Fish market favourites such as orange roughy, common octopus and pink conch are among the species of fish and invertebrates in rapid decline around the world, according to new research.
In recent decades, the decline of living hard coral on reefs around the world has raised concerns among marine experts. For years, the presumption was that decline signaled that an entire reef’s future was threatened. A study by Florida State University researchers shows that might not always be the case. While a complement of healthy coral is still preferred, dead or dying coral might not be fatal for an entire reef.
Cavefish may not seem like a big deal. They’re small, they live in tucked away places humans rarely go, and they’re common enough that you can find them on every continent except Antarctica. But researchers from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research see them as a potential way to understand more about the rise in autoimmune diseases in humans.
Antarctica is considered one of the Earth's largest, most pristine remaining wildernesses. Yet since its formal discovery 200 years ago, the continent has seen accelerating and potentially impactful human activity.
Researchers have been using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements.
Widespread use of pesticides and other agrochemicals can speed the transmission of the debilitating disease schistosomiasis, while also upsetting the ecological balances in aquatic environments that prevent infections, finds a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists are featured in two short films at this year’s Woods Hole Film Festival (WHFF). In addition, scientists will also participate in Q&A sessions connected to three of the festival’s feature-length, ocean-themed entries.
In a boost for both recreational fishing and the environment, new UNSW research shows that artificial reefs can increase fish abundance in estuaries with little natural reef.
One of Charles Darwin's long-standing questions on how turtles find their way to islands has been answered thanks to a pioneering study by scientists.
Using sophisticated satellite telemetry, a study is the first to provide unique insights into how tiger sharks move and use habitats in the Gulf of Mexico across life-stages. Data provide an important baseline for comparison against, and/or predicting their vulnerability to future environmental change such as climate variability or oil spills.
A tracking study of 56 sharks provides a first look at how their patterns of movement across the Gulf of Mexico vary according to their sex, their life stage, and the season.
Scientists examining levels of ocean noise in the Bering Sea—an important migratory seascape for whales, walruses, seals, and other acoustically sensitive animals—have confirmed that the presence of sea ice plays a central role in the soundscape of these Arctic waters. A growing concern is that the disappearance of sea ice due to a changing climate could mean a marine realm increasingly filled with shipping and other human-related ocean noise, according to scientists from Southall Environmental Associates, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), and other groups in a new study.
Scientists studying thousands of oyster shells along the Georgia coast, some as old as 4,500 years, have published new insights into how Native Americans sustained oyster harvests for thousands of years, observations that may lead to better management practices of oyster reefs today.
New research led by The University of Queensland has provided the first comprehensive analysis of pesticide mixtures in creeks and rivers discharging to the Great Barrier Reef.
Mathematical modelling inspired by social media is identifying the significant impacts of warming seas on the world's fisheries.
A groundbreaking study is the first to analyze the relationship between group behaviors, group type, group dynamics, and kinship of beluga whales in 10 locations across the Arctic. Results show that not only do beluga whales regularly interact with close kin, including close maternal kin, they also frequently associate with more distantly related and unrelated individuals. Findings will improve the understanding of why some species are social, how individuals learn from group members and how animal cultures emerge.
New research reveals how winners & losers from climate change can be identified based on their ability to adapt to rising future temperatures.
Microbes found deeper in the ocean are believed to have slow population turnover rates and low amounts of available energy. But microbial communities found deeper in seafloor sediments and around hydrocarbon seepage sites have now been found to have more energy available and a higher population turnover. Deeper sediments in the seepages are most likely heavily impacted by the material coming up from the bottom, which means that the seep could be supporting a larger amount of biomass than previously thought.
Fish kills are a recurring phenomenon in lakes suffering from oxygen depletion. Often the kills are triggered by factors like an algae bloom, but now a new study reports on a new, climate-related cause of fish kills.
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.
Global water consumption has increased almost fourfold in the past 100 years, and many regions can only meet their water demand thanks to essential contributions from mountain regions.
Oyster aquaculture poses minor changes to soils and bottom-dwelling communities
By: Bill Wellock | Published: July 1, 2020 | 1:25 pm | SHARE: More dust from the Sahara Desert is forecast to come to the United States this week. The massive dust plume known as the Saharan Air Layer has a myriad of effects on air quality, fertilizing ecosystems and more.Florida State University has experts available to comment on some of the surprising features related to the meteorological phenomenon.
MERMAID, an open-source tech platform for marine scientists, is for the first time launching an interactive map that provides an insider’s view of the ecosystem data collected from coral reefs by field scientists around the world.
A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researcher became one of just a handful of people to visit the deepest part of the ocean following a successful dive in the deep-submergence vehicle Limiting Factor on Monday.
Dolphins use unusual techniques to obtain food: One of them, called "shelling", is used by the dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia. Dolphins in this population trap fishes inside large empty gastropod shells.
