tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/marine-514/articlesMarine – The Conversation2024-02-02T17:35:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218062024-02-02T17:35:14Z2024-02-02T17:35:14ZHow trophy fishing can have a sustainable future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572280/original/file-20240130-29-g3zie3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blue sharks are popular targets of a catch-and-release fishery along the southern coast of England</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/magnificent-blue-shark-elegant-proud-look-2318078271">Vladimir Turkenich/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was 1984, and a hot tropical sun beat down on the inky blue depths of the Huon Gulf, a large inlet of the Solomon Sea just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Suddenly, the peace was broken by the scream of a fishing reel as a four-metre-long blue marlin (<em>Makaira mazaraburst</em>) burst from the water. </p>
<p>For the next hour the giant fish surged, leapt and tail walked, as my best friend and fishing companion mostly just held on. Then, suddenly, it was gone. </p>
<p>The trace had frayed. No fishermen likes to lose a fish, but for me, there was also a sense of relief that it had got away. That fish was the most magnificent creature I’d ever seen, and that moment helped inspire my lifelong career in marine biology.</p>
<p>Recreational fishing for the largest species and individual fish in the sea like this is often called trophy fishing. Anglers seek to set new size records, either overall or using particular line strengths. These can be incredible specimens – the <a href="https://www.marlinmag.com/biggest-marlin-ever-caught/">largest marlin ever caught</a> weighed over 700kg, similar to a small car. </p>
<h2>What’s the catch?</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.4051">In a new paper</a>, we analysed 80 years of trophy fishing world records, using data recorded by the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) to reveal some intriguing trends. Notably, in the 1950s, the average record-holding fish weighed a hefty 168kg, but this figure fell drastically to just 8kg in the 2010s. </p>
<p>The fish are not shrinking, instead anglers are now targeting a broader range of smaller species. However, this might signal a concerning decline in the population of larger fish species.</p>
<p>There has also been a noticeable expansion of trophy fishing worldwide. While the US dominated the scene historically, recent decades have seen an uptick in records from regions like Japan and New Zealand. </p>
<p>This global spread offers potential social and economic benefits to these new areas, but also raises concerns about increased fishing pressure on local fish populations that were previously less targeted.</p>
<p>Perhaps our most significant observation was the sharp decline in new records for fish species listed as threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Comparing the last decade (2010–2018) to the 2000s, there has been a roughly 66% decrease in records for these at-risk species. </p>
<p>This trend could indicate a growing awareness towards conservation issues in trophy fishing or could reflect the worrying reality of diminished populations of these species. The exact implications of this trend are yet to be fully understood.</p>
<p>Trophy fishing is controversial. Some people will never be fans. The largest fish in the ocean are often <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/71/8/2171/748104">the most productive breeders</a>, so catching and killing them, especially threatened species, doesn’t make sense. However, while world record fish accredited by the IGFA gain the spotlight, they account for a very small number of fish in total. </p>
<p>Much more concerning are the fishing tournaments that offer <a href="https://www.bisbees.com/News/Article/166">highly lucrative prizes</a> for landing the largest and most fish and <a href="https://sharkallies.org/shark-fishing-tournaments">sharks</a> in a given period of time. </p>
<h2>Tackling sustainability</h2>
<p>Trophy fishing, and sport fishing in general, is changing to become more sustainable, and even a force for good. In 2011, the IGFA introduced the <a href="https://igfa.org/announcement/igfa-launches-all-tackle-length-record-release-category/">“all-tackle length” category</a>. This approach records the length of the fish rather than weight, enabling it to be released without needing to kill it. </p>
<p>The Shark Angling Club of Great Britain has been releasing all sharks for decades and the <a href="https://anglingtrust.net/2023/11/22/update-from-british-record-fish-committee/">British Record Fish Committee</a> recently decided to only allow length-based records for large sharks, with fish having to be measured while still in the water. Although releasing fish does not guarantee survival, that can be maximised by using <a href="https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/11/1/coad100/7503354">the right gear and careful handling</a>. Such approaches should become mandatory for all trophy anglers.</p>
<p>Anglers dedicate extensive time to their passion, developing a wealth of knowledge about the fish they catch. Harnessing this expertise is crucial for better estimating the extent of trophy fishing and increasing knowledge of fish stocks in general. </p>
<p>In the UK, anglers and scientists are working together through initiatives such as <a href="https://anglingtrust.net/sea/sea-angling-science/shark-hub-uk/">Shark Hub UK</a> and <a href="https://anglingtrust.net/sea/sea-angling-science/pollack-project/">Project Pollack</a> to gather catch data, collect samples and tag fish. </p>
<p>This approach not only aids conservation efforts but also aligns with the anglers’ interest in maintaining healthy fish populations for the future. After all, the recreational fisheries are not only a source of livelihood but also contribute to the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3986/4/3/30">mental and physical wellbeing</a> of those who engage with them.</p>
<p>Nearly 40 years after that experience in Papua New Guinea, I marvelled at huge schools of giant fish off the coast of southern England last summer. These Atlantic bluefin tuna (<em>Thunnus thynnus</em>) have had <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/78/5/1672/6231587?login=false">a remarkable recovery</a> around the coast, most likely due to a combination of improved management and changing environmental conditions. </p>
<p>From this year, the UK government has authorised a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/recreational-fishing-for-atlantic-bluefin-tuna-set-to-start-in-english-waters-next-year#:%7E:text=Each%20UK%20fisheries%20administration%20will,commercial%20fishery%20for%20bluefin%20tuna.">catch and release only recreational fishery</a> for these fish. With continued careful management this should bring exciting angling, social and economic benefits for years to come.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryce Stewart receives funding from Defra and UK Research and Innovation. He is a member of the Marine Conservation Society and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and sits on the Marine Stewardship Council Stakeholder Advisory Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trophy fishing is a big threat to some of the most threatened species of fish, but there are ways to adapt the sport with marine conservation in mind.Bryce Stewart, Senior research fellow, Marine Biological AssociationJames Boon, PhD candidate in Marine Ecology, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1899322023-09-29T17:04:04Z2023-09-29T17:04:04ZJellyfish: our complex relationship with the oceans’ anti-heroes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513157/original/file-20230302-28-r91z9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C6699%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The purple-striped Jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/purplestriped-jellyfish-chrysaora-colorata-isolated-on-1633522279">Lukas Gojda/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ding! The courier hands me an unassuming brown box with “live animals” plastered on the side. I begin carefully unboxing. The cardboard exterior gives way to a white polystyrene clamshell, cloistering a pearly sphere-shaped, water-filled bag. Lightly pulsing, I spot them: three cannonball jellyfish (<em>Stomolophus meleagris</em>). Each the size of a 50-pence coin. </p>
<p>After months of waiting, my first gelatinous companions had arrived and I was finally ready to begin my research on human connections with jellyfish.</p>
<p>Cannonball jellyfish are an unusual <a href="https://jellyfish-farm.com/en">pet choice</a>. Whether <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/jellyfish-beach-wales-ireland-b2117205.html">stinging</a> beachgoers, <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2021/10/jellyfish-attack-nuclear-power-plant-again/">clogging</a> power station intake pipes, or <a href="https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/invasive-species-are-changing-the-nature-of-the-mediterranean-sea-ga0fbpdb">outcompeting</a> more popular ocean wildlife, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1039-7">jellyfish</a> are often labelled <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/892429">nuisances</a>.</p>
<p>Despite their poor press, they have a growing community of admirers. Thousands of people drift to aquariums each year to admire jellyfish. Darting around and bumping into one another, tentacles circling or gently pulsing they inspire delight in their guests. The Californian Monterey Bay Aquarium’s <a href="https://zoolex.org/gallery/show/771/">Jellyfish: Living Art</a> was the organisation’s <a href="https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2008/07/09/popular-jelly-fish-exhibit-to-end-its-run-at-monterey-bay-aquarium/">most popular and long-running</a> exhibit since opening in 1984. </p>
<p>Jellyfish not only have the ability to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-1892925">captivate</a> us. It may also <a href="https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2011.506">benefit our health</a>. A study has shown eating cannonball jellyfish, for example, can reduce the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011875720415">effects of arthritis</a> – albeit so far only in a small group of rats.</p>
<h2>A biological wonder</h2>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, however, we can learn a lot from studying the incredible biology of jellyfish. For example, immortal jellyfish (<em>Turritopsis dohrnii</em>) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118763119">sidestep the ageing process</a> by reverting to their polyp stage.</p>
<p>Crystal jellies’ (<em>Aequorea victoria</em>) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2008.1159">green fluorescent protein</a> (GFP), found in organs within the animal’s bell, allows scientists to study gene expression. Gene expression is the instruction manual DNA follows, for example, to become proteins. This process can be quite complex and difficult to follow. But the GFP lights up under ultraviolet light, which helps scientists map the different processes a cell goes through as it follows DNA instructions.</p>
<p>Jellyfish deserve more of the public’s attention. They are a major player in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/531432a">marine food web</a> and have complex relationships with other wildlife. For example, cannonball jellyfish have a fascinating relationship with young spider crabs (<em>Libinia spp.</em>) that live inside their bells. This gives the crabs security and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1656/058.019.0204">research suggests</a> jellyfish hosting crabs grow larger than those without, but it’s not clear why. </p>
<p>Some scientists say jellyfish are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1039-7">climate-change survivors</a>, which they don’t mean as a compliment. Despite rising temperatures, they sometimes “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/listening-to-jellyfish/546542/">jellify</a>” the ocean because of their sudden population “blooms”. However, they have their own <a href="https://www.ladyscience.com/essays/the-professor-bringing-her-love-of-jellies-to-the-masses-2021">climate-change-related problems</a>.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0722-1_12">temperature increases</a> in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake in the South Pacific have been linked to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0382">disappearance</a> of golden jellyfish (<em>Mastigias papua</em>). Jellyfish blooms are also often followed by crashes in their populations, which are caused by several <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7015-7_4">overlapping factors</a> such as food shortage, predation, parasites, disease, weather and getting stranded on beaches.</p>
<h2>Sea curiosities</h2>
<p>There are so many reasons humans should make an effort to understand jellyfish better. Research suggests <a href="https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/resource/ocean-literacy-the-essential-principles-and-fundamental-concepts-of-ocean-sciences-for-learners-of-all-ages-2020/">ocean literacy</a> is best cultivated through <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/esep00196">hands-on experience</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00288">personal interactions</a>. But the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347112">technology</a> aquariums use to bring jellyfish to the masses limit how involved audiences can be with the animals. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cannonball jellyfish floating in a kit aquarium" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513643/original/file-20230306-17-u0yla7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cannonball jellyfish in a kit aquarium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Beach</span></span>
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<p>Although scientists have argued <a href="https://qz.com/1048433/technology-is-changing-our-relationship-with-nature-as-we-know-it/">technology</a> can <a href="https://time.com/4355523/digitization-of-nature/">damage</a> people’s relationships with other animals, it can help us reconnect with our environment too. </p>
<p>Because jellyfish are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/150234b0">95% water</a>, they are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. Most kit tanks (often referred to as <a href="http://www.bioflux.com.ro/docs/AACL_5.2.8.pdf">nano aquariums</a>) hold a small water volume, which makes it difficult to maintain the right conditions such as pH, ammonia levels and temperature.</p>
<p>Bacteria must be <a href="http://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/why-is-an-understanding-of-the-nitrogen-cycle-important-when-setting-up-a-fish-aquarium/">introduced into the tank</a> to control jellyfish waste (ammonia) by converting it into nitrite and then nitrate. These bacteria are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ICBBE.2009.5163110">similar to the oxygen-producing microbes</a> in the ocean that form the basis of all <a href="https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/principles/">ocean food webs</a>, and help maintain the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.58">ocean cycle</a>. The nitrate is removed by replacing small amounts of aquarium water with purified salt water. </p>
<p>As I discovered, if these conditions are not maintained, the jellyfish can suffer from <a href="https://doi.org/10.28991/esj-2018-01154">bell holes</a> (small circular tears in jellyfishes’ bells) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.70.9.1087">eversion</a> (when the outer portion of the bell inverts). When aquarium jellyfish <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315405011495">suffer eversion</a>, high water temperature is often the culprit. Learning how to care for jellyfish in these kits is learning about their complex relationships to our oceans.</p>
<p>The closer we feel to our environment, the more likely we are to fight to protect it. So next time you visit the seaside or your local aquarium, try to slow down, absorb the experience and see if you can learn something new about jellyfish and wider ocean wildlife.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Beach receives funding from Queen Mary, University of London. He has also previously received funding from the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).</span></em></p>Jellyfish have a reputation to stinging wild swimmers and huge population “blooms”. But it’s a mistake to dismiss these animals as ocean pests.Matthew Beach, PhD Candidate, Geography, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2113992023-09-05T12:29:58Z2023-09-05T12:29:58ZClimate change is destroying reefs, but the effects are more than ecological – coral’s been woven into culture and spirituality for centuries<p>Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Aug. 30, 2023, bringing <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-hurricane-storm-surge-and-why-can-it-be-so-catastrophic-145369">surging seas</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-hurricane-idalia-2136985ceea53f5deb600c43aeea1138">winds over 100 mph</a>. Meanwhile, another climate emergency has been unfolding along Florida’s coast this summer: a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk0565">marine heat wave</a> bleaching corals throughout the world’s <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/southflorida/habitats/corals/geographical-distribution/">third-largest barrier reef</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, ocean temperatures in many parts of the Atlantic and Pacific are at <a href="https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/record-ocean-heat-impacts-from-hurricanes-to-corals">record highs</a>, with reefs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/11/coral-bleaching-central-america">from Colombia</a> <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/concern-grows-over-unexpected-coral-bleaching-on-the-great-barrier-reef/pbi69ju9t">to Australia</a> showing signs of stress in recent years. Scientists warn that the world may be witnessing the start of a <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@24.4430141,123.8161774,1.99338294a,0d,60y,358.27417338h,113t,0r/data=CkoSSBIgY2EwYzk0ZGNhN2I4MTFlN2I1ZDBiNzRhMWFlNGU2MDMiJGVmZWVkX29jZWFuX2FnZW5jeV9jb3JhbF9ibGVhY2hpbmdfMSIwCixBRjFRaXBPQXhSWk82WHppY1Z0QkJWOVlPOThCMmt2NkRZNTViR2p5azNFcBAF">global coral-bleaching event</a>, which would be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/18/noaa-florida-coral-bleaching-event-could-go-global.html">the fourth on record</a> – and while corals <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html">can survive bleaching</a>, they won’t if the waters stay warm for too long.</p>
<p>Large-scale reef destruction tends to be measured in <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/coral-reefs.html">biological and economic terms</a>. Reefs support about 25% <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025026">of all marine species</a>, protect human lives and property by buffering shorelines and bolster the worldwide economy through fishing and tourism. </p>
<p>But coral’s loss also takes an enormous spiritual, psychological and cultural toll – one of the main topics of <a href="https://miamioh.edu/profiles/cas/michele-navakas.html">my research</a> and recent book, “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240091/coral-lives">Coral Lives</a>.” Centuries of writing, painting, storytelling and rituals show that coral has given meaning to human lives for nearly as long as we’ve been around to marvel at it.</p>
<h2>Protective powers</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Renaissance painting of a woman in a white cap holding a baby who is draped in white fabric and wearing a red necklace." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545609/original/file-20230830-19-ug6tbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A detail from the 15th-century painting ‘The Senigallia Madonna,’ by Piero della Francesca, depicts Jesus with coral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/italy-marche-pesaro-urbino-urbino-marche-national-gallery-news-photo/132702015?adppopup=true">Mondadori Portfolio/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the Middle Ages until the 19th century, anxious new parents across Europe and North America clasped red coral necklaces and bracelets to their children’s bodies and gave them red coral to hold – and even teethe on – because coral symbolized physical and spiritual protection. Early Christian art from the medieval and Renaissance periods often features the infant Jesus in red coral, which scholars suggest may also be because its color <a href="https://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol16/iss1/4/">symbolized the blood of Christ</a>.</p>
<p>Coral encircles the necks and wrists of babies and children in more secular portraits, too, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Often a child holds the “coral and bells,” a combination toy and teething aid: Children would alternately shake it as a rattle and chew on the red coral shaft to soothe sore gums. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240091/coral-lives">The item was cherished</a> by the families of presidents and poets alike, from George Washington to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/long/blogs/coral-and-silver-baby-rattle.htm">who even wrote about it</a>. “Coral and bells” were such a popular christening present that shops could barely keep it in stock.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close-up photo of a tiny red dagger-shaped item with an ornate silver handle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545614/original/file-20230830-25-feg4b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ‘coral and bells’ toy made in New York in the 18th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rattle-whistle-and-bells-1735-45-made-in-new-york-new-york-news-photo/1216161314?adppopup=true">Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For these families and countless others across centuries, coral was far more than ornamental. By giving a child coral, parents were protecting what was most precious to them: their child’s life. </p>
<h2>The birth of coral</h2>
<p>Belief in the protective powers of coral dates to at least the classical period. According to <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/ovids-metamorphoses">the first-century Roman poet Ovid</a>, coral carried petrifying powers because it <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3050690">originally emerged from the touch of Medusa</a>, the snake-haired Gorgon whose stare could turn others to stone. In <a href="https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph4.htm">his epic poem “Metamorphoses</a>,” Ovid describes the hero Perseus severing Medusa’s head and laying it on a bed of seaweed that then hardened into coral. By the medieval period, this story gave rise to popular beliefs that wearing coral could ward off the “evil eye.” </p>
<p>Coral was also believed to have curative properties. In the “<a href="https://dpul.princeton.edu/gutenberg/catalog/q237hx283">Historia naturalis</a>,” an encyclopedia of the natural world, Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote of the <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D32%3Achapter%3D11">sacred and medicinal qualities of coral</a>. The material could remedy a variety of ailments when ingested, he claimed – which also explains why people once thought it was healthy for children to chew on coral.</p>
<p>Modern medicine, of course, argues against these ideas. But during historical periods when <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past">child mortality rates may have been almost 50%</a>, coral calmed anxious parents’ fears.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A formal portrait of three young girls in brightly colored dresses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545640/original/file-20230830-16-camv9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The child at left wears a coral necklace in William Matthew Prior’s portrait of three daughters of African American real estate investor Samuel Copeland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/William_Matthew_Prior_-_Three_Sisters_of_the_Copeland_Family_-_48.467_-_Museum_of_Fine_Arts.jpg/512px-William_Matthew_Prior_-_Three_Sisters_of_the_Copeland_Family_-_48.467_-_Museum_of_Fine_Arts.jpg">BotMultichillT/Wikimedia Commons/Museum of Fine Arts Boston</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To this day, in some parts of the world, coral continues to provide a sense of control over situations that are largely out of our hands. In southern Italy, people give one another the “cornicello” for good luck: a small, horn-shaped charm frequently made of red coral. Some rosaries, too, are still <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1143060">made of red coral beads</a>, just as they were in the Middle Ages.</p>
<h2>Community bonds</h2>
<p>Beyond protection, coral can also symbolize belonging. Throughout the African diaspora during the 18th and 19th centuries, free and enslaved women in many communities wore red coral jewelry, particularly on special occasions, to commemorate a shared past and create new bonds.</p>
<p>Groups of women in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, for example, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240091/coral-lives">wore coral necklaces, earrings and bracelets during Jonkonnu</a>, a Christmas holiday masquerade of West African origins that incorporates traditional music and dance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A colored drawing of women in elaborate costumes with white and red skirts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545140/original/file-20230828-17-la7rj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sketch of Jonkonnu celebrations by 19th century Jamaican artist Isaac Mendes Belisario.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/2308">Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As historian <a href="https://www.gvsu.edu/history/steeve-buckridge-62.htm">Steeve O. Buckridge</a> explains, these women <a href="https://www.uwipress.com/9789766401436/the-language-of-dress/">used clothing and jewelry</a> to communicate their identities nonverbally. Wearing coral was a way to preserve links to the African cultures from which slavery had severed these women. In many cultures, red coral beads were – and in some cases still are – objects of spiritual, economic and cultural significance. </p>
<p>In fact, coral was so valuable that it came to play a violent role in history. In coastal areas of Western Africa, coral became <a href="https://hal.science/hal-01991948/">currency in the transatlantic slave trade</a>: Slave traders exchanged coral for people.</p>
<p>But when diasporic women wore coral, it became part of their choice to create a different present and future. As scholar <a href="https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/elizabeth-dillon/">Elizabeth Maddock Dillon</a> has also observed, each piece of their elaborate Jonkonnu costumes announced “not only splendor and beauty but <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/new-world-drama">a form of social belonging</a>” within different “kinship groups” of their own devising. Coral simultaneously signified slavery and hope for new possibilities.</p>
<h2>Forging the future</h2>
<p>After the Civil War, Black communities in the United States embraced coral for another reason. During Reconstruction, as these communities struggled to create a more just country, writers, religious leaders and activists <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240091/coral-lives">turned to reefs as an inspiring model</a>.</p>
<p>Even massive coral reefs are made up of millions of microscopic animals called polyps, which many people in the 19th century understood as “laborers” working together to build the reef. According to African American poet and civil rights advocate <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/frances-ellen-watkins-harper">Frances Ellen Watkins Harper</a>, reefs expand by sustaining others, rather than devaluing or displacing them. In her 1871 poem “<a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009567459">The Little Builders</a>,” Harper chose reefs as an analogy for how listeners and readers, Black and white, should work to build the social and financial bonds equality would depend on.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photograph of a woman in dark clothing standing formally while holding on to a chair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545641/original/file-20230830-27-x1m060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, pictured in the 19th century book ‘Women of distinction: remarkable in works and invincible in character.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14598047448/">Internet Archive Book Images/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But Harper knew that outcome was by no means certain. That’s why the coral analogy worked so well. As Charles Darwin explained in 1842 in a famous <a href="http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=F271&viewtype=text">treatise on coral</a>, reefs are formed by so many relationships among different individual organisms across vast periods of time that their future form and shape can only be unpredictable.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240091/coral-lives">my book</a> shows, in that unpredictability Black writers like Harper found hope. To them it meant that the actions of one single and seemingly insignificant individual might help transform an entire system.</p>
