The Ocean Report: 1996

Hosted by Dr. Sylvia Earle

The Ocean Report files are in Real Audio 28.8 format, and can be heard using the Real Audio Player.

November 1996

Echolocation (11/11/96)
The ability to sense or "see" things by bouncing sound off of them was first observed in bats and then some whales and dolphins. Special equipment allows man to imitate this skill in order to probe the deepest ocean.
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Fish Mating (11/12/96)
Most fish are polygamous, but some fish, such as the seahorse, mate for life and form an enduring bond in which they share territory and parental responsibilities.
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Horseshoe Crabs (11/13/96)
These living fossils were swimming in the oceans and laying their eggs on beaches long before dinosaurs appeared. Unfortunately, their future is in jeopardy due to a reduced shoreline and their capture as bait for eels.
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Bulldozing the Ocean (11/14/96)
Large nets or trawls dragged along the ocean floor to catch shrimp is like bulldozing the forest just to capture squirrels. A variety of marine life and their habitats suffer, but studies are underway to recommend a solution.
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Life in a Teaspoon (11/15/96)
If you cup seawater in your hands you're holding a briny cocktail teeming with life. Even a teaspoon of sea water may contain thousands of phytoplankton and hundreds of zooplankton, the basis for much of the life in the sea.
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Minimum Mass (11/18/96)
Some ocean species we take for granted may go the way of the extinct passenger pigeon if their numbers fall too low. Long before a species is down to its last few members, it may be too late to prevent extinction.
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Migratory Patterns - Vertical (11/19/96)
Deep within the ocean there beats a giant living pulse as midwater animals move upward by night to feed. Called the deep scattering layer, these migratory masses occur throughout the world's oceans.
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Migratory Patterns - Horizontal (11/20/96)
Many sea creatures travel thousands of miles to breed, arriving at their distant destinations with amazing accuracy. Studies of these migrations are helping scientists to develop more refined navigational techniques.
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Ghost Nets (11/21/96)
Plastic fishing nets accidentally or deliberately discarded at sea continue to catch and kill creatures for years. Some national and international policies are helping to end the dumping of debris and control the use of plastic nets.
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Water Planet (11/22/96)
Without the ocean, Earth would be much like Mars or the Moon -- cold and barren. Life would be impossible, yet humankind is largely ignorant of this rich, living soup called the ocean.
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Moon and Sea (11/25/96)
Twice a day, the sea responds to the moon's gravitational pull. This ancient pulse of ocean tides may be a powerful new source of renewable energy for humankind.
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Oceans and Oxygen (11/26/96)
Rainforests are sometimes called the lungs of the planet, but the ocean is the Earth's life support system. Seventy percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere is generated by plants in the sea.
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Longlines (11/27/96)
Fishermen from some countries are using lines that float horizontally with baited hooks every few feet. These longlines can reach across 80 miles of ocean and have been so effective that some species are being swiftly depleted.
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Oceans and Weather-1 (11/28/96)
The sea governs the planet's climate, weather and the ups and downs of temperature. It also absorbs carbon dioxide, one of the gases contributing to the greenhouse effect.
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Oceans and Weather-2 (11/29/96)
The ocean's waters act as huge storage tanks of solar heat which are dispersed by ocean currents. Without these weather modifying currents, London fog would be ice and other parts of the world would be much colder.
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December 1996

