Coral bleaching

Have you ever heard of a stingray? Even if you have, did you know that they can weigh more than a piano? Or, that they can’t even see their prey when they hunt? Stingrays truly are full of surprises! One amazing fact about stingrays is that they spend a majority of their time serene and not very active. Most of their little movements are reactions to the waves. In addition, stingrays are often eaten by large sharks, crocodiles, orca whales, and birds as they fly along the surface of the…

Winds from the Gulf Stream Current and warmer ocean temperatures during the summer months may be the catalysts behind a strange “jellyfish” like creatures popping up on East coast beaches over the past several weeks. Known as the Portuguese Man O’ War, these large, colorful venomous animals are often confused for a jellyfish but are actually part of a group related to jellyfish called siphonophores. They can grow up to 1 foot long and 5 inches wide and their tentacles can stretch as long as…

The civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Often times, people listen to that song without further knowledge on what it may truly mean and fail to take the time to investigate the credibility of that bird. Along with this, us humans sometimes act as parrots, simply imitating any idiotic utterance that is conceived. In the speculative fiction book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the episode “The Monsters…

Introduction Invasive species are continually documented as a major risk to ecosystem health and worldwide biodiversity. Invasive marine fish introductions are still considered relatively rare and historically the environmental effects are often discounted. This is different from historically famous invasive species such as the zebra mussels in The Great Lakes, which caused well-documented harmful economic and environmental effects. While these are considered rare, they have been documented,…

has been banned in the Atlantic ocean for 30 years. If there were to be an oil drill built off the coast of the Atlantic, it could end up putting more marine life in danger than the oil drills in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, it would put many coral reefs in danger as well. There are many harmful effects caused by drilling. This includes the seismic testing that is harmful to marine life like the North American right whale. If there were to be a oil spill many fisheries, coastlines and public…

Some of the most phenomenal sites that rest on this planet, lie in the most bizarre places. One of the most astonishing sites that I have ever seen, rests on the coast of the tiny island Culebra. The basic description of it is a gathering of rocks that enclose a small area but really it is so much more. It lies just a few feet away from a waterfall, so in between the creases of the rocks, water can seep in, thus resembling a pool. Although the best part was, when the hot summer air mixed with…

INTRODUCTION Parental care in Decapoda is usually limited to the female's care for her eggs (i.e., carrying, oxygenating, cleaning, protecting, and sometimes assisting in hatching) (Hazlett, 1983). Care of recently hatched juveniles is rare in invertebrates, and evolved mainly in terrestrial and freshwater species (Thiel, 2000). The freshwater crayfishes show some of the most complex patterns of parental care among decapods (Hazlett, 1983). The majority of studies with these animals refer to…

major ecosystems. It will start with the coastal ecosystems. Coastal ecosystems are the areas, which meet the land and water together to create an environment. It includes the tropical coral reefs, inshore marine habitats, mangroves, salt marshes, and dunes & maritime forests; but one decided to choose the tropical coral reefs, because…

Defeo, McLachlan et al examine what makes sandy shoreline habitats unique among other types of shorelines. Their article looks at threats to beaches, from weather patterns, to extreme storms, as well as man made structures and failed attempts at beach rehabilitation. The article makes a point that long-term information about the on-going changes in beach habitats is often hard to come by, and what information can be found is very short-term, geologically speaking. They suggest that in order to…

The reading material and lecture discuss several theories about ways that agnostids live. The writer presents several theories including free-swimming predators, seafloor dwellers and parasites. However, the professor put forward three reasons that directly contradict the theories and effectively prove that they are not persuadsive and somewhat inaccurate. First of all, the writer suggests that agnostids can swim freely in the ocean. By contrast, in accordance with the professor, this veiw is…