[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 116 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    OCEAN RESEARCHER LINKS GLOBAL WARMING WITH DEGRADATION OF VITAL 
                          ANTARCTIC ECOSYSTEM

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 5, 1997

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to applaud the research efforts of the many marine 
researchers in the Monterey Bay area and around the world, who are 
dedicating themselves to the task of exploring and understanding the 
ocean environment, and the critical links between marine ecosystem 
health and human activities. In particular, I would like to recognize 
the work of a scientist from my district, Dr. Valerie Loeb.
  This summer, Dr. Loeb, an adjunct professor at Moss Landing Marine 
Laboratories, had her research featured on the front cover of the 
British scientific journal, Nature. For the past 10 years Dr. Loeb, her 
students and colleagues, have been studying the link between 
environmental variations and the dynamics of the Antarctic food chain, 
particularly changes in abundance of krill and other zooplankton. 
Krill, which are small, herbivorous, shrimp-like crustaceans, provide 
the basis for the animal food web in the southern ocean, and are a 
vital food source for many whale, fish, penguin, and other vertebrate 
species in the seasonal sea-ice zone. Another abundant planktonic 
herbivore, salps, are jelly-fish-like organisms which, in contrast, 
have few known predators, and are associated with open water habitats. 
Dr. Loeb and her coworkers have identified patterns of abundance of 
krill and salps as they relate to environmental changes in the area.
  Salps are associated with open water habitat, unobstructed with ice, 
while krill's reproductive success is linked to increased ice coverage. 
In the past 50 years, atmospheric warming over the Antarctic Peninsula 
region has resulted in a decrease in sea-ice formation during winter 
months. Because of this, krill abundance since the mid-1980's has been 
greatly reduced compared to earlier years, while the springs and 
summers following these warmer winters have seen massive salp swarms. 
Since these salps compete with krill for phytoplankton, there is a 
further negative feedback from warmer winters affecting krill 
populations. This regional warming may be significantly altering the 
Antarctic food chain from one dominated by krill, supporting a variety 
of vertebrate predators, to one dominated by salps, effectively 
breaking the food chain.
  This research is extremely valuable, not only in providing 
information important to the management of krill harvesting, which is 
currently conducted by Japanese, Polish, and Ukraine trawlers, but also 
as insight into the possible devastating effects of global warming on 
the oceans that may occur in addition to decreased ice development and 
sea level rise. The fact is that krill populations are already affected 
by ocean warming, making them, and the species that rely on them, 
further susceptible to human perturbations.
  This research, and the hundreds of other marine research projects 
conducted in my district and around the world, are of great importance 
for us to understand and properly conserve the health of our planet, 71 
percent of which is covered by oceans. We can no longer live in 
ignorance of the important links between ourselves and the oceans. I 
urge my colleagues to support America's leading role in ocean research 
and conservation, and to recognize and give credit to researchers such 
as Dr. Loeb for their great efforts in improving our understanding of 
the magnificent oceans, and clarifying how humans impact vital ocean 
resources.

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