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California Education and the Environment InitiativeVisual Aids

Earth ScienceStandard

E.5.d.

E

Ocean Currents and Natural Systems

California Education and the Environment InitiativeApproved by the California State Board of Education, 2010

The Education and the Environment Initiative Curriculum is a cooperative endeavor of the following entities:California Environmental Protection Agency

California Natural Resources Agency

California State Board of Education

California Department of Education

Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)

Key Partners:Special thanks to Heal the Bay, sponsor of the EEI law, for their partnership

and participation in reviewing portions of the EEI curriculum.

Valuable assistance with maps, photos, videos and design was provided by the

National Geographic Society under a contract with the State of California.

Office of Education and the Environment1001 I Street • Sacramento, California 95814 • (916) 341-6769

http://www.CaliforniaEEI.org

© Copyright 2011 by the California Environmental Protection Agency© 2013 Second Edition

All rights reserved. This publication, or parts thereof, may not be used or reproduced without

permission from the Office of Education and the Environment.

These materials may be reproduced by teachers for educational purposes.

Lesson 1 Rise and Fall of the California Sardine Industry

1 Pacific Sardine Structure Key 3

2 California Sardine Industry Timeline 4

3 Physical Environment and Sardine Fisheries 5

4 Monterey Bay and Surrounding Areas 6

Lesson 2 Ocean Water’s Influence on the Distribution of Organisms

5 Ocean Layering Experiment 7

6 Structured Layering of the Ocean 8

7 Phytoplankton 9

8 Seasonal Productivity in Surface Waters 10

Lesson 3 Ocean Currents’ Influences on Coastal and Marine Organisms

9 Major Ocean Currents 11

10 Uneven Heating of Earth 12

Lesson 4 Human Connections to Ocean Processes

11 Jetties: Sand Deposition and Erosion 13

12 Santa Barbara Breakwater 14

13 Santa Barbara Harbor and Breakwater 15

14 Dredging Santa Barbara Harbor 16

Contents

Lesson 5 Marine Organism Distribution and Human Economies

15 Structure of Kelp 17

16 Surface Kelp Forest Canopy 18

17 Products Containing Alginate 19

18 Kelp Forest 20

Lesson 6 Management of California’s Sardine Industry

19 California’s Sardine Fishery 1945 –1963 21

20 California’s Sardine Fishery 1964–1985 22

21 California’s Sardine Fishery 1986–1999 23

22 Sardine Landings, 1981 –2004 24

23 Sardine Catch from Monterey Bay, 1919–1929 25

24 Sardine Catch and Ocean Temperature 26

CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE I Unit E.5.d. I Ocean Currents and Natural Systems I Visual Aids 3

VA #1 Pacific Sardine Structure Key

Dorsal fin

Operculum (gill covering)

Caudal fin

Mouth

Pectoral fin

Pelvic fin

Anal fin

Pacific Sardine Structure Key

Visual Aid1

4 CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE I Unit E.5.d. I Ocean Currents and Natural Systems I Visual Aids

VA #2 California Sardine Industry Timeline

California Sardine Industry Timeline

Visual Aid2


VA #3 Physical Environment and Sardines Fisheries

Physical Environment and Sardine Fisheries

Visual Aid3

Human Uses

Byproducts

Biology

Pacific Sardine


VA #4 Monterey Bay and Surrounding Areas

Chlorophyll (mg/m³)

.05 .1 .5 1 5 10 50

0 50 10025

Miles

N

S

EW

Phytoplankton

Monterey Bay and Surrounding Areas

Visual Aid4

San Francisco

Monterey

The areas surrounding Monterey Bay are important for sardines. The topography allows deeper nutrient-rich waters to form an upwelling.


VA #5 Ocean Layering Experiment

Ocean Layering Experiment

Visual Aid5

■ ■■ Pour 100 ml of room-temperature tap water into a 500 ml beaker.

■ ■■ Add two cubes of ice and let them melt.

■ ■■ Measure and record the water temperature on the Ocean Layering Data Sheet. (Note: Take the temperature the same way each time, with the thermometer in the same position. Allow sufficient time so that the reading on the thermometer is accurate.)

■ ■■ Add 50 ml of hot tap water to a glass container and record the temperature.

■ ■■ Place a few drops of food coloring in the hot water and stir until the water is an even, dark color.

■ ■■ Place a small sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the cold water in the beaker.

■ ■■ Carefully pour the hot, colored water from the glass container onto the plastic wrap.

■ ■■ Slowly remove the plastic wrap.

■ ■■ Observe what happens to the color in the water and describe any layering or mixing on Ocean Layering Data Sheet.

■ ■■ Record the water temperature again.


