The Science of Marine Biology Chapter 1 Part 1 of 2

Marine Biology Definition: is the scientific study of the plants, animals, and other organisms that live in the ocean. Practical Reasons to study marine biology. It’s a vast source of human wealth. Provides food, medicine, and raw materials. Provides a source of money from recreation and tourism.

Who Can Be a Marine Biologist? Anyone! It’s really basic science applied to the sea, not the sea applied to science. Nearly ALL disciplines are represented in Marine Science (Biology)

Archeaology Biology Botany Chemistry Geology Ichthyology Oceanography Physiology Physics Seismology Medicine Welding Diving Research Education Recreation The list goes on and on…

History of Marine Biology: Since we discovered the ocean, we’ve been marine biologists! Pacific Islanders—ocean subsistance Greeks—Aristotle (described marine life)

The History of Marine Biology: Humans have studied the ocean and its inhabitants since they first saw the ocean. Even the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh bears a warning against eating a species of puffer fish. New skills in seamanship and navigation led to increased knowledge of the ocean and the organisms that live there.

The History of Marine Biology: Pacific Islanders had strange three dimensional maps of the Pacific Ocean made of shells and sticks. Phoenicians were the first accomplished Western navigators. By 2000 B.C. they were sailing around the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, eastern Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean.

The History of Marine Biology: The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (300’s B.C.) is considered by many to be the first marine biologist. He described many marine organisms. During the Dark Ages (500’s- late 1300’s) almost all the exploration of the oceans came to a halt in Western Europe. The Vikings and the Arabs continued to explore the world outside of Europe.

More history… A.D. 995 L. Eriksson discovered “Vinland” (N. America). A.D. 1000 Arabs active in E. Africa, S. Asia, etc. A.D. 1492 C. Columbus rediscovered New World.

The History of Marine Biology: The Renaissance spurred many Europeans to explore the world beyond Europe. 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World. 1519 Ferdinand Magellan embarked on the first expedition to sail around the world. many other explorers helped to open up the unknown world to man.

More history… A.D. 1519 F. Magellan circumnavigated globe (accurate maps!) A.D. 1786 J. Cook first scientific observations (naturalist)

More History… 1768: The first real scientific expedition began with Captain James Cook’s exploration of the oceans. He undertook 3 epic voyages to explore all of the worlds oceans. He was one of the first to make scientific observations along the way. He carried a full time naturalist along for the voyage. He was the first to use a chronometer.

More history… A.D. 1831 C. Darwin, known for “natural selection,” but also described how atolls are formed! A.D. 1838 C. Wilkes charted 1500 miles of coastline. Collected 10,000 specimens (2000 new). First effort sponsored by U. S. gov’t! Wilkes

Even more history… In the 19th century it was common practice to carry a naturalist with every expedition to document the creatures and phenomenon a ship encountered.

Two Ships… Two ships and their voyages changed how marine biology was practiced in the mid 19th century. HMS Beagle HMS Challenger

The Beagle… HMS Beagle: Sailed in 1831 from England on a 5 year expedition around the world. The ship’s naturalist was a man named Charles Darwin. Darwin used what he observed on the voyage to propose some radical new scientific theories.

Charles Darwin He proposed the modern theory of evolution. He proposed a theory of atoll formation. It was not proven correct until the 1950’s. He used very fine nets to capture plankton. He wrote a scientific paper (treatise) on barnacles that is still used today.

A.D. 1840 Edward Forbes sea floor dredging (new organisms) Led the way for Challenger Expedition…laid the foundation for modern marine science.

The HMS Challenger Expedition: The Challenger Expedition claims the title of the world's first totally scientific oceanographic expedition. The expedition's mission, to gather detailed and consistent observations of oceanographic phenomena across as much of the ocean as possible. the ship "stopped" and collected data and samples at 362 stations "at intervals as nearly uniform as possible". The deepest depth recorded by the Expedition was located in the Marianas Trench, a place now known as the Challenger Deep. At this location, the scientists measured a depth of 26, 850 feet!

All this science led to the formation of some pretty cool stuff!!! Marine Labs boomed! Woods Hole 1888. Woods Hole, Today

RV/Thomsas G. Thompson

Alvin

Aquarius Underwater Laboratory, Florida Keys

R/V FLIP (floating instrument platform)

Eye on Science: Ocean Observing Systems: p9-11 What is the limitation of satellites for observing the oceans? List five technologies used in Marine Biology. How do scientists envision we will observe the marine environment in the future? Describe the H2O Observatory. How long will it take for scientists to implement the new systems for observing the marine environment? Evaluate the usefulness of these new systems. http://www.whoi.edu/science/AOPE/DSO/H2O/EOSarticle/H2O_article_revised_9.pdf Additional info on H2O lab

The Growth of Marine Labs: 1826: Two Frenchmen pioneer the practice of observing sea life in the controlled conditions of a lab, Henri Milne Edwards, and Victor Andouin. The laboratory of the Marine Biological Society of the UK was founded in 1879. The Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole, Mass. Was founded in 1888.

