Uncategorized
Behind the Scenes: Shark Week
In honor of Shark Week 2017, go behind the scenes of the episode Tiger Beach from Shark Week 2016!
Paper or plastic? Policies inspired by research to find a solution to plastic pollution
Paper or plastic? In a lot of grocery stores, this is an innocent question, but recently it’s become a controversial issue. We talk about how plastic pollution research has inspired a barrel of policies, and some of the creative new ways people are trying to clean up the earth!
Harmful Algal Blooms Find Homes Further North as Waters Warm
Before the late 20th century, reports of illness from toxin-producing algae had been absent from most northern coastlines. But in the past 30 years, the incidence of algae-related poisonings in humans have been increasing in areas such as the U.S. Pacific Northwest and the United Kingdom. By modeling harmful algae growth in the North Atlantic and Pacific, Gobler et al. show which change in ocean conditions is responsible for these new harmful algae outbreaks.
Antarctica’s growing green space
As the planet warms, Antarctic land ice is retreating rapidly in some regions, and along with this, small pockets of ice-free habitat are growing and connecting. A team of scientists predicted how much these ice-free regions will expand by the end of the century and what this means for Antarctica’s unique ecosystems.
Size Matters: Big Eelgrass Beds Hold More Carbon
Oreska MPJ, McGlathery KJ, Porter JH (2017) Seagrass blue carbon spatial patterns at the meadow-scale. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0176630. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176630 Plants take in carbon dioxide as part of their normal functioning, to create carbon-based sugars for food. When they die, that carbon is decomposed in the soils or sediment and, eventually, released back to the […]
Minimizing bycatch by maximizing incentives
What’s the best way for fishermen to avoid catching the wrong type of animal in their nets? According to this paper, there’s the way we’re doing it now, and there’s a way that allows for more flexibility and more compliance. Read on to find out more about preventing bycatch through incentives!
Happy World Oceans Day!
Happy World Oceans Day! A day to celebrate and appreciate the fantastic oceans, while also raising awareness of the importance of minding and minimizing our impacts.
Oil Spill Snorkels: Eating oil, breathing electrons, saving the world?
Oil spills are not great for the environment, but some bacteria thrive on eating oil. Scientists have been researching ways to use these natural oil degrading bacteria to clean up oil contaminated areas. A group in Italy adapted graphite rods to encourage marine mud bacteria to degrade oil more quickly. They call this the “Oil Spill Snorkel”. Read on to find out more about how and why this works, and some of the other ways we can naturally clean up the earth!
Spotlight on Constructed Wetlands
Wetlands are one of the world’s powerhouses for ecosystem services, filtering our water, controlling coastal erosion, and providing feeding and nursery habitat for a huge variety of wildlife. They are super productive, containing plant species that grow fast and therefore contribute a huge influx of organic material to the system when they die and start […]
Fishy Crimes: How Indonesia Is Taking Back Its Fisheries
Fish poaching is a huge problem for countries around the globe, disrupting conservation efforts and damaging local economies. Indonesia, once a country plagued by the practice, has taken hard stances against illegal fishing and turned their fishing economy around.
OceanTech: profiling the sub-surface via Argo floats
The final post of theme week introduces the Argo array, an international effort to understand the ocean’s sub-surface via technological floats that enable continuous, real-time temperature and salinity data collection. Data collected from the Argo array can be coupled with satellite and shipboard measurements to provide a more complete understanding of global ocean dynamics.
The Entire Ocean in a Drop
Article: Stoeckle MY, Soboleva L, Charlop- Powers Z (2017) Aquatic environmental DNA detects seasonal fish abundance and habitat preference in an urban estuary. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0175186 Effectively managing fish populations requires accurate and timely monitoring data. Scientists and environmental managers need to know when (presence/absence data), where (location data), and how many fish (abundance […]
Benthic biology on a thermally boring deep-sea ridge
The deep ocean is vast and full of neat ocean dwellers, many of which scientists know little about. One way to investigate them is from images and videos captured during deep-sea exploration efforts using submersibles. A group of scientists did just that to quantify the benthic assemblages at different depths and a variety of substate types on a ridge in the Indian Ocean.
What lies beneath: A Gargantuan Volcanic Crater in the Arctic Ocean
Deep underneath the Arctic Ocean, researchers are studying properties of its sea floor, and colossal sized terrain features are slowly coming to the fore. Learn about one such discovery, the Gakkel caldera!
Red dead algae
Life on earth has been evolving for a long time – billions of years! The timing of when different kinds of life developed is controversial, but can tell us about the conditions of earth in the past. A group of scientists in Sweden looked at ancient fossils from India, and found what they describe as red algae. This is important because at 1.6 billion years old (that’s 1,600,000,000 years) this is the oldest fossil of this type of algae described to date. These red algae fossils are also much older than most biological models said they should be. This could mean that more types of organisms have been around longer than we thought!
Atlantic confirmed as accomplice in Arctic sea ice loss
A team of scientist gathered new evidence from the Arctic Ocean, revealing a new suspect responsible for rapidly melting Arctic sea ice.
Now you see me, now you don’t…or do you?
Camouflage is a fantastic adaptation that appears all over the tree of life. One thing we don’t often consider, though, is how effective the disguise of camouflage is when viewed through non-human eyes. Click here to find out more about how flounder hide in plain sight of their predators and prey!
Take my breath away: Decline in oceanic oxygen levels fifty years in the making
Most marine organisms require dissolved oxygen to sustain their survival. So what is the current status of oceanic oxygen levels? Read on to learn about the oft under appreciated resource of our planet!
Throwing Babies out with the Sea Ice: Ringed Seals Response to Ice Decline
As the Earth warms, sea ice declines. What happens to those animals who rely on the ice? Today’s oceanbites looks at one animal, the ringed seal, and how it may be affected by climate change!
An Ocean in Your Beer
This St. Patrick’s Day, think outside the green beer and whiskey and try an ocean-inspired beer! Didn’t know there were beers brewed with ocean life? Read on to learn more about how our oceans and your beer are intertwined.
© 2017 oceanbites. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by 