The intertide area

The area between the high tide and the low tide is called the intertidal zone. There are numerous species of wildlife that can only exist in that zone or area. You can see why something as dangerous as an oil spill or chemical spill can drastically affect the animals that live there.

Exploring the intertidal area is fascinating. I have traveled to many of them that were accessible by steep trails. Yet the one I enjoyed the most was across some sand dunes that we rode ATV's to. We carried our equipment in the ATV Accessories rack to the zone.

I have video of that fun trip but like I said in my previous post, I need to get it off of the VHS format to upload it to this blog.

Marine mining

When you think of gold and diamond mining I bet you think of dark long tunnels or strip mining. Would it surprise you that marine mining, mining for minerals in the ocean is being done by large corporations? Yes marine mining is being done and those companies are looking for diamonds and gold. The main areas of exploration are off the coast of west Africa. The De Beers company, known the world over for their TV commercials for loose diamonds with the phrase "a diamond is forever", is a major marine mining company.

Marine mining is not simple and most smaller companies and hobbyists are just salvaging old ship wrecks and call it mining. The true marine mining vessels are huge ships. like this one:

This is the De Beers diamond recovery vessel PEACE IN AFRICA (former Dock Express 20)

Day 72 of the oil spill in the Gulf

It is now over 2 months after the pipe broke on that BP oil rig and we are not any closer to shutting it down than we were at day 1! What the hell is wrong with this picture? I have heard of all kinds of solutions from burning it off (which is what they tried at first), enzymes, using stainless steel drums and of course that famous "cap" that didn't work. Apparently BP does not have any scientists on its payroll otherwise they would have figured out how to shut it down or make it less harmful to the environment. We shall see what happens next.

Marine photography

Photography has been a life long hobby of mine but I never have done underwater photography yet. I think that is because of the limited number of cameras on the market that don't cost and arm and a leg. Believe me, I need that arm and leg.

I really admire the photos that people put up on the internet that have beautiful underwater scenery. From the simple shots to the complex ones that have been set up - I love them all.



I also love the videos that people put up on tube, anything from their own dives to slide shows they have put together with ocean sounds.

I don't know, just call me a nut, since I love the visual media.

Did you know?

I find that the history of the Earth is fascinating. I am not talking about human history but geologic and marine history. For example do you know what limestone is made of? It is ancient reef beds. Did you also know that the Andes mountain range is made mostly of limestone? That mountain range was created when the plate containing India collided with the Asian plate, millions of years ago. Another fascinating fact is that those deep marine trenches in the ocean is where the oceanic plates are sliding underneath the continental plate.



To understand the phenomenon of underwater volcanos more I am taking an advanced geology class. This course is absolutely fascinating. I have to do a poster on any subject related to geology as my final project. I was just taking a break from researching universal life insurance quotes and doing my homework when I just had to share those facts with you. I also found this photo and just wanted to share it too.

An inside type of day

With the winter storms still coming in from the Pacific it is a day to get things done inside. No school today and only 2 class days left this week. I am having some down time from school. The next long stretch will be spring break and hopefully I can get time to go to the coast. I have also got to get my income taxes done as well. Been putting that off for the last few weeks. Finding out that the tax software is priced differently in each store. I also need to put myself on more of a stringent budget. Oh where to find best home budget software for me?

Indoor time.....I think I will go and get a bag or 2 filled for Goodwill.....wait the sun is coming out!!! Should I stay in or go out.......a question to ponder.

Sea water heals

Have you ever wondered about the healing properties of sea water? I have. In fact I have heard many tales of wounds that did not heal by ordinary means and that the person went swimming in the ocean and noticed that the wound started to heal. That is not surprising because sea water is salt water and salt water is very close to the human body's saline content. After all we are not comprised of just plain water but saline which is salt water.

I have a friend that utilizes salt water in his hot tub. He suffers from hemorrhoids and found that warm sea water is the best hemorrhoids treatment he has discovered so far.

