Friday, 28 December 2018
Thursday, 27 December 2018
Photoshop Battles with this Image Hydrothermal Vent Polychaete Worm
I love that the internet can bring together collectives of people working toward a common goal on something for the greater good. In beauty that is Reddit, we have the community of r/photoshopbattles that bring users together for “Photoshop contests on Reddit. A place to battle using image manipulation software, play photoshop tennis, create new images from old photos, or even win Reddit gold.”
User u/Karzdan posted the above image** of Nereis sandersi to the Reddit forum. The polychaete worm is known from hydrothermal vents and described relatively recently by Blake in 1985. Interestingly, N. sandersi is eyeless.
Furthermore, the presence of sunken depressions in places where eyes usually occur in N. sandersi is unique for the genus. The occurrence of such depressions is reminiscent of blind cave-dwelling vertebrates which have only vestigial, non-functional eye rudiments remaining from ancestral progenitors which had sight. The very large peristomial ring and enormous palps would appear to be appropriate sensory replacements for a sightless animal in the deep sea. -Blake (1985)
And so begins the Photoshops
u/mandal0re
Cookies. Not even once.
u/ 241baka
u/xprmntng
u/fluxrez
Manamana
u/ xprmntng
Rudolph
u/Quintilllius
SmileFix can bring back your laugh!
u/PakoSpin
Effective advertisement
**note I am trying to track down the original photographer of the image to credit them here.
from Deep Sea News http://bit.ly/2AjJ9kF http://bit.ly/2ET7qCi
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
A Balancing Act for the US Atlantic scallop: Ocean Acidification and Fishery Management
from oceanbites http://bit.ly/2TdzoeZ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Monday, 24 December 2018
Can you afford to be a marine biologist? Or a scientist?
The early years
1. Could your parents afford to live on the good side of town? The one with the right schools? Did they send you to that elite private school?
There are clear advantages to attending a top-tier high school as is evidenced in a study of college admissions data. The Harvard Crimson recently reported that in Harvard’s Class of 2017, 6 percent of admitted students came from only 10 high schools. Eleven percent of high schools with students admitted to Harvard sent 36 percent of students, while 74 percent of schools sent only one student. [link]
2. For Christmas, your birthday, or because, did you get your own computer?
In every country, students reporting “rare” or “no use” of computers at home score lower than their counterparts who report frequent use…gains in educational performance are correlated with the frequency of computer use at home. [link]
3. Could they afford for you to participate in all those afterschool STEM activities with their fees and hidden expenses?
Afterschool programs can have an impact on academic achievement. Improved test scores are reported in evaluations of The After-School Corporation (TASC) programs in New York City (Reisner, White, Birmingham, & Welsh, 2001; White, Reisner, Welsh, & Russell, 2001) and in Foundations, Inc. elementary school programs (Klein & Bolus, 2002). A more recent longitudinal study showed significant gains in math test scores for elementary and middle-school students who participated in high-quality afterschool programs (Vandell, Reisner, & Pierce, 2007) [link]
Those who are admitted to UC are likely to participate in more precollege activities. The study also shows that there is a positive correlation between student precollege participation in these activities and their college experience, academic and civic engagement although the relationship is rather weak. The results also reveal that the participation in extracurricular activities and volunteer and community services is a significant predictor on first-year GPA and persistence. The more activities students participate in, the higher their first-year GPA is and the more likely they persist with their current college programs. [link]
However, we found that a substantial portion of students, particularly those in lower-income groups, are not fully engaged in a well-rounded school experience that includes activities — and too often, it’s because of cost. [link]
4. Did they send you to that cool summer camp?
Steven Infanti, associate vice president for admissions at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, said a STEM camp experience is something that makes him take a closer look at a student’s application. “When I look at an applicant who has a 2.5 [GPA], which would be kind of a borderline admit for us, but I see on his application, I participate in this camp…that shows a lot of initiative and someone who has a passion,” he said. [link]
5. Did you get to travel to the ocean on vacation? Could you afford to travel abroad?
From a prominent university’s website,
High school study abroad programs, and even international vacations, are fantastic opportunities for cross-cultural understanding, learning, and personal growth. For that reason, they can certainly be helpful experiences to draw on when applying for colleges. [link]
6. Did you get to learn to scuba dive?
Being a scuba certified is not at all recquired for being a marine biologist. Although I do scuba dive and am a divemaster, I rarely if ever use it for my research. However, many “career advice” websites online definitely recommend it.
There are no certification requirements for marine biology. However, because diving is a large part of marine biology, many schools recommend that students become open water certified and take a course in scientific diving. [link]
7. Did you get to participate in all kinds of wonderful experiences because you had free time? Were you blessed and did not have to work a full- or part-time job?
