tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/marine-science-10250/articlesMarine science – The Conversation2023-07-27T01:28:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2103722023-07-27T01:28:14Z2023-07-27T01:28:14ZThrough the magnifying glass: how cutting-edge technology is helping scientists understand baby corals<p>New photographic technology has allowed scientists to dive beneath the ocean’s surface and peer into the hidden world of baby corals, to learn how these tiny organisms survive and grow in their crucial first year of life.</p>
<p>In a study <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/2041-210X.14175">just published</a>, researchers from Southern Cross University and CSIRO describe how advanced imaging techniques offer new ways to monitor baby corals. </p>
<p>Corals provide vital habitat for a large variety of marine life. So it’s useful to better understand how baby corals select and attach to reefs, establish themselves and grow into adult corals.</p>
<p>This knowledge is particularly important if we want to help reefs recover from devastating events such as mass bleaching and cyclones.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539177/original/file-20230725-23-wrtgjj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&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">3D animation of a 6-month old coral recruit approximately 2.1 mm in size.</span>
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<h2>The secret life of corals</h2>
<p>The life of a coral begins in an annual, synchronised spawning event. Coral colonies release millions of tiny eggs and sperm into the water at the same time. They all rise to the surface where the eggs are fertilised, developing into embryos and then later, into larvae.</p>
<p>Over days or weeks, the millions of larvae disperse with ocean currents. If things go according to nature’s plan, the larvae eventually fall through the water, attach to a reef and grow into adult corals. This process is known as coral “recruitment”.</p>
<p>In healthy coral reefs, this recruitment occurs naturally. But as coral reefs become more degraded – such as through coral bleaching brought on by climate change – <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1081-y">fewer coral larvae are produced</a>. This often means recruitment slows down or stops, and natural recovery weakens.</p>
<p>Scientists are working on ways to ensure coral larvae attach to and grow on reefs. This includes collecting coral spawn from the ocean, rearing embryos in floating nurseries and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14546-y">releasing larvae onto damaged reefs</a>.</p>
<p>Coral larvae are less than one millimetre in size, so recruitment occurs on a tiny scale, invisible to the human eye. To better understand the process, researchers traditionally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s003380000081">attach artificial plates</a> to the reef. Once corals have established themselves, the plates are taken back to the lab to be inspected under a microscope.</p>
<p>This method can provide valuable insights, but it does not replicate the natural reef environment. That’s where our research comes in. Essentially, we brought the lab to the reef.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/safe-havens-for-coral-reefs-will-be-almost-non-existent-at-1-5-c-of-global-warming-new-study-176084">Safe havens for coral reefs will be almost non-existent at 1.5°C of global warming – new study</a>
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<img alt="bleached coral reef" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539452/original/file-20230726-23-png2p0.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">
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<span class="caption">Mass bleaching and other damaging events is limiting the establishment of baby corals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Capturing the reef in incredible 3D detail</h2>
<p>Our new study explores the development and application of an innovative imaging approach known as underwater “macrophotogrammetry”.</p>
<p>The technology combines <a href="https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/macro-underwater-photography">macrophotography</a> – photographing small objects close-up, at very high resolution – and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534721001944?via%3Dihub">photogrammetry</a> – taking measurements from photos. In this case, we used photogrammetry to “stitch” photos together to recreate three-dimensional models, such as the one below.</p>
<p>The three round objects in the model are “targets” we placed to help the software stitch the photos together. Look closely, and you’ll see a nail head to the left of each target. To give you an idea of the scale of the model, the nail head is 2.8mm in diameter.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539176/original/file-20230725-25-r3sdrj.gif?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">
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<span class="caption">A 3D animation of approximately 400 cm² of the reef at micrometre resolution.</span>
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<p>Reef-scale photogrammetry can be a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.07.004">valuable tool</a> to track changes in coral cover and growth over time. However, it does not provide the detailed resolution needed to identify and observe tiny new corals. </p>
<p>Macrophotography provides this incredibly detailed scale. The coupling of the technologies also enables a comprehensive understanding of the entire ecosystem, from the smallest processes to the largest.</p>
<p>We conducted macrophotogrammetry surveys near Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. We marked several 25cm x 25cm locations on the reef. We then captured hundreds of photographs taken at different angles using high-resolution cameras. </p>
<p>Photogrammetry software was used to process the photos, creating precise 3D models that represent the small sections of reef at very high resolution.</p>
<p>The models were examined to find where baby corals settle, to mark their location and measure their size. They reveal the complexity in the reef micro-structure, including tiny crevices, where coral larvae <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/15-0668.1">often settle</a>. </p>
<p>The models also reveal diverse micro-organisms such as small turf algae or invertebrates, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59111-2">which interact with corals</a> during the recruitment process.</p>
<p>Macrophotogrammetry surveys can be conducted at the same reef locations over time. This allows us to monitor the survival and growth of baby corals, and observe changes in the organisms living near them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/record-coral-cover-doesnt-necessarily-mean-the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-good-health-despite-what-you-may-have-heard-188233">Record coral cover doesn't necessarily mean the Great Barrier Reef is in good health (despite what you may have heard)</a>
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<img alt="two divers in shallow water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539170/original/file-20230725-27-j2f1td.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">The researchers monitor coral recruitment on a reef slope at Lizard Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Hardiman CSIRO</span></span>
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<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>Complementary techniques may increase the potential of macrophotogrammetry even further. For example, coral larvae can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001907">dyed various colours</a> before release, making them more visible when they swim to and settle on the reef. This could be captured in 3D models to allow even better tracking of larval restoration efforts.</p>
<p>The use of macrophotogrammetry will deepen our understandings of why some larvae settle and survive on reefs, and others do not. This knowledge can help support our efforts to improve the overall conservation and recovery of coral reefs. </p>
<p>Its application need not be limited to coral reef ecosystems. We are excited about the potential of the technology to drive marine research more broadly.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-photos-captured-by-everyday-australians-reveal-the-secrets-of-our-marine-life-as-oceans-warm-189231">Thousands of photos captured by everyday Australians reveal the secrets of our marine life as oceans warm</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marine Gouezo works as a Postdoctoral researcher at Southern Cross University and CSIRO and is involved with the Moving Corals subprogram of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Doropoulos is a Research Scientist at CSIRO. He co-leads the Moving Corals and EcoRRAP Subprograms as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP). RRAP is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.</span></em></p>This knowledge is particularly important if we want to help reefs recover devastating events such as mass bleaching and cyclones.Marine Gouezo, Postdoctoral research fellow, Southern Cross UniversityChristopher Doropoulos, Senior research scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2084642023-06-27T06:06:16Z2023-06-27T06:06:16ZThe Titan disaster investigation has begun. An expert explains what might happen next<p>The United States Coast Guard is now <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/26/us/submersible-titanic-implosion-deaths-monday/index.html">leading the investigation</a> into the Titan submersible, looking for answers about why it imploded, and what actions should be taken next.</p>
<p>A multinational search for the Titan came to a halt on Thursday, when a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) found five pieces of debris sprawled across the seabed, some 500 metres from the Titanic shipwreck. The vessel experienced a catastrophic implosion at some point during its journey, with all five passengers presumed dead. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-was-the-catastrophic-implosion-of-the-titan-submersible-an-expert-explains-208359">What was the 'catastrophic implosion' of the Titan submersible? An expert explains</a>
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<p>For now, details elude us – and it could be days, or even weeks, before we receive meaningful updates on the investigation’s progress. Similar past events, such as the 2019 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/world/europe/russian-submarine-fire-losharik.html">fire in the Russian submarine Losharik</a>, have shown how sensitively the details of such investigations should be treated. </p>
<p>The Titan disaster happened in international waters, in a commercially operated vessel, and with victims of different nationalities. Officials will likely want to be certain about any details released – and some may not be disclosed at all.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The Titan, a research and exploration sub <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stockton-rush-manned-submersibles-science-exploration/id1515818448?i=1000493347762">owned by US company OceanGate</a>, lost contact with its surface vessel on Sunday morning, about one hour and 45 minutes after its departure.</p>
<p>Chief investigator Jason Neubauer said the US Coast Guard will receive help from Canada, France and the United Kingdom. He said authorities had already mapped the accident site, and the inquiry will aim to address several questions, including:</p>
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<li>what may have happened to cause the implosion?</li>
<li>how can safety be improved for future submersible voyages?</li>
<li>what civil or criminal charges should be laid in relation to the events, if any?</li>
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<p>Recovery operations in remote parts of the ocean are painstakingly complex, with myriad variables to consider. We can expect the Titan investigation will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/us/titanic-submersible-search-rescue-costs.html">cost millions of dollars</a>.</p>
<h2>Harsh conditions</h2>
<p>The investigation is being carried out at depths of about 3,800m, some 600km from the nearest coastline. The same vessel that identified the initial debris – a deep-sea ROV called <a href="https://pelagic-services.com/web2/index.php/odysseus-rov-system/">Odysseus 6K</a> – is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/titan-submerisble-investigation-1.6889066">reportedly also being used</a> to look for the vessel’s remaining parts. </p>
<p>Manufacturer Pelagic Research Services <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/26/us/submersible-titanic-implosion-deaths-monday/index.html">told CNN</a> the ROV’s lifting capabilities had “been utilised and continue to be utilised”, and that missions would continue for about a week. However, we don’t know whether any debris has been recovered yet.</p>
<p>ROVs can collect vast amounts of data for deep-sea operations, including video footage and sensor readings. Ideally, an ROV will be able to reliably and quickly transmit data back to a support vessel or onshore facility, since real-time data transfer is often needed to make important decisions on the fly. </p>
<p>That said, even if Odysseus 6K delivers on this, some parts of the Titan may never be found. They may have disintegrated during the implosion, drifted too far away from the search area, or be obscured by other debris. </p>
<p>Underwater hazards, harsh weather and strong currents all add to the challenge – especially by <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37249969/">limiting visibility</a>. In the deep ocean, turbidity (haziness) and the absence of natural light means visibility is close to zero. Here, only sonar technology (which uses sound waves) may be used for navigation, mapping and locating objects of interest.</p>
<p>Any debris recovered will undoubtedly be valuable. Debris is physical evidence of the implosion, so analysing it will provide information (such as damage patterns and fractures) that can be used to infer the source of the implosion and the forces involved. </p>
<p>Experts can also conduct chemical analyses of the residue on the wreckage. However, this is affected by seawater, so a prompt recovery will be important.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-expert-explains-what-safety-features-a-submersible-should-have-208187">An expert explains what safety features a submersible should have</a>
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<p>The Titan’s remote location means investigators won’t have the luxury of having the quick support offered by coastal rescue stations that can rapidly deploy search and rescue assets and diving teams. </p>
<p>They’ll have to rely on specialised resources, such as large vessels and aircraft with extended range capabilities. Aircraft can provide an elevated platform for visual observation and aerial mapping, as well as remote sensing technologies including radar systems and thermal imaging sensors. </p>
<h2>Finding the remains</h2>
<p>Chief investigator Neubauer has said <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/66015811">searching for victims’</a> remains is on the agenda. But the chances of actually finding them will depend on various factors, including the cause of the implosion, the depth at which it happened, and the surrounding conditions. </p>
<p>A severe implosion may have resulted in extensive fragmentation and scattering of both the submersible’s structure and human remains. Remains can be swept away in currents, or tampered with by marine life.</p>
<p>They also behave differently depending on whether they’re recovered from <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/a65eb1a2d459fb92ea04605ef098497a/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47323">non-sequestered environments</a> (exposed in the water) or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23232544/">sequestered environments</a> (enclosed in a vessel). In the former scenario, bodies are often <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15166773/">consumed by animals</a> and decomposition causes <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Disappearance-of-soft-tissue-and-the-of-human-from-Haglund/5f5ec4ccf2ebabce7b9bd3106df77a4f78ecf1db">disarticulation</a>, wherein the bones gradually separate at the joints. However, garments can sometimes help to <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/569067-doctor-explains-why-21-human-feet-in-sneakers-may-have-washed-on/">keep things together</a>.</p>
<p>The effort to locate remains may involve observation from long-range aircraft and patrol vessels, or may even rely on radar, sonar or satellite imagery. If remains are located deep underwater, recovering them may involve using a specialised hoisting system designed to handle the challenges of a deep-sea environment.</p>
<h2>Sharing responsibility</h2>
<p>The Titan investigation will involve coordination between multiple entities, including maritime authorities, coast guard services and search and rescue organisations. </p>
<p>It will be subject to international agreements such as the <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/International-Convention-on-Maritime-Search-and-Rescue-(SAR).aspx">International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue</a>, as well as international law such as
the <a href="https://onboard.sosmediterranee.org/knowledge-base/article-98-duty-to-render-assistance/#">duty to render assistance</a>, which is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This requires that all vessels, regardless of their flag, have a legal obligation to render assistance to any person in distress at sea.</p>
<p>For now, we can only speculate on what the Titan investigation might produce. All we can do is wait, and hope that whatever answers do emerge will be put to good use to make sure something like this never happens again. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-extreme-frontier-travel-booming-despite-the-risks-208201">Why is extreme 'frontier travel' booming despite the risks?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paola A. Magni 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>The Titan disaster happened in international waters, in a commercially operated vessel, and with victims of different nationalities. Any details that emerge will likely be treated with sensitivity.Paola A. Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077292023-06-19T20:01:12Z2023-06-19T20:01:12ZThe world’s fish are shrinking as the climate warms. We’re trying to figure out why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532549/original/file-20230619-166311-wolwqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5973%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marius Masalar / Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fish are the most diverse group of vertebrates, ranging from tiny gobies and zebrafish to gigantic tunas and whale sharks. They provide vital sustenance to billions of people worldwide via fisheries and aquaculture, and are critical parts of aquatic ecosystems.</p>
<p>But fish around the world are getting smaller as their habitats get warmer. For example, important commercial fish species in the North Sea have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12514">declined in size</a> by around 16% in the 40 years to 2008, while the water temperature increased by 1–2°C. This “shrinking” trend is forecasted to significantly <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1691">exacerbate the impacts of global warming on marine ecosystems</a>.</p>
<p>The link between warmer water and smaller size is well known, but poorly understood. Our experiments <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfb.15213">keeping fish in warmer water</a> offer some crucial clues – and may help us learn how to prepare for a warmer future with smaller fish. </p>
<h2>The temperature–size rule</h2>
<p>Fisheries are a potential confounding factor when studying the effect of warmer waters on fish, because fisheries often target large fish. Removing these larger fish from the population benefits the survival of fish that mature quickly and reproduce at a younger age, when they are smaller.</p>
<p>This trait of maturing early can be passed through fish generations. Indeed, it can lead to a phenomenon known as “fisheries-induced evolution”, where the exploited species tends to decrease in size over time.</p>
<p>How do we tell the difference between the impacts of climate warming and those of fisheries? </p>
<p>One way is to examine the body size trends in fish species that are not targeted by fisheries. Several <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0902080106">fish species in French rivers</a>, for example, are not exploited by fisheries but have decreased in size over several decades while their environment has grown warmer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An underwater photo showing a large number of round, silvery fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532558/original/file-20230619-19-8yplhg.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">Fishing can reduce fish sizes, but even fish populations largely unaffected by fisheries appear to be shrinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sebastian Pena Lambarri / Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another way is to examine fish under controlled conditions, by manipulating water temperature and studying the impact on fish size. Such experiments have shown that fish do indeed end up smaller in body size when kept under warm conditions, and the trend is so common it has been given a name: the “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065250408602123">temperature–size rule</a>”.</p>
<p>We also know that <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao6868">smaller fish produce proportionally fewer offspring</a>. And if fish are shrinking, fisheries that base their catch quotas on weight will be taking a larger number of individual fish.</p>
<p>So shrinking fish means each fish will have fewer offspring, and more fish being caught. This is likely to have substantial ecological and commercial ramifications.</p>
<h2>Supply and demand</h2>
<p>Warmer water means smaller fish, but why?</p>
<p>The most popular current theories suggest the cause is due to a mismatch between how much oxygen a fish needs (to sustain its body’s metabolism) and how much it can get (via its gills). </p>
<p>The argument is that fish gills do not grow at the same pace as the rest of their bodies. Once a fish reaches a certain body size, its gills can only supply enough oxygen to keep its body running – there is no oxygen left over for growth.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-is-climate-change-affecting-fishes-there-are-clues-inside-their-ears-110249">How is climate change affecting fishes? There are clues inside their ears</a>
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<p>What does this have to do with warming? The next step of the argument says fish use more oxygen in warmer water – but their gills don’t get any bigger. So fish reach the limit of their growth at a smaller size, leading to the temperature–size rule. </p>
<p>This “oxygen mismatch” theory has sparked <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13652">heated debate</a> among global scientists, largely because insufficient data exist to confirm or refute it.</p>
<h2>Oxygen supply can keep up with demand</h2>
<p>To get some data, we have carried out long-term experiments keeping fish under warmer water conditions than normal. We also tried providing extra oxygen, to see if it benefited their growth. </p>
<p>We have regularly taken metabolic measurements, and quantified the gill surface area of the fish to understand how well they can transport oxygen from the water into the body.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A side-on photo of a silvery-blue fish, showing its head and gills" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532559/original/file-20230619-15-vp91po.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">Fish need more oxygen when they live in warmer waters – but research shows their gills are capable of keeping up with the increase in demand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paco Joss / Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our results show the “oxygen mismatch” theory doesn’t hold up. While the metabolism of fish does <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfb.15213">increase with warming of the water</a>, we found the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/9/1/coab040/6296168">gills grow sufficiently</a> to keep up with the increased oxygen demand as fish increase in size. </p>
<p>So, why then are fish shrinking as the climate warms?</p>
<h2>Is reproduction the key?</h2>
<p>We know that fish tend to grow faster in warmer conditions and reach reproductive maturity at an earlier age and smaller size. It is possible that once fish start reproducing, energy is channelled into reproduction rather than further growth. </p>
<p>Evidence for this comes from a population of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1995.tb01932.x">fish living in a Swedish lagoon</a> that gives us an eye to a warmer future, as the lagoon receives warm (non-contaminated) water from a nearby nuclear power plant. </p>
<p>Fish in the warm lagoon grow faster and reach reproductive maturity earlier, then they tend to die at a younger age and at a smaller body size than their counterparts living in adjacent, cooler waterways. “Live fast, die young”, as the saying goes. </p>
<p>While this idea seems to be broadly applicable, some <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/82996">conflicting findings</a> point to the need for more focused research attention.</p>
<h2>Fish can’t keep shrinking forever</h2>
<p>As our understanding of the relationship between temperature and fish size increases, we would also like to know whether we can do anything about it. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12770">latest research</a>, we explored differences in growth rates between individual fish of the same species. </p>
<p>One thing we wanted to know was whether particular physiological traits may allow some individuals to get around the temperature–size rule and be impacted less by climate warming. We found there is significant variability across individual fish, but we don’t know how this variability could be harnessed to future-proof fish populations.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/warming-oceans-are-changing-australias-fishing-industry-98301">Warming oceans are changing Australia's fishing industry</a>
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<p>As our work continues, we also look to the future and think about the ramifications to fish and the industries that rely on them. </p>
<p>Fish cannot keep shrinking forever. There is a minimum size that each species must reach in order to maintain a viable population. </p>
<p>If species reach their specific thermal limits in particular locations, they will not be able to reproduce and they will cease to exist in those locations. If their entire habitat range becomes too warm, the species will become extinct.</p>
<p>These considerations of smaller fish and shifting thermal habitats will be critical for the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture industries as we continue into a future with a warmer, more extreme climate. Our efforts to quantify and forecast the impacts will help resource managers and industries prepare for climate-linked disruption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Clark receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Deakin University. </span></em></p>As the world gets hotter, fish are getting smaller. The future of aquatic ecosystems – and fisheries – could depend on understanding how and why it’s happening.Timothy Clark, Associate Professor - Animal Ecophysiology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1906632022-09-19T05:18:50Z2022-09-19T05:18:50ZDugongs and turtles are starving to death in Queensland seas – and La Niña’s floods are to blame<p>To rescue a turtle, University of the Sunshine Coast PhD candidate Caitlin Smith half-swam, half-crawled across mud on an inner tube. She tied a harness around its chest and front flippers, so the rest of the team could carefully pull it to safety. It was just one of 15 sick green turtles our team discovered in recent weeks in the Great Sandy Strait near Queensland’s Hervey Bay. </p>
<p>It’s not just turtles struggling at the moment. A dead dugong was found nearby, while another emaciated dugong was found still alive up the Noosa River. </p>
