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Cameron wrote. ���Each type of vehicle provides important and necessary capability.��� Sea Anemones Could Thrive As Ocean Acidifes Research has shown that corals and other calcifying organisms, which produce outer shells or skeletons of soluble calcium carbonate, will be corroded by ocean acidifcation. However, new research by the Universities of Essex and Plymouth has shown that noncalcifying relatives of corals can thrive under ocean acidifcation. David Suggett and Jason Hall-Spencer examined what happened to sea anemones with increasing proximity to a natural CO2 vent site on the seabed near the Italian island of Vulcano, where CO2 and pH conditions are similar to those predicted for much of the world���s oceans in 50 to 100 years. The study, published in Global Change Biology, showed that while calcifed organisms dissolve away, sea anemones grow larger and much more abundant with more CO2, partly because CO2 appears to increase the productivity of the symbiotic algae that live with the anemones. In effect, the CO2 provides the anemones with more energy to grow. Pacifc Gooseneck Barnacle Gets Pregnant With Floating Sperm The Pacifc gooseneck barnacle is the frst spermcasting species of ocean-dwelling arthropods found, according to a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Male barnacles cast sperm into the water, which females use to fertilize their eggs.�� Barnacles in general can self-fertilize. But the Pacifc gooseneck barnacle has not been observed as self-fertilizing, yet it can reproduce outside the penis range of other nearby barnacles. Pacifc gooseneck barnacles were collected from Barkley Sound, Canada, and the DNA of embryo-carrying barnacles was analyzed. Pregnant barnacles outside the range of another barnacle���s penis had one genetic marker from a barnacle other than itself, which suggested the sperm came from the ocean. It is unknown exactly how the barnacles catch sperm. Self-fertilization cannot be ruled out, though. Videotaping barnacles in the wild is the next step in the research. Oahu Losing Land Mass, Will Eventually Diminish Into Ocean Oahu will fatten into a low-lying seamount in 75,000 to 1.75 million years, a study in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta found. It will keep growing via plate tectonics in the meantime. The researchers measured solids dissolved in surface and groundwater from 45 streams, and 30 springs and wells on Oahu for a total of 170 water samples, including previously reported data. They calculated the mass Oahu loses each year and found that underground freshwater springs removed more mineral material than erosion. Groundwater had three to 12 times more dissolved solids than surface water. While the younger Hawaiian Islands push the Pacifc tectonic plate downward, Oahu is pushed upward. The uplift happens at a rate of 0.2 feet per 1,000 years, which presently counteracts the losses caused by groundwater removing land mass. n www.sea-technology.com FEBRUARY 2013 / st 85