Salt water has cleansing properties and most of the world has ignored them.

Being independant

I have always loved the idea of not having a regular 9 to 5 indoor job. I guess that is why I opted for marine biology as my future. I think that being a researcher is just about as good as or better than having a successful home based business.

My other option would have been a professional photographer and of course it would be underwater photography. I have found that professions that require a person to go underwater pays very well. I never thought about that when I started aiming for a profession that I hope to be in one day. In fact I thought that marine biologists only got paid $30K a year when in reality their pay rate is in the $100K a year and up.

People that live too close to the ocean

What you are looking at in the photo above is the city of destin florida. This is a city that is literately built on the beach. Those buildings in the forefront of the photo are large mega hotels so it gives you an idea of what the rest of the buildings are. Being that this is in Florida, didn't anyone think about the hurricane season? Sure, it might be a few years between the major ones but within a span of 20-25 years a major one will strike and will kill or ruin family lives forever.

With the added bonus of global warming I wonder how long those buildings will be above the water level? That is a little unreal, isn't it?

End of 2009 and what have we discovered?

I guess everyone looks back over the year and wonders if we are any better off now, compared to when 2009 began. My biggest new discovery was finding out about that huge mass of floating garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It has been around for years (I think I first heard about it in 2007) and it only starting making the major news this past year. Oh, yes, it was reported before but the national news seemed to ignore it. Stupid stories of Micheal Jackson's lifestyle tended to take up the allotted air time and serious news was left to the internet for people to find out about.

Meanwhile back out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the mass of plastic junk like water bottles, shrink tube, the discarded child's toy, plastic twine by the mile and non-descriptive little bits of plastic torn apart by the ocean currents all floating together in one huge mass seem to remain in place with no one doing anything about it.

I can't wait for the reports to come back in 10-20 years about how those toxic plastic bits found their way into every organism on the planet. Happy 2010 everyone.

Whole countries are disappearing under water

Low lying countries are now on the verge of disappearing altogether, watch the video below for a very graphic look at the rising sea water.

Sea otters

I really love the antics of Sea Otters. They are the jokers of the sea. One of the best places to watch them from the shore is in the Monterey Bay along the California coastline. Monterey Bay is also the location of the Monerery Bay Aquarium where they have an otter cam located on their website. Michelle Staedler is Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter research coordinator and she is alarmed at the falling otter population. Their numbers are down by 1.3% from 2005, their numbers should be growing.

Otters are no longer hunted, at least legally, so that is not a major factor in their declining numbers. I have a spreadsheet on my notebook computer that I use to track the other major causes of their decline in numbers. Disease and parasites have been playing an important part in their demise. For example sea otters are prey to a parasitic worm that burrows into their intestine. They are also dying of toxoplasmosis which kill brain tissue, causing seizures and disability.

Toxoplasmosis is something I have written about in the past. It is an organism that is found in cat poop. When people flush cat poop or litter down their toilets is when it makes its way to the world's oceans and ends up killing the sea otters.

I would like to see the sea otters survive just a few hundred more years at least. If only the cat owning public were made more aware of the consequences of flushing their cats' poop or litter.

Be careful what you flush down the toilet

More and more pharmaceutical products are ending up in the world's water supplies. Water treatment plants are not equipped to handle the broken down pills and prescriptions that people have flushed down their toilets or washed down their drains. This is not counting the untold incidents of illegal dumping done by companies to get rid of products that did not make it to market or failed clinical trials.

If those products are ending up in our drinking water, what is happening to the world's oceans? They, the oceans and seas, are ending up becoming the world's cesspool. So next time you what to get rid of a weight loss product or an expired prescription think twice before dumping in your toilet or drain. Contact your local doctor or pharmacy to see if they have a disposal system in place for medications.

