Feature Channels: Marine Science

• share
• favorite_border

Despite the high number, first global assessment shows illegal exploitation slightly declining.

• share
• favorite_border

In a discovery that challenges over a century of evolutionary conventional wisdom, corals have been shown to pass somatic mutations – changes to the DNA sequence that occur in non-reproductive cells – to their offspring.

• share
• favorite_border

The latest research on plants brought to you by Newswise.

• share
• favorite_border

Inspired by a trip to the dentist, Dr Kate Quigley presents a new method for monitoring coral size and growth that reduces surveying time by 99%.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and European research institutions are calling for better protections for juvenile emperor penguins, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers listing the species under the Endangered Species Act and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) considers expanding the network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean.

• share
• favorite_border

Today scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) announced the culmination of a decade of science in a paper published in Frontiers in Marine Science, an international peer-reviewed journal, which describes a novel restoration approach used in Shinnecock Bay that has led to a 1,700 percent increase in the landings and densities of hard clams in that estuary, along with the expansion of seagrass meadows and the end of harmful brown tides – a result that brings the Shinnecock Bay back to its 20th Century glory for shellfishing and the result may serve as a shining example of a process to restore other estuaries around the country and world.

• share
• favorite_border

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the world’s independent leader in ocean discovery, exploration, and education, today announced the appointment of Yessica Cancel to its executive team in the newly created position of Chief People Officer (CPO).

• share
• favorite_border

This study is led by Dr. Chen Jianfang and Dr. Li Hongliang from the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources.

• share
• favorite_border

Male bottlenose dolphins form the largest known multi-level alliance network outside humans, an international team led by researchers at the University of Bristol have shown. These cooperative relationships between groups increase male access to a contested resource.

• share
• favorite_border

Sea ice levels in the Arctic Ocean are rapidly declining, thanks to global warming.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed AquaApp, the first mobile app for acoustic-based communication and networking underwater that can be used with existing devices such as smartphones and smartwatches.

• share
• favorite_border

Faster decomposition in warmer waters could reduce kelp contributions to deep sea carbon stores.

• share
• favorite_border

Citizen scientists spent thousands of hours observing trash on beaches in Washington and Oregon. Their surveys show that certain beaches, and certain areas of a single beach, are “sticky zones” that accumulate litter. Finding patterns for where litter lands could help to better prevent and remove trash in the marine environment.

• share
• favorite_border

Underwater robots are being widely used as tools in a variety of marine tasks. The RobDact is one such bionic underwater vehicle, inspired by a fish called Dactylopteridae known for its enlarged pectoral fins.

• share
• favorite_border

Near-real-time fish tracking using a new acoustic receiver developed by PNNL can support enhanced fish passage through hydropower dams.

• share
• favorite_border

The human-occupied submersible Alvin is ready to return to scientific research at its newly certified maximum depth of 6500 meters (4 miles). That’s the conclusion of a team of scientists who have spent the past three weeks taking the iconic sub through its paces at locations at the Puerto Rico Trench and Mid-Cayman Rise, testing its scientific and engineering systems to ensure they are capable of supporting the demands of deep-sea sample and data collection.

• share
• favorite_border

Using sophisticated electronic tags, scientists have assembled a large biologging dataset to garner comparative insights on how sharks, rays, and skates – also known as “elasmobranchs” – use the ocean depths.

• share
• favorite_border

Research published by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists today in Frontiers in Marine Science confirmed their previous observations that rising temperatures increase the sound of snapping shrimp, a tiny crustacean found in temperate and tropical coastal marine environments around the world.

• share
• favorite_border

A newly-discovered walking shark that breaks all of the rules for survival is the focus of a first-of-its-kind study that examined differences in walking and swimming in neonate (newly-hatched) and juvenile walking sharks. Despite dissimilarities in body shapes – neonates have bulging bellies and juveniles are slender – the three aquatic gaits they use (slow-to-medium walking, fast-walking and swimming) did not differ. Kinematics between neonate and juvenile epaulette sharks did not alter during development.

• share
• favorite_border

A previously overlooked factor — the position of continents — helps fill Earth’s oceans with life-supporting oxygen. Continental movement could ultimately have the opposite effect, killing most deep ocean creatures.

