The Miocene marks a period in geologic time in which massive changes were occurring to Earth. Major landmasses came close to their present-day positions, and the closing of the Tethys Ocean ended the circumglobal circulation of warm waters. Modern patterns of ocean and atmospheric circulation developed, as gyres formed in the northern and southern hemispheres, bringing warm water to the poles and cold water towards the equator. A cold transarctic ocean current isolated the waters around Antarctica, permanently freezing the continent.

The cooling of Antarctica and the consequent cooling of the deep waters of the oceans triggered episodes of upwelling, which brings dense, nutrient-rich, cooler waters towards the oceanʼs surface. These episodes of upwelling were likely critical in the evolution of kelp forests, which appeared for the first time, bringing with them sea otters and other species unique to these environments. The changes in ocean circulation, the cooling of the planet, and the availability of nutrients all encouraged the evolution and spread of a high diversity of marine vertebrates.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Olivier Lambert

Many Miocene fossil species have close relatives alive today. Almost all modern groups of whales were present, as well as early seals, sea lions and walruses. During this time, marine mammals greatly diversified, with baleen and toothed whales being particularly diverse. They inhabited the oceans with sea cows, sharks, corals, turtles, fish, and a variety of invertebrates.

Recently, paleontologists discovered one of the biggest predators that ever lived- a whale called Leviathan melvillei, “Leviathan” meaning sea monster, and “melvillei” referring to Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick.

Two years ago, while working with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in the Pisco-Ica desert of Peru, Dr. Olivier Lambert and his colleagues found the skull and mandible from a sperm whale that lived 12 to 13 million years ago during the Middle Miocene, when the desert was underwater.

Teeth of levianthan (a-c) in comparison to modern sperm whale (d) and orca (e)

Leviathan wasnʼt like the modern day sperm whale, with its tiny teeth that are adapted to sucking squid into their mouths– it was a raptorial feeder, similar to the modern killer whale. “These are probably the largest teeth that I have ever seen,” says Lambert. “The maximum length of some of the teeth is 36 centimeters.”

The skull of Leviathan was about 9 feet long and up to 7 feet wide, and a full-grown man could have easily fit inside Leviathanʼs mouth. The upper and lower teeth interlocked when the mouth closed — good for securing prey and tearing large pieces of flesh from the body of the victim, as performed on a smaller scale by todayʼs killer whale.

At about 60 feet in length, Leviathan adults were probably free from predation themselves, and it is believed that they preyed upon medium-sized baleen whales, and would have been in competition with the giant shark Megalodon. Along with Megalodon, Leviathan probably had a profound impact on the structuring of Miocene marine communities and food webs. Other Miocene hotspots worldwide indicate that raptorial sperm whales occupied a top predator position in various marine regions during the Miocene, a role now mostly taken by the killer whale.

The extinction of both Leviathan and Megalodon is one of scienceʼs great mysteries. “Clearly they were feeding on the same kind of prey, so they could have suffered the same problems,” says Lambert. Although more is known about Megalodon through an extensive fossil record, Leviathan is still so new that scientists can only begin to hypothesize about itʼs life and demise. “It is possible that such an animal went extinct with a decrease in the diversity of baleen whales in the Late Miocene, and we think that could have played a role in the extinction of this large predator,” says Lambert. “There was a major cooling in the oceans during the Late Miocene, and this other parameter could have also played a role in the extinction of such an animal.”

Much about the oceanʼs past can only be speculated, as clues are still needed in order to tell a more complete story. The parts of earthʼs history that are known come from data collected by scientists. By looking at benthic oxygen isotopes and the magnesium to calcium ratio in foraminifera, scientists have discovered that the Late Miocene experienced a dramatic temperature drop, an increase in ice volume, and rapid sea level changes. All of these factors could have contributed to the extinction of the two great predators of the Miocene oceans, by limiting the availability of food and suitable habitat. The relatively high foraminiferal values in the Miocene are also at least partially associated with higher open ocean productivity. This widespread increase in marine productivity has been dubbed the ʻbiogenic bloomʼ, and implies a change in global nutrient cycling. Analyses of Miocene deep sea cores reveal major paleo- oceanographic changes affecting the biological productivity in the ocean. Maps created from these analyses revealed that four main episodes in the evolution of ocean circulation and paleoproductivity led to the establishment of present-day high productivity areas.