Submersibles and Sonar

Technology of Marine Biology: Sonar-sound navigation ranging was introduced after World War II as an important tool of marine biology. Scuba-Invented in 1943 by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan. It stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. It is limited to shallow water. ROVs- Remotely Operated Vehicles. They have greatly extended the depth at which humans can explore the ocean. Satellites- allow us to track many different conditions within the oceans. Salinity, temp, water clarity, algae growth, and pollution.

Why were scuba divers not used to locate the resting place of the Titanic?

How was the Titanic located? Using sonar and submersibles. 1934 Dr. William Beebe reached a depth of 900 meters in a steel chamber called a Bathysphere ( fits 2 people). In 1960 a Swiss team of Auguste and Jacques Piccard, made the deepest dive in a submersible (bathyscaphe) to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10,852 meters- 4 hrs.). Alvin is a submersible that has logged in over 1000 dives. It holds a crew of 3. Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for the deepest solo dive- 380 meters. (Jim Suit)

Beebe’s Bathysphere

The Jim Suit

Alvin

Sonar Sonar stands for sound navigation and ranging. Sonar uses a beam of sound waves and directs them downward. After the sound wave hits the bottom of the ocean (ocean floor), or an object, it will bounce off and return back causing an echo. This is then recorded on a depth recorder on the ship. Some marine organisms use Echolocation, which is a form of sonar (dolphins, whales, porpoises).

Sonar

Summary The development of advanced technology, in the form of submersibles, robot vehicles, and sonar equipment has opened up the fields of Marine Biology and Oceanography in a way we could never have imagined!

The Scientific Method Part 2 of 2

The Scientific Method Science works. It has changed the world. Science continues to progress through the use of the scientific method (set of procedures that scientists use to learn about the world).

Observation: The Currency of Science Senses are used to learn about the outside world – senses may be magnified (microscope, etc.) Without objective observation science could not exist as it does today.

Two Ways of Thinking Most of what is known about marine life has been learned through observation. Induction: Make observations (With no goal or preconception about the outcome) These observations suggest a general conclusion Observations – shellfish, shark, sailfish all have gills, they are also all fish. Conclusion – all fish have gills Why must scientists be careful when using induction?

Two Ways of Thinking Deduction General Statement about nature and predict what the specific consequences would be if this statement were true. Suppose induction were used to make the general “All marine animals have gills”. One could then reason that if all marine animals have gills and whales are marine animals, then whales have gills. This can be easily tested by observing a whale.

Figure 1.21

Testing Ideas Both inductive and deductive reasoning lead scientists to make statements that might be true (hypothesis). A critical part of the scientific method is that all hypothesis are testable.

Testing Ideas Constructing the hypothesis Hypothesis must be constructed in a way in which it can be tested. See figure 1.21 on the next slide. Poor hypothesis: Somewhere in the ocean there are mermaids. Can not be proved false. It is NOT testable!

Testing Ideas Nature of Scientific Proof No hypothesis can ever be proved true. In science there are no absolute truths. When a hypothesis withstands many tests, it is accepted to be true (scientists do NOT prove hypothesis, they accept them) The bottom line in science is observation NOT human ideas or beliefs.

Testing Ideas Testing the Hypothesis Scientists can not prove a hypothesis so they attempt to disprove it. Most of the time it hypothesis are continually refined, modified or rejected, and alternative hypothesis are proposed as more observations are made. These observations are often based on experiments.

Testing Ideas Suppose a marine biologist wanted to study the effect of temperature on growth of muscles. Describe in detail what this marine biologist could do to test the hypothesis that muscles grow faster in warm water. Be sure to use a variable in your controlled experiment. See figure 1.22

Figure 1.22a

Figure 1.22b

Testing Ideas Scientific theory A theory has past so many tests that it is generally accepted as true. Any theory may be overturned by new evidence.

Limitations to the Scientific Method No one is completely objective personal beliefs may skew observations in the laboratory. Science cannot decide what is beautiful. Science can not tell humanity how to use the knowledge and technology that it produces. These things depend on values, feelings, and beliefs which are beyond the scope of science.

The Science of Marine Biology Chapter 1 Outline The Science of Marine Biology The History of Marine Biology The Challenger Expedition The Growth of Marine Labs Marine Biology Today The Scientific Method Observation, the Currency of Science Two Ways of Thinking Induction Deduction Testing Ideas Constructing the Hypothesis The Nature of Scientific Proof Testing the Hypothesis The Scientific Theory Limitations of the Scientific Method Box Readings: Eyes (and Ears) in the Ocean John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts Eye on Science: Ocean Observing Systems