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FATHOMING THE GULF STREAM Nature's Pharmacy and Eyes In The Sea FEATURE STORIES LIQUID BLUE GEM OFF FLORIDA'S COAST - by John Reed Florida's Gulf Stream is part of a huge ocean river that circulates clockwise around the North Atlantic Ocean and encircles the Sargasso Sea between the Bahamas and Bermuda. It's flow is 3,500 times greater than the flow of the Mississippi and greater than all the world's rivers combined...>>> FARMING MARINE ORGANISMS FOR DRUGS - by John Reed Because of the rich and largely unexplored biodiversity of the marine environment, mankind looked to the oceans in search of new drugs to combat diseases. The first marine drug discovery programs started in the 1970's and thousands of bioactive metabolites from a wide range of marine organisms have since been screened...>>> MICROBIOLOGY AT SEA - by John Reed Some bioactive chemicals found in marine organisms, such as sponges, are actually produced by associated or symbiotic microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi). One way to study these microbes is to isolate them from their "host" immediately after collection...>>> OCULINA AND LOPHELIA CORAL REEFS - by John Reed Deep-water coral reefs are sometimes also referred to as bioherms, coral banks, or lithoherms. These deep-water coral structures fit the definition of a coral reef, based on their physical and biological characteristics...>>> NOT BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - by Dr. Tammy Frank The reason the visual systems of these shrimp have never been studied is that it's been impossible to bring up benthic shrimp that weren't "blinded by the light." These animals live in a very dim light environment, and based on the size of their eyes, it's clear that they're adapted for extremely sensitive vision...>>> SHOT IN THE DARK You might say Dr. Edie Widder, world-renowned expert in marine bioluminescence, has literally taken a scientific "shot in the dark" that may result in images of animals that have never been seen before...>>> WHY DO SO MANY ANIMALS IN THE OPEN OCEAN MAKE LIGHT? - by Dr. Edith Widder Bioluminescence is visible light made by living creatures. Such creatures are rare on land but extremely common in the oceans. A list of some of the many different kinds of bioluminescent creatures in the world, divided up by the different environments where they live, gives some sense of the relative significance of bioluminescence in the marine environment...>>>  | |
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