April 2022 Seawords

SEAW ORDS TheMarineOption Program Newsletter

April 2022

Volume XXXVII, Number 4

Al oha and W el come to the Apr il issue of Seawords!

Read about what the MOP students were up to this month! Hint: it includes an in-depth tour of the restoration efforts going into saving one of the ocean's most important members!

Delve into our newest creature of the month: the cone shell, or p?p? p?niuniu on page 10. Learn about new data coming out of Antarctica about microbial life under the Ross Ice Shelf (page 14). On page 16, explore the methods and implications of bioprospecting.

Finally on page 20, read about some curious migration patterns recently observed in humpback whales!

W hat would you like to see more of in Seawords?Send in your thoughts, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @mopseawords!

Abbie Jeremiah, SeawordsEditor

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Contents 2: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 4: CORAL RESTORATION NURSERY 10: CREATURE OF THE MONTH: P? P? P? NIUNIU 14: LIFE UNDER THE SHELF 16: BIOPROSPECTING: THE NEW GOLD RUSH? 20: HUMPBACK W HALE MIGRATION 22: MOP CALENDAR

Photo Credits Front Page: Conus Textile 3. Harry Rose, Flickr.

Table of Contents: Anchialine Pond. Abbie Jeremiah, MOP Editor.

Back Cover: Jellies. Abbie Jeremiah, MOP Editor

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Coral Restoration Nursery StoryandPhotosby: AbbieJeremiah,SeawordsEditor

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At the Coral Restoration Nursery, native Hawaiian coral colonies are 'grown' and quickly out-planted into environments that need them.

Coral reefs are hot-spots of biodiversity in the ocean, providing food and shelter to thousands of marine species. Additionally, from an economic perspective, coral reefs provide jobs and resources for coastal communities through tourism and fishing industries, simultaneously protecting our shorelines from erosion. Despite their great importance, pollution,

habitat destruction, and most notably, coral bleaching have decimated coral reef ecosystems in recent years. The decline of coral reefs could potentially be devastating on both economic and ecological levels and thus poses the question: W hat can be done to restore them?

This March, a van full of curious MOP students made its way APRIL 2022

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Norton Chan takes the MOP students on a tour of the Coral Restoration Nursery.

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The coral restoration nursery also houses the "Hawaiian coral ark," where rare, uncommon, and endemic corals are kept to safeguard against potential catastrophic events.

to the ? nuenue Fisheries Research Center on Sand Island to explore their extensive coral restoration nursery. Our guide for the day was Norton Chan, a senior coral specialist at the nursery, himself a former MOP student.

As we began our tour, Chan explained the reasoning behind their method of coral restoration. Already a delicate process, coral reef restoration in Hawai?i presents a unique set of challenges that can be

seen when examining their evolutionary history. Hawai?i is one of the most isolated island chains in the world, leading to one of the highest rates of endemism in any coral reef ecosystem. Due to millions of years of isolation with relatively low competition, Hawai?i?s endemic corals tend to have a much slower growth rate (about 1-2 cm per year) compared to corals from highly competitive areas such as the Great Barrier Reef which can show APRIL 2022

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The MOP students witness the removal of Phestilla. The corals are quarantined and monitored for a period of 30 days before being fragmented and attached to a substrate.

growth rates up to 20 cm per year.

To help facilitate the growth of the corals, the nursery has taken to a lab-based approach (as opposed to an in-situ approach where the corals are cultivated in the ocean) where they can closely monitor the corals and provide them with a steady environment to promote faster growth, unhindered by harsh currents or waves, predators, and fluctuations in temperature.

Corals are first selected from harbors, or other places of lower 8 | Seawords

ecological value to minimize the impact on the ecosystem as a whole.

The collected corals must be a native species and have a healthy coloration. They are then quarantined to ensure they don?t introduce any parasites or diseases to the other corals. The staff at the nursery regularly and carefully examine each piece of coral for a period of 30 days, primarily searching for Phestilla, minuscule coral-eating sea slugs with juveniles about a ¼ mm in size.

"The pyramidal shape mimics the mound-like growth patterns of the mature massive coral colony and provides the fragmented corals with the optimal surface-area to grow."

Once the collected corals are parasite free, they are fragmented and attached to a pyramid-shaped substrate. The pyramidal shape mimics the mound-like growth patterns of the mature massive coral colony and provides the fragmented corals with the optimal surface-area to grow. The coral fragments begin to grow outward and eventually fuse with their neighboring fragment resulting in a full-sized coral colony that covers the entire module within a year. In the ocean, a coral of this

species and size would be over 20 years old.

