Narwhals: the Arctic's cetacean unicorn

Okay, this week's posts have been a bit serious and long in the tooth, so how about a lighter observation?

The Narwhal - that unicorn of the Arctic seas - what's with the tusk?

Joshua Jones of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography describes the narwhal's tusk as the end result of one tooth which is actually part of a second set of teeth the narwhal has deep below the skin.  The tooth works its way through bone and skin and can reach a length of up to 9 feet.  While typically found in the male, females have been known to have them and, on rare occasions, some males have grown double tusks (see picture, right).

But why the tusk in the first place?

There's no definitive answer but the most common theory is that of social interaction.  Male narwhals have been seen "crossing swords" in narwhal breeding grounds, perhaps to establish a pecking order.  In these clashes, sometimes the tusk can be broken off, kind of a cetacean version of getting your teeth knocked out.  Researchers have seen tusk-less narwhals still fit and healthy which is an indicator that the tusk may not be used as a hunting weapon, like a sawfish's toothy proboscis.

One of nature's truly unique creations, the narwhal's population is relatively stable with polar bears, orcas, and limited hunting by Inuits as their only threats.  But climate change can pose a serious risk as the narwhal is confined to the Arctic by a narrow temperature range within which it survives.  Rising water temperatures can shrink their available habitat and put these remarkable whales at risk.

Source: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Polar Bear Webcasts: live broadcasts and a new NOAA Arctic report this month

One of the great learning tools is engagement and, unfortunately, conservation issues are sometimes hampered by the inability of people to truly feel engaged or appreciate what may be happening in a distant part of the world, say the Arctic for instance.

The issue of polar bears and what is threatening their existence due to warming Arctic temperatures, will be brought to light in a series of live webcasts being staged by Polar Bears International. Called Tundra Connections, the 30 scheduled webcasts started on October 28th and will run to the end of November. Viewers will be able to log on and ask, in real time, questions of the research scientists and conservationists that are monitoring the polar bear migration in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

There will be a wide range of people involved: zoologists and other experts on polar bears, climatologists to discuss the impact of climate change on the Arctic, even legal advisers from the Center of Biological Diversity. Check out the Tundra Connections website for broadcast dates.

Speaking of the Arctic, NOAA has released its Arctic Report Card 2010 and it still shows that grades are slipping in the areas of sea ice, long-term climate change, and weather pattern disruption. While the Arctic still experiences warm/cold cyclical temperature patterns that can temporarily alter ecosystem patterns, the overall trend is still towards warmer temperatures.



NOAA reported that this year was the shortest duration of Arctic snow cover since record-keeping first began in 1966. And areas like Greenland continue to experience significant ice and glacier loss. With more fresh water mixing into the Arctic's oceans, everything from algae growth to fish populations to currents gets disrupted.

The Arctic regions are experiencing polar amplification whereby, with more sea ice melting (sea ice that would normally reflect sunlight), more dark exposed ocean now absorbs sunlight which accelerates the warming process. A by-product of this effect is changes in polar winds. Pushed southward, these cold winds can produce colder winters in mid-latitudes - making some people wonder how can there be global warming when I'm freezing? Just ask a polar bear.

Check out the Tundra Connections webcasts.
Read the NOAA Arctic Report Card 2010.

Whalers as Early Environmentalists: 19th century ice reports ironically provides climatologists with important data

Over the past few years, scientists and government agencies have reported changes in the Arctic sea ice. Monitoring its annual undulations, they have seen marked reductions in the thickness and overall extant of the floating ice pack. But to determine whether this is a minor fluctuation or an actual alarming trend, a baseline is needed - one that extends farther beyond the time frame that researchers have worked within.

For that data, scientists have turned to what some ocean conservationists would consider an unlikely source: whalers.

Specifically, whalers of the late 1800's, when the industry was in full swing and whaling vessels were plying the Arctic seas in search of whales to meet the Industrial Revolution's demand for whale oil. By charting the range and condition of Arctic sea ice for the purpose of determining safe routes for their ships, whalers unintentionally became early environmentalists, providing detailed reports that scientists can use today to help establish that needed baseline for assessing long-term trends and conditions. Talk about unlikely bedfellows.

Douglas Mair, environmental expert from Scotland's Aberdeen University, is preparing to deliver a series of talks at the university on the whalers' contribution to Arctic climate science. As reported in Scotland's The Press and Journal, he said, “They [whalers] recorded a lot of their observations about sea ice, or frozen oceans, in the Arctic. They were simply trying to find a safe way through the ice. There was nothing scientific about it. But their notes show us how the Arctic waters have changed over the decades. There has been a dramatic decline in sea ice."

Another rather unlikely source for past Arctic ice data also comes from Russian studies done in the 60's involving suitable locations for hydrogen bomb tests. Again, ironic that out of the era of "mutually assured destruction" we find something that provides evidence for environmentalists to show the importance of climate change and why we must address it as the world-changing event that it is.

From one mutually assured destruction scenario to another. We seemed to have steered away from one; now let's chart a new course away from the other.

Read more about it in The Press and Journal.

Arctic Ocean Ice: New report confirms rapid melting

A new report released today by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the UK-based Catlin Arctic Survey confirms what many other studies and research projects have been saying: the Arctic is melting faster than previously predicted.

