An American in Hiroshima

When I found out I would be spending the summer in Hiroshima, I thought about what it might mean to show up as an American in this city – for me, personally, or for the people of Hiroshima.  I realized that I knew precious little about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Furthermore, what I did know were facts about the war, not people’s own personal narratives.  My curiosity grew for stories from the people of Hiroshima:  before, during and after the bomb.  I wanted to learn what had really happened in people’s lives and to their livelihoods.  I am drawn to stories, partly because I find stories to be a lingua franca – a way to connect with people and our humanity.  I decided to learn what I could about the narratives of the atomic bomb, and the personal narratives that were erased and re-weaved as a result of this unbelievable event. 

Standing in the Peace Park in Hiroshima, I marvel at the unique and macabre nature of being in the first place where an atomic weapon was used on people, on purpose.  Furthermore, it was MY country that used that weapon (well, at least the country I was born in), and the weapon was deployed into this country I’m now standing in.  Whenever I think about it I get shivers up my spine, and standing in the Peace Park made me also feel really quiet and tender. 

The Atomic Bomb Dome, or Genbaku Dome, stands at the north end of Hiroshima Peace Park.  It was one of the very few buildings where some walls remained after the bomb detonated.  It has been preserved, not without controversy, as a monument to encourage people to never forget.

 The Hiroshima Peace Park seems to be a place of quiet contemplation and prayer for many people.  I encounter many tourists like myself, but also many Japanese people coming to offer incense or clap their hands together in prayer at one of the many memorial sites throughout the park.  In Hiroshima, I’m not the only one to wonder about the courage it must take for the survivors to tell their stories, and the trauma that this must remind them of.  The Atomic Bomb Dome, for example, is on the one hand a symbol of world peace, a standing reminder to the destruction wreaked in 1945 in a matter of seconds.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  On the other hand, it is a painful reminder of unspeakable events, especially for those directly affected by the bomb, the hibakusha.  Many hibakusha and residents of Hiroshima opposed preserving the A-bomb Dome building in the first place.  Also, many people thought of as hibakusha now remain silent about their status and choose not to identify themselves as hibakusha, even almost 70 years later.  It wasn’t for many years that the Japanese or American government set up any formal assistance for hibakusha – this only came about after the crew of the Japanese fishing vessel, the Lucky Dragon, suffered from radiation effects after the ship navigated close to an American nuclear missile test.  Only after that did the Japanese government acknowledge the need for specialized medical and financial assistance for hibakusha, and formal recognition and a medical fund for survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs was established.  That was 1954, almost 10 years after the bombs were dropped.  Survivors were classified as qualifying for assistance (as “hibakusha”) if any of the following applied to them:

1)      Present in the city on the day of the bomb

2)      Arrived in the city to assist with rescue efforts within two weeks of the bomb

3)      Were a fetus in utero at the time of the bomb

These are still the gruesome criteria for hibakusha.  Imagine needing to identify your “status” to receive medical attention and benefits.  However, I understand the desire that some people had to be as far away from remembering anything about the horrors of the bomb or the war as they could.  To receive medical benefits would mean identifying oneself as having been there, as having been affected.  Just to receive care was to bring up unwanted memories (and their associated emotions) for some survivors – and thus many hibakusha went without treatment, special care or recognition of their often precarious physical and mental health.

At the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims.  This is a relatively new, Japanese effort to document victims and create a registry of names and photographs.  Upwards of 140,000 people are thought to have died as a direct result of the bomb and within the few weeks following detonation.  Countless others have suffered health problems and death as long-term complications from radiation effects.  The nearby cenotaph registry (created by the Americans occupying the region after the war’s end) lists 292,325 victims names as of August 2014.  

Furthermore, the memorial park itself, the Peace Memorial Museum, and the Radiation Affects Research Foundation in Hijiyama Park were all established and created by the Americans.  Controversy remains over whether these facilities adequately represent the Japanese and Hiroshiman perspective, or whether they’re more monuments to appease the West.  Controversy aside, for me the fact remains that my country bombed this city into oblivion, and killed hundreds of thousands of people in so doing.  I am desperate for ways to atone for what my country has done, to appease the sadness and devastation my country wreaked on another.  So I do the only things I can think of, which are to show up, contemplate, and wholeheartedly listen and bear witness to the stories. 

               It’s difficult to know what happened to all the people on August 6^th, 1945 in Hiroshima.  The vast majority of people who died were never found or identified as victims of the bom.  The estimates of those that died on that day or in the several weeks and months following the bomb are made from educated guesses.  Many of the deceased were reported by survivors or family members.  Yet many were never reported at all.  A confidential, sealed registry in Hiroshima now holds 292,325 names of people deceased as a result of the bombing – those who died and were identified by relatives and friends, updated as of August 5^th 2014 (http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/virtual/VirtualMuseum_e/tour_e/ireihi/tour_20_e.html).  A publicly accessible registry has been created relatively recently, and people can submit names, stories and photographs of victims.  That registry currently only holds about 20,000 names; a tiny fraction of the true numbers, yet heroic for those that came forward with their stories.  Many of the stories I heard and witnessed were part of the efforts by that facility, the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims.  This facility is also in the Peace Park and contains its own museum space for contemplation and prayer.  I found it to be a very powerful experience to enter into the museum. 

Garden, fountain and sculpture at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims.  The sculpture is of a clock at 8:15, the time when the bomb was dropped, and the rubble all around the fountain are remains of buildings destroyed by the bomb.  

 Back to the numbers:  Everyone agrees that 1) the numbers of estimated casualties are conservative; 2) we will never know the actual death toll because of the mass death, casualty number and chaos of the ensuing days and months. 

