Tag: oceanography

Understanding the Arctic Climate System

The Arctic is changing rapidly in response to global climate and economic activity and yet much of it remains unexplored with modern scientific techniques.

Jeff Bowman is a biological oceanographer who studies marine microbial communities. In this presentation at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography he describes his group’s work in the Arctic as they seek to understand the ecological implications of changing sea ice conditions.

They are also preparing to participate in the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Expedition, an unprecedented multi-national effort to study the high Arctic across a complete seasonal cycle.

Watch — Modern Oceanography and the Changing Arctic Ocean.

Shark Conservation: Safeguarding the Future of Our Ocean

On the surface, it might seem like an ocean without sharks would be a more enjoyable place. But, these predators play a very important role in the ocean ecosystem and they need our protection just like many other ocean dwelling creatures.

Sharks have been at the top of the food chain for hundreds of millions of years, but today their populations are in danger because of human activities, such as overfishing and finning (this is when people catch sharks, remove the fins, and dump the carcass overboard).

Andrew P. Nosal, Ph. D, Birch Aquarium’s new DeLaCour Postdoctoral Fellow for Ecology and Conservation, shares his shark expertise with the Perspectives on Ocean Science series in order to explain that all sharks are not the evil villains seen in movies, but are essential in maintaining a balanced ocean.

Watch “Shark Conservation: Safeguarding the Future of Our Ocean” to hear about all of the benefits sharks provide and why they deserve our protection.

Watch more videos on sharks, or browse other videos in Perspectives on Ocean Science presented by Birch Aquarium and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Journey to the Deep with James Cameron

Located in the Pacific Ocean near the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the ocean floor. Only four manned descents have ever braved the journey to this remote location. On March 26, 2012 filmmaker James Cameron piloted the deep submergence vehicle Deepsea Challenger to become the first person to complete a solo dive of this ocean frontier. Listen in as he shares his experiences and perspectives from his record-setting dive.

If you liked this video check out our other programs on Oceanography and Marine Science.

The Legendary Leopards of La Jolla Shores

In celebration of National Shark Week, UCTV visits the Birch Aquarium to hear from an expert on leopard sharks, Andy Nosal, a Ph.D. student of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Leopard sharks are a special species of shark found only along the West coast of North America, their territory spanning from Washington to Baja California. A distinctive characteristic of these creatures is their mild temperament. Unlike most sharks, which will bite anything that might be food, leopard sharks are timid and have such small mouths that they pose essentially no danger to humans. In fact, a leopard shark bite on a human has never been recorded by the International Shark Attack File.

Every Summer La Jolla Shores is the gathering site of hundreds of leopard sharks. A common misconception of this behavior is that these sharks convene here to mate or give birth, but in fact scientists are not quite certain what they do at this annual conference.

Watch “Local Legends: The Leopard Sharks of La Jolla Shores” to see what Nosal has determined about why these sharks flock to La Jolla Shores and what they do there.

Check out more programs about sharks.

See what other programs are available in the Perspectives on Ocean Science series!

Tuning into the Sounds of Our Dynamic Planet

Did you know there are unheard sounds in the Earth’s atmosphere that can travel all the way around the world?

Dr. Michael Hedlin of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography explains that when massive events occur in the atmosphere low frequency sounds are generated that can be received all over the earth, depending on the magnitude of the event. Much like when there is an earthquake and seismic waves can be read on seismometers around the planet.

Although we cannot hear these sounds because of their low frequencies, there is still a lot they can tell us about things like volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts.

Listen in as Michael Hedlin discusses what we can learn from the Earth’s atmosphere’s frequencies in “Listening to Earth’s Atmosphere: Tuning into the Sounds of Our Dynamic Planet”

Check out other videos in the Perspectives on Ocean Science Series presented by Scripps Institution of Oceanography.