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A photograph of a coastal settlement on the coastline of Little Diomede Island. Credit to Jensen Creative Hall. In today’s article, we are going to discuss the oceans surrounding Little Diomede Island, Alaska. Little Diomede Island, colloquially known as Yesterday Island, is a small island far off the coast of Alaska. It is a part of the Diomede Archipelago. Despite being a mere 2.3 miles from Big Diomede, the islands are 23 hours apart in time. For this reason, Big Diomede is known as Tomorrow Island, while Little Diomede is known as Yesterday Island. Little Diomede is incredibly isolated, as it is only 16 miles from mainland Alaska, & doesn’t have any roads leading to it. Usually, the only way to get to the island is by helicopter, & in the summer, by boat. Despite the harsh conditions, the island still currently has a population of 87. The majority of these people are indigenous Inupiat people. Even though the temperatures can reach as low as -20° Fahrenheit, marine life has still found a way to survive in this environment. Animals such as Cetaceans, Crabs, Seals, & Large Fish have all adapted to this frigid & hostile climate, & thrive amongst the ice. Many of these marine animals have evolved to have some form of insulation, which allows them to live in such cold environments without freezing to death. For example, Cetaceans are known for their thick layers of blubber, which enable them to endure such intense temperatures. In this article, we are going to delve into the Salinity, Tides, Temperatures, Marine Geography, & Depth of the Oceans Surrounding Little Diomede, the Marine Environments of Little Diomede, the Marine Flora & Fauna of Little Diomede Island, & finally How Climate Change is Affecting Little Diomede Island. With that being said, let us delve into the arctic waters of Little Diomede Island. The Salinity, Tides, Temperatures, Marine Geography, & Depth of The Oceans Surrounding Little Diomede Island The salinity of the water around Little Diomede Island is between 31 & 33 parts per thousand or practical salinity units. Salinity is measured in 1,000-gram increments of water. For every 1000 grams of water, there will be a certain number of grams that are pure salt, with the amount of pure salt being referred to as parts per thousand or practical salinity units. The tidal charts around Little Diomede Island unfortunately are not available through many resources. One of the few sites that offers the tidal charts for the isles, is https://tideking.com. The tide around Little Diomede Island generally doesn’t go over 4.5 feet (1.3716 meters), or below -0.5 feet (-0.01524 meters). Similarly, there are almost no charts available of the oceanic temperatures for Little Diomede. Little Diomede is surrounded by relatively shallow water, ranging from 3 (0.9144 meters), to 173 feet (52.7304 meters) deep. There are no sea mounts in the nearby area, with the seafloor being composed primarily of rock & sand. A photograph of Diomede, the only settlement on Little Diomede. Credit to coastview.org. The Marine Ecosystems of Little Diomede Island Ecosystem Type No. 1: Frigid Coastal Waters The waters near Little Diomede Island are quite deep, & are home to a variety of animals. Many whales pass the island on their migrational routes. Very few animals inhabit the area year-round, with the few exceptions mainly being invertebrates such as crabs. Ecosystem Type No. 2: Rocky Coastlines Little Diomede has a coastline adorned with rocks. Along these rocks, colonies of seals or walruses can be seen relaxing. Apart from that, there is very little else that inhabits the direct coastline of Little Diomede Island. The Marine Flora of Little Diomede Island Unfortunately, due to the cold temperatures, harsh winds, & harsh currents, very little vegetation grows on the island or in the ocean around the island. The Marine Fauna of Little Diomede Island As said before, though Little Diomede Island has a very harsh environment, marine animals still thrive. Seal colonies can be seen along the shoreline in the summer months. There are 2 primary species of seals that inhabit the island, those being Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida), & Bearded Seals (Erignathus barbatus). A photograph of a Ringed Seal (Pusa hispada), lying on an ice floe. Credit to Earth Rangers. Walruses, dolphins, & whales are also fairly common, with species such as the Bowhead Whale, (Balaena mysticetus), congregating near the island during the late winter, spring, & early summer. Crabs, such as the Hanasaki Crab (Paralithodes brevipes), are also very common around the island, & are often hunted for their meat. A photograph of the head chef at the Hanasaki Crab specialty restaurant in Hokkaido, Japan, holding a massive Hanasaki Crab. Credit to Katsukanino-Hanasaki. How Climate Change Is Affecting Little Diomede Island Unfortunately, Little Diomede Island is at high risk for climate change. The island highly relies on ice for airstrips to land planes on, however, global warming is gradually causing permafrost to melt & ice to disappear. Planes are no longer able to land on Little Diomede Island, & islanders now have to rely on Helicopters to transport food & supplies once a week from Nome, if the weather allows. With ice melting, the ground is shifting underneath buildings as well, causing buildings to collapse off of their wooden stilts. One of the best examples of this occurred in 2023 when the local tribal