Exploring the World of Deep-Sea Octopuses

My family and I think octopuses are the most marvelous animals in the ocean. My daughter even dressed up as an octopus for Halloween a few years ago. We often watch The Little Mermaid on repeat and while Ursula technically has only six suckered appendages (due to animating difficulties), she technically has eight limbs total if you include her “human” arms. 

It’s hard not to love these fascinating creatures. They have impressive camouflage skills, fight off predators by spraying ink and even have three hearts. And what’s more, there are so many types of octopuses—here are just a few of our favorites.

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Before we dive in to explore the world of deep-sea octopuses, you might be thinking to yourself, “Why is the author writing ‘octopuses’?” Well, it is because it is the correct plural form of “octopus!” We know folks have strong opinions about grammar, but take a minute to learn more about why “octopi” is not correct.

Now that we have that covered, let’s learn more about some of these ink-credible deep-sea cephalopods!

Dumbo Octopus

Dumbo octopuses (Grimpoteuthis) are delightfully adorable, measuring an average of just 8-12 inches in length. They got their name because—you guessed it—their fins resemble the ears of the star of the classic Disney film. Dumbo octopuses are the deepest-living octopuses and can be found 1,000-13,000 feet beneath our ocean’s surface. Because they live so far down and don’t often encounter predators, dumbo octopuses don’t possess a defensive ink sack like other octopuses do. Dive deeper with dumbo octopuses.

Glass Octopus

Glass octopuses (Vitreledonella richardi) are very rarely seen, not only because they live around 3,000 feet below sea level, but also because they are translucent (hence the name!) They can grow to about 1.5 feet long, and you can see straight through to their digestive tracts, eyes and optic nerves. Glass octopuses are typically found in tropical and subtropical waters and are estimated to live about two to five years. Dive deeper with glass octopuses.

(Frilled) Giant Pacific Octopus

Giant Pacific octopuses (Enteroctopus dofleini) are some of the largest known octopus species on the planet and average around 110 pounds in weight and 16 feet across. You probably don’t have to worry about encountering one of these enormous creatures as they live about 6,000 feet beneath our ocean’s surface. In 2017, a sister species was discovered and dubbed the frilled giant Pacific octopus. Frilled giant Pacific octopuses (official Latin name pending) have a distinctive “frill” that runs the length of their bodies and two distinctive white marks on their heads, and giant Pacific octopuses have only one. Dive deeper with frilled giant Pacific octopuses.

While octopuses may be able to escape from most tricky situations, plastic pollution is one threat from which they cannot hide. If you love octopuses with all of your heart(s) as much as we do, take a moment to help them and keep their ocean habitat clean and plastic-free. 

The post Exploring the World of Deep-Sea Octopuses appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Florida Campaign for #PlasticFreeCities Begins in Miami

Maddie Kaufman is the Program and Outreach Director for Debris Free Oceans and oversees their main programs including sustainable business consulting, education in schools and community outreach events. She received her Master of Science from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science where she studied coral reef restoration and where she now teaches a restoration course. Maddie also is a PADI Divemaster and American Academy of Underwater Sciences scientific diver.

Emily “Milly” Milton is the Programs Manager for Big Blue & You for which she leads youth recruitment for Plastic Free Cities and assists in the development of other ocean conservation projects utilizing arts, science and media. She earned her Master of Science at University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science and has a research background in chemical pollution.

As a part of our continued focus on marine debris interventions by local governments in the Sunshine State, we are delighted to announce the launch of Plastic Free Cities, a Florida-focused, community-driven effort to keep our ocean and neighborhoods clean by engaging students, businesses and local governments in the elimination of single-use plastics. This collaborative effort among Ocean Conservancy, Debris Free Oceans and Big Blue & You is possible thanks to funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

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Through this project, we are training high school students to help businesses in their neighborhoods eliminate single-use plastics and register them for Miami-Dade County’s Plastic Free 305 program, a certification program for businesses that are voluntarily eliminating single-use plastics. Nearly 40 years of data from Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup^® show that the most common items littering our coastlines are single-use plastic products such as bottles, bags, cups and carryout containers. These items are carried to our bays and ocean through storm drains, canals and rivers, where they persist and pose a threat to marine life, human health and local economies. 

