EurekAlert! - Oceanography
Sun Apr 24 04:23:16 EDT 2011
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Seafloor recovery from fishing gear impacts in Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary slow, unstable - (NOAA Headquarters) The University of Connecticut and California State University researchers found that seafloor communities in a restricted fishing area in NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary showed indications of recovery from chronic fishing gear impacts but is not fully stable.

Life in extreme environments paves the way for international collaboration - (European Science Foundation) Life thriving in deserts, the polar regions and the deep sea is the focus of a report released today by the CAREX project, involving over 200 international scientists. The CAREX (Coordination Action for Research Activities on life in Extreme Environments) roadmap outlines priorities for future research into life in extreme environments, giving the basis for international collaboration.

VIMS study: Propeller turbulence may affect marine food webs - (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) A new study by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that turbulence from boat propellers can and does kill large numbers of copepods -- tiny crustaceans that are an important part of marine food webs.

Oxygenation at a depth of 120 meters can save the Baltic Sea - (University of Gothenburg) Oxygenation brings dead sea bottoms to life. This creates the necessary conditions for the establishment of new ecosystems that enable nature itself to deal with eutrophication. By conducting pilot studies in two fjords in Sweden, researchers at the University of Gothenburg have demonstrated that pumping oxygen-rich surface water down to sea bottoms is effective. A large wind-driven pump is now to be tested in open water in the Baltic.

How do you manage US oceans? Look at local successes - (Brown University) A team of experts led by Brown University has a plan to advance President Obama's directive to manage the nation's waters better. In a paper in Conservation Letters, the natural and social scientists offer several recommendations based on a two-year investigation of marine management efforts by more than two-dozen local and regional groups from California to Maine. The recommendations could be integrated into the National Ocean Policy.

Mercury on the rise in endangered Pacific seabirds - (Harvard School of Public Health) Using 120 years of feathers from natural history museums in the United States, Harvard University researchers have been able to track increases in the neurotoxin methylmercury in the black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), an endangered seabird that forages extensively throughout the Pacific.

First miniature sensors to measure the temperature of the world’s oceans - (University of Southampton) The first miniature sensors designed to measure saltiness and temperature across the world's oceans will be put in use later this week on an ambitious expedition.

Data catches up with theory: Ocean front is energetic contributor to mixing - (University of Washington) Wind blowing on the ocean is a crucial factor mixing carbon dioxide into the ocean depths and keeping it from going back into the atmosphere. For more than two decades scientists have suspected there's another -- possibly substantial -- source of energy for mixing that's generated where cold, heavy water collides with warm, light water. However, there's never been a way to get enough measurements of such a "front" to prove this -- until now.

Humpback whale songs spread eastward like the latest pop tune - (Cell Press) Humpback whales have their own version of the hit single, according to a study reported online on April 14 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. At any given time within a population, male humpbacks all sing the same mating tune. But the pattern of the song changes over time, with the new and apparently catchy versions of the song spreading repeatedly across the ocean, almost always traveling from west to east.

Bone-munching worms from the deep sea thrive on fish bones - (University of California - San Diego) A new study led by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is painting a more complete picture of an extraordinary sea worm that makes its living in the depths of the ocean on the bones of dead animals.

AGU journal highlights -- April 13, 2011 - (American Geophysical Union) Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Little Ice Age resulted from more than just solar calm," "Glacial dust carries iron to the Gulf of Alaska," "Model suggests how to end Haitian cholera epidemic," "Deadly 2010 Russian heat wave: Not from climate change," and "Cause of 2010 Russian heat wave was largely predictable."

Death -- not just life -- important link in marine ecosystems - (National Science Foundation) Tiny crustaceans called copepods rule the world, at least when it comes to oceans and estuaries.The most numerous multi-cellular organisms in the seas, copepods are an important link between phytoplankton and fish in marine food webs.

Office of Naval Research showcases technologies at Sea-Air-Space Expo - (Office of Naval Research) The Office of Naval Research (ONR) will display some of its newest technologies and programs, including alternative energy initiatives as well as laser and weapon systems, at the 2011 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition to be held April 11-13 at National Harbor, Md.

Bioengineering with vetiver grass on Guam - (University of Guam) A University of Guam scientist uses vetiver grass to save reefs.

Ancient corals provide insight on the future of Caribbean reefs - (University of Miami) Climate change is already widely recognized to be negatively affecting coral reef ecosystems around the world, yet the long-term effects are difficult to predict. University of Miami (UM) scientists are using the geologic record of Caribbean corals to understand how reef ecosystems might respond to climate change expected for this century. The findings are published in the current issue of the journal Geology.

The International Sea Turtle Society in San Diego, April 10-16, 2011 - (NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service) The annual symposium brings people together from all around the world (more than 800 people from over 75 countries), all dedicated to the research and conservation of sea turtles. The 2011 Symposium marks the return of this meeting to the US for the first time in four years, and it will be the first-ever symposium hosted on the US west coast.

New research finds mangroves key to climate change - (Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)) New research shows that mangroves store exceptionally more carbon than most tropical forests, but they are being destroyed from coastlines at a rapid rate causing significant emissions of greenhouse gases.

Where will the debris from Japan's tsunami drift in the ocean? - (University of Hawaii at Manoa) The huge tsunami triggered by the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake destroyed coastal towns near Sendai in Japan, washing such things as houses and cars into the ocean. Based on a model derived from past trajectories of drifting buoys, projections of where this debris might head over the next five to six years have been made by Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Icy meltwater pooling in Arctic Ocean: A wild card in climate change scenarios - (Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)) Scientists describe a wide variety of physical ocean changes anticipated due to climate change, including a warning that in the Arctic Ocean a massive, growing pool of icy meltwater, currently estimated at twice the volume of Lake Victoria, is a wild card in future climate scenarios.Project CLAMER is a collaboration of 17 institutes based in 10 European countries to inventory and synthesize the research of almost 300 EU-funded projects over 13 years related to climate change and the marine environment.

Historian says history of nuclear power needs to be addressed - (Oregon State University) The long-standing conflicts over nuclear power and the risks of radiation exposure are nothing new -- in fact, the debate over the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in Japan are similar to arguments happening between scientists, governmental agencies and the public since 1945, according to an Oregon State University expert on the history of science.

WHOI-led team locates Air France wreckage - (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) A search team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has located the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 some 3,900 meters, or nearly 2.5 miles, below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil's northeastern coast.

World's reef fishes tussling with human overpopulation - (Dalhousie University) Scientists from 49 nations demonstrated that the ability of reef fish systems to produce goods and services to humanity increases rapidly with the number of species. However, growing human populations hamper the ability of reefs to function normally, and the most diverse reef fish systems suffer the greatest impairments from stressors triggered by human populations.

Protein adaptation shows that life on early earth lived in a hot, acidic environment - (Georgia Institute of Technology Research News) A new study reveals that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years, providing evidence that life on Early Earth evolved from a much hotter, more acidic environment to the cooler, less acidic global environment that exists today.

Human impacts on the marine ecosystems of Antarctica - (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK)) A team of scientists in the United Kingdom and the United States has warned that the native fauna and unique ecology of the Southern Ocean, the vast body of water that surrounds the Antarctic continent, is under threat from human activity. Their study is published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Icebergs in the Antarctic play important role in carbon cycle - (University of California - San Diego) After following the path of a drifting iceberg, a research team's discoveries could have implications for climate change studies.