<h2>Grief and preservation</h2>
<p>Coral’s biological uniqueness and central role in sustaining other forms of life, including humans, are reasons enough to preserve it. And scientists <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-heroic-effort-to-save-floridas-coral-reef-from-extreme-ocean-heat-as-corals-bleach-across-the-caribbean-210974">are making extraordinary efforts</a>, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/climate/coral-reefs-heat-florida-ocean-temperatures.html">relocating threatened species</a> to dry tanks on land and developing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk4685">tools to predict marine heat waves</a> months in advance. </p>
<p>But for centuries, coral has also shaped thoughts about difficult human problems, from love and loss to social injustice. Reefs have provided knowledge, stories, hopes and histories in many cultures, far beyond the handful mentioned here. As we lose coral, then, we are also losing a material that has given us vital ways to understand and act within an increasingly chaotic world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michele Navakas has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research on which this article is based.</span></em></p>Coral has been incorporated into traditions, art and even religion in communities around the world.Michele Currie Navakas, Professor of English, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054732023-05-22T20:06:18Z2023-05-22T20:06:18ZFrom mangroves to fjords, coastal ecosystems can take up or emit greenhouse gases. But globally, they’re a vital sink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527453/original/file-20230522-27-9rsw0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1844%2C0%2C4083%2C2778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Coastal ecosystems can absorb or emit the three main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. </p>
<p>We explored how coasts in ten regions of the world differ in greenhouse gas uptake and emissions. Our research <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01682-9">published today</a> in Nature Climate Change finds that, globally, our coastal ecosystems are a net greenhouse gas sink, but smaller emissions of potent methane and nitrous oxide gases reduce some of the carbon dioxide uptake.</p>
<p>We found coasts in Europe and Russia are net emitters, while coasts in Southeast Asia and North America have a large uptake of these gases. </p>
<p>Like upland forests and rainforests, ecosystems like coastal wetlands can take up atmospheric CO₂ and turn it into new leaves, roots and other organic matter. When some of this carbon is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-021-00224-1">stored long-term</a> in deep sediments, it can help battle rising CO₂ levels in our atmosphere.</p>
<p>The coastal net greenhouse gas uptake should not be confused with carbon storage. Only part of the coastal greenhouse gas uptake is stored long-term in coastal sediments, while another part is transported to the ocean where it might be stored or released back to the atmosphere.</p>
<h2>Not all coasts are the same</h2>
<p>Africa and Australia have large swathes of sandy coastline and coastal wetlands. By contrast, Europe and Russia’s cold coastline lacks mangroves or tropical coastal wetlands. These differences drive the changes we found in how different coasts take up or emit greenhouse gases. </p>
<p>The strongest coastal greenhouse gas sink is Southeast Asia, because of its extensive and productive tropical mangrove forests and seagrasses which soak up large amounts of CO₂. North America’s coast is another excellent sink for greenhouse gases, with its salt marshes, mangroves, seagrasses – and Canada’s fjords, glacier-made valleys filled with seawater. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="wetlands coast" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527390/original/file-20230521-21-u8nzo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coastal wetlands like this one on Assateague Island in America are excellent carbon sinks - but can emit methane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sara Cottle/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Australia and New Zealand have long stretches of coastal wetlands soaking up CO₂, this is offset by a large number of estuaries, many of which are a source of greenhouse gases produced by decaying organic matter. </p>
<p>Coasts in Europe and Russia actually release more greenhouse gases than they absorb. Their many polluted tidal estuaries release greenhouse gases, but the colder climate means this region has fewer coastal wetlands to soak these gases back up. </p>
<p>But across the three main greenhouse gases, eight out of the ten world coastal regions are a net greenhouse gas sink. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="figure" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527388/original/file-20230521-184046-lvwn0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This figure shows the net fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in estuaries (yellow arrows), coastal vegetation (peach arrows) and combined (red arrows) in 10 regions around the world. Southeast Asia (9), North America (1) and Africa (4) are strong coastal greenhouse gas sinks. South America (2), Australasia (10), and West Asia (6) are moderate sinks, while East Asia (7) and South Asia (8) are weak sinks. Europe (3) and Russia (5) are weak coastal sources of greenhouse gases.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01682-9">Figure from Rosentreter et al. (2023) Nature Climate Change</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Some coasts soak up greenhouse gases while others emit more</h2>
<p>The world’s coastal ecosystems are enormously diverse, ranging from tropical lagoons to polar fjords to coastal mangrove forests to underwater seagrass meadows. This sheer variety means they differ greatly in how they take up or release greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>For example, we show that fjords around the world take up around 40% of CO₂ that would otherwise be released from tidal systems, deltas and lagoons. Most (86%) of this important CO₂ uptake by fjords comes from the North America region. </p>
<p>By contrast, salt marshes and mangroves are home to trillions of microorganisms which live in deep, oxygen-free sediments, eating dead organic matter and emitting methane and nitrous oxide. Some of these gases reach the atmosphere, making many coastal waters a source of methane and nitrous oxide.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="coastal ecosystem" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527391/original/file-20230521-146674-yvgomr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some coastal ecosystems take up large amounts of carbon dioxide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Coastal wetlands release more than three times more methane than all estuaries in the world. But coastal wetlands, also called coastal “blue carbon” wetlands, can be strong sinks of CO₂ and some also take up nitrous oxide. On balance, these coastal ecosystems become a net greenhouse sink when we consider the net effect of these three most important greenhouse gases. </p>
<p>What does the big picture look like? Globally, our research shows our coasts’ ability to take up CO₂ is offset between 9% and 20% by coastal methane and nitrous oxide emissions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/half-of-global-methane-emissions-come-from-aquatic-ecosystems-much-of-this-is-human-made-156960">Half of global methane emissions come from aquatic ecosystems – much of this is human-made</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why is this knowledge important?</h2>
<p>If we understand how our coastal ecosystems take up or emit greenhouse gases, we can target the most crucial ecosystems for preservation or restoration. </p>
<p>That’s why many researchers are interested in blue carbon as a way to boost long-term carbon storage. By protecting and restoring mangroves and salt marshes in nations rich in blue carbon, such as Indonesia, we can expand their ability to take these gases back out of the atmosphere and ultimately store some of the carbon long-term in their sediments. </p>
<p>And by reducing nutrient overload, organic matter and wastewater flows into our coastal waterways, we can cut the greenhouse gases emitted by polluted estuaries. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/floods-of-nutrients-from-fertilisers-and-wastewater-trash-our-rivers-could-offsetting-help-203235">Floods of nutrients from fertilisers and wastewater trash our rivers. Could offsetting help?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We shouldn’t just see our coastal ecosystems as a boon to carbon credit markets. They have much more to offer, including many valuable ecosystem services. Our coasts protect our shorelines from severe weather and tides. They are a nursery for many fish and plants. And they’re vital to us as a place to be in nature.</p>
<p>Protecting our coasts is good for us, for nature and for the earth system as it plunges into the climate crisis.</p>
<p><em>Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our international team of scientists and the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/reccap/index.htm">Global Carbon Project</a> for initiating this research.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Rosentreter receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bradley Eyre receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Mangroves and salt marshes pump out methane – but soak up carbon dioxide. Overall, the world’s coasts are a net greenhouse sink – and we must preserve themJudith Rosentreter, Senior research fellow, Southern Cross UniversityBradley Eyre, Professor of Biogeochemistry, Director of the Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2022492023-04-12T02:27:27Z2023-04-12T02:27:27Z3 ways to put people at the centre of ocean ecosystem conservation in Indonesia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520005/original/file-20230410-5761-50uxsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C35%2C5964%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://www.fao.org/indonesia/fao-in-indonesia/indonesia-at-a-glance/zh/">world’s largest archipelago</a>, Indonesia has taken steps to protect its marine resources. More than <a href="https://kkp.go.id/an-component/media/upload-gambar-pendukung/DitJaskel/publikasi-materi-2/the-role-of-the-blue/Presentation%20of%20Indonesia%20MPA%20Outlook%20and%20Progress.pdf">23.14 million hectares</a> are covered as marine protected areas (MPAs).</p>
<p>Marine protected areas are designated areas of the ocean that are protected for conservation purposes. The majority of these areas are managed by district governments.</p>
<p>The country aims to increase the total area of <a href="http://sidakokkhl.kkp.go.id/storage/documents/ENG_MPA_VISION_2030_FINAL_PROOFREAD_16JAN21.pdf">MPAs to 32.5 million hectares by 2030,</a> representing 10% of the country’s total marine area. </p>
<p>But so far, communities and people have been left out of this target.</p>
<p>As the number of protected areas grows, fisher households in Indonesia are still among the <a href="https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/48496-ID-analisis-kesejahteraan-rumah-tangga-usaha-perikanan.pdf">poorest of the poor</a>. In fact, statistics indicate fewer and <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/statictable/2014/01/10/1709/jumlah-rumah-tangga-perikanan-tangkap-menurut-provinsi-dan-jenis-penangkapan-2000-2016.html">fewer individuals are opting to stay in this sector</a>.</p>
<p>Indonesia needs to improve its planning and management of its protected areas to ensure coastal communities are included. </p>
<p>Our recent report, <a href="https://wri-indonesia.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Marine%20Trends%20Report_WRI%20format_v14.pdf">“Trends in Marine Resources and Fisheries Management in Indonesia: A Review”</a>, published by the World Resources Institute Indonesia, highlights three ways to put people at the centre of ocean ecosystem management.</p>
<h2>Protect essential ecosystems</h2>
<p>MPAs can provide job security for people living in coastal areas because they can ensure sustainable seafood production.</p>
<p>To do this, Indonesia must include essential ecosystems like mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs in its marine conservation planning. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mangrove ecosystem in Indonesia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520006/original/file-20230410-24-zyyzn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mangrove ecosystem in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Rivan Awal Lingga/Antara)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/070211">Research suggests</a> less than <a href="https://wri-indonesia.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Marine%20Trends%20Report_WRI%20format_v14.pdf">20%</a> of Indonesia’s marine protected areas protect essential ecosystems. </p>
<p>This could put essential ecosystems in danger. <a href="https://wri-indonesia.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Marine%20Trends%20Report_WRI%20format_v14.pdf">In the densely populated island of Java,</a> for example, mangroves in unprotected areas have suffered from large-scale <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-decades-of-loss-the-worlds-largest-mangrove-forests-are-set-for-a-comeback-182951">deforestation and degradation</a>.</p>
<p>The consequences are dire: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069623000062">according to recent research</a>, a 1% increase in Indonesia’s mangrove loss could result in a decline in annual fishery household income of between 5.3% and 9.3%.</p>
<p>Designated protected areas will create an opportunity to restore degraded ecosystems while improving community livelihoods. For example, mangroves in protected areas in Belitung (an island in southeastern Sumatra) have been successfully restored and <a href="https://www.icctf.or.id/transforming-an-ex-mining-area-into-a-mangrove-tourism-park/">it now creates jobs from fish farming and tourism</a>. </p>
<h2>Integrate management of protected areas and fishing zones</h2>
<p>Conservation areas are crucial for sustainable fisheries and they benefit small-scale fishermen.</p>
<p>Sustainable fisheries should maintain a balance between conservation and profitability.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520007/original/file-20230410-22-czwsel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tuna is one of Indonesia’s leading fishery commodities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Antara)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To do that, Indonesia continues to establish more conservation areas, whether government-led protected area or with other conservation status, inside its fishing zones. </p>
<p>Currently, the proportion of protected areas within important fisheries areas remains very low. </p>
<p>In places with <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/06/07/local-wisdom-guards-fisheries-in-indonesias-maluku-islands.html">great fishing potential like Maluku and Natuna</a> each in western and eastern Indonesia, only a small percentage of the areas <a href="https://wri-indonesia.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Marine%20Trends%20Report_WRI%20format_v14.pdf">(7.7% and 7.2%, respectively)</a> have been set aside as protected areas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-loss-and-damage-fund-how-can-indonesia-use-it-to-boost-climate-adaptation-efforts-201004">The Loss and Damage Fund: How can Indonesia use it to boost climate adaptation efforts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indonesia is changing its fishing areas management strategy by not just focusing on profitable fish like tuna anymore, since it hasn’t been effective <a href="http://doi.org/10.46830/wrirpt.20.00064">in preventing overfishing</a>. Instead, the country is adopting a new approach to improve fisheries management and preserve resources for the future <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.01.027">by taking environmental factors into account</a>.</p>
<h2>Encourage other supporting areas</h2>
<p>Indonesia should also expand its conservation efforts to include the adoption of traditional fishery practices.</p>
<p>In eastern Indonesia, for instance, there is a fishing ritual known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.22459/ssfp.02.2013"><em>sasi</em></a> or to prohibit the exploitation of natural resources in a period of time. </p>
<p>A community in Popisi village in Central Sulawesi, has managed <a href="https://blueventures.org/the-first-temporary-octopus-fishery-closure-in-banggai-laut-indonesia-2/">to harvest octopus sustainably</a> by exercising fishing ground’s temporary closure.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520009/original/file-20230410-14-vqzyi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Installation of a buoy to mark the temporary closure’s boundary for octopus fishing in Banggai, Central Sulawesi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(LINI)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Sekaroh, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, the community has successfully practiced <a href="http://lipi.go.id/berita/single/Pendekatan-Kearifan-Lokal-Awig-Awig-dalam-Pengentasan-Kemiskinan-Masyarakat-Pesisir-Lombok/21683"><em>awig-awig</em> law</a>. This includes benefit sharing and regulating catch areas, to ensure sustainable stock of sea cucumber.</p>
<p>The government must integrate the adoption of these practices in the management of the MPAs. </p>
<p>This approach will ensure long-term sustainability, conserve cultural heritage and maintain the wellbeing of communities reliant on these resources.</p>
<p>An integrated approach in marine conservation, through networks of protected areas, can promote collaboration between regions, reduce conflicts of interest, accommodate diverse customs and local wisdom and facilitate knowledge sharing.</p>
<p>This approach could lead to more effective marine conservation outcomes in Indonesia, benefiting both the environment and local communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/farmers-groups-lead-the-way-in-adapting-to-a-changing-climate-166341">Farmers groups lead the way in adapting to a changing climate</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Both the national and regional authorities must improve their management of MPAs. This would involve tackling operational challenges such as insufficient funding, inadequate training programs, and staffing limitations – all of which have been highlighted <a href="http://doi.org/10.46830/wrirpt.20.00064">in our report</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202249/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucentezza Napitupulu was an Economic Researcher at World Resources Institute Indonesia during the development of the Report. The Report is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.</span></em></p>As the number of protected areas continues to grow, fisher households in Indonesia are still among the poorest of the poor.Lucentezza Napitupulu, Adjunct associate, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1778392022-02-27T08:33:18Z2022-02-27T08:33:18ZNigeria’s plastic pollution is harming the environment: steps to combat it are overdue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448357/original/file-20220224-33175-1cixqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-puts-into-bags-plastic-waste-collected-from-various-news-photo/967173232?adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/ AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A key theme at <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/un-environment-assembly-tackle-plastics-green-recovery-and-chemicals">this year’s</a> United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya is plastic pollution. It will be returning to a <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/events/world-environment-day-2018/#:%7E:text=India%20will%20serve%20as%20the,%2C%20'Beat%20Plastic%20Pollution'">theme</a> from 2018 World Environment Day. The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-11736-6">evidence</a> for the prevalence and consequences of plastic pollution has been building up and the assembly needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-pollution-is-a-global-problem-heres-how-to-design-an-effective-treaty-to-curb-it-176226">lead action</a> on this issue.</p>
<p>Individuals, communities, businesses, and governments all have a part to play to reduce plastic pollution in their environments.</p>
<p>The 2018 World Environment Day provided much-needed impetus for some countries to launch or appraise their plastic pollution initiatives. An example is <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/india-sets-pace-global-race-beat-plastic-pollution">India</a>, which committed itself to proscribing and eliminating all single-use plastics in all Indian states by 2022. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/which-states-in-india-have-banned-plastic/articleshow/70218756.cms">Many Indian states</a> have keyed into this initiative and a national ban on most single-use plastics is due to <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/states-told-to-ready-single-use-plastic-ban-starting-july-1-101645382162965.html">take effect</a> from 1 July 2022.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Nigeria hasn’t done much in this regard. Compared to other <a href="https://planetpatrol.co/blog/2021/06/01/which-countries-have-banned-plastic-bags/#:%7E:text=Kenya%20%E2%80%93%20the%20%E2%80%9Cworld's%20strictest%E2%80%9D,blocking%20waterways%20and%20drainage%20systems">developing countries</a> such as Kenya, Rwanda, <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202107300434.html">Uganda</a> and <a href="https://worldexpeditions.com/Blog/tanzania-plastic-ban-what-travellers-need-to-know">Tanzania</a>, its commitments to combating plastic pollution are far below average. </p>
<h2>Plastic pollution thrives in Nigeria</h2>
<p>Lagos, Nigeria’s megacity of <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/lagos-population">nearly 16 million people</a>, produces between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste per day, including <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-04-cleanup-plastic-polluted-lagos-beach.html">2,250 tonnes of plastic</a>, according to a local recycling business.</p>
<p>Nigerian lawmakers <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/reps-pass-bill-to-ban-plastic-bags-prescribe-3-year-jail-term-for-sale">considered</a> a bill in 2019 to prohibit the use of plastic bags. The bill is still in limbo. It is yet to undergo further reading and has not been enacted into law. Consequently, plastic bags are being indiscriminately used in Nigeria. </p>
<p>The evidence of the harm this does is mounting.</p>
<p>My research group published the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0075951119300970?via%20percent%203DDihub">first empirical finding</a> of freshwater microplastics in Nigeria. We used snails from the Osun River in southwest Nigeria as biological indicators of plastic pollution. Snails in the river had consumed polyethylene plastic bags, which were common along riverbanks. </p>
<p>We have also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-08763-8">found</a> plastic polymers such as polyester, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, styrene-ethylene butylene styrene, and chlorinated polyethylene in the Osun and Ogun Rivers. The plastic polymers recorded in our study are traceable to different sources such as textiles, biscuit wrappers, automotive tyre cords, bottle caps, and drinking straws. We also saw larger items in the rivers, such as tyres, plastic bags and plastic bottles. Studies indicate that such plastics could affect the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896971931530X?via%3Dihub">life history</a>, survival, growth and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749117341234?via%3Dihub">development of insect larvae</a> into adults. </p>
<p>Our studies of plastic pollution in Nigeria, particularly freshwater and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720325304?via%20percent%203Dihub#!">marine</a> environments, have recorded plastics in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-09031-5">fish</a> too.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-microplastics-found-in-nigerias-freshwaters-raise-a-red-flag-147432">Why microplastics found in Nigeria's freshwaters raise a red flag</a>
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<h2>Effects of plastics</h2>
<p>When animals <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/698_2016_21">ingest plastics</a>, it blocks the gut and windpipe and reduces their physiological fitness. Aquatic animals can also become entangled in plastics, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23809333/">resulting</a> in malnutrition and death.</p>
<p>Plastics <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-11736-6">degrade</a> the aesthetic value of Nigerian landscapes and aquatic systems. This compromises cultural ecosystem services such as ecotourism.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lagos-beaches-have-a-microplastic-pollution-problem-128133">Lagos beaches have a microplastic pollution problem</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Plastic pollution has become such a serious problem in Nigeria that it has virtually become a sign of human activity or visits to a location. People who visit beaches, riverbanks, parks and waterfalls frequently dump their plastic bottles carelessly, despite the dangers that such plastics pose to the environment. </p>
<p>In one <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-a-rare-insect-at-an-unspoilt-stream-in-nigeria-sign-of-a-need-to-explore-and-protect-171966">case</a>, plastic bottles were found at a natural site where an ecologically important rare insect was found.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-11736-6">studies</a> show that plastic can affect the water-holding capacity of drains, river channels and reservoirs. This <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/3b91f626-4aed-4058-86ad-3a8334bf6b3a/1002">leads</a> to flooding of adjacent lands and loss of biological diversity and livelihoods. </p>
<p>Losing natural sites to plastic pollution also means people don’t get the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494413000224">health benefits</a> of outdoor activity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerian-river-snails-carry-more-microplastics-than-rhine-snails-126622">Nigerian river snails carry more microplastics than Rhine snails</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Action to end plastic pollution in Nigeria</h2>
<p>Combating plastic pollution in Nigeria will require action on several fronts.</p>
<p>The first step will be to address poor waste management practices prevalent in the country. </p>
<p>Also, businesses will have to stop providing free plastic bags. These bags are often <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-11736-6">discarded</a> after a single use. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kenya-should-be-focused-on-recycling-not-banning-plastic-bags-79679">Kenya should be focused on recycling, not banning plastic bags</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To discourage the practice, governments should levy a high fee on each plastic bag that shoppers get at malls and markets. Paying for a bag could discourage people from discarding them after a single use. Paper bags, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-ugandan-women-making-paper-bags-from-bananas/av-44642676">used in Uganda</a>, should be encouraged. Since packaging is the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#total-plastic-waste-by-country">leading cause</a> of plastic pollution in the environment, the Nigerian government needs to launch a campaign and crack down on plastic bags and bottles in the country. The public will need to be educated on the three Rs: reduce, recycle, and reuse plastic materials. </p>
