The Marine Scientist - November 2011

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No.37 November 2011

J O I N

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O L U T I O N

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Talking Points 4. In this extended look at global marine science: The strange evolution of

CONTENTS

Issue No 37 Novembert 2011

the bubble rafting snail; a close look at chemical warfare amongst the beauty of the coral reef; how washing your clothes can impact the environment; why climate models have underestimated the retreat of Arctic sea ice; giant amoebas from the deep; the first video of tool-using fish; and how whales wash seals into the jaws of death.

Krill seekers: changes in the pelagic ecosystem of SW England?

18. Jeroen Van Der Kooij and Beatriz A. Roel of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture, share some of the surprising early results from a scientific cruise off SW England to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge of fish stocks, especially the smaller pelagic species that could offer a more sustainable source of fish protein.

Showing it like it is – information for Scotland’s Marine National Plan 22. At 468,994 km2 Scotland’s coast and waters out to the 200 mile limit, with their varied landscapes and habitats, represent 61% of the total UK sea area and an enormous economic and wildlife resource. Much of the responsibility for managing this vast and valuable area rests with the devolved government of Scotland. In this article John Baxter of Scottish Natural Heritage gives an overview of the developments that led up to the publication of Scotland’s Marine Atlas a key management asset.

AUVs and sharks: an interview with Chris Clark and Chris Lowe 25. As the boundaries between ecology and engineering continue to blur, this article shows how a collaboration between a team of biologists fascinated by sharks and a group of computer scientists and engineers dedicated to furthering the science of robotics, joined forces to use an AUV to track and study the world’s most enigmatic fish.

Tsunamis 30. Tsunamis seem to be ever present on the media and in the press; such is their destructive power and their sudden appearance. The United Nations through the IOC has put in place early warning measures around the globe.

This compilation explains the current status of the measures that will save lives, while a cutting edge seismic system should increase global coverage of early detection.

Technology 32. How deep sea mapping techniques can detect gas seeps on the seafloor; putting Argo floats to work on ocean acidification; a new diving bell handling system; and acoustic instruments measured Deepwater Horizon oil.

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EDITORIAL

Exploiting our seas

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ntegrated planning of the seas around any country is becoming an essential as populations grow and more and more demands are placed upon our marine environment. In the UK these demands include the traditional fishing and shipping activities, that have sustained generations of workers and their communities, but these are now gradually being supplemented and in some cases supplanted by growing leisure use, the requirement for ‘sustainable’ energy sources, the search for minerals and aggregates, hydrocarbon extraction, sub-seabed carbon storage, and coastal developments.

Recognising the pressures and potential conflicts in our coastal waters and in an attempt to bring some order to their management the Scottish Parliament enacted the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010; the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act had been enacted the previous year.

Amongst the planning that followed in the wake of the Scottish act was the compilation and publication of ‘Scotland’s Marine Atlas’, described by Richard Lockhead, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment as “ a unique evidence base to help develop future objectives and inform marine planning and management.......It draws on well established marine science and monitoring programmes, economic data and a wide range of other sources, demonstrating how they can be interpreted spatially”. John Baxter, from Scottish Natural Heritage, describes the need for and development of ‘Scotland’s Marine Atlas’ as a key step in

Kelvin Boot Editor

managing the diverse and valuable Scottish marine environment.

A first step in environmental management is to assess that which has to be managed. There cannot be many who are not aware of the desperate declines shown by fish populations, which are as likely to have serious environmental consequences as they are the economic and social impacts we have witnessed. Had we but known what we were changing at the time, we might, just might, have approached fisheries in a different way. But, while science from hindsight cannot bring back the past it might be useful for managing the future – a key lesson is that we have to understand, assess and enumerate before we exploit. Gathering such knowledge is a primary role of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) which has a stated objective to: “ensure there are healthy, sustainable fish stocks for the future.”

Changing from depleted fisheries to more abundant species may help white fish stocks recover, but there are few data and, for many species, no stock assessments for this potentially rich

No.37 November 2011

resource. Cefas scientists Jeroen Van Der Kooij and Beatriz A. Roel share with Marine Scientist some early and surprising results from a survey off south west England aimed at bridging that gap in knowledge. Much of the information gained during this survey came from the use of sophisticated techniques unavailable to our predecessors, which combined with more traditional sampling provide a more complete picture of what is going on in our seas.

The marriage of engineering, science and technology (there are three in this marriage!) is a fitting and recurring theme for Marine Scientist. Sharks are perhaps the most familiar of animals yet remain amongst the most enigmatic, only hitting the headlines when an unfortunate swimmer falls vicitim to one of the rare attacks on humans. Many species are apex predators, all are fascinating creatures which are increasingly the focus of many branches of science, technology and engineering, yet they remain elusive, while we remain ignorant of much of their lives. Now, a partnership between biology and computer science and engineering has resulted in an innovative approach to studying sharks. By using a modified AUV they have shown that through unique sensors the underwater robot can ‘shadow’ a live shark in its natural environment. In an interview with Marine Scientist biologist Chris Lowe explains how this will help fish biologists, while computer scientist Chris Clark sees it as an opportunity to develop robotics.

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No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 3

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TALKING POINTS

In bubble-rafting snails,

T

he bubble-rafting snails, members of the family Janthinidae, secrete mucus from their "foot," a broad, muscular organ at the base of the snail's body. But instead of using slime to get around or to communicate chemically, as other types of snails do, they trap air inside quick-setting mucus to make bubbles that glom together and form rafts on which the snails spend the rest of their lives. Scientists have known about the snails' peculiar lifestyle since the 1600s, but they've wondered how the rafting habit evolved. What, exactly, were the step-by-step adaptations along the way?

University of Michigan graduate student Celia Churchill and coauthors believe they've found the answer to that intriguing question. "We had a pretty good idea that that janthinids evolved from snails that live on the sea floor," Churchill said. The question was, which specific group of snails gave rise to the janthinids, and how did the janthinid lineage make the transition from bottom dwellers to surface surfers?

To find the answer, Churchill and colleagues, funded by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society, first sequenced DNA from janthinids and other snail families thought to be closely related to them and used techniques of molecular phylogenetics to identify the ancestral lineage. They discovered that the rafting snails are descendents of sea-floor snails called wentletraps that parasitize corals and sea anemones. The researchers

A rare bubble-rafting brown janthina snail, Recluzia cf. jehennei. Scientists believe the bubble float evolved from an ancestral egg mass Courtesy: Denis Riek

Two female bubble-rafting violet snails, Janthina exigua.

Scientists believe the bubble float evolved from an ancestral egg mass. Egg capsules are attached to the underside of the floats Courtesy: Denis Riek

then asked which specific habits of wentletraps might have morphed over time into raft-building.

Drogues or eggs?

"We thought of two possibilities," said Churchill, "The first was that bubble rafting evolved from juvenile droguing." In many species of marine snails, the juveniles produce a mucus thread called a drogue that helps them drift from place to place like a kite on a string. Adding air-filled mucus bubbles to the drogue thread could result in something resembling a bubble raft. The other possibility was that rafts rep-

4 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

resent modified egg masses.

In wentletraps, which belong to the family Epitoniidae, females remain on their hosts, attached by stretchy mucus threads to tethered egg masses. These egg masses typically have egg capsules in various stages of development, from newly encased embryos to empty husks, and the researchers reasoned that in an intertidal species, the empty husks might trap air, making the egg mass and attached female temporarily buoyant. As in the drogue scenario, adding mucus-filled bubbles to this ephemeral raft could lead to development of permanent bubble rafts.

Either way, getting to the surface would give the snails access to a competition-free food source - floating jellyfish.

To know which scenario was correct, the researchers needed to find a transitional form - a janthinid with char-

Janthina janthina, a bubble-rafting violet snail.

This is the most common janthinid species Courtesy: Denis Riek

acteristics that fall somewhere between the bottom-dwelling epitoniids and the permanently-rafting janthinid known as the common purple snail (Janthina janthina).

They got a break when they received a preserved specimen of the rare rafting snail Recluzia from Australia.

"I started to dissect it, and when I pulled the float away I noticed that there were tiny Recluzia on the float and egg capsules of the large female," Churchill said. These hitchhiking juveniles suggested a life history consistent with the egg mass hypothesis.

Churchill and colleagues went on to reconstruct the path that led from egg mass to bubble raft. In the scenario they propose, the ancestors of janthinids lived on the ocean floor, and females formed tethered egg masses with associated males. The egg mass then became modified for buoyancy, resembling a typical Recluzia float, which serves as raft, egg-storage area and platform for juveniles. In the next step, all individuals began making their own floats, so the hitchhikers were lost, but the floats continued to serve as rafts and (in females) egg mass carriers.

(From materials provided by University of Michigan. Full article in Current Biology, Oct 11th)

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TALKING POINTS

Chemical wars on the reef

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cientists for the first time have identified and mapped the chemical structure of molecules used by certain species of marine seaweed to kill or inhibit the growth of reefbuilding coral. Chemicals found on the surfaces of several species of seaweed have been shown to harm coral, suggesting that competition with these macroalgae could be a factor in the worldwide decline – and lack of recovery – of coral reefs.

Seaweed growth on coral reefs is normally controlled by plant-eating fish, but in many parts of the world, overfishing has dramatically reduced populations of these consumers – allowing the seaweed to dominate.

Understanding these harmful chemicals and the seaweeds that produce them, however, could lead to development of new management techniques aimed at protecting fish that consume the most harmful seaweed. Protecting these herbivores could help reduce the pressure on coral, potentially allowing recovery of some endangered reefs.

“We were able to isolate some of the key molecules responsible for the harmful interactions between seaweed and coral,” said Douglas Rasher, a graduate student in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech. “These molecules are active at very low concentrations, suggesting that they need only to be expressed on the surfaces of the seaweed in minute concentrations to have damaging effects when they are in contact with the coral.”