<p>They’re starving. Huge rains and floods have washed large quantities of sediment out to sea, where it smothers the seagrass these marine creatures rely on. There’s no relief in sight, as we enter our <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-3-years-in-a-row-a-climate-scientist-on-what-flood-weary-australians-can-expect-this-summer-190542">third wet year</a> of La Niña. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485188/original/file-20220919-62013-xnmf00.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">This is the rescued green sea turtle, showing signs of poor health linked to the flooding. It was taken to a wildlife hospital.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caitlin Smith/Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
<p>Most of the sick sea turtles we found – as well as those found by Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science team – showed signs of starvation and illness, including the newly identified <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2022/may/floods-new-mystery-disease-impact-starving-marine-turtles">soft shell disease</a>. </p>
<p>What lies behind these deaths are the rains and floods brought by <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-3-years-in-a-row-a-climate-scientist-on-what-flood-weary-australians-can-expect-this-summer-190542">La Nina</a>. </p>
<p>Like much of New South Wales and Queensland, the Great Sandy Strait has been heavily hit by flooding this year, with three major floods engorging the Mary River. Floodwaters have carried huge amounts of sediment into Hervey Bay, reducing the water quality and flushing pollutants into sea turtle and dugong habitat. </p>
<p>In normal years, sediment from rivers brings a flush of nutrients, which can actually cause a seagrass boom once the water quality improves. The problem is, there’s been just too much sediment. With one La Niña after another, it’s been harder for seagrass to recover or regrow. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-seagrasses-can-bring-coastal-bays-back-to-life-147798">Restoring seagrasses can bring coastal bays back to life</a>
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<p>As sediment from the floods spread out over the shallow seas, it made the water murkier. Soon, sunlight couldn’t penetrate the gloom to reach the seagrass meadows. Worse, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10652-013-9295-2">floods release</a> a cocktail of chemicals, including pesticides and herbicides, unintentionally washed down from farms and inundated townships. </p>
<p>The result has been widespread devastation in the Great Sandy Straits region. In May this year, a James Cook University team surveyed 2,300 square kilometres across the region and found <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/21/dugongs-and-sea-turtles-at-risk-after-queensland-floods-wipe-out-seagrass-study-shows">almost no seagrass</a> left in waters ranging from 1 metre to 17 metres. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C96%2C3965%2C2921&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="dead dugong" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C96%2C3965%2C2921&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485225/original/file-20220919-63122-5sdvl5.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">This dead dugong was found in Hervey Bay - a likely casualty of the floods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ali Hammond</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Green sea turtles and dugongs are the grazers of the Australian seas and rely heavily on seagrass. In good years, they drift over these lush meadows of seagrass – which resemble grassy fields on land – eating as they go. </p>
<p>Summers are when our seagrass meadows usually flourish, letting turtles and dugong fatten up for the winter. During winter, seagrass naturally dies back. This year, local sea turtles and dugongs went into winter in poor condition, having missed out on fattening up during the summer season. </p>
<p>That’s why we’re seeing so many sick or dying animals. From January 1 to August 31 this year, volunteers from Turtles in Trouble Rescue have taken 91 sea turtles from the region to the nearest wildlife hospital, 300 kilometres away. By contrast, in 2019, before the La Niña cycle began, the group had only 12 transports. </p>
<h2>Is there nowhere else they can get food from?</h2>
<p>In flood-affected areas, turtles and dugongs have only two choices: move away, or try eating something else. </p>
<p>During the large 2010 floods, dugongs from Hervey Bay were found more than 200 kilometres south in Moreton Bay, offshore from Brisbane. Unfortunately, their migration didn’t leave them much better off – the seagrass in Moreton Bay had been hit by Brisbane River sediment. But we do know some survived. </p>
<p>Others were found dead, washed up 900 kilometres south after trying to find food and failing. Turtles can migrate too, but they’re often so weak from starvation that disease and parasites that they die before finding an alternative food source. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485201/original/file-20220919-60301-web8d0.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">
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<span class="caption">Mangrove leaves are acting as alternative food sources for desperate sea turtles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Kathy Townsend</span></span>
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<p>What about finding something else to eat? When our team analysed the stomachs of dead sea turtles from the Hervey Bay region, we found many were full of mangrove leaves. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, these trees have a range of natural toxins designed to stop animals eating them, such as the toxic sap of the milky mangrove. Worse, as the “kidneys of the coast”, mangroves use their leaves to store concentrated salt and toxins such as <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00484/full">heavy metals</a>. In short, this diet is no substitute. </p>
<h2>Is this part of a natural cycle of boom and bust?</h2>
<p>While turtles and dugongs do have natural variation in their populations over time – and often due to food availability – there are limits. Turtles and dugongs cannot respond to climate-induced pressures the same way fast-breeding mice can. </p>
<p>Female green sea turtles have to be 30 to 40 years old before they can <a href="https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/animals/discovering-wildlife/turtle-watching/turtle-species/green-turtle">begin to reproduce</a>. They only undertake their long migrations to breed every three to eight years. They lay over 1,000 eggs <a href="https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/animals/green-turtle">in the hope</a> just one hatchling will survive the perilous seas long enough to hit reproductive age. </p>
<p>Dugongs, meanwhile, only raise a <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo9840767">single calf</a> every three to seven years. These reproductive strategies make it very difficult to respond to fast changes to their environments. </p>
<p>Successive lean years caused by back-to-back La Niña events will hit both the survival rate and reproductive ability of these animals.</p>
<p>Sea turtles in poor condition will not be able to migrate successfully, which means they’re heading for a poor nesting season. Dugongs, too, will struggle. Without stores of fat, the females won’t be able to support their calves through to weaning stage. That will make it harder to replenish the population and recover from losses from starvation or relocation. We won’t know the full impact of this event until years from now. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485237/original/file-20220919-15948-magzxl.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">More volunteers have put up their hand to help the stranded sea turtles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kathy Townsend</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response to the crisis, local volunteers have stepped up. The Turtles in Trouble Rescue group has gone from five to 50 trained members, and are working with the University of the Sunshine Coast to create a sea turtle rehabilitation centre in the area. We’ll be better prepared for the next flooding event. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dugongs-looking-to-the-gentle-sea-creatures-past-may-guard-its-future-122902">Dugongs: looking to the gentle sea creature's past may guard its future</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathy Ann Townsend receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Floodwater carries dense clouds of sediment, choking the lush seagrass meadows on which these gentle grazers rely.Kathy Ann Townsend, Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1860312022-09-12T12:13:41Z2022-09-12T12:13:41ZHow you can help protect sharks – and what doesn’t work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483766/original/file-20220909-1182-fq1lk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C181%2C2160%2C1435&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whitetip sharks amid a school of anthias near Jarvis island in the South Pacific.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/JXZz61">Kelvin Gorospe, NOAA/NMFS/Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sharks are some of the most ecologically important and most threatened animals on Earth. Recent reports show that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.062">up to one-third of all known species of sharks and their relatives, rays</a>, are threatened with extinction. Unsustainable overfishing is the biggest threat by far. </p>
<p>Losing sharks can disrupt coastal food webs that billions of people depend on for food. When food chains lose their top predators, the rest can unravel as <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121020">smaller prey species multiply</a>. </p>
<p>In my years of talking with the public about sharks and ocean conservation, I’ve found that many people care about sharks and want to help but don’t know how. The solutions can be quite technical, and it’s challenging to understand and appreciate the scale and scope of some of the threats. </p>
<p>At the same time, there is an enormous amount of oversimplification and even misinformation about these important topics, which can lead well-intentioned people to support policies that experts know won’t work. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xb7noGAAAAAJ&hl=en">marine conservation biologist</a> and have sought to improve this situation by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12668">surveying shark researchers</a> and helping scientists identify <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12629">research topics that can advance conservation</a>. I’ve also written a book, “<a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12267/why-sharks-matter">Why Sharks Matter: A Deep Dive With the World’s Most Misunderstood Predator</a>.” Here are three ways that anyone can make a difference for sharks and avoid taking steps that are ineffective or even harmful.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tKXd8Ud1sOo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2020 study that surveyed 371 reefs found that sharks had virtually disappeared from about 20% of them.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Don’t eat unsustainable seafood</h2>
<p>The No. 1 threat to sharks and rays – and arguably, to marine biodiversity in general – is unsustainable overfishing. Some fishing methods <a href="https://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/visions/coral/side3.html">are incredibly destructive</a> to marine life and habitats. </p>
<p>They can also produce high rates of <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-bycatch">bycatch</a> – the unintended catch of nontarget species. For example, fishermen pursuing tuna may accidentally catch sea turtles or sharks swimming near the tuna. </p>
<p>The single most effective thing that individual consumers can do is to avoid seafood produced using these harmful methods. This does not mean completely avoiding seafood, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/seas-stop-eating-fish-fishing-industry-government">some advocates urge</a>. Seafood is healthy, delicious and culturally important, and there are environmentally friendly ways of catching it sustainably. There are even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.017">sustainable fisheries for sharks</a>. </p>
<p>Reputable organizations such as California’s <a href="https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium</a> publish <a href="https://www.seafoodwatch.org/">sustainable seafood guides</a> that rate different types of seafood based on how they are caught or raised. While experts may quibble over details of some of these rankings, consumers can follow these guidelines and know that they are helping to protect sharks and ocean life in general.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvmPhQMu-5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Support reputable environmental nonprofits, not harmful extremists</h2>
<p>Lots of great environmental nonprofit organizations work on shark issues and offer opportunities to get involved, such as donating money and communicating with elected officials and other decision-makers. In my book, I describe the work of many of these groups, including my favorite, <a href="https://sharkadvocates.org/">Shark Advocates International</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some organizations promote pseudoscience that doesn’t help anyone or anything. In a 2021 study, colleagues and I surveyed employees of 78 nonprofits that work on shark conservation issues to understand whether and how these organizations engaged with the science of shark conservation. </p>
<p>We found that a small but vocal minority had never read scientific reports or spoken with scientists, and held <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96020-4">blatantly incorrect and harmful views that cannot help sharks</a>. For example, some organizations are trying to get certain airlines to stop carrying shark products like dried fins, without acknowledging that well over 95% of fins are shipped by sea or that sustainable sources of these fins exist. </p>
<p>One of my particular pet peeves is amateur online petitions that may not reflect actual conditions. For example, in the spring of 2022, some 60,000 people signed a petition calling for Florida to ban the practice of shark finning – without recognizing that Florida had <a href="https://twitter.com/WhySharksMatter/status/1516046259748020225">banned shark finning in the early 1990s</a>. As I explain in my book, it is essential to identify organizations that use science in support of worthwhile conservation goals and avoid promoting others that do not.</p>
<h2>Look to experts</h2>
<p>Many ocean science, management and conservation experts are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10031">active on social media</a>. Following them is a great way to learn about fascinating new scientific discoveries and conservation issues. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567886741985533953"}"></div></p>
<p>Unfortunately, sharks also get a lot of sensational coverage in the media, and well-intentioned but uninformed people often spread misinformation on social media. For example, you may have seen posts celebrating Hawaii for <a href="https://twitter.com/teamsharkwater/status/1486795216682110982?s=20&t=ulMIBdE-3wn7JS_Mfrzf0w">banning shark fishing in its waters</a> – but these posts don’t note that about 99% of fishing in Hawaii occurs in federal waters. </p>
<p>Don’t take the bait. By getting your information from reliable sources, you can help other people learn more about these fascinating, ecologically important animals, why they need humans’ help and the most effective steps to take.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Shiffman 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>Sharks are much more severely threatened by humans than vice versa. A marine biologist explains how people can help protect sharks and why some strategies are more effective than others.David Shiffman, Post-Doctoral and Research Scholar in Marine Biology, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892312022-08-28T20:04:50Z2022-08-28T20:04:50ZThousands of photos captured by everyday Australians reveal the secrets of our marine life as oceans warm<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481238/original/file-20220826-8211-tauikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=160%2C5%2C1459%2C818&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.redmap.org.au/sightings/3798/">Redmap/Jacob Bradbury</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the planet heats up, many marine plants and animals are <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-driven-species-on-the-move-are-changing-almost-everything-74752">moving</a> locations to keep pace with their preferred temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, this means species are setting up home further south.</p>
<p>This shift alters what we see when we go snorkelling, and when and where we catch our seafood. Crucially, it also changes sensitive marine ecosystems. </p>
<p>But it’s not always easy for scientists to know exactly what’s happening below the ocean’s surface. To help tackle this, we examined tens of thousands of photographs taken by Australian fishers and divers submitted to citizen science programs over the last decade. </p>
<p>They revealed climate change is already disrupting the structure and function of our marine ecosystems – sometimes in ways previously unknown to marine scientists.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="man holds large silver fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C2%2C1914%2C1074&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481235/original/file-20220826-18-8j5rl4.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">The authors examined tens of thousands of photographs taken by Australian fishers and divers, such as this image of a bonefish found off Western Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Redmap</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Species on the move</h2>
<p>Warming over the Pacific Ocean has strengthened the East Australian Current over the past several decades, as the below-right animation shows. This has caused waters off Southeast Australia to warm at almost <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-013-9326-6">four times</a> the global average. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Animated map of sea surface temperatures in southeast Australia from 2004 to 2022" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480969/original/file-20220824-14-i52yob.gif?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">Animated map of sea surface temperatures in southeast Australia from 2004 to 2022. Data sourced from NASA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barrett Wolfe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is already irrefutable evidence <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aai9214">climate change</a> is causing marine species <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15634">to move</a>. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for conservation, fisheries management and human health. </p>
<p>For example, if fish susceptible to carrying <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/news/2020/12/10/ciguatera-fish-poisoning/">toxins</a> start turning up where you go fishing, you’d want to know. And if an endangered species moves somewhere new, we need to know so we can protect it.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/marine/coasts-estuaries#:%7E:text=The%20Australian%20coastline%20extends%20approximately,includes%20more%20than%201000%20estuaries.">sheer scale</a> of the Australian coastline means scientists can’t monitor changes in all areas. That’s where the public can help. </p>
<p>Fishers, snorkelers and divers often routinely visit the same place over time. Many develop strong knowledge of species found in a given area. </p>
<p>When a new or unusual species appears in their patch, these members of the public can excel at detecting it. So our project set out to tap into this invaluable community knowledge.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-driven-species-on-the-move-are-changing-almost-everything-74752">Climate-driven species on the move are changing (almost) everything</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="large fish and smaller fish on blue marine background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481221/original/file-20220826-8211-tw4ry1.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">This sighting of a sea sweep – recorded in May this year off Kangaroo Island by a member of the public – may indicate the species is extending its range.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Redmap/Daniel Easton</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The value of citizen science</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/">Redmap</a> citizen science project began in Tasmania in 2009 and went national in 2012. It invites the public to share sightings of marine species uncommon in their area. </p>
<p>Redmap stands for Range Extension Database and Mapping project. Redmap members use their local knowledge to help monitor Australia’s vast coastline. When something unusual for a given location is spotted, fishers and divers can upload a photo with location and size information. </p>
<p>The photos are then verified by a <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/about/meet-the-scientists/">network</a> of almost 100 marine scientists around Australia. Single observations cannot tell us much. But over time, the data can be used to map which species may be extending their range further south.</p>
<p>The project is supported by the University of Tasmania’s <a href="https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/">Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</a>, together with other Australian universities and a range of Commonwealth and state-government bodies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/warming-oceans-are-changing-australias-fishing-industry-98301">Warming oceans are changing Australia's fishing industry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481220/original/file-20220826-12-dh55qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot of the Redmap website highlighting a recent coral sighting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Redmap</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also examined data from two other national marine citizen science programs: <a href="https://reeflifesurvey.com/">Reef Life Survey</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/australasian-fishes">iNaturalist Australasian Fishes Project</a>. The resulting dataset encompassed ten years of photographed species observations made by almost 500 fishers, divers, snorkelers, spearfishers and beachcombers.</p>
<p>The citizen scientists recorded 77 species further south than where they lived a decade ago. Many were observed at their new location over multiple years and even in cooler months. </p>
<p>For example, spearfisher Derrick Cruz got a surprise in 2015 when he saw a coral trout swimming through a temperate kelp forest in his local waters off Sydney, much further south than he’d seen before. He submitted the below photo to Redmap, which was then verified by a scientist.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man snorkeling in the ocean, holding up a large orange fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480719/original/file-20220824-22-qpj3ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spearfisher Derrick Cruz, pictured with a coral trout off Sydney.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Redmap</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Citizen scientists using Redmap were also the first to spot the <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/sightings/566/">gloomy octopus</a> off Tasmania in 2012. Subsequent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-28/gloomy-octopus-migrating-to-tasmania-due-to-climate-warming/9919122">genetic studies</a> confirmed the species’ rapid extension into Tasmanian waters. </p>
<p>Similarly, solo eastern rock lobsters have been turning up in Tasmania for some time. But Redmap <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/sightings/522/">sightings</a> recorded dozens of individuals living together in a “den”, which had not been observed previously.</p>
<p>Other species recorded by citizen scientists moving south include the <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/sightings/3465/">spine-cheek clownfish</a>, Moorish idol and <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/sightings/4248/">tiger sharks</a>.</p>
<h2>Supporting healthy oceans</h2>
<p>Using the citizen science data, we produced a <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/media/uploads/2022/08/08/redmap-report-card-project-nesp-report-draft.pdf">report</a> outlining the assessment methods underpinning our study. We’ve also produced detailed state-based report cards for Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales, where coastal waters are warming much faster than the global average.</p>
<p>We also generated a map of the species shifts this revealed, and a downloadable <a href="https://www.redmap.org.au/article/report-card/">poster</a> summarising the findings. This allows the public – including those who contributed data – to see at a glance how climate change is affecting our oceans. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of Australia with southerly lines around the coastline depicting how species distributions have shifted over the last decade" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480858/original/file-20220824-14-p217nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left, a downloadable poster summarising the species shifts in distribution. Right, the state-based report cards.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Citizen science has benefits beyond helping us understand changes in natural systems. Projects such as Redmap open up a community conversation about the impacts of climate change in Australia’s marine environment - using the public’s own knowledge and photos.</p>
<p>Our research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569117305665">suggests</a> this method engages the community and helps get people involved in documenting and understanding the problems facing our oceans and coasts. </p>
<p>A better understanding – by both scientists and the public – will help ensure healthy ecosystems, strong conservation and thriving fisheries in future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-you-can-help-scientists-track-how-marine-life-reacts-to-climate-change-33370">How you can help scientists track how marine life reacts to climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gretta Pecl receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation (FRDC), the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment through the National Environmental Science Program (NESP), and the Department of Primary Industries NSW. She is also a Lead Author on the recent IPCC assessment report, and received funding from the Department of Environment and Energy to support travel to IPCC meetings. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barrett Wolfe receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment through the National Environmental Science Program, Department of Primary Industries NSW and NRE Tasmania. He has received past research funding from Seaworld Research and Rescue Foundation and PADI Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Curtis Champion receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. He works for the NSW Department of Primary Industries.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Strugnell receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment through the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) and the Queensland Government through the Queensland Citizen Science Grants.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue-Ann Watson receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment through the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) and Queensland Government through the Queensland Citizen Science Grants. </span></em></p>The photographs show how climate change is disrupting our marine ecosystems – sometimes in ways previously unknown to marine scientists.Gretta Pecl, Professor, ARC Future Fellow & Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of TasmaniaBarrett Wolfe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of TasmaniaCurtis Champion, Research Scientist, Southern Cross UniversityJan Strugnell, Professor Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook UniversitySue-Ann Watson, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833422022-07-04T05:13:54Z2022-07-04T05:13:54ZThousands of giant crabs amass off Australia’s coast. Scientists need your help to understand it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472221/original/file-20220704-23-23puw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C2%2C1491%2C992&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Finn/Museums Victoria</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/am-i-not-pretty-enough-106740">Am I not pretty enough?</a></strong> This article is part of The Conversation’s series introducing you to little-known Australian animals that need our help.</em></p>
