Missed out on September 2023’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
Oceanography
People and the Sea
Animals and Plants
In a first-of-its-kind data collection for racing boats, environmental DNA was gathered during a leg of the round-the-world sailing Race. Scientists found a link between latitude and the abundance of ocean bacteria that break down plastic. Read more.
Scientists are trying to raise as many urchins as possible because they eat algae that could otherwise smother reef ecosystems and kill corals. Researchers have identified algae on which larval sea urchins grow into juveniles in a lab setting. Read more.
A herring in the North Sea, a crab in the Wadden Sea or an anemone fish on a coral reef, … biologists like to think in terms of individual species that all have their own place within food webs in ecosystems across the world. ‘But that is surely too simplistic thinking,’ researchers warn. Read more.
A new study presents genomic evidence of hybridization between two closely related species of sea stars – Asterias rubens, the common starfish, and Asterias forbesi, known as Forbes’ sea star. Read more.
A study shows nest temperatures affect leatherback hatchling shape, performance and nest success. Lower temperatures produced longer hatchlings; highest temperatures produced hatchlings with thicker body depths. Hatchlings from the highest nest temperatures had shorter flippers. Righting response (ability to flip over) scores were significantly lower in hatchlings from hotter nests. Hatchlings that were smaller and/or had a larger body depth struggled to right themselves. The leatherback turtle nests in this study also had an overall lower hatching success (45 percent) than loggerhead (73 percent) and green sea turtles (70 percent). Read more.
Right at the bottom of the deep sea, the first very simple forms of life on earth probably emerged a long time ago. Today, the deep sea is known for its bizarre fauna. Intensive research is being conducted into how the number of species living on the sea floor have changed in the meantime. Some theories say that the ecosystems of the deep sea have emerged again and again after multiple mass extinctions and oceanic upheavals. Today’s life in the deep sea would thus be comparatively young in the history of the Earth. But there is increasing evidence that parts of this world are much older than previously thought. Read more.
Whale scientists capture the sights and sounds of a baby sperm whale birth for the first time Read more.
There’s been a common sight on Northeast beaches this summer: an alarmingly rise in whale carcasses washing in from the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.
Large numbers of dead fish continue to wash up along the Texas coast. Beachgoers found miles of dead fish along Galveston last weekend. Penny Pereboom posted a video on Facebook on Sunday, September 10, showing “seas of dead fish” that washed up along the coast in Galveston. Read more.
Fisheries and Oceans observers have spotted what they believe to be one of the largest groups of killer whales ever recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador waters. Read more.
Seaweed is taking over coral reefs. But there’s a gardening solution–sea-weeding Read more.
Scientists have mapped the reproductive strategies and life cycle of an endangered coral species, the purple cauliflower soft coral Dendronephthya australis. Lab-grown larvae have been successfully introduced back into the wild. Read more.
An international group of researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of large foraminifer, shedding new light on the ecological evolution and biodiversity of coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands. Read more.
Marine virologists analyzed sediment from the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, and identified a new bacteriophage. Read more.
Several sea lions have been found dead and dying along the California coast, with scientists suspecting a bacterial disease is the culprit. Read more.
Climate Crisis
A groundbreaking scientific review article led by a Marine Institute researcher sheds light on the significant effects of climate change and increased human activity on Arctic cod and the entire Arctic ecosystem. Read more.
New research found that marine heat waves – prolonged periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures – haven’t had a lasting effect on the fish communities that feed most of the world. The finding is in stark contrast to the devastating effects seen on other marine ecosystems cataloged by scientists after similar periods of warming, including widespread coral bleaching and harmful algal blooms. Read more.
Cuban scientists hunt for clues to save coral reefs as ocean temperatures soar Read more.
New research shows that mussels are pretty crafty sea creatures: able to withstand marine heatwaves by adjusting their heart rate and other physiological functions, boding well for their survival in future decades as the world heats up. Read more.
Fisheries and Aquaculture
New Zealand deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 6 September, making it the first country from the Oceania region to do so. Read more.
Iceland’s government said on Thursday it will resume hunting fin whales after a two-month halt, but with new guidelines aimed at killing them as quickly as possible to reduce suffering. Read more.
Researchers have succeeded in nurturing a small snail called periwinkles in the laboratory for the very first time and are hoping that this French delicacy might be the launch pad for a new, Norwegian aquaculture business. Read more.
The sun and the sea – both abundant and free – are being harnessed in a unique project to create vertical sea farms floating on the ocean that can produce fresh water for drinking and agriculture. Read more.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) discovered an extensive damage in the corals surrounding Rozul (Iroquios) Reef in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and it suspected that the swarming of Chinese vessels in the area had something to do with it. Read more.
‘Monstrous’ sea lice and jellyfish invasions blighting Scottish salmon farms: Vegan charity and its drones reveal that parasites are infesting fish reared for UK supermarkets. Read more.
Marine Technology
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has installed specialised sensors on Darumbal Sea Country in the Southern Great Barrier Reef to help monitor and forecast sediment run-off, which impacts the UNESCO World Heritage site’s marine ecosystem. The reef is one of seven test sites for CSIRO’s AquaWatch Australia Mission, which is creating a world-first ‘weather service’ for water quality using a combination of specialised sensors and satellite data. Read more.
Norwegian researchers are currently developing wind turbines that can adapt their blade rotation speeds to prevent bird strikes. Read more.
Researchers have genetically engineered a marine microorganism to break down plastic in salt water. Specifically, the modified organism can break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic used in everything from water bottles to clothing that is a significant contributor to microplastic pollution in oceans. Read more.
Oceanography
The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond certain levels, according to an analysis by an international team of scientists. Read more.
