A special issue of the academic journal Deep Sea Research II, published recently, is devoted to expanding understanding of the global issue of chemical munitions dumped at sea. The publication was edited by Margo Edwards, interim director of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s (UHM) Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, and Jacek Beldowski, Science for Peace and Security MODUM (“Towards the Monitoring of Dumped Munitions Threat”) project director at the Polish Academy of Sciences—two international leaders in the assessment of sea-dumped military munitions and chemical warfare; and the effects on the ocean environment and those who use it.

“The overarching objective of the special issue of Deep Sea Research II is to collate and compare results from two of the most comprehensive studies of sea dumped chemical munitions to promote data sharing and constrain the factors that influence where and how to mitigate the damage,” said Edwards.

International practice and treaty 

Whereas today chemical warfare agents (CWA) are destroyed via chemical neutralization processes or high-temperature incineration, the internationally accepted practice in the early to middle 20^th century was sea disposal of excess, obsolete or unserviceable munitions, including chemical warfare materiel.

In 1970, the U.S. Department of Defense discontinued this practice and in 1972 an international treaty, the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, was developed to protect the marine environment. By the time this treaty, referred to as the London Convention, was signed by a majority of nations, millions of tons of munitions were known to have been disposed throughout the world’s oceans.

Hawai‘i munitions assessment

Since 2007, the Hawai‘i Undersea Military Munitions Assessment (HUMMA) has been assessing sea-disposed military munitions in a region south of the island of Oahu, Hawai‘i. Scientists at UHM and Environet and members of the U.S. Army collaborated to assess the condition of munitions casings; effects on seafloor ecosystems; and the presence of metals and CWA in sediments and shrimp.

The results of those studies, published in the current issue of Deep Sea Research II, document that the forty munitions examined in detail in the HUMMA field area pose little, if any, risk to human health while simultaneously recognizing that these forty are only a subset of the hundreds of likely chemical munitions in the area.

Illustrative of the mystery of the vast ocean, the HUMMA project enabled discovery of a new species of sea star, Brisingenes margoae nov. sp.—named in honor of Edwards. This unique species and other sea stars were collected using the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology’s Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory submersibles.

Baltic Sea munitions assessment

The Chemical Munitions Search and Assessment (CHEMSEA) was conducted in the Baltic Sea from 2011 until 2014. In combination, the studies from CHEMSEA published in Deep Sea Research II recognize sea-dumped munitions as a point source of pollution in the Baltic Sea, although its contribution appears to be low and limited to deep, anoxic basins. Acute toxicity to humans from CWA (e.g., mustard, Adamsite) is unlikely given recorded concentrations, although adverse effects of chronic exposure on fish populations cannot be excluded.

The collected articles from the CHEMSEA and HUMMA projects projects in the special issue of Deep Sea Research II present a number of techniques that are useful for the complex in-depth investigation of munitions dumpsites. Results show that sea-dumped munitions in both project areas do not represent direct risk for humans except in cases of exposure due to recovery, although in the more confined Baltic Sea with limited water exchange, munitions can have adverse impact on the ecosystem.

Read more on Hawaii Public Radio and UH News.

New research published in Scientific Reports by scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology suggests that ingestion of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense changes the energy balance and reproductive potential of a particular copepod, a small crustacean, in the North Atlantic that is key food source for young fishes, including many commercially important species. Alexandrium fundyense is a photosynthetic plankton—a microscopic organism floating in the ocean, unable to swim against a current.

Though this dinoflagellate is responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning, previous studies suggested that the copepod is highly tolerant of the dinoflagellate with no increase in mortality. However, with this new research, lead author, Vittoria Roncalli post-doctoral researcher at the UH Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC), and co-authors found the toxic dinoflagellate does indeed stress the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, and impacts its energy balance. Thus, copepods feeding on the dinoflagellate have less energy available for life processes including growth, reproduction and creating essential fats (lipid biosynthesis).

Decoding genetic messages

In controlled laboratory experiments, the researchers fed different groups of copepods low doses or high doses of the toxic dinoflagellate and measured the physiological response using a novel molecular technique, known as RNA-Seq.

“In essence, we were able to identify the instructions that directed the copepod’s response to its changing environment,” said Roncalli. “By analyzing changes in the ‘messenger RNA’ profile we discovered which biological processes were affected.”

To their surprise, they observed large-scale physiological responses in both the high and low dose diets. The copepod’s energy balance was affected, even in the low dose treatment, and the effect on lipid biosynthesis was particularly unexpected.

Impacts up the food chain

Global climate change is affecting all environments on Earth, benefiting some organisms while hurting others. One trend is the increase in the frequency and magnitude of harmful algal blooms, such as blooms of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense, thus increasing the number and extent of fishery closures due to paralytic shellfish poisoning in the Gulf of Maine.

“Further, high-density harmful algal blooms could, at the population level, affect the number of copepods, thus affecting the food source which sustains important fisheries in the Atlantic,” said Petra Lenz, researcher at PBRC and co-author of the study.

The researchers are currently working on a second study to assess the effect of the dinoflagellates on the early developmental stages of the copepod, C. finmarchicus. Furthermore, using this novel technique, they can now investigate how key zooplankton species respond physiologically to changes in temperature and food, and human influence on the ocean.

Read more in the UH News story and Marine Science Today.

Hundreds of the world’s top ocean scientists will gather in Honolulu next month for the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium. It’s the first time the conference will be held in Hawai‘i.

Leading coral experts say it’s a critical time for our reefs. Warming sea temperatures and increased ocean acidification are continuing to stress these ecosystems. Human activity has also taken a toll: overfishing, runoff of sewage and sediments from the shore.

“We can’t keep doing things the way we’re doing them now and expect there to be anything left,” said Robert Richmond, the director of Kewalo Marine Laboratory in Honolulu. He’s also organizing this year’s International Coral Reef Symposium.

Richmond believes the answer may lie in bridging science and application in the real world. That idea is also the running theme for this year’s symposium. It’s not just scientists that are invited. Policy makers and political leaders from the Pacific Islands will also be attending.

Ruth Gates, director of the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai‘i, says that’s an important step.

“In order for our science to have impact, we have to stop assuming that it does,” said Gates. “And we have to actually talk about why it does and what we can use our science to facilitate in terms of action.”

Listen to the full story at Hawaii Public Radio.

Hope Jahren, a geobiologist at SOEST, has been named on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People 2016.

“It is a rare breed of scientist who is both a leader in her field and a great writer, but Hope Jahren is both. A tenured professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Jahren has built a career and a reputation in science by unearthing secrets hidden in fossilized plant life. Her work has resulted in at least 70 studies in dozens of journals, but it’s also given her a platform—a megaphone, really—to talk about something else: widespread sexual harassment and discrimination in science.”

Her new memoir, Lab Girl, debuted last month and is on the New York Times best-seller list.

Read more in Time Magazine.