Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) President Martin Shaw reflects on the papers submitted to the ninth session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers.
Bacteria linked to mass death of sea sponges weakened by warming Mediterranean
In 2021, divers off the Turkish Aegean coast first observed dark stinging sponges dying in great numbers. Researchers have now sampled three species of pathogenic Vibrio bacteria, previously known to infect unrelated marine animals, from diseased and dying sponges. Evidence suggests that vibriosis may be a secondary illness that affects already weakened sponges, but is not necessarily the primary agent of the novel disease.
Modernising competency standards for the age of autonomous shipping
Diving deeper for Tenerife's crustacean communities
World-first system to monitor the ‘seafood basket’ of Australia
Ship enclosed spaces are more dangerous than you think
From the seawire: ocean news in November 2023
Plastic additives messing with amphipod sex life
Endangered turtle population under threat as pollution may lead to excess of females being born
Researchers from Australia studied the influence of pollution on the sex ratio of clutches of sea green turtles. This species is at risk of extinction from a current lack of male hatchlings. They concluded that exposure to the heavy metals cadmium and antimony, accumulated by the mother and transferred to her eggs, may cause embryos to be feminised. Pollution may thus compound the female-biasing influence of rising global temperatures on green sea turtles.