EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 18-Sep-2012
Learning from each other -- growing together
Kiel University and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada want to work more closely together in the future. With this benchmark partnership, which is part of Kiel's quality management and internationalization strategy, the two universities are trying out a completely new form of international collaboration.

Public Release: 17-Sep-2012

Geological Society of America Bulletin
Summer Geoscience from GSA Bulletin
GSA Bulletin papers posted online from 20 July through 14 September 2012 elaborate on geoscience from Algeria, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Nova Scotia, Switzerland, New Mexico, and the U.S. Rocky Mountains. Topics include tectonics, mineral formation, the Moho, age dating using zircon crystals, the Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature, atmospheric CO2, and early animal evolution.

Public Release: 17-Sep-2012
Studies of Desoto canyon and shelf in Gulf of Mexico uncover upwelling during Hurricane Isaac
As Hurricane Isaac barreled toward New Orleans, a team led by University of Miami (UM) Professor and Deep-C (Deep Sea to Coast Connectivity in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico) Co-Principal Investigator Nick Shay was planning NOAA's P-3 aircraft missions to fly into the storm.

Deep-C - Gulf of Mexico Reserach Institute

Public Release: 16-Sep-2012

Nature Climate Change
Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited
Coral reefs face severe challenges even if global warming is restricted to the two degrees Celsius commonly perceived as safe for many natural and man-made systems. Warmer sea surface temperatures are likely to trigger more frequent and more intense mass coral bleaching events.

Public Release: 13-Sep-2012

Biology Letters
Surviving without ice
Some crustaceans, previously thought to spend their entire lives on the underside of Arctic sea ice, were recently discovered to migrate deep underwater and follow ocean currents back to colder areas when the ice melts.

Research Council of Norway, US-Norway Fulbright Program

Public Release: 13-Sep-2012

2012 International Water Association's World Water Congress
UA engineering professor Shane Snyder to speak in Korea on international water quality
University of Arizona professor Shane Snyder, who earlier this year won best paper honors from the American Water Works Association (AWWA), has been invited to present in Korea this month to an expected audience of 3,500 at the 2012 International Water Association's (IWA) World Water Congress.

Public Release: 13-Sep-2012

Science
Long menopause allows killer whales to care for adult sons
Scientists have found the answer to why female killer whales have the longest menopause of any non-human species - to care for their adult sons. Led by the Universities of Exeter and York and published in the journal Science the research shows that, for a male over 30, the death of his mother means an almost 14-fold-increase in the likelihood of his death within the following year.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, Earthwatch

Public Release: 11-Sep-2012

Environmental Science & Technology
At least 200,000 tons of oil and gas from Deepwater Horizon spill consumed by gulf bacteria
Researchers from the University of Rochester and Texas A&M University have found that, over a period of five months following the disastrous 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, naturally-occurring bacteria that exist in the Gulf of Mexico consumed and removed at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the deep Gulf from the ruptured well head. See video interview with co-author here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vb7rvWvTjA&feature=youtu.be.

National Science Foundation, NOAA, and others

Public Release: 11-Sep-2012

Hydrobiologia
A minute crustacean invades the red swamp crayfish
The small ostracod Ankylocythere sinuosa measures no more than half a millimeter in length and lives on other crayfish. And, Spanish scientists have discovered it for the first time in Europe. The finding suggests that it arrived along with the invader crayfish Procambarus clarkii some 30 years ago but it is still unknown whether it can invade other crustacean species or whether it benefits or damages the expansion of the already established red swamp crayfish.

Public Release: 11-Sep-2012
King's to develop unique sunscreen with Aethic
King's College London has entered into an agreement with skincare company Aethic to develop the first sunscreen based on MAA's (mycosporine-like amino acids), produced by coral.

Public Release: 10-Sep-2012
National herpetology society honors UT Arlington professor for discoveries
The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists has given the Henry S. Fitch Award for Excellence in Herpetology to a UT Arlington professor.

Public Release: 10-Sep-2012

Renewable Energy
Predicting wave power could double marine-based energy
Prof. George Weiss of Tel Aviv University says that his new computer algorithm improves the functioning of Wave Energy Converters used in producing electrical energy from ocean waves. And, with improvements in the converters themselves, it could make marine-based energy more commercially viable.

