Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor)
PhD student, focus my research in changes in deep benthic communities, biodiversity and trophic ecology
Find me @rui_pedro19
'Follow' me using the button below to see my comments in your activity feed
Location Southampton, UK/Aveiro, Portugal
Activity
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Totally agree with you..
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Hi Ana,
You can have here some ideas on what to eat and what we should avoid.
http://www.fishonline.org/fishfinder?min=1&max=2&fish=&eat=1 -
Hi Yvonne,
I think it is the correct english term for the use or utilization, especially for profit.
In fact, it is what it is. We need and we want these resources, otherwise we cannot afford our current life style. One can imagine themselves without a car, without a phone, without new treatments for cancer for example?
We need it for minerals that are... -
Hi Sylvie,
our society demands for resources. We want to eat fish, we want minerals to produce cellphones, cars, computers. The issue is how to exploit these resources in a sustainable way. Finding the other ways, it is the holy grail to keep our planet healthy. Ideally, keeping our life stile, because i am pretty sure no one wants to step back in terms of... -
Hi Sophia,
Carbon capture and storage might be a key solution for the essential reduction of future CO2 emissions, by injecting it under the sea floor.
Suggestions for tackling rising carbon emissions by removing the it from the atmosphere include:
- Storing carbon dioxide in oil and gas fields, or coal beds
- Injecting CO2 into the deep ocean
-... -
Hi Andrew,
future generations will certainly feel the problem, but today there are already evidences that the increase of CO2 in seawater is responsible for the oceans acidification.
When carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by seawater, chemical reactions occur that reduce seawater pH affecting marine live, for example corals and shell of other animals.
Find... -
Hi David,
That is a good question. We will answer it in the google hangout next Thursday 1pm, this is the link for the hangout:
http://bit.ly/1FzjGyr
Thanks David -
Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Hi MOOCers,
It was been an exciting week! We saw how we can use technologies to explore our oceans and also an overview on how to organise, plan and carry out an expedition.
During expeditions we frequently come across with lost or dumped materials, injured animals and litter. Also, ROVs and AUVs often record the human presence on the deep sea.
I left a... -
Hi Rod,
Anglerfishes and monkfishes are similar species, and both are members of the order Lophiiformes. However, the first lives in the water column, while monkfishes are typically found living close to the bottom.
Lophiiformes have a modified first dorsal spine, the illicium. The illicium and its esca form a "bait" for atracting prey.
Here you have two... -
Hi Jennifer,
The International Seabed Authority is an intergovernmental body and most of it employees do administrative work.
There are Commissions where members have expertise in a wide range of disciplines, from geology, geophysics, biology and chemistry; these commissions work together with experts from research centres, who provide scientific advice.... -
Hi Peter,
Bathysphere was very important in the early deep ocean exploration. Today, US, France, Japan, Russia and China have developed deep-water technology to explore greater depths.
The Chinese have built Jiaolong, manned deep-sea research submersible that can dive to a depth of over 7,000 m. It has the greatest depth range of any manned research vehicle... -
Hi Ozkan,
Safety is the most important issue at sea. People going in human operated submersibles are trained to face such problems. Sea-sickness is common but people knows how to face this problem. -
Hi Pamela,
you might be interested in learn more about using AUVs and ROVs in research. The National Oceanography Centre in Southampton has a collaborative project closely with the oil and gas industry. The SERPENT project ("Scientific and Environmental ROV Partnership using Existing iNdustrial Technology") aims to make cutting-edge industrial ROV technology... -
I agree with you. Some times - unfortunately not always - we can adquire our material with funds from projects. But you touch a good point.
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Hi Linda,
RRS Discovery is one of the most advance in the world.
NOC also operates the RRS James Cook, another global multi-disciplinary research vessel.
You may like to know more about NOC's research vessels. Have a look here. http://noc.ac.uk/research-at-sea/ships -
Hi Sheila,
really, as we saw in the videos, preparing for a seagoing expedition involves many months of planning. Anyway, usually it is a great fun after all the hard work. -
Now that we are close to the end of week 5, I'll leave here an interview with Dr. Sylvia Earle, an Explorer in Residence at National Geographic. Really interesting plans for future exploration!
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141126-exploring-hidden-ocean-depths -
Hi Heather,
hard hats and steel toe capped boots are very personal equipment, also thinking about sizes. That is why we have our own material. -
Thanks Albert. Good to know that you are enjoying.
