The Tiny Organisms That Transport Silica Across Earth's Oceans

Every schoolchild knows that drifting plankton make excellent fodder for whales, but these tiny, rudderless microorganisms do more than sustain the entire marine food web. They also transport chemical compounds such as silica, an essential ocean nutrient that makes up the intricate glass skeletons of unicellular plankton such as diatoms and some radiolaria. Such organisms take up vast quantities of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere—affecting the climate—so scientists are keen to track where silica comes from and where it ends up. Now, a new study conducted along the California coast reveals that one group of these organisms, Phaeodaria, plays a much larger role in oceanic silica transport than previously thought.

Silica is a form of silicon, the seventh most abundant element in the universe. Many marine creatures require it to produce their skeletons, including phytoplankton, which float near the ocean’s surface and capture carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Without a steady supply of silicon from rivers, deep-sea vents, and other sources, these organisms would not be able to produce the biogenic silica—also known as opal—that forms their skeletons. When diatoms and other plankton die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, and their skeletons are buried in marine sediment.

In the new study, Biard et al. focused on silica transport by giant phaeodarians, unicellular plankton whose delicate spherical shapes resemble dandelion seed globes. During four ocean cruises off the coast of California, the team measured the abundance of several different families of Phaeodaria at depths down to 500 meters. They also calculated the silica content of 65 individual specimens, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.9 millimeters in size.

Using those measurements, the team extrapolated how much silica the organisms were transporting from the euphotic zone—a layer of ocean water that receives enough light for photosynthesis to occur—to the deep, dark, biologically sluggish mesopelagic zone, which typically begins around 200 meters below the surface. Of the estimated total silica transport between these two zones over 4 years, phaeodarians accounted for just 10%. At greater depths, however, this one group of organisms was responsible for 26% of the total downward silica transport, far more than previously thought. Additionally, within the world’s oligotrophic gyres—a nutrient-poor ecosystem of ocean currents that covers nearly 40% of the planet’s surface—they represented between 10% and 80% of silica transport, suggesting an underestimated role of these organisms in silica transport. (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GB005877, 2018)

—Emily Underwood, Freelance Writer

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'The eyes have it' -- Photoreceptors in marine plankton form a depth gauge to aid survival

IMAGE: This is a scanning electron microscopy image of a 3-day-old planktonic larva of the marine ragworm Platynereis dumerilii. view more 

Credit: Jürgen Berger

The eyes of some marine-dwell

The eyes of some marine-dwelling creatures have evolved to act like a "depth gauge", allowing these creatures to swim in the open ocean at a certain depth .

Pioneering new research, carried out by a team of international scientists including Professor Gaspar Jekely from the University of Exeter, has shed new light on how sea-living planktonic animals use their simple eyes to measure depth in the ocean.

All eyes detect light using specialized cells called photoreceptors, of which there are two main kinds: ciliary and rhabdomeric. While crustaceans and insects have rhabdomeric photoreceptors, animals with backbones - including humans - have ciliary photoreceptors.

However, there are also several groups of animals, mostly sea-dwellers, which inherited both types of photoreceptors from their ancestors that lived millions of years ago.

The new research, carried out by experts from Exeter's Living Systems Institute and collaborators at the University of Vienna and Emory University, has given a greater understanding of how the two kinds of photoreceptors interact in such a sea dweller, shedding new light on the evolution of eyes and photoreceptors.

The researchers studied the larvae of the marine ragworm, Platynereis dumerilii. The larvae of Platynereis are free-swimming plankton. Each has a transparent brain and six small, pigmented eyes which contain rhabdomeric photoreceptors . These enable the larvae to detect and swim towards light sources. Yet the larval brain also contains ciliary photoreceptors, the role of which was previously unknown.

The new research has revealed that ultraviolet light activates these ciliary photoreceptors, whereas cyan, or blue-green light inhibits them. Shining ultraviolet light onto Platynereis larvae makes the larvae swim downwards. By contrast, cyan light activates the rhabdomeric pigmented eyes and makes the larvae swim upwards.

In the ocean, ultraviolet light is most intense near the surface, while cyan light reaches greater depths. Ciliary photoreceptors are therefore shown to help Platynereis avoid harmful ultraviolet radiation near the surface. Though if the larvae swim too deep, cyan light inhibits the ciliary photoreceptors and activates the rhabdomeric pigmented eyes. This makes the larvae swim upwards again.

The research team also used high-powered electron microscopy to show that the neural circuits containing ciliary photoreceptors exchange messages with circuits containing rhabdomeric photoreceptors - suggesting the two work together to form a 'depth gauge'.

By enabling the larvae to swim at a preferred depth, the depth gauge influences where the worms end up as adults.

Professor Gaspar Jekely, from Exeter's Living Systems Institute said: "The idea that marine animals could use light to estimate their depth has already been proposed by theoretician, but to our knowledge this is the first time that such a mechanism has been experimentally studied."

Csaba Verasztó, one of the first authors of the study added: "Detecting different types of light with different photoreceptor cells in marine plankton may have been the ancestral framework for light detection in animals."

