Marine heatwaves decimate sea urchins, mollusks and more at Rottnest
Curtin University researchers believe rising sea temperatures are to blame for the plummeting number of invertebrates such as mollusks and sea urchins at Rottnest Island off Western Australia, with some species having declined by up to 90 percent bet.....»»
New framework developed to monitor the impact of "destructive" fishing
The UN Sustainable Development Goals highlight the need to end destructive fishing practices to conserve marine resources and protect the ocean. However, there is no globally shared understanding of what destructive fishing is, or how to measure prog.....»»
"Naked Clams": Aquaculture system hopes to turn marine pest into nutritious seafood
Researchers hoping to rebrand a marine pest as a nutritious food have developed the world's first system of farming shipworms, which they have renamed "Naked Clams." These long, white saltwater clams are the world's fastest-growing bivalve and can re.....»»
Stone reefs in Denmark show promise in promoting marine biodiversity
Just six months after DTU Aqua and local organizations established new reefs at Bredgrund near Sønderborg, researchers recorded 100 times as many cod as usual. That was good news......»»
Rediscovery of rare marine amoeba Rhabdamoeba marina
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have rediscovered and successfully cultivated Rhabdamoeba marina—a rare marine amoeba that has only been reported in two cases in the past century. Using this culture strain, the team performed a comprehensi.....»»
Enabling climate change adaptation in coastal systems
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of scientific publications on how coasts can adapt to the impacts of climate change. However, a study led by marine biologist Dr. David Cabana of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) at the Helmh.....»»
Two new species of worms discovered off Japan"s Ryukyu Islands
A team of marine scientists and zoologists from Japan, Malaysia, the U.S. and Russia has discovered two new species of Hesionidae—a type of segmented worm. In their paper published in the journal PeerJ, the group describes how they found the worms.....»»
Tracing multiple evolutionary trajectories in aquatic crocodiles
In the geological past, several groups of crocodiles evolved towards a morphology adapted to marine life. However, the extent of these adaptations and their evolutionary trajectories remained unknown. An exhaustive study of their morphology by a scie.....»»
New study reveals the crucial role of herbivorous fishes and sea urchins in restoring Caribbean coral reefs
A new study by Dr. Lindsay Spiers (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and Professor Thomas Frazer (College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida), published in PeerJ presents crucial findings on the feeding preferences.....»»
Scientists test new method for identifying small microplastics
Microplastics, from the beads that were once commonplace in cosmetics to the weathered and broken-down remnants of trash, are now ubiquitous in marine and inland waters around the world. To date, though, scientists have struggled to identify which pl.....»»
Caribbean island of Dominica creates world"s first marine protected area for endangered sperm whale
The tiny Caribbean island of Dominica is creating the world's first marine protected area for one of earth's largest animals: the endangered sperm whale......»»
Dominica to create world"s first sperm whale reserve
Dominica is set to create the world's first sperm whale reserve, designating a swath of ocean where large ships and commercial fishing are restricted and visitors can swim alongside the gentle marine giants......»»
North Atlantic"s marine productivity may not be declining, according to new study of older ice cores
To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of declining phytoplankton in the North Atlantic may have been greatly exaggerated. A prominent 2019 study used ice cores in Antarctica to suggest that marine productivity in the North Atlantic had declined by 10% du.....»»
Study concludes ocean acidification in the Mediterranean is already affecting the calcification of marine plankton
The acidification of the oceans caused by human activity is already altering the production of marine plankton shells in the Mediterranean Sea. This is the worrying conclusion of a study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of.....»»
Deep-sea pressure found to preserve food for microbes in the abyss
A new study from the Danish Center for Hadal Research reports on a series of experiments with exposing marine snow to increasing pressure—up to 1000 bar, which corresponds to the pressure at the bottom of some of the world's deep-sea trenches, 10 k.....»»
Researchers realize water-air acoustic communication based on broadband impedance matching
With increasing demand for exploration and utilization of marine resources, achieving direct and efficient communication between water and air has been an urgent need. Sound waves, as the only propagation way with low attenuation in both water and ai.....»»
The metabolism of bacteria: New method reveals host-microbe interactions
The fascinating world of bacteria that live as symbionts or parasites in animal hosts often remains a mystery to researchers. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Manuel Liebeke, Kiel University (CAU) and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology.....»»
Baby dolphins found to receive high doses of persistent organic pollutants from their mothers" milk
A team of marine biologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working with a pair of colleagues from the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, has found that dolphin calves born to mothers in the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Pr.....»»
Seagrass decline poses issues for carbon storage projects
Climate change is an ever-pressing concern, with innovative ways to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere a continued focus of scientists. One such carbon sequestration method turns to an unlikely sink—seagrass—a marine flowering plant (angios.....»»
Why a surprising discovery, warming seas and the demise of the "Meg" may spell trouble for more and more sharks
Some unexpected shark strandings and subsequent surprises following autopsies have ironically taken marine biologists millions of years back in time as they look to the future with concern. Adding chapters to an evolutionary tale involving the infamo.....»»
Paleobionics: A 450 million-year-old organism finds new life in softbotics
Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with paleontologists from Spain and Poland, have used fossil evidence to engineer a soft robotic replica of pleurocystitid, a marine organism that.....»»