UV-B light blinds barnacle larvae in 60 minutes, then no attaching

So I see you can buy UV-B aquarium lights. How many underwater lights do you think you would need at your slip to slow down the barnacles?
It sounds comical idea, but I wonder if it might work in some way?
Could you buy powerful enough UV-B lights and have them mounter flush set in the hull to bath the the hull with UV-B keeping off the growth?

UV-B LED do exist.

http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030226/full/news030224-4.html

 

Barnacles are important filter feeders who clean and condition the marine ecosystem. Barnacle populations are already highly stressed and have virtually disappeared from areas like the Chesapeake bay.

It wouldnt be a very good idea to use any means that might negatively effect barnacle survival.

http://www.fisherycrisis.com/barnacles.html

 

My boat bottom has a healthy population.
I cant imagine a viable worthwhile use for a barnacle. Loss of barnacles in oceans means less food for them to eat, so they maybe an indicator species.
Mosquitoes the world can also loose and rejoice over.

By your reasoning boat bottoms then should not be allowed to discourage barnacle growth, so no one should paint anti fouling.

 

Gee...by your reasoning anything that gets in your way must be destroyed.

The primary filter feeders of the Chesapeake..the Oyster and the Menhaden have been wiped out.

http://

http://


Barnacles are a remaining filter feeder and are critical to the waters health. Filter feeders remove excess nutrients from the water and prevent hypoxia.


At historic levels it was estimated that oysters filtered the entire water colum of the Chesapeake every three days.

"This year’s Chesapeake Bay dead zone covers a third of the bay, stretching from the Baltimore Harbor to the bay’s mid-channel region in the Potomac River, about 83 miles, when it was last measured in late June. It has since expanded beyond the Potomac into Virginia, officials said. "

Hypoxia is caused by excess nutrient in the water.

http://


At present the most environmentaly friendly and most effective way to discourage barnacle growth on boats is with non leaching copper paint.

 

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5308505.html

Here is mention of a device the sucks in water and passes it thru a UV light to kill barnacle larvae from the mid 90's.
IMO, killing barnacles means more plankton for other filter feeders to eat.
So the dead zone no oxygen, I blame this on run off from farms, fertilizers like phosphorus. Deal with it.

 

Might be of help for props?

Perhaps one light in the region of the prop would keep them off it?

 

Unfortunately the link to nature.com leads to a "article not found" error on that site so I have not read the original text.
Do barnacle larvae really have eyes? What do they need eyes for? Certainly not to read newspapers, pick a nice boat bottom to spend the rest of their lives on or take evasive action when the great green larvae eater threatens to gobble them up.

 

Yep, barnacle larvae have an eye and I think when they reach adulthood and attach to something for good, the eye and brain get absorbed.

 

"when they reach adulthood and attach to something for good, the eye and brain get absorbed."

Aha, perhaps politicians are ex-barnacles?

The antifouling problem solution I have chosen is an easy-beaching Junk hull shape...when not underway, she can dry out twice a day, and I can scrub whatever manages to get a foothold.

 

You obviously understand the situation better than most.

I have a 65'er with 8' of fin keel, so I wish I had your beaching luxury.

Welcome to the forum.

 

Thank you PAR, it's a privilege to have so much knowledge and experience available at a bargain price.

Btw, your ship's beaching ability is fine, it's th refloating that doesn't bode well!

Apologies to barnacles, too...they at least have a useful function. Wish I could make glue like they can, for instance...

 

They are studying the secreted adhesive, of these little beasts and have developed new goos as a result of new found understanding of the stickum.

 

Barnacles are the lifeblood of the marine industry.

The whole business model of a small shipyard is based on hauling out and removing barnacles from marine toys.

I propose a paint that encourages barnacles to grow faster, denser and double in size.

 

This seems to be a serious topic, so I read the whole Wikipedia page and discovered there are some 1200 different barnacle types. Incredible how scientists devote years of their lives dissecting primitive small creatures that are nothing more than a nuisance for boat owners.

Although researchers contradict each other, at least the larvae and perhaps also some adults possess a light sensitive element you could exaggerate and call that an eye.

Far more interesting is the fact that these poor ******** have penises with 2-3 times their body length. So I think the sole purpose of this "eye" is to keep them from tripping over it.

 

Mosquitoes are a very important link in the food chain. Birds and dragonflies depend upon them. Would you have those disappear as well?