office collapsed into the only school. Additionally, climate change is actively changing the migration routes for important animals such as walruses & seals, which many natives rely on for their meat. Overall, global warming & rising sea temperatures are causing massive issues for these islanders. Directories / Credits Citation No. 1: “One of the Biggest Arctic Migrations You’ve Never Heard Of”, Written by Unknown, & Published On May 12th, 2014. Published by the Ocean Conservancy. Retrieval Date: October 21st, 2024. https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2014/05/12/one-of-natures-wonders-spring-migration-in-the-arctic/ Citation No. 2: “Sealand & Walrus Harvest & Habitat Waters For Nine Bering Strait Region Communities”, Written by the Kawerak, & Published in 2013. Published by the Kawerak. Retrieval Date: October 21st, 2024. https://eskimowalruscommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Seal-and-Walrus-Harvest-and-Habitat-Areas.pdf Citation No. 3: “Climate Change Brings Collapsing Stilts and Hungry Bears to Little Diomede Island” Written by Cecily Hillaery, Published on December 23rd, 2023. Retrieval Date: October 21st, 2024. https://www.voanews.com/amp/climate-change-brings-collapsing-stilts-and-hungry-bears-to-little-diomede-island-/7405709.html Citation No. 4: “Climate Change Batters This Arctic Community - Can The Community Cope”, Written by Tik Root, & Published on November 30th, 2018. Retrieval Date: October 21st, 2024. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/little-diomede-alaska-faces-rapid-climate-change-threatens-native-inupiat-community Strategic Partnerships Reel Guppy Outdoors SharkedSkooler Marine Enthusiasts Podcast Cash Daniels Tides of Tomorrow Olivenbaum Music The Open Book, Topanga Pitfire Artisan Pizza Three J’s Kitchen Our Loyal Patrons P. R. Ochoa

A distinguished photograph of Dr. Jeb Byers in his office at the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. Credit to Chamberlain Smith. Recently, our head writer was fortunate to sit down for an interview with invasive species zoologist, marine parasitologist, & marine invertebrate zoologist Dr. Jeb Byers. Dr. Jeb Byers is an invasive species ecologist, marine parasitologist, marine invertebrate zoologist, author, & conservationist known for his work with the University of Georgia. In today’s interview, we sit down with Dr. Jeb Byers to discuss his career, background, the ongoing screw-worm infestation in the United States, parasites, his advice to early-career ocean professionals, & how, sometimes, when the world hands you invasive species, the only thing you can do is make lemonade. Before delving into today’s comprehensive 19-question interview, please note everything said has been edited for clarity, & that the opinions of our interviewee do not necessarily reflect the opinions & values of our organization. With that being said, let us delve into the contents of the interview! Contents of the Interview Questions About His Passion: 1. What sparked your passion for the ocean, & marine science? I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. I spent a lot of time outdoors hiking in the mountains. I have always had a general love of nature, being outside, & being active. When I got to my formal undergraduate education at Duke University, I was a biology major. In my junior year, I had the opportunity to study at Duke Marine Lab down on the coast of North Carolina. That’s when I harnessed my biological interest into the marine realm, & I got my feet wet both literally & figuratively doing my first independent research study learning all about critters. That’s when it got traction, & took on a marine direction. 2. Was there any major person, place, book, or media franchise that assisted in the sparking of your passions for these subjects? One of my inspirations when I got to Duke Marine Lab was one of my professors, Dr. William Kirby Smith. He taught invertebrate zoology. That class was very instrumental in igniting my curiosity & passion. We had this habit of going out & collecting organisms from the field that we would later look at. In the meantime, before we got to them, we would keep them in aquaria with our lab partner. Every two people had their own aquarium inside the lab, & I remember initially thinking “That’s going to be a disaster!”, but in hindsight that was exactly the point. He said “If you ever get bored with me talking, just watch the critters in the tank. You can learn a lot from their behaviour & physiology.” That class was really captivating, & I poured myself into that class, & got a ton out of it. It was fun, he was a very inspirational teacher. 3. What is your favourite terrestrial, or marine animal personally, & what is your favourite marine or terrestrial animal that you have worked on? Octopuses are definitely my favourite. There’s so much I could say. I have a whole lecture that I give on octopuses, I think they are a very special organism both evolutionarily & on the basis of what it can do. It has an intelligence that’s sort of otherworldly, because it evolved on a completely different branch of life from humans. All of its capabilities, like its intelligence, & its eyes, completely independently evolved. They are just fascinating organisms. I was fortunate enough to work on a project that involved octopuses in Australia, because they are a major clam predator. We were doing a project on clams, & the octopus in the area were hunting clams quite effectively to use the shells