Tuesday, 3 October, 12 noon - 1pm, LBLT118

Dr David Pugh OBE, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

Marine Science and Ocean Governance

 

Thursday, 14 September

Anders Lyons, The Nature Conservancy

Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium

 

Public Lecture

Tuesday, 3 October

Dr David Pugh OBE, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

Marine Science and Ocean Governance

David Pugh is Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and an expert in sea level changes and coastal flooding. He has been involved in negotiations among Governments, in the United Nations and at many other international meetings. Oceans and seas cover 70% of the planet. They provide valuable resources and control our climate. Most are outside all national control, so how can the high seas be monitored and managed effectively? Can anything stop irreversible damage? And how can the voice of marine professionals be heard among all the other expressions of popular concern?

This lecture will address these issues by first emphasizing the value of the oceans in both economic and more general terms. This will lead to: the case for governance, recognizing the present and potential threats to the oceans; the role of science in helping to develop effective management mechanisms; a critical view of existing co-ordination mechanisms; and finally some personal thoughts on the place for individuals in such a global and impersonal process; and on how it could be better in future.

David Pugh is also a Vice-President and Trustee of the IMarEST

 

Tuesday 29 August

Dr Adele Pile, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney

Eel City: New vent communities found at Vailulu'u Seamount, Samoan Archipelago

In March 2005, the first submersible exploration of the Samoan hotspot revealed a new volcano, Nafanua, that had grown 300m in the crater of Vailulu'u seamount in less than four years. Several types of hydrothermal vents fill Vailuluíu crater with a thick suspension of hydrothermal particulates and toxic fluids that mix with seawater entering from the crater breaches. Low-temperature vents at the summit form Fe-oxide chimneys, support microbial mats up to one-meter thick, and are inhabited by a thriving population of eels (Dysommina rugosa) that feed on midwater shrimp concentrated by the anticyclonic currents at the volcano summit and rim. High temperature (81°C) vents near the crater floor produce oil like droplets (probably liquid CO2 ) that rise slowly in seawater. The areas around the high temperature vents and the moat around the new volcano are littered with dead fish, squid and crustaceans that apparently died from exposure to low-pH (2.7) hydrothermal fluids. Acid-tolerant polychaetes (Polynoidae) live in this environment, apparently feeding on bacteria from decaying fish carcasses. Vailulu'u is an unpredictable underwater volcano with substantial eruptive activity. It presents a potential long-term volcanic hazard but is also a unique natural laboratory for studying how volcanoes interact with the hydrosphere and the biosphere. Although eels thrive in hydrothermal vents at the summit of Nafanua, venting elsewhere in the crater causes mass mortality. Paradoxically, the same circular currents that deliver food to the eels may also concentrate a wide variety of nektonic animals in a death trap of toxic fluids.

6 June 2006

Carol Stewart, Academic Associate of the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences (SGES), Auckland University  

Marine antifouling paints: the legacy of seabed contamination, current risks and future developments.

Antifouling paints are necessary for two main reasons. They prevent or slow down the growth of fouling organisms on submerged surfaces, and are therefore vitally important to the shipping industry, where it has been estimated that fuel consumption increases 6% with every 100 É m increase in hull roughness caused by fouling organisms. They are also used extensively in recreational boating. More recently, it has been suggested that boat hulls are an important vector in the spread of marine bioinvasive species, and therefore that antifouling paints have an important role in preventing growth on boat hulls, thus limiting the spread of invasive species. 'Old' antifouling formulations were based on highly toxic active ingredients such as mercury and tributyltin, and have left a legacy of seabed contamination. More recent formulations generally have lower risks to the marine environment, but these still need to be addressed and managed. This talk will conclude with a discussion of emerging trends in antifouling technology.