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<p>Every winter in shallow waters off Australia’s southern coast, armies of native spider crabs appear in their thousands. They form huge underwater piles, some as tall as a person. These fascinating crustaceans are on a risky mission – to get bigger.</p>
<p>Crabs cannot simply grow like humans and other soft-bodied creatures. They must break free from their shells, expand their soft flesh and harden a new shell – all while dodging hungry predators on the hunt for a soft, easy meal.</p>
<p>This moulting process leaves crabs clumsy and uncoordinated, making any escape tricky. That’s thought to be one reason they clump together in such big numbers – to keep each other safe.</p>
<p>The spectacular gatherings attract tourists from interstate and overseas and have even been featured in a BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09gl670">documentary</a>. But despite all this attention, scientists know very little about these quirky creatures. We need your help to investigate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A spider crab on sand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472219/original/file-20220704-23-feojwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s still much to learn about spider crabs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Finn/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Safety in numbers</h2>
<p>Southern Australia’s spider crabs (<em>Leptomithrax gaimardii</em>) are usually orange to red-brown. They can reach 16cm across their shell and 40cm across their legs, and are commonly known as great spider crabs.</p>
<p>Spider crabs are believed to be widely dispersed in deeper waters. But they’re most visible to humans when they congregate <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/14370">near shore in winter</a>, and occasionally at other times of year.</p>
<p>Once together, spider crabs shed their old shells in a synchronised act thought to take about <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/14370">an hour</a>. The crabs stay together until their new hard shells form, which probably takes a few days. </p>
<p>The aggregation can last a few weeks. Soft crabs are thought to take refuge in the middle of the piles, protected by crabs yet to moult.</p>
<p>Afterwards, spider crabs return to deeper waters and their solitary lives, leaving the seafloor littered with discarded shells. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tiny-wasp-could-save-christmas-islands-spectacular-red-crabs-from-crazy-ants-69646">A tiny wasp could save Christmas Island's spectacular red crabs from crazy ants</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Freshly moulted spider crab next to its old shell" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467455/original/file-20220607-24-25a144.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">A freshly moulted spider crab, left, next to its old shell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elodie Camprasse</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Plenty of mysteries to solve</h2>
<p>Spider crab aggregations have been officially reported along the Victorian and Tasmanian coasts. Historically, most winter sightings have been reported on the Mornington Peninsula – particularly near the Rye and Blairgowrie piers. </p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence suggests the gatherings can also happen elsewhere. For instance, an aggregation was reported this year on the western side of Port Phillip Bay.</p>
<p>But there’s still so much we don’t know about spider crabs, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>how many spider crabs are out there?</li>
<li>how many gather en masse? </li>
<li>how long do the crabs stay?</li>
<li>what signals do crabs use to know it’s time to come together? </li>
<li>why do the crabs aggregate at one location in several consecutive years then not return? </li>
</ul>
<p>Most spider crab gatherings seem to occur in winter, but they’re known to come together at other times. For example, aggregations in late spring, midsummer and early autumn have been reported in parts of Port Phillip Bay and elsewhere Victoria and Tasmania.</p>
<p>Those aggregations don’t seem related to moulting – in fact, we have no idea why they occur! </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nV5GjrlW6_Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Source: Elodie Camprasse.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We need your help</h2>
<p>To better understand spider crab aggregations, a citizen science project called <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/spider-crab-watch">Spider Crab Watch</a> has been launched.</p>
<p>We’re inviting everyone – including divers, fishermen, swimmers and boaters – to report where they see spider crabs, alone or in groups. We’d also love to hear from people who come across discarded spider crab shells on the beach, because that indicates an aggregation occurred nearby. </p>
<p>The reports will help us determine the habitats and conditions suitable for spider crab aggregations. We welcome sightings from Port Phillip Bay and across the Great Southern Reef, where spider crabs live. The reef spans the southern part of Australia from New South Wales to Western Australia and Tasmania.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-counting-birds-to-speaking-out-how-citizen-science-leads-us-to-ask-crucial-questions-166673">From counting birds to speaking out: how citizen science leads us to ask crucial questions</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Logging a sighting is a quick process. Just report the date, time and location of the spider crabs, and answer a few questions. Photos are not essential but always welcome.</p>
<p>We’re also using traditional research to solve these mysteries. This includes underwater surveys, spider crab tagging and the use of timelapse cameras to capture images of spider crabs and their predators at sites where aggregations are expected.</p>
<p>After the aggregations, the images captured will be uploaded to a web portal. Interested people from around the country (and the world) can then analyse the images to help us count spider crabs and identify their predators.</p>
<p>If that interests you, <a href="https://redcap.link/ybjksj1z">sign up</a> for Spider Crab Watch updates.</p>
<p>This program and the broader research is supported by funding from the Victorian government.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="spider crab aggregation below divers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467449/original/file-20220607-12-d1p16o.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">Scientists want people to report where they see spider crabs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elodie Camprasse</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Understanding our oceans</h2>
<p>The aims of this research go far beyond spider crabs. Scientists also want to know if spider crab gatherings help predators maintain healthy populations. </p>
<p>Huge stingrays, seals, seabirds and some sharks are often spotted near aggregation sites. But we need more information to understand how crab aggregations affect animals at the top of the food chain.</p>
<p>Spider crabs have captured the imagination of ocean lovers for decades – yet we know so little about their lives.</p>
<p>This project will help us gather information on this amazing natural spectacle and the role it plays in the marine environment. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/octopus-crabs-and-lobsters-feel-pain-this-is-how-we-found-out-173822">Octopus, crabs and lobsters feel pain – this is how we found out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Elodie Camprasse receives funding from the Victorian government.</span></em></p>Spider crabs form huge underwater piles, some as tall as a person. These fascinating crustaceans are on a risky mission – to get bigger.Elodie Camprasse, Research fellow in spider crab ecology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845432022-06-12T12:11:42Z2022-06-12T12:11:42ZThe ocean is not a quiet place<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468299/original/file-20220610-43412-twobvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=131%2C50%2C4725%2C3589&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sound of the marine environment has been underestimated, mainly because it is not audible to the human ear.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For a long time, the great ocean explorers used sight to reveal the secrets of the marine environment, downplaying its acoustic aspects. Indeed, the ocean has long been considered a place devoid of any sound.</p>
<p>This belief originated when Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his companions produced a remarkable feature film about the marine environment, <em>The Silent World</em>. Scuba divers often appear to be swimming through a calm and muffled universe, where communication between animals is done through through visual displays and chemistry. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_OGECa4jFME?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for the documentary ‘Becoming Cousteau’, about the life and work of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, however, numerous studies underline the importance of sound for a multitude of marine species. Cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoises — are excellent ocean orators, capable of communicating at distances greater than 2,000 kilometres.</p>
<p>Even the smallest animals living at the bottom of the sea, which play a fundamental role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems, may communicate with each other through sound. I’m trying to answer this question as part of my doctoral studies at UQAR. Ultimately, we want to know if noise pollution has significant effects on the behaviour and communication of marine animals.</p>
<h2>Sound is essential to the life of marine animals</h2>
<p>Recent studies demonstrate that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2022.2070542">the natural soundscape and the sounds emitted by the animals themselves play an important role in regulating different aspects of the life of marine invertebrates</a> (animals without an internal skeleton). From an early age, the tiny floating larvae of mussels, scallops and oysters seem to be influenced by the noise present in the environment around them. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, these larvae seem to be attracted to noises. For example, oyster larvae are more likely to settle in an environment exposed to sounds produced by their fellow creatures, as the sounds are an excellent index of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2022.2070542">places conducive to life</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
À lire aussi :
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-an-underwater-soundtrack-really-bring-coral-reefs-back-to-life-128905">Can an underwater soundtrack really bring coral reefs back to life?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sound also remains a fundamental aspect for the survival of animals in adulthood — and for their reproduction. Some species of molluscs can perceive their acoustic landscape to synchronize their seasonal spawning, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185353">increase the chances of fertilization</a>. </p>
<p>For crustaceans, studies suggest that male European lobsters produce buzzing sounds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.211276">during competitive encounters</a> through low-frequency vibrations of the carapace to repel competitors. This communication strategy, adopted by different marine and terrestrial species to announce their presence to their adversaries, helps them avoid potentially costly and damaging physical confrontations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A lobster among rocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462575/original/file-20220511-26-o5ytpo.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">Lobsters make buzzing sounds to avoid physical clashes with potential competitors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sounds can also be used by marine invertebrates warn each other of danger, such as a predator. The flapping of the valves of a fleeing scallop and the rhythmic beating of a sea slug against the shell bottom may be warning signals. When an octopus attacks a lobster, it tries to discourage the attacker by <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08957">making intimidating noises</a>.</p>
<h2>Ocean noise pollution: A major challenge</h2>
<p>Water is an excellent medium for sound propagation, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08957">much better than air</a>, so it is realistic to think that a large majority of marine animals obey sound signals. Until now, this phenomenon has been largely overlooked, largely because many ocean sounds remain inaudible to our ears. The crab, however, may perceive the seabed as a long succession of different noises.</p>
<p>Many questions still remain unanswered for the moment, but technological progress will help scientists discover other wonders that the ocean still kept secret.</p>
<p>One thing remains certain: Human activities have introduced noise pollution into the marine environment, and organisms must find ways to adapt to this change. The construction of new infrastructure and the transport of goods are increasingly sources of noise pollution in our seas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
À lire aussi :
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beluga-whistles-and-clicks-could-be-silenced-by-an-increasingly-noisy-arctic-ocean-151065">Beluga whistles and clicks could be silenced by an increasingly noisy Arctic Ocean</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the Far North, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.002">the sea ice melts</a> and new trade routes open up, new acoustic landscapes will be created. Their effects on local fauna will need to be evaluated. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ship in an icy ocean" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462576/original/file-20220511-14-jmmkm2.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">Marine cargo transport is a source of sound pollution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scientists have already shown that animal physiology and behaviour are affected by degrading its natural soundscape. Many species are extremely sensitive to anthropogenic (man-made) noise, which covers frequencies easily perceptible by marine invertebrates.</p>
<p>Knowing that the use of sound in the marine environment is much more widespread than previously thought, it is essential to understand the consequences of an increase in noise pollution in our oceans, and the noise that’s most harmful to life must be limited so that the ocean’s many inhabitants can return to their usual soundscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184543/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Uboldi receives funding from the Institut France Quebec Maritime (IFQM) for his doctoral project.</span></em></p>The ocean is often considered a silent universe. But many recent studies highlight the importance of the soundscape for many marine species, both large and small.Thomas Uboldi, Phd candidate in Oceanography, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838072022-05-31T02:16:09Z2022-05-31T02:16:09ZStinky seaweed is clogging Caribbean beaches – but a New Zealand solution could turn it into green power and fertiliser<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465600/original/file-20220526-20-aw4z77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C17%2C5964%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rotting seaweed has plagued the Caribbean for more than 10 years – but <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890421007810#!">our research</a> shows how we could clean up beaches and emissions at the same time, by turning what’s now rubbish into renewable electricity and fertiliser.</p>
<p>Pelagic sargassum is a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/great-atlantic-sargassum-belt-here-stay/593290/">brown seaweed</a> that floats at the surface of oceans, particularly in the Atlantic. </p>
<p>Over the last decade, unprecedented amounts of this seaweed have washed up on coastlines of the Caribbean region, Gulf of Mexico, United States and West Africa, triggering human health concerns and negatively impacting the environment and economy. </p>
<p>Recent satellite images have spotted more sargassum at sea than in previous years. Experts fear <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-04-30/mexico-caribbean-beaches-may-see-worst-sargassum-since-2018">this year’s influx</a> could be the worst since the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/seaweed-smelling-like-rotten-eggs-is-plaguing-caribbean-coastlines/2018/09/14/ee0199e6-b5e0-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html">catastrophic 2018 season</a>.</p>
<p>Given the noxious hydrogen sulphide gas emitted by the seaweed as it decomposes and the frequency with which these influxes have recurred since 2011, sargassum has devastated Caribbean economies that depend on tourism and fisheries for survival. </p>
<p>But there is something we can do. </p>
<p>Our team of researchers has developed a new approach to turn sargassum into bioenergy and fertiliser – a solution that could help restore beaches, create jobs and produce renewable electricity. </p>
<h2>The problems with sargassum</h2>
<p>Tourism is a major sector in the Caribbean region, accounting for 30-40% of the gross domestic product of some of the small nations. </p>
<p>Rotting seaweed has resulted in <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_d23f12b6-8f21-11eb-9a26-d7b9068fcc1b.html">reduced visitor arrivals</a>. </p>
<p>Sargassum has also triggered a <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/36244/SGWP21.pdf">state of emergency</a> in the fisheries sector of several islands. The seaweed has resulted in reduced visibility, higher occurrences of fishing net entanglement, widespread boat damage and lower fish capture. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-turn-sewage-sludge-into-something-valuable-113004">Can we turn sewage 'sludge' into something valuable?</a>
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<p>The marine ecosystem is further affected because sargassum accumulation on beaches and along shallow coastlines <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666900521000344#">impairs the nesting of sea turtles</a> and causes fish die-offs due to deoxygenation and toxins in water. </p>
<p>Sargassum also promotes coral bleaching and reef mortality.</p>
<p>Human health and the integrity of infrastructure have also been compromised by the hydrogen sulphide, a corrosive and toxic gas with a rotten-egg smell, emitted as the seaweed decomposes.</p>
<p>Though some small-scale attempts have been made to make sargassum useful, landfilling remains the primary way to manage the influxes. This approach is an expensive practice, with high labour and energy demands.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A trailer half-filled with brown seaweed on the beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465602/original/file-20220526-23-x4th05.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">
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<span class="caption">The current approach to managing sargassum is to manually collect it from the beach and take it to landfills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/cleaning-up-seaweed-on-the-beach-royalty-free-image/1388082361?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Our new solution for stinky seaweed</h2>
<p>Sargassum is promising as component in anaerobic digestion systems – a process through which bacteria break down organic matter without the presence of oxygen, resulting in biogas. </p>
<p>The seaweed is rich in polysaccharides, a good source of energy, and low in lignin and cellulose, which are difficult to digest.</p>
<p>However, sargassum doesn’t readily biodegrade. </p>
<p>To overcome this challenge, our research takes a new approach: for the first time, combining the technologies of super hot water pre-treatment with anaerobic digestion system.</p>
<p>Hydrothermal pre-treatment is a green technology that uses high pressure to make water super hot (140°C), while keeping it in a liquid state. Treating sargassum in this super-hot water for 30 minutes helps break it down. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-the-huge-blooms-of-brown-seaweed-piling-up-on-florida-and-caribbean-beaches-163058">What's driving the huge blooms of brown seaweed piling up on Florida and Caribbean beaches?</a>
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<p>This means hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum yields more energy than unprocessed sargassum. </p>
<p>Hydrothermal pre-treatment also reduces the hydrogen sulphide content in the generated biogas from 3% to 1%.</p>
<p>In the second step, hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum is processed with food waste or other organic wastes in the anaerobic digestion system. </p>
<p>Putting different organic wastes together helps balance out the feedstock, meaning more biogas can be produced. </p>
<p>What’s more, the substance that remains after biogas production is nutrient-dense and pathogen-free, making it safe and useful as an organic bio-fertiliser or soil conditioner.</p>
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<img alt="Underwater view of brown seaweed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465603/original/file-20220526-12-v302fp.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">
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<span class="caption">Researchers believe climate change is one of the reasons sargassum blooms have been increasing in the Atlantic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/sargassum-seaweed-also-called-gulfweed-a-tropical-royalty-free-image/1293777221?adppopup=true">Massimiliano Finzi/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>The potential for a Barbados biorefinery</h2>
<p>Building a sargassum-based biorefinery equipped with hydrothermal pre-treatment and anaerobic digestion technologies would offer a number of socio-economic and environmental advantages to Caribbean countries.</p>
<p>Most obviously, a biorefinery would supply electricity to the national grid and produce a bio-fertiliser for local and international use. </p>
<p>A proposed biorefinery in Barbados could handle an annual feed input of 15,750 tonnes of hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum mixed with raw food waste. This would handle a significant portion of sargassum influx, keeping it out of landfills. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-stop-thinking-of-the-caribbean-as-a-tourist-paradise-162978">Why we need to stop thinking of the Caribbean as a tourist 'paradise'</a>
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<p>This feed input could yield 0.69 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, 1.04 GWh of heat and 15,000 tonnes of solid-liquid biofertiliser for Barbados. </p>
<p>While sargassum is available only seasonally, a biorefinery could run solely on food or other organic waste when there is no seaweed, making the refinery a sustainable, year-round source of green energy.</p>
<p>Implementing this technology would also help increase the economic sustainability of the tourism and fisheries sectors, assist with waste management and help develop industry and infrastructure in the Caribbean. </p>
<p>However, the cost of development and management of a biorefinery in Barbados has to be carefully managed and will require substantial support from the local community. </p>
<p>According to our analysis, the biorefinery will not break even on power generation alone. Maximum profits could be achieved through selling all of the fertiliser to international markets – but this approach provides zero support to local food security. Our recommended option would be to split the waste 50/50 between local farmers and international markets. </p>
<p>While this solution can’t directly prevent sargassum influxes, the biogas produced would help reduce carbon emissions. </p>
<p>Since climate change appears to be a factor in the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48869100">increased sargassum blooms</a> of the past decade, contributing to global efforts to mitigate climate change may eventually improve the situation.</p>
<p>In the meantime, we could have an effective way to deal with the stinking mess ruining Caribbean beaches.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was part of a PhD project (Student: Dr Terrell Thompson, Supervisor: A/Prof Saeid Baroutian). Terrell Thompson received a PhD Scholarship from the Government of New Zealand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Terrell Thompson works for Export Barbados (formerly the Barbados Investment & Development Corporation), an agency of the Government of Barbados. His PhD research on Sargassum seaweed was conducted at The University of Auckland, New Zealand and funded by the Government of New Zealand through a Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship.</span></em></p>Rotting seaweed has plagued the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, US and West African coasts for a decade. So we’ve developed a new approach to turn what’s now rubbish into green electricity and fertiliser.Saeid Baroutian, Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauTerrell Thompson, Life Sciences Coordinator - Export Barbados, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701132021-11-22T22:31:13Z2021-11-22T22:31:13ZAustralia’s marine industries deliver $80b a year. But without more scientists, the ‘blue economy’ is at risk<p>Australia is a marine nation. First Nations people have deep and unbroken connections to sea, 85% of us live within 50km of the coast, and our ocean territory is twice that of our land mass.</p>
<p>A large part of our economy – the “blue economy” – depends on the sea: tourism, ports, energy, transport, fisheries and aquaculture, and emerging industries like renewable energy, offshore aquaculture, and biotechnology. </p>
<p>Together, these industries are worth more than A$80 billion a year. By 2025, this figure may be <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/aims-index-of-marine-industry">$100 billion</a>.</p>
<p>To manage our oceans and coasts to support a growing blue economy means we need to understand them, and that means we need science. At the <a href="https://www.marinescience.net.au/">National Marine Science Committee</a> (NMSC), we have surveyed how well Australia is delivering this science. As we show in a <a href="https://www.marinescience.net.au/midway">new report</a>, the story is mixed.</p>
<h2>The plan</h2>
<p>The NMSC is Australia’s peak body for marine research. Its members are almost 40 universities, research institutions and state and federal agencies. </p>
<p>In 2015, the Committee created a blueprint for growing Australia’s blue economy: the <a href="https://www.marinescience.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/National-Marine-Science-Plan.pdf">National Marine Science Plan: 2015-25</a>.</p>
<p>This plan identified seven grand challenges facing our marine estate: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>marine sovereignty and security </p></li>
<li><p>energy security</p></li>
<li><p>food security</p></li>
<li><p>biodiversity conservation</p></li>
<li><p>sustainable urban coastal development</p></li>
<li><p>climate change adaptation</p></li>
<li><p>equitable, balanced resource allocation.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The plan also made eight recommendations involving initiatives, investment, and priorities to address the challenges.</p>
