Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS April 2016 Waterfront News Major Source of Methanol in the Ocean Identifi ed As one of the most abundant organic


compounds on the planet, methanol occurs naturally in the environment as plants re- lease it as they grow and decompose. It is also found in the ocean, where it is a wel- come food source for ravenous microbes that feast on it for energy and growth. While scientists have long known


methanol exists in the ocean, and that certain microbes love to snack on it, they’ve been stymied by one key question: where does it come from?


Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceano-


graphic Institution (WHOI) have solved this mystery through the discovery of a massive – and previously unaccounted for – source of methanol in the ocean: phytoplankton. The study found that these microscopic,


A Special Event and Fundraiser for Maine Maritime Academy


plant-like organisms, which form the base of the marine food web, have a unique ability to biologically produce methanol in the ocean in quantities that could rival or exceed that which is produced on land. The results, pub- lished in the March 10, 2016, issue of PLOS ONE, challenge previous thinking on sources of methanol in the ocean, and help fi ll important knowledge gaps about ocean microbiology and the amount of methanol generated on our planet. The discovery may also spur research leading to biofuel appli- cations in the future. “Methanol can be considered a ‘baby


sugar’ molecule and is rapidly consumed in the ocean by abundant bacteria – called methylotrophs – which specialize in this type of food,” said Dr. Tracy Mincer, WHOI


You Love the Ocean - It Doesn't Love You A life at sea and in maritime safety will


be the topic of a special presentation by Mario Vittone, a former U. S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer and marine safety expert, Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m. at The Strand Theater in Rockland. The event, “You Love the Ocean – It


Doesn’t Love You Back: Thrilling stories and exciting tales designed to make your life on the water safe and survivable” is a fundraiser for scholarships at Maine Mar- itime Academy. Tickets are available at the Strand Theater box offi ce or online at RocklandStrand.com. Mario Vittone is a leading expert on


immersion hypothermia, drowning, sea survival, and safety at sea. His writing has appeared in Yachting Magazine, SaltWater Sportsman, MotorBoating Magazine, Life- lines, On-Scene, and Reader’s Digest. He


has developed courses for municipal rescue teams and the military on search and rescue tactics and open ocean survival. In 2007, he was named as the Coast Guard Active Duty Enlisted Person of the Year and was named as the 2009 recipient of the Alex Haley Award for Journalism. “Given our long connection with ma-


rine businesses and our agency’s deep roots on Maine’s working waterfront, this event is a natural fi t for our 150th


year in business,”


said Mike Pierce, president of Allen Insur- ance and Financial. “This event will be of interest to anyone with a professional or recreational interest in the sea, or a passion for the ocean.” Founded in 1866, Allen Insurance and


Financial is an independent insurance and fi nancial planning agency with offi ces in Rockland, Camden, Belfast and Southwest Harbor. Online at AllenIF.com.


Owner,Vessel,Fleet orCrew | Serving Maine people and their boats since 1866. Marine Insurance Offices in Rockland, Camden, Belfast and Southwest Harbor. Personal Service | Experienced Team | Client-Centered Solutions | On Land or at Sea AllenIF.com/marine (800)439-4311


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A C A D E M Y N E W S


Maine Maritime Academy Celebrates 75 Years of Career-oriented Education and Hands-on Training


CASTINE—Maine Maritime Academy was founded by Act of the 90th


Maine Legislature


on March 21, 1941. To kick off their 75th anniversary year, the Academy celebrated Founders Day at the State House in Augusta on Wednesday, March 23. A legislative sentiment will be present-


ed in the Senate on Wednesday to commem- orate the college’s unique role in the State’s higher education partnership. Founded originally as a nautical training institute to contribute skilled mariners for the war eff ort in the 1940s, MMA is now a career-oriented college, educating students in specialized programs in engineering, management, sci-


ence, and transportation. The college is one of only six State Maritime Academies in the United States. A press conference will be held at 1:30


p.m. in the Hall of Flags to acknowledge the Academy’s history and to celebrate some of the many people who were instrumental in its foundation and success. MMA’s celebra- tory theme is ‘We Are Mariners,’ highlight- ing the signifi cant contributions of every man and woman who has helped to build the Academy into the world-class institution it is today. The college community will continue to celebrate the 75th


anniversary throughout


the year. An all-community gathering is planned for Homecoming weekend in Cas- tine, September 23-25, 2016.


