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Using Microwaves To Cook Ballast Stowaways

Posted by kdawson on from the avast-and-adios dept.

Smivs writes "US researchers say they have developed an effective way to kill unwanted plants and animals that hitch a ride in the ballast waters of cargo vessels. Tests showed that a continuous microwave system was able to remove all marine life within the water tanks. The UN lists 'invasive species' dispersed by ballast water discharges as one of the four main threats to the world's marine ecosystems. For example European zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have infested more than 40% of the US's inland waterways. Between 1989 and 2000, up to $1B is estimated to have been spent on controlling the spread of the alien invader."

50 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Too little too late by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Informative

    Even if this works, in many cases invasive species are already well entrenched and the damage is done. The example cited of the zebra mussels, for instance, has created a huge problem for some inland fisheries in the US. The problem has been known for years but nobody has really tried to do much about it until now.

    1. Re:Too little too late by jafiwam · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They are causing lots of extra costs (and problems) with power plants in the Great Lakes too. They like the warm ejecta water, and screw up the exit pipes for the power plants.

      Too bad they don't taste good.

    2. Re:Too little too late by Hojima · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Some environmentalist has to tell me why we don't just import its natural predator. And don't give me crap about 'well it could be an invasive species too.' If it's high up the food chain, it will be forced to live in equilibrium with its prey. Has it ever even been tried?

      --
      Help fight spam
    3. Re:Too little too late by atraintocry · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know about that specific case, but generally introducing predators isn't done any more because it's kind of like using water to put out a grease fire. Actually it's probably more like using more grease to put out a grease fire...

    4. Re:Too little too late by Dahamma · · Score: 5, Funny

      Skinner: Well, I was wrong; the lizards are a godsend.
      Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
      Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

      Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?
      Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
      Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
      Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

    5. Re:Too little too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In Australia the Cane Toad was introduced as a natural predator for the imported ("i forget") species. It turned out to be much worse than the original problem.

    6. Re:Too little too late by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, it has. Snakes were introduced into one of the Indonesian islands to deal with an introduced toad. Turns out that some of the indigenous animals were a lot easier for the snakes to catch. As a result, the local animal life is not only threatened by the toads, but also by the snake. If I'm off on the details, my apologies - I couldn't find the original story. This isn't the only story though. There have been a few attempts to introduce natural predators, and they've generally all turned up atrocious and unpredicted side effects. The reason this isn't done is because it's been tried before, and the end-result wasn't any better.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    7. Re:Too little too late by Aydsman · · Score: 5, Informative

      Some environmentalist has to tell me why we don't just import its natural predator. And don't give me crap about 'well it could be an invasive species too.' If it's high up the food chain, it will be forced to live in equilibrium with its prey. Has it ever even been tried? Well in other cases, yes - it has been tried. Unfortunately that hasn't worked out so well.
    8. Re:Too little too late by ghostis · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That being said, don't starfish eat mussels? I recall seeing a sped up video of some starfish decimating a group of mussels over an afternoon. Finding a zebra mussel-eating starfish may not solve the issue, but the footage was incredible! ;)

      -ghostis

      --


      Computer Science is all about trying to find the right wrench to bang in the right screw. -T.Cumbo?
    9. Re:Too little too late by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The great lakes were dying from pollution before the zebra mussels.

      At least the water that goes downstream is cleaner than it would be otherwise.

      Hey, when life hands you a lemon ...

    10. Re:Too little too late by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The only cases I've heard of that working in is where we "reintroduced" predators back into their natural habitat. We killed off a bunch of wolves, and then restored their population successfully. I don't think it's ever been done to bring in a foreign predator.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    11. Re:Too little too late by belmolis · · Score: 5, Informative

      The problem is that predators usually are not restricted to a single kind of prey, so they will not only control the organism you want to get rid of but prey on indigenous species that you don't want it to. A case in point is the rabbit problem in New Zealand, which has no indigenous mammals. Introducing predators such as foxes or coyotes is not an acceptable solution because they will also eat the various species of flightless birds. Even when there is a specialized predator, it is very difficult to be sure that it will stay specialized.

    12. Re:Too little too late by Fifth+Earth · · Score: 2, Informative

      The problem is most high-level predator species don't eat only one thing. Whenever this is tried, invariably the predator species eats some of the invasive species, but also eats ALL of some other native species.

      Even if the predators are able to effectively kill off the invader (which they often aren't), and they don't just switch to some other native species, then the predators start dying too. Eventually, the predator goes extinct due to lack of food supply, but some small portion of the original invader remains to repopulate, and the problem remains unsolved.

      Honestly, nobody has ever succeeded in controlling an invasive species once it becomes established, using any method. In that light, you may as well avoid control methods that are known to have massive collateral damage.

