Crew Log 253 – Dorothy Was Right
June 29, 2010 – Seattle, Washington
By Herb McCormick
Precisely one year ago today, the 64-foot cutter, Ocean Watch, had just passed the 60th parallel en route from the Aleutian Island fishing outpost of Dutch Harbor, en route to another famed Alaskan port called Nome. Smack dab in the Bering Strait, the crew was enjoying a spectacular summer day, with a radiant blue sky reflected in a calm, almost mirror-flat sea…
Around the Americas is a 28,000 mile sailing circumnavigation of the American continents with the mission of inspiring, educating and engaging the citizens of the Americas to protect our fragile oceans.
Education
Around the Americas has several ways for children and students of all ages to be involved in this expedition. For teachers and informal educators, there are ocean health activities online in the Teachers Guide and Informal Educator?s Toolkit. Additionally, all learners are welcome to follow the expedition online through weekly updates and activities, ask the crew questions, connect with other classrooms following the expedition, and log into the online virtual classroom for monthly presentations.
Classrooms, home-schools, informal education centers, and all other interested learners are welcome to join the Shore Crew, and learn how they too can be Ocean Watchers!
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Classrooms, home-schools, informal education centers, and all other interested learners are welcome to join the Shore Crew, and learn how they too can be Ocean Watchers!
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Coral Reefs and Ocean Acidification
Coral reefs were one of the first ecosystems to be recognized as vulnerable to ocean acidification. To date, most scientific investigations into the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs have been related to the reefs' unique ability to produce voluminous amounts of calcium carbonate. It has been estimated that the main reef-building organisms, corals and calcifying macroalgae, will calcify 10?50% less relative to pre-industrial rates by the middle of this century. This decreased calcification is likely to affect their ability to function within the ecosystem and will almost certainly affect the workings of the ecosystem itself. However, ocean acidification affects not only the organisms, but also the reefs they build. The decline in calcium carbonate production, coupled with an increase in calcium carbonate dissolution, will diminish reef building and the benefits that reefs provide, such as high structural complexity that supports biodiversity on reefs, and breakwater effects that protect shorelines and create quiet habitats for other ecosystems, such as mangroves and seagrass beds. The focus on calcification in reefs is warranted, but the responses of many other organisms, such as fish, noncalcifying algae, and seagrasses, to name a few, deserve a close look as well.
Principal Partners
Major Funding from
