Insane in the chromatophore - Greg Gage

The setup

Musically stimulated squid skin as seen through an 8x microscope zoomed in on the dorsal side of the fin.

 

There is no doubt, everyone is intrigued by the fast colour-changing nature of squid's skin. Squids (like many other cephalapods) can quickly control pigmented cells called chromatophores to reflect light. TED fellow Greg Gage's fascination with neuroscience led him to the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA this summer where he experimented on the giant axons of the Longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealei). This species has three different chromatophore colours: Brown, Red and Yellow. Each chromatophore has tiny muscles along the circumference of the cell that can contract to reveal the pigment underneath.

 

Here we see get a peak at some of Greg's tests on the squid's chromatophores using the cockroach leg stimulus protocol they have devised. They used home made DIY suction electrodes to attach to the squid's fin nerve, then connected the electrode to an iPod nano as the simulator. The iPod plays music by converting digital music to a small current that it sends to tiny magnets in the earbuds. The magnets are connected to cones that vibrate and produce sound.
 

Since this is the same electrical current that neurons use to communicate, he cut off the ear buds and instead placed the wire into the fin nerve. When the iPod sends bass frequencies (<100hz action="action" an="an" axons="axons" cause="cause" charge="charge" chromatophores="chromatophores" contract.="contract." enough="enough" fire="fire" font="font" have="have" in="in" muscles="muscles" nerves="nerves" potential.="potential." the="the" this="this" to="to" turn="turn" will="will">

 

More details of this and other super interesting but accesible neuroscience conducted by Greg and his team can be found at http://news.backyardbrains.com/2012/08/insane-in-the-chromatophores/

For a better explanation as well as a few more demos watch Greg's TED talk: http://on.ted.com/Gage.

How does YOUR ear work?

This morning at my Methods in Bioacoustics course at the Duke Marine Labs we are learning about 'Fundamentals of Hearing'. Wendy Dow Piniak, a Duke PhD student who studies hearing in sea turtles (very cool!) introduced us to this great video of how your ear works. A fun learning tool that will have you laughing. Guaranteed. Hopefully you will gain new appreciation for your ears and how incredible your brain is! Stay tuned for more....

Nurturing ocean heroes

Amisha De Alwis - 9 years of age.

Aniika and Maya Tennekoon - 11 and 5 years of age.

I believe that to love something and protect it, you have to understand it and feel it. Today I introduce to the world three girls who are fuelled with the curiosity that will hold them in good stead no matter what path they embark on. Selfishly, I hope the ocean will continue to mesmerise them.

These three girls are daughters of two of my friends. Fine women who have taken on the immense task of teaching their children about the beauty and secrets of the ocean. Thank you Shanu and Devini, you make my task so much easier. Once, not so long ago we were running around the school back garden, eating mangoes and haggling over the corner piece of chocolate cake. Some things have changed but thankfully, not everything. We were and remain bonded by our love for the outdoors (amongst other things).

Thank you for lending me your art and thoughts Amisha, Aniika and Maya. 

Do you believe in miracles? The survival of the sea turtle

Have you ever wanted to learn something -- different? Something that your teacher didn't tell you about in class? Have you heard about TED ED? Click here to learn more about TED's most incredible initiative. It is a programme that brings together some of the best educators and talented animators to produce a new library of exceptional educational videos. It's a place to learn something - truly new!

Today I want to share with you the absolutely beautiful and relevant lesson titled 'the survival of the sea turtle'. "Watch the miraculous journey of infant sea turtles as these tiny animals run the gauntlet of predators and harsh conditions. Then, in numbers, see how human behaviour has made their tough lives even MORE challenging". Once you have watched it, take the quick quiz and dig deeper to learn more about our incredible ocean friends. 

Young Guns - West Weekend

This article was featured in the West Australian's Saturday magazine called West Weekend on Saturday the 21st of July 2012. Its part of the series called Young Guns which aims to portray young people living in West Australia who are doing different and interesting things. I've pasted the text below in case you are unable to read the article in the print version.

Ever dreamt of living underwater? Welcome to Mission Aquarius.

Dr. Sylvia Earle answers one of the most important questions ever Why do we need the ocean? In the background you see the living reef of the Aquarius Reef Base where Sylvia and five other aquanauts are living this week.

The Aquarius Reefbase is the world' only undersea research station and is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The laboratory is deployed three and a half miles offshore at a depth of 60 feet, next to conch reef. This facility is  owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the University of North Carolina–Wilmington. Scientists have been using Aquarius since 1986, when it was first established to understand the disappearance of coral reefs, train NASA astronauts for space and research sea sponges, the source of cancer drugs. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, we might be living in the times of the last ever Aquarius Mission. A sad sad thought.

The ongoing mission, which commenced on the 16th of July, is focused on celebrating the 50 years that have passed since Jacques Cousteau put history’s first habitat, Conshelf I, 33 feet underwater off Marseille, France.    

I am sure, you now have a million questions swirling in your mind. How do you get there? How do you get your equipment in there? How do you enter the facility without letting in any water? Can you communicate with the outside world at all?

