Commocean Magazine

Diving Into the World of Marine Biology Page 6

A World Without Color How coral bleaching affects the world Page 12

Underwater Journey the vehicles and their travels Page 20

Quite Deep A peek into the lives of deep sea creatures Page 26

Graphic by Amelia Coleman

Commocean Fall2o21

Commocean Magazine 2021 Fall Jasmine Tea Amelia Coleman Harshit Jain Gale Miller

Commocean Fall 2o21

1 Fall

Welcome To The Ocean

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Graphic by Amelia Coleman

Table of contents Editor Introductions

3 5 13

A Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist

A World Without Color: How coral bleaching affects us

21

Diving Deeper: the tech we use to explore the ocean

Animals of The Deep

29 3 Fall

A Quick Hello From the Commocean Editors Greetings reader of the Commocean magazine, This magazine was a wonder to make because of the wide variety of topics that we were able to explore. Our main goal was to make a magazine that encompassed the entirety of the ocean, but we soon deemed that impossible. We ended up deciding to create feature stories that covered different zones of the ocean, from the sunlight zone, where children play in the sand and scientists do research in aquariums, to the trenches and floor of the ocean, where it's dark and cold and mostly unexplored. We each took a topic from our zone to focus on, and explored it to the best of our abilities. We ended up finding amazing people to interview and they created the stories as much as we did.

Making this magazine really helped us become more creative people and think in ways that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. We also learned how to use programs to design and finish out our magazine. We worked through roadblocks without turning away, we faced them head on and made it through the other side.

We are all really proud of the design of this magazine since it took a team effort and really shows each of our stories as a cohesive theme. Creating this took a lot of work and we are glad it ended up turning out the way we wanted it to. We sure had a good time making this, and we hope you, the reader, enjoy it as well.

Signed, Gale, Harshit, Jasmine, and Amelia

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Graphics by Amelia Coleman

Gale Miller Hello, I am Gale, a student at the Language Arts and Science Academy, or LASA for short. I graduate in 2025. My favorite pastime is drawing and playing video games. I do a few activities such as Choreopop and Color Guard.

Harshit Jain I’m Harshit Jain, an editor for Commocean and a freshman at LASA highschool. I was responsible for writing about the technological side of exploring the ocean. I enjoy reading and playing soccer in my free time.

Making this magazine helped me learn how to use tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and Lightroom. Getting the interviews was a long process and in the end it was worth the struggle. Overall it was an enjoyable journey and I hope you enjoy the magazine. Thanks for checking it out.

Jasmine Tea I’m Jasmine and it’s my first year at LASA. I live at home with my parents, my older brother, and my dog, Taggy. I love animals and some of my passions include singing, cooking, and anything that has to do with business. Some of my favorite shows include The Good Place, HunterxHunter, and Stranger Things. I’m known to be a friendly person and I’m slightly artistic on a good day. A random thing I enjoy is sitting on the bus and listening to music. I swear music makes everything better.

Amelia Coleman Hey! I’m Amelia Coleman, I am a freshman student at LASA in Austin, Tx, and an editor for the Commocean magazine. I like to draw, write and paint, which probably explains why I had such a fun time working on this magazine since it involves so many different creative processes. My favorite pastime is probably painting, which I do regularly, but I also enjoy singing and baking.

I like to listen to music, which a lot of people do, and my favorite band currently is the Arctic Monkeys. I also play tennis on a team, and with my family on weekends, i’m not very good, but it's a fun thing to do. I hope you enjoy reading this magazine as much as me and my team enjoyed working on it.

5 Fall

Washington Graphics by Jasmine Tea

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Step into what it’s like to work in the field of Marine Biology, and learn more about projects and what people all over the world are devoting their time to.

F

rom a very young age, Jade Getliff had always been fascinated by the sea. Growing up, her favorite subjects in school were biology and chemistry, but she had no idea marine biology would be a sustainable career for her. Getliff said part of her passion blossomed from “a combination of just spending a lot of time by the sea as a child and being fascinated by the natural world”.

