Marine Science Today

World Oceans Summit 2012

Emily — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:16:59 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer The Economist’s World Oceans Summit will begin one month from today, from February 22 to 24, in Singapore. The Summit will be chaired by John Micklethwait, Editor-in-chief of The Economist and will focus on how the increasing activity in and around the oceans can be managed successfully and sustainably. More than [...]

Decrease in Sea Ice Increases Harp Seal Mortality Rates

Emily — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:05:02 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer Over the last 32 years, warming in the North Atlantic has dramatically reduced winter sea ice cover in harp seal breeding grounds. According to a new study from Duke University, this has led to a sharp rise in death rates among seal pups. “The kind of mortality we’re seeing in eastern [...]

Saving Whales by Creating Harvest Quotas

Emily — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:21:21 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer An economist and two marine scientists have suggested that we could save whales by creating tradable harvest quotas. Every year, anti-whaling nonprofit organizations spend nearly $25 million on efforts to end commercial whaling. Unfortunately, every year, commercial whaling still continues to grow. The number of whales harvested annually has doubled since [...]

Coral Disease Threatens Hawaiian Corals

Emily — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:11 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer Another outbreak of coral disease has damaged the reefs of Kane’ohe Bay, O’ahu. In March 2010, an outbreak of acute Montipora White Syndrome (MWS) destroyed over 100 colonies of rice coral, Montipora capitata. The same disease has reappeared and is killing corals again in Kane’ohe Bay. To date, the outbreak has [...]

Antarctic Octopuses Stay Warm by Editing Proteins

Emily — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:00:09 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer A new study has shown how an octopus living in the frigid waters of the Antarctic keeps itself warm. Low temperatures can affect the function of certain proteins that allow the nervous system to send signals. Molecular neurophysiologist Joshua Rosenthal and his graduate student Sandra Garrett of the University of Puerto [...]

Land Birds Found in the Stomachs of Tiger Sharks

Emily — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:00:47 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer It is not uncommon for sharks to eat sea birds, but lately, researchers have been finding land birds in the stomachs of tiger sharks living in the Gulf of Mexico. “We’re the first to look this exhaustively at the diet of tiger sharks, as far as I know, and this certainly [...]

Fishing Closures in Belize Boost Some Populations, Not Others

Emily — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:00:57 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer A study in a marine protected area in Belize has shown that fishing closures boost predatory fish populations, but don’t benefit herbivorous fish as much. The 14 year study was conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society in an atoll reef lagoon in Glover’s Reef, Belize. The fishing closures have aided in the recovery [...]

New Discoveries at Unique Hydrothermal Vents

Emily — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:56 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer In the first expedition to the “Dragon Vent” in the south-west Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered an incredible number of creatures. Some are known to live in these inhospitable regions and some are entirely new to science. The exploration was led by Dr. Jon Copley, a marine biologist from the University [...]

Number of Whale Sightings Already High in 2012

Emily — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:00:22 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer In just the first two weeks of the New Year it is clear that the number of whale sightings will be much higher than previous years. To start, the annual southward migration of gray whales began early this year. In 2010 only eight whales were seen during the entire month of [...]

Hybrid Black-Tip Shark Found

Emily — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:33:20 +0000

Emily Tripp Senior Writer The world’s first hybrid shark was discovered recently in Australian waters. The mating of the local Australian black-tip shark with the common black-tip is a potential indicator that sharks are adapting to climate change. “It’s very surprising because no one’s ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence [...]