“Though some corals were more resistant than others, what we have shown is that these seaweeds are generally bad for corals,”

said Mark Hay, who has been studying coral reefs for more than 30 years. “At some level, these seaweed molecules can definitely kill the corals. But at other levels, what they are probably doing is cutting off the options for reefs to recover by making these reefs unreceptive to newlyarriving coral larvae. It is difficult for juvenile corals to colonize and grow through a chemically-toxic layer of seaweed.”

To identify the specific harmful compounds, the researchers produced extracts from the surfaces of the two most harmful seaweeds. By studying the effects of the extracts on the coral with a pulse-amplitude-modulated fluorometer to assess changes in coral photosynthesis, the

researchers narrowed the list of suspect molecules. From the two most chemicallydamaging seaweed species, the researchers isolated and identified four toxic molecules for detailed chemical analysis. Those compounds, identified as acetylated diterpenes and loliolide derivatives, are from a class of organic compounds known as terpenes.

For the future, the researchers hope to learn more about the compounds and how they evolved in seaweed. Contact between seaweed and coral would have been limited on pristine reefs, so Hay and Rasher believe the molecules may have evolved as part of defense against microbes or herbivorous fish. They also want to identify the species

of fish that consume the seaweeds.

“We hope that this information will inform the Fijians to help them make decisions about fisheries management that could help protect the reefs,” said Rasher. “We hope to give them scientifically-guided management tools for maintaining healthy reefs, or for restoring degraded reefs suffering from local human disturbance. It’s becoming clear that the problem for coral is not just one factor,” he said.

“The decline of coral reefs results from a complex interaction between many factors.

Our study shows that regardless of what factors are driving coral decline, once algae become established, they can suppress the recovery of coral.”

Fleecing the environment

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e use more than 240 millions of plastic each year and discarded ‘end-of-life’ plastic debris which can accumulate in marine environments from shore to deep sea as microplastics poses a threat to marine life. Microplastic particles less than 1 mm in size, once ingested by marine organisms, can be taken up and stored in tissues and cells where it becomes a pathway for organic contaminants and the toxic components of the plastic itself. As the world population has increased so has the amount of plastic entering the surface waters of the north eastern Atlantic Ocean. Mark Browne, of University College Dublin, and colleagues from ‘Waters Canada’, and the Universities of Sydney, Australia, and Plymouth and Exeter in the UK, have investigated the occurrence of microplastic

6 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

contaminants on 18 shorelines across six continents from the poles to the Equator, and concluded that much of the particulate matter comes from clothes washing, via sewage.

Forensic evaluation of microplastic from the sediments examined showed that the proportion of polyester and acrylic fibres used in clothing resembled those found in habitats that receive sewage-discharges and the sewage itself, and that there was more in more densely populated areas.

The researchers went on to measure the amount of fibres dis-

charged into the wastewater from three models of frontloading washing machines, following the washing of typical items such as blankets, fleeces and shirts. They found that a garment can shed more than 1900 fibres per wash, so likely to make a significant contribution of plastic fibres to the marine environment. As the human population grows and people use more synthetic textiles, contamination of habitats and animals is likely to increase, the researchers warned. (more in Environmental Science and Technology 30/9/2011)

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TALKING POINTS

Why climate models Arctic sea ice retreat?

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n recent decades, Arctic sea ice has suffered a dramatic decline that exceeds climate model predictions.

The unexpected rate of ice shrinkage has now been explained by researchers at CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Arctic has been losing about 10% of its permanent ice layer every ten years since 1980. Melting of Arctic sea ice has also reached record heights: in mid-September 2007, at the point when sea ice reaches its annual minimum extent, perennial ice covered an area of 4.14 million km².

This record low level was nearly reached again in September 2011 (4.34 million km2). Climate simulations conducted for the IPCC simulate the decline in Arctic sea ice resulting from global warming. They predict that summer ice will disappear altogether at the end of this century. However, when compared with 30 years of detailed satellite observations, these models appear optimistic. Arctic sea ice has thinned on average four times faster over the period 1979-2008 than in the climate simulations.

True observations are therefore not correctly reproduced by these climate models, which were mainly calibrated using global variables, such as world average rather than “regional” temperature.

An explanation for this difference has been put forward by a Franco-American team. It may be due to a mis-

representation of the mechanical behaviour of pack ice and the drift of sea ice in the models. To demonstrate this, the researchers examined the mechanisms of sea ice drift with respect to their physical state (thickness and concentration), then analyzed the model predictions in combination with field data. In 2009, these same scientists demonstrated that there had been a significant acceleration of ice drift in recent decades. This can now be explained by ice thinning, which has accelerated. Sea ice has become thinner and more fragile. Because it breaks up more easily, its mobility is increased, as is its export from the Arctic

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Ocean through the Fram Strait between Greenland and the Svalbard archipelago, followed by its melting.

This mechanism may be exacerbating the present decline in Arctic sea ice.

The drift of sea ice is poorly described by the models, which do not take drift acceleration or southward evacuation of the ice into account. "Modelled" sea ice behaves as though it drifts freely, without any mechanical interaction between ice fragments, whatever the season, period or ice thickness. There is no link in the models between the thinning of the ice and the further acceleration of its drift.

Courtesy of Helen Findlay/PML

To close this gap between simulations and observations in terms of Arctic sea ice thinning rates and decline, the models should take into account an acceleration of ice export through the Fram Strait. This mechanism suggests that, well before the end of the century, the Arctic Ocean will be devoid of sea ice in late summer. The disappearance of Arctic sea ice will probably occur in the next few decades, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, sea routes and off shore exploitation of resources.

The full article can be found in Journal of Geophysical Research on 29 September 2011

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TALKING POINTS

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Giant amoebas in the extreme deep sea

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summer research expedition organized by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and funded by NASA, the National Geographic Society Expeditions Council, Joanie Nasher, Patty and Rick Elkus, has led to the identification of gigantic amoebas at one of the deepest locations on Earth.

During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, the deepest region on the planet, Scripps researchers and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered free-falling/ascending landers equipped with digital video and lights to search the largely unexplored region.

The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 10 centimeters (4 inches), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.

The researchers spotted the life forms at depths up to 10,641 meters (6.6 miles) within the Sirena Deep of the Mariana Trench. The previous depth record for xenophyophores was approximately 7,500 meters (4.7 miles) in the New Hebrides Trench,

Dropcam Courtesy of Shelbi Randenburg

although sightings in the deepest portion of the Mariana Trench have been reported. Scientists say xenophyophores are the largest individual cells in existence.

Recent studies indicate that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely highly resistant to large doses of heavy metals.

They also are well suited to a life of darkness, low temperature and high pressure in the deep sea. “The research of Scripps Professor Lisa Levin (deep-sea biologist) has demonstrated that these organisms play host to diverse multicellular organisms,” said Doug Bartlett, the Scripps marine microbiologist who organized the Mariana Trench expedition. “Thus the identification of these gigantic cells in

10 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

one of the deepest marine environments on the planet opens up a whole new habitat for further study of biodiversity, biotechnological potential and extreme environment adaptation.”

The instruments used to spot the mysterious animals were “Dropcams” developed and used by National Geographic Society Remote Imaging engineers Eric Berkenpas and Graham Wilhelm, participants in the July voyage. “The ‘Dropcams’ are versatile autonomous underwater cameras containing an HD camera and lighting inside of a glass bubble,” said Berkenpas.

Dropcams utilize a thick-wall glass sphere capable of withstanding more than eight tons per-square-inch pressure at extreme depth. “They were created by National Geographic engineers to allow sci-

entists and filmmakers to capture high-quality footage from any depth in the ocean.”

“Seafloor animals are lured to the camera with bait, a technique first developed by Scripps Professor John Isaacs in the 1960s,” said Kevin Hardy, a Scripps ocean engineer and cruise participant.

Hardy advanced the ultradeep glass sphere design used on ‘Dropcams’ more than a decade ago.

“Scripps researchers hope to one day capture and return novel living animals to the laboratory for study in high pressure aquariums that replicate the trench environment.”

The xenophyophore sightings were positively identified by Scripps’ Levin, director of the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, and confirmed by Andrew Gooday of the UK National Oceanography Centre. “As one of very few taxa found exclusively in the deep sea, the xenophyophores are emblematic of what the deep sea offers. They are fascinating giants that are highly adapted to extreme conditions but at the same time are very fragile and poorly studied,” said Levin. “These and many other structurally important organisms in the deep sea need our stewardship as human activities move to deeper waters.”

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here was a time when tool use was thought to be restricted to humans, it was one of the measures that raised us above the rest of the animal kingdom, but over the years the foundation of that myth has been systematically undermined as more and more examples of tool-use in other mammals and birds have accumulated. Lately fish have joined the ranks and a unique clip of video, shot by Professor Giacomo Bernardi, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, clearly shows an orange-dotted tuskfish dig a clam out of the sand, carry it to a rock and repeatedly throw it against the rock to crush and open it. The act of carrying the clam to a precise location defines this action, published in Coral Reefs, as genuine tool-use.

‘What the movie shows is very interesting. The animal excavates sand to get the shell out, then swims for a long time to find an appropriate area where it can crack the shell," Bernardi said. "It requires a lot of forward thinking, because there are a number of steps involved. For a fish, it's a pretty big deal."

The actions recorded in the video are remarkably similar to previous reports of tool use by fish. Every case has involved a species of wrasse using a rock as an anvil to crush shellfish. A report published in June in Coral Reefs included photos of this behavior in a blackspot tuskfish on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Bernardi said he first heard of the phenomenon in 1994, when a colleague (James Coyer) observed a yellowhead wrasse in Florida doing the same thing. Similar behavior was also reported

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Fishy tool use

in a sixbar wrasse in an aquarium setting. "Wrasses are very inquisitive animals," Bernardi said. "They are all carnivorous, and they are very sensitive to smell and vision."

Wrasses are one of the largest and most diverse families of marine fishes.

