Re: [DIYbio] Do you have an appreciation of the ocean and are all about open-source?

The problem that has seemed to stop the development of communities at sea is
the lack of sedentary tasks that need to be done at sea. This should start
with the equivalent of farming and mining. Currently we seem to be limited to
transportation and hunting. Even the tasks that involve extracting some
element from the ocean is usually best done on a coast where the development
costs are smaller.

The key thing about farming is that it is a mechanism of economically
converting large amounts of diffuse solar energy to the concentration of needed
nutrients and materials whether it is rutabagas or timber. What is missing in
the ocean is large multicelled plants. Is it because there are no stable
regions where the plants will not be dispersed by wind and waves? If so this
is true over vast geologic time but not on shorter time scales. There is the
Sargasso Sea and the North Pacific Gyre, both stable on the scale of a million
years. There are large multicelled plants that tolerate salt water well such
as mangrove trees and sea grass. Both require shallow seas.

Perhaps a float technology equivalent to pumice would give them the foot hold
that they need to form a mat for stability and tall growth for (Why do trees
grow tall? Is it because we call them brush when they don't?)

On Monday, March 26, 2012 04:03:06 AM Frits Stam wrote:
> Hi, my name is Frits, I'm a Dutch Industrial Design Master student in
> Eindhoven.
>
> I'm working on a project about making society more aware of the ocean. I'm
> looking for people to share ideas with me, this is why I am starting this
> discussion.
>
> This project is my master graduation project. The envisioned project will
> involve the open-source community; this is why I am looking for people to
> talk to on this matter and to share ideas.
>
> Some info on the project:
> As I see it we (society) are very connected to the ocean, most of the
> everyday objects are in someway shipped across the ocean. Eventually ending
> up as plastic bits in the ocean.
> Even before the Industrial Age we've been exploring the world with ships on
> the ocean.  We've been shipping diseases, slaves, religion and tobacco
> around the world in small wooden ships.
> The ocean also acts as the source of life, in other words, all of the
> creatures on land came from the ocean. The ocean provides us also with an
> import source of protein to feed the world; fish.
> Furthermore, the ocean houses plankton that are critical for the planet.
> Most people don't realize that a mouthful of seawater contains millions of
> bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of
> thousands of zooplankton.
>
> Although we have this strong connection with the ocean we have yet to
> explore 90% of it. In our ordinary lives we've been so disconnected of the
> environment around us, the only thing the majority of people see are the
> beaches, the endless blue, until of course, some oilrig blows up and washes
> oil up on the shore.
>
> The project I am working on sees opportunity in creating a connection with
> society and the ocean somehow.
>
> This is not an easy challenge, I cannot do this alone, I am asking a
> community of people that think outside the box, are hands-on and are
> compassioned about what they do for help.
>
> In this period I do not have any concrete questions, but I will try anyway:
>
> How do you think open data about the ocean contribute to a more aware
> society/life-stye of the ocean(s)?
>
> How can people/societies, that have an awareness of the ocean, contribute
> in making our society more sustainable and more respecting towards the
> ocean?
>
> I am very new to the DIYBio google group, so I am not sure if these kinds
> of messages are appreciated, I hope we can have a nice discussion and I am
> looking forward in sharing my ideas with you.
>
> Frits