Phytoplankton

Volcano ash can wreck jet engines, poison freshwater lakes and damage lungs. But it helps fertilize oceans, volcano researchers and marine chemists say. "The ocean is gonna be happier" because of the Iceland eruption, said Ken Johnson, senior scientist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "Plants will grow more" — although how much more, he said, is unclear. About 30% of the oceans are what scientists call iron-limited — rich in many nutrients but missing iron, a crucial trace element for plants.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Scientists have found evidence that oil has become toxic to marine organisms in a section of the Gulf of Mexico that supports the spawning grounds of commercially important fish species. Researchers from the University of South Florida said Tuesday that, in preliminary results, there appear to be droplets of oil among the sediments of a vital underwater canyon where clouds of oil from the BP spill were found. "So, indeed, the waters have a level of toxicity that needs to be recognized, and I think these were some of the first indicators that the base of the food web — the bacteria and the phytoplankton — may be affected," said David Hollander, chief scientist on a research vessel that just returned from a 10-day trip in the gulf.

Global warming will stifle life-giving microscopic plants in the surface layer of the oceans, accelerating climate change, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature. Besides being the foundation of the marine food chain, phytoplankton remove more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere daily. As oceans' surface layer heats, it separates from the cooler depths where phytoplankton get many nutrients, diminishing their numbers.

Volcano ash can wreck jet engines, poison freshwater lakes and damage lungs. But it helps fertilize oceans, volcano researchers and marine chemists say. "The ocean is gonna be happier" because of the Iceland eruption, said Ken Johnson, senior scientist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "Plants will grow more" — although how much more, he said, is unclear. About 30% of the oceans are what scientists call iron-limited — rich in many nutrients but missing iron, a crucial trace element for plants.

The expanding hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole is significantly reducing the growth of phytoplankton--minute floating plants--that form the foundation of the Antarctic food chain, researchers reported last week. The effect is the first direct evidence that the abnormally high levels of ultraviolet light coming through the ozone hole is having an impact on Antarctic populations, said geographer Raymond C. Smith of UC Santa Barbara, who headed the team.

A bloom of toxic phytoplankton off Southern California threatens sea lions and other marine life that feed on sardines, anchovies and other small fish, authorities warn. "We could have a big die-off," says Dennis Kelly, chairman of the Marine Science Department at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. Dozens of pregnant sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning beached themselves in Southern California last week.

How blue is the ocean? How green is the sea? The color of seawater, a key measure of ocean health, is coming into sharper focus due to a breakthrough in analyzing satellite images. A group of NASA and university scientists on Thursday announced it had figured how to measure the hue and brightness of ocean coloration that, in turn, reflects changes in the tiny plants that provide the base of the ocean food chain and supply half of the world's oxygen.

The fast-sinking feces of an obscure sea creature play a significant role in removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a new study. Salp -- transparent, jellylike animals about the size of a human thumb -- are filter-feeders that spend their lives vacuuming up phytoplankton from the ocean's surface. The phytoplankton assimilates carbon dioxide from the air and water as it grows.

Surfer T.K. Brimer thinks it's a bummer when this summer's persistent red tide turns his favorite Newport Beach surfing spot the color of root beer and leaves his wetsuit reeking. The red tide goes away for a day or two, but it always comes back. From Santa Barbara to San Diego, a dogged red tide has clung for nearly four months to Southern California's coastline like sticky gum on a shoe. Surfers are tired of paddling through sludge, and beachgoers have seen enough murky water.

Cartoonist Jules Feiffer occasionally draws a near-anorexic, often depressed, but nonetheless resilient ballerina who proposes a dance to this subject or that. Sometimes she ends with a pirouette of joy, sometimes she slumps to the floor in a posture of abject defeat. With a bow to Feiffer, and more than a genuflection to Whitman, I propose a dance to spring, to the season of life's renewal, that is also a dance to ourselves.

Global warming will stifle life-giving microscopic plants in the surface layer of the oceans, accelerating climate change, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature. Besides being the foundation of the marine food chain, phytoplankton remove more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere daily. As oceans' surface layer heats, it separates from the cooler depths where phytoplankton get many nutrients, diminishing their numbers.

The fast-sinking feces of an obscure sea creature play a significant role in removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a new study. Salp -- transparent, jellylike animals about the size of a human thumb -- are filter-feeders that spend their lives vacuuming up phytoplankton from the ocean's surface. The phytoplankton assimilates carbon dioxide from the air and water as it grows.

Surfer T.K. Brimer thinks it's a bummer when this summer's persistent red tide turns his favorite Newport Beach surfing spot the color of root beer and leaves his wetsuit reeking. The red tide goes away for a day or two, but it always comes back. From Santa Barbara to San Diego, a dogged red tide has clung for nearly four months to Southern California's coastline like sticky gum on a shoe. Surfers are tired of paddling through sludge, and beachgoers have seen enough murky water.

A bloom of toxic phytoplankton off Southern California threatens sea lions and other marine life that feed on sardines, anchovies and other small fish, authorities warn. "We could have a big die-off," says Dennis Kelly, chairman of the Marine Science Department at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. Dozens of pregnant sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning beached themselves in Southern California last week.

How blue is the ocean? How green is the sea? The color of seawater, a key measure of ocean health, is coming into sharper focus due to a breakthrough in analyzing satellite images. A group of NASA and university scientists on Thursday announced it had figured how to measure the hue and brightness of ocean coloration that, in turn, reflects changes in the tiny plants that provide the base of the ocean food chain and supply half of the world's oxygen.

What a delight to open up The Times to read the exquisite essay, "A Dance to Our Micro-Selves," by Richard Beban (Commentary, March 21). His vocabulary-- carapace , pavane , gamelan , terpsichorean bliss , gracile web --sent me dancing to my dictionary. A joy to read. DORA FREESTONE Laguna Hills

What a delight to open up The Times to read the exquisite essay, "A Dance to Our Micro-Selves," by Richard Beban (Commentary, March 21). His vocabulary-- carapace , pavane , gamelan , terpsichorean bliss , gracile web --sent me dancing to my dictionary. A joy to read. DORA FREESTONE Laguna Hills

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Scientists have found evidence that oil has become toxic to marine organisms in a section of the Gulf of Mexico that supports the spawning grounds of commercially important fish species. Researchers from the University of South Florida said Tuesday that, in preliminary results, there appear to be droplets of oil among the sediments of a vital underwater canyon where clouds of oil from the BP spill were found. "So, indeed, the waters have a level of toxicity that needs to be recognized, and I think these were some of the first indicators that the base of the food web — the bacteria and the phytoplankton — may be affected," said David Hollander, chief scientist on a research vessel that just returned from a 10-day trip in the gulf.

Cartoonist Jules Feiffer occasionally draws a near-anorexic, often depressed, but nonetheless resilient ballerina who proposes a dance to this subject or that. Sometimes she ends with a pirouette of joy, sometimes she slumps to the floor in a posture of abject defeat. With a bow to Feiffer, and more than a genuflection to Whitman, I propose a dance to spring, to the season of life's renewal, that is also a dance to ourselves.

The expanding hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole is significantly reducing the growth of phytoplankton--minute floating plants--that form the foundation of the Antarctic food chain, researchers reported last week. The effect is the first direct evidence that the abnormally high levels of ultraviolet light coming through the ozone hole is having an impact on Antarctic populations, said geographer Raymond C. Smith of UC Santa Barbara, who headed the team.