I started my career studying shallow water fishes, particularly scuba diving in coastal rocky reefs. Now I am very interested on deepwater ecosystems.
Do you know Deeps Challenge? Take a look here and enjoy. http://www.deepseachallenge.com -
Hi Patricia,
as in any other things, there are always differences between countries. Working together with scientists from other countries, our job is to try to do the best to keep global oceans healthy and bring to decision makers the best information to make them aware of the issues that we can face if we lose it. You may find INDEEP project... -
Hi Simon,
It is nice to know that you enjoy this week. It was been very interesting to answer your questions. Even if you wouldn't go so deep, scuba diving is always a great experience and lots of fun! -
Hi Heather,
it is safer to maintain position and point into the worst of the weather so that people aren't thrown about by large waves. If you are in the middle of nowhere you can't "run for port". This is a little excerpt about how scientists have managed in large storms:
http://memoriesofdiscovery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-biggest-waves-penny-holliday.html -
Hi Tom,
You raised a good question. Disasters can occur everywhere and are unpredictable.
Our job is to avoid them, if not possible, to mitigate the impacts.
The Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) has already submitted a proposal for the Science Policy Forum to identifies special features and associated management needs of the deep sea, specially... -
Hi Heather,
I am not aware about the diplomatic process, but we will be back to you later with this.
Regarding your second question, several countries (including US, UK, Japan and many others) belong to the GACS - Global Alliance of Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys.
CPRs are installed in several non-research vessels (containers, fishing vessels, etc),... -
Hi Susan,
Royal Navy contributes actively to scientific research, particularly here at NOCS.
NOCS and the Royal Navy have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable cooperation on a variety of activities relating to marine autonomous systems with a particular focus on gliders (http://bit.ly/1jTp3Se)
Also, data collected by Royal Navy, as part... -
Hi Simon,
Your question is very good and you rise a very critical question in ecology and management that are invasive species. Invasive species are non-native species whose introduction and/or spread outside their natural, past or present, ranges pose a threat to biodiversity.
Marine and coastal areas are being drastically affected as a result of increased... -
Hi Marguerite,
The British Oceanographic Data Centre hosts one of the most complete data sets of oceanographic data (http://www.bodc.ac.uk) and The Marine Biological Association of the UK maintains the longest biological time-series in the world (http://www.mba.ac.uk/long-term-change/)You can explore some data trends...
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Hi Ana,
Not sure what do you mean with specialised software, but so far as I know, Gantt charts are used to plan expeditions. -
Hi Ian,
AUVs have a wide variety of applications, from scientific research (including universities and research agencies), commercial (offshore oil and gas companies) and military (mine countermeasures, surveillance, etc).
AUVs have been used to find wreckages of missing airplanes, as you might remember the Air France Flight 447 or most recently the Malaysia... -
Hi Simon,
ROVs receive electrical power from the surface through a fiber-optic cable, which also transmits data and video. AUVs store data in hard drives that can later be recovered and uploaded to a computer. The amount of data that can be collected over an extended period of time is dependent on the maximum data storage capacity and the battery lifetime.... -
I agree!
Do you know this gallery from National Geaographic? Enjoy
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/deep-sea-creatures/#/deep-sea10-wolffish_18170_600x450.jpg -
Hi Karima,
Hard question, but you would like to have a look here to know more about NOC expeditions http://noc.ac.uk/research-at-sea
Also, here you can see the expeditions planning http://mfpapps.noc.ac.uk/mfp/mfp.php
It is hard to answer your question, but there are research operations around the world 24/7, with hundreds of people involved.
You can... -
Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Some more on deep sea exploration: http://bbc.in/1yvcVdy
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Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Hi MOOCers,
review here a BBC report onboard the RV James Cook during the discovering of the deepest undersea vents, in the Cayman Trough.
Some faces will be familiar to you. -
Also, you are very welcome in our open days.
Bring your family to see our science and our engineers works. The next one is on Saturday 25 April 2015. You will be very welcome! -
Hi John,
your grandson might like to see what engineers are doing here at the National Oceanography Centre. If he likes engineering and the ocean, there are many good opportunities and it is for sure one career with future.
Have a look... -
Hi Ronald,
These regular sampling programs are important to demonstrate temporal changes on several time scales: seasonal (e.g. spring plankton blooms), inter-annual (e.g. appearance/disappearance of species) and even decennial levels (e.g. changes due to natural or anthropogenic forcing, climate change, accidental pollution). This monitoring is a response... -
Hi Val,
Indeed. It is very exciting. Here you have a some moments of ROV exploration and you can see how scientist aboard react: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN_6eFHrJJ0 -
Thanks Pamela. We will try to improve the sound level for the next edition.