Bernardi noted that several of the species observed using tools are not closely related, but cover a broad range of evolutionary history within the wrasse family. "They are at opposite ends of the phylogenetic tree, so this may be a deep-seated behavioral trait in all wrasses," he said.

Bernardi, who studies fish genetics, said there may be other examples of tool use in fish that have not yet been observed. "We don't spend that much time underwater observing fishes," he said. "It may be that all wrasses do this. It happens really quickly, so it would be easy to miss."

Bernardi told Marine Scientist that he now wants to see how faithful the fish are to individual rocks, rather like thrushes may use an ‘anvil’ again and again;

how widespread the activity is on the reef; and whether all individuals of a species use the same technique

(The video can be seen at http://news.ucsc.edu/2011/09/fish -tool-use.html)

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TALKING POINTS

Strange Vent-fellows

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cean explorers on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer observed two species of marine life scientists believe have never before been seen together at a hydrothermal vent — chemosynthetic shrimp and tubeworms.

They also observed the first known live tubeworms ever seen at a hydrothermal vent in Atlantic waters. The discoveries were made August 5-15 during an expedition to the Mid-Cayman Rise south of Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean.

“On the very first ROV dive, we observed abundant shrimp of a species different in appearance from other Mid-Atlantic Ridge species,” said Professor Paul Tyler, a marine biologist from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom who

he “moment of discovery” – The site where ‘chemosynthetic’ shrimp and tubeworms were observed together for what scientists believe is the first time in the world. These animals, relying on symbiotic chemosynthetic bacteria, derive energy from chemical processes occurring at hydrothermal vents or seeps on the seafloor, unlike most other life on Earth which relies upon energy from the sun and is termed photosynthetic life (Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, MCR Expedition 2011, NOAA-OER)

was aboard Okeanos Explorer.

“These shrimp had characteristics previously seen only on shrimp containing chemosynthetic bacteria, and we identified them as such.”

“During the ROV’s second dive, we were witness to the first discovery of a live hydrothermal tubeworm in the Atlantic,” said expedition Science Lead Chris German, chief scientist for the National Deep Submergence Facility at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. “I will take that home as my personal key discovery moment for the cruise.”

The two discoveries blended into what German described as an even more remarkable discovery. “Not only did we see extensive tube worm communities of differing sizes and shapes across the length and breadth of a large hydrothermal vent field, but we

12 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

observed for the first time anywhere, chemosynthetic shrimp and tubeworms inhabiting the same hydrothermal site,” he said.

“The significance of these observations is that the iconic symbol of Pacific vents is the tubeworm, while the iconic symbol of Atlantic vents is the vent shrimp,” added Tyler.

“To find both together has important implications for the evolution of vent communities in the Caribbean as the Atlantic became separated from the Pacific some five million years ago.”

“From the Mid-Cayman Rise, we used telepresence technology to send data including live video from the seafloor to scientists in many locations ashore where they interacted with scientists and technicians on the ship,” said Kelley Elliott, NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research expedition coordinator. “This new exploration model allows scientists from different disciplines to participate from anywhere in the world no matter the location of the ship and allows the public to experience the excitement of exploration in real time.”

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Flashing sea explained

I

t has long been known that spectacular blue flashes - a type of bioluminescence - that are visible at night in some marine environments are caused by tiny, unicellular plankton known as dinoflagellates. However, a new study has, for the first time, detailed the potential mechanism for this bioluminescence.

The study, which was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, is reported by Susan Smith of Emory School of Medicine, Thomas DeCoursey of Rush University Medical Center and colleagues in the Oct. 17, 2011 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). A key aspect of the potential mechanism for bioluminescence in dinoflagellates proposed in the PNAS study involves voltage-gated proton channels--

channels in membranes that can be opened or closed by chemical or electrical events.

J. Woodland Hastings, a member of the Smith and DeCoursey research team, suggested the presence of voltage-gated proton channels in dinoflagellates almost forty years ago. But the team only recently confirmed them by the identification and subsequent testing of dinoflagellate genes that are similar to

genes for voltage-gated proton channels that had previously been identified in humans, mice and sea squirts. According to the study, as dinoflagellates float, mechanical stimulation generated by the movement of surrounding water sends electrical impulses around an internal compartment within the organism, called a vacuole--which holds an abundance of protons. (See dia-

gram) These electrical impulses open so-called voltage-sensitive proton channels that connect the vacuole to tiny pockets dotting the vacuole membrane, known as scintillons. Once opened, the voltage-sensitive proton channels may funnel protons from the vacuole into the scintillons. Protons entering the scintillons then activate luciferase - a protein, which produces flashes of light, that is stored in scintillons. Flashes of light produced by resulting luciferase activation would be most visible during blooms of dinoflagellates.

This research illuminates the novel mechanisms underlying a beautiful natural phenomenon in our oceans, and enhances our understanding of dinoflagellates; some of which can produce toxins that are harmful to the environment.

No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 13

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TALKING POINTS

Killer whales use

K

iller whales, or orcas, are fast swimming, long-lived, intelligent, social animals and the largest apex predator in the ocean. In Antarctic waters three ecotypes (some suspect species) have been identified: types A, B and C which are thought to selectively predate upon minke whales, seals and fish respectively. Type B hunts amongst the pack ice in search of its seal prey and is known as the ‘pack ice killer whale’, or PI. Although not exclusive seal hunters, the PI killer whales specialise in pinnipeds, especially Weddell seals, and the whales catch the seals in a cooperative and unique way – ‘wave washing’.

‘Wave washing’, where the whales create a wave that washes or tips the seal into the sea, had been reported as early as 1981, but was thought to be an uncommon hunting method. During a field work season in 2009 Robert Pitman and colleagues from the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, witnessed ’wave-wash’ attacks on 22 separate occasions during which PI killer whales produced 120 individual waves. Passing through the pack ice the whales would spy-hop, raising themselves vertically in the water to spot potential victims.

Once the prey was targeted the whales would begin swimming together in a loose rank formation of 2-7 animals abreast, towards the intended prey. Typically there would be a couple of false starts resulting in the whales swimming away together to a distance of 5-50 metres. They would then turn back to the ice floe underwater, converging until they almost touched each other swimming as a single unit with tail flukes beating rapidly and synchronously. As they approached the floe a

Pack ice killer whales spy hopping before an attack Courtesy: RLP Rothera

small wave would form slightly ahead of the ‘pack’, with a larger wave above their pumping flukes. On reaching the edge of the ice they lifted their tails in a final powerful stroke and dived under the ice, barely missing it. Immediately they had cleared the floe on the other side they would turn and spy hop to determine the fate of the seal. A further sophistication is that the PI whales can alter the type of wave for the size of the floe: for small floes, a breaking wave that washed the seal off the ice; for larger floes, a smaller wave that the whales, by continuing to pump their flukes, carried with them beneath the floe, lifting it in the water and breaking it up, so the seal was dumped into the sea. Forward planning to an incredible degree was also

14 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

witnessed on some occasions when some of the whales rose beneath the floe, and by using their rostrums, moved the floe into more open water where the wave-wash would be more effective. The main target were Weddell seals which, although only accounting for about 15% of seals in the area, seemed to be preferred over more aggressively defensive crab eater (82% of available prey) and leopard seals (3%), with 73% of attacks being directed at Weddell seals. On those occasions when other seals were attacked it seems that this was as a result of an initial misidentification on the part of the PIs. Indeed on six occasions when five crabeaters and one leopard seal were ‘wave-washed’ into the water the whales approached, inspected and left immediate-

Seal being ‘wave-washed’ from an ice floe Courtesy: Robert Pitman

ly. Even the preferred Weddell seals presented aggressively to the attacking whales.

Rather than attempting to go for the quick kill, which might have resulted in a bite from the seals’ sharp teeth, the PIs gradually tired the victim by dragging it underwater by its hind flippers, until it was either dead or too exhausted to fight back. Following the kill, the majority of whales moved off to hunt again, while one or two whales followed, carrying and apparently preparing the seal by removing its skin and blubber, before calling back the rest of the whales to the feast. Pitman has nothing but admiration for his research subjects, as he told Marine Scientist: “All killer whale types studied so far live together in stable family groups that socialize, hunt and share prey together for decades. Among higher animals, the level of cooperation that they show in their day-today activities is perhaps matched only by humans.”

Marine Mammal Science, 1 MAR 2011.

DOI: 10.1111/j.17487692.2010.00453.x.

This unique hunting behaviour can be seen on the BBC TV series ‘Frozen Planet’, currently showing, or available through BBC iPlayer.

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Capturing Carbon in the "Twilight Zone"

Marine Survey Services

U

nderstanding the flow and processing of carbon in the world’s oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface, is central to understanding global climate cycles, but many questions remain unanswered.

Between 200 and 1,000 meters below the ocean surface exists a “twilight zone” where insufficient sunlight penetrates for microorganisms to perform photosynthesis. Despite this, it is known that microbes resident at these depths capture carbon dioxide that they then use to form cellular structures and carry out necessary metabolic reactions so that they can survive and reproduce. Details are now emerging about a microbial metabolic pathway that helps solve the mystery of how certain bacteria do this in the dark ocean. Carbon fixation in the dark ocean has so far been attributed primarily to the Archaea, single-celled organisms that often live in extreme environmental conditions. In this region of the ocean, the bacteria living there were thought to rely on organic compounds for both energy and carbon.

According to Department of Energy, Joint Genome Initiative collaborator Ramunas Stepanauskas, Director of the Bigelow Laboratory Single Cell Genomics Center, “Previous oceanographic models suggested that Archaea do not adequately account for the amount of carbon that is being fixed in the dark ocean. Our study discovered specific types of Bacteria rather than Archaea, and their likely energy sources that may be responsible for this major, unaccounted component of the dark

Michael Sieracki and Jane Heywood at the Bigelow’s inFlux fluorescence-activated cell sorter (Dennis Griggs, Bigelow Laboratory Single Cell Genomics Center)

ocean carbon cycle.”