<p>Water sachets and bottles have proliferated in Nigeria due to a lack of drinkable water in many homes. The government needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/top-tips-for-tackling-plastic-pollution-from-marine-scientists-164602">educate the public</a> about the dangers of discarding water sachets and bottles in the environment. And it must ensure access to clean water. </p>
<p>Whatever strategy the government employs will be ineffective unless the long-awaited “plastic pollution bill” is passed by Nigerian legislators and swiftly signed into law.</p>
<p>Citizens and leaders have the responsibility of bequeathing an environment that future Nigerians can be proud of. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other countries have taken steps to protect their environments from more plastic pollution. Nigeria can no longer afford to wait.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177839/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emmanuel O. Akindele works for Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He receives funding from the German Academic Exchange Service and the British Ecological Society. </span></em></p>The Nigerian government must do more to combat increasing plastic pollution in the country.Emmanuel O. Akindele, Senior Lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1682532021-10-19T01:08:20Z2021-10-19T01:08:20ZNature doesn’t recognise borders but countries can collaborate to save species. The Escazú Agreement shows how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426618/original/file-20211015-25-1vpjvtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C63%2C3846%2C3083&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nature rarely recognises national borders. Many Australian birds, for example, are annual visitors, <a href="https://www.eaaflyway.net/the-flyway/flyway-site-network/">splitting their time</a> between Southeast Asia, Russia, and Pacific Islands. </p>
<p>Yet, most efforts to protect ecological processes and habitats are designed and implemented by individual nations. Not only are these traditional approaches to conservation too geographically limited, they don’t address problems that seep across borders and drive ecosystem decline. </p>
<p>Our new <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12838">research</a> shows international collaboration and environmental management across national borders – a truly transboundary approach – is essential. We focused on an international environmental agreement that recently came into force across the Latin America and Caribbean region.</p>
<p><a href="https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43583/1/S1800428_en.pdf">Known</a> as the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean – or, more commonly, as the <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/escazu-agreement-takes-effect-enshrining-right-to-sustainable-development/">Escazú Agreement</a> – it offers a hopeful example of new strategies to rise to this transboundary challenge.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1448398028927287305"}"></div></p>
<h2>What is the Escazú Agreement?</h2>
<p>In 2018, 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries were invited to sign and ratify the landmark Escazú Agreement, the first legally binding environmental agreement to explicitly integrate human rights with environmental matters. </p>
<p>It has so far been ratified by <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/escazu-agreement-takes-effect-enshrining-right-to-sustainable-development/">12 signatory countries</a>; <a href="https://www.cepal.org/en/news/second-meeting-signatory-countries-escazu-agreement-will-take-place-december-9-10">11 additional signatory countries</a> have signed it but not yet ratified. </p>
<p>As we detail in our recent <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12838">paper</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The agreement outlines an approach to enhance the protection of environmental defenders, increase public participation in environmental decision-making, and foster cooperation among countries for biodiversity conservation and human rights.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The Escazú Agreement and human rights</h2>
<p>Countries from this region share transboundary species such as <a href="https://www.panthera.org/initiative/jaguar-corridor-initiative#:%7E:text=The%20Jaguar%20Corridor%20Initiative%20is,populations%20from%20Mexico%20to%20Brazil.&text=Panthera's%20Jaguar%20Corridor%20Initiative%20is,six%20million%20km2%20range.">jaguars</a>, as well as marine reserves containing immense biodiversity (including 1,577 endemic <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00113/full">fish species</a>). </p>
<p>But the Escazú Agreement isn’t just about flora and fauna. It also highlights the importance of human rights and public participation in environmental management – elements that are also vitally important for transboundary conservation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426611/original/file-20211015-20689-8ck4ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Countries from the Latin America and the Caribbean region share transboundary species such as jaguars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Latin America and the Caribbean have a history of disputed maritime claims and a mismatch between management of terrestrial and marine jurisdictions. </p>
<p>Environmental protections and jurisdiction complexities have, in the past, curtailed the rights of Indigenous people who traditionally <a href="https://www.dw.com/es/colombia-nicaragua-empantanados-en-el-caribe/a-45099276">fish in these areas</a>.</p>
<p>This is where the Escazú Agreement could have contributed. It sets out guidelines for public engagement and may have helped Indigenous people have their voices heard. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/escazu-agreement-takes-effect-enshrining-right-to-sustainable-development/">Colombia</a> and many island states are yet to ratify the Escazú Agreement. Doing so would help with these issues in future.</p>
<p>Many biodiverse countries with high levels of human rights violations and sharing multiple ecosystems and species have not yet ratified the agreement. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-birds-stamina-is-remarkable-it-flies-non-stop-for-5-days-from-japan-to-australia-but-now-its-habitat-is-under-threat-165964">This bird's stamina is remarkable: it flies non-stop for 5 days from Japan to Australia, but now its habitat is under threat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Marine transboundary conservation needed</h2>
<p>Ocean borders are extra messy. Some <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15844?af=R">90% of marine species </a> compared to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1160-3">53% of terrestrial species</a> have habitat and migration ranges that cross national borders. Countries with large numbers of transboundary marine species include the US, Australia and Japan.</p>
<p>Many of Australia’s iconic ocean species – such as great white sharks, sea turtles, and humpback whales – are international migrants found in over 100 countries. </p>
<p>Even species that don’t move at all, like plants or corals, are often widely distributed. Take the slimy sea lettuce (<em>Ulva lactuca</em>), which grows along the coasts of almost 200 countries. </p>
<p>Marine species essentially share one ocean, making transboundary management extra challenging. Not only can threats such as pollution rapidly spread large distances over ocean currents, our traditional concept of sovereignty and borders makes even less sense on the ocean than it does on land.</p>
<p>Many countries must cooperate to protect species ranges across vast tracts of ocean.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A great white shark goes through the ocean." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426620/original/file-20211015-27-z3w7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of Australia’s iconic ocean species such as great white sharks are international migrants found in over 100 countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia plays a key role</h2>
<p>Australia must step up as a leader of domestic and transboundary management. After the US, it has the most transboundary marine species in its ocean territory. </p>
<p>Most species are shared with Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the high seas. As a well-resourced country, it is imperative Australia is part of international efforts to preserve this biodiversity. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. </p>
<p>Australia has a poor record on protecting its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1417301112">terrestrial biodiversity</a>, and is ranked among the top <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i4795e/i4795e.pdf">nations that import shark fins</a>.</p>
<p>Our patchwork <a href="https://www.marineconservation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HSI_Shark-Fin-Report_WEB2.pdf">legislation</a> leaves the door open for unsustainable and illegal shark finning.</p>
<p>Australian governments need to collaborate with other countries, industries, and socio-environmental NGOs, and local communities leading the way in best practice in environmental conservation.</p>
<p>The Escazú Agreement shows how this can be done.</p>
<h2>A beacon of hope</h2>
<p>There’s no doubt international collaboration adds challenges to environmental management. </p>
<p>Yet the recent <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12838">Escazú Agreement</a> offers a beacon of hope in forming just international environmental agreements that protect both the environment and human rights. </p>
<p>Signing agreements like these is just the first step. Then, we must work to implement them consistently on land or sea, across countries and in a way that’s inclusive of local stakeholders. </p>
<p>The world’s nations have accepted the idea we must cooperate to combat climate change. We’ll also need international collaboration to protect the vast majority of Earth’s biodiversity and natural systems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-cop26-and-why-does-the-fate-of-earth-and-australias-prosperity-depend-on-it-169648">What is COP26 and why does the fate of Earth, and Australia's prosperity, depend on it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca K. Runting receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sofía López-Cubillos is affiliated with the International Institute for Sustainability (Australia) and Fundación Manigua desde la Tierra (Colombia). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leslie Roberson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nations must work with their neighbours to manage and protect species and human rights. An international environmental deal called the Escazú Agreement shows what’s possible.Rebecca K. Runting, Lecturer in Spatial Sciences and ARC DECRA Fellow, The University of MelbourneLeslie Roberson, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of QueenslandSofía López-Cubillos, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647432021-07-20T12:06:07Z2021-07-20T12:06:07ZCoral reefs are dying as climate change decimates ocean ecosystems vital to fish and humans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411966/original/file-20210719-25-1v841p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C1894%2C1270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Corals are made of hundreds to thousands of tiny living polyps.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/global-reef-expedition/">Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagos_Archipelago#/media/File:Chagos_map.PNG">Chagos Archipelago</a> is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Satellite-bathymetry-map-of-the-western-Indian-Ocean-basin-Approximate-aerial-extent-of_fig1_320835153">underwater mountain chain</a>.</p>
<p>It’s a paradise. At least it was before the heat wave.</p>
<p>When I first explored the Chagos Archipelago 15 years ago, the underwater view was incredible. Schools of brilliantly colored fish in blues, yellows and oranges darted among the corals of a vast, healthy reef system. Sharks and other large predators swam overhead. Because the archipelago is so remote and sits in one of the largest <a href="https://chagos-trust.org/chagos/overview">marine protected areas</a> on the planet, it has been sheltered from industrial fishing fleets and other activities that can harm the coastal environment.</p>
<p>But it can’t be protected from climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A diver carries a plastic pipe for measuring while swimming over a variety of corals" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=480%2C586%2C1097%2C689&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397204/original/file-20210426-15-ng6gsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A diver documents the coral reefs in the Chagos Archipelago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2015, a marine heat wave struck, harming coral reefs worldwide. <a href="https://people.miami.edu/profile/spurkis@rsmas.miami.edu">I’m a marine biologist</a> at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and I was with a team of researchers on a <a href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/global-reef-expedition/global-reef-expedition-final-reports/">10-year global expedition to map the world’s reefs</a>, led by the <a href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/">Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a>, wrapping up our work in the Chagos Archipelago at the time. Our report on the state of the reefs there <a href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">was published</a> in spring 2021.</p>
<p>As the water temperature rose, the corals began to bleach. To the untrained eye, the scene would have looked fantastic. When the water heats up, corals become stressed and they expel the tiny algae called dinoflagellates that live in their tissue. Bleaching isn’t as simple as going from a living coral to a bleached white one, though. After they expel the algae, the corals turn fluorescent pinks and blues and yellows as they produce chemicals to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.055">protect themselves from the Sun’s harmful rays</a>. The entire reef was turning psychedelic colors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two bright pink coral mounds" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397178/original/file-20210426-13-v15dqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just before they turned white, the corals turned abnormally bright shades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Phil Renaud/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That explosion of color is rare, and it doesn’t last long. Over the following week, we watched the corals turn white and start to die. It wasn’t just small pieces of the reef that were bleaching – it was happening across hundreds of square miles.</p>
<p>What most people think of as a coral is actually many tiny colonial polyps that build calcium carbonate skeletons. With their algae gone, the coral polyps could still feed by plucking morsels out of the water, but their metabolism slows without the algae, which provide more nutrients <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_corals/coral02_zooxanthellae.html">through photosynthesis</a>. They were left desperately weakened and more vulnerable to diseases. We could see diseases taking hold, and that’s what finished them off.</p>
<p>We were witnessing the death of a reef.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large mushroom-shaped coral structure, half of it turned white from bleaching" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397197/original/file-20210426-19-2eyjzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Corals beginning to bleach in the Chagos archipelago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Phil Renaud/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rising temperatures increase the heat wave risk</h2>
<p>The devastation of the Chagos Reef wasn’t happening in isolation.</p>
<p>Over the past century, <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/global/time-series/globe/ocean/ytd/12/1880-2017">sea surface temperatures</a> have risen by an average of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature">about 0.13 degrees Celsius</a> (0.23 F) per decade as the oceans absorb the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, largely from the burning of fossil fuels. The temperature increase and changing ocean chemistry affects sea life of all kinds, from <a href="https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F">deteriorating the shells of oysters and tiny pteropods</a>, an essential part of the food chain, to causing fish populations to migrate to cooler water. </p>
<p>Corals can become stressed when temperatures around them <a href="https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/methodology/methodology.php">rise just 1 C</a> (1.8 F) above their tolerance level. With water temperature elevated from global warming, even a minor heat wave can become devastating. </p>
<p>These events and rising global temperatures are why the <a href="http://coralreefs.org/">International Coral Reef Society</a>, which represents thousands of coral scientists, issued an urgent call to governments in July 2021 to do more to protect coral reefs. As part of its <a href="http://coralreefs.org/publications/rebuilding_coral_reefs/">report on the state of the world’s reefs</a>, it listed ways to help reefs survive, including investing in conservation, management and restoration; committing to slow climate change, reduce pollution and stop overfishing; and supporting <a href="https://news.miami.edu/rsmas/stories/2018/08/new-study-shows-some-corals-might-adapt-to-climate-change.html">efforts to help corals adapt</a> to warming waters. With swift action to slow climate change, the group writes, about 30% of reefs could survive the century; if global temperatures rise by 2 C (3.6 F) or more, only about 1% will still exist. At stake is an estimated US$10 trillion in annual economic value and coastline protection. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IEWJAEkGeNk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In 2015, the ocean heat from a strong <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html">El Niño</a> event triggered the mass bleaching in the Chagos reefs and <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/survey-photos-reveal-damage-year%E2%80%99s-global-coral-bleaching-event">around the world</a>. It was the third global bleaching on record, following events in <a href="http://www.reefcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ambio1999.pdf">1998</a> and <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/videos/coral-bleaching-alarm-2010">2010</a>.</p>
<p>Bleaching doesn’t just affect the corals – entire reef systems and the fish that feed, spawn and live among the coral branches suffer. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0401277101">study of reefs</a> around Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific found that about 75% of the reef fish species declined after the 1998 bleaching, and many of those species declined by more than half.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two bright orange fish with white bands swim past an anemone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397200/original/file-20210426-21-24e0zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most corals are brown or green. Fish and anemones bring color to the reefs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Ken Marks/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Starfish on a coral" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397603/original/file-20210428-19-1j2eryy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Noduled sea stars are among the reef’s diverse species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/global-reef-expedition/">Ken Marks/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research shows marine heat waves are now about <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba0690">20 times more likely</a> than they were just four decades ago, and they tend to be hotter and last longer. We’re at the point now that some places in the world are anticipating coral bleaching every couple of years.</p>
<p>That increasing frequency of heat waves is a death knell for reefs. They don’t have time to recover before they get hit again.</p>
<p><iframe id="IS1fT" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IS1fT/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Where we saw signs of hope</h2>
<p>During the <a href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/global-reef-expedition/global-reef-expedition-final-reports/">Global Reef Expedition</a>, we visited over 1,000 reefs around the world. Our mission was to conduct standardized surveys to assess the state of the reefs and map the reefs in detail so scientists could document and hopefully respond to changes in the future. With that knowledge, countries can plan more effectively to protect the reefs, important national resources, providing <a href="https://reefresilience.org/value-of-reefs/">hundreds of billions of dollars a year</a> in economic value while also <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_protect.html">protecting coastlines</a> from waves and storms.</p>
<p>We saw damage almost everywhere, from the <a href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/global-reef-expedition/atlantic-ocean/inaguas-bahamas/">Bahamas</a> to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yisyMO-Xi0">Great Barrier Reef</a>.</p>
<p>Some reefs are able to survive heat waves better than others. Cooler, stronger currents, and even storms and cloudier areas can help prevent heat building up. But the global trend is not promising. The world has already <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2019/06/protecting-coral-reefs-in-a-deteriorating-environment">lost 30% to 50% of its reefs</a> in the last 40 years, and scientists have warned that most of the remaining reefs <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/">could be gone within decades</a>. A global study released Oct. 4, 2021, found that about <a href="https://gcrmn.net/2020-report/">14% of the world’s corals died</a> between 2009 and 2018, primarily due to rising temperatures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Flat corals turning white as they bleach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397202/original/file-20210426-21-nq77pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Table corals bleaching in the Chagos Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Derek Manzello/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diver with large sea turtle swimming over corals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397179/original/file-20210426-21-1l2ahj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author, Sam Purkis, dives near a hawksbill turtle in the Chagos Archipelago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Derek Manzello/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we see some evidence that certain marine species are <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-04-climate-marine-species-poleward.html">moving to cooler waters</a> as the planet warms, a reef takes thousands of years to establish and grow, and it is limited by geography.</p>
<p>In the areas where we saw glimmers of hope, it was mostly due to good management. When a region can control other harmful human factors – such as overfishing, extensive coastal development, pollution and runoff – the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/a-bulwark-against-reef-destruction-in-a-warming-world/">reefs are healthier</a> and better able to handle the global pressures from climate change.</p>
<p>Establishing large marine protected areas is one of the most effective ways I’ve seen to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0210">protect coral reefs</a> because it limits those other harms.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pointed-nose fish among coral branches" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397195/original/file-20210426-19-7dtogm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coral reefs are fish nurseries and feeding grounds. They also protect coast lines from storms and waves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Stephan Andrews/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Schools of fish swimming over reefs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1920%2C974&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411928/original/file-20210719-13-1rgj8xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Chagos Reef was vibrant before the heat wave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ken Marks/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Chagos marine protected area covers 640,000 square kilometers (250,000 square miles) with only one island currently inhabited – Diego Garcia, which houses a U.S. military base. The British government, which created the marine protected area in 2010, has been <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/chagos-archipelago-dispute-law-diplomacy-and-military-basing">under pressure to turn over control of the region</a> to the country of Mauritius, where former Chagos residents now live and which won a challenge over it in the International Court of Justice in 2020. Whatever happens with jurisdiction, the region would benefit from maintaining a high level of marine protection.</p>
<h2>A warning for other ecosystems</h2>
<p>The Chagos reefs could potentially recover – if they are spared from more heat waves. Even a 10% recovery would make the reefs stronger for when the next bleaching occurs. But recovery of a reef is measured in decades, not years.</p>
<p>So far, research missions that have returned to the Chagos reefs have found only meager recovery, if any at all.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Large fish and schools of fish swimming above the reef" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397198/original/file-20210426-21-txmdaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Chagos Archipelago is home to some 800 species of fish, including rays, skates and dozens of varieties of shark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/publication/global-reef-expedition-chagos-archipelago-final-report/">Phil Renaud/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We knew the reefs weren’t doing well under the insidious march of climate change in 2011, when the global reef expedition started. But it’s nothing like the intensity of worry we have now in 2021.</p>
<p>Coral reefs are the canary in the coal mine. Humans have collapsed other ecosystems before through overfishing, overhunting and development, but this is the first unequivocally tied to climate change. It’s a harbinger of what can happen to other ecosystems as they reach their survival thresholds.</p>
<p><em>This updates an article published <a href="https://theconversation.com/watching-a-coral-reef-die-as-climate-change-devastates-one-of-the-most-pristine-tropical-island-areas-on-earth-159792">April 29, 2021</a>, to add the new estimate of corals lost over the past decade.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Purkis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During a 2015 heat wave, scientists watched as a coral reef died before their eyes. By the end of the century, almost all the world’s corals will be gone if climate change continues at this pace.Sam Purkis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Sciences, University of MiamiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574222021-05-12T02:09:33Z2021-05-12T02:09:33ZResearch shows high-end tourism in Indonesia fails to empower local people during COVID-19 pandemic<p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://wttc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Reports/2020/To%20Recovery%20and%20Beyond-The%20Future%20of%20Travel%20Tourism%20in%20the%20Wake%20of%20COVID-19.pdf?ver=2021-02-25-183120-543">has wreaked havoc</a> on the travel and tourism industry globally. Indonesia is no exception. </p>
<p>The tourism industry in the country with the fourth-largest population in the world has slowed down during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Foreign arrivals dropped by 75% from <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1219984/indonesia-monthly-number-of-international-visitor-arrivals/">16.11 million in 2019 to just 4.02 million in 2020</a>. This was a hard blow to a tourism economy that supplied <a href="https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact">5.7% of the country’s gross domestic product and provided 12.6 million jobs in 2019</a>.</p>
<p>To revive the industry, the Indonesian government <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/jokowi-plans-to-replicate-balis-success-in-10-other-indonesian-spots">has launched a new approach to promote high-end tourism</a>. </p>