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Hi David, there are International Laws and Conventions to regulate exploitation of resources, for example the International Seabed Authority regulates (http://www.isa.org.jm/en/home), OSPAR (http://www.ospar.org), ICES (http://www.ices.dk/Pages/default.aspx). Of course, countries with more technology and other resources have advantage over "smaller" and less...
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Hi Stephen,
there are some risks, as mention in the video.
When we launch an AUV there is the risk that it get lost. If any problem occurs (e.g. mechanic or electric problem) there is a great probability to lose the equipment. The most advanced equipments already have some automatic recovery systems. However, it is not 100% sure that you can find a small... -
Hi Derek,
you may also like to see this article: http://slate.me/1rkIS3n -
Hi Priscilla, it is the worst part, but it happens.
I always get seasick during the first day of every cruise... then i get better and ready for fun. Others, didn't even get seasick. It is one of the most common things happening in every cruise. -
Hi Josephine, there is always a doctor aboard. In the most extreme scenario, the expedition is aborted and the vessel goes to the closest port. Also, there are other emergency procedures that can take place, like rescue by navy.
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Hi Ozkan, planning a cruise it is as important as the exploration itself. It is nice to know that you are enjoying the course. Have fun!
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Hi Paula, yes. It takes quite long time as John says in the video. Most of the times, research vessels are shared by different research teams. Also, it depends on the aims of the expedition and location of the vessel. You can find more in section 5.2 and further.
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Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Hi MOOCers, welcome to week 5. This week we are talking about how we can use new technologies to exploring our oceans. This is a good example: http://bit.ly/11Quf23
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There are still no final answers about this and a big discussion around metabolic theory and the factors allowing the coexistence of species in the very deep parts of the oceans.
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Hi Tim,
Metabolic theory is still a big discussion. Some suggested that deeper-living animals have some adaptions that allowed them to survive to such conditions, e.g., enzymatic adaptations to elevated pressures.
A recent study (Yancey et al. 2014) suggests "Fish appear to be absent from the ocean’s greatest depths, the trenches from 8,400–11,000 m. The... -
Thanks Jennifer!! It was a great week also for us! Still half way. There are much more great stuff to talk about during the upcoming weeks.
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Hi Ana,
If there is any study, I can't find it. I was talking with several people who also work with fishes and same conclusion.
Anyway, you can think how hard it could to determine the reasons for the teeth to brake when we collect these fishes. Personally, i think that teeth only will brake by 1) disease or 2) while collecting the specimen. Fangtooth... -
Hi Helle,
No, Alvinella pompejana found was in 1980 by two french oceanographers, Daniel Desbruyères and Lucien Laurier, just few years after the discovery of the first hydrothermal vent system.Find here a good reading about Alvinella pompejana: http://www.livescience.com/34835-heat-limit-for-life.html
Original description: D. Desbruyères, L. Laubier -...
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Hi Ana,
Ideally yes, but there are other questions that request new sampling programs (e.g. effects of climate change and impacts of human activities).
Also, we still have very little knowledge on most of deep-sea habitats that we know today and a huge part of our oceans remain unexplored. -
Hi Lorna,
organic matter (aka "sinking poo") helps to understand biological carbon cycle in the open ocean.
Knowing what controls the sinking of organic particles and their recycling in the upper layers of the ocean, it is an important step to understand the role of these particles in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for long periods of time.... -
Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Along this week, we talked about discovery of new animals and how to name species.
Here it is a good reading about the importance of taxonomy: "The taxonomist - an endangered race. A practical proposal for its survival".http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/pdf/1742-9994-8-25.pdf
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Hi Peter,
Crinoids' origin is back to the Paleozoic Era, between 485 and 443 million years ago. Today there are about 600 species, but crinoids were much more diverse in the past. They are common organisms, ranging from shallow to deep waters (approx. 6000 m). -
Hi MOOCers,
almost closing week 3, but there is still time to look on this text about the origin of ocean life!
https://student.societyforscience.org/article/when-life-exploded/ -
Hi Karen,
There are still much more species to be discovery, but also new habitats, if we consider how vast are our oceans and the tiny percentage that we explored so far.