• share
• favorite_border

The reconstructed megadolon (Otodus megalodon) was 16 meters long and weighed over 61 tons. It was estimated that it could swim at around 1.4 meters per second, require over 98,000 kilo calories every day and have stomach volume of almost 10,000 liters.

• share
• favorite_border

Seafaring drones on Lake Superior will soon allow a team of Cornell University scientists to examine fresh details about the abundance and distribution of forage fish – species, such as zooplankton and shrimp, which provide nourishment for sportier marine species higher on the food chain.

• share
• favorite_border

New research based on an expedition to the icy waters off Greenland reveals soaring levels of antifreeze proteins in a species of tiny snailfish, underlying the importance of this unique adaptation to life in sub-zero temperatures.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists, including Josh Patterson from the University of Florida, are stepping up efforts to enhance populations of the long-spined sea urchin – known scientifically as Diadema antillarum to support coral reef ecosystems.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers used a marine history based on geochemical information in clam shells and computer simulations to determine that centuries of cooling in the Gulf of Maine suddenly reversed in the late 1800s. Climate models say greenhouse gas emissions were a major driver of the warming.

• share
• favorite_border

Photographs shared by members of the public, via Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist, helped scientists assess how the species is faring around the Aotearoa New Zealand mainland.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) used high-tech sensors to track billfish – and now we now have, for the first time, a detailed view of exactly how these fish behave after they are caught and released.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have identified a new species of Bathonymus, the famed genera of deep-sea isopods whose viral internet fame has made them the most famous aquatic crustaceans since Sebastian of The Little Mermaid.

• share
• favorite_border

Phytoplankton is the foundation of all life on the planet. Understanding how these photosynthetic organisms react to their ocean environment is important to understanding the rest of the food web.

• share
• favorite_border

From fecal bacteria to blue-green algae to red tides, Southwest Florida’s water quality has declined as its population has increased. Multiple lines of evidence from a multi-year microbial source tracking study points to septic systems as a contributing source for this decline. The study is one of few to connect downstream harmful algal blooms with nutrient loading from upstream septic systems. These water quality issues are caused by aging septic systems installed in high densities in areas with shallow water tables. Septic systems may actually be sitting in groundwater during certain times of the year, which means that they cannot function properly.

• share
• favorite_border

Paul Salem, a leader in private equity and non-profit board service, has been named Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Salem will transition into the role officially on January 1, 2023, taking over for David Scully, who has served as the Board Chair for the past seven years.

• share
• favorite_border

Rapid 20th century warming in the Gulf of Maine has reversed long-term cooling that occurred there during the previous 900 years, according to new research that combines an examination of shells from long-lived ocean quahogs and climate model simulations.

• share
• favorite_border

The North Pacific Blob, was the largest and longest-lasting marine heatwave on record. A new study using data collected by elephant seals reveals that in addition to the well documented surface warming, deeper warm-water anomalies associated with the Blob were much more extensive than previously reported.

• share
• favorite_border

Weddell seals, which are excellent divers, provide so much iron to their pups during lactation, that the mothers dramatically limit their own diving and underwater foraging capabilities.

• share
• favorite_border

For the generations who grew up watching Finding Nemo, it might not come as a surprise that the North American West Coast has its own version of the underwater ocean highway – the California Current marine ecosystem (CCME).

• share
• favorite_border

Are sea animals involved in the reproductive cycle of algae, like pollinating insects on dry land? Dispersal of the male gametes, or spermatia, of red algae generally relies on water movement, and up until now, scientists did not recognize the role played by animals.

• share
• favorite_border

UB study warns about the ecological impact of native species in waters that do not correspond to them.

• share
• favorite_border

Earlier today (July 21, 2022) the human-occupied submersible Alvin made history when it successfully reached a depth of 6,453 meters (nearly 4 miles) in the Puerto Rico Trench, north of San Juan, P.R. This is the deepest dive ever in the 58-year history of the storied submersible.

• share
• favorite_border

The Prussian carp is considered one of the most successful invasive fish species in Europe. Its ability to reproduce asexually gives it a major advantage over competing fish.