As of 2021, she was the manager of Big Blue Conservation in Koh Tao, Thailand. She devotes her time to researching in the Galapagos and Koh Tao, taking care of the reefs and creatures, running internships, and teaching students more about marine biology. She has a variety of tasks and responsibilities, allowing each day to be different and unique. In the past she had dedicated much of time to marine turtle research and conservation work with animals.

“At the end of a day you can count how many turtle

Story by Jasmine Tea

hatchlings have successfully made it out to the ocean...that’s something that makes you incredibly proud,” Getliff said.

Through 2020, Getliff found herself spending a lot of time focusing on research and observing the way climate change affects seas, sharks, and rays. She’s passionate about building a strong research base and is working towards that goal every day. Getliff prioritizes the effect of climate change on marine environments and is looking into it daily.

“I think there’s a really strong link there between climate change and how it can directly and indirectly cause disease outbreaks in already critically endangered species of shark that you get in the Galapagos,” Getliff said.

Getliff talks about recently having developed a love for teaching and being around people.

“Students spend up to two months with me here in Koh Tao and they arrive on the

7 Fall

Jade Getliff adventuring in the sea

island not knowing how to dive, not knowing anything about coral biology and they finish… with so much experience and so much knowledge and independence and passion for the subject and seeing that happen,” Getliff said.

That’s something that makes her extremely proud. “[I love] how happy they are at the end of the process and remembering how it started and seeing that progression,” Getliff said.

She also shared this information with others, providing tutoring to a young woman in the US. “She arrived at Big Blue with only four dives that she’d ever done and no idea what a coral was or an anemone was,” Getliff said.

“She just wanted to learn and she finished a month with me with so many dives and when you spend that much time with someone, one on one, coaching them through everything to do with

Commocean 8

marine

“I will then go from there to determine if this is where I can make my greatest contribution.

-Aina Hori, Marine Biology college student

environment and sharing that passion, you do become close and it’s really nice to see how happy they are at the end of it and how much more passion they have, and how much more aware they are.”

Brad Tanner, who works with MOTE Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, in Sarasota, Florida, is constantly working with people, and his job is to figure out fun and creative ways to teach topics of the ocean to students. He has had the

Graphics by Jasmine Tea

opportunity to publish a marine raised in Hawaii, said she has also biology lab manual and textbook, felt a connection to the sea from a and create a film called Doctor very young age.

Eugene Clark. Tanner also focuses “The most interesting part on a lot of research such as newly about my studies is the hands-on discovered blue holes on the West component,” Hori said.

Coast of Florida.

Over the summer of 2021, Hori “We’re trying to figure out the attended Marine Subtidal Ecology dynamics of these holes, again and said the experience was freshwater seeping through them, wonderful. what type of microorganisms are “For my research project, I got there, are they helping contribute to to swim through glistening kelp potential algae blooms that we see beds and look for Northern kelp on our coast here,” Tanner said. crabs,” Hori said. “We had access Like Big Blue Conservation, the to a lab with a variety of organisms MOTE laboratory works on coral ranging from seaweeds, sea stars, reef restoration, sea anemones, nudibranchs, crabs, “focusing on the coral that naturally and more.”. grow in that area which are elkhorns and staghorns”.

Tanner said.

Growing coral in human care, waiting until they reach about the Photo courtesy of Jade Getliff size of a hand and transplanting them. They She is working on a research then plant them back out into the project that is looking at the reefs to help the numbers come phytoplankton growth rate back up. Everyday he contributes in today’s temperatures and to his team towards finding a way comparing that to future to involve education in raising temperatures. awareness to the oceans and of why Her average day consists of waking people should care, hoping it’ll up to a cup of coffee, working at inspire them to protect the seas. the Career Services and Academic “We need to conserve these Affairs Program, attending lectures fascinating marine organisms for and labs, preparing for the next future generations,” Aina Hori said. day, and possibly attending a club Aina Hori is a marine biology in the evening. Hori said a major major at the University of motivation for her studies and Washington who was born and fueled from climate change

Aina Hori smiles as she gets back from a diving session

“From driving economies, providing food, and serving as a cultural connection, there are so many ecosystem services the underwater world provides,” Hori explained.