On August 6^th, 2014, I attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony for the atomic bomb. 

 

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, August 6th 2014.  The Peace Memorial Museum is in the background.

The ceremony takes place at 8 am, with a minute of silence at 8:15 am.  Take a moment right now, take a deep breath, and consider the weight of one minute at 8:15 am on August 6^th, 1945 in the city of Hiroshima.  Being there at the ceremony took my breath away.  The bell marking the minute of silence rang and I felt like my throat and thorax were being squeezed.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to participate in this ceremony of prayer and remembrance, to bear witness to the survivors and the horror they must have experienced.  Later in the morning, some hibakusha read their stories out loud in English.  I am grateful for their courage and willingness to share.  It was small, but this tiny moment that was the only way I knew to manifest the shouting and screaming I wanted to do, proclaiming that I stand for peace and justice for all, and that I’m sorry for all acts of war and violence.  I offered flowers in at a large, magnificent altar of flowers and incense that had been erected near the eternal flame.  I did a small thing, but it remains large in my heart and I believe in the importance of each of us doing a small thing.  If we each do a small thing, we can do big, great, amazing things.

Flowers just offered at the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial Ceremony, 2014.  These flowers will be added to the large display as the container becomes full.

A small section of the wall of flower offerings for the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial Ceremony, 2014.

On this journey I’ve found many caring people, eager to speak English, eager to learn about me and my experience, eager to learn about the country I was born into.  This despite the fact that in modern history, my country annihilated the city these same people live in.  We can each work on peace in our hearts, and talk to each other instead of letting our countries, our governments and policies and flags do the talking for us.  Now the message I heard, over and over, throughout Hiroshima, was one of peace and non-proliferation of weapons.  I find this all inspiring.  I’ve found monuments and ceremonies, erected and conducted all for the ritual of remembrance, and in the name of peace.  I’ve found a place rich in character and compassion.  I am fortunate, and I wish to share the messages of peace and justice that I’ve heard in Hiroshima with everyone.

notes from Japan - a photo essay

Well hello good people.  I thought i'd post these photos, that i also posted in a tumblr over here.  Please visit that site for other interesting stories from our NSF group, the EAPSI Fellowship.  Meanwhile, my photos:

Islands in the Sea of Japan

A man carves tuna flank (maguro) at the Hakata Fish Market, one of the large fish markets found at several ports around Japan.  The flanks in the case behind him are samples of his handiwork from earlier that morning.  The big white flat part of the tuna is "toro", the most expensive and highly sought after part of the tuna.  Training to be a tuna carver is a lifetime of work, a highly skilled position and clearly not for those shy around knives and blood.  I only realized after watching him for a few minutes that he was working

rather effortlessly, whereas had i been wielding the knife i certainly would have lopped off one of my own limbs or appendages in a second.

Jellyfish salad served for lunch.  Jellyfish is commercially harvested and consumed in Japan, China and other Asian countries.  The salad is made from our species of study, Rhopilema esculentum.

A live specimen of the rhizostome jellyfish Rhopilema esculentum, next to my boot for size.  The jelly was dipped out of the water by our fishermen captain guides who were taking us to see the fishing grounds, vessels and processing plants.  This individual is relatively small for the species.

Freshly caught Rhopilema esculentum on a fishing vessel.  Live jellyfish are cleaned and various body parts separated for processing on land.  Umbrellas are the oval shapes in buckets on the right side
of the image.  Oral arms and rhopalia (the dangly bits that hang down from the jellyfish) are in the bucket at the left, encased in a net. Oral arms of this species are the prized flesh, selling for the
highest price on the market.  More large umbrella parts are stored in the hold, under the deck of the ship.  The lid of one of the holds is open at the left showing a tiny glimpse of some of the day's harvest.

The R/V Toyoshio Maru, the research vessel belonging to Hiroshima University, anchored in the Ariake Sea.  Many vessels in Japan bear the name "Maru" at the end - it refers to a "child's toilet".  Apparently, by including the name of something rather unpleasant, the bad spirits are warded off and its a sort of good luck charm.  This only reinforces my previously held stereotype that sailors the world over are a superstitious crowd.  A jellyfish fishing boat has tethered to the ship to give us a chance to see their catch for the day.

The jovial proprietor of a jellyfish processing plant ashore near Saga.  Fresh jellyfish catch is cured in alum for up to 2 weeks, dehydrating the flesh to a less watery state more suitable for culinary use and shipping.  From there, the jellyfish meat will be packed and shipped to China, in this case.  The man is standing next to a tank of oral arms - the most valuable and palatable part of the edible jellyfish.  This species is especially lucrative and has a dark red color to the oral arms.

A full size Rhopilema esculentum individual.  The fate of this individual was not for the dinner plate but for scientific pursuit: our team needed weights and measures of the different body parts to be able to assess biomass (amount of organic material) from commercial statistics of commercial catch.  When R. esculentum becomes stressed, it often sheds tentacles and mucous as can be seen in the tank.  This was the only full size specimen our crew collected in two days of searching; but we did see an almost constant supply of broken off tentacles in the waters surrounding the vessel.  We speculated that fishing efforts in the bay probably captured most of the individuals, leaving only tentacles and few intact individuals to float by our deck.

 Another species of "jellyfish", this one less conventional in appearance.  Its Porpita porpita, or Blue Button (in Japanese, the common name translates to something like "Coin Jellyfish").  This species belongs to a different taxonomic class than the animals most commonly thought of as jellyfish with an umbrella and tentacles dangling below it.  P. porpita still posess stinging cells, but they aren't usually so harmful to humans.

