Australia is planning to create the world's biggest protected marine area in the Coral Sea. It will be the same size (around) as the United States. This will be extremely beneficial because the Coral Sea has coral reefs, sandy cays, deep sea plains, and canyons. Protecting this area will in turn be protecting the green turtles and many species of seabirds that inhabit the islands in the Coral Sea. Right now there is a 90 day public consultation period which the government claims is finalizing the plan. This article caught my attention because I have a fascination with the biodiversity of Australia.

This article is about the melting sea ice. I found this very interesting because I thought melting ice was as simple as when more ice melts, sea levels rise. However, when sea ice melts the sea level does not rise because the mass of the ice was already in the ocean. The effects of melting sea ice are not entirely clear to scientists. All they know is that with less ice, less heat is reflected and more heat is absorbed by the ocean, making temperatures warmer. One potential change is in precipitation. Does anyone have any predictions about how this melting sea ice will effect us?

Off the coast of El Hierro an underwater eruption happened this October for the first time in forty years. It has caused a mix of volcanic gases and a mix of other rocky materials to create a greenish color of water that stretches about 30 kilometers wide and 100 kilometers long. Read this article for more details and an impressive picture. The picture looks really cool.

Even though this article is not very scientific, it was pretty cool and relevant to the ocean so I thought I should share it with the class. Back in 1917, a British ship called "Mantola" sank a mile down into the ocean with about eighteen million dollars worth of silver on it. The boat was discovered this month by an organization called "Odyssey Marine Exploration". This organization specializes in searching the ocean for lost treasures such as this one. Odyssey will receive 80 % of the silver's value and the British government will receive the rest. Has anyone ever heard of the organization Odyssey Marine Exploration before reading this article? Personally, I had never heard of this organization. I was simply aware that organizations with the same purpose existed, but not what they were. Hope you all find this as interesting as I did.

This article provides interesting background information about waves that not everyone may know. It also includes information that I will be discussing in the presentation tomorrow. Of all the interesting facts the article lists, facts four, seven, fourteen, and sixteen are the facts that relate to the wave types and characteristics portion of Group 1's presentation on waves tomorrow. In order to follow along with the presentation more actively, review the facts I have noted.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110928180407.htm
A new method was developed that allows scientists to figure out the threat levels for marine turtle populations. This in turn allows the scientists to develop more effective conservation strategies. It is a very short article, but an interesting scientific update. The tool that is being used is called Regional Management Units. Hopefully as science progresses in the future, more tools like this will be developed so that we will have less endangered species. I am a huge animal lover, so it makes me happy to see developments that help endangered species. I would be interested to see if anyone else has heard of recent developments in this category.

http://colorado.edu/news/r/74a4fa9c1ba79a676a780e771a11422b.html

There is a blanket of sea ice in the Atlantic Ocean that the University of Colorado has noted that it reached its lowest point in 2011. This point happens to be the second lowest point it has ever been since they started recording it in 1979. This is another obvious sign of global warming that people are ignoring. I also found it very interesting that it was a discovery made by a college. Does anyone know if University of Miami has made any interesting discoveries?

http://www.brighterenergy.org/26528/news/marine-hydro/lockheed-martin-to-collaborate-in-oregon-wave-power-project/

I found this really interesting because it is a great idea. Lockheed Martin is using the waves of Oregon's coast as a renewable energy resource. Although this sounds more like it would be using the ocean rather than helping it, by using renewable energy we would slow down the rate of global warming which is an issue that does affect the ocean.

http://seapics.com/feature-subject/environment/ocean-pollution-pictures-001.html

I found these pictures extremely sad but at the same time effective. When educating an audience on Ocean Pollution, it seems more real of a problem when you show pictures rather than just telling them boring facts about it. Therefore showing pictures of animals being affected by ocean pollution is more likely to get people to care more about the ocean. This page also gives good background information on ocean pollution. It mentions some sources such as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other heavy metal poisons.

Am I the only one that feels pictures of affected animals work really well because I am an animal person, or do others agree?