<p>High-end tourism is meant to combat the often unsustainable growth in mass tourism. It attracts fewer tourists who spend more on luxury trips than typical mass tourism experiences. In theory, this reduces environmental impacts while increasing economic benefits. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1873920">Our latest research</a> in Wakatobi National Park, an area of immense marine biodiversity spread across four main islands in Southeast Sulawesi province, demonstrates the limitations of high-end tourism development. </p>
<p>While it may offer some conservation benefits, its inherently high price tag means it caters to the most privileged sectors of society, while the local political elite accrue the profits. </p>
<p>Tourism development must do more to focus on providing benefits for communities beyond just financial gains. It should support local communities to increase their skills and knowledge to equip them to be resilient to crises and economic shocks.</p>
<h2>Unsustainable travel experiences</h2>
<p>Our six-month research effort compared high-end, volunteer-based and community-based tourism operating in the marine-rich Wakatobi National Park. The aim was to see which form of tourism development best equipped communities to respond to crises like COVID-19. </p>
<p>Wakatobi National Park is part of a government initiative to develop “high-quality” tourism destinations across the country through its so-called <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/jokowi-plans-to-replicate-balis-success-in-10-other-indonesian-spots">“10 New Balis”</a> program. This effort aims to accelerate tourism development in 10 new destinations beyond the country’s top tourist destination, Bali. </p>
<p>According to interviews with the regional tourism office in Wakatobi, the local government has set a goal of increasing visitor numbers from 20,000 to 100,000 by 2025 by focusing on high-end tourism development. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399178/original/file-20210506-17-iyv16s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soft coral reefs in Tomia Island, Wakatobi National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Chloe King</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wakatobi National Park was designated as a national park in 1996 and covers an area of 13,900 square kilometres. The park has two foreign-owned dive operators on the islands of Tomia and Hoga, with local homestay operators proliferating throughout the park. </p>
<p>A high-end dive operator in the national park offered a valuable case study in exemplifying how exclusive and expensive tourism development has left communities less resilient and ill-prepared to face a crisis. </p>
<p>Guests pay between US$300 and US$1,000 per person for a single night stay. The operator is able to use these fees to pay each village around Tomia (17 in total) between Rp 1.25 and 7 million (about US$85-475) each month in exchange for halting destructive fishing practices and avoiding fishing on 30 kilometres of reef, including a no-take zone. Local dive operators cannot take guests on or near the resort’s reef. </p>
<p>While this has significantly protected and improved natural resources and financial capital, local fishers and dive operators alike lost agency and ability to use the reefs.</p>
<p>Additionally, other respondents noted that the payments did not reach the community directly. The <em>Badan Permusyawaratan Desa</em> (BPD), considered the “parliament” of local villages in Indonesia’s new era of regional autonomy, controls the money. </p>
<p>Respondents felt they did not have a say in how the BPD spends the money it receives from the high-end dive operators. </p>
<p>Respondents alleged it benefited the local “political elite” in the BPD as the politicians spend the money based on “their will, not the will of society”.“</p>
<p>"What [the high-end operator] does is right, with their regulations and money, but they have a greater responsibility to society. Society does not need the money, we need the skills. If they just give money, it will only benefit the political elite,” one respondent said. </p>
<p>Due to the exclusive and closed-off nature of the resort, guests rarely interact with the local community. This was frequently cited as a point of frustration. </p>
<p>Intercultural exchange and informal interaction facilitated through home-stay operators help to increase human capital and community skills. With high-end resorts, this interaction is rare. </p>
<p>Furthermore, no local people from the national park had been trained as dive guides during the 25 years the foreign operator was in business. Few respondents were able to identify opportunities for upward mobility and skills training for local staff. </p>
<p>Such tourism development is reminiscent of colonialist structures that pervade Indonesia to this day, through the acquiescence of rural elites to extract profits and control resources, whether through exploitation or today’s modern modes of conservation. </p>
<h2>Tourism for all</h2>
<p>High-end dive tourism models, where marine reserves are privately financed and enforced, may have led to critical and obvious gains in marine biodiversity and conservation success.</p>
<p>Misool in Raja Ampat, in the most eastern island of Indonesia, is another example of an area that has seen <a href="https://www.misoolfoundation.org/misool-marine-reserve">substantial biodiversity benefits</a>. The total biomass of the marine reserve increased by 250% over just six years due to a similar luxury tourism model.</p>
<p>However, for whom are these resources being conserved? What is being made to be resilient, and why? Suppose the answer is to drive future tourism growth, limited to those wealthy enough to provide and access such “high-quality” tourism experiences. In that case, we must return to view the crisis at hand. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399179/original/file-20210506-15-1eo8yov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sunset in Tomia, overlooking reefs currently under fishing restrictions from the private dive operator.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Chloe King</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With tourism at a standstill for more than a year, local communities have been left to face the consequences without opportunities to increase their skills and knowledge, which would have helped ensure their resilience to such a crisis. </p>
<p>Emerging into a post-COVID-19 landscape, where climate change threats loom large in the communities where tourism once boomed, tourism must first and foremost be developed with local communities in mind. </p>
<p>As one respondent said in a focus group discussion: “[People from capital] Jakarta wants to develop only high-end tourism, but I don’t agree. Tourism should be for everyone to come, not just the rich.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157422/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chloe King received funding for her work from the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program and Indonesia’s AMINEF. She is a current MSc student and research assistant at the University of Edinburgh with PhD status still pending. She also works for Solimar International, a sustainable tourism consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wa Iba terafiliasi dengan Universitas Halu Oleo</span></em></p>Tourism development should support local communities to increase their skills and knowledge to better equip them to be resilient to crises and economic shocks.Chloe King, MSc Student and Research Assistant, Marine Systems & Policies, The University of EdinburghWa Iba, Associate Professor in Aquaculture, Universitas Halu OleoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1594352021-04-30T04:20:32Z2021-04-30T04:20:32ZHow small-scale seafood supply chains adapt to COVID-19 disruptions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397273/original/file-20210427-21-igs0p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mobile traders, or _pedagang along-along_, in Langkat, Sumatra, were able to continue selling fish despite COVID-19 disruptions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sharon K. Suri</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In February 2020, Rio (not his real name), a crab and sea snail processor in Langkat regency on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, found his business drying up. Normally at this time of year his business would have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211912421000043?via%3Dihub">booming from seafood exports</a> to China and Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year festival. </p>
<p>Like many others in small-scale seafood supply chains across the world, Rio was feeling the impacts of COVID-19. </p>
<p>In the early months of the pandemic, community lockdowns and public health risks combined with restrictions on worker movement and seafood trade forced small-scale fishing communities in several parts of the world to close down their businesses. They were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08920753.2020.1766937">left in a state of economic and social uncertainty</a>.</p>
<p>Some small, local seafood vendors, like Indonesian <em>pedagang along-along</em> who sell fish, vegetables and other perishable foods from motorbikes, adapted. They were able to continue selling seafood despite the pandemic. </p>
<p>How did they cope? What helped or hindered others in small-scale seafood supply chains as they dealt with uncertainties generated by COVID-19?</p>
<p>In a recent article, we documented the initial pandemic impacts and responses across seven seafood supply chains in Indonesia, India, Peru and the US. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21000851?via%3Dihub">Our findings</a> offer insights into how to increase the adaptability of fishworkers and small-scale seafood supply chains in preparation for future shocks.</p>
<h2>Coping amid the pandemic</h2>
<p>In some countries, like India and Peru, the important role of fishing and seafood sales in <a href="http://www.oannes.org.pe/noticias/pesca-y-acuicultura/peru-pesca-artesanal-y-el-coronavirus-un-cambio-de-la-historia-peruana/">maintaining livelihoods and providing food was overlooked</a>. The sector was <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/indias-fishers-have-been-crushed-by-covid-19/">not classified as an essential service and was not allowed to continue operating</a>, despite its economic contribution to society.</p>
<p>Seafood is the <a href="http://www.fao.org/state-of-fisheries-aquaculture">most traded food item</a> in the world. Yet an <a href="http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/515701468152718292/pdf/664690ESW0P1210120HiddenHarvest0web.pdf">estimated 81%</a> of the catch from small-scale fisheries is sold for local consumption. </p>
<p>The global small-scale seafood sector <a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/the-ocean-economy-in-2030_9789264251724-en#page1">employs 32 million fishers and 78 million individuals</a> involved in processing and sales. Seafood supply chains are economically important for trade and livelihoods and critical to food systems.</p>
<p>International trade <a href="http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2010.00486.x">supports the livelihoods of many fishworkers</a>, but also exposes them to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378015300133?via%3Dihub">risks of global markets</a>. </p>
<p>As COVID-19 began to disrupt international trade, fishworkers involved in seafood exports had few options but to sell locally. Due to differences in preferences, this was not always successful. For example, jumbo flying squid is eaten in Peru, but not at the volumes or in the product forms consumed in the international market. </p>
<p>In some cases, high-production areas such as Langkat or <a href="https://es.mongabay.com/2020/05/peru-covid-19-economia-de-pescadores-artesanales-oceanos/">coastal regions of Peru</a> ended up with more seafood than local markets could handle. The result was a price crash. </p>
<p>Participating in a variety of supply chains, particularly at smaller, more local scales, helped some fishworkers deal with these shocks. </p>
<p>For example, in California, consumption of sea urchin roe, or <em>uni</em>, was usually limited to restaurants. With restaurants closed, some <em>uni</em> fishers and sellers promoted local supply chains by <a href="https://laist.com/news/food/sea-urchin-fishing-covid-santa-barbara-uni">teaching customers how to handle and prepare uni at home</a>. This made direct sales easier. </p>
<p>In India’s Andaman Islands, grouper fishers switched from multi-hooked longlines to nets. This enabled them to catch different fish and sell these to local markets. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://globalfishingwatch.org/news-views/peruvian-fisheries-covid-19/">Peruvian offshore and high seas artisanal fishers switched to nearshore fishing</a>. By doing this, they contributed to local food security while earning revenue from diverse sources. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396947/original/file-20210426-17-1yh9cni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seafood supply chains span from the local (center) to global (outer ring) and include a variety of actors (icons/nodes). COVID-19 disruptions caused some activities to increase (blue), reduce (green), or become inactive (yellow) for supply chains like Langkat’s export-oriented processors (LE) and domestic mobile traders (LD), Andaman Islands’ grouper fishery (AE) and local net-based fishery (AD), Peru’s export-oriented (PE) and domestic-oriented (PD) artisanal fisheries, and California’s red sea urchin dive fishery (CU).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In all seven of the seafood supply chains we examined, some individuals and organisations quickly changed their marketing strategies and adapted to pandemic-related regulations. </p>
<p>Existing networks of fishery organisations and relationships with consumers helped reorient supply chains. For example, Peruvian fishing associations, which are normally socially and politically active, began marketing seafood through local supply chains. </p>
<p>In India, the <a href="https://www.dakshin.org/">Dakshin Foundation</a> and other non-profits working along the coast <a href="https://thebastion.co.in/politics-and/the-shore-scene-the-heavy-toll-of-the-covid-19-on-indias-fishers/">harnessed existing networks</a> like the National Fishworkers Forum and partnered with boat associations in several coastal states, including the Andamans, to distribute food aid within fishing communities and help stranded fishworkers return home.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397283/original/file-20210427-23-ivbj9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communication technologies helped fishers and traders connect with networks and shift supply chains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Giordano</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With limited ability to meet in person, fishers and seafood traders used familiar apps, like WhatsApp, to communicate with other fishworkers and connect to local buyers. </p>
<p>In the Andamans, communities used WhatsApp to co-ordinate aid. In Peru, it was used to set up informal fish distribution networks. This enabled fish sellers to launch new services such as door-to-door delivery. </p>
<p>California’s <a href="https://www.thdocksidemarket.com/">Tuna Harbor Dockside Market</a> quickly developed an online platform to sell directly to consumers. At the same time, this increased their social media presence. The shift to online marketplaces enabled some fish sellers to reach a wider audience.</p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>COVID-19 has exposed many existing weaknesses in small-scale seafood supply chains. It has also highlighted several successful strategies for adapting to such large-scale shocks. </p>
<p>In the cases examined, these actions contributed to livelihoods and seafood distribution being able to continue during this pandemic.</p>
<p>The successes and failures of strategies adopted by individuals and organisations within this sector offer clear lessons for policymakers, the public and development agencies. </p>
<p>Policymakers could recognise small-scale fisheries as essential food suppliers, while local markets support small businesses and fishing communities to help supply chains adapt to disruptions. </p>
<p>When it comes to technology, NGOs, development agencies and the tech sector could help cultivate social networks and digital technologies for that purpose. </p>
<p>These lessons can inform adaptations to climate change and other predicted threats to seafood supply chains in <a href="https://focusweb.org/covid-19-outbreak-socio-economic-impact-on-small-scale-fisher-and-aquaculture-in-indonesia/">Indonesia</a> and beyond.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Sonia Sharan at Oceana and Christopher Giordano at Future of Fish co-authored this study and contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sahir Advani is a Junior Adjunct Fellow at Dakshin Foundation, a not for profit fisheries organization. Sahir received funding from The University of British Columbia, International Development Research Centre, Robin Rigby Trust for Collaborative Coastal Research to conduct part of this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Bassett receives funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Foreign Language and Areas Studies Fellowship, and the South Bay Cable/Fisheries Liaison Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline Lau works for WorldFish—an international, not for profit research organization and part of the CGIAR that seeks to deliver research for a more food secure world, particularly for societies most vulnerable women and men. This research was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems and the ARC Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon K Suri is studying fish trade networks in Indonesia within the Innovative Knowledge About Networks- Fish For Food (IKAN-F3) project through the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) at the University of Amsterdam. The IKAN-F3 project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO project W 07.50.1818).
</span></em></p>Local, flexible buyers and networks helped support small-scale seafood supply chains coping with COVID-19 disruptions.Sahir Advani, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaHannah Bassett, PhD Student, School of Aquatic and Fishery Science, University of WashingtonJacqueline Lau, Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversitySharon K Suri, PhD Researcher, University of AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1562112021-03-15T09:04:32Z2021-03-15T09:04:32ZOne Indonesian industry has boomed during the pandemic: seaweed farming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386934/original/file-20210301-20-1lzayz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C0%2C1783%2C759&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When COVID-19 hit Indonesia, it <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569120303926">devastated industries such as fisheries</a>. </p>
<p>However, one sector has gone against the trend: seaweed farming.</p>
<p>Our research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104431">shows</a> seaweed farming in Indonesia is booming during the pandemic. </p>
<p>There is a range of possible reasons for this change, including environmental conditions, farming practices and the impacts of COVID-19.</p>
<p>The resilience of seaweed farming is important given the nation’s status as the <a href="http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/software/fishstatj/en">world’s largest producer</a> of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-017-1144-0">hydrocolloid seaweeds</a>. Indonesia produces two-thirds of the global supply.</p>
<p>These seaweeds are generally not eaten but are sold to factories for processing into a powder used for thickening foods such as <a href="https://www.benandjerry.com.au/flavours/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-ice-cream/pints">ice-cream</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387422/original/file-20210303-17-14nl6fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photo: Nas Moto/Unsplash.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Research</h2>
<p>For a case study of the mainland coastline of Pangkep in South Sulawesi, we used newly available high-resolution, high-frequency satellite imagery from US-based Earth-imaging firm <a href="https://www.planet.com/">PlanetLabs</a> to map seaweed farming over time.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386937/original/file-20210301-18-8gqin0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Converting satellite imagery to maps of seaweed farms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Our research</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although Pangkep is just one regency contributing to Indonesia’s seaweed industry, our methodology provides insights into the impact of COVID-19. This approach could be expanded to explore a larger area.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104431">We mapped seaweed production</a> along the Pangkep mainland from April 2017 to December 2020. The map reveals how seaweed production changes through the seasons – almost all seaweed is grown in the first half of the year.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386939/original/file-20210301-22-hlmz07.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The area of seaweed planted along the mainland coastline of Pangkep in each month of 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Our research</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Next, we compared seaweed production in 2020 to previous years to see if there was a significant difference. We found seaweed production between May and September in 2020 was much higher than in previous years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386942/original/file-20210301-23-163snnd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Area under seaweed production from May to August 2020 was significantly higher than in previous years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Our research</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Environmental conditions, local farming practices and the economic impacts of COVID-19, such as trade disruptions and job losses, may have contributed to this trend. </p>
<p><strong>1. Environmental conditions</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319634975">A range of factors affect seaweed growth rate</a>. These include water temperature, sunlight, salinity, nutrients, acidity levels, seed size and genetic material, sedimentation, water oxygen levels and disease infection. </p>
<p>For example, ocean salinity – the concentration of salt in seawater – has a particularly strong effect on seaweed growth. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/246/1/012043/meta">salinity of the Java Sea varies throughout the year</a> as monsoonal rains increase river flows into the ocean. </p>
<p>As a result, different rainfall patterns each year can increase or decrease seaweed growth rates. Farmers respond to this by changing their production.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388677/original/file-20210310-19-1hf19vf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Area under seaweed production as viewed on satellite data mapped against rainfall. Production is highly seasonal and linked to rainfall patterns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Farming practices</strong></p>
<p>The method of farming can also affect the amount of seaweed produced. A particularly important factor is the way that crops are propagated.</p>
<p>Indonesian seaweeds are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-63498-2_5">clonally propagated</a> from cuttings.</p>
<p>Some farmers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X19300545">do this themselves</a>, while others <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-019-02004-3">buy cuttings</a> from other farmers or distributors. </p>
<p>Accessing <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/382/1/012015">high-quality</a> seeds is a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10811-012-9842-0">challenge</a> for the industry. Some farmers spend <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569115001817">more than half</a> of their seaweed farming income on seeds for the next harvest.</p>
<p>Government farmer assistance programs can, therefore, have a strong effect on the viability of seaweed production.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388725/original/file-20210310-17-1609ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Wolfgang Hasselmann/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. The impacts of COVID-19</strong></p>
<p>While the above factors could be responsible for increased seaweed production, it’s likely the economic effects of COVID-19 are at least partially responsible for the change.</p>
<p>During the pandemic in 2020, <a href="https://jasuda.net/">seaweed prices fell</a> by 27%. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386945/original/file-20210301-13-1a3s1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Purchase price for dried cottoni (<em>Kappaphycus alvarezii</em>) across Indonesia fell by an average of 27% from January to December 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JaSuDa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This suggests farmers are producing more seaweed but selling it at a lower price than before the pandemic.</p>
<p>Why would this be the case?</p>
<p>It is likely that although COVID-19 impacted a range of industries in Indonesia, the impact on seaweed farming has been less severe. This is because dried seaweed can be stored relatively easily, so it is more resilient to supply-chain disruptions.</p>
<p>This means that even though seaweed prices are lower than before, the industry may still have become more desirable relative to other, more severely affected sectors.</p>
<p>For example, in some parts of Bali, there have been <a href="https://www.mongabay.co.id/2020/09/28/pariwisata-mati-rumput-laut-hidup-lagi-bagian-1/">huge increases in seaweed production</a> as a result of job losses during the pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387427/original/file-20210303-19-zxc4w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photo: Jarrad Horne/Unsplash.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While satellite data alone cannot give a complete picture of the complex livelihood effects of the pandemic on seaweed farming, it does alert us to broad patterns and trends. </p>
<p>The extended use of remote sensing across wider areas, along with on-the-ground research to the extent possible, may help monitor the fluid situation. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors’ interdisciplinary research project in the Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research focuses on improving the Indonesian seaweed industry’s outcomes with a particular focus on South Sulawesi. To learn more about this and the work of Indonesian and Australian research teams on youth and the new rail line, you can read more details <a href="https://pair.australiaindonesiacentre.org/">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australia-Indonesia Centre under the PAIR Program</span></em></p>Satellite data reveals increased seaweed production during the COVID-19 pandemicZannie Langford, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australia-Indonesia CentreHasnawati Saleh, Research Coordinator, PAIR (Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research) Program, Australia-Indonesia CentreScott Waldron, Senior Fellow in International Agricultural Development, The University of QueenslandSulfahri, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Hasanuddin University, Australia-Indonesia CentreLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1398722020-06-09T02:11:42Z2020-06-09T02:11:42ZFishers are one of the poorest professions in Indonesia, yet they are one of the happiest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339927/original/file-20200604-67351-1a5iky4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Statistics show a sharp decline in the number of fisher households from 2 million in 2000 to just 966,000 in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesia’s status as a maritime country seemingly does not guarantee that its fishers live prosperously. <a href="http://sdgcenter.unpad.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orasi-Guru-Besar-Prof.-ZA.pdf">My recent study</a>, analysing data from <a href="http://sdgcenter.unpad.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orasi-Guru-Besar-Prof.-ZA.pdf">the 2017 National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS)</a>, shows fishers are one of the poorest professions in Indonesia.</p>
<p>As many as 11.34% of people in Indonesia’s fisheries sector are classified as poor. That’s a higher rate than in other sectors such as restaurant services (5.56%), building construction (9.86%) and waste sorting (9.62%). </p>
<p>As a result, the number of young people who want to work as fishers has declined.