Google introduces Google Earth for oceans

Google has just introduced Google Earth 5.0

What makes this Google Earth version different from the older versions? This version now has the latest oceanography of the ocean floor on the maps. One of the amazing features of Google Earth 5.0 is the way it is able to put together layers of images to show the rise and fall of the ocean levels.

You no longer have to go out and do much of the first hand research that many of the older marine scientists had to do. Even armchair amateur marine biologists can have a go at doing their own hypothesis and theories. So get off of your sleep number bed and go check it out.

Getting through college

If you are thinking about a career in marine biology here are a few things to keep in mind. You have to have outstanding grades to get into the college of your choice. College is not cheap.

Becoming a marine biologist will take several years of college. The average cost of tuition will be $15K a year and up. Be prepared to take on several jobs to get you through college. Working at Mickey Dee's won't cut it. You will need more than just a minimum wage to pay for your expenses. Warehouse jobs pay more but you need to put together a few different logistics resumes, depending on your experience and the position you are applying for. Those types of job have the advantage that you can work nights and go to school during the day.

Don't even think about summer vacation as a time to earn more money as the time often taken up by special school projects.

Do yourself a favor and start looking into scholarships before you are in high school. You will be glad you did.

Coral reefs are now dying

The evidence is clear, the world's coral reefs are dying. The news video is below, watch it and weep.

North Pole to completely melt this summer (2008)

This news is an historic first. Everyone that cares about our planet and the affects of Global warming should watch the video below:

Tuna fishing companies go netless

The price of saving our seas is in the hands of the consumer.

Major studies just out have documented a red flag for our marine environment. Marine biologists now estimate that the world's population of fish in the ocean is roughly 20% of what there was about 50 years ago. That's a drop of 80%!!!! They blame the fishing methods of the world's commercial fishing fleets, mostly the ones out of Japan that use the "drag net" method of fishing. The "drag net" simply lays on the bottom of the ocean floor and is dragged to fill it. Any and all sea life that is on the ocean floor is either crushed or scooped up. About 75% to 90% of the catch is not edible and has either died or dying and will be disposed of by throwing overboard or ? Japan is doing this because tuna is a prized fish needed for their sushi. The biologists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium estimate that the average tuna 200lb tuna is worth close to $100,000 on the Japanese sushi market.

The fishing methods have to be changed. This has to be done in order for the sea life to thrive before they are all extinct. There are several tuna fishing companies that now fish using the good old hook and bait method. Yes the price is higher for a can of albacore tuna but not by much. The consumer will have to change their buying habits in order to push the fishing industry to change it's ways. The most successful way to change something is to refuse to buy what is being offered - money talks. The great majority of the world's current problems were brought about by people trying to sell something to someone else, even if that something was bad for the environment.

Here is the website of one of the bait and hook tuna fishing companies
Pacific Fleet

At the beach

I had a rare opportunity to head to the coast earlier today. I will be here for Saturday then head back home on Sunday. The weather is fantastic. It is the warmest it has been so far this year. We should have at least 2 more days of sunny weather before the rain storms start rolling in from the Pacific ocean. There is this really nice area of tide pools that I like to visit just south of Newport, Oregon. I'll have to visit them tomorrow since I just missed low tide. While I was out I happen to see a few surfers braving the waves in their wetsuits. I also saw something I had not seen before, they had their surfboards in surfboard bags. I had always seen surfboards arrive on the top of a car or in the back bed of a pick-up truck. This was the first time I had ever seen them in bags. I had not priced surfboards lately but considering that everything else has gone up in price so has the surfboard. They were just protecting their surfboard investment! I had better get some rest now since I am planning a busy day tomorrow.

Ancient forest emerges from surf

There is an usual occurrence going on right now on the Oregon coast. An ancient forest that once grew far inland is being exposed by the surf. The once great forest is now located beneath the ocean on the coast and will rarely show the now petrified stumps above the surf. Known as the "ghost forest" it is a local attraction when it can been seen. You can find out more info and a video from this local news station reporting it.