Eventually the coral modules are out-planted back to the ocean and continue to be monitored. A successful module will eventually be indistinguishable from the naturally formed and grown corals surrounding it. It is the hope of the nursery that by accelerating the growth and increasing the out-planting of these native corals that the immediate effects of the climate crisis can be minimized.

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Creature of the Month:

P?p? p?ni uni u By: Haley Chasi n, UHM MOP Alum na

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Conus Textile 7. Photo by: Harry Rose, Flickr.

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P? p? p? n iu n iu , or con e sn ail s, ar e a ven om ou s gastr opod in th e fam il y Con idae th at u se th eir poison to captu r e th eir pr ey. For h u m an s, th e stin g of a con e sn ail h as sim il ar in ten sity to bee stin gs, l eavin g th eir victim feel in g n u m b or sor e. H owever ,th eir toxin is so power fu l th at it can poten tial l y be fatal to h u m an s.

Con e sn ail s ar e active n octu r n al pr edator s wh o h ide u n der pl ate cor al s feedin g on wor m s, m ol l u sk s, or sm al l fish . Th ey r el y on th eir sen se of sm el l for h u n tin g an d h ave var yin g h abitats in cl u din g m an gr oves, san dy beach es, or th e deep ocean . Th eir ven om ou s h ar poon -l ik e dar t is cal l ed th e Radu l ar tooth ; it r apidl y th r u st itsel f in to pr ey with its exten sibl e pr oboscis, in jectin g ven om in to th e wou n d an d par al yzin g th e pr ey.

Th e con e sn ail h as a l on g foot an d h ead l ocated at th e n ar r ow en d of th e sh el l . A fl ap of tissu e cal l ed th e m an tl e l in es th e in side of th e sh el l an d is r ol l ed to for m a siph on th at exten ds beyon d th e sh el l an d dr aws water in to th e gil l s.

W ith over 500 species with wide var ieties of beau tifu l col or s on displ ay,con e sn ail s?sh el l s ar e often an in tr igu in g item to col l ector s.

It sh ou l d be n oted th at tak in g an y l ive an im al fr om th e ocean sh ou l d be avoided at al l tim es. If a con e sn ail m u st be h an dl ed at al l , th e safest m eth od is to h ol d th e sh el l fr om th e widest poin t, bein g pr epar ed to qu ick l y l et go if th e gastr opod exten ds itsel f. H owever , th e r el ativel y sl ow r eaction tim e of h u m an s m ay n ot be en ou gh to pr otect som eon e fr om a stin g. A r ecen t stu dy fou n d th at th e str ik e of th e r adu l ar tooth can r each speeds com par abl e to th at of a bu l l et bein g fir ed fr om a pistol .

In an cien t H awai?i, accor din g to au th or M ar y Pu k u i, con e sn ail s wer e u sed as a food sou r ce ver y r ar el y,bu t th e sh el l s wer e h igh l y pr ized as or n am en ts. Al th ou gh th er e h ave been r ecor ded death s du e to con e sh el l ven om , n on e h ave occu r r ed in H awai?i, su ggestin g th at an cien t H awaiian s k n ew th e an im al was dan ger ou s.

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Cone Shell. Watercolor on paper by: Alyssa Perez, UHM MOP Student.

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Life Under t he Shelf By: Chloe Molou, UHH Seaw ord s Liason

Ross Ice Shelf, Antartica. Photo by: Daniel Coe, Flickr.

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A recent m ult i-d isciplinar y st ud y, wit h researcher s from Aotearoa (New Zealand ), Australia, Austr ia, Sp ain, and t he U.S., has d iscovered an im p ressive m icrob ial com m unit y living under neat h t he Ross Ice Shelf in t he Sout her n Ocean.

The Ross Ice Shelf is t he lar g est shelf in Antarct ica, cover ing an area ab out t he size of Sp ain. Antarct ica p rovides one of t he last areas for d iscover y on t his planet , m aking t he explorat ion of t he ocean cavit y b elow t he shelf and d iscover y of a t hr iving m icrob ial com m unit y all t he m ore excit ing .

Water sam ples were collected t hroug h a 30 cm wide b orehole created using a hot -w ater d r ill. Dr iller s from Vict or ia Univer sit y of Welling t on Te Hereng a Waka created t he b orehole in t he central reg ion of t he shelf, 360 m t hick and som e 30 0 km from t he open ocean.