As global ice dams begin to weaken due to warming temperatures, a new study suggests that prior attempts to evaluate the mass of the huge floating ice shelves that line the Antarctic ice sheet may have overestimated their thickness. Read more.
New research by an international team of scientists explains what’s behind a stalled trend in Arctic Ocean sea ice loss since 2007. The findings indicate that stronger declines in sea ice will occur when an atmospheric feature known as the Arctic dipole reverses itself in its recurring cycle. The many environmental responses to the Arctic dipole are described in a recent article. This analysis helps explain how North Atlantic water influences Arctic Ocean climate. Scientists call it Atlantification. Read more.
Earth’s mysterious core may be encased by an ancient ocean floor that has mountains 5 times taller than Everest Read more.
INFOMAR releases five new high-resolution maps showcasing the Cork coastline in unprecedented detail Read more.
Home to the longest coastline in the world, Canada is seeing a patchwork of superheating in all three oceans as global sea surface temperatures reached unprecedented heights in July. Read more.
Results provide the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life adjust to the dramatic seasonal rhythms in the Southern Ocean. The results provide clues to what might happen as this ecosystem shifts under climate change. Read more.
An international team of scientists has successfully conducted large-scale helicopter-based observations along the coast of East Antarctica and has identified pathways through which warm ocean water flows from the open ocean into ice shelf cavities for the first time. Read more.
Hadal trenches, with their deepest locations situated in the so-called hadal zone, the deepest parts of the ocean in water depth >6km, are the least-explored environment on Earth, linking the Earth’s surface and its deeper interior. An international team conducting deep-subsurface sampling in a hadal trench at high spatial resolution has revealed exciting insights on the carbon cycling in the trench sediment. Read more.
Antarctica’s vast ice masses seem far away, yet they store enough water to raise global sea levels by several meters. A team of experts has now provided the first systematic stability inspection of the ice sheet’s current state. Their diagnosis: While they found no indication of irreversible, self-reinforcing retreat of the ice sheet in West Antarctica yet, global warming to date could already be enough to trigger the slow but certain loss of ice over the next hundreds to thousands of years. Read more.
The Gulf Stream transport of water through the Florida Strait has slowed by 4% over the past four decades, with a 99% certainty that this weakening is more than expected from random chance, according to a new study. Read more.
In the ‘weather kitchen,’ the interplay between the Azores High and Icelandic Low has a substantial effect on how much warm water the Atlantic transports to the Arctic along the Norwegian coast. But this rhythm can be thrown off for years at a time. Experts finally have an explanation for why: Due to unusual atmospheric pressure conditions over the North Atlantic, low-pressure areas are diverted from their usual track, which disrupts the coupling between the Azores High, the Icelandic Low and the winds off the Norwegian coast. This finding is an important step toward refining climate models and more accurately predicting the fate of Arctic sea ice in the face of progressing climate change. Read more.
People and the Sea
The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is letting fishers know where previously hidden wrecks can be found. Read more.
Salmon savers: Volunteers in Santa Cruz County seek to turn tide of declining coho populations. Read more.
Otherworldly images show beauty of oceans in photo competition Read more.
In a landmark hearing, small island nations disproportionately affected by the climate crisis will take on high-emitting countries in a court in Hamburg, Germany, on 11 September, in what is being seen as the first climate justice case aimed at protecting the ocean. Read more.
Around six billion tonnes of sand is dredged from the world’s oceans every year, endangering marine life and coastal communities, the UN says. Read more.
New Important Marine Mammal Areas—33 IMMAs in total—have been identified and are now on the map of the South West Atlantic Ocean from the Guianas, north of the Brazilian Amazon, to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Read more.
The Ocean Foundation, with support from National Geographic, collaborated with a group of eight young professionals (ages 18 to 26) from seven different countries to develop a Youth Ocean Action Toolkit — in both English and Spanish! Created by youth and for youth, the toolkit contains a collection of stories and case studies of Marine Protected Areas around the world that illustrate the power of collaboration, education, and community action, from the Arctic to the South Pacific and beyond. Read more.
Researchers are assessing the efficacy of shark sanctuaries by developing a modeling system that utilizes publicly accessible fishing data to determine shark catch and mortality rates. Their findings represent an important step in utilizing data science to tackle oceanic conservation challenges. Read more.
Whales stop singing and rock lobsters lose their balance: how seismic surveys can harm marine life Read more.
A court in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has suspended a shark cull, saying there was insufficient information about their numbers or the environmental impact of a hunt. Read more.
Ellen Kenchington is honoured with ICES Outstanding Achievement Award as the Annual Science Conference opens in Bilbao, Spain. Read more.
Rockefeller Asset Management and KraneShares on Tuesday announced the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on the so-called “blue economy,” which seeks to develop marine and freshwater resources and manage them in a sustainable way. Read more.
Bonds to finance sustainable ocean-friendly projects in the Asia-Pacific are growing in relevance and importance among investors and policymakers due to the region’s dependence on coastal and marine resources. Read more.
A new study sheds new light on the origins of modern brain cells. Researchers find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in placozoans, tiny sea creatures the size of a grain of sand, have many similarities to the neuron, such as the genes required to create a partial synapse. From an evolutionary point of view, early neurons might have started as something like these cells, eventually gaining the ability to create a complete synapse, form axons and dendrites and create ion channels that generate fast electrical signals – innovations which gave rise to the neuron in more complex animals such as jellyfish. Though the complete story of how the first neuron appeared remains to be told, the study demonstrates that the basic building blocks for our brain cells were forming in the ancestors of placozoans grazing inconspicuously in the shallow seas of Earth around 800 million years ago. Read more.