The depth gauge in Platynereis larvae represents an important new mechanism to influence the distribution of marine animals. Its discovery should also stimulate new ideas about the evolution of eyes and photoreceptors.

Ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptor-cell circuits form a spectral depth gauge in marine zooplankton is published in the journal eLife.

###

ing creatures have evolved to act like a "depth gauge", allowing these creatures to swim in the open ocean at a certain depth .

Pioneering new research, carried out by a team of international scientists including Professor Gaspar Jekely from the University of Exeter, has shed new light on how sea-living planktonic animals use their simple eyes to measure depth in the ocean.

All eyes detect light using specialized cells called photoreceptors, of which there are two main kinds: ciliary and rhabdomeric. While crustaceans and insects have rhabdomeric photoreceptors, animals with backbones - including humans - have ciliary photoreceptors.

However, there are also several groups of animals, mostly sea-dwellers, which inherited both types of photoreceptors from their ancestors that lived millions of years ago.

The new research, carried out by experts from Exeter's Living Systems Institute and collaborators at the University of Vienna and Emory University, has given a greater understanding of how the two kinds of photoreceptors interact in such a sea dweller, shedding new light on the evolution of eyes and photoreceptors.

The researchers studied the larvae of the marine ragworm, Platynereis dumerilii. The larvae of Platynereis are free-swimming plankton. Each has a transparent brain and six small, pigmented eyes which contain rhabdomeric photoreceptors . These enable the larvae to detect and swim towards light sources. Yet the larval brain also contains ciliary photoreceptors, the role of which was previously unknown.

The new research has revealed that ultraviolet light activates these ciliary photoreceptors, whereas cyan, or blue-green light inhibits them. Shining ultraviolet light onto Platynereis larvae makes the larvae swim downwards. By contrast, cyan light activates the rhabdomeric pigmented eyes and makes the larvae swim upwards.

In the ocean, ultraviolet light is most intense near the surface, while cyan light reaches greater depths. Ciliary photoreceptors are therefore shown to help Platynereis avoid harmful ultraviolet radiation near the surface. Though if the larvae swim too deep, cyan light inhibits the ciliary photoreceptors and activates the rhabdomeric pigmented eyes. This makes the larvae swim upwards again.

The research team also used high-powered electron microscopy to show that the neural circuits containing ciliary photoreceptors exchange messages with circuits containing rhabdomeric photoreceptors - suggesting the two work together to form a 'depth gauge'.

By enabling the larvae to swim at a preferred depth, the depth gauge influences where the worms end up as adults.

Professor Gaspar Jekely, from Exeter's Living Systems Institute said: "The idea that marine animals could use light to estimate their depth has already been proposed by theoretician, but to our knowledge this is the first time that such a mechanism has been experimentally studied."

Csaba Verasztó, one of the first authors of the study added: "Detecting different types of light with different photoreceptor cells in marine plankton may have been the ancestral framework for light detection in animals."

The depth gauge in Platynereis larvae represents an important new mechanism to influence the distribution of marine animals. Its discovery should also stimulate new ideas about the evolution of eyes and photoreceptors.

Ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptor-cell circuits form a spectral depth gauge in marine zooplankton is published in the journal Elife.

###

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NSF, NASA Scientists Explore Ocean's 'Twilight Zone' to Uncover Links between Carbon and Plankton

Phytoplankton are central to ocean food webs and carbon transport in the seaCredit: NOAA

Equipped with advanced underwater robotics and an array of analytical instrumentation, a team of scientists will set sail for the northeastern Pacific Ocean this August.

The researchers' mission for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which are supporting the project, is to study the life and death of microscopic plankton, tiny plant and animal organisms that play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the oceans.

More than 100 scientists and crew members will embark from Seattle, Washington, for the Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) oceanographic campaign.

EXPORTS is the first coordinated multidisciplinary science project of its kind to study the fates and carbon cycle impacts of microscopic plankton. The project will use several underwater robotic platforms and two research vessels operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the R/V Revelle and R/V Sally Ride, which will sail 200 miles west into the open ocean.

Into the twilight zone

From these seaborne laboratories, researchers will explore plankton and the chemical and physical properties of the ocean from the surface to half a mile below. There lies the twilight zone, a region with little to no sunlight, where carbon from plankton can be sequestered, or kept out of the atmosphere, for decades to thousands of years.

EXPORTS scientists are investigating how much carbon moves through the ocean's sunlit upper layer and into the twilight zone, and how ocean ecological processes affect carbon fate and sequestration.

"By employing two ships, we'll be able to observe complex oceanographic processes that vary both in space and time—which we wouldn't be able to capture with a single ship," said Paula Bontempi, program manager for Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry at NASA Headquarters.

Living in the ocean's surface waters are phytoplankton, tiny, plant-like organisms which, like land plants, use sunlight and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow.

Phytoplankton play an important role in removing atmospheric carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. When phytoplankton, and the animal zooplankton that eat them, die, the remains sink and a fraction of the carbon in their bodies is exported to ocean depths.

