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Todd Haney / Field Museum
Some of the 38 deep-sea limpets found aboard the research sub ALVIN. Each is less than half an inch long.
Sure, it sounds like a sci-fi movie: Alien species deep below the ocean latch onto scientists' gear, surface and cause havoc. But it could happen, scientists reported Thursday in a study that concludes those free rides can ruin ecosystems.
"I don't worry too much about deep-sea aliens taking over," lead researcher Janet Voight told msnbc.com, "but the worse-case scenario would in fact be a fundamental change in the ecosystem" if the new species brought with it a disease or parasite.
What triggered the study was the discovery of 38 deep-sea limpets, a kind of saltwater snail, inside a suction system aboard the research submarine ALVIN. They were found just after a dive in 2004 to the deep-water hydrothermal vents along the Juan de Fuca Ridge off Washington state -- and didn't seem like limpets native to the zone.
Voight, who was the mission's chief science officer, said, "I examined the specimens, and contacted my co-authors to help me understand why these limpets were apparently collected on Juan de Fuca Ridge."
Further research determined that the limpets were from Gorda Ridge, a deep-water site 400 miles to the south where ALVIN had been a few days before the Juan de Fuca dive.
Janet Voight / Field Museum
Clumps of limpets are seen among sea worms at the bottom of Gorda Ridge, from where 38 limpets were mistakenly taken for a ride to another ecosystem.
"We realized instead that they had been collected on Gorda Ridge and 'stowed away'," said Voight, a biologist with the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Most surprising was that the limpets had survived the pressure change that comes from rising 8,900 feet in a submersible.
"Our small limpets and their associates accrued somewhere in the suction sampler, perhaps in the corrugated hose, where enough water pooled to keep them alive," the researchers wrote in their study.
So while ALVIN was busy collecting new samples at Juan de Fuca, the Gorda Ridge limpets were hiding out in the hose.
Ships and even air travelers, via shoes or clothes, are also known to redistribute species to new areas, potentially altering local ecosystems.
"In retrospect, we should have cleaned the sampling gear more thoroughly, but we honestly believed that no animals could survive on ALVIN at sea level pressure for more than a day it took to get to the next dive site," Voight said. "We were naive. This is why we are admitting to our mistake, which could have, but we don't think did, introduce this species to Juan de Fuca Ridge. We want to warn other scientists that it is possible."
Raymond Lee
Limpets easily attach themselves to other objects, as seen in this photo of research equipment.
The danger at Juan de Fuca, Voight said, is that the Gorda Ridge limpets could have established themselves, along with parasites or disease, and potentially wiped out the native limpets.
Voight doesn't think that happened because the Juan de Fuca dive was some 300 feet from any vents, which the limpets need to survive. Still, she adds, "it might be worthwhile to go back to that spot" to check things out.
The team's advice? "We urge our colleagues to assume that physiologically tough stowaways are present on deep-sea research tools and to guard against transport of non-native species by clearing hoses and rinsing containers with freshwater, or even a peroxide solution, and drying tools before transporting them to different sites," they wrote.
The peer-reviewed study was published in the journal Conservation Biology.
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Leave a Comment:
Brilliant! What did they think was going to happen? Nothing? What also amazes me, this happened in 2004 and now they are talking about it and telling others? It doesn't make any sense.
Limpets are an incredible species, Just like Don Knotts was! I think I'll re-watch that movie again real soon!
The logic is a bit warped:"Voight doesn't think that happened because the Juan de Fuca dive was some 300 feet from any vents, which the limpets need to survive."
But the limpets on the Gorda Ridge had to have originated from somewhere, they did not spontaneously generate.
Barney I so have to agree with you. Eight years, now this is news?
"Hitching a ride" implies that a conscious choice was made on the part of the limpets. Later we read that the limpets "latched on to scientist's gear", (they were found inside a SUCTION system) and that they were "hiding out in a hose". How intelligent ARE these critters?
In an old Doonesbury cartoon, a caveman, walking a beach, spots two clams on the beach, also walking. He runs off yelling, "Clams got feet!" Clams got feet!", and one clam turns to the other one and says, "Now we gotta kill him!"
And then they found them in the suction system, so they didn't find their way into a different ecosystem, but "It could happen." Another riveting non-story.
HA! HA!....Yes....I do remember that cartoon...but, the BEST cartoon shows God up in the clouds, and a big mason jar on the ground with the lid off, and naked humans running away. The label reads something like "homo sapiens...do not open". The voice of God says "Oh, no!!!" And we've been running amouck and ruining the planet ever since.
Except that it was B.C. and Johnny Hart, not Doonesbury.
Johnny Hart was as controversial on the right side of the political fence as Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) is on the left.
"In his later years, he sparked controversy by incorporating overtly Christian themes and messages into the strips." (Wikipedia)
So you got the politics exactly 180 degrees wrong.
Aahhhhhhhh! You are right! It was B.C.!!!!! DUH!
