November 2019 Seawords

SEawords The Marine Option Program Newsletter

November 2019

The Mother of Marine Biology Why Kilauea’s Eruption Bloomed Green Taking Your Vitamin Sea

Volume XXXIV, Number 7

A

loha!

Welcome to the November issue of Seawords! ‘Plant blindness’ is a common phenomenon; often, we take little to no notice of the flora all around us. However, this is a grievous mistake. These autotrophic organisms are the unsung backbones of most ecosystems, providing food, oxygen, habitats, medicine, and more. Ocean-dwelling plants are no exception. In this edition of Seawords, we’ll explore the sea grasses and algaes of Hawai‘i and the world, and how they drastically affect the environments around them. Turn to page 8 to read about the place of seagrasses in preserving marine ecosytems from the adverse effects of climate change! On page 18, learn about the algae bloom that resulted from the Kilauea eruption. Read about invasive algae in Hawai‘i and how you can help on page 21.

What would you like to see more of in Seawords? Send in your thoughts!

Thank you for reading!

Zada Boyce-Quentin, Seawords Editor, and Alyssa Mincer, Associate Editor

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Contents About the Photography -Cover: Fish through kelp. Photo by: oliver.dodd, Flickr.

-Table of Contents: Kelp forest. By: Jonathan Kriz, Flickr.

-Pg. 10: Scorpaena cardinalis. By: Richard Ling, Flickr.

-Pg. 11: Seagrasses. By: Mark Rodriguez, Flickr.

-Pg. 13 (clockwise from top left): Group of otters by patrickmoody, Flickr. Sea otter by James Brooks, Flickr. Otters holding hands by Marcio Cabral de Moura, Flickr. Otter floating by Jeff Kuwabara, UHM MOP Coordinator.

-Back cover: Kelp in Scotland. By: noelbarke, Flickr.

-Disclaimer: any photo taken from flickr.com is used under the Creative Commons License and is credited appropriately with links to the user’s Flickr account.

Volume XXXIV, Number 7, November 2019

Editor: Zada Boyce-Quentin Dr. Cynthia Hunter (éminence grise) Jeffrey Kuwabara (éminence grise) Seawords- Marine Option Program University of Hawai‘i, College of Natural Sciences 2450 Campus Road, Dean Hall 105A Honolulu, HI 96822-2219 Telephone: (808) 956-8433 Email: <seawords@hawaii.edu> Website: <http://www.hawaii.edu/mop> Seawords is the monthly newsletter of the Marine Option Program at the University of Hawai‘i. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Marine Option Program or of the University of Hawai‘i.

Suggestions and submissions are welcome. Submissions may include articles, photography, art work, or anything that may be of interest to the marine community in Hawai‘i and around the world.

Articles 2: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 4: ALGA OF THE MONTH: VALONIA

VENTRICOSA

5: HANAUMA BAY CALENDAR 6: SYLVIA EARLE- THE MOTHER OF

MARINE BIOLOGY

8: RISING OCEAN TEMPERATURES

AND MARINE FLORA

12: MARINE MAMMAL OF THE MONTH

14: MICROPLASTICS- MORE PLASTIC THAN FISH IN THE OCEAN BY 2050

16: GENERATION BLUE 18: WHY KILAUEA’S ERUPTION BLOOMED GREEN

20: SEAGRASS SPOTLIGHT 21: INVASIVE ALGAE IN HAWAI‘I 22: TAKING YOUR VITAMIN SEA 24: CALENDAR OF EVENTS

All photos are taken by MOP unless otherwise credited.

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Alga of the Month By: Samantha Darin, UHM MOP Student

Valonia ventricosa. Photo by: Keoki Stender.

Valonia ventricosa is a very unique single-celled alga that gets the nickname “sailor’s eyeball” from its unique appearance. Ranging from 1 to over 5 centimeters, this incredible alga is one of the largest single-celled organisms in the world. The alga’s coloration can be green to dark green, although it can appear silver or metallic underwater. Valonia ventricosa usually grows by itself, but in rare cases can be observed in clusters. It inhabits every ocean in the world, residing in warmer tropical and subtropical waters. Some locations that have a high abundance of the algae include the Carribbean and Florida, Brazil and the Indo-Pacific. It tends to live in coral rubble in shallow waters up to 80 feet deep.

