Image via Craig Anderson

A Whale of a Job was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Upon reaching the record-setting depth of 35,756 feet after a two-and-a-half hour descent, Cameron began what he projected would be a six-hour exploratory journey of the sea bed and canyon walls of the Challenger Deep, recording video and collecting samples. An unmanned “lander” was released down to the location hours before the dive, equipped with bait to attract any deep sea animals. The object was for Cameron to find the lander using sonar, and take images and samples of the surrounding area.

Like all new expeditions, however, Cameron met with some kinks. The sonar system of the submersible was not working correctly, making it risky for Cameron to try to locate the lander. He also noticed a hydraulic fluid leak, which resulted in the loss of the robotic arm that would collect samples of animals or rocks. Three hours following touchdown, Cameron decided to call the dive and head for the surface. Just over an hour later, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER surfaced and was being extracted from the Pacific by the crane of a research ship.

Amphipod

While still submerged, Cameron surveyed the area, which he likened to a bleak, moon-like environment. The only marine creatures he saw in his midst were small amphipods, a type of shrimp-like bottom feeder. A small sample of the sediment was collected to help scientists unlock mysteries about what other life might have adapted to the deep sea environment.

Although few samples were collected, the dive is being celebrated as a success, for the implications that it holds for the future. The fact that the important functions of the sub worked — the camera and lights, not to mention the sub itself — means that Cameron and his team have a solid foundation from which to start. It is being seen not as a sole expedition, but the beginning of a program focusing on deep sea exploration in order to further understand our planet.

Photos via broddi, NOAA Photo Library

A Renaissance of Deep Sea Exploration was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

On Valentine’s Day 2011, one of the founders of  Great Whale Conservancy, Michael Fishbach, was out on the Sea of Cortez with his family and a few friends when he got the ultimate chance to put his money where his mouth is: actually saving a whale. This video chronicles a live humpback whale rescue made by the group, and a surprising show of gratitude for their efforts — a wonderful example of a life that’s worth saving.

Image via kohane

A Life Worth Saving was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Factors that most influence the survival of dugongs are their diet and human interaction. Trawling, gillnet fishing, and motorboat activity can all severely impact the health and life of dugongs, whether it is by direct contact with the animal or their habitat. Man isn’t the only one responsible for their plight, however, as violent storms can contribute greatly to the destruction of vital seagrass beds necessary for feeding and calving. Because they are found near shorelines and are slow swimmers, they are often the victims of injury from boat propellers, which can cause infections that lead to death.

Although dugongs once proliferated tropical areas all across the world, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, they have disappeared from these waters altogether. The last remaining populations can be found sporadically in India, China, the Red Sea, and Australia, but some of these populations have been reported to be as low as only 50 individuals. Australia maintains the highest population of dugongs, whose numbers are in the tens of thousands in various regions of the country. Dugongs serve an important role in determining the health of coastal regions; a decline in their numbers serves as a red flag for possible issues.

It is for this reason that researchers in Queensland, Australia, have championed a mission to study their dugong populations in an effort to understand the steps that must be taken toward their conservation worldwide. This video gives you an inside look at the processes involved for dugong and coastal conservation.

Photo via flickkerphotos

The Hope For Dugong Conservation was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

That’s right, Mr. Cameron does not exist purely in a world of fantasy and far-off ideals of the future. Since the age of 15, he has been a certified SCUBA diver, despite the fact that he and his family resided in Canada, 600 miles from an ocean he’d never even seen. He traveled over the US border to Buffalo, New York, where he received his first certification in a YMCA swimming pool. It wasn’t until two years later, when his family moved to California, that his love affair with the underwater world began.

In addition to becoming an avid SCUBA diver, Cameron began to develop an interest in submarines, particularly those that cater to individual exploration. His research for Titanic included the use of a deep-water Russian submarine, inside of which he submerged to the depth of the real Titanic: 12, 600 feet. This led to his acquisition of an entire fleet of personal submarines, a fleet that since has been growing — one of which is about to make history with James Cameron as its sole passenger.