The "late" auction at Hakata Fish Market, 4:15 am.  The first auction starts at 3 am with tuna.  The buyers all wear red caps, the auctioneers and market workers are in white.  Also visible is one of the fishermen, in blue-green overalls:  fisherpeople drive their boat up to a dock just underneath where we're standing, unload their fresh catch, and wait to negotiate with the market workers before heading back out in their boats.  In this photo, the auctioneer is reaching toward one of the fish boxes in the middle; what you can't see is that he's screaming at the top of his lungs.  The ordeal for the buying and selling this lot of fish is over in just a few minutes.

Also, i've posted loads more photos over here.  Lemme know if you want an explanation for any of those!  Lots to look at.

notes from Japan - welcome party and 4th of July

I've reached the halfway mark of my stay in Japan.  Each day is still full of surprises and joys.  I am full of gratitude.

I am being hosted by the Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences.  The floor i work on is populated with all of the marine biological scientists - there's the Phytoplankton lab, the Jellyfish (and zooplankton) lab, the Microorganisms lab.  Other floors in the building house such wonderful studies such as fish biology and biochemistry.  The students on my floor got together and organized a welcome party for me and one other American who was visiting the department.  I took some photos - we held the party in the lunchroom/library/breakroom.

Marine Science!

Takoyaki maker = tako is octopus, so these are balls of batter with octopus bits inside, and cooked in this special waffle-iron thing that makes spheres.  I was fascinated with this process, and that anybody owned such a thing - there were two takoyaki cooker units at the party.

My host advisor thoughtfully arranged for a group of us to attend the Hiroshima Carp baseball game on the 4th of July.  I am a a holdover baseball fan - a fan from when i was a kid and played tee-ball, then softball.  Aside from sincerely enjoying watching a game live, i also was extremely appreciative of this particular game:  on the United States' Independence Day holiday, watching the home team of a city that my home country annihilated with an atomic bomb almost 70 years ago.

Here is our group, cheering for the Carp.

At the end of the 7th inning (precisely), given that the team is winning, everyone is to blow up their special balloon like this, and wave it around whilst we sing.  On cue, everyone lets go of their balloons at the same time and all the balloons fill the sky for a moment.

Me and the other American in our group decided to try to get the wave going earlier in the game.  He speaks Japanese, and asked people around us if they knew "the wave".  They assured us they did, and so we agreed to start it.  My friend stood up and yelled, really loudly, so that everyone in our section could hear, something like "EVERYONE!  Lets do the wave!!".  We tried, but it was still only four of us that stood up each time.  Nobody else really understood the wave, after all.  And even if they did, it certainly wasn't a tradition to do at the game, so we dropped it.  There are several Americans who play for the team, and when the game was over, there was a broadcast interview with several players.  The first person who spoke was speaking in English, over the loudspeaker in the stadium!  I was so surprised to suddenly hear (American) English being broadcast, and it was the 4th of July - i half expected the guy to start singing or reciting the Star Spangled Banner.  It was so interesting to watch baseball, this American tradition, in Japan where it is now very popular and is its own tradition, albeit similar.  It was a perfectly fitting 4th of July celebration for me.  

Many other strange and wonderful things have happened here, including my participation in our University's weekly tea club (Japanese tea ceremony), shopping for kimono in a department store, finding all-things-matcha (its a flavoring for every kind of sweet food treat you can imagine, from cereal to soft serve) and seeing the jellyfish growing facility in the lab i'm working in.  I hope to post soon about more travels including Miyajima and the Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial.  Also i'd like to write about my experience in Japanese culture, and the mirror it provides for my own culture.  Coming soon!

Jellyfish that's been cultured in the lab (Chrysaora sp.)

An especially good sign

giant jellyfish, rice planting and a pilgrimage

the past week and a half has been packed.  i departed from Tokyo and my new friends in the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship to Fujieda - a small town just outside Shizuoka.

Matcha selection at Tokyo Station (train/subway)

At Fujieda, i met with my dear friend Yuto who had been a farmer with our crew at Green Gulch a few years ago.  Upon arrival, i had the great pleasure and honor to meet his teacher, Shunko-san.  Shunko is a female priest - a very unusual occurrence in Japanese Buddhism.  She welcomed us with warmth and care, and lavished us with tea and umeboshi (pickled sour plum), the latter which she had just finished making.  It was exquisite, and she was the embodiment of what Dogen calls "grandmotherly mind" - extremely caring and sweet and a wonderful host.  

Yuto himself has now ascended to the seat of Abbot of Ryuunji, the temple at Fujieda, where Shunko-san was previously Abbess.  

Windows at Ryuunji - the symbols are for the two Soto Zen Buddhist training temples in Japan: Eiheiji (L) and Sojiji (R), and are the combined symbol of the Soto-Shu, the governing body for Soto Zen.

I really enjoyed staying at the temple, and sitting zazen with Yuto again.  It was wonderful, and peaceful.  The temple is situated right up into the hills at the outskirts of town.  I arrived one week after the rice had been planted in the fields, and i felt happy about this agricultural marker to my arrival.  I arrive in Japan, the rice is planted in the fields of water and soil.  This is good.  We grow and expand, together.  

Fujieda rice fields.  Ryuunji is the building in the back, and the cemetery is visible on the hillside beside the temple.

The tiny rice seedling plants were bristling out over the water.  There were many birds and frogs, and at night we saw a few fireflies.  We visited the town onsen, or public bath (gender segregated).  We had dinner there first, and i ate hot udon soup.  Yuto got locker number 108 as his shoe locker, which i thought was auspicious, and we laughed about it.  108 is a significant number in Buddhism, and its the number of beads on a mala.

It was an honor to make the pilgrimage to visit my friend, and to meet his venerable teacher, a rare female priest in a world of men.  