<p>We are now halfway through the plan’s ten-year scope. While many of the recommendations are on track, others need some work.</p>
<h2>The report card</h2>
<p>Our oceans face unique challenges, from climate change to managing increasing resource use. Despite pandemic disruptions, scientific progress has continued.</p>
<p>Highlights from the past five years include increasing Australia’s marine research capacity with <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/antarctic-operations/travel-and-logistics/ships/icebreaker/">a new icebreaker for working in the Antarctic</a> and operation of the research ship <a href="https://mnf.csiro.au/en/RV-Investigator">RV Investigator</a> for 300 days at sea. Coastal research vessels have also continued operations, and the <a href="https://imos.org.au/">Integrated Marine Observing System</a> has expanded.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-rv-investigators-role-in-marine-science-35239">Explainer: the RV Investigator’s role in marine science</a>
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<p>The new report shows science has already helped deliver better outcomes for the blue economy, through things like strategies for fishery harvesting to balance consumer demands with economic and ecological sustainability.</p>
<p>The report also identifies further steps needed to ensure all recommendations are fulfilled. It offers three new recommendations, too.</p>
<p>First, integrate the knowledge, rights, capabilities, and aspirations of Traditional Owners into conventional marine science.</p>
<p>Second, establish national policy guidelines for open access to government-funded or regulatory data. This would include access to historical datasets and expand the <a href="https://portal.aodn.org.au/">Australian Ocean Data Network</a>.</p>
<p>And third, develop an approach to increase the resilience of our coasts.</p>
<h2>An unprecedented opportunity</h2>
<p>After the economic shock of the pandemic, there is enormous interest in Australia’s blue economy and our ocean health. This can be realised via national and international initiatives and funding focused on sustainable growth.</p>
<p>The Australian government has joined 13 other nations in the <a href="https://www.oceanpanel.org/">High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy</a> committing to sustainably manage 100% of their marine estates by 2025. </p>
<p>This year also kicks off the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The world’s eyes will be on the oceans for the next ten years.</p>
<p>Since 2015, Australia has been building its national marine science capability. Recent initiatives include the <a href="https://www.barrierreef.org/what-we-do/reef-trust-partnership">Reef Trust Partnership</a>, <a href="https://blueeconomycrc.com.au/">Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)</a>, <a href="https://mbcrc.com/">Marine Bioproducts CRC</a>, investments in marine and coastal science under the <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/science-research/nesp">National Environmental Science Program</a>, and the [<a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/science-research/climate-change/ocean-sustainability">Australian Ocean Leadership Package</a>].</p>
<p>The foundations are there, and the task now is to strengthen and embed our marine science sovereign capability. </p>
<h2>A call to action</h2>
<p>The report calls on actions from broad sectors of society to ensure Australia’s blue economy continues to grow. It asks:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the research community to build on and amplify existing resources to establish truly national research programs that incorporate all stakeholder needs</p></li>
<li><p>industry to work with marine scientists and governments to ensure science underpins operational decision-making, risk assessments and future planning, and to create efficient, sustainable businesses</p></li>
<li><p>government to focus on and invest in the blue economy as an important plank in post-COVID economic recovery and a way to create long-term social, cultural and environmental benefits</p></li>
<li><p>the community to recognise the responsibility we all share as a marine nation, and to play an active role in ensuring the long-term health of our oceans and coasts for all Australians.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>With a strong blue economy, we can chart a course through the uncertainties of the future and create long-term prosperity for all Australians.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-first-discovery-of-its-kind-researchers-have-uncovered-an-ancient-aboriginal-archaeological-site-preserved-on-the-seabed-138108">In a first discovery of its kind, researchers have uncovered an ancient Aboriginal archaeological site preserved on the seabed</a>
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<p><em>This article was written in conjunction with Dr David Smith, Chair of the National Research Providers Network for Fisheries and Aquaculture.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toni Moate is Director of CSIRO's National Collections and Marine Infrastructure.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Boxshall consults to Federal and State Government departments which could benefit from an expanded blue economy. He also owns a tiny number of shares in BHP. He has a paid appointment by the Victorian Government as the Chair of the Victorian Marine & Coastal Council under the provisions of the Marine & Coastal Act 2018. Rates are public and listed under the rules defining Victorian Government Board appointments. In this role, he advises Ministers on marine and coastal planning and management issues in Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Heupel receives funding from the Commonwealth National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, Qld state government, WA state government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Souter 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>Australia’s ‘blue economy’ needs a strong basis in marine science.Toni Moate, Chair, National Marine Science Committee and Director, CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure, CSIROAnthony Boxshall, Chair – Marine and Coastal Council, Victoria, and Associate Professor, The University of MelbourneDavid Souter, Chief Research Officer, Australian Institute of Marine ScienceMichelle Heupel, Director, Integrated Marine Observing System, and Adjunct Professor, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1662782021-08-19T19:49:58Z2021-08-19T19:49:58ZSnorkellers discover rare, giant 400-year-old coral – one of the oldest on the Great Barrier Reef<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416646/original/file-20210818-27-qje78r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C70%2C1278%2C887&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Woodgett</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Snorkellers on the Great Barrier Reef have discovered a huge coral more than 400 years old which is thought to have survived 80 major cyclones, numerous coral bleaching events and centuries of exposure to other threats. We describe the discovery in <a href="http://nature.com/articles/s41598-021-94818-w">research</a> published today.</p>
<p>Our team surveyed the hemispherical structure, which comprises small marine animals and calcium carbonate, and found it’s the Great Barrier Reef’s widest coral, and one of the oldest. </p>
<p>It was discovered off the coast of Goolboodi (Orpheus Island), part of Queensland’s Palm Island Group. Traditional custodians of the region, the Manbarra people, have called the structure Muga dhambi, meaning “big coral”.</p>
<p>For now, Muga dhambi is in relatively good health. But climate change, declining water quality and other threats are taking a toll on the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists, Traditional Owners and others must keep a close eye on this remarkable, resilient structure to ensure it is preserved for future generations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="coral and snorkellers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416672/original/file-20210818-19-anzpts.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">Muga dhambi is the widest coral structure recorded on the Great Barrier Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Woodgett</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Far older than European settlement</h2>
<p>Muga dhambi is located in a relatively remote, rarely visited and highly protected marine area. It was found during citizen science research in March this year, on a reef slope not far from shore. </p>
<p>We conducted a literature review and consulted other scientists to compare the size, age and health of the structure with others in the Great Barrier Reef and internationally. </p>
<p>We measured the structure at 5.3 metres tall and 10.4 metres wide. This makes it 2.4 metres wider than the widest Great Barrier Reef coral <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345677">previously</a> measured by scientists.</p>
<p>Muga dhambi is of the coral genus <em>Porites</em> and is one of a large group of corals known as “massive Porites”. It’s brown to cream in colour and made of small, stony polyps. </p>
<p>These polyps secrete layers of calcium carbonate beneath their bodies as they grow, forming the foundations upon which reefs are built.</p>
<p>Muga dhambi’s height suggests it is aged between 421 and 438 years old – far pre-dating European exploration and settlement of Australia. We made this calculation based on rock coral growth rates and annual sea surface temperatures.</p>
<p>The Australian Institute of Marine Science has investigated more than 328 colonies of massive Porites corals along the Great Barrier Reef and has aged the oldest at 436 years. The institute has not investigated the age of Muga dhambi, however the structure is probably one of the oldest on the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>Other comparatively large massive Porites have previously been found throughout the Pacific. One exceptionally large colony in American Samoa measured 17m × 12m. Large Porites have also been found near Taiwan and Japan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mountainous island and blue sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416650/original/file-20210818-23-wt3kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muga dhambi was discovered in waters off Goolboodi (Orpheus Island).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Resilient, but under threat</h2>
<p>We reviewed environmental events over the past 450 years and found Muga dhambi is unusually resilient. It has survived up to 80 major cyclones, numerous coral bleaching events and centuries of exposure to invasive species, low tides and human activity.</p>
<p>About 70% of Muga dhambi consisted of live coral, but the remaining 30% was dead. This section, at the top of the structure, was covered with green boring sponge, turf algae and green algae.</p>
<p>Coral tissue can die from exposure to sun at low tides or warm water. Dead coral can be quickly colonised by opportunistic, fast growing organisms, as is the case with Muga dhambi.</p>
<p>Green boring sponge invades and excavates corals. The sponge’s advances will likely continue to compromise the structure’s size and health.</p>
<p>We found marine debris at the base of Muga dhambi, comprising rope and three concrete blocks. Such debris is a threat to the marine environment and species such as corals.</p>
<p>We found no evidence of disease or coral bleaching.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-trouble-there-are-a-whopping-45-reasons-why-122930">The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble. There are a whopping 45 reasons why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="to come" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416678/original/file-20210818-21-13b0f9w.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">The structure may be compromised by the advance of a sponge species across Muga dhambi (sponge is the darker half in this image).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Woodgett</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Old man’ of the sea</h2>
<p>A Traditional Owner from outside the region took part in our citizen science training which included surveys of corals, invertebrates and fish. We also consulted the Manbarra Traditional Owners about and an appropriate cultural name for the structure. </p>
<p>Before recommending Muga dhambi, the names the Traditional Owners considered included:</p>
<ul>
<li>Muga (big)</li>
<li>Wanga (home)</li>
<li>Muugar (coral reef)</li>
<li>Dhambi (coral)</li>
<li>Anki/Gurgu (old)</li>
<li>Gulula (old man)</li>
<li>Gurgurbu (old person).</li>
</ul>
<p>Indigenous languages are an integral part of Indigenous culture, spirituality, and connection to country. Traditional Owners suggested calling the structure Muga dhambi would communicate traditional knowledge, language and culture to other Indigenous people, tourists, scientists and students.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-traditional-owners-and-officials-came-together-to-protect-a-stunning-stretch-of-wa-coast-163078">How Traditional Owners and officials came together to protect a stunning stretch of WA coast</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="coral rock under water with sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416682/original/file-20210818-23-nmb1be.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">It’s hoped the name Muga dhambi will encourage recognition of the connection Indigenous people have to the coral structure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Woodgett</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A wonder for all generations</h2>
<p>No database exists for significant corals in Australia or globally. Cataloguing the location of massive and long-lived corals can be benefits. </p>
<p>For example from a scientific perspective, it can allow analyses which can help understand century-scale changes in ocean events and can be used to verify climate models. Social and economic benefits can include diving tourism and citizen science, as well as engaging with Indigenous culture and stewardship.</p>
<p>However, cataloguing the location of massive corals could lead to them being damaged by anchoring, research and pollution from visiting boats.</p>
<p>Looking to the future, there is real concern for all corals in the Great Barrier Reef due to threats such as climate change, declining water quality, overfishing and coastal development. We recommend monitoring of Muga dhambi in case restoration is needed in future.</p>
<p>We hope our research will mean current and future generations care for this wonder of nature, and respect the connections of Manbarra Traditional Owners to their Sea Country.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-declaring-the-great-barrier-reef-as-in-danger-only-postpones-the-inevitable-164867">Not declaring the Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger' only postpones the inevitable</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Smith received funding from the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to conduct this research. Adam is Deputy Chair of the Museum of Underwater Art.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Cook received funding the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to conduct this research. Research was conducted in partnership with Reef Check Australia as part of their reef monitoring program.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vicki Saylor 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>The remarkably resilient structure is in good health, for now. But work is needed to ensure it is preserved for future generations.Adam Smith, Adjunct Associate Professor, James Cook UniversityNathan Cook, Marine Scientist , James Cook UniversityVicki Saylor, Manbarra Traditional Owner, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1601842021-05-31T05:17:00Z2021-05-31T05:17:00ZBeautiful, rare ‘purple cauliflower’ coral off NSW coast may be extinct within 10 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399532/original/file-20210508-21-15cmjtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C333%2C3746%2C2342&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we think of Australia’s threatened corals, the Great Barrier Reef probably springs to mind. But elsewhere, coral species are also struggling – including a rare type known as “cauliflower soft coral” which is, sadly, on the brink of extinction. </p>
<p>This species, <em>Dendronephthya australis</em>, looks like a purple cauliflower due to its pink-lilac stems and branches, crowned with white polyps. </p>
<p>The coral primarily occurs at only a few sites in Port Stephens, New South Wales, and is a magnet for divers and underwater photographers. But sand movements, boating and fishing have reduced the species’ population dramatically. </p>
<p>Recent flooding in NSW compounded the problem – in fact, it may have reduced the remaining coral population by 90%. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272771421002171">recent research</a> found cauliflower soft coral may become extinct in the next decade unless we urgently protect and restore it. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399543/original/file-20210508-17-omx3ue.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">An ovulid on a cauliflower coral colony. Such coral may be extinct within a decade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lilac underwater gardens</h2>
<p>Cauliflower soft corals are predominantly found in estuarine environments on sandy seabeds with high current flow. They rely on tidal currents to transport plankton on which they <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-015-2732-7">feed</a>.</p>
<p>The species is most <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/threatened-species/what-current/endangered-species2/cauliflower-soft-coral">commonly found</a> in the Port Stephens estuary, about 200 kilometres north of Sydney. It’s also found in the Brisbane Water estuary in NSW, and has been found sporadically in other locations south to Jervis Bay.</p>
<p>The coral colonies form aggregations or “gardens”. At Port Stephens, these gardens are the preferred habitat for the endangered <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfb.12492">White’s seahorse</a> and protected species of pipefish. They also support juvenile <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.2362">Australasian snapper</a>, an important species for commercial and recreational fishers. </p>
<p>In recent months, the cauliflower soft coral has been listed as endangered in <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/threatened-species/what-current/endangered-species2/cauliflower-soft-coral">NSW</a> and <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=91553">nationally</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-life-is-fleeing-the-equator-to-cooler-waters-history-tells-us-this-could-trigger-a-mass-extinction-event-158424">Marine life is fleeing the equator to cooler waters. History tells us this could trigger a mass extinction event</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FLLWl-BgGU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>An alarming decline</h2>
<p>Scientists <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF14059">first mapped</a> the distribution of the cauliflower soft coral in 2011. They found none of the biggest colonies in the Port Stephens estuary were protected by “no take” zones – areas where fishing and other extractive activities are banned.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v546/p173-181">research</a> in 2016, we found a sharp decline in the extent and distribution of cauliflower soft coral.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cydA%7E1MBfrcx">recent study</a> examined the problem in more detail. It involved mapping the southern shoreline of Port Stephens, using an underwater camera towed by a vessel. </p>
<p>We found the cauliflower soft coral in the Port Stephens estuary has declined by almost 70% over just eight years. It now occurs over 9,300 square metres – down from 28,600 square metres in 2011.</p>
<p>Our subsequent modelling sought to identify what was driving the corals’ decline. We found a correlation between coral loss and sand movements over the last decade. </p>
<p>Human changes to shorelines, such as marina developments, have changed the dynamic of currents across the estuary. For example, previous <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/1203039/dendronephthya-australis.pdf">research found</a> a large influx of sand from the western end of Shoal Bay smothered cauliflower soft coral colonies at two nearby locations. As of 2018, those colonies had disappeared completely.</p>
<p>While diving as part of the project, we identified other causes of damage to the coral. Dropped boat anchors and the installation of moorings had damaged some colonies. Others were injured after becoming entangled in fishing line.</p>
<p>It is possible that disease, and pollution or other water quality issues, may also be contributing to the species’ decline. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399537/original/file-20210508-23-1ytf4k6.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">Fishing line damaging a colony of cauliflower soft coral in Port Stephens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Then the floods hit</h2>
<p>Some 18 months after our most recent mapping, cauliflower soft corals suffered yet another blow. <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs74.pdf">Major flooding</a> in NSW in March this year caused a massive amount of fresh water to discharge from the Karuah River into the Port Stephens estuary, where sea water is dominant. Fresh water can kill cauliflower soft corals. </p>
<p>Following the floods, we conducted exploratory dives at locations where the cauliflower soft corals had been thriving at Port Stephens. We found much of the coral had disintegrated and disappeared. In fact, we estimated as much as 90% of the remaining cauliflower soft coral population was gone.</p>
<p>We plan to remap the estuary in the coming weeks, and feel confident our initial estimates will be close to the mark. If so, this means less than 5% of the species area mapped in 2011 now remains. </p>
<p>The floods also devastated kelp forests and other canopy-forming habitats in the estuary. Further work by scientists at the NSW Department of Primary Industries is underway to quantify these losses and monitor the recovery.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-disastrous-flood-wasnt-unprecedented-were-about-to-enter-a-50-year-period-of-frequent-major-floods-158427">Sydney's disastrous flood wasn't unprecedented: we're about to enter a 50-year period of frequent, major floods</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399538/original/file-20210508-25-1eiqu6x.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">Monitoring of existing cauliflower coral aggregations is ongoing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Urgent work required</h2>
<p>The cauliflower soft coral urgently needs protecting. This will require ongoing, coordinated research and management.</p>
<p>Clearly, action must be taken to reduce threats such as anchoring, fishing, and development that may magnify sand movement.</p>
<p>Best-practice rehabilitation is also needed. This may involve rearing the coral off-site and transplanting it into suitable habitat. Such trials at Port Stephens have shown <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/13/2/79/htm">promising signs</a>. </p>
<p>Human activities are causing species loss at an alarming rate. We must do everything in our power to prevent the extinction of the cauliflower soft coral, and other threatened species, to preserve the balance of nature and its ecosystems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-threatened-species-plan-sends-in-the-ambulances-but-ignores-glaring-dangers-161407">Australia's threatened species plan sends in the ambulances but ignores glaring dangers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Harasti, Stephen D. A. Smith, and Tom R Davis do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent flooding may have reduced the remaining coral population by 90%. Combined with damage from fishing, boating and coastal development, the species may be gone in a decade.Meryl Larkin, PhD Candidate, Southern Cross UniversityDavid Harasti, Adjunct assistant professor, Southern Cross UniversityStephen D. A. Smith, Professor of Marine Science, National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross UniversityTom R Davis, Research Scientist - Marine Climate Change, Hunter New England Local Health DistrictLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1616442021-05-27T19:51:51Z2021-05-27T19:51:51ZThe Ocean Decade: how the next ten years can chart a new course for the blue planet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403129/original/file-20210527-21-wxxnze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4537%2C3022&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/big-crashing-wave-593985515">Brett Allen/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When birdsong was filling the muted days of the first lockdown, marine scientists were noticing something similar in the world’s oceans. Container vessels, cruise ships and drilling platforms had fallen silent, and so the oceans grew quieter than at any other time in recent memory. Researchers are trying to understand how the lull affected ocean life, but there are already stories of whales seizing the chance to sing and dolphins venturing into coastal areas they’d avoided for decades.</p>
<p>The year of the quiet ocean is over, and noise pollution is roaring back to pre-pandemic levels, drowning out the sounds that marine species depend on to communicate and make sense of their surroundings. Sadly, that’s just one problem among many.</p>
<p>The UN has declared that the next ten years will be <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/">the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development</a>, recognising the enormous challenges facing our blue planet. The Conversation has been keeping an eye on some of these as part of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/oceans-21-96784">Oceans 21 series</a>. Already, we’ve heard from experts about how chemical pollution in the ocean <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ocean-pollution-is-a-clear-danger-to-human-health-152641">threatens human health</a>, how the ocean economy is dominated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-economy-how-a-handful-of-companies-reap-most-of-the-benefits-in-multi-billion-ocean-industries-153165">a handful of mega-rich corporations</a> and why global warming is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ocean-is-becoming-more-stable-heres-why-that-might-not-be-a-good-thing-157911">making the ocean more stable</a> – with surprisingly worrying results.</p>
<p>But we’ve also heard informed reasons for hope. From the geographer studying <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-hopeful-return-of-polar-whales-151487">the recovery of polar whale populations</a> and the team of physicists learning how to track the journey of <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-does-plastic-pollution-go-when-it-enters-the-ocean-155182">each plastic particle</a> when it reaches the shoreline, to the anthropologist documenting the role that <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-scottish-gaelic-is-helping-protect-scotlands-seas-155660">Scottish Gaelic plays in conservation</a> in Outer Hebridean fisheries.</p>
<p>To commemorate World Oceans Day on <strong>Tuesday June 8 at 4pm BST</strong>, we’ll be channelling the expertise of marine researchers in a webinar hosted by Jack Marley, environment and energy editor at The Conversation. He’ll be asking a panel of experts how the world’s oceans came to be in such a precarious state, and what must happen over the coming decade to begin turning the tide.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403096/original/file-20210527-17-rm6xpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Joining him will be:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jean-baptiste-jouffray-1213660">Jean-Baptiste Jouffray</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher in Sustainability Science at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joanne-preston-685284">Joanne Preston</a>, Principal Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Portsmouth</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jessica-h-whiteside-161660">Jessica H. Whiteside</a>, Lecturer in Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>This webinar is now over. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q-Q-8RNkHk">a video of it</a> here.</strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Join us for a free online discussion about the history and future of the world’s oceans.Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK editionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1381082020-07-01T20:12:21Z2020-07-01T20:12:21ZIn a first discovery of its kind, researchers have uncovered an ancient Aboriginal archaeological site preserved on the seabed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333638/original/file-20200508-49569-1w0b5l0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C301%2C6709%2C4164&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">S Wright</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra dry land where people lived.</p>