Overtime she has found a love for advocating for marine life and conserving biodiversity while educating and working with other colleagues.

“After taking a couple of classes in environmental studies, science communication and marine management, I have grown an interest in doing my part to help conserve these incredible organisms from sharing stories and writing about the science rather than researching the phenomena myself,” Hori said.

“I am hoping to take more classes centered around marine policy and education. I will then go from there to determine if this

9 Fall

Top 4 Movies feautring the

Graphics by Jasmine Tea

A fun fact is that the inspiration for finding nemo came from the director, Andrew Stanton’s trips to the denist when he was a child.

Source, screenrant.com

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Ponyo was slightly inspired off of The Little Mermaid Source, buzzfeed.com

The Little Mermaid The Little Mermaid won 2 oscars for its music, 2 golden globes, 1 grammy, and many more awards!

Source, The Little Mermaid IMDb Awards

The Titanic

Source, Box Office Mojo

The movie was based off of the true tragedy of the Titanic on April 14, 1912. To this day, the titanic is still one of the most iconic movies, grossing $2,201 billion USD in box office.

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Unbleached and alive coral in the great barrier reef.

Photographer Christine Roper.

A world without color

Story By Amelia Coleman

What coral bleaching means for the world 12|Commocean Commocean 12

Bleached coral in the great barrier reef. Photographer Amanda Grima.

C

oral, when alive, is beautiful and colorful.

These corals house hundreds of different species and are a cornerstone of the ecosystem. When they are dead the reefs struggle to thrive, the dead, ghostly figures haunting the graveyard of a previously beautiful ecosystem. Coral bleaching is a worldwide event that happens mainly due to climate change. In coral reefs, it has not only affected the wildlife but people who rely on the reef for their livelihoods. These are just a few ways coral bleaching has affected the world, but there are almost too many different causes for the average person to keep track of.

change.”

What causes coral Mass coral bleaching is bleaching? often attributed to the wide array According to PhD Candidate, of effects that come with climate Amanda Grima, there is a wide change, Grima said, but the cause variety of things that can cause of coral bleaching ultimately comes coral bleaching, but climate change down to the algae that lives inside affects the coral on a much wider the polyps of the coral, which it scale. maintains a symbiotic relationship “There are a lot of impacts with. that can cause coral bleaching, “It uses the sunlight to definitely the most threatening is produce sugary foods, and it gives climate change,” Grima said. “So that food directly to its coral hosts,” global warming, warming ocean Grima said. “The coral gets this temperatures, we know that that awesome free source of energy that causes the most frequent and severe it can output towards things like call bleaching globally. But there growth and reproduction. And in are other impacts. That can include return, the coral is providing a safe things like high fragmentation, home for the algae to live in. For or low salinity over poor water many, many years, they don’t have quality, things like that, but it just to worry about floating around in happens a lot less severely than the vast ocean, maybe it generally does with climate getting eaten by other

13 Fall

w organisms.”

This symbiosis helps both the coral and the algae, but when the coral gets stressed the algae and the coral have to go their separate ways . Phd candidate, Christine Roper, said, “Corals, and the symbiotic microorganisms that live inside of them have optimum ranges of environmental conditions, whether that can be temperature, light, or pH, or acidity, and when the environment changes to be outside that optimum range, this can lead to bleaching,” Roper said,”So firstly, the corals can be stressed. And then either the symbiotes, the microorganisms inside of them cannot function as well, or as they normally do. And they might start producing toxic compounds. And then it’s gonna eventually lead to corals spitting out those symbiotic microorganisms. And once that happens, the coral is bleached.”

Corals will get stressed and then expel the algae back into the water, losing that vital symbiotic relationship it requires to survive.

There is also an important chemical effect that causes corals to release the algae that lives within

them. Doctoral candidate, Paige Strudwick, said, “Coral life, they have an animal component, as well as a plant component,”... Strudwick said, “and so the animal component, like they’re these little polyps that contain the algae within them. So when they go into stress, the algae produce what they call reactive oxygen species,

“back to back coral

not on as vast a scale. This leads to the next question, How normal is coral bleaching?