Data was collected from a very large sample of students when they were in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, and again two years after they graduated. The researchers compared groups by controlling for their economic background, ethnicity, gender, and prior educational experiences. They measured outcomes including standardized test scores, school grades, courses taken, attendance, staying out of trouble, educational and occupational aspirations, post-secondary employment and college enrollment. In general, results showed a pattern of negative effects for students who worked during high school. In particular, working in the final year of high school had a significantly negative effect. These negative effects occurred even from working a small number of hours per week… working during high school undermines students’ commitment to and identification with school and subverts traditional academic goals. [link]
8. Could you even afford to stay in high school?
Using data from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, researchers at the Urban Institute found that nearly a third of the 563,000 teenage dropouts left school to work. These 16- to 18-year-olds were disproportionately male and Hispanic, and ended their education either at the beginning of high school or nearing the end. Roughly 75 percent of them are native-born Americans, the new study said. [link]
The college years
9. Could you afford not to go to the best school?
Of the 113 Supreme Court Justices, 40% of them attended an Ivy League university. Currently, all of the nine Justices went to an Ivy League. In CNN’s top 100 startups list, 34 of the CEOs went to Harvard…A study conducted by the US Department of Education in 2015 revealed that a decade after enrolling in a four-year college degree, the average income of a typical student is $40,500 USD a year…at the very least you’ll receive on average $19,200 USD more than the standard US college graduate [by attending an Ivy Leage University] [link]
Even when there isn’t a policy of exclusion, students at elite universities join networks of professors and alumni whose members offer each other information, support, and advice that isn’t available to outsiders. [link]
In a corporate environment that still largely favors white men, an Ivy League college degree opens doors that would otherwise remain closed for most. In recent years, I’ve interviewed successful people in a variety of industries. Among them: One of two black presidents in the history of the Harvard Law Review (the other was Barack Obama) who now runs a multi-billion dollar private equity firm, and a Yale graduate Latina female CEO of the Girl Scouts. In both cases, intelligence and perseverance got them far. But they also both agreed that an Ivy League education afforded them pivotal opportunities for their careers today, decades after graduation from those hallowed institutions. For both minorities – the Ivy “stamp of approval” became the first in a long list of achievements. [link]
Tech founders with Ivy League degrees also tended to start companies that produced higher revenue and employed more workers than the average, the report added. [link]
And while Princeton and some other Ivy League schools have generous financial aid programs, this is not the case among all universities. It is near impossible to get an accurate view of what a typical amount of loans a student is burdened with after four years. Take Duke University, several reports suggest the average student loan debt is $25,000. However, take note of the term average. Only 37% of the student body is receiving Federal Student Loans. This begs the question, how is this average actually calculated? In my time at Duke as a faculty member, the dozen or so students worked in my lab as part of the Federal Work Study Program, meaning they come from lower and middle socioeconomic classes, were taken on $25,000 per year. So pardon me if I don’t believe the average total student loan debt for Ivy League schools is low. These universities have large student populations who can afford to attend and not take out student loans as reflected in that 37% amount.
Just keep in mind that low-income students cannot afford 95% of colleges.
10. Did they tell you that they would meet 100% of your financial aid only for you to realize that meant pile you up with school loans and work study?
Yeah me too.
11. Could you afford to leave your home and not financially help your elderly, sick, or young family members while you pursue your dreams? Could you afford not financially support your spouse and children?
Likely to be parents of young children: Roughly half of independent college students, or 4.8 million students, are parents of dependent children. Seven in 10 student parents are women, with women of color in college are especially likely to be student parents.
Twice as likely to be living in poverty: 42 percent of independent students live at or below the federal poverty line, compared with 17 percent of dependent students. In fact, nearly two in three college students living in poverty (72 percent) are independent. [link]
12. Could you afford to move to college? What about all those hidden fees and costs? Parking? Transportation?
Almost 74% said extra activities like study abroad programs and unpaid internships are important to reaching professional goals. But the same percentage (74%) had to turn down such activities due to a lack of money. Expenses beyond tuition were higher than they thought, too. The top 5 expenses students said were “much more than expected” include: Textbooks: 63% Housing: 56% Food: 46% Exam prep classes: 45% Moving: 41% [link]
13. Could you afford your books?
the average cost of college textbooks has risen four times faster than the rate of inflation over the past 10 years. That has caused 65 percent of students to skip buying required texts at some point in their college career because of a lack of affordability. [link]
14. Could you afford a computer?
Yeah its time to update that one from high school. It should be obvious how not having your own computer could be damaging but take this one students perspective (also see this post),
The problem with not having a laptop comes with online assignments. It may be even more for me as a cs major, but even in gen ed courses we often had to submit assignments online or do readings online which is easier with a laptop. You can survive without one as you can use the library computers at your college or if you have a desktop you can do all your online things there- but it would be easier to just whip out your laptop wherever you are (cafeteria, empty classroom waiting for class to start, etc) to work on assignment [link]
15. Could you afford the time for extracurricular activities, lectures, clubs, student events? Did you need to work a full- or part-time job while attending college?
More than two-thirds of independent students work on top of going to school, and the majority work at least 20 hours per week…39 percent of dependent students work at least 20 hours per week). [link]
16. Did you not participate in that marine biology volunteer opportunity because you needed to work?
Volunteer research that prevents a student from making money. Remember that most financial aid packages REQUIRE a student to make a certain amount of money over the summer. If they aren’t getting paid to do research, then they are either adding to their debt or working two jobs, neither of which is setting them up for scientific success. [link]
17. Did you not do that great educational experience at sea because you could not afford the hefty fees?
While again I don’t agree, the Semester at Sea Program is often promoted for the aspiring marine biologist. That at least $25,074. Keep in mind that both the University of Pittsburg and Virginia pulled out of the program for “safety concerns and complaints that its suggestions for program improvement were being ignored.”
