http://www.seaweed.ie/

This website gives overall information about everything there is to know about seaweed. From the introduction all the way down to aquaculture, there are great details that show why and how seaweed is important. Seaweed is very important to our environment because it gives us food, valuable substances, helps develop medicines, and much more. It helps maintain coral reefs which are detrimental to the oceanic environment and our environment because many organisms live around these reefs. It is a rich source of biomass energy and can be turned into a sustainable biofuel.

Seaweed aquaculture is very popular among the Far East countries. Seaweed can be controlled as it is grown through many processes whether its off shore or in the water. Seaweed Aquaculture requires very low technology and a high labor content which is why it thrives in Far East countries. The West is trying to develop easier ways to obtain an aquaculture of seaweed without needing much labor and using better technology. Do you know how the West could do such a thing?

http://www.nodeju.com/8516/bp-oil-spill-kills-dolphins.html

This site tells us a little about the marine life that was killed as a result of BP's oil spill, mainly focusing on dolphins though. Still, after almost a year and a hlaf, dolphins and many other species are being killed by the massive oil spill. The death rates of many of these species are being hidden to the public because they do not want to devastate the people. Just this year, about 6,500 dolphins were killed as a result of British Petroleum's oil spill. Many dolphin carcasses have been washed ashore all over different beaches. The dead animals washing ashore are estimated to only account for 2% of the total deaths of marine life.

The oil spills that occur have got to stop. If they do occur though, we need a better way to extract oil from the ocean that is not that expensive. Could you think of a way to extract this oil in an unexpensive way? How can we even stop oil spills from occuring?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091229-sharks-liver-oil-swine-flu-vaccine/

Threatened species of sharks were being killed for a substance called squalene, which is extracted from shark livers, and is a important part for the swine flu vaccine. Many of these sharks that are being hunted are endangered species, and continue to be caught by commercial fishers. For instance, the gulper shark, a very high producer of squalene, has been named endangered and continues to be hunted, so the gulper sharks are close to extinction, especially with their low reproductive rates. Many of these deep sea sharks are caught by bottom trawling, which we went over in class.

Thankfully, the hunt for squalene has declined since the swine flu epidemic has passed, but some commercial fishers are still asked to hunt for these species. Also, squalene has stopped being used in many cosmetic stores because of the pressure from conservation groups. Many drug companies are looking for alternatives but there is not many options that are high enough grade. Could you think of something that could replace the use of shark livers? What other resources contain squalene?

This websitei is a lecture from Tulane University that gives detailed descriptions and pictures on everything to do with plate tectonics. It covers the tectonic theories that were once proposed, sea-floor spreading, types of plate boundaries, and other affiliations with plate tectonics in great depth. The theory of plate tectonics describes how the outer layers of the Earth move and deform.

Plate Tectonics is very important to our knowledge because it has discovered many events and continues to discover many historical events today. We have learned that the Earth used to be in the form of a single continent, called Pangea. As plate movement took place and started to spread over Earth, we discovered that this theory of plate tectonics is the reason for the movement. The different continents and land masses that are spread out now, are supposed to fit almost like a puzzle back into one super-continent, which was discovered based off many observations.

Overall, Plate tectonics are very important to know about as they tell us many things that have happened in the past, that explain why our world is what it is today. This topic should be studied often and thoroughly as it plays a key role in unraveling historical events.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/01/endangeredhabitats.conservation

This website gives basic information of the destruction of Mangroves. 20% of the worlds mangroves have been destroyed since 1980. These mangroves need to be better protected as they serve a great deal of purposes for the environment. The protection needs to come immediately and countries need to act in more efficient and sustainable manners. These mangroves provide a lot of protection against erosion, cyclones, and wind. The ecosystems in all of the mangroves provide wood, fodder, honey and other things for humans as well as provide habitats for many different species and protect them from pollution and sediment as they filter them out.

The main causes for the destruction of mangroves are populations pressuring to move in and take the area, conversion of shrimp and fish farming, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and pollution and natural disasters. Mangroves are important wetlands and most countries have now banned the conversion of mangroves into anything. The awareness of the importance of mangroves has increased as in recent years the decrease in mangroves has declined overall. The decrease in mangroves can cause severe losses of biodiversity and livelihoods, can cause salt intrusion in coastal areas and other things.

All in all, I think mangroves need to be protected more efficiently in order to protect the habitats and species living in the area as they serve an important role in the environment

Here is a great resource for information on Hurricane Katrina. We will be studying hurricanes in chapter 7 as well as in these next classes so I just wanted to go ahead and put this on here for reference on our group project as well.

This is from the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive hurricane to strike the U.S. In terms of economic losses, this was the most devastating, but in human losses it was not the most devastating. At first, it was a small storm, then it turned into a category 5 as the winds moved from the ocean to land with winds estimated at 175 mph.

This site is very helpful in understanding Hurricane Katrina as it has many pictures, statistics, satellite images, maps, and more.http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/index.html

Here is an article that was written by a researcher as she is on the journey of collecting sediments on the ocean floor. The different types of ways to collect the sediments, with all different types of machines, and ways to handle the sediments after they have been collected are explained in the article. This article is informing on the process of collecting sediments with different types of data collectors, how to handle the sediments after they have been brought up to the surface, and what is necessary to keep the collections sustainable.

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/collecting-sediments-on-the-ocean-floor/

Although only a couple ways of collecting sediments are mentioned here, I do not think the one talked about in this article is mentioned in the text book, so it is good to see different research tactics.

The threat of PCBs in the ocean are very dangerous. Through a process called bioaccumulation, many animals at the top of the food chain are eating smaller prey that are contaminated with these PCBs and killing many of the oceans top predators and prey. If this problem were to persist it could possibly wipe out a great deal of the ocean's living organisms and hurt the food source for human beings.

Coming from Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, I am very familiar with pollutants affecting the human food source and the organisms within it. Many of the Oysters in the Bay have been depleted and the fish are getting sick from the runoff of lawns which carries fertilizer, manure, and other nutrients. Also, mercury and many different types of bacteria are getting into the water which causes rashes and other types of defects to humans. Here is the article which describes the Chesapeake Bay pollution problems. http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/07102009/rectop152727_32183.shtml