Coral bleaching is actually more normal than one would probably think, according to Strudwick. In 1998, the first major bleaching event took place due to it being, at the time, the hottest day on record.

“Coral bleaching normally occurs naturally,” Strudwick said.

“But with global warming, what’s

bleaching is very, very unusual, I think believe the first time in history to have had evidence of that -Amanda Grima, Doctoral Candidate

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which basically, it creates a toxic environment for the coral. And so the coral will expel these algae into the environment. And that’s why they then appear and why we call it coral bleaching, because the algae that live inside them gives them their color.”

According to Strudwick, coral bleaching is a process that in a time less affected by climate change would still happen, not nearly as often, and most definitely

happening is we’re getting more severe and more frequent heatwave events, which means we’re also getting more frequent bleaching events.

And it’s becoming pretty much global,” According to Grima, in 2016 and 2017 there were backto-back bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef which would never have happened before, for example in the 1980s they would occur every 25-30 years, not once a year. As of 2021 It is estimated that every six years a bleaching event happens. Grima continues to say, “ back to back coral bleaching

is very, very unusual, I think the first time in history to have had evidence of that. What we’re seeing is that, because of our global emissions, we’re seeing that these bleaching events are happening more frequently and severely than ever before.”

Coral bleaching affects the marine in the reefs as well as just the corals that bleach.

How does coral bleaching affect the ocean life that relies on the coral to survive?

Coral is a major part of the

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a major issue.”

Coral reefs, while only taking up around 1% of the ocean, are home to about 25% of all marine fish. They are also breeding grounds for the animals that live in these reefs, turtles, whales, and fish. The structure of the corals provides a significant shelter for

reef. And reefs can change from coral-dominated ecosystems to algal-dominated ecosystems.

And this can change things like food and nutrient availability, and habitat availability for all things.

Other organisms like fish, crabs, invertebrates, so it can really disrupt the whole balance of the

Unbleached corals in the great barrier reef. Fish rely on the corals so there are plenty here. Photographer Amanda Grima

an

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ecosystem in coral reefs, since a lot of other species rely on it to survive. Grima said, “Hard corals are the foundation species of tropical coral reefs. Their formation creates the hard structures and the complexity which other organisms, you know, reef fish and marine invertebrates rely on for their survival. So they’re relying on these corals for protection or refuge, they rely on them for food, and they need the corals to build their nurseries. So what we see happening now is with the loss of hardcore cover on coral reef, is we’re also seeing the decline in other organisms, or loss of biodiversity, which is obviously

the animals that live there as well.

So a disturbance in the foundation of the habitat for a huge amount of the ocean’s fish would have major repercussions, “There’s a sort of balance between corals and algae,” Roper said, “When those corals bleach, they’re no longer able to outcompete the algae on the

ecosystem, and it leads to some important altered state.”

Coral bleaching also affects the people who live near these reefs and need them healthy and alive to sustain their livelihood.

How does Coral Bleaching affect those who rely on the reefs?

15 Fall

w Corals are important to the think they, they support like 500 people around the reefs and they million people around the world,” provide a lot of things to these Strudwick said, “And they bring people. in money for tourism. And I think, “Corals also provide a whole for a lot of people who don’t really suite of equal ecological functions care about the environment, when and services Paige Strudwick and her team getting ready to go out on the for humans,” reef. Photographer Paige Strudwick.

Grima said, “Because that includes things like shoreline protection, or food for millions of people around the world, particularly in you know, Island or developing nations where that’s been the main source of protein, we’re seeing that the loss of corals is impacted not only the organisms that they think about coral bleaching, live on the reefs, but also our they can think about the amount human well being as well” of money that will be lost from Strudwick agreed, adding that the lack of tourism, that’s going corals can be a major moneymaker, to happen when we lose these “And I think the important ecosystems. But yeah, they provide thing to remember too, is that us with food as well.” they’re also important for us Lastly, coral bleaching can as well. And so they provide be helped according to Grima, us with, like food resources, I Strudwick, and Roper. There

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are many methods that can help prevent as wide bleaching, and most of them come back to the source, climate change How can coral bleaching be prevented?

