October 2021 Seawords by Marine Option Program

SEAW ORDS TheMarineOption Program Newsletter

October 2021

Volume XXXVI, Number 9

Aloha, and welcome to the October issue of Seawords! Happy Halloween! This month, we're diving into the deep sea! Our cover this month features art by MOP student Alyssa Perez of the anglerfish, undoubtedly one of the most notorious denizens of the abyssal depths. However, this vast expanse is home to many mysterious creatures, including the Japanese spider crab (page 10), and is being considered as a source of energy (page 14). Learn more about it in this issue! W hat would you like to see more of in Seawords?Send in your thoughts, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @mopseawords!

Zada Boyce-Quentin, SeawordsEditor, & Matilda Phillips, Associate Editor

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Contents 2: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 4: IW IKUAMO?O 8: CRYOPRESERVATION: THE FUTURE OF CORAL 10: CREATURE OF THE MONTH 14: DEEP SEA BIOLUMINESCENCE 16: KEEPING PACE 18: DEEP SEA MINING

Photo Credits Fr ont Page: Anglerfish. Artwork by: Alyssa Perez, UHM MOP Student. Tabl e of Contents: Japanese spider crabs. By: clio1789, Flickr. Back Cover : Jellyfish. By: Russell Darling, Flickr.

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Lighthouse. Photo by: Kaelan Duncan, Flickr.

Iwikuamo?o By: Keolohilani Lopes Jr., UHM MOP Alumnus

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Sitting on a ship, gazing over a rack of SCUBA cylinders and watching the sea rush by as we head back to Pearl Harbor from Papah?naumoku?kea, I wonder: how did I get here? Exhausted from 40 days at sea, salty from sea spray, the musty smell of damp clothing strong in my nose, I think of Jeff. The University of Hawai?i flagship campus of M?noa attracts, houses, and nurtures some of the brightest minds in marine science. In part, this accomplishment is due to this man and the Marine Option Program. I am in no way claiming to be one of these brilliant scientists, but Jeff Kuwabara, the Iwikuamo?o (backbone) of the program, is the answer to my earlier question. This article is not my story, nor is it a story of the one or many that have walked through his doors and built a career from the foundation of this program. This is a story of the man, the myth, the friend that has impacted each and every one of our lives in some way. I think I speak for everyone who has walked through the MOP doors, unzipped the QUEST tent, strapped up their SCUBA gear, drank Jeff?s specially prepared coffee with hot sauce and spices, developed their dream career from everything that is taught at MOP, or received a letter of recommendation or a life lesson from Jeff when I say that his impact on so many people cannot be overstated. I am closer to Jeff?s age than most students, but the intimidation I felt walking into the MOP office quickly faded after speaking with Jeff and understanding his passion for education in marine science. I am 100%sure we all felt that warmth when we initially walked into the office where we would eventually study, socialize, plan outings and dives, and have a snack. It is these qualities that can?t easily be conveyed in grant reports, nor statistically quantified, but the sense of community built at MOP is one of the most important things about this program. MOP alumna Taylor Williams on a dive. Photo by: Keolohilani Lopes Jr.

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As the next wave of sea spray hit the ship and drizzled down on me, I couldn?t help but think of the four former MOP QUESTers currently on this expedition to Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument (PMNM). Each of these people have traveled vastly different courses to get here, with MOP being the common denominator. Taylor Williams (Photo 1) is currently finishing her masters at the College of Charleston studying a highly destructive algae discovered in PMNM. Kailey Pascoe and Ashley Pugh, meanwhile, are studying corals at UH Hilo, and I am working as a field technician for PMNM here on O?ahu. I feel strongly that it is all due to our Iwikuamo?o, Jeff Kuwabara, at the M?noa MOP branch. Outside of this expedition, there are hundreds of MOP alumni working in marine science both here in Hawai?i and abroad. Academic advisor lineage trees are frequently discussed to see what ?school?of thought any particular Ph.D. came from and who mentored them, and who mentored their mentors, and so on. I would argue that the academic linage tree growing from our humble M?noa study center would rival any other. Jeff has developed this program to take the passion each student comes with, nurture it, stoke the flame, and show them the path to attain their goals. After even a short conversation with Jeff, a student unsure of what direction they would like their career to take can leave his office with a plan of action and multiple suggestions for programs to look into and people to contact. Without this type of positive guidance and mentoring, many might not have realized their full potential. Currently M?noa MOP has the largest enrollment of student faces that the ?M?noa MOP-ulation?may have ever had (Photo 2). Factor in the 16 years that Jeff has been the M?noa MOP Coordinator and you can begin to see the magnitude of his influence. Jeff?s humor is a mix of an excitable Steven Wright with the sensibility of Christopher Moore, but less funny, which ironically makes Current MOP students at the M?noa campus. him funnier. I knew after the first few Photo by: Keolohilani Lopes Jr. meetings I had with Jeff that he was really cool, straightforward, and most importantly, puts students?interests first. There was a lot of amazing work done in the PMNM this past field season, and the chaos of the past year has taught me to appreciate it more. Focusing on appreciating things-- my education, health, and my fantastic job-- brought into focus my gratitude for Jeff Kuwabara, the Iwikuamo?o of the Marine Option Program at the M?noa campus, where I and so many others began our journey to better understand the wonders of the ocean and increased our fascination of this beautiful sea and earth. OCTOBER 2021

