EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

PLOS ONE
New study shows probiotics help fish grow up faster and healthier
Probiotics like those found in yogurt are not only good for people--they are also good for fish. A new study by scientists at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology found that feeding probiotics to baby zebrafish accelerated their development and increased their chances of survival into adulthood.

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

Environmental Research
Mercury releases contaminate ocean fish: Dartmouth-led effort publishes major findings
In new research published in a special issue of the journal "Environmental Research" and in "Sources to Seafood: Mercury Pollution in the Marine Environment"-- a companion report by the Dartmouth-led Coastal and Marine Mercury Ecosystem Research Collaborative, scientists report that mercury released into the air and then deposited into oceans contaminates seafood commonly eaten by people in the US and globally.

Superfund Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012
Ben-Gurion U. develops innovative gene-silencing biotechnology to advance aquaculture with prawns
"The technology is sustainable because it doesn't use any chemicals or hormones and does not create genetically modified organisms," said BGU's Prof. Amir Sagi. "This is made possible through the unique monosex culture of prawns, which we can obtain by using our original discovery of a naturally occurring, androgenic hormone that influences their gender. Since males are faster growers, this discovery could help farmers increase their income."

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

SETAC North America 33rd Annual Meeting
UMiami scientists partner with NOAA, Stanford and U of N Texas to study post spill fish toxicology
University of Miami scientists partnered with scientists from NOAA, Stanford and Univ. of N. Texas to conduct studies on post-oil spill fish toxicology; studies using fish from UM's Aquaculture Program show potential for impact on important species, among them mahi mahi and cobia.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

2012 AGU Fall Meeting
Moore Foundation funds 16 top scientists for high-risk marine microbial ecology research
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced its Marine Microbiology Initiative investigator awards today, providing 16 scientists from 14 different institutions a total of up to $35 million over five years to pursue pioneering research in the field of marine microbial ecology. The funding will enable researchers to explore how the trillions upon trillions of microscopic organisms at the base of the ocean's food webs interact with each other and their environment.

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

2012 AGU Fall Meeting

Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences
Research, response for future oil spills: Lessons learned from Deepwater Horizon
A special collection of articles about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill provides the first comprehensive analysis and synthesis of the science used in the unprecedented response effort by the government, academia, and industry. Two overview papers and 13 specialty papers constitute a special section of the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012

Current Biology
Pygmy mole crickets don't just walk on water, they jump on it
Pygmy mole crickets are known to be prodigious jumpers on land. Now, researchers reporting in the Dec. 4 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have found that the tiny insects have found an ingenious method to jump from the water, too. Their secret is a series of spring-loaded, oar-like paddles on their back legs.

Public Release: 3-Dec-2012
Go behind the scenes of an amazing environmental success story
"If you have a passion for the oceans and care about conservation, read this remarkable book on innovative research, exploration and the preservation of a vast remote coral archipelago in the South Pacific." Harrison Ford, actor and vice chair of Conservation International

Public Release: 30-Nov-2012

Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences
Ancient microbes survive beneath the icy surface of Antarctic lake
Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation describe in a new publication a viable community of bacteria that ekes out a living in a dark, salty and subfreezing environment beneath nearly 20 meters of ice in one of Antarctica's most isolated lakes.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
Wayne State part of international effort to understand chemical movement, processes in oceans
From the middle of the country, a Wayne State University researcher is working to advance understanding of the movement of chemical compounds through the world's oceans.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 30-Nov-2012

Environmental Pollution
Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic
If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made it even worse -- 52-times more toxic. That's according to new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Public Release: 30-Nov-2012

Ethology
The colour of love: Zebrafish perform colorful courtship displays
Billy Ocean may not have been thinking of fish when he wrote "The Color of Love", but Sophie Hutter, Attila Hettyey, Dustin Penn, and Sarah Zala from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna were able to show that zebrafish males and females both wear their brightest colors while wooing a mate.