Coral bleaching can be reduced through a better environment and to do that it would require slowing down climate change, “So to prevent coral bleaching or reduce it, we really need to prevent the environment from being outside of these optimum ranges for the corals,” Roper said, “So as climate change is the main cause of these environmental changes, it means we need to help or slow climate change so the corals can survive because it takes a long time for the corals to adapt to different conditions. So they need this time in a steady environment to do that.

So they might have the capability

Graphic by Amelia Coleman. Image Courtecy of Amanda Grima

to adapt to these climate changedriven environmental conditions.

But they just need that time to do it. So the main thing is really to slow down or stop climate change.”

Coral bleaching can also be reduced by slowing down or stopping completely the amount of Co2 we release into the atmosphere, “The most important action that we need to take is to reduce our emissions,” Grima said, “So there’s been a big push, particularly this year, as a global community, putting a lot of pressure on our governments, for example, to start to look at renewable energy sources, because we know that if we continue to rely on greenhouse gases, we’re going to start to lose some of these extremely important ecosystems like coral reefs. So that is really Unfortunately, the number one step we need to take. As a planet, we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions so that we can hopefully keep the temperature threshold or change below 1.5 degrees Celsius. And then within a few decades, what we would hope to see was that we would have less and less mass bleaching events occurring, which would obviously be really

beneficial for our race.”

Other approaches are more local and rely more on adaptation than mitigation. Grima said, “But what we can do in the meantime, there is what we call a

“The structure of

the corals are just in that much more of a better position to be able to withstand them because they’re not having to try and fight up these other impacts that are occurring simultaneously.”

Lastly, something researchers need to do and are currently doing is figuring out what coral traits make them more likely to survive a bleaching event, “The main thing that we need to do is to reduce the greenhouse gases being emitted,” Strudwick said, “I think, for us as coral researches, and the main thing that we’re trying to do is to research, how we can protect the corals and find out what traits they have that make them more resilient or tolerant to climate change to try and understand and predict what the future will be for the different species.”

the corals provides a significant shelter for the animals that live there as well.

-Paige Strudwick, Doctoral Candidate local scale,” Grima said “So what we’re seeing around the world is the communities that rely on coral reefs for various aspects of their livelihood. They’re taking action to try and reduce any other impacts on Might be occurring on coral reefs. So that when these kinds of heat anomalies do occur,

17 Fall

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Graphic By Amelia Coleman

Among the Corals

Meet the two endangered corals these are the two corals that are now listed as endangered. They are both endangered due to human related activities like unsustainable fishing, mining and climate change

Tubastraea Floreana

Canthareallus Noumeae

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70% of all coral reefs have been damaged since 1995. Of these coral reefs, the great barrier reef has suffered greatly with 50% of the corals being dead

19 Fall

Underwater Journey The Vehicles and Their Technological Travels

Commocean 20

Story by Harshit Jian

Ocean Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) attached to a cable over the ocean.Graphic

by Harshit Jian. Image Courtecy of Ocean Networks Canada

M

any oceanographers have pondered the same question, what is down in the depths of the ocean. Between the surreal darkness, cold temperatures, and crushing pressures, scientists have been challenged to develop vehicles capable of surviving these harsh environments.. The unidentified depths of the ocean are a challenge to uncover, but with the help of newly developing technologies we might be able to shine some light on the darkness down in the ocean.

The ROV and AUV are the most predominant unmanned underwater vehicles utilized by researchers, according to Mike Burczynski, an engineer who works with remote operated vehicles [ROVs].

“The process of engineering our vehicles can be challenging at times,” Burczynski said. “The increasing water pressure is one of our main concerns when we are in the design process.”

With so many obstacles in uncovering these mysteries oceanographers have had to develop different types of vehicles with different utilities and functions, Burczynski explained. They come in a variety of sizes and purposes.

“The vehicles we send out vary depending on

the purpose of the operation. The factors we take into account include, depth, distance, length, and the goals of the operation.”

