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A Breathless Ocean

Marsha James

   The ocean provides many benefits to our planet and all the creatures
   that live there. It regulates the earth's climate, produces 60 percent
   of the oxygen for the earth and is an important source of food.

   Denise Breitburg is a marine ecologist with the Smithsonian
   Environmental Research Center. Her research and studies center on the
   Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, a large water system that stretches
   from New York to Virginia. The Bay itself receives about half its
   volume from the Atlantic Ocean.

   "I do work on a wide range of organisms, from fish, jellyfish to
   oysters. Any of the things large enough to see without a microscope.
   But, I'm also really interested not just in individual animals, but in
   how it all fits together, how food webs change, how the environment
   influences evolution and really the ecosystems as a whole."

   Breitburg says one thing that has a negative impact on the ecosystem is
   oxygen decline in the ocean.

   "Animals need oxygen to breathe, grow, reproduce and survive. The
   marine ecosystems require oxygen. But, oxygen is declining in the open
   ocean and coastal waters because of increasing global temperatures and
   excess nutrients."

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