Tag: MARINE ECOSYSTEM

The Shark that glows in the deep,dark sea

Kitefin Shark

The world is full of mysterious and interesting creatures and this year is proving especially lucky for scientists to identify unique organisms. In February, a rodent named Springshare was identified, which glows pink and orange in ultraviolet rays. Living in the savannah forests of East Africa, this organism produces this color with the help of the porphyrin pigments present in its hair.

Recently, the world’s largest luminous vertebrate has been identified near New Zealand. This blue glowing creature is a kitefin shark (Biological name- Dalatias licha), which can grow to be around six feet tall. It shows the property of bioluminescence. Scientists have published an article about it in the Frontier Marine Science Journal, however they have not yet found what process it uses to shut off or turn on its luminescence.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemi-luminescence i.e. using chemical substances to produce light. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies.

Scientists at the Catholic University of Belgium conducted a sea search expedition to identify kitefin sharks. According to Jerome Melfet, he was successful in taking a picture of a living shark. Their samples were also taken to research about the science behind the bioluminescence the shark shows.

According to scientists, bioluminescence is advantageous to this creature as this glow is meant to dodge big enemies. The blue glow of these sharks helps them to camouflage in the blue light coming from the sky and hide to avoid becoming the food of bigger fishes.

The hormone that helps us sleep makes the shark glow. This glow is not caused by hormones, but from their brain or nervous system. This hormone is melatonin, which helps us sleep, but gives shine to the sharks. However, it is not very clear whether these hormones have anything to do with the brightness of the shark.

RESEARCHES REVEALS POTENTIAL COLLAPSE OF MARINE ECOSYSTEM BY 2050

Marine Biodiversity is a complex biological organization consisting of diverse levels of genes, species and other elements that forms a highly convoluted ecosystem having its own structural and functional  attributes. Since these elements contribute to form a larger structure, even a slight disturbance caused to one of its integrands can have a tremendous impact on the system as a whole. Analysis of local experiments, long term regional time series and global fisheries data over the past few decades have revealed an alarming rate of marine biodiversity depletion due to overfishing, pollution and global warming.

It is estimated that within 50 years from now, a major source of wild seafood will face a collapse; i.e., a 90 percent depletion of the species’ baseline abundance. The extensive depletion of the marine ecosystem and its biodiversity happening across the globe will affect the production of seafood, resistance to diseases, filtering of pollutants etc, resulting in the decline of their productivity and stability. According to marine ecologist Palumbi, the ocean is a great recycler which takes sewage and recycles it into nutrients. But to provide these services, he added, the ocean needs all of its working parts—the millions of plant and animal species that inhabit the sea. With the loss of marine species’, human lives will also be affected by notable consequences as the chances of disease outbreaks, noxious algal blooms, and the presence of invasive species will get higher. 

Each species bears a lot of significance in an interlinked ecosystem which points to the need  of preserving the marine ecosystem altogether rather than continuing with single species management. This century might encounter the end of wild seafood unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together as working ecosystems. Researchers still believe that this situation can be turned around; though only one percent of the ocean is effectively protected now. Measures like integrated fisheries management, pollution control, maintenance of essential habitats and creation of marine reserves can help in stabilising and improving the quality of marine ecosystems. Though a rapid recovery is not possible, in many cases the species resurged more quickly than anticipated. 

Climate change and oceanic resource depletion is real and it’s high time for us to undertake actions to prevent the marine biodiversity loss that would have a serious impact not only on humans but also the entire  biome.