scrAPES # 15 - "There are sharks living in a volcano, and this is not a drill"

In the article, "There are sharks living in a volcano, and this is not a drill" by Amelia Urry, it talks about an underwater volcano and the species inside it. 60 feet underwater, off the coast of the Solomon Islands, there lies a volcano under the sea. The volcano is named Kavachi. Kavachi is notoriously known for erupting frequently, which worries the group of scientist who want to explore the volcano with an underwater camera. Not only is the volcano frequently erupting, the water is very hot and acidic. Luckily, on this day the volcano was dormant and it was a perfect day to run the experiment. They go to Kavachi, and drop the camera inside the crater. After an hour, the group of scientist come back to grab the camera and see what the camera picked up. The camera picked up small fishes, sting rays, and the most surprising, full grown sharks!

The reason why this article got my attention is because of the title. Not everyday you read there are sharks in a volcano, which can get anyone interested. Not only is it intriguing but it is just really cool. Reading about sharks is interesting to me enough, but now there in a volcano. My imagination went wild when I read the title.

This relates to environmental science because of the specific area that these sharks are in. By studying these animals more extensively we can unlock more mysteries on Earth. Also, by knowing how these animals can live in these conditions, we can use this new information and potentially learn how to put it in our very own lives.

Hw - Aquarium " Save an Animal"

During the aquarium there was a section that showed me these animals that were in need of our help. The giant manta ray caught my eye because they looked the most interesting to me. The giant manta ray is very vulnerable to extinction due to the high demand of manta ray gill rakers.  They use those gill rakers to feed by straining  out the food from the water using sponge-like tissue.  The way these large fish reproduce is between two individuals, a male and a female, by the male putting sperm inside the females cloaca. Even though manta rays are fish, meaning they are born in eggs, the manta rays have the eggs held in them and the babies will hatch there, being born alive.

There have been many programs to help the endangered manta rays, such as (CITES) Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species, (CMS) Convention of Migratory Species, and much more. These groups specifically want the killing of the rays for there gill rakers. They are trying to officially stop the trade legally. What I can do to help is to stay informed about what is happening to the manta rays and spreading the word about these animals being endangered. I am not surprised this is happening to these animals because some humans just do not care. These people conducting these hunts to find and kill these animals just care about the money and not about the actual animal.

Cw - Aquarium "Reflection"

In the aquarium there were a lot of different fishes and marine animals. My favorite part of the trip was witnessing the rock hopper penguin being fed. They have a very distinct look to them. They have sharp yellow and black feathers that adorn its head. These penguins, unlike the rest of the other penguins, hop rather than waddle. These penguins are among the smallest penguins in the world, they stand about 20 inches tall. They have a very distinct look towards them, having red-eyes, a red-orange beak, and pink webbed feet.

Also, one of my favorite parts of the trip was going all the way to the top of the fish tank. There was a presentation talking about the fish tank. The speaker told us a lot about the fish tank. For example, at the time the tank was created it was the biggest in the world. Of course now, it is not the largest but it still is one the biggest. There are about 200,000 gallons of salt water inside the tank. They have over 1,000 species inside the tank. They also have 2 turtles!

All in all this trip to the aquarium was fun and I learned a lot. There was also the touch tank. That was really fun. I got to touch all the different sharks, sting rays, and all the other species of animals. I would love to go back and maybe just stay even longer and explore more of the aquarium.