Whales – Enduring world

POSITIVE TRANSPORTATION METHODS

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) includes the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 12 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world’s largest pipeline systems. It is commonly called the Alaska pipeline, trans-Alaska pipeline, or Alyeska pipeline, (or the pipeline as referred to in Alaska), but those terms technically apply only to the 800 miles (1,287 km) of the pipeline with the diameter of 48 inches (122 cm) that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay, to Valdez, Alaska. The research being done and the positive improvements to this system are important for people to know about

MARINE ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH

Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface and contain approximately 97% of the planet’s water. They generate 32% of the world’s net primary production. They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, in the water. Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and chlorine. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems.Research and discovery is being done every day which will preserve and protect our marine legacy.

COSTNERS NEW INNOVATIONS

OTS’s largest machine, the V20, can clean up to 210,000 US gallons of oily water per day. On July 8, 2010, OTS reported it had 9 centrifuges deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, with 23 additional machines under construction and scheduled for shipment to Louisiana by the end of August 2010. These small but mighty machines represent a huge step forward in this arena and OTS should be commended for its creativity, passion and devotion to helping solve one of the world’s great problems.

OFFSHORE SOLUTIONS

Offshore drilling is well into a new era of safety for energy exploration. The oil and natural gas industry has begun working with federal regulators on a comprehensive review of offshore operations. The industry clearly understand that the future of offshore drilling depends on its ability to conduct operations safely. Federal regulators and the public should rest assured. The oil and natural gas industry and the federal government have together taken great strides to enhance the safety of offshore operations.

KRILL FEEDS WHALES WITH BIG RESULTS

Krill are considered an important trophic level connection – near the bottom of the food chain – because they feed on phytoplankton, and to a lesser extent, zooplankton, converting these into a form suitable for many larger animals for whom krill makes up the largest part of their diet including the Blue whale. One species, the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, makes up an estimated biomass of around 379,000,000 tons, making it among the species with the largest total biomass. Of this, over half is eaten by whales, seals, penguins, squid and fish each year, and is replaced by growth and reproduction. Most krill species display large daily vertical migrations, thus providing food for predators near the surface at night and in deeper waters during the day.

NUTRIENT RICH OCEANS CLEANSE ATMOSPHERE

At least twenty chemical elements are known to be required to support human biochemical processes by serving structural and functional roles as well as electrolytes. However, as many as twenty-nine elements in total including the common hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are suggested to be used by mammals, as a result of studies of biochemical, special uptake, and metabolic handling studies. Most of the known and suggested mineral nutrients are of relatively low atomic weight, and are reasonably common on land, or at least, common in the ocean and are known to help cleanse the atmosphere.

OCEAN DISCOVERIES

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is an international marine research collaboration dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth through drilling, coring, and monitoring the sub-seafloor. The research enabled by IODP samples and data improves scientific understanding of changing climate and ocean conditions, the origins of ancient life, risks posed by geo-hazards, and the structure and processes of Earth’s tectonic plates and uppermost mantle. IODP builds on the research of four previous scientific ocean drilling programs: Project Mohole, Deep Sea Drilling Project, Ocean Drilling Program. Together, these programs represent the longest running and most successful international Earth science collaboration.

TOADFISH HELP HUMAN NERVE REGENERATION

Neuroregeneration refers to the re-growth or repair of nervous tissues, cells or cell products. Such mechanisms may include generation of new neurons, glia, axons, myelin, orsynapses. Neuroregeneration differs between the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system by the functional mechanisms and especially the extent and speed. When an axon is damaged, the distal segment undergoes Wallerian degeneration, losing its myelin sheath. The proximal segment can either die by apoptosis or undergo the chromatolytic reaction, which is an attempt at repair. In the central nervous system, synaptic stripping occurs as glial foot processes invade the dead synapse.

WHALES EARWAX DISCOVERY HELPS SCIENTISTS

A blue whale’s buildup of earwax archives its history of stress levels and exposure to chemical pollutants, which could allow researchers to piece together new details about the animal’s life, a study shows. The blue whale is the largest animal on Earth, and an endangered species. Like many other baleen whales, these massive creatures tend to accumulate layers of wax in their ear canals, which over time results in long earplugs. Scientists in the past have used this waxy matrix as an aging tool, similar to counting tree rings, study researcher Sascha Usenko, an assistant professor of environmental science at Baylor University, explained in a statement. The earplug, however, had never been used to obtain a chemical profile.

COSTNERS SOLUTION FOR OIL SPILLS

Ocean Therapy Solutions is a company owned by actor Kevin Costner. The company specializes in developing centrifugal oil-water separators. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, Costner wanted to find a new way to separate oil from water, so he acquired the company. Costner has found and developed one of the most important systems for this problem imaginable.

OCEAN CLEANUP

Ocean garbage patches are vast but dispersed. By acting like an artificial coastline, Ocean Cleanup’s array passively concentrates the plastic by orders of magnitude, 100% powered by natural ocean currents. Their floating barriers are designed to capture virtually any type of debris. Models show that by utilizing vast rotational ocean currents, a single 100km installation can catch almost half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years.

UNDERWATER FARMING

Aqua-farming will be the grocery store of the future. It is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs, seaweed, oysters, shrimp and aquatic plants. Aqua-farming involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Broadly speaking, the relation of aquaculture to finfish and shellfish fisheries is analogous to the relation of agriculture to hunting and gathering.