<a href="https://www.bps.go.id/statictable/2014/01/10/1709/jumlah-rumah-tangga-perikanan-tangkap-menurut-provinsi-dan-jenis-penangkapan-2000-2016.html">Data from the Indonesian Statistics Bureau (BPS)</a> show a sharp decrease in households involved in capture fisheries, from 2 million in 2000 to 966,000 in 2016. </p>
<p>This has occurred not only in Indonesia but also in other parts of the world. In 2016, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported a <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5555e.pdf">continuous decline of workers in the capture fisheries sector</a>. In Europe, the number of fishers fell from 779,000 to 413,00 between 2000 and 2013. A similar trend can be seen in North America and Oceania.</p>
<p>Policies that <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5555e.pdf">limit overfishing</a>, along with <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5555e.pdf">the advancement of technologies</a> that replace the role of fishers, seem to be the cause of this decline. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26268218?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">A number of scholars</a> argue that low income, extreme weather at sea and being far away from family for a long time have turned the profession into one that is dangerous and unattractive.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18308960">research I conducted</a> in 2018 found this does not apply to Indonesian fishers. Amid poverty and uncertainty about catches, Indonesian fishers seem to be happier than other professions in the agriculture sector.</p>
<h2>Measuring the happiness of fishers</h2>
<p>Our team conducted a statistical analysis of the welfare status of fishers, represented by socioeconomic data from the <a href="https://www.rand.org/well-being/social-and-behavioral-policy/data/FLS/IFLS/ifls-east.html">2012</a> and <a href="http://www.rand.org/labor/FLS/IFLS.html">2015</a> Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS).</p>
<p>The IFLS questionnaire also contained an open survey for fishers, asking them how happy they felt or would feel at present, five years ago and five years ahead.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333863/original/file-20200510-49565-8l2wgj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of survey question on subjective well-being from the IFLS questionnaire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Anna, et al. 2018)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even though they are one of the most likely to slide under the poverty line, our analysis concludes there is no strong evidence that fishers are less happy than those in other professions.</p>
<p>Instead, many other aspects displayed a stronger correlation to happiness rather than just their status as fishers – such as education level, marriage status and health condition.</p>
<p>One reason that might explain this result is the nature of their profession, which allows them to enjoy <a href="https://www.chatelaine.com/health/why-farmers-are-happier-than-the-rest-of-us/">more time outdoors, on the open sea</a>.</p>
<p>Past studies suggest aspects such as “adventure”, “freedom” and “activities in nature” act as <a href="https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=biology-facpubs">a form of therapy</a> for fishers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333867/original/file-20200510-49558-b4r5ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The open sea can be a form of therapy for fishers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287440329_Stress_and_the_occupation_of_fishing">research from the University of Rhode Island</a> found roaming in calm seas helped fishers in the Caribbean – such as those in Cuba and Haiti – develop very good social relations and a healthy mental state.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270390767_Fishers_at_Work_Workers_at_Sea_A_Puerto_Rican_Journey_through_Labor_and_Refuge">Another study</a>, by researchers at East Carolina University in the United States, describes how many former fishers in Puerto Rico chose to return to work in the open sea as a form of therapy after feeling exhausted by years spent in administrative jobs.</p>
<p>Particularly for Indonesian fishers who employ workers, this “therapy” seems to have a stronger effect as they have to work less and can spend more time enjoying nature.</p>
<p>In our survey, fishers also showed higher optimism than other professions in the agriculture sector about their projected economic situation in five years’ time.</p>
<p>The above factors might explain why, even in poverty, Indonesian fishers still perceive their living conditions as being on par with other professions, perhaps even one that is worth pursuing for years to come.</p>
<h2>The future of the fishery sector</h2>
<p>However happy Indonesian fishers are, statistics still show <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/statictable/2014/01/10/1709/jumlah-rumah-tangga-perikanan-tangkap-menurut-provinsi-dan-jenis-penangkapan-2000-2016.html">fewer and fewer</a> people are choosing fisheries as a profession.</p>
<p>This means the government has the important task of increasing the welfare of fishers for the sake of this profession’s future.</p>
<p>One thing the government can do is issue better regulations for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X16000130">open-access capture fisheries</a> and policies to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X19309297">protect small-scale fishers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333868/original/file-20200510-49550-1bfm1x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Without small-scale fisheries protection, fishing vessels from large industries (more than 10 GT) can reduce the income of traditional fishers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the government fails to pay attention to this, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18303063">large fishing vessels</a> will continue to exploit Indonesian waters, which ultimately reduces the catch of traditional fishers.</p>
<p>Government support to increase fishers’ welfare – for instance, by providing <a href="https://ecsofim.ub.ac.id/index.php/ecsofim/article/view/265">insurance for small-scale fishers</a> – is also a must for this highly uncertain profession. </p>
<p>Being a fisher might be a happy job, but it would be meaningless if no one is left to continue this profession in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Ayesha Muna translated this article from Bahasa Indonesia to English.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zuzy Anna receives funding from Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) through the Academic Leadership Grant (ALG). She is also the Executive Director at the SDGs Center UNPAD.</span></em></p>Traditional fishers are one of the most economically vulnerable professions in Indonesia. But, my research found that they are happier than those in other professions.Zuzy Anna, Professor, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas PadjadjaranLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1258752019-11-19T13:26:17Z2019-11-19T13:26:17ZWhy seagrass in Indonesia’s marine protected areas is still under threat<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302362/original/file-20191119-12509-eyqqtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C8%2C5856%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seagrass meadow in Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia. Seagrass is an important nursery for many juvenile reef fish.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ethan Daniels/shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite being less famous than other marine ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs, seagrass meadows are one of the crucial areas in coastal waters, due to their important role as food sources for marine animals and carbon storage.</p>
<p>Similar to mangroves and coral reefs, yet different from seaweeds, seagrass ecosystems are silently struggling with degradation caused by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718310751?via%3Dihub">human activities</a>. </p>
<p>The culprits are coastal reclamation and development, oil pollution, sand and coral mining, seaweed farming, sedimentation, deforestation, overfishing, poor water quality, and garbage. Human activities in collecting small animals such as molluscs and sea cucumbers from seagrass during low tides can also be a threat.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seagrass-is-a-marine-powerhouse-so-why-isnt-it-on-the-worlds-conservation-agenda-66503">Seagrass is a marine powerhouse, so why isn't it on the world's conservation agenda?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The above activities can remove <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12237-008-9038-7">2-5% of the total of seagrass area per year</a> globally. </p>
<p>Local communities and the government have made efforts to protect seagrass. In some coastal communities in eastern Indonesia, fishermen enacted a fishing moratorium, locally known as “sasi”. </p>
<p>Nationally, the government has created Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the archipelago, which currently covered at least <a href="https://en.antaranews.com/news/119988/indonesia-achieves-target-of-20-million-hectares-marine-conservation-areas">20 million hectares</a>. </p>
<p>Some marine protected areas, such as in Wakatobi island and Buton regency in Southeast Sulawesi province, have been successful in increasing the seagrass cover in those areas.</p>
<p>However, there are also unhappy stories, like in North Nias, North Sumatra and Biak Numfor, Papua. These areas can’t stop seagrass cover from declining further. </p>
<p>In those areas, seagrass cover <a href="http://oseanografi.lipi.go.id/haspen/buku%20padang%20lamun%202018%20digital.pdf">has declined</a> from 58 to 48% and 61 to 55% of the average value from several sites in each area from 2016 to 2017, respectively.</p>
<p>Here is my analysis why seagrass ecosystem in protected areas still under threat. </p>
<h2>What are lacking from Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)?</h2>
<p>Marine protected areas (MPAs) are not necessarily effective in managing programs to protect seagrass as it failed to predict threats when they are designed. </p>
<p>Majority of threats to the marine ecosystem come from outside of the protected areas, for instance <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-018-1115-y">sedimentation from runoffs</a> resulted from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718310751?via%3Dihub">coastal development and rapid population growth</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-take-marine-areas-help-fishers-and-fish-far-more-than-we-thought-119659">No-take marine areas help fishers (and fish) far more than we thought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Other issues, pollutants and debris (such as plastic) to fisheries activities also harm seagrass ecosystem. Fishing activities, at a certain level, could <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/106/30/12377">damage seagrass</a>. Anchors, propellers, and fishing gears often cut the leaves or uprooted the whole plant.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302140/original/file-20191118-66937-17mhoh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With good knowledge, healthy seagrass can play its roles to absorb carbon on climate change mitigation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roirike Mardiana Bewinda / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-018-1115-y">Lack awareness and knowledge</a> from MPAs authorities complicates the effort to protect seagrass ecosystem. </p>
<p>This resulted to managers of MPAs with insufficient knowledge to construct effective conservation management program for seagrass ecosystem. </p>
<h2>Why seagrass ecosystem is important?</h2>
<p>Seagrass is home to marine animals, both for endangered animals (such as <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/d/dugong/">dugong</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/group/sea-turtles/">sea turtle</a>, <a href="https://www.theseahorsetrust.org/seahorse-facts/">seahorse</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/t/tiger-shark/">tiger shark</a>) and economically targeted animals (such as <a href="https://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/groups/snapper/overview">snappers</a> and <a href="https://www.fishisthedish.co.uk/learn/fish-guide/species-of-fish/emperor">emperor fishes</a>, <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sea-cucumber">sea cucumber</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/mollusc">molluscs</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/crab">crabs</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301754/original/file-20191114-26237-g6iuyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Healthy seagrass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While feeding marine creatures, the plants, also act as carbon sinks. Through photosynthesis, they take in carbon dioxide from the environment and transform it into biomass in their organs (roots, rhizomes, and leaves) that will be eaten by other marine animals. The unconsumed organ, eventually will shed and decomposed in the sediment. </p>
<p>This means that seagrass meadows are taking part in climate change mitigation as they have the ability to sequester carbon from the environment.</p>
<h2>What should be done?</h2>
<p>To address the lack of protected areas to protect seagrass, I suggest these steps for the MPA’s administrator (either the government or the local communities): </p>
<p>First, improve the inefficiency of MPAs by careful planning and regular monitoring. The monitoring should cover threats coming from outside of protected areas. </p>
<p>MPA should monitor water quality on regular basis to provide information of possible sediment and pollutants harmful to seagrass as early as possible. That way, they can prevent further damage to happen. </p>
<p>Second, improve people’s awareness of the issues by creating public campaigns. The campaigns should increase knowledge about the importance of seagrass ecosystem via mainstream media, social media to education.</p>
<p>One of the success stories of effective MPA administrators is Wakatobi National Park. Its received support from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/the-holy-trinity-how-wakatobis-coral-stays-healthy-and-diverse/">international NGOs</a>, such as WWF and TNC, to develop programs protecting the national park.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5568%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302139/original/file-20191118-66953-8tf6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Under good management, seagrass in Wakatobi National Park is growing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Local people then managed to continue the projects, involving local communities and NGOs, such as <em><a href="http://ksdae.menlhk.go.id/info/4290/langkah-strategi-balai-tn-wakatobi-tingkatkan-peran-masyarakat.html">Forum Kahedupa Toudani</a></em> (Forkani), to protect the ecosystem.</p>
<p>Besides these two approaches, there’s a third approach involving communities living inside and around the protected areas, as human activities contribute greatly to seagrass ecosystem degradation.</p>
<p>We must engage with local people in marine protected areas and encourage them to get involved in seagrass ecosystem protection. </p>
<p>For instance, we can encourage them to enforce a temporary fishing moratorium in seagrass areas.</p>
<p>Other example is to implement <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328181089_Pengelolaan_Padang_Lamun_Seagrass_Berbasis_Budidaya_Ramah_Lingkungan_di_Wilayah_Pesisir_Lombok_Timur">environmentally friendly aquaculture</a>, such as seaweed farming. This could provide alternative income for the communities and reduce the exploitation of natural resource in the seagrass bed.</p>
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Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-paints-catastrophic-picture-of-melting-ice-and-rising-sea-levels-and-reality-may-be-even-worse-124193">IPCC report paints catastrophic picture of melting ice and rising sea levels – and reality may be even worse</a>
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<p>Wakatobi National Park has given good examples of monitoring coastal ecosystem. It also managed to raise public awareness and engage with the local communities to protect the coastal ecosystem.</p>
<p>However, their activities are possible with the help from from many NGOs and scientific projects. But this support may have expiration dates, therefore, we hope that the MPA managers and local NGOs are capable to continue the protection. </p>
<p>Although existing protections for seagrass in Indonesia are still ineffective, these efforts are still a good start. Little protection is still better than none.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andri Irawan tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Although less well known than its cousins, coral reefs and mangroves, seagrass plays a crucial role in climate change mitigation.Andri Irawan, Researcher at Research Center for Deep Sea, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241722019-10-17T03:03:42Z2019-10-17T03:03:42ZIndonesia needs more research on how plastic waste in the ocean impact marine life. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295179/original/file-20191002-49404-1kizlr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C7%2C4833%2C3168&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indonesia announced 'war against marine plastic debris' in 2016 as a recent study dubbed the country as the second largest waste producer in the world. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesia’s oceans, some of the richest in marine biodiversity, are becoming rubbish bins – altering underwater ecosystems. </p>
<p>Based on a research led by <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768">Jenna Jambeck</a> of University of Georgia, Indonesia is the world’s second-largest ocean plastic polluter. Yet, we know little about how plastic waste impact marine life in Indonesia’s waters. </p>
<p>I am part of the Marine Research Laboratory (MEAL), a research collaboration between Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs, University of Raja Ali Haji Maritime of Riau Islands province and Mantawatch International. </p>
<p>We carried out a systematic review of research on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X19304254">marine plastic debris</a> published in the Marine Pollution Journal. We found that there’s a lack of research about this important issue, especially in eastern Indonesia. </p>
<h2>Why we need research on the impact of marine debris?</h2>
<p>Studying the impact of marine debris on the marine ecosystems in Indonesia’s waters is vital to provide evidence to businesses and governments about the urgency of keeping oceans free from plastic waste and debris.</p>
<p>Currently, businesses still sell everyday items, from shampoo and soaps to beverages, in small plastic packages. Meanwhile, the government has yet been able to effectively manage waste on land to ensure they’re not thrown in waterways, ending up in the ocean. </p>
<p>Additionally, most people are not aware of the potential health risks of marine plastic debris to human health. Plastic waste that ends up in the ocean can end up on our plates if we prepare seafood contaminated by plastic debris. This happens because most sea creatures are actually colour blind and <a href="https://ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=why-do-marine-animals-eat-plastic">can’t tell between waste and food</a>.</p>
<p>Various studies in the world reveal that consuming plastic contained in food and drinks have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873021/">potential health risks</a>. </p>
<h2>The status of Indonesia’s marine research</h2>
<p>We mapped out marine plastic debris research from around the world and found a significant increase in the last 40 years. There was only one study on marine debris in 1978. In 2018, some 579 papers were published. </p>
<p>The surge of research occurred after <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/rio20.html">the UN Conference on Sustainable Development</a>, held in Brazil in 2012, concluded that marine plastics is a major issue on ocean health. </p>
<p>We also analysed the rate of publications based on countries and found that China, the world’s largest marine debris producer, had significantly contributed to the body of research compared to other top marine debris producers, including Indonesia. </p>
<p>We found that no more than 50 marine debris articles, specifically plastic debris, were published in Indonesia since 1986. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the topics of marine debris research are very specific. For example, the research that we found studied the chemical reactions of marine plastic debris, its impact on the ecosystem, its distribution, and beach clean-ups. The studies are still inadequate to be used as a basis for government policy. </p>
<h2>We need more research about waters in eastern Indonesia</h2>
<p>The studies on marine plastic debris in Indonesia have focused primarily on the western part of the country, concentrated on the densely populated islands of Java and Bali. </p>
<p>Around 80% of the research was carried out in coastal areas about its ecosystem, while 20% studied the water column. Most of them focused on environmental sciences and natural resources management. </p>
<p>Only a few studies were related to health, socioeconomic, engineering or policy. It was especially difficult to find research studying the effect of plastic debris on humans. We found some research papers on plastic debris in the stomach and tissue of fish. </p>
<p>For the eastern part of Indonesia, we only found five publications that discuss the condition of marine debris and two of them were published about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113697000020">two decades ago</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there has not been any publications that comprehensively discuss microplastics accumulation in marine organisms. To do this kind of research will require a special laboratory to study nano-debris.</p>
<p>Marine debris research is still a developing field in Indonesia. At Padjajaran University, we regularly collect debris in many beaches to prevent lack of data for the research. </p>
<p>We propose more comprehensive research about the impact of marine debris on the ecosystem. We need to find out the impact of plastic debris on organism in the water column, how they alter distribution of marine life in the waters, how they affect human health, and how this eventually affect local and national economy. </p>
<p>If we have good data, all of these research could be a foundation for national or regional policy to reduce the plastic debris.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noir Primadona Purba receives funding from Hibah Internal Unpad (HIU) Universitas Padjajaran, Komitmen Research Grant, and Demand Driven Research Grant (DDRG) LIPI in 2018 for research in East Nusa Tenggara.</span></em></p>Indonesia is struggling to keep its waste from the oceans. The government has announced ambitious plan to curb plastic waste. However, lack of research to support the policy.Noir Primadona Purba, Lecturer and Marine Reseacher, Universitas PadjadjaranLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1232002019-10-01T07:39:18Z2019-10-01T07:39:18ZStories from Indonesia’s coasts – how fishers abandon destructive fishing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294499/original/file-20190927-185390-1vkxex1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2740%2C1374&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Destructive fishing, bombing and poisoning were banned in Indonesia in 2004 but enforcement is weak.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/dynamite-fishing-effects-on-fish-editable-1445121755?src=uhEyWy6X5hUnp7xhvjt1vw-1-3">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The island nation of Indonesia, where waters teem with coral fish, banned the use of bombs and cyanide for fishing <a href="http://www.flevin.com/id/lgso/translations/JICA%20Mirror/english/17.31.2004.eng.qc.html">in 2004</a>. </p>
<p>But weak enforcement means some fishers in Indonesia still bomb reefs and poison sea creatures. But protecting Indonesia’s marine ecosystems and ceasing to use these destructive methods is, in fact, in the best interests of the country’s fisher communities.</p>
<p>I study human ecology. Between 2016 and 2018 I took part in research in Selayar, in South Sulawesi. The area is in the <a href="https://www.livescience.com/64738-coral-triangle.html">centre of the Coral Triangle</a>, a vast network of coral reefs dotting the waters surrounding six countries in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.</p>
<p>The research team lived among fisher communities in three villages to learn why and how <a href="https://ccres.net/what-we-do">fishing communities in Indonesia stopped using bombs and cyanide to fish</a>. </p>
<p>The study found that some individuals who previously participated in destructive fishing can transform into inspiring leaders and influence others to protect coral reefs. </p>
<p>We’ve collected stories of 15 champions for sustainable fishing, from former fish bombers to heads of villages (one of them female) and local government officials who work far beyond the requirements of their jobs. These individuals undergo their transformation in different ways. But, almost all of them began to change their ways after being exposed to a government program called <a href="http://coremap.or.id/">COREMAP (Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program)</a> which implementation at the local level, ended in 2017.</p>
<p>Here are four of their stories.</p>
<h2>Yudi Ansar – the death of four friends from fish bombing changed his perspective</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294088/original/file-20190925-51421-fawrli.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Photo by Helen Ross.</span>
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<p>Yudi Ansar started fishing by detonating bombs underwater after graduating from high school. One day, however, a terrible bomb accident killed four of his friends. </p>
<p>Now 38 years old, Ansar said he couldn’t remember the exact year of his friends’ death. He said that, at the time, he was not aware that it was illegal to use bombing and cyanide to fish. Law enforcement in the Batangmata Sapo village in the east coast of Selayar district, where he was living, was weak. Several officials even protected those involved in destructive fishing. </p>
<p>Ansar gave up on being a fisherman and looked for other jobs. He moved to Patikarya, one of the villages in the COREMAP program. </p>
<p>Ansar joined the program, taking part in the Community Committee for Coastal Resource Management (LPSP). The community’s main task is to protect the coral reefs by providing villagers alternative livelihoods, such as salted fish and shrimp paste production. </p>
<p>Ansar now serves as a government facilitator for village development, a role that allows him to influence other fishers to abandon illegal and destructive fishing practices in Patikarya village. </p>
<h2>Muhammad Arsyad – a former user of fish bombing and cyanide</h2>
<p>Muhammad Arsyad began fishing using explosives in 1987, a common practice in his home village.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294089/original/file-20190925-51410-r5v7gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Photo by A.Y. Abdurrahim.</span>
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<p>In addition to fish bombing, he learned to use cyanide for fishing from a Hong Kong-based business who hired him as the company’s buyer for groupers and clams. The company required him to teach fishers how to use chemicals for fishing.</p>
<p>Ansar had a side business producing salted fish. As his side business grew, he stopped fishing at the end of 2004. That year, he was appointed as a village official and became involved with the COREMAP program. He started to become aware of the adverse effects of destructive fishing. </p>
