Going to and from Pacific Beach via Ingraham Street, you\u2019ve probably passed Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute without hardly noticing it \u2014 or realizing what it does.
\nWhile determining the cause of global warming is not Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute\u2019s mission \u2013 that\u2019s left to others like La Jolla\u2019s Scripps Research Institution \u2013 but responding to the consequences of global warming, however, is what Hubbs-SeaWorld is all about. “We\u2019re on the front end of trying to understand what the impacts of global warming are to wild populations and animal systems, and how we can help overcome that,” said Donald B. Kent, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute president\/CEO. “We\u2019re not about predicting doomsday. We\u2019re trying to avoid doomsday by saying, \u2018This is what we need to do.\u2019”
\nAdded Kent: “We\u2019re studying the impacts of (global warming) on our food supply. Can we farm the sea if we can\u2019t catch any more fish? What happens if we have heat domes in harvest season? Or if it rains too much and crops are destroyed?”
\nHeadquartered at Perez Cove in Mission Bay, with a smaller facility in Florida, the nonprofit scientific research foundation is committed to providing innovative scientific solutions to challenges facing ocean health. The goal is to conserve and renew marine life ensuring a healthier planet.\u00a0
\nThe institute began in 1963 when SeaWorld co-founder Milton C. Shedd, an avid fisherman and conservationist, recognized the importance of developing and nurturing scientific nonprofit research with the intent “to return to the sea some measure of the benefits derived from it.”
\nThe research foundation was later rededicated as Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute honoring Dr. Carl Leavitt Hubbs and his inspiring achievements in ocean science and education. From 1944 to 1969, Hubbs taught biology at SIO and at UC San Diego in La Jolla. Hubbs did research in commercial and recreational fishing, observing changes in fish population patterns that depend on the fluctuation in Pacific Ocean temperatures.\u00a0
\nHubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute\u2019s four main study areas are: Sustainable seafood (aquaculture), restoring depleted fish populations; animal behavior (bioacoustics), sound impacts on animal behavior; wildlife populations (ecology); and ocean health (physiology).
\nKent recently led a tour through Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and showed off its labs, tanks and research facilities. We met Ann Bowles, a senior research scientist, who was busy with numerous projects, including studying the impact of plane noise on endangered bird species such as the least Bell\u2019s vireo, and the California gnatcatcher at Camp Pendleton.
\n“For many years we\u2019ve been concerned about the effects of aircraft noise on birds with the addition of helicopters at Camp Pendleton,” said Bowles. “We measured the quality of the bird\u2019s habitat, kept track of temperatures, things not done in the past. It turns out that stuff (habitat quality) explained their reproductive success, not noise (impact), which was subtle.”
\n“We try not to be advocates for anything other than good science,” said Kent, showing huge vats in the back of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute where experiments are being conducted on farming of edible fish species like halibut, yellowtail tuna and white sea bass.
\n“These are self-cleaning tanks that we put fish eggs in and harvest,” said Kent. “In 50 to 60 days, we can harvest 150,000 juveniles out of a tank like this.”
\nFish harvests can be enhanced by adjusting elements like night\/day and water temperature.
\nNoted Kent: “We want to learn what kind of diets can we use to grow fish that don\u2019t use fish meal? Can we use trimming left over from filleting? Or use soybeans or soy as an alternative? We\u2019re experimenting with that now.”
\nAdmitted Kent, “I\u2019m very worried about how we\u2019re going to feed ourselves in the future.”
\nNoting that “everything in life is trial and error,” Kent said, “We\u2019ve learned a lot based on things that didn\u2019t work. When something works, you try to refine it a little bit more.”
\nOngoing experiments at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute could prove to be one answer to “farming” the world\u2019s oceans and safeguarding the planet\u2019s food supplies.
\n“The idea is to find a diet that feeds fish more cheaply, while still maintaining the health and quality of the product,” Kent said. “If wild fish costs $12 a pound, and cultured fish is $5 a pound, more people can buy it and enjoy a healthy meal.”
\nConcluded Kent: “That\u2019s what we focus on. Can we grow a fish that is less expensive than catching a fish? Can we offset global warming producing different kinds of protein products that are safe for the environment?”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Going to and from Pacific Beach via Ingraham Street, you\u2019ve probably passed Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute without hardly noticing it \u2014 or realizing what it does. While determining the cause of global warming is not Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute\u2019s mission \u2013 that\u2019s left to others like La Jolla\u2019s Scripps Research Institution \u2013 but responding to the consequences […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":269334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"What does Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute do? It\u2019s scientists are studying impacts of global warming on animal systems","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}