To be precise, Cameron has already made history with his self-designed submersible, plunging to a depth of 5.1 miles below the surface during a test-run for his real mission: to be the first person in over 50 years to dive to the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of any of the world’s oceans. But he won’t just be making the dive to claim his prize and be on his merry way, as it were. Cameron intends to collect samples, images, and data from the Challenger Deep that will be the first anyone has ever seen, never mind that it was collected by a single individual. The design and technology of the submarine that will take him, appropriately dubbed the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, is advanced enough to allow him to remain on the seafloor of the Challenger Deep for a staggering six hours.

The mission will commence in a matter of weeks, once Cameron is satisfied that testing for the submersible is sufficient. His journey will provide some much sought-after answers to some of science’s most basic questions about the deepest place on Earth; namely, does it support any forms of life? At a depth of 6.8 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, it is hard to imagine much of anything would be going on down there. But if there’s one man who has the determination and the unwavering focus to see that information make it to the surface, our money is on James Cameron.

Photos via jurvetson, Mudkipz_KGM

James Cameron: Making More History was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

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Mangrove is an umbrella term for a collection of trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal areas, many of which are of the family Rhizophoraceae, under which there are about 150 different species. They are characterized by clusters found in intertidal swampy regions, frequently observed with exposed root systems. They are specially adapted to a low-oxygen, high saline environment, an ecosystem in which few plants can survive. Although there are many different species that comprise mangroves, it is typical for there to be no more than three or four tree species in one particular mangrove swamp, depending on environmental conditions and what types of life inhabit the mangroves. Mangroves are found on roughly three-quarters of tropical coastlines, making them an integral part of intertidal ecosystems, providing food and shelter for a diverse array of marine life.

The brackish, saline waters that surround mangroves are rich with nutrients, partly due to a ready supply of decaying leaves and wood matter from the trees themselves. These nutrients encourage the propagation of crustaceans, mollusks, sponges, worms, and algae. In addition, mangroves offer protection and housing for other fish species, as well as snakes, crocodiles, and some marine mammals. There is a strong correlation between the health of fish populations further out at sea and mangroves, as they serve as nurseries for many young fish. Without mangrove swamps, countless juvenile species would be left vulnerable to predation, which, in the long term, can put fisheries at risk of collapse.

Another crucial function of mangroves is protection of shorelines from erosion. Much like coral reefs, mangrove trees absorb wave energy, dissipating it substantially before it reaches the shoreline, particularly in the event of a hurricane or tsunami. The root systems serve as a sediment filter, slowing the wave energy enough to deposit sediments that help to create the foundation of the mangrove swamp. This also contributes to the cyclic nature of mangroves, as they are constantly regenerating coastlines through the reclaiming of land sediments from the tides.

Mangrove swamps the world over are being depleted for a variety of reasons. Commercial and residential development, construction of navigation systems, run-off of toxic pollutants, and drainage for agriculture are some of the major players in mangrove deforestation, but ironically, one of the primary reasons is for conversion to aquaculture farms. These farms are used to raise shrimp and some types of fish — the very same species that are found naturally within the mangrove systems! Although there are arguments in favor of the aquaculture farms that highlight the economic benefit they provide for small coastal communities, the ecological impacts, such as water and soil acidification, can be long-lasting and difficult to reverse, resulting in a total loss of habitat for cultured life and natural life alike.

Photos via halseike, NOAA Photo Library, 

Do Mangrove Forests Matter? was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

One example of this is the decline of fish species all over the world due to the increasing demand for seafood, rendering traditional fishing methods impractical for meeting those demands. As a result, trawling has risen in popularity among commercial fishing operations to maximize catches. Two main methods are used: pelagic and bottom trawling. Although trawling is by no means new, it is the subject of growing controversy due to the harmful byproducts of the technique, namely, the slaughter of untargeted sea life, and irreparable damage to the seafloor.

