Nina Faure Beaulieu
I am a postgraduate researcher undertaking a PhD on microplastics in UK waterways at the national oceanography center southampton (NOCS).
Twitter: @ninzyfb
Activity
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Hi David, whilst it may be possible, i didn't find anything on different species of humpback dolphins interbreeding. However we do know that dolphins have very complex mating behaviours and that cross species mating does happen. For example in the Bahamas researchers have found that bottlenose and spotted dolphins regularly form mixed-species dolphin groups....
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Hi Elisa, so i had a bit of a hunt for the reason behind the name as you got me curious about it. The paper which presents the shrimp as a new species has an etymology section which describes the name as follows: "From the name of the British maneuverable TV grab HyBIS, in celebration of her first, and highly successful, scientific mission.". The full paper can...
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Hi Maureen, i think that's just an effect of the animation because the thermohaline circulation also traverses the Indian ocean. When the water gets to Antarctica it splits into two and one current travels northward into the Indian Ocean whilst the other flows to the west Pacific Ocean.(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/06conveyor2.html)
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Hi Sue, your question intrigued me quite a lot! so i have done some digging and hopefully you will find this interesting and slightly answering your question. Jupiter's smallest moon is called Europa and scientists have found evidence that this moon has an ocean subjected to hydrothermal circulation. Therefore chemosynthetic organisms could potentially have...
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Hi Teresa, it's great to hear you are enjoying the course so far :) I will agree that more funding to explore the deep sea and gain a better understanding of our oceans would be beneficial. If more people like you sign up to these courses, and in general if we manage to increase public awareness on the mysterious world of the deep, then public interest should...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Lee Scott
Hi Maureen, great question! Plankton feed on small marine algae (called phytoplankton) which grow at the surface of the ocean where there is enough light to grow. However if plankton were to feed on these algae during the day then they would themselves be at risk of being eaten from larger animals such as fish, whales etc... So during the day, plankton "hide"...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Luana B.
Hi Luana, that is a very interesting and important question. See Vicki Taylor's detailed answer below to a similar question, and also know that this will be talked about again in week 3.
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Hi Melisa! Thank you for doing that extra research as i had no idea. I will agree with you that it is always interesting to find the origins and discover how giants in scientific history got started and crossed paths with each other :)
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Hi Maureen! That's a great question that Rachel Mills (our lead educator) answers in the previous section. It could be to do with the need for sailors to use trade winds or a time limit on expeditions!
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Nina Faure Beaulieu made a comment
Hi everyone! I am a PhD student at the Oceanography Centre Southampton and this is my fourth run mentoring on this course now. I'm always as excited to go through it as every time is an opportunity to learn something new alongside everyone else! Remember to make the most of it by asking lots of questions and interacting with others in the comments section :)...
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Hi Linda, this is a tricky question! It is important with these questions to define the terms, such as "universe" for example. When you say 1*10^21 stars in the universe it might be that your source is for the observable universe only. Overall i think this exercise is meant to give a sense of scale more than anything!
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Hi rosemary, thank you for all the interesting questions. What did your experiment yield?
Salty water—> no salt does not remain in solution when salt water freezes as there is no space in the water crystal lattice for any extra ions. So as more water freezes it leaves behind a saltier water solution also known as brine.
Arctic humidity—> the humidity...
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Hi Rosemary, yes the mediterranean does have a higher than average salt content compared to the open ocean. Whilst most of the open ocean has a salinity between 34-36 ppt (parts per 1000) the mediterranean salinity is at 38 or more. This is because as you said it is enclosed and so evaporation overcomes rain of freshwater input from rivers.
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Hi MaryKaren, no rush! You have plenty of time to catch up :) I hope you enjoy learning all about our oceans and don't forget to post any questions in the discussion sections.
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Hi Ginny, Thank you for pointing that out as i've just spent some time reading about the gulf stream to answer your question and have learned something new. The gulf stream is in fact a warm current that travels from the Gulf of Mexico to the west coast of Europe. However it then splits into multiple currents one of which travels south as part of the North...
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Good Morning Brian from the Oceanography Centre in Southampton!
I completely agree that our oceans are an incredibly important ecological system. They provide us with over 50% of the oxygen we breathe and over 3.5 billion depend on the oceans for their primary source of food. It is very important that we continue to study our oceans so that we can improve our... -
Hi Marianne, the impact of pollution and climate change will come later on in the course around week 4 :) Until then there will still be plenty of information on ocean creatures of course!
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Nina Faure Beaulieu made a comment
Hi everyone! My name is Nina and i am a PhD student from the University of Southampton and based at the national Oceanography Centre Southampton. I study microplastics (plastic pieces smaller than 5mm) and their abundance in aquatic environments.
This is my 3rd run on this course and i'm really excited to keep discovering new things about the ocean alongside... -
Hi Debra, of course! So one paper for the whale carcass stages is the following: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013046/ (Fish Food in the Deep Sea: Revisitng the role of large Food-Falls). And a paper for vent-whale carcass is: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1863/20171281 (Data are inadequate to test whale falls as...
