Save Our Seas Foundation announces a record 61 grants for 2021

The Save our Seas Foundation is celebrating an overwhelming number of applications and awards. This heralds a hopeful new cohort of ocean conservationists, young scientists and local initiatives being supported to make a positive change for our planet.

How can ‘shark dandruff’ contribute to coral reef conservation?

For 400 million years, shark-like fishes have prowled the oceans as predators, but now humans kill 100 million sharks per year, radically disrupting ocean food chains. Based on microscopic shark scales found on fossil- and modern coral reefs in Caribbean…

Why are some fish warm-blooded? Predatory sharks gain speed advantage

New research from marine biologists offers answers to a fundamental puzzle that had until now remained unsolved: why are some fish warm-blooded when most are not? It turns out that while (warm-blooded) fish able to regulate their own body temperatures…

Is global plastic pollution nearing an irreversible tipping point?

Common press release: Stockholm University, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

Predicting the spread of invasive carp using river water flows

University of Missouri engineers are partnering with the US Geological Survey to better understand how to stop invasive carp from damaging both the economy and the environment

New dipping solution turns the whole fish into valuable food

When herring are filleted, more than half their weight becomes a low-value ‘side stream’ that never reaches our plates – despite being rich in protein and healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Now, scientists from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed…

Discovery of ray sperms’ unique swimming motion and demonstration with bio-inspired robot

It is generally agreed that sperms “swim” by beating or rotating their soft tails. However, a research team led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has discovered that ray sperms move by rotating both the tail and…

UN: More harmful algal bloom impacts emerge amid rising seafood demand, coastal development

UNESCO IOC delivers 1st global assessment report after 7 years’ work by 109 experts in 35 countries, creating a baseline to detect and gauge the changing distribution, frequency, and intensity of harmful — often poisonous — algal blooms

Protect the sea, neglect the people? Social impact of marine conservation schemes revealed

As G7 governments renew commitments to protecting marine spaces and biodiversity, global conservation initiatives such as 30×30 are feared to pay too little attention to the livelihood impacts on communities Close-up inspection of an upcoming marine conservation area in Cambodia…

New technology ‘listens’ for endangered right whales

One of the world’s most endangered whale species could have added protection from threats posed by human marine activity, through technology developed by the University of East Anglia (UEA). In partnership with the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) and…

Plastic in Galapagos seawater, beaches and animals

Plastic pollution has been found in seawater, on beaches and inside marine animals at the Galapagos Islands. A new study – by the University of Exeter, Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) and the Galapagos Science Center – found plastic in all…

NTU Singapore scientists turn aquaculture waste into new biomaterial for tissue repair

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a new biomaterial made entirely from discarded bullfrog skin and fish scales that could help in bone repair. The porous biomaterial, which contains the same compounds that are predominant in…

Biodiversity devastation: Human-driven decline requires millions of years of recovery

A new study shows that the current rate of biodiversity decline in freshwater ecosystems outcompetes that at the end-Cretaceous extinction that killed the dinosaurs: damage now being done in decades to centuries may take millions of years to undo. The…

The CNRS 2021 Innovation Medal laureates

Antoine Aiello, Nora Dempsey, François Jérôme and Amanda Silva Brun are the four recipients of the CNRS 2021 Innovation Medal. Created 10 years ago, this distinction honours people whose outstanding research has led to significant technological, economic, therapeutic or social…

International study shows alternative seafood networks provided resiliency during pandemic

Local alternative seafood networks (ASNs) in the United States and Canada, often considered niche segments, experienced unprecedented growth in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic while the broader seafood system faltered, highlighting the need for greater functional diversity in…