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Sea Cucumber: Mild-mannered Slug or Malaria-Fighting Super Hero?

In a rare interview with ShopRite Earth 2008, Sea Cucumber Stan shared some inside scoops about why this marine animal matters to the sea environment.

Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

A: As you can see, I am soft-bodied and cylindrical in shape. I breathe through respiratory trees, which extract oxygen from the water. My closest relatives, the flashy sea urchin and starfish, get the most attention but we don’t mind.

Our lifespan is five to 10 years. Some of us are small, measuring less than an inch. Others can grow up to three feet and longer. We have retractable tube feet, great for gathering food but a little clumsy for dancing.

For the most part we prefer not to be called, “sea pickles.”

Q: Are you a tough guy... like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood?

A: I’m no pushover, but I have more in common with Spiderman than those guys. When threatened, I expel a sticky, toxic substance that can harm, or at least confuse, a predator. This is part of my respiratory system. Some of us expel internal organs as a defense mechanism called evisceration. But that’s OK. We can regrow these internal organs within weeks of spilling our guts.

Q: Do you contribute anything to the marine community or do you lounge all day with your cucumber crew, dining on plankton?

A: I do my part. Certain species like the pearl fish live inside my body, which provides food and protection from predators until they become adults. I don’t charge rent. Also, we do a very good job on recycling. Because our diets are detritus -- a fancy term for decaying organic matter -- we are responsible for recycling 90 percent of the biomass on the sea floor, helping keep the marine community in balance.

Q: Are you an endangered species?

A: Not yet and we’d like to stay that way. We are not listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union, but there are more than 1,200 different species of sea cucumber.

Q: What is one thing most people don’t know about you. Do you have any secrets?

A: Well, we don’t like to spread this around, but we have no heart and the color of our blood is yellow. That’s due to presence of a pigment called vanadium not because we are scaredy-cats.

Q: You got some very good press recently. Tell me about that.

A: Right! We are very proud about that. In December, scientists found that a protein we sea cucumbers generate naturally -- a protein called lectin -- might play a role in controlling the spread of malaria. The research showed that the protein could kill malaria parasites carried by mosquitoes that spread the sickness. This is a new and exciting development, so we’ll have to watch and see what happens next with more study. Stay tuned!

Just a few of the more than 1,200 different species of sea cucumber…

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Fantastic Plastic -- The Chameleon of Chemistry

Look around. Plastics are everywhere -- that clasp on your backpack, the xBox console in your living room, the pen in your hand and maybe, even the shirt on your back.

Plastics can make their way into lots of things and even synthetic human blood that's now being developed by scientists in Britain. What makes plastic so remarkably versatile and durable is its chemical makeup. Because the building blocks of plastic do not react with most substances, plastic makes an ideal container to keep soda fizzy and to safely store hazardous liquids, like bleach, without leaking.

This durability has a down side, however. Because plastic does not rot the way a piece of old fruit does, it will be around a long time. That creates a disposal problem: Where do you put all the used plastic after it’s served its purpose? Also, plastics are made from oil and natural gas, which are non-renewable resources. No one is certain how much oil and natural gas the Earth has, but scientists agree: if the planet’s supply of these fossil fuels gets used up, that’s a problem because they cannot be reproduced.

The good news is recycling allows plastic used for one product -- such as a 2-liter bottle of soda -- to be melted down and reused to create another product later on -- such as carpeting or clothing. That has two up sides: the old plastic doesn’t pile up in the trash, and no additional fossil fuels are needed to make a new product.

To appreciate the unique properties of plastic, and why it can be recycled into new products, it helps to understand the chemical building blocks.

All plastics are made of carbon, which is found in oil and natural gas. When molecules of carbon combine with other molecules, they form a polymer chain. It’s the way that these molecules link to one another that determines what form a plastic product might have.

For instance, carbon molecules bonding with styrene molecules create “polystyrene” -- or Styrofoam, those lightweight cups that keep hot chocolate steaming hot. A very different type of plastic is formed when carbon bonds with hydrogen to create the “polyethylene” polymer used for garbage bags, for example. Because these molecules bond together very loosely, the garbage bags are soft and flexible.

Recycling is a great way to extend the use of plastic and most people are recyclers whether they realize it or not. Wearing hand-me-down blue jeans from an older brother or sister is a form of recycling, for instance. Recycling plastic is just as easy so long as a few rules are followed.

Plastic that is recyclable carries a code number from “1” to “7” and separating plastic according to each code number helps recycling plants sort materials before washing and chopping them into little pieces. The pieces are melted and turned into pellets that are then used as the raw materials to create all kinds of products, such as plastic “lumber” for the backyard deck. Because the recycled material retains many of plastic’s qualities, it can be even more durable and mold-resistant than traditional decking materials like wood.

Recycling gives plastic new life. So before pitching that soda bottle into the trash, go for the recycling bin instead and you’ll be jettisoning it off to a new career.

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Read all the webpages in ShopRite's Earth 2008 newsletter. Then test your knowledge with this puzzle. All of the answers are included somewhere in this issue. Check your answers are at the bottom of this page ... don't peek!

Down
2. Renewable energy source that uses heat from within the earth to warm or cool.
3. The best type of shopping bag to use for the environment.
4. Ensures farmers are paid a fair market price for their products. (2 words)
5. Location of Joe Biluck’s environmental efforts. (2 words)
7. This sea creature’s diet consists of detritus matter.
12. Location of Earth Day event.
14. First established on April 2, 1970. (2 words)
15. For a green vacation, reuse these in your hotel.

Across
1. Main theme for this year’s Earth Day events. (2 words)
6. Mechanism by which the Sea Cucumber breathes. (2 words)
8. What is formed when carbon molecules bond with styrene molecules.
9. A non-renewable resource that needs to be conserved.
10. Power that is drained when appliances are powered off but plugged in. (2 words)
11. An alternative fuel.
13. Bottom most layer of a landfill. (2 words)
16. An ecosystem native to Central North America and found on Frontier’s corporate headquarters. (2 words)
17. Sea Cucumber’s nearest relative. (2 words)
18. Contaminants produced when rainwater falls upon the landfill and seeps into the compacted waste.

Answers
Down 2. Geothermal 3. Reusable 4. Fair Trade 5. Medford Township 7. Sea Cucumber 12. Australia 14. Earth Day 15. Towels Across 1. Climate Change 6. Respiratory Trees 8. Polystyrene 9. Oil 10. Vampire Power 11. Biodiesel 13. Compacted Clay 16. Tallgrass Prairie 17. Sea Urchin 18. Leachate