Global Warming Along the Gulf of Maine

This graph shows how the temperature in The Gulf of Maine has been increasing over the last 33 years due to global warming.

Have you ever thought about everything that is being affected by global warming? Have you ever wondered about the effect it is having on all nearby industries? Well, Maine is one of the largest affected, and quickest places warming in the world, due to global warming. Over the last 35 years. Since 2004 the Yarmouth sand bar has been warming faster than any other place on the planet. In 2012 the water temperature has been the highest average for over 150 yearrs, it hasn't ever been this warm since humans started recording it. For two years the shrimp industry has been down due to the warming temperatures that are making a shortage of shrimp.

Back in the late 1900’s, global warming has been starting to take place. It has been melting the icebergs in the North Pole have been melting. Polar bears have been losing their natural habitat. From all of this melting, it is making the water levels higher. And the whole world is being affected by it. The gulf of maine, is becoming one of the most highly affected places of global warming since 2004. The water temperatures have been rising higher than any other place in the world. If there weren't two very cold recent winters, there would be a very small chance of many native species still in survival. Not to mention, the depth of the water.

This has put an effect on all of the native water species. It has been attracting invasives. Once they come over on bats, or cargo. Now that the waters are warmer, invasive species can live and have a higher chance of survival. In 2012- 2013 the green crab population erupted all along the gulf of maine. They wiped out the entire soft shell clam population. Blue crabs have been appearing in lobster traps along the Chesapeake bay. Now, Asian shore crabs have been dominating the shores along the coast of New Hampshire. All of these invasives have been able to survive, due to the global warming.

The Gulf of Maine is also one of the very few places in the world that are fitting and able to sustain marine life. The Gulf has many great features such as:  geography, oceanography, climate, and geology. On a standard map, the Gulf looks like a little more than a section of the atlantic ocean. But on an ocean chart, the true identity is unfolded. Hidden under the waves, at the southern entrance to the gulf are to monstrous islands that have submerged into the gulf. The islands separate the gulf from the rest of the ocean. This has changed and shaped the oceans currents. It is like a semi enclosed sea, it has a mind and current of it’s own.There are only two deep water channels that connect the gulf to the Atlantic Ocean. The larger channel is twenty two miles wide. The channels usually flow cold water through that keeps the gulf with some cold water from the outside, to keep the water temperature from becoming too warm.

Because the Gulf was known for the frosty temperatures, due to the water being put into the gulf is coming from the arctic. Species like cod: salmon, herring, mackerel, lobster, and  a type of zooplankton called Calanus finmarchicus. None of these species could live anywhere south of Cape Cod. The climate further away is too warm for them to survive. The cold climate keeps away other species like jellyfish and Green crabs. Now that the gulf is warming, they are able to thrive in the gulf.

Works Cited

“Mayday.” Portland Press Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/25/mayday-gulf-maine-distress-six-part-series-from-colin-woodard/>.

Sand Tiger Shark Found

January 13th, 2016

Sand Tiger Shark Nursery

Found off Long Island, New York!

Have you ever seen a shark? Probably, but have you ever seen a Sand Tiger shark? Most likely not, sand tiger sharks are becoming less and less common because female sharks only give birth to one or two babies a year causing low reproductive rates. But researchers recently found a Sand Tiger shark nursery off the coast of Long Island New York. Most likely because where the nursery is located there are shallow waters and heavy traffic, so the noise and shallow waters are making is a great place for the nursery to be located because all the natural predators cannot reach the shark pups and the heavy traffic noise is also scaring them away. Also there is a solid fish supply so the sharks will most likely return to the spot in years coming.

I chose this article because when I was in fourth grade I really liked sharks and it was a little hobby I had and it’s carried on with me throughout all this time. So when I was looking for my top three choices, the word shark caught my eye. I read over the article and put it down as my number one choice. A thing I learned was that there’s a sand tiger shark! I knew about the sand shark and I knew about the tiger shark but I had no idea about the sand tiger shark. So after reading this, I did some investigating online. I didn’t know that they lived along shore lines on the east coast, and can be up to 10ft long! Also that they live to be about 15 years old in the wild. I loved this article and was determined after to find out more about this shark.

(Here’s what they look like!)

Article   link:http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/sand-tiger-shark-nursery-found-in-busy-ny-bay-photos-160106.htm

Article: Sand Tiger Shark Nursery Found in Busy NY Bay

Publication Date: JAN 6, 2016 08:45 AM

Author: By Jennifer Viegas

Publication: Discovery News

Photo link: http://www.tnaqua.org/our-animals/fish/sand-tiger-shark

Fish Wearing Invisible Cloak

Fish Wearing Invisible Clock

Reddik, Jim F. "Some Fish Wear an Invisibility Cloak." Student Science. Society for Science & the Public, 2000. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.

Can you imagine being invisible?  Well two species of fish are, the lookdown and the Scad, off the coast of Texas move there scales which helps the escape from their predators  Many Scientist are still trying to find out how they do it. Molly Cummings a biologist at Texas at Austin  is one of the leaders in this projects. They Capture the fish and then uses a camera that lets scientists see polarized light as fish do. The team used netting to hold a fish in place on an underwater platform against a mirror.Then they took pictures of the fish from more than 1,500 different angles which shows how the fish do it

Cumming’s and her crew aren’t the only ones interested. The Navy is also wondering if they could use this as an advantage to hide their own submarines and boats so enemies can’t find them. The next step the researchers should investigate whether the kinds of high-speed predators that hunt these shiny fish like marlin, tuna and mahimahi have vision that can deal with polarized light. This would reveal whether polarization is even useful as a camouflage for fish like the lookdown or the scad.

I think that it is really cool. Think about it, Somebody could walk around in the middle of town and you can’t see him or her. Now that we are studying biology and microscopes, it shows how our schools studies might be able to change the world. Cummings and her crew uses a microscope to look at the fish just like we look at the flowers and other organisms.  For the fish's sake they can save there life by doing one action. I think that is a win win for everyone except the divers who got cold in the frigid waters of Texas.