Ocean Stories

By Mera McGrew
Applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory just after 10:30 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, August 5. “Touchdown confirmed,” said engineer Allen Chen. “We’re safe on Mars.” Chen was referring to the successful landing of the NASA rover, Curiosity, on Mars.
At a time when fundamental research and exploration budgets are being slashed, this recent Hollywood landing is a reaffirmation of American ingenuity. But why limit this brain muscle to space? The reality is that much of the game-changing creativity and engineering that has propelled Curiosity to Mars could also be used to better understand the world’s Ocean, whose depth and diversity remain largely unexplored.
“I wouldn’t take a penny away from the space program,” said ocean advocate, National Geographic explorer-in-residence and Mission Blue founder Dr.…

Since 1986, The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida has successfully treated and released over 1,300 Sea Turtles. An enthusiastic founder oversees a veterinarian and a passionate group of employees and volunteers. The team is committed to helping any sea turtle that comes through their door. “We don’t turn any turtle away,” said Bette Zirkelback of The Turtle Hospital.
The Turtle Hospital’s up-to-date equipment allows its staff to treat any ailment on any species of sea turtle, whatever their size. “We mostly see Green sea turtles, Loggerheads, Kimp’s Ridley and Hawksbill turtles,” said Zirkelback.
Turtles that have been entangled in fishing line or have intestinal impactions due to the ingestion of foreign materials, such as plastic, are brought into the hospital. In addition, turtles that have fallen victim to boat collisions and or are infected with the fibropapilloma virus are brought in to receive treatment.…

Today we’d like to share this recent PBS profile of Dr. Earle. From her 2009 TED Talk, to her historic saturation dive at Tektite in 1970, the video profiles Dr. Earle’s lifelong dedication to exploring and preserving the ocean. Enjoy!

PBS – Profile of Oceanographer, Sylvia Earle from Jennifer Winter on Vimeo.…

By Mera McGrew
With a record 20 medals, Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.  So while Phelps has secured a spot as a hall of fame athlete, pertinent questions remain, including this one:  How fast does Phelps swim?  And specifically, how does he stack up against one of the fastest fish in the world, the Indo-Pacific sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)?
For Michael Phelps, let’s take his time in the Thursday Aug 2, 2012 200-meter individual medley, which earned Phelps his 16th career Olympic gold medal.  In the same race he also became the first man to win three consecutive Olympic golds in the same event, ensuring his place in the Parthenon of the world’s greatest swimmers. Phelps clocked his historic win in 1 minute, 54.27 seconds, which calculates to a speed of about 3.92 miles per hour (6.31 km/h).…

By Samantha Whitcraft, Shark Savers International
Florida like South Africa and Australia, is synonymous with sharks. With recent but rare sightings of white sharks off the Florida coast, media coverage of uncommon bites and a constant barrage of photos from bloody catch & kill tournaments, one might believe there is a thriving shark population swimming in Florida’s coastal waters. But the reality is that Florida’s rich coral reefs and dense coastal mangroves were once far richer in large sharks than they are now.
Scientists estimate that between 1981 and 2005 hammerhead populations declined by more than a 90 percent in the northwest Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. While, recreational divers in Florida report seeing nurse sharks fairly regularly, they rarely see a tiger shark or a hammerhead species of any kind.…

On July 20, the Mission Aquarius Aquanauts completed their decompression and ‘splashed up’ to the surface offshore of Key Largo, Florida.  Following a busy day of interviews and meetings with conservation minded members of the Florida legislature, the Aquanauts joined us for a memorable fundraiser at the Diving History Museum in Islamorada. Talks are ongoing to look into continued Federal funding for Aquarius, and the possibility of private funding is also a hope to save this, the last underwater laboratory in the world.…

By Mera McGrew
Washington D.C. — On Wednesday August 1, 2012, U.S. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R./Florida) and fellow Congress members Mario Diaz-Balart (R./Florida) and David Rivera (R./Florida) met with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chief Dr. Jane Lubchenco to discuss the future of Aquarius Reef Base, the world’s only functioning underwater laboratory. In its 2013 $5 billion budget request, NOAA, which owns Aquarius, has stripped the $3 million funding it would take to operate Aquarius for the year, ensuring the closure of this one of a kind underwater laboratory, potentially as early as next month if no new funding comes through.
After learning about the budget cuts and plans to close Aquarius, U.S. Rep Ros-Lehtinen and fellow Congress members Mario Diaz-Balart and Rivera traveled four miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida to visit the underwater lab and witness the final moments of what could be Aquarius’s final mission.…

By Mera McGrew
Originally invented during World War I to detect submarines, today oceanographers and other marine professionals are using sonar technology to advance knowledge of the world’s ocean.
Specifically, sonars can help map out crucial marine habitats. But, that is just a start.  In the future, some researchers suggest that information generated through sonar technology could influence how marine habitats are regulated and even managed.
Last week, one research group boarded the Nancy Foster, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship on a 10-day cruise, to conduct sonar-based experiments aimed at better understanding fish spawning and fish movement in and around the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Tortugas Ecological Reserve, located 70-miles west of Key West.
The research cruise falls in the middle of a multi-year Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary zoning review that seeks to determine whether the current sanctuary boundaries adequately protect marine habitats and resources.…

By Michael Keller
Dr. Edith Widder is an undersea explorer, innovator and cofounder of the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, which translates complex scientific findings into technological solutions. She is a certified scientific research pilot for atmospheric diving systems and has invented instrumentation for submersibles as well as deep-sea observation equipment.
A leading specialist in the emission of light from living organisms, called bioluminescence, Dr. Widder applies her research to reverse environmental degradation of the world’s aquatic ecosystems. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in biochemistry and a Ph.D. in neurobiology, and received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006.
Q: Where are you right now and what are you up to?
Edith Widder: I’m in the northwest Pacific Ocean off the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, on a hunt for giant squid.…

Imagine coral “planted” in rows on the bottom of the seafloor in the same way that tulips are planted in a garden. Think of a coral nursery where coral could be grown and harvested so that it could be transplanted to help rebuild surrounding coral reefs.
Last week, NBC’s Kerry Sanders offered viewers an opportunity to do more than just imagine a coral nursery. Sanders took viewers a quarter mile off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and dove down twenty-five feet. Waiting on the seabed was an underwater nursery of staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis). Scientists are growing, harvesting and transplanting the coral to help rebuild coral reefs off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean.
The segment aired on June 20, 2012 on NBC’s “Nightly News.”…