'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic

Can the ocean freeze? YES! And in one example it does so in an odd way. This strange formation of a "brinicle" is a result of a spiraling cone of ice built around freezing particles of salt water. A BBC crew filming Frozen Planet has captured the first ever footage of a brinicle forming. Brinicles can sprout when calm salt water becomes colder than the surrounding sea and begins to drift toward the ocean floor. They form because of the temperature difference between the cold, arctic air (-20 degrees celsius) and the relatively warm ocean water (-1.9 degrees celsius). When water flows up towards the surface it freezes and precipitates salt which increases the salinity of the water just below the newly formed ice. When the salt becomes concentrated it sinks due to its density creating brine channels. As this cold brine sinks, it freezes the relatively freshwater surrounding the plume forming very fragile tubes of ice which grow to form what we know as a brinicle. The brinicle instantly freezes the water around it, creating a tornado-looking structure that can spread across the sand below to engulf nearby marine animals, killing them or at least locking them in an annoying state of suspended animation.



Click here to read the BBC article associated with this film.

OBX!!!

My experience at OBX was one of the best times I have had being an Ashland Student. The first picture is of the sunrise the first morning there. I took it when I went out for a run which I was unable to do the second day due to exhaustion! My favorite activity of the trip was probably kayaking in Monteo or our visit to the aquarium. This picture is of a turtle from the aquarium who, I think, is trying to fly. Another aspect of the class that I thought was neat came from our trip to the salt marsh right across from our camp ground. We read a paper on how the marsh periwinkle was destroying Spartina due to over harvesting of its predator, the blue crab. Well at the salt marsh, we witnessed the paper first hand. The Spartina were absolutely covered in Littoraria. Never have I read a journal article for a class and have actually got to see what was explained in the article in person. Also, in most of my classes, I never get to have conversations with and get to know everybody in the class. This trip allowed me to do just that :)

A Great Trip with Amazing People

This trip was one of the best experiences of my life. Thank you all for making it a memorable time. This picture was obviously taken when we had our fire on the beach the last night...before it was destroyed by the incoming tide and the random truck trying to get down the beach. I thought it was still a pretty fun night overall.
Cape Hattaras light house and Pea Island was one of my favorite day trips. I loved getting to see the dolphins playing off the shore and seeing the light house. I also loved collecting things on the beach by the light house as well. Throughout the whole trip I found several interesting things. I had a lot of fun.

Another OBX post :)

At 5:30 in the morning, I met the rest of my BIO 412 Marine Biology class and left for Outer Banks, North Carolina with Doctors Posner and Saunders, two of the Biology department faculty. The sleep deprivation and the drive were well worth it though because I had such a great time!

Here are just a few of the cool things I saw in the Outer Banks:

Even 15-foot-tall sand dunes are futile attempts to prevent the erosion that barrier islands experience naturally.

We went kayaking in a salt marsh and I spotted a duck. I was able to get close enough to take this sweet pic right as it took off.

The Littoraria snails will climb the Spartina marsh grass to escape predation by crabs below. They can hold on even as they sleep by secreting a sticky substance onto the spot and just hang there, sleeping.

We came across this huge fish skeleton in the salt marsh. I took a picture with my hand next to it to set the scale for how huge this thing was. We wanted such a complete specimen for our lab back in Ohio, so we wrapped it in trash bags and stored it in our lunchmeat cooler.

Once you get the chance, go check out the Outer Banks! But whatever you do, don’t feed the Laughing gulls! They will stalk you forever if you do.

Harmful effects of oil spills on dolphins

With the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico all over the news, I couldn’t help but wonder if dolphins could be hurt as bad as other marine organisms since they can at least swim away from the oil.

I was partially right. They can swim away from the spill, and their skin allows the oil to just run off them as they swim so it doesn’t cause any permanent harm.
However, they do need to breathe sometime. When they come up to the surface, if they happen to take in oil in their mouths or blowhole, it can cause serious damage to their airways, mucous membranes, or digestive tract (like a poison). Oil can also cause eye damage if it gets in their eyes.
Things only get worse from there because panicking or stressed dolphins will surface more often because they are breathing harder and need to breathe more often, which will expose them to more oil floating on the surface.

Source: www.amsa.gov

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yneaqFyM5EcJ:www.amsa.gov.au/Marine_Environment_Protection/National_Plan/General_Information/Oiled_Wildlife/Oil_Spill_Effects_on_Wildlife_and_Non-Avian_Marine_Life.asp+oil+spill+effects+on+dolphins&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

The spread of the Humboldt Squid

I got to dissect one of these that washed up on the beach of the Gulf of California in Baja Mexico when I taught marine bio in graduate school.  Unlike in this video, my specimen was rotting and covered in flies.

My Trip Experience

I had a great time on our trip. The picture on the left is from the top of the Hatters Island Lighthouse. For those members of the class that did not climb to the top, it only took a few minutes to reach the top and it was very windy at the top. Once we reached the top the Park Volunteer at the top gave us what could only be described as a small lecture. Also shown in the picture of the left is some extensive salt water trapped behind the dunes, this is due to the hard structure jetty that the other members of the class were near. Where the water is now used to look like the maritime forest behind it 10 years ago, and it is likely that will continue and the lighthouse will be surrounded by a like habitat in 10 years.

The aquarium was very fun to walk around and enjoy. Despite the massive crowd, I was able to touch the manta rays. They had an interesting feel to them (soft, squishy). It was enjoyable, as I had not touched a manta ray since the old Sea World tanks.

I had a great trip, hope you all did too.