to fortify their dens. That made them easy to spot. We would dive, & we’d swim around so we could map out all the octopus dens in our study area to quantify them. We did a lot of video analysis of them hunting for clams under the surface. That was fun, it sort of combined my personal interest in octopus into an academic study that we were doing. A delightful photograph of a Veined Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), hiding inside of a pair of old shells. This photograph was taken in Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Credit to Sam Sloss. https://twig.technology/ Questions About His Career: 4. What university did you attend for your P.h.D, & was there any specific reason you chose that university? After undergrad, I took a couple years off to pursue other interests. I taught high school in Ecuador for a year, then I came back & I worked at the University of North Carolina Marine Laboratory for a year. It was during that year I really decided that was what I wanted to do. I learned a ton from working with the other graduate students & professors there. They were helpful, because at the time I was applying for grad school, they had a lot of recommendations on people & places to look into. I knew that I wanted to study on the US West Coast because I’d already studied a lot on the East Coast, & I wanted geographic diversity. They recommended some good people & places, & I ended up at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which is where I did my PhD. I did most of my fieldwork in Northern California, specifically Marin County, which is North of San Francisco Bay. 5. What was the first research project that you led, & what was the first research project that you participated in? During my undergraduate studies, in my fall junior semester at Duke University, I completed an independent study project, which was one of the courses we could take for credit. Dr. William Kirby Smith, who I mentioned before, was my advisor on that project. That was another reason he was really seminal in my development. We came up with a project idea where I was going to compare heavy metal contamination between filter-feeder oysters and deposit-feeder mud snails. I was going to compare it between open water & marina environments. It was a pretty straightforward design, but it was a good bite-sized project for an undergraduate. I pretty much did that independently once I learned the proper methodology to use. After I graduated, I ended up getting that paper published in a peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Society) which was very important at the time, especially because I was considering grad school. That was the way I sort of cut my teeth in marine ecology research. 6. What work have you done in the field of marine parasitology & in relation to marine diseases? I first got interested in marine parasites during my PhD. During my PhD, I was working on species invasions, & there was an invasive mud snail from Japan that had entered the United States. I was attempting to address whether it was outcompeting a native mud snail. I remember getting a question quite often during the early stages of my PhD preparation about how parasites are affecting the ecosystem at large, because parasites are pretty synonymous with mud snails. They are heavily loaded. I looked inside them, & there were a lot, & it sort of changed my perspective on the world after seeing that, because you can’t unsee that whole world inside organisms. It became a fascinating angle for a lot of my projects after that, looking at the ecology of parasites. Not so much how they affected the host, & what medicine can be used to treat parasitic infections, that is what traditional parasitology is interested in, but how they affect populations, & how parasites themselves are influenced by environmental factors. A lot of work has taken place since my PhD, & we’ve done a lot of work looking at parasites from biogeographic perspectives, like how they’ve spread over large spatial scales, & what factors control their distribution. I just finished co-editing a book called The Ecology & Evolution of Marine Parasites & Disease (2026), which has a whole bunch of perspectives, including evolutionary patterns that parasites demonstrate, large spatial & temporal scale patterns, environmental drivers of their abundance, & that sort of thing. It’s been a long-term research focus for myself & my students. 7. Do you mind elaborating on your work related to invasive species, & creating conservation strategies tailored around reducing them? When I started grad school, I was interested in working on invasive species. It was a rising topic at the time. The late 1980s is when the zebra mussel first showed up in the United States, that was sort of the poster child for invasion biology. I was entering grad school in the mid-nineties, so the idea that this should be looked at from a formal perspective rather than just ad hoc was just taking form. There was a big desire to figure out if we could predict which species were going to be problematic, & what we could do when we found out they were. A lot of my PhD work was quantifying species invasion, & trying to figure out mechanistically what’s going on. The field has become much more sophisticated over the last few decades. It’s much more quantitative now. Policy-wise we’ve gotten more sophisticated too, because now we’re not letting species in willy-nilly anymore. We’re putting the onus on people to show that a species is safe before bringing it in. There are inspections from government agencies like APHIS (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service), especially in our ports that look at possibly condemning or turning back shipments that have been contaminated with invasive species. Unfortunately, we are still behind the curve because species are being introduced at exponentially high rates. They’re with us. Figuring out how these species integrate into native food webs & systems is a way we can create lemonade out of the situation, because it’s a way to study ecological & evolutionary questions with novel species interactions. Species that don’t share any evolutionary history are coming together, & seeing how they interact can be informative. 