Its a marine biologists dream and, as Dr. Sylvia Earle puts it, its 'a gift of time', because the team of aquanauts are saturation diving, and they can dive for 9 hours of the day at a stretch rather than the 45 minutes you normally get if you dive from a boat.

The concept is incredible and it will be a great loss to science if we were to shut it down. I encourage you to watch this introductory video to the mission http://www.youtube.com/user/OneWorldOneOcean and follow all the live feeds on twitter by following #MissionAquarius to stay abreast of what's happening. 

In addition, check out the Mission Blue blog; http://blog.sylviaearlealliance.org/. Check out the dedicated oneworld one ocean website: http://www.oneworldoneocean.org/expeditions/aquarius and learn more about Aquarius reef base here: http://aquarius.uncw.edu/

Do whales plug their ears when faced with loud noise?

A team of scientists at the University of Hawaii lead by Paul Nachtigall have found that MAYBE marine mammals can plug their ears when faced with loud noises. This gives us a glimmer of hope in light of the whaley mixed week of wins and losses.

Of course its not all perfect, and our understanding of the issue is probably too shallow to get hasty about it all. 

"Peter Madsen, a professor of marine biology at Aarhus University in Denmark, said he applauded the Hawaiian team for its ''elegant study'' and the promise of innovative ways of ''getting at some of the noise problems''. But he cautioned against letting the discovery slow global efforts to reduce the oceanic roar, which would aid the beleaguered sea mammals more directly." - The New York Times.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/whales-get-some-help-in-tuning-out-manmade-noises-20120717-228ai.html#ixzz211w9jSul

A whaley mixed week of wins and losses

This last week has certainly been a roller coaster for whale news that has left me with mixed emotions. To kick it all off, mid last week I was excited to hear that South Korea is reconsidering their whaling plans. They stated; 

"We may not conduct whaling for scientific research if there is another way to achieve the goal," Kang Joon-Suk said.

Mr Kang said South Korea would fully consult international and domestic experts before and after presenting a detailed whaling programme to the IWC's scientific committee, set to meet in South Korea in May next year.

"We will respect the committee's recommendations in making our decision," he said.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/south-korea-reconsiders-whaling-plan-20120712-21x35.html#ixzz20kOOPDHu

We await with bated breath for the result of this discussion. 

A few days later I received a petition against training plans by the United States Navy that;

"According to its own environmental impact statements, the Navy estimates that the planned exercises would kill up to 2,000 marine mammals, including a large number of animals from endangered species, such as right whales," he said. "Thousands of others would suffer permanent lung damage. An additional 16,000 would be permanently deafened and 5 million would be temporarily deafened by the exercises."

Read more: http://www.stripes.com/news/us/environmental-groups-navy-training-plans-endanger-whales-dolphins-1.183032

Finally, yesterday, the feds have decided to reroute ships in San Francisco Bay to help protect whales!!!! Yay! The plan not only proposes to reroute shipping lanes but they are going to establish better ways to track whale locations. What an incredible victory for blue whales around the world! This decision was based on scientific data collected over multiple years and is the result of a two year effort. Just goes to show how what an important role science plays and makes us hopeful that in the very near future, the blue whales off Sri Lanka will also be treated with similar respect. 


Read more: http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/07/15/feds-to-reroute-sf-bay-ships-to-protect-whales/

At the International Whaling Commission meeting in Panama City last month, Sri Lanka was identified as the worst place for ship strikes of whales in the world. Its a really saddening thought that we are number one for something so terrible. A summary of the most recent paper submitted to the IWC by myself, Tony Wu and Bob Brownell is presented on page 4 of this document. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Sri Lankan blue whale project thus far....we still have a ways to go but with your backing, we WILL do it. The whales need us. 

The call of the whale: Fellows Friday interview

Whale researcher Asha de Vos spends her days weaving a 6-meter boat through shipping lanes crowded with giant container ships, fishing boats, and marine life, collecting data crucial to the survival of the singular Sri Lankan blue whale.

Read on for more...

http://blog.ted.com/2012/07/13/the-call-of-the-whale-fellows-friday-with-asha-de-vos/

Do whales fall?

A fallen whale - showing the various worms and creatures that feast on the carcass. 

Illustration by Michael Rothman.

Actually, they do. But as you can imagine, not like we would. (Yeah, how DO you fall in water right?) Whale fall is basically a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor. Often whales that die in shallow waters are devoured by scavengers over several months but, have you ever wondered what happens to whales that die in deeper water? In these waters, beyond about 2,000 m, there are very few scavengers and the carcass provides sustenance for a very complex ecosystem over a period of decades even!

A World of Undersea Cutouts by Sharon Shattuck.
This little video uses paper cutouts to illustrate the different stages a whale carcass goes through after dropping to the bottom of the ocean. What does that have to do with falling whales? read on to find out!

Whale falls were first discovered in the 1980s with the advent of deep-sea robotic exploration. The first person to actually study them was Dr. Craig Smith from the University of Hawaii. His earliest attempts to study whale fall weren't successful but it makes for a great story. To learn more from the man himself listen to his RadioLab interview. N.B. you'll need to fast forward to 28m 52s to get to this particular interview.