    13. Re:Too little too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Cane toad ( Marine toad in USA ) introduced to control cane beetle. The toad can't jump more than a few centermeters while the beetle lives near the top of the cane. Also the toad doesn't like cane fields and preferes waterways

      It wasn't the best laid out plan.

      If you do introduce a predator you have to ensure it is specialized for the target species and can not adapt to other creatures. The only sucessful release that I know of is the cactoblastis beetle which almost wiped out the pickly pear introduced into australia. Reminant populations still remain

    14. Re:Too little too late by TapeCutter · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Come to Australia, we have bettles, toads, horses, donkeys, water buffalo, pigs, rabbits, foxes, mice, rats, sparrows, starlings, starfish and more wild camels than Saudi Arabia. Every single one of them plus the many species I have ommited are pests.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    15. Re:Too little too late by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

      The example cited of the zebra mussels, for instance, has created a huge problem

      But without muscles, zebras would be all floppy and squishy. Plus, zoo revenue would go down. Who wants to watch a flat patch of stripes laying on the field?

            -1 Lame

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    16. Re:Too little too late by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      Come to Australia, we have bettles, toads, horses, donkeys, water buffalo, pigs, rabbits, foxes, mice, rats, sparrows, starlings, starfish and more wild camels than Saudi Arabia. Every single one of them plus the many species I have ommited are pests.

      Have you considered removing them from your flat? That might make a difference on how you look at wildlife.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    17. Re:Too little too late by nametaken · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, I read this story. Eventually the lion eats the people. ;)

    18. Re:Too little too late by TapeCutter · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Have you considered removing them from your flat?"

      Flats are for cute & cuddly native animals called possums, often refered to as "roof rabbits" or "dim sims".

      "That might make a difference on how you look at wildlife."

      Please don't presume you know how I "look at wildlife".

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    19. Re:Too little too late by Black-Man · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Are Coyotes really effective against deer? It would seem a pack of them would be needed to successfully cull the herd... and then wouldn't they just seek out the path of least resistence... and go after wild turkey, small mammals, dogs... whatever?

    20. Re:Too little too late by dfm3 · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's not quite true. I work in the plant pathology field of study and introducing a predator species as a biological control of a pest is a fairly accepted practice. For example, a group at Virginia Tech is currently working with species of Laricobius, a beetle which is a predator of the hemlock woolly adelgid.

      Of course, if you are going to be introducing a non native species, you'd better be absolutely sure you know what you're doing. There are countless regulatory obstacles that typically need to be overcome, too, and it can take years before a species is approved to be released from quarantine into the field, if it ever is.

      Typically, an introduced organism becomes a pest for one of two reasons: 1) it's a generalist that is a better competitor for resources than existing species (as is the case with the zebra mussel, which is unbelievably effective at filtering particulate organic matter from the water and subsequently undergoing rapid population growth) or 2) it becomes a pest or pathogen of a particular existing species. Many introduced plant pathogens fall into this second category- they have no natural predators in the new environment, as well as a food source that has not evolved any defense mechanisms against them. The balsam woolly adelgid or the chestnut blight fungus are two examples of the latter.

      Although there are probably cases where introducing a new predator species can cause more problems than it solves (remember that Simpsons episode?), with careful planning and understanding of the ecology of the organism, such issues can hopefully be avoided. Usually, we err too far on the side of caution by choosing a species that is too much of a specialist, and we don't get the results we would hope for. Remember the Laricobius beetles I mentioned earlier? One problem with them is that they are so specialized, that when the hemlock woolly adelgid starts to become scarce the beetles have no other food source and begin to decline as well. They have no other food source, and thus have essentially no effect on existing native species.

  2. I think not.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microwaves confuse the molecules and these molecules of nutrition then misbehave and cause disorders such as cancer, diabetes and hair loss. This would be detrimental to anything that ate the food that was microwaved.

    A better solution, I propose, is to simply put some spent nuclear fuel into the ballast tank to kill off any invasive species before dumping the ballast water.

    Posing as AC b/c I work for an environmental consulting firm...and my boss would fire me if he knew I was this "green".

    1. Re:I think not.... by pimpimpim · · Score: 2, Funny

      you mean, like, nuclear waste?

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
  3. Why it's important to RTFA by StudMuffin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought this was a method to take care of STOWAWAYS. you know, like people trying to sneak into the country.

    My first thought was, "Wow, that sounds effective."

    My second was, "But that is kinda harsh."

    My thirs, "Cooooooool."

    --
    Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel. -
    1. Re:Why it's important to RTFA by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Funny

      Same thought, here! I was picturing this system being adapted to zap those poor schmucks that hold onto the landing gear of jet aircraft. At least they wouldn't have to worry any more about freezing to death at high altitude.

