It is exciting to be around science as it is happening.
There was another science lecture yesterday. This one was by Dr. Rolf Gradinger, Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska. Dr. Gradinger spoke about the initiative to inventory the diversity of the marine life in the Arctic Ocean. The arctic region appears to be in the midst of greater climatic changes due to global warming. At the same time, very little is known about the organisms found in the Arctic Ocean when compared to the other oceans of the world. In order to undestand how climate change is impacting the Arctic Ocean, you must first quantify what is found there. This is exactly what ArcOD's goal is. Check out the Arctic Ocean Biodiversity website at http://www.arcodiv.org/index.html. The pictures in this journal are from the site and used with permission. Many more pictures can be found at the above site. Some of the pictures are taken by cameras mounted on ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles).
Juvenile polychaete Arctic cod Copepod
(Gradinger) (Gradinger/Bluhm: NOAA) (Gradinger/Bluhm)
Euphysa flammea (jellyfish) Clione limacina (pelagic snail) hysanoessa longipes (krill)
All three photos by Hopcroft/NOAA
Sand Flea (Amphipods) Shrimp (Decapods) Bristle worms (Polychaeta)
All three photos Bluhn/MacDonald (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
"The Census of Marine Life is a growing global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a ten-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans -- past, present, and future."
From the Census of Marine Life homepage at www.coml.org.