Yuto and me

Next i traveled to Higashi-Hiroshima.  I was warmly greeted at the train by Professor Shin-Ichi Uye, my host advisor here in Japan, and one of his postdoc's, Tjasa.  We drove around the campus and the town a little bit.  It turns out Higashi-Hiroshima is sort of like the region or the suburb - its not actually a city.  Its sort of like a county, except Hiroshima is the prefecture.  So the town i'm in is called Saijo.  We're about a 15 minute train ride from Hiroshima city.  I was graciously delivered to my new apartment, in a district called Shitami, which is just north of the university.  It only takes a few minutes to walk to my office, and i'm on the 5th floor.  Its a clean, new place, and its been lovely.  

the view from my apartment building

The day after i arrived, i met the members of the lab and Prof. Uye provided a fascinating introduction to the giant jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai.  This is one of the species i'll be working with for my project here, and has been an incredible nuisance for fisheries in the Sea of Japan.  Prof. Uye has been instrumental in researching the life cycle and biology of this species, which can grow to 2 m (5 feet!) across as medusae.  He and the members of the lab and the department have been SO friendly and helpful.  I'm humbled by their generosity.

A good sign that i've arrived in the correct place

a link to our greeting by the Emperor and Empress of Japan

As i said in a previous post, we had the incredible honor of being greeted by their majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan.  The Emperor, Akihito, is a scholar of marine biology and especially fishes.  The royal couple are keen on encouraging scientific collaboration between Japan and other countries, and the venerable pair made their encouragement known to each of us fellows loud and clear.  Thank you for the message, Your Highnesses - i am honored to receive your message.  Here's the link to an article and photo from a fellow JSPS fellow:

http://thomdavies.com/2014/06/meeting-emperor-japan/

hello Japan

there was a long day of traveling and staying up late and not sleeping much and drinking a lot of water - in the hope of minimizing jet-lag.  this actually worked reasonably well.  the only side-effect being i'm waking up around 5 am instead of 7 when my alarm is set for.  i can't say i'm unhappy with that situation!

Sunrise over Lake Ponchartrain

i've been in orientation with our fellowship program so far.  its only my third day here, and already it feels like weeks instead of days - each day is so full. wonderful people and so encouraging to meet so many scientists and scholars.  we had the absolutely incredible honor to be welcomed to Japan by their majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan.  i am still speechless and breathless when i think of it.  we weren't informed until the day of the event, and even then, we weren't allowed to change clothes or prepare really (probably for security reasons).  we were thus incredibly casual in dress - but we were assured this was ok.  the royal couple arrived to a reception before dinner, and spent about 40 minutes talking with the students and honoring us with their presence.  it was really the chance of a lifetime, and i am humbled beyond words by this extraordinary visit.  

more, soon.  

goodbye, house

(I moved out of my house on friday. I wanted to write the house a little goodbye letter)

Goodbye house
Goodbye commute - snoball stand in a driveway, logging trucks barreling opposite me in the morning, house with the perpetual yard sale and small mountians of sand, 15 foot political signs advertising conservative candidates, hand painted signs advertising land for sal or waterslides
Goodbye goats - the four remaining
Goodbye cats - the nine remaining and especially Cleo who died suddenly a few days ago
Goodbye frogs - cacophony!
Goodbye birds and bugs
Goodbye lightening bugs!  Always blinking, as if taunting
Goodbye Father Larry and your backyard shooting range next door
Goodbye to the good days and bad
The loaves of bread and stews
Goodbye to the warm safe place to lay my head
And even goodbye to the spiders.  The enormous, bone chillingly large and terrifying spiders.  I learned your names, I tried to get along with you.  Huntsman. Wolf. Brown recluse.  Goodbye!

Next stop, Japan!

Dear River

Dear Mississippi River,
This is where you're allowed to be.

http://media.nola.com/hurricane_impact/photo/hurricane-protection-system-graphic-8def260a8445ece9.jpg

Any questions?  Please refer to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Sincerely,
People

Ocean science questions ANSWERED! post 9 - Why is the sea salty?

Q:  Why is the ocean salty? And what are the benefits of its saltiness? (Emma, Paul)

A:  Yayyyy!  I love this question – it seems so simple, and then there are all of these nuances that become important and it’s not a simple story.  So here goes:  The ocean is salty because it slowly accumulated salts over the course of its formation, and with the formation of the hydrologic cycle of the earth.  Nowadays, there is a tidy balance between th continuous onslaught of salts being delivered from rivers, and the output (export or sequestration) of those materials.  On land, rocks are weathered through chemical and mechanical weathering that dislodges minerals from the rocks and mobilizes them into runoff waters such as rain, rivulets, groundwater and rivers and streams.  This weathered material can take the form of dissolved salts or suspended particles (sediment).   Regardless, a huge amount of sediment and dissolved minerals are delivered to the ocean at the mouths of rivers.  There are other sources of salt material, as well:  dust mobilized from the great deserts and deposited in the ocean, hydrothermal vents and underwater volcanic eruptions, for example.  It seemed counter-intuitive to me that this bit of salt could make a difference in the enormous ocean,  but we’ve used this idea of salts input and outputs we see today to explain how salty must have formed on early earth.  Some of the ocean’s salts – especially chlorine – are extremely soluble, and extremely unlikely to be removed from the water column once they’ve entered.  The water in the ocean does not mix and turn over very quickly, so the salt eventually accumulated, but it took time.  The commonly held belief now is that salts built up in the ocean over a very long time period, enough to make the water salty, and now the ocean is in a relative steady state with respect to salinity (the latter is not disputed, and there is a huge amount of evidence that shows that salinity has been stable for millions, maybe billions of years).  When ocean water evaporates, the salts are left behind.  Back to present day ocean:  there is a net balance of salt in and salt out, while water continues to flow in and evaporate out, and we experience the salty ancient ocean.   Some of the salts are taken out of the water by organisms (especially calcium carbonate formation), by volcanic activity on the seafloor, and by the subduction of tectonic plates, but these are all slow processes. 

