A Glowing Worm

An example of a Chaeteopterus Variopedatus that grows green 

There is a strange sea worm that has a cool party trick that amazes anyone who sees it. The Chaeteopterus Variopedatus also known as parchment tubeworm because of the paper like tubes it builds itself then lives in. These worms emit bioluminescent mucus that glows a beautiful blue color. Scientists are now one step closer to understanding how these worms make the bioluminescent glow. These worms, found in shallow, sandy, seafloors around the world is get apart from other glow worms because of the unique glow they emit. Any parchment tubeworm that does possess bioluminescent at those depths glow green, not blue. "Shallow water is much more complex than deep water from a physical standpoint, and green is what organisms see best," Dmitri Deheyn, a biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said. Until now, nobody has done real research into why these organisms glow blue. Deheyn is now conducting experiments to determine these causes. They initially found that these worms, unlike any other bioluminescent worms, do not need oxygen, Light is produced when two chemicals react with oxygen so when there is no oxygen it can contribute to the blue color. In a second experiment the scientists found that riboflavin plays an important roll in the light production however they do not know why yet. The team has yet to discover why or how these worms emit a blue like but research will continue.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/11/17/ocean-glow-stick-sea-worm-emits-strange-blue-glow/

New Discoveries

New research has gone into developments of discovering new species of life in the deepest and darkest parts of the ocean’s These animals scientists are discovering and researching have to deal with frigid temperatures, no sunlight, and absurd amounts of inward forcing pressure. There

are not many animals that can cope with such environments but there are many that actually can. In the Mariana trench approximately 6.8 miles down, there are life forms that deal with insane environments that most people once thought an animal could never survive in. "Special adaptations are 
needed for living things to survive the pressure, cold and low food availability of the deep sea," says Monash University marine biologist Richard Reina. "Despite this, there is a surprisingly large diversity of life – although at very low abundance." While there are these life forms in the oceans, these fish seem to be fairly simple and do not seem to swim very much. Most have bioluminetric abilities, which make them have a sit and wait approach to consuming food. The extreme conditions make finding out about new life forms at the bottoms of our oceans nearly impossible. It has been said that scientist’s today know more about the potential for life forms on other planets than they do about the trenches on our own planet. "The difficulties of surveying and sampling mean there are many undiscovered species waiting to be found," he says. "This project will greatly advance our knowledge of what lives in the deepest seas, as well as how they manage to survive in such an inhospitable environment." In the Kermadec Trench they have started research and slowly have descended to new depths surveying more and more areas. The technology these scientists are using is the newest and best they can but the sheer physics of the task is what stands in their way.

Citation:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/looking-for-life-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea-20131108-2x5d0.html#ixzz2kIN0r54N

A Rising Problem for the Pacific

In the past 6- years, some parts of the Pacific Ocean have warmed 15 times faster than these parts had in the 10,000 years leading up to this. Researchers from Journal Science have states tat the middle depths if a part of the Pacific Ocean has warmed very rapidly recently. They relate these rises to most of humanity putting more greenhouse gases into the air more recently. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations-sponsored group of scientists that issues reports every few years about the effects of global warming, states that "Increases in ocean heat content and temperature are robust indicators of global warming during the past several decades." The lead study author of this case, Yair Rosenthal, said "We're pumping heat into the ocean at a faster rate over the past 60 years and we may have underestimated the efficiency of the oceans as a storehouse for heat and energy," he added. "It may buy us some time — how much time, I don't really know. But it's not going to stop climate change." They are saying the 15 percent increase is not too high it’s just the rate at which this 15 percent was obtained that t causing some to be worried. Researchers have found that the Pacific Ocean had actually been cooling over the past 10,000 years until about 800 years ago when temperatures slowly started to creep up. This object of clear global warming is showing the negative effects that it can have on our world and that we must do something to start to prevent this from rising more.

Citation:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/31/global-warming-pacific-ocean/3324251/

A Monstrous Barnacle

There is one animal living in the ocean that is a particularly scary creature. When learning about what this thing does it appears very disturbing. Many people have said this creature is comparable to animals from a monster movie but this one is very real and very dangerous to other sea animals. In order to fully understand what these animals do, imagine you are a full sized crab after a life of dodging predators your age and size make it impossible for many predators to attach. All of the sudden you feel something inside of you. There is a Rhizocephalan barnacle inside of you and it’s going to take over. This Rhizocephalan is dangerous and painful for the animals it attacks. Its roots crawl through the tissue, gut, and brain of the animal. The adult female body of the Rhizocephalan is twisted and deformed, not resembling in any way its barnacle cousins living on rocks near shore. She has lost her hard shell, her legs, her eyes, and transformed into sickly yellow roots and sinuous twisting filaments that are slowly grow like black mold through your tissues. As the barnacle continues to eat away at your body, eventually your abdomen explodes. This barnacle has now taken over the body of the attacked completely. The attacked now thinks that it is a female organism and will produce new life. It is a bizarre process that is often not seen but in this case it makes it able to reproduce without using its own body.

Citation:

http://deepseanews.com/2013/10/this-may-be-the-oceans-most-horrifying-monster-and-youve-probably-never-heard-of-it/