This article is about an invasive species that is threatening the mussels grown with the method of suspended ropes. Along with facing predators such as crabs, starfish and sea ducks, they are now faced with the threat of tunicates, a group of underwater saclike filter feeders. They grow so fast they suffocate the mussels and the mussels cannot compete for food. It is depleting the amount of mussels farmed and turning a smaller profit for mussel farmers.

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Arts/Entertainment/2011-12-03/article-2823658/Mussels-in-the-making/1

This article shows the oyster population depleting at a scary rate.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/oysters-disappearing-worldwide-110203.html

The major causes of this decline in the population is due to over harvesting, or damage to the reefs because of trawling or dredging. Trawling, as we have learned, is dragging a net on the sea floor to catch wild fish. Dredging is a technique often used for shellfish that rakes or scrapes the sea beds to harvest the wild animals. These three reasons are all due to harvesting wild oysters. What are some possible ways to save this declining oyster population? This is perhaps something that could be fixed with oyster aquaculture. In my opinion, the farming of oysters is a good alternative because it does no damage to the reef or other organisms that live on it, since the oysters rest above the sea bottom until they are ready for harvest.

This link shows discusses one of the major problems of open net fish farming, which is the fish that escape the nets. These escaped fish can interbreed with wild fish, causing the extinction of some species, they compete with the native fish for natural resources, and establish themselves as invasive species. They disrupt the environments of some already struggling species. Do you think there are any other productive ways for us to fix this problem, but still continue in the fish farming industry?

this is the link http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/issues/aquaculture_escapes.aspx

This article talks about the negative effects of salmon farming. The biggest issues involved in salmon aquaculture are wastes are expelled directly into the coastal waters. They are not caught in currents, so they set in the bottom, bacteria forms, and kill the organisms living on the bottom sea floor, which is the base of the food chain. Solid and liquid wastes from the fish farms also contain large amounts of nitrogen, causing harmful algal blooms.

http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/oceans06/janice/janice.htm

(this is not my group post, although we will be talking about aquaculture)

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/ManateeNotes1.html#17

This website is all about manatees, providing information about their behavioral patterns, characteristics, lifestyle, and conservation efforts. It answers a lot of frequently asked questions we have about manatees, such as what has been done to protect them. Manatees are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and Florida Manatee Protection Act. We will start seeing a lot more manatees around Florida in the next few months, because they will start to venture here for warmer waters. It is a good idea for us to learn about them and what we can do to reduce our negative effects on the manatees, since you may come in contact with a few very soon! Manatees have no natural predators, and are often killed by red tide and human interference (speedboats, propellors, etc.), so being aware of the manatees would help reduce the death rate.

This website provides some easy tips for protection as well! http://www.savethemanatee.org/bttips.htm

This is a video of a reef restoration process called "coral gardening" which is being practiced in Fiji.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjGUoR-CLK0&feature=related

When I first heard that they were removing coral from the reefs to do this I thought that may be destructive and counter-productive to their cause, but watching the video, they make excellent progress in the restoration of the reefs, and the coral growth in just six months is actually amazing. Really cool video and concept!

This article is about Kure Atoll, a coral atoll in the Hawaiian islands, and the dangers it faces. Although this atoll is in relatively cool waters, it is still home to many corals and large invertebrates such as echinoderms, crustacea and mollusks, and supports many dolphins, jacks, sharks, goatfish, and chub, as well as dragon morays, knifejaws, and masked angelfish. The atoll is also a popular nesting site for fish such as shearwaters, petrels, tropicbirds, boobies, frigatebirds, albatrosses, terns and noddies, and supports many more wintering birds during their migrations. Kure atoll is a very important pupping and resting area for the Hawaiian monk seal. The atoll faces serious trouble from human interference. The monk seal population decreased in the 1960s due to human interference from the coast guard station, and the reef is constantly being bombarded with fishing nets and other debris due to a strong current from the pacific. Scientists also fear that the reef will be underwater soon. Once the reef stops growing at a faster rate than the atoll is subsiding, the whole reef will sink underwater. This is a problem since we have seen the monk seal and many birds use this as a nesting ground. What could we do to protect Kure atoll from human carelessness (nets and debris)? And is there anything we can think of to protect Kure atoll from eventually sinking underwater, or is this a natural process we can't stop from happening?

forgot the article.... http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/about/kure.php

Our group will be presenting on the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, and my presentation in particular deals with Hurricane Wilma, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever to be recorded. I posted this link because it addresses the effect of Wilma on an area that hits close to home, which is the Florida keys. This link provides a detailed account of the hurricane including it's history, meteorological data, storm surge flooding, and economic and environmental effects. Although the most damaging effects of Wilma were recorded in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, this link provides a good analysis of how the storm formed and grew to a greater intensity and shows the effects of the hurricane in an area in Florida. This link from the NOAA provides just a small look into the damage caused by Hurricane Wilma, which we will learn more about in Thursday's presentation.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/media/key/Research/wilma.pdf