Genetic clues show that eelgrass growing underwater along Puget Sound shorelines is associated with fewer of the single-celled algae that produce harmful toxins in shellfish. The evidence shows this effect extends 45 feet beyond the edge of the eelgrass bed.
Two new genera and four new species of giant, single-celled xenophyophores (protozoans belonging to a group called the foraminifera) were discovered in the deep Pacific Ocean during a joint project between scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, UK (NOC), the University of Hawai'i, and the University of Geneva
The global redistribution of marine and terrestrial species due to climate change is a major concern for conservation planners and resource managers.
In an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolution today (22 June), the leaders of a new global initiative explain how research during this devastating health crisis can inspire innovative strategies for sharing space on this increasingly crowded planet, with benefits for both wildlife and humans.
Sea ice across the Southern Ocean played a crucial role in controlling atmospheric carbon dioxide levels during times of past climate change - and it could provide a critical resource to improve Earth system models, a new study shows.
A new global study has found that only 2.5 percent of tropical reefs are formally protected and conserved through laws and regulations. These numbers are significantly lower than previous estimates, and highlight an urgent need for governments, communities, and partnering organizations to create and expand marine reserves to protect these ecosystems which support more than 500 million people worldwide.
Scientists have discovered that the summer sea ice in the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica has decreased by one million square kilometres - an area twice the size of Spain - in the last five years, with implications for the marine ecosystem. The findings are published this month (June 2020) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
A diverse diet and flexible behaviour may have empowered blenny fish to make a dramatic transition out of the water - but once on land, they have been forced to become specialised, a new study led by UNSW shows.
The most comprehensive health assessment for a green turtle rookery in the world to date is providing critical insights into various aspects of physiology, biology, and herpesvirus epidemiology of this nesting population. Findings are hopeful for this population of green sea turtles in southeastern Florida, offer important data on the profile of health for future comparative investigations, and suggest that viruses are endemically stable in this nesting population.
Research Associate Mr Chim Chee Kong and Research Assistant Ms Samantha Tong from the Tropical Marine Science Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) are on a quest to discover the many nameless tanaids in the world, specifically in the relatively species-rich but poorly studied tropical Indo-Pacific.
Many of us have seen informational posters at parks or aquariums specifying how long plastics bags, bottles, and other products last in the environment. They’re a good reminder to not litter, but where does the information on the lifetime expectancy of plastic goods come from, and how reliable is it?
While there was a bay-wide decline of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) from the 1960s through the 1980s, restoring these once-abundant SAV beds has been a primary outcome of efforts to reduce loads of nutrients and sediments to the estuary and SAV cover has increased by 300 percent from 1984 to 2015. One of the largest recovered SAV beds lies in an area of the bay known as the Susquehanna Flats—a broad, tidal freshwater region located near the mouth of the Susquehanna River at the head of the bay.
On World Oceans Day, an international team of marine scientists reports that the potential impact of marine renewable energy to marine life is likely small or undetectable, though there is still uncertainty around some issues.
Understanding how sharks feed is vital for managing human interactions
Researchers have projected significant changes in the habitat of commercially important American lobster and sea scallops on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf.
After weeks of preparation, isolation, and testing, a science team will depart on the R/V Neil Armstrong from Woods Hole, MA for an 11-day expedition.
Mangrove trees – valuable coastal ecosystems found in Florida and other warm climates – won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Science. Mangrove forests store large amounts of carbon, help protect coastlines and provide habitat for fish and other species. Using sediment data from the last 10,000 years, an international team led by Macquarie University in Australia estimated the chances of mangrove survival based on rates of sea-level rise.
More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins live in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon year-round. Although extensively studied, what they do at nighttime is still a mystery. Using satellite telemetry, scientists provide the first documentation that these dolphins have a larger range that encompasses more habitats than previously thought. They regularly leave the brackish waters of the estuarine system and, not only travel into the ocean, but swim substantial distances – up to 20 kilometers – up freshwater rivers, creeks, and canals.
Researchers investigate ‘PCB-like’ chemicals made by Mother Nature
Warming ocean temperatures and acidification drastically reduce the skeletal strength and filter-feeding capacity of glass sponges, according to new UBC research.
University of Delaware professor Wei-Jun Cai teamed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists, as well as professors and professionals from numerous research institutes, to conduct an in-depth study that looks at carbon dioxide uptake and ocean acidification in the coastal oceans of North America.
The advantages of animals foraging in an orderly group are well-known, but research by the University of Bristol has found an element of unruly adventure can help fish in the quest for food.
A recent study from the University of Washington explores the ways parasitism will respond to climate change, providing researchers new insights into disease transmission. The paper was published May 18 in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
Research labs have shut down around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) from investigating critical problems in the ocean.
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