Mesmerizing Sea Life

Everybody knows that plants and trees produce oxygen for the earth. But, do you know that oceans and seas contribute more oxygen. Produced by marine plants, algae and single-celled organisms called phytoplankton. These may not be seen by the naked eye but produce more, which is not even close to the proportions produced by the trees and plants. The ocean produces oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, which converts sunlight and carbon dioxide and can use as energy. One type of plankton, Prochlorococcus releases tons of oxygen into atmosphere. So small, that can millions can be present in a single drop of water. It produces 20% of the oxygen to the earth biosphere, which is more than the rainforests on land combined. Scientists mention that a single cell can give oxygen for one in every 5 breaths we take. Calculating the amounts of oxygen on oceans may vary because of the change in climate conditions, geographic location and with the tides. It is also important to remember that the...

Do u know that a shark fin soup costs around $20 to $200 and dried fin costs around $500? Finning involves slicing off the fins from the live sharks and throwing them overboard, where they drown down to the bottom, unable to swim and the water flows through the gills, suffocate, or eaten by other predators. Apart from Asian countries, California is the most popular state for shark fin soup. Because of the demand for shark fin for soup, more than hundreds of sharks, rays, chimeras have fallen into the threatened zone. The reason for the banishment of shark fin is to create awareness in the public so that they won't buy. Not completely, but a slight change also would make a change right. Even though it has been banned in 10 states, illegal cases have been reported quite a lot. The restauranteurs sell them in public, as there is no such punishment for these wild acts. The person would be charged a fine of fewer than a thousand dollars or sent to jail for a couple of months.  Californi...

Plastic and its chemical substances can show a very harmful effect not only on humans but also on oceans. As it is well known to everyone, that plastics isn't bio degradable which makes it years and years to decompose. Latest studies, reveal that almost 12.8 millions tons of plastic waste are washed away into the ocean These plastics are showing a lot of effect on reproduction. Thousands of sea birds ingest the plastic and tangled up in them. When the marine mammals like turtles, fish, oysters and mussels eat up the plastic which it turn reduces the stomach storage, clogs the digestive system leading them to death. Almost more than 100000 creatures die every year due to plastic and its debris. While some of the plastic from the land and other part has been disposed from oil and gas platforms. Many volunteers come up every year and clean up the plastic debris present on the ocean floor. A number of NGO's are fighting for the cause but theirs not much of an effect regarding the p...

In the colorful waters of great barrier reef, a clownfish named Marlin stays with his son Nemo, who has a shortened fin. Fearful for the dangers of the ocean, Marlin is overprotective of his son. But when Nemo swims to the ocean surface to prove himself. Has been caught by a diver and has been taken to the dentists fish tank. To find his son Marlin has to set out to the great waters. A blue reef named Dory, who has a short memory joins Marlin and complicates the situation. Which in turn encounters a horrible situation with sharks, jellyfish and other deadly creatures. Mean while, Nemo sets out an escape from the aquarium. Finding Nemo is a colorful tale of a young son and an over protective father. Other fictional characters have been taken from the classic movies: Bloat was given by George Kennedy's character in Cool Hand Luke, Tank Gang characters has been burrowed from One Flew Over The Cock's Nest and the Gil from the Clint Eastwood's squint. This epic 3D animation tal...

Gillnets, a dangerous mesh gear that indiscriminately kills every animal that has been entangled including turtles and manatees. The size of fish caught can be determined by the size of the mesh, helping to avoid catching juvenile fish. While targeting particular marine species, the gillnets carry the risk of bycatch(When one species is been targeted, the other has been suffered). Off the shore of California, large mesh drift gillnets are been used to catch swordfish which have been killing endangered turtles, whales and other marine species for years. This fishing have been resulted in killing more dolphins off the coast of California than the U.S. West Coast and Alaska fisheries combined. The NOAA fisheries have implemented strict limits known as hard caps, on the number of dolphins, whales and turtles that can be injured in catching swordfish. The Belize Government protected its waters from gillnets. Our essential allies in this battle were many local fishers who understood up close...

Beneath the surface, the ocean is teemed with lot of life rather than any other biodiversity. Corals are the main reason and primary source of life for countless animals. But these reefs have been reached an endangered state because of the human activities. Most of the corals have been wiped out due to pollution, unrealistic fishing activities and climate change. Due to warm water temperatures, corals reach to a stress sate which results in releasing the algae present in their tissues which makes the coral white. This is referred as coral bleaching, but that doesn't mean the coral is dead. A coral can survive a bleaching event, but if the water warms more it results in the dead of the coral. In 2005, most of the corals have been died due to extreme bleaching event. This thermal stress is much greater than compared in all the 20 years. Not only warm waters, even cold waters can result to bleaching. In 2010, cool waters in Florida have been made some serious damage to the coral which...

The coastal California is a place for many abundant animals among which the seven abalone species are most famous. Even this brilliant miniature have sustained native tribes for thousands of years. These species have been nearly wiped out by overfishing, disease and climate changes. Especially, the white and black abalone have been marked as endangered species. There is an evidence that the native tribes would harvest sites, move to new locations when the abalone become scarce. Which gave them a chance to sustain years without depleting. Not only as a food, the shells have been used as tools, coins, as decorative emblems and even as a artifacts. But in the 1700's the Spanish colonizers, gave abalone in exchange of sea otter pelts, which is the primary food source for the species. On a contrary, many sea otter pelts have been killed which made them nearly go extinct. Because adult abalone and their larvae can’t travel very far, they are extremely prone to a phenomenon referred as “s...