Overfishing (12/2/96)
Modern fishing techniques allow so many fish to be taken that fewer numbers must struggle to repopulate. More than 100 species are now so reduced that scientists are recommending strict limits on what can be taken from the sea.
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Storms and the Ocean (12/3/96)
Heavy pounding waves and powerful shoreline currents keep beaches in a constant state of change. Storms make the most dramatic changes, but some coastline currents shift millions of tons of sand each year.
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The Dirty Dozen (12/4/96)
Even trash from the Midwest can find its way to the ocean via a network of sewers. The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Marine Conservation hauls three and a half million pounds of trash out of the ocean each year.
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The Marianas Trench (12/5/96)
This deepest of ocean trenches located southwest of Guam has an eight ton per square inch pressure, yet life has adapted there. Surprisingly, more people have been to the moon than to our own deepest sea.
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Drift Nets (12/6/96)
These webs of tough, durable monofilament take such an enormous quantity of fish and incidental catch that the U.N. banned their use on the high seas in 1992. Drift nets are still used in U.S. waters, but are limited to a mile in length.
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Estuaries 1 (12/9/96)
Call it a bay, a sound, or an inlet--an estuary is the fertile interface where fresh water meets the sea. This productive habitat supports a rich mix of sea life--and increasingly, human populations too.
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Estuaries 2 (12/10/96)
Puget Sound is in trouble. Pollution and habitat destruction have caused serious declines in shellfish and salmon. Now the conservation group "People for Puget Sound" is working to restore and protect this vital habitat.
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Estuaries 3 (12/11/96)
Estuaries are the ocean's nurseries--a vast number of ocean creatures find food and shelter there at some time in their life cycles. That's why protecting estuary habitats is so important--as estuaries go, so goes the entire ocean.
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Deep-Sea Vents (12/12/96)
Lava-heated geysers that erupt from the deep-ocean floor support teeming colonies of strange sea creatures: bacteria that sustain themselves on hydrogen sulfide, and giant worms without mouths or stomachs.
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Exploration (12/13/96)
Humans have ventured into outer space, yet we've barely explored the world beneath the surface of our own planet's oceans. Ocean exploration is critical if we hope to take care of the system that takes care of us.
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Sea Cucumbers (12/16/96)
Though related to starfish, the sea cucumber is, like its botanical namesake, edible. And in Asian markets, this creature is regarded as a sexual enhancer. Worldwide demand for sea cucumbers has decimated some populations.
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Eel Grass (12/17/96)
Pollution killed the eel grass that once supported a rich harvest of scallops in Narragansett Bay. Now a group called "Save the Bay" is working to clean up the bay and bring back the eel grass--and the scallops that come with it
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Aquaculture 1 (12/18/96)
Like crops in a field, fish can be "farmed" in ponds or ocean enclosures. As ocean stocks of fish are depleted to feed the world, aquaculture could be the answer to overfishing--or it could be a source of new environmental problems.
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Aquaculture 2 (12/19/96)
Fish farming poses some risks--it produces a rich harvest in a small space, but disease can spread quickly in close quarters. What's more, ocean fish populations may be threatened if wild fish interbreed with captive stock.
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The Most Amazing Thing (12/20/96)
It seems incredible, but we know more about deep space than we do about the deep ocean. Perhaps 10 million sea species are yet to be discovered. We must protect our oceans lest they go extinct before we know them.
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Sharks in Trouble (12/23/96)
Once, sharks were feared as "man-eaters." Now they're the ones being eaten--by us. We harvest them to make shark-fin soup, and cartilage pills, touted as a new-age cancer preventative. Now, some species are endangered.
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Storm Drain Stenciling (12/24/96)
What goes down the storm drain ends up in the ocean. Volunteer groups are stenciling sea creatures and conservation messages on storm drains nationwide, to remind us that actions on land ultimately affect the ocean.
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El Nino 1 (12/25/96)
The Christmas season brings a warm current--called El Nino, the Christ child--to ocean waters off the Pacific coast of South America. When the water warms up, ocean productivity goes down, and ocean creatures search far for food.
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El Nino 2 (12/26/96)
The El Nino of 1982-83 disrupted normal climate patterns worldwide, causing flooding in some areas and droughts in others. Can scientists learn to predict the severity of El Nino--and perhaps decrease its impact on the global economy?
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Oysters (12/27/96)
By filtering out algae and sediments, oysters clear the water. Unfortunately, most of Chesapeake Bay's natural clean-up crew is gone. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working to combat pollution and disease--and bring back the oysters.
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New Year's Resolution -- Clean Up! (12/30/96)
In the year ahead, you can resolve to help take care of the ocean. Californians can take part in the ongoing Adopt-a-Beach program, or help clean up a stretch of beach on Coastal Clean-up Day.
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New Year's Resolution -- Protect Coastal Areas (12/31/96)
Here's another way you can take action for oceans in the coming year: Support the Surf Rider Foundation, a worldwide organization committed to protecting coastal areas.
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