8. One of the species which is making a name for itself in the US as of now is the New World Screwworm Fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax). What is your opinion on this rapidly developing situation, & do you have any colleagues working on it? I don’t have any colleagues directly working on it. That’s an interesting case study, because the US had been very instrumental in controlling screwworm. It started in South America, & was spreading into Central America, towards the southern border of the United States. This was several decades ago, & the US figured out ways to control it. We were able to push it back to the South American Border, so it was absent from the Central American isthmus. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. They were spending tiny amounts of money, it was keeping screwworm at bay. It’s a very, very painful infection which infects livestock, & can actually be lethal in high doses. The program was dismantled by the US, I believe it happened fairly recently as a part of DOGE government cutback efforts. Even though this program only cost pennies on the dollar, we’re paying the price because screwworm has now resurged all through Central America, & into the United States. It’s so short-sighted, because it was super easy to control, & very, very cheap. Now the cat’s out of the bag again, & we’ve got to go back to square one to figure out how to control it. It’s going to cost a ton of money, it’s a real shame. It’s an example of things we’ve seen from time to time of just how important it is to control these invasions as early as possible. 9. What research have you done in relation to studying the effects of global climate change on marine ecosystems? I’ve tackled that from a few angles. I’ve done some reviews on how temperature might affect parasites & diseases in marine ecosystems. We’ve also done some empirical work on temperature drivers in shrimp disease. We’ve been looking at things on a global biogeographic scale, such as how temperature might affect range boundaries. In the ocean, temperatures might not be the most important factor changing with climate. The currents that might be changing in conjunction with all the change going on may be a bigger issue. A lot of times in terrestrial ecosystems, organisms are able to track temperature changes. For example, if it’s getting hotter, they’ll move farther north, or farther up in elevation. In the ocean, organisms don’t necessarily have the luxury of being able to track that, because they get bounded by, for example, biogeographic breaks which hinder their movement. In many ways, they have to go where the currents take them. A lot of times, the currents are not conducive to taking them to the place that is better temperature-wise. That’s an important facet to keep in mind when you’re thinking about how marine organisms respond to global change, in that temperature may not always be the biggest driver as it often is in terrestrial systems. 10. What work have you done in estuarine ecology? A huge part of my work is in estuaries. Those habitats are near shore, so they’re very accessible. They’re on the front line of any human impacts, because they are interfacing between humans & the shoreline. They’re really fun! Here on the east coast, they are extensive. The marshes here in Georgia will go on for miles & miles. You could get lost in one of them, it’s a giant habitat. It’s fascinating. I know the ecology of it well, so it’s a fun system to keep exploring. The farther offshore you go in marine ecology & marine biology, the more expensive it is. You need ship time or boat time, but, you can always put on a pair of boots & walk out into the estuary anytime you like. It’s very accessible, so it tends to be easier to study. All the organisms I work with are estuarine, everything since the snails I did my PhD on. We’ve been working a lot with oysters, shrimp, & crabs. Some of these species do occasionally live offshore, at least for part of their lifecycle. A lot of people think that just because an organism spends most of its life in one area, that conserving marshlands, mangroves, or estuaries (ecological nurseries) isn’t important, but that’s not true. That’s not true at all. A photograph of a saltwater marsh along the coast of Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA. The primary species of seaweed comprising this marsh is Spartina alterniflora. American Oysters may be seen as well. Credit to Brian Silliman. 