While the major pathways of how carbon moves through the ocean are known, how much carbon is transferred along these pathways, and how much they depend on ecosystem characteristics, are less well-known.

"The carbon that humans are putting into the atmosphere is warming Earth," said Mike Sieracki, a Biological Oceanography program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "Much of that carbon goes into the ocean and is transported to the deep sea, where it will not return to the atmosphere for a long time. This project will help us to understand the biological and chemical processes that remove that carbon, and to monitor these processes as climate changes."

The biological pump

The long-term removal of carbon from the atmosphere to ocean depths is known as the biological pump, which operates through three main processes.

First, carbon-laden particles from the ocean's surface sink through gravity, as happens with dead phytoplankton or zooplankton.

Second, in what's called vertical migration, zooplankton migrate daily to the ocean's surface to feed on phytoplankton, then return to the twilight zone at night, carrying carbon with them to deeper waters.

And third, physical oceanographic processes such as the global overturning circulation of the oceans and smaller-scale turbulent eddies carry suspended and dissolved carbon to the depths.

EXPORTS will provide data on the role of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the biological pump, and on the export of carbon to the deep sea. The information is important to plan observations and technologies for future Earth-observing satellite missions.

High-tech exploration

Among the many technologies in EXPORTS is an autonomous platform called a Wirewalker that uses wave energy to move instruments along a taut wire from the surface to 1,600 feet below the surface. The Wirewalker will measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, carbon and chlorophyll.

A 6.5-foot-long remote-controlled underwater vehicle called a Seaglider will gather similar measurements at depths of as much as 3,200 feet.

Aboard ship, samples will be collected for genomic analyses of phytoplankton, zooplankton and other organisms.

New, microscopic imaging tools will also be used, including a microscope called the Imaging FlowCytobot, which will provide real-time, high-resolution images of billions of individual phytoplankton. An Underwater Vision Profiler will measure the sizes of sinking particles and collect images of zooplankton.

Mounted on the ship's superstructure will be instruments that measure the ocean's color, from ultraviolet wavelengths to shortwave infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Phytoplankton have distinct spectral "signatures" -- colors of light they absorb and scatter. By identifying these signatures, scientists will be able to develop algorithms for future satellite ocean color missions.

"What we learn from EXPORTS will give us a stronger understanding of how plankton species interact with their environment," said Bontempi. "Not only will we be able to use this information to develop new approaches to identifying and quantifying plankton by satellite, but we'll also be able to predict how much carbon will cycle back into the atmosphere and how much will be transported to the ocean depths over the long term."

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Auditory Pollution, Another Threat to Life in the Oceans

Washington 

The underwater noises created by human activity are on the agenda of an international meeting under the auspices of the United Nations this week in New York, a victory for NGOs campaigning for worldwide recognition of this problem still little quantified.

What are the origins of the noise?

Human noise is generated mainly by transport ships, container ships and tankers, with their engines and propellers. The explosions unleashed to dismantle the oil platforms in the sea produce the strongest sounds, but they are more unusual.

The NGOs focus on the air cannons used by oil companies to detect underwater reserves. A boat towed a cannon, and often dozens of them at the same time, sending waves to the bottom of the sea that, bouncing more or less deeply depending on the sediments and rocks, draw a 3D map of possible oil reserves.

These air cannon discharges can happen at fifteen-second intervals, in huge areas for weeks at a very high volume.

The plankton

The NGO OceanCare, based in Zurich, Switzerland, in May 115 compiled studies conducted several years ago that showed more or less serious effects on 66 species of fish and 36 species of invertebrates.

The plankton seems to be very vulnerable to air cannons. A 2017 study showed that a single low-power discharge from the cannons generally used by oil prospecting vessels could decimate half of the plankton in the explored area. Some species of zooplankton have died by 95%. Plankton is at the base of the food chain, especially for whales and many invertebrates such as oysters and shrimps.

The cod stocks

The fish can suffer internal injuries and change their behaviour, as confused by the noise, leading some to immobility and others to flee.

In the studies of 1996 and 2012, the firing of air cannons caused the flight of banks of haddocks and cod until the capture rate was reduced between 20 and 70% depending on the area. Some fish descended to areas where they were most vulnerable; others were caught on an empty stomach, an apparent sign that they had stopped feeding.

What solutions can there be?

The most direct solution would be to limit the number and intensity of acoustic surveys. But, at least in the United States, the opposite direction has been taken: the administration of Donald Trump announced the forthcoming opening of the continental shelf of the Atlantic coast to such “seismic studies” with a view, finally, to drilling.

The oil industry argues that the scientific evidence is not decisive. “In addition, seismic surveys are frequently used by the United States Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation and the offshore wind industry,” Michael Tadeo, spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, a professional federation, told AFP.

The sector also defends itself by stating that ships take precautions, especially by throwing low-intensity shots to make the whales leave, or by ceasing their operations if the cetaceans are present.

