Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the devastating earthquake on March 11, 2011 in Japan. Because I strongly believe pictures are worth a thousand words to illustrate the damage and destruction visit National Geographic to view a very powerful post of before and after images.
We did it! Here is the Beach Chair Scientist’s 2011 version of the A, B, Seas.
Zooxanthellae are the photosynthetic organism that live within coral reefs and supply the food to the reef building corals. They have a symbiotic relationship with the other protists but can also live an independent life. Enjoy this quick video about the process!
Yellowfin tuna are the most commercially sought after of all tunas. 
They have a football shaped body and can reach up to 450 pounds. Which is very impressive since they can also swim up to 30 miles per hour. Yellowfin tuna prefer to swim in schools in all temperate oceans. They prefer to eat fish any fish smaller than themselves and their biggest predator tend to be sharks.
Image (c) ilovebluesea.com
Xiphosura is the order of the Atlantic horseshoe crab and its three closest living related species.
Weddell Sea is the southern most part of the Atlantic Ocean and is usually ice filled. It was discovered by James Weddell in 1823.
Image (c) abc.net.au
Veliger is the stage of a mollusk’s life prior to it becoming an adult. This is after it goes through the trochophore larva stage. During the veliger stage a mollusk develops its swimming membrane.
Image (c) pbs.org
Upwelling is the phenomenon of wind moving surface waters thus to make way for cold, dense water that comes from the bottom of the ocean. It seems to most often happen on the west coast of continents. That is why you typically need a nice wet suit all year round to go surfing in California.
Trilobites are not an opportunity to taste test three different bites of food. They are an extinct marine arthropod, that looked like a squashed centipede, dating back to the Cambrian period. They’re quite significant because paleontologists use them as an index fossil for dating back other rock structures.
Image (c) smithsonianmag.com
Sturgeon are a group of primitive fish that spawn in river and live in the sea (anadromous). Some sturgeon may even abandon the life at sea and remain in the river ecosystem. They spawn in the same river in which they were born. They are covered in very heavy scales which make good protection. With all this protection they have been known to live a long time – one was tagged as 200 years old! Although, they have very sought after eggs and are in danger of being overfished for caviar. You can learn more about the stock status of the Atlantic sturgeon by visiting www.asmfc.org.
Image (c) cornell.edu
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