Reproduction of Valonia ventricosa occurs via segregative cell division, a process in which a mother cell makes replicates of itself. This particular species is heavily studied due to its impressive size and unique cell structure. The cellulose fibers located in the cell wall are almost as thick as the cytoplasm and are arranged in a complex structure. Thin fibers arranged in swirls with no known function also inhabit the cell wall. The overall cellular structure of the Valonia ventricosa is relatively unknown and it is continuously being researched. Despite the research going on involving this alga, still many aspects of the “sailor’s eyeball” remain a mystery.

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Sailor’s eyeball (Valonia ventricosa). Photo by: Geotgina Jones, WIkimedia.

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Left: Sylvia Earle diving.

Photo by: USFWS, Flickr.

Right: Sylvia Earle with albatross. Photo by: USFWS, Flickr.

SYLVIA EARLE: THE MOTHER OF MARINE BIOLOGY By: Rayna McClintock, UHM MOP Student

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I

f you are interested in marine biology, then you have most likely heard of Sylvia Earle.

Earle is well known for her documentary, “Mission Blue,” but she has been a marine biologist for almost her entire life; in fact, at twelve years of age, she moved to Dunedin, Florida, where her interest in the ocean sparked. She spent her days observing the marine life outside of her house and the algae on the beach. Her unmatched passion for the ocean can be revealed through her famous quote, “even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.”

Born in 1935, she faced discrimination in the scientific community because she was a woman.

She stated in her documentary that it just did not occur to her that science was something that she was not supposed to be doing. In 1970, she led the Tektite II experiment; this entailed living in an underwater structure with the first all-female team of women aquanauts in efforts to explore the underwater world, test the viability of deep water habitats, and acknowledge the health effects of prolonged living in underwater structures.

As a jack of all trades, she is not only interested in

biology, but also engineering. In 1979, she set the world untethered diving record, descending 381 meters in a JIM diving suit, named after renowned diver Jim Jarrett. In the following years, Earle founded Deep Ocean Engineering and Deep Ocean Technology, and designed Deep Rover, a submersible capable of reaching 914 meters.

Sylvia Earle is not only an academic, but also an activist. She draws attention to the gross overfishing problem around the world through her writings and her films. She won the TED prize in 2009, funding her initiative to create marine protected areas, or “hope spots” as she calls them. Her idea is to grant the world’s oceans the same protection as national parks. One of the marine protected areas she cites as a success story is located in Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, a very small fishing town that banded together when the fish were gone to protect their waters. Once they started relying on ecotourism instead of fishing as a way to profit, the fish returned, resulting in an incredibly pristine ecosystem.

At the age of 84, Earle is giving talks about ocean conservation around the world, working with her several non-profits, and making documentaries.

She still has hope that we can change our patterns of overconsumption if everyone starts to understand the cost to the environment and works every day to make the world a better place.

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RISING OCEAN TEMPERATURES AND MARINE FLORA Are they the key to maintaining healthy aquatic ecosystems?

By: Alexandrya Robinson, UHM MOP Student

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Seagrasses in the current. Photo by: James St. John, Flickr.

Oxygen is an essential substance for a majority of marine-dwelling organisms.

As marine temperatures climb, this life giving element is decreasing in supply.

Can oceanic plants keep ecosystems healthy and prevent severe deoxygenation?

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Sea stars on the sand. Photo by: budak, Flickr.

T

he ocean covers about 71% of Earth’s total surface, ranging in depth from a few hundred meters to upwards of ten thousand meters. The vastness of the ocean allows it to play host to a wide variety of marine life. One commonality that each organism shares is some relation to the diatomic molecule, oxygen.

This becomes more important as oceanic temperatures rise around the world, altering the dissolved oxygen content of marine waters, and ultimately decreasing the levels of dissolved oxygen. This oxygen decrease can lead to eutrophic zones and loss of critical biodiversity in the ocean.

