In fact, the plastic that goes over the side today may still be around in hundreds of years to foul up the fishing gear, boat propellers, and beaches of future generations, not to mention what it will do to countless generations of marine life and seabirds that eat it or get tangled up in it.
Careless disposal of plastics can have dire consequences. The six-pack ring, which relieves us of having to juggle six cans at once, can become a deadly noose for a bird or fish. A plastic bag looks like a tasty jellyfish to an indiscriminate feeder like the sea turtle, but plastic is indigestible. It can choke, block the intestines of, or cause infection in those animals that consume it. A plastic bag can also clog an outboard engine's cooling system. Lost or discarded monofilament fishing line can foul propellers, destroying oil seals and lower units on engines, or it can become an entangling web for fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.
According to the Center for Marine Conservation, over 25,000 pieces of fishing line were collected from U.S. beaches during the 1996 annual beach cleanup, and at least 40% of all animal entanglements reported during the cleanups involved fishing line.
Every day, more and more plastic is accumulating in our oceans. Recreational boaters are not the only group that improperly disposes of plastic refuse at sea. Plastics also enter the marine environment from sewage outfalls, merchant shipping, commercial fishing operations, and beachgoers.
Plastics pose a serious enough threat to the marine environment that, in 1987, Congress enacted the Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act. This law prohibits the dumping of plastics in all U.S. waters and applies to all watercraft -- from the smallest recreational boat to the largest commercial ship. In addition, marinas are required to maintain adequate facilities for the disposal of refuse regulated under this act.
You can do something to reduce plastic pollution.
-Make it a rule that no trash goes overboard, especially old fishing line, which is particularly hazardous to marine life.
-Substitute reusable containers and other items for disposable ones to reduce the volume of trash.
-Stow your trash for proper disposal in port.
Plastic really is fantastic. The problem is improper disposal. Remember that a careless moment may last for generations. By doing this, we can improve our marine system so that all of us can live in peace!
tq
In this blog, we provide a little bit of facts which is very important to us so that we can realize to take care our marine system. We need your comment and feedback.
Plastic, the wonder material that we use for everything, is perhaps the most harmful of this trash because it does not readily break down in nature. In fact, the plastic that goes over the side today may still be around in hundreds of years to foul up the fishing gear, boat propellers, and beaches of future generations, not to mention what it will do to countless generations of marine life and seabirds that eat it or get tangled up in it.
Careless disposal of plastics can have dire consequences. The six-pack ring, which relieves us of having to juggle six cans at once, can become a deadly noose for a bird or fish. A plastic bag looks like a tasty jellyfish to an indiscriminate feeder like the sea turtle, but plastic is indigestible. It can choke, block the intestines of, or cause infection in those animals that consume it. A plastic bag can also clog an outboard engine's cooling system. Lost or discarded monofilament fishing line can foul propellers, destroying oil seals and lower units on engines, or it can become an entangling web for fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.
According to the Center for Marine Conservation, over 25,000 pieces of fishing line were collected from U.S. beaches during the 1996 annual beach cleanup, and at least 40% of all animal entanglements reported during the cleanups involved fishing line.
Every day, more and more plastic is accumulating in our oceans. Recreational boaters are not the only group that improperly disposes of plastic refuse at sea. Plastics also enter the marine environment from sewage outfalls, merchant shipping, commercial fishing operations, and beachgoers.
Plastics pose a serious enough threat to the marine environment that, in 1987, Congress enacted the Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act. This law prohibits the dumping of plastics in all U.S. waters and applies to all watercraft -- from the smallest recreational boat to the largest commercial ship. In addition, marinas are required to maintain adequate facilities for the disposal of refuse regulated under this act.
You can do something to reduce plastic pollution.
-Make it a rule that no trash goes overboard, especially old fishing line, which is particularly hazardous to marine life.
-Substitute reusable containers and other items for disposable ones to reduce the volume of trash.
-Stow your trash for proper disposal in port.
Plastic really is fantastic. The problem is improper disposal. Remember that a careless moment may last for generations. By doing this, we can improve our marine system so that all of us can live in peace!
tq
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
sea pollution
Sea Pollution
It seems that almost every day there is another story about pollution of one form or another, in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Very often our own actions lead to that pollution and in many cases we can do something about it. These notes explain how you can investigate sea pollution and advise on positive action to improve our seas and the beaches.Polluting the seas
The seas and oceans receive the brunt of human waste, whether it is by deliberate dumping or by natural run-off from the land. In fact over 80% of all marine pollution comes from land-based acivities and many pollutants are deposited in estuaries and coastal waters. Here the pollutants enter marine food chains, building up their concentrations until they reach toxic levels. It often takes human casualties to alert us to pollution and such was the case in Minimata Bay in Japan when many people died as a result of a pollutant building up in food chains. A factory was discharging waste containing methyl mercury in low concentrations into the sea and as this pollutant passed through food chains it became more concentrated in the tissues of marine organisms until it reached toxic levels. As a consequence 649 people died from eating fish and shellfish contaminated with mercury and 3500 people suffered from mercury poisoning.
Investigating sea pollution
Rubbish discarded at sea is often washed ashore onto our beaches polluting the coastline, but what kind of litter is thrown away and where does it come from? Very often the tide brings in such a lot of debris that it would be impossible to record each item of litter. A way of overcoming this problem is to examine selected areas of the beach and to set up a line transect enabling a survey of the litter to be carried out. Stretch a line, marked at regular intervals, from the sea across the beach and record the litter that you find at each point on the transect. Make a note of the composition of the litter stating whether it is made of plastic, wood, metal, glass, paper, rope or cardboard. Also record the identity of each item such as fishing line, nets, containers or wire. Containers of plastic and metal are the most frequently reported litter. Drinks containers are common, mostly of the pull-tab type probably thrown away by holidaymakers. There is more rubbish on the beach in the winter, probably because of the prevailing winds and large waves which force the litter ashore.