<p>Archaeologists could only speculate about how people used those now-submerged lands, and whether any traces remain today.</p>
<p>But in a study published today in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0233912">PLOS ONE</a>, we report the first submerged ancient Aboriginal archaeological sites found on the seabed, in waters off Western Australia. </p>
<h2>The great flood</h2>
<p>When people first arrived in Australia as early as <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">65,000 years ago</a>, sea levels were around 80m lower than today.</p>
<p>Sea levels fluctuated but continued to fall as the global climate cooled. As the world plunged into the last ice age, which peaked around 20,000 years ago, sea levels dropped to 130m lower than they are now.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-coastal-living-is-at-risk-from-sea-level-rise-but-its-happened-before-87686">Australia's coastal living is at risk from sea level rise, but it's happened before</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Between 18,000 and 8,000 years ago the world warmed up. Melting ice sheets caused sea levels to rise. Tasmania was cut off from the mainland around 11,000 years ago. New Guinea separated from Australia around 8,000 years ago.</p>
<p>The sea-level rise flooded 2.12 million square kilometres of land on the continental shelf surrounding Australia. Thousands of generations of people would have lived out their lives on these landscapes now under water.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333900/original/file-20200511-31175-1njt57h.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">These ancient cultural landscapes do not end at the waterline – they continue into the blue, onto what was once dry land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerem Leach, DHSC Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Landscapes under water</h2>
<p>For the past four years a team of archaeologists, rock art specialists, geomorphologists, geologists, specialist pilots and scientific divers on the Australian Research Council-funded <a href="https://deephistoryofseacountry.com">Deep History of Sea Country Project</a> have collaborated with the <a href="https://www.murujuga.org.au/">Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation</a> to find and record submerged archaeological sites off the Pilbara coast in WA.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338656/original/file-20200530-78897-162u5wr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of the finds in northwest Australia (left) and the Dampier Archipelago (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copernicus Sentinel Data and Geoscience Australia</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We studied navigation charts, geological maps and archaeological sites located on the land to narrow down prospective areas before surveying the seabed using <a href="https://deephistoryofseacountry.com/2017/12/04/dhsc-project-team-professor-jorg-m-hacker-and-ms-shakti-chakravarty-airborne-research-australia-and-flinders-university/">laser scanners mounted on small planes</a> and <a href="https://deephistoryofseacountry.com/2019/09/19/tow-fishing-for-submerged-cultural-landscapes-in-the-dampier-archipelago-murujuga-western-australia/">high-resolution sonar towed behind boats</a>.</p>
<p>In the final phase of the research, our team of scientific divers carried out underwater archaeological surveys to physically examine, record and sample the seabed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333632/original/file-20200508-49542-jf5oel.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">Archaeologists working in the shallow waters off Western Australia. Future generations of archaeologists must be willing to get wet!</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerem Leach, DHSC Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We discovered two underwater archaeological sites in the Dampier Archipelago. </p>
<p>The first, at Cape Bruguieres, comprises hundreds of stone artefacts - including <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/cultures/atsi-collection/cultural-objects/grindstones/">mullers and grinding stones</a> - on the seabed at depths down to 2.4m. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338657/original/file-20200530-78897-19zvy9h.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 selection of stone artefacts found on the seabed during fieldwork.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John McCarthy and Chelsea Wiseman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the second site, in Flying Foam Passage, we discovered traces of human activity associated with a submerged freshwater spring, 14m below sea level, including at least one confirmed stone cutting tool made out of locally sourced material. </p>
<p>Environmental data and radiocarbon dates show these sites must have been older than 7,000 years when they were submerged by rising seas.</p>
<p>Our study shows archaeological sites exist on the seabed in Australia with items belonging to ancient peoples undisturbed for thousands of years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-the-rock-art-of-murujuga-deserves-world-heritage-status-102100">Explainer: why the rock art of Murujuga deserves World Heritage status</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Murujuga (also known as the Burrup Peninsula) this adds substantially to the evidence we already have of human activity and rock art production in this important <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/organisations/australian-heritage-council/national-heritage-assessments/dampier-archipelago">National Heritage Listed</a> place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333633/original/file-20200508-49546-oeczje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&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 submerged stone tool associated with a freshwater spring now 14m under water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hiro Yoshida and Katarina Jerbić, DHSC Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Underwater archaeology matters</h2>
<p>The submerged stone tools discovered at Murujuga make us rethink what we know about the past. </p>
<p>Our knowledge of ancient times in Australia comes from archaeological sites on land and from Indigenous oral histories. But the first people to come to Australian shores were coastal people who voyaged in boats across the islands of eastern Indonesia. </p>
<p>The early peopling of Australia took place on land that is now under water. To fully understand key questions in human history, as ancient as they are, researchers must turn to both archaeology and marine science.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333634/original/file-20200508-49550-1nyuy8d.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">Archaeologist Chelsea Wiseman records a stone artefact covered in marine growth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Wright, DHSC Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Protecting a priceless submerged heritage</h2>
<p>Submerged archaeological sites are in danger of destruction by erosion and from development activities, such as oil and gas installations, pipelines, port developments, dredging, spoil dumping and industrialised fishing.</p>
<p>Protection of underwater cultural sites more than 100 years old is enshrined by the <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/2001-convention/">UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001)</a>, adopted as law by more than 60 countries but not ratified by Australia.</p>
<p>In Australia, the federal laws that protect underwater cultural heritage in Commonwealth waters have been modernised recently with the Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976) reviewed and re-badged as Australia’s <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/underwater-heritage/underwater-cultural-heritage-act">Underwater Cultural Heritage Act (2018)</a>, which came into effect in July 2019.</p>
<p>This new Act fails to automatically protect all types of sites and it privileges protection of non-Indigenous submerged heritage. For example, all shipwrecks older than 75 years and sunken aircraft found in Australia’s Commonwealth waters are given automatic protection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-incredible-journey-the-first-people-to-arrive-in-australia-came-in-large-numbers-and-on-purpose-114074">An incredible journey: the first people to arrive in Australia came in large numbers, and on purpose</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Other types of site, regardless of age and including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sites, can be protected but only with ministerial approval.</p>
<p>There is scope for states and territories to protect submerged Indigenous heritage based on existing laws, but regulators have conventionally only managed the underwater heritage of more recent historical periods.</p>
<p>With our find confirming ancient Indigenous sites can be preserved under water, we need policy makers to reconsider approaches to protecting underwater cultural heritage in Australia.</p>
<p>We are confident many other submerged sites will be found in the years to come. These will challenge our current understandings and lead to a more complete account of our human past, so they need our protection now.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uu9V7waH5f0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Deep History of Sea Country: Investigating the seabed in Western Australia.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Benjamin receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Honor Frost Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Bailey receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo McDonald receives funding from the Australian Research Council, as well as funds from RioTinto's Conservation Agreement with the Commonwealth to research the significant value of the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) National Heritage Listed Place.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael O'Leary receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Ulm receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Submerged in the waters off Western Australia lies an ancient site home to Aboriginal people thousands of years ago, when sea levels were lower than they are today.Jonathan Benjamin, Associate Professor in Maritime Archaeology, Flinders University and ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders UniversityGeoff Bailey, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of YorkJo McDonald, Director, Centre for Rock Art Research + Management, The University of Western AustraliaMichael O'Leary, Senior Lecturer in Climate Geoscience, The University of Western AustraliaSean Ulm, Deputy Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331452020-04-13T12:16:27Z2020-04-13T12:16:27ZScientists have found oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in fishes’ livers and on the deep ocean floor<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327260/original/file-20200410-123487-xvzg5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4608%2C3456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers use Atlantic mackerel for bait on long-lining fishing sampling expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico..</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/y87FdG">C-IMAGE Consortium</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the decade since the Deepwater Horizon spill, thousands of scientists have analyzed its impact on the Gulf of Mexico. The spill affected many different parts of the Gulf, from coastal marshes to the deep sea.</p>
<p>At the Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem, or <a href="https://www.marine.usf.edu/c-image/">C-IMAGE</a> at the University of South Florida, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Steven_Murawski">marine scientists</a> have been analyzing these effects since 2011. C-IMAGE has received funding from the <a href="https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/">Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative</a> – a broad, independent research program initially funded by a US$500 million grant from BP, the company held principally responsible for the spill.</p>
<p>Our findings and those of many other academic, government and industry researchers have filled <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030116040">two</a> <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030129620">books</a>. These works seek to quantify the <a href="http://beneaththehorizon.org/">past and future impacts of oil spills</a>, and to help prevent such accidents from ever happening again. Here are some important findings on how the Deepwater Horizon disaster <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojG5JF5TC4&feature=youtu.be">affected Gulf of Mexico ecosystems</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327255/original/file-20200410-192985-o1i90x.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">Sediment cores from the seabed preserve evidence of oil that has settled onto the seafloor from historical spills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/xfvDi9">C-IMAGE Consortium</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Oil in fish and sediments</h2>
<p>Before the spill, baseline data on oil contamination in fishes and sediments in the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. This kind of information is critical for assessing impacts from a spill and calculating how quickly the ecosystem can return to its previous, pre-spill state. Oil was already present in the Gulf from <a href="https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/largest-oil-spills-affecting-us-waters-1969.html">past spills</a> and <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/oil/natural-oil-seeps">natural seeps</a>, but the Deepwater Horizon was the largest accidental spill in the ocean anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>C-IMAGE researchers developed the first comprehensive baseline of oil contamination in the Gulf’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.10033">fishes</a> and sediments, including all waters off the United States, Mexico and Cuba. Researchers spent almost 250 days at sea, sampling over 15,000 fishes and taking over 2,500 sediment cores. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327188/original/file-20200410-100943-1y6op0h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research cruises on the RV Weatherbird II and the RV Justo Sierra took scientists all over the Gulf of Mexico from 2011 to 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">C-IMAGE Consortium</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Repeated sampling from 2011 through 2018 of the region around the spill site has produced estimates of how quickly various species are able to overcome oil pollution; impacts on the health of various species, from microbes to whales; and how fast oil stranded on the bottom has become buried in sediments. </p>
<p>Importantly, no fish yet sampled anywhere in the Gulf has been free of hydrocarbons – a telling sign of chronic and ongoing pollution in the Gulf. It is not known if similar findings would result from ecosystem-wide studies elsewhere because such surveys are rare.</p>
<p>Many commercially important fish species were affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Researchers found skin lesions on red snapper from the northern Gulf in the months after the spill, but the lesions became <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2014.911205">less frequent and severe by 2012</a>. There is other evidence of ongoing and increasing exposures to hydrocarbons over time in economically and environmentally important species like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b01870">golden tilefish</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135551">grouper</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4596">hake</a> as well as red snapper. </p>
<p>Increasing concentrations of hydrocarbons in liver tissues of some species, such as groupers, suggest these fish have experienced long-term exposure to oil. Chronic exposures have been associated with the decline of health indices in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4583">tilefish</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135551">grouper</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0VZPhbhdTsA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists embark on a ‘mud and blood’ research cruise in 2016 to collect and analyze fish and soil samples near the Deepwater Horizon spill site.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To complement field studies, scientists created an oil exposure test facility at Florida’s <a href="https://mote.org/locations/details/mote-aquaculture-park">Mote Aquaculture Research Park</a> to assess how contact with oil affected adult fishes. For example, southern flounder that were exposed to oiled sediments for 35 days showed evidence of <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324863#what-is-it">oxidative stress</a>, a cellular imbalance that can cause decreased fertility, increased cellular aging and premature death. </p>
<p>Fishes that live in deeper waters, from depths of about 650 to 3,300 feet (200 to 1,000 meters) were also affected. These fish are especially important because they are a food source for larger commercially relevant fish, marine mammals and birds. </p>
<p>Researchers found increased concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – chemicals that occur naturally in crude oil – in fish tissues after the spill. In 2015-2016, PAH levels were <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b02243">still higher than pre-spill levels</a>. Evidence indicates that the main sources of this contamination are through fishes’ diets and transfers from female fish to their eggs.</p>
<h2>Oil on the sea floor</h2>
<p>Much of the oil released in the spill created huge slicks at the water’s surface. But significant quantities of crude oil also were deposited at the bottom of the deep sea. </p>
<p>It was carried there by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happened-to-the-oil-from-the-deepwater-horizon-spill-marine-snow-provides-a-clue-40532">marine snow</a> – clumps of plankton, fecal pellets, biominerals and soil particles washed into the Gulf from land. In a process that occurs throughout the world’s oceans, these particles sink through the water column, transporting large quantities of material to the sea floor. In the Gulf, they attached to oil droplets as they descended. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327203/original/file-20200410-44188-15hdnwj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marine snow (clumps of organic and mineral particles) in Gulf of Mexico waters carried oil and burnt hydrocarbons to the sea floor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Warren</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the spill, responders <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Eco/oil-spill-guif-mexico-burning-slick-reaches-louisiana/story?id=10499012">set parts of the massive surface slick on fire</a> in an effort to prevent it from reaching beaches and marshes. Crude oil contains thousands of different carbon compounds that become more toxic after they are burned. Post-spill studies showed that these compounds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.05.019">can be trapped in marine snow</a>, covering the seabed and harming organisms that live there.</p>
<p>Researchers coined the term MOSSFA (marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation) to describe this mechanism for deposition of significant oil on the seabed. Thanks to this research, MOSSFA has been incorporated into models that U.S. government agencies use for oil spill response. C-IMAGE researchers have also developed methods to <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-12963-7_21">predict the intensity of MOSSFA</a> if a similar-sized oil spill occurs anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>Post-spill studies found that levels of oil compounds on the seafloor in the area affected by the spill were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.05.019">two to three times higher than background levels</a> elsewhere in the Gulf. Sediment cores taken from around the wellhead showed that the density of minute single-celled organisms called <a href="https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/little-critters-tell-big-story-benthic-foraminifera-and-gulf-oil-spill">foraminifera</a>, which are abundant throughout the world’s oceans and are a food source for other fishes, squids and marine mammals, declined by 80% to 90% over 10 months following the event, and their species diversity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120565">declined by 30% to 40%</a>.</p>
<p>Oxygen levels in these sediments also decreased in the three years following the spill, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.12.009">degrading conditions for organisms living at the sea floor</a>. As a result of changes like these, researchers project that it will take perhaps <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070540">50 to 100 years for the deep ocean ecosystem to recover</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327258/original/file-20200410-76208-l8iwo9.jpeg?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">Commercial and sport fishing generate millions of dollars in revenues for Gulf coast states. The Deepwater Horizon spill affected many popular species, including grouper, red snapper and flounder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.iimef.marines.mil/Photos/igphoto/2001535717">Lance Cpl. Brianna Gaudi, USMC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More transparency from the oil industry</h2>
<p>Scientists are still assessing key questions about the Gulf’s ecological health, such as how long it will take for deep ecosystems to recover and what the lasting impacts are of episodic pollution events on top of chronic exposure. But here are some steps that would make it easier to measure both chronic effects of oil pollution and impacts from large-scale spills. </p>
<p>Today, the only discharge that offshore oil and gas producers are required to measure is from “produced water” – natural water that comes up from beneath the sea floor along with oil and gas. And they are only required to report its hydrocarbon concentrations, even though the water can contain metals and radioactive material. </p>
<p>In our view, they should also be required to routinely monitor oil contaminants in water, sediments and marine life near each platform, just as wastewater treatment plants periodically gather data on what they are discharging. This would provide a baseline for analyzing impacts from future spills and for detecting leaks hidden from the surface. </p>
<p>Researchers would also like to see more transparency in data sharing about the industry – including routine equipment failures, <a href="https://www.boem.gov/environment/environmental-assessment/questions-answers-and-related-resources">other discharges</a> such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/drilling-mud">drilling muds</a> and other operational details – and greater U.S. engagement with Mexico and Cuba on oil exploration and spill response. As oil and gas production moves into ever-deeper waters, the goal should be to respond faster, more effectively and with a better understanding of what’s happening in real time.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Murawski receives funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Tampa Bay Estuary program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sherryl Gilbert receives funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program through the University of South Florida.</span></em></p>The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster catalyzed a decade of research on oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico, from surface waters to the seabed, with surprising findings.Steven Murawski, Downtown Partnership-Peter Betzer Endowed Chair in Biological Oceanography, University of South FloridaSherryl Gilbert, Assistant Director, C-IMAGE Consortium, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1352292020-04-06T14:18:06Z2020-04-06T14:18:06ZA South African theatre project explores collective solutions to saving the ocean<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325701/original/file-20200406-104477-a42tb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy Lalela uLwandle</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The earth’s oceans are under grave threat. Scientists in many fields have pointed to the large-scale negative shifts brought about by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301650">human-made pollutants</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/issj.12159?casa_token=yo1hu6jL9h4AAAAA%3AnsdpJweEdPal13QVMb1RBN-jnfJR10c-yU12iCoDEtfaYHHF0kXGv65aIEIPV2KMuRnwjr7Qdzk1tedw">mining</a> and <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v112n9-10/04.pdf">overfishing</a>.</p>
<p>How people now choose to behave, make collective decisions and build solidarity around the health of oceans has an impact not just on our own species but on all life on earth.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.empatheatre.com/lalela-ulwandle">Lalela uLwandle</a> (Listen to the Sea) is a theatre production in South Africa that was developed by the <a href="https://www.empatheatre.com/about">Empatheatre</a> group after listening to the voices of coastal dwellers that care for or live off the ocean. The Lalela uLwandle research and engagement project was implemented along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline in 2019. </p>
<p>The production was first staged at home but has now embarked on an international tour. On 7 June it was <a href="https://www.jozigist.co.za/empatheatre-at-united-nations-world-oceans-week-in-new-york-why-storytelling-is-the-sacred-medicine-ocean-governance-needs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=empatheatre-at-united-nations-world-oceans-week-in-new-york-why-storytelling-is-the-sacred-medicine-ocean-governance-needs">performed</a> at the United Nations in New York for World Oceans Week. Lead actress and co-director of Empatheatre, Mpume Mthombeni also gave a speech at the UN headquarters on 8 June, World Oceans Day.</p>
<h2>A chorus of voices</h2>
<p>The idea for the play emerged from a <a href="https://risingsunchatsworth.co.za/123628/community-oil-gas-mining-kzn-coast/">public consultation meeting</a>. It was between community representatives from small towns along the coastline, and the <a href="https://www.sapia.org.za">Petroleum Association of South Africa</a>. Many felt they had not been adequately consulted in an environmental impact assessment for permits to drill for oil and gas along the coastline. </p>
<p>The association, a regulatory body meant to consider public needs when granting or denying such licences, was sympathetic to some of the arguments. But the consultation process failed to make room for the different perspectives and concerns in the room.</p>
<p>In response, a team of researchers working in ocean governance from Rhodes University and the Durban University of Technology began the Lalela project. It set out to explore how different coastal people, in and around the coastal city of Durban, make sense of their relationship with the ocean. </p>
<p>The research participants included a broad spectrum. They were small-scale and subsistence fishers, marine scientists, activists, church followers, marine educators at the aquarium and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/sangoma">sangomas</a> (traditional healers). </p>
