As we have seen in previous blog posts, light pollution not only affects organisms on land, anthropogenic light sources also penetrate into deep waters and is a significant factor that has disrupted the livelihood of various aquatic creatures such as sea turtles, corals and fish. In this post, we will see the extent to which light is able to reach the waters of the northern Gulf of Aqaba. The Gulf…
Besides negatively impacting the reproduction process, circadian rhythms and consumption patterns of aquatic creatures, light pollution can also severely impact the predator-prey relationship in aquatic organisms like aquatic insects. While not all of them might live underwater, most aquatic insects spend a larger part of their lives in water bodies, with only several days or weeks spent airborne after fully maturing. How then might these winged-creatures move if they can’t…
Furthering a former post of the impacts of artificial light on intertidal organisms, today’s featured study centres its discussion on the impact of Ecological Light Pollution (ELP) on the strictly nocturnal adult O. tuberculata, a talitrid amphipod which is dominant specie in the upper intertidal zone of exposed sandy beaches of central and southern Chile. Figure 1. Orchestoidae tuberculata ELP, similar to ALAN (mentioned in earlier posts) refers to artificial…
Before we dive in to look at how light pollution can impact coral reefs, let us first understand their importance and role in maintaining underwater ecosystems. From the picture below, coral reefs provide an ecosystem for many marine species, many of which rely on these coral reefs for protection. Image 1. Importance of coral reefs However, with the growth of human activities and development of new lighting technologies, artificial light…
With the rising awareness of light pollution, fish-y business has entered the debate. In particular, the business of intertidal fishes. Image 1. Intertidal Zone (Rocky Shoreline) This study shows that intertidal fish (G. laevifrons) exposed to Artificial Light Pollution at Night (ALAN) experience two main changes — 1. interruption of circadian cycles and circatidal rhythms, and 2. increase in oxygen consumption. But first, let’s talk about what ALAN is. ALAN…
As mentioned in the previous post, light pollution poses great threat to different species on earth. In assessing the impacts of light pollution in cities, it becomes ever so important to look beneath the surface and into marine waters to understand just how immense the effects of light pollution are. In this and the following posts, we will be looking at how light pollution may impact different kinds of marine…