18. Did you not take those field summer courses because you couldn’t afford it? Did you not participate in a summer research opportunity because you could not afford to not work for a summer?
I am obviously biased serving as the Executive Director of a marine laboratory. As an undergraduate, I took summer marine biology courses for credit…at the marine lab I currently serve as the director. These courses were invaluable for round out my education and kick-starting my career in marine science by offering experiential learning. Likewise, a paid Research Experience for Undergraduate one summer launched my career in deep-sea biology. These experiences are vital.
In conclusion, students with research experiences reported disproportionate gains in their ability to apply critical thinking skills in a novel context, and gain a greater understanding of the scientific research process. Many students who did not participate in research reported gains in general critical thinking skills from their coursework, but out-of-class research experiences were more effective in helping students to develop the intellectual abilities and capacities particularly valued for doing research…students who engaged in an authentic research experience, with adequate amounts of both challenge and support, described gaining an appreciation of the process of scientific research and an understanding of the everyday work and practice of research scientists. Though other out-of-class experiences clearly offered a host of benefits, student reports indicated that participation in research is a more effective way to socialize novices into the scientific research community by helping them to develop the mastery, knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to become a scientist. [link]
19. Did you not participate in a great paid opportunity on overseas or even across the nation because you did know how you would afford your travel there?
20. Did you purchase all those extra study guides for the GRE? Did you take the GRE training course? Could you afford to take the GRE multiple times? Could you afford to send it to numerous graduate programs?
You can read all about my views on the GRE here. I’m not a fan but the fact of the matter is many schools still require this boondoggle of a test.
21. Did you apply to multiple graduate programs and pay all those additional application fees? Did you pay to travel to the visit those prospective graduate schools?
Given that most acceptance rates are less than 20%, applying to several programs is advised. The application fees typically range from $50 to $100 per graduate program.
If you don’t think all of this matters, consider that,
The percentage of students enrolling in graduate school increases with family income. Among dependent 2007–08 four-year college graduates, 39 percent of those from families in the lowest income quartile, 42 percent from middle-income families, and 45 percent from the highest income quartile had enrolled in graduate school within four years of college graduation. [link]
Graduate School Years
22. Did you have enough money to take a gap year and travel abroad to visit the oceans you want to study?
In my experience, students that have traveled more extensively and have more life experiences fair better in graduate school. No hard data here merely anecdotal but worth considering nonetheless.
23. Could you afford to move to graduate school?
Moving from Arkansas to Boston was more costly than I anticipated. Gas, U-Haul trailer, food, and one night in a very cheap hotel all added up. I couldn’t afford any of this and charged it all to my credit card.
24. Did you buy all those books your advisor recommend you have and read? What about the ones you will need for your research and courses?
Several books a scientist needs on a regular basis, far more often than would be convenient or practical to obtain from a library. In many cases, these highly specialized books may not even be in the university’s library. And because these are specialized and low print run volumes, the prices can be astronomical. These are often out of pocket purchases. Right now there are three books on my wishlist I simply cannot justify or find the extra fund for: Compendium of Bivalves: Full-color Guide to 3,300 of the World’s Marine Bivalves for $294.51, Reproduction, Larval Biology, and Recruitment of the Deep-Sea Benthos for $169.07, and Pattern and Process in Macroecology for $106.45.
25. Can you afford the computer and software you needed for your research?
That cheap, outdated, and slow laptop leftover from college is going to need a major upgrade. Time for a new computer because science is becoming more and more computational and data driven.
Referring both to the modelling of the world through simulations and the exploration of observational data, computation is central not only to astronomy but a range of sciences, including bioinformatics, computational linguistics and particle physics…Computation has been an important part of science for more than half a century, and the data explosion is making it even more central. [link]
26. Could you afford to travel to that conference or collaborators when you grant, or travel awards weren’t available?
If your advisor has grant money to cover your travel or you are lucky enough to obtain a travel grant or award you are set. However, if not then you will need to find a creative way to pay for it on your own. These professional conferences are tremendous benefits to your career and you cannot afford to miss the opportunity to network and hear about the latest advances in the field.
Nearly all (91%) gained new contacts that improved their research, in-the-field conservation, science communication, and/or conservation policy making. Two thirds (64%) gained ideas, contacts, and/or lessons could lead to publications. Over a third (39%) gained new ideas, contacts and/or lessons that led to grant proposals, and 36% gained contacts that led to funding. A conference is not just an avenue for a scientist to present their research to the wider community, but it can be an important venue for brainstorming, networking and making vital connections that can lead to new initiatives, papers and funding, in a way that virtual, online meetings cannot. This is why conferences matter. {link]
27. Can you afford to live on an income of $10-25k per year? Could you afford not to support your family while you pursue your career? Does your partner have a stable and high paying job?