11. What work have you done in marine invertebrate zoology? Almost all of the organisms I work with are invertebrates. Occasionally, we’ll do a project which dips into the fish world, but lots of shellfish, oysters, mussels, clams, snails, shrimp & crab. Crustaceans & molluscs are certainly the biggest group that I’ve worked with. Sometimes fish are involved, sometimes seaweeds are involved, but invertebrates are where my passion is. In the Southeastern US, all the important commercial fisheries are invertebrates. In Georgia, we have no commercial fin fishery. I think that often people are surprised because when you hear the word fishery, people assume you’re talking about fin fish. Shrimp, crab, & oyster are the top three (commercially relevant) species here, all inverts. Part of this is because of our turbid water, which is not conducive to having large enough fish populations to sustain fisheries, so invertebrates have a big economic heft. Think of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) industry for example. A photograph of Dr. Jeb Byers inspecting a crab at research site on Skidaway Island, Georgia. Credit to Peter Frey. 12. A large part of your career has been spent researching anthropogenic impacts on the ocean, primarily through pollution. What research have you done in this regard, & what conclusions have you come to? Invasive species themselves are often anthropogenically spread, or they’re aided by humans in their transport around the world. That’s why they’ve become such a problem as the rate of introduction has gone up so high. We’ve also done a bit of work with microplastics, & their accumulation in oysters. We’ve done projects on what we call shoreline armouring, which is when people put up structures to protect their property from erosion or beachfront energy, & looked at what those effects are in different marine & estuarine environments. That’s a good overview of the ways we looked at anthropogenic problems. 13. Invasive species are often transported as a result of human shipping & commerce. As such, you think of them as a form of pollution? I do find it useful to sometimes refer to them as biological pollution when talking to people. When ships are traveling the ocean, they often use ballast water to help them stabilize. Oftentimes that ballast water could be sucked up from a port in the originating city. For example, say you have a ship in Vietnam & it takes in ballast water, then transits the Pacific to get to San Francisco Bay. If it decides it doesn’t need the ballast water anymore, it dumps it out in the bay. That went on for decades, all around the world. People eventually started realizing that the water you are dumping in the bay is not sterile. It has all kinds of living organisms in it such as larvae, & even small fish. A lot of organisms are now taking root in San Francisco Bay. In fact, San Francisco Bay now has more than 300 non-native species, in part due to that ballast water transfer over decades. Most of the biomass in San Francisco Bay is not native, somewhere between 90 & 95% of the bay is non-native. Getting people to realize that the water needs to be treated like you might treat sewage water has now changed. We now have new policies on how ballast water can be dealt with, & there are still people working on new ways to do it more effectively. Yeah, I think that framing invaders as biological pollution can be very useful. Now of course, there are non-native species that we eat, use in agriculture, & have as pets, so you can’t always frame them that way, but I do think it can be useful when you talk about the problem. 14. What are ecosystem engineers, & how would you describe them to those who aren’t familiar? We’ve done a lot in the area of ecosystem engineers, which are sometimes also referred to as foundation species. There’s a recognition that certain species are very structurally important in the habitats they live in, & you can’t think of the habitat as existing without them. In fact, sometimes we even use the species when we’re talking about these ecosystems, such as coral reef communities, oyster reef communities, or hemlock forests. You’re invoking in that case the name of an ecosystem engineer, because that species is a linchpin for the entire system. In the case of coral, coral are making calcium carbonate skeletons, which is an important habitat for other species. It changes the flow of the environment. It changes erosion rates. It’s a habitat. It’s engineering the environment, & changing the physical environment for a lot of organisms. That broad term captures the effect. The examples we gave were with an organism itself creating the structure, like coral, oysters, or trees, but you could also have examples where organisms build structures outside of their bodies, like termite mounds or beaver dams. That’s also another form of engineering, which in this case, persists outside the engineer itself, & can live in the environment for a long time, even after the engineer is gone. Ecologists have known this effect has existed for a long time, but we haven’t formalized the study of it until the last several decades, realizing that the dam a beaver creates, its engineering, is probably more important than its biological effects of what it eats & how it competes. That dam has a huge influence on biogeochemistry & all other organism interactions affecting a very large spatial scale. Recognizing that engineering might be the most important thing a species is doing has been a fun aspect for me to consider in some of the research I’m doing. 