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Hi Cathaleen, you might be interested to know that when whales die and sink to the deep, whale carcasses are also a vital part of deep sea life.
The shift in communities they harbour once they reach the seafloor are so distinct that scientists have managed to define each successive stage:
Stage 1 is for mobile scavengers, such as sharks, that feed on... -
From someone who is at sea currently, it's an amazing place to be :) You really get a sense of how immense the ocean is when your 360 degree view is just ocean!
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Debra Williams
Hi Gina, I guess i take an optimistic view to the issue of sustainable exploitation. I think we cannot ignore the fact that we are a growing population of humans and we need to exploit the planet's resources to support ourselves. I am certain there are ways to carry this out sustainably but this requires more research and more importantly i would say it...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Debra Williams
Hi Debra, i would agree with you that the consequences of deep sea research is a really important aspect to consider. Like you said yourself many researchers are also fascinated by all those different layers under the surface and this drives oceanographic research forward. When this research uncovers exploitable resources, such as tellurium for example, we...
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@LeslyeSlater Hi Leslye! Yes i'll try my best to write a blog or two to talk about everyday life on board a research ship and also to describe the type of science that is happening on this expedition:)
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Hi Eileen, i agree with you a lot here! The ocean has an amazing resilience to it but we still need to care and respect it or else it may lose some of this self regeneration capacity. Some areas are also more susceptible than others. Organisms living in polar waters such such as the Antarctic fish are adapted to very narrow and low temperature ranges (they are...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu made a comment
Hi there! My name is Nina and i'm excited to be part of this great course again. I will be exploring the ocean with you from the ocean this time! I am currently onboard the RRS James Cook at the start of a 6 week expedition across the Atlantic Ocean (from Rio to Cape Town). My focus will be to sample for microplastics and look at how their distribution may...
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Hi Vivienne, that is a great idea. Policy changes are likely to be more successful when they are backed and supported through public engagement. I would also recommend following these organisations on twitter as they post relatively often and it is an easy and simple way to stay in the loop!
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Hi Sue, that’s an interesting though concept. There is so much left undiscovered about our natural world that it is probably going to be a while until we stop learning from nature!
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Emma Watts
Hi Emma, that’s a good question and a lot of research efforts are currently focused on investigating potential effects of plastic and their associated pollutants on human health.
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I realise this is one of the extra reading links so you may have already read this :)
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Hi Brendan, I'm also a scubadiver and i love the feeling you get down there of being alone in a completely different world. I would actually love to learn to dive with a rebreather to get close to some of the "bubble shy" marine life.
It is really interesting to discover how some of our actions, such as underwater anthropogenic noise, that at first seem... -
Hi Helena, i like your point about the shipwrecks as homes for biodiversity. There is an interesting (although slightly out of date) article on the BBC about how shipwrecks help or hinder underwater life: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17706609
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Hi Rebecca, yes i agree there is still so much to discover!
There is a quote i like to think of when talking about the ocean:"There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.".
This was a...
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Hi David, the three Rs are a great way to reduce the amount of waste we produce. There is also a fourth R which is often forgotten and i think is just as important which is "Repair". If we try to fix objects whenever we can this also prevents us from throwing them away in the first place!
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Hi Elaine, it's great you got some data from your local supermarket! Public engagement is exactly what we need to really solve these issues.
In response to your idea about banning single use cups i completely agree.
And in fact the government has recently called for evidence to ban single use plastics all together:... -
Hi Shirley, keep working through the course as later topics will touch on plastic pollution in more detail. In response to your question i'm an optimist so i'd like to think we are slowly but surely realising the damages we're doing and will be able to fix some of them in time. For example the last episode of Blue Planet 2 (the Big Blue) has had some...
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Hi Susan, i would agree with you on this one! There are so many mysteries to solve about the deep sea and so many more incredible species and features to discover. This week really emphasized the point that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do of the deep ocean. If we want to find aliens all we need to do is dive :)
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The fish you are talking about Brian and Patricia is the Barreleye fish. It's eyes are covered by a fluid filled shield which is there to protect them from jellyfish tentacles, one of their prey. In fact this fish has four eyes! In addition to the two upward facing eyes it also has side facing "eyes". They are not eyes at such but rather light guides to detect...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to G M
Finally i do not know as much about ethics approval and keeping animals alive post collection but i will try and find that information out for you :) Unless one of the other mentors has the answer before then.
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to G M
- Regarding the outcome of specimen collection. Again drawing from experience, the corals collected during the James Cook cruise were going to help advise where future marine protected areas should be set. There was a member of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on board and they advise the government on conservation issues. There was also mapping...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to G M
Hi G M, I'll try and answer your questions as fully as possible.
- I guess hand drawings are indeed becoming less important since the advent of cameras and now 3D printing. Specimens can now be "inked digitally" with the use of specialist programmes as described in the following articles.
- Preservation does tend to lead to discolouration so colour might be... -
If you want to learn more there is a recent paper by Craig et al. 2017 that discusses this stepping stone hypothesis. It is a little dense but maybe the references can direct you to further reading too. The paper can be found at: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1863/20171281 .
