Survival Of The Clams Essay

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

Catheter related bloodstream infections are not only responsible for prolonged hospital stays and increased hospital costs, it is also responsible for increased mortality of the hospitalized patients. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017), an estimate of 30,100 central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) occur in intensive care units and wards of U.S. acute care facilities each year. CLABSI is a serious hospital-acquired infection that occurs when bacteria enters the bloodstream through central venous catheters. CLABSI is preventable as long as health-care personnel practice aseptic techniques when working with the catheter. A blood culture swabbed from the tip of the catheter is needed to confirm the

There are many destructive ways that the Florida red tide harms the living things along the Gulf Coast. Documented evidence in the past decade indicates that Karenia brevis red tide blooms exposures of brevetoxins were responsible for massive deaths among sea mammals, fishes, birds and sea turtles. These poisonous chemicals transferred through the food chain and all

On March 21st, our class went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The purpose of this trip was not only to explore Earth’s natural habitat’s, but it was also to gather information on our upcoming project and to gather information on how the community of St.Mary, affects the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The answer that we found out is one based off of what we eat. The Monterey Bay Aquarium released an app where it showed which type of seafood were lower in numbers than others. So, if plankton were very low in numbers, it is advised that we not fish for them or not eat as much of it. This shows based just off of what we eat, we can affect the numbers of in the ocean. Also, those plastic bags we buy at Target and Walmart, that we drop outside, drifts itself to the streams, which flow to rivers, which go to oceans, they are floating there, not doing much harm, until sea turtle comes by starts eating it, but gets tangled and choked in it, dies.

In this research paper I will talk about how a large decrease in the algae population in the Chesapeake Bay will cause problems for not just fish and other species but the people who fish and make a living off of it. A large decrease in algae population will have a domino effect on the food chain. Having a major decrease in algae will hurt how others species live and protect themselves.

Have you ever experienced the death of a beloved pet? If you have, I’m sure it was hard to get through, being so attached. For David Barry, his view is different - experiencing this can be an important lesson for kids. In many other disappointing circumstances, there’s always that one person who attempts - and sometimes succeeds - at being cheery through it. Similar to this type of person, Barry’s writing sheds light on the loss of a pet being an important lesson through humor that may improve the reader’s attitude towards their own loss. David Barry’s short story “I’ve Got A Few Peeves About Sea Creatures” is a high-level comedy that uses sarcasm and various types of comic language to convey the idea that the occurrence of losing a pet can be a teachable experience for a young owner if taken light-heartedly, with an open mind.

Lastly, I will explain the dead zone of the chesapeake Bay. Excessive Nitrogen and Phosphrous pollution from human activities cause “Dead Zones” , which are areas with low amounts of oxygen. With little or no oxygen, fish, crabs, oysters, and other aquatic animals literally suffocate. Further excess in nutrients also fuels the growth of dense algae blooms that block sunlight that underwater grasses need to grow in order to continue providing food for waterfowl and shelter for blue crabs and juvenile fish. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) (Dead Zones)

Algae blooms have been an issue in the Chesapeake Bay, especially in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Algae is a natural and critical part of the ecosystem, however in large doses it is harmful to the plants and organisms within the ecosystem. Algae blooms can block out sunlight and kill other plants in the water. Algae depends on various factors such as water, nutrients and carbon dioxide to grow. Eutrophication of the Inner Harbor has lead to algae blooms that have caused large fish kills in the past. When there is an over abundance of certain chemical nutrients eutrophication can occur. Runoff from land and farms is the main cause of excess nutrients into the water. The most common nutrients that are related to algae outbreaks are nitrate nitrogen and phosphate. In addition, a lack of dissolved oxygen can also be an indicator for the process of eutrophication and risk of an algae outbreak. A particular type of algae commonly found in Maryland is known as Prorocentrum minimum. Prorocentrum tends to cause “mahogany tides” causing water to be brown and have an odor. There has been a campaign launched by the Healthy Harbor

