ocean Archives - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

August 30, 2021August 27, 2021

Hidden Designs in Creation

A regular feature in the Does God Exist? quarterly journal is what we call “Dandy Designs.” Those pages feature examples of design in living things that speak of God’s wisdom. We have collected many of those examples in five volumes of Dandy Designs booklets. In addition to obvious designs we notice every day, there are many hidden designs in creation that are vital to our existence.

Defenders magazine carried an interesting article about seagrass. Standing by the ocean shore, you may not be aware that seagrass even exists. It grows on the ocean floor in large meadows similar to those we see on land. Recent concerns about seagrass have made headlines as the Florida manatees that feed on seagrass have been dying in large numbers because of pollution killing seagrass meadows.

Seagrass is not just manatee food. It also benefits humans directly. The Defender article lists five direct ways in which we benefit from seagrass:

1) One acre of seagrass produces 50,000 liters of oxygen per day.
2) One acre of seagrass can absorb 3500 miles worth of carbon emitted by an average car each year.
3) One acre of seagrass will support 40,000 fish and 50 million invertebrates.
4) One acre of seagrass will absorb enough nutrients to treat the amount of sewage created by 100 people annually.
5) One acre of seagrass will generate $35,000 in ecological services every year.

We live in a time of massive change, with global warming and ecological problems threatening our world in a way not apparent in previous years. Yet, as Christians, we believe that we need to care for and protect God’s creation, and the more we learn about the hidden designs in Creation, the better we can do that.

Reference: Summer 2021 edition of Defenders magazine, page 8.

July 21, 2021July 17, 2021

The Titanic is Disappearing

The ship once thought to be unsinkable and made for an infinite existence not only sank but is also being dissolved. It is losing hundreds of pounds of iron each day thanks to metal-eating bacteria and deep-sea currents. As a result, the Titanic is disappearing from the bottom of the ocean.

A company known as OceanGate Expeditions is starting a project to visit the Titanic wreckage annually to monitor and chronicle the ship’s deterioration. It has been 109 years since the ship sank. Since researchers discovered it in 1985, the mast is gone, and the ship’s railing is about to collapse. The captain’s bathtub has dissolved, and the crow’s nest from which the lookout shouted, “Iceberg, straight ahead!” is gone.

What most of us don’t realize is that there are bacteria in the ocean that consume iron. The wreck of the Titanic is disappearing more and more each day. Researchers are interested in recording this process to understand how other shipwrecks, such as nuclear submarines, are broken down. Wealthy tourists are funding the Titanic research, but scientists are interested in underwater ecosystems spawned by shipwrecks like the Titanic.

As the Titanic is disappearing, it reminds us of the insignificance of human artifacts. Therefore, we should not place our hope in man-made things. Ships, buildings, and monuments will all eventually be reduced to dust. This design of Earth allows the recycling of resources. It also underlines the importance of putting your trust in “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).

Data from AP release by Ben Finley in The Herald Bulletin, July 3, 2021.

October 10, 2020October 9, 2020

Viruses Are Critical Agents for Life

The pandemic has made many people think that viruses are a bad thing. However recent research has shown that viruses are critical agents for life. They convert energy and organic matter at the bottom of the food chain into a form that provides us with what we need to live on Earth.

An algae called Emiliania huxleyi uses sunlight and nutrients from the ocean to produce massive algae blooms in the ocean. If it stopped there, the presence of the algae would be detrimental to ocean life. We all know about the “red tide” that afflicts coastal areas of Florida where algae are destructive.

But there is more to the story of Emiliania huxleyi. A virus called coccolithovirus infects the algae, killing it and produing organic matter that is the base of the ocean food chain supporting higher forms of life. Kay Bidle of Rutgers University is the chief author of the study. She says that this relationship is likely to apply to other virus-algae interactions in the ocean.

This new discovery is related to changes in the ocean observed from the International Space Station. The magnitude of this process is huge, and may provide a solution to some of our biggest environmental problems.

The National Science Foundation has reported on this discovery at nsf.gov. Mike Sieracki who is a program director in NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences says, “We are just beginning to understand how these incredibly complex microscopic interactions can affect global processes such as the carbon cycle.”

Viruses are critical agents for life. They are tools that God has built into the creation to provide the food and energy we need. Like all viral interactions, the virus works with other created things, in this case algae, to accomplish its provision for life’s existence.

June 12, 2020June 8, 2020

Fish as Flat as a Pancake

Biologists are always finding and studying new life-forms. Among recent discoveries are fish as flat as a pancake.

