COMPASS
BRIEFING
SCIENCE
SHARKCANO
No, not a small budget sequel to
the Hollywood flop Sharknado,
but news of the ground-breaking
discovery that sharks can live in the
extreme environments created by
submarine volcanoes.
Ocean engineer, Brennan Phillips,
has led a team to investigate the Kavachi
Volcano in the Solomon Islands, one
of the most active submarine volcanoes
in the Pacific. Their mission was to
create a map of Kavachi’s peak and
learn as much as possible about the
chemical plumes, geology and biology
of the volcano. The extremely hostile
habitat meant that the team had to
deploy disposable robots and cameras
to conduct their research, with each
mission only lasting a maximum of
one hour.
Footage revealed hammerheads and
silky sharks living in the toxic waters
surrounding the volcano, and within
its caldera, seemingly unaffected by the
hostile temperatures and acute acidity.
This discovery poses many further
questions: how do sharks detect,
or react to, underwater eruptions?
How well adapted are they to other
extreme conditions? And what kinds
of environmental changes have they
adapted to in the past?
IT’S A MAN(GROVE)’S WORLD
We are locked in a race against time to
identify prospective habitats that may
shelter corals from some of the worst
effects of climate change.
Now, a recent study published in
the journal Biogeosciences points to
COMIC CORNER
“Are those prosthetic?”
a potential sanctuary for corals in the
sheltering roots of mangrove ecosystems.
Mangroves, sub-tropical or tropical trees
that colonise coastlines and brackish
water habits, have networks of prop
roots that extend like GoPro pole mounts
down to the sea floor, structures which
have now been identified as a safe
environment for corals to colonise.
The combination of chemical,
biological and physical conditions
around mangrove habitats help protect
corals from the worst threats of climate
change; shade provided by the shrubs
protect the corals from high levels of
solar radiation and can help deter coral
bleaching. Waters around mangrove
systems are also “out of equilibrium”
with the wider ocean, which allows corals
to avoid exposure to harsh increases in
temperature and acidification.
Research indicates that by 2030, over
90 percent of the oceans’ reefs will be
threatened by climate change and local
human intrusion, rising to a terrifying
forecast of 100 percent by 2050.
This discovery of their role as a coral
refuge further reinforces the importance
of the relationship between coral reefs
and coastal mangrove systems, and
implies that mangroves will play a
vital role in protecting coral species in
the future. That is, if we stop cutting
them down. SDAA
FACTS AND FIGURES
Life began in the
ocean around
SDAA
8
3.5
billion
years ago
Of the
more
than
500
or so
shark species,
about
80% 1.6
grow to
less than
metres