Archive for October, 2014
Manta ray movement and motivations
Everyone loves manta rays, but how much do we actually know about their basic ecology? Virginia SchutteI just finished my graduate education in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. I received my Ph.D. in Ecology in August 2014. My dissertation is all about the creatures that make the habitat for an […]
Sea Turtles, Sea Grasses, and Sharks
What began as an innocent initiative to save the sea turtles may be having a detrimental impact on sea grasses and the ecosystem. Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to Oceanbites! My name is Annie, I’m a marine research scientist who has been lucky to have had many roles in my neophyte career, including graduate student, laboratory […]
Zooplankton versus Phytoplankton: a trophic seesaw
NASA satellites reveal artistic swirls of phytoplankton dancing across the ocean surface. This new study explains the dynamic predator-prey imbalances that occur to create these spectacular space-worthy images. Hillary ScannellHillary received her MS in oceanography from the University of Maine in 2014 and works in the Ecosystem Modeling Lab at the Gulf of Maine Research […]
The Language of Fishes
Coral reefs are composed of hundreds of different species, who all use different acoustics to communicate, just like we use different languages around the world to communicate. Researchers set out to better understand and record the language of fishes in hopes of building a species-specific soundscape of the coral reef community. Valeska UphamFor my fisheries […]
Herds of sea monkeys help scientists understand the role of diel vertical migration in ocean mixing
Article: Monica M. Wilhelmus and John O. Dabiri. Observations of large-scale fluid transport by laser-guided plankton aggregations. Physics of Fluids, September 30, 2014 DOI: 10.1063/1.4895655 Background Every day, as the sun sets, hundreds and thousands of individual zooplankton begin to swim up from deep waters to the surface. This daily migration is known as diel vertical migration and […]
Same species, different genes: temperature tolerance and body size in the genes of the Chinook salmon
To understand how species may cope with climate change we must look into their genes. Do individuals have different levels of tolerance to high temperature? What can genes tell us about it? Catarina SilvaHi! I am a PhD candidate at Victoria University of Wellington. I study the genetic structure of organisms and how the environment […]
Get crabby! A coral’s guide to self-defense
Crabs in the genus Trapezia are not only good housekeepers, clearing sediment off host corals, but they are also effective defenders. While just the presence of guard crabs can increase the chance of coral survival, are different species more effective than others? Read more to find out! Megan ChenI graduated with a Masters of Coastal […]
Stressing out about water stress
It’s not just climate change that will affect global water stress! Model simulations predict that when both climate change and socioeconomic growth are considered, an additional ~1.8 billion people could be living in a region of moderate water stress by 2050. Kari St.LaurentI received a Ph.D. in oceanography in 2014 from the Graduate School of […]
Deep Blue Reads: The Reef: A Passionate History, by Iain McCalman
It’s often easy to think of science outside of its social and historical contexts, as something pure, empirical, and incorruptible. But each drop of knowledge inevitably depends on what was uncovered and refined in the decades and centuries before it, as well as how it fits with the social and cultural opinions of its time. […]
The seagrass isn’t always greener: how jellyfish and nutrients are impacting seagrass ecosystems
Warming oceans and acidic oceans. Nutrient and pollution overload. Melting ice caps and rising sea levels. Jellyfish blooms. Yes, you can consider blooms of jellyfish as a source of oceanic stress, especially if you’re a seagrass bed! Gordon OberPostdoctoral Researcher, Claremont McKenna College I am currently a postdoc at Keck Sciences, Claremont McKenna College. I […]
Parasitic crabs steal food and the possibility of offspring from unsuspecting snails.
Crabs find a home inside sea snails leading to reproductive disaster. Sarah GiltzI am a doctoral candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. My research focuses on the larval dispersal and development of the blue crab in the Gulf of Mexico. When not concerning myself with the plight of tiny crustaceans I can […]
A volcano, a tropical cyclone, and a computer model walked into a room…
Like with bad jokes, timing is everything. The punch line doesn’t make sense if you don’t know the back story, just like when mixing active volcanoes, tropical cyclones, and new volcanic smog dispersion models. Sarah FullerWith academic backgrounds in oceanography, geology, and environmental education, Sarah has traveled to far reaches of the planet to learn […]
Whale Watching: Fun for Us, Stressful for Them
Whale watching is a popular activity around New England, especially in the summer, but this new study suggests we’re doing more than just watching – we’re actually stressing these whales out and making them swim faster and breathe more often. Erin McLeanHi and welcome to oceanbites! I recently finished my master’s degree at URI, focusing […]
Reconstructing Regional Climate and Oceanographic Processes From Tree Rings
Researchers are using centuries of tree growth data to understand variability in upwelling, productivity and marine ecosystem health in the California Current. Brian CaccioppoliI am a recent graduate (Dec. 2015) from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, with a M.S. in Oceanography. My research interests include the use of geophysical mapping techniques […]
Catfish sharks on catnip? Nope, just ocean acidification
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that ocean acidification may cause hyperactivity in catfish sharks. Lis HendersonI am studying for my doctoral degree at the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. My research addresses fisheries and climate change in the Northwest Atlantic. In my free time, I like to […]
Oil Spill Sleuths use Chemical Fingerprinting to Identify Sources of Tar Balls
Tar balls are small globules of thick, sticky oil that can be found on some shorelines. In order to mitigate tar ball deposition, we need to know where the oil is coming from: Is there a specific offshore oil field to blame? In this study, researchers from India and Singapore used hydrodynamic modeling and chemical […]
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