July 31, 2009
The Scanner
BY: CaitlinF
Happy Friday, everyone! This week in ocean news,…jellyfish are joining the winds and the ocean currents as mixers of ocean water. Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have just published a study showing how small animals such as jellyfish help to distribute heat, nutrients, and chemicals in the water. This discovery has many implications for issues like climate change and ocean acidification. … there’s a new study out this week that analyzes overfishing and the state of global fisheries. In a collaboration of ecologists and fisheries management scientists, the study concludes that overfishing remains a serious threat to many species but that we can still take steps to turn things around. Mike Hirshfield, chief scientist at Oceana, stressed that changes still need to be made in fisheries management. “While confirming the general troubling picture of the world’s fisheries, this paper also demonstrates that if we do change our approaches, collapses are not inevitable and we can rebuild fisheries,” he said.…we got wind of a trailer for Disney’s new movie Oceans, which comes out Earth Day 2010 as a companion to this year’s Earth. Though the trailer is more about Disney’s wildlife legacy, it still has some amazing footage of the ocean. Check out the home page to view the trailer and other spectacular videos and photos. …a special dolphin gave a ten-year-old girl a major self-esteem boost. We last blogged about Winter because of his prosthetic tail, and McKenna McGough was equally impressed. After meeting Winter two years ago (before the prosthetic tail when Winter still had his stump), she realized that she should not be embarrassed about her impaired hearing or hearing aid. Now, she volunteers her time and birthday presents to donate to Winter and his dolphin friends at the aquarium. …wow, Aaron Peirsol has, once again, beaten his own world record time in the 200m backstroke! Swimming in the World Championships in Rome, Aaron won a gold medal with a time of 1 minute and 51.82 seconds, more than a full second under his previous world record. Congrats (again), Aaron! …and, looking ahead to next week, Shark Week begins this Sunday, August 2. And the Discovery Channel is here once again to bring us more chills and thrills. It’s been a great month! Enjoy the weekend!