<p>The opening question was simple: What are your first memories of the sea? It’s important because the symbolic, scientific and spiritual meanings of the oceans are key to understanding <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40152-020-00163-5">humans’ relationship with the oceans</a>. Memories, belief systems, stories and myths are powerful ways in which we make sense of our world and choose to act on and in it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325696/original/file-20200406-103690-1c7nil7.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">Faye (Allison Cassels) recounts the wonder of baby cuttlefish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Casey Pratt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The research team partnered with <a href="http://www.uncannyjustness.org/empatheatre.html">Empatheatre</a>, a collective who use research-based theatre as a participatory decision-making tool for social justice. They have tackled issues related to street-level drug use (<em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jguiaUniBbE">Ulwembu</a></em>), gender and migration (<em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg4P38dbBao">The Last Country</a></em>), and mining (<em><a href="https://soilandash.weebly.com/">Soil&Ash</a></em>). They wove these incredible everyday stories of the sea, together with archival material, into the production <em>Lalela uLwandle</em>. </p>
<h2>On stage among the audience</h2>
<p><em>Lalela uLwandle</em> draws on the stories of three people. Nolwandle is a marine educator whose mother is a Zionist and grandmother a sangoma. Niren is a young environmental activist whose family has a long history of seine-net fishing. Faye is a retired marine biologist reflecting on life as a scientist and activist. </p>
<p>Audience members sit in a circle with the actors and witness these intergenerational stories. They recount how the ocean is linked to, among other things, livelihoods, medicine and healing, and scientific study. Included is the site of the sea for spiritual connections with ancestors.</p>
<p>The play deals with acts of past and present power and exclusion in South Africa. It performs the painful experiences of <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/forced-removals-south-africa">forced removals</a> under <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a>, which robbed many of a life on the coast. It explores how extractive mining on land and sea, and industrial fishing, continue to create forms of oppression and exclusion. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325707/original/file-20200406-151304-1hujff8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nolwandle (Mpume Mthombeni) performs the symbolic destruction of homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kelly Daniels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also performs the tensions between environmental justice and environmental conservation. These are frequently played out <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569117304015">in real life</a> when local people are restricted from accessing sites of heritage and livelihood in <a href="http://mpaforum.org.za/marine-protected-areas/">Marine Protected Areas</a>.</p>
<p>Last year the play toured six small towns on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, with a final week’s <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/goodlife/listen-to-the-sea-33807711">run</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Durban">Durban</a>. The general public came to watch along with guests invited from government, civil society, small-scale fisher associations, marine science and conservation. </p>
<p>Each performance was followed by a facilitated discussion. In many, audience members grappled with what it means to think collectively in a time of ocean degradation. They asked of themselves and fellow audience members how the hurt and inequalities in our past, and in the present, should shape thinking on ocean governance. </p>
<h2>If we listened carefully</h2>
<p>South Africa remains deeply divided by racial injustices and <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/01/29/na012820six-charts-on-south-africas-persistent-and-multi-faceted-inequality">economic inequalities</a>. Rather than skirt over these divides <em>Lalela uLwandle</em> told different stories of power and vulnerability. What arose from the research, performances and discussions was how cultural connections offer valuable contributions towards conservation and environmental efforts. </p>
<p>The play offered an invitation to an alternative conversation. One in which culture, science and conservation may, if people learn to listen to each other carefully, find strategic alignment.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325708/original/file-20200406-196131-1utf8hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Niren (Rory Booth) sends a prayer into the ocean for his grandfather.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Val Adamson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The public discussions showed an encouraging move away from various trade-offs that normally play out. Where big business gains at the expense of poor communities, or conservation wins at the expense of marginal groups, or where marginal groups are awarded socio-economic resources at the expense of environmental conservation. </p>
<p>To find solutions the world desperately needs to become better equipped at more equitable collective decision making. To do that we need to find translation devices between scientific, conservation, cultural and spiritual canons. We need them to spark an imagination for working in solidarity across difference, with and for the oceans that sustain us all. </p>
<p><em>Lalela uLwandle is led by Dylan McGarry and Taryn Pereira at the <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/elrc/">Environmental Learning Research Centre</a>, Rhodes University, with Neil Coppen and Mpume Mthombeni from <a href="http://www.uncannyjustness.org/empatheatre.html">Empatheatre</a>, and Kira Erwin at the <a href="https://www.dut.ac.za/faculty/engineering/urban_futures/">Urban Futures Centre</a>, Durban University of Technology. Lalela uLwandle forms part of the <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/oneoceanhub/">One Ocean Hub</a>, a global action research network led by Strathclyde University and funded by the <a href="https://www.ukri.org/research/global-challenges-research-fund/">UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>This article was updated to include developments around international performances of the play.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Erwin has received funding from the National Research Foundation, as well as other external funders for research projects at the Urban Futures Centre. Her work on Lalela uLwandle is done in-kind with no direct funding.</span></em></p>Empatheatre’s latest production is more than a play about three characters who live near the sea. It’s a model for collective consultation on how to save the ocean.Kira Erwin, Senior researcher, Durban University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275042020-01-21T13:49:32Z2020-01-21T13:49:32ZIceland didn’t hunt any whales in 2019 – and public appetite for whale meat is fading<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306486/original/file-20191212-85422-8m3gon.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2176%2C1426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whale watching (here, off Húsavík, Iceland) may be better for the local economy than whale hunting. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Sailing_-_H%C3%BAsav%C3%ADk_Whale_Watching,_H%C3%BAsav%C3%ADk,_Iceland_(Unsplash).jpg">Davide Cantelli/Wikimedia </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the most important global conservation events of the past year was something that didn’t happen. For the first time since 2002, Iceland – one of just three countries that still allow commercial whaling – didn’t hunt any whales, even though its government had approved whaling permits in early 2019.</p>
<p>Many people may think of whaling as a 19th-century industry in which men threw harpoons at their quarry by hand. But humans are still killing whales today in other ways. Thousands of whales are struck by ships, <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-tech-fishing-gear-could-help-save-critically-endangered-right-whales-115974">entangled in fishing lines</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/science/oceans-whales-noise-offshore-drilling.html">harmed by ocean noise</a> every year.</p>
<p>However, most nations support a commercial whaling ban that the <a href="https://iwc.int/home">International Whaling Commission</a>, a global body charged with whale management, imposed in 1986 to prevent these creatures from being hunted to extinction. Iceland, Norway and Japan have long been exceptions to this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/07/norway-boosts-whaling-quota-international-opposition">international consensus</a>.</p>
<p>I study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yFzb2EUAAAAJ&hl=en%20%22%22">marine ecology and conservation</a> and spent the 2018-19 academic year on a Fulbright fellowship in Iceland. It is encouraging to see countries come to realize that whales are worth more alive than dead – for their spiritual value, their role in tourism, and the ecological services that they provide. As more Icelanders adopt this view, it will be good news for ocean conservation.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mx4M-AsNpOQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">As recently as 2018, Iceland was hunting whales in defiance of international criticism.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ecological value of large marine mammals</h2>
<p>For years, ecological studies of whales focused on how much fish they ate or krill they consumed, which represented costs to fisheries. Starting around 10 years ago, my colleagues and I took a fresh look at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/130220">whales’ ecological role in the ocean</a>.</p>
<p>Whales often dive deep to feed, coming to the surface to breathe, rest, digest – and poop. Their nutrient-rich fecal plumes provide nitrogen, iron and phosphorous to algae at the surface, which increases productivity in areas where whales feed. More whales mean more plankton and more fish.</p>
<p>Whales also play a role in the carbon cycle. They are the largest creatures on Earth, and when they die their carcasses often sink to the deep sea. These events, known as whale falls, provide habitat for at least a hundred species that depend on the bones and nutrients. They also transfer carbon to the deep ocean, where it remains sequestered for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012444">hundreds of years</a>.</p>
<p>Whales are economically valuable, but watching them brings in more money than killing them. “Humpbacks are one of the most commercially important marine species in Iceland,” a whale-watching guide told me one morning off the coast of Akureyri. Whale-watching income <a href="http://www.joeroman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Malinauskaite-2020-Willingness-to-pay-for-expansion-of.pdf">far outweighs the income from hunting</a> fin and minke whales. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fFtcK1cK1ro?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Octopus, fish and other underwater scavengers feeding on the carcass of a dead whale in California’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The end of Icelandic whaling?</h2>
<p>For years after the international moratorium on whaling was adopted in 1986, only Norway allowed commercial whaling. Japan continued hunting in the Antarctic under the guise of “scientific whaling,” which many whale biologists considered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2003)053%5B0210:WAS%5D2.0.CO;2">unnecessary and egregious</a>.</p>
<p>Iceland also allowed a research hunt in the 1980s, with much of the meat sold to Japan, but stopped whaling under international pressure in the 1990s. It resumed commercial hunting in 2002, with strong domestic support. Iceland was ruled by Norway and then Denmark until 1944. As a result, Icelanders often chafe under external pressure. Many saw foreign protests against whaling as a threat to their national identity, and local media coverage was distinctly pro-whaling.</p>
<p>This view started to shift around 2014, when European governments refused to allow the transport of whale meat harvested by Icelandic whalers through their ports, en route to <a href="https://phys.org/news/2014-05-japan-imports-tonnes-whale-meat.html">commercial buyers in Japan</a>. Many European countries <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_14_529">opposed Icelandic whaling</a> and were unwilling to facilitate this trade. Whalers no longer looked so invincible, and Icelandic media started covering both sides of the debate.</p>
<p>In May 2019, Hvalur – the whaling business owned by Kristján Loftsson, Iceland’s most vocal and controversial whaler – announced that it wouldn’t hunt fin whales, which are <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/2478/50349982">internationally classified as vulnerable</a>, this year, citing a need for ship repairs and declining demand in Japan. In June, Gunnar Bergmann Jónsson, owner of a smaller outfit, announced that he <a href="https://www.icelandreview.com/news/no-whaling-this-summer/">wouldn’t go whaling</a> either. These decisions meant that the hunt was off.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whalers haul a dead whale onto their boat off the west coast of Iceland in 2003.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-PL-XSE-ISL-ISLAND-WALFANG/c2431191d1e0da11af9f0014c2589dfb/39/0">AP Photo Adam Butler</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During my year in Iceland, I met for coffee every couple of weeks with Sigursteinn Másson, program leader for the local whale-watching association <a href="https://icewhale.is/">IceWhale</a> and representative of the <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/">International Fund for Animal Welfare</a>. At times he seemed animated about the prospect that no whaling permits would be allotted. At others, he looked gloomy because whalers and their allies in the Icelandic government had co-opted the conversation. </p>
<p>“I worked on gay rights in Iceland, which was opposed by the church, and mental health for ten years,” he told me. “They were peanuts compared to the whaling issue.”</p>
<p>At first, both companies insisted that they would start whaling again in 2020. But Jónsson’s outfit no longer plans to hunt minkes, and Másson doubts that whaling will continue. “Nobody is encouraging them anymore – or interested,” he told me last summer.</p>
<p>Now trade is getting even tougher. In 2018 Japan announced that it would leave the International Whaling Commission, stop its controversial Antarctic whaling program and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/business/japan-commercial-whaling.html">focus on hunting whales in its coastal waters</a>, reducing the demand for Icelandic whale meat.</p>
<p>Tourist behavior in Iceland is also changing. For years, tourists would go out whale watching, then order grilled minke in restaurants. After the International Fund for Animal Welfare started targeting whale watchers in 2011 with its “<a href="https://ifaw.is/">Meet Us Don’t Eat Us</a>” campaign, the number of tourists who ate whale meat <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/people-and-ideas/opinions/we-asked-whale-expert-sigursteinn-masson-about-the-iceland-whaling-industry-heres-what-he-revealed">declined from 40% to 11%</a>. </p>
<h2>A generational shift</h2>
<p>For many Icelanders, whale meat is an occasional delicacy. Over dinner a few months ago, I met an Icelandic woman who told me she thought whale was delicious, and she didn’t see why whaling was such a big deal. How many times had she eaten whale? Once a month, once a year? “I’ve had it twice in my life.”</p>
<p>About a third of Icelanders now <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/eu/news/no-fin-whaling-in-iceland-in-2019">oppose whaling</a>. They tend to be younger urban residents. A third are neutral, and a third support whaling. Many in this last group may feel stronger about critiques of whaling than about hvalakjöt, or whale meat. Demand for hvalakjöt in grocery stores and restaurants has started to dry up.</p>
<p>Although few observers would have predicted it, whaling may end in Iceland not through denial of a permit but from lack of interest. How long until the world’s remaining commercial whalers in Japan and Norway, who face similar shifts in taste and demographics, follow a similar course?</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Roman received funding from the Fulbright-National Science Foundation Arctic Research Scholar program.</span></em></p>Icelandic whalers have killed more than 1,700 whales since a global ban was adopted in 1986 – up to 2019, when no hunts took place. Is Iceland quietly getting out of the business?Joe Roman, Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of VermontLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1235202019-09-18T20:37:17Z2019-09-18T20:37:17Z‘This situation brings me to despair’: two reef scientists share their climate grief<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292905/original/file-20190918-148993-1mn3i4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A researcher completing bleaching surveys in the southern Great Barrier Reef after a major bleaching event.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Few feel the pain of the <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/reef-monitoring/gbr-condition-summary-2018-2019">Great Barrier Reef’s decline</a> more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week’s UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.</em></p>
<h2>Jon Brodie</h2>
<p><strong>Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University</strong></p>
<p>As I write this, much of inland eastern Australia is enduring what is likely to be the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTwzlL5LPZw&feature=youtu.be">worst drought ever recorded</a>. Bushfires are devastating parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland, tearing through rainforest that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/10/i-never-thought-id-see-the-australian-rainforest-burning-what-will-it-take-for-us-to-wake-up-to-the-climate-crisis">should not be dry enough to burn</a>. Major towns will probably soon run out of water. The condition of the vital Murray-Darling river system is dire.</p>
<p>Some federal government MPs have responded by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/10/david-littleproud-australian-minister-disaster-climate-change-man-made">questioning whether these events</a> are linked to anthropogenic, or man-made, climate change. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/09/craig-kelly-mocks-climate-change-exaggeration-in-presentation-to-liberal-party-members">Others deny the science outright</a>. Now we have a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/senate-inquiry-into-great-barrier-reef-seen-as-bid-to-discredit-queensland-laws">politically motivated Senate inquiry</a> into water quality on the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>This situation brings me to despair. For the past 45 years I have researched and managed coral reef water quality in Australia and overseas. Now 72, I see that much of my work, and that of my colleagues, has not led to a bright future for coral reefs. <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-CCboxes_FINAL.pdf">In decades to come they will probably still contain some corals</a>, but ecologically speaking they will not be growing, or even functioning. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.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">Coral bleaching at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">XL CATLIN SEAVIEW SURVEY</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Official assessments appear to confirm the reef’s inexorable demise. A five-yearly <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-work/outlook-report-2019">outlook report</a> from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority this month declared the outlook was “very poor” - a decline from “poor” in 2014. A joint <a href="https://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/tracking-progress/reef-report-card">federal-Queensland government report</a> released on the same day found “minimal progress” in addressing water quality - the second most serious threat to the reef. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gloves-are-off-predatory-climate-deniers-are-a-threat-to-our-children-123594">The gloves are off: 'predatory' climate deniers are a threat to our children</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">warned in October</a> last year that a global temperature rise of 2°C above pre-industrial levels will decimate coral growth. It said we must stay below 1.5°C of warming for coral reefs to have a reasonable chance for a future.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?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">Flood plume extending 60km offshore after an extreme monsoon weather event, February 2019. Such events can seriously damage water quality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Curnock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>About <a href="https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf">1.2°C of this warming has already occurred</a>; on current policies, the world is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un/global-temperatures-on-track-for-3-5-degree-rise-by-2100-u-n-idUSKCN1NY186">on track for a 3°C temperature rise</a>.</p>
<p>I feel guilty when discussing this situation with young scientists. I worry that my legacy is such that they will spend their professional lives studying and documenting the terminal decline of coral reefs.</p>
<p>I feel the same sense of guilt towards my 19-year-old grandson, who is in his first year of university studying mathematics. The outlook is grim, not just for coral reefs but for society in general.</p>
<p>My life’s work, spent mostly outside, has taken a toll on my health. I’ve had several skin cancers excised over the past 25 years and in recent years have undergone major skin cancer surgery. I have recovered well and still come to James Cook University every day. But the combination of ill-health, coupled with political inaction over the dire state of the environment, only compounds a feeling that I can’t really make a difference anymore. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-the-nations-leading-and-failing-on-climate-action-123581">The good, the bad and the ugly: the nations leading and failing on climate action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But on a more positive note, the Great Barrier Reef is more than just coral. It includes a wonderful array of seagrass, dugongs, turtles, fish, dolphins, birds, and whales - and this is not a complete list. </p>
<p>Many of these species are also in decline. But good water quality management will, for example, help encourage the growth of seagrass on which dugongs and green turtles rely for food. The overall picture may be grim, but there are small spots of hope.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.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 researcher surveys the aftermath of coral bleaching at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">XL CATLIN SEAVIEW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Alana Grech</h2>
<p><strong>Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University</strong></p>
<p>I spent last weekend on Magnetic Island, just a short ferry ride from my Townsville home. With great joy I sat with our infant under a beach tent and watched my older son happily snorkel among the corals and fish.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/920-climate-change-and-intergenerational-justice.html">intergenerational inequalities posed by climate change</a> have become all the more real since I became a mum. The reef my son swam over is <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/climate-change/declining-coral-growth.html">fundamentally different</a> from reefs that existed when my parents were children, and they are continuing to change. </p>
<p>As the wet season approaches, my anxiety, and that of my colleagues, increases at the prospect of another extreme marine heatwave. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0351-2">Two consecutive summers of coral bleaching</a> in 2016 and 2017 severely damaged two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef. Some researchers who bore witness to these events experienced “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02656-8#ref-CR1">ecological grief</a>”: a profound sense of loss at the environmental harm that global warming brings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Damage to the Great Barrier Reef threatens the region’s economy, including the fishing and tourism industries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In much the same way, a large proportion of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00666-z">north Queensland residents and tourists</a> experience significant grief associated with coral bleaching and mortality. Biodiversity loss also <a href="http://elibrary.gbrmpa.gov.au/jspui/handle/11017/3474">affects Traditional Owners</a>, impacting their connection to Sea Country.</p>
<p>Extreme weather events associated with climate change jeopardise the tourism and fishing industries, and coastal infrastructure that underpin the region’s economy. Insurance premiums are <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Northern%20Australia%20Insurance%20Inquiry%20-%20First%20interim%20report%202018.PDF">already higher in northern Australia</a> than in the rest of the country, and some places may one day become <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/government-must-pull-its-weight-on-climate-risk-20190809-p52fi4">uninsurable</a>. </p>
<p>However, my children were born in a wealthy country that is likely to withstand and recover from climate impacts that affect their basic needs. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-forced-these-fijian-communities-to-move-and-with-80-more-at-risk-heres-what-they-learned-116178">privilege is not shared</a> by the majority of reef-dependent coastal communities in the world’s tropics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6rtr_w-LaE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warns: “Our region remains on the front line of humanity’s greatest challenges”</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I come from a family of healthcare professionals, but felt a career in environmental science offered the potential to make a broader impact. The state of the planet and human health and well-being are <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30040-3/fulltext">inextricably linked</a>. </p>
<p>I continue to be motivated by my research on the Great Barrier Reef. But I am deeply concerned about <a href="https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/separation-of-science-and-the-state/">rising mistrust in the scientific process</a>, despite unequivocal evidence of the reef’s decline and the impacts of climate change. It is particularly distressing when members of the federal government undermine the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/senate-inquiry-into-great-barrier-reef-seen-as-bid-to-discredit-queensland-laws">science that informs their own policies</a> - including <a href="http://nationals.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FedSec_FC19_Motions.pdf">North Queensland politicians</a> advocating for a national watchdog to verify scientific papers. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.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">Clownfish in the Great Barrier Reef. Sediment is damaging fish gills and causing disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/James Cook University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If our political leaders want to support community adaptation and resilience to climate change, they should build, rather than erode, public trust in the evidence that underpins reef management and policy. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>This piece is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Brodie receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program (Australian Government), the Great Barrier Reef Foundation via CSIRO (Australian Government) and the Fitzroy Basin Association (an regional NRM organisation).
