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Scientists left cinderblocks in a barren part of the sea. 3 months later they were ecstatic.

Coral reefs are dying at alarming rates. Concrete may be a creative solution.

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Scientists are turning simple concrete into the building blocks for a healthier ocean.

A viral video has been making the rounds lately that shows a giant (and extremely bizarre) ship opening up at its middle and dropping a metric buttload—that's the official term—of cinderblocks directly into the ocean. The video is fascinating, so much so that I was certain it was AI-generated at first. After all, what kind of ship can part down the middle like that?

Turns out, the video is real! The ship is called a split hopper barge and is often used to transport and deliver dredged soil. Dumping concrete like this looks like the world's worst case of littering, but in actuality, the concrete blocks serve an important purpose that benefits sea life of all varieties.

But how?

 

For answers, look no further than the GARP — that's the Grenada Artificial Reef Project (also known as the Grand Anse Artificial Reef Project or GAARP).

With coral reefs under threat and disappearing all over the world, the team behind the project came up with an interesting solution they wanted to test out.

In 2013, the scientists placed four concrete pyramids (basically, cinderblocks stacked together into something of a tower structure) in a barren part of the Caribbean Sea. The location was just off the coastal beaches of Grenada.

In just 3 months, the pyramids had attracted tons of marine life.

The block pyramids gave shelter to the animals who otherwise had nowhere to hide, nest, or feed in this part of the water. "An initial growth of algae and colourful encrusting sponge was soon followed by a varied range of invertebrates. These included feather duster worms, lobster, crab, and urchins. Excitement developed as we started to see a range of juvenile fish including squirrel fish, goat fish, grunts and scorpionfish," says the official website.

After a year, word must have spread among the fish, because the simple concrete blocks transformed into "buzzing diverse communit[ies] of marine life."

At around 18 months, things started to get really exciting. Stony and brain corals, described as the "building blocks of coral" began to appear on the pyramids.

Over the following 10 years, the project has exploded with more and more coral growing on the blocks and more fish and other sea life moving in. "Each subsequent year more pyramids have been added to increase biomass. GARP is becoming a balanced ecosystem, home to over 30 species of fish, 14 different kinds of corals and many of the invertebrates and algae you would find on a naturally occurring reef."

Today, there are upwards of 100 pyramid blocks in the location. Other, similar projects are taking place in waterways all over the globe.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

GARP/GAARP isn't the first or only project of its kind. Concrete has been shown again and again to make an excellent shelter for marine life and a perfect launching pad for new coral growth.

People have tried other materials before, to varied results. One such project off the coast of Florida in the 1970s utilized millions (!) of old tires in an effort to create new fish habitats. Called the Osborne Reef, the effort is now considered a major ecological disaster as storms and sea currents have tossed many of the tires around, washing them ashore and even damaging otherwise healthy natural reefs nearby. Talk about a backfire. Major clean up initiatives to undo the damage are still underway.

Specialized concrete structures are heavy enough to stay put in rough conditions and are one of the few things that can withstand years and years of being battered by rough, salty seawater without degrading.

Coral reefs are disappearing around the globe at an alarming rate. Physical damage, both natural and manmade, along with pollution, coral harvesting, global warming, and bleaching wreaks havoc on natural ecosystems under the sea.

Coral reefs aren't just there to look pretty. They dampen waves and currents before they hit land, reducing erosion and protecting people who live on the coast. Reefs are home to a huge variety of marine life who use it for shelter and finding food. And, finally, they're amazing destinations for scientific discovery—new species and even medical treatments are being discovered on reefs all the time!

All that and the very existence of coral reefs may be in jeopardy, according to the EPA.

There's no easy fix to this grave problem. Natural coral reefs take thousands of years to grow and mature. So, even with all the cinderblocks in the world acting as growth platforms, it would be impossible for us to replace all the coral we've already killed or destroyed. Saving our oceans must be a multi-faceted effort, with initiatives that combat pollution and rising sea temperatures in addition to creating artificial reefs.