Each mission has a different result in mind and the vehicles are selected in accordance to that goal.

There are many factors taken into consideration when commencing an operation. Before the vehicles are sent out they are checked by the management team for any faults in the product.

“We ensure the cameras, sampling tools, and sensors of each robot are ready for the science team to accomplish their goals,” Burczynski said. “The main job of the crew is to handle the technical aspects of the ROV so it can function properly. Taking care of the vehicle’s parts and especially the camera is vital to the mission.”

Once the mission has begun crew members must ensure that the ROV continues to operate smoothly without any trouble. Another vehicle used to investigate the ocean would be an autonomous underwater vehicle [AUV], according to operations engineer Randy Prickett.

“AUVs are uncrewed underwater vehicles,” Prickett said. “AUVs can be used for underwater survey missions such as detecting and mapping sub-

Ocean Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) attached to a cable over the ocean.Graphic

by Harshit Jian. Image courtecy of Ocean Networks Canada

21 Fall

Autonomus Underwater Vehicle (AUV) hanging over the water. Graphic

By Harshit Jian. Image courtecy of Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute

“AUVs aren’t suited to all environments,

interference from other ships can force them to deviate from their intended path.

-Randy Prickett

merged wrecks, rocks, and obstructions that can be a hazard to navigation for commercial and recreational vessels. An AUV conducts its survey mission without operator intervention. When a mission is complete, the AUV will return to a pre-programmed location where the data can be downloaded and processed.”

AUVs are pre-programmed to a specific task and don’t require much attendance while they are underwater. Which makes them easy to handle. AUVs are very different from ROVs in many aspects, explained Prickett.

“An AUV explores ocean depths without any attached cables. Researchers drop an AUV in the ocean and pick it up at a preselected position. The difference is that an ROV is connected to a ship by cables. A person on the ship ‘drives’ it around. Since the AUV doesn’t stay tethered to a ship, it can often explore more freely than an ROV. An AUV’s smaller

Commocean 22

build allows it to explore narrower areas. ROVs are better for some tasks and AUVs for others. An AUV is a more optimal option if you are taking photos or making a map of the ocean floor, but don’t need to retrieve any physical materials from the water.”

He explained that AUVs and ROVs have their pros and cons for each task. The specifics of each mission can determine which vehicle to pick, explained Prickett.

“Whether you should use a ROV or an AUV depends on the size and scope of your project,” Prickett said. “If your project has a lot of moving components or you’re working with a small team, an AUV that doesn’t require a human controller is often a good fit. While you and your team focus on other parts of the project, the AUV can travel around the water collecting data by itself. For an ROV, if you have the crew, it can be a great option since it delivers data and information in real time.”

AUVs offer more versatility, since researchers can work on other things while it’s underwater. ROVs are better for quicker data collection. Another factor to keep in mind is the location of the mission, explained Prickett.

“AUVs aren’t suited to all environments, interference from other ships can force them to deviate from their intended path. An AUV can struggle in a section of the ocean with strong currents because it is not attached to a ship. ROVs are frequently the better option for situations like those. ROVs are often a better pick for crowded parts of the ocean or areas with strong currents, since humans control them.”

Having control over the vehicle’s course while it’s underwater can be an advantage in places where it’s difficult to navigate the vehicle. The durability of a vehicle is also very important in a successful operation,

explained Prickett.

“ROVs and AUVs can stay in the water for extended periods, but an AUV might have a slightly longer battery life. If you need an underwater vehicle to stay submerged for more than a day, an AUV might be your best pick.”

“ROVs and AUVs are very helpful for our research. Without them we wouldn’t be making any advancements in exposing the mysteries of the ocean,” said Prickett. If researchers continue to strengthen their understanding of these vehicles, they will be the main hope for deepening our shallow view of the ocean.

“ROVs and AUVs are very helpful for our

research. Without them we wouldn’t be making any advancements in exposing the mysteries of the ocean

-Randy Prickett.