Oil pollution
Black tar-like oil is sometimes washed onto beaches not only causing a nuisance to holidaymakers but also killing many sea-birds. The oil mainly comes from tankers which wash out their holds while out at sea to save time in port. Enforcement of laws concerning the dumping of oil is difficult and responsibility rests with the captain of each tanker to obey the law. Once oil is in the sea and the tanker has sailed on, it is difficult to prove that an offence has been committed and unless the culprit can be identified the cost of clearing up is the responsibility of the local council. If you find that oil has been washed ashore report it at once to your local council who will arrange for the beach to be cleaned up. Local volunteers can also begin the task of trying to save the lives of sea-birds contaminated with oil.In 1992, more than 4 million tonnes of oil were released into the world's oceans. Recent research by The US National Science Foundation has found that only 2 per cent of hydrocarbon pollution finding its way into the sea each year comes from tanker accidents. Eleven per cent comes from natural sources - tar sands and oil seeps, 13 per cent comes from the atmosphere, 24 per cent from all forms of transport, and an astounding 50 per cent comes down drains and rivers to the sea from cities and industries. Anyone who has tipped old engine oil down the drain, or 'buried' it in the soil instead of taking it to a recycling point is responsible for some oil pollution at sea.
Significant oil pollution is caused by tankers illegally cleaning their tanks while out at sea and dumping the dirty water overboard. Airborne surveillance spotted 64 vessels discharging their tanks in the Dutch sector of the North Sea during 1985. 72 per cent of oil pollution caused by shipping is estimated to be deliberate and illegal. Only 28 per cent is caused by tanker accidents. There is obviously a need for better monitoring of ships at sea by all countries, and the owners of ships illegally cleaning their tanks at sea should be prosecuted. Over 100,000 tonnes of oil is dumped in the North Sea by ships.
In 1992, there were 611 incidents of oil pollution in UK coastal waters alone. Many of the major oil spillages during the last 20 years have been caused, or made worse by human error. Human error can mean carelessness, but it also includes continuing to use old, unsafe ships and employing crews with inadequate training.
In the last thirty years, there have been a number of serious oil spillages caused by oil tanker accidents. The first was in 1967, when the Torrey Canyon ran aground on the Seven Stones Rocks, off Land's End, leaking 106,000 tonnes of oil onto rocks and beaches on both side of the English Channel. British guillemots and razorbills were badly affected, and the population of puffins on the Sept Isles in France was virtually wiped out.
In 1978, The Amoco Cadiz was wrecked following engine failure on the coast of Brittany, releasing 223,000 tonnes of oil into the sea. Thousands of migrating seabirds were killed when they landed on the oily waters, and many French oyster fisheries and beaches were completely ruined.
The Exxon Valdez was accidentally steered into a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. Emergency equipment did not arrive quickly, and this allowed the 37 million litres of spilled oil to form a slick covering 6,700 square kilometres. The delay in providing equipment, both by the oil company, Exxon, and by the State of Alaska, was unforgivable, and caused the needless death of thousands of animals, including 350,000 sea otters.
More recently, the tanker Braer broke up off Shetland having run aground, and in February 1996, the Sea Empress spilled around 70,000 tonnes of crude oil off the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. For further details, see the sheet 'Oil Pollution Case Study - the Sea Empress', also available from YPTENC.
The effects of this oil pollution on wildlife can be terrible. Between January 1971 and June 1979, 36,000 birds were found dead around the British coast as a result of oiling. Migrating species like the puffin, guillemot and razorbill are especially at risk, as they look for areas of calm water on which to rest or catch fish. Oil-covered seas look calm, but if a bird land in a slick, the oil coats its feathers, affects its buoyancy and the insulating power of its feathers and makes it unable to fly away. Even slightly oiled birds sometimes die because they preen their feathers, and in doing so, ingest oily substances which are poisonous to them. An animal killed by oil may then be eaten by fish or birds, who in turn are poisoned by the oil.
Cleaning up after an oil spill is a complicated business, and depends on weather conditions and water temperature. In calm waters, long floating booms can be used to help to contain oil, which can then be pumped off the surface of the sea. Chemical dispersants are often sprayed on oil to break up slicks into droplets which can be broken down by marine bacteria. Dispersants are quite toxic, however, so whilst they reduce damage to beaches and save seabird colonies from destruction by oil, they also add more poisons to the sea. Rough seas can break up slicks, but they can also spread oil right through the marine environment.
Crude oil is made up of over 1,000 chemicals. Of these, the light hydrocarbons, which are used to make petrol and aviation fuel are the most toxic. In warm conditions, these usually evaporate quite quickly, making a foul smell, but reducing the danger to wildlife. In cold seas, however, the process of evaporation can be very slow, and this means the risk to wildlife lasts longer. To prevent this, the light hydrocarbons are often burned off the surface of the sea.
In this country, we have a group of patrol aircraft whose job it is to search for oil floating on the surface of our seas. The spotter planes are able to distinguish different types of oil, and work alongside dispersant-spraying aircraft so that oil can be treated quickly and in the most effective way possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)