What is a Hydrophyte?

Spring is in the air! As flowers, trees and shrubs burst to life on land, they attract pollinators like birds, bees and butterflies. When I started working at Ocean Conservancy early last year, I began to learn about all the different kinds of animals that call the water home. But animals are only one part of the ecosystem. There are also many plants living in ponds, wetlands and of course, our ocean! These plants that grow in or on the water are called hydrophytes.

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Hydrophytes are plants that are especially suited for and have adapted to living in aquatic environments.

© Fletcher Forbes

They are also referred to as macrophytes to differentiate them from algae and other microscopic plants. Hydrophytes are found in one of three ways: emergent, submerged or floating. Emergent plants live near the water’s edge and along the banks of rivers. They are rooted in the lake or ocean floor, but their leaves and stems extend out of the water. Submerged plants spend their entire lives completely underwater. Floating plants are exactly as they sound: some or all of the plant is free-floating in the water or at the surface, unanchored by roots.

There are two categories of plants living in our ocean’s waters: those that float freely through the water, and those that are directly rooted into the ocean floor. Floating plants can be spotted near the surface of the water. Rooted plants are often found in shallow waters near the shore because they need to get enough sunlight to survive. Here are four common types of floating and rooted places that live in the ocean:

1. Kelp

© Joseph Dovala

Kelp beds are usually found in colder, nutrient-rich ocean waters. They contain a higher diversity of plants and animals than almost any other ecosystem in our ocean. Many organisms hide or feed in their thick blades, including seals, sea lions, whales, sea otters, gulls, terns, snowy egrets, great blue herons and shorebirds. Because of their dependency on sunlight, kelp forests form in shallow open waters and are rarely found deeper than 150 feet.

2. Red Algae

© Circe Denyer

Red algae are some of the oldest examples of life on our planet! They have populated the warm, tropical waters of the world for hundreds of millions of years. They are also fundamentally integrated into human culture and economics around the globe. Some red algae play a major role in building coral reefs while others serve as nutrient-rich foods to larger resident species.

3. Seagrass

© Estrella Malca/University of Miami

Seagrasses are essential to the lives of small invertebrates and fish. These creatures are a food source and protective habitat for many commercial and recreational fish species. Seagrasses can be found in a variety of aquatic environments, like bays and lagoons. They stabilize sediments, generate organic material needed by small invertebrates and add oxygen to the surrounding water.

4. Sargassum

© Caroline Rogers

Sargassum is a genus of large brown seaweed (already a type of algae) that floats in island-like masses and never attaches to the seafloor. This floating habitat provides food, refuge and breeding grounds for an array of animals such as fishes, sea turtles, marine birds, crabs, shrimp and more. It even serves as a primary nursery area for a variety of important fish. This organism even grew to become the biggest seaweed bloom in the world—stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico.

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A healthy oceanic garden means healthy ocean life. Underwater plants provide oxygen, food, shelter and protection for many of the creatures living in the sea. Doesn’t that sound exactly like what plants provide human beings on land? So as you admire the flowers and trees this spring, please try to remember, protecting our ocean doesn’t just benefit our ocean friends … it benefits the gardens and plant life they enjoy too!

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3 Earth Day Resolutions

There’s a reason people make resolutions on New Year’s Eve. The beginning of a new calendar year is the perfect opportunity for us to reflect on what is going well, what we could improve and how we’re going to make positive change in our lives.

I’ve always liked the practice of celebrating last year’s successes and looking forward to next year’s commitments. That’s why I’m doing the same thing for Earth Day—it’s the perfect opportunity for us all to make resolutions on how we’re going to make the world a better place for the next 365 days and beyond.

Resolution 1: Continue to prioritize equity in conservation science and policy

Last year was a time of reflection and reckoning for us, and many other conservation organizations, as we committed to leading organizational change that contributes to a larger societal fight for justice and equity. We cannot talk about ocean conservation without delving deep into the racial inequalities that lead communities of color to be disproportionately affected by climate change, natural disasters and more. And now, affluent countries are able to vaccinate their populations against a deadly virus while others have to wait months if not years to do the same. These inequalities have massive consequences for human health, ocean health and the health of our planet. This Earth Day, let us commit to amplifying diverse voices in designing and implementing conservation policies, and holding our elected officials—and ourselves—accountable to creating a more equitable planet.

