Missed out on December 2022’s ocean news? Here’s a glimpse into what went down in Davy Jones’ Locker this month

Sections

Animals and Plants
Climate Crisis
Fisheries and Aquaculture
Marine Technology
People and the Sea
Other

Animals and Plants

• Seventeen of Canada’s First Nations and the Government of Canada have come together to develop a conservation finance model to advance large-scale conservation for the Great Bear Sea initiative.
  
  

• Just how does the the marine green macroalga Codium fragile photosynthesise in the deep? With a cryogenic electron microscopy, Osaka Metropolitan University scientists think they’ve cracked it.
  
  

• Researchers highlight the lack of protection for deep reefs - and the numerous threats that face them.
  
  

• New research highlights the vital links between islands and marine ecosystems.
  
  

• When it comes to prioritising conservation efforts, maybe we should focus on populations and not species as a whole.
  
  

• Did somebody say… shark graveyard and a new species of shark?! Sounds like CSIRO reserachers had some bumper biodiversity surveys.
  
  

• Looks like the Cook Inlet beluga whale population is suffering from low birth rates.
  
  

• Pi the humpback whale has headed back to the Scilly Isles for Christmas. Pi is just one of several humpbacks who have been making an appearance in Cornish and Scilly Isle waters in recent years.
  
  

• Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is being hauled over the coals again, this time by scientists who analysed the content. They found misinformation, junk science, and questionable experts. They also highlight the lack of diversity would leave anyone thinking US shark research is (incorrectly) only done by white males.
  
  

• The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) concluded this month with the adoption of a global biodiversity framework and finance promises.
  
  

• Some corals in Palau have the genetic markers for remarkable tolerance to the extreme heat associated with marine heatwaves.
  
  

• One species of wood-boring clam is making chimneys out of poop.
  
  

• Did you know the northern star coral (Astrangia poculata) goes into hibernation during winter? During this time, the coral’s microbiome sheds nutrient-loving and pathogen-associated microbes, while increasing microbes that may contribute nitrogen.
  
  

• Researchers find signs of Alzheimer’s in three stranded cetaceans (a Bottlenose dolphin, a long-finned pilot whale, and a long-finned pilot whale).
  
  

• Sea turtles change grazing behaviour when they feel safe from predators.
  
  

• PVC in the water is linked with developmental abnormalities and death in sea urchin larvae.
  
  

Climate Crisis

• WRI has released a new report ” Towards Responsible and Informed Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Research and Governance Priorities.” The report distils the potential scale of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), expected costs, risks, co-benefits, and areas of research needed for seven ocean CDR approaches
  
  

• Some good algae news. Marine phytoplankton appear to be much more resilient to predicted climate change impactsthan previously thought.
  
  

• Whale whale whale, look who has the potential to act as a carbon sink.
  
  

• Researchers set sail to understand the natural sources of methane in the air and sea.
  
  

• Researchers think they have found a way to increase the amount of carbon dioxide stored in the ocean without causing additional acidification.
  
  

Fisheries and Aquaculture

• The latest edition of The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (SoMFi) found excessive exploitation has diminished in the region, particularly for key species subject to multilateral management plans. However, 73% of commercial species are still overfished and fishing pressure, while lower than in the past, is still double than what is considered sustainable.
  
  

• ICES has revised its Icelandic Waters Fisheries Overview, and updated ten other ecoregion reviews.
  
  

• 150,000 people signed a petition asking for new fish welfare standards in the EU. Organised by Compassion in World Farming, the petition was handed over to the European Commission, who will be reviewing laws for farmed animals in the near future.
  
  

• New seabed harvesting technology could make bottom fishing more selective and less damaging to the seafloor and the species that live there.
  
  

• The EU and UK have agreed on fishing opportunities for 2023. Focusing on the Northeast Atlantic, the agreement applies to more than 74 stocks.
  
  

• The 2022 edition of The EU Fish Market reportis out now. The report “aims at providing an economic description of the whole European fisheries and aquaculture industry.”
  
  

• The EU has adopted a set of fisheries conservation measures to strengthen the environmental protection of six Natura 2000 sites and two national marine protected areas (MPAs) in the North Sea.
  
  

Marine Technology

• Nortek's ADCPs have been capturing infragravity waves in The Netherlands. Researchers will use the data to understand how these long waves erode dune systems.
  
  

• MIT Technology Review has released it’s Blue Technology Barometer ranking. The Barometer ranks 66 countries and territories on the progress they are making toward sustainability by protecting the ocean environment, monitoring marine activity, contributing to technology innovation, and how well governments implement effective coastal policies.
  
  

• Wearables for dolphins are a thing, and one new device can be used to estimate how much energy dolphins use when they swim.
  
  

• Engineers have created a concept for a device to collect ocean water vapor and turn it into drinking water.
  
  

• The first MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) imager satellite was launched earlier this month.MTG is designed to improve weather forecasting in Europe and Africa.
  
  

• The ESA has secured launches for five Copernicus Sentinels (Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-2C, Sentinel-3C, and the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide-A and -B satellites).
  
  

• Say hello to Forabot, a new robotic technology that uses AI to physically manipulate the remains of organisms called foraminifera, so that they can be isolated, imaged and identified.
  
  

People and the Sea

• A voluntary program asking commercial vessels to slow down in Puget Sound, USA, reports a 61% participation rate in the first month. The slow-down should reduce vessel noise, making the Sound a safer place for orca.
  
  

• The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada have announced a new executive board.
  
  

• Over the past twenty years, the total amount of microplastics deposited on the bottom of oceans has tripled. This, researchers say, reflects the growing production and use of plastics.
  
  

• New analysis uncovers what would happen if the world’s 11 busiest marine chokepoints, or shipping straits like the Suez Canal, were closed due to politics, piracy, vessel accidents, or other causes.
  
  

• Study Estimates Economic Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms on Razor Clam–dependent Community.
  
  

Other

• The Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency estimate Zanzibar’s blue economy could create 9000 jobs.
  
  

• The Scottish Government has released the details of its planned first phase for the Blue Economy Vision.
  
  

• Canada is stepping up action on single-use plastics. From December 2022, the manufacture and import for sale of some single-use plastics, such as checkout bags and cutlery, will be banned.
  
  

• A small ocean gyre located near the Thwaites Ice Shelf in Antarctica seems to be playing a role in ice shelf melt.
  
  

• The launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, which can measure the height of a water surface to within a coupleof centimetres, “will be like slipping on a pair of eyeglasses.”
  
  

• Deep sea trenches are full of Carbon, soot, and particles from combustion.
  
  

• Don’t forget to check out the five winning marine-themed photographsfrom the British Ecological Society’s Capturing Ecology 2022 photography competition.
  
  

• Current plastic policymaking approaches have little effect on the global plastic pollution crisis.