http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111007132353.htm

In addition to the effects of the BP spill discussed in today's presentation, a major concern is the effect on people specifically living along the southern coast of Louisiana. Those living in the area are very concerned about the impact of the spill on their futures.

Although it may seem like everything is hunky dory in BP's commercials promoting tourism, showing communities in Louisiana happier as ever and business is booming, sociologists Matthew Lee and Troy Blanchard report that people who have a strong sense of attachment to their community, such as the people living in Louisiana, may exhibit higher self- reported levels of anxiety, fear and nervousness then those with a weaker attachment to their community. This situation is a unique one, because the spill caused a threat in natural resources in a region that is dependent greatly on having a healthy natural resource base. With that resource base being threatened, the community attachment often makes people unwilling to move anywhere else or find another way to earn money. The people who are stressed end up interacting consistently with others who are worried about their futures, creating a reinforced cycle for stress and worry. Do you think that community attachment will impact the communities on the coast of Louisiana more negatively then if they have less attachment to where they live? What could this mean for the future recovery of these communities?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111123133035.htm

Climate and Development is predicting major problems to Caribbean fisheries, such as alterations and loss of habitats, fish becoming smaller and less- diverse in stock, and coral bleaching as a result of global climate change. Coral bleaching is causing the ocean's temperature to warm, with average temperatures rising from .5-1 degree Celsius by 2039, with similar trends expected I sea surface temperatures. These negative impacts are forcing species in the area to move poleward as the sea temperatures rise. Amounts of plankton have also declined in many areas of the Caribbean, leaving fish without food they need for survival. If the amount of coral bleaching is not significantly reduced, the fish communities in the Caribbean are headed down a deadly path. This will result in major job losses in the Caribbean community that employs nearly 200,000 people, as well as losses in recreational fishing and tourism.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/nov11/mw111011.mp3 - podcast link


Red tides have been a serious environmental problem, especially in the last few years. In 2008, red tides shut down shellfish beds for months in waters off of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. In 2009, red tides resulted in the closing of 97% of Maine's coastal shellfish beds, and 100 % of off shore beds in their prime-harvesting season. Not only is this detrimental to the shellfish, but it is harmful to the people that eat the shellfish. Toxins lead to serious illnesses, such as paralytic shellfish poisoning. This has prompted NOAA to start a project providing grants to places like University of Maine to investigate methods of early detection of red tide blooms. Using inexpensive monitoring devices will improve predictions and more accurately pinpoint areas to close off before they spread further. Listen to this podcast for more information. Do you think this project will make a difference in the fight against red tides?

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusseaotters.htm

This is an online resource of the history and protection of sea otters. These adorable mammals are still endangered of becoming extinct today, after already being threatened of extinction during the Fur Trade centuries ago. It's quite a long article but skip to the main objectives of discussion, which are why sea otters are important, why and when did hunting begin, and present day concerns.


Sea otters are marine mammals that live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Like humans, sea otters generally only give birth to one pup per year. In the case they do have more then one they will abandon the second because the mother can only care for one at a time. This is one of the reasons sea otters are having a hard time repopulating and getting the large population they once had back.

A reason for their importance is that they are considered to be "key stone species". The sea otters eating habits affect organisms lower in the food chain. Without sea otters, young fin fish and other marine species will not have the vibrant kelp forests that they depend on for food and survival. A healthy population of sea otters also keeps the urchin population in check. An unhealthy number of sea otters allow the sea urchin's numbers to explode causing the kelp beds to diminish faster, starting a domino effect of a decline in food supply for other marine mammals.

The Fur Trade in the 1700's was the beginning of the decline in numbers of sea otters. Numbers depleted from around 300,000 sea otters to about 2,000 sea otters in early 1900's worldwide.

The Sea Otter's have returned thanks to the Marine Animal Protection Act of 1971 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which protects to the point where no one shall be allowed to further prevent depleting of the current population of sea otters. In the ESA specifically, they can require a certain area be set-aside as a "critical habitat" because such areas are essential for survival of that species.

There is still much work to be done before sea otters are safely out of the woods of extinction. Efforts must be made in order to further prevent the killing of sea otters, whether it is by man or by other causes such as disease or oil spills. Now that we know the threats it seems important to take more actions in further reducing them. What do you think should be done in order to insure the safety of sea otters? Are there other possible ways to protect them?

To go along with this weeks chapters and our upcoming trip, I thought this article was a good example of the new technology being used to explore our oceans. The article is not very long, but the video is eye catching and enjoyable to watch.

Scientists are exploring the U.S Virgin Islands sea floor using sonar data and echo sounders to find out how sea life like coral reefs and sea grasses use the sea habitat, along with creating detailed maps of the area's seabeds. The intensity of the echo sounder reveals more then just the depth, it can tell if the ocean bottom is sandy, soft, hard, covered in coral or other soft plants. Operated by the scientists, The ROV sends back video and images, which can be combined with the visual data to map the seafloor habitat.
All of this data is useful to learn more about the ocean floor, and hopefully in the near future they will be able to develop new technologies to map out the entire world's seabeds.

If that didn't have enough hard evidence for you here is a more detailed article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that discusses the promotion of a healthy marine environment through the improvement of advanced sampling technologies to gain more data collection and a better understanding of marine populations.

http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/olo6thedition/08--Feature%20Article%202.pdf