The topics and the species
The Changing Oceans Expedition aims to better understand the marine environment, by examining the themes related to human impact on the oceans. In this way the expedition intends to discover more about the animals that inhabit the oceans.
Through the articles posted on the website, you will find general information, detailed explanations, data sources, references to publications, links to visit, websites to discover, but also solutions with which to face the threats outlined, behaviour changes to be adopted, and individual and collective decisions to be taken.
The species encountered along the voyages of Fleur de Passion will also be shared, and you will be able to dive into the world beneath the sea and encounter the creatures of the ocean.
List of topics and species
Biodiversity
Simply put, biodiversity is what fills the sea with beauty, wonder and the life we find so inspiring, as well as the food billions of us could not live without. Delphis is ancient Greek for "spirit of the sea", and Delphis has given us the word dolphin, a creature we all recognize as intelligent and graceful, and one that nobody wants to see disappear. And yet through what we do as human beings, [...]
Marine biology
Coral reefs are 500 million years old and harbour 25 per cent of marine life. Manta rays have common ancestors with sharks and can live up to 100 years old. Their home, the sea, covers 72 per cent of our planet. Who knows how many more amazing creatures live there and have yet to reveal themselves to us. Even among those we already know, we have a lot to learn, about how they feed, where they go, [...]
How to better choose seafood
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has recently released a report reviewing the latest data and trends on the level of global fish stocks. It reveals that fish consumption reached a record high in 2010 and that fish stocks need to be rebuilt urgently.
Already in 2006 it was estimated that three-quarters of world fish stocks were either completely ex [...]
Eco-sailing: tricks and tips
A boat is an extraordinary way of being in contact with the sea and its inhabitants. However, the significant increase in pleasure-boat sailing is also having considerable effects on the marine world.
Here are a few tips which will reduce the impact:
Mooring:
preferably choose light zones (sand) over dark zones (grasses or rocks) to avoid uprooting the vegetation.
[...]
Endangered eco-systems: the coral reefs
Corals are animals and consist of individual polyps that live in colonies. During their lifetimes they build exoskeletons, which over successive generations will give rise to coral reefs. In order to develop and grow, corals rely on the presence of unicellular algae called zooxanthellae. They have a symbiotic relationship, with the coral receiving energy and nutrients, while the algae receive shel [...]
Eco-tourism: some good ways to respect the sea!
Preserve the marine environment in small ways : it's so easy !
The capacity of the natural environment to regenerate itself is much slower than the speed at which man disrupts it with his activities.
The greatest impact created by man is to be found
- in carbon emissions (notably by means of transport)
- in the discharge of noxious substances (plastics, chemicals [...]
Species: Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris)
Gracious, energetic and very acrobatic, they can jump out of the water and spin more than seven times before plunging back. Due to the overfishing of tuna and irresponsible tourism, the Spinner Dolphin is threatened and is present on IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.
Description
They are characterised by their long and thin beaks. They have dark grey backs, white bellies, [...]
Species: Crown-of-thorns Starfish
The crown-of-thorns starfish is found on coral reefs in the Red Sea, Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It has 16-18 arms, each of which is covered in many thorn-like spines. The spines are incredibly sharp and can slide through wetsuits and other materials.
What's more, the spines are venomous and contain a neurotoxin that induces nausea, vomiting and a stinging pain in humans. The spine als [...]
Species: the Grouper
There are many species of grouper and they are a popular food source in the tropical marine areas in which most species live.
They are believed to be the most popular saltwater food fish in the USA.
They have stout bodies and large mouths and are often dull coloured but there are exceptions such as the yellowfin grouper which has a yellow trim on its pectoral fins. There is a great dea [...]
Species: the Parrot fish
Parrotfish are aptly named: they are brightly colored, and their teeth are fused together, forming a beak not unlike those sported by parrots.
They form a big family of tropical fish which spans across the entire globe. They are abundant around and within coral reefs and can only live within warm waters. They use their 'beaks' to crush shells and coral bases. However, the coral sand which they [...]
Species: Corals
Corals are made up of lots of tiny organisms called polyps. Polyps are normally 1-3mm in diameter. Most coral polyps get nearly all their energy from zooxanthellae algae living within their cells. The polyps and algae have a symbiotic relationship; waste products from the algae feed the zooxanthellae and in turn the algae provide nutrients for the coral. Coral that live in symbiotic relationships [...]
Species: the Dugong (Sea Cow)
The Dugong, along with the Manatee, is one of the only herbivorous sea mammals that graze on sea-grasses on the sea floor.
Formerly hunted and killed for its meat, oil and skin, today the Dugong is registered as a protected species; capture and trading are forbidden. Even so, tourism and coastal urbanization represent a deadly threat to this animal, whose global population is in freefall. [...]
