Strange Days on Planet Earth – (Troubled Waters)
Movie Notes
21st Century Signals are around us
 Marsh in Wyoming - Leopard Frogs
 St. Lawrence, Canada – Beluga Whales
 Columbia, Missouri – Humans
 Georgia, USA - Humans
 Queensland, Australia (Great Barrier Reef) – Crown of Thorns
 Pacific Ocean - Mola Mola
Marsh in Wyoming
Biologist Tyrone Hayes – Northern Leopard Frogs
 200 million years these frogs have flourished
 Frogs are vanishing (20 species worldwide)
 Biometers – Frogs are telling us something
Link: Farms  Corn Production  Chemicals  Weed Killers = Atrozine (sprayed before planting)
Hayes raised frogs with and without Atrozine
 Frogs in clean water were normal
 Frogs in Atrozine caused males to grow eggs in testes and even ovaries
 Atrozine can cause testosterone to convert into estrogen
 0.1 parts per billion causes deformities. Larger amounts don’t cause as many deformities. The immune
system may detect these large amounts but the smaller amounts can slide under the radar.
 Risk Assessment – EPA says …need more information
75,000 compounds  Synergistic reactions SYNERGISM PRINCIPLE
St. Lawrence, Canada (Marine Park)
Synthetic chemical end up down the rivers, even in remote areas
Robert Michaud is studying White Whales (Beluga)
 Canaries of the sea because of song
 In trouble, highest rates of cancer
 There are dozens of chemicals found in Belugas
 Some dead Belugas can be classified as hazardous waste
 Belugas in captivity (aquariums) are used for comparison
 Mixtures of chemicals affect cells more when the immune system is compromised
 Studied combinations of chemicals. An almost impossible task to study all the combinations of
chemicals possible
WATER IS INTERCONNECTED !!!!!!!!!
Columbia, Missouri
Epidemiology – the study of the distribution and patterns of health-events in populations
Shanna Swan – If it affects any animal, it affects us
 High rates of miscarriages from chlorine in our drinking water
 Men – sperm compromised
Worst sperm quality in Missouri (not LA or NY where there is more air pollution)
Due to farm chemicals
 Tap Water – chemicals are not removed during treatment
Food, cosmetics, farming all lead to exposure – reduce exposure. The amount is Key!!!
Georgia, USA
Dr. Richard Meagher – University of Georgia (Geneticist)
 Toxic mercury from industry is harmful
 Bacteria convert chemical mercury into toxic methyl mercury
 Methyl Mercury builds up in the food chain to levels 10 million times greater than water
Ferns take up arsenic
Alpine plants take up Zinc
Mustard plants take up Lead
Clovers take up Motor Oil
 Adding a bacteria gene to plants can then take up methyl mercury and transform it into less harmful
forms – Mercury stored in leaves or dispersed as vapor
Queensland, Australia
Katharina Fabricius – Associated Crown of Thorns (A type of Sea Star) explosion to Nitrogen
 Nitrogen used in agriculture – chemical runoff into the sea
 Causes issues with Blue Fin Tuna, Killer Whales and other marine organisms
 Fertilizer (nitrogen) causes algal grown that allows the Sea Stars to thrive (at nitrogen hot spots)
Vince Vitale – Farmer who planted trees to retard chemicals from moving into rivers
 Most farmers remove almost all the trees near rivers
Pacific Ocean
Tierney Thys – Working with Mola Mola – Radio telemetry and tracking
 Occur in every tropical and subtropical areas
 Considered an open ocean fish
 Once thought open ocean fish were buffered from pollution issues (chemicals diluted)
 Tracking showed fish do come close to shore
 We can concentrate clean-up efforts by knowing where these animals travel
 Animals are a window into out lives