The Neighborhoods

The geographic focus of this grant is on five urban-inland municipalities along the Miami River: Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens, Medley, Miami Springs and City of Miami. This watershed approach serves to highlight how our actions on land impact our waterways. Additionally, a large segment of residents in these areas are Hispanic, and to a lesser extent Black or African American; the most common languages spoken are Spanish, English, Haitian Creole and Portuguese. Many of the area’s diverse communities have been historically marginalized, both socially and economically, and their inclusion—as stakeholders, students and businesses—is vital for an equitable and holistic approach to environmental conservation.

Student Training

Each semester we will recruit a cohort of high school students from one to two schools in our neighborhood of focus. These students will participate in five trainings, during which they will learn all about plastic pollution, the business case for eliminating plastics and the steps that a business can take to reduce plastics and waste. They will also be trained in public speaking and how to deliver an elevator pitch so that they are fully prepared to visit businesses in their neighborhoods, inform them of the Plastic Free Cities program and encourage them to participate. If you are interested in getting your school involved, you can email milly@bigblueandyou.org or read more about the student involvement in the project in this Big Blue & You blog post.

Business Consulting

After training, the students will participate in business canvassing days. They will visit local establishments, collect data on their plastic use, provide recommendations for eliminating specific plastics, and register them for Plastic Free 305. For businesses that are interested, the Debris Free Oceans sustainability consulting team will conduct follow-up visits to provide additional recommendations, check in and gather feedback. If you own a business in one of our target neighborhoods and are interested in working with the students to eliminate plastics, you can email maddie@debrisfreeoceans.org or read more about the sustainability consulting component of the project in this Debris Free Oceans blog post.

Community Events

In addition to business canvassing, each cohort of students will work together to plan and execute a community cleanup event with guidance from the partner nonprofits. These events will be open to the public, including classmates, teachers, friends and family of the students. In addition, the businesses that the students work with will be involved in the events as much as possible through providing plastic-free catering or serving as our meeting point for the cleanup. Participants will collect debris data through Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell^® app, enhancing our understanding of what type of trash is most abundant within the specific neighborhoods.

To find out about these upcoming events, subscribe to our newsletters (Debris Free Oceans, Big Blue & You) or head to debrisfreeoceans.org/events

About Plastic Free 305 

Plastic Free 305 is an official business certification program of Miami-Dade County designed to highlight and support local establishments eliminating single-use plastics. This program provides a great way to encourage businesses to eliminate certain plastics in regions like Florida where state government-mandated preemptions prohibit local regulation. Plastic Free 305 was created through the passage of a resolution co-sponsored by Commissioners Eileen Higgins and Raquel Regalado. It was inspired by and mirrored after the City of Miami Beach’s successful #PlasticFreeMB program created by Mayor Dan Gelber, to which Debris Free Oceans, Ocean Conservancy, and Big Blue and You have contributed.

There are three tiers of certification of Plastic Free 305:

• Tier One: A business pledges to remove one or more eligible single-use plastic product* during the first calendar year of partnership has already removed one single-use plastic product.
• Tier Two: A business has removed two or more single-use plastic products. *
• Tier Three: A business is 100% single-use plastics-free.

(* Excluded from this certification are single-use plastics products currently prohibited by local ordinance. Check if your business operates within a city that currently restricts certain single-use plastics items such as straws or plastic bags.)

The products eligible for certification upon business removal include the following: drinking bottles and caps, grocery bags, produce bags, cups, lids, straws, stirrers, cutlery, food wrappers, ramekins/sauce containers and takeout containers. Bioplastics are not an acceptable replacement for these items as they persist in the environment and in-home composts; they break down only in commercial composting facilities which currently do not exist in Florida.