No one should be surprised in this day and age that the ocean and its inhabitants are crucial to all life on Earth. But many people do not consider the seafloor to be a part of the larger oceanic ecosystem. Why? At first glance, the seafloor seems lifeless, bland, devoid of anything useful — similar to how many people view a desert. But the fact is, the seafloor is hard at work behind the scenes, and abundant forms of life can be found here, from microorganisms to corals, from sea grasses to all sorts of vertebrates and invertebrates alike, each playing their part to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

One of the most important roles the seafloor serves for the rest of the planet is that of a sink and filtration system. The sediments of the deep contain many pollutants that make their way into our oceans each day by way of pesticides, fertilizers, and plastics, to name just a few. Disturbances to the seafloor, such as bottom trawling, releases these pollutants back into the water column, to be consumed by plankton and introduced into the food chain, eventually making their way into the global food supply. The seafloor also acts as a sink for carbon dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases responsible for rising temperatures and ocean acidification. By plundering the seabed for the purposes of commercial gain, we are creating the potential for a much more dire situation than profit loss.

Microorganisms like bacteria act as a filter for the oceans, transforming decaying and fecal matter into their energy source, a process which requires none of the valuable oxygen that other species need to survive in an already low-oxygen environment. In turn, the bacteria serve as a primary food source for other bottom-dwelling organisms, and so the cycle continues up through the food chain. When these ecosystems are destroyed, the balance is disrupted, and often the result is toxic algal blooms that reproduce rapidly by consuming all available oxygen in the water column, suffocating all species who depend on oxygen to live.

While the entire picture concerning the seafloor and the ecosystems it supports remains somewhat of a mystery to science, it is important to consider how the decisions we make based on what little we know affect the future of our planet, for we are all indeed connected.

Photos via DonkeyHotey, dynamosquito, felixtsao

The Seafloor: Vital to the Planet’s Health was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

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The Bad News

• Boat Pollution and Damage
  This is a hard one to combat, because a dive boat is often an essential component to many dive operations. But the sad fact is, boats do pollute the water with oil, gas, and other contaminants that have a long term negative impact on fragile reef ecosystems. Although there is much more awareness nowadays as to the significant damage caused by boat propellers and anchors, boat operators who aren’t aware or simply ignore the facts are still out there causing destruction.
• Diver Pollution and Damage
  Diver-caused reef damage is not a new accusation, nor is it false. New divers and divers who have poor buoyancy skills are most certainly to blame for a portion of reef damage — we’ve all seen it. Finning, grabbing, and otherwise handling corals and other reef structures are immensely stressful to the reefs themselves and their inhabitants. The chemicals in the products we use for our everyday grooming have the potential to be very hazardous to the reef’s health, as they are leached from our exposure suits and body surfaces.

 The Good News

• Reef Reconstruction and Other Projects
  Although the aforementioned negatives are certainly linked to SCUBA diving, there are many reef reconstruction projects and scientific studies that would not be conducted without the help of professional and volunteer divers. The majority of SCUBA divers are keenly in touch with the environmental problems that plague our oceans, and have an earnest desire to help resolve them, not make them worse.
• Self-Policing
  If there is a diver in a group that is behaving in a destructive manner below the surface or topside, you can bet that there will be at least one other diver to bring it to their attention. SCUBA diving as a sport attracts people who are passionate about the environment, as well as passionate about what they do. It would be a cold day in…well, you know the saying, when a destructive diver was allowed back if his actions were witnessed by other divers and he made no effort to correct them.
• Raising Awareness
  SCUBA divers are the ambassadors of the sea. We have the special opportunity to see what’s happening in a world that is very connected to the one on land, a world that vast scores of people would never imagine investigating on their own. We bring this world to people with our pictures, our videos, and stories of our experiences. We help people to understand that they don’t have to SCUBA dive to participate in creating solutions for our oceans’ problems.

So all things considered, there are always improvements that can be made in the way that we explore the seas, but there are also many wonderful advantages to having SCUBA divers in the water. Be responsible, be safe, and be a good example to those around you — those principles are at the very heart of what being eco-friendly entails.

Photos via Pylon757, germanyengland, NOAA Photo Library

Is SCUBA Diving Eco-Friendly? was written by Creedence for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World