<p>In 2008, he became the village head. Using his influence as the village head and former fisher “boss”, Ansar influenced other “bosses” to stop fish bombing. He also involved wives and children, to increase awareness of the importance of coral reefs and alternative livelihoods. His village library provides books on coral reefs, fish processing, and crafts, to chicken farming.</p>
<h2>Mappalewa – from a convicted fish bomber to sustainable fishing campaigner</h2>
<p>Mappalewa, who goes just by one name, has been arrested three times for fish bombing and using cyanide for fishing. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294090/original/file-20190925-51405-1lj5x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Photo by Helen Ross.</span>
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<p>But now he is the head of his villages’ Community Committee for Coastal Resource Management (LPSP). </p>
<p>He started using bombs to fish in the 1980s after learning that he can catch more fish by using explosives. In the 2000s, he started using cyanide because he saw other fishers catching big live fish in large quantities. </p>
<p>After the government banned fish bombing and poisoning, Mappalewa began bribing local officers to continue destructive fishing. </p>
<p>But he ended up spending more on fines and bribes. Eventually, he realised that the methods were not worthwhile financially.</p>
<p>As the head of the LPSP he tells other fishers that fish bombing is not worth it, sharing his own experience.</p>
<h2>Andi Hidayati – a female leader who stopped her village from destructive fishing</h2>
<p>Born into a noble family, Andi Hidayati’s fight against illegal fishing initially started as she watched outsiders bomb and poison in her village waters. Then, she found out that 30% out of 246 fishers in Bungaiya were involved in the bombings and poisonings.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294091/original/file-20190925-51401-1s18ue5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Photo by A.Y. Abdurrahim.</span>
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<p>During her administration as a Village leader, Bungaiya village was part of the COREMAP program. Hidayati learned from COREMAP that local villagers did not know that fish bombing was illegal. </p>
<p>They told her that if they did not use bombs to fish, their incomes will suffer. They were also competing with fishers from outside Bungaiya village for local fish resources. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, she managed to convince the villagers to adopt alternative livelihood introduced under COREMAP programs, such as fish ball production, snacks, and other fish-based production. </p>
<p>Hidayati also used her authority as the village head to issue a village law on community protected areas which regulates catch zones, fishing gear and sanctions. </p>
<p>Later, she became involved in patrolling and catching illegal fishers with the police and village marine volunteers. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The champions profiles have been published in “Social influence for protecting coral reefs: champions and their strategies from Selayar, Indonesia” published by the <a href="https://ccres.net/resources/ccres-tool/fishcollab">Capturing Coral Reef and Related Ecosystem Services Project</a>, a project that developed technical models, tools and knowledge products to assist managers, policy-makers and planners to manage coastal ecosystems and, in doing so, sustain the services these ecosystems provide to coastal communities.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study is part of the Capturing Coral Reef and Related Ecosystem Services Project (CCRES), funded by the Global Environment Facility and administered by the World Bank and The University of Queensland.</span></em></p>Our study found that some individuals who previously participated in destructive fishing practices can transform into inspiring leaders and influence others to protect coral reefs.Ali Yansyah Abdurrahim, Human Ecology Researcher, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1227612019-09-03T12:33:54Z2019-09-03T12:33:54ZCurious Kids: when fish get thirsty do they drink sea water?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290552/original/file-20190902-175668-1javyse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=97%2C13%2C4399%2C3084&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I'm parched as. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickharris1/6931604669/">Nick Harris/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>When fish get thirsty do they drink sea water? – Torben, aged nine, Sussex, UK.</strong></p>
<p>This is a great question, Torben, thanks very much for sending it in. </p>
<p>The short answer is yes, some fish do drink seawater – but not all of them. Fish are amazing animals, and have some very cool solutions to living in water. Naturally, different types of fish have evolved different solutions. </p>
<p>The bony kinds of fish that live in the sea – such as cod, herring, tuna and so on – have a few ways of getting water in and out of the body. As well as swallowing and peeing, like humans do, these fish can pass it through their skin and gills.</p>
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series by <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation</a>, which gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskids@theconversation.com">curiouskids@theconversation.com</a>. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.</em></p>
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<p>To understand how this works, you first need to know that bony fish have a different <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-concentration-605844">concentration</a> of salt in their bodies to their environment. This means they’re more or less salty than the water they swim in. </p>
<p>The bodies of marine fish (which live in the sea) are less salty than the water they swim in, while the bodies of freshwater fish (which live in rivers and lakes) are more salty than the water they swim in. </p>
<p>Both marine and freshwater fish have to control the amount of water and salt in their bodies, to stay healthy and hydrated. </p>
<h2>Hard to stay hydrated</h2>
<p>Bony marine fish are constantly losing water from their body, through a process called “<a href="https://sciencing.com/osmosis-kids-8650496.html">osmosis”</a>“. During osmosis, water moves through a membrane (like skin), from areas of lower concentration to areas of higher concentration. </p>
<p>Remember, the body of a marine fish is less salty than the seawater it swims in – which means it has a lower concentration of salt. So these fish actually lose water through osmosis: it passes from their body, through their skin and gills, out into the sea. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290692/original/file-20190903-175714-vntsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thirsty work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sebastian Pena Lambarri/Unsplash.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since they’re constantly losing water this way, these fish have to drink a lot of seawater to stay hydrated. </p>
<p>You might be interested to know that the opposite happens in freshwater fish. Water flows into their body through osmosis, instead of out. This means they don’t generally need to drink – but they do have to pee a lot.</p>
<p>We all know that <a href="http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/salthealth/children/">too much salt is bad for us</a>. So of course, an animal that drinks seawater must have a way to get rid of excess salt. </p>
<p>Marine fish have kidneys, which pump excess salt into their pee so they can get it out of their bodies. They also have special cells in their gills that pump excess salt out into the sea. Together, these two systems mean that marine fish can stay hydrated. </p>
<h2>Salty sharks</h2>
<p>Sharks have evolved a completely different system. Their bodies have a slightly higher concentration of salt than seawater. This means they don’t have the problem that bony fish have, of losing water through their skin all the time.</p>
<p>Sharks have high levels of waste chemicals – called urea and trimethylamine N-oxide – in their body, which other animals would usually get rid of. Sharks keep them in their body, which keeps them "salty”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290693/original/file-20190903-175714-1brmqcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">I don’t drink.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/j3Kbs-GcEXs">David Clode/Unsplash.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sharks take in small amounts of water through their gills (by osmosis – because they are slightly saltier than the sea) which means they don’t directly have to drink. </p>
<p>Sharks also have <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-00989-5_25">a salt gland</a> (in their rectum) to get rid of any excess salt they may have. </p>
<p>The problem of drinking seawater isn’t just for fish. Some seabirds – albatrosses, for example – have to drink seawater too. Like sharks, these seabirds <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/salt-gland">have a salt gland</a> to get rid of excess salt. But on an albatross it is found at the top of the bird’s beak. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Children can have their own questions answered by experts – just send them in to <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a>, along with the child’s first name, age and town or city. You can:</em></p>
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<p><em>Here are some more <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/curious-kids-36782?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">Curious Kids</a> articles, written by academic experts:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-some-animals-have-two-different-coloured-eyes-119727?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">Why do some animals have two different coloured eyes? – George, aged ten, Hethersett, UK.</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-high-could-i-jump-on-the-moon-120865?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">How high could I jump on the moon? – Miles, aged five, London, UK.</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-are-the-bubbles-in-fizzy-drinks-so-small-the-ones-i-blow-are-much-bigger-121513?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">Why are the bubbles in fizzy drink so small? The ones I blow are much bigger - Alison, aged seven, Aberdeen, UK.</a></em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Lacey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fish that live in the sea have found amazing ways to control the amount of water and salt in their bodies, and stay hydrated.Claire Lacey, PhD Candidate in Biology, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1055762018-10-31T04:46:01Z2018-10-31T04:46:01ZTrust Me, I’m An Expert: Food fraud, the centuries-old problem that won’t go away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241976/original/file-20181024-48700-ywtg7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is in these products? And if additives don't affect your health, would you care?
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What have you eaten today? And how much do you know about how it was produced, what was added to it along the way, and how it made its way to your plate?</p>
<p>Even as most of us grow increasingly removed from actual food production, many consumers still take food fraud and perceptions of food purity incredibly seriously. </p>
<p>Scandals around <a href="https://delishably.com/food-industry/Meat-Glue-What-It-Is-And-What-You-Should-Know">“meat glue”</a> or <a href="https://qz.com/1323471/ten-years-after-chinas-melamine-laced-infant-milk-tragedy-deep-distrust-remains/">milk</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/honey-tests-reveal-global-contamination-by-bee-harming-pesticides">honey</a> contamination, and the skyrocketing global interest in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/07/27/organics-popularity-higher-than-ever-43-billion-2016/500129001/">organic foods</a>, underscore the fact that many of us still care quite deeply about the foods we eat and how they’re produced – and that’s affecting food labelling, regulation and consumer behaviour.</p>
<p>One person who’s studied that terrain closely is Dr Andrew Ventimiglia, a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, who researches food fraud and how it relates to science, culture, trademark law and food regulation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-cyclone-season-approacheth-but-this-year-theres-a-twist-104309">Trust Me, I'm An Expert: Cyclone season approacheth, but this year there's a twist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>He sat down with The Conversation’s deputy politics and society editor Justin Bergman to talk about the weird history of food adulteration and certification – everything from 19th century dairy farmers adding sheep brains to skim milk to make it look frothier, to centuries-old oil and wine adulteration scandals.</p>
<p>Dr Ventimiglia said types of food fraud laws have been recorded as early as the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3081008/Bread-rules-abandoned-after-750-years.html">13th century</a>, but the issue really came into focus in the <a href="http://www.artisanfoodlaw.co.uk/history-of-food-law/19th-century/history-of-food-law-19th-century">1800s</a>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Adulterated milk was one of the first issues that got national attention, and this was roughly in the mid 1800s to late 1800s, both particularly in the UK and the US. And the earliest form of adulterated milk that was really concerning to regulators was actually simply skim milk.</p>
<p>Producers who were making skim milk were adding flour or starch, sometimes carrots for sweetness, but they were also adding things that did pose a public health risk.</p>
<p>So, for instance, chalk was added to increase the whiteness of milk, as well as often sheep or calf brains to froth the milk […] those posed really legitimate health risks that were recognised by early analytic chemists and that really initiated some early food regulations.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And while food scandals persist today, food standards are increasingly more concerned with fraudulent claims on packaging and innovations in food production. For instance, is yoghurt made with coconut milk still considered yoghurt? What to do about foods that claim to be “all natural?”</p>
<p>Special thanks to our multimedia intern, Dilpreet Kaur Taggar, for editing this segment together. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-how-augmented-reality-may-one-day-make-music-a-visual-interactive-experience-100318">Trust Me, I'm An Expert: How augmented reality may one day make music a visual, interactive experience</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>From food adulteration to food poisoning</h2>
<p>We also hear from Associate Professor Shauna Murray from the UTS Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, about her research into <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-ciguatera-fish-poisoning-21835">ciguatera fish poisoning</a>. It’s a non-bacterial illness associated with fish consumption and symptoms in humans may include gastrointestinal, neurological and even sometimes cardiovascular problems.</p>
<p>Editorial intern Jordan Fermanis spoke to Dr Murray about why this tropical disease is showing up further south, and how recreational fishermen are helping researchers unlock the mysteries of ciguatera. </p>
<hr>
<p>Trust Me, I’m An Expert is a podcast where we ask academics to surprise, delight and inform us with their research. You can download previous episodes <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/trust-me-podcast">here</a>.</p>
<p>And please, do check out other podcasts from The Conversation – including The Conversation US’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/heat-and-light-1968">Heat and Light</a>, about 1968 in the US, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/the-anthill">The Anthill</a> from The Conversation UK, as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/mediafiles">Media Files</a>, a brand new podcast all about the media. You can find all our podcasts over <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts">here</a>.</p>
<h2>Additional audio and credits</h2>
<p>Additional editing by Dilpreet Kaur Taggar</p>
<p>Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from <a href="https://www.elefanttraks.com/">Elefant Traks</a></p>
<p>Free Music Archive: Podington Bear, <a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/">Clouds, Rain, Sun</a></p>
<p>Demand increases for organic produce, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFLAkTBXtaA">23 ABC News</a>.</p>
<p>Is your honey real honey or just “sugar syrup”? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gafNOtcShyI">ABC News Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Fake honey: Study finds disturbing results, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7M8R4350iw">ABC News Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Meat glue secret, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXXrB3rz-xU">Today Tonight</a>. </p>
<p>Chinese milk report, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-kLUyic4TM">CNN</a>. </p>
<p>Missouri Wine History, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MocfJiZGR_M">MissouriWine</a>.</p>
<p>Pure. Fresh. Milk. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vmZOniut9Y">1991 Promo</a>. </p>
<p>Australian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QphMaa4wxI">milk ad</a>. </p>
<p>Sad Marimba Planet by Lee Rosevere from <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_02_Sad_Marimba_Planet">Free Music Archive</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Dairy farmers used to put sheep brains and chalk in skim milk to make it look frothier and whiter. Coffee, honey and wine have also been past targets of food fraudsters. Can the law ever keep up?Sunanda Creagh, Senior EditorJordan Fermanis, Editorial InternJustin Bergman, International Affairs EditorDilpreet Kaur, Editorial InternLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/799242017-06-25T20:05:25Z2017-06-25T20:05:25ZSludge, snags, and surreal animals: life aboard a voyage to study the abyss<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175349/original/file-20170623-29738-17uu1u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The famous "faceless fish", which garnered worldwide headlines when it was collected by the expedition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past five weeks I led a “<a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/abyss-landing-%20page">voyage of discovery</a>”. That sounds rather pretentious in the 21st century, but it’s still true. My team, aboard the CSIRO managed research vessel, the <a href="http://www.csiro.au/RV-Investigator-virtual-tour/rv_investigator.html">Investigator</a>, has mapped and sampled an area of the planet that has never been surveyed before. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The RV Investigator in port.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mallefet/FNRS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bizarrely, our ship was only 100km off Australia’s east coast, in the middle of a busy shipping lane. But our focus was not on the sea surface, or on the migrating whales or skimming albatross. We were surveying The Abyss – the very bottom of the ocean some 4,000m below the waves.</p>
<p>To put that into perspective, the <a href="http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/place_naming/placename_search/extract?id=KWwGjzsETR">tallest mountain</a> on the Australian mainland is only 2,228m. Scuba divers are lucky to reach depths of 40m, while nuclear submarines dive to about 500m. We were aiming to put our cameras and sleds much, much deeper. Only since 2014, when the RV Investigator was commissioned, has Australia had the capacity to survey the deepest depths.</p>
<p>The months before the trip were frantic, with so much to organise: permits, freight, equipment, flights, medicals, legal agreements, safety procedures, visas, finance approvals, communication ideas, sampling strategies – all the tendrils of modern life (the thought “why am I doing this?” surfaced more than once). But remarkably, on May 15, we had 27 scientists from 14 institutions and seven countries, 11 technical specialists, and 22 crew converging on Launceston, and we were off.</p>
<h2>Rough seas</h2>
<p>Life at sea takes some adjustment. You work 12-hour shifts every day, from 2 o’clock to 2 o’clock, so it’s like suffering from jetlag. The ship was very stable, but even so the motion causes seasickness for the first few days. You sway down corridors, you have one-handed showers, and you feel as though you will be tipped out of bed. Many people go off coffee. The ship is “dry”, so there’s no well-earned beer at the end of a hard day. You wait days for bad weather to clear and then suddenly you are shovelling tonnes of mud through sieves in the middle of the night as you process samples dredged from the deep.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175338/original/file-20170623-21202-juh6u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shifting through the mud of the abyss on the back deck.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mallefet/FNRS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surveying the abyss turns out to be far from easy. On our very first deployment off the eastern Tasmanian coast, our net was shredded on a rock at 2,500m, the positional beacon was lost, tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of gear gone. It was no one’s fault; the offending rock was too small to pick up on our <a href="http://mnf.csiro.au/Vessel/Investigator-2014/Equipment/Marine-acoustics-seafloor-mapping-and-fisheries-acoustics.aspx">multibeam sonar</a>. Only day 1 and a new plan was required. Talented people fixed what they could, and we moved on.</p>
<p>I was truly surprised by the ruggedness of the seafloor. From the existing maps, I was expecting a gentle slope and muddy abyssal plain. Instead, our sonar revealed canyons, ridges, cliffs and massive rock slides – amazing, but a bit of a hindrance to my naive sampling plan.</p>
<p>But soon the marine animals began to emerge from our videos and samples, which made it all worthwhile. Life started to buzz on the ship. </p>
<h2>Secrets of the deep</h2>
<p>Like many people, scientists spend most of their working lives in front of a computer screen. It is really great to get out and actually experience the real thing, to see animals we have only read about in old books. The tripod fish, the <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/faceless-fish-looks-happier-and-heartier-it-did-1887">faceless fish</a>, the shortarse feeler fish (yes, really), red spiny crabs, worms and sea stars of all shapes and sizes, as well as animals that <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/beam-us-j%C3%A9r%C3%B4me">emit light</a> to ward off predators.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A spiny red lithodid crab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tripod fish uses its long spines to sit on the seafloor waiting for the next meal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The level of public interest has been phenomenal. You may already have seen <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-30/researchers-drag-faceless-fish-up-from-the-abyss/8572634">some of the coverage</a>, which ranged from the <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/06/15/533063615/explorers-probing-%20deep-sea-%20abyss-off-australias-coast-find-living-wonders">fascinated</a> to the amused – for some reason our discovery of <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/06/18/peanut-worm-looks-phallic/#GAkg8P.vh8qC">priapulid worms</a> was a big hit on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPgVtWDljcU">US late-night television</a>. In many ways all the publicity mirrored our first reactions to animals on the ship. “What is this thing?” “How amazing!”</p>
<p>The important scientific insights will come later. It will take a year or so to process all the data and accurately identify the samples. Describing all the new species will take even longer. All of the material has been carefully preserved and will be stored in museums and CSIRO collections around Australia for centuries. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists identifying microscopic animals onboard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asher Flatt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On a voyage of discovery, video footage is not sufficient, because we don’t know the animals. The modern biologist uses high-resolution microscopes and DNA evidence to describe the new species and understand their place in the ecosystem, and that requires actual samples.</p>
<p>So why bother studying the deep sea? First, it is important to understand that humanity is already having an impact down there. The oceans are changing. There wasn’t a day at sea when we didn’t bring up some rubbish from the seafloor – cans, bottles, plastic, rope, fishing line. There is also old debris from steamships, such as unburned coal and bits of <a href="http://www.ehow.com/info_12152358_causes-clinkers-coal-fired-boilers.html">clinker</a>, which looks like melted rock, formed in the boilers. Elsewhere in the oceans there are plans to mine precious metals from the deep sea.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rubbish found on the seafloor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, Australia is the custodian of a vast amount of abyss. Our marine <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/oceans-and-seas#heading-1">exclusive economic zone (EEZ)</a> is larger than the Australian landmass. The Commonwealth recently established a <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves">network of marine reserves</a> around Australia. Just like National Parks on land, these have been established to protect biodiversity in the long term. Australia’s <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/">Marine Biodiversity Hub</a>, which provided funds for this voyage, as been established by the Commonwealth Government to conduct research in the EEZ. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The newly mapped East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve, showing the rugged end of the Australian continental margin as it dips to the abyssal plain. The scale shows the depth in metres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Nau/CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our voyage mapped some of the marine reserves for the first time. Unlike parks on land, the reserves are not easy to visit. It was our aim to bring the animals of the Australian Abyss into public view.</p>
<p>We discovered that life in the deep sea is diverse and fascinating. Would I do it again? Sure I would. After a beer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim O'Hara receives research funding from the National Environmental Science Programme's Marine Biodiversity Hub. </span></em></p>Surveying the bottom of the ocean turns out to be far from easy. But there was something wonderful about seeing animals we have only read about in old books.Tim O'Hara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/778602017-05-17T03:48:50Z2017-05-17T03:48:50ZThis South Pacific island of rubbish shows why we need to quit our plastic habit<p>A remote South Pacific island has the highest density of plastic debris reported anywhere on the planet, our new study has found. </p>