These events from long ago not only helped shape Earth today, but also provide insight into Earthʼs present, and future climate. By looking at the geologic record, scientists can try to figure out the causes and effects of what occurred, which provides a better understanding of how the same processes are working today and how they will work in the future.

Lambert, O., Bianucci, G., Post, K., de Muizon, C., Salas-Gismondi, R., Urbina, M., & Reumer, J. (2010). The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru Nature, 466 (7302), 105-108 DOI: 10.1038/nature09067

Today is World Fisheries Day.  I also happen to be writing a huge article for my Masters that pertains to fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.  Therefore, I don’t have a spare second to write more about the matter than this.  Go to the link above and educate yourself.  Then go to the Seafood Watch website and get yourself a seafood guide or sushi guide.

As someone who studied both science and art in college, I love anything in which the two intersect, especially if it has to do with coral reefs.  I will admit that I LOVE the coral reef on the clamshell ride at Epcot’s the Living Seas at Disney World.  It is a beautiful replication of a reef, and I wanted one for my house the minute I saw it.  But a reef made of yarn? Naturally, nothing could grab my attention faster than the woolly wonder that is the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.

The exhibit opened at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on October 16, 2010 and was made possible by Quiksilver Foundation, the Embassy of Australia, and the Coral Reef Alliance.  My friend Rick MacPherson, Conservation Programs Director of the Coral Reef Alliance, gave a moving speech at the opening of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.

The reef was started in 2005 by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim, co-founders of the Institute for Figuring, in response to the decline of the Great Barrier Reef in their native Queensland, Australia.  From its humble beginnings with the work of two sisters, the Crochet Reef project now engages thousands of people and dozens of communities all over the world.

“Just as living reefs result from the collective power of millions of tiny coral polyps, so the Crochet Reef results from the work of many human beings,” says IFF director Margaret Wertheim.

In this TED video from February 2009, Margaret Wertheim talks about the project, and its parallel to the evolution of life on earth.

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef will remain on exhibit at the Sant Ocean Hall of the Smithsonian National Museum of History until April 24, 2011.  Individual crocheters and crochet groups from the greater Washington metropolitan area (DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia) and around the nation are invited to participate by creating pieces for the Smithsonian Community Reef.  For all you crafty crocheters out there, here’s how to make your own crochet corals.

Note: For those a little further north, The Bleached Reef is on exhibition at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City until January 9, 2011.

Welcome to the 35th edition of Carnival of the Blue, a monthly compilation of the best ocean blogging.  First and foremost, I would like to share an announcement from GrrlScientist about a new twitter feed (SciNatBlogs) that announces science, environment, nature and medical blog carnivals to the public.

Of Winds and Water shares their first sailing trip with us, which is chock full of little tidbits of sailing information.

Jill, a nomadic field biologist, shares some of her photography of critters in the tide pools of Patrick’s Point State Park in California.  Wanderin’ Weeta, who also usually shares photographs with us, is sharing a video of skeleton shrimp this time around.

Sometimes a picture is worth more than 1,000 words.  A timely picture helped NEAQ researchers determine a calf’s gender, and will ultimately help with future conservation efforts for the entire North Atlantic right whale population.

Members of NEAQ’s Marine Animal Rescue Team were literally up to their knees in mud while assisting with a mass dolphin stranding in Cape Cod.  Read the post to learn about the stresses involved for both cetaceans and rescuers during a stranding.

In “Won’t They Think of the Poor Bone-Eating Worms?” Kevin Z (of Deep Sea News) writes, “The troubling aspect to me is the general idea sinking things to the deep-sea is a great way to solve problems. Out of sight, out of mind right?”.  The Saipan Blogger feels the same way, and wants to stop an ocean litter bug “artist” before he gets a chance to dump a giant “art” sculpture in his backyard, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

Can pink flamingos and a burping cow help turn the tide for ocean wildlife threatened by climate change and ocean wildlife? The answer may lie in Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new special exhibition, Hot Pink Flamingos: Stories of Hope in a Changing Sea.

New research shows evidence that male pipefish prefer larger females, and will abort the embryos from less attractive females.  It seems like no matter the species, the men go for the pretty ladies…

What do Popeye and deep-sea fishy pigeons have in common?  Spinach, of course!