To overcome the challenge that had hindered studies of deep ocean microbes, which have not yet been cultivated in the laboratory, researchers employed innovative single-cell genomics techniques, where DOE JGI’s Tanja Woyke and Alexander Sczyrba, Bigelow Laboratory’s Ramunas Stepanauskas and their teams are among the pioneers. Woyke explained, “After we sequenced the genomes of single cells that were isolated by our colleagues at Bigelow, it was possible to verify the predominant bacterial lineages capable of trapping carbon in this deep underwater region. “This study represents a pristine example for the use of single cell genome sequencing to decipher the metabolic capabilities of uncultured natural microbial consortia, providing a powerful complement to metagenomics.”

“This is the first application of a single-cell genomic approach to the deep ocean, one of the largest and least known biomes on the planet,” emphasized David Kirchman, Harrington Professor of Marine Biosciences at the University of Delaware. “The paper radically changes our view about how microbes gain energy and flourish in the oceans.”

(Full article in September 2, 2011 edition of Science).

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Sven Källfelts Gata 11 SE-426 71 Västra Frölunda, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)31 762 03 00 Fax: +46 (0)31 762 03 01 E-mail: info@mmt.se | Web: www.mmt.se UK Branch

2A Banbury Office Village, Noral Way Banbury, Oxon OX16 2SB, UK Phone: +44 1295 817 740 Fax: +44 1295 259 829 E-mail: info@netsurvey.co.uk

No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 15

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13–15 MARCH 2012, LONDON, EXCEL

Oceanology International is the global forum where industry, academia and government share knowledge and connect with marine technology and ocean science, improving their strategies for measuring, exploiting, protecting and operating in the world’s oceans.

• The world’s largest selection of cutting edge suppliers of technologies and services • An Offshore Oil & Gas conference developed in association with the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) • An Offshore Renewable Energy conference developed by RenewableUK • A Marine Security conference developed in association with the Society of Maritime Industries • Conferences on the key discipline areas; Survey, Ocean Observation and Navigation & Positioning Visit www.oceanologyinternational.com for more information.

Organised by:

In association with:

13–15 MARCH 2012, LONDON, EXCEL

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UK first for dwarf sperm whale

D

r Peter Evans, Director of the marine research charity Sea Watch, has confirmed that a small whale spotted in Mounts Bay next to the Cornish town of Penzance in October was a dwarf sperm whale – a tropical/subtropical species that has never before been recorded off the UK coast. The animal, little more than the size of a porpoise, swam into Mounts Bay on Sunday October 9. As it came close to shore, a local person spotting it on the beach first reported it to the local coastguard, and to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. A member of the public then managed to re-float the animal which subsequently swam away. Local members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and a local tourist boat operator, Marine Discovery, then observed the whale for some time before it disappeared from view. Initially they thought from its size that it was a harbour porpoise, but photographs taken by observers enabled a firm identification. Their pictures revealed the distinctive body and head shape of a Kogia whale. There are two members of this family: one is the pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and

the other is the dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima). “Analysis of the images as well as photos and video were sufficient to confirm species identity – dwarf sperm whale, a first for Britain”, Dr Evans said.

The confirmation means that 29 species of cetaceans have now been recorded in UK and Irish waters (28 species in UK). Dr Evans explains: “Pygmy and dwarf sperm whales are very difficult to tell apart, but the dwarf sperm whale has a much larger dorsal fin, which can be very variable in shape whereas the pygmy sperm whale always has a small falcate fin. The pygmy sperm whale tends to wander further north and has been recorded several times in British waters. One, thought to be a sub-adult

Dwarf sperm whale Courtesy: Glenn Overington

pygmy sperm whale, was found stranded in Scotland at Easdale, Seil, on 6 October and to check species identity, the Scottish Agricultural College in Inverness has collected samples for DNA analysis.

The dwarf sperm whale, on the other hand, has been recorded on seven occasions in Europe (including Italy, Spain, Portugal and France), and never in Britain or Ire-

Logging Life Science

land. It is just one of the increasing numbers of records of warm water species to be turning up around the British Isles in recent years. ” Dr Evans told Marine Scientist that this might not just be a one-off, chance occurrence. “We have seen an increase in records of a number of warm water cetacean species - e.g. striped dolphin, pygmy sperm whale, and Blainville's beaked whale.

Dwarf sperm whale is more tropical than those three species, however, but there have been recent records now in other parts of Europe. It is almost certainly here because of higher sea surface temperatures, which are bringing warmer water species – this includes both prey, such as warm water squid, which have increased in UK waters recently, and their predators. We also have single records of Fraser's dolphin and rough-toothed dolphin - both warm water species. There may come more records in future. The other species not on the UK list that could turn up is the Bryde's whale - another tropical species. There has already been one record of a vagrant stranded animal in

Danish waters.”

TEMPERATURE

PRESSURE (DEPTH)

CONDUCTIVITY (SALINITY)

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TILT

star-oddi@star-oddi.com www.star-oddi.com

MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH (COMPASS)

No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 17

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FISHERIES

ish populations worldwide are under enormous pressure and many commercial fish species are harvested outside sustainable levels. According to some calculations 80 per cent of fish stocks in Europe are in a critical state of over-exploitation.

The European member states have committed to long-term sustainable fisheries through a number of policy commitments including Fisheries 2027 and reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The EU Commission’s proposal for a new fisheries policy was presented in July this year and emphasised creating more sustainable fishing, banning the discarding of fish and involving the fishing industry much more in the management of marine resources.

There are several ways to improve the sustainable nature of fishing such as limiting fishing effort and reducing the impact of fishing on the ecosystem.

More specifically, changing the focus from depleted whitefish fisheries to other, more abundant resources may give the former an opportunity to recover.

Incentives to encourage this have led to an increased emphasis on small pelagic (mid-water) species in some areas.

For many years Scotland has dominated British fisheries for pelagic species, with mackerel and herring being the most important species in terms of landings and value. Recently, however, pelagic species are becoming more important for the English fishing fleet, particularly in inshore waters to the southwest of the country, the western English Channel and the Celtic Sea. Here small but valuable fisheries for sprat, mackerel, horse mackerel and sardine operate. Most of these species have been fished for many decades. Landings have fluctuated and, in cases such as sprat in the English Channel, have increased in recent years.

Another species that is caught sporadically but in significant

F

Krill seekers:

changes in the pelagic ecosystem off SW England?

Changing from depleted fisheries to more aboundant species may help white fish stocks recover, but there are few data and, for many species, no stock assessments for this potentially rich resource. Cefas scientists Jeroen Van Der Kooij and Beatriz A. Roel share some early results from a survey off south west England aimed at bridging that gap in knowledge

numbers is anchovy. Landings of this species, which is generally associated with the warmer southern waters of the Bay of Biscay, were near-absent before the mid-1990s. Now climate change is being mentioned as one of the reasons for the growth of this fishery.

Small pelagic species are generally found in large numbers and, due to their short life-histories and ability to reproduce quickly, could be resilient to

18 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

Overview (inset) and detail of survey area, with survey track (red).

Black lines demarcate boundaries of ICES sub-areas (roman numerals)

heavy fishing pressure. In addition, pelagic species have an important role in the marine food web, linking the lower trophic levels to the higher ones: most species feed on zooplankton and are prey to a range of top predators, such as porbeagle sharks, seabirds and whales.

They are also known to feed on the eggs and juveniles of larger fish and could therefore suppress the recovery of some commercially important fish species.

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Their short life-histories also suggest that they could respond quickly to environmental changes, which would make them potentially suitable as climate-indicator species.

Given the importance of small pelagic fishes, it is crucial that the stocks and the fisheries that target them are monitored carefully. At the moment, however, there is a shortage of fishery independent data – due to the species’ past low commercial priority. For many of these species there are no scientific stock assessments so it is impossible to evaluate their status relative to management reference points.

Peltic survey In May this year a dedicated pelagic research survey was undertaken off southwest England, an area corresponding to the western Channel and the Celtic Sea shelf. This survey is part of a two-year project funded by the European Fisheries Fund, which specifically aims to improve knowledge about sardine and anchovy in British waters. The fieldwork area was chosen partly because of its importance for English small

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pelagic fisheries but also because of its position: the Celtic Sea and Channel act as the interface between the warmer waters of the Bay of Biscay and the cooler waters of the North Sea. Therefore, any northerly movement of warm water species would first be picked up in those areas. Basic information on the distribution, abundance, stock identity and spawning in those areas is lacking so the project aims to study these by analysing historical landing data and comparing the genetic make-up of fish from potentially different populations.

The fieldwork component was co-ordinated through an ICES Working Group which has

Mackerel ©Kelvin Boot

Trawl is being hauled back onboard the RV Cefas Endeavour

standardised equivalent surveys

by French, Spanish and Portuguese scientists on sardine and anchovy in the Bay of Biscay and off the Iberian Peninsula. During the 23-day survey in May and June, timed to cover the peak of the summer sardine-spawning period, data were collected – not just on sardine and other small pelagic fish species but across the pelagic food web. This included continuous surface measurements as well as regular vertical deployments of oceanographic profilers to collect data on the physical oceanography – monitoring, for example, primary production, salinity and temperature. In addition, regular deployments with plankton nets sampled the zooplankton and ichthyoplankton (fish eggs and larvae) communities, to study both the food and spawning areas respectively. Pelagic fish species were also sampled using a combination of multi-frequency acoustic echo sounders (see text box) and trawls. Finally, numbers as well as the behaviour of top predators were monitored continuously by marine mammal and bird observers from the UKbased charity organisation

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FISHERIES

we will have a better idea of the size of the population in the area of the survey. Future work will have to clarify the role of this species in the Celtic Sea ecosystem. It appears to feed on the same zooplankton prey as many other small pelagic fish species, and the arrival of such a dominant species could have significant effects on the balance of the ecosystem and local fisheries.

