Reptile

Common Name: Orninoco Crocadile
Scientific Name: Crocodylus intermedius
Habitats: Live in theColumbian Orinoco River Basin
Adaptations: Adapted to live in freshwater
Status: Critically Endangered, only 547 can be found in the wild
Interesting Facts: Largest Living species of crocadile
Current Issues: Scientits are trying to gradually increase their population through breeding
Why I chose it: I think crocodiles are pretty neat

Ocean Acidification

Ocean Acidification is the increase in the oceans acidity due to the CO2 released in the burning of fossil fuels. Ocean acidification affects the platonic organisms in the ocean becasue it makes it harder for them to form their shells which makes them live shorter lives becasue the ocean is eating away at them. The reduction of the population of platonic organisms affects the benthic organisms because there is less food to fall down to the sea floor which causes many benthic organisms to die. Three important things I learned from this topic are that we rely on the ocean for many things, we need to switch to alternative energy sources to stop acidification, and we need to do more to protect marine life.

Karenia brevis

The karenia brevis dinoflagellate the plankton species responsible for the phenomenon called red tide. Red tide is caused by toxins released by karenia brevis which die the water red and poison shellfish and fish in the area. This hurts the gulf economy by putting the local fishermen in the area out of business until the red tide is gone.

Plankton

There are many things I learned about plankton this week. I learned that they come in two types, zooplankton and phytoplankton. I learned that they are the base of the oceanic food chain. I learned that they can produce an underwater snow effect when they die and fall to the bottom of the ocean. I learned that plankton can cause problems if they are too numerous and I learned that animals can grow out of being plankton as they mature.

Plankton race

The goal of the plankton race was to create a plankton that would sink the slowest using a given set of materials. The plankton in the picture took 10 seconds to sink which was pretty good. Paper, however, took 20 seconds to sinn which is why my team used that instead. If I could change my design I would give it more surface area so it would produce more drag. I liked working in a group for this activity.

The Killer Whale

Common Name: Killer Whale
Scientific Name: Orcinus orca
Habitat: Killer Whales are found in all oceans
Reproduction: Killer Whales reproduce just like any other animals but they tend to stay in families after birth
Status: Not Endangered
Interesting Facts: Can swim up to 28 mph
Stay with their family most of their lives
Have the 2nd heaviest brains among marine mammals
Major Issues: Can get violent when kept in captivity
Why I chose it: I like Shamoo

Harmful Algae Bloom

Harmful Algae Bloom is when the plankton population gets over populated and the plankton release toxins. Red Tide is an algae bloom that is caused by dinoflagellates. There is nothing we can do to prevent red tide. Red Tide causes fish to become poisoned and for shell fish to become poisonous to eat.

Plankton and Why We Need Them

   Plankton are important for many reasons. One reason plankton are important is because they are the base of oceans food chain. Another reason plankton are important to us are because they produce 70%-80% of the entire world's oxygen which keeps many living things alive. One last reason plankton are important is because a change in the population of planton is the first sign of change in the oceanic ecosystem.
     Plankton also come in different types. Diatoms and dinoflagellates are both photosynthetic protists. Diatoms, however, have silica cell walls and dinoflagellates have flagella.

Invertebrate: The Box Jellyfish

Common Name: Box Jellyfish
Scientific Name:Chironex fleckeri
Adaptations: Moves and Eats without a brain

Habitat: Lives in tropical and subtropical oceans

Endangered/Threatened: neither

Interesting Facts: Box Jellies are nearly transparent and have one of the most painful stings in the world
Why I chose this organism: I chose this organism because i find it very interesting due to the fact that it has one of the most powerful venoms in the world yet does not have a heart, brain, or a mouth.

Important Ship

     The Challenger Expedition is an important ship in the history of oceanography because it was one of the first ships to study the sea. From 1872-1876, the Challenger sailed all over the world studying the ocean and collection specimens. Over four years, the Challenger collected hundreds of samples, the crew, however, did not label them properly which caused them to lose track of which samples came from where. Although the Challenger Expedition could have done a better job organizing their sample, the fact that the expedition was one of the first of its kind is what makes it important.

   

Oceanography Over Time

   


           Over the course of history, oceanography has changed dramatically. For hundreds of years humankind thought that the world was flat and that the oceans suddenly stopped at a certain point. Ferdinand Magellan, however, set out to prove everyone wrong. Magellan set out from Portugal and set out on a voyage to sail around the world. It took close to three years for the expedition to make it back to Portugal and prove that the world was round. Magellan, unfortunately, died along the way in the Philippines. However, proving that the world was round changed the way humankind viewed oceanography forever.

5 Reasons to study the ocean

     There are numerous reasons we should study the ocean. Here are a few:



1. There are vast amounts of resources in the ocean, such as oil.

2. We know very little about the deep sea.

3. Because the ocean covers 72% of the entire earth.

4. We will have a better understanding on what it takes to survive in harsh environments.

5. Exploring the ocean leads to new innovative ideas.

     I think we should explore the ocean for all of these reasons plus the fact that the ocean is a really cool environment.

Race results

My teams boat did not do very well in the race due to the fact that our sail worked better backwards than forwards, a fact that we did not know until the 3rd of the three trials. Our times got drastically better once we sailed it backwards. The times are as follows:
1- 14s
2-11s
3-8s
If I had to do this again I would make our boat wider and use a different sail design. I liked working in groups and designing the boat more than racing it.

Boat design

   My boat was build out of the bottom of an orange juice container, tape, pipe cleaners and a taco bell gift card. At first we had two sails because we thought that our first sail was going to be too low. However, the second sail caused the boat to crash into the sides every time so we had to take it off. The boat would still not go straight so Mrs. Wood told us to try it with our boat facing backwards. For some reason,  our boat sailed better backwards than forwards.

     My favorite marine animal from the first two weeks of fish ID is the Beluga Whale.

Common Name: Beluga Whale
Scientific Name: Delphinapterus leucas
Adaptations: Can survive in the extreme cold of the Arctic Ocean
Habitat: Shallow waters close to the coast in arctic regions
Endangered/Threatened/ or Not? Near threatened
Why I chose this animal: I chose this animal because I like the way it looks and think that it is really cool.

Oceanographers and their instruments

     FLIP

             

     Biological Oceanographer- Biological Oceanographers use tools such as microscopes and nets in order to obtain and study the plants and animals inhabiting the ocean.
   
     Chemical Oceanographers- use satellites in order to study the wind, waves, tides and currents of the ocean.

     Geological Oceanographers- study the physical features of the ocean floor using sonar which they use to aid them in making bathymetric maps.

     Geophysical Oceanographers- Study oil below the ocean floor with the aid of drilling ships

     Oceanographic Engineers- Make instruments such as FLIP (seen above) to aid oceanographers in their research