      "Excuse me, stewardess? Is something burning in the kitchen? Smells like bologna..."

    2. Re:Why it's important to RTFA by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Funny

      My first thought was, "Wow, that sounds effective."

      My second was, "But that is kinda harsh."

      My thirs, "Cooooooool."

      Wait... are you counting your thoughts, or your Alabama Slammers?

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  4. The Fail Boat by keytoe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you've seen pictures of the Fail Boat around the internet, you might be interested to know the story behind it (link is to printer version). In short, the whole ordeal happened as a result of the requirement that they dump ballast water before entering US waters. The story on Wired covers the accident as well as the salvage operation and is an excellent read.

    It appears that this is a dangerous enough process that it was worth eliminating it. That, or they're just trying to cut down on travel time by not having to stop - but that's just the cynic in me talking.

    --

    Culture is more than commerce

    1. Re:The Fail Boat by jcnnghm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sorry to nitpick, but I'd say the cause was more directly a result of failed ballast tank equipment. It would have happened eventually with or without the law.

      --
      You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill
    2. Re:The Fail Boat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Hey, thanks! Just a few weeks ago I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the cars that were on that ship and the methods that Mazda is using to dispose of them. It's interesting to read about the accident that led to that strange situation.

    3. Re:The Fail Boat by FooAtWFU · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He's simply arguing that the mistake highlights a risk (and an inconvenience) which may be avoided by the mechanism described in TFA, while still addressing the problems which necessitate the ballast dumping in the first place.

      (Whether or not the proposed mechanism is, in fact, adequate, feasible, or ultimately desirable/undesirable in a global deployment is, however, beyond the scope of this particular facet of the discussion).

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    4. Re:The Fail Boat by Panseh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you're using firefox, create or edit user.js in your profile folder and add this code to stop websites from launching the print dialog.

  5. Here's a better idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Instead of microwaves, use the waste heat generated by the ship's engines.

  6. Might as well get used to it by DesScorp · · Score: 2, Insightful

    With modern transportation, and international trade flourishing across the globe, "invasive species" are the cost of doing business. There's simply no way we'll be able to stop many of these migrations in the long run. Life will simply have to adapt.

    --
    Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    1. Re:Might as well get used to it by atraintocry · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem is that while the benefits are mostly localized, the "costs" affect all of us. I'm not going to lay the blame on the shipping companies, but if people are trying to come up with a solution then let's go with that instead of trying to "adapt" the consequences of our own stupidity.

  7. Invasive species? by onpermvaca · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why is success being punished?

  8. Mussels?! by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can we eat them? Problem solved.

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
    1. Re:Mussels?! by FooAtWFU · · Score: 4, Informative

      Can we eat them? Problem solved. No, not really. They filter tons of water and end up collecting all sorts of contaminants, for one thing. They're a royal pain to remove from any surface, for another, very small, and very sharp.
      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  9. What about the railroads? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Could Burlington Northern, for example, use this to solve their hobo problem?

    I'm just asking.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:What about the railroads? by BForrester · · Score: 2, Funny

      Probably. Except that hobos tend to be comprised of very "gamey", tough meat.

      Therefore, it is necessary to microwave on HIGH for a few additional minutes. Marinating helps too.

  10. What can happen using low tech by rwa2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    To anyone concerned about frying the microbes, Wired had a very readable story on what can happen sometimes when the ballast is handled the conventional way:

    http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-03/ff_seacowboys?currentPage=all

    *spoiler* essentially current cargo ships headed to the U.S. have to flush their ballast in international waters and refill with local seawater. The Cougar Ace somehow managed to screw up this step and went askew (see pic). There were many quite grave consequences.

    Granted, it's not standard operating protocol to end up with losses like this just too keep out invasive species, but it does illustrate some of the challenges and extent of trouble people go to to comply with this kind of ecological directive. Plus it was a damn well-written story I enjoyed reading.

  11. What could possibly go wrong? by ndansmith · · Score: 2, Funny
    This sounds like the premise to a really bad sci-fi movie:

    Microwaves "cook ballast aliens"

    US researchers say they have developed an effective way to kill unwanted plants and animals that hitch a ride in the ballast waters of cargo tankers.

    Tests showed that a continuous microwave system was able to remove all marine life within the water tanks. Cut to: Hordes of radioactive sea life terrorizing humanity.
  12. Mmmmmmmm..... Microwaves! by jpellino · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cause the only thing more noxiously aromatic than a ballast tank would be a steaming hot ballast tank!

    Somebody call Mike Rowe...