On the bright side, there is still a chance for recovery. In a recent study by professor Folco Giomi and Marco Fusi et al. titled, “Oxygen supersaturation protects coastal marine fauna from ocean warming,” there was substantial evidence showing strong correlation between higher resilience of marine organisms that require oxygen in order to

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undergo cellular respiration and the presence of marine plants.

During periods of the day in which temperatures are high, there are higher levels of dissolved oxygen around marine plants such as mangroves, algae, seagrass, and even corals.

The higher temperatures allows these plants to reach peak photosynthesis potential. A byproduct of photosynthesis is oxygen, which enriches the surrounding water with oxygen gas that many organisms need in order to survive.

This study shows the importance of marine plants and their ecological role functionally as oxygen producers. Marine plants also provide food and shelter for many marine organisms such as fish.

This coupled with the ability to help raise resilience against warming oceanic temperatures shows just how important marine plants truly are.

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Marine Mammal of the Month: Sea Otter By: Alyssa Mincer, Seawords Assistant Editor

Sea Otter Scientific Name: Enhydra lutris Diet: Hard-shelled marine invertebrates Size: 0.9 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet),29.5 kilograms (65 pounds) Range: North Pacific; Russia, Pacific Northwest, Northern California Habitat: Coastal habitats, rocky shores; preferably with kelp IUCN Red List Status: Endangered

In marine environments, characterized by seemingly boundless oceans of considerable depth and unreachable horizons, the inhabitants that dominate the liquid realms consist primarily of microscopic organisms, invertebrates, and ectothermic vertebrates. In relatively lesser abundance, but of equivalent significance in oceanic ecosystems are the mammals, each of which play an authoritative role in influencing and sustaining the natural rhythms of marine life. Out of the five mammalian groups that populate the global seas, two units, the polar bears and sea otters, are of a non-migratory status, preferring instead to settle in specified regions. As an eminent species that exists within the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean, the latter group of mammals, or sea otters (Enhydra lutris), prevails as a keystone figure in their respective environment, despite their being the smallest marine mammal in terms of body dimensions.

Stemming from the irreparable consequences of the fur trade that spanned the duration of the 18th and 19th centuries, sea otters live in radically diminished populations along the North American coast. The current range of sea otters is considerably shorter in comparison to its prior stretch.

Two subspecies, the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) and the northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) have established communities of notable size and distribution in their specified area of residence. The southern sea otter claims its occupancy in the waters of the rocky, central California shoreline. In contrast, the northern sea otter dwells in the regions of the Pacific Northwest, from northern California to Alaska.

Sea otter floating on back. Photo by: Robert Shea, Flickr.

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Preferring shallow, nearshore waters over the open ocean, sea otters act as essential regulators of nearshore habitats. Sea otters are frequently observed swathed in thick blades of kelp, or clutching the hands of fellow individuals in order to prevent separation or drifting by ocean currents. Social animals, sea otters may construct a floating group of a variable quantity of 10 to 100 sea otters, known also as a ‘raft.’ In regard to the ecological benefits derived from the lifestyles of sea otters, these animals nurture a crucial, symbiotic relationship with kelp. As a predatory species, sea otters consume an extensive assortment of marine invertebrates, using rocks to crush hard shells and reap the nutrients of the soft, inner core of their prey. Of utmost importance, however, sea otters restrict extensive growth of sea urchin populations, which can be severely detrimental to kelp forests if left unchecked. In supporting the suitable conditions vital for kelp life, sea otters indirectly aid in the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; kelp, with its photosynthetic qualities, siphons substantial quantities of the gas and converts it into oxygen.

