As a result of pollution and overfishing some of the advanced forms of ocean life are struggling to survive while the most primitive are thriving and spreading: algae, bacteria and jellyfish are growing unchecked. This 'rise of slime' is killing larger species and sickening people.
Clipped from: Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger
The Los Angeles Times report this morning on the state of the oceans sounds like something out of a horror movie - fishermen come in contact with a spongy weed, only to break out into a painful rash that won't go away and literally peels your skin off. Get a drop in your mouth and your tongue swells so much you can't eat for a week. Scientists in labs can't be in the same room with it, the smell is so pungent. Only the problem is that this is for real and happening more and more often in coastal areas around the world. We are putting too much food into the oceans, scientists say, and now the oceans are reverting back to primeval seas of millions and even billions of years ago."
Clipped from: A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times: "California | Local
Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This 'rise of slime,' as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people.A Primeval Tide of Toxins
MORETON BAY, AUSTRALIA -- The fireweed began each spring as tufts of hairy growth and spread across the seafloor fast enough to cover a football field in an hour.
When fishermen touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos.
'It comes up like little boils,' said Randolph Van Dyk, a fisherman whose powerful legs are pocked with scars. 'At nighttime, you can feel them burning. I tried everything to get rid of them. Nothing worked.'"
Clipped from: Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger
Dead Zones Have Doubled Every 10 Years Since 1960s
According to the study, the number of marine dead zones—areas which are periodically or permanently starved of oxygen—has doubled every 10 years since the 1960s, with those along coastlines increasing in size and intensity. Currently there are about 400 coastal areas, with a combined area larger than the size of Oregon, with such poor water quality, with so little oxygen that only microbes can survive in it. Fish and crustaceans must flee the area or die.
marine dead zones map image
Map showing partial number of current marine dead zones: Dr Robert Diaz/NASA"
Related:
Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger
A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times
Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger
:: :: SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO :: ::
:: CENTER FOR MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION : SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO ::