But projects like GARP/GAARP are an awesome start. They may not save the planet all on their own, but if you ask me, those fish look pretty darn grateful for their new home.

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'Whale nerd' zoologist says 'mind completely blown' filming 1,000 fin whales in one spot

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Zoologist and photographer Conor Ryan spotted 1,000 fin whales in one spot.

Conor Ryan has seen his fair share of whales, and his Twitter handle—@whale_nerd—isn't just a cutesy nickname. Ryan was just 14 years old when he published his first peer-reviewed scientific paper on killer whales with his best friend, Peter Wilson, in 2001. As a wildlife photographer, a zoologist specializing in marine biology and an expert in baleen whales and small cetaceans, he knows when he's looking at something special in the sea.

In other words, when Conor Ryan says his mind is "completely blown" by a whale sighting, you know it's a big deal. Seeing 1,000 fin whales at once? That's a very big deal.

Fin whales are the second-largest animal in the world, second only to the blue whale. In the 20th century, fin whales were hunted to near extinction before commercial whaling was outlawed. Nearly 725,000 were killed in the Southern Hemisphere alone in the mid- 1900s, and though whaling is no longer a threat, fin whales are still on the endangered species list.

Fin whales get their name from an easy-to-spot fin on their backs. Imagine seeing 1,000 of any endangered species in one location, much less 1,000 of these 85-foot, 80-ton whales all feeding in a single location.

Ryan captured the scene on film and shared it on Twitter, writing, "We found about 1000 fin whales over a 5x5 mile area off South Orkney. Blue and humpback also mixed in. Mind completely blown." The video shows a cluster of whales spouting as far as the eye can see.

According to The Guardian, Ryan spotted the whales from the National Geographic Endurance polar cruiser, in an area between the South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic peninsula. Their ship was in an area with four large krill fishing vessels, which explains the feeding frenzy.

Ryan said it might be "one of the largest aggregations of fin whales ever documented” and that his estimate of 1,000 whales was a conservative one.

“Words fail me,” Ryan told The Guardian. “I have seen maybe 100 fins here before in previous years. Thousands of chinstrap penguins, petrels, and albatrosses, too … It was unusually calm weather and unusually good visibility.”

Though commercial whaling laws have greatly reduced the decimation of whale populations we saw in the 1900s, whales still face threats from human activity. According to NOAA, the main threat to fin whales today is vessel strikes. Cargo and cruise boat ships have increased in number in the past few decades, which increases the risk of running into whales, but they aren't the only ships that pose a threat. Last year, two dead fin whales had to be dislodged from the hull of an Australian Navy ship after it pulled into the naval pier in San Diego. The fact that they are still considered endangered means we have to stay vigilant about their protection.

But as author Philip Hoare wrote in The Guardian, "In a world constrained by woe and threats to democracy…1,000 fin whales can’t help but lift our hearts." Such a number is decidedly good news, which is always worth celebrating and which provides a beacon of hope that we can make impactful changes that help our planet when we choose to.

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The 'Blue Planet II' crew didn't just capture the magic of the ocean. They helped save it.

Tasked with revealing the planet's most beautiful sights, nature documentarians often hope they inspire people to get involved with conservation. But this film crew decided to start saving the Earth themselves.

On Sunday, the BBC Earth Twitter account confirmed that the filmmaking team behind their spectacular dive into the ocean's hidden depths, "Blue Planet II," didn't stop at capturing the magic of the ocean.

"Blue Planet II" is a sequel to the BBC's blockbuster 2001 special and uses cutting-edge camera equipment technology (like suction cup cameras sneakily attached to orca whales) and the melodious voice of Sir David Attenborough, to show the audience both the wonders of the ocean and the problems facing it today.

Problems like plastic. Millions of tons of discarded plastic have found their ways into our oceans, forming gigantic garbage patches and killing off wildlife like birds, sea turtles, and seals.

Last month, Attenborough described a heart-wrenching sight encountered while filming: "We’ve seen albatrosses come back with their belly full of food for their young. You think it’s going to be squid, but it’s plastic." No wonder they felt like they had to clean it up.

