Serengeti in the Pacific

Earlier this week, the online version of Nature published a remarkable report which found that the eastern Pacific Ocean is the marine equivalent of East Africa's Serengeti Plain. In fact, the undersea area off the American and Baja California coastlines are home to an astonishing number of migratory species.

If the report had simply stopped there, those findings alone would have merited headlines. The report was also significant for the way scientists collected its compelling data. The decade-long project, known as The Census of Marine Life's Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP), "attached electronic tags to oceangoing creatures and sent them out to do the research," according to a Washington Post report.

The project's methodology helped reveal new, precious information about the world underneath the Pacific's surface. It's a realm where, in the words of a Census of Marine Life official quoted in the Post story, "we were literally blind." Now, he added, we can see. "We know what's underneath now."

What went unsaid was that humankind would certainly benefit from knowing more about sea life than we currently do. Even with the TOPP report, the collective human knowledge of the Moon is greater than our understanding of the oceans' depths. Meanwhile, the urgency to illuminate the mysteries of the oceans' ecosystems and their interplay with marine and bird species increases almost exponentially.

Over a century ago, Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea popularized the concept of understanding the oceans' underwater kingdoms. Now, a glimmer of rational science has created a way for humanity to see the great life below the Pacific's surface. One has the uneasy sense, however, that we may never fully understand the nuances of marine environments. They're just too deep, in more ways than one.

The illustration, from the NOAA's Historic Coast and Geodesic Survey Collection, depicts Captain Nemo taking a star sight from the deck of the Nautilus.

Worms Discovered One Mile Under Earth's Surface

The current issue of Nature features an article in which two researchers claim to have found worms one mile under the surface of the earth.

They made their discovery while conducting exploratory experiments in a South African mine. One of the more amazing aspects of their research is that they conducted it so far beneath our collective feet. It makes one marvel at the engineering that can create safe conditions, with fresh air and light, so far from the earth's surface.

One also wonders how the pair of scientists set about discovering these multicellular creatures, called nematodes, whose existence in these extreme conditions had been the subject of speculation only a relatively short time ago.

The significance of the discovery was succinctly stated by Gaetan Borgonie (photo), one of the researchers. "It doesn't happen often," the Belgian nematologist said, "that you can redraw the boundaries of a biosphere on a planet."

Water Insecurity

The BBC reported a story originally appearing in the publication Nature regarding the world's water supply. The gist of the article is that global fresh water supplies are dwindling at a troubling rate. The researchers wisely split their analysis into two gross categories: "natural" and "managed" water supplies. The latter refers to reservoirs and other human interventions to maintain sufficient potable water. The former considers streams and other conduits that have flowed unimpeded for centuries.

Interestingly, the developed nations in the Northern Hemisphere have stressed their aqueous natural resources. Their supportive infrastructure manages to supply enough water for their demanding industries and growing populations. Developing nations more or less face challenging conditions in which the deterioration of their water supply will only accelerate.

In recent years, some writers and financial analysts have characterized water as "blue gold." I entirely share that perspective. There is a finite -- and declining -- supply of fresh, potable water in the world. Global population is expanding. Demands on available water supplies will most likely increase to a grim extent. China, for example, is staring at some bleak social and economic consequences, thanks to its relentless degradation of its water resources.

One problem with taking water issues is that the northeastern United States, where many of the nation's leading thinkers and financiers are located, doesn't have an obvious water supply issue. This region has managed to dodge the nastier outcomes of drought -- so far. It has also done next to nothing to preserve arguably its most valuable commodity.

Curiously, the nation that best understands water management is France. There are a number of French firms specializing in this area. One can invest in some of them, either via ADRs or, if your portfolio structure and prosperity permit, purchase them directly from the Paris Bourse. You'll have to do your own homework on this topic. When you do, drink plenty of water -- while you still can.

The photograph shows Minnesota's Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River.