Transcript Understanding and preserving the Ocean

Understanding and preserving the Ocean
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Understanding and preserving the Ocean
Where are we?
Continental Portugal, Madeira and the Azores
Here lies the Canyon of Nazaré. The biggest underwater cliff in Europe. It is more than
500 meters deep and it has an extension of 211 km. In January 2013 the surfer Garret
McNamara caught a wave with 34 m, a world record.
But wave energy is not only good for surfing. In September 2008, the first wave park
was installed, in Póvoa do Varzim (northwest of Portugal), on a global scale.
Here on the Desert Islands, the most southern part of Portugal, you can find an
uninhabited territory which is a natural reservation. There we can find 23 of the 450
Monk Seals that still exist on Earth.
In the mountain ranges of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge of the Azores there are many Hydrothermal
vents. Here far below the surface, where the sun’s rays never reach, at over 400º C their
dissolved compounds provide the basis for complex organisms. These places are considered to
have been the birthplace of life many million years ago.
Hydrothermal vents can be a source of many biological and geological resources.
Some of these are rare earth elements. But do you know what?You carry them with
you on your mobile phone screens!
Mussels that live in hydrothermal vents can help us fighting
virus, bacteria and fungi.
There are also bacteria that produce “super enzymes” that
can be used in the production of biofuel.
Manganese nodules
Human Health
Some animals that live in big depths are the source of
countless resources necessary for human health.
Toadfish
Halobatrachus didactylus
Disturbances in balance
Winter flounder
Pseudopleuronectes americanus
Transfer of toxins from the blood into urine so that
they can be expelled.
Antifreeze gene to be applied in the transport of
organs
Atlantic horseshoe crab - living fossil
Limulus polyphemus
It allows the assessment of medicine.
Sight - its eye has got 10 times more photoreceptors
processing visual information and transmitting it to the
brain
The search for living beings as food or medicine, increases the pressure over these ecosystems.
Fishing with trawls destroys the sea floor
endangering its sustainability in a nearby future.
Consume fish whose size is above the minimum landing size
Prefer fish from our national waters
Invest in sustainable fisheries using selective fishing gear that does not
destroy the habitats and allows maintaining the stocks of species at healthy
levels.
The Oceans are a source of huge marine resources. With the excessive consumption
of fish by Man, many of the fish species are threatened with extinction. Every one of
us should contribute to a more sustainable fishing and consumption habits.
Exercice – Let me Grow
Which one of these fish should you not consume?
LINGUADO (SOLE)
SARDINHA
(Sardine)
DOURADA (Gilthead
seabream)
Six in every ten humans live in coastal areas. The high production of trash provokes
serious problems to the marine ecosystems.
Oil spills (Prestige, 2002)
How can living beings help us?
How long does it take for the following objects to decompose?
±400 years
Glass
Bottle
100 years
A carton
Of milk or
juice
450 years
8 months
200 years
Disposable
Nappye
Plastic
Bootle
Newspaper
Aluminum
can
Correction
Oil spill
F
E
Wave Energy
A
D
Hidrotermal Vents
C
Garret
McnaMara
Canyon of Nazare
Fishing with
Trawls
B
Monk Seals
Match the letters A to F with the photos and subtitles given to you.
F
E
A
D
C
B