Marine Animal

My favorite marine animal from the first two weeks of fish ID is the Black-tipped Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus). An adaptation of this shark is that the back of it is dark while the underside is light. This provides the shark with a form of camouflage that when viewed from the top, the shark blends in with the ocean floor, and when viewed from the bottom, they blend with the light from the sun. These sharks are commonly found in coastal waters near coral reefs and sometimes in shallow lagoons. They are almost threatened. I chose this organism because I find sharks really interesting and this is the only one that we have gone over so far.

Oceanographer Instruments

Biological: Use a microscope to study plants or animal samples from the ocean or areas along the shore.

Chemical: Uses a thermometer to check the temperature of the water and evaluates the effect on plant and animal life.

Physical: Uses a current meter to study the changes and motions of the seawater.

Geological: Uses sonar to map the ocean floor and create bathymetric maps. Also study volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.

Geophysical: Uses a drilling ship to check beneath the ocean and conduct studies on oil and gas.

Engineer: Uses drafting paper to display the concepts for the development of technology for oceanographic research and development

Bob Ballard

Bob Ballard discussed the current status of ocean exploration and what he hopes it will become. He spoke of how NASA's yearly budget is 1600 times that of NOAA's budget. He also spoke of how most of the ocean is unexplored, like how 50% of America's owned land is unmapped. There are many ignored resources and species of life that lie in the darkness that is the sea. There is also a lack of interest and motivation when it comes to exploring the ocean, yet there is a huge focus of daily life to explore parts of the universe like Mars. I agree with Bob that there needs to be more of a push behind further ocean exploration because why should we take on the big picture of exploring the universe if we haven't even explored our own home.