Submersible halfway submerged in the water.Graphic

By Harshit Jian. Photo Courtecy of NOAA

23 Fall

cean Energy Pyramid

Shar

An energy pyramid represents the flow of energy in an ecosystem. The order of the levels is based on who feeds on whom.

Kille

Seal

Small Fish

Marine Plants

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Squi

Crab

Graphics by Harshit Jain

rk

Teritary Consumers

eat secondary consumers and primary consumers. They occupy the top trophic level, so they are not predated by other animals.

er Whale

id

Whale

Zooplankton

Secondary Consumers are carnivores that feed on primary consumers.

Primary Consumers are herbivores that mainly eat plants and algae.

Algae

Producers

are plants that are the main source of energy for the ocean, since they can create their own food.

25 Fall

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Quite Deep A peek into the organisms of the abyssal zone

T

Story by Gale Miller

he deep ocean is a place of wonders. This includes animals that have a glowing appearance to organisms that don’t have eyes.

There may be many more creatures of the deep that contain less cookie cutter features. However, not much is known about the deep ocean and it’s ecosystem due to the pressure that can reach up to 3000 to 9000 pounds of pressure. Not just that but there is no light source that deep in the ocean, so it is difficult for organisms to see that far into the ocean depths. In contrary to the harsh conditions, animals have adapted to the undesirable conditions of the deep ocean.

Due to the ocean’s deeper areas being fairly uninhabitable, there aren’t many sources of energy for the creatures. The deep ocean does have some food sources available to the organisms that inhabit it such as the bacteria that grows around the vents and the remains of whale carcasses that sink to the sea floor.

Since there is no sunlight in the deep ocean, there is not enough oxygen available to the organisms, so the only available way for animals to access oxygen is through melted icebergs.

The organisms that live in the deep ocean have adapted to the higher pressures of the deep ocean, so whenever a creature is extracted from the deep ocean the release of pressure could cause bloating and in the

Image courtesy of Caitlin Bailey, GFOE, The Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands.

Commocean 26

Image courtesy of Rachel Caauwe snailfish’s case, melting. One animal, the blobfish, got its name from the way that it bloated and turned pink whenever it was brought up to the surface. However, in the deep ocean the blobfish looks like any other fish.

There isn’t much known about how many organisms are in the deep ocean due to how hard it is to reach those depths. Quoted from an interview with Christopher Scholin, the president and CEO of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), “What’s interesting about ocean sciences, particularly when you go into the deep ocean, is there so much that we simply just don’t know, may have already been around for just a little over 30 years, we’ve discovered over 200 species that are entirely new to science, documented phenomenon, seafloor rearrangements and things are completely unknown.” Another quote from Jennifer Paudan, a Senior Research Specialist at MBARI supports this“Plus you have to have a longer expedition than MBARI’s research vessels are equipped for to get out to the really deep places.

However, the average depth of the ocean is 4500 m, most mid-ocean ridge systems are shallower than that, and continental margins all are shallower, so with 4000 m vehicles we can work in most places that are of scientific interest to us.” As stated in the previous story, many scientists and engineers are working on technology to reach those depths and investigate the life of the deep, according to Chris Scholin, “There’s, there’s so much we don’t even know yet having scratched the surface. So it’s really wide open, it’s a pretty exciting time to be a part of it.”

He is investigating harmful algae and phytoplankton ecology. Scholin created the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) which allows for samples of the ocean to be gathered and scanned. This machine is a breakthrough for marine biologists. It allows scientists to learn more about the ecosystem of the ocean, their current goal is to improve the accuracy and speed as to which data is collected and analyzed.

27 Fall

In deeper water Graphic By Gale Miller

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pharynx Pelecanoid y r u Eel (E

Deep Ocean 23.0%

Ocean 50.0%

Discovered 27.0%

29 Fall

Behind the Seas

Photographer, Jasmine Tea

Photo courtesy of Lexa Lorenz

Commocean 30

Photographer, Amelia Coleman

Photographer, Jasmine Tea

31 Fall

Commocean 32

Graphic by Amelia Coleman

Commocean Magazine 2021 fall Jasmine Tea Amelia Coleman Harshit Jain Gale Miller

33 Fall

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