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Reef fish. Photo by: Cheryl, Flickr.

Cryopreservation: The Future of Coral By: Alexandrya Robinson, UHM MOP Student

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Climate change is affecting all the world?s oceans not only biologically, but also chemically and physically. These changes are especially impactful forthe most biodiverse areas in the ocean-- coral reefs. Currently facing ocean acidification, more extreme weather events, and higher ocean temperatures, there is no denying that coral reefs are in danger. In 2015, one of the biggest bleaching events on record took place among the Hawaiian Islands, causing between 40%-80%of the coral cover to experience bleaching. An average of 40%coral loss around the islands, affecting coral up to 70 feet from the surface, is attributed in part to the rise in ocean temperatures. Researchers at the University of Hawai?i at M?noa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) are tackling the looming threat of losing these essential habitats that house 25%of ocean biodiversity. Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually in order to grow and colonize. When reproducing asexually, a polyp divides and creates a clone of itself in order to grow the colony. The sexual reproduction stage of coral growth, on the other hand, involves synchronized spawning events that are dictated by ocean temperatures, day length, and lunar phases. Spawning corals release both male and female gametes that are mixed together by the currents and fertilized. These fertilized gametes then settle and create a new colony. Other species release bundles of both male and female gametes, or release planula larvae. Corals are getting a helping hand with this process because researchers are now collecting sperm and freeze drying it in liquid nitrogen to preserve the samples. The aim of this is cryopreservation, which scientists hope will allow for preservation of at-risk coral species and new propagation of reefs. Specimens were held for over a year for the next spawning event. Other samples were held in a gene bank for up to a year. Finally, some of the specimens were allowed to fertilize and grow; 45%of those actually survived six months after fertilization, an incredibly high rate due to corals being delicate animals. This is very promising for the future of coral restoration, especially if the success rate increases as research continues.

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Japanese spider crab. Photo by: Toshihiro Gamo, Flickr.

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Creature of the Month: Japanese Spider Crab By: Haley Chasin, UHM MOP Student OCTOBER 2021

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Many deep sea creatures have inspired the design of monsters or alien creatures in film.The Japanese spider crab, Macrocheira kaempferi, is no exception. Growing up to 3.7 meters in length, this massive arthropod is one of the largest crabs in the world. The Japanese spider crab gets its name from its similarities to a spider, another branch of arthropods.Like a spider, M. kaempferi has no backbone, an external skeleton, and multiple-jointed appendages. Its carapace is shaped like a pear, with females having a wider and shorter abdomen. The longest of the walking, or ambulatory legs are the meri (the fourth leg). The surface of the spider crab?s body is covered with spines mottled in color so the animal can blend in with the seafloor. Two slender spines extend out between the eyes. Their eyestalks are short and stubby with antennae reduced. As such, their sensory system is not as acute as other decapods in the area.These crabs are scavengers whose diet consists of algae, fish, carrion, crustaceans, and detritus. The Japanese spider crab can be found in depths anywhere from 50 to 600 meters, usually inhabiting waters 200 meters deep and then coming to shallower waters during their breeding season in early spring to spawn and to molt, forming huge congregations.

Japanese spider crab. Photo by: Hans Hillewaert, Wikimedia Commons.

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Japanese spider crab. Photo by: Josh More, Flickr.

Females carry the eggs on their back and lower bodies.They can lay as many as 1,500,000 eggs.After these eggs hatch,they go through two zoeal stages, lasting 12-37 days, and one megalopal stage, lasting 30 days. Younger crabs stay in shallower, warmer waters and can camouflage themselves using small objects like sponges and anemones. This becomes less of a concern as they grow, since at their full size, the spider crab has very few predators.These crabs can live for up to 100 years. M. kaempferi are a delicacy in Japan, eaten both raw and cooked. The Japanese do not fish for them during the spring, as this is their reproduction period. Japanese spider crabs are also coveted because their walking legs are so long, and the tendons from the legs or chelipeds are used in research. There is insufficient data on their conservation status, but the catch of the species has declined in the last 40 years. Some researchers are devising a plan for recovery involving restocking juvenile crabs artificially cultured in fisheries.