“They are just cosmetic attempts that are probably worthless,” says Lindy Weilgart of Dalhousie University, an OceanCare consultant, to AFP.

As for the ships, a decrease in speed would reduce the volume of noise. The Port of Vancouver has been carrying out experiments to this end since last year, as part of a project called “ECHO”.

The NGOs are working so that the notion of noise pollution produced by man is included in a UN resolution on the oceans later this year.

While initially what was proposed focused mainly on the effect on dolphins and whales, NGOs want to raise awareness about the general disturbance of underwater fauna, with the possible reduction of fish populations.

“It’s really a food chain problem,” said AFP Nicolas Entrup of OceanCare. But he congratulates: “The problem of noise in the oceans is rapidly rising on the agenda, as an environmental threat.”

 

Source: El Universo

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Paus Berusia Setengah Abad Mati Membusuk di Aceh Timur

Aceh Timur - Seekor paus berusia setengah abad yang terdampar dengan kondisi mati di Desa Baro Bugeng, Kecamatan Nurussalam, Kabupaten Aceh Timur, Aceh, beberapa hari lalu. Hal ini diungkapkan Kepala Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam (BKSDA) Aceh Sapto Aji Prabowo dalam keterangannya, Selasa (19/6/2018).

Sapto menjelaskan, paus mati tersebut sesuai hasil ground check diketahui mamalia itu berjenis Sperm Whale Physeter Macrocophalus. "Paus tersebut berjenis kelamin jantan. Keadaan paus sudah membusuk, terutama di bagian perut," ujarnya.

Berdasarkan hasil pemeriksaan tim BKSDA Aceh pada paus tersebut diketahui panjang total 15,5 meter dan panjang batas ekor 14,8 meter. Sementara, lebar sirip 1,2 meter, lebar ekor 3,3 meter, lebar bagian depan 3,9 meter, dan lebar belakang sekitar 2,4 meter.

"Dengan dimensi itu, perkiraan berat paus sekitar 13,7 ton. Umur lebih dari lima puluh tahun," sebut Sapto.

BKSDA Aceh tidak bisa memastikan kematian paus berukuran jumbo itu. Namun, kematiannya diprediksi karena beberapa sebab, termasuk salah satunya sakit.

"Paus sakit cenderung ke pinggir untuk hindari predator. Mencari plankton sampai ke pinggir, terus terdampar. Plankton banyak di perairan dangkal," paparnya.

Selain beberapa sebab di atas, kematian puas juga bisa disebabkan oleh gangguan navigasi. Paparan sonar (seismic activity), seperti dari kapal, bisa memengaruhi kesehatan atau keadaan paus.

Paus ini awalnya ditemukan Kepala Mukim Desa Baro Bugeng, M Husen pada Minggu, 17 Juni 2018. Ia melihat ada benda terdampar di pantai dan setelah diperiksa ternyata seekor paus yang sudah mati.

"Bapak M Husen kemudian menyampaikan ke masyarakat dan Pak Geucik Desa Baro Bugeng," ucap Sapto.

Baca berita menarik JawaPos.com lainnya di sini.

Saksikan video pilihan berikut ini:

Seekor paus tergeletak mati di Provinsi Songkhla, Thailand karena menelan 80 kg plastik.

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NSF, NASA scientists explore ocean's 'twilight zone' to uncover links between carbon and plankton

News Release 18-042

NSF, NASA scientists explore ocean's 'twilight zone' to uncover links between carbon and plankton

Tiny floating organisms play a role in removing carbon dioxide from oceans, atmosphere

The NSF-NASA EXPORTS project will track the fate of phytoplankton (green) in the Pacific Ocean.

June 18, 2018

Equipped with advanced underwater robotics and an array of analytical instrumentation, a team of scientists will set sail for the northeastern Pacific Ocean this August.

The researchers' mission for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which are supporting the project, is to study the life and death of microscopic plankton, tiny plant and animal organisms that play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the oceans.

More than 100 scientists and crew members will embark from Seattle, Washington, for the Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) oceanographic campaign.

EXPORTS is the first coordinated multidisciplinary science project of its kind to study the fates and carbon cycle impacts of microscopic plankton. The project will use several underwater robotic platforms and two research vessels operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the R/V Revelle and R/V Sally Ride, which will sail 200 miles west into the open ocean.

Into the twilight zone

From these seaborne laboratories, researchers will explore plankton and the chemical and physical properties of the ocean from the surface to half a mile below. There lies the twilight zone, a region with little to no sunlight, where carbon from plankton can be sequestered, or kept out of the atmosphere, for decades to thousands of years.

EXPORTS scientists are investigating how much carbon moves through the ocean's sunlit upper layer and into the twilight zone, and how ocean ecological processes affect carbon fate and sequestration.

"By employing two ships, we'll be able to observe complex oceanographic processes that vary both in space and time -- which we wouldn't be able to capture with a single ship," said Paula Bontempi, program manager for Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry at NASA Headquarters.

Living in the ocean's surface waters are phytoplankton, tiny, plant-like organisms which, like land plants, use sunlight and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow.

