Charles Darwin Research Papers

This blog entry has its origins from a company newsletter I wrote in 2009 for scientists working on marine coatings.

Darlene Brezinski, the editor of Paint & Coatings Industry magazine, liked the topic so much and asked me to take excerpts from that newsletter into the article that appeared in the magazine on the same year. I share with you excerpts of that article here as a prologue to my next blog on HMS Beagle and Tara Oceans.

Why bother studying barnacles? Marine biofouling is such a multi-billion dollar problem because attachments on the bottom of the ship causes drag and increased fuel consumption. It is estimated that a supertanker from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles port would cost an additional 1 million dollars worth of extra fuel if barnacles are present in the submerged portion of the hull. The barnacle, Balanus amphitrite, is the most ubiquitous fouling organism that tenaciously attach to the surface. It is perhaps one of the earliest invasive species since it is present in practically all major ports, around the world, having been a hitchhiker on ocean going vessels for over 3, 000 years. To get them off the ship requires expensive dry docking, sand blasting. and re-painting. Prior to the 1990’s, all marine paints contained toxins to kill barnacle larvae before they settle on the bottom of the ship. That use has since been legislated out and the search is on for less toxic biocides and preferably nontoxic paint chemistries or repellents.

So, here is the excerpt from Poseidon Marine Science News and PCI magazine.

“Having been in fish biology in my earlier years and a biomedical scientist in my middle ones, my own passion for barnacle research did not come until later after meeting Dan Rittschoff at Duke University, Ron Price at the U.S. Naval Research Institute and Sister Avelin Mary at Sacred Heart Marine Research Centre (Tuticorin, India) in the early 1990’s. Barnacles are not exactly the cute furry creatures one can get so passionate about. I do have to admit that the interest was partially clouded by my capitalistic pursuits. Like many of us in this business, we write scientific articles about the biology of the barnacle, Balanus amphitrite amphitrite Darwin, and yet did not spare any second thoughts about why Darwin’s name came to be part of it. So, let me tell you why.

The Charles Darwin we are all familiar with is the English naturalist who wrote The Origins of Species and Natural Selection, which has since become the foundation for our understanding of evolution and the unifying explanation for the diversity of life on earth. He wrote about his theory in 1844, then quickly shelved it inside his desk drawer, specifically instructing his wife to release it for publication only if he died unexpectedly. Darwin was a modest man who shied away from controversies and he knew his theory will be so controversial, and even remains to be so on this 150th anniversary of writing the Origins.