July 27, 2010 - British scientists have created an extremely detailed model of a hammerhead shark to study the creature's legendary sense of smell. The information gathered from this research may be used to develop counter-terrorism devices and more. View the video at Reuters.
Although the gusher is currently capped, deep concern about negative impacts the dispersant/crude oil mix will have on both the marine ecosystem and human health has prompted leading ocean scientists to issue a consensus statement that urges a halt to any further dispersant use in the Gulf.
The statement, authored by Dr. Susan Shaw, Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, stands on a large body of research indicating that crude oil and dispersants are more toxic when they are combined than either oil or dispersants alone. The statement also calls for:
Initial signatories include:
July 16, 2010 - Scientists from Australia's Queensland Brain Institute have used high-tech equipment to capture underwater creatures at depths not documented from before (see slide show at BBC). Using deep-sea cameras and instrument platforms new to Australia, prehistoric six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans and many unidentified fish were caught on camera nearly one mile below sea level at Osprey Reef, 218 miles northeast of Cairns on Australia's north east coast. The team, led by Professor Justin Marshall, captured the sea creatures using special low-light sensitive, custom-designed remote controlled cameras, which sat on the sea floor. The Australian Research Council funded the equipment that was built at The Harbour Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida.
"Osprey Reef is one of the many reefs in the Coral Sea Conservation Zone, which has been identified as an area of high conservation importance by the Federal Government. Therefore, it is paramount that we identify the ecosystems and species inhabiting the area," Professor Marshall said. "As well as understanding life at the surface, we need to plunge off the walls of Osprey to describe the deep-sea life that lives down to 2000m, beyond the reach of sunlight. We simply do not know what life is down there and our cameras can now record the behaviour and life in Australia's largest biosphere, the deep-sea."
Scientists working on the Deep Australia project also collected amazing footage of the Nautilus, a relative of squid or octopus that still lives in a shell as they have done for millions of years. Researchers measured these "living fossils" to find out more about their biology before returning them to sea. "Learning more about these creatures' primitive eyes and brain could help neuroscientists to better understand human vision," research student Andy Dunstan said.
Professor Marshall explained most of our knowledge on how nerve cells function and communicate was first pioneered through work on squid giant nerve cells. "We are now returning to these original model systems, both for their own intrinsic interest and also to better understand brain disorders which lead to conditions such as epilepsy," he said.
In September the scientists will travel to the Peruvian Trench off South America where they will film and capture deep-sea species 2,000m below sea level. One creature they hope to encounter is the Giant Squid, possessor of the world's largest nerve cell. Deep Australia Project Manager Kylie Greig said the trip would help shed light on how deep-sea creatures had evolved over time.
"This technology will help the discovery of deep-sea creatures' adaptations to the challenges of living at crushing depths and in freezing and dark water. Here they must find food and mates in the dark and avoid being eaten themselves. We are interested in the sensory systems used for this lifestyle," she said.
July 14, 2010 - The Book of Shells offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most intriguing mollusk shells, each chosen to convey the range of shapes and sizes that occur across a range of species. Each shell is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the shell’s range, distribution, abundance, habitat, and operculum—the piece that protects the mollusk when it’s in the shell. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each shell and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait.
The Matchless Cone, for instance, or Conus cedonulli, was one of the rarest shells collected during the eighteenth century. So much so, in fact, that a specimen in 1796 was sold for more than six times as much as a painting by Vermeer at the same auction. But since the advent of scuba diving, this shell has become far more accessible to collectors—though not without certain risks. Some species of Conus produce venom that has caused more than thirty known human deaths.
The Zebra Nerite, the Heart Cockle, the Indian Babylon, the Junonia, the Atlantic Thorny Oyster—shells from habitats spanning the poles and the tropics, from the highest mountains to the ocean’s deepest recesses, are all on display in this definitive work.
M. G. Harasewych is research zoologist and curator of marine mollusks at the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., which houses one of the world’s largest mollusk collections. He has discovered and described dozens of new genera and species, written widely for scientific journals and periodicals, and is the author of Shells: Jewels from the Sea. Fabio Moretzsohn has a doctorate in zoology and is a researcher for the Harte Research Institute in Texas. He has discovered a few new species of mollusks and is a coauthor of the Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells.