Jon Brodie is also a partner in the environmental consulting partnership C2O. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alana Grech 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>Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of a UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversityAlana Grech, Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1201572019-07-10T04:49:46Z2019-07-10T04:49:46ZWe organised a conference for 570 people without using plastic. Here’s how it went<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283432/original/file-20190710-44453-1k1dc75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Delegates at this week's marine science conference in Fremantle take a plastic-free coffee break.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alicia Sutton/AMSA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What did we use before single-use plastics became ingrained in our everyday lives? Before the 1980s, plastic bags were a rarity in our supermarkets. In 2019, excessive plastic use feels not just normal, but necessary to sustain our hectic lifestyles. From takeaway containers and supermarket packaging to cheap, low-quality goods, plastic permeates our daily lives.</p>
<p>However, with every passing year the scale tips further against the immediate convenience of single-use plastics, and towards the extreme inconvenience of piles of waste. The true cost to society and the environment of a “disposal economy” is becoming <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-million-tonnes-of-plastic-are-going-into-the-ocean-each-year-37521">increasingly stark</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-discovery-of-another-plastic-trashed-island-finally-spark-meaningful-change-117260">Will the discovery of another plastic-trashed island finally spark meaningful change?</a>
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<hr>
<p>Finding solutions to eliminate plastic waste in everyday life presents challenges, particularly during large events such as professional conferences. At some time during our careers as academics, scientists, researchers, or industry professionals, we may be part of a conference organising committee. Back in the 1990s, conferences proudly tallied how many coffee cups they used – how times have changed.</p>
<p>As organisers of this week’s <a href="http://amsa19.amsa.asn.au">national conference of the Australian Marine Sciences Association</a>, we took on the challenge to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk – by holding a plastic-free conference for 570 marine science professionals, academics, and students. But how do you cater for so many people while limiting waste and using no plastic at all?</p>
<h2>Turning the tide – be part of the solution</h2>
<p>We started this journey 12 months ago, once we knew the challenge we were facing: a marine conference, themed around the <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-science-challenges-for-a-growing-blue-economy-22845">blue economy</a>, during July, in the Western Australian port city of Fremantle – the birthplace of the <a href="http://www.plasticfreejuly.org">Plastic Free July</a> movement. </p>
<p>From day 1, we were clear we wanted to eliminate plastic and reduce overall waste – everything from day-to-day rubbish to plastic take-home novelties that feature at so many conferences but inevitably make their way into landfill.</p>
<p>Recycling is only a small part of the solution. We need to “refuse, reduce, and recycle” to really tackle plastic.</p>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>We began by selecting a <a href="http://encanta.com.au/">like-minded event organiser</a> to work with us. Then we looked for non-plastic alternatives for obvious conference items. Here’s what we came up with:</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283424/original/file-20190710-44479-nkzyeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No plastic here at AMSA 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Rossen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p>stiff cardboard name badges with no plastic pockets</p></li>
<li><p>bamboo lanyards with metal clips</p></li>
<li><p>100% natural conference tote bags</p></li>
<li><p>no printed envelopes for registration packs, and no printed conference abstracts</p></li>
<li><p>all necessary printing was done on sustainably sourced paper, by a company using a <a href="http://www.thebigpicturefactory.com.au/">solar-powered printer</a></p></li>
<li><p>delegates were asked to bring their own reusable water bottles and coffee cups, or pre-register to buy a reusable coffee cup at the conference</p></li>
<li><p>coffee carts with <a href="http://go2cup.com.au/">returnable cups</a> that can be washed and reused</p></li>
<li><p>water jugs with glassware (or to refill personal water bottles) at the back of each presentation room</p></li>
<li><p>no packaged mints or lollies</p></li>
<li><p>sustainably sourced pencils instead of pens (with sharpening stations provided!)</p></li>
<li><p>plates, silverware and glassware for all meal breaks</p></li>
<li><p>vegetarian catering for tea breaks</p></li>
<li><p>all exhibitors, workshop organisers and additional functions (such as the student night and public lecture) were committed to reducing plastic waste for free giveaway products and catering.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Most importantly, we delivered these changes without increasing the budget or impacting the bottom line.</p>
<h2>What we learned</h2>
<p><strong>Plan early</strong>. Going against the grain can take a bit of work, but there are usually plastic-free options available. Take the extra time and file the solution away for your next event.</p>
<p><strong>Work with everyone</strong>. Create a shared goal with your whole team: event organisers, venue, exhibitors, caterers – more ideas make for better solutions. This creates a ripple effect, not only for the event, but in developing more sustainable practice for other events.</p>
<p><strong>Do a site visit</strong>. Identify potential problems and devise solutions ahead of time. Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder and executive director of <a href="https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/">Plastic Free July</a>, visited our conference venue and provided valuable insights.</p>
<p><strong>Don’t assume</strong>. At another marine conference we attended, plastic water bottles were replaced by jugs of water (great!) and polystyrene cups (not so great!). Not all suppliers are knowledgeable about sustainable materials, so make the effort to talk through what plastic-free and zero-waste really mean.</p>
<h2>Removing ‘hidden’ plastics</h2>
<p>No matter how much planning you do, there will always be “hidden plastics” in the supply chain. It is impossible to control every aspect of operation of the conference venue, their suppliers (food, linen services, waste removal), and the other hotels used by delegates (who may provide guests with water bottles, drinks, and personal hygiene products in rooms).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-seeing-the-planet-break-down-is-depressing-heres-how-to-turn-your-pain-into-action-114407">Climate change: seeing the planet break down is depressing – here's how to turn your pain into action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Early buy-in by all service providers can help reduce this, but remember the goal is to change people’s attitudes towards waste, not to reinvent the entire events industry in one conference.</p>
<p>But if we can do it for 570 people, then everyone can start making <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-seeing-the-planet-break-down-is-depressing-heres-how-to-turn-your-pain-into-action-114407">similar changes</a> at their own home and workplace too.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://www.amsa.asn.au">AMSA</a> will host its <a href="http://amsa19.amsa.asn.au/amsa-public-lecture/">annual public lecture</a>, sponsored by the <a href="http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au">UWA Oceans Institute</a>, in Fremantle on Wednesday July 10 at 6.30pm. It addresses the issue of plastic pollution and what can be done about it, both globally and locally.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Sinclair receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a member of the WA branch of the Australian Marine Science Association board.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Birkmanis is the Secretary and Student Representative of the Australian Marine Sciences Association of Western Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Pemberton is the vice-chair of the Australian Marine Science Association of Western Australia.</span></em></p>This year’s national conference of the Australian Marine Science Association is a plastic-free zone, as marine scientists aim to reduce the environmental burden of throwaway plastic.Elizabeth Sinclair, Senior Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences and The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western AustraliaDr Charlotte Birkmanis, PhD Candidate, The UWA Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western AustraliaRobert Pemberton, Business Support Manager, UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1195472019-07-09T20:11:46Z2019-07-09T20:11:46ZStudy identifies nine research priorities to better understand NZ’s vast marine area<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281875/original/file-20190629-94684-eaxspe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=145%2C105%2C8677%2C3571&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand’s coastline spans a distance greater than from the south pole to the north pole.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The islands of New Zealand are only the visible part of a much <a href="https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases/hidden-continent">larger submerged continent</a>, known as <a href="https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/News-and-Events/What-s-new/The-origin-and-meaning-of-the-name-Te-Riu-a-Maui-Zealandia">Te Riu a Māui or Zealandia</a>. Most of New Zealand’s sovereign territory, around 96%, is under water – and this means that the health of the ocean is of paramount importance. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281871/original/file-20190629-94728-pcifll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most of the Zealandia continent is under water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>New Zealand’s marine and coastal environments have significant ecological, economic, cultural and social value, but they face many threats. Disjointed legislation and considerable knowledge gaps limit our ability to effectively manage marine resources. </p>
<p>With the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/ocean-decade">UN decade of ocean science</a> starting in 2021, it is essential that we meet the challenges ahead. To do so, we have asked the New Zealand marine science community to collectively identify the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18309059">areas of research we should focus on</a>. </p>
<p>Ten important science questions were identified within nine research areas. The full list of 90 questions can be found in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18309059">paper</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333295893_Policy_Brief_-_Key_research_priorities_for_the_future_of_marine_science_in_New_Zealand">policy brief</a>, but these are the nine priority areas: </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<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>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281872/original/file-20190629-94692-10pvoyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=300&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"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1. Food from the ocean</strong></p>
<p>Fisheries and aquaculture are vital sources of food, income and livelihoods, and it is crucial that we ensure these industries are sustainable. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18309059">study</a> has identified the need for new methods to minimise bycatch, mitigate environmental impacts and better understand the influence of commercial interests in fishers’ ability to adequately conserve and manage marine environments.</p>
<p><strong>2. Biosecurity</strong></p>
<p>The number of marine pests has increased <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/marine-environmental-reporting/our-marine-environment-2016-our-coastal-waters-harbour-0">by 10% since 2009</a>, and questions remain around how we can best protect our natural and cultural marine heritage. Future directions include the development of new techniques to improve the early detection of invasive species, and new tools to identify where they came from, and when they arrived in New Zealand waters.</p>
<p><strong>3. Climate change</strong></p>
<p>Climate change already has <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change/why-climate-change-matters/evidence-climate-change">wide ranging impacts</a> on our coasts and oceans. We need research to better understand how climate change will affect different marine species, how food webs might respond to future change, and how ocean currents around New Zealand might be affected. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281876/original/file-20190629-94692-1wplbts.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate change already affects marine species and food webs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4. Marine reserves and protected areas</strong></p>
<p>Marine protected areas are widely recognised as important <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128050521000279">tools for marine conservation and fisheries management</a>. But <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/111766497/conservationists-win-battle-over-governments-fishing-whoppers?fbclid=IwAR3PR17YSOwMhz1n-db-kPty3Cs7wmxYJEkkv_n8x3x9U0rhrg8RA38Gju0">less than 1%</a> of New Zealand’s waters is protected to date. Future directions include research to identify where and how we should be implementing more protected areas, whether different models (including protection of customary fisheries and temporary fishing closures) could be as effective, and how we might integrate New Zealand’s marine protection into a wider Pacific network.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/squid-team-finds-high-species-diversity-off-kermadec-islands-part-of-stalled-marine-reserve-proposal-110893">Squid team finds high species diversity off Kermadec Islands, part of stalled marine reserve proposal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>5. Ecosystems and biodiversity</strong></p>
<p>While we know about 15,000 marine species, there may be as many as 65,000 in New Zealand. On average, <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/habitats/marine/new-zealands-marine-environment/">seven new species are identified</a> every two weeks, and there is much we do not know about our oceans. We need research to understand how we can best identify the current baseline of biodiversity across New Zealand’s different marine habitats, predict marine tipping points and restore degraded ocean floor habitats. </p>
<p><strong>6. Policy and decision making</strong></p>
<p>New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.victoria.ac.nz/law/research/publications/vuwlr/prev-issues/vol-34-3/foster.pdf">policy landscape is complicated</a>, at times contradictory, and we need an approach to marine management that better connects science, decision making and action. We also need to understand how to navigate power in decision making across diverse interests to advance an integrated ocean policy.</p>
<p><strong>7. Marine guardianship</strong></p>
<p>Marine guardianship, or <a href="http://www.environmentguide.org.nz/issues/marine/kaitiakitanga/what-is-kaitiakitanga/">kaitiakitanga</a>, means individual and collective stewardship to protect the environment, while safeguarding marine resources for future generations. Our research found that citizen science can help maximise observations of change and connect New Zealanders with their marine heritage. It can also improve our understanding of how we can achieve a partnership between Western and indigenous science, mātauranga Māori.</p>
<p><strong>8. Coastal and ocean processes</strong></p>
<p>New Zealand’s coasts span a distance greater than from the south pole to the north pole. Erosion and deposition of land-based sediments into our seas <a href="http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/technicalpublications/TP264_Sed_eff_macrofauna.pdf">has many impacts</a> and affects ocean productivity, habitat structure, nutrient cycling and the composition of the seabed. </p>
<p>Future research should focus on how increased sedimentation affects the behaviour and survival of species at offshore sites and on better methods to measure physical, chemical and biological processes with higher accuracy to understand how long-term changes in the ocean might influence New Zealand’s marine ecosystems.</p>
<p><strong>9. Other anthropogenic factors</strong></p>
<p>Our study identified a range of other human threats that need more focused investigation, including agriculture, forestry mining and urban development.
We need more research into the relative effects of different land-use types on coastal water quality to establishing the combined effects of multiple contaminants (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, etc) on marine organisms and ecosystems. Pollution with microplastics and other marine debris is another major issue.</p>
<p>We hope this horizon scan will drive the development of new research areas, complement ongoing science initiatives, encourage collaboration and guide interdisciplinary teams. The questions the New Zealand marine science community identified as most important will help us fill existing knowledge gaps and make greater contributions to marine science, conservation, sustainable use, policy and management.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119547/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand has one of the world’s largest ocean territories, but the marine environment is at risk from climate change, pollution and fishing.Rebecca Jarvis, Research Fellow, Auckland University of TechnologyTim Young, Marine Scientist, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1110722019-03-03T19:05:34Z2019-03-03T19:05:34ZCurious Kids: how do shells get made?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260870/original/file-20190225-26177-1nlk7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A few days after baby molluscs come out from tiny eggs, they start building their shell layer after layer. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emily Nunnell/The Conversation NY-BD-CC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au You might also like the podcast <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/kidslisten/imagine-this/">Imagine This</a>, a co-production between ABC KIDS listen and The Conversation, based on Curious Kids.</em> </p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>How do shells get made? – Ida, age 6.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Thank you, Ida, for this excellent question. It is good that you are noticing the world around you and asking questions about how it came to be that way. </p>
<p>Common types of shells include seashells, land snail shells, turtle shells or even crab shells. All those animals make their shells in different ways, but my research is all about the sea so today we will focus on seashells. </p>
<p>All those seashells you find on the beach were actually once home to small, soft-bodied creatures called molluscs. Clams, pipis, scallops, mussels and oysters are all different types of molluscs. </p>
<p>Not all molluscs have shells. For example, an octopus is also a mollusc and it doesn’t have a shell. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260875/original/file-20190225-26168-5maylq.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some molluscs have shells, and others do not.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the molluscs who do have shells have to build their own shell from scratch. And they keep building it their whole life.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-dont-dogs-live-as-long-as-humans-93374">Curious Kids: Why don't dogs live as long as humans?</a>
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<h2>How to build a shell</h2>
<p>A few days after baby molluscs come out from tiny eggs, they start building their shell, layer after layer. </p>
<p>They use salt and chemicals from the sea (such as calcium and carbonate). They also use other ingredients from their own bodies (such as special chemicals called proteins that help them build the shell). </p>
<p>The part of the mollusc’s body that is in charge of building the shell is called the “mantle”. The mantle builds a kind of frame first, using proteins to make it very strong. It then fills it in with calcium and carbonate. These are some of the same chemicals your body uses to make your bones.</p>
<p>To make space for their growing body, molluscs have to gradually enlarge and extend their shells by adding new layers of those building blocks – calcium, carbonate and proteins.</p>
<p>The newest part of the sea snail’s shell, for example, is around the opening where the animal pokes out. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260876/original/file-20190225-26165-hp06ee.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 newest part of the shell is at the edge where the snail’s body pokes out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seashells are important for the planet</h2>
<p>If damaged, the mollusc’s body can produce more proteins, calcium and carbonate to repair the broken part of the shell.</p>
<p>When a mollusc dies, the soft body disappears but its shell remains and eventually washes up on the shore. This is how seashells end up on the beach.</p>
<p>As you know, there are many types of seashells out there and lots of different shapes, sizes and colours of shell.</p>
<p>Over time, molluscs have grown to have the type of shell that helps it best survive in its environment. For example, some shells help protect the mollusc against animals that want to eat it, while others are designed to make it easier for the mollusc to dig down fast to get away. The colour of the shell depends mainly on what the mollusc has eaten. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260877/original/file-20190225-26184-o9lwii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is a good idea to take pictures of shells and then leave them on the beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Before you collect seashells from the beach, think about how important they are to the planet. </p>
<p>Seashells may not be home to molluscs anymore, but they can still be used as homes by hermit crabs or young fish. Birds also use shells to build their nests. So you can see, some animals need the shells more than we do.</p>
<p>A good choice is to take pictures of them instead of taking them home!</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-are-some-shells-smooth-and-some-shells-corrugated-77019">Curious Kids: why are some shells smooth and some shells corrugated?</a>
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<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168011/original/file-20170505-21620-huq4lj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&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"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p><em>Please tell us your name, age and which city you live in. We won’t be able to answer every question but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aurelie Moya receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Molluscs that have shells - like pipis, clams and oysters - have to build their own shell from scratch. And they keep building it their whole life, using chemicals from the sea and their own bodies.Aurelie Moya, Research Fellow at the ARC of Excellence for Coral Reefs Studies, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1043292018-12-20T18:50:44Z2018-12-20T18:50:44ZThere aren’t plenty of fish in the sea, so let’s eat all that we catch<p>‘Tis the season for seafood. While those in colder parts of the world tuck into turkey and hot dinners, in the southern hemisphere we get festive with prawn cocktails at Christmas and smoked salmon for New Year’s. Maybe crayfish and crab. Perhaps oysters and octopus. Or barramundi and more prawns on the barbie.</p>
<p>Yes, most of us love to eat fish. Some fish, anyway – and just some parts of those fish. When, for example, did you last eat a piece of fish that wasn’t a fillet? </p>
<p>That’s a problem when you consider how wild fish get caught. When fishing trawlers cast nets or reel out long lines, they don’t just catch the fish they know we want to eat. The industry calls the unwanted fish caught “bycatch”. These fish are generally discarded by being thrown back into the sea, alive or dead. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.09.007">Our research</a> shows that huge economic and environmental benefits could come from fully using fish now discarded. If all of the edible fish caught was kept and sold, both the sustainability and profitability of fishing would significantly improve.</p>
<h2>Here’s the bycatch</h2>
<p>Discarded fish accounts for <a href="https://www.seafish.org/media/742182/seafishguidetodiscards_201211.pdf">8% of the total global catch</a> by volume.
In Australia our reluctance to eat many types of fish makes the bycatch problem even worse. </p>
<p>As part of a CSIRO research team, we spent 12 months examining causes (and possible solutions) to the bycatch problem. This involved an economic analysis of fish caught and discarded by fishing trawlers operating in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&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 Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Fisheries Management Authority</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This region of the Southern Ocean is <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/fisheries/fishery-status/great-australian-bight-trawl-sector#113-economic-status">fished mostly</a> for deepwater flathead and bight redfish. There are, in fact, 120 different species that can be caught, but only 60 of these are eaten. The means up to 56% of any catch is discarded.</p>
<p>We calculated the cost and potential of the bycatch that fishing trawlers were already catching using the information about fish both caught and discarded that commercial fishing vessels are required to record in log books.</p>
<p>By our calculation, had the discarded fish been able to be sold, total annual fishing returns would have been increased by 18%, from A$1.97 million to A$2.32 million per vessel. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ocean-fish-are-under-threat-if-we-dont-curb-carbon-dioxide-emissions-107312">Ocean fish are under threat if we don't curb carbon dioxide emissions</a>
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<p>By always eating the same fish in the same ways, consumers are wasting other fish species. In the short term this means rising prices as the cost of finding and catching fish increases; in the longer term it means those fish will become luxury items and large swathes of the fishing industry will become unsustainable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.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">A typical trawler catch. The big fish are hapuka, the red fish are bight redfish; these will be kept. The yellow fish, ocean jacket, will be discarded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Koopman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The obvious solution is to rethink how we use the fish we already catch. Cultural preferences and consumer demand are not external and fixed issues. We can make conscious choices.</p>
<h2>Consumer problem</h2>
<p>Why do we eat such a limited range of seafood? It is a combination of palate – what we are used to – and awareness. Culture plays a part, as does fashion. What our ancestors once commonly ate might strike us as unpalatable or as exotic as a foreign cuisine.</p>
<p>In Australia, most people tend to dislike “fishy” flavours like sardines and cook fish in a way – flinging it on the bbq – that may not work for more delicate, unusual species like clams. We prefer boneless fish that flakes but isn’t too soft or too oily (for example we love flathead, not eel). We have also gotten used to consuming the same foods at any time of year, with little thought to seasonality. </p>
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<p><iframe id="FTaF5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FTaF5/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
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<p>That means molluscs may be too irregular, leatherjacket might have too many bones, and dogfish might just have the wrong name. </p>
<p>But these consumption preferences are not immutable. They can change.
