Question by Claudia: Ideas for Oceanography Research Project?
I’m taking an online course in oceanography and for my final project need to submit a professional research proposal that will solve a current mystery/problem in oceanographical sciences. (for those of you who are unsure, oceanography covers all marine sciences, including but not limited to marine biology, geology, and chemistry) By the end of this week I need to submit my idea for my proposal. I’m not asking anybody to do this for me like some lazy answers people, but I would love some ideas for this project, as my mind is really at a blank. A few suggestions of oceanography mysteries or problems that CAN BE SOLVED in some way would be greatly appreciated!

One of the ideas I’ve considered is research on the rescue of the Chinese River Dolphin species, a species that has gone effectively extinct (there are maybe a dozen left in the wild, probably less) in the Yangtze River in China, the only place they are found. Any ideas on a project I could make out of this??

Note: I’m sure that at least half of the class is going to make their report on global warming and its effects on the ocean. Though this is a very important topic, I’m incredibly sick of talking about it and there really is a very limited range of research you can do. So unless you have a really unique idea of what I could talk about, I’m really not interested in global warming.

Best answer:

Answer by tom92117
Here’s a copied paragraph regarding sonar and pilot whales. It concludes with what do we do about it? Come up with a plausible solution and you have your paper.

“Active military sonars can harm whole populations of whales and dolphins. The latest evidence, sparse as it is, suggests that cetaceans may have learned to fear mid-frequency active sonars, and may flee from them when still very distant. That may deny them critical habitats, travel routes, and significant behaviors, and may even force them ashore. The cetaceans too close to the starting sonars may behave in ways that debilitate and kill them, or be directly injured by the sound. A short while ago this would have been hyperbole. Today it is a reasonable and precautionary assertion based on a consistent trend, made with the best scientific information available. The tragedy is that there are few ideas of what to do about it.”

http://csiwhalesalive.org/csi06204.html

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