Tasmania April 2010 First, I’ll answer the most posed questions I have received. No, Tasmania is part of Australia, not a country in Africa. Yes, I saw a Tasmanian devil. With that out of the way, here’s my notes from the field. I joined the Cousteau crew on a trip to the Australian state of Tasmania to see first-hand a fascinating biotech company that is using seaweed extracts for human health and nutrition, and scout locations and topics for a new television series. Ocean Futures Society marine biologist Holly Lohuis and I arrived early in Hobart to set the agenda for Jean-Michel Cousteau’s visit-the first to Tasmania since he and his father were there 20 years ago. It’s fall in the Southern hemisphere with cool days and crisp nights. Along with Jean-Michel, we gathered a local crew to set out for Eagle Hawk Neck and Fortesque Bay in southeastern Tasmania. Holly and Derek Cropp, manager of harvest operations for Marinova-our host-planned a dive to view the kelp beds of an invasive seaweed species that Marinova harvests to derive pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. After passing enormous granite bluffs riddled with half submerged caves and a perfect “sundeck” for fur seals, we anchored in a quiet cove for the test dive.
What Holly and Derek discovered was shocking. Much of the heralded kelp forests were gone and there was little sea life except for flourishing abalones and an invasive species of sea star. Local seafarers explained that warmer-than-usual currents in the Southern Ocean in recent years was wrecking havoc on the kelp forests. Whether the warmer water is due to climate change or a cyclical occurrence has yet to be determined. Racing a fast-approaching storm, we headed back to Hobart to collect our findings. The next day, we visited the operations of Marinova, www.marinova.com.au. In a fascinating all-day session, we learned how fucoidan extracts from several types of seaweed are making breakthroughs in health concerns from osteoarthritis to cancerous tumor reduction in clinical trials. The extracts derived from drying and processing the seaweeds are sold for a range of products from pharmaceuticals to skin care to food and beverages. At the end of the processing, the remnants of the seaweed are recovered and made into marvelous potting soil for gardens. The beauty in the process is that every part of the plant is used. As Jean-Michel often says, “There’s no waste in nature.” After a day spent with public and private high school students and an energy-charged band of elementary school students, we were given a unique experience to meet with an impressive array of climate change experts at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. Tony Press, CEO of the Centre, explained the operations and goals of the organization as one of the world’s foremost science facilities studying the Antarctic continent. The highlight of the visit was to don extreme cold suits and enter the frozen vault at the Centre that holds an ice core drilled into the Antarctic surface that reveals 90,000 years of history in a cylindrical column of ice. The ice, much like tree rings, divulge changes in the atmosphere, weather and climate-related events. Scientists shave wafer-thin slices of the core to discover different weather-related events. The research vault was a balmy -18° (C) or -43° (F). Dr. Andrew Moy, an ice core scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment & Water, explained that work is underway to locate a site on the continent to drill an even deeper core that will chronicle an astounding one million years of Earth history! Jean-Michel, introduced by former Tasmanian Governor-General Sir Guy Green, later spoke to a 800-person audience at the University of Tasmania on climate change and the world’s ocean as part of the “Blue Skies Speakers Series.” The takeaway from the adventure to Tasmania was three-fold: This island state about the size of New Jersey is an extremely sensitive gauge of changes in the world’s climate from its ocean to its temperate rainforests; Innovative biotech companies like Marinova are leading the way in the ingenious and sensitive use of natural resources for the human good; and Antarctic research centered in Tasmania is breaking new ground in understanding millennia of Earth’s history.
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