Burleydam WI's April meeting

It's tough being a shrimp. Everyone wants to eat you. In the ocean you are part of a food chain stretching from the smallest to the largest sea creatures all of whom are particularly partial to shrimp. Some are unsporting enough to just lurk, waiting for the sea currents to carry shrimps to them.

This undersea world is now being explored by a variety of autonomous under water vehicles. ISIS is a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) from the University of Southampton and is used to take photographs and obtain specimens from deep under the sea.

Photographs of some of the creatures which populate this dark world were shown by Graham Dodd, returning to Burleydam after his talk last year on Tales of the Marches.

Oceans cover 71% of the world's surface. Their average depth is 4000 metres and the deepest trench, the Mariana in the Pacific, is 10,920 metres deep. Only two people have ever gone down that deep to explore the Mariana and that was 50 years ago.

With the world facing problems of global warming, food shortages and the need to find new drugs to treat diseases the hope is that the oceans can provide the answers.

The most basic life forms Foraminifera, or 'forams' as they are often called, are small marine creatures that build a delicate house (called 'test') from chalk. The pyramids of Egypt are made of stone containing these creatures.

When Foraminiferals die their empty calcareous tests sink to the bottom and form the Foraminiferal ooze which covers 30% of the ocean floor. Can this provide a food source in the future? Foraminiferal ooze and chips anyone?

The competition "How many uses for a paper clip" proved a challenge for members with only two entries. The winner with an amazing 102 uses was Elaine Walton. Runner up was Liz Gentil.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.