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  13. Chinese Mitten Crab Comes To Hudson River by chromozone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    People started finding Chinese Mitten crabs in the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay and balast discharge was mentioned:

      http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/35888.html

    I read articles that make them sound like "rats of the sea" but they do eat them in China so maybe they are good eating (trying to be hopeful).

    "The fact they will climb over dams, go on shore into people's swimming pools, burrow into banks, we sure as hell don't need them here," Gabrielson said. "I really believe there's not a damn thing in the world we can do about it."

    http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/NEWS/706150327

  14. Another way - Use nitrogen. by robbak · · Score: 4, Informative

    Another way that has been suggested is to bubble pure nitrogen through the ballast water.

    It purges the water of oxygen, killing any marine life. It also has the benefit of stopping corrosion.

    It does have the downside of making the ships hull an instant death (asphyxiation) hazard.

    --
    Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
  15. Re:Great! But... by illegalcortex · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not true. They can also be microwaved.

    And in answer to the followup question - delicious!

  16. Other uses... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny
    With apologies to Monty Python's "The Undertakers" sketch:
    [For you youngsters: s/ballast/mother/g;]

    • ...
    • Fred: I'll get the oven on!
    • Man: Um, er...excuse me, um, are you... are you suggesting we should eat my ballast?
    • Undertaker: Yeah. Not raw, not raw. We cook 'em. They'll be delicious with a few french fries, a bit of stuffing. Delicious! (smacks his lips)
    • Man: What! (he stammers)
    • Man: Actually, I do feel a bit peckish - No! NO, I can't!
    • Undertaker: Look, we'll eat your ballast. Then, if you feel a bit guilty about it afterwards, we can dig a pit and you can throw up into it.
    • Man: All right.
    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  17. swish and spit... by pointbeing · · Score: 2, Informative

    I live in Michigan and this problem's been aired on local NPR for the last few days - introducing foreign marine life into the Great Lakes has been a problem for years.

    Starting this year cargo vessels are required to "swish and spit" - flush their ballast tanks 200 miles before entering the St. Lawrence seaway.

    This probably doesn't do much good for saltwater invasive marine life but is a good solution for the freshwater nasties.

    --
    we see things not as as they are, but as we are.
    -- anais nin
  18. Re:Life, lemons and unexpected outcomes by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Talk to anyone who does wreck diving in the Great Lakes. The water used to be really crappy - in fact, in areas it was about as opaque as a glass of lemonade. Or mud. Now it's a LOT clearer.

    What we SHOULD be doing is laying removable mesh "beds" for zebra mussels to breed on outside every sewer discharge. Once a good colony is going, remove a portion of the bed each week and grind the mussels up for fertilizer or glue or fish food or whatever.

    Henry Ford had the right idea - let people dump anything they want in the river, provided their water intake is downstream of it. After all, if you expect people downstream from you to drink it, you should be prepared to as well ... the zebra mussels are doing a lot of the work that we should be doing, but aren't.

  19. Nice but by ajs318 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Could the same principles be applied to Eurostar trains?

    --
    Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
  20. Re:Life, lemons and unexpected outcomes by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Informative

    You're looking for the EPA study ... http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glwqa/usreport/part5.html

    Zebra mussels continue to profoundly affect the Great Lakes ecosystem. This prolific mollusk filters microscopic algae from the water column, diverting nutrients from open water to lake bottom systems, thus favoring bottom-feeding fish (and their predators) over those such as alewife and smelt (and their predators) which feed in the open water. Aquatic rooted plants (macrophytes) and their communities (e.g. large mouth bass) thrive in water cleared by zebra mussel, while habitat is reduced for species adapted for turbid waters (e.g. walleye).

    In other words, some fish benefited, others didn't.

    In general, community abundances tended to increase at zebra mussel sites, but the diversity within those communities decreased.

    In other words, more zebra mussels == more fish. The lessened diversity could easily be explained by the fact that it takes time for these things to shake themselves out.

    Studies on the population dynamics of burrowing mayflies conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the Biological Resources Division of the USGS, Heidelberg College, the Ohio State University, and Penn State University have indicated that the mayfly populations in western Lake Erie and the Presque Isle Bay AoC are presently experiencing exponential growth. Based on population models, the mayfly population is predicted to attain full recovery by the year 2002. Mayflies were virtually eliminated from the western basin of Lake Erie by 1960, but recolonization began during the 1990s and spread throughout most of the lake by 1996. The recovery of the mayfly augers well for the yellow perch population which is expected to grow as the density of mayfly nymphs continues to rise in western Lake Erie. The re-emergence of the mayfly is seen as a prime indicator of improved water and sediment quality in Lake Erie.

    Maybe those nasty zebra mussels can be given some credit for making the water clean ... it's not like people were going to pay to set up a massive filtering system ...