Bottom-feeding behavior of Humpback whales

Known for their interesting ways of capturing prey, the humpback whales have recently been discovered to have found a new method of feeding itself; bottom feeding (specifically in the Southern Gulf).

"Humpbacks have not been known as bottom-feeders, yet this i their dominant feeding mode in this region." Says Colin Ware, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, "You've got this prominent species and until now, nobody knew how they were feeding." Ware and his colleagues have gathered data from 52 humpbacks in the region.

To track the movements of the whales from below the surface, scientists have put recording tags on the whale's backs. Ware also developed a software called "TrackPlot" to translate the tags on the humpbacks. This allowed for Ware and his colleagues to discover three different ways the humpbacks were bottom-feeding: simple side rolls, side roll inversions, and repetitive scooping.

Article:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030125324.htm

Picture: http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/terra-mar-humpback-under-surface-600x320.jpg

Reading Ancient Climate from Plankton Shells

      Scientists have viewed plankton shells to chart climate changes in sea temperatures. This information could provide the means for scientists to scale temperature from millions of years ago by showing us things like tree rings. Before we used plankton to chart changes, we used ice from the poles, which trap bubbles of ancient air. "The oldest Antarctic ice core records date back to around 800,000 years ago." Says ScienceDaily.com.
   
      Scientists have learned that the plankton that grow in warmer climate have more traces of ancient atoms. Another way we can read ancient climates is by looking at the shells of dead plankton who have fallen to the ocean floor. Scientists can recover ocean floor sediments which are preserved in the shells. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered magnesium in the shells of plankton, which helps us tell how warmer waters could effect the shells.

Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/release2013/10/131

Picture: http://www.sciencedaily.com/release025123155.htm

Sequence Stratigraphy

10/13/13

Sequence Stratigraphy has recently been added as a branch of geology and its purpose is to connect pre-historic sea level changes to sedimentary deposits. It is called 'sequence' stratigraphy because it mentions cyclic sedimentary deposits.

Sedimentary deposits are significant because they include a lot of important minerals for industries such as petroleum, gas, iron, aluminum and coal. The deposits are also used to get gravel, limestone, chalk, sand, clay, and slate.

'Stratigraphy' literally means the study of rock strata and their relationship to the geological time scale.

It also talks about the transferring and age sediments and gives us a good idea about how we get sediments.

This is important because sea levels constantly changing over time and are rising and if they continue to do so it can be very dangerous to several cities and corporations that depend on the sea.

Article 1: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/sequence_stratigraphy.htm
Article 2: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Sedimentary+Deposits
Picture 1: http://strata.uga.edu/sequence/type1Shelf.gif
Picture 2: http://www.uib.no/imagearchive/produktbilde_Sequence_strat2.jpg

Warmer Oceans Could Raise Mercury Levels in Fish

10/6/13

Should the temperature of the ocean's surface rise, fish would be accumulating more mercury. This would be horrible for sea food fanatics. Researchers have not known how global warming can effect rising mercury levels in aquatic life until now, nor has there been any experiments on the matter.
The mercury can be released into oceans and streams from industrial pollution. This can be converted into methylmercury in the water.

Scientists have examined killifish in varying temperatures in salt water marshes and in the lab. The fish in the lab ate mercury-enriched food whereas those in the salt water marshes ate natural food sources such as worms and insects.
Results showed that the fish in higher temperature waters consumed more food but grew less and had a higher measure of methylmercury in their tissues.

There is a major concern of eating seafood while pregnant but studies actually show that children of the 90's whose parents have eaten seafood while pregnant have higher IQ's and better eyesight.

Website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130930211701.htm

Picture 1:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/MercuryFoodChain-01.png/515px-MercuryFoodChain-01.png

Picture 2: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131003162953.htm