#warmingoceans — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #warmingoceans, aggregated by home.social.
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NOT so harmless...
Excerpt: "Introducing #KareniaMikimotoi
"The species responsible for recent events in #SouthAustralia beaches, #KMikimotoi, causes harmful #algal blooms in #Asia, #Europe, #SouthAfrica and #SouthAmerica, as well as #Australia and #NewZealand. These blooms all caused fish deaths, and some also caused #breathing difficulties among local #beachgoers.
"The most drastic of these K. mikimotoi blooms have occurred in China over the past two decades. In 2012, more than 300 square kilometres of abalone farms were affected, causing about A$525 million in lost production.
Explaining the toxic effects
"Microalgae can damage the gills of fish and shellfish, preventing them from breathing. This is the main cause of death. But some studies have also found damage to the gastrointestinal tracts and livers of fish.
"Tests using fish gill cells clearly show the dramatic toxic effect of K. mikimotoi. When the fish gill cells were exposed to intact K. mikimotoi cells, after 3.5 hours more than 80% of the fish cells had died.
"Fortunately, the toxin does not persist in the environment after the K. mikimotoi cells are dead. So once the bloom is over, the marine environment can recover relatively quickly.
"Its toxicity is partly due to the algae’s production of 'reactive oxygen species', reactive forms of oxygen molecules which can cause the deaths of cells in high doses. K. mikimotoi cells may also produce lipid (fat) molecules that cause some toxic effects.
"Finally, a very dense bloom of microalgae can sometimes reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water column, which means there is less oxygen for other marine life.
"The human health effects are not very well known but probably relate to the reactive oxygen species being an irritant.
"K. mikimitoi cells can also produce 'mucilage', a type of thick, gluey substance made of complex sugars, which can accumulate #bacteria inside it. This can cause 'sea foam', which was evident on beaches last week.
"A question for many people is whether increasing water temperatures make blooms of K. mikimotoi more likely.
"Another concern is whether nutrient runoff from farms, cities and #aquaculture could cause more harmful algal blooms.
"Unfortunately, for Australia at least, the answer to these questions is we don’t know yet. While we know some harmful algal blooms do increase when nutrient runoff is higher, others actually prefer fewer nutrients or colder temperatures.
"We do know warmer water species seem to be moving further south along the Australian coastline, changing #phytoplankton species abundance and distribution.
"While some microalgal blooms can cause bioluminescence that is beautiful to watch, others such as K. mikimotoi can cause skin and respiratory irritations.
If you notice discoloured water, fish deaths or excessive sea foam along the coast or in an estuary, avoid fishing or swimming in the area and notify local primary industry or environmental authorities in your state."
#OceanHealth #Beaches Algae #SeaFoam #HABs #HarmfulAlgaeBlooms #KareniaMikimotoi #WarmingOceans #Radioactivity #NutrientRunoff #OceansAreLife #ROS #SkinIrritations #RespiratoryIrration #ReactiveOxygenSpecies #DeadZones
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So, a recurring dream that I had some years ago had involved rotting vegetation underfoot and the smell of hydrogen sulfide. Ummm...
"The hydrogen sulfide gas it releases when it rots is not only stinky but can irritate people's eyes, nose and throat, Florida Health says. The seaweed can also contain jellyfish or sea lice that can irritate skin."
#Sargassum #SargassumSeaweed #WarmingOceans #HydrogenSulfide
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More victims of #ClimateChange and #WarmingOceans. Also, #KrillHarvesting has got to STOP!
Scientists Alarmed as #Whales Suddenly Going Silent
"When you really break it down, it’s like trying to sing while you're starving."
Aug 1, 10:27 AM EDT by Victor Tangermann
"Researchers are alarmed after noticing a significant drop in the number of vocalizations from #BlueWhales.
"As National Geographic reports, scientists used specialized underwater hydrophones, meaning the aquatic version of microphones, to record and trace the sounds of marine life, allowing them to analyze the impact human activity is having on various species.
"However, as detailed in a study published in the journal PLOS One, devastating heat waves have triggered worrying changes over the past decade, allowing #ToxicAlgae to bloom and undermine food sources for whales.
" 'It caused the most widespread poisoning of marine mammals ever documented,' coauthor and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute biological oceanographer John Ryan told NatGeo. 'These were hard times for whales.'
"As a result, blue whale vocalizations dropped by almost 40 percent, according to the study, with populations of #krill and #anchovy collapsing.
" 'When you really break it down, it’s like trying to sing while you're starving,' Ryan explained. 'They were spending all their time just trying to find food.' "
Read more:
https://futurism.com/scientists-alarmed-whales-silent#OceansAreLife #Overfishing #FoodIsLife #Extinction #MarineLife #MarineHeatWaves #HeatBlob #GlobalWarming
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Six rare #sawfish deaths in 7 days have scientists baffled amid bizarre #Florida fish behavior
“There is no concrete, conclusive proof of what is happening yet and that is still to be determined, which is quite terrifying.” said Gregg Furstenwerth, a lifelong diver in the Florida Keys. “If it continues, it is going to be the end of this #ecosystem as we know it.”
By Jen Christensen, CNN
Published Apr 12, 2024
"Most tests for toxins have been negative, but scientists have seen an unusually high number of #algae called gambierdiscus that can produce a wide variety of #neurotoxins that can be harmful to fish and dangerous to humans.
#Gambierdiscus is normally found in tropical and subtropical waters all around the world, but the algae can grow quickly when waters are warmer than usual. The climate crisis has brought record hot temperatures to the waters around southern Florida."
#SpinningFish #ClimateChange #WarmingOceans #OceanTemperatures #ToxicAlgae #SouthFlorida #WaterIsLife #OceanEcosystem #Collapse #EcosystemCollapse #Extinction #FishDeaths