[Samper]

I was watching tv tonight and found this on the research channel
it was from the 2005 Science Forum entitled Sea of Microbes and how biology shapes the health of our planet

In it the Dr....didn't catch her name was discussing diatoms, deep sea microbes, dna sequences in phytoplankton to detect harmful strains, CO2 levels and the impact on the ocean, ph of the ocean. There was a big discussion on potential fertilizers being used in the ocean especially iron for specific purposes. She was against this btw. She went on to natural disasters, research methods used in the field, stations they are monitoring and the technology they have etc etc. Really neat stuff. There have been websites listed throughout and I made an attempt to catch them but missed a few. If you happen to see it on sometime check it out.

College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington
NEPTUNE: Home
Welcome to the Hood Canal Disolved Oxygen Program
The Center for Environmental Visualization
Olympic Region Harmful Algal Blooms - ORHAB Partnership
wdfw.wa.gov
ECOHAB-PNW
PRISM: Home Page

[Ninong]

Did she say why she was against dumping iron to increase phytoplankton blooms? Wikipedia has some good links in a rather sketchy article on it. When I lived on the West Coast, (Monterey Bay Area and SF Bay Area), it was a new field of research that was considered promising. Iron fertilization, especially in the Southern Ocean, has been going on for a dozen years now. It may have been developed as a way of sequestering CO2 but it also benefits fishery in that an increase in phytoplankton results in a population increase all the way up the food chain.

All of those links you posted are to University of Washington sites. That's where Ron Shimek did his graduate work and received his Ph.D. He also put in time at their Friday Harbor Laboratory.

[Samper]

This is what I took from what she said.

She was against fertilizing because she didn't feel that we have at this time a well enough understanding of the marine ecosystems as a whole. What I mean is how they all tie together, impact one another etc etc. In particular she mentioned changing oceanic chemistry could have unknown potential repercussions that would far outweigh the benefits from fertilization. She mentioned nothing specific though. Perhaps she has some ideas.