UPCOMING ALTASEA EVENTS
AltaSea Open House Accelerating Ocean Technology for a Blue Future (AltaSea)
November 12 @ 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Please join us at 10:00 am on Saturday, November 12th as AltaSea highlights our tenants and partners working in Blue Technology fields. We are eager to hear from tenant RCAM Technologies in how they are providing concrete solutions in the renewable energy field. As a bonus, RCAM staff will provide 3D concrete printing demonstrations.
Please bring your families and talk with additional BlueTech companies and participate in ocean science activities provided by local ocean organizations. Finally, step board AltaSea’s Ocean Research Barge (ORB), a floating lab for student research and community science.
Click here to register!
ALTASEA COMMUNITY
Behind an aquacultural revolution: SMC & AltaSea developing program to create Blue Economy (Santa Monica Daily Press)
It shouldn’t come as news that greenhouse gases and other pollution, as well as overfishing, seriously threaten our oceans’ ability to sustain life. Meeting this urgent challenge—of building up ocean resiliency—comes with a benefit: job opportunities. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. projects that the blue economy will produce some 126,000 jobs in LA County alone by 2030, with estimated wages of $37.7 billion.
“That is a staggering number. We want to position our students for the first opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing business sectors,” said Santa Monica College (SMC) Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery.
SMC is partnering with AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles—a sprawling 35-acre non-profit center devoted to accelerating scientific collaboration and advancing the blue economy—to create post-secondary certificate and degree programs that span several fields of study.
AltaSea White Paper Details Benefit of Sustainable Green Hydrogen Market (businesswire)
AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles released a 52-page white paper that illustrates how Southern California is exceptionally well situated to jumpstart an economically self-sustaining green hydrogen economy. AltaSea led the research and drafting of the white paper with a number of partners, including 7th Generation Advisors, Accenture, Energy Independence Now, and Momentum.
The report shows that California has the vast majority of hydrogen refueling stations in the United States, 71% of total number of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the United States, and an abundance of hard-to-electrify sectors that would benefit from hydrogen-electric technologies. These strengths, the report said, are backed by one of the globe’s strongest economies. In 2021, California’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $3.36 trillion, representing 14.6% of the total U.S. economy. If it were a country, California would have the fifth largest economy in the world.
MARINE SCIENCE
Americans Could Be Surviving on Algae Within Just 30 Years (Newsweek)
A new study suggests coastal regions in the global south could become the world’s breadbasket by cultivating marine algae. The research suggests that algae could provide all of the protein requirements for the United States and the entire world in as little as 30 years. Utilizing algae as a protein source would also reduce the environmental impact of the current food production system, according to the study.
Some species of algae possess a protein content greater than 40 percent dry mass and also provide micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and omega-3. This positions algae as a complete nutritional package that could serve as a promising solution to the challenge of feeding the growing human population in the coming decades.
Researchers look to Canada’s oceans to sink planet-warming carbon (National Observer)
An interdisciplinary team of researchers and policy experts is collaborating to determine how much carbon seagrass meadows, saltwater marshes and kelp forests can capture across Canada. The three-year, $1.59-million Blue Carbon Canada collaborative project involves experts from conservation agencies and federal agencies, including Parks Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
Canada has promised to drop its emissions 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. To meet its international climate commitments, it needs to leverage the nature-based solutions the ocean can offer. Salt marshes, eelgrass meadows, along with mangrove forests found in tropical countries, absorb carbon from the atmosphere and lock it in sediment at rates anywhere from two to 10 times greater than mature tropical forests, depending on a variety of geographic and environmental conditions.
Scientists discover ‘world’s largest’ seagrass forest – by strapping cameras to sharks (The Guardian)
Tiger sharks are notoriously fierce. The huge animals, which can grow to more than 16ft, are ruthless predators and scared of absolutely nothing – recent research found that while other shark species fled coastal waters during strong storms, tiger sharks “didn’t even flinch”.
But recently they have a new role that could help burnish their reputations: marine scientists.
In an attempt to measure the extent of seagrass meadows in the Bahamas, researchers attached cameras and trackers to the dorsal fins of tiger sharks to give them access to hours of ocean floor footage.
SUSTAINABLE AND INNOVATIVE BUSINESS
Three Things To Get The Blue Economy Moving Faster (Forbes)
The world’s second largest natural harbor is in Halifax, so it’s no wonder the city hosted The Economist Impact’s World Ocean Tech and Innovation Summit last month. The conference took place against the backdrop of Hurricane Fiona, which had taken the beautiful fall leaves off the city’s trees and falling temperatures served as a constant reminder of the increasing costs of energy. The conference made clear that more than ever, ocean technology and innovation can offer solutions to the pressing needs of our time.
Climate change: Can an enormous seaweed farm help curb it? (BBC)
Spinning in a natural ocean eddy, it sucks a billion tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere every year and sinks it to the ocean floor out of harm’s way.
Far-fetched? Maybe. But a British businessman plans to have this up and running by 2026.
Scientists say reducing the world’s emissions probably won’t be enough and that carbon capture will be crucial to limiting global warming. But carbon capture schemes have so far been relatively low-scale and seen limited success.
‘Blue revolution’: How farmed seaweed is good for us and the planet (EuroNews)
In the coastal waters of Western Sweden, kilometers of ropes hanging in the water create a farm for sea lettuce – an experimental crop not typically grown at sea. Sea lettuce has more protein and is less salty than more popularly farmed types of seaweed, which makes it tastier and easier to cook. But methods of its large-scale production at sea have not yet been fully developed.
The scientists running the sea lettuce farm in Sweden believe they’re on track to establish large-scale best practices for cultivation of this species. Since the pilot plantation, over a year they have increased the size 100 times. They expect to harvest 20 tons of sea lettuce in a couple of months.
EDUCATION
Full STEAM Ahead: Inspiring Youth Through New Book Series (USC Dornsife)
Often, when someone is asked about what drove their career path, the answer includes the influence of an outside perspective. Whether a person, a book, an experience, or an event, people are driven to pursue paths with which they can relate or connect. USC Sea Grant’s education program is well-recognized for connecting ocean sciences to youth throughout Los Angeles, especially focusing on underserved and underrepresented communities. Our program recently partnered to connect youth to ocean careers by creating a children’s book on marine biology.
8 Benefits Of Eating Seaweed: Feel Good About Snacking (Yahoo!Life)
When you think of healthy snacks, seaweed may not be the first thing that pops into your mind. However, seaweed, which refers to a variety of algae grown in bodies of water, is highly nutritious, delicious, and versatile. Whether you’re simply snacking on some nori or enjoying a seaweed salad for lunch, this food can be a great addition to your diet and offer a range of health benefits, including contributing to gut health and weight loss as well as providing essential antioxidants and fiber.
Modeling Marine Ecosystems with Virtual Reality (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Modeling Marine Ecosystems with Virtual Reality, developed by NOAA Ocean Service and NOAA Fisheries, helps high school students explore how scientific models work.
These modules are interactive, problem-centered investigations where students use real data and models to explore human-caused changes in ocean ecosystems and the impacts they have on the plants and animals in those ecosystems.
The Virtual Ecosystem Viewer, developed by NOAA Fisheries and featured in these activities, is an interactive virtual reality model that NOAA and other scientists use to visualize changing ocean ecosystems – especially fish populations.
AltaSea: The Beacon – November 11, 2022
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