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Resolution 2: Push the Biden administration to take bold #oceanclimateaction

Before he took office, we outlined six ocean priorities for President Biden. On his first day, he sent a strong message by rejoining the Paris Agreement—a stark contrast to the anti-climate policies of the previous administration. But President Biden’s job is just beginning, and the UN climate change conference in November will be an important milestone in the fight against climate change. All eyes will be on President Biden as a climate-conscious leader of a country with one of the highest greenhouse gas emissions to lead by example. We are committed to keeping up the heat (so to speak) to make sure the administration continues to set ambitious climate goals, implements sustainable ocean-based climate solutions, prioritizes ocean-friendly infrastructure and more. We will continue to work with our partners in government and industry, and will share ways that you can take action and add your voice to #oceanclimateaction.

Resolution 3: Be kind to ourselves and each other and take time for joy 

For many of us, this spring was particularly bleak. As we approached the year anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns, we felt the weight of the previous year more heavily than ever before. On top of the exhaustion from living through a year of a global pandemic, many also experienced unimaginable loss of friends and loved ones from COVID-19. As I spoke to my friends and colleagues, we all seemed to be dealing with different types of sadness, grief, loss and anxiety.

As more people get vaccinated and the world begins to open up, those feelings won’t go away overnight—and that is OK. We’ve collectively gone through so much and can’t expect to bounce back like nothing happened. I keep telling myself and my colleagues that in order to care for our planet, we need to care for ourselves.

So on top of pushing for policy and advocating for our ocean, please remember to commit to caring for ourselves and each other. When I pause and do things that bring me joy, like walking along the beach in my home state of Oregon, it recharges me and reminds me why I do what I do.

This Earth Day, I hope you will join me with resolutions of your own. Together, we can create a better ocean and better planet, this year and in all the years to come.

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Brenda Mallory Confirmed for CEQ

Earlier this week, our ocean got a new champion. Brenda Mallory was confirmed by the Senate as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and will serve as one of the President’s top advisors on the environment. That’s big (and exciting!) news for our ocean.

Mallory brings a wealth of experience to the CEQ role, including more than 20 years of public service working under both Democrat and Republican administrations. Under President Obama, Mallory served in many leadership positions, including at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she was Associate Deputy General Counsel for water and waste issues, and also served as EPA’s representative to the White House task force on renewable energy reviews and permitting. Mallory also served as the General Counsel for CEQ during the Obama administration, helping support the CEQ’s work to cut pollution and build out renewable energy. Mallory will be able to use this experience to address the issues facing our ocean at the CEQ and return CEQ to its role in putting the health of local communities and our environment first.

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Perhaps one of the most important responsibilities Mallory will hold at CEQ is implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires the government to consider the environmental and climate impacts of its actions, like permitting a large bridge, an offshore wind farm or a new coal plant. This includes analyzing and publicly disclosing the potential harm to ecosystems and communities. NEPA also requires that federal agencies involve local communities so decisions are made with their interests in mind, and so that alternative actions can be explored. Both of these tools are crucial for realizing environmental justice, ensuring that adverse human and environmental health impacts do not disproportionately impact low-income, Tribal, Indigenous and minority communities.

During the Trump administration, the rules implementing NEPA were weakened considerably, threatening your voices and our communities’ right to be involved. Now, with Chair Mallory at the helm, we hope the CEQ will begin the process of restoring the bedrock NEPA rules designed to protect our environment, public health and vulnerable communities.

Chair Mallory and CEQ will also play a convening and facilitating role among federal agencies on the actions that happen in our ocean. Take the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC), for example. CEQ, along with the Office of Science Technology Policy, serves as co-chairs of the OPC. The OPC coordinates high-level administration ocean and coastal-related priorities and guides agencies to work together on common goals. The OPC also helps coordinate ocean resource management policy and coordinates ocean science and technology. With the recent announcement by the Biden-Harris administration to substantially increase offshore wind power by 2030, Chair Mallory and the OPC will be in a great position to maximize coordination across agencies to ensure this is advanced efficiently and sustainably.

The Biden-Harris administration has a great opportunity to build a thriving economy while addressing climate change and protecting our ocean and coastal communities and ecosystems.  CEQ is in a great position to ensure that this is done equitably and we look forward to working with Chair Mallory to achieve these goals.