I remember that and it was funny. They did a whole series of those clams.
well i like the fact that they said " we were naive " yes you were just like the earth is flat the earth goes around the sun and some day when there is a big earth quake a wave of water will hit a power plant or drilling a hole and sucking the oil out will cause a sink hole or fracking will put gas in the fresh water and we won't be able to drink it we were naive .
I agree what happens to the void where oil is extracted from and drilling for oil does cause earthquakes we are not a smart species on this planet we have not learned a thing since the start of civilization all we do is destruct and not smart enough to know that the path we are on is a path to destruction but it really does not matter what comments we have we are heading that way fast. We have put money over our health our environment and someday we will pay for it but not with money. We even have space polluted, earth was not enough we are advancing fast but not the right way.
Really? And how many "vents" were located inside the hose that they "need to survive"?
Yeah, it might be a good idea to to go back to that spot and see what really happened.
Are they edible limpets?
I was deep trolling with rod as a young man, casting to and fro, to and fro and some crabs hitched a ride home with me.
Did your date come home with a red snapper?
LOL! Crabs suck! LOL!
Limpets suck.
Quite a naive statement. Maybe Voight has never heard of the zebra mussels that have invaded the Great Lakes ecosystem in the 80s. Zebra mussels do not have parasites nor diseases but by their sheer biomass they have fundamentally changed the Great Lakes and their tributaries.
Indeed, the invasion of Quagga and Zebra mussels into the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and the lower Colorado river (Lake Mead) is the reason why recreational boaters are required to clean their boats thoroughly when moving from lake to lake.
They could have a new show 'Are you smarter than a Marine Biologist?'. sheesh
I would have been more worried if the aliens were a bit more scary.
Don't be fooled by their size.
Often, the smaller some of these things are the scarier they are because we tend to ignore them. Check out the previously mentioned Quagga and Zebra mussels.
Quoted by Janet Voight, biologist with the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago/Chief Science Officer/ lead researcher and her team:
W O W, did she get a C- in biology?! Maybe that’s being generous.
Divulging of information is a good thing….just do it in a timely
manner!
ALVIN is a great tool for deep water research. I've worked on it in the late 70's on the Juan de Fuca ridges.
It was build in 1964 and currently has more than 4,400 dives on record.
My question is, how many different critters has it transported from one dive site to the next ?
Maybe WHOI should consider hosing it down with chlorinated boiling water before each dive.
Just my 2 cents.
Why is this news
It's not new, Antwon, it's entertainment. There's no such thing as news anymore. Didn't you know? The broadcasters moved their news under their entertainment departments, and that's when our news turned from journalism into trash, and they started reporting who won Survivor and Dancing with the Stars. It's disgraceful.
People in Colorado can't even move a ski or fishing boat into a different lake without having to scrub the 'alien life' off the hulls. It seems these almighty scientists need to practice the same procedure to keep them from screwing up other parts of the ecosystem, too.
These Dipsh$ts scientists are a disgrace...They knew...what a bunch of crocks...If it were legal to put them down...I'd do it myself...I can't stand incompetence when it comes to the welfare of any ecosystem...They are the reason we have never been invited to join the intergalactic races...We have nincompoops like these scientists who would nonetheless be responsible for the ruin of entire planets if they were ever to be in charge of collecting samples.
Catch of the Day: If shrimp come in on a shrimp boat, what do crabs come in on?
Answer: The captain's dingy.
I thought you meant Dinga Lingy...
It's all these blood-sucking welfare deadbeats that are killing us-oh, and about 20 million illegal aliens.
microwave the stowaways :P
These Dipsh$ts scientists are a disgrace...They knew...what a bunch of crocks...If it were legal to put them down...I'd do it myself...I can't stand incompetence when it comes to the welfare of any ecosystem...They are the reason we have never been invited to join the intergalactic races...We have nincompoops like these scientists who would nonetheless be responsible for the ruin of entire planets if they were ever to be in charge of collecting samples.
Or maybe the Kanamits spread a rumor that we don't taste good.
If any other intelligent race has decided not to contact us because of incompetence and fear of having other planets ruined, it isn't because of lowly scientists who have little influence on the masses.
Too bad there's not a journalism fine for putting the title of this article up in such a way as to make people think that aliens were invading. MSNBC, you are disgraceful. Why couldn't you have worded your title: "Invasive Species Introduced Via Submarines" Who would have read it then?
The wording of the headline doesn't bother me. The sheer arrogance and plain stupidity of these "research scientists" does. We just "honestly believed" that no species could survive for that long... Are you kidding me? These are the people spending millions on research? They can't be bothered with the most basic precautions to protect the eco-system because "they already know what will happen"? Wow!
These things are dangerous, they attack in large numbers. And they have been known to lay mines.
These comments once again show us all why the uneducated should never comment on things beyond their reach. In simple terms, this means when the biggest word in your vocabulary is Budweiser, just skip the news on oceanography and go straight to the comics.
Yea be sure to rinse off the equipment , we would not want to do anything that would be detrimental to the oceans.
What's the big deal? If God does not exist and is in control then whoever or whatever survives and defeats other species deserves to win.
Science Officer! Sheeesh!