Tracking marine animals at both individual and group levels is crucial for wildlife conservation. Researchers will develop and employ generative AI to identify, track, and analyze behavior of marine animals (with a focus on manatees), and address traditional tracking cost-precision trade-offs.
Tag: Marine Biodiversity
Stony coral tissue loss disease is shifting the ecological balance of Caribbean reefs
A new study shows stony coral tissue loss disease is causing drastic changes in the Caribbean’s population of corals, which is sure to disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem and threaten marine biodiversity and coastal economies.
New Deep-Sea Worm Discovered at Methane Seep off Costa Rica
Greg Rouse, a marine biologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and other researchers have discovered a new species of deep-sea worm living near a methane seep some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Rouse, curator of the Scripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection, co-authored a study describing the new species in the journal PLOS ONE that was published on March 6.
Shining a light on tiny, solar-powered animals
Acoels have been found to host a wide diversity of symbiotic, photosynthetic microalgae.
Study shows how biodiversity of coral reefs around the world changes with depth
Researchers show that mesophotic coral reefs function much differently than their shallower counterparts and are unlikely to offer a refuge for shallow water fishes trying to escape climate-change driven warming on the ocean’s surface.
What Darwin would discover today
“If Charles Darwin had had the opportunity to dive off the Cape Verde Islands, he would have been completely thrilled”, Eduardo Sampaio is convinced, because Darwin would have seen a fascinating, species-rich landscape.
Scientists find first evidence that marine conservation mitigates climate change
Marine protected areas act as a safeguard for oceans, seas, and estuaries.
Environmental stability on Earth allowed marine biodiversity to flourish
Modern ocean biodiversity, which is at its highest level ever, was achieved through long-term stability of the location of so-called biodiversity hotspots, regions of especially high numbers of species, scientists have found.
150 whales observed feeding together
For the first time since the ban on whaling, large groups of southern fin whales documented in the Antarctic.
Environmental DNA reveals secret reef inhabitants
Tropical coral reefs are colourful, beautiful – and rich in species.
Uncovering how some corals resist bleaching
Climate change is bleaching and killing corals, but researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii are investigating how some can stand up to a warming world.
Marine organisms use previously undiscovered receptors to detect, respond to light
Single-celled organisms in the open ocean use a diverse array of genetic tools to detect light, even in tiny amounts, and respond. The discovery of these new genetic “light switches” could also aid in the field of optogenetics, in which a cell’s function can be controlled with exposure to light.
Marine animals live where ocean is most ‘breathable,’ but ranges could shrink with climate change
Research shows that many marine animals already inhabit the maximum range of breathable ocean that their physiology allows. The findings are a warning about climate change: Since warmer waters harbor less oxygen, stretches of ocean that are breathable today for a species may not be in the future.