Whale Mass Stranding Attributed to Sonar Mapping for First Time

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), with the help of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) led a team to return stranded melon-headed whales from the Loza Lagoon system to the open sea. 

ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Limited caused the whales to be stranded in the lagoon because of a multi-beam echo-sounder system that was operated. WCS and IFAW conducted autopsies on the dead whales to find out why they died. According to the report, this is the first known mass stranding of marine mammals by a sonar system. There is now cause for concern about the impact that the noise has on marine life because various different stakeholders such as the hydrocarbon industry, military, use the sonar systems and research vessels. 

“The report concluded: "The potential for behavioral responses and indirect injury or mortality from the use of sim

ilar MBES [multi-beam echosounder systems] should be considered in future environmental assessments, operational planning and regulatory decisions."” Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of the Ocean Giants Program for WCS, supports the conclusion that the noise from sonar systems has a potential impact on marine mammals. He hopes that with these conclusions that there will be more rules established for the use of sonar equipment to better the lives of marine mammals.

Dr. John G. Robinson the Executive V.P. for Conservation and Science told reporters how much he appreciated the time and work the government has contributed to this process. He also stated how gratefully he was that the Government of Madagascar has allowed his work and studies.  Dr. Robinson makes it clear that “Understanding what causes mass strandings of marine mammals is critical to prevent this in the future. In this case, the cooperation by industry, conservation organizations, and government regulatory authorities led to best science being evaluated by an independent panel, which came up with conclusion based on weight of considerable evidence made available." The Director of Animal Rescue at IFAW, Katie Moore, has explained the difficulties of Mass stranding response and how with the help of locals and the government, together they may rescue as many animals as possible and provide medical care to the animals that remain alive. Although the rescue and care of these animals is very important it is “equally important” to find the root problem with animal stranding.  Many large, well-known businesses and committees are coming together to provide assistance, those include: WCS, ExxonMobil, the NOAA Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the NOAA Ocean Acoustics Program, the Marine Mammal Commission, BOEM, IWC, and SEA.

Undersea Mountains Provide Crucial Piece in Climate Prediction Puzzle

A mystery in the ocean near Antarctica has been solved and published in the Journal Nature, they found that seawater mixes dramatically when it rushes over undersea mountains; this mixing is necessary to regulate Earth’s climate and Ocean currents. This takes place in the Drake Passage, which is a channel between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic. The researchers at multiple Universities and Associations have provided more insight for climate models, making it now possible to provide long-term climate projections. The mixing of the seawater was measured by releasing small amounts of an inert chemical tracer and tracking for several years to see how quickly the ocean mixed. 

There was virtually no mixing in the Pacific but dramatic mixing in the Drake Passage.

The researchers concluded that most of the mixing done in the Southern Ocean occurs in the Drake Passage and at other various undersea mountains. 

Ocean mixing transfers carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep sea, controlling the rate at which the ocean absorbs CO₂.  Over hundreds of years this process will remove much of the carbon dioxide we humans release. Ocean mixing can also enable the ocean to transfer heat to the poles. Scientists believe that the carbon dioxide present during the ice ages may have been a result of slower Ocean mixing, and although the reasons are unclear this further emphasizes the link between the climate and ocean mixing.

Underlying Ocean Melts Ice Shelf, Speeds Up Glacier Movement

"Warm ocean water, not warm air, is melting the Pine Island Glacier's floating ice shelf in Antarctica and may be the culprit for increased melting of other ice shelves, according to an international team of researchers.”

Penn state researchers have been studying atmospheric heat effects by looking at the remote Pine Island Glacier, or PIG, which has been rapidly thinning recently. Since PIG is in such a remote part of Antarctica it has taken years to collect proper data by drilling holes in the ice to place a variety of instruments and using radar to map the underside of the ice shelf and the bottom of the ocean. The study was done December through January 12-13, and Penn State’s research teams results were just reported Sept. 13, 2013.

The researchers have noted that the oceans are warmer than they have been in the past and this is causing the bottom of the ice shelf to melt more quickly. Also the terrain beneath the ice shelf is a series of channels, and the channels allow the water to flow out to the open ocean and warmer water to flow in, again melting the ice shelf from beneath. Although these ice shelves are melting this extra water doesn’t contribute to the rising sea level because its already in the water, but since most of the Antarctic glaciers are 

on land, that will increase the sea level.

Researchers all have different opinions on the ice shelf and it’s effects, some say that it should be incorporated into the sea level rise models of global warming while other research shows that without the ice shelf and glacier, melting would occur at an even faster rate.”The Antarctic has been relatively quiet as a contributor to sea rise," said Anandakrishnan. "What this work shows is that we have been blind to a huge phenomenon, something that will be as big a player in sea level rise in the next century as any other contributor."

Deep-Sea Squid With Tentacle Tips That 'Swim' On Their Own

 Many animals in the sea use parts of their body to lure in their prey, such as the anglerfish. It uses something that looks like an antenna that emits light to attract other animals to it. Recently, in a recent paper, researchers, who are affiliated with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), have described a deep-sea squid that uses a different method to lure its prey. The tentacle tips "flap and flutter" as if they were swimming by themselves. Researchers believe that the motion of the tentacles lure the prey close enough for the squid to snag the prey.

Most squids have eight tentacles and two "feeding" tentacles. The feeding tentacles,  known as "clubs", have suction cups or hooks on them, which allows the squid to grasp onto its prey. These squids hunt by swiftly moving their tentacles to grab their prey. 

But, the Grimalditeuthis bonplandi is different. It has a viscid body that is fragile, it is a very slow swimmer, its tentacles do not have any suctions, and it is too weak to capture its prey. Many marine biologists have seen the squid but it was near death or dead and could not examine it alive. Recently, they've had the experience to study the squids using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to study the squid in its natural habitat at about a mile below the ocean's surface. They were also able to dissect over a dozen preserved squids.

When the ROVs first approached the squids, the researchers saw the squid motionless with its two long tentacles moving away from its body. What interested the researchers was that the clubs did not seem to move on their own, instead they flapped and fluttered to move around. This squid sends its clubs away from its body by swimming in contrast to other squids who move their tentacles by muscle movements. Whenever the squid felt threatened, instead of retracting its tentacles, the body would swim towards the tentacles and then coil the tentacles and clubs and hide them before swimming away. 

In the dissections that the researchers performed, the researchers found small squids and shrimp in the stomachs of  Grimalditeuthis bonplandi. Because this squid does not glow in the dark and would be hard to see under water, the researchers theorized of other ways how this squid might attract its prey. They believe that the clubs might make vibrations under water which attract the prey to the clubs. They also believe that "the moving clubs could disturb glowing microscopic organisms in the surrounding water, causing the water to glow like a ship's wake during a red-tide bloom." 

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