The IUCN lists sea otters as an endangered species. As with the majority of animals that have colonized the many spaces of the globe, an appreciable portion of sources of threat is derived from human activities such as pollution, entanglement, and global warming. To learn more about how you can help these charismatic, furry mammals, go to: http://www.seaotters.org/

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MICROPL

MORE PLASTIC THAN BY 2

By: Matilda Phillips, “We’re all eating plastic. Tiny bits of it are present in nearly all U.S. drinking water,” says Cathy Shufro, author of 41n Magazine article “Skimming a Plastic Wave.” The notion that plastic in the oceans are not only affecting intricate marine ecosystems, but also human health has been a concern ever since the discovery of microplastics. According to a 2015 study in Science, 8.8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean around the world each year. Lead article author Jenna Jambeck, an environmental engineer, described this amount as looking like “five plastic-crammed grocery bags on every foot of coastline on Earth.”

Microplastics are defined as “fragments of plastic smaller than 1/5 inch or 5 millimeters” (Shufro 2) and, as an example, are present in

plastic water bottles . This means that on average, people who drink from single-use water bottles are bound to consume some small ratio of plastic. Due to the plethora of scattered plastic fragments on coastlines, Aine Cole of Brighton, Massachusetts, labeled beach cleanups as “discouraging.” Rhode Island environmentalist Jamie Rhodes “compares cleaning beaches to mopping a bathroom floor while water gushes from an overflowing bathtub” (Shufro 5). The solution to this would be to ultimately “turn off the tap” (Shufro 5). A significant amount of single-use plastic consumers believe that the problem revolves around their own personal decisions when in reality, the problem revolves around the producers who make these destructive plastics available. U.N. officials have spoken about the issue stating that “because plastic invades the oceans from land controlled by nations, each government must take responsibility for its contribution” (Shufro 6). Although this may be true, the overflow of plastic into our oceans is a global problem

Collected microplastics. Photo by: Chesapeake Bay Program, Flickr.

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Researchers studying the relationship between microplastics and human consumption have predicted that nanoplastics may be even more dangerous. Nanoplastics, 0.1 micrometer or smaller, have the ability to travel into the organs of living things. Biologist Evan Ward at the University of Connecticut suggests that some

LASTICS:

N FISH IN THE OCEAN 2050

, UHM MOP Student

Samples of different microplastics. Photo by: Florida Sea Grant, Flickr.

of these particles are the size of the DNA in the cells of your body. (Shufro 5). There is very little information about where these plastics come from. Some could come from ships, discarded fishing gear, or even from natural disasters. This is concerning because there is little knowledge about the rate plastics break down, or how much plastic actually enters the food chain of marine life (Shufro 5). Plastic in the oceans have become more worrisome as the years go by. According to the World Economic Forum, business as usual will result in more plastic than fish (by weight) in the world’s oceans (Shufro 7). The actions that plastic corporations take now are more crucial than ever when it comes to the future of marine ecosystems and even the health of human beings. A statement made by Jamie Rhodes: “Imagine the human race 1,500 years from now, doing samples of the ocean floor and getting this layer of plastic all around

the world. I hope when they look back, they’ll say, ‘Man, I’m glad our ancestors stopped doing that.’”

Plastic fragments collected in Oregon by the Surfider Foundation. Photo by: Charles Mitchell, Flickr.

NOVEMBER OCTOBER 2019 |15

Actions for the Ocean

GENERATION

BLUE By: Delana Horner , UHM MOP Student

Plants are all around us, covering 30% of our Earth’s surface. We incorporate these into our lives primarily by having them in our households and yards. However, improper water usage in the name of garden maintenance can have detrimental effects on the environment. There is a way to spruce up your lawns and conserve water; xeriscaping, a water-efficient based planting or grouping method. Choosing plants that require less water and grouping them by their needs can lead to you using less water and having a healthier garden!

Only 0.3% of the Earth’s water is accessible and usable for everyday life; the other 99.7% is stored in the oceans and icecaps. On average, a single human can use 80-100 gallons of water per day.

That adds up to 29,200-36,000 gallons per year, per person. That’s a lot of water! Xeriscaping is an easy and low maintenance way to cut down on water usage. It takes little to no effort to take care of your lawn after planting. Additionally, since xeriscaping practically eliminates daily watering of the plants within your yard, water is conserved every day.