A plastic bottle washed up on a beach in Plymouth, England. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images.

The "Blue Planet" team said that they hoped their plastic cleanup would inspire others to do the same, The Independent reports. The BBC even has a website where you can look up specific ways to get involved in ocean conservation, from signing up for beach cleanups, downloading sustainable dining apps, or joining in The Great Nurdle Hunt.

This is not the first time wildlife filmmakers at the BBC have taken action off-camera. In December 2016, the BBC confirmed that their team saved baby sea turtles after filming them getting disoriented and wandering into traffic.

The result of the crew's efforts, "Blue Planet II," is currently available in the U.K. and will premiere on BBC America in January 2018.

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See stunning before and after shots of coral reefs as ocean temps rose by only 2 degrees.

This is what it looks like when a piece of coral dies.

GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."

This is a phenomenon known as coral bleaching, now captured in the award-winning documentary "Chasing Coral." To get these impressive shots, a team of photographers, divers, and scientists traveled the world to capture time-lapse photographs of coral bleaching events.

"The beauty with time-lapse photography is that you have the ability to shift how we as humans see and perceive changes that may move in the slow lane," says photographer Zack Rago.

Getting these images was a challenge. Divers had to spend hours each day battling the currents. And it could be emotionally difficult too.

"Being the person on the ground experiencing those changes is certainly emotionally taxing. I have a deep connection to coral reef ecosystems. Spending as much time as I have documenting their death is something that fills me with guilt and shame to this day," explains Rago. "At the same time, I also cherish those dives because I know that our team has revealed this issue to the world in meaningful and powerful way."

When asked if there was any single dive that was especially hard, Rago says yes. "There is one dive that was particularly difficult. In the hours leading up to the dive, I actually watched the first edit of our time-lapses. Seeing the images from day one and immediately going back out to those dying reefs was the single most emotionally challenging dive I’ll likely ever do."

Coral bleaching happens when the water around a reef becomes too warm.

During a bleaching event, the coral polyps (tiny creatures that actually make the reef) are effectively cooked, slowly turning white before dying. It doesn't take much, the episodes captured in Chasing Coral were the result of only a two-degree rise in water temperature, according to The New York Times.

Once the coral is dead, brown, sludgy algae take over, turning the once vibrant reef into something that looks like a parking lot.

GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."

This deadly warming is fueled by climate change, as more than 90% of the excess heat in our atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean.

"Coral reefs are in trouble. We know that if current trends prevail, we will lose the majority of corals on the planet in the coming decades," says Rago. Scientists have warned that, given current trends, we could lose most corals within 30 years. Vast swaths of the Great Barrier Reef (where these photos were taken) may already be past the point of no return.

Rago is planning to head back to the Great Barrier Reef this November to help identify "super corals" that could help scientists breed heat-resistant reefs.

As climate change becomes the new norm, it can be difficult to remember how the world once looked.

"We need to protect what we can right now," says Rago.

There are already a lot of exciting efforts underway. Nations around the world are currently rallying around stopping or mollifying the effects of climate change, with 169 different countries joining in on the landmark Paris 2015 climate agreement.

As they work out the best way to stop this, photography like these amazing time-lapse images can be a touch point for us — something to stick in our minds. And, if we fail, they can be a record for future generations.

"This problem may be hidden in our ocean, but the solutions start with us," Rago says. By sharing these images, people can help inspire friends, family members, or business or political leaders to action.

"Chasing Coral" premiered on Netflix in July 2017 and is still available to watch as of this writing.

If you want to see more, you can watch this three-minute video, including some of the time-lapse images, below:

Time-lapse video captures a disturbing phenomenon known as cor...

These before-and-after images remind us of what's really at stake in the climate conversations at #COP23. (via Chasing Coral)

Posted by Upworthy on Friday, November 10, 2017

The team was also able to capture a weird, rare event known as coral fluorescence, which is well worth a watch. If you'd like to find out more about the film, you can visit their website.

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