15. What are you currently working on at the University of Georgia? I have several graduate students, & they’re always actively in the field pursuing different topics. I have one who’s working on ecosystem engineering, in particular ecosystem engineers in mangrove forests. They’re a very important engineer because they are a woody tree. It’s one of the only trees that can live in saltwater, & performs a lot of engineering through erosion control, slowing waves, & providing habitat. It is spreading northward with climate change. It’s been limited by freezing temperatures in the winter, & those have been becoming more moderate. It’s spreading northward & is interacting & coming in contact with a salt marsh grass called Spartina, which is another ecosystem engineer. In the marshes of Georgia, for example, that’s the dominant plant species that lives in lower marsh areas, because it can tolerate salt very well. She’s looking at what happens when the two interact, in the transition phase, & in the long run. I have another student working on parasite ecology, specifically how contaminants affect parasite communities. Another student is working on looking at biogeographic boundaries & how they’re influenced by currents. So yes, lots of activity going on! We finished up some work recently looking at black gill disease in shrimp, we were particularly interested in knowing if it was affecting the shrimp population. We’ve also been working a lot with oysters & on oyster disease, as well as what factors are affecting the broad-scale patterns in oyster disease. 16. What has been your biggest triumph or proudest moment across your career? It’s always a great moment when you have a student who graduates & moves on to the next step of their career. That’s really satisfying. It’s always a little bittersweet when a student leaves the lab, but it’s nice to see them land on their feet, & get a job that they’ve been really excited about, & move on, spread their wings, & start their own independent research careers. I’ve been proud of my involvement in 2 books. I showed you the one on parasites, & there was another on ecosystem engineering. When those edited books came out, that was a pretty proud moment. Finishing big grant projects is always satisfying, when you’ve had some important questions in front of you, & after several years you’ve been able to get some insight on some important academic & sometimes practical questions. The shrimp disease project we worked on was really fulfilling in that regard because they’re a very important commercial species, & we were able to show in this case what we don’t think the black gill disease was having much of an effect on shrimp populations. That was an important finding to understand from a practical sense. A photograph of 3 shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) afflicted by Black Gill Disease, also known as Black Spot Disease. This photograph was taken for a study titled “Identifying diseases affecting farmed Litopenaeus vannamei in different areas of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh, India.” Credit to Durbha Srinivas. 17. I’m sure that you have faced just as many challenges & setbacks as you have leaps forward, what has been the biggest hurdle or challenge that you have faced across your career, & how did you overcome it? Since I’ve been a professor, I don’t think I’ve had too many giant hurdles. Part of that is that once you get to that stage, you’re able to roll with the punches a little better, & you understand how to get around problems. You also have many projects going forward, so if one of them gets stymied, you’re able to pivot to some of the others. I would say the hardest part is in earlier stages when you’re in your PhD when you have one major focus of research. If you hit a snag, it can kind of derail things & you have to figure out a way around it. Relatedly, I think finding a postdoc can be quite difficult because those positions are very limiting. It’s sort of the stage you do in between your PhD & a faculty job, so finding a postdoc, especially one that you are excited about & want to do, can sometimes be a hurdle. I was thankful in all those cases because I was able to persevere & move through them. Looking back on my career, those kinds of hurdles are there, but during your PhD you’re less experienced in dealing with them, & you’re also more singularly focused. So, a problem sort of means that everything comes to a halt, & you have to work around it. Whereas now I’ve got more irons in the fire, & I can pivot around things better when problems arise. 18. What is your advice for new marine scientists, early career ocean professionals, or young passionate people looking to enter conservation? I think you want to be ambitious, energetic, & driven. Look for opportunities to get involved. Those opportunities may not always be marine, when I’m looking for graduate students, oftentimes what I want to see is commitment. Do they know the scientific method? Do they have research experience? The exact theme of what they’ve been researching is of secondary interest to me. I mostly want to know if they persevere. Do they know how to stick to a problem? Have they worked in a lab for a number of years & gotten some continuity there? To me, the scientific skills are the most important part. The actual area you apply them to, whether it’s a certain species or system, is the icing on the cake. Be open to possibilities, maybe not in the marine realm, as long as they further your interest in a thematic area or in science in general. 