Sea Grant’s 2006
3rd Quarter Highlights
(Archive of SG Highlights)

Sea Grant E-Currents Newsletter now available!

Alaska Sea Grant publishes guide on how to safely and responsibly approach and watch coastal wildlife: Alaska Sea Grant is offering tips on the dos and don'ts of approaching and watching marine wildlife in its newly published guide Responsible Marine Wildlife Viewing in Alaska. The guide explains the federal laws covering marine wildlife viewing, and offers useful tips on how to safely and responsibly approach and watch coastal wildlife including whales, porpoises and other cetaceans. The publication also offers vessel operators a voluntary Code of Conduct pledge that can be posted aboard their vessels to let passengers and crew know that they follow accepted guidelines to responsible marine wildlife viewing.

Alaska Sea Grant raised more than $5700 for the Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission (AFIRM), representing 10% of publication sales from November through April. The money will help fishing communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Scientists Use Satellites to Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools. Using sensor data from several U.S. and European satellites, researchers from the University of Delaware Sea Grant Program, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Ocean University of China have developed a method to detect super-salty, submerged eddies called "Meddies" that occur in the Atlantic Ocean off Spain and Portugal at depths of more than a half mile. These warm, deep-water whirlpools, part of the ocean's complex circulatory system, help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth's climate. The research marks the first time scientists have been able to detect phenomena so deep in the ocean from space -- and using a new multi-sensor technique that can track changes in ocean salinity.

Ultrasound and Algae Team Up to Clean Mercury from Sediments: A Sea Grant funded study found that ultrasound and algae can be used together as tools to clean mercury from contaminated sediment. This research could one day lead to a ship-borne device that cleans toxic metals from waterways without harming fish or other wildlife. For more information, please visit http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/sonoalga1.htm

OSU engineers are working with coastal communities to tap offshore energy: Oregon Sea Grant provided seed funds ($60K) for wave energy research, attracting NSF support. Sea Grant also connected community members through its Extension Port Liaison Project (in partnership with NOAA Fisheries) to provide expertise to the researchers about ocean conditions. Oregon Sea Grant's communications leader, Joe Cone helped develop the new DVD on the project. For more information see the "Sea Power" report (and video) in the university's research magazine: http://oregonstate.edu/terra/2006spring/features/seapower.html

Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coastal Management Program co-produced a DVD to provide an objective overview of the issues associated with building and buying coastal property. Living On the Edge is intended for developers, realtors, lenders, and coastal officials as well as builders and buyers; it portrays the natural processes that create special challenges in shoreline development. Knowledgeable Oregon scientists, engineers, planners, and realtors offer their insights and recommendations to address these challenges successfully.

Researchers Unveil 'Super Sucker' - New Alien Algae Removal Machine: With initial funding from the National Sea Grant College Program and partners, marine researchers in Hawaii have a new weapon in the battle against alien algae. They call it the “super sucker,” and it acts as an underwater vacuum cleaner to take invasive algae off the reef. Preliminary tests show it can remove up to 800 pounds in a single hour.

In the wild, black sea bass are born as females and turn into males at around two to five years old. When you bring them into captivity, they change into males more quickly. Some captive-born fish emerge as males even before reaching adulthood, devoting energy toward reproductive development and away from growth. Such problems make breeding and growing the fish in captivity a tricky proposition. With funding from NH Sea Grant, researchers studied what triggers sex reversal in black sea bass – and how to prevent it. Researchers have discovered that fish are more likely to become males if raised at constant temperatures. Sex ratios and density also come into play. The researchers found that females were more likely to change sex when no males were present in the tank. Additionally, the fish were more likely to turn into males when kept in crowded tanks. This research is taking the next step toward making black sea bass aquaculture possible.

Fact Sheets Help Property Owners Navigate FEMA Programs, Regulations: The Louisiana Sea Grant Legal Program has developed a series of information sheets to help people affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita navigate Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs and related legal issues during the continuing rebuilding process. The fact sheets answer questions about the National Flood Insurance Program, flood elevations, rebuilding after a flood, and other reconstruction matters. The information sheets are available online at www.laseagrant.org and www.lsu.edu/sglegal

Sturgeon were the most common fish eaten by Jamestown's settlers in the early 1600s, but the stock plummeted in the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1900s as commercial fishermen caught them for their meat and eggs. A marine biologist with Virginia Sea Grant surgically inserted a tiny radio transmitter into the large sturgeon hauled and released it back into the James. The hope is to eventually map sturgeon spawning grounds and learn more about the habitat that they prefer. Such data could prove crucial in restoring the stock.

After more than a decade of studying rockfish reproduction, growth and development, California Sea Grant biologists have successfully reared brown rockfish from birth through their critical life stages. The achievement is significant because rockfish, more than other fish, have fragile and complicated early life histories. They are also prone to overfishing and hence have been a priority for fisheries management.

Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Website: Alaska Extension Agent facilitated a session to beta test the new Prince William Sound section of the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Web site. The huge site draws on hundreds of weather models, NOAA buoy data, and satellite ocean observations to provide a one-stop source for marine weather and other information. It is designed for all marine users—researchers, teachers, fishermen, processors, tendermen, shippers, kayakers, aviators, and recreation and subsistence users. For more information: http://www.aoos.org

Sea Grant-funded scientists at the University of Minnesota have identified glycerol and uracil produced by Eurasian watermilfoilas attractive to hungry weevils. (Glycerol is a sweet-tasting thick liquid used in many products that humans eat, such as flavorings like vanilla, food coloring, candy, cakes,etc. Uracil is a more complicated chemical with derivatives that are important to cell metabolism, particularly carbohydrate metabolism. It is also used to transfer chemical energy and translate genetic information between cells.) The researchers pinpointed the attractants as glycerol and uracil. They used techniques as complicated as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and as simple as a salad spinner. These findings would be useful for sampling or collecting adult weevils. The attractants could be used to lure weevils living in a lake into a trap so that they could be released elsewhere or used for research purposes, or the attractants could be used to get an idea of how many weevils live in an area.