The current poverty levels in 2018 are for
- One person $12,140 $15,180
- Two people $16,460 $20,580
- Three people $20,780 $25,980
- Four people $25,100 $31,380
The average graduate stipend in science is $20,000-$30,000 per year. This puts any graduate student with a family below or near the poverty level and nowhere near the middle class. “Middle-income households – those with an income that is two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income – had incomes ranging from about $45,200 to $135,600 in 2016”
28. Can you afford your own health insurance?
Most universities do not offer health insurance to graduate students. Health insurance for a graduate student is going to be obscenely expensive if you need to get it independently. Current cheapest plans with high deductibles, i.e. do not ever, ever need any medical assistance, will average $440 per month.
29. Can you afford that scuba or field gear you will need for your research?
Some gear, e.g. wetsuit, hiking boots, backpacks, binoculars, is considered personal and will not be covered by a grant or your advisor. There may not even be funds currently available to purchase these things. When I worked in the Antarctica Seas as part of my graduate research, I needed a set of good set of wrap around polarized glasses. There was $100 I did not have. You need to get in the field to get that data though.
30. Can you afford to be social over drinks and food with other scientists you need to network with?
Networking is a must and nobody in science seems to give a damn if you cannot pay. You can try to drink cheaply but at some point, that restaurant or bar bill is going to be out of your control. When I was a graduate student, this senior professor came to dinner and charged up a tremendous bill with a fancy entree and a bottle of expensive wine. This while ordered water and the cheapest dish I could find on the menu. When the bill was brought, the professor stated we would just split the bill evenly “because it was easier”. By the way, as aside, here if you are a faculty member and ever pull stunts like this YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE. Pardon my language but its true. If you are faculty member you should really be following the pay down rule; the faculty member should always pay for the food and drinks of the all the students.
31. Can you afford to wait a long time to be reimbursed for expenses from your university?
The major invisible difficulty that I’ve observed has been the reimbursement process. It’s common practice for people to spend their own money on scientific supplies and then apply for reimbursement from their grant, actually receiving the money 3-8 weeks later. For people without substantial cash flow, this can lead to credit card debt and future problems. [link]
Postdoctoral Fellow and Faculty Years
32. Can you afford that new set of clothes to interview in?
if you’re interviewing for a job, you might want to pay some attention to the way you dress. Because interviewers — yes, even a committee of curmudgeonly old tenured faculty members, most of whom don’t wear Armani themselves — are going to make judgments about you, fair or not, based on how you present yourself. And what you wear is part of your overall presentation. [link]
33. Can you afford to be social over drinks and food with other scientists you need to network with? Do you have the funds to take care of the people in your lab group?
See above. Don’t be an asshole.
34. Did you just realize you are 35-40 haven’t paid off your school loans and just started to contribute to retirement?
A scientist doesn’t start thinking or paying into retirement plans until that first faculty position is landed. With the current track record of 5-6 years of postdoctoral or soft money research positions until landing a permanent position could mean being 40 before landing that first job.
To afford a comfortable retirement, a 40-year-old couple with household income of$100,000 should have amassed savings of 2.6 times salary, or $260,000, according to research by J.P. Morgan [link]
35. Can you afford for your partner not work or do they have a mobile job?
Yeah with all that moving around for graduate school, postdocs, and faculty positions good luck to your partner trying to find a meaningful career.
36. Can you afford to wait a long time to be reimbursed for expenses from your university?
See above
38. Can you personally afford to float your research and travel needs between grants?
It happens and it sucks. Are you just going to stop doing research? Not go to conferences?
39. Do you have the funds to pay for society memberships?
A lot of grants will not pay for society memberships. So there is that.
So this all leaves us needing a lot of money to get from Point A to Marine Biologist. Conservatively, I estimate that cost, to ensure the greatest amount of success, to be $591,395 to make it to Associate Professor. Granted you could choose not to do some of these things, I didn’t do many of the things listed above as undergraduate or high school student and here I am. But it was a tremendous amount of struggle and sacrifice for me being from a lower socioeconomic group. If you poor and then non-white and non-male on top of that, the disadvantage is even greater, the proverbial one-two punch.
But let this sink in for a moment.
Nothing above is out of the recommended, ordinary, or expected.
We have created a system that to succeed it costs
half a million dollars.
This is not the kind of science I want. The beauty of being a marine biologist and scientist should not be only those privileged enough to pay the price.
More reading
- Poverty in the Ivory Tower
- A field guide to privilege in marine science: some reasons why we lack diversity
Below the tab, my calculations for putting real numbers on the costs of this pathway.