Miriam, of The Oyster’s Garter Deep Sea News, shares a list of dolphins in science fiction.  [Complete with comments regarding some interspecies lovin'.]

On a more serious dolphin-related note, both Southern Fried Science and Deep Sea News wrote about The Cove this month.  Amy tackles mercury poisoning and dolphins, which Kevin touches on in his review of The Cove.

Water Words That Work asked what went wrong in gaining stricter protections for the Atlantic bluefin tuna, and looked at how the ocean community’s environmental communications efforts compare to other conservation organizations.

Oceana shared a series of video dispatches from the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, the results of which are summed up in The Bitter End.

Submit your posts for next month’s carnival, through the Blog Carnival Submission Form or directly to dotoftheblue @ gmail . com.  Next month’s carnival will be hosted by Christie at Observations of a Nerd.

Numerous apologies for the hiatus in blogging, and the delay in posting this edition. Without further ado, I give you, Carnival of the Blue.

No Back Bone

• Wanderin’ Weeta features some wonderful macro photography, as always.  Life in a tank is always full of surprises, and a new find in a salt-water aquarium was the inspiration for the lesson on zooids, accompanied by the COOLEST photos!  Tanks are a great way to observe nature’s little wonders, like how Hermit Rex goes shopping for a new home.  What a wonderful thing to see in photo-essay form!
• Eric over at The Other 95% presents the results of a poll on which card to feature from the  Ocean Bloggers Oceans in the Classroom Initiative.  And the winner is……the Iceland Scallop!  Learn a little bit about their biology, range or fisheries, or simply learn how to cook their relatives. YUM.
• Cephalopodcast participated in the 3rd Annual International Cephalopod Awareness Days, October 8-10th, which includes Octopus Day, Nautilus Night and Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day (also known as Squidturday).  Learn about cephalopods, the history of Cephalopod Awareness Day and why you should celebrate.

Feathery Friends

• As part of the Marine Life Series at Daily Kos you can learn about one of my favorite shorebirds, the Red Knot, and how the fate of the horseshoe crab population in Delaware Bay is intricately linked to the fate of these tiny birds.
• 10,000 Birds features another type of sandpiper, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, in part one of a six part series.  Great conservation post!

Salty Science

• Kevin Zelnio of Deep Sea News breaks the news to us….size matters.  Well, sieve size at least.  Is it better to follow the crowd or bust out on your own when choosing the proper sieve size for your study?  Size matters when estimating biomass!  Dr. M, the other half of Deep Sea News, presents us with a lesson in biogeography in The Origins of Deep-Sea Fauna.
• Christie, normally of Observations of a Nerd, wrote a small novel post over at scientificblogging.com entitled Busting Marine Myths: Sharks DO Get Cancer! Take the time to read this longer piece, as it is a MUST-read, especially for those interested in shark conservation.  I remember when the “sharks don’t get cancer” craze came out in the 90s when my grandmother had cancer, and this fallacy has led to the demise of millions of sharks.

Crazy for Conservation

• Known for their frequent criticism of Sea Shepherd, Southern Fried Science takes a look at what makes a good conservation organization.  Enter the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP), a 20-years-in-the-making conservation organization that started with one specific goal in Mexico and has now affected change across the globe.  It boils down to methodology and it’s true what they say– you do catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
• Outreach really is vital to conservation and the dissemination of science.  Scientists need to thing broader in terms of broader impacts.  As of late, severeal expeditions have been getting the “Yet Another Scientist Getting Broader Impacts Right” award from Rick of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets, and the New England Aquarium-Woods Hole-Conservation International 3-week research expedition to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is no exception.  Check out the Phoenix Islands Expedition: Q&A!
• Happy Birthday to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!  The aquarium’s blog, Sea Notes, commemorates 25 years of conservation.  Congratulations, and keep up the good work!

If you are lucky enough to be in San Francisco this weekend, then I urge you to visit the Aquarium of the Bay this Saturday, October 17th for the SHARKtober FilmFest. The event, cosponsored by Sea Stewards and the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, runs from 1pm to 5pm, and features not only some great films about sharks, but some great speakers as well. Cartoonist Jim Toomey of Sherman’s Lagoon will be speaking, as well as one of my favorite marine bio men, Wallace J. Nichols.

This is a wonderful opportunity and tickets are only $17, so go in my place and tell me all about it!