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All Aboard, It’s Time to Eliminate Emissions

At this point, we all know that climate change is hurting our ocean and you might have also heard from us by now that the ocean itself can provide opportunities to help fight against climate change. What might seem a little fuzzier is what exactly those ocean solutions are. So this week, with Pacific Environment, we released a new report—All Aboard: How the Biden-Harris Administration Can Help Ships Kick Fossil Fuels—which lays out exactly how the U.S. government can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry in order to help slow climate change.

Within All Aboard, one of the first recommendations you’ll see is that the United States needs to set an emissions reduction timeline. It’s great to see countries and companies make commitments to be “carbon neutral,” by 2050, but that won’t cut it here. What are they going to do along the way to reach that 2050 commitment? We need specific, progressive targets to get there. So the United States should commit to eliminating 100% emissions from the domestic shipping industry by 2035 and also set intermediate targets of a 50% reduction by 2025 and an 80% reduction by 2030.

Those goals are ambitious but they’re what we need to protect our ocean and climate. To make sure we can achieve those goals, All Aboard recommends 20 specific policy priorities that the U.S. government should adopt. I won’t run through all of them here (if you want to dive deeper into them, head over to the full report) but the overarching recommendation is that we need to set a clean shipping standard and then provide the resources to support that standard.

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A clean shipping standard would be much like the clean emissions standards that cars must adhere to. All ships that dock at U.S. ports—whether they’re U.S. ships or a foreign ship dropping off goods—must meet specific greenhouse gas emissions requirements that line up with the emissions reduction timeline that would get us to 100% clean shipping by 2035. This standard will help force further research into and development of zero-carbon ships, ship fuels and port infrastructure. In the new report, we dive further into how the United States can support research and development as well as infrastructure retrofitting through specific policies.

We aren’t just talking to ourselves here either. Congress has its eye on taking action on shipping emissions as well. Look no further than today, within hours of each other, two separate Congressional hearings were held to explore steps like the ones we propose in the report to eliminate emissions from the shipping sector and hear testimonies on a number of pending bills focused on ports, climate action and environmental justice. We also saw President Biden include $17 billion in his American Jobs Plan that would go towards the freight industry, which includes shipping.

Congress and the administration recognize the urgent need to address emissions from our nation’s ports and the shipping sector, and we look forward to working with them to ensure that an infrastructure and jobs package includes robust funding to jumpstart our transition to zero-emission shipping and ports. As the world’s largest consumer of shipped goods per capita, the United States has an opportunity—and an obligation—to lead the way to zero emissions for the global shipping sector.

To see all of this momentum building is incredibly exciting and rewarding. With the recommendations put forward in All Aboard, Congress and the administration have the opportunity to start building a better future for our ocean and for all of us. The shipping industry and the goods carried on cargo vessels touch the lives of everyone and that’s why we need to see investments in making sure the industry can continue providing for us while not destroying our environment at the same time.  So while Congress is debating policy solutions, and hopefully adopting all 20 of our recommendations, they should also consider directing $10 billion specifically towards eliminating emissions from shipping and ports. This can be done through the upcoming infrastructure package. Because while our recommendations lay out the path to a zero-emissions future for the shipping industry, we need the money to make it happen.

You can also tell Congress that they need to take action now and eliminate shipping emissions. Join us as we work to fight climate change for our ocean, each other and our planet.

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How Do Sea Cucumbers Poop?

The ocean has a few do-gooding superstars. Take the oyster for instance. An oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day making the reefs they live in cleaner for all. Seagrass can alleviate ocean acidification while creating habitat and vital oxygen for the sea creatures that live among it. Well, I’d like to elevate one humble creature up to these esteemed ranks: the sea cucumber.

If you are an avid reader of this blog (and why wouldn’t you be!?), you know I have a special place in my heart for sea cucumbers. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that they can shoot out their organs at predators and regrow new ones. Well, now I am in awe of another thing they expel: their poop.

Please buckle up kids, let me put on my Miss Frizzle wig and take you on a ride into the digestive system of an animal that looks like a pickle you need to throw out but is, in fact, a reef savin’ superhero.

Let’s take a trip to the sea cucumber’s anus where it both defecates and, in a horrific curse of evolution, also breathes. In the course of a year, a sea cucumber butt will expel 30.8 pounds of poop. As a comparison, sea cucumbers only weigh 0.1 to 5 pounds so they poop more than six times their weight every year.