| Cost | Amount | Reference and Notes |
| Private Elementary School | $69,930 | https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100115/private-school-your-child-good-value.asp (9 years) |
| Private High School | $52,120 | https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100115/private-school-your-child-good-value.asp (4 years) |
| HP Stream 14t Computer | $249 | https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-laptops-for-high-school-students/ |
| Extracurricular Activities | $4,446 | https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/childrens-health/pay-to-play-may-keep-some-kids-out-of-school-activities (13 years) |
| Summer Day Camps | $1,256 | https://www.care.com/c/stories/3326/what-does-summer-camp-cost/ (4 Summers) |
| Specialty Overnight Camp | $2,000 | https://www.care.com/c/stories/3326/what-does-summer-camp-cost/ (2 Years) |
| Travel Abroad | $2,000 | https://www.valuepenguin.com/average-cost-vacation (Inexpensively) |
| Scuba Certification and Supplies | $450 | https://www.scuba-diving-smiles.com/cost-of-scuba-diving.html |
| School Loan Debt | $37,172 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/heres-how-much-the-average-student-loan-borrower-owes-when-they-graduate.html (Conservative) |
| Personal Expenses in College | $12,860 | https://affordableschools.net/hidden-costs-college/ (4 years) |
| Cost of Parking and Other Hidden Fees | $4,000 | https://affordableschools.net/hidden-costs-college/ (4 years) |
| Textbooks | $4,800 | https://affordableschools.net/hidden-costs-college/ (4 years) |
| HP 13t Envy Computer | $749 | http://bit.ly/2ibn0vt |
| Loss of wages | $20,880 | 20 Hours a Week for 36 Weeks of College at Minimum Wage for 4 Years |
| Loss of wages | $13,920 | 40 Hours a Week for 36 weeks of College at Minimum Wage for 3 Summers and Holidays |
| Semester at Sea | $25,074 | https://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/fall-2018/program-fees/ |
| Two 3-Credit Summer Courses | $5,000 | Based on Current LUMCON Summer Courses |
| Two Cross Country Trips for Opportunities | $800 | |
| GRE Test, Prep, and Distributing | $1,989 | http://www.deepseanews.com/2018/11/lets-kill-the-gre/ |
| Travel to Two Graduate Schools | $800 | |
| Graduate School Application Fees | $500 | 10 Programs at $50 |
| Travel Abroad | $2,000 | https://www.valuepenguin.com/average-cost-vacation (Gap Year Inexpensively) |
| Moving to Graduate School | $1,000 | |
| Graduate School Books | $2,000 | |
| A Conference Registration, Flight, Room, and Board | $1,500 | |
| Annual Income Addition | $25,000 | $5000 Needed While In Graduate School to Go Above Poverty Line (5 years) |
| Health Insurance | $26,400 | https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/affordable-care-act/much-health-insurance-cost-without-subsidy (5 years) |
| Incidental Personal Research Gear | $1,000 | |
| Miscenallenous Networking Food and Beverage | $1,000 | Costs Over 5 years |
| Interest Incurred on Credit Card Waiting for University to Reimburse You | $1,000 | Costs Over 5 years |
| Interview Clothes | $500 | |
| Retirement Account Catch at Age 40 | $260,000 | http://bit.ly/2ELqa6p |
| Miscenallenous Networking Food and Beverage Costs | $2,500 | Costs Over 5 years as Assistant Professor |
| Miscenallenous Waiting on the University to Reimurse YouCosts Over 5 years | $2,500 | Costs Over 5 years as Assistant Professor |
| Floating Your Program Before the Grant | $3,000 | Costs Over 5 years as Assistant Professor |
| Society Memberships | $1,000 | Costs Over 5 years as Assistant Professor |
| Total | $591,395 |
from Deep Sea News http://bit.ly/2EH6BeN https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Commercial fishing in Marine Protected Areas highlights the need for careful management
from oceanbites http://bit.ly/2ENmOQv https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Saturday, 22 December 2018
A Tale of One Opening
I was just listening to a podcast about how sea sponges use the pores all over their body to “bring in food and release wastes” and I’m pretty sure that’s a scientific way of saying the holes in sponges are all just mouths and buttholes so does that mean that when I’m using a sponge in the shower I’m cleaning my body with mouths and buttholes? Someone get me a marine biologist. And a loofah. And maybe some bleach. -The Bloggess
All around you are animals with a single hole serving as both a mouth and anus. These mono-orifice animals have an incomplete digestive system. In contrast, those animals blessed with two holes, a tubular digestive system with an in and out hole, possess a complete digestive system.
In the flatworms, the Platyhelminthes, its mixed bag of one, two, and even more bodily gateways. Most flatworms have no anus, but some particularly long species do possess an anus. In rare cases, flatworms with very complex branch guts can have more than one anus. By the way, the plural can be either anuses or ani.
Peeping at the underside of a starfish, you might have only noticed a giant mouth. You may be thinking to yourself, “I’ve never seen another opening. Do starfishes have an anus?” Of course, this is one of the great questions of life. Indeed, most starfishes have a complete digestive system with the anus being a small opening on the top. However, there is a large order of starfish, the Paxillosida, that lack an anus. The only other group of Echinoderms to lack an anus, and even an intestine, is the brittle stars.
Flatworm (Platyhelminthes)
A solitary black hole may also occur during specific phases of animals life cycle. An incomplete digestive system is known in some insects including the sap-sucking aphid relatives, the Phylloxera, during their sexual phase. Some larvae including those of some fish and proboscis worms can be anally deficient. Certain lifestyles also can lead to solo agujero such as in parasitic species, like parasitic copepods.
It’s important to remember that all animals start development with one hole, the blastopore. In the ventrally chosen, a second hole forms later. So the question remains if some animals form only a single hole is it a mouth that used as anus or anus used as a mouth? The proverbial digestive pore chicken and egg scenario.