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Deep Sea Bioluminescence By: Brenna Loving, UH Windward CC MOP Student Many of the deepest depths of the world?s oceans have yet to be studied and understood, but what scientists have determined is that these depths are far from desolate and could provide us with insight into how the process of bioluminescence works. Creatures of the deep use light to accomplish various goals such as luring, warning, deceiving predators, and attracting sexual mates. Bioluminescence in the deep sea ranges from creatures like the iconic angler fish, sea cucumbers, and jellyfish amongst many others. In her book ?Below the Edge of Darkness?, Dr. Edith Widder discusses one of her most famous inventions, the illuminated E-jelly, used to venture down into the depths below the twilight zone to study bioluminescent creatures. But what about the vast areas of light we are able to see with the naked eye from shore?Charles Darwin even stumbled upon luminescent waves on his travels. There is still much to be learned from the glowing phenomenon, but scientists are making headway by discovering a new method to study luminescent patches in the ocean. Dr. Steven D. Miller began making way on the technique of using satellites to observe large bioluminescent events nearly 20 years ago while observing weather satellites in a USNaval research center in Monterey, California. Dr. Miller observed a glowing patch in the Indian Ocean that appeared to be the size of Connecticut. With each passing year, new advancements in technology have allowed scientists to locate large patches of sea bioluminescence in order to further investigate and send out research teams to those areas. The goal is to determine how these bioluminescent individuals emit their beautiful glow, its effect on the ecosystem, and how to best preserve these stars of the sea. 14 | Seawords

Bioluminescent waves. Photo by: Andrew Wallace, Flickr.

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Fish. Photo by: worldfish, Flickr.

KEEPING PACE By: Georgia Johnson-King, UHM MOP Student

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Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, also known as WHOI, have recently found that the impacts of heat stress on some corals have lessened over time. A study published in the Science Daily Journal and titled ?Increasing Coral Reef Resilience Through Successive Marine Heatwaves?, detailed the marine researchers' discovery. Researchers used data from three separate heatwave events that impacted the Phoenix Island Protected Area (PIPA) in the Pacific Ocean to compare coral community recovery rates, finding that after the most recent 2015-2016 heatwave, the coral die-off was less severe than expected. "It's easy to lose faith in coral reefs," said the author of the study,Michael Fox, a postdoctoral scientist and coral reef ecologist at WHOI. "But in PIPA, which is protected from local stressors, and where reefs have enough time to recover between heat waves, the coral populations are doing better than expected." Researchers monitored corals within a 400,000 km2 area within PIPA, using daily satellite data and temperature logging to examine the impact. The first heat wave was between 2002-2003, the second in 2009-2010, and the last in 2015-2016. In 2008, the Republic of Kiribati and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated PIPA as a World Heritage site. Many of the reef-building species survived the heatwaves. "We're seeing areas that were devoid of corals after 2002-2003 that are now flourishing with most of the original species," Fox said. Although the study shows that coral communities are becoming more heat-resilient, it does not show why, or how the effects can be mirrored in other reefs suffering from heat waves. This is the next question researchers at WHOI will look into. Despite the promising results of the study, there is still much action needed to be taken to reverse the repercussions of climate change.

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Ocean waves. Photo by: Joel Hatfield, Flickr.

DEEP SEA MINING: Can Nodules Save the World? By: Chloe Molou, UHH SeawordsLiaison OCTOBER 2021

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Waves. Photo by: Alice Radford, Flickr.

As climate change continues to ravage the planet, our reliance on renewable energy and electric cars will only increase as we work to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. This shift will increase the already high demand for metals like cobalt, which are needed to make electric car batteries, as well as other metals whose land-based reserves are decreasing. Polymetallic nodules are being proposed as a new and alternative source for these precious metals. First discovered during the 1872-6 expedition of the HMS Challenger, these nodules are small black clumps that take shape around things that have fallen to the seabed, such as shark?s teeth or shells. The nodules grow by about 1 cm every million years by absorbing the metal compounds found in the surrounding water, which is why they are so rich in metals like cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese. There are estimated to be trillions of nodules currently covering the seafloor, most notably in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)-- an area that covers a 4 million km2 stretch from Mexico to Hawai'i. In the CCZ alone, there is estimated to be 6 times more cobalt and 3 times more nickel than what can currently be found in all land-based mines combined. Of course, this discovery sparked the interest of mining companies around the world, with over 20 exploration permits already granted to the International Seabed Authority, a division of the United Nations. Currently, the mining and harvesting of these nodules is highly contested, with conservationists and other scientists asking for a moratorium on mining regulations until the ecological consequences of retrieving them are better understood, especially in an already polluted and heat-stressed ocean. 20 | Seawords