Here are some ways you can minimize water use in your everyday life:

Kelp on the ocean surface. Photo by: Mariell Jussi, Flickr.

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THE OCEAN SPANS OVER 70 PERCENT OF OUR WORLD. It is responsible for regulating temperature, food production, sustaining numerous species, and is a source for inspiration for many people.The ocean gives us so much and it is time for us to return the favor and take actions to make the ocean ecosystem healthy again. Almost every action that we take affects the ocean in some way. Our everyday choices can be tailored to support a healthy ocean.

Here are some examples of green acts that will keep the ocean blue.

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What to plant for your xeriscaping garden There are many different plants, ranging from flowering plants to grasses to shrubs, that you can select for your gardens which will use less water. In O‘ahu, these can include vines and small flowering plants like ‘Awikiwiki and Hinahina, shrubs like Kokio ke‘oke‘o (hibiscus) and Maiapilo, and even trees like ‘Ohi‘a and Koa. Before planting anything, make sure to do research and choose plants native to your area!

One of the most efficient ways of watering these drought resistant plants is a drip irrigation system, which lets water slowly reach plant roots. For smaller flowers and house plants, watering globes can have the same effect.

Improve the ground Making changes to the space of your lawn before planting can benefit your flora and prevent excessive water loss. To begin with, grassy spaces generally need more care and water; as such, turf should be avoided if possible. Additionally, putting mulch down can keep soil from drying, make soil more nutritious, and keep water from evaporating. Soil can also be improved by adding compost; better quality soil can hold and absorb more water.

What you can do to change your water usage habits One of the simplest ways to save water is to take shorter showers. Additionally, consider purchasing a shower head that limits the number of gallons that flow per minute, breaking it down to 3-4 gallons a minute instead of 9-10 gallons. Also, turn off the tap when you are not using it while brushing your teeth, washing the dishes, and cleaning any fruits and vegetables. Instead of using the garbage disposal, start composting. And if you are going to water your plants, plan to water them during the morning or evening to minimize evaporation.

NOVEMBER 2019 |17

Why Kilauea’s Eruption Bloomed Green By: Amiti Maloy, UHM MOP Student Algae are more than icky clumps of goop that indicate less than clean water, be it in the water cooler at the gym or on a reef.

Algae and the gross manifestations referred to as algal blooms actually are very indicative of the environmental conditions of the water. Algae are an extensive collection of aquatic organisms which conduct photosynthesis. They are both pervasive in location and profuse in adapted strains.

Tropical waters are generally void of nuOcean green with alga. Photo by: Johndan Johnson-Eilolo, trients and therefore lack a source of phoFlickr. sphorus and nitrogen, both of which algae demands to exist and persist. For this reason, it is uncommon to find algae in tropical areas, including Hawai‘i.

Following the eruption of Hawai‘i’s active volcano, Mount Kilauea, algae blooms of green phytoplankton became bountiful across the adjacent bay. As lava does not contain nitrogen or nitrogen based compounds, such as nitrates, scientists were initially perplexed as to how within 72 hours of the eruption, nitrogen dependent algae were growing. A team of researchers were tasked with discerning the cause of this phenomenon.

Smoke rising from Kilauea. Photo by: Hawaiian Sea, Flickr.

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This explosion occurred June 2018, dumping roughly 27 billion cubic feet of lava (or over 320,000 Olympic sized pools worth of lava). It was so significant that was viewable from outer space by NASA. Lava rolled across the land, destroying more than 700 homes and remolding the surface with 13 square miles of volcanic rock.

With lava comes more than the lava

itself. With it comes heat, lots and lots of heat. So when lava drains into a water source like the ocean, what happens to the heat? As the lava connects close to the sea bed, this floor absorbs heat.

Unlike on shore, where intensity of this heat might have fostered a fire, near the sea bed it creates a gradient of pressure that results in the upwelling of nitrogen-base components. Upwelling occurs when surface waters are displaced by water rising from deeper in the water column.

Hawaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;i is not the only place that has experienced algal blooms related to upwelling. In fact, an entire ecosystem was created and is dependent on this ongoing upwelling off the coast of California.