A b atter y-p owered filtrat ion p um p w as lowered int o t he b orehole t o collect sam ples. They p um ped hund red s of liter s of w ater t hroug h t he filter p aper at t he center of t he p um p, wit h filtrat ions repeated at dep t hs of 30 m , 180 m , and 30 0 m in accord ance wit h t he t her m ohaline str uct ure of w ater in t he reg ion.

To analyze t he w ater sam ples, t he research team t ook a m ult i-om ics ap p roach using m etag enom ics (t he st ud y of g enet ic m ater ial from a m ixed com m unit y), m etatranscr ip t om ics (t he st ud y of g ene exp ression of m icrob es in nat ure), and sing le-cell g enom ics, in ad d it ion t o nutr ient m easurem ent s.

The analyses uncovered a t hr iving , taxonom ically d ist inct m icrob ial com m unit y ad ap ted t o t hese d ar k and freezing cond it ions. The ab und ance of m icroor g anism s in t he area w as com p arab le t o t he m esopelag ic and b at hypelag ic zones of t he open ocean. Am m onium , nitr ite, and sulfur com p ound s ap pear t o act as t he sources for chem ical ener g y and are used by m icrob es t o fix car b on int o or g anic m olecules t o b e used for b iom ass.

These find ing s p rovide a fascinat ing insig ht int o t he icy w or ld b elow t he Ross Ice Shelf, hom e t o a t hr iving com m unit y of chem osynt het ic m icrob es.

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B io p r o sp ec t in g : Th e New Go ld Ru sh ?

B y: Lu c ia n

A n d er s o n , UH M

Camiguin Corals. Photo by: Klaus Stiefel, Flickr.

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A lu m n i

Bioprospecting is the systematic search for unique genes, molecules, and organisms from the natural environment that have the potential to benefit society and/ or other commercial benefits. Most medical products like vaccines, treatments, and over-the-counter medication have compounds that are derived from nature.

Only a fraction of the known compounds occurring in nature have been used in the development of medicine.

Dr. Espen Hansen and other researchers want to examine some of the least explored areas in the search for organisms with unique properties that can aid in the creation of new medicines.

Marine bioprospecting in particular has been a growing field in recent years. The marine bioprospecting process is described by Dr. Espen Hansen as consisting of, ?the laboratory isolating previously uncultured bacterial strains from marine sediments, some of which

produce novel secondary metabolites that [can] be translated into drugs.?The search for the compounds and microbilites (benthic sediment deposits made of carbonate mud and microbes) can be tedious and arduous, most often involving the rediscovery of known compounds. To save time, some marine biology research groups use a process known as dereplication.

The dereplication process, as described by Dr. Hansen, involves the use of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in order to dereplicate products for the discovery of new drugs.

They are then able to analyze the complex mixtures and efficiently discover the elemental composition of the product.

Databases such as MarinLit, Dictionary of Natural Products, and SciFinder can then be used to identify unknown molecules.

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Sponge. Photo by: Chris Karrer, Flickr.

for?According to the University of Miami alum Emily Rose Nelson, her research found that sessile (not moving, fixed in one place) organisms like barnacles emit a chemical to warn other organisms not to get too close or invade their space. These communicative chemicals in the animal world prevent the cell growth of sponges and slow them down.

They found that the deep-sea sponge, Discodermia, emits the chemical discodermolide.

Discodermolide was found to reduce or slow the growth of cancer cells.

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Ecteinascidin-743 or ET-743 produced by tunicates living on Caribbean mangroves have been successful in human treatment for breast and ovarian cancers. These are examples of the many compounds produced by organisms in the marine environment that have been successful in treating illnesses.

It should be noted that not all of this is new knowledge. Some indigenous communities have used marine organisms in their healing treatments before European arrival.

Often medical companies base their search for these compounds on the

Barnacles. Photo by: Matt, Flickr.

traditional marine knowledge that has been known to these communities for centuries. As bioprospecting grows as a field, often with some knowledge of indigenous methods, hopefully more communities can share their knowledge and the rest of the world can repay them in a fair manner.