As described in this excellent post,
Blastopore formation is started by a protein called disheveled, which gets stuck at the top of the egg and then activates a specific set of genes. In the same location of jellyfish embryos, however, there are genes strikingly similar to the mouth genes of bilaterians. In the sea urchin, a bilaterian, these same mouth genes are also on the top of the embryo. However, disheveled has moved to the bottom. The blastopore forms at this new site of disheveled accumulation, rather than at the mouth. The mouth genes that remain on top still direct the formation of the mouth there. Martindale and Hejnol posit that moving disheveled from the top to the bottom of the embryo in some animals moved the location of blastopore, but that the mouth stayed put. In some bilaterians, like urchins and humans, the blastopore then became the anus. In this scenario all mouths are homologous to each other, whether the animal has one or two holes.
Evolution can be a truly wonderful thing and then sometimes it can produce an animal with a mouth that still uses its anus to feed.
from Deep Sea News http://bit.ly/2Gz10tu http://bit.ly/2T4bm64
5 Reasons Why the Government Shutdown is Bad for Our Ocean
Last night Congress missed its deadline to agree on a funding solution to replace the expiring Continuing Resolution (CR) and the federal government has partially shut down. Until Congress can reach an agreement on federal funding that President Trump is willing to sign into law, dozens of agencies—including the EPA, Department of Interior and NOAA—will remain closed.
For the ocean, that means that our nation’s premier ocean agency, tasked with understanding and managing U.S. ocean waters from Hawaii to Maine, will furlough (send home without pay) around 6,000 employees. Ranging from scientists and technology experts to educators and outreach specialists, these hardworking folks who strive every day to protect and improve our ocean will wait at home to hear when their offices, labs and visitors centers might reopen.
How might the shutdown impact the ocean and the people who depend on it? Here are five big ways:
1. Fisheries management will go on with just a skeleton crew
While some employees will not be furloughed for the shutdown and will continue to carry out their duties without pay, the vast majority of NOAA employees that work to manage our nation’s fisheries will be furloughed. Stock assessments, permitting processes, and more will slow down or even halt.
2. Water quality monitoring will suffer
Only a single NOAA staff person will remain at work during the shutdown to maintain the monitoring system that predicts and detects Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). With the red tide event that has been impacting Florida for months and other HABs occurring around the country, HABS forecasting is vital for protecting water quality, fisheries and tourism, and this understaffing could have wide-ranging impacts.
3. Ocean research will halt
Staff at NOAA labs will be significantly reduced, with a few people staying at work only to prevent damage and to carry on data efforts needed to protect life and property. All other areas of research, from arctic sea ice to tropical coral reefs, will suspend.
4. Marine mammals may suffer
We know from the last major government shutdown that marine mammal rescue efforts suffer. Groups lose access to federal properties where animals may be stranded. NOAA grants, facilities, and staff are out of reach. We also know that nine Unusual Mortality Events are currently underway for marine mammals ranging from dolphins to seals, and hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles have already required rescue this winter. The shutdown creates an unworkable situation for our marine mammal first responders and a deadly one for animals in crisis.
5. The public may lose access to websites and data
Also a lesson learned during the last shutdown, without information technology specialists at work to manage websites and datasets, NOAA may be required to cut the public off from access to the information that taxpayer dollars provide. We pay for the data and information that NOAA collects and provides. Losing access to it does damage to businesses and communities.
These impacts paint a scary picture of a dereliction of duty, a failure to manage the ocean resources that are critical to our economy and to the environment. We will be following the shutdown closely. Stay tuned for updates as the impacts begin to come to light from coast to coast.
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The post 5 Reasons Why the Government Shutdown is Bad for Our Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
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My New Island Life
The main reason behind leaving Mauritius was the desire to explore new waters and coming to Seychelles proved to be the best choice. I reached Mahé during the night and could not enjoy the beauty of Seychelles yet. I was first welcomed by the amazing Ben Taylor (Education and Outreach Manager of WiseOceans Seychelles) and eventually to the rest of the team.
My first day of work started with a superb sunrise at Petite Anse and a warm welcome by the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles employees. I think that all the people who walked down the hill to the beach will understand my feelings when I first saw this breath-taking piece of paradise. Sunny day, calm sea, sandy beach comparable to flour and all tones of blue, I could not ask for anything more.
After being introduced to the various interesting projects here, we headed for my first a snorkelling session with Georgina and it was above my expectations. Bumphead parrotfish, batfish and angelfish were my first wonderful sightings.
I was very pleased to shadow Lois Nippard during a snorkel before her transfer to Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita. We were lucky to see a whitetip reef shark, and this was my first encounter with this incredible animal.
This Marine Educator post gives me the opportunity to meet new people every day, to learn from every conversation with guests. Educating people on the marine environment and its members make them aware of what exists down there. My favourite one is when they realise that a coral is an animal!
I have the opportunity of going to snorkel every day and enjoy the diverse underwater life here. It is fantastic to have such a space just next to you, where you can go every day and each time have a different experience. I will always remember when I came across a school of 11 spotted eagle rays at the end of one of my snorkels.