<p>Our study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/09/1619818114.abstract">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, estimated that more than 17 tonnes of plastic debris has washed up on Henderson Island, with more than 3,570 new pieces of litter arriving every day on one beach alone. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CKSTFOibgvQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169659/original/file-20170517-24344-15iqqmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our study probably actually underestimates the extent of plastic pollution on Henderson Island, as we were only able to sample pieces bigger than two millimetres down to a depth of 10 centimetres. We also could not sample along cliffs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jennifer Lavers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is estimated that there are nearly 38 million pieces of plastic on the island, which is near the centre of the <a href="http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/05currents3.html">South Pacific Gyre ocean current</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169656/original/file-20170517-6030-16r347g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Henderson Island, marked here by the red pin, is in the UK’s Pitcairn Islands territory and is more than 5,000 kilometres from the nearest major population centre. That shows plastic pollution ends up everywhere, even in the most remote parts of the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111913">2014 paper published in the journal PLOS One</a> used data from surface water all over the world. The researchers estimated that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the top 10 centimetres of the world’s oceans.</p>
<p>Plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and other animals, and most don’t ever break down – they just break up. Every piece of petrochemical-derived plastic ever made still exists on the planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Henderson research program was funded through overseas agencies, primarily UK based philanthropy. A complete list is in the acknowledgements of the published paper here <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/09/1619818114.abstract">http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/09/1619818114.abstract</a>. For the Henderson Island project, Jennifer Lavers is affiliated with the University of Tasmania, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the United Kingdom.</span></em></p>Plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and other animals, and most don’t ever break down - they just break up. Every piece of petrochemical-derived plastic ever made still exists on the planet.Jennifer Lavers (Métis Nation ᓲᐊᐧᐦᑫᔨᐤ), Research Scientist, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/633552016-08-02T12:36:05Z2016-08-02T12:36:05ZMicroscopic marine plants bioengineer their environment to enhance their own growth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132790/original/image-20160802-428-9dzhw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bloom of phytoplankton in the Barents Sea: the milky blue colour strongly suggests it contains coccolithopores.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloom_in_the_Barents_Sea.jpg">Wikimedia/NASA Earth Observatory</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>All life affects the environment. All organisms remove material they need, and they all release material that they do not need. During the evolution of life on Earth, the planet has been greatly modified by both non-biological factors and also by life itself. </p>
<p>The most dramatic event was the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and its replacement by oxygen. Driven by photosynthesis, it perpetrated for the original life forms – which evolved in strictly anaerobic conditions, with no oxygen – what could be viewed as the greatest environmental pollution event to affect Earth. The removal of carbon dioxide also decreased the levels of this greenhouse gas, which lowered the planet’s temperature. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132786/original/image-20160802-5459-1kiuiyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emiliania huxleyi: a single-celled phytoplankton that produces coccoliths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emiliania_huxleyi_coccolithophore_(PLoS).png">Alison R Taylor/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Where did all that carbon go? One sink was into organic carbon that we now extract as gas and oil. Much of this material originated from the burial of microscopic photosynthetic organisms, the phytoplankton. </p>
<p>Phytoplankton form the base of the marine foodweb: they produce fatty acids, some of which, once they get transferred into fish, form an important part of the human diet. If they become buried for millions of years, the fatty acids are converted into oil. Millions of years of phytoplankton growth have produced the oil that humanity is so rapidly extracting and converting back to atmospheric carbon dioxide. </p>
<h2>Buried phytoplankton</h2>
<p>Most of this CO₂ is not in this form, however – most is phytoplankton buried as chalk, a form of limestone; think of the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-white-cliffs-of-dover/features/what-is-chalk">white cliffs of Dover</a>. Perhaps fortunately for Earth, humans have no great need for chalk, so this reservoir of carbon dioxide remains safely locked up. But why did biology make limestone in the first place?</p>
<p>Many organisms, including ourselves, use calcium carbonate for their skeletons. Even microscopic organisms make hard parts made of this material, and some of those structures could certainly be viewed as having a skeletal function, to protect the organism, or to hang components from. However, much of the limestone represents deposits made by phytoplankton that have no obvious need for a skeleton. So why did they go through the effort of making calcium carbonate; indeed why are they still doing it, and will <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-marine-plants-face-a-mixed-bag-thanks-to-climate-change-34869">climate change affect the process</a>?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132792/original/image-20160802-17173-1ogzbze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The striking white cliffs of Dover.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cliffs_of_Dover.jpg">Wikimedia/Michael Rowe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Large growths of the phytoplankton that deposit calcium carbonate, called “coccolithophorids”, can be seen from space; their blooms are so large that the white chalky plates, the “coccoliths”, reflect light that is sensed by satellites. Why they make this material has baffled scientists for decades. Some have suggested that the plates help <a href="http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/bg-2016-129/">protect the organisms</a>, which are only some five-millionth of a metre in diameter, from viruses or grazers. <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/2/7/e1501822.full.pdf">Others have suggested</a> that making calcium carbonate may enhance the supply of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis by modifying seawater chemistry. Evidence for such explanations has been refuted or at is least not substantiated, however. But a <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1833/20161099">new idea developed by our team</a> lead by Swansea University provides an alternative explanation, which – even if it is not the basis for the evolution of coccolith production – must affect the ecology of these Earth-shaping organisms.</p>
<h2>A balancing act</h2>
<p>During photosynthesis, phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from the water and the acidity of the water then decreases. This decrease (an increase in pH) is basification, the opposite of acidification. Humans are causing <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/earth/ocean-acidification/">ocean acidification through excess carbon dioxide</a> from burning coal, oil and gas dissolving in the sea and <a href="http://www.earth-of-fire.com/2016/05/mariana-s-volcanoes-a-laboratory-for-the-study-of-ocean-acidification.html">volcanoes also contribute</a>. Neither basification nor acidification is good for phytoplankton growth, but while ocean acidification is largely human-made, basification during phytoplankton growth is perfectly natural and is something that all phytoplankton must endure. Actually, this is not true: coccolithophorids do not have to endure it, and this is why.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132788/original/image-20160802-17187-1fry1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The white clouds in the water are actually light reflected from billions of coccoliths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cwall99_lg.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Calcification, such as the production of coccoliths, also removes carbon dioxide, as does photosynthesis. However, the chemistry behind calcification leads in total to a decrease in pH: it causes an acidification event. During <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1833/20161099">our research</a>, we used detailed mathematical models of the growth of coccolithophorids to test the theory that basification caused by photosynthesis would be matched by acidification caused by calcification. The result of such an event would be a stable pH that promoted coccolithophorid growth. The models demonstrated that the ratio of photosynthesis to calcification seen in the real organisms, and in the way that they respond to changing environmental conditions, matched predictions from the model.</p>
<p>Coccolithophorids do not do what most other organisms do, take what they need and throw waste out that damages their environment for the next generation. These organisms can bioengineer their environment by mopping up the waste, here, by countering basification. They make the seawater in which they live a more stable environment. </p>
<p>Our research also considered the implications of ocean acidification for coccolithophorids, and the result is not such good news. To balance pH in the future ocean, less calcification is needed; this means they cannot help sink so much of the carbon dioxide humans pump to the atmosphere. So, we may have found the reason why coccolithophorids help make cliffs of chalk, but also why they won’t be doing it so much in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63355/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Flynn receives funding from UK funders NERC, Defra and DECC through grants NE/F003455/1, NE/H01750X/1 and NE/J021954/1. This research was conducted in collaboration with Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Marine Biological Association UK.</span></em></p>Tiny organisms change ocean acidity to benefit themselves.Kevin Flynn, Chair professor, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/601802016-06-07T05:31:36Z2016-06-07T05:31:36ZSolved mystery of the deep-sea mushroom just raises new questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124437/original/image-20160530-888-zmtzpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C57%2C1776%2C1431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_Dendrogramma_, the deep-sea mushroom</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hugh McIntosh/Museum Victoria</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s not often scientists suggest they’ve found an entirely new group of animals, something so different that they can’t be considered as belonging to one of the main groups, such as shellfish, insects, worms, jellyfish, sponges, animals with backbones (like us) and so on.</p>
<p>So there was a fair bit of <a href="http://www.esf.edu/top10/2015/04.htm">excitement</a> when researchers in reported, in 2014, on strange <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102976">mushroom-shaped organisms</a> living on the deep seafloor, a kilometre under the water surface, off south-eastern Australia. </p>
<p>These animals, called <em>Dendrogramma</em>, were certainly peculiar. There was a gelatinous stalk and cap shaped like a mushroom, an opening down the bottom of the stalk that looked like a mouth, and a canal that ran from there up into the cap, radiating into numerous branches. There were no appendages or special cells that would give away its relationship to other animals. </p>
<p>If that wasn’t intriguing enough, the creatures bore some resemblance to <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/ediacaran.php">560 million-year-old fossils</a> that have been found in Newfoundland, Russia and Namibia, as well as in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. </p>
<p>This is from a time when the first multi-celled organisms were forming, back before animals and plants took on the shapes and functions that we see today. How amazing if these strange simple creatures had survived off Australia for hundreds of millions of years! </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124433/original/image-20160530-900-5trfzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dendrogramma-like fossils from 560 million years ago.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But a crucial bit of evidence was missing from this story; there was no DNA data.</p>
<p>Just like in police investigations and medicine, DNA has proved indispensable to the modern biologist. It can reveal relationships between organisms or plants that would not be guessed from their appearance. </p>
<p>Organs such as eyes have evolved multiple times and do not necessarily indicate a shared ancestry. But the <em>Dendrogramma</em> specimens had been collected in 1986 and preserved in DNA-busting formalin. More examples had to be found first. </p>
<h2>A discovery in the deep</h2>
<p>And so the matter rested until November last year when the sharp eyes of Hugh MacIntosh of Museum Victoria spotted the familiar mushroom shapes at the bottom of a seafloor sample hauled it up from 2,800 metres in the Great Australian Bight. </p>
<p>Hugh was on Australia’s new research vessel <a href="http://mnf.csiro.au/Vessel.aspx">RV Investigator</a>, participating in a <a href="http://www.csiro.au/en/Research/EF/Areas/Oil-gas-and-fuels/Offshore-oil-and-gas/GAB-Deepwater">CSIRO-led scientific program</a> to study the marine environment off South Australia.</p>
<p>Hugh emailed us urgently from the ship: “Guess what I have found.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124418/original/image-20160530-859-1jnkh6e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s new research vessel, the RV Investigator.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim O'Hara/Museum, Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Science is often a waiting game. So we had to wait for the RV Investigator to finish her voyage, wait for the specimens to arrive, wait until the DNA extraction and sequencing proceeded through various laboratories, and then wait for publication. </p>
<p>Not that we were idle during that time. Our evolution guru, Andrew Hugall, downloaded genomes from dozens of animals, setting up a system that could pigeonhole DNA-sequences originating from a single-celled protozoan to a whale. </p>
<p>And still we waited; the Christmas break didn’t help. We even set up a betting sweep, each of us guessing where <em>Dendrogramma</em> would be placed in the tree of life (I didn’t win). </p>
<p>Finally, at 4:30pm, one Tuesday afternoon in January, the DNA results came in. Andrew’s computer whirled and four hours later we had an answer. <em>Dendrogramma</em> was a type of siphonophore. </p>
<h2>The what’s-it-called?</h2>
<p>A siphono-what? Well, that was almost our reaction, because even to a bunch of marine biologists, siphonophores are uncommon and strange creatures. </p>
<p>They are cnidarians related to jellyfish, corals and anemones. They have polyps like corals, but have long stinging tentacles like jellyfish and can move around.</p>
<p>Some polyps function as propulsion units, some are specialised to feed, and yet others are gonads. They also can have flattened defensive appendages called bracts. </p>
<p>These can also be mushroom-shaped! The <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.051">evidence</a> shows that the <em>Dendrogramma</em> specimens are not entire animals, but just siphonophore bracts, pieces detached from a larger creature. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124424/original/image-20160530-879-xwubor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A benthic siphonophore attached by tentacles to a ledge on the sides of a deep-sea canyon in the Gulf of Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Okeanos Explorer/NOAA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>One mystery leads to another</h2>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.deepseanews.com/2014/09/the-tale-of-a-new-phylum-that-really-wasnt/">commentators</a> have criticised the original authors for publishing without DNA data. </p>
<p>I don’t fully agree with this view. You need people to raise ideas and hypotheses that can be tested against subsequent data. We wouldn’t have even looked for <em>Dendrogramma</em> if we had not been alerted. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124426/original/image-20160530-869-1qeqds3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DNA evidence indicates that the <em>Dendrogramma</em> mushrooms are not entire animals, just pieces of a siphonophore. What the whole animal looks like remains a mystery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Paul and Rebecca McCauley/Museum Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Okay, we were disappointed that <em>Dendrogramma</em> was not a completely new type of animal. But the hunt is important. Hundreds of millions of years of independent evolution could have resulted in the development of all sorts of biochemical novelties, from antibiotics to cancer drugs. </p>
<p>So we have solved one part of the mystery but others remain. We know what <em>Dendrogramma</em> bracts look like but not the whole animal.</p>
<p>Siphonophores come in a variety of shapes and sizes. </p>
<p>The deep sea is a big place. It took decades for us to get <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nZur1hfT78">video footage of the giant squid</a>; it may take decades again for us to see footage of <em>Dendrogramma</em> in all its living glory.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim O'Hara receives funding from the Marine Biodiversity Hub, funded through the National Environmental Research Program (NERP), and administered through the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment. </span></em></p>What scientists first thought was an ancient species that had survived undiscovered for many millions of years, turns out to be part of something equally mysterious.Tim O'Hara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/605512016-06-07T02:06:53Z2016-06-07T02:06:53ZMassive storms are pumping pollution into our oceans: time to clean up our cities<p>The massive storms that have lashed Australia’s east coast over the past few days are not just a threat to lives and property, but also to our marine wildlife.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/concrete-coastlines-its-time-to-tackle-our-marine-urban-sprawl-38175">increasing urbanisation of our coastlines</a>, and proliferation of impervious surfaces, has meant that up to <a href="http://sesl.com.au/blog/water-sensitive-urban-design/">80% of stormwater</a> now runs rapidly into a dense underground network of drains. </p>
<p>These drains act like an expressway for pollution and debris in our cities, roads, gutters and gardens, sending a cocktail of contaminants directly into the aquatic ecosystems that lie at the end of the pipe.</p>
<h2>Stormageddons</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-06/nsw-weather-heavy-rain-flooding-hunter-downpours-forecast-sydney/7069792">Newcastle recorded its wettest January day since 1862</a>. In 2015, New South Wales experienced a “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/sydney-weather-storms-heavy-rain-and-winds-pound-nsw-for-third-day-20150421-1mqam6.html">once in a century</a>” storm event. </p>
<p>These storms along Australia’s east coast originated mainly from naturally occurring <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-wild-storms-that-lash-australias-east-coast-40564">low-pressure systems</a>, which may become <a href="https://theconversation.com/surfs-down-climate-change-likely-to-bring-fewer-big-waves-24126">less frequent but more severe</a> in the future. Worldwide extreme weather events are becoming more common, with about <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n6/full/nclimate2617.html">18% of heavy precipitation events attributed to global warming</a>.</p>
<p>Australia is not the only country receiving a drenching. Torrential rains have hit Texas twice this year, <a href="http://ktla.com/2016/06/02/more-flooding-in-texas-after-historic-may/">breaking records in May</a> and unleashing <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/06/03/historic_floods_in_houston_texas.html">two 100-year storms in less than a week</a>. Louisiana and Mississippi have been placed on <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/31766711/louisiana-mississippi-on-flood-watch/">flood watch</a>.</p>
<p>Across the Atlantic, Europe is also emerging from receding flood waters, with the River Seine in France at its <a href="http://blogs.channel4.com/liam-dutton-on-weather/europe-floods-rain-intense/9942">highest levels since 1910</a> and <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/thunderstorms-flood-threat-continue-southern-germany-weekend-into-sunday/57871072">southern Germany battered by thunderstorms, hail and flash flooding</a>.</p>
<h2>A pollution cocktail</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/">Stormwater</a> is a mixture of rain and any <a href="http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/whatcauses.htm">dissolved or solid pollutants</a> carried along with it. The excess water flowing along streets and gutters picks up litter, oil and grease, and metals. Run-off from parks and gardens introduces fertilisers, pathogens, pesticides and soil. </p>
<p>In Sydney Harbour it has been estimated that more than <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901108001007">two-thirds of the pollutants</a> entering the waterway do so via stormwater drains, creating hotspots of pollution with concentrations <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969708013041">20 times higher than natural levels</a>. More than 80% of the city’s catchment is covered by concrete, increasing the volumes of stormwater run-off.</p>
<p>When stormwater reaches a waterway it represents a significant <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper/MF15157">ecological risk</a>. Together with <a href="http://katherinedafforn.com/stormwater-ecosystem-services/">international colleagues</a>, we have been investigating the impact of stormwater pollution on ecological communities large and small, including <a href="http://programme.exordo.com/amsa2015/delegates/presentation/85/">changes to the number of species, nutrient cycling, and the release of toxic compounds such as ammonia, nitrous oxide and hydrogen sulphide</a>.</p>
<p>Mobile animals such as fish and crustaceans may be able to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749107002217">avoid pollution</a> by temporarily moving. But other aquatic organisms such as seaweeds and animals that anchor to rocks are more vulnerable. If they don’t <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653514000356">die from the exposure</a>, they may <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974910800033X">accumulate significant concentrations of pollutants</a> within their bodies. </p>
<p>In stagnant or poorly flushed waterways, the risk of exposure is greater as pollutants tend to linger in the water and become <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749111006993">bound to sediments</a> where they act as an <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01679.x/pdf">ongoing stress</a>.</p>
<p>A big question is what happens when ecosystems are exposed to many different pollutants. Some studies suggest the impacts will be <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X15301909">greater than the sum of the individual pollutants</a>.</p>
<h2>Building better cities</h2>
<p>The solution to stormwater run-off is to build better: to design and construct cities to protect waterways such as rivers, manage stormwater and also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494410000496">make them liveable for people too</a>. This approach is known as <a href="http://www.melbournewater.com.au/Planning-and-building/Stormwater-management/Water-Sensitive-Urban-Design/Pages/The-WSUD-approach.aspx">water-sensitive urban design</a>. </p>
<p>One <a href="http://www.wsud.org/resources-examples/case-studies/on-ground-works/">example</a> is the large underground water tanks that collect stormwater to be reused for irrigation at <a href="https://www.barangaroosouth.com.au/news-and-updates/lendlease-wins-banksia-award">Sydney’s Barangaroo Reserve</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.yourhome.gov.au/water/stormwater">You can help at home</a> too by retaining vegetation, installing rainwater tanks, clearing excess leaf litter and debris from guttering and driveways, and reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers on gardens. Rainwater tanks have proven particularly successful at capturing all stormwater for reuse in toilet flushing and irrigation. </p>
<p>While we need to clean up our waterways, we also need to make sure that enough water and <a href="http://www.ozcoasts.gov.au/indicators/sediment_org_matter.jsp">organic matter</a> are flowing through our rivers and into the oceans. Getting the balance right will make for better cities and healthier oceans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60551/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Dafforn receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Lendlease. She is affiliated with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Johnston receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Storms like those that lashed Australia’s east coast flush pollution out to sea.Katherine Dafforn, Senior Research Associate in Marine Ecology, UNSW SydneyEmma Johnston, Professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/574072016-04-11T13:48:45Z2016-04-11T13:48:45ZHow microscopic algae are helping forensic teams catch criminals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118014/original/image-20160408-23649-1q30ozc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Algae in water and soils can be a great forensic tool.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Couperfield /shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From deserted fields and dark forests to murky rivers and concrete jungles, environments can leave traces of physical evidence on a criminal. This principle has been well known to crime scene investigators (both real and fictional) since the the late 1800s. However, figuring out what the most reliable pieces of evidence are – and how to best detect and analyse them – can be difficult.</p>
<p>Microscopic algae, such as <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/diatom.html">diatoms</a>, can be picked up from virtually anywhere there is water – including seas, lakes, soils, some domestic water supplies and even moist surfaces such as exposed rocks. While diatoms traditionally have been used to diagnose death by drowning, research is unravelling their huge potential for use as trace evidence in a range of forensic investigations.</p>
<p>Diatoms appear golden brown to the naked eye. However, when seen under the microscope, they display a beautiful range of shapes, colours and ornamentation. There are estimated to be more than 20,000 species worldwide. Diatoms are composed of silica – <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/diatom-caltech-strongest-natural-biological-material-strength-toughness-a6863176.html">recently found</a> to be the strongest natural material on the planet. </p>