Species: the Napoleon fish
The Napoleon fish, also known as the humphead wrasse and Maori wrasse, is one of the largest reef fishes in the world. Males can grow to over 2m, females are slightly smaller with an average length of around 1m. The fish can weigh up to 190kg.
Napoleon fish are found throughout coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region on steep slopes at 1 to 100m in depth. Napoleon fish are distinguished [...]
Species: the Moray Eel
There are over 200 species of moray eel and they occupy rocky crevices in a wide range of environments. Most species of moral eels inhabit rocky of coral reef environments in tropical oceans. They can be found at depths of up to 150m. The smallest moral eel is the ribbon moray at a mere 25cm in length; the largest is the giant moray which can be up to 4m long. The skin of moray eels comes in many [...]
Species: the Manta ray
The manta ray is the largest species of ray and differs from other ray species in both its size and feeding habits. Most ray species eat small crabs and other animals that they find on the bottom of the sea bed. Although manta rays can feed in this way, they normally feed by filtering out plankton and small bony fish from the water through which they swim. The manta ray is also the largest ray wi [...]
Species: the Sea Turtles
Sea turtles are reptiles and can be found in all the world's oceans except in polar regions. There are seven species of sea turtle: green, hawksbill, leatherback, olive ridley, Kemp's ridley, flatback and loggerhead.
Leatherback turtles are the largest, typically between 1 and 2m in length.
The largest ever recorded specimen of a leatherback was 3m long. The flatback turtle is native to the [...]
Species: The killer whale (Orcinus orca)
We were lucky to observe 4 killer whales at the atlantic mouth of the Gibraltar Strait in mid-May 2010.
The killer whale is one of 7 species of cetaceans that can be seen in the Strait in summer. They are semi-residents, as they follow the migration of red tunas from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean between April and June and back into the Atlantic between July and late August.
[...]
Species: Sharks and white-tip sharks
The term shark denotes cartilaginous fish present in all the oceans of the world with the exception of the Antarctic. Some of them live in the open sea, some in coastal waters: they are found on the surface as well as in depths of up to 2500m.
465 different species have been identified and constitute the 35 families which make up the class of chondrichthyes. This class groups tog [...]
Invasive species
Those species which - as a result of intentional human activity or otherwise - are transferred to regions that they do not normally inhabit, are called "introduced species" or "alien species". Many perish, but some thrive and start to take over
the native biodiversity and affect human livelihoods. These are known as invasive or alien species.
When a species establishes itself in a new [...]
Great Depths
We know more about the moon than about the great depths of our oceans, and yet they are thought to harbour more biodiversity than anywhere else on earth. Some creatures down there are nearly 10,000 years old. But as far out of reach as it is, this part of our world is also suffering the consequences of human activity. Bottom trawling is a fishing technique that uses enormous nets dragged along the [...]
Fish resources and oversfishing
Fishing and aquaculture provide a livelihood for some 540 million people around the globe, i.e. 8% of the world's population. A billion more depend on fish and seafood as their main source of protein, and yet over-fishing is threatening just about every marine ecosystem out there. If these collapse, so do fish stocks. Tuna, cod and swordfish are already down some 90%.
What is the i [...]
Pharmacology
Today, 80% of the medicines we use are derived from terrestrial plants. However, marine organisms are far more biologically diverse than what we find in the terrestrial world, due to their age (more than 3.5 biollion years old) and the diversity of ecological systems found in the oceans. This variety of marine species constitutes a great source of exploitable resources, many of which will undoubte [...]
Responsibilities of the eco-diver
None of us can be indifferent to the amazing discoveries, the abundance and the treasures of the marine world. Surprising and unforgettable creatures seem to compete with each other by inventing shapes and colours and different ways of life.
This living world is however very fragile, and diving can disturb it if not practised with restraint and respect for a few basic rules. By being att [...]
Pollution
Every day some 8 million pieces of junk are thought to be thrown into the world's oceans, most of them from ships, but many from rivers, beach goers, and even from airplanes. The sea has become a dump, and we are reaching critical levels of pollution. Every square mile contains over 70,000 items made of plastic. This can reach up to six times the natural plankton population. It is estimated some 1 [...]
Tourism
Who doesn't love to spend time at the beach, especially if the sand is white and the water is clean?
Coastlines provide spectacular locations for sports, relaxation, adventure and recreation.
However, all too often, we ignore how important these regions are for other living things with which we share this environment - living things that, in many cases, were there millions of years before [...]
Maritime traffic
Commercial activities have an impact on the oceans, notably through merchant marine shipping and oil tanker traffic. One only has to reflect upon the fact that most of our everyday goods used in the West have been transported by sea. In 2005,
this merchandise totalled 6 billion tons, the equivalent of 90% of global transportation.
A few figures for the Mediterranean alone: [...]