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Hi Albert,
fishes have evolved an adaptation called a countercurrent system. This means, the water flows (from the fish mouth) across the gills in an opposite direction of blood, creating the maximum efficiency of gas exchange.Find more here:
http://163.16.28.248/bio/activelearner/44/ch44c5.html
http://163.16.28.248/bio/activelearner/44/ch44c6.html -
Hi Dorothy,
Morphological and genetic studies confirmed that siphonophores are colonial animals formed by many multicellular individuals (or polyps) that are genetically identical.
These animals take advantage of forming a colony - we can say that they work together for the same aim --> survive / feed / reproduce, like other colonies (e.g. ants or... -
Hi Susan, during the week 6 we will talk about impacts of human activities on the oceans.
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Hi Ana, even if teeth are long, they are, in fact, strong, allowing fangtooth fishes to easily kill their prey. Fangtooth teeth are not good for cutting or chewing, so they often swallow its whole prey.
See here some facts about fangtooth fishes.https://prezi.com/ksyqv7kqjon1/oceanography-project-fangtooth/
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Did you know that most fish cannot swim backwards??
See here cool facts about fish!!
http://facts.randomhistory.com/fish-facts.html -
Hi Patricia,
Obviously we also don't like to kill animals, but there is the only way to study marine biodiversity and ecology. Fortunately, today there are new techniques to study marine life with minimum impact. We we talk about it during week 5. -
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Hi Simon, oar fishes belong to Family Trachipteridae. They are rare, mesopelagic species, feeding on squid and small midwater fishes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8501000/8501251.stm -
"A New Reason to Love Bottom Feeders: They Suck Up Carbon!"
Biological transfer of nutrients is an important process that controls ecosystems function and structure. Small mid-water and deep demersal fishes have an important role in the ocean carbon cycle. Deep sea fishes can remove and store millions tonnes of CO2 from the oceans every year.
Read more... -
With so many species being discovered, taxonomists have to be creative. :)
Here you can find the original description of the tube worm Bobmarleya gadensis from mud volcanos.
http://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/853/894 -
Hi Ana, little is still known to answer your question. Hydrothermal vents are as old as our oceans. Life in these ecosystems is believed to began before 3.2 billion years ago and there we can find some of the most primitive kinds of life.
Find here a video from National Geographic on the hydrothermal vents discovery in 1977:... -
Hi Ian, exactly. Different vents often host different fauna. Taking this into account, we are able to define different biogeographic vent regions.
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001234
Hydrothermal vents exploration is still in the early stage. There are many known vents, but waiting to be explored. Others, we can... -
Hi Patricia, cold seeps are deep-sea environments where fluids are released through diffusion from the sea floor. The reaction between methane and seawater create carbonate rock formations and reefs, and are often dependent on bacterial activity.
The methane supports dense microbial communities that were found to live in symbiosis with other fauna, such as... -
Hi Patricia, chimaeras are one of the oldest and primitive fishes, and they are very well adapted to the extreme conditions from deep sea. Their origin goes back almost to 400 million years ago.
The low food availability and low temperatures along a depth gradient is known to have a major
effect species distribution and function, and chimaeras evolved... -
Have a look also on this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats/Deep_sea#p005bprk
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yes, same thing. Nice pictures in this pdf!
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Exactly! Everything is related.
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Hi Lilian,
Some vents have species in common, others host endemic fauna.
There are evidences of distinctive fauna and unique community structures, suggesting that vent ecosystems can be assigned to different biogeographic provinces ("regions") according to their species compositions. However, this is still very poorly understood.Have a...
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Hi Simon,
Rabbitfish is the common name of Chimaeras.
There are three families known worldwide. While the Callorhinchidae are only found in the southern hemisphere, two other families, Rhinochimaeridae and Chimaeridae, are known to occur in the north-east Atlantic Ocean. The three families can be clearly distinguished by the morphology of the head.
See the... -
Talking about evolution... see here how freshwater eels have evolved from their deepwater "cousins".
http://deepseanews.com/2010/02/deep-water-origin-of-freshwater-eels/ -
Hi Mark, I am not an hydrothermal vent specialist and I little know about evolutionary processes, but you are right except for one thing - these deep-sea "islands" are isolated and isolation promotes speciation. This is widely recognized also for terrestrial islands.
Genetic flow is still poorly understood, but I would say that the number of species in these... -
Hi David,
evolution is a long-term process in which species evolve and some become endemic from a particular habitat. Endemism occurs when there is no genetic flow (this means, when a population is isolated from others). These processes are still poorly understood, mainly in the deep sea.
