Thriving Oceans

The California Department of Water Resources is experimenting with a new way to save salmon in the delta.  “Preliminary results show that an experimental, non-physical fish barrier is working to help keep young Chinook salmon and steelhead in a more direct path to the ocean and away from agricultural diversion and the state and federal pumping plants. The bubble curtain barrier project combines acoustics and a strobe-lit sheet of bubbles to create an underwater wall of light and sound at frequencies that repel juvenile Chinook salmon.”

Check out the video…

Happy WORLD OCEAN DAY 2009!  The United Nations has officially declared June 8th as World Ocean Day and declared it as an “opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.”

“The oceans are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere.”

So what do our oceans do for us…watch this NatGeo video:

Video released by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

“The resulting video, recorded using ambient light at 100 meters (328 feet) depth, not only successfully gave the fishermen a clear idea of how the thieving whales were stealing the fish-they pluck the line at one end to jar the black cod free at the other end, somewhat like shaking apples from a tree-but it gave scientists a chance to match the animal’s acoustics with video depictions of its physical features.”

Watch the video here

Plastic washing ashore and littering our beaches, the incredible Pacific Ocean garbage patch twice the size of Texas, and piles of trash blotting our seafloors left me wondering if the plastic pollution problem had reached a plateau. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I discover that plastic, under the guise of plankton, is becoming an inadvertent food source for all forms of life that rely on our oceans for survival. The main culprit appears to be tan plastic fragments that mimic the keystone species krill…

The ocean world may be vast, but getting connected with other ecologically-minded individuals is a great way to protect our seas. Click the flip tab below the video and “Let’s Get Ocean Responsible!” with the help of SmallRivers. By the way, it’s a great video.

A short video showcasing the biodiversity found in the Monterey Bay.  In love with the ocean, a close neighbor and frequent visitior to The Bay, and harboring a soft spot for Mola molas provided enough reasons for me to share…