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Ocean United

... global advocacy for a sustained observing system

Ocean United Outreach and Advocacy

Welcome to Ocean United

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Ocean United Outreach and Advocacy Group

It is only by making a compelling case for the benefits of sustained and integrated ocean observation and forecasting that long-term support for the Global Ocean Observing System will be realized.

The purpose of this website is to provide a communications "toolkit" for the ocean observation and forecasting community.

This site provides a variety of communications material and a means of capturing your ideas on how to extend and improve this material to make advocacy and outreach even more compelling.

The site also provides a forum for dynamic exchange of information between different groups engaged in building, operating and using systems for observing and forecasting the ocean and coastal environment.

Ocean United is a group dedicated to increasing the visibility of Ocean Observing Systems and educating the public and policy makers about their necessity. Many activities are in progress to further these goals.

To access these tools you must login from the Home page.

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Ocean United News

Elephant Seals Working for GOOS

sealtransmitter
By Will Dunham From uk.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have enlisted some burly help as they try to get a better understanding of the remote south polar marine environment -- and these assistants don't mind the wet or the cold one little bit.

The researchers equipped 58 Southern elephant seals with small devices to monitor variations in water temperature, pressure and salinity in the Antarctic region they inhabit.

Writing on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers said the wide-ranging seals have gathered readings in places that otherwise would have been inaccessible.

The Southern elephant seal is the largest of the world's pinnipeds, the animal group that includes seals, sea lions and walruses. Males can measure 15 feet long and can weigh 7,000 pounds (3,000 kg).

The scientists, led by Jean-Benoit Charrassin of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, used epoxy to glue the sensors to the fur on the head of the seals, and released them to forage under the sea ice.

These seals, known for their short, elephant-like trunks, can dive as deep as 1.2 miles in search of food like fish and squid. The researchers said the seals typically covered distances of 22 to 40 miles per day.

The data sent back by the seals detailed the annual cycle of sea ice production, and could help improve computer models of ocean circulation in the region, the researchers said.

"An expanded array of polar marine predators equipped with environmental sensors, including seal species that target different foraging areas, would provide a powerful and cost-effective means to make the ocean-observing system truly global," the researchers wrote.