Eco-Friendly Diapers, courtesy of jellyfishes

Jellyfish is one of the few marine organisms which thrives in warm oceans and the blooming of such organism can spell serious problems. For instance, jellyfish are known to clog up pipes. (Ishii, 2001) In 2011, Israeli, Scotland and Japan were forced to shut down due to jellyfish blooms. (Schrope, 2012)

Diapers are another problem by itself. Diapers are filling up landfills quickly, due to its high demand and poor biodegradability.

Cine'al ltd, an Israeli nanotechnology company, is developing technology to make jellyfish into super absorbent products such as diapers, tampons, medical sponges or even paper towels. By adding nano-materials into jellyfish flesh, it becomes a super absorbent material. And here's the best part: It biodegrades readily.

I think this might give us insight on how important marine biodiversity are. The possibilities are endless and it is said that 95% of the marine species has yet to be discovered.



From this

Photo credit: Reuters, Dauphin Island Sea Lab

To this

Photo credit: Pampers

Literature cited

Ishii, H. (2001). The influence of environmental changes upon the coastal plankton ecosystems, with special reference to mass occurrence of jellyfish. Bulletin of Plankton Society of Japan (Japan).

Schrope, M. (2012). Marine ecology: Attack of the blobs. Nature; Physical Science (London), 482(7383), 20-21.

The magic of blue blood

Limulus polyphemus, commonly known to us as Horseshoe crab, have an unique quality which humans are now exploiting. Blue blood.



Yes, it's magical. The blue blood of horseshoe crabs has anti-bacterial properties which is beneficial to us. It's actually already present in our vaccines and other medications to prevent contamination from bacteria.

Note how the video states that there is a 10% increase in mortality rate for bled horseshoe crabs. Research has shown that bled horseshoe crabs have an approximate 8-11% increase in mortality rate  after being released back into the wild. (Rudloe, 1983) (Walls & Berkson) Putting that into human perspective, the mortality rate is just slightly lower than cancer in humans which is 12%.

In addition, medical hope is not the only thing horseshoe crabs offer us. Many fisherman use horseshoe crabs as fish bait while some countries harvest horseshoe crabs for consumption. The question posed to man now is, "How sustainable is this?"

Literature cited

Rudloe, A. (1983). The effect of heavy bleeding on mortality of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, in the natural environment. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Pages 167–176.

Walls, E. A., & Berkson, J. (n.d.). Effects of blood extraction of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus).

How protected are the fishes in marine protected areas?

Marine protected areas, commonly known as MPA, are areas protected by law. This limits certain human activities such as fishing, oil and mining and tourism.

 Map by UNEP WCMC from data by WPDA as of Oct 2013

The map shows 2.8% of our Earth's ocean are MPA. (Dark blue areas) Most of the MPA are erected with interest of protecting natural environments, its surrounding water and the flora and fauna living in the ecosystem.

Even with notable success of MPA, for example, tripling of European lobsters in 2010 since the establishment of MPAs in Norwegian Coast in 2006
(Huserbraten, et al., 2013), 5 times more great scallops in protected areas of the Isle of man
 (Beukers-Stewart, Vause, Mosley, Rossetti, & Brand, 2005), the effectiveness of MPA is often argued.

For one, MPA, unlike fortress conservation, are not all no-fishing zones or no-man zones. Instead, most of the MPA just limits the area for consumption fishing, recreational activities and research. How effective is law and policy in managing commercial fishing when man is still allowed on such waters? 

Unlike nature conservation, it is not possible to exclude man from sea. The sea is connected and damage to one area will spread to the other. There are no "safe" places in the sea, the sea is one entity by itself and pollution will find its way to every nook and cranny of the sea.

Photo by www.seafriends.org.nz

Literature Cited

Beukers-Stewart, B. D., Vause, B. J., Mosley, M. W., Rossetti, H. L., & Brand, A. R. (2005). Benefits of closed area protection for a population. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 189-204.

Huserbraten, M. B., Moland, E., Knutsen, H., Olsen, E. M., Andre, C., & Stenseth, N. C. (2013). Conservation, Spillover and Gene Flow within a Network. PLOS ONE, 1-10.