The salinity of the ocean ranges from brackish in the estuaries and some bays, with a salinity of less than 1, to high salinities in a place like the Mediterranean Sea with salinities upwards of 38 (parts per thousand).  Most of the ocean ranges from between 32 – 36.  The units used to describe salinity are interesting, because we don’t use a measure of actual salt per volume water anymore.  We now use the conductivity of the water, which indicates the level of salts, and the measure is a unitless ratio, so sometimes we use “PSU” to denote practical salinity units, but it’s not necessary to use units and sometimes it’s frowned upon. 

The ocean being salty is important, because we wouldn’t have life as we know it without it!  This is because of the hydrologic cycle.  If we didn’t have our hydrologic cycle, we wouldn’t be here.  We rely on the cycle for our water, and everything we eat depends on it too.  The ocean and the land are inextricably connected by the water and biogeochemical cycles of the planet, and we need them all to function. 

Ocean science questions ANSWERED!: post 8 - Deepwater Horizon and oil spills

      Q:  What's the truth about oil spills & the dispersant chemicals used to "clean" them up? (several people asked about this)

A:  The truth is similar to Fukushima.  The Deepwater Horizon blowout is one of the worst environmental disasters to take place in the USA – and the biggest oil spill in US waters.  There is a lot of hype though too.  Its horrible and jarring to see images of the extent of the oil – and it was massive – from DWH.  One of the things is:  oil floats.  So most of the material from the spill was cruising for the surface, and still being less dense than water it gets blown to shore very easily.  SO.  The dispersant was a good idea for saving the large, charismatic, and commercially important species, because it binds to the oil particles and makes them sink.  There are far fewer organisms living on the bottom of the deep sea than the coastal zone.  If there were dispersants used in the coastal zones (and shallow areas), that would probably be disastrous because there is so much life there.  But in the open water and deeper sea, closer to the wellhead, it’s a decent option because it gets that oil out of the most productive part of the ocean – the surface layers.  No matter what, the oil is impacting some organisms – it’s a matter of how much and where.  There has been a lot of talk about the dispersants, and I still don’t know the answer – I haven’t been shown anything to prove to me that those chemicals aren’t horribly toxic.  But the issue seems to be that we are continuing to approve new drilling permits for deep sea operations, and BP and the companies responsible are not doing their share to take responsibility for the impact the spill had on the ecosystem.  I’m really interested in studying the impacts to the benthos of the oil spill and dispersants – my guess (and what I’ve read so far) is that the benthic community was drastically altered after the oil spill, although we don’t have conclusive proof yet that its directly because of the oil and dispersants.  So the truth is, more needs to be done to find out the real environmental costs of the oil spill.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED! post 7 - Fukushima radiation

      Q:  What's the truth about Fukushima radiation landing on US shores?

A:  The truth is that radiation has not, as far as we know, gotten to the west coast of the US, but there are imminent plans to test the waters.  There is still radiation in the water from every atomic bomb that’s ever been tested – the stuff stays around a long time – but that doesn’t mean there’s radiation poisoning everything.  So it’s a myth that there is a health problem right now for US-dwellers, but this is always a moving target and may be revised as new information becomes available.  What is NOT a myth is that the Fukushima disaster was unparalleled in its disastrous effects.  The good folks at Southern Fried Science have done a nice corralling of info for us (also see the Deep Sea News pieces – very good):  http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=16363.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED! post 6 - Salps and pteropods! Gelatinous zooplankton!

Q:  What is the overall niche of salps and pteropods? Are there any theories to predict where you get a food web with lots of gelatinous little zooplankton (I'm not counting medusae) instead of crustaceans?  (Neil)

A:  Salps have a particular niche, because there are only a few species groups and they tend to feed in a similar fashion to one another – they make large aggregates and feed and respire and excrete and die in a big cluster.  Pteropods on the other hand are varied, and diverse – from thecosome pteropods (the little “sea snails” with shells made so famous by ocean acidification research) to gymnothecates with no shell and soft bodies, they are varied in form, feeding and life cycle.  I guess there might be a similar niche, in the sense that shelled-pteropods make a mucous net to stick prey onto and then consume the house, and salps do something similar.  They both filter a large amount of water, although salps probably more because they are bigger in size. 

Theories to predict where you’d get a food web with lots of LITTLE gelatinous zooplankton!  Yes.  Making a theory up on the spot, I think there could be more LITTLE gelatinous zooplankton in the highly productive upwelling region food chains.  I’m saying that because we usually see those areas with a simplified food chain, with forage fish feeding on zooplankton, and large animals feeding on the fish – sort of skipping over the large jellies and some of the larger macrozooplankton.  Of course, systems are always more complicated than the model, but that could be a first crack at my theory.  Also, shelled pteropods have been shown to be a significant part of salmon’s diets (but only in some years).  So that’s not much to build a theory on, either.  Still a long way to go, in my view, for a unified theory on zooplankton ecology – especially gelatinous ones.  