<p>Although most forensic investigations are carried out on dry land, roughly 71% of the Earth’s surface is <a href="http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html">covered in some sort of water</a>. Such marine or freshwater environments are often encountered as crime scene locations or sites of accidental death, suicide and natural or civil disasters (including plane crashes). Even when a crime is carried out on land, water scenes may be used by a perpetrator to dispose of any incriminating evidence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117990/original/image-20160408-23642-11y9koh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Diatoms through the microscope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prof. Gordon T. Taylor, Stony Brook University/wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Diatoms are useful when diagnosing drowning as a cause of death. Their microscopic size and presence in standing and flowing water means they are often inhaled and swallowed during drowning. They are then transported throughout the circulatory system, and deposited in various organs including the lung, brain and bone marrow. </p>
<p>Diatoms can be observed under a microscope after a post-mortem examination. They can then be compared to the diatoms in the water where the body was found. If diatoms are not present in the body, it may mean that the victim didn’t die by drowning after all. If the diatoms in the organs are significantly different from those in the water in which the body was found, it may mean that the victim has been deliberately drowned elsewhere and then moved to a second location in order to make a crime look accidental.</p>
<p>Although widely used, the accuracy of the diatom test for drowning is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073805005980">highly debated among experts</a>. It is generally agreed that diatom analysis can provide important evidence of drowning, but should be used alongside other independent techniques within forensic pathology.</p>
<p>Research has also demonstrated how diatoms can be used to estimate the time since death – a crucial piece of information in any forensic investigation. This is notoriously difficult to do in water, with scientists often drawing conclusions based on the body’s level of decomposition and the presence of insects and bacteria.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00748.x/full">one study</a>, scientists examined the accumulation of algae over time on animal remains as a proxy for humans. The diversity of algae on piglet bodies in water tended to decrease over time with a peak in diatoms recorded after 1-8 days of decomposition. This kind of work remains largely experimental, but it has potential to be used for establishing a timeline since death (or submersion) in water.</p>
<h2>Every contact leaves a trace</h2>
<p>Diatoms are also showing promise as trace evidence indicators. The concept that criminals often unknowingly pick up traces from a crime scene while leaving their own behind, has already led to the forensic examinations of materials including dust, paint fragments, hair, fibres, soils, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bacteria-on-shoes-could-help-forensic-teams-catch-suspects-41701">bacteria</a> and pollen. </p>
<p>The reason diatoms are so useful in this regard is that they are so abundant in so many different environments. Microscopic assessment of diatoms found on clothing, footwear and personal belongings have already provided evidence in cases including homicide, serious assault, and serial burglary across Europe and the US. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117992/original/image-20160408-23642-1gnhari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Diatoms on shoes can give away a suspect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/westmidlandspolice/6773972020/in/photolist-bjAnT3-dJdz1S-qCgm4y-nY5pzn-hj31KR-hj27CY-bHPFHk-hzPo6r-r9b9RZ-7GPis3-pMgyXX-5SZiCM-8PVkyZ-4H2gLk-hj2263-qCgrsj-4QtmY6-qCtATD-4hRb3r-9kSLvX-5ZNUEx-7Vtaxz-5US5tz-oDjwzF-s7WbdG-eRbtqA-dwTc3g-898Gq-7UDraF-4VioBQ-5MW23a-7QmxPC-5NFew1-a6BM2e-aEG2Rk-cZn9dU-2Wb5EV-7sYu4W-4fy9Je-6tH7Se-r9SfTh-7nbWYA-4Jcmea-bLTMuB-hj2ZNv-rwYk21-rzagKy-q3qrd8-rza3Jc-6RJ42x">West Midlands Police/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, in 1996, a female victim was recovered from the Hudson River, in the US. A post-mortem revealed that she had been drugged and strangled, before being <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=v4dGYEDCZaEC&dq=Forensic+Diatomology+and+Drowning&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGvrre0obMAhVHDxoKHZGaC6oQ6AEIHDAA">drowned in the river</a>. Diatoms recovered from the victim’s bone marrow were different from the water supply at her home but could not be ruled out from the scene of the crime. During the investigation, diatoms collected from the suspect’s wallet and shoes provided a link to the drowning site, helping to solve the case.</p>
<p>However, despite this initial success in case work, there are relatively few forensic diatom experts worldwide. As a result, diatoms are less frequently studied as trace evidence than pollen and soils, for example. To fully realise their potential in forensic science, more research will be needed.</p>
<p>It is important to know how to collect any adhered diatom evidence from clothing, for example. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073814002096">Research has investigated</a> the exact mechanisms by which diatoms stick to cotton clothing – in both water and soil – and how to get them off so that they can be used as evidence. The results highlighted that treating clothing with <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/hydrogen_peroxide">hydrogen peroxide</a> was effective. If the diatoms are not isolated in this way, other biological material on the fabric – such as other algae or pollen – can make it hard to properly identify them under a microscope.</p>
<p>The field of diatom analysis in forensic science is very much emerging and has considerable potential for further research and application in case work. The stakes are high. Aquatic systems are complex and notoriously difficult for forensic scientists to analyse, so using diatoms as a reliable tool would have a huge impact for crime scene investigation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirstie R Scott receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK through the Security Science Doctoral Research Training Centre (UCL SECReT) based at University College London.</span></em></p>We are only just starting to understand the potential of microscopic algae as forensic evidence.Kirstie R Scott, PhD Candidate in Environmental Forensics, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/457192015-08-18T20:33:32Z2015-08-18T20:33:32ZThe challenge of managing Earth’s new economic frontier: our oceans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92035/original/image-20150817-5114-1pd61o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Expect to see more ships on the horizon, as global shipping booms. But how well are we measuring and governing what happens at sea?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72562013@N06/9373770625/in/photolist-fhk2qV-fhk21V-fhzhBh-fi1RkW-fi1Bm1-7Syrfy-4AD9NA-fSbTeX-nefoQB-vPrc2j-2JkLqF-fSbEMS-fhzgkG-qQyfHa-vNuYRW-kb7iFa-fi1C2y-fSbu6y-iv6V4t-r7TW21-pAxGWn-6VDbAj-frYmVX-97WYGV-fSbyyG-wUzae8-wLsgZp-wK6EMy-6MRkgd-e4XLjs-dGftAZ-c1amqf-gKrFKi-7TkEBo-58tWa-DVbqh-ofdYcB-odtHS1-kb6wwK-e4VWRu-kb9a9Y-7cVzuD-dbR9jT-dGkKHy-awbN9-qXKu4p-dGfvU6-dGkVjA-7cVzr4-5J3sZP">Chris Phutully/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Amid growing demand for seafood, gas and other resources drawn from the world’s oceans, and growing stresses from climate change, we examine some of the challenges and solutions for developing “<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-science-challenges-for-a-growing-blue-economy-22845">the blue economy</a>” in smarter, more sustainable ways.</em></p>
<p>As the world’s land-based economies struggle with annual rates of <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG/countries?display=graph">around 2% growth</a> in Gross Domestic Product, the global marine economy – now increasingly being talked about as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-science-challenges-for-a-growing-blue-economy-22845">the blue economy</a>” – is a bright light on the horizon.</p>
<p>New developments in marine industries range from diversification in aquaculture to the new technologies of marine bio-technology and pharmaceuticals, marine renewable energy such as wind and wave power, and deep sea mining. </p>
<p>The European Commission has a <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy/blue_growth/">“blue growth” strategy</a>, recognising that those marine industries are growing at a faster rate than those on Europe’s land mass. And in areas such as south east Asia, the oceans contribute directly to the wellbeing of hundreds of millions of people. </p>
<p>In Australia, a <a href="http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-news/-/asset_publisher/EnA5gMcJvXjd/content/11-august-a-vision-in-blue-ten-year-plan-for-science-helping-drive-australia-s-growing-blue-economy">new national report</a> forecasts marine industries’ contribution to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product will grow three times faster in the next decade than the rest of the economy – doubling from A$47.2 billion a year to about A$100 billion in 2025.</p>
<p>As researchers from <a href="http://www.economistinsights.com/sustainability-resources/analysis/blue-economy">The Economist Intelligence Unit</a> recently concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a setting for global trade and commerce, and as a significant source of food and energy, the ocean’s contribution is already important. This century, it is likely to become an economic force.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But those researchers also noted many <a href="http://www.economistinsights.com/sites/default/files/Blue%20Economy_briefing%20paper_WOS2015.pdf">challenges</a> ahead, including “how to create predictable cash flows for investors behind the valuable ecosystem services offered by the ocean”.</p>
<p>The consensus is that going from the ocean economy to the emerging blue economy will take time. But there are still major questions about the blue economy we need to answer – including how to define, measure and govern it, especially when so much of the world’s ocean lies beyond national borders. </p>
<h2>‘The blue economy’ still isn’t clearly defined</h2>
<p>If you Google the term “the blue economy”, the first search result you’re likely to see is not about oceans at all; instead, it will takes you to <a href="http://www.theblueeconomy.org/Home.html">Gunter Pauli’s work on ecological innovation</a>, with no sea on the horizon.</p>
<p>But among the marine community and increasingly in <a href="https://innovationxchange.dfat.gov.au/project/innovating-blue-economy">government</a> and global business circles, there has been a shift from talking about “the ocean economy” to “the blue economy”.</p>
<p>While there is still no broad agreement on what that means, The Economist recently adopted this working definition:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A sustainable ocean economy emerges when economic activity is in balance with the long-term capacity of ocean ecosystems to support this activity and remain resilient and healthy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Economic growth is not enough; we also need to do a better job of sustainably managing ocean resources.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7NqhVbCtqNk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A snapshot of some of the challenges ahead for the blue economy, from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have been several drivers behind that shift. The past decade has seen the incorporation of green accounting concerns about the sustainable development arising through the United Nations’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-20-take-science-seriously-and-change-the-process-7804">Rio 20+</a> process. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/SSF-Seesion-1-Blue-Economy-Issues-Note.pdf">Small islands</a>, such as Seychelles and Mauritius, have led the way in calling for the use of marine resources and eco-system services to be sustainable. Internationally, new approaches to environmental accounting have been developing.</p>
<p>This need for greener and more sustainable marine activities has also been influenced by climate change. In amongst approaches involving ecosystem values lurks the longstanding need to control the impacts from marine industries, such as overfishing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/whose-job-is-it-to-clear-up-all-the-rubbish-floating-in-the-oceans-25082">pollution</a>. Controlling industry is necessary – and to do so, having a good understanding of the economics matters.</p>
<p>Yet marine economists have been concerned for some time that the frameworks for measuring the ocean economy are not in place. </p>
<p>For a start, what are we measuring? Whose job is it to measure it? Who has the vision for the future of the blue economy? How do we get the private sector to invest? And is there a governance framework that will support private investment in ocean or “blue” industries? </p>
<h2>Opportunities and challenges for south east Asia</h2>
<p>Together with economic growth and long-term environmental sustainability, social equity is another crucial consideration – particularly in booming regions such as south east Asia, with so many coastal communities dependent on the ocean.</p>
<p>So where is the blue economy going in this region?</p>
<p>Any country looks at what their comparative advantage may be in benefiting from the sea. For example, Malaysia’s economic strength has been shipping, due to its location beside the Strait of Malacca. </p>
<p>In China there are already an estimated <a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/indexeh.htm">32.7 million jobs</a> or more than 4.15% of total national employment in “ocean-related sectors”. Interestingly, The Economist’s recent report refers to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2013.05.008">9 million direct jobs</a> in China’s core “major ocean industries”.</p>
<p>That’s a good illustration of why it’s so important to be clear about what we’re measuring when talking about the blue economy. In this case, the Chinese government’s higher figure factors in additional jobs in support areas (such as the scientific, research, education and ocean management service sectors), ocean-related enterprises (businesses with economic and technical links to marine industries), plus indirect and induced employment.</p>
<p>Seaweed is just one of China’s many marine exports. It supplies <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3720e/i3720e01.pdf">13.5 million tonnes of seaweed</a> a year for gels, hydrocolloids and alginates to the global food industry. </p>
<p>China has a clear comparative advantage in bio-technology, genetic improvement of seaweeds and development of marine pharmaceuticals. But its “blue economy” challenges include reducing coastal pollution so that it can maintain and increase the sustainable value of marine industries. </p>
<h2>Opportunities and challenges for Australia</h2>
<p>What about Australia? Well, with production of 2,000 tonnes of seaweed a year, the world is not depending on exports from us. Yet in several corners of the country (including <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/09/21/4091941.htm">South Australia</a> and <a href="http://smah.uow.edu.au/smfc/UOW106517.html">Wollongong</a>, a few seaweed experimental enterprises are developing niche opportunities.</p>
<p>However, there are much bigger industries at work along our coastline. For instance, earlier this year the Reserve Bank of Australia said that <a href="http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2015/mar/pdf/bu-0315-4.pdf">liquified natural gas</a> was expected to become Australia’s second largest commodity export (after iron ore) by 2018. It’s also been predicted that port visits by ships to Australia will <a href="https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2010/stats_008.aspx">double by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Tourism is another good example of the opportunities – and challenges – that lie ahead.</p>
<p>Speaking to a Chinese delegate at a recent blue economy workshop, I mentioned a luxury resort being built by a Chinese entrepreneur on Australia’s Gold Coast, which is expected to bring in <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/china-property-giant-wanda-to-fly-in-tourists-and-potential-buyers-to-queenslands-glitter-strip/story-fnihsps3-1227453100506">30,000 Chinese tourists</a> a year.</p>
<p>As a lady well across her national statistics, the delegate replied, “Actually, last year we only had 1.2 million people going abroad … not that many when you consider our population” (1.3 billion).</p>
<p>But does Australia have a framework to support such rapidly increasing use of our national biodiversity? Or are we just “the lucky country”, with offshore gas for exports and beaches to attract tourists? Can we be more than a quarry and holiday destination for the world?</p>
<p>Like so much about the blue economy, those are questions we’re yet to clearly answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair McIlgorm works for the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong. He has been Director of Dominion Consulting Pty Ltd since 1997. He has recently received funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the Department of Industry NSW (Fisheries), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. He has been invited to speak on the Blue Economy and review studies by the Chinese Government State Oceans Administration, the Indian Government Ministry of External Affairs and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Manila, Philippines. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics, Monterey, US.</span></em></p>As the world’s land-based economies struggle with around 2% GDP growth, the global marine economy – often talked about as “the blue economy” – is a bright light on the horizon.Alistair McIlgorm, Professor of Marine Economics, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/352392014-12-11T19:36:33Z2014-12-11T19:36:33ZExplainer: the RV Investigator’s role in marine science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66943/original/image-20141211-6030-107ocfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">RV Investigator at sea – It will be formally commissioned in Hobart today.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our deepest oceans, and only 12% of the ocean floor within Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone has so far been mapped.</p>
<p>The reason for this is that we haven’t had access to the technology to get the job done, but things are about to change.</p>
<p>Australia’s new 94m A$120 million research vessel (RV) Investigator will be commissioned in Hobart today. It’s replacing the <a href="http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/features/vessel.htm">RV Southern Surveyor</a> which had been in service for more than 40 years and was decommissioned and sold earlier this year.</p>
<p>With the <a href="http://csirofrvblog.com/">RV Investigator</a> we will now be able to map the ocean floor to any depth, search for resources, better understand our fisheries, collect weather data 20km into the atmosphere and much more.</p>
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<p>With 40 scientific berths, a range of approximately of 10,000 nautical miles (about 18,520km) in a single voyage and the extensive list of capabilities, RV Investigator will herald a new era in marine and atmospheric research for Australian scientists and their international collaborators.</p>
<p>The ship is impressive, with about A$20 million worth of scientific equipment, capable of enabling biological, oceanographic, geological and atmospheric research.</p>
<p>The magnitude of the change from the RV Southern Surveyor means the farthest reaches of the three major oceans that surround us are no longer impenetrable. In the past, research vessels have travelled from Europe and the US to uncover what’s going on in our own backyard.</p>
<p>Australia’s oceans are estimated to contribute A$42 billion annually to our economy through marine industries such as aquaculture, wild fisheries, recreational fishing, and offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction and this is expected to increase to more than A$100 billion in 10 years.</p>
<p>RV Investigator is owned by CSIRO and managed by the <a href="http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/index.htm">Marine National Facility</a> which itself is managed by an independent steering committee. Most importantly it is truly a national facility with sea time available to all Australian marine scientists.</p>
<h2>Silent running</h2>
<p>CSIRO undertook a rigorous procurement process and Teekay Holdings Australia was <a href="http://csirofrvblog.com/2012/02/16/354/">awarded the contract</a>, to design, build and commission the new ship. It was designed by RALion from the US and Canada, and was built by Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.</p>
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<p>RV Investigator has been specifically designed to an international maritime classification called DNV-Silent-R. Achieving this classification puts RV Investigator in the realms of being one of the quietest vessels in the world.</p>
<p>Radiated ship noise interferes with acoustic signals so by building a quiet ship we will be able to maximise the performance of the equipment to be used to monitor the marine ecosystem, and map the seafloor and sea bed.</p>
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<p>The hull shape was designed using computer-based fluid dynamics to ensure any bubbles formed by the hull moving through the water (bubble sweep-down) don’t interfere with the acoustic equipment.</p>
<p>The design and the capability is so impressive that RV Investigator was named as one of the <a href="http://csirofrvblog.com/2014/08/05/ihs-maritime-360-recognises-rv-investigator-as-one-of-the-best-in-the-world/">top 13 ship building projects</a> for 2013, by IHS Maritime 360, amid a field of some 2,900 projects globally.</p>
<p>So what sort of research will be carried out on-board the RV Investigator?</p>
<h2>Biological research capabilities</h2>
<p>The oxygen in every second breath you take has been created by phytoplankton through ocean photosynthesis. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66946/original/image-20141211-6030-8bjt3b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">RV Investigator is ready to explore the Southern Ocean after months of sea trials.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/Max McGuire</span></span>
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<p>The oceans are effectively the world’s lungs, the currents are the veins moving nutrients around and the biological oceanographers are the doctors monitoring blood pressure and overall health.</p>
<p>Marine biologists on RV Investigator will be able to study ocean life, including phytoplankton, sea cucumbers, worms, crabs, jellyfish, squids, sponges and algae as well as commercial fishery species like southern bluefin tuna.</p>
<p>They will also collect samples to better understand the life cycle and ecosystems of marine plants and animals.</p>
<h2>Oceanographic research capabilities</h2>
<p>Oceanographers seek to understand the dynamics of the ocean and observe changes across seasons and over decades to better understand weather, climate and how changes impact fisheries and other marine life, offshore infrastructure and coastal developments. </p>
<p>To study large ocean processes, scientists deploy moorings on the ocean’s surface and below the waves. These moorings enable scientists to put scientific equipment into the ocean to continuously collect data from sensors over a period of one to two years. </p>
<p>On board RV Investigator, oceanographers will be able to collect ocean data to 7,000m, using various CTD instruments, which stands for conductivity, temperature and depth.</p>
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<p>This will be our first chance to sample deep ocean currents, which are drivers of food and nutrients around our planet. It enables oceanographers to calculate the density of sea water, which just like the density of air in our atmosphere, drives ocean circulation.</p>
<p>CTD data have allowed scientists to discover the southward movement of the East Australian Current (EAC) and, as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/things-warm-up-as-the-east-australian-current-heads-south-31889">EAC moves south</a>, ecosystems are changing, bringing warmer water species to the seas around Tasmania.</p>
<p>Any changes in temperatures to our oceans in turn affect our fisheries, weather patterns and rainfall systems. </p>
<h2>Geoscience research capabilities</h2>
<p>Attached to the ship’s hull is a steel housing called a gondola which contains advanced sonar technology.</p>
<p>Acoustic signals are emitted in a beam 30km wide in water depths to 11.5km to reveal, in 3D, seafloor features such as deep sea canyons and mountains.</p>
<p>Creating maps of the sea floor helps us understand ecosystems and discover canyons, mountains, ancient river systems and other geological features. </p>
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<p>RV Investigator has sophisticated equipment to probe the make-up of the seabed and up to 100m into the seabed to reveal the geological composition. The onboard gravity meter will allow researchers to study large gravity anomalies, which in turn is able to reveal geological features and resources.</p>
<p>A range of sea floor sampling equipment can be used on board the ship. The key new capability is the ability of scientists to collect core samples up to 24m long, in up to 7,000m of ocean.</p>
<h2>Atmospheric and meteorological research capabilities</h2>
<p>RV Investigator is the first Australian research vessel with laboratories dedicated to analysing the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere. Only a few research vessels around the world are fitted with weather radars.</p>
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<p>The radar will gather data from clouds towering up to 20km above the tropical ocean to cold ice storms in the Antarctic, in a 150km radius from the ship.</p>
<p>The 1.75 tonne C-band Doppler weather radar sends and receives 800 microwave pulses per second. It collects information about the number, size, shape and movement of rain, hail, ice and snow.</p>
<p>It will be our first opportunity to collect data about the atmosphere above the oceans around Australia.</p>
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<span class="caption">RV Investigator – mission ready.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span></span>
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<h2>The mission begins next year</h2>
<p>RV Investigator’s maiden voyage in March 2015 will continue to contribute to the global understanding of the Southern Ocean which plays a dominant role in the movement of heat throughout the world’s oceans as it moderates the Earth’s weather, its variability and rate of change.</p>
<p>The voyage will redeploy the Integrated Marine Observing System’s <a href="http://imos.org.au/sots.html">Southern Ocean Time Series</a> and Southern Ocean Flux Station moorings, reestablishing essential monitoring infrastructure providing time series measurements critical for our understanding of the Southern Ocean.</p>
<p>In a time of global interest in the Southern Ocean, this voyage will reinforce Australia’s research investment in the region, and will help us better understand this vast ocean’s influence on weather and rainfall in Australia and globally.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toni Moate does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our deepest oceans, and only 12% of the ocean floor within Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone has so far been mapped. The reason for this is…Toni Moate, Executive Director of the Future Research Vessel Project, Strategy and Development Director - CSIRO National Facilities and Collections, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.