Another ethical consideration is that while the economic future of the bioprospecting industry itself is secure, humans are still likely to be negatively impacted by the current decline of biodiversity, exacerbated and driven by global climate

change. As more habitats are destroyed and more resources are emptied, more species will go extinct, some before we are even aware they existed. This thought begs a chilling question: are there species out there right now, on the brink of extinction, whose properties could cure a disease or become a vital new medication?

W ill we discover them before it's too late?Perhaps most importantly, will we be able to turn the tides of the climate crisis to secure the biodiversity of the planet thus ensuring our own futures?

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Humpback Wh al e M i grati on By: Brenna Lov i ng, UH Wi ndw ard CC M OP Student

Humpback Whale. Photo by: Robbie Veldwijk, Flickr.

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Ever y y ear on e of th e m ost i m p r essi ve m i gr ati on s i n th e an i m al k i n gd om takes p l ace h er e i n th e beau ti f u l H aw ai i an I sl an d s. Rou gh ly 10 ,0 0 0 h u m p back w h al es can be seen m i gr ati n g n ear ly 3,0 0 0 m i l es to tr op i cal an d su btr op i cal w ater s star ti n g i n N ovem ber , l eav i n g th e i cy ocean s n ear A l ask a an d of f th e easter n coast of Ru ssi a beh i n d . Resear ch h as sh ow n th at h u m p back s m i gr ate sou th d u r i n g th e w i n ter m on th s to escap e th e h ar sh an d col d con d i ti on s u p n or th as th ose tem p er atu r es r esu l t i n a scar ci ty of f ood . H ow ever , th e m ai n p u r p ose of th ei r sou th - bou n d m i gr ati on i s n ot f or f eed i n g, bu t r ath er to f i n d a m ate an d / or to gi ve bi r th to th ei r calves i n th e tr op i cal cl i m ate. O n ce m ati n g season h as en d ed an d su m m er begi n s, th e p od of h u m p back s w i l l m ake th ei r w ay n or th agai n as th e tem p er atu r e r i ses an d f eed i n g can begi n on ce agai n n ear A l ask a, Can ad a, an d Ru ssi a.

A r ar e sp ectacl e h as r ecen tly been obser ved as r esear ch er s h ave w i tn essed a f ew m al e i n d i v i d u al s m i gr ate f r om M ex i co to M au i d u r i n g th i s ti m e at a r em ar k abl e sp an of l ess th an 60 d ay s.

T y p i cal ly, a p od w i l l m i gr ate to ei th er M ex i co or H aw ai ?i , bu t th ese m al es w en t an ex tr a 4,545 k i l om eter s to stop at both d esti n ati on s. T h e r eason s cu r r en tly r em ai n u n k n ow n as to w h y th ese i n d i v i d u al s str ay ed f r om th e tr ad i ti on al p ath .

Fu r th er d ocu m en tati on of si m i l ar jou r n ey s w i l l p r ov i d e r esear ch er s w i th th e i n f or m ati on to cr eate a m or e d etai l ed an aly si s an d d eep er u n d er stan d i n g of h ow an d w h y th ese h u m p back m al es m ake th e ex tr a tr i p to th e i sl an d s.

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Vol u m e XXXVII, Nu m ber 4 Editor : Abbie Jer em iah Dr. Cyn th ia H u n ter (em in en ce gr ise) Jeffr ey Ku wabar a (em in en ce gr ise) W r itin g Team : Br en n a Lovin g, Ch l oe M ol ou , Lu cian An der son , Al exan dr ya Robin son , H al ey Ch asin Seawor ds- M ar in e Option Pr ogr am Un iver sity of H awai ?i , Col l ege of Natu r al Scien ces 2450 Cam pu s Road, Dean H al l 105A H on ol u l u , H I 96822-2219 Tel eph on e: (808) 956-8433 Em ail : <seawor ds@ h awaii.edu > W ebsite: <h ttp:/ / www.h awaii.edu / m op> Seawor ds is th e m on th l y n ewsl etter n ewsl etter of th e M ar in e Option Pr ogr am at th e Un iver sity of H awai?i. Opin ion s expr essed h er ein ar e n ot n ecessar il y th ose of th e M ar in e Option Pr ogr am or of th e Un iver sity of H awai?i.

Su ggestion s an d su bm ission s ar e wel com e. Su bm ission s m ay in cl u de ar ticl es, ph otogr aph y,ar t wor k , or an yth in g th at m ay be of in ter est to th e m ar in e com m u n ity in H awai?i. an d ar ou n d th e wor l d.

All photos ar e taken by M OP unless other wise cr edited.