You can view a map of Plastic Free 305 members and register your own business at miamidade.gov/plasticfree305. By reducing single-use plastics in our own homes and businesses, we create cleaner neighborhoods, clearer waterways and healthier ecosystems. Miami residents living within the five neighborhoods of interest should connect with Maggie (mwinchester@oceanconservancy.org) about how their schools and businesses can get involved, and everyone can make a difference by reducing single-use plastics in their daily lives or making a pledge to Skip the Straw. Help us build #PlasticFreeCities in Florida!

The post Florida Campaign for #PlasticFreeCities Begins in Miami appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Effects of Marine Debris on Remote Islands

This blog was written by Kit Cunningham, a graduate student at University of Alaska Fairbanks and an employee for Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She is from and lives in Juneau, and is passionate about sustainability and conservation in Alaska.

Imagine islands full of noise and heartbeats.

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There are thousands of sk’yuuwan, which is the word for Steller sea lions in X̱aat Kí, the language of Haida, the First Peoples of the area. Sea bird burrows cover almost every inch of land. These islands, known as Gasḵúu or Forrester Island Complex, are located on Haida land, off the coast of Alaska. Due to their proximity to the continental shelf, they are perfect habitats for animals to feed and birth.

This is the beautiful Gasḵúu, which is located on Haida land. Its full of steep cliffs, sk’yuuwan (the word for Steller sea lions in X̱aat Kí), millions of seabirds and evidently, tons of marine debris. This photo is taken from the Northern-most island.

Currently, there are no year-round inhabitants of the islands. The islands are part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and haven’t had any permanent human presence since a fish camp was located on the main island in the early 1900s. One would think these islands would remain unpolluted given the remote location and the lack of human habitation, right?

I came to the islands for the first time in 2018 to study the sk’yuuwan that swim to the islands by the thousands to have their pups. The northern-most island in Gasḵúu is home to the largest sea lion mating and bir thing site in North America. During my short time on the islands, it was apparent that there was at least one thing that could be impacting the life on the islands for the sk’yuuwan as well as all other creatures that live in Gasḵúu. Beaches were littered with tires, buoys, plastic bottles—you name it! It was shocking. How could an island that is so far away from any humans be accumulating literally tons of trash?

This is one of the beaches we cleaned up and it took us multiple days. As a reminder, there are no human inhabitants on these islands so this trash is all marine debris and arrived via ocean currents. We collected over 1,500 pounds from this beach, which was approximately 275 feet long.

During the subsequent season, after applying and receiving funding from the NOAA Marine Debris program, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game organized a marine debris cleanup effort to both remove and study the debris. We found that, due to large ocean currents, Gasḵúu collects trash from all over the world. By looking at the items’ language or distribution location, we identified trash from Russia, China, Italy, Malaysia, Canada, the Lower-48 states, Singapore, Taiwan and Italy, as well as from Alaska. The items fell into five main categories; plastic bottles, polystyrene foam (commonly known as the brand, Styrofoam), buoys/floats (which are made of plastics), rope (also usually made of plastics) and miscellaneous hard plastic.

I hated the polystyrene foam the most. Each big piece literally bleeds little beads that are extremely labor- and time-intensive to pick up. We found numerous bottomless pits of these “Styrofoam” or polystyrene foam beads. I would like to say that we could get every single bead but we didn’t—it would have taken way more time than was possible for us. Though it would be impossible to get it all, over the course of one month, our team of seven people collected and removed 11,663 pounds of marine debris from the Gasḵúu/Forrester Island Complex. The majority of the debris was recycled.

One of the best parts of the project for me was the people! This is the crew from the first half of the project. We spent 24/7 together for several weeks and I call everyone on the crew my dear friends. Featuring Steve Lewis (top), Kit Cunningham (black jacket, red hood), Elizabeth Hillstrom (bottom) and Symcha Gillette (right).

