Just like the food drive at your local community center, school, and library, there are food drives for animals as well! On December 11th mark your calendars and picture dry and canned food as far as the eye can see. Most animal shelters are lacking in funding and some of the most conscious pet owners are sometimes the ones who struggle to feed themselves and their furry friends. But what about the finned ones? Some of our favorite marine friends are struggling to feed themselves this holiday season, even though they might seem more capable than our house-broken ones. Due to different environmental factors and human activity, some animals have been left without a reliable food source and will need it, especially as many animals begin breeding and migration this winter.

Beginning in the early 2010s, sea lions were one of the animals that needed help getting food. Sea lions feed on sardines and anchovies, which also account for a large percentage of what humans fish for. Without access to this food source, mother sea lions are hungry and foraging for their pups, leaving their pups unprotected, and sometimes without adequate food. In California about a decade ago, sea lions were found on shores in dire need of help. Some were taken in by marine rehabilitation centers and fed, but this was an issue that was widespread: scientists in the area saw that foraging fish, like sardines and anchovies, were decreasing in number. NOAA tried to crack down on the fisheries in this area to fix the issue, but as it stands, overfishing is still a problem worldwide, which is why sea lions are not the only animals suffering.

More recently manatees have seen a loss in their food source. Rather than overfishing, the coasts where manatees primarily feed have seen a lack of seagrasses and other aquatic plants that they feed on, causing hungry manatees to appear on Florida coasts in the winter. This problem has been happening for several years, so Florida rehabilitation centers know how to respond: with thousands of pounds of lettuce! The feeding program, partly sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Center, spent half a million dollars on feeding hungry manatees last winter. Because manatees produce so few offspring, scientists think that the manatee population will be affected by the lack of food. This is why it is very important to know how to respond to animals in crisis and to have the resources to do so. 

Lastly, the primary predators of overfished species, like salmon, suffer due to this lack of food; primarily orcas, sharks, and seals. One example is scientists have found that Southern Killer Whales have been suffering due to a lack of Chinook salmon, a large species that serves as their primary source of food. Of course, here at Aeon for Ocean we care about the lives of salmon too! Animals should be able to live worry-free, including participating in the food chain, which is hard when there are too few salmon: the salmon population cannot be sustained as both animals and humans hunt them. Thus, the mission of the food drive is two-fold! Giving resources to organizations that can help animals, either through donating your time or money can help give food to animals that need it! Eating salmon, sardines, anchovies, and other fish responsibly or not at all can also help a hungry animal in need. This December 11th, let's show up to help not only our furry friends, but our gilled ones, and give food to some animals in need!

The holiday season is here, and many families across the globe are wrapping presents, hanging up lights, and decorating Christmas trees. In light of the Christmas spirit, let’s take a look at the fascinating Christmas-tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)!

Christmas-tree worms are small invertebrates that bore, or dig, into coral reefs in tropical oceans. Their tube-shaped body is hidden beneath the surface of the coral, but from their boring hole two colorful spiral-shaped “crowns” pop out! These crowns are small, around 1.5 inches tall, and are brightly multi-colored! These crowns range from bright blue to yellow to pink! Little hair-like structures called “radioles” protrude from the crowns’ spiral spine, making them look like mini Christmas trees. These hairy radioles have two important functions. First, radioles help the worm breathe by absorbing dissolved oxygen from the surrounding seawater. Second, radioles help the worm eat. Christmas-tree worms are “filter feeders,” meaning they filter out phytoplankton and other microscopic creatures in the water column to eat using their radioles.  

Similar to trees on land, Christmas-tree worms are stationary— once they bore into a coral they remain there for their entire life. Hence, it is difficult for them to flee from predators like crabs, urchins, and fish. In order to protect themselves, they retract, or pull their crowns back into their boring hole, remaining hidden and inaccessible from the outside. Additionally, they have “eye spots” hidden along their radioles that detect changes in light exposure. This alerts the Christmas-tree worm to changes in shadows, indicating potential predators moving nearby.

The only time a Christmas-tree worm travels is during its early stages of life. Female and male worms release eggs and sperm into the surrounding seawater. While floating in the ocean, these eggs and sperms fuse together to create baby Christmas-tree worm larvae. These larvae drift along in the water column before landing on a suitable coral surface and beginning to bore. Once settled, Christmas-tree worms have been observed to live for over thirty years!

We usually think of the ocean as a calm and quiet place. Tranquil and serene, far away from the noise of bustling cities. But that perception couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our oceans are full of sound, quite different from blaring traffic horns or tweeting spring birds, but booming with noises nonetheless! Just not noises that us humans are accustomed to, or even evolved enough to hear. When the oceans are too cloudy to see in, and the only thing to taste is salt, and you don’t have hands to reach out and touch, hearing becomes your primary sense for retrieving information. Ocean animals use their hearing to communicate with each other, evade predators, locate their next meal, and navigate their vast environments. Have you ever wondered whether the sound of a boat engine, or the fog horns of a cargo ship have an effect on ocean life? Well today you will learn just how humans have impacted the natural symphony of our oceans.

Human-produced noises like the ones mentioned above, along with underwater construction, oil drilling, and seismic surveys all fall under the category of “ocean noise.” Unfortunately, ocean noise is typically louder and travels farther than sounds produced by ocean critters. This is dangerous on an ecological level because it can interfere with, for example, whale communication about migrating or breeding. But on an individual level, ocean noise can cause temporary or permanent loss of hearing, force animals out of their environment, and cause stress responses. While not the most obvious or notable form of pollution humans have introduced to the worlds oceans, it is clear that for the well-being of our ocean friends we need to become more mindful of our practices. 

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have written about several ways they are improving their understanding of ocean noise, like passive acoustic technology. This technology is able to pick up on both natural and man-made sound. As of right now, NOAA is using this technology to determine a baseline, or natural standard, for appropriate levels of sound in the natural ecosystems for a variety of species. This will soon help us determine just how detrimental sound pollution can be.