For years the killer whale, also known as Orcinus orca, has been drawing the attention of the public through the entertainment industry. These marine mammals have been bringing in billions of dollars to amusement parks such as Sea World, but at what cost? An idea that these killer whales can live happily and content while in captivity may be going through the minds of the public, but this cannot be further away from the truth. To have such complex creatures in captivity is not morally correct and there are many points against it, such as their level of emotional competence, violence between the killer whales, violence of killer of whales towards trainers, shorter lifespans, physical harm, and their level of intelligence. After taking a look at how these creatures function and the conditions they are put in while in captivity, there is no question about whether or not these mammals should be kept in captivity; an experience such as this affects these marine mammals just about the same as it would affect a human because of their high highly developed emotions and complexity. Since these industries do not have a natural authority over these creatures no matter the cause, the best thing they could do for these killer whales is to stop capturing them and return those who are capable back to the wild.

Red tide is the common name for a large concentration of certain species of dinoflagellates. This event accumulates harmful algal blooms quickly, resulting in discoloration near the surface water. Dense enough algal blooms cause harmful toxins strong enough to affect people and the oceans ecosystem as a whole. Karenia brevis is the most troublesome species of dinoflagellate in the Gulf of Mexico. This species reproduces by asexual cell division, therefore, given the right conditions, the population can rapidly increase in size. K. brevis needs large amounts of the correct nutrients to reproduce at toxic speed. The nutrients responsible for supporting Florida's red tide are nitrogen and phosphorus.

The size of this algae ranges from microscopic, to macroalage, which is large, visible pieces of algae that form on the bottom of sediments.Certain types of algae can produce dangerous chemicals which are harmful to humans, wildlife, and aquatic creatures. Although these different algae are harmful, there aren’t enough of them to make a dent in the amount of life there is in the Chesapeake Bay. With such little amounts of toxic algae, much of it becomes a vital food source, which could cause an issue if the amount of it were to drop. Without this algae, many of the animals would begin to die off because there would not be be enough food for all of them. If this does happen, there would be many dead animals floating and decomposing in the water. The main animals that feed off the algae are smaller fish. Which, with these smaller fish dying, the larger fish and other animals would also begin dying off since the smaller fish are their food source.

If there’s one thing the Eastern Shore of Maryland is famously known for, it is shellfish. Crab feasts accompanied by other delicious shellfish are very important and traditional events for Maryland residents. As the authors of Chesapeake Bay Notes and Sketches wrote, according to some translations of Native American languages, the Chesapeake Bay is named “Great Shellfish Bay.” The Bay is the leading source in soft-shell clams, and hard-shell clams are on the rise (“Chesapeake Wildlife”). The Chesapeake’s ideal salinity, temperature, bottom

Our end results only supported to some extent our hypothesis that increasing numbers of brine shrimp would directly cause decreases in algae concentration. Our hypothesis, if applied to only the jars of 3 and 6 brine shrimp, would be highly supported, due to the significant difference in algae concentrations. Evidently, the more shrimp that were present in the ecosystem, the less algae that were available at the end. In an ecosystem with more consumers, the consumers demand a higher amount of nutrients from the environment, or more specifically, the producers. And as the consumers develop and grow, those demands also grow. And thus, when we increased the amount of brine shrimp, more algae were consumed per unit time. Though the rate of consumption from the brine shrimp did not exceed the rate of growth of the algae in any jar, the

Along the coasts of rocky beaches, an intricate ecological community inhabits the ‘rocky intertidal’ areas. The variety of rocks is home to an array of slimy, squishy, and colorful organisms. This intertidal community is comprised of nine species: three different algae, three stationary filter-feeders, and three mobile consumers. The three algae, Nori Seaweed, Black Pine, and Coral Weed, are the community’s producers and inhabit the bottom of the food chain. The next three species are stationary consumers. They are Mussel, Goose Neck Barnacle, and Acorn Barnacle. Because of their consumer status, they are more competitively dominant than algae. The last three components are the mobile consumers: Whelk, Chiton, and Starfish. They

They have been known to grow very large, and can tolerate an extremely wide range of water quality and weather conditions. They consume large amounts of vegetation/plankton, negatively affecting the aquatic vegetation. In addition, they can increase the phosphorus levels, harming the water quality in the area of water.