How many species of biological life exist? So far, scientists have identified, classified, and named about two million. They estimate that there are somewhere between ten-million and one-hundred-million. How fast are scientists finding and describing new forms of life? About 18,000 new species are identified and given genus and species names each year. At that rate, it will take somewhere between 555 and 5,555 years to identify them all. Obviously, biologists have a lot of work left to do.

Each year, scientists identify most of the “new species” from museum specimens that were found earlier but not studied carefully. Some species in the wild are going extinct, and some of the museum specimens may already have gone out of existence. Two species that are not endangered and that were discovered in the wild in 2010 are fish “as flat as a pancake.”

Scientists discovered two species of pancake batfish in the Gulf of Mexico near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They gave their discoveries the genus and species names Halieutichthys intermedius and Halieutichthys bispinosus. (The picture shows the similar Halieutichthys aculeatus.) You probably won’t remember their names (or even know to pronounce them), but they play a role in the balance of life in the ocean.

Pancake batfish live on the sandy bottom of the ocean between 148 and 2,690 feet (45-820 m) below the surface. They are flat, that’s why the name “pancake,” and they cover themselves with sand to wait for prey. They eat snails, worms, clams, scallops, and other crustaceans. Their maximum diameter is about 4 inches (10 cm), and they move over the ocean floor by hopping on their fins.

We have to wonder why there are so many species. God created living things with the ability to adapt to many environments, with each one filling a niche in the marvelous system that makes our lives possible. He even gave us strange fish as flat as a pancake. Furthermore, God created us with unquenchable curiosity and plenty of things to study. We believe that we can learn more about God as we explore the creation.

May 12, 2020May 11, 2020

How Do Sea Animals Drink Water?

Yesterday we discussed how fish drink water. In the ocean, the problem isn’t water but salt. Ocean fish are designed with specialized gills that support the kidneys in getting rid of salt accumulations that would otherwise pickle the fish. Obviously, not all animals that live in the ocean have gills. How do sea animals drink water?

Albatrosses and petrels are birds that can spend a year or more in the open ocean, but they need to drink water. Whales and seals also do not have land-based water supplies, and yet, like all mammals, they need water to survive. So how do sea animals drink water when ocean water is salty? God’s design of living creatures always includes unusual equipment to enable them to deal with their environment.

In the case of sea birds, they have a set of salt glands in their heads that connect to the bird’s nostrils. The birds drink seawater, but the glands are so efficient that within three hours, all of the salt is removed through the nostrils.

Whales and other aquatic mammals produce urine that has extremely concentrated salt content. By allowing high salt concentrations in the urine to diffuse into the ocean, the salt never reaches toxic levels inside the animal. An interesting sidelight to this is that the milk of these sea mammals is very low in water content. In that way, they conserve water. Milk from seals has only half the water content of lean hamburger.

Everywhere we look in the natural world, we see that a wonder-working hand has gone before. These marvelous designs are not the product of mindless chance. They show an Intelligence who created with purpose and wisdom. When we realize that ocean water has high salt content, we question, “how do sea animals drink water?” God already took care of that.

In Job 38-40, God challenged Job to advance his understanding of God’s power and wisdom by considering the natural things of creation. When Job questioned God’s wisdom and purpose in his personal struggles, he did not recognize the wisdom shown in creation’s design. We too need to look at what God has done and “know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:18-20).

Data from National Wildlife magazine, June/July 1995, pages 30-34.

May 11, 2020May 17, 2020

How a Fish Drinks Water

Have you ever wondered how a fish drinks water? Your first reaction is probably something like, “It opens its mouth.” Like most things in life, it isn’t that simple.

All living things necessarily have some saltwater content in their bodies to keep chemical balance allowing life to exist. The fluids inside an ocean-dwelling fish are only about a third as salty as the ocean itself. The water inside the fish’s body tends to leave by osmotic pressure, which is the tendency of fluids to move through membranes toward higher concentrations. To avoid this loss of water, the fish does simply open its mouth and drink seawater. But that brings large amounts of salt into the fish’s body. The salt concentration would be more than the fish’s kidneys could handle. To aid the kidneys, the gills of ocean fish are designed to expel salt, so the fish isn’t pickled by it.

In freshwater fish, the osmotic pressure is reversed, so the fluids inside the fish are saltier than the water outside. The skin of a freshwater fish is designed so that water seeps in through its skin and gills. Therefore, the fish doesn’t have to drink at all. When a salmon leaves the ocean and enters a freshwater stream, it merely stops drinking. Like freshwater fish, it depends on its skin to bring in its water needs.