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Hi Richard, yes you're right the rainbow coloured lights are a result of artificial light being diffracted. Comb jellies do produce their own light however in the form of bioluminescence, which produces blue or green light. The Pink Floyd like laser show remains a spectacle for our eyes only ;)
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Hi Vivienne, yes it does seem like diminishing sea has a butterfly effect on many living communities. Every action has unforeseen consequences and hopefully the science that helps uncover and understand these consequences can then inform the public and environmental policies.
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Hi Helena, whale carcasses certainly are a vital part of deep sea life.
The shift in communities they harbour once they reach the seafloor are so distinct that scientists have managed to define each successive stage:
Stage 1 is for mobile scavengers, such as sharks, that feed on whale flesh
Stage 2 is for worms, crustaceans, and molluscs that feed on the... -
Hi Tony, that's an impressive number of stars!!
A 1 with 24 zeros after it is 10^24 which is still smaller than the estimation in the text above of 4.4 x 10^28. So i'd say you're right, there are many more microbes than stars in our universe! It would be interesting to know if this fact will ever change as we discover more about the universe... -
Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Vicki Taylor
Hi Shirley, you have three episodes to catch up on and they're all amazing! It's definitely a great show to watch in parallel to the course :)
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Susan Dippel
Yes we definitely need to reduce general plastic waste into the ocean! They are having devastating effects on wildlife including as you said birds and also for example turtles that mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. If you haven't already seen it i would highly recommend the documentary "A plastic tide". It is very informative and highlights the main issues...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Susan Dippel
Hi Susan, i am currently doing a PhD on microplastic presence in UK waterways. One thing i have learnt to be cautious about is studies looking at the effect of ingested microplastics on organisms. There is to date no evidence that the current concentration of microplastics poses any risk to organisms ingesting them. Laboratory exposure studies that have found...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Lee Scott
Hi Patricia, Doggerland was the name of the land that connected the UK to Europe. When sea levels rose after the last glacial maximum which was around 6,500 - 6,200 BC it was flooded. Dogger bank is the name of the large elevated sand bank in the North Sea. Interestingly whilst looking this up i discovered that there are plans to build the world's largest...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Pamela R
I completely agree! As soon as you start studying large scale processes such as tides you begin to understanding that our world is a small speck within a massive universe and most of it beyond our control. That's why learning about these processes is really interesting!
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Hi Emma, yes i would agree that global warming is slightly misunderstood.
Global warming is driven by an excess of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere which is in turn increasing the greenhouse effect. Radiation from the sun travels through space, crosses our atmosphere and warms up the surface of the earth. As the earth heats up, this heat is then radiated...
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Hi Claire, to answer your question about the connection between currents and wind circulation patterns. The general rule is that wind controls the direction of surface currents. Deeper currents are driven by changes in water density which is affected by temperature. But as with nearly everything in science the answer isn't that simple. Surface currents are...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu replied to Shirley MacKenzie
Hi Shirley, understanding how these gyres accumulate and concentrate plastic is indeed really important. If you want to learn more, i would check out the article Vicki mentions below as well as the 5 Gyres Institute website: https://www.5gyres.org/. There is a lot of information on this website as well as useful tips on how we can ourselves limit the input of...
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Hi Lawrence, i completely agree with you. Some of the living conditions for hydrothermal vent organisms is incredible and it feels like they come straight out of a science fiction film. Not only do they live without sunlight but other extreme conditions they deal with include extreme temperatures, acidic water and toxic fluids.
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Thanks for sharing Brian.
I think it is very important for us to realise how international collaboration can really help push science forward. Most ocean related research questions span many borders and therefore require the involvement of countries and organisations from across the globe.
And yes this course does put in context the fact that we do really... -
Hi Josephine! I hope you enjoy the course and get stuck into oceanography after your undergrad. I know i did and it was the best decision i've made so far:)
Make sure to ask us any questions about course content and participate in discussions to get the most out of it! -
Hi Patricia, yes you're right the correct term is Abyssal plains and when it is mentioned again later on in the text it is written the correct way again. The word plain does mean a very flat and vast surface which is exactly what these abyssal plains are. I think the one "plane" occurrence is just a typo and i will pass this on :)
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Hi Lee, so i did a little bit of digging and found out that out of the 216 crew members: 7 people died, 26 were hospitalised and unable to continue, and the rest were deserters.
As for the deserters, an extract from the book "To sea and Back" by Richard Shelton provides a potential explanation. He describes the extremely harsh conditions for crew members... -
Hi Shirley, there is a lot of detailed information about the stations and route the challenger took on this link: https://www.hmschallenger.net/the-route. If you go to search by map and then click on the link to visit the route you can access information on any station. They are broken down into sections so you would need to go to "from Bermuda to Cape Verde...
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Nina Faure Beaulieu made a comment
Hi everyone!
My name is Nina and i am a PhD student based at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton. My focus is on microplastics in UK waterways and i am looking forward to answering your questions during this course and discovering new things as i go along too! For more content also make sure to check out the blog posts that i will be contributing...