Phytoplankton play an important role in removing atmospheric carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. When phytoplankton, and the animal zooplankton that eat them, die, the remains sink and a fraction of the carbon in their bodies is exported to ocean depths.

While the major pathways of how carbon moves through the ocean are known, how much carbon is transferred along these pathways, and how much they depend on ecosystem characteristics, are less well-known.

"The carbon that humans are putting into the atmosphere is warming Earth," said Mike Sieracki, a Biological Oceanography program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "Much of that carbon goes into the ocean and is transported to the deep sea, where it will not return to the atmosphere for a long time. This project will help us to understand the biological and chemical processes that remove that carbon, and to monitor these processes as climate changes."

The biological pump

The long-term removal of carbon from the atmosphere to ocean depths is known as the biological pump, which operates through three main processes.

First, carbon-laden particles from the ocean's surface sink through gravity, as happens with dead phytoplankton or zooplankton.

Second, in what's called vertical migration, zooplankton migrate daily to the ocean's surface to feed on phytoplankton, then return to the twilight zone at night, carrying carbon with them to deeper waters.

And third, physical oceanographic processes such as the global overturning circulation of the oceans and smaller-scale turbulent eddies carry suspended and dissolved carbon to the depths.

EXPORTS will provide data on the role of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the biological pump, and on the export of carbon to the deep sea. The information is important to plan observations and technologies for future Earth-observing satellite missions.

High-tech exploration

Among the many technologies in EXPORTS is an autonomous platform called a Wirewalker that uses wave energy to move instruments along a taut wire from the surface to 1,600 feet below the surface. The Wirewalker will measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, carbon and chlorophyll.

A 6.5-foot-long remote-controlled underwater vehicle called a Seaglider will gather similar measurements at depths of as much as 3,200 feet.

Aboard ship, samples will be collected for genomic analyses of phytoplankton, zooplankton and other organisms.

New, microscopic imaging tools will also be used, including a microscope called the Imaging FlowCytobot, which will provide real-time, high-resolution images of billions of individual phytoplankton. An Underwater Vision Profiler will measure the sizes of sinking particles and collect images of zooplankton.

Mounted on the ship's superstructure will be instruments that measure the ocean's color, from ultraviolet wavelengths to shortwave infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Phytoplankton have distinct spectral "signatures" -- colors of light they absorb and scatter. By identifying these signatures, scientists will be able to develop algorithms for future satellite ocean color missions.

"What we learn from EXPORTS will give us a stronger understanding of how plankton species interact with their environment," said Bontempi. "Not only will we be able to use this information to develop new approaches to identifying and quantifying plankton by satellite, but we'll also be able to predict how much carbon will cycle back into the atmosphere and how much will be transported to the ocean depths over the long term."

-NSF-

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Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, email: cdybas@nsf.gov
Steve Cole, NASA, (202) 358-0918, email: cdybas@nsf.gov

Related Websites
NSF Grant: Collaborative Research: Diatoms, Food Webs and Carbon Export - Leveraging NASA EXPORTS to Test the Role of Diatom Physiology in the Biological Carbon Pump: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1756442&HistoricalAwards=false
NSF Grant: Collaborative Research: Diatoms, Food Webs and Carbon Export - Leveraging NASA EXPORTS to Test the Role of Diatom Physiology in the Biological Carbon Pump: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1756816&HistoricalAwards=false
NSF Grant: Collaborative Research: Diatoms, Food Webs and Carbon Export - Leveraging NASA EXPORTS to Test the Role of Diatom Physiology in the Biological Carbon Pump: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1756433&HistoricalAwards=false

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, its budget is $7.8 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.

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Kehidupan di kedalaman satu kilometer di bawah es Antartika

Sebuah kapal selam menyelam ke 1000 meter di bawah hamparan es Antartika yang memungkinkan tim Blue Planet II merekam kehidupan yang luar biasa untuk episode The Deep. Tidak ada manusia yang pernah mengunjungi kedalaman Antartika seperti itu sebelumnya.

Membutuhkan waktu dua tahun, pelayaran menuju misteri ini tidak hanya mengarah ke rangkaian yang menakjubkan yang menjerumuskan kita ke dunia asing, kaya akan biomassa dan penuh kehidupan, juga membuka peluang untuk berbagaia studi ilmiah.

Lautan dalam sama menantangnya untuk dijelajahi seperti ruang angkasa yang jauh di sana; kita memiliki peta yang lebih rinci mengenai permukaan Mars daripada dasar samudera.

Perjalanan ke dunia yang belum pernah dijelajahi ini memberi kita wawasan tentang makhluk-makhluk yang berkembang dalam kondisi ekstrim dan menawarkan pandangan yang unik mengenai kehidupan di dasar laut kepada para ilmuwan . Hal ini penting untuk pekerjaan konservasi masa depan untuk melindungi dasar laut.