Now that you know how a fish drinks water, the next question would be about other creatures that spend their time in the sea. Birds like albatrosses and petrels can spend more than a year at sea, and whales and seals live in the ocean 24/7/365. How can they avoid being poisoned by the salt? We’ll discuss that tomorrow.

God’s design of life includes fitting living things with specialized equipment to survive in every environment. Fish are remarkable creatures specially equipped for the waterworld in which they live.

Data from National Wildlife magazine June/July 1995, pages 30-34.

October 22, 2019October 16, 2019

Deserts, Oceans, and Life

Have you ever been in a desert for an extended time? Have you ever taken the sand of a desert and looked at it under a microscope? Have you visited the Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea? Do you feel that deserts are a wasteland? Science has come to understand something about deserts, oceans, and life that shows wisdom and planning that is beyond our wildest dreams.

We now know that deserts, in general, are dried up lakes. The vast Death Valley desert in the United States (pictured) was a lake at one time. So was the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is now called “the driest place on Earth.” The African Sahara was once the largest lake on Earth called the Mega Chad. Fossil hunting in these deserts reveals the remains of fish and plankton called diatomite. Diatomite is the skeletal remains of microscopic forms of life called diatoms. The skeletons are composed of silicon dioxide, which is a very durable substance and is highly porous and lightweight. These factors make it ideal for the wind to carry. Diatomite also contains phosphorous, which is essential for life to exist. Every living cell needs water and phosphorous, which is the second most abundant mineral in our bodies.

To have rain on the Earth requires water vapor, cool temperatures, and condensation nuclei on which the water can condense. When bodies of water become deserts, the dust contains phosphorus. Wind currents of our planet take the dust from deserts which once were lakes and carry it vast distances. Dust particles become the nuclei for condensation of raindrops that carry water and nutrients to the ground. The deserts of the Sahara maintain life in the Amazon basin. Lightning in the storms produces nitrogen to add to the nutrients. This pattern is repeated in every life-filled system on Earth. The Great Plains of the United States are sustained by the dust and minerals of the Mojave Desert, an old inland sea.

The Bible refers to all of this in passages like Isaiah 50:2 and Job 38:37-38. It is not the purpose of these passages to reveal the complex system that produces the water and nutrients for life to exist. However, the references to the dust and the drying of the sea make it clear that the ultimate Author of the scriptures knew the processes used to supply a planet uniquely designed to harbor life. Deserts, oceans, and life speak to the design built into the Earth. They also show us that God has given us what we need for life and the scriptures to provide a reliable guide for living.
— John N. Clayton © 2019

October 4, 2019October 1, 2019

Ocean Treasure House

Oceans are essential for life on Earth. As we learn more about the oceans, we realize more and more how important the ocean treasure house is to our survival.

Fish, shrimp, and lobsters are some of the blessings that come from the oceans. Those vast bodies of water contain a great wealth of biomass that can address human food needs. The very fact that these forms of life lay millions of eggs that can provide massive amounts of food quickly is a testimony to the vast ocean treasure house. As humans conserve and farm these resources, we see the potential for food production with minimal environmental impact.

But food is only one of the blessings that come from the oceans. The oceans of the world provide water for the land. Evaporation lifts massive amounts of water from the oceans. The moisture condenses and falls on the continents providing the vital water needed by all land forms of life.

The oceans also moderate temperatures on the land. When Earth is closest to the Sun, its tilt exposes the Southern Hemisphere to the direct radiation of the Sun. Since oceans mostly cover the Southern Hemisphere, the water reflects much of the radiation, and the rest is absorbed and stored in the water. The water carries this heat toward the polar areas of the planet, moderating temperatures and allowing life to exist in abundance at the higher latitudes.

When the Earth is at its farthest distance from the Sun, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, exposing the land to the Sun’s radiation. The land surface absorbs more heat radiation and reflects less of it. The waters in the Southern Hemisphere moderate the climate by using their stored energy to supplement the heat from the Sun.

In addition to their thermodynamic uses, the oceans also control the gases that are critical for life on Earth. Photosynthetic processes taking place in the oceans produce most of our oxygen. The oceans are a significant carbon sink, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that would be in our atmosphere if the oceans did not exist. This not only restricts the adverse greenhouse effects of carbon dioxide but also recycles carbon in ways that benefit the entire planetary ecosystem.