Species evolve to have better changes to survive (e.g. to predation... -
Hi John, shrimps are the main food source of numerous fishes and whales.
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Hi Marguerite, I don't have a number, but I can tell you that there are still many (probably many thousands) specimens in the museum collections waiting for identification.
To give you an example, there are still many specimens from the Danish Deep-Sea Expedition: Galathea II, that happened in 1950-52, to be identified. Main results were already published... -
Hi Peter, good and very interesting question.
Patterns in evolution are highly related with environmental conditions.
In deepwater ecosystems, temperature and water pressure are two main factors regulating evolutionary rates.
Fishes (but others like amphibians and reptiles) are ectotherms meaning that these animals do not produce heat to maintain a... -
Hi Margaret, you are totally right. In fact, that is not why some species are called "rare" that there are only few individuals in their natural habitat, but has to do with the number of times that a particular species has been observed. Also, museum collections of deep-water species may hold yet many unidentified species (and specimens) and generally the...
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Hi Liz, these fishes use the appendices to feel, at a very fine scale, the water motion and thus detect prey. many species have at the posterior part of the head a lure which they use to attract their prey.
have a look on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZJFpqAlLcU
and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVWf1kPJf3M -
Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Hi MOOCers,
further reading on biodiversity here they estimate about 17,000 species and trends on species distribution in the Mediterranean Sea:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0011842#pone-0011842-g014not fancy to ready? don't worry, check out this album with lots of species found during the Census of Marine Life:...
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Hi Linda, that's totally right.
Have a look here: http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001127
In this article, it is suggested that 91% of species in the ocean still await description. -
Exactly, there are many more species waiting to be named, specially in museum collections.
Have a look here:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14206-how-many-species-live-in-the-sea.html#.VGDKBFb5B4M -
Hi Helle, there are many databases we use as reference. Some links bellow.
http://www.marinespecies.org
www.iobis.org
http://www.gbif.org
http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/cephbase.php
http://www.marinespecies.org/deepsea/
http://www.fishbase.orgOthers questions are hard to answer, but probably these seedpod could have been drifting in the sea...
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Hi Malcolm, usually formaldehyde with seawater or ethanol.
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Hi Lindsey,
unfortunately no. We have to confirm morphologically and genetically the species identity, which is very hard (or impossible) to do in situ. -
Thanks.
Connectivity and large migrations in the deep sea is still very poorly understood, but so far it is what we understand. :) -
Hi Linda,
if you are interested in seamounts management and conservation here it is another good reading. It is a very interesting case-study. http://oceana.org/sites/default/files/reports/seamounts_gorringe_bank_eng.pdf
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Fishes are the only ones who can move between vent (i don't really know if that happens), but the typical invertebrate fauna associated with the vents does not. Invertebrates, like crabs or shrimps and anemones only move by larval dispersal, and i guess it is (only?) by passive transport (= drifting).
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Hi Jacki, if i well understood your question, here it goes:
the first question: there is connectivity between adjacent vents, this means: hydrothermal vents can be conceived as "islands" surrounded by a "desert" in the deep sea. Hydrothermal vents typically show low diversity, high biomass and high endemism (that's why they are called hotspots of... -
Hi Jennifer,
no, the moon has little to no effect over mantle convective processes which drive plate tectonics. -
Hi Joyce,
a black smoker is a type of hydrothermal vent found typically in the abyssal and hadal zones. They appear as black, chimney-like structures that emit a cloud of black material. Black smokers emit particles with high levels of sulfur minerals. They are formed in fields hundreds of meters wide when superheated water from below Earth's crust comes...
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Hi Alison,
It's great that you are enjoying the course.
Next week, we will learn more about how the oceans are moving.
We will talk about tides, the effect of the rotation of the earth on currents and the effects of heat and salt on the planet.
We will also do some practical experiments during week 2.
Have fun!! -
Hi Simon,
The sonar used in ROVs provide a better resolution from the seafloor, but in a much smaller scale. Probably, the Side Scan Sonar that you read about, is a different equipment.
The closer to the bottom, the sharper will be the image. However, it gives a small picture of the bottom, when compared with other sonar systems, for example when coupled... -
Rui Pedro Vieira (#FLOceans Mentor) made a comment
Have a look on this youtube video about bioluminescence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXl8F-eIoiM
