A new Marine Science Congress organized by the Chilean Society of Marine Sciences was hosted by the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso between May 22 and 26, 2017, bringing together marine science researchers with doctoral, master’s and undergraduate students from all across the country.

The Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) played an outstanding role, disseminating the work of its researchers.

Forum on iron fertilization project off the Chilean coast

A few weeks ago, the Chilean press published information about a project of the Canadian company Oceaneos which aims at fertilizing the coast off Coquimbo with iron, convinced that phytoplankton growth will thereby be encouraged, producing an increase in the quantity of fish in the area. However, IMO opposed this project, saying that it was not feasible because of the lack of scientific evidence to show that an increase in phytoplankton will also increase the quantity of fish. In fact, since the consequences of such action are not known, there are risks such as the possible growth of noxious algae, which would produce the opposite result. This controversy has mainly developed through printed, digital and social media.

To discuss this matter , IMO held a forum entitled “Geoengineering: Iron fertilization of the Oceans”, which was attended by more than 150 people interested in the topic, including prestigious national and international scientists, and which took place in one of the rooms of honor. Many other people followed the event via streaming, commenting on it through social media.

Recent research reveals ocean iron fertilization and its effects on atmospheric carbon sequestration to be matters of concern for the scientific community in general. This fertilization can cause the growth of noxious algae and, as a consequence of higher organic production, anoxic zones could also increase.

The discussion was moderated by Camila Fernández (University of Concepción) and Bernardo Broitman (Center for Dryland Studies), while Samuel Hormázabal (IMO) opened the event with a presentation and introduction to the topic. Subsequently, there was participation via streaming of foreign scientists Dr. Philip Boyd (Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania) and Dr. Adrian Marchetti (University of North Carolina). Humberto González, director of the Research Center Dynamics of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (IDEAL), closed the forum.

The public at the forum participated actively and at the end of the presentations they expressed their concerns about the possible negative consequences of the implementation of this project. It should be noted that IMO, as the organizer of this event, invited Oceaneos, which at first agreed to take part under its own terms. However, after not being granted the time it requested to present its project, because of other interesting lectures, it declined the invitation.

In order to bring the issue into the collective unconscious, IMO, in collaboration with other marine science research centers , such as IDEAL, the Fund of Research Centers in High-priority Areas (FONDAP), the Millennium Nucleus Center for Marine Conservation (CCM), the Millennium Nucleus Center for the Study of Multiple Drivers on Marine Socio-ecological Systems (MUSELS), the Millennium Nucleus for Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Islands (ESMOI), and the Center for Dryland Studies (CEAZA), had conducted a strong social media campaign to present 10 reasons why fertilizing the ocean is not feasible. In addition, a document containing these reasons had been sent to several media organizations as well as to regional and national authorities, as part of a strategy to create an appropriate environment for reasoned discussion in the framework of the forum held on Thursday, May 25.

Finally, the invitation was to raise awareness about this topic, as well as to call on the authorities to protect the Chilean ecosystem and to take into account the opinions of Chilean scientists regarding this critical issue.

This news also reached the pages of the journal Nature, a publication with an international reputation: http://www.nature.com/news/iron-dumping-ocean-experiment-sparks-controversy-1.22031?WT.mc_id=FBK_NatureNews&sf81193889=1 .

Dissemination of science and research projects

The Marine Science Congress is a perfect opportunity to encourage collaboration and to establish a general approach. This is why IMO also took part in the third Symposium on Dissemination of Marine Sciences, where the Outreach team presented its work. At that event, IMO’s Outreach deputy director Bárbara Léniz presented the projects “Sumérgete”, the “Travelling Scientific Audiovisual Exhibit” (MACI) and “The Scientific Recipe of Tony Tonina”.

IMO students Luis Ñacari, Andrea Corredor, Johanna Medellín and Daniel Veloso also had the opportunity to present posters on their most recent research. There were also oral presentations by IMO researchers Rubén Escribano, Marcela Cornejo and Ramiro Riquelme, as well as by doctoral students Sonia Yañez, Liliana Espinosa, Leising Friederick and Carolina González.