BIO 278/279 2013 MARINE BIOLOGY SYLLABUS
Prof. Paul H. Yancey, Whitman College

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TOPIC

GRADING

% of grade

2013 DATE

Introduction/Overview

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I) Environmental Factors; II) Marine Ecology

Exam I

23%

Feb. 8

III) ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY; IV) BENTHIC BIOLOGY--Intertidal Rocky Exam II 23% Mar. 1

** FIELD TRIP ($350 fee) -- Biol 279

REPORTS

[separate course]

Mar. 10-16

IV) BENTHIC: Intertidal, Subtidal, Deep Sea;

Exam III

25%

Apr. 12

V) PELAGIC: Deeps Sea; Plankton, Nekton; VI) Human Interactions

FINAL EXAM

28%

May 13

GRADING: 90-100% A; 80-89.9% B; 70-79.9% C; etc. Plus/minus cutoffs at x.33 and x.67%
Lectures 1-5: Scroll down

CURRENT RESEARCH NEWS: EUREKA ALERT NEWS in OCEANOGRAPHY

Lectures #1-2

Jan. 22-23, 2013

OVERVIEW:
__Brief History of Marine Sciences
from 1800s to the present; current and future issues
__Limitations to Marine Research; and Methods including spacecraft, submersibles and remote sensors

TOPIC LINKS: --Overfishing
--MBARI and new deep-sea sensor observatory MARS
--See the The latest satellite images of earth at this NOAA site.
--CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE
--TOPP: Tagging of Pacific Pelagics/Predators: satellite tracking technology for migratory marine animals
--NEPTUNE/VENUS sensor networks; W. CANADA
--Sound in the Sea: learn about hydrophone arrays; hear sounds of earthquakes and whales and of mystery sounds (deep-sea monsters?? click for CNN story) from the arrays!
--Nereus hybrid sub

Lectures #2-3

Jan. 23-24

I. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
__A. TECTONIC: plate boundaries and hot spots; seamounts
__B. SURFACES: 1. Rock and 2. Sediments--Lithogenous, Biogenous;
____& 3. Hydrogenous--hydrothermal metal sulfide chmineys, manganese nodules, methane hydrates

TOPIC LINKS: --TECTONICS of the terrible HAITI EARTHQUAKE
--New initiatives in Climate Change training/research (Whitman !)
--This Dynamic Earth--USGS site on Plate Tectonics
Animations shown in class: 1) Seafloor spreading ; 2) Seafloor-->Land subduction; 3) India colliding with Asia; 4) Hotspot animation
--Tectonic animations at PBS Savage Earth
--JPL's Seafloor Mapping by Satellite Altimetry and How Satellite mapping works!
--New Millenium Observatory (NeMO) : 3d Virtual Reality explorations of Juan de Fuca vents !
--Seamounts and their lifeforms explored for the first time (2002-03): Davidson Seamount off California and a seamount chain off New England. Videos and pictures at these websites!

Lectures #4-9

Jan. 25-Feb. 5

I. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
__C. MOVEMENTS: Tides, Waves, Currents
__D. Other PHYSICAL Factors: Light;Temperature; Pressure
__E. CHEMICAL Factors: Water, Major Ions, Minor nutrients, Salinity, Density, Gases -- AND CO2 & CLIMATE CHANGE & GEOENGINEERING
__F. BIOTIC Factors: types of interactions

TOPIC LINKS: --Wave animation machine at PBS Savage Seas
--Coriolis effect animations
--PBS Savage Earth -- tsunami animation
--An animation of wind-belt cells
--Thermohaline currents animation
--Animation of Tides from Earth-Moon rotation
--Tide Calculator--OCEAN CHLOROPHYLL: US Govt satellite monitoring of the world's ecological features. To see current and archived satellite maps of ocean color (chlorophyll), go to the Ocean Color site and click on LEVEL 1 and 2 or on LEVEL 3 BROWSER links.
--WRI's Interactive MAP OF EUTROPHIC DEAD ZONES
--A primer on IRON FERTILIZATION of the OCEANS

Lectures #10-11
Feb. 6-7

II. MARINE ECOLOGY
__A. POPULATION; __B. COMMUNITY __C. ECOSYSTEMS--basic features __D. BIOSPHERE

TOPIC LINKs: SeaWIFS Homepage --US Govt satellite monitoring of the world's ecological features. To see current and archived satellite maps of ocean color (chlorophyll), go to the Ocean Color site and click on LEVEL 1 and 2 or on LEVEL 3 BROWSER links.
--Overview of Global warming as seen in ice and snow changes
--NRDC Global Warming Site
--See the The latest satellite images of earth's weather at this NOAA site.