I am sure that the upcoming months on my new island will be as amazing as the first one.
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Friday, 21 December 2018
OC Overview for the Week of December 31, 2018
Fish Parasites Are on the Rise
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/fish-parasites-are-on-the-rise/?utm_s...
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End-of-year update: seagrass may help protect corals from ocean acidification, Mote science affirms
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Thursday, 20 December 2018
NOAA Seeks Nominations for the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee
Created in 2003 and managed by NOAA’s National MPA Center, the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (MPAFAC) provides actionable recommendations and policy guidance to the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior, and to their state, tribal and local counterparts, on timely issues facing MPAs throughout the coastal, marine and Great Lakes waters of the United States. The committee’s 20 members represent diverse perspectives about marine protected areas (MPAs) and ocean management, and work together to craft consensus-based solutions to today’s important challenges.
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Ecology of Fear: Current Implications of Orca Presence on Narwhal Behavior and Future Trends
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Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Dramatic Decline in Multiyear Arctic Sea Ice
Here’s one more reason to work to halt climate change: the Arctic Ocean has lost 95% of its oldest, thickest ice since 1985.
Two kinds of Arctic sea ice have been a defining feature of our northern ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. Multiyear ice persists during the summer melting season. Seasonal ice forms anew during the long winter months in the Arctic’s open water. This pattern of sea ice and open water changes each year depending on temperatures, tides, winds and other events. But the general pattern has persisted so that ecosystems, animals and people have been able to thrive in the Arctic largely by depending on sea ice and its predictable, seasonal change.
The most recent Arctic report card from the U.S. government’s leading ocean scientists documents the precipitous loss of multiyear sea ice. When they began measurements in 1985, government scientists calculated that multiyear ice made up 16% of the total. This year, that had dropped to only 1% of Arctic sea ice—a 95% reduction in multiyear ice over the last 33 years.
This finding matches the trend from a recent Ocean Conservancy analysis of sea ice. Our scientists looked at sea ice data for the Central Arctic Ocean by decade since satellite measurements began in the 1980s. We found that during the 1980s only 1% of this area was open water at the height of the Arctic summer in September. In our current decade (2010 to 2017), open water increased to an average of 22%. The same comparison found that sea ice thickness decreased by 60%, from an average of 2.2 meters to less than a meter of thickness.
These clear trends validate what many scientists and communities in the Arctic are observing: an ocean that is emerging from the persistent sea ice that has characterized it for all of human history. How will organisms adapt, migrate, increase or decrease? How will ecosystems re-assemble with different or changing components? And how will humans, whether those who live in Arctic communities or who participate in global economic sectors, change and adapt?
The honest answer is that no one knows because we’ve never faced this level of change in the Arctic. We should go slow by adopting precautionary policies for increased industrial access for commercial fishing, shipping, and offshore oil and gas. We should do more scientific research, like the studies summarized in the Arctic Report Card, so that we can better understand how the Arctic works and how changes are rippling through ecosystems. We should listen to and help Arctic communities adapting to changing circumstances.
Most fundamentally, we should work to reverse climate change. In the long run, getting our greenhouse gas emissions under control could actually reverse melting trends and restore Arctic sea ice. Indeed, because Arctic sea ice plays such an important role in global temperature regulation, restoration of Arctic ice may be vital not just for the Arctic, but for the world.
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The post Dramatic Decline in Multiyear Arctic Sea Ice appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
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Tuesday, 18 December 2018
Beneath the Waters: A Giant Discovery
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Monday, 17 December 2018
OC Overview for the Week of December 17 2018
El Niño events will intensify under global warming
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07638-w
Mekong Delta needs ecosystem-based solutions to climate change
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/mekong-delta-needs-ecosystembased-solutions-to...
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Sunday, 16 December 2018
SciComm Roundup: Interview with Megan Lubetkin, creator of the Synergist Volumes
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Friday, 14 December 2018
Blue Economy Youth Programme
Saratha Naiken is a participant on our Blue Economy Youth Programme – a one-week practical programme for school children from Seychelles, run by Ben Taylor, Education & Outreach Manager for WiseOceans Seychelles.
I have learned that the Blue Economy does not only involve marine biology and marine conservation but also plays a major role towards the economic, industrial and tourism sectors in Seychelles. The Blue Economy takes into account the positive and negative impacts of all these key players.
During the week, we have carried out many activities related to the blue economy. So far, we have done;
- Presentations: The Blue Economy, marine biology, oceanography, ecosystem services, Marine Protected Areas and the law of the sea.
- Beach Profiling: We learnt how to conduct beach profiling, its importance and the process of cross-shore sediment transportation.
- Educational games: Through educational beach games, we have learnt about the process of long-shore drift and the importance of mangroves, reefs and seagrass against wave action.
- Lab Research (UniSey): We learnt how to collect plankton samples and use microscopes to study these organisms.
- Snorkelling: Due to weather conditions, we were unable to do snorkelling where we were supposed to identify different corals, invertebrates and fish.
- Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA): Learnt about different projects taking place, microscopy work and fish dissections, learning about the anatomy of fishes.