19. Do you have any final words about your work, the ocean, invasive species, or climate change? I think a lot of it has been encapsulated in our talk here today. I don't know that I necessarily have any concluding remarks other than for me, it’s been a really, really fun career. I like being a professor a lot, because there’s a lot of variety in the job. I can teach, I can research, I can help on service-oriented things, & even within those areas I can pivot to teach different classes, do different research projects, or work with different colleagues. I have enjoyed the variety. I really enjoy the curiosity & getting to solve problems. One of my favourite times of the week is when we have our lab meetings, get to sit down, think about problems, & hear other perspectives about how to approach a subject matter. It’s really fulfilling to me. If that is appealing to you, it’s a good field to pursue. A photograph of the esteemed Dr. Jeb Byers at the University of Georgia. Credit to UGAToday. Directories / Credits https://jebyers.ecology.uga.edu Strategic Partnerships Reel Guppy Outdoors SharkedSkooler Marine Enthusiasts Podcast Cash Daniels Tides of Tomorrow The Open Book, Topanga Olivenbaum Music Pitfire Artisan Pizza Presence News Our Loyal Patrons P. R. Ochoa

Today’s chart is a primordial 169-year-old map of the South Atlantic Ocean, featuring both the coasts of South America & the coast of West Africa. The chart is fairly large, at 51 inches long by 38 inches wide. It is in beautiful condition for its age, apart from a small hole in one of its compass roses. Its blemishes & soiling are consistent with use at sea. In today’s article, we are going to examine this antique map, discuss it, & analyze it. With that being said, let’s delve into the visually magnificent, cool, & unforgiving waters of the South Atlantic Ocean! The Chart A 169-year-old antique nautical chart produced by James Imray & his son, James Frederick Imray. Credit to raremaps.com. This chart features most of South America, part of West Africa, the South Atlantic Ocean, & the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from the Equator to 65° South latitude. It is packed with information, & includes multiple archipelagos such as the Galapagos, South Shetland, South Orkney, Sandwich, & Falkland Islands. It is beautifully decorated, with intricate calligraphy all over. 10 compass roses are littered across the map, which would have been used by navigators to orient themselves as to what their position was. In the Atlantic, we can see “Reid's Shoal (1842)”, located near Lagoa dos Patos, Brazil, while in the Pacific we can see “Powsland Reef? (1853)”. Coral reefs, rocky reefs, & shoals pose many issues to passing ships, as they may cause hull damage to unsuspecting vessels which strike them. Hull damage can catastrophically alter the structural integrity of the ship, & may cause it to capsize & sink. As such, it is of critical importance to have these properly labelled. Weather conditions are featured prominently in the chart, with the infamous Drake Passage labelled with “Storms and almost constant rain prevail here”. Other areas, such as the South Sandwich Islands, are labelled with “High Land covered with snow”. South of 60° Latitude, reports of field ice from various years can be seen. Field ice is defined as an expanse of sea ice or lake ice on a body of water which is so large, that the other side may not be seen from the masthead of a ship. It is relatively flat, & according to the Manual of Ice, must be more than 6.3 miles (10 kilometers) across. This would have been extraordinarily useful to any sailor traversing icy Antarctic waters, as field ice could severely damage or even sink a vessel. Information about currents near Brazil & Cape Horn can be found on the left side of the map, while information about the Lagullas Current, South African Current, & Southern Connecting Current can be found on the right side. According to the chart, the Lagullas Current is set westward around the Cape of Good Hope, & varies in velocity. The South African Current is a strong broad extension of the Lagullas Current, running northwest. The Southern Connecting Current flows to the east between 30° & 40° South latitude. It is also broad, & quite strong. Illustrations of Tristan de Cunha, West Falkland, Gough Island, False Cape Horn & the Cape Horn can all be seen near the bottom. Each coastline is drawn with attention to detail. An Analysis Of The Chart This chart was manufactured in 1857, by the Scottish pair of hydrographers James Imray & his son, James Frederick Imray. Imray Sr. began his business as a bookseller in 1818. He shared his office space with a nautical chart seller, Robert Blachford, & eventually went into business with his successor, Michael Blachford. He eventually bought Blachford out in 1846, & brought his son in as a partner in 1854. In 1899, the firm was sold to Norie & Wilson. Nowadays, the combined firms trade under the name Imray, Laurie, Norie, & Wilson, keeping the name alive over a century later. The map was created & published in London, as that is where the cartographic office of Imray was located. The chart is titled “General Chart of the South Atlantic or Ethiopic Ocean From The Equator to 65° South Latitude according to the latest Surveys & Observations”. Upon reviewing the concise details printed, publishing house, & era that it was manufactured in, this chart was likely manufactured using lithography. Lithography is a method of printing that arose in the 1820s, & remained the most popular method of printing in both color & grayscale until the early 1960s, when more