Recent plans to clean plastics from the five massive ocean garbage patches could do more damage to the environment than leaving the plastic right where it is.
There is no doubt that the focus on cleaning…
Despite the cold, high pressure and lack of light, the deep sea is an incredibly rich ecosystem.
AAP Image/Queensland Brain Institute
With the global population now well over seven billion people there are few remaining parts of the world relatively untouched by human activity. We assess the current state and future prospects of five…
It seems Architeuthis dux is the only species of giant squid.
NHK/NEP/Discovery Channel
As many as 21 species of giant squid live and die under the surface of our oceans. At least, that’s what we thought. A paper published today by my colleagues and I in Proceedings of the Royal Society B…
Plastic is a major threat to our seabirds and marine life – this bird has filled its stomach with plastic during the 80-90 days it lived.
Ian Hutton
Seabirds: the poster children for ocean health. Fishers use them to identify fishing hot spots. Environmental and marine scientists use them as indicators of the condition of the ocean environment due…
Recent research shows an acidifying ocean is more damaging to coral than we’d hoped.
Community Eye Health
Ocean acidification – where the ocean becomes less alkaline as it absorbs excess CO2 from the atmosphere – has been described as the evil twin of global warming. Yet, remarkably, it is only over the past…
Fisheries around the world are depleted, but they can be saved.
Isaac Pearlman
By Dan Ovando, University of California, Santa Barbara
Many fisheries around the world are in bad shape and getting worse. Solving this problem will require innovative monitoring and management tools, but we can provide tremendous benefits if we act now to…
Understanding the stingray’s significance can help us understand opposition to James Price Point gas plans.
Joy VanBuhler
For overwhelming economic, social, cultural and environmental reasons the LNG precinct proposed for Walmadany (James Price Point) should not be built…In sum, such a project is against the national interest…
Killing starfish one by one is no long-term solution.
Paul Cizek
A recent report on coral loss from the Great Barrier Reef has pointed the finger at cyclones and Crown of Thorns starfish. The real culprit is human activity, and until we reduce port activity and pollution…
The Great Barrier Reef may be huge and long-lived, but without intervention it’s in serious trouble.
Landfeldt/Flickr
There is a myth about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, that goes like this: because it is so big, biodiverse, so well-managed and generally bloody awesome, the GBR is immune to climate change and other…
Could waves and ocean currents hold a key to a renewable energy future?
Sunova Surfboards
CSIRO recently announced that energy from the ocean could supply 11% of Australia’s demand by 2050. That is enough to power a city the size of Melbourne.
It is a bold claim, but it’s time for Australia…
We thought we’d set a safe limit on climate change – 450ppm CO2 – but it may be too high for most of the world’s reefs.
Paul Toogood
One of the ambitions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is galvanising the international community to avoid dangerous interference with Earth’s climate. To do this, it…
Microbial abundances in the sub-seafloor environment are much more variable than thought.
giveawayboy
A paper released today in the journal PNAS provides a new estimate of microbial abundance, in light of new information, from the sub-seafloor realm (the so-called “deep biosphere”). As such, we now have…
The shrimp Lebbeus clarehanna is a new species collected at about 400 metres depth – it’s species like this new marine reserves will protect.
CSIRO
Recently, members of the fishing industry staged a protest about Australia’s new network of marine parks. But when Environment Minister Tony Burke announced the parks on July 11 2012, he noted the reserves…
Coral species Acropora monticulosa is becoming more abundant at the Solitary Islands in northern NSW.
The east coast of Australia is a global hotspot for the effects of climate change, especially in the marine realm, where average water temperatures have increased by almost half a degree over the last…
What does it matter how much rain falls on the ocean? For understanding climate, it matters quite a lot.
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
By Paul J Durack, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Surprising evidence from the oceans suggests they are responding to warming at a faster rate than we previously thought. These changes are expressed by patterns of freshening and enhanced salinity in the…
We’re just coming to grips with Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, one of the many climate modes that cause Australia’s wide and wonderful range of climate variability.
mattharvey1/Flickr
While most people now understand that the enhanced greenhouse effect means a much warmer planet, communicating regional shifts in weather remains a significant challenge.
As with most complex science…
Cameron’s voyage was a source of genuine wonder … so why the sinking feeling?
Mark Thiessen/EPA
Today as I ate lunch, Titanic, Terminator and Avatar director James Cameron was at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean. We know this for a couple of reasons. Not only did he…
Warmer temperatures mean more female than male turtles, but it’s not all good news for the guys.
