San Diego Ocean Glows in the Dark!!!

 Click here for original article

Along California's coast in San Diego there is a phenomenon going on. It happens periodically and it is called Red Tides Usually it lasts only a short while, but this year it has been already three weeks!!!!! What causes the water to light up is these tiny little organisms called Phytoplankton. The reason it is not constantly light up is because it only happens when they dominate the ocean. It is still unknown to scientists why they light up in the dark, but then not the day. During the day the waters are a murky red, brown, or purple color. However, we do know how they light up. It is a chemical reaction caused when the cells hit against something. Right now what is happening in San Diego is that they are all being pushed upon each other and that is what is causing them to light up. The reason they are being pushed upon each other is because the ocean waves are banging them against each other and at this time they are dominating the ocean so the result is a lot of them get pushed and clumped together causing the beautiful sight. What I find the best, most interesting, and defiantly the coolest part about these phytoplankton organisms is that they are not at all that toxic so you are able to swim in these amazing waters! Simply just imagine splashing your friends with glow in the dark ocean water? Or the beautiful photos you can take and what makes the already legendary golden cost even more stunning and beautiful. What you can also do with these phytoplankton organisms, if you live close to the San Diego beaches, you can fill up a jar with the ocean water and share it with your class or just use it as a very cool detail added to your room. These organisms themselves are not that beautiful, but what they produce is stunning.

The Amazing Tale Behind Winter's Bionic Tail By Kavi Dolasia on 10/03/2011

Have you heard of the movie Dolphin Tale? Well that movie was based on a true story about a real live dolphin called Winter. In the movie they added a few aspects to make it more interesting. However there is a true and real story behind it. One day a man went to work and threw his crab catcher into his favorite sport and he heard a squealing. He went to go see what it was because it kept getting louder and louder. He saw that it was a baby dolphin stuck in the crab catcher and he immediately got his knife and cut it up. However, when the dolphin was let go the blood circulation to her tail got cut off so he called the Hubb-sea World Research Institution. They treated the dolphin and had to amputate its tail, otherwise it would die. They were worried because she still might have died. The amputated it and she started swimming again. However they were worried because she couldn't swim up and down so she started swimming side to side. They were worried that she would mess up her spine that way. One day they got a call from the vet and said they could make a fake tail extension for her. When they made it it was a complete success and now Winter serves as an inspiration to the rest of the world.

Glow in the Dark Shark! Disappear as well!!

For the Article below I found my information from another website and article, for the website click here

In this article they talk about a species of sharks that can glow when they want to and 'disappear' as well. Thus species of sharks is called Lantern Sharks, they are a rare dogfish shark. These sharks are found in the deep waters of the East China Sea and off the coast of Taiwan and Japan. Like I said before this shark can glow in the dark at its own will and when predators come they can make themselves invisible. What allows them to do this is their light emitting organs called photophores. The lantern sharks belly, tail, flanks, and pectoral fins light up in particular. When they light up, since they feed at the bottom of the ocean, they attract prey to them and that makes getting food easier for the lantern shark since the prey comes to them.  Also according to and quoting this article "To become invisible or camouflage itself against predators, the shark uses another neat trick, called counter-illumination. With the help of its photophores, it transmits the same intensity of light that is coming in from the sun above and blends in, so that all its predators who are looking upwards from its belly, (which is the only lit up section) see is a spurt of blinding light. And, it gets better. Since the shark has no way to regulate its brightness, it regulates its depth. During the day, when the sun is brightest, it swims deeper in the ocean, while at night, it floats nearer the surface, effectively remaining camouflaged as long as it wishes to." The shark controls its turn on and turn off with a coordination of hormones.

Current Event: Dolphins Dimples Detect Electricity by Shiki (tatjana)

My information comes from this sight and for more information I think you should check it out: click here to visit the sight.


   When we see dolphins we act with all out five senses, we see them, hear them, if we want to we can lick them and taste them, of course you would not want to, but you can. You can also feel them with your hands, and you can sniff them if you like, even though they don't have much of a smell. Well just as we sense dolphins, they do too, only in a different manner. Dolphins do not have all the same senses as we humans do, for example they have very good eye sight, but no sense of smell. Sensory biologist tried to understand these things and during their research they made an interesting discovery about the Guiana dolphin.


   Since Dolphins do not have a sense of smell the Guiana dolphin can detect electric fields, this is what replaces the sense of smell and helps them find many fish to eat. Scientists think that these dolphins are benthic eaters, this means they look for food on the sea floor. For most benthic eaters it is hard to find food dow there because animas make clouds of dirt and sand while looking for food and it gets mixed up with the water and then the water in no longer transparent and becomes opaque and then it is hard for the animals to see their pray. Finding food with being able to sense electric fields makes it easier for these animas to get around.


   This sense comes from their snouts. "Living organisms generate electric fields. The beat of the heart, the work of a cell, and the pump of gills all produce tiny but measurable electric fields. In 1992, scientists  even measured the electric field produced by small goldfish" -http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2011/08/dolphin-dimples-detect-electricity/ What ever you do makes an electric field, when you talk, when you quite and when your brain is working everything creates and electric field. And animals also create electric fields in many natural ways. Scientist though that the dolphins electro sense may have something to do with the small dimples on their snout called vibrissal (pronounced "vy-BRIS-uhl") crypt. Scientist though of what its function must be so they tested it. They tested on two Guiana dolphins from Münster, Germany. First though, the scientists took tissue from a 29-year old dolphins snout who died of natural causes. The vibrissal looked familiar under a microscope. Scientists found out that they looked similar to sensors used by other animal to detect electric fields. Also they found nerve fibers running into the pits and that is a sure sign of electrical activity. Next the group of scientists studying this dolphin tested out on a live 28-year old dolphin named Paco. They tested him to see if he would recognize an electric field. they trained him to do a few things such as to swim close to the device that created small electrical fields in the water. They also trained him to swim away from the device to a treat he liked (a fish probably). When the scientists would flip the switch Paco would be trained to swim away if he notice any changes in the electrical field. When there was no electrical field he would stay put and now swim closer or farther away. When they put plastic over Pacos snout he did not react to the electrical field, because his vibrissals we covered and therefor he could not sense the electrical field. After these tests the scientist working with Paco confirmed that he used his snout to detect any amount of electrical fields. 

the dolphins in this image are a couple of Guiana dolphins swimming in the Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea. 

Hey everyone!!!!!

Hey anyone-who-reads-my-blog! How are you? I haven't posted in a long time because we had summer vacation and now its back to school and I'm in 7th grade!!!!!! Whoohoo!!!!! Sounds great, right? It is just know my posts should be better and longer this year because I'm in 7th grade. So Im back Ill be writting until summer break and then ill be into 8th grade.

PSA Presentation Reflection

In class we had to make a Public Service Announcement about safety in anything and how Inertia is involved in it. I chose to do safety in horseback riding, because I train it so I know a lot about it. I learned about the positions in horseback riding, and how inertia is involved in it, like when the horse starts a canter you feel a tugging force in your back. That is inertia. I also learned about friction, momentum, and Newton laws of Motion. The first one is Inertia that any object stays in rest or in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. An example in horseback riding is that when a horse starts in a canter you feel a force pulling your back and if the horse were to abruptly stop you would go flying forward because your body wants to stay in motion and then the floor is the outside force that causes you to stop. From my class mates I learned a lot about how inertia and momentum an friction cause things to happen in car accidents, motor safety, poet safety, rowing safety, airplane safety. It tells you how weight also affects safety in those things. I think that it is important to understand the science between accidents because then it can show you how to prevent it form happening again and it can show people to stay safe and live longer! All hail Science!!!