Krill thrill

MARINElife. The continuous and simultaneous collection of data across the pelagic food web will not just provide insight into the abundance and distribution of sardine and anchovy but will also improve our understanding of the pelagic food web in the waters we studied.

Although most of the survey data are currently still being analysed, preliminary results from this summer’s survey revealed a rich, diverse and complex pelagic ecosystem. As expected, a range of pelagic species were recorded during the survey, including sprat, herring, horse mackerel, mackerel and sardine, with evidence of spawning by several of these species. Neither eggs nor adults of anchovy were found. However evidence from other work undertaken as part of this project suggests that the Channel anchovy that supplement local fishers’ incomes are caught later in the year, when they move into the area from surrounding spawning populations.

with strong, spiky dorsal fins. Up to the 1980s the northern-most distribution of this sub-tropical species was off the Iberian Peninsula, although occasional appearances further north were recorded. Since 2001, boarfish has been targeted in a pelagic-trawl fishery for fish meal, to the southwest of Ireland. Landings increased from very low levels from 2001 to 2006 to 137,503 tonnes in 2010.

In 2011, a boarfish TAC (total allowable catch) – covering ICES sub-areas VI, VII and VIII – was set for the first time.

When we have completed the analysis of the acoustic data

Boarfish abundant By far the most abundant and widespread species in the survey was boarfish, a bright red/orange, small schooling fish

20 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

Boarfish catch

The most spectacular observation, however, was made when crossing the Celtic Deep, an area west of the Welsh and Cornish coasts. First we noticed that the echo sounders showed high productivity in the 130m deep trench: dense layers of krill were seen at 90m depth, with schools of what turned out to be juvenile sandeels above it. Another layer of larval fish was seen closer to the surface at about 40m depth.

At about the same time a call came through from the marine mammal observers who spotted several pods of fin whales consisting of 21 individuals in total.

Although large aggregations of

Echogram showing a vertical cross-section of the water column over the Celtic Deep. Horizontal lines represent 10m depth strata, vertical lines 1 nautical mile distance boundaries. Some of the species identified, include krill (blue layer between 80–110m depth), sandeel schools (red marks at 80–90 m depth, near 83 n.mi) and sardine school near the surface

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fin whales – the world’s second largest animal – are not uncommon in the Bay of Biscay, this sighting was the largest in British waters ever recorded.

The fin whales were most likely aggregating in the area to feed on the high densities of krill and juvenile fish. It is possible that the currents that run through the deeper trench increase primary production and therefore provide the ideal conditions to support a biodiversity hotspot. The absence of any historical scientific surveys at this time of year makes it difficult to draw any further conclusions on whether this is a regular occurrence or indeed the result of changes in the pelagic environment. But, once the survey data are processed and analysed we hope to have a better understanding of the pelagic ecosystem in the Celtic Sea and thus to provide evidence-based support to management decisions for these important fisheries.

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focusing primarily on acoustic applications in marine ecosystem research.

Beatriz A. Roel is a fisheries scientist at Cefas. Her focus is pelagic fish stock assessment and scientific advice to fisheries managers.

Krill catch

ECHO SOUNDERS transmit regular pulses of sound and receive the echoes when the sound reflects off objects in the water column (including organisms).

The data can be viewed in an “echogram”: a continuous, highresolution image of the entire water column. It is generally the recommended scientific tool to monitor small pelagic species as they tend to be distributed over large areas and aggregate in large, dense schools. Trawl surveys alone are not adequate, due to the likeliness of under-sampling a population (“hit or miss”).

One of the key challenges of fisheries acoustic data, however, is species identification using the acoustic marks. By using several frequencies of echo sounder combined with regular groundtruth trawling the uncertainties associated with identification can be minimised. Depending on the frequencies used, other organisms such as zooplankton and jellyfish can also be detected.

Fin whales (Images supplied by MARINElife, copyright: Tom Brereton)

The authors: Jeroen Van Der Kooij is a marine biologist at Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science). He is in his last phase of his PhD and has been working at Cefas for nine years,

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SCOTLAND

he need and the obligations to understand and manage the activities going on in the seas around Scotland have been growing steadily over the last 20 years.

In 1992 the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) provided one of the first opportunities to protect certain features through the designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Further obligations followed with the OSPAR Convention and the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) in 2000), and the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) in 2008.

Most recently and significantly, the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 provide for comprehensive marine planning in Scottish waters out to 200 nautical miles, as well as new marine conservation responsibilities. This wave of Directives and legislation is not only a sign of the growing acknowledgement by politicians that the marine environment is a precious and vulnerable resource but also that greater powers are needed to protect it. In Scotland with devolution came opportunities and challenges. In 2005 the Scottish Government published ‘Seas the Opportunity – a strategy for the long-term sustainability of Scotland’s coasts and seas’. In this it endorsed the vision for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse marine and coastal environments managed to meet the long-term needs of nature and people’.

T

Dr John M Baxter, Scottish Natural Heritage’s Principal Adviser for Marine Ecology, describes the need for and development of ‘Scotland’s Marine Atlas’ as a key step in managing the diverse and valuable Scottish marine environment.

Sea State Scotland’s coastline is 18672km long and includes 118 inhabited islands and in excess of 800 uninhabited ones. The total Scottish sea area within the 200 nautical miles fishery limit is around 468,994km2 representing 61% of the total UK sea area and nearly six times the land area of Scotland.

In order to effectively manage activities in a sustainable manner and protect the diverse range of habitats and species found in these waters it is essential to not

only know what the current state is but also what is where and what is happening where. There is no lack of information, although there is always room for more especially in relation to the more offshore and deeper habitats.

But, the real challenge is in knowing where to find the information and being able to use it to help answer the questions that are being asked more and more often.

The first step in this process was the publication in 2008 of

22 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

Kelp provides an important marine habitat Courtesy:SNH

Scotland’s Marine Atlas

‘Scotland’s Seas: Towards Understanding their State’. This provided an initial overview of the state of Scotland’s seas and highlighted the complexity of the situation at the same time as revealing where there were gaps in our understanding. Building on the experi-

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Intersected cliffs such as these along the Aberdeenshire coast increase the length of Scotland’s coastline Courtesy: P&amp, A.Macdonald/SNH

Survey of the seabed presents many challenges that are only now being overcome with new technological advances in acoustic and underwater video techniques.

Educate, inform and inspire

ences of this earlier work and the production of ‘Charting Progress 2’ the concept of Scotland’s Marine Atlas was born. The preparation of the atlas was a major collaborative effort involving Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology in Scotland (MASTS). The production of the atlas relied on the input from a large number of people who provided knowledge, data, and expertise. A large number of disparate data sources were mined to ensure the most up-to-date information was used. There are, however, still gaps remaining, in particular in the details of the distribution of habitats and species.

The atlas brings together a unique collection of maps and information on the marine environment and activities that take place in the seas around Scotland.

It is designed to educate, inform and inspire. It will play a key role in informing the development of the first national marine plan for all Scottish waters out to 200 nau-

Loch Maree NNR. Islands add to Scotland’s capacity for biodiversity Courtesy: Lorne Gill/SNH

Scotland is home to 83.5% of the UK’s Gannets, almost a quarter of them on the Bass Rock Courtesy: LorneGill/SNH

tical miles and will help develop the creation of objectives for the future sustainable management of Scotland’s marine environment.

Copies of the atlas have been made available to all the schools in Scotland, and are seen as a vital education aid for various aspects of the curriculum. It has been designed to engage with as broad an audience as possible through the use of large numbers of images that seek to convey the magic and beauty of the scenery and the wildlife that inhabit Scotland’s seas as well as presenting the best available information.

The seas around Scotland have been divided into 15 sea areas which are subdivisions of the six regions in ‘Charting

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SCOTLAND

Progress 2’ that cover Scotland.

Overall assessments of the condition of the marine environment in each of these 15 sea areas in terms of them being clean and safe (8 criteria), healthy and biologically diverse (16 criteria), and productive (15 criteria) have been made.

Some concerns Scotland’s seas are mainly clean and safe although there are some localised areas where there is contamination or hazards to human health. Marine litter is a continuing problem while underwater noise has been highlighted as an issue that remains largely unquantified.

The picture for healthy and biologically diverse is more mixed.

There is concern for some habitats such as shallow and shelf subtidal sediments from the impacts of mobile fishing gear and aquaculture. There is a major concern over the status of some commercial fish stocks, and sharks, skates and rays show continuing declines as do some seabird populations and harbour seal numbers. Scotland’s seas

remain economically productive with a gross value added (GVA) of £4.0 billion (in 2007) from a wide range of activities including fishing, aquaculture, sea and coastal water transport amongst others. Oil and gas production added a further GVA of £13.3 billion in 2007. The enormous potential of marine renewable energy production from offshore wind, waves and tides is only just beginning to be realised.

Looking to the future, the test of its true worth will be in the development of Scotland’s marine plan, taking into account the diversity of activities and environmental interests.

There is also the inevitable challenge as with anything of this sort of keeping the contents up to date and relevant. ‘Scotland’s Marine Atlas – Information for the National Marine Plan’ has been published on the web (www.scotland.gov.uk/marineatlas) which is the ideal platform for incorporating updates as they become available. Even that could be a task akin to the painting of the famous Forth

Guillemot and razorbill colony on the sandstone cliffs at Feadda Ness, Isle of Noss, NNR Courtesy: Lorne Gill/SNH

Railway Bridge, by the time you get to the end it is time to start at the beginning again! But painting the bridge refreshes it and maintains its integrity, it is hoped the atlas will pass the test of time in the same way.

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24 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

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INTERVIEW: CHRIS CLARK & CHRIS LOWE

AUVs and Sharks

Marine Scientist: Where did the idea for using AUVs to track sharks come from?

Chris Clark: Chris Lowe had the idea of this for several years but he’s not really an AUV guy. A couple of years ago I came up with the same idea, but I’m not a biologist. When I was a PhD at Stanford, my colleagues, Jason Rife and advisor Steve Rock, started tracking jellies with a large ROV and that work really inspired me. One of my goals is to use AUVs to help the marine biologist, so getting together with Chris Lowe and another biologist Mark Moline seemed the perfect opportunity for all of us.

Chris Lowe: Active tracking of tagged fish is laborious, expensive and often boring work.

While we are able to get accurate positions on highly mobile species this way, we often cannot simultaneously measure changes in the water column during the tracks. So, we cannot always determine what environmental factors are influencing behaviour. Historically, there has been a lot of interest in designing unmanned vessels for tracking tagged fish, but to my knowledge there was never any

serious effort in developing this technology. When Chris contacted me about developing an AUV to track tagged sharks, I was a bit sceptical. However, after I saw what he was able to do with some of our previous shark tracks, I became very intrigued. Now, that I have seen the robot in action, I can say I have seen the future of tracking and it involves a lot less brutal boat time! The thing that surprised me the most was that the robot can more accurately position the tagged shark than we can actively tracking from a boat and it can simultaneously sample oceanographic characteristics while it tracks.

A unique collaboration between biologists, computer scientists, engineers and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), off the coast of California, is bringing cutting edge technology to bear on the secret lives of sharks. Computer scientist Chris Clark and biologist Chris Lowe spoke to Marine Scientist

Leopard shark Courtesy: Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe with leopard shark

really interests me from a robotics point of view is the planning and control that you have to do to track a moving object, in this case a shark.

MS: Is it that difficult?

CC: It can be. There are some really quick and simple things to try, there’s always a first ‘solution’ that you’ll come up with pretty quickly but if you want to do a good job you realize it gets complicated pretty rapidly. For example, we took some historical data from a shark and we actually realised that we could

MS: Before the sharks did you use AUVs to track anything else?

CC: We’ve been studying small squid off the coast of Hawaii; we would drive an ROV up and record the squid on video then use image processing to track them, but with the AUV’s autonomous capabilities and the acoustics from a fish tag we can obviously get greater ranges and carry out longer missions. I’m not a biologist but the thing that

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INTERVIEW: CHRIS CLARK & CHRIS LOWE

better predict where the shark was going by looking at its current behaviour mode – is it swimming slowly in circles or is it on a long, straight and narrow track, in foraging mode looking for food? So we looked at the velocity and orientation states of the shark and we could figure out its type of behaviour and we could use that information to better predict where it was going.

The OceanServer Iver2 AUV with stereo-hydrophone attachment Courtesy: Chris Clark

MS: Are some AUVs better than others for this kind of work?

CC: We chose an Ocean Server Technology, Inc. AUV, it is relatively inexpensive compared to others, but more importantly it allows for a secondary processor – I can put my computer code in and get all the sensory measurements into that computer and produce the actuator commands that I need to. This allows me to test out all of my control theories and planning algorithms and allows me to take over the vehicle so that I can do things like follow sharks around.

MS: How does it work?

CC: We catch a shark and fit it with an acoustic tag, a pinger.

What we do is listen for the pinger using hydrophones, and drive our boat close up to the shark; we put the AUV into the water and begin the tracking.

CL: I was quite impressed with how the AUV uses comparable shark behaviour to locate the tagged shark. In a similar way to a shark localizing a wounded prey item the AUV moves in the

sinusoidal pattern in order to detect changes in acoustic signal gradients. The AUV is then integrating this sensor information to make predictions of where the moving target is heading, this is a very shark-like behaviour.

MS: So you get as close as you can, but at what range can this work?

CC: We were working within the hundred metre range but our future work will get into the nitty-gritty of the acoustic side to see if we can boost up the range to a kilometre or more.

Chris Lowe (green shirt) catching a leopard shark for acoustic tagging, as Chris Clark (red shirt), Esfanidiar Manii (left) and Mike Farris look on Courtesy: Chris Gage

26 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

MS: Do you hope to track over longer distances and what is the duration?

CC: To the first question the answer is a definite yes, this is a three year project, we want to build up to larger faster species that will travel greater distances, so we will need to increase the acoustic range to detect them over these distances. On paper the AUV has a 24 hour battery lifetime at 2.5 knots, we are certainly trying to go faster than that. Because of the patterns and the way the acoustics work right now the AUV is following a sinusoidal motion. The AUV has two hydrophones, so this motion gives us two different points of view, one from each side of the AUV, which increases our information gain, but the

AUV won’t go as far in the same time, it’s slowed down. We are currently working on a solution that will enable us track without the snake-like motion and so give us greater range and speed.

So, we think we can improve the speed up to the AUV’s 4 knot maximum; we hope to extend the current 8-9 hour duration up to 24 hours, possibly by adding more batteries; that will give us a much greater range of many more kilometres.

MS: This must be giving you a greater insight into sharks’ lives already?

CL: One of the reasons for starting with leopard sharks is because we have some basic understanding of their behaviour. We did a telemetry study about 6 years ago to determine why adult female leopard shark aggregate in shallow coves during summer months. Using acoustic modem transponders equipped with temperature and depth sensors, my graduate student Barbara Ziegler-Hight discovered that the sharks were following temperature gradients, seeking out the warmest conditions. We speculated, based on their metabolic rates, that these sharks were behaviourally thermoregulating and that this may actually speed up gestation of pregnant individuals. We hope to use the AUV to follow leopard sharks on their nightly foraging

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forays and get a better idea of what conditions they may be experiencing while foraging at night.

MS: Do you ever see the day when you can follow whale sharks or great whites?

CL: The goal is to use the better studied leopard shark as a

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stepping stone to the more challenging. Coastal southern California is a nursery area for eastern Pacific white sharks. Previous satellite and acoustic monitoring techniques have indicated that the pups spend most of the summer swimming just offshore of southern California beaches. Unfortunately, we still

Chris Clark (kneeling) puts final touches to AUV. Chris Lowe (sitting), Esfsandiar Manii (red shirt) and Chris Gage

don’t understand why they exhibit this behaviour. While these waters are very productive and we find high densities of the young white sharks’ favourite prey (stingrays, halibut, croakers) in these areas, they may be drawn to these areas for a thermal advantage as well. The goal is to use the

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No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 27

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INTERVIEW: CHRIS CLARK & CHRIS LOWE

AUVs to track juvenile white sharks along these coastal areas and quantify the habitat around them. This will give us a much better idea of why they select these areas and how important these areas are to this growing population.

MS: Do the sharks have any sense at all that they are being followed?

CL: That is the big question and one we are always concerned with when tracking a shark.

There is so much boat activity in southern California that boat traffic is like freeway noise – ever present, but you tune it out. The nice thing about the AUV tracking system is that it doesn’t have to be directly behind the tagged animals to localize it. It can be to the side, in front, or even moving away.

These sorts of movement patterns make the sounds created by the AUV less concerning and the shark should quickly habitu-

AUV following the tagged shark.

Left-right Mike farris, Chrifstina Foney, Esfandiar Manii (at computer) Courtesy: Chris Clark.

ate as long as it does not perceive the AUV as a threat. In fact, my guess is that some species like adult white sharks will investigate the AUV because its propulsions system will generate low frequency pulsatile sounds that may initially be

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attractive to the shark.

MS: Obviously there is a learning curve with the technology, and we are going to learn more about sharks, but are there any other applications for this approach?

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be much better spent analysing the massive amounts of data that we can collect with an automated system. So, I see the tracking AUV is a major cost saving device that can yield more and better data for nearshore applications.

CC: I would really love to have a quickly and easily deployable system that enables us to go out whenever we want, launch the vehicles and collect data, telling us what is going on in the ocean, giving us a really good picture of what the fish in any area are doing – their movements, their behaviour patterns – all done autonomously.

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CL: Although we’re just in the early stages of developing the technology, I can see some great advantages of using tracking robots for quantifying fish behaviour and oceanographic mapping. We can use this tool to determine how fishing pressure and other anthropogenic activities influence shark behaviour and distribution patterns.

We can examine aspects of behaviour that may improve our understanding of why sharks occasionally attack people. Most importantly, we can use this technology to make better predictions of how changing oceanographic conditions may influence the behaviour and distribution patterns of fishes and how those patterns may influence catch rates and ecosystem function. That is a pretty tall order, but I can see the potential there.

MS: You’ve alluded to the future what are your aspirations?

CL: As I get older the appeal of sitting in a small boat following a tagged fish for 72 hours straight is losing its appeal – especially when it’s pouring rain at 3am! Currently, my students that do active tracking studies will log 1000’s of hours in the boat and it is mentally and physically exhausting. In many ways, those hours could

MS: And students were heavily involved in this project?

CC: Yes the students were involved and contributed at all stages. One of the things we’re trying to show with this project is that computer scientists and other engineers are not just going to be sitting behind the desk. I try to empower these students to believe and understand there are many opportunities, many worthwhile projects to do out there, and get them excited.

CL: The other really cool aspect of this project is observing how computer scientists and biologists approach problems. It was fun listening to Chris’ students explain how the system worked and what it would do, while my students tried to explain how they tracked and rendered positions. It took a few days of being in the boat together before both groups seemed to really understand what each other did and how they approached this problem.

This project was funded by NSF under the Robust Intelligence Programme.

Professor Chris Clark is the Director of the Lab for Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics (LAIR) at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and visiting Professor at Princeton University, and Professor Chris Lowe is the Director of SharkLab, California State University Long Beach

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No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 29

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TSUNAMIS

n 2005, following the December 26th 2004 tsunami which left at least 165,000 people dead; a further half a million injured and millions more in need of basic services and facing epidemics, the United Nations through the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) launched comprehensive plans for a global early warning system to reduce the deadly toll of natural hazards, combining speedy transmission of data with training of populations at risk in a strategy that experts say could have saved scores of thousands of lives in the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The human toll might only have been a fraction of what it was since tremor and tidal gauges, fast data transfer and alarm mechanisms and training in the danger zones would have provided ample time for hundreds of thousands of people to flee to higher ground. So far, four regional warning strategies have been put into place and mock events have been rehearsed. This year three of these regions have carried out exercises to test the systems that provide early warning of an impending tsunami. the fourth is due to carry out its latest test in November (as Marine Scientist goes to print). The first exercise was carried out in the Caribbean.

I

March – CARIBE WAVE 2011 Tsunami Exercise 34 countries and territories participated in the first regional tsunami exercise, CARIBE WAVE 2011 which was held on March 23, 2011 jointly with LANTEX. Almost 90% of the nations in the region that have nominated Tsunami Warning Focal Points and National Contacts in the region, and 75% of all the countries and territories in the region participated. The scenario of the exercise was a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Virgin Island basin which generated a tsunami with runups of up to 10 meters. At 13:02 UTC the NOAA NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and NOAA NWS West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warn-

ing Center (WC/ATWC) issued a “Dummy” Message to all the officially designated Tsunami Warning Forecast Points (TWFP).

100% of the countries and territories indicated through a later survey that, despite gaps in communications and actions, the exercise was helpful in validating or highlighting the need for tsunami planning. Some of the points that were raised as a result of the exercise included: 90% of the Tsunami Warning Focal Points received the ‘dummy’ warning in a timely way; 90% of the participants found the bulletins that were prepared for the exercise to be clear, while 37% indicated that more content should be added; and while 50% of the respondents indicated that they had a tsunami response plan and 70% that actions were laid out to respond to a tsunami, only 47% indicated that it was adequate to address a tsunami threat.

August - North east Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas test a success The communication network of the Tsunami Early Warning

30 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

and Mitigation System for the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTWS) was tested successfully for the first time on 10 August, marking a leap forward for the system. The test involved the Tsunami Warning Focal Points of 31 countries in the region. They received a test message at 10.36 UTC via electronic mail, fax and the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI, Turkey). The messages were well received within a few minutes of being sent. “The fast transmission of warning messages and swift reaction of national authorities are crucial for the effectiveness of the entire tsunami warning system, especially in the Mediterranean where tsunamis travel through the basin in a very short time,” said Francois Schindele, chair of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for NEAMTWS. The success of this first test paves the way for the establishment of regional tsunami warning centres. The first two, KOERI in Turkey and the Atomic Energy

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Centre in France, should be operational some time in 2012 when a more exhaustive test will be conducted. Others are planned for Greece, Italy and Portugal at a later date.

October - Indian Ocean tsunami exercise billed a success Twenty three Indian Ocean rim countries participated in an ocean-wide tsunami exercise on 12 October. At the same time the new advisory service provided by the Regional Tsunami Service Providers (RTSPs) of Australia, India and Indonesia became operational.

Exercise IOWave11 re-enacted the 26 December 2004 earthquake event, with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake off the North West coast of Sumatra (Indonesia), followed by an ocean-wide tsunami. A total of 82 bulletins were issued to National Tsunami Warning Centres in participating countries. Preliminary results indicate that all the participating National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs) were able to receive these bulletins in a timely manner. All countries con-

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sidered the exercise to be successful although some minor problems have been identified. In some instances, for example, there were communication problems with receiving fax messages.

“Despite these occasional problems, Exercise IOWave11 has achieved its goal of evaluating the state of readiness of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in responding to a potentially destructive tsunami,” said Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary of UNESCO-IOC.

November – Third Pacific exercise planned At the 23rd Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System ICG/PTWS-XXIII held in Apia, Samoa, 16–18 February 2009, and following two previous exercises, Member States recommended a third Pacific-wide tsunami exercise to especially assist Pacific Island Countries in better preparing for the next tsunami. However, on 29 September 2009, just over seven months after this meet-

ing, Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga were hit by the largest deadly tsunami since the 1998 Sissano, Papua New Guinea event.

Altogether, 192 lives were lost locally. This was followed five months later by the 27 February 2010 Chile tsunami where 124 lives were lost. And one year later, the Pacific and the world watched the 11 March 2011 Japan tsunami devastate the Honshu coastlines within 30 minutes claiming tens of thousands of lives.

Exercise Pacific Wave 2011 will be an important preparedness activity the aim of which is to improve local and regional source tsunami warning and response capability in the Pacific. There two main exercise objectives are: To validate understanding and use of new PTWS Experimental Products; and to validate the readiness of Member States to respond to a local/regional source tsunami.

PacWave11 will take place from 9– 10 November 2011. PacWave was originally planned for 2010, but was postponed in order to evaluate and consider its goals and outcomes in the aftermath of the 2010 Chile tsunami.

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TSUNAMIS

Cutting edge seismic system ombining recently launched green technology for navigating the oceans with the need to address gaps in critical earthquake information across the globe, scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have been granted $1.02 million from the National Science Foundation to develop a cutting-edge deep-ocean seismic system.

With contributions from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Foundation for Earth Sciences in La Jolla, Calif., and Liquid Robotics Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Kamuela, Hawaii, the total project is valued at $1.46 million.

The Scripps team, led by geophysicist Jonathan Berger and co-principal investigators John Orcutt, Gabrielle Laske and Jeffrey Babcock will develop a potentially transformative system for deploying seafloor seismometers and relaying their vital data in

I

real-time for applications ranging from earthquake monitoring and deep Earth structure and dynamics to tsunami warning systems.

The project will capitalize on new technology developed by Liquid Robotics, which has pioneered the development of surfboardsized autonomous unmanned vessels powered by wave energy and solar power, eliminating the need for fuel or costly manpower.

"Combining the Liquid Robotics technology with Scripps Oceanography's ocean bottom seismometer and global network technologies, this development will provide a means of increasing global coverage not only to seismic observations, but also to a variety of ocean bottom observables in an affordable and sustainable way," said Berger.

from the ocean's endless supply of waves and solar panels are used to recharge the computing and communication power supply," said Neil Trenaman, co-principal investigator and the head of Liquid Robotics' NSF project team. "By capitalizing on the abundance of natural ocean wave and solar energy, the Wave Glider is able to continuously transmit ocean data without the need for fuel, manpower or carbon emissions. This provides Scripps scientists an environmentally green and non-invasive technology to use for this critical earthquake and tsunami warning project."

Traditionally, ocean bottom seismometers are deployed by ships, record data for a specific period of

No need for fuel "Our autonomous, unmanned surface vessel, the Wave Glider速, draws its propulsion energy directly

32 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

Wave Glider launched and ready to go Courtesy: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Wave Gliders will serve as communications gateways for transmitting live seismic data from the seafloor to the ocean surface to shore via satellite Courtesy: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

time and are retrieved when a ship returns to the location. As envisioned in the new project, a Wave Glider from Liquid Robotics will navigate to a specific location, keep on station by its own power, link with a Scripps ocean bottom seismometer and serve as a communications gateway for relaying live seismic data from the ocean surface to shore via satellite. "We haven't made progress in getting long-term seismic stations established in the oceans because of the expense, so this project will help us fill in lots of holes in the coverage of the global network," said Berger.

Berger and Orcutt say the data from their new seismographic system could become an important asset for enhancing tsunami warning systems. "When you have a large earthquake, it's important to quickly estimate the parameters of where it was and how big the seafloor displacement was," said Orcutt. "In order to do this, you need improved coverage in the ocean. During the recent devastating Japanese earthquake there were lots of places where there was no (seismographic) coverage, so this effort improves upon that.

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TECHNOLOGY

CFD detects gas seeps A view of the multibeam sonar water column backscatter data used to detect gas seeps.

Gas seeps derived from the sonar are shown in the foreground

technology commonly used to map the bottom of the deep ocean can also detect gas seeps in the water column, a conceptual “column” of water from surface to the seafloor, with remarkably high fidelity, according to scientists from the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This finding, made onboard the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in the Gulf of Mexico, will lead to more effective mapping of these gas seeps and, ultimately, enhanced understanding of our ocean environments.

Multibeam sonar, is an echo-sounding technology that surveys a wide, fanshaped swath of the seafloor, providing much greater coverage than the single-beam sonar systems previously used to map seeps. “We

A

Credit: Image produced by the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center using IVS Fledermaus software.

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34 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

sonars,” says Tom Weber of UNH’s Center for Coastal Mapping, who was lead scientist of this mission. “It turns out it works wonderfully.” The multibeam sonar on the Okeanos Explorer produced data to make highresolution maps of gas in the water column in depths ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 feet.

Working jointly with scientists and technicians from NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Weber and colleagues mapped more than 17,000 square kilometers of the Gulf of Mexico from Aug. 22 through Sept. 10, 2011.

Gas seeps – primarily but not exclusively methane – are numerous in the Gulf of Mexico, emanating from natural fissures in the seafloor. They can be associated with oil, but oil was not the focus for Weber and his collaborators. Finding and mapping gaseous seeps, says Weber, helps scientists better understand the ocean: its

methane fluxes, carbon cycle, and deep-water marine environments. Further, the Gulf of Mexico is home to many active oildrilling sites, and mapping the gaseous seeps in the water column will inform scientific as well as regulatory decisions. “In the deep ocean, there are life forms like tubeworms and clams associated with gas seeps, and they’re treated as protected resources,” Weber says. Also, mapping these seeps will give researchers baseline data on what exists in the water column, helping them determine whether future seeps are natural or unwanted byproducts of drilling.

“Mapping the seafloor and the water column are essential first steps in exploring our largely unknown ocean,” says Weber. “This expedition confirms earlier indications that multibeam technology provides a valuable new tool in the inventory to detect plumes of gas in the water column, and especially in deep water.”

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Argo floats help monitor ocean acidity cientists can now remotely monitor the ocean’s changing chemistry with help from some of the five-foot-tall Argo floats that drift with deep ocean currents and transmit data via satellite back to land. A new and innovative method shows how readings of the acidity (pH) and total carbon dioxide (CO2) content of seawater can help scientists understand changes in the chemistry of the world’s ocean.

A U.S.- based research team and their Canadian colleagues developed the new approach by determining the relationships between seawater temperature, oxygen, pH and CO2 from observations collected on previous ship-based expeditions in the region in the last five years. These relationships were then applied to

S

high-resolution observations of temperature and oxygen collected by an Argo float deployed in the North Pacific in early 2010. “Most observations have been taken by scientists aboard specialized research ships, so this represents a major step forward in the ability to monitor ocean chemistry at higher frequency and lower cost,” said Dr. Lauren Juranek, University of Washington Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) oceanographer and lead author of the study published in Geophysical Research Letters 02/09/2011.

To determine pH and total CO2 content, scientists need measurements of dissolved oxygen concentration; about 10 percent of the floats have the sensors that can measure dissolved oxygen.

Developed in direct response to customer demand for a wider angled high definition underwater video camera with no optical compromises for challenging inspection tasks such as pipe surveys, Kongsberg Maritime’s new OE14-502-WA offers an angle of view up to 70° diagonal in water while retaining superb image and colour quality and none of the optical aberrations often associated with wide angle viewing.

Dave O’Gorman prepares to deploy a PMEL Argo float off of the RV Wecoma

The profiling Argo floats used in the study are part of the international Argo observing network. The floats have been deployed by researchers in over 30 countries and approximately 3,000 active floats are distributed throughout the global ocean at any time.

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ride the ocean currents, descend into the water column down to 3,000 or even 6,000 feet and as they rise to the surface after about 10 days, collect temperature, salinity, and other data that are then transmitted via satellite when the float reaches the water’s surface.

Each float acquires 200 profiles over a five-year lifetime.

“These measurements can be used to complement traditional ship-based observations, not replace them.

Because we can’t sample as frequently as we would like to, this approach allows us to provide repeat data on 10day intervals,” said Richard Feely, a NOAA senior scientist and a coauthor of the study. He noted that shipbased work is still essential for calibrating the Argo float data for pH and total CO2 concentrations.

REDEFINING UNDERWATER INSPECTION

y High Definition Compact Colour Zoom Inspection Camera y 800TVL/PPH Horizontal Resolution (min) y 70° Angle of View in Water y No Optical Aberrations y Multi-Standard Video Capability y Coax or Fibre Output (HD-SDI)

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The New Wide Angled OE14-502-WA

www.km.kongsberg.com/cameras

No.37 November 2011 Marine Scientist 35

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TECHNOLOGY

ffshore handling systems specialist, Caley Ocean Systems has supplied a diving bell handling system to Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., for a one-of-a-kind, Saturation Fly Away Diving System (SAT FADS) designed and built by Phoenix for the U.S. Navy.

Following delivery to the U.S. Navy’s Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) in Panama City, Florida, SAT FADS has successfully completed an extended, manned, pier-side test to its design depth of 1,000 ft (305 m), using the Caley bell handling system.

SAT FADS is expected to undergo certification trials off the coast of California in summer 2012. The Caley bell handling system is used to lift the three-man, diving bell from its stowage position on the deck of a dive vessel, lower and maintain the bell at the desired water depth, then recover it and the guide wire clump weight to the sea sur-

O

Caley Saturation Diving System Test a success passive in-line heave reduction system reduces the effect of the ship's motion while the diving bell is submerged.

Salvage and Recovery

face and back onto the deck.

The 1,000 ft test dive is part of the Navy's manned certification testing of the system.

Comprising an A-Frame assembly, together with bell wire, guide wire and umbilical

winches, spooling gear, and hydraulic power unit (HPU), the Caley bell handling system is designed to provide accurate, reliable control of the diving bell in a wide range of sea conditions. In addition, Caley's

SAT FADS will provide a critical saturation diving capability to support US Navy salvage and recovery operations around the world. It will support six divers to depths of 1,000 feet for 30 days. The system consists of five major components: a main deck decompression chamber, a 3man diving bell, the bell handling system, a control vehicle, and two auxiliary support equipment vans. The diving system is designed to be deployed using military and commercial aircraft, and road trailers, and installed on any suitable commercial vessel of opportunity.

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36 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

®

WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SUBSEA ACOUSTIC AND DIVER NAVIGATION Irvine, California s USA www.rjeint.com s (949) 727-9399

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TECHNOLOGY n a detailed assessment of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers led by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have determined that the blown-out Macondo well spewed oil at a rate of about 57,000 barrels a day, totalling nearly 5 million barrels of oil released from the well between April 20 and July 15, 2010, when the leak was capped. In addition, the well released some 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas.

The results—published in the Sept. 5, 2011 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)—are in line with the federal government’s official estimates, but just as importantly validate the innovative measuring techniques the team employed.

In late May of 2010, the WHOI team installed two acoustic instruments on a remotely operated vehicle called Maxx3. The first was an acoustic Doppler current

I

Deepwater Horizon spill measured

3D reconstruction of a hydrocarbon jet leaking from the Deepwater Horizon's broken riser. Each colored dot represents the location of an acoustic Doppler velocity measurement, with the dot color describing the velocity. The black ellipse indicates the size and location of the jet source; blue dashed ellipses indicate the jet flow perimeter. Black dots indicate the position of the ROV-mounted Doppler sonar during the measurement sequence (Illustration courtesy of Rich Camilli, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

38 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

profiler or ADCP, which measures the Doppler shift in sound, such as the change from the higher pitch of a car as it approaches to a lower pitch as it moves away. “We aimed (the ADCP) at the jet of oil and gas that was coming out, and based on the frequency change in the echoes that came back from the jet, we could tell just how fast it was moving,” said Camilli.

Within minutes, they obtained more than 85,000 Doppler measurements.

The more than 2,500 sonar images of the jets gave the team a detailed view of the jets’ cross sectional areas.

Multiplying these average areas by their average velocities yielded an accurate estimate of the rate of oil and gas released. The method was able to capture the full flow by directly measuring the flow at the well’s leak sources before the fluids could disperse, the FRTG report stated.

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BOOKS

Ocean Acidification

edited by Jean-Pierre Gattuso and Lina Harrison

Review by Stephen Hall CSci CMarSci FIMarEST his book is a welcome contribution for marine scientists and policy makers who need to be aware of the effects and potential impacts of ocean acidification. It is composed of 15 chapters each written by specialists in the field, and edited into a coherent whole. It is written for a technically-literate audience, with comprehensive references, copious use of chemical equations and scientific language so some chapters are hard-going for a general reader – it wouldn’t be something to pass to your local Member of Parliament – but it provides in a single resource a full range of introductory, and more advanced, scientific information.

Like any other book written by a large, multi-national group of authors, the style and tone of the language varies between chapters, but the whole does work well and the book is quite readable. It starts with a background and history of ocean acidification, moving on to sections on past changes in ocean carbonate chemistry, recent and future changes, and long-term predictions. There are chapters that look at impacts on specific organisms and ecosystems, at all levels of the water column, the sea floor, and on marine sources of atmospherically active trace gases.

For the policy maker Chapter 13 highlights the ocean acidification challenges facing science and society, including food security, but sounding a note of caution that there are major gaps in our current understanding of various species’ vulnerability to ocean acidification. The chapter addresses the difficulties of communicating complex science to policymakers and the public.

The authors stress the use of evidence, not advocacy, and the importance of adopting a cau-

tious approach, based upon credible scientific evidence, when interacting with policymakers and stakeholders. They mention the use of social media as a ‘viral’ tool to spread the message about ocean acidification, and touch on the emotive subject of geo-engineering.

The final Chapter ‘Ocean acidification: knowns, unknowns, and perspectives’ includes a helpful summary of the state of knowledge about the chemical, biological, biogeochemical, policy, and socio-economic impacts of ocean acidification. It makes the important point that even with substantial reductions in anthropogenic car-

T

bon output, the legacy of historical and 21st century fossil fuel use will be felt for centuries at a global scale – and that an ocean acidification threshold that must not be exceeded can be defined.

I would recommend ‘Ocean Acidification’ for any scientist or policy maker who needs to have an understanding of the ‘state of the art’ in this important area, or who wishes to pursue research to fill-in the many gaps in knowledge that still exist.

Ocean Acidification, edited by JeanPierre Gattuso and Lina Harrison, Oxford University Press 2011, softback with some colour illustrations, 326 pp, ISBN 978-0-19-959109-1.

Operational Oceanography in the 21st Century Review by his volume provides a well written and contemporary overview of this rapidly developing area of ocean science. Written as a series of articles developed as an outcome of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) summer school a reader could be mistaken this is simply a review of the achievements of the GODAE project. However, it is much more than this, providing an invaluable overview for undergraduates and postgraduates of oceanography and useful to professionals working in the field.

The use of clear diagrams and images throughout assists in making this a much more readable text than the subject matter may imply.

The book begins with a rather gentle approach covering the history of oceanography and details of how operational oceanography is, and can be achieved whilst also discussing

T

40 Marine Scientist No.37 November 2011

future challenges. Further chapters, challenge the reader, covering extensive detail including ocean observing, physical and dynamic ocean processes, modelling, data assimilation, systems, evaluation and efficiency. However, perhaps of most value to the lay reader is the final chapter which looks at the practical, and potentially surprising, applications of operational oceanography in areas such as defence, maritime transport, energy and law, enlightening the reader about the potential of such a rapidly developing field of ocean science.

Operational Oceanography in the 21st Century. Edited by Schiller, Andreas; Brassington, Gary B. Pub:Springer. 1st Edition., 2011, 450 p. 130 illus., 100 in colour. Hardcover, ISBN 978-94-0070331-5 is available to access remotely and free of charge to IMarEST members through the e-books service. See http://www.imarest.org/Knowledge for further details.

Dr Bev MacKenzie

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