As one fisher we spoke to said, there was much to be hopeful about reducing the level of discards, due not only to the potential of Asian markets but the increasing consumer interest in sustainable consumption. </p>
<h2>Changing how we think about eating fish</h2>
<p>Inspiration could come from the “nose to tail” movements that promote using all of the animal. The movement to use local produce could also help. There are restaurants in Scandinavia that specialise in cooking little-known previously discarded local species, cooking “whatever comes in that afternoon” off local fishing boats. </p>
<p>Programs to market lesser-known fish, provide recipes and identification charts are also becoming common overseas. Celebrity chefs or cooking programs could help make eating currently rejected fish fashionable. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea-not-necessarily-as-history-shows-84440">Plenty of fish in the sea? Not necessarily, as history shows</a>
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<p>Increased demand for a wider range of locally caught species would also reduce imported fish (Australia imports more seafood than it exports). This would help take the pressure off overseas fisheries that may be less sustainably managed than our own (which are subject to strict environmental regulations).</p>
<p>So next time you buy or eat fish, explore your options. Talk to your local fish supplier and restaurateur and try something new. Don’t throw another shrimp on the barbie; make it ocean jacket or whatever has just come in fresh instead.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This research was funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (project 2015/204) on behalf of the Australian government. Alistair Hobday, Matt Koopman, Ian Knuckey and Shijie Zhou contributed to the project</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aysha Fleming was part of the project team lead by Alistair Hobday that received funding for this research from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (project 2015/204) on behalf of the Australian government. Ingrid van Putten lead the economic analysis on which this article is based.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:ingrid.vanputten@csiro.au">ingrid.vanputten@csiro.au</a> receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on behalf of the Australian government. </span></em></p>Australian fishing boats throw away up to half the fish they catch. To make the seafood industry sustainable, we need to eat all the fish that get caught.Aysha Fleming, Research Scientist, Adaptive Urban and Social Systems Program, Land and Water, CSIROIngrid van Putten, Research scientist, Oceans & Atmosphere, Adjunct Senior Scientist, Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1003092018-09-26T10:23:55Z2018-09-26T10:23:55ZScientists have been drilling into the ocean floor for 50 years – here’s what they’ve found so far<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237230/original/file-20180919-158213-qb2xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The scientific drilling ship JOIDES Resolution arrives in Honolulu after successful sea trials and testing of scientific and drilling equipment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://rosetta.iodp.tamu.edu/earlylogin.jspx#1537394289999_20">IODP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s stunning but true that <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-how-little-do-we-know-about-the-ocean-floor-32751">we know more about the surface of the moon than about the Earth’s ocean floor</a>. Much of what we do know has come from scientific ocean drilling – the systematic collection of core samples from the deep seabed. This revolutionary process began 50 years ago, when the drilling vessel Glomar Challenger sailed into the Gulf of Mexico on August 11, 1968 on the first expedition of the federally funded <a href="http://www.iodp.tamu.edu/publicinfo/glomar_challenger.html">Deep Sea Drilling Project</a>. </p>
<p>I went on my first scientific ocean drilling expedition in 1980, and since then have participated in six more expeditions to locations including the far North Atlantic and Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. In my lab, my students and I work with core samples from these expeditions. Each of these cores, which are cylinders 31 feet long and 3 inches wide, is like a book whose information is waiting to be translated into words. Holding a newly opened core, filled with rocks and sediment from the Earth’s ocean floor, is like opening a rare treasure chest that records the passage of time in Earth’s history. </p>
<p>Over a half-century, scientific ocean drilling has proved the theory of plate tectonics, created the field of paleoceanography and redefined how we view life on Earth by revealing an enormous variety and volume of life in the deep marine biosphere. And much more remains to be learned.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0nydKlpZdIU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists have expanded human knowledge by drilling core samples from the world’s ocean basins, but their work is far from done.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Technological innovations</h2>
<p>Two key innovations made it possible for research ships to take core samples from precise locations in the deep oceans. The first, known as dynamic positioning, enables a 471-foot ship to stay fixed in place while drilling and recovering cores, one on top of the next, often in over 12,000 feet of water. </p>
<p>Anchoring isn’t feasible at these depths. Instead, technicians drop a torpedo-shaped instrument called a transponder over the side. A device called a transducer, mounted on the ship’s hull, sends an acoustic signal to the transponder, which replies. Computers on board calculate the distance and angle of this communication. Thrusters on the ship’s hull maneuver the vessel to stay in exactly the same location, countering the forces of currents, wind and waves. </p>
<p>Another challenge arises when drill bits have to be replaced mid-operation. The ocean’s crust is composed of igneous rock that wears bits down long before the desired depth is reached. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237603/original/file-20180923-129862-18bxmcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&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 re-entry cone is welded together around the drill pipe, then lowered down the pipe to guide reinsertion before changing drill bits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IODP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When this happens, the drill crew brings the entire drill pipe to the surface, mounts a new drill bit and returns to the same hole. This requires guiding the pipe into a funnel shaped re-entry cone, less than 15 feet wide, placed in the bottom of the ocean at the mouth of the drilling hole. The process, which was <a href="http://deepseadrilling.org/15/volume/dsdp15_02.pdf">first accomplished in 1970</a>, is like lowering a long strand of spaghetti into a quarter-inch-wide funnel at the deep end of an Olympic swimming pool. </p>
<h2>Confirming plate tectonics</h2>
<p>When scientific ocean drilling began in 1968, the theory of <a href="https://theconversation.com/plate-tectonics-new-findings-fill-out-the-50-year-old-theory-that-explains-earths-landmasses-55424">plate tectonics</a> was a subject of active debate. One key idea was that new ocean crust was created at ridges in the seafloor, where oceanic plates moved away from each other and magma from earth’s interior welled up between them. According to this theory, crust should be new material at the crest of ocean ridges, and its age should increase with distance from the crest. </p>
<p>The only way to prove this was by analyzing sediment and rock cores. In the winter of 1968-1969, the Glomar Challenger drilled seven sites in the South Atlantic Ocean to the east and west of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mid-Atlantic-Ridge">Mid-Atlantic ridge</a>. Both the igneous rocks of the ocean floor and overlying sediments aged in perfect agreement with the predictions, confirming that ocean crust was forming at the ridges and plate tectonics was correct. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=2456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=2456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=2456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=3087&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=3087&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237607/original/file-20180923-129844-1fa7f0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=3087&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of a core section from the Chicxulub impact crater. It is suevite, a type of rock, formed during the impact, that contains rock fragments and melted rocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IODP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reconstructing earth’s history</h2>
<p>The ocean record of Earth’s history is more continuous than geologic formations on land, where erosion and redeposition by wind, water and ice can disrupt the record. In most ocean locations sediment is laid down particle by particle, microfossil by microfossil, and remains in place, eventually succumbing to pressure and turning into rock. </p>
<p>Microfossils (plankton) preserved in sediment are beautiful and informative, even though some are smaller than the width of a human hair. Like larger plant and animal fossils, scientists can use these delicate structures of calcium and silicon to reconstruct past environments.</p>
<p>Thanks to scientific ocean drilling, we know that after an asteroid strike <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bad-news-for-dinosaurs-chicxulub-meteorite-impact-triggered-global-volcanic-eruptions-on-the-ocean-floor-91053">killed all non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago</a>, new life colonized the crater rim within years, and within 30,000 years <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0163-6">a full ecosystem was thriving</a>. A few deep ocean organisms <a href="https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE247-p481">lived right through the meteorite impact</a>. </p>
<p>Ocean drilling has also shown that ten million years later, a massive discharge of carbon – probably from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature23646">extensive volcanic activity</a> and methane released from <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/modern-perspective-gas-hydrates">melting methane hydrates</a> – caused an abrupt, intense warming event, or hyperthermal, called the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/353225a0">Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum</a>. During this episode, even the Arctic reached <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04668">over 73 degrees Fahrenheit</a>. </p>
<p>The resulting acidification of the ocean from the release of carbon into the atmosphere and ocean caused massive dissolution and change in the deep ocean ecosystem. </p>
<p>This episode is an impressive example of the impact of rapid climate warming. The total amount of carbon released during the PETM is estimated to be about equal to the amount that humans will release if we burn all of Earth’s fossil fuel reserves. Yet, an important difference is that the carbon released by the volcanoes and hydrates was <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1179">at a much slower rate</a> than we are currently releasing fossil fuel. Thus we can expect even more dramatic climate and ecosystem changes unless we stop emitting carbon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237972/original/file-20180925-149982-wtof0q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enhanced scanning electron microscope images of phytoplankton (left, a diatom; right, a coccolithophore). Different phytoplankton species have distinct climatic preferences, which makes them ideal indicators of surface ocean conditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dee Breger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding life in ocean sediments</h2>
<p>Scientific ocean drilling has also shown that there are roughly <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1203849109">as many cells in marine sediment as in the ocean or in soil</a>. Expeditions have found life in sediments at depths <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa6882">over 8000 feet</a>; in seabed deposits that are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1219424">86 million years old</a>; and at <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1229240">temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit</a>. </p>
<p>Today scientists from 23 nations are proposing and conducting research through the <a href="https://iodp.tamu.edu/">International Ocean Discovery Program</a>, which uses scientific ocean drilling to recover data from seafloor sediments and rocks and to monitor environments under the ocean floor. Coring is producing new information about plate tectonics, such as the complexities of ocean crust formation, and the diversity of life in the deep oceans. </p>
<p>This research is expensive, and technologically and intellectually intense. But only by exploring the deep sea can we recover the treasures it holds and better understand its beauty and complexity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne O'Connell receives funding from the United States Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling.</span></em></p>The ocean floor holds unique information about Earth’s history. Scientific ocean drilling, which started 50 years ago, has yielded insights into climate change, geohazards and the key conditions for life.Suzanne OConnell, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1026532018-09-05T03:10:58Z2018-09-05T03:10:58ZGreat Barrier Reef Foundation chief scientist: science will lie at the heart of our decisions<p>Much has been made of the federal government’s decision to <a href="https://theconversation.com/500-million-for-the-great-barrier-reef-is-welcome-but-we-need-a-sea-change-in-tactics-too-95875">invest A$500m into management</a> of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), A$443.3m of it to be administered by the <a href="https://www.barrierreef.org/">Great Barrier Reef Foundation</a>, of which I am the chief scientist. </p>
<p>If my conversations with colleagues in the reef research field are any guide, there is still a lot of confusion over the intended use of these funds, the disbursement process, and whether big business will interfere with how the reef is managed.</p>
<h2>Filling funding gaps</h2>
<p>Over the past five years, the foundation has funded or managed multiple research projects that aim to support long-term management of the reef. Many of these projects would be considered either too risky or not “pure science” enough to be funded by the Australian Research Council (the exception being the ARC Linkage program). </p>
<p>I mean “risky” not in the sense of posing a risk to the GBR, but rather to describe research plans that are at the cutting edge, where the potential rewards are high but so is the risk of failure.</p>
<p>In this way, the GBR Foundation has filled a critical gap in funding researchers who are working at the interface of science, climate change, and reef management. This has included teams from multiple universities, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), and CSIRO. </p>
<p>Decisions over funding allocations are made through a conventional procedure involving external and internal review and two scientific advisory committees with representatives from each of the major research organisations (the University of Queensland, James Cook University, AIMS and CSIRO), the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and an independent chair.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/500-million-for-the-great-barrier-reef-is-welcome-but-we-need-a-sea-change-in-tactics-too-95875">$500 million for the Great Barrier Reef is welcome, but we need a sea change in tactics too</a>
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<p>As a professor of coral reef ecology at the University of Queensland, I participated in the foundation’s technical advisory group for several years and collaborated on several of the funded projects. As my own research focus includes how management can improve coral reef resilience, I was invited some months ago to serve as the GBR Foundation’s chief scientist, a part-time role alongside my main job as a University of Queensland professor. </p>
<p>I accepted this position for several reasons. First, scientists and practitioners have been calling for a major government investment in the GBR and I am keen to help steer the process in the most cost-effective way possible. I can help by ensuring that the right people are engaged in the process and that projects are subject to intense scientific scrutiny. </p>
<p>Second, having been involved with the GBR Foundation for some time, I know that its approach is both inclusive and merit-based, soliciting the best minds irrespective of which insitution they work for. This is important if we are to deliver the best value for taxpayers’ money. </p>
<p>Third, the foundation’s decision-making process is science-led, and I have never seen any interference from the board. Although some people have expressed concerns over the board’s links to the fossil fuel industry, climate change has been the focus of the foundation’s funded research for as long as I can remember.</p>
<h2>Funding focus</h2>
<p>The government’s decision to entrust environmental management and research to a private foundation is not unprecedented internationally. The <a href="http://www.nfwf.org/Pages/default.aspx">US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation</a>, for example, receives funds from both government agencies and private donations, which it uses to fund a <a href="http://www.nfwf.org/whatwedo/programs/Pages/home.aspx">range of conservation programs</a>.</p>
<p>The A$443.3m provided to the GBR Foundation is intended to pursue a range of aims: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>improving the quality of freshwater reaching the reef (A$201m)</p></li>
<li><p>reducing the impact of crown-of-thorns starfish (A$58m)</p></li>
<li><p>engaging traditional owners and the broader community in reef conservation (A$22.3m)</p></li>
<li><p>improving monitoring of reef health (A$40m)</p></li>
<li><p>supporting scientific research into reef restoration, with a specific focus on tackling challenges created by climate change (A$100m). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The latter is particularly significant because this program aims to expand the toolbox of interventions available to reef managers as climate change continues to intensify. </p>
<p>Of course, reef researchers and managers can’t fix climate change on their own. Other funding and incentives will also be needed to help our wider society reduce greenhouse emissions. </p>
<p>But here’s the important point: dealing with climate change will necessitate a wide range of responses, both to address the root cause of the problem and to adapt to its effects. The A$443.3m will help Australia do the latter for the GBR.</p>
<h2>Clarifying misconceptions</h2>
<p>I’d like to clarify some of the misconceptions I have heard around the funding awarded to the GBR Foundation. </p>
<p>The funds do indeed consider the impacts of climate change, specifically in helping coral reefs - and the associated management practices - adapt to the coming changes. </p>
<p>Science will lie at the heart of the decisions over how best to parcel out the funds, and although the foundation’s board will sign off on the approvals, it will have no say in what is proposed for funding. </p>
<p>Those research and management projects that do receive funding will be carried out by the most appropriate agencies available, whether that be universities, small or large businesses, other charities, AIMS, CSIRO, Natural Resource Management organisations, and so on. All of these agencies are well used to applying for funding under schemes like this. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-and-art-of-reef-restoration-99933">The science and art of reef restoration</a>
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<p>Finally, I have heard concerns about the involvement of major corporations on the Foundation’s board. Everyone is, of course, entitled to their view on the appropriateness of this. But for what it’s worth, my own is that progress on climate change will be strengthened, not weakened, by a close dialogue between those responsible for managing the impacts of climate change and those in a position to exert significant change in our society. </p>
<p>Many of world’s greatest innovations occur in major industry, and I hope this will also apply to the Great Barrier Reef.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102653/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Mumby is chief scientist of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and a full-time professor at the University of Queensland. He has led research projects for the European Union and The World Bank, and is a former President of the Australian Coral Reef Society and member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He advises governments on coral reef management in more than 20 countries.</span></em></p>Federal Labor has pledged to withdraw the A$443 million given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. But the foundation’s decisions are led by science, and free of undue influence, its chief scientist says.Peter J Mumby, Chair professor, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1018152018-08-21T20:00:42Z2018-08-21T20:00:42ZPoliticised science on the Great Barrier Reef? It’s been that way for more than a century<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232829/original/file-20180821-30599-8psjky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Successive governments have seen the Great Barrier Reef not just as a scientific wonder, but as a channel to further economic development.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Superjoseph/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/no-justice-huge-reef-foundation-grant-stuns-charity-sector-20180818-p4zy8i.html">controversy</a> surrounding the A$444 million given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation by the federal government shows how politicised science has become on the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>One reef scientist, who declined to be named, was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/like-winning-lotto-reef-foundation-minnow-braces-for-444m-windfall-20180511-p4zeud.html">quoted</a> saying that the grant was “obviously” political, and accused the federal government of seeking to deny the opposition the chance to make the Great Barrier Reef an election issue.</p>
<p>But the politicisation of reef science, and particularly the Great Barrier Reef itself, is not new. It has a long history, stretching back to the time when the British empire was at its most powerful.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-too-cheap-to-visit-the-priceless-great-barrier-reef-83717">Is it too cheap to visit the 'priceless' Great Barrier Reef?</a>
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<p>In the nineteenth century, scientists studying the Great Barrier Reef were driven by the political winds and whims of British colonialists. For the most part, these scientists aided the mission of exploration and settlement. With every exploratory voyage, the value of the Great Barrier Reef as an arm of the empire grew, as scientists began to weave their insights into the reef’s biology and geology with evocations of its potential resources and suitability for settlement. Scientists such as <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jukes-joseph-beete-2284">Joseph Beete Jukes</a> were particularly important in illuminating the Great Barrier Reef’s scientific mysteries and economic possibilities.</p>
<p>Around the time of federation in 1901, however, the politics of reef science took on a heightened nationalistic and provincial tone. Scientists asserted that the Great Barrier Reef’s value to Queensland and the nation lay specifically in its exploitable resources, and argued that it was the government’s responsibility to develop them. </p>
<p>As the science was in its infancy, reef scientists imagined that their field would inevitably develop in concert with the establishment of reef-based industries such as fishing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/death-on-the-great-barrier-reef-how-dead-coral-went-from-economic-resource-to-conservation-symbol-67157">coral rubble mining</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/death-on-the-great-barrier-reef-how-dead-coral-went-from-economic-resource-to-conservation-symbol-67157">Death on the Great Barrier Reef: how dead coral went from economic resource to conservation symbol</a>
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<p>In the early twentieth century, scientists suggested that a research station needed to be established along the Queensland coast. The idea was championed by natural historian Edmund Banfield, who <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60072747?searchTerm=Rural%20Homilies%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=l-decade=191%7C%7C%7Cl-year=1915%7C%7C%7Cl-month=1">wrote</a> that it would “demonstrate how best the riches of the Great Barrier Reef might be exploited”. </p>
<p>Many scientists of the day believed that the government had failed to sufficiently develop the Great Barrier Reef, and feared that its dormant resources were at risk of plunder by our northern Asian neighbours. Reef science became caught up in the prevailing discourse of an empty and undeveloped northern Australia.</p>
<p>In response, Queensland-based scientists established the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/478331">Great Barrier Reef Committee</a> in 1922. The committee saw itself as having two roles: “pure” scientific research on the reef’s biology and geology; and the identification of commercial products that the reef could provide. </p>
<p>In 1928 the committee, backed by the British, Australian and Queensland governments, organised a research expedition to <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/visit-the-reef/site-specific-management/low-isles">Low Isles</a>, off the coast of Port Douglas. </p>
<p>The year-long expedition, led by British-born marine scientist <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1019244?c=people">Charles Maurice Yonge</a>, aimed to find evidence of the reef’s economic potential. But the research, while significant to coral-reef science, offered little advice for the Queensland government despite its significant financial investment. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, the Great Barrier Reef Committee continued to leverage the state government’s interest in developing northern Queensland, and in 1950 it secured a lease on <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/heron-island-research-station/about-us">Heron Island</a>. The committee was also given funding to build a research station on the island, after promising that it would reveal commercial products and boost tourism.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232830/original/file-20180821-30581-6ar75k.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">Heron Island, where the research station is still operating, now run by the University of Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UQ/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The Heron Island research station was built at a time when only a few Australian universities offered full courses in marine biology. Reef science had always been dominated by geology, as researchers sought to understand how coral reefs were formed.</p>
<p>After the second world war, aided by more sophisticated drilling equipment, and governments eager to locate local oil reserves, scientists such as the Queensland geologist Dorothy Hill began studying the Great Barrier Reef’s mineral and petroleum reserves, and recommended several sites for further exploration. </p>
<p>Between 1959 and 1967 three exploration wells were drilled along the reef, but none showed signs of oil or gas. In the same period, the Queensland government granted 37 prospecting and exploration permits, <a href="https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49776/">23 of them in the vicinity of the Great Barrier Reef</a>.</p>
<p>Geologists’ role in this exploration meant that they were viewed with suspicion by their marine biologist colleagues when the “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-14/save-the-barrier-reef-campaign-stickers/9050228">Save the Reef</a>” campaign began in 1967. </p>
<p>Geologists were largely seen as sympathetic to the oil industry’s interests, whereas marine biologists typically aligned themselves with the views of conservationists. At the same time, scientists found themselves taking sides in response to the first outbreak of Crown of Thorns starfish in the 1960s. </p>
<p><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48085465/5339865">Robert Endean</a>, the scientist who campaigned for government intervention in the outbreak, found himself marginalised by the scientific community, faced backlash from tourist operators concerned by his claims of dying reefs, and eventually lost government support for his research. </p>
<p>During both the Save the Reef campaign and the Crown of Thorns outbreak, scientists were publicly scrutinised for how their research, and their public comments, impacted the debate. A similar pattern has played out over the mass coral bleaching that <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/2016-coral-bleaching-event-26991">hit the Great Barrier Reef in 2016</a>.</p>
<p>Today, it seems governments are seeking to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/27/australia-scrubbed-from-un-climate-change-report-after-government-intervention">make the Great Barrier Reef appear to be protected</a> while scientists themselves leverage the political and public fascination, with the result that the Great Barrier Reef accounts for a significant proportion of Australia’s entire marine research output.</p>
<p>The issues of <a href="https://theconversation.com/cloudy-issue-we-need-to-fix-the-barrier-reefs-murky-waters-39380">sediment and nutrient run-off</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/2016-coral-bleaching-event-26991">coral bleaching</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ocean-acidification-is-already-harming-the-great-barrier-reefs-growth-55226">ocean acidification</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-scaring-starfish-could-help-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-36759">Crown of Thorns starfish</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/carmichael-coal-mine-14433">coal mines</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/shipping-in-the-great-barrier-reef-the-miners-highway-39251">port developments</a> have all complicated the politics of reef science. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-out-of-hot-water-yet-what-the-world-thinks-about-the-great-barrier-reef-42945">Not out of hot water yet: what the world thinks about the Great Barrier Reef</a>
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<p>For half a century, the science has been overlaid with a wider discourse about the need to preserve the Great Barrier Reef. This idea, championed by scientists, politicians and civil society, shows no sign of subsiding.</p>
<p>Today, the amounts of money involved may well be unprecedented. But the idea of reef science coming with political strings attached is nothing new.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rohan James Lloyd received an Australian Postgraduate Award and a National Library of Australia Summer Scholarship while understanding research for this project. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>The $444 million awarded to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has been criticised as a politically calculated move. But governments have been asking what the reef can do for them ever since colonial times.Rohan James Lloyd, Adjunct Lecturer, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.