Dave Scriven
Many species have dubious futures in the face of climate change. But sea turtles have a particularly pressing problem: their sex is determined by temperature.
Australia has ecologically and culturally…
How many jellyfish are there really?
ImipolexG/Flickr
It seems that every day you read in the scientific literature and global media about the human destruction of our oceans, through impacts such as climate change, eutrophication, overfishing and urban sprawling…
The wrecking of the MV Tycoon happened just as Christmas Island’s famous crabs began spawning.
Justin Gilligan
Christmas Island has been once again in the headlines: not because of incidents involving asylum-seekers, but because of the recent sinking and breaking up of the Panamanian phosphate carrier MC Tycoon…
It takes just two generations to adapt to warmer ocean temperatures.
Jennifer Donelson
The average temperature of the oceans has already increased significantly due to global warming and will continue to warm rapidly in coming decades. If we are going to effectively manage and conserve fish…
Stromatolites are among the most ancient records of life on earth.
Ellie Gee
Climate change – resulting in more frequent flooding of the Wooramel River that leads into Shark Bay – may threaten the unique stromatolites that make Shark Bay a World Heritage site. These stromatolites…
Coral bleaching is a serious issue, but we’re learning how reefs can best recover.
AFP/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Coral reefs around the world are under pressure from multiple threats. A burgeoning gas industry – such as that near Gladstone – is one of the newest of these. Pollution, sedimentation, declining water…
Culling sharks is unlikely to make our beaches safer.
Hermanus Backpackers
In Western Australia, politicians and members of the public are calling for a shark cull in response to the state’s recent shark attack fatalities.
The most recent of these attacks was on a diver off…
Shark nets have been proven to hurt sharks, but does that help humans?
AAP
Western Australia’s Cottesloe Beach has been closed due to concerns a swimmer there was taken by a great white shark.
The public is understandably worried, but the local mayor says no shark nets will…
Oil gets into the ocean in all sorts of ways, but oil spills are the most visible.
AAP
Responding to oil spills, like that in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty, is a very complex, high pressure situation. Decisions must be made based on whatever data are available at the time.
One of the difficulties…
Why deplete a country’s mineral resources when its natural capital is worth so much more?
Muhammad Erdi Lazuardi
“Natural capital” is the resources in nature’s bank. Nature’s capital is not evenly spread across the world: some areas are “richer” than others. Raja Ampat in Papua is one of the richest. Currently under…
Southern bluefin tuna are critically endangered, but the fishing industry wants to catch more.
AAP
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna is meeting today to discuss raising Australia’s tuna fishing quota.
The tuna industry is expected to ask for a 30% rise in Australia’s allocated…
Seals, turtles, sharks and dolphins are killed by abandoned fishing nets.
tedxgp/Flickr
Pollution from human activities has major impact on the world’s marine ecosystems. Plastic refuse is one of the most pervasive types of pollution.
More than 80 million tons of plastics are estimated to…
It will take more than science to save the last tuna from becoming sashimi.
x v r/Flickr
Fisheries provide animal protein for much of the world’s population, and provide livelihoods for the millions of people who work in fishing industries. But overfishing, in conjunction with other human…
Simple seagrass can answer some complex climate problems.
Joanne Saad
Reducing carbon emissions is necessary, but what about the carbon that has already been released into the atmosphere? Many countries are turning to “biosequestration” for the answers: using nature – including…
Ocean acidification is most acute in the polar regions.
Enzofloyd/flickr
Ocean acidification is often referred to as the “evil twin” of climate change.
Greenhouse gasses are doing more than just warming the globe. Increasing C0₂ levels are also changing the chemical make-up…
Marine parks are an evidence-based way to stop trashing ocean environments.
Urban Woodswalker/flickr
Given the growing evidence of catastrophic extinctions in the world’s oceans due to climate change and overfishing (see, for example, the recent IPSO report) one would expect a groundswell of demand for…
With the release of the US Government’s “Report regarding the causes of the Macondo Well blowout”, it may be time to take another look at whether Australian legislation can prevent a Deepwater Horizon…
What has your ocean done for you recently? Lots, actually.
AAP
Whether it’s sailing across turquoise waters, admiring a sea view or being able to pop a shrimp on the barbie, on World Oceans Day it is fitting to reflect on how most people derive some benefit from our…
The availability of oil has led to changes in Arctic governance.
AAP
Recent Wikileaks cables detailing diplomatic jostling over the Arctic region only confirm how hotly contested it has become.
There are three principal reasons for this tension:
-The dynamic created by…
