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Blue holes: Hotspots of Microbial Diversity

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Blue hole is a marine sink hole formed during the ice ages due to erosion of lime stones terrains of rain and chemical weathering. In the later ages, sea levels have been raised and filled them with water. Some of these blue holes are immersed underwater makes them difficult to understand. Inside the blue holes, oxygen is scare and very little light is present only near the surface. Which tells that the species formed inside these blue holes use very less oxygen . In fact, some of the species use sulfate for photosynthesis. This makes us to learn how Earth has been millions of years ago without oxygen. This also helps us to know how life will be on other planets. But due to lack of accessibility and abundance, little is know about these holes. Some sink holes are several meters down, and for most of them the opening is very small. This makes a manual expedition necessary. But in the last years, almost 130 - 150 divers have died at an Egyptian blue hole. The great blue hole is the large...

It's My Blog's 1st Birthday

From ideas to creating, writing to editing, it's worth everything when I see my blog. It's been a year I created it, where I turned my passion for the ocean into a stream of words. Happy 1st birthday my baby blog.

What Gives More Oxygen on Planet Earth?

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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...

Shark Fins Have Been Banned in U.S Countries

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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...

Effects Of Plastic On Beaches

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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...

Finding Nemo: The Tales Of A Young Clownfish

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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...

Ending Destructive Gillnet Fishing In California And Belize

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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...