Algae and algae blooms provide nutrient-rich dining sources for herbivorous sea life. In turn, predators, including the fishing industry, flock to feast off the concentration of these creatures.

Algae not only impact the previous inhabitants but continued algal blooms can change entire ecosystems. Some alga, such as blue-green alga, can be harmful and cause pernicious side-effects to ecosystems, economy, and general health. Others may seem useless, but the reality is that their existence are precious to the survival of humans.

The eruption of Kilauea spewed lava which altered the topography of both land and the surrounding ocean. Algae are generally gobbled up at a constant rate; however, this superbloom demonstrated an imbalance between phytoplankton growth and what the ecosystem was capable of ingesting. This transported the nutrients, shifted the environment, and progressed scientific understanding forever.

Algae bloom viewed from space. Photo by: Mapbox, Flickr.

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INVASIVE ALGAE IN HAWAI‘I By: Georgia Johnson-King, UHM MOP Student Hawai‘i’s gorgeous beaches are home to a wide range of marine life. However, invasive species can threaten these precious marine ecosystems and lead to their destruction. In Hawai‘i, invasive seaweed is one of the most pervasive threats to coral reefs.

Invasive species not only consume the native corals but the new algae also becomes a competitor for food sources, space, and other resources. This then threatens the dynamics of the ecosystem leading to harmful changes.

The top five invasive algae in Hawai‘i are smothering seaweed (Eucheuma striatum), gorilla ogo (Gracilaria salicornia), leather mudweed (Avrainvillea amadelpha), hook weed (Hypnea musciformis), and prickly seaweed (Acanthophora spicifera); all brought over around the same time during the 70s and 80s. Most were brought over for commercial aquaculture but then began taking over the native species.

G. salicornia. Photo by: Keoki Stender.

All five of these algae species have similar characteristics which make them dangerous as invasive species. These include their high growth rates, spreading by fragmentation, ability to outcompete native species for resources or space, and tendency to smother native corals by growing over the tops of them.

Currently, measures are being taken to minimize the spread of invasive species. Every month, the Ocean Defenders Alliance Hawai‘i does a clean-up dive on the outer reefs in order to maintain its health.

Organizations such as the Hawai‘i State Gov’t Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) have been working since 2003 when the Hawai‘i Invasive Species Council was formed in partnership with NOAA. Since then, they have undertaken a series of projects such as using the “super sucker” a machine designed to effectively ‘suck’ up invasive algae, and building an urchin hatchery on O‘ahu in 2006.

Sea urchins have been used to combat invasive algae since 2006 on O‘ahu; as of 2018, the Hawaiian Governments Aquatic Invasive Species program had released over 470,000 urchins. The urchins eat the invasive species giving the native species an equal chance to compete.

To learn more and get involved in preventing the spread of invasive algae in Hawai‘i, visit http://www. malamamaunalua.org/habitat-restoration/.

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SEAGRASS SPOTLIGHT

Reef fish. Photo by: eyemindsoul, Flickr.

By: Brenna Loving, UHM MOP Student

Halophila hawaiiana is a subtidal seagrass endemic to Hawai‘i found in sandy areas around all of the Hawaiian islands. This rare flowering seagrass of the Hydrocharitacae family has, unfortunately, been threatened for many years. The largest threats to this species include pollution, commercial developments, and harmful human contact such as trampling, which has significantly increased due to tourism. Halophila hawaiiana serves its ecosystem as a source of food and shelter for various fishes, crustaceans, worms, gastropods, and more that inhabit the Hawaiian waters; consequently, the threatened status of this seagrass proves to be a blow to the overall stability of Hawaiian marine ecosystems. This includes a threat to the population of native Hawaiian green sea turtles, as Halophila hawaiiana is a healthy component of the turtle’s diet. Thankfully, conservation efforts have been put into place to protect the native seagrass. This includes, but is not limited to, increased protection of areas all around the Hawaiian islands and more strict conservation legislation. Similar to many other natural components of Hawai‘i, the Halophila hawaiiana population could greatly benefit from more educated and conscious tourism as well as an increase in legislation and secured areas. A protected foundation of native marine life, such as this seagrass, leads to a better protected and a well nurtured Hawaiian ecosystem.

