Kristin Huizenga
Want to know about water? Ask some sea creatures
There are animals that are constantly traversing places we have barely begun to understand. Animals can’t directly tell us what is going on, but what if we could get the information in a different way? A group of scientists led by Dr. David March set out to show how we can use animal born instruments […]
Sea-sick – Examining ocean diseases through literature
From coral bleaching to sea star wasting disease, stories of an unhealthy ocean have been all over the news. But are the animals in the sea actually sicker than before? Without long-running data sets tracking disease over time, it can be hard to see if diseases are growing more prevalent. In spite of this, Dr. […]
A silver lining: How warming waters in the Gulf of Maine gave lobsters a leg up
Warming coastal waters in New England have been linked to a decline in lobsters in southern New England, but a new article by Goode et al. proposes that it is precisely this warming that boosted the Maine lobster fishery to where it is now. Kristin HuizengaI am a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography at the […]
Clinging, cloning jellyfish: How an old species is coming back with new force
On the fourth of July, 2019, happy beach-goers in Rhode Island escaped the directness of the sun by wading into Point Judith Pond. For an unlucky few, this small pleasure turned out to be immensely painful. By July 5, people were being warned about clinging jellyfish. What was this new threat to unsuspecting swimmers? Turns […]
Are you jelly? Citizen scientists find jellyfish to help sea turtles
The largest leatherback ever recorded weighed 2,019 pounds, and yet this behemoth lives on a diet composed almost entirely of jelly – gelatinous zooplankton that is. These endangered sea turtles travel up to the Atlantic Canadian coast during the summer in search of a tasty treat. In order to better understand the link between jellyfish […]
On the case: Scientists use many sources to find the culprit in kelp disappearance
The extensive decline of the Great Barrier Reef has received a lot of press attention in recent years, yet reefs aren’t the only down-under ecosystem struggling. In a recent paper in Estuaries and Coasts, researchers Carnell and Keough from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University have reported an equally alarming decline in kelp forests […]
Into the deep: Deep sea mining is upon us, whether you would risk it or not
While we have a lot to discover about the deep sea, we do know that in the depths of the ocean are a number of valuable minerals and metals like gold, manganese, and cobalt. Yet with so little known, companies are ready to dive into the cold deep, gathering these metals for economic gain. Kristin […]
Saving the Blue Bloods: Horseshoe Crab Edition
We use horseshoe crab blood to test every FDA approved drug given to humans. Yet with horseshoe crab populations dropping and a feasible replacement test already developed, why haven’t we made the switch? Kristin HuizengaI am a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. My interests are in […]
Digging Deep: Burrowing Animals are Just One Element of a Healthy Mudflat
Despite mudflats supporting fisheries, providing homes for birds, and serving as a buffer between land and sea, these ecosystems are still threatened by human development. Researchers looking for ways to protect mudflats found that in order for mudflats to remain healthy, 4 important roles must be filled by the animals living in them. Kristin HuizengaI […]
The Slow Burn: Slower Metabolisms May Help Mollusks Avoid Extinction
By looking at fossils found in the Western Atlantic, Dr. Luke Strotz and a team of scientists at the University of Kansas and Oxford have come across an intriguing idea: that an animal’s metabolism may be linked to how likely the species is to going extinct. Kristin HuizengaI am a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography […]
Holding fast: kelp in Nova Scotia tries to grow on turf algae after a period of decline
Kelp has had a few rough decades that have led to the decline that threatens not only kelp but the other species that use the algae for habitat. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia set out to determine if kelp can make a comeback from seas filled with turf algae. What they found is […]
Turtles in the Trash: How microplastics are washing up where turtles breed
Like plastic bags and other larger plastic pieces, these insidious micro particles can make their way into animal digestive tracts and pollute the places they live. This pollution is what concerns Doctors Beckwith and Fuentes, from Florida State University. If microplastics are spreading through the ocean, what does this mean for the future of sea […]
Good Neighbors: Why we need to be careful with Piping Plovers, even when they aren’t breeding
A new study has discovered that leaving Piping Plover habitat unprotected when the birds aren’t breeding may be hindering conservation efforts. Piping Plovers are stressed by human activity, making the birds less likely to survive. Kristin HuizengaI am a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. My interests […]
Scaredy Fish: How Timid Fish Could Skew Research
Divers have long suspected that some fish are more afraid of people than others. A recent study has shown that certain groups of fish will actually hide for hours after a diver has passed through a reef. This has important implications for the future of coral reef surveys and the way we study species diversity. […]
Bite or Flight: How Seaweed Can Shape Feeding Behavior in Fish
What is a forest without trees or a coral reef without coral? Neither a forest nor a coral reef. Entire ecosystems are made possible by the living flora that define them; they provide shelter and hunting grounds for the animals which live in them. But what happens when the building blocks of these ecosystems are […]
Killing Jaws: Tackling the Idea of the Bloodthirsty Predator
Even though shark attacks are rare, fear of sharks has led people to support laws that kill sharks en masse. A new study shows that at the root of our fear of sharks is the belief that they intend to hurt us. By thinking about how we talk about shark intentionality in educational settings and […]
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