DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #717: MARINE BACTERIA
I generally avoid anti-bacterial products since many of them eliminate not only the bad guys but the good ones as well. However, last year I was a case study in bacteria. My hospitalization, expected to be just a week, stretched into nearly 11 weeks due to bacterial infection after infection. If you want to stay well, never enter a hospital! In addition, my gut bacteria (necessary for proper digestion and health) were wiped out by a constant flow of many antibiotics prescribed by one of my doctors.
Most of us rarely acknowledge the presence of bacteria in our environments unless we catch a disease. Yet bacteria are among the very oldest of life forms, dating back some 3.5 billion years... well before my birth date. In addition they are one of the most common life forms on our planet. It is said that their biomass (the mass of all living bacteria) exceeds a billion tons. Pretty amazing for a life form that is so tiny it requires a microscope to view.
My focus today is on the bacteria found in the marine environment. I leave those that occupy freshwater and land to those afraid to enter the ocean. It is said that a mere 1.5 gallons of sea water may contain more bacteria than there are people on our planet! These bacteria can survive in very harsh environments such as sea ice, hot hydrothermal vents, extremely salty seas and even in water that has little to no oxygen. For this reason they are referred to as extremophiles, able to live in these extreme conditions.
I'm no stranger to the impact of marine bacteria. Back in 2001 while diving in Fiji at Jean-Michel Cousteau's resort, I wore a pair of fins that were too small for my feet. They rubbed large sores into my heels, which quickly became infected with bacteria. Fortunately when I travel to tropical and subtropical waters where bacteria are more prevalent, I carry Cipro and that took care of the infection quickly.
Despite the fact that an individual bacterium is too small to see with the naked eye, they reproduce very quickly and can form highly visible "mats" on the ocean floor. I've seen large ones while diving down in Sandy Eggo. A few years back when Jean-Michel and Dr. Dick Murphy came out to Catalina at my suggestion to film a massive squid run, we observed smaller bacterial mats growing in Descanso Bay feasting on the bodies of dead squid.
Back when I was teaching a course in animal behavior at the old Toyon school, one of the reading assignments I gave my students was about the sex life of bacteria. Normally bacteria reproduce asexually, by one cell splitting into two clones, each genetically identical. Hmm, I once dated identical twins but they exhibited quite different behavior. This is why tiny bacteria can quickly form the visible mats we observe. However in some cases bacteria exchange genetic material with one another to create new gene combinations. I don't think my students were very impressed since their nocturnal activities were probably a LOT more interesting... if we teachers could catch them at "it."
I don't want you to think all bacteria are bad. Just like in the human body there are the goodie two shoes and the villains. Bacteria perform many vital functions not only in the ocean, but on land. In fact, without them, higher life on Planet Ocean would be near impossible! Cyanobacteria act like plants and algae, absorbing sunlight and using it to produce oxygen within their chloroplasts. It is reported that at least half the oxygen in our atmosphere is produced by marine life, with half of that done by bacteria!
Bacteria are also critical in the cycling of matter. They decompose dead critters (or the leftovers in my refrigerator), breaking the organic matter down into simpler nutrients that can be used by other living things. Two of the most important nutrient cycles involve carbon and nitrogen, but there are many types of bacteria that transform other elements and molecules as well such as sulfur or iron. These bacteria derive their source of energy from the decomposition of more complex matter and are said to be chemosynthetic, creating their "food" by breaking down chemicals.
So next time you get all worked up about bacteria doing nasty things like causing sinus infections or eating your flesh, keep in mind that there are many of them that are critical for sustaining your life as well. As in any group, don't stereotype based on the negative actions of the few when so many are important in our own life support!
© 2017 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 700 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Large bacterial mat down in San Diego (courtesy of Mike Bear), bacterial growth near field of squid eggs and electron microscope image of bacteria (courtesy of Dartmouth University).
I generally avoid anti-bacterial products since many of them eliminate not only the bad guys but the good ones as well. However, last year I was a case study in bacteria. My hospitalization, expected to be just a week, stretched into nearly 11 weeks due to bacterial infection after infection. If you want to stay well, never enter a hospital! In addition, my gut bacteria (necessary for proper digestion and health) were wiped out by a constant flow of many antibiotics prescribed by one of my doctors.
Most of us rarely acknowledge the presence of bacteria in our environments unless we catch a disease. Yet bacteria are among the very oldest of life forms, dating back some 3.5 billion years... well before my birth date. In addition they are one of the most common life forms on our planet. It is said that their biomass (the mass of all living bacteria) exceeds a billion tons. Pretty amazing for a life form that is so tiny it requires a microscope to view.
My focus today is on the bacteria found in the marine environment. I leave those that occupy freshwater and land to those afraid to enter the ocean. It is said that a mere 1.5 gallons of sea water may contain more bacteria than there are people on our planet! These bacteria can survive in very harsh environments such as sea ice, hot hydrothermal vents, extremely salty seas and even in water that has little to no oxygen. For this reason they are referred to as extremophiles, able to live in these extreme conditions.
I'm no stranger to the impact of marine bacteria. Back in 2001 while diving in Fiji at Jean-Michel Cousteau's resort, I wore a pair of fins that were too small for my feet. They rubbed large sores into my heels, which quickly became infected with bacteria. Fortunately when I travel to tropical and subtropical waters where bacteria are more prevalent, I carry Cipro and that took care of the infection quickly.
Despite the fact that an individual bacterium is too small to see with the naked eye, they reproduce very quickly and can form highly visible "mats" on the ocean floor. I've seen large ones while diving down in Sandy Eggo. A few years back when Jean-Michel and Dr. Dick Murphy came out to Catalina at my suggestion to film a massive squid run, we observed smaller bacterial mats growing in Descanso Bay feasting on the bodies of dead squid.
Back when I was teaching a course in animal behavior at the old Toyon school, one of the reading assignments I gave my students was about the sex life of bacteria. Normally bacteria reproduce asexually, by one cell splitting into two clones, each genetically identical. Hmm, I once dated identical twins but they exhibited quite different behavior. This is why tiny bacteria can quickly form the visible mats we observe. However in some cases bacteria exchange genetic material with one another to create new gene combinations. I don't think my students were very impressed since their nocturnal activities were probably a LOT more interesting... if we teachers could catch them at "it."
I don't want you to think all bacteria are bad. Just like in the human body there are the goodie two shoes and the villains. Bacteria perform many vital functions not only in the ocean, but on land. In fact, without them, higher life on Planet Ocean would be near impossible! Cyanobacteria act like plants and algae, absorbing sunlight and using it to produce oxygen within their chloroplasts. It is reported that at least half the oxygen in our atmosphere is produced by marine life, with half of that done by bacteria!
Bacteria are also critical in the cycling of matter. They decompose dead critters (or the leftovers in my refrigerator), breaking the organic matter down into simpler nutrients that can be used by other living things. Two of the most important nutrient cycles involve carbon and nitrogen, but there are many types of bacteria that transform other elements and molecules as well such as sulfur or iron. These bacteria derive their source of energy from the decomposition of more complex matter and are said to be chemosynthetic, creating their "food" by breaking down chemicals.
So next time you get all worked up about bacteria doing nasty things like causing sinus infections or eating your flesh, keep in mind that there are many of them that are critical for sustaining your life as well. As in any group, don't stereotype based on the negative actions of the few when so many are important in our own life support!
© 2017 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 700 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Large bacterial mat down in San Diego (courtesy of Mike Bear), bacterial growth near field of squid eggs and electron microscope image of bacteria (courtesy of Dartmouth University).