Butuh waktu dua tahun untuk mempersiapkan ekspedisi ini. Sebuah terusan dalam di ujung utara Semenanjung Antartika (dikenal sebagai 'Iceberg Alley') akhirnya dipilih sebagai lokasi penyelaman.

Ini memiliki tantangan tersendiri: kapal selam harus menghindari es yang bergeser. Sebagian es ini memiliki puncak seukuran mobil, sebagian lain seukuran taman Hyde Park di London.

Produser eksekutif James Honeyborne, menjelaskan tantangan teknis yang besar dari menghindari gunung es ibarat permainan penyerbu ruang angkasa versi raksasa dan tidak ada yang tahu bagaimana kapal selam dapat bertahan di bawah tekanan tersebut.

Sebelumnya, kendaraan yang dioperasikan dari jarak jauh (Remotely Operated Vehicles, ROVs) telah mengunjungi kedalaman Lautan Antartika. Temuan awalnya menunjukkan ada kelimpahan kehidupan yang dapat ditemukan di kedalaman es, bahkan menyaingi terumbu karang tropis.

Ekspedisi ini tentu saja tidak mengecewakan.

Awak Blue Planet II menemukan dasar laut penuh kehidupan, mulai dari ikan 'naga es' sampai laba-laba laut raksasa; siput laut Antartika dan lili laut yang berenang.

Dr Jon Copley, profesor di Universitas Southampton, telah menjadi kekuatan pendorong di belakang ekspedisi itu.

"Mengirimkan orang sejauh satu kilometer ke bawah lautan di sekitar Antartika untuk pertama kalinya menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada lagi bagian dari planet biru kita yang tidak dapat diakses oleh kita, jika kita dapat menemukan kemauan untuk pergi ke sana," kata Copley.

"Tidak seperti kondisi Antartika yang keras di atas ombak, di dalam laut justru surga bagi kehidupan - berkat sinar matahari yang terus menerus di lokasi kami menyelam, plankton bermekaran dan krill memakan mereka, yang akhirnya membuat banyak makanan mencapai dasar laut."

"Kelimpahan kehidupan di bawah sana spektakuler, dengan spons Xestospongia muta berukuran dua meter dan laba-laba laut raksasa dengan rentang kaki 40 cm."

Kelimpahan kehidupan ini sebagian disebabkan arus ke bawah yang menyerupai salju di bawah air, jatuh tanpa suara.

Nutrisi di permukaan penting untuk plankton, tetapi yang benar-benar memberi makan dalam adalah kotoran krill. Membentuk lumpur lunak yang kaya di dasar laut.

Selain kelimpahan invertebrata laut, para kru juga merekam beberapa spesies ikan yang luar biasa yang juga tinggal di habitat ini. Copley mengingat beberapa penampakan favoritnya:

"Salah satu ikan favorit saya yang kami lihat adalah" naga es", yang memiliki darah yang bening tanpa hemoglobin pembawa oksigen yang memberi warna merah pada darah kita. Dalam air dingin, oksigen yang cukup langsung larut dalam cairan darah ikan untuk membuatnya tetap hidup."

Data baru yang ditemukan dalam ekspedisi ini memiliki implikasi pada kebijakan penangkapan ikan di Antartika dan Kawasan Perlindungan Laut di wilayah tersebut. Copley mengatakan:

"Pada penyelaman ini, kami menyaksikan kehidupan sehari-hari hewan laut di Antartika, membantu kami untuk memahami mereka jauh lebih baik daripada mempelajari spesimen yang dikumpulkan oleh jaring atau pukat dari kapal-kapal."

"Dan membantu kami menyelidiki bagaimana kehidupan kita sendiri terhubung dengan lingkungan yang terpencil namun rapuh ini."

---

Anda bisa membaca versi asli tulisan ini diBBC Earthdengan judul One thousand metres below the Antarctic ice

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The surreal swirls of ocean plankton blooms, seen from space

Yes, those are clouds you’re seeing, but they’re not floating over the sea—they’re under it.

Phytoplankton and algae inhabit bodies of water around the world. When clusters of the tiny plants multiply near the ocean’s surface, where light is plentiful and the water is warmer, they change how light reflects off the water. Blooms often pop up in spring, when warmer waters and more sunlight produce optimal growing conditions, but they can be triggered by different factors: Agricultural runoff can lead to a spike in phytoplankton production, while some believe that the chaos of seas in the winter spare the plankton from being eaten, leading to an accumulation until spring arrives.

Suddenly, this photosynthesis free-for-all is visible from space.

Here are some of the most lovely and surreal blooms captured by NASA satellites or seen from the International Space Station over the years.

A plankton bloom, off the coast of Namibia in 2014. (NASA)

Near the Falkland Islands in 2015. (NASA)

Off the coast of New York and New Jersey in 2015. (NASA)

Off the coast of New Zealand in 2009. (NASA)

A bloom surrounding the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand in 2008. (NASA)

The Black Sea, seen from the International Space Station in 2013. (NASA)

A bloom below Western Australia. (NASA)

The Sea of Marmara, near Turkey. (NASA)

The Barents Sea in 2010. (NASA)

The Barents Sea in 2011 (NASA)

An swirling eddy, appearing blue due to increased plankton blooming, in the waters below South Africa. (NASA)

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Belakangan ini ikan paus sering terdampar di Probolinggo, mengapa?