Update:  i just read that Oikopleura (larvaceans) have mucous nets with such tiny openings that they can snare bacteria in there.  !  This seems mind-boggling to me, but what it means is that maybe Oikopleura are playing a bigger role in the microbial loop than we know at the moment.  If that's the case, perhaps there's a truncated food web going on when Oikopleura are present in large enough numbers.
Update #2:  it seems that some salps swarm and aggregate when other's (meso+macrozoop) don't, usually because of nutrient limitation.  This might also be a suggestion of a niche for salps:  if they can filter and feed on bacteria and the microbial loop, they might be able to subsist without phytoplankton if there is enough dissolved organic matter/dissolved organic carbon that's floating around in the water.  Such a scenario could happen if there were a phyto bloom, and then nutrients were limited and there wasn't a complete drawdown of nutrients by zooplankton, then phytos die off and there's just a slow accumulation of DOC for a period of months.  However, this doesn't really suggest a "niche" to me, per se, because it seems like salps could/would just as easily swarm in an environment replete with nutrients and things to eat.  There is probably a competitive advantage to being able to swoop in and eat when others can't, but i'm not sure that constitutes a niche.
Update #3:  i think this exploitation of resources by salps could be tied to disturbance - if there's disturbance and enough DOC is in the water, salps can ride in.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED!: post 5 - Gulf of Mexico

      Q:  How has past and current geology, historic ocean currents and other factors influenced the diversity of the GOM? (Matthew)

       A:     First, lets discuss the geology of the Gulf of Mexico.  The Gulf is considered a passive margin, because its not at the site of an active fault or tectonically active rift, subduction zone or volcanic feature.  It is also dominated by the enormous Mississippi River flowing into it.  The continental shelf varies in length around the Gulf – it extends the farthest around Florida (the Florida Keys are all on the shelf).  The basin itself is also relatively shallow, compared to deep ocean basins.  These features all affect the type of sediment and substrate found at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico – mostly reefs (around Florida) and soft-bottom substrate.  Also, along the northern Gulf continental slope (that’s the steep part between the shelf and the basin, usually about 200 – 3000 m water depth), there are extensive salt domes and carbon-rich deposits embedded in the slope, shelf and continental rise.  This is where all the oil and gas drilling and mining occurs.  Oil and gas deposits suggest that parts of the Gulf of Mexico were filled with carbon-rich deposits (such as plants and animals in abundance living, dying, and becoming deposited on the substrate and subsequently buried).  Such a situation could have occurred with low stands of the sea, where sea level was much lower than it is now (up to 200 m lower), and rivers emptied directly onto the continental shelf.  In such a low stand of the sea, organic deposits could build up and eventually become fossilized or sedimented.  When sea level rose again, the shelf would be covered with water and marine sedimentation would begin again, and thus we see layers of carbon rich deposits and marine sediments. 

      The canyons of the slope and rise are built by turbidity currents.  Turbidity currents are gravity flows of sediment, mobilized with water and remain in motion because of the turbidity.  Turbidity currents move because the sediment is much more dense than water, and so the turbidity of a dense material creates a flow that accumulates as it “runs”, and turbidity currents can blast through the topography at extraordinary speeds.  Turbidity currents leave “turbidites” behind in their wake, or sediments from turbidity currents.  These turbidites resemble riverine delta regions in terms of deposition grain size – the large grains settle out first, then silts and clays last.  Turbidity currents and turbidites are important features of the GoM. 

      As for biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico, there are connections with the geology and physical oceanography of the basin, as these are often the driving factors behind diversity.  However, also playing a role in biological production are the availability of nutrients and appropriate habitats for each trophic level.  The benthic organisms are the most diverse within the marine species, so if there are good habitats and growth conditions for benthics then there will be high diversity. For this reason, some have chosen to measure substrate diversity as a proxy for biodiversity of the system.  In reality, there are more factors than this contributing, especially including nutrients and recruitment ability of each population.  However, the Gulf plays host to some of the most diverse benthic ecosystems on the planet:  coral reefs.  Reef systems tend to have the most diversity of any marine ecosystem type, the “tropical rainforest” of the sea.  Since the Gulf of Mexico does have some coral reefs, especially in the shelf area off Florida, it can be considered to have relatively high diversity.  Also, as the Gulf of Mexico is NOT a big deep basin with unproductive oceanic gyres in it, the whole of the basin is relatively productive.  This doesn’t necessarily mean its more diverse, but more productivity is a good starting point for being able to have high diversity.  There are smaller mesoscale eddies that transport plankton, nutrients and fish larvae around the basin, along with currents, but there are no upwelling or downwelling features that impact biological productivity on a large scale.  The “global conveyor belt” of thermohaline circulation is such that the Gulf receives surface (warmer, less nutrients) water from the Atlantic, but probably none of the North Atlantic Deep Water or nutrient and oxygen-rich deep waters.  Biological production is limited to the nutrients that are provided via the rivers, Aeolian input and from marine sediments.

Ocean science questions ANSWERED!: post 4 - Submarine groundwater discharge

      

      Q: I have often wondered: if there is "groundwater" beneath the earth's surface, there must also be groundwater beneath the ocean floor too. Is it true? How deep does it go? Is it all salt water? How salty? (Marshall)

A:  Yes, its true!  Well, to a certain point.  When you say, “ocean floor”, think of the shoreline.  That’s where the groundwater is.  There’s a very new, very exciting line of study of groundwater discharge.  Its fascinating, and its possible that there is a significant amount of water exchange between the fresh and saltwater bodies that we really didn’t know about before.  It doesn’t go all that deep – maybe 100 m or so.  And it is certainly not all saltwater – using radon as a tracer, people have shown that there are significant amounts of freshwater seeping out.  However, saltwater can also seep into the freshwater, and there are freshwater aquifers that are often an important source of drinking water for coastal communities, that are becoming contaminated by saltwater intrusions.  This is exacerbated by draining the aquifers:  if you’re pulling water out, laws of physics indicate that new water will fill in, and saltwater may be more readily available, especially at the ocean’s shoreline.  So the water may be saline, fresh, or brackish (usually salt water is defined as having above 20 parts per thousand of salt, whereas freshwater has zero).  Also, in the deep ocean at the hydrothermal vents and spreading centers (the Mid-Ocean Ridges) there is significant water exchange into the rocks and sediment.  This is all saltwater, though.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED!: post 3 - Tides

          I wanted a little exercise to help me study for my comprehensive exams in my PhD program in Marine Science.  So i asked you all to write to me with your burning ocean science question, and i will answer right away, in practice for the exam.  Here are some of the q's and a's.