It might seem like the bigger the piece of debris, the more impact it can have. However, even the very smallest pieces—microplastics—can have big impacts. Microplastics are pieces of plastic that have broken down into pieces smaller than 5 mm and can accumulate in the environment. This is bad for the marine wildlife for several reasons. First, plastics in the water column can absorb and sequester toxins produced by harmful algae, which causes the plastic particles to become toxic. Second, plastics occupy space in digestive tracts, but have no nutritional value. Third, some plastics themselves include harmful chemicals that are endocrine disruptors or hormone mimics. Identifying which plastic is breaking down and integrating into the marine ecosystem will not only help us save time and money in the long term with plastic cleanup and removal, but will protect marine wildlife.

Therefore, this upcoming year, we will examine biological samples from the sk’yuuwan and a seabird called Cassin’s auklets for microplastics. If we find microplastics, we will examine their chemical composition. This process will tell us two things; one, if microplastics are accumulating in the Alaskan marine food web, and two, if the microplastics match the composition of the local marine debris, which will provide insight to the microplastic source.

I know that the debris will return to Gasḵúu at some point and removing 11,663 pounds of debris is nothing compared to the amount that is entering the ocean everyday. But if we can learn about where the debris is coming from, begin understanding if and how it is entering the marine food web, and make an area a little bit more habitable than it was before, then projects like this are worth it!

This work with microplastics and marine debris will help identify which types of plastics are most detrimental and prolific in Alaskan ecosystems. This information can hopefully be used to influence policy change and bring us one step closer to plastic-free seas. With the problems we face today regarding marine debris, there has never been a greater opportunity to bear witness and benefit from the efforts and ingenuity of people tackling this issue. I am excited to see continued development and movement toward a sustainable future and a clean environment.

This is a close-up shot of all the trash we would find on beaches. We found a ton of buoys, high-seas driftnet floats and STYROFOAM! So. Much. Styrofoam! Beneath this top layer in the photo, there was a bottomless pit of Styrofoam beads.

Life finds a way! We found items like this frequently; plants growing through holes in hard plastic, barnacles attaching in the cracks of discarded shoes, moss making a new habitat on top of a fishing float!

The first step in removing the debris was placing like-items in ALPAR bags (the acronym is “Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling,” they provided very hearty bags for the project). After one beach, we would have dozens of bags full of just plastic bottles, or just high-seas driftnet floats. We would then empty the contents into supersaks (in order to reuse the plastic bags). Photo featuring Kristina Sheufelt.

Since the northern-most island of Gasḵúu is the home of the sk’yuuwan (or Steller sea lion) rookery, we often had to move the debris to other beaches that wouldn’t disturb the wildlife! Elizabeth and Symcha are using frame packs to move the debris to an empty beach where we can later pick it up with our skiff.

This is the crew from the second half of the project! Most crew members were from Alaska but came from a myriad of backgrounds, including artist, mechanical engineer and biologist. Featuring Nelli Wayne (left), Steve Lewis (left middle), Kristina Scheufelt (right middle), and Steve McCurdy (right).

The removal of all our debris was accomplished with the help of Alaska General Seafoods, who donated two tenders and a seining skiff, to get all our collected debris off the island. As you can see in the photo, a rope would come ashore which we would attach to our supersaks. The seining skiff, holding the other end of the rope) would pull the supersaks and debris off the beach and out to the two tenders on the horizon.

This is of F/V Polar Lady hoisting our debris onto their deck space. The AGS crew was awesome to work with and we were able to remove all 11,663 pounds of debris off all the beaches on one day!

This is the deck space of F/V Polar Lady. The fishing vessel is normally a crab tender the rest of the season and is 110 feet long. We filled the entire deck space with marine debris. Ninety-nine percent of the marine debris collected on this project was recycled.