Probolinggo (ANTARA News) - Kepala Dinas Perikanan Kabupaten Probolinggo Dedy Isfandi mengatakan dalam beberapa tahun terakhir ini ikan paus sering terdampar di perairan Probolinggo, Jawa Timur.

"Berdasarkan catatan kami, sedikitnya enam peristiwa terdamparnya ikan paus berbagai jenis di Probolinggo yang terjadi pada tahun 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 dan 2018," katanya di Probolinggo, Jumat.

Terdamparnya ikan paus balin di Pantai Randutatah, Kecamatan Paiton, Rabu 6 Juni lalu ternyata bukan yang pertama kali terjadi di Probolinggo karena dalam waktu kurun delapan tahun terakhir tercatat enam kali kejadian serupa terjadi di lokasi yang berbeda di Probolinggo.

Berdasarkan data Dinas Perikanan Probolinggo, ikan paus minke terdampar di Desa Penambangan, Kecamatan Pajarakan, pada 7 November 2010, ikan hiu paus atau hiu tutul terdampar di Desa Gejugan-Kecamatan Pajarakan pada 9 Desember 2010, ikan hiu paus/hiu tutul terdampar di Desa Binor-Kecamatan Paiton.

Kemudian, 32 ekor ikan paus pilot terdampar di Desa Pesisir, Kecamatan Gending, dengan rincian 15 ekor mati dan 17 ekor berhasil diselamatkan pada 15 Juni 2016, paus balin terdampar di Desa Tongas Wetan-Kecamatan Tongas pada 30 Oktober 2017, dan beberapa waktu lalu paus balin terdampar dalam kondisi mati di Desa Randutatah, Kecamatan Paiton, pada 6 Juni 2018.

"Bahkan seingat saya paus orca atau paus pembunuh terdampar di Probolinggo pada tahun 2005, namun saya lupa lokasi persisnya," kata Dedy.

Fenomena ini terjadi karena hewan laut raksasa itu sedang mengalami disorientasi atau sedang linglung karena paus maupun hiu paus biasanya hidup berkelompok.

Baca juga: Bangkai Paus terdampar di Pantai Duta Probolinggo

"Jika ada satu paus yang sedang linglung, maka dia akan terpencar dari kelompoknya. Hewan laut yang linglung itu pun tetap bertahan hidup dengan cara memakan plankton di perairan Indonesia yang beriklim tropis," kata Dedy.

Dari beberapa kejadian terdamparnya mamalia laut itu,sebagian besar berasal dari wilayah subtropis seperti Australia, Jepang dan Korea.

"Faktor penyebab linglung itu karena dari awal dia sudah terkena penyakit. Kalau berasal dari perairan Australia, mungkin mamalia laut itu masuk dari Selat Bali sampai ke Selat Madura dan berakhirnya di sini," kata Dedy.

Ia mengatakan ikan paus mati karena iklim yang tidak bersahabat. Suhu perairan subtropis dengan perairan tropis berbeda karena suhu subtropis antara 3-5 derajat celsius, sedangkan tropis pada kisaran 30-35 derajat celsius.

Mengenai penyebab disorientasi, Deddy mengatakan potensi besar disebabkan dari makanan yang dikonsumsi, contohnya terdamparnya ikan paus balin yang memiliki tipikal mulut seperti bulu sikat gigi yang fungsinya untuk memakan plankton, namun tidak semua plankton itu bagus karena ada yang beracun, seperti fenomena Red Tide.

Red Tide adalah fenomena alam ketika warna air laut berwarna merah kecoklatan dan sangat beracun yang disebabkan fitoplankton jenis Pyrrophyta yang jumlahnya meningkat banyak akibat air hangat dan kaya nutrisi.

"Jika itu termakan, maka akan berpengaruh pada kesehatan ikan paus yang dapat berakibat pada disorientasi, terpencar dari kelompok dan nyasar ke perairan yang tidak cocok dengan ikan paus tersebut," kata Dedy.

Pewarta: Zumrotun Solichah
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018

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Jangan Ngaku Penggemar Berat Spongebob Squarepants Kalau Tak Berhasil Pecahkan Teka-Teki Ini

TRIBUNJOGJA.COM - SpongeBob SquarePants adalah sebuah serial animasi yang paling terpopuler di Nickelodeon. 

Pada awalnya serial kartun animasi ini ditayangkan pada tahun 1999 di Amerika Serikat dan dicipta oleh Stephen Hillenburg, seorang animator dan ahli biologi laut, dan diterbitkan oleh perusahaannya, 

United Plankton Pictures Inc.

Serial kartun animasi ini ditayangkan di Malaysia menerusi saluran Nickelodeon dan TV3, dan juga melalui saluran TV9 yang telah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Melayu.