VA #6 Structured Layering of the Ocean

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

Temperature (°C) Density (g/cm3)5 10 15 20 25 1.023 1.025 1.027 1.029

Surface Layer

Intermediate Layer

Deep Layer

Permanent or mainthermocline

Dep

th (

m)

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

Temperature (°C)5 10 15 20 25

Dep

th (

m)

Tropicthermocline

Temperatethermocline

Polarthermocline

Source: Peter Castro and Michael Huber, Marine Biology, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2007), 59.

Structured Layering of the Ocean

Visual Aid6


VA #7 Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton

Visual Aid7

Colonial freshwater phytoplankton Dinoflagellate

Diatom Cyanobacteria


VA #8 Seasonal Productivity in Surface Waters

This chart shows the relationship between the physical properties of the ocean environment and the biological productivity that occurs within it.

Seasonal Productivity in Surface Waters

Visual Aid8

Temperate Productivity

Tropical Productivity

LIGHT

Polar Productivity

Nutrients

Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter20°

30°

40°

50°

60°

70°

80°

Lat

itu

de

Lig

ht

Nu

trie

nt

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n


0 1,000 2,000 4,000

Miles

Warm Current

Cold Current

23.5°

0°

23.5°

23.5°

0°

23.5°

A R C T I C O C E A N

P A C I F I C

O C E A N

A T L A N T I C

O C E A N

I N D I A N

O C E A N

P A C I F I C

O C E A N

Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

West Wind DriftWest Wind Drift

West Wind Drift

Ca

liforn

ia C

urrent

Humboldt Current

North A

tlantic Dr ift

Greenland Current

North Atlantic Drift

North Pacific Drift

North Equatorial Current

Pacific Equatorial Countercurrent

South Equatorial Current

Gu

lf S

tr

eam

Atlantic Equatorial Countercurrent Indian Equatorial

Countercurrent

Pacific Equatorial Countercrrent

VA #9 Major Ocean Currents

Major Ocean Currents

Visual Aid9


VA #10 Uneven Heating of Earth

Heating by the Sun Cooling

Eq

uat

ori

al r

egio

ns

Po

lar

reg

ion

s

Surface Flow

Thermocline

Deep Spreading

Sinking

Source: Tom Garrison. Essentials of Oceanography. 2nd ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2001.

Uneven Heating of Earth

Visual Aid10


Net Longshore Drift

OceanJetties

New Sand Deposits

ErosionInlet

Estuary

Beach

Beach

0 .5 1.25

Kilometers

VA #11 Jetties: Sand Deposition and Erosion

Source: Paul Pinet, Invitation to Oceanography, (Jones & Bartlett, 2005) 389.

Jetties: Sand Deposition and Erosion

Visual Aid11

Longshore currents flow parallel to the shoreline. The amount and pattern of sand deposition that results from the longshore current is called the “longshore drift.” The presence of a jetty results in the accumulation of sediments on the upcurrent side of the jetty and erosion on the downcurrent side. Wave action protects the inlets formed by jetties, allowing broad beaches to form. Jetties also provide new rocky reef habitat for organisms that would not ordinarily live so close to shore.


10 m

9 m

10 m

9 m

Santa Barbara

Breakwater

SandDeposition

Erosion

Sand Transport

Pier

Longshore Current

Dredging required

N

S

EW

0 .5 1.25

Kilometers

VA #12 Santa Barbara Breakwater

Santa Barbara Breakwater

Visual Aid12


VA #13 Santa Barbara Harbor and Breakwater

Santa Barbara Harbor and Breakwater

Visual Aid13


VA #14 Dredging Santa Barbara Harbor

Dredging Santa Barbara Harbor

Visual Aid14


VA #15 Structure of Kelp

Kelp is one of the largest and most complex of the brown algae. It anchors itself to the rocky ocean bottom with a holdfast and grows toward the surface. The blades are attached to a stipe. The gas-filled bladders (pneumatocysts) help the blades to float toward the sunlit surface.

Structure of Kelp

Visual Aid15

Blade

Stipe

Holdfast

Gas-filled bladder(pneumatocyst)


VA #16 Surface Kelp Forest Canopy

Surface Kelp Forest Canopy

Visual Aid16

Kelp is a type of brown algae that grows rapidly—up to 50 centimeters per day in optimum conditions—toward the water’s sunlit surface. Holdfasts anchor kelp to the rocky ocean bottom in shallow waters. These characteristics result in a “forest” that extends from the bottom to the surface of the ocean and provides habitats for many species.