Public Release: 10-Sep-2012

IUCN World Conservation Congress
100 most threatened species
Tarzan's chameleon, the spoon-billed sandpiper and the pygmy three-toed sloth have all topped a new list of the species closest to extinction released today (Tuesday, Sept. 11 by the Zoological Society of London and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Public Release: 9-Sep-2012

Nature Materials
Nano-velcro clasps heavy metal molecules in its grips
Researchers have devised a simple, system based on nanoparticles, to detect mercury as well as others pollutants. This technology makes it possible to easily and inexpensively test for these substances in water and, more importantly, in the fish that we eat. This will be published in Nature Material on September 9, 2012.

Eni, US Defense Threat Reduction Agency, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 7-Sep-2012

Fish and Fisheries
Study provides first-time analysis of 3 distinct contributions of forage fish worldwide
A just-published study provides a first-time analysis of the value of forage fish, which are small, schooling species such as sardines, herring, and anchovies. Three kinds of contributions of forage fish were estimated: As direct catch, as food for other commercially important fish, and as an important link in the food web in marine ecosystems.

Lenfest Ocean Program

Public Release: 7-Sep-2012

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
UC Santa Cruz study shows how sea otters can reduce CO2 in the atmosphere
A new study by two UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that a thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper and help reverse a principal cause of global warming.

National Science Foundation, National Oeanic and Atmoshperic Administration

Public Release: 7-Sep-2012

Lethaia
Ancient, bottom-dwelling critter proves: Newer isn't always better
Tiny sea creatures called rhabdopleurids have lived on the ocean floor for some 500 million years, outlasting more elaborate species that also descended from a common ancestor, according to a new study in the journal Lethaia.

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 7-Sep-2012
University spin-out company shares in £7.9 million marine energy funding boost
An award-winning University of Strathclyde spin-out company has been awarded £1.4 million to help it harness tidal energy.

Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, European Regional Development Fund

Public Release: 7-Sep-2012
British team set to embark on ambitious Antarctic mission to penetrate and sample ancient buried lake
After 16 years of planning the countdown is on for one of the most ambitious scientific missions to Antarctica. In October a 12-man team of British scientists, engineers and support staff will make the 16,000 km journey from the UK to go deep into the heart of the frozen continent to collect samples of water and sediments from an ancient lake buried beneath three kilometers of ice.

Natural Environment Research Council

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Science
Weapon-wielding marine microbes may protect populations from foes
Researchers at MIT have recently found evidence that some ocean microbes wield chemical weapons that are harmless to close relatives within their own population, but deadly to outsiders.

Moore Foundation, Broad Institute, National Science Foundation, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Changes in water chemistry leave lake critters defenseless
Changes in Canadian lake water chemistry have left small water organisms vulnerable to ambush by predators, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research, from SUNY College at Buffalo, York University in Toronto, and others, shows low calcium levels affect the exoskeleton development of water fleas, which are food for fish and keep lakes clean. Plankton in the world's oceans may also be affected.

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Journal of Experimental Biology
Deep-sea crabs seek food using ultraviolet vision
Some deep-sea crabs have eyes sensitive to ultraviolet light, which they may use to snatch glowing plankton and stuff it in their mouths, a new Nova Southeastern University study suggests.

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

PLOS ONE
Destroyed coastal habitats produce significant greenhouse gas
Destruction of coastal habitats may release as much as one billion tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere each year, 10 times higher than previously reported, according to a new Duke led study.

Linden Trust for Conservation, Roger and Victoria Sant

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012
AZTI-Tecnalia leads 2 research projects on bluefin tuna with 1.5 million euros investment
The International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tuna is to invest 1.5 million euros in two research projects on the bluefin tuna, which will be coordinated in 2012 by AZTI-Tecnalia, the technological center specialized in marine and food research, in two different international consortia.

International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tuna

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012
Chikyu sets a new world drilling-depth record of scientific ocean drilling
Scientific deep sea drilling vessel Chikyu sets a world new record by drilling down and obtains rock samples from deeper than 2,111 meters below the seafloor off Shimokita Peninsula of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean.