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Study:
Dead sea creatures cover 98 percent of ocean floor off California
coast; up from 1 percent before Fukushima
2
January, 2014
The
Pacific Ocean appears to be dying, according to a new study recently
published in the journal Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
in California recently discovered that the number of dead sea
creatures blanketing the floor of the Pacific is higher than it has
ever been in the 24 years that monitoring has taken place, a
phenomenon that the data suggests is a direct consequence of nuclear
fallout from Fukushima.
Though
the researchers involved with the work have been reluctant to pin
Fukushima as a potential cause -- National
Geographic,
which covered the study recently, did not even mention Fukushima --
the timing of the discovery suggests that Fukushima is, perhaps, the
cause. According to the data, this sudden explosion in so-called "sea
snot," which is the name given to the masses of dead sea
creatures that sink to the ocean floor as food, has skyrocketed since
the Fukushima incident occurred.
"In
the 24 years of this study, the past two years have been the biggest
amounts of this detritus by far," stated Christine Huffard, a
marine biologist at MBARI and leader of the study, to National
Geographic.
At
an ocean research station known as Station M, located 145 miles out
to sea between the Californian cities of Santa Barbara and Monterey,
Huffard and her colleague Ken Smith observed a sharp uptick in the
amount of dead sea life drifting to the ocean
floor. The masses of dead sea plankton, jellyfish, feces and other
oceanic matter that typically only cover about 1 percent of the ocean
floor were found to now be covering about 98 percent of it -- and
multiple other stations located throughout the Pacific have since
reported similar figures.
"In
March 2012, less than one percent of the seafloor beneath Station M
was covered in dead
sea salps," writes Carrie Arnold for National
Geographic.
"By July 1, more than 98 percent of it was covered in the
decomposing organisms. ... The major increase in activity of deep-sea
life in 2011 and 2012 weren't limit to Station M, though: Other
ocean-research stations reported similar data."
No
more sea life means no more oxygen in our atmosphere
Interestingly,
Arnold does not even make a peep about Fukushima, which by all common
sense is the most reasonable explanation for this sudden increase in
dead sea life. Though the most significant increases were observed
roughly a year after the incident, the study makes mention of the
fact that the problems first began in 2011.
"Forget
looking at global warming as the culprit," writes National
Geographic
commenter "Grammy," pointing out the lunacy of Arnold's
implication that the now-debunked global warming myth was the sudden
cause of a 9,700 percent increase in dead sea life.
Backing
her up, another National
Geographic
commenter jokingly stated that somehow "the earth took such a
huge hit in a four-month timeframe of a meltdown via global warming
and we as a people didn't recognize this while [it was] happening;
while coincidentally during that same time frame the event at
Fukushima
took place."
It
is almost as if the powers that be want us all to forget about
Fukushima and the catastrophic damage it continues to cause to our
planet. But they will not be able to cover up the truth forever, as
human life is dependent upon healthy oceans, the life of which
provides the oxygen that we all need to breathe and survive.
Sources
for this article include:
“Sea
Snot” Explosions Feed Deep-Sea Creatures
It’s
a feast of epic proportions. Storms of “sea snot”—a mix of dead
plankton and gelatinous sea creatures, and their feces—drift to the
ocean
floor, where deep-sea organisms gobble up the sudden windfall.
22
November, 2013
But
these snotty blizzards aren’t just an occasional bonus to life at
the bottom of the ocean—new research shows they depend on it to
stay alive.
“Sea
snot” seen in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Image courtesy Arne
Diercks
The
scientists found that not long after sea snot blooms drift to the
seafloor, the activity of these deep-sea critters
accelerated. (See “Giant,
Mucus-Like Sea Blobs on the Rise, Pose Danger.”)
Global
warming and
ocean
acidification,
however, may be increasing the frequency of these sea snot
storms, which could have unforeseen effects on marine life by
altering how nutrients move around the oceans.
“In
the 24 years of this study, the past 2 years have been the biggest
amounts of this detritus by far,” said study leader Christine
Huffard,
a marine biologist at the Monterey
Bay Aquarium Research Institute
in California.
Marine
Banquet
With
lead author Ken Smith, Huffard and colleagues were interested in
learning how deep-sea marine life uses carbon and other elements, so
they turned to Station M, which is located 145 miles (220
kilometers) west of the coast of California
(map) between
Santa Barbara and Monterey.
Although
it sounds more like a secret CIA hideout than an ocean-research area,
Station M has been giving scientists data on ocean productivity for
two decades.
The
ocean is most productive at the surface, where algae and
phytoplankton use the sun’s energy to photosynthesize, creating a
large portion of our atmosphere’s oxygen. Other animals, like slimy
sea salps—barrel-shaped, jellyfish-like organisms—feed on the
phytoplankton. (Related: “Huge
Swarm of Gelatinous Sea Creatures Imaged in 3-D.”)
Somewhat
regularly, large blooms of phytoplankton cover large areas of
the ocean’s surface, which in turn boosts populations of sea salps
that gorge on the giant marine banquet.
Eventually,
however, all good things come to an end. The phytoplankton eventually
dies off, and so do the hordes of sea salps.
“Anything
that was once living or breathing or had been eaten at the surface
makes its way to the bottom of the ocean,” Huffard said. “The sea
salps sink pretty quickly because they’re very dense, but even
fecal pellets from zooplankton fall to the seafloor.” (See pictures
of deep-sea creatures.)
Tracking
Oxygen
All
of this feasting—and the digesting that follows—requires
significant amounts of oxygen. So, using a special deep-sea robot,
Huffard and colleagues measured the oxygen used by this deep sea life
and the subsequent carbon it produces (as proteins and cells) to
determine its activity level.
Their
data revealed small seasonal increases in the activity of deep-sea
organisms after spring and fall phytoplankton blooms.
Huffard
points out that the use of oxygen and carbon levels to measure
deep-sea productivity does have limitations.
Perhaps
the biggest one is that the method can’t tell whether the number of
deep-sea organisms has increased, or if they’re just more active
and thus producing more carbon.
Mysterious
Explosions
Global
warming may also be influencing the rhythm of sea snot explosions.
For instance, warmer oceans may encourage the growth of more
phytoplankton. The scientists observed the largest spikes in
deep-sea productivity in 2011 and 2012, corresponding with massive
phytoplankton blooms. (Also see “‘Sea
Snot’ Explosion Caused by Gulf Oil Spill?”)
In
March 2012, less than one percent of the seafloor beneath Station M
was covered in dead sea salps. By July 1, more than 98 percent of it
was covered in the decomposing organisms, according to the study,
published this week in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
The
major increase in activity of deep-sea life in 2011 and 2012 weren’t
limited to Station M, though: Other ocean-research stations reported
similar data.
Although
climate change is a leading contender for explaining the major
increases in 2011 and 2012, Huffard says that these spikes could be
part of a longer-term trend that scientists haven’t yet observed.
She
hopes to continue gathering data from Station M to try and figure it
out.
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