FEB. 8

EXAM I

TOPIC LINKS: Review Outline!
--Old Exam with answers--from EXPLORER, use PRINT PREVIEW and PAGE SETUP to fit these to 1 page each!
--Old Exam HERE

Lectures #11-12
Feb. 7, 12

III. ORGANISMAL Biology
__Types of Organisms
__TROPHIC Features

__ ADAPTATION: Principles!

TOPIC LINKS: Census of Marine Life
--Tree of Life Page
--Microbe-of-the-Month Pages with biofilm and marine bacteria
--List of Marine Phyla
--Crab-Claw animation at U. Alberta
--Marine Genomics research and Ocean Genome Legacy

Lectures #13-20

Feb. 13-27

IV. BENTHIC BIOLOGY--GENERAL & INTERTIDAL ROCKY

TOPIC LINKs:

Videos of an octopod using a coconut for armor; the Indonesian mimic octopod ; an octopod camouflaged as algae;
--Mantis Shrimp: Sheila Patek, UCB, talks about her discoveries about this amazing kick-boxing animal
--Snapping Shrimp: the biophysics of a unique ambush technique
--Cone shells and their toxins with videos
--Crab-Claw animation at U. Alberta
--Octopus-shark ambush at Seattle Aquarium

MAR. 1

EXAM II

TOPIC LINKS: Review Outline!
--Old Exam with answers--HERE

Lectures #21-22
Feb. 28, Mar. 5

INTERTIDAL: BEACHES, MUDFLATS/WETLANDS

Lectures #23-24
Mar. 6-7

IV. BENTHIC BIOLOGY: SUBTIDAL; POLAR

TOPIC LINK: Guide to Life under the Antarctic Ice--great photos

FIELD TRIP!
Mar. 10-16

FIELD TRIP! Schedule for this year's Field Trip
TOPIC LINKs--ORCA FM--live broadcast of Pacific NW orcas; other orca information

Lectures #25-26
Mar. 25-26

IV. BENTHIC BIOLOGY: CORAL REEFS

TOPIC LINKS: --Bacterial diseases on reefs
--The Reef Relief Page
--The Reef Education Network
--NOAA's Reef Monitoring program

Lectures #27-31
Mar. 27-Apr. 10

IV. BENTHIC BIOLOGY--The DEEP SEA FLOOR; VENTS & SEEPS:

TOPIC LINKS: NOAA Ocean Explorer site --recent expeditions and videos of deep-sea vents, volcanoes, etc.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst.
--NOAA Monitors Eruption off Oregon coast: Apr. 2001--ASSIGNED reading
--COLD SEEPS: for lots of detail and pictures, see the MBARI SITE or PENN-STATE SITE (both excellent)
--HYDROTHERMAL VENTS: see U.W.'s Exploraquarium Vents Site
OR see the Office of Naval Research Vents site for animations!
--High-Pressure Effects
--Virtual Tour of Rift Valley at UCSB
--A Manganese Nodule picture; and --The Manganese nodule web site
--Hydrocarbon-seep tubeworm in the Gulf of Mexico--the oldest known invertebrates? See NY Times article
--Prof. Yancey's Deep-Sea Pages for pictures of bathyal and abyssal animals (optional)
--Prof. Yancey's New Deep-Sea Research Pages for the latest deepsea news stories and research (optional)
--Weird deepsea squid discovered (2001)

EXAM III
Apr. 12

EXAM III

TOPIC LINK: Review OUTLINE!
--Old Exam with answers--HERE
Lectures 31-32
Apr. 10-11

V. PELAGIC BIOLOGY--DEEP SEA

TOPIC LINKS: Karen Jacobsen's art
Bioluminescence page - information on deepsea biological light production
__Prof. Yancey's pictures of mesopelagic fishes

Lectures #33-41
Apr.16-May 2

V. PELAGIC BIOLOGY-- PLANKTON and NEKTON

TOPIC LINKs: --Humpbacks' bubblenetting
--Airborne White Sharks!
-
-Penguins feeding under the ice with Crittercam!
--Dolphins' unique feeding behaviors: VIDEOS of 1) corralling in Florida; and 2) Surfing, beaching (Australia)
--The Great Turtle race
--TOPP.org
--The Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation, including Songs of the Humpback whale
--Sounds of the Minke Whale (recently discovered)--download the whale's mysterious "Star Wars" sound
--Dolphin and Whale sounds with sound files to download
--The Dolphin Institute--learn about social adaptations and language abilities in dolphins
--Blue Whale photos underwater!
--Gail Patricelli, a Whitman Biology-Art grad: her robotic-bird test of bird courtship behavior (not marine, but very cool!)

Lectures #41-42
May 2-7

VI. HUMANS INTERACTIONS: Resources and Global Change

TOPIC LINKS: _NEWS on FISHERIES at Christian Science Monitor
-- Overfishing
--Fisheries monitoring on an offshore bank
--Mediterranean Tuna face extinction (2002

TOPIC LINKS: The Oceans in Trouble
--Fate of DOM and the Greenhouse effect
--Rogue Algae--invaders wipe out locals
--Fisheries monitoring on an offshore bank
--Mediterranean Tuna face extinction (2002)

May 13

FINAL EXAM

TOPIC LINK: Review OUTLINE!
-- Old Final Exam
__ FINAL EXAM RESULTS and ANSWERS

GO TO Prof. Yancey's Home Page; GO TO Prof. Yancey's Marine Biology Page