The post Effects of Marine Debris on Remote Islands appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Announcing Ocean Conservancy’s First Ocean Justice Community Grants Awardees

Ocean Conservancy’s Ocean Justice team is proud to announce the first Ocean Justice Community Grants cohort. Ocean Justice Community Grants are a critical part of our commitment to ocean justice, which we define as the fair and equitable distribution of both the benefits of the ocean’s bounty and the burdens of its complex care. Climate change and ocean injustice present dual crises that disproportionately impact marginalized coastal and ocean communities. These crises cannot be solved without simultaneously addressing the systemic social and economic inequalities that make those impacts disproportionate, including a lack of available funding to help support local ocean advocates in their fight. The Ocean Justice Community Grants are Ocean Conservancy’s contribution to righting this wrong by applying resources that amplify and uplift the work of historically marginalized ocean advocates.

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We are committing resources to spotlight and amplify the excellent conservation work led by frontline community members and to connect these grantees to Ocean Conservancy’s network as well as to each other. In addition, these grants aim to cultivate a space for empowerment and expertise-sharing among grantees, as well as for the creation of authentic partnerships as we all work together to seek innovative solutions to climate and ocean challenges at the local level. These recipient organizations are advancing ocean justice in one or more of the following areas:

• Strengthening coastal communities
• Promoting sustainable fishing and traditional Indigenous practices
• Protecting communities’ connections to the ocean
• Advancing ocean innovations
• Developing new ocean leaders

Ocean Conservancy thanks each of the amazing organizations that applied through our first—and very competitive—Ocean Justice Community Grants cycle. There is so much good work being done from coast to coast.

We are pleased to introduce this year’s ocean champions and inaugural Ocean Justice Community Grants awardees:

Diving with a Purpose:  Washington, D.C and Key Biscayne, Florida

Diving With a Purpose (DWP) is a community-focused nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of submerged heritage resources by providing education, training, certification and field experience to adults and youth in the fields of maritime archaeology and ocean conservation. A special focus of DWP is the protection, documentation and interpretation of African slave trade shipwrecks and the maritime history and culture of African Americans who formed a core of labor and expertise for America’s maritime enterprises.

Gullah / Geechee Angel Network & Gullah/ Geechee Sea Island Coalition: St. Helena, North Carolina

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition advocates for the rights of all Gullah/Geechee people while promoting the preservation of Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, culture and language. The coalition continues its work for land reclamation and maintenance for coastal communities that have thrived from North Carolina to Florida for more than 300 years.

Kua’aina Ulu Auamo: Kaneohe, Hawaii

Kua’aina Ulu Auamo (KUA) works to empower Native Hawaiian and rural communities to improve their quality of life through the care of their environmental heritage to better Hawaiʻi and achieve “āina momona”— an abundant, productive ecological system that supports community well-being. KUA employs a community‐driven approach that supports three statewide networks: 1) E Alu Pū (landscape restoration), 2) Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa (fishpond caretakers) and 3) the Limu Hui (native seaweed gatherers). The organization’s collective network efforts touch more than 70 nearshore communities statewide.

OceansAlaska: Ketchikan, Alaska

OceansAlaska’s ongoing holistic projects focus on preparing young people to become the next generation of ocean and community leaders through mariculture hatchery/nursery training, research and development. By combining Western science and Indigenous values, OceansAlaska is creating multidisciplined ocean champions. The organization provides educational and social opportunities through local National Ocean Science Bowl teams and hatchery/farm internships for high school students.

University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science: Miami, Florida

Dr. Maria Cartolano and Dr. Jill Richardson lead the Ocean Kids Project, which is designed to engage and inspire the children from local neighborhoods who are disproportionately affected by pollution and other environmental stressors, by providing otherwise inaccessible access to hands-on STEM activities through the lens of the ocean. With this grant we hope to achieve the goal of working collaboratively with the target schools during the spring semester to develop lesson plans and activities that address the coastal issues most relevant to their communities, culminating in an outdoor event, hosted at the Rosenstiel campus.

Thank you again to all who applied for our initial grant cycle. We encourage you to apply for the next grant cycle in Fall 2023. Learn more about the program and its requirements here.

University of Miami Rosential

Diving with a Purpose

Gullah Geechee, Queen Quet

Kua aina Ulu Auamo

The post Announcing Ocean Conservancy’s First Ocean Justice Community Grants Awardees appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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