The Pew Charitable Trusts organization recently awarded Yimnang Golbuu, CEO and Chief Researcher of the Palau International Coral Reef Center a 2013 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to assess the connectivity of marine protected areas in Palau. PICRC researchers and colleagues developed a hydrodynamic model to track coral and fish larvae as they move through [...]
Science recently declared that new technologies are making remote sensing of the ocean a “new wave” of oceanography. This growing array of lower-cost, high-tech instruments–satellites, robotic gliders, moored sensors, underwater observatories–is transforming the discipline of oceanography, possibly reducing the need for expensive research vessels. A new class of automated biological sensors are nearing readiness and [...]
Coastal areas around New England should prepare for a “moderate” red tide this spring and summer, according to scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This seasonal forecast is based on samples of algal cysts taken from the ocean floor last year as indicators of this year’s bloom severity. For the first time, the team also used [...]
A recent article “Is Global Ocean Sprawl a Cause of Jellyfish Blooms?” proposes one possible cause for the apparent rise in this phenomenon that’s increasingly aggravating residents of coastal areas around the world. In the piece, based partially on research funded by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the authors theorize that a major reason for these [...]
Something good is happening at Georges Bank, a large area off the coast of Massachusetts that separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean: After 22 years, some 6,000 square miles of the sea floor recently reopened for surf clam and ocean quahog fishing. Together, the two bivalve species comprise a multimillion-dollar fishery along [...]
NOAA-funded research in the Caribbean is using the underwater sounds of reef fish, such as groupers, to identify areas where they gather to spawn — a behavior that makes the fish easier to catch and susceptible to overfishing. The research may lead to more precise measures to protect spawning locations and thereby allow a depleted [...]
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s DOOM lab (Dissolved Oxygen and Oyster Mortality) is examining how oysters respond to sudden drops in oxygen levels in shallow parts of the Chesapeake Bay at night. These fluctuations are partially natural, but appear to be made worse by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Oxygen depletion may make oysters more susceptible [...]
Teaching college undergraduates introductory biology includes helping students understand the relationships between genes, mutations, and the environment interacting together as biological evolution. A complete understanding of evolution requires knowledge that spans many biological sub-disciplines including genetics, cell biology and ecology. A group of professors at Michigan State University developed case studies for teaching evolution. These cases, [...]