In this report, Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications (you can download the executive summary or the entire report), it was determined that the Arctic Ocean will be mostly ice-free during the summer within a decade and totally devoid of summer ice within 20 years. Research has found that much of the ice is now comprised of "first year ice" - new ice as opposed to older ice that would typically form a year-round foundation. Measurements also showed the ice to be thinner and not sufficient to survive next summer's ice melt.

It's not just warmer temperatures that is causing this increasing meltdown. The Arctic ice reflects sunlight but as it melts and darker ocean surfaces are exposed, a feedback effect occurs wherein the exposed ocean retains more heat, which melts more ice, which exposes more ocean, and so on.

There is also a considerable amount of CO2 held within the ice that is then released, along with CO2 and methane that is released from the Arctic's permafrost, the land's frozen layer of topsoil. All this adds to and accelerates the effects. These are some of the variables that have skewed prior computer models, contributing to a string of revised estimates.

All of this has impacts on the lower latitudes with altered weather patterns due to changes in temperature gradients both in the ocean and in the atmosphere. Further on, there would be the impact on sea levels that result from melted ice not only in the polar Arctic but in areas such as Greenland. So, we're not immune to the effects of losing Arctic sea ice.

Working with InMER.org, I had the opportunity to explore some of the Arctic region in an area known as the Northwest Passage. The InMER team documented changes that were occurring, from reduced sea ice levels to anecdotal evidence from Inuit Indian leaders and government officials. Several clips that reflect the results of the expedition can be found in Google Earth in the ocean areas of northern Canada. Here's one:

RTSea Imagery in New Google Earth: work for InMER included in latest version 5.0

This past Monday in San Francisco, I had the honor and pleasure to attend the unveiling of the newest version of Google Earth - which now incorporates the oceans as well. I was invited to represent the marine education and research organization InMER as a contributing partner to Google Earth. RTSea had provided video and photographic services during InMER's 2007 expedition to the Northwest Passage, above the Arctic Circle, and the resulting footage and images have been incorporated into the new Google Earth. (Previous postings on InMER and the Arctic: click here, here, and here.)

The unveiling took place at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences with an A-list of dignitaries on hand including former Vice President Al Gore, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and world-renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle. Dr. Earle was the prominent champion and driving source of inspiration for this new version, having once teasingly described the original Google Earth to its creators as "Google Dirt, because you left out over 70% of the planet."

With the new version of Google Earth, users are able to zoom in on the Earth's seas and literally dip below the surface to see an incredible perspective of our water planet. Numerous icons appear that provide text, videos, images, and links to additional information. If you ever found yourself wandering the land and zooming in on details with the old Google Earth, this new version will really have you hooked. But it's more than just a gimmick. This new version represents a serious academic and research tool for both schools and scientists alike, with a variety of visual perspectives of the oceans and a tremendous amount of data that will continue to grow over time as new information is added.

I feel very fortunate to have some of my work available on such a broad worldwide information platform. I thank InMER's CEO and founder, Ed Cassano, and Google for the opportunity and I hope to be able to participate in future contributions to help advance the world's knowledge and appreciation of our oceans.

We need to understand and protect the planet's oceans. None of us would be here without them.

Invent Now! - the new mantra for the Energy Age

In the United States, both presidential candidates are saying that our energy policy (or lack of one) needs to be addressed for the sake of both our daily energy needs and to address the issue of global warming. All well and good.

But I am concerned with the attention put on immediate drilling, particularly in heretofore protected areas like the Arctic regions. We have all heard the arguments that it will take 10 to 15 years to realize any fuel from such exploration, but that's the case whether we drill in the Arctic or in any of the currently approved areas, 80% of which has been untouched.

No, my concern is with catch phrases like "Drill now! Drill now!" - as if drilling will be the silver bullet panacea, after which we can all go back to driving our SUV's. Having grown up watching this nation's commitment to science and invention that ultimately put men on the moon, I ask why not "Invent now! Invent now!" We are faced with a massive scientific and social undertaking - to develop multiple technologies that will allow us to shift from a centuries-long dependence on fossil fuel. There's no getting around it - no single solution will fix it all.

Before we commit to more drilling, more status quo, let's harness the same inventive energy that took man into the Industrial Age, and then the Space Age, and the Computer Age - and let's dedicate ourselves to the Energy Age, to finding new solutions rather than recycle the old solutions and continue to destroy the planet one carbon ton at a time.

Here's some more information from the Ocean Conservancy.

Goods News re: Arctic Fishing and Hawaiian Monk Seal

Whether it's due to a sincere interest in conservation or the need for a lame duck administration to establish a favorable legacy, the federal government has taken positive action lately on two oceanic fronts, separated by thousands of miles:

• Oceana reports that the federal government has enacted a policy to halt expansion of commercial fishing in Arctic waters and will continue to support international efforts to do the same, hoping to ultimately reach international agreement on the effective management of commercial fishing throughout the Arctic Ocean. Arctic ecology is already being impacted by the effects of climate change; potential changes to the populations of Arctic marine species do not need to be exacerbated by industrial commercial fishing operations. Read the complete press release.

• According to the Ocean Conservancy, the federal government is preparing to expand the protected area for the Hawaiian Monk Seal, one of the most threatened of all marine mammals. Currently protected in the northwestern Islands, the seal's protected territory could be expanded to include the main islands where a healthier population exists. Read the complete press release.

It feels good to post some encouraging news from time to time!