     Q:  When low tides happen, is the "middle" of the ocean higher? How can it not 'fall' back toward the shores?

A:  I love this question – I had the same question in my mind when trying to grapple with the idea of tides!  Tides are the product of gravity, and the force of gravity exerted by the moon, and the sun.  And for each of these heavenly bodies, there are two forces to consider:  gravitational force (gravity) and centrifugal force.  For gravitational force, the water on earth is pulled toward the sun, toward the moon.  For centrifugal force, the water on earth is pulled away from the sun, away from the moon.  So now envision the Earth, orbiting around the sun, and picture a lens around the sphere of the earth.  Imagine the earth at 3 o’clock, with the sun in the center, and at 9 o’clock – the gravitational force pulls the water to opposite sides of the earth at each of those times.  Now the gravitational force is stronger with the sun (the moon is closer to earth than the sun, but the sun is MUCH bigger), but both forces play a role in each other’s gravitational forces and the tides.  SO. You have the earth orbiting the sun.  And you have the moon orbiting the earth.  And you have the earth spinning on its axis each day, as well as the annual orbit of the sun.   So there’s a LOT of motion going on, and this is why the tides are so complicated at each given place! 

To answer your question – yes!  When its low tide on Muir Beach, the “middle” of the ocean is higher – out in the deep Pacific.  However, thanks to our gravity field on earth, and the fact that the ocean basins are so enormous, the basins essentially absorb that bulge.  But this also creates high tide somewhere else – with the Muir Beach example, lets say it’ll be high tide at Fukushima, maybe, at the same time.   Essentially, the water moves like this because of the amazing gravitational fields of the earth, sun and moon, and because of centrifugal forces.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED! post 2 - Ocean Acidification

      I wanted a little exercise to help me study for my comprehensive exams in my PhD program in Marine Science.  So i asked you all to write to me with your burning ocean science question, and i will answer right away, in practice for the exam.  Here are some of the q's and a's.

    Q:   What's the deal with ocean acidification?  

      (original question: How has human-caused greenhouse gas build-up affected the acidification of the seas--or is it vice-versa? or separate events convergent? - Qayyum)

A:  Ocean acidification is the process whereby the ocean becomes more acidic with increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.  Ocean acidification is an impact to the carbon system, or carbon cycle.  CO2 is the most prevalent greenhouse gas; that is, it’s the one found in highest concentrations in the atmosphere as compared to the others.  The ocean is the largest sink (sequestration site) of CO2, for any entity in continual contact with the atmosphere; the ocean captures and stores about 1/3 of the human-produced carbon dioxide today. This is due to phytoplankton taking CO2 in and eventually sinking (in one form or another) to the bottom and becoming sediment.  There is this magnificent cycle of carbon going on – CO2 exchanges with seawater due to diffusion and photosynthesis via phytoplankton (algae).  In order to understand the details, you need to understand some chemistry.  First lets discuss pH:  pH is a measure of hydrogen ions.  Hydrogen ions are sort of unusual, because they are positively charged and “want” to bond with other things.  The activity of the hydrogen ions in the water is pH, or acidity.  More hydrogen, more acidity.  Now lets get back to CO2.  Once in the seawater, CO2 goes through several different reactions interacting with water (H2O), and in each reaction hydrogen ions are produced.  So on a very basic level, more CO2 coming into the water will mean more acidity.  Its complicated by the remainder of the carbon cycle and the sequestration of carbon mentioned earlier.  In order for pH to stay the same, with increased CO2 in the water, there would need to be increased sequestration (input = output).  Sequestration is accomplished by plants and animals incorporating the CO2 into their bodies in the form of calcium carbonate.  The plants/animals die, and the calcium carbonate sinks and becomes sediment, sequestering that carbon in the sediment.  SO, one problem is that some of the organisms that create calcium carbonate structures in their bodies have a harder time doing that when there’s more CO2 in the water.  Furthermore, there is less deposition of calcium carbonate to the bottom, if there is more CO2 in the water.  This is all to say that there are several feedback loops that make more CO2 in the water feedback on itself and fuel more and more acidity.  There is much more we need to know about this process, and how increased acidity might affect organisms, AND the process of changing pH over the long term is VERY slow.  It makes the fact that we are seeing a change in pH at all in the ocean very troubling, and urgent in terms of understanding more about what’s going on.  

Ocean science questions ANSWERED! post 1 - Temperature rising

I wanted a little exercise to help me study for my comprehensive exams in my PhD program in Marine Science.  So i asked you all to write to me with your burning ocean science question, and i will answer right away, in practice for the exam.  Here are some of the q's and a's.

