Today’s article is going to be about the wonderful oceans surrounding Magnetic Island, Australia. The oceans that surround Magnetic Island are the Coral Sea. In this article we will discuss the ecosystems there, how ocean acidification is destroying parts of them, & briefly about the Coral Triangle. We will first do a brief overview of the main 3 ecosystems & delve more into details of them later in the article. The Coral Sea is an incredibly diverse sea, & it plays a substantial role in our ecosystem. It also holds one of the largest coral reefs, the Coral Triangle. The Coral Triangle is incredibly important to our oceans, as it is 30% of our coral reefs. Now let’s delve into the ecosystems of the Coral Sea.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are one the most diverse ecosystems in our oceans. Unfortunately, they are dying out due to ocean acidification & not enough laws being put in place to stop commercial fishing. This part of the Coral Sea mostly consists of tropical waters, & open ocean with a few coastal areas. The Coral Triangle takes up predominant space in the Coral Sea. Coral reefs are usually somewhere between 20 & 100 feet below the surface. However they can get to over 500 feet below the surface. Most animals here are vibrant & often don’t get larger than 8 meters (24 feet & 6 inches) due to the tropical water. A contributing factor is that there is simply not being enough oxygen to sustain these creatures.
Seamounts
Seamounts are sort of self-explanatory, they are mounts in the sea. Most sea mounts are formed by volcanic eruption in the ocean, or plates colliding & sea mounts rising out. They form abruptly & form from the sea floor where now extinct volcanos were. Sea mounts are incredibly unique & typically have sea vents close by. They bustle with life & vegetation & are homes to thousands of creatures. They can be anywhere from 1000 meters to 4,000 meters in height from the ocean floor. (3,280.1007880 feet to 13,123.4315200 feet)
Abyssal
The abyssal zone is mostly deep-sea areas of the Coral Sea. The deepest parts of the abyssal zone that we have discovered is 4,000 meters deep. (13,123.36 feet deep) as you may infer, there is no sunlight at all at this level, there is also almost no light at all. It is very cold & pressurized at this level in the ocean. We unfortunately know very little about this zone due to the fact that we can’t easily send cameras down that deep. However we do know that it is extremely frigid at this depth, meaning there could be creatures larger than the colossal squid hiding at this depth. However that is extremely unlikely. Every 33 feet down you go in the ocean adds another atmosphere of pressure onto it. This would mean it is 397.666667 atmospheres of pressure at that level. In the future scientists hope to document this further & discover what goes on at that level.
A Brief Overview Of The Coral Triangle
The Coral Triangle is one of the most important aspects of the southern Pacific Ocean. The Coral Triangle spans over the Philippines, west of Singapore, & southeast of the Solomon islands. Here is an accurate map of the Coral Triangle.
It spans for 1,400 miles which is almost as large as the Great Barrier Reef. It has mostly tropical waters & the water has much less concentrated oxygen. Many creatures live & roam this area making parts of it a hotspot of scuba diving. However, it is vastly unexplored & can be dangerous at times. not only is the seascape dangerous, but many venomous & ravenous animals live in this territory, like the Irukandji jellyfish which if not treated is fatal, which have killed 70 people since 1883. the Coral Triangle is a mesmerizing area that is utterly stunning & feels otherworldly at times.
Ocean acidification is a rising issue mainly due to the use of fossil fuels. Unfortunately our oceans are at severe risk if we don’t stop using fossil fuels. We shall now delve into, how it is caused, the implications for our oceans, & how it can be stopped before it utterly destroys our oceans permanently.
Ocean Acidification
Ocean acidification is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased, largely because of human-caused burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation, for the past 150 years. When carbon dioxide contacts sea water, it forms carbonic acid. Carbonic acid gives off positive H+ ions, which causes increased oceanic H+ concentrations and decreased oceanic PH. Ocean acidification has been debated since 2003. “Once the ocean is severely affected by high carbon dioxide, it is virtually impossible to undo these alterations on a human-generation timescale,” said Sabine Mathesius of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany. It is predicted that by 2075 90% of coral will have died due to ocean acidification. Thankfully most countries are on the path to completely being completely fossil fuel free or are completely fossil fuel free. The following list of countries & provinces are a list of countries that plan to become fossil fuel free: France, Ireland, Sweden, Wales, Greenland, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Scotland, Germany, Uruguay, Denmark, China (Yay!), Morocco, The United States of America, Kenya, New Zealand, Portugal, & One Of Canada’s Provinces Quebec. We now have 20 confirmed countries that are on the way to or are completely fossil fuel free. However, this isn’t going to be immediate, Denmark is the largest oil producer in the European Union. As of 2021 the Prime Minister of Denmark has said that the deadline to terminate the oil contracts is 2050. Hopefully by then, all governments will be completely fossil fuel free. Denmark & Costa Rica are leading the group called the “Beyond Gas & Oil Alliance”. (https://beyondoilandgasalliance.com) This group is an international alliance that aims to repeal the damage that fossil fuels have caused to our environment.
Announcement!
We got a partnership with the nonprofit “Reel Guppy Outdoors”! We got a grant from Reel Guppy Outdoors and took a trip to Santa Catalina Island, & we will be releasing a special about it on August 30th. There will be a review of Santa Catalina Island, how to book transportation, & everything that we did and saw while on the Island. We will also be discussing permits needed, & how to fish on Catalina Island as a civilian without a role in the marine biology community. Stay tuned because you are not going to want to miss this wondrous read.
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