Better fisheries management and conservation is effective at turning the tide on the shark and ray declines, according to a study from Simon Fraser University researchers.
Tag: Marine Life
What Ancient Underwater Food Webs Can Tell Us About the Future of Climate Change
UNLV analysis challenges the idea that ocean ecosystems have barely changed over millions of years, pointing scientists down a new path on conservation efforts and policy.
Surf’s up (and don’t mind the sharks)
In a new study from the University of South Australia, researchers found that 60 per cent of surfers are not afraid of sharks when surfing, despite more than half of them spotting a shark when out in the water.
Marine heatwaves have devastating impacts on marine life in the tropical western and central Pacific Ocean region
Research published in Global and Planetary Change examines the trends and projected frequency, intensity and duration of marine heatwaves (MHWs).
A Prickly Situation
Purple sea urchins are munching their way through California’s kelp forests at a speed and scale that have stunned scientists, fishermen and divers alike.
Marine Biology: Fin whale populations rebound in Antarctic feeding grounds
Southern fin whales have been documented feeding in large numbers in ancestral feeding grounds in Antarctica for the first time since hunting was restricted in 1976. The paper, published in Scientific Reports, includes the first video documentation of large groups of fin whales feeding near Elephant Island, Antarctica.
Seafloor animal cued to settle, transformed by a bacterial compound
Most bottom-dwelling marine invertebrate animals, such as sponges, corals, worms and oysters, produce tiny larvae that swim in the ocean prior to attaching to the seafloor and transforming into juveniles.
Rutgers Researcher Aims to Protect and Regenerate Corals Through Coral Genomics with $500K NSF Grant and Award-Winning Video
A Rutgers researcher will use genomics, genetics, and cell biology to identify and understand the corals’ response to heat stress conditions and to pinpoint master regulatory genes involved in coral bleaching due to global warming and climate change. The researcher and his team will use a novel gene-editing tool as a resource to knock down some gene functions with the goal of boosting the corals’ abilities to survive.
Novel Tag Provides First Detailed Look into Goliath Grouper Behavior
A study is the first to reveal detailed behavior of massive goliath groupers. Until now, no studies have documented their fine-scale behavior. What is known about them has been learned from divers, underwater video footage, and observing them in captivity. Using a multi-sensor tag with a three axis accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer as well as a temperature, pressure and light sensor, a video camera and a hydrophone, researchers show how this species navigates through complex artificial reef environments, maintain themselves in high current areas, and how much time they spend in different cracks and crevices – none of which would be possible without the tag.
Surge in Nitrogen Has Turned Sargassum into the World’s Largest Harmful Algal Bloom
Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, transforming this vibrant living organism into a toxic “dead zone.” Results suggest that increased nitrogen availability from natural and anthropogenic sources, including sewage, is supporting blooms of Sargassum and turning a critical nursery habitat into harmful algal blooms with catastrophic impacts on coastal ecosystems, economies, and human health. Globally, harmful algal blooms are related to increased nutrient pollution.
CSU Researchers Award $1.1 Million in Sea-Level Rise Research Funding to Assist California
Three research projects studying sea-level rise received a total of $1.1 million in funding from California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST) and California Sea Grant. The grant supports 11 researchers and 20 students from six CSU campuses.

Planning Ahead Protects Fish and Fisheries
Conservation of fish and other marine life migrating from warming ocean waters will be more effective and also protect commercial fisheries if plans are made now to cope with climate change, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Science Advances.

NSU Researcher Part of Team Addressing Potential Risks to Marine Life from Deep-Sea Mining
As the planet’s land-based natural resources become exhausted, the need for new sources is bringing the search to the deepest parts of the world’s oceans. And that has researchers across the globe very concerned.

RIGS TO REEFS
Oil platforms along the coast of California are being taken offline. Research conducted by CSU faculty and students brings to light the value of these artificial reefs.
Faster-degrading plastic could promise cleaner seas
To address plastic pollution plaguing the world’s seas and waterways, Cornell University chemists have developed a new polymer that can degrade by ultraviolet radiation, according to research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Researchers Team up with U.S. Coast Guard to Release and Track Three Baby Sea Turtles
Beach closures and other COVID-19 pandemic restrictions required scientists to get creative. They teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard to make sure that three baby green sea turtles made it home. The turtles were outfitted with small solar powered satellite transmitters. Data will provide information to help scientists preserve sea turtles’ habitats and give them a hint about the effects of warmer temperatures on their offshore behavior.

Ocean acidification impacts oysters’ memory of environmental stress
Researchers from the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences have discovered that ocean acidification impacts the ability of some oysters to pass down “memories” of environmental trauma to their offspring.

Global Cooling After Nuclear War Would Harm Ocean Life
A nuclear war that cooled Earth could worsen the impact of ocean acidification on corals, clams, oysters and other marine life with shells or skeletons, according to the first study of its kind.

Most Rehabilitating Sea Turtles with Infectious Tumors Don’t Survive
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is the most significant infectious disease affecting sea turtle populations worldwide. FB leads to tumors on the turtles’ eyes, flippers and internal organs and is widespread in warmer climates like Florida. A large-scale study evaluated tumor score, removal and regrowth in rehabilitating green sea turtles with FP in the southeastern U.S. from 2009 to 2017, and found that 75 percent did not survive following admission into a rehabilitation facility, irrespective of whether or not tumor regrowth occurred after surgery.

Sea anemones with jet lag?
Ocean scientists investigate the internal body clocks of sea anemones to determine if fluctuating temperatures play a role in their daily rhythms.

Sea anemones with jet lag?
Ocean scientists investigate the internal body clocks of sea anemones to determine if fluctuating temperatures play a role in their daily rhythms.
New danger for corals in warming oceans: metal pollution
Metal copper from agricultural runoff and marine paint leaching from boat hulls poses an emerging threat to soft coral sea fans in the waters around Puerto Rico.

Expert on the sustainability of coral reefs
The more living coral tissue you can protect on the reef, the more resilient the coral reefs are going to be to ocean acidification. Coral diseases have led to a dramatic decline in coral coverage in the Caribbean and globally.…

Simulated Sunlight Reveals How 98 Percent of Plastics at Sea Go Missing Each Year
A new study helps to solve the mystery of missing plastic fragments at sea. Scientists selected microplastics prevalently found on the ocean surface and irradiated them with a solar simulator system. They found that simulated sunlight increased the amount of dissolved carbon in the water, making those tiny plastic particles tinier. Direct, experimental proof of the photochemical degradation of marine plastics remains rare. This work provides novel insight into the removal mechanisms and potential lifetimes of a select few microplastics.

Poisoned by Plastic
Too many of the plastic cups, chip bags, cigarette butts and take-out containers you see littering California’s beaches don’t stay on the sand. An estimated 17.6 billion pounds of plastic make their way into the world’s oceans annually, the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute—and 80 percent of that comes directly from littering on land.
Infectious disease in marine life linked to decades of ocean warming
New research shows that long-term changes in diseases in ocean species coincides with decades of widespread environmental change.