“Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” — Desmond Tutu
I can always enjoy some good news about our oceans. Here I’m sharing five recent good news seen:
1. Several decades ago “warm waters from an El Niño event killed off nearly all the corals surrounding the Galapagos”. Recently found though, while mapping the seafloor off the Galapagos Islands: new & expansive deep-water coral reefs. “Vast landscapes of thriving corals” with “diverse communities of deep-sea marine life”. Their 370-600 meters deep, cold water locations “probably helped corals living there [to] remain [essentially] pristine”. The discovered reefs are “inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve”, & are apparently very old.
2. During a recent expedition to “a … swath of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico & Hawaii”. Found: > 5,000 “new marine species … entirely new to science.”
& Last month (Feb. 2024): Marine researchers recording “life hidden in the … oceans” reported finding ~100 potential new species while investigating a 500-mile-long “little-explored part of the ocean off the coast of New Zealand.”
3. Seldom spotted: Omura’s whales. Even rarer?: an all-white one which was recently viewed off the coast of Thailand. It’s a rare kind of whale; they are also called dwarf fin whales. The new sighting was captured on film (only the 2nd time in history for Omura’s). Perhaps only recognized as a distinct whale species since the late 1970s, & (seldom) spotted near 5 other countries in this general region. During the recent sighting: tourists saw “a pair of rare Omura’s whales swimming together… one of which was completely white.” Though Omura’s are small, they may be fairly closely related to the much larger blue whales.
4. Scientists are now searching for ocean viruses most likely to combat climate change by helping to trap carbon dioxide in the seawater. Utilizing AI analysis on 100s of thousands of DNA & RNA virus species. Via data mining the huge amount of data. Also, with similar search techniques, they are seeking other viruses that might “prevent methane’s escape from thawing Arctic soil.” The modeling processes being used may help predict how to use viruses to “engineer the ocean microbiome toward better carbon capture.”
And:
5. An ocean cargo ship “with high-tech WindWings sails [developed by BAR Technologies]” saved “up to 11 tonnes of fuel per day”. During a six month test of the technology; test sounding quite successful. The test ship passed through several oceans. & Calculated: “enabling a vessel to be blown along by the wind” with such ultra modern WindWings, rather than powering it solely by engine “might … eventually reduce a cargo ship’s lifetime emissions by 30%”. The 123ft tall WindWings sails can “fold down when the ship is in port; the wings are opened out … in open water”. Made of “same material as wind turbines” for durability. Possibilities of huge fuel savings may soon encourage many new-build ships to feature this modern wind propulsion.
“The good news is we have everything we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground. All we need is for you to join the rest of the world to bring about a cleaner, more stable, and peaceful future.” — Mark Ruffalo