plankton in trouble
By jb78000
@jb78000 (15139)
August 1, 2010 11:52am CST
it seems the populations of phytoplankton (the plant kind) have declined by 40%. scientists aren't sure whether this is simply because of rising ocean temperatures or is also linked to overfishing, but either way it is bad news. all other marine life depends on plankton and phytoplankton act like forests - producing oxygen. it could speed up climate change.
problem is how do you get a 'save the plankton' campaign off the ground? i tried to find a cute picture of plankton and this was the best i could do: so any ideas?
[here's the story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10781621]
3 people like this
8 responses
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
2 Aug 10
This certainly is a worrying trend as so much of the worlds environmental focus lays above ground. Sure we need to focus on things above ground like air pollution and soil degradation, but like you say, the ocean is in need of help too and is a very important part of the big picture.
The problem is that most societies in the past have adopted an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude to the oceans as they cannot see the damage being done as easily. This has resulted in the waterways being dumping grounds for chemicals as well as other careless acts such as drilling for oil and having big oops moments like BP has recently had. 
If these careless acts are allowed to continue along with trawling, then the plant life in the ocean will continue to decline rapidly. The governments need to focus on sustainable practices 100% instead of having these big polluting companies in their pockets. This is not going to happen overnight and I do not know how to get the governments to realise the errors of their ways. At the moment they are mostly all talk and reactive in order to win votes, but they do nothing proactive to solve these issues. The only way that I can see things massively changing is if the Green parties get into power, but I cannot see them doing this any time soon. 
If these careless acts are allowed to continue along with trawling, then the plant life in the ocean will continue to decline rapidly. The governments need to focus on sustainable practices 100% instead of having these big polluting companies in their pockets. This is not going to happen overnight and I do not know how to get the governments to realise the errors of their ways. At the moment they are mostly all talk and reactive in order to win votes, but they do nothing proactive to solve these issues. The only way that I can see things massively changing is if the Green parties get into power, but I cannot see them doing this any time soon. @jb78000 (15139)
•
2 Aug 10
there's still an awful lot more research that needs to be done. i agree that the whole process needs to be speeded up as i don't think that wasting time faffing around before doing research, then taking action, is a good idea. there is however more investment going into ocean research now, mainly because of the effects climate change, overfishing and acidfication will have/are having on economies. governments don't care about much but money they certainly do care about.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
3 Aug 10
Welcome to MyLot Largoman. I did not say anything about waiting around for the government to do something. If we did that, the world would be in even more of a mess than it already is. I agree that the people need to get active first to motivate the governments. Once they realise that people will vote for them if they support these causes, then they act. 
I had a look at Grants.gov and it looks like a great option for those people living in the USA who want to start a charity or some sort of action plan to save certain aspects of the environment. That is awesome! 
You are right JB. The governments certainly do get passionate when it comes to money! No matter what level of government, they are all the same in that regard! 
I had a look at Grants.gov and it looks like a great option for those people living in the USA who want to start a charity or some sort of action plan to save certain aspects of the environment. That is awesome!
You are right JB. The governments certainly do get passionate when it comes to money! No matter what level of government, they are all the same in that regard! 
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
1 Aug 10
Hmm, no, I've never seen a cute pictures of plankton either. A former collegue of mine (fellow PhD student) worked on hydrophones and how to make them able to detect zoo plankton. She always showed pictures off the zoo plankton when she had presentation, and it wasn't cute or cuddly so I don't think anyone would want to save it for that reason.
Disguise it has koalas? Or pandas maybe?
It's a pity that it's so much easier to save things that are cute, fury and cuddly as they tend to depend on the not so cute, furry and cuddly. Or colourful, there's been some talk about trying to protect the cold water coral reef just off the coast here but they don't look as good in pictures as the Great Barrier reef so people tend to think just "why?".
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
1 Aug 10
This one is quite pretty, it's zoo plankton though
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Zooplankton2_300.jpg/180px-Zooplankton2_300.jpg
For some reason, searching for pictures with "Svalbard zoo plankton" gives pictures of tigers and hippos as a result. Strange ...
I like this one
http://agreenliving.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/316e9900ca20091109-phytoplankton.jpg
But then I really like nice patterns :-)
@stvasile (7306)
• Romania
7 Aug 10
If I'm not mistaking, the phytoplankton is the MAIN source of oxygen, producing more than the forests, because of the huge amount of plankton living in the oceans. Many people may take this news as a joke, but I believe every bit counts, and considering how we trash the planet, we'll soon be going to hell.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
7 Aug 10
about 50% of world's oxygen i think. maybe more. we treat the oceans like a garbage dump, mostly because people don't understand how important they are. most people can easily understand that destroying the rainforests is destructive (although this doesn't always help) but find it harder to realise that organisms they can't even see are just as, or more, important
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
1 Aug 10
hi jb seems like the balance of nature is going astray. Without
plankton the larger fish and whales will starve as thats their
main food supply. Surely people must realize that our oceans are
in trouble when the plankton supply goes low. and phytoplankton
give off oxygen. I read the article and am convinced we all must
do something to turn things around.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
1 Aug 10
since i doubt my 'adopt a plankton' scheme is going to be a roaring success then all i can recommend is doing the usual green things (don't take a helicopter to work, recycle your bottles etc) and don't eat endangered fish. overfishing is a problem because they control the plankton that eat the phytoplankton. anyway if you do want to adopt a plankton what about this adorable little fellow? 
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
1 Aug 10
I think "adopt a plankton" could be a success if you find plankton with the right colours, I'm sure there's lot of cute and cuddly girls around that would adopt a plankton if it was pink.
Possibly pink and glittery, it could be a Disney princess phytoplankton.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 Aug 10
Looks like sparkly jewels. Maybe you can convince people that they have monetary value? No, scratch that. They'll just try to exploit it...
@MagicalBubbles (5103)
• Canada
2 Aug 10
Well I think the scientists coming up with this are paid by the big oil companies. So many oil leeks all over our oceans that no wonde the phytoplankton is in decline.
Stop polluting our waters and maybe those little plants would thrive once more.
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
1 Aug 10
No ideas at all. I have not checked your link yet, though. I will probably be back later in the discussion.
@suchancat (1)
• Vietnam
2 Aug 10
Oh my ghost! Also planktons can't live in peace. Too bad!
I think it's time to keep some in special environments to develope.