Q:  How does the rise in global temperatures affect the carbon-carrying capacity of the oceans? Can you quantify this? (Bruce)

               

A: Yes!  This is an important component of ocean acidification.  OA is the process whereby the ocean becomes more acidic with increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.  Ocean acidification is an impact to the carbon system, or carbon cycle.  There is no “carrying capacity” of carbon in the ocean per se; that is, it is unknown how much carbon the ocean could store or sequester.  The ocean is the largest sink (sequestration site) of CO2, for any entity in continual contact with the atmosphere; the ocean captures and stores about 1/3 of the human-produced carbon dioxide today. This is due to phytoplankton taking CO2 in and eventually sinking (in one form or another) to the bottom and becoming sediment.  The way temperature works into all of this is twofold.  First, CO2 is a greenhouse gas.  This means that the more CO2 there is the atmosphere, the more solar radiation will be trapped in the atmosphere, and the warmer the temperature will get at the surface of the Earth.  So it’s a tidy little feedback loop.  Second, temperature affects the solubility of gases (the amount of the gas that can be present in the water).  Higher temperature means less gas solubility.  This isn’t so much a “problem” for absorbing CO2, and transporting to the sediment, since higher temps will mean less CO2 in the water, but it is a problem for absorbing oxygen!  Higher temperatures mean that over the long term, less oxygen-rich waters will be formed, and oxygen rich waters are one of the VERY important components of fueling phytoplankton growth in the most productive parts of the ocean. 

               So to answer your question, yes, rising temperature definitely impacts the ability of the ocean to sequester carbon dioxide.  And yes, we can measure it!  Doney et al (2009) provide an excellent review of the carbon cycle in the ocean, and how rising CO2 levels can be measured.  Measuring global temperature is continually occurring, and is also accomplished by measuring levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  

Radio silence doesn't mean nothing happening - notes on fear and death

Well, its been busy.  I guess i say that a lot.  I guess we all say that a lot.  Is that why i haven't posted for months?  Partly.  And in part because there was some of this happening:
cold snap
garden tending
number crunching
make dinner
clean the carpet
register the car
sit
talk to a friend
listen to NPR
watch the birds
jog on dirt paths
watch the sunset light up the heavens and the swamp over the pearl river on the I-10 bridge streaking orange and pink and magenta and yellow and how is this even possible
meeting new people
tending to each thing

And all the while there's always some thinking, thinking not-thinking, non-thinking (as Dogen says).  There were all these spiders in my house as the autumn arrived.  I started thinking (see?) about what is the fear?  Why is it that i am so deathly afraid of this thing?  And its only really *some* spiders - the daddy-long-legs, spindly ones don't bother me so much.  Even the small but hefty ones - if they're really tiny, i don't mind as much.  So why am i afraid of this one form of spider?

Its very clear in MY mind:  because they're HUGE!  They're FURRY!  They're horribly scary!  So i guess what doesn't compute then, is why isn't everyone scared of these things?  Why would i be afraid of something someone else has no response to?  What is fear, in general?  I mean i know something about what it does in the body (stimulation, activation, fight or flight), but i don't know why.  I've been thinking about it a lot.  I don't have a rational answer for why i'm afraid of (big, hairy) spiders.  But i do know that fear arises differently for each of us.  The only thing i could narrow most (all?) fear down to was that ever-present fear of death.  Maybe fear is basically about fear of death, in some way - not necessarily our own physical death, but the death or loss of anything:  an idea, a moment.

And then this Great Sadness settles into my field of vision, when i think about the real physicality of death.  A good friend of the sangha, Abbot Steve Stuckey, is actively dying in California right now.  He was diagnosed with stage IV (pancreatic?) cancer this autumn.  It was just after i left California that i found out.  I am still shocked - by the diagnosis, by the speed - one minute we're fine and living our life and the next minute we're preparing for our last months alive?  Yes, this is sometimes how it is.

Abbot Steve was one the first to farm at this special place

Even though we all know we're going to die, we live as though we're going to live into old age.  Shocking, and sad and unclear how i feel or how to express my sorrow when it arises.  These are the responses that have come up for me.  I feel sad that Steve will die soon.  I feel sad that Zen Center will lose its leader, teacher and friend.  I feel sad that friends of mine will lose their teacher.  And, i feel fear and sadness because Steve's diagnosis points to my own mortality.  I think of all the people i've known or been close to who have died (especially the ones who weren't over 80 years old).  John-Alex.  Dave.  Adam.  Michael.  Moira.  Frank.  This happens!  This is happening!  How do we function, in the midst of death and loss and grief?  Its overwhelming to think about sometimes.  And so we say the names of those who have died.  We remember them and memorialize them.  We celebrate our own life, and the time we did have with those who have died.  We give thanks and find gratitude for each moment, even if there is pain or suffering.  There is gratitude in being alive, and we can find this kernel when we look.  That seems to be the Most Important Thing.  So we grieve together, and celebrate together.  And i just want to say to Abbot Steve:  Thank you.  I love you.  I'm sorry.

Gasland 2 - coming soon to a backyard near you

What happens when you wake up to bad news?  What do we do when our backyard is suddenly next door to oil and gas development?  Is there anything we can do?  My friends are walking the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, holding that question.  Josh Fox seems tireless, in his effort to connect with people and document what's happening regarding fracking around the USA, and now the world.  

I had the honor of attending a (FREE!) screening of Gasland 2, along with q+a with Josh Fox, Wilma Subra, and Al Armendiaz in New Orleans.  The screening was hosted by the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, at the amazing Pyritania Theater.  I felt exhilarated, being in the same room with these advocacy and awareness (through science!) heavyweights.  I felt abuzz with energy, and also i found myself humbled and overwhelmed with the knowledge that these three people have worked with such incredible dedication to investigate the truth of fracking, and to bring those truths to as many people as possible.  Also, i'd been wanting to ask Josh Fox if he knew my friend Sarajane - the both of them being from Pennsylvania, and they're both totally awesome.  I didn't get to ask that - but i did get a photo.

The film is a nice conclusion, a nice summary to the conclusion of each progressive-ideals path i've walked down recently.  The conclusion is that our democracy is broken.  Its not like this is new news; more like its just helpful to have one more group of people searching for truth come to this conclusion.  And i do find myself reinvigorated to organize around environmental issues and awareness in the Deep South.  Onward!