Another ocean treasure house is the minerals they hold. The salt in the ocean is not just sodium chloride (regular table salt). The oceans contain a wide variety of elements that are critical to humans. They include iodine, magnesium, copper, and copious trace elements of biological importance. People who live far from the oceans benefit from these mineral resources because ancient oceans have deposited those minerals on land. Oceans gather and store the elements that humans need. While we have mined these ocean-deposited resources on land, we are now learning to take them directly from the ocean.

As science looks for life elsewhere in the cosmos, it is not likely that we will find it unless we find a planetary environment with oceans comparable to those on Earth. The ocean treasure house is a beautiful feature unique to planet Earth in our solar system. As science observes other stars and other systems, it becomes increasingly clear that planets like ours are exceedingly rare at best. God has provided the ocean treasure house that speaks eloquently of the Creator’s wisdom and power.
— John N. Clayton © 2019

June 8, 2018June 6, 2018

Empty the Ocean

Empty the Ocean with a Pail
In the June 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation James Peterson gave a wonderful quote of St. Augustine. It seems he saw a little girl marching industriously into the surf with a pail. She then walked back up the beach and poured the water into a little dip in the sand. He asked her what she was doing, and she lifted the pail and said: “Today I am going to empty the ocean with my pail.”

Peterson goes on to say:

“I can picture that the girl felt the waves tugging at her feet. She knew the taste of salt water on her tongue. She could hear the roar of the surf. She could see the blue water stretching to the horizon. She knew the ocean with every sense she had, and as completely as she could. But she did not even begin to conceive that the water stretched all the way to the other coasts. She had no inkling that in the water before her there were mountain ranges and canyons, whales and walruses, icebergs and tropical islands. There is a parallel here with how we know God. All who God is—beyond any one way of knowing, and even with all our ways of knowing together—ultimately, is beyond our current best human comprehension, but we can truly know God with all the ability that we have, including from our ability to experience nature. If one knows God by God’s self-revelation, one can then recognize God’s presence in the serene moonrise rippling across a lake, and in the fierce, and as it turns out, life-giving, forest fire.”

“Living in this material world is a generous and complicated gift that can enrich our understanding and experience of God. What we discover and experience of our material world through the sciences, can sometimes help us to recognize more of its Creator.”

The truth is that we can never fully know God any more than the little girl could empty the ocean with her little bucket. However, the more we learn about God through His Word and His works, the more we will be in awe of Him.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
You can read James C. Peterson’s full editorial HERE.

November 19, 2017November 8, 2018

Continental Drift and Recycling

In 1910 an Arctic explorer by the name of Alfred Wegener coined the term continental drift. Wegener saw the same fossils in South America that he had seen in western Africa, and he proposed that the two continents had been connected at one time. Wegener’s proposal was ridiculed by the scientists of that day who saw the Earth’s crust as too solid to allow any model of that kind to work.

Over the years studies of earthquake epicenters have shown that there is movement of huge slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The rock material bends more and more steeply until the slabs eventually melt into the mantle–the molten interior of the earth. These slabs and everything on them do in fact move.

In 1952 an ocean cartographer by the name of Marie Tharp began making profiles of the Atlantic Ocean floor going from west to east. Her profiles showed a ridge down the center of the Atlantic with younger material in the center and older material on both sides. She proposed that molten material was coming up from the mantle and pushing the two slabs of ocean floor material away from each other. Where the slabs hit the edges of the continent, the material is deflected downward making trenches in the floor of the ocean.

All of these discoveries flew in the face of the accepted geological theory at the time, and Tharp was ridiculed. In time scientists came to understand that the Earth is made up of plates sliding along the surface and sliding down into the mantle when a continent is reached.

There is a message in all of this that what is considered to be scientifically impossible, sometimes turns out to be true. At the same time, a pet theory can ultimately be proven incorrect. One of the beauties of science is that eventually it cleans up its own mistakes.

Another message is that sometimes God addresses a problem long before humans know there is a problem. This whole process is one of the greatest recycling systems of all time. As nutrients and minerals get eroded off the continents, they are deposited on the ocean floor. The movement of the ocean floor ultimately returns this material to the mantle to be recycled back to the Earth’s surface.

No elements are lost from the Earth’s reservoir by this system, and it assures us that there is no waste in the resources of the planet as a whole. Jeremiah 10:12 speaks of God preserving the Earth by His wisdom, and continental drift is one of tools by which He does that.
–John N. Clayton © 2017