VA #17 Products Containing Alginate

Products Containing Alginate

Visual Aid17

Ice Cream Mayonnaise

Jam Toothpaste


VA #18 Kelp Forest

Kelp Forest

Visual Aid18

Kelp forests are three-dimensional structures that provide habitat for many species. This photograph shows that many adult and juvenile fish make their homes in the forest. Harvesting kelp removes the upper layer of the kelp, destroying habitat and potentially affecting all of the organisms in the kelp forest.


California’s Sardine Fishery 1945 –1963

Visual Aid19

VA #19 California’s Sardine Fishery 1945 –1963

Date Event

1945 An estimated 550,000 metric tons of sardines caught off the California coast. Catch greater than any other fish catch in North America. Twenty-four canneries operate along Cannery Row.

1947 Sardine fishery falls to 100,000 metric tons; and a tax imposed on fishermen to help support scientific research.

1949 Research collaborative established to investigate the sardine fishery’s collapse. Participants include: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the NOAA/NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and the California Department of Fish and Game. This group is later named the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI).

1957 Ocean off California warms by 3.6° F (2° C), causing anomalies in precipitation, plankton abundance, and fisheries.

1958 Oceanographers, fishery personnel, and meteorologists conclude that understanding and forecasting fluctuations in coastal fisheries are best achieved by studying the entire ocean and ocean-atmosphere relationships.

1960 Approach to sardine question becomes more interdisciplinary and ecosystem based.

1963 First volume of CalCOFI atlas series describes temperature and salinity in the California Current.


California’s Sardine Fishery 1964–1985

Visual Aid20

VA #20 California’s Sardine Fishery 1964–1985

Date Event

1964 Sardine spawning biomass in this year (at 30,000 metric tons) is 1% of the spawning biomass of 1938. (Spawning biomass is an estimate of the total weight of the fish population. The sardine biomass estimate is based on a sample of fish eggs and plankton eggs.) State legislature enacts fishery moratorium.

1969 By counting fish scales taken from sediment off the Santa Barbara coast, CalCOFI scientists reconstruct an 1,800-year record that shows sardines follow a cycle of decline and recovery approximately every 30 to 60 years.

1972 Sardine spawning biomass minimum at less than 10,000 metric tons.

1977 Researchers observe long-term changes in sea-surface temperature, ocean circulation, and climate.

1979 Egg-production method, a new technique for measuring the size of the fishery, is introduced.

1982 Large anomalies in temperature and zooplankton biomass in the CalCOFI data first linked to tropical ocean warming phenomena.

1983 Quick-response study of 1983–1984 El Niño makes it one of the most thoroughly documented El Niño events to date.

1985 Sardine spawning biomass reaches 30,000 metric tons; the highest since 1964.


California’s Sardine Fishery 1986–1999

Visual Aid21

VA #21 California’s Sardine Fishery 1986 –1999

Date Event

1986 California lifts its moratorium on sardine fishing in response to measured increases in spawning biomass.

1995 Sardine spawning biomass reaches 300,000 metric tons; the highest since 1954.

1998 Significant data compiled on consequences of El Niño to nutrient, chlorophyll, and zooplankton patterns in the California Current, providing a close look at links between ocean physics and biology.

1999 Spawning biomass of sardines exceeds 1 million metric tons for the first time since the CalCOFI surveys began in 1951.


Mill

ion

Po

un

ds

280

240

200

160

120

80

40

0

Pacific Sardine Landings(Sardinops sagax)

Calendar Year

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

198819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

04

Source: National Marine Fisheries Service, 2005

VA #22 Sardine Landings, 1981–2004

Sardine Landings, 1981–2004

Visual Aid22


Sardine Catch from Monterey Bay, 1919–1929

Visual Aid

VA #23 Sardine Catch from Monterey Bay, 1919–1929

Mill

ion

Po

un

ds

280

240

200

160

120

80

40

0

Sardine Catch from Monterey Bay

1919

–20

1920

–21

1921

–22

1922

–23

1923

–24

1924

–25

1925

–26

1926

–27

1927

–28

1928

–29

Calendar Year

23

Source: Milton J. Linder, Fishing Localities at Monterey from November, 1919, to March, 1929, for the Pacific Sardine

(Sardinops sagax)


Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium. “Seafood Watch Pacific Sardine Report, Volume 1, 2004”

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_PacificSardineReport.pdf

VA #24 Sardine Catch and Ocean Temperature

Correlation Between Pacific Sardine Abundance and Water Temperature

1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

0.5

0.0

0.0°

0.1°

- 0.1°

Mill

ion

s o

f M

etri

c To

ns

Deg

rees

Cel

ciu

s

Pacific Sardine

Temperature Anomaly

Calendar Year

Sardine Catch and Ocean Temperature

Visual Aid24

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