Halophila hawaiiana. Photo by: Keoki Stender.

NOVEMBER2019 |21 2019 |21 NOVEMBER

Taking Your

By: Zada Boyce-Quen

Sea bathers in the early 1840s. Illustration from Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;illustration Journal Universel, Wikimedia Commons.

For centuries, the sick and ailing have turned to the sea for healing. In the late 1500s, cold seawater distinguished itself as a popular remedy for everything from fevers to melancholy. The shock to the system delivered by cold water was believed to stimulate blood circulation, promote healing, and even shrink tumors. Sea bathing and practices like it blossomed by the 1700s, and a common therapeutic practice for women involved repeated dunking in the ocean in order to soothe troubled nerves. Ancient Greek writings refer to drinking seawater for medicinal purposes; this was revitalized in the mid-1700s by the English as a treatment for jaundice, scurvy, and even leprosy. Often, the water was sweetened or diluted with milk.

Due to the rising popularity of imbibing and surrounding oneself with seawater, seaside resorts became popular destinations for recuperation, particularly for tuberculosis patients. During the 1800s, hundreds of these retreats appeared on coasts around Europe. Despite a lack of hard evidence that beach resorts actually eased tuberculosis symptoms, they remained a well-respected medical establishment until the 1900s, when they shifted focus to entertaining customers and providing them with a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life. Throughout the 1900s, the sea air and sun were thought to be a cure-all, and even today, seaside living is being studied as a link to better health.

Recently, there has been a shift in focus away from the healthful benefits of the coastal environment and towards studying the curative properties of marine organisms. While

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Microscopic view of microalgae. Photo by: Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn, Flickr.

Vitamin Sea

ntin, Seawords Editor

been used by people in been used by people in the past- usually as poisons- until recently, not much thought was given to the vast repository of potentially beneficial chemicals and biological resources that might be stored in sponges, corals, algae, and more. The first widely-recognized medicinal aid derived from a marine organism was an antiviral drug created in the late 1950s. Since then, the field of marine pharmacology has expanded, but there is still so much left unexplored.

However, advances have been made that indicate how much algae and other oceanic life forms can contribute to medicine.

A study from 2009 entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Microalgae as food and supplementâ&#x20AC;?, explores the various lipids, vitamins, and minerals contained in microalgae that make them a nutritious food source, as well as a valuable bastion of medically useful substances.

In addition, scientists are currently researching the potential of algae and marine plants to combat neurodegenerative disorders. A 2019 paper details how isolated compounds from a green alga called Ulva conglobata and a seaweed called Myagropsis myagroides successfully demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties, which could theoretically slow or inhibit the progress of degenerative diseases. Some algal species may also be able to prevent the transmission of malaria; an experimental vaccine was derived from a microalga called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in 2015 that was able to keep malaria parasites from developing.

Another promising development is the potential of algae as a cancer treatment. A number of algae produce cytotoxins, substances which kill living cells.This can be utilized to impede uncontrolled and cancerous cell growth. Of particular interest here is the alga Sphaerococcus coronopifolius, which, when compounds were isolated from it, exhibited the ability to suppress excessive cell propagation.

S. coronopifolius. Photo by: Matthieu Sontag, Wiki. C. Plants have been proven throughout human history to provide a myriad of health benefits; however, the study of marine flora has not been nearly as thorough. Given the vast biodiversity contained in the ocean, it is likely that there are many medicinally valuable species inhabiting the seas. This makes it even more vital that we dedicate ourselves to protecting marine ecosystems.

There is much to be discovered in the waters surrounding us!

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Waves on the beach. Photo by: Krisztina Konczos, Flickr.

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University of Hawai`i at MÄ noa Seawords, Marine Option Program College of Natural Sciences 2450 Campus Road, Dean Hall 105A Honolulu, HI 96822-2219 Address Service Requested

Thank you for reading!