Baca: Ketika Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy dalam Spongebob Disamakan dengan Semar dan Petruk

Film animasi yang menceritakan mengenai biota laut ini memiliki banyak penggemar.

Tak hanya anak-anak, ternyata kartun tersebut juga digemari oleh remaja hingga orang dewasa.

Nah buat kalian yang mengaku penggemar berat Spongebob Squarepants, coba pecahkan teka-teki daris situs Buzzfed di bawah ini

1. Apa warna baju Mr Krab?

Mr Krab (IST)

2. Apa warna dasi Spongebob?

Spongebob (IST)

3. Apa warna bintik pada cangkang Gery?

Gery (IST)

4. Apa warna bunga pada helm Sandy?

Sandy (IST)

5. Apa warna rok milik Mrs Puff?

Mrs Puff (IST)

6. Apa warna rambut Pearl?

Pearl (IST)

7. Apa warna bunga pada celana yang dipakai Patrick?

Patrick (IST)

8. Apa warna sarung tangan Mermaid Man?

Mermaid Man (IST)

9. Apa warna syal Bernacle Boy?

Barnacle Boy (IST)

10. Apa warna mata Plankton?

Plankton (IST)

(TRIBUNJOGJA.COM)

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Banyak Hewan Laut Mati Karena Makan Plastik, Mengapa Mereka Tak Bisa Menghindarinya?

TRIBUNTRAVEL.COM - Plastik tidak hanya terlihat seperti makanan bagi hewan liar.

Baunya, rasanya, dan bahkan bunyinya terdengar seperti makanan.

Dalam sebuah wawancara baru-baru ini terkait serial dokumenter Blue Planet II, David Attenborough, seorang broadcaster sekaligus naturalis, menjelaskan urutan bagaimana seekor burung albatros tiba di sarangnya untuk memberi makan anak-anaknya.

"Apa yang keluar dari mulutnya? Bukan ikan, dan bukan cumi-cumi - yang biasanya mereka makan. (Tapi) plastik," ujar Attenborough.

Hal ini, seperti kata Attenborough, memilukan dan aneh.

Albatros harus menempuh jarak hingga ribuan kilometer untuk mencari mangsa pilihan, yang mereka ambil dari air dengan mudah.

Bagaimana burung yang "jago" itu dapat dengan mudah tertipu, dan kembali dari perjalanan panjang mereka hanya dengan mulut yang penuh dengan plastik?

Banyak Hewan Tertipu

Namun, albatros bukanlah satu-satunya hewan yang tertipu plastik sebagai makanan.

Setidaknya 180 spesies hewan laut telah didokumentasikan mengkonsumsi plastik, mulai dari plankton kecil hingga paus raksasa.

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This is why the sea in Bournemouth is brown at the moment

BEACHGOERS have been told not to be concerned by the off-putting colour and smell of the sea as a spring plankton bloom is the cause.

Visitors to Bournemouth beach recently will have noticed the water has turned a rusty brown with layers of scum on the surface.

But while some have feared the cause is an oil spillage or sewage leak, it is in fact a harmless algae known as phaeocystis.

Phaoecystis close-up, sampled by a plankton net. It grows as colonies of thousands of cells within a jelly-like matrix. When a bloom dies the dead colonies can be whipped-up by wind and waves into a surface foam that is called spume. pic.twitter.com/89sMBYY77A

— Dr Richard Kirby (@PlanktonPundit) June 2, 2018

John Hourston, a volunteer for the Blue Planet Society, said the outbreak of the phytoplankton was “relatively uncommon” in Bournemouth, with the last bloom seen in 2016.

“Lots of people are worried about it as the sea is currently the colour of… chocolate,” he said. “Most people are automatically concerned it is sewage, but it’s nothing that unpleasant.

“We last had a phaeocystis phytoplankton bloom in 2016 after the beach sand replenishment, and that was the first one I had seen in Bournemouth since 2010. This one is very strong but not as strong as the one in 2016.”

John explained that a number of factors can lead to a spring plankton bloom, including sunlight, nutrients, and temperature.

“This particular phaeocystis plankton plant often blooms when you get a period of strong sunlight and warm weather, together with nutrients building up in the sea.

“They happen this time every year somewhere around the coast. It’s a completely natural event, although it doesn’t look very nice.

“It will clear up within the next week or ten days at most once it has died off, at which point it will sink to the sea bed.”

He added the oily patterns left on the sea’s surface were the result of dead phytoplankton.

“It’s nothing to worry about, but you wouldn’t really want to swim in it. When it gets a bit windier, it will froth up and create spume. It’s completely natural, but it does give off a slightly unpleasant smell,” he said.

The Environment Agency encourages people to report algal blooms, but says toxic algae is rare in English coastal waters.

On its website, the agency says: “Some non-toxic blooms can be mistaken for sewage pollution. One of the most common bloom-forming algae in English coastal waters forms a brown, frothy scum. This is often blown onto the shore where it breaks down into an unpleasant brown slime that smells like sewage. This soon breaks down and disappears.”

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