I am keenly looking forward to another fantastic week of education and enjoyment!
We would like to thank the sponsors of this programme: The Department of Education, The Blue Economy Department, The British High Commission, Four Seasons Resorts Seychelles and Les Lauriers Eco Hotel
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Ocean acidification can affect seaweed and humans (podcast)
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Thursday, 13 December 2018
Rugged Southern Ocean phytoplankton weather the storm(s)
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Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
OC Overview for the Week of December 10 2018
How Two New Projects Aim To Boost Texas’ Declining Oyster Population (And Why It Matters)
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2018...
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Monday, 10 December 2018
The Deep-Sea Fish with the Telescopic Tubular Eyes
In a unique family of fishes, only two species exist. Consider that the family that contains tuna, mackerel, and bonitas contains 51 species. The longer Gigantura indica and the shorter, robust Gigantura chun, are the only known species for the family Giganturidae. The family is rather aptly named the telescope fishes because of the forward-pointing, ‘‘telescopic’’ eyes with large lenses. These eyes can be near 4% of the body length.
While the fishes are known from net captures, prior the only known video was this video by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) published on back in 2016 capturing two individuals at 1200m.
Both fish face upward orienting those big tubular eyes toward the surface. Those eyes and orientation are thought to be an adaptation to seeing prey above silhouetted against the light coming down from the surface.
A recently published paper by Kupchik, Benfield, and Sutton provides two more videos from 2015 taken in the Gulf of Mexico of these unique fish. This video was taken from a remotely operated vehicle at near 900m. In one of the videos, like the video from above, there is a pairing of fish.
This pairing may reflect that telescope fishes are likely simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they possess both male and female sexual organs at the same time. In this case, the pairing as an adaption would allow both individuals to exchange genes. These new videos of this amazing fish demonstrate unique adaptations for feeding, surviving, and reproducing. In the extremes of the deep-sea novel adaption is a necessity.
All this is leaving me asking what’s up with all these sightings?
Kupchik, Matthew J., Mark C. Benfield, and Tracey T. Sutton. “The First In Situ Encounter of Gigantura chuni (Giganturidae: Giganturoidei: Aulopiformes: Cyclosquamata: Teleostei), with a Preliminary Investigation of Pair-Bonding.” Copeia 106.4 (2018): 641-645.
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Saturday, 8 December 2018
Tracking the Bay’s Rays: Cownose ray migration along the Atlantic coast
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Friday, 7 December 2018
Hijackers within the Sea: Catching a ride across an ocean
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Thursday, 6 December 2018
Hydrothermal vents spew out tasty morsels for local marine consumers
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Wednesday, 5 December 2018
Saving the Blue Bloods: Horseshoe Crab Edition
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Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Small currents influence small creatures
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Monday, 3 December 2018
The Dive Bombing Birds of Newfoundland
As we enter the last month of 2018, our team is already eager to start a new field season in beautiful #Newfoundland! Here is one of our highlights for summer 2018 with over a 100 humpback whales and thousands of seabirds feeding on capelin near our study sites off the NE coast! pic.twitter.com/DHNN7DlRoe
— Davoren Lab (@DavorenLab) December 2, 2018
I’ll be the first to admit I know very little about birds. Looking at a checklist of birds of Newfoundland, and knowing the impressiveness of gannets diving, I am wondering if these are northern gannets (Morus bassanus) . BBC Earth also has superb video fo these dive bombers.
I think Eric Moreno sums up nicely.
WOW… I thought this was @USNavy @RoyalNavy machine gun fire striking the surface….
nope just thousands of diving birds striking the water for some delicious capelin. @DrAndrewThaler @DrCraigMc @LaurelCoons https://t.co/vjcVqSeuWs
— Eric Moreno (@KingNeptune767) December 3, 2018
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Reevaluating the Ocean Conveyer Belt
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OC Overview for the Week of December 03 2018
Climate change poses significant threat to nutritional benefits of oysters
https://phys.org/news/2018-11-climate-poses-significant-threat-nutrition...
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Sunday, 2 December 2018
You Should Definitely Know about Pufferfish Skeletons
It all started with this Tweet.
So, uh, I just learned that this is what a pufferfish skeleton looks like, and I think you all should know too pic.twitter.com/ecCXN8RTAV
— Liz Weinberg (@eaweinberg) November 30, 2018
So what are you looking at other than some truly sweet evolution?
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What you are looking at are the spines of pufferfish composed of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite, protein(collagen), and water, the same materials as scales. Indeed, these spines are just modified scales. And like other scales, these spines originate during development from the mesoderm layer of the dermis or the skin.
Dr. Brian Sidlauskas, Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes at Oregon State University, notes puffers evolved from a group of fish (Porcupines, Molids, Triggerfishes, and filefishs) that all possessed ctenoid scales, denoted by small teeth along their outer edges. “Filefishes actually feel fuzzy. So it isn’t perhaps too surprising to imagine those scales expanding and getting more and more spiny.”
As you might expect, these spines evolved as anti-predator defense, similar to the ability of puffers to inflate. However, it looks like the inflation likely evolved before the spikiness.
Evolution is amazing.
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