Sidebar about the sea cucumber’s butt: it actually can be a home for the peculiar star pearlfish. That’s right—this multifunctional hole also serves as a lovely seaside escape for an eel-like fish. Are you squirming? Because I am. The pearlfish finds a sea cucumber by following their smell and the gentle currents created by the sea cucumber’s unique breathing technique. As the sea cucumber exhales, the fish dives headfirst into its anus using what one scientist called “violent strokes of the tail.” Some species of pearlfish just hang out there but there is one species in particular that then begins to eat the host from within. Imagine that horror movie: “the call is coming from inside the” … well, you know.

Okay, so why is this sea cucumber poop important? For that answer, we need to look to the front end of the sea cucumber. The sea cucumber has a ring of tentacles (technically they are modified tube feet) around its mouth that help it gather food. Sea cucumbers feed on algae and other tiny particles they find in sediment on the ocean floor.

Any gardener knows that worms are good for gardens. Earthworms help to recycle nutrients by feeding on organic matter (like leaves, fungi or dead plants) and break it down into nutrients that fertilize the soil. Sea cucumbers function similarly. They break down the particles they eat and help recycle nutrients back into the ocean ecosystem like nitrogen, ammonia and calcium carbonate. Just like earthworms, they also can help aerate the sediment as they are hunting for food, which releases even more nutrients and can create safe habitats for other animals like crustaceans.

Remember how I said sea cucumber poop includes calcium carbonate? Well, that nutrient helps coral skeletons grow as it is essential to coral reef formation. Sea cucumber poop is basic which means it is best formed when they drink pumpkin spice lattes. Just kidding! The poop is considered basic in terms of pH which means they can ever so slightly lower the acidity of surrounding waters which also helps coral grow their skeletons. Researchers found that sea cucumbers can produce more than 64,000 metric tons of poop in a single coral reef over the course of a year. That’s the weight of five Eiffel towers—though not exactly something any tourist would want to see. All that poop is vital for the health of the reefs they live on.

©  NOAA OKEANOS EXPLORER

Every superhero has a villain and unfortunately for the sea cucumber, their survival is threatened by overfishing and illegal trade. Sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy or even an aphrodisiac in some areas which has fueled illegal capture and smuggling of these important little creatures. Some sea cucumbers are now endangered species, threatening not only their populations but all the marine life that rely on their important role in reef ecosystems.

Everyone poops. But the sea cucumber gets to contribute to ocean health in the process. They are a great reminder that even a small, strange living tube of a thing is vital to ocean health.

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An Update on the Amazing Albatross

Albatrosses (also known as “gooney birds”) are some of the most majestic and awe-inspiring seabirds inhabiting planet earth. Of the roughly two dozen species of the albatross family, the wandering albatross is the largest—boasting an impressive wingspan of up to 11 feet. Albatrosses inhabit much of the global ocean, including large swaths of the North and South Pacific. As such, they hold not only an important ecological niche but significant cultural and mythological roles in numerous island communities around the world as well. Many albatrosses live long, ocean-dwelling lives foraging on the sea surface and returning to land to breed. At more than 70 years old, Wisdom, the oldest known living bird in the world, is a Laysan albatross that hatched her most recent chick in February 2021. Unfortunately, albatrosses are also impacted by human activities, pollution or invasive species and some perish prematurely. More than 2/3 of albatross species worldwide are listed by the IUCN as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. It is therefore critical to understand the drivers underpinning the decline of these iconic animals.

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Currently, plastic ingestion is considered a main driver of mortality for northern hemisphere albatrosses but is not listed as a key source of mortality for those in the southern hemisphere. To date, our knowledge about how anthropogenic activities and pollution impact the South Pacific population of albatrosses has been markedly narrower than our knowledge of the Northern population, and most studies on plastic ingestion are derived from necropsies of birds caught as fishery bycatch. While albatrosses have demonstrated an ability to regurgitate or excrete some amount of plastics in their boluses, some plastic items unfortunately become lodged in the body (depending on size and shape), creating permanent blockages, perforating organs or creating a false sense of “fullness” despite plastics having no nutritional value.