On the other side of the debate, mining companies and those that support nodule harvesting argue how important these metals will be in creating electric car batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels ? as well as reducing the environmental impacts of land mining as demand for these metals continues to rise. However, exploring the deep-sea and extracting the nodules will be no easy feat for these companies. To harvest the nodules, massive surface ships will be needed with pipelines attached to robot bulldozers. These bulldozers will dredge the seafloor before pumping the nodules back up the surface. This scale of extraction would not only be catastrophic to organisms like anemones, sponges, corals, nematode worms, etc., which depend on soft sediments found in the deep sea, but the ecosystem as a whole. Plumes of sediment created by the dredging could easily suffocate these organisms and travel upward, poisoning food chains as toxic metals are introduced into the system. As food and energy are scarce in the deep sea, most ecological processes are exceedingly slow-paced. A major disturbance like deep-sea mining would take centuries for the ecosystem to recover from, if it ever could. In June of this year, one member of the ISA, Nauru, activated a sub-clause in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea known as the ?two-year rule?, which gives the ISA two years to decide on regulations for deep-sea mining, before companies are allowed to begin mining. As this is no longer a question of ?if?but ?when,?how is it ensured that whatever regulations are agreed upon will be enforced?What does this mean for the future of the world?s oceans?The fight to save the planet now has us asking what we are willing to sacrifice to do so. OCTOBER 2021

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M OP Even t s Calen dar

Oct ober For more information about events, contact UH Manoa: mopsc@hawaii.edu UH Hilo: uhhmop@hawaii.edu

Su n .

M on .

Tu es.

Wed.

5 UHH: Reef Classr oom

6 UHH: Reef

Tr ain in g 2 6-7PM

Classr oom Tr 6-7PM

UHM : 1 UHH: 2

11 UHH: QUEST In ver t s ID Session 6-7PM

18 UHH: QUEST Algae ID Session 6-7PM

24/ 31

25 UHH: Cr eepy Cr it t er Ph ot o Con t est Su bm ission s Du e

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Coral. By Tyler T, Flickr.

Th u r s.

Fr i.

Sat .

UHH: QUEST Fish ID ain in g 2 Session 6-7PM

UHM : Hyper bar ic Tr eat m en t Cn t r Tou r 2-4:30PM

UHH: QUEST In ver t s ID Session 6-7PM

UHH: Reef Su r veys Field Tr ip

23 UHM : M ak apu 'u Tidepools Hik e 8-12PM

UHH: QUEST Algae ID Session 6-7PM

KEY: 1: QUEST ID Exam 6-8PM 2: QUEST Fish ID Session 6-7PM OCTOBER 2021

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Vol u m e XXXVI, Nu m ber 8 Editor : Zada Boyce-Qu en tin Dr. Cyn th ia H u n ter (em in en ce gr ise) Jeffr ey Ku wabar a (em in en ce gr ise) W r itin g Team : Br en n a Lovin g, Ch l oe M ol ou , Caitl in Tsu ch iya, Al exan dr ya Robin son , H al ey Ch asin , an d Geor gia Joh n son -Kin g Seawor ds- M ar in e Option Pr ogr am Un iver sity of H awai ?i , Col l ege of Natu r al Scien ces 2450 Cam pu s Road, Dean H al l 105A H on ol u l u , H I 96822-2219 Tel eph on e: (808) 956-8433 Em ail : <seawor ds@ h awaii.edu > W ebsite: <h ttp:/ / www.h awaii.edu / m op> Seawor ds is th e m on th l y n ewsl etter n ewsl etter of th e M ar in e Option Pr ogr am at th e Un iver sity of H awai?i. Opin ion s expr essed h er ein ar e n ot n ecessar il y th ose of th e M ar in e Option Pr ogr am or of th e Un iver sity of H awai?i. Su ggestion s an d su bm ission s ar e wel com e. Su bm ission s m ay in cl u de ar ticl es, ph otogr aph y,ar t wor k , or an yth in g th at m ay be of in ter est to th e m ar in e com m u n ity in H awai ?i. an d ar ou n d th e wor l d. All photos ar e taken by M OP unless other wise cr edited.