efficient methods became available. Although it has existed since the mid-1790s, it took a long time to gain popularity in Europe due to technical difficulties. It only began gaining commercial popularity in the early 1820s. It is still used for certain kinds of printing today, such as fine art printing, however, digital printing is far more common. In the lithographic method, the artist will draw directly onto a printing surface, such as zinc, or copper, until they are satisfied with the drawing. After this, the surface will be covered with a chemical etch, which will bond it to the surface. With this process, the blank areas will attract moisture to the plate & repel the lithographic ink, while the areas that are drawn on will hold the ink. Water is then wiped onto the unpainted areas to help prevent the ink from deviating. After the image is inked, the paper is laid over it & covered with a tympan, & the tympan is pressed down. Finally, these materials pass through the scraper bar of the litho-press. Afterward, an exact copy of what was supposed to be printed is revealed. It is extremely useful for making high-resolution prints in high quantities. A sunlit photograph of Cape Horn, Tierra del Fuego, Chile. This area is prominently featured on today’s chart. Credit to Wikimedia Commons. Directories / Credits All credit for this map analyzed today goes to Rare Maps, a California rare & antique maps store. To purchase this chart, antique atlases, or other cartographic objects, please visit www.raremaps.com. To be clear, this is not an advertisement for Rare Maps, as we do not have a partnership with them. Strategic Partnerships Reel Guppy Outdoors SharkedSkooler Marine Enthusiasts Podcast Cash Daniels Tides of Tomorrow The Open Book, Topanga Olivenbaum Music Pitfire Artisan Pizza Presence News Our Loyal Patrons P. R. Ochoa

Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis): Blue Mussels are a species of mussel native to the North Atlantic & Pacific. They are frequently found in intertidal zones across the Northern Hemisphere. Their shell is triangular, as well as elongated, with rounded edges. They are a deep shade of blue or black. Individuals will sustain themselves by straining marine microorganisms from the water column. They will also strain pollutants, making the water column cleaner.

Adopt-A-Cleanup Program For individuals and corporations who wish to showcase their environmental values more meaningfully, we offer an Adopt-A-Cleanup program in which willing sponsors can sponsor one of our public cleanups. These sponsors can be individuals or companies with environmental values, looking to make a meaningful impact. Each sponsor in this program will receive; A certificate of gratitude from our organization. Your company's logo, or your name if you are an individual sponsor, on all the cleanup promotionals. A special thanks in any social media posts or articles about the cleanup. Please see this informational document for more information , & don't hesitate to email us at thepersaudfoundation@gmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring a cleanup, or have any questions at all,

Our Volunteer Program Our organization operates a dedicated volunteer program for individuals aspiring to make an impact, possessing a profound appreciation & admiration for marine life, and who enjoy the oceanic environment. We value every one of our volunteers, regardless of whether their commitment is long-term or limited to a single afternoon spent participating in one of our beach cleanups. We kindly request that you complete this form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTrkkKLvzZRN4iHBhMzsbUyl25CkhYE7WbRh9utDlRIdQ6A/viewformif) you are interested in volunteering with our organization in a long-term capacity. Upon completion, you will receive an email within fourteen business days either accepting you into the organization or politely declining your services. Each new volunteer will receive a complimentary sticker & pin upon joining the organization. The two principal categories of long-term volunteers are Science Communication Volunteers and Social Media Volunteers. Each role, along with its associated responsibilities, is detailed below. Science Communication Volunteers: Science Communication Volunteers take on a variety of responsibilities within the organization. Typically, Science Communication Volunteers will design educational graphics for our social media accounts, as well as our online courses, assist with designing courses, & assist in writing guest articles. The responsibilities are relatively fleshed out, however, they can be tailored to the individual strengths of the Volunteer. These individuals are integral to our educational programs & are imperative to the organization. For this role, we are requesting a time commitment of 3 to 9 hours per week depending on what exactly the Volunteer can do. Social Media Volunteers: Social Media volunteers also take on a variety of roles within our organization. Their primary responsibilities are to maintain our social media accounts, such as our Facebook & Eventbrite page. They work closely with our Science Communication team to design valuable educational graphics. These individuals are integral to promoting our organization, as without their valuable contributions, our organization would not be able to promote our programs, & message. For this role, we are requesting a time commitment of 3 to 7 hours per week, depending on what exactly each Volunteer can do.