New Board Member at Apprenticeshop The Apprenticeshop is pleased to wel-


come Joseph Steinberger to its Board of Di- rectors, voted in at the Shop’s winter board meeting held in mid-February. He joins a diverse group of talented and dedicated community members and professionals who make up the Apprenticeshop’s board. Joe was born in Boston and spent most


of his childhood in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He has been an avid sailor since childhood summers on Long Island, and has cruised from Nova Scotia to Florida and the Caribbean. He attended Columbia College and Columbia Law School. In 1972 he moved to Maine and began his legal practice from an offi ce in Wiscasset. In 1976, working with a group that


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sought to protect Maine’s Bigelow Moun- tain from development, he helped draft the referendum and lead the campaign to create the Bigelow Mountain Preserve. In 1978, after having served as for a time as counsel to Maine Common Cause, he moved to Augusta to become its Executive Director. Joe returned to private practice in 1982


and built a house on Gay Street Place in Rockland (400 yards from the Apprentice- shop) where he continues to live and work. In 1984 Joe co-founded Penobscot


School, Rockland’s unique center for lan- guage learning and international exchange.


associate scientist and lead author of the paper. “However, up until now, the thought was that methanol in the ocean came from an overfl ow of terrestrial methanol in the atmosphere. So, this discovery reveals a huge source of methanol that has gone com- pletely unaccounted for in global methanol estimates.” Mincer fi rst became interested in the


idea of biologically-produced methanol in the ocean through previous work where he found methanol-nibbling bacteria in a phytoplankton culture he was growing. In- trigued, he extracted the microbe’s DNA and its barcodes matched up with a well-known methylotroph in the ocean. “Once we were able to characterize


this bacteria, I wanted to explore the idea of plankton-produced methanol,” said Mincer. “I began reviewing literature and found a paper where a student, as part of his dis- sertation, had reported some measurements of methanol from phytoplankton. At that point, I knew something was really going on there. It was like a fi st coming right out of the computer screen and punching me in the face.”


Growing pains As Mincer set out to explore things


further, he quickly learned that trying to measure methanol from marine phytoplank-


ton wasn’t easy. “I asked a number of colleagues how to


measure methanol in seawater and no one had done it before,” said Mincer. “There didn’t appear to be any methods to directly measure it, so we had to develop our own.” Given the high solubility of methanol,


extracting samples proved challenging. Mincer and his lab team had to separate out methanol from the salts in seawater by bubbling helium through it to push the volatile organic compounds out. This made it possible to get the samples onto an instru- ment to be separated and detected. But then they discovered that, instead of producing methanol steadily over time, phytoplankton release it in quick episodic pulses, and only during certain stages of growth. So, they had to be there at the right time to see it. “As we were growing the phytoplank-


ton cultures, we measured like crazy during the fi rst week and didn’t detect anything,” he said. “But after about ten days, they started to run out of nutrients and hit a plateau, which is when we saw that initial pulse of methanol.” Strength in numbers


One of the most noteworthy aspects


of the study, according to Mincer, was the amount of methanol plankton were able to


Continued on Page 21.


He served on the Rockland Parks Commis- sion and, as chair, conceived and organized the creation of Marie Reed Park and its footpath to the breakwater. From 1998 to 2001 he served on the Rockland City Coun- cil. In 2001 he founded WRFR, 93.3 FM, Rockland’s local community radio station, and for many years wrote a weekly column, We the Six Billion, for the Free Press. Joe’s wife Keiko Suzuki Steinberger


is the owner/chef of Suzuki’s Sushi Bar on Rockland’s Main Street. Their son Takuma, born in 2007, has learned to sail on optimist prams in the Apprenticeshop’s Community Sailing program, and both Joe and Taku- ma enjoying spending the summer sailing Maine waters aboard their 54 year-old Tripp/ Lentsch sloop, Teal. Of his new appointment Joe said, “The Apprenticeshop is a wonderful asset for Rockland. I am delighted with the turn- around taking place at the Shop under the leadership of (Board Chair) Tom Weis. While a corner has been turned, much work remains on the path to the great future that the Shop’s wonderful tradition and excellent waterfront facility permit. Because my son and I so much enjoy having the Apprentice- shop just down the street from us, I have a personal stake in the success of this extreme- ly worthwhile endeavor.”


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