WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.470 --> 00:00:04.390 High nutrient levels from dirty water and sewage running into the Arabian 00:00:04.390 --> 00:00:09.219 Gulf lead to harmful algal blooms which damage the marine ecosystem 00:00:09.719 --> 00:00:11.820 and suffocate and poison fish. 00:00:13.510 --> 00:00:18.559 Fahad Alsanafi of Kuwait University wants to understand how the dynamics of Gulf 00:00:18.690 --> 00:00:21.060 water affect pollutants along the coast. 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:26.250 When sunlight heats a deep body of water, the water separates into a warm 00:00:26.250 --> 00:00:28.939 surface layer and a colder, deeper layer. 00:00:29.540 --> 00:00:33.639 Just like wind can create waves on the surface, tides or other 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:37.540 forces can create internal waves where the two water layers meet. 00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:41.810 Marine researchers thought the Gulf was too shallow and well-mixed for 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:46.190 layers and internal waves to form, but Alsanafi decided to check. 00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:52.060 Together with a colleague at Texas A&M, Ayal Anis, he designed an underwater 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:54.829 sensor network to detect internal waves. 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.380 They placed temperature and current sensors at precise positions along 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:04.120 the coastal slope to catch internal waves forming, moving, and breaking, 00:01:04.830 --> 00:01:08.650 and also repeatedly released and recovered a profiler to get data 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.169 from the entire depth over five days. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:15.540 Using these measurements, they detected internal waves in the Gulf. 00:01:16.240 --> 00:01:20.070 They were also able to calculate how strong the waves were and where they 00:01:20.070 --> 00:01:24.220 would break along the coastal slope, churning up nutrients and pollutants. 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:30.079 Alsanafi's models will help researchers predict events in the Gulf and understand 00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:34.710 the effect of its dynamics on the waters of the Indian Ocean and beyond.