Feeding baby albatross. West Point Island, Falkland Islands © Marian Herz

To determine if plastic ingestion is, in fact, a significant source of mortality for southern hemisphere albatrosses, several New Zealand and Australia-based authors recently investigated the cause of death in 107 specimens collected in their respective countries. In their study, authors found plastics were ingested by six individuals and were the direct cause of death for three. Among the plastics consumed were plastic straws, candy wrappers, balloons and plastic fragments. Through additional analyses, authors estimated plastic ingestion may be directly leading to mortality of up to 17.5% of nearshore albatross mortalities and should therefore be considered a significant threat to these already-imperiled populations. A 2020 study investigating plastic-related deaths across 80 marine megafauna species including cetaceans (e.g. dolphins and whales), pinnipeds (e.g. seals and walruses), sea turtles and seabirds found flexible plastics are responsible for the largest proportion of debris-related deaths. Other highly lethal items include plastic bags/sheets/packaging, rope/fishing nets (or ghost gear), fishing tackle and balloons.

© Nick Mallos

The findings from these studies highlight the stark truth that there is a great need to better protect vulnerable ocean-dwelling species, like the albatross, from the threat of plastic pollution. You can help by asking your representatives to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act, participating in a trash cleanup in your local area and reducing waste at home by taking our Trash Free Seas® Challenge. We need ocean-loving people like you to help us advocate for our environment, clean up trash and push for policies that help keep plastics out of seabirds and our ocean.

Need more albatross content in your life? Of course, you do. Learn more with our blog: Does the Albatross Really Mate for Life? The answer may surprise you!

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Biden Administration Releases Historic NOAA Budget Proposal

Earlier today, the Biden administration released their topline budget numbers for agencies across the federal government, and if you’re a fan of taking action on climate change, supporting our local ocean, coastal and Great Lakes communities and businesses, or if you just love marine mammals, this budget is as good as it gets. Under the Biden Budget Blueprint, the Biden administration is proposing to increase the budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to a record-setting $6.9 billion dollars for the fiscal year 2022.

In his first months in office, President Biden has made climate change a central component of his agenda, working to make sure America transitions to a clean energy economy, that our coastal communities can build resiliency to sea-level rise and increased severe weather events and that we prioritize ocean-based climate solutions for the communities, businesses and wildlife that depend on our ocean and coasts. The budget proposal for NOAA, as well as other federal agencies throughout our government, shows that the administration is serious when it comes to addressing the challenges that we are facing today.

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NOAA is front and center as we work to make sure our local communities have the data and resources they need to understand climate change and take action to protect themselves and the species that call our ocean and coasts home. And this includes providing critical services to communities in every part of the country. In Utqiagvik, Alaska, NOAA researchers facilitated a shoreline community monitoring effort to help the community better prepare for flooding and storm events. On the East Coast, NOAA partnered with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to provide tools for vulnerability evaluations of fishing communities to climate change. In Gary, Indiana, NOAA worked with the city to launch a pilot program that evaluates the vulnerability of infrastructure to weather and climate impacts. This project was so successful that the model is being expanded to 110 cities across the Great Lakes region.

NOAA also provides the essential daily services that all our communities rely upon. When you listen to the weather forecast for the week, NOAA was involved with the data collection, processing and modeling that is needed for accurate and timely weather forecasts. If you ever wondered when high tide was at your local beach, or if you ever enjoyed seafood for dinner, NOAA was involved. From weather forecasts to tidal measurements, to sustainable fisheries management, NOAA provides the data, services, expertise and resources to manage our ocean and coasts sustainably.

All of these vital services that NOAA provides require funding, however, and that’s why increasing NOAA’s budget to $6.9 billion would be an incredible victory for our ocean, coastal and Great Lakes communities. It would also be a great victory for our ocean and the wildlife that depend on it. More funding for NOAA means more funding for local organizations, like the Clearwater Aquarium, to protect sea turtles for future generations. Increased funding would also help us better understand, manage and protect our most wild ocean habitats, like the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Papahānaumokuākea.

While the President’s budget is a great step forward for our ocean, coasts and Great Lakes, Congress is ultimately the decider of how much funding our agencies receive. It is now Congress that has the opportunity to show the same level of ambition as the Biden administration. And that’s where we need your help. Congress needs to hear from you that NOAA and the service they provide for our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes are too important to pass up. Tell Congress to fund NOAA at the historic levels proposed by the Biden administration!

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