EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Molecular Biology
Bacteria on marine sponges can develop capacity to move and inhibit biofilm formation
A new study shows that when enough bacteria get together in one place, they can make a collective decision to grow an appendage and swim away. This type of behavior has been seen for the first time in marine sponges, and could lead to an understanding of how to break up harmful bacterial biofilms, such as plaque on teeth or those found on internal medical devices like artificial heart valves.

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Aquatic Biosystems
Lifestyle of a killer
Parasitic dinoflagellates of the genus Hematodinium are a big problem for crab, prawn and shrimp fisheries across the world. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Aquatic Biosystems has found that, in wild European brown shrimp, these parasites have bacteria-like endosymbionts. The presence of these endosymbionts indicates a previously unknown side to the lifecycle of Hematodinium.

Public Release: 6-Sep-2012

Journal of Experimental Biology
Bright life on the ocean bed: Predators may even color code food
Bioluminescence is a common feature of life in the open ocean, but what about on the ocean bed? Scientists from the USA have made the perilous 700 meter descent off the Bahamas' coast and discovered that the ocean bed is awash with flashes of light. Also, the animals down there have impressive color vision, which is perfectly tuned to the dim conditions. The team suggests that these creatures may even color code their food.

US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, US Office of Naval Research

Public Release: 5-Sep-2012
Back to the future: A new science for a changing planet
A new book co-authored by UA ecologist Rafe Sagarin advocates for science to rediscover its roots of observing the natural world unimpeded by the strict protocols of experimental manipulations - and this is especially important if we are to tackle the enormously complex problems of global change. The book is titled, 'Observation and Ecology.'

Public Release: 5-Sep-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
New study examines how ocean energy impacts life in the deep sea
A new study of deep-sea species worldwide examines how gradients in food and temperature in the deep sea's dark, frigid waters affect the creatures that live there. Similar studies have been conducted in the shallow oceans, but our understanding of the impact of food and temperature on life in the deep sea -- the Earth's largest and most remote ecosystem -- is more limited. The results will help scientists understand what to expect under future climate change.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 5-Sep-2012

Environmental Science & Technology
Concern about plans to close unique Canadian environmental project
The Canadian government's plans to discontinue in 2013 a unique environmental research project that has yielded insights into water pollution, climate change and other topics for almost 40 years would be a "huge loss not only to science but to the scientific heritage of humanity." That's the focus of a viewpoint article in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Public Release: 5-Sep-2012

Global Climate Biology
Trout will become extinct in the Iberian Peninsula in less than 100 years
Climate change, pollution, the extraction of water for irrigation and overfishing all threaten the survival of the common trout. This fish is very sensitive to changes in its environment and, according to the Spanish study, its habitat will have reduced by half by the year 2040 and will have completely disappeared from Iberian rivers by 2100, so its population will become extinct.

Public Release: 4-Sep-2012

Journal of Heredity
Picky penguins: Does mate choice depend on genes that help resist disease?
Magellanic penguins have a high level of variation in genes associated with the ability to fight infectious disease, but a recent study found that the mechanism the penguins use to ensure that diversity is far from black and white. A recent study published in the Journal of Heredity tested whether the significant diversity in the Major Histocompatibility Complex genome region observed in these birds is attributable to mate choice or genetic selection based on disease exposure.

Public Release: 4-Sep-2012
SMM 2012
At the SMM 2012, shipbuilding, machinery & marine technology international trade fair, 4-7 September 2012 in Hamburg, four Fraunhofer Institutes will be exhibiting solutions that make it easier to plan and build seaports, terminals and ships.

Public Release: 4-Sep-2012

Scientific Reports
Human impact felt on Black Sea long before industrial era
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution geologist Liviu Giosan and an international team of collaborators including environmental engineers, modelers, paleogeographers, and paleobiologists have pieced together a unique history of the Danube River delta and watershed that ultimately provides evidence for a transformative impact of humans on the Black Sea over hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 4-Sep-2012

IUCN World Conservation Congress
Shark rules need teeth, groups tell IUCN
The Wildlife Conservation Society and over 35 government agency and NGO partners participating in IUCN's World Conservation Congress this week are urging the world's governments to take urgent steps to save the world's sharks and rays from the relentless pressure of over-fishing for international trade.

Public Release: 4-Sep-2012

Nature Climate Change
New Delft model: Coastline erosion due to sea level rise greater than previously thought
A new model allows researchers at UNESCO-IHE, Delft University of Technology and Deltares to much more accurately predict coastline erosion due to rising sea levels. It would appear that the effects of coastline erosion as a result of rising sea-level rise in the vicinity of inlets, such as river estuaries, have until now been dramatically underestimated. The scientists have published their research in the online edition of Nature Climate Change on Sept. 2.

Public Release: 3-Sep-2012
Scientists measure storm impact on river pollution
A team of scientists have won over £1 million to monitor the effect of storms on pollution in a river-estuary in Hampshire.

Natural Environmental Research Council

Public Release: 3-Sep-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Tracking fish through a coral reef seascape
Ocean scientists have long known that juvenile coral reef fishes use coastal seagrass and mangrove habitats as nurseries, later moving as adults onto coral reefs. But the fishes' movements, and the connections between different tropical habitats, are much more complex than previously realized, according to a study published September 3 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings have important implications for management and protection of coral reefs and other marine environments.

Public Release: 3-Sep-2012
Major world interests at stake in Canada's vast Mackenzie River Basin
The governance of Canada's massive Mackenzie River Basin holds enormous national but also global importance due to the watershed's impact on the Arctic Ocean, international migratory birds and climate stability, say experts convening a special forum on the topic.

Public Release: 31-Aug-2012

Geophysical Research Letters
AGU journal highlights -- 31 August 2012
Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: 'Trade-offs between water for food and for curbing climate change,' 'Low calcification in corals in the Great Barrier Reef,' 'The Everglades still threatened by excess nutrients,' 'Wetlands the primary source of Amazon Basin methane,' 'Old fractures caused rare 8.6 magnitude earthquake,' and 'Solar storms can destabilize power grids at midlatitudes.'

Public Release: 30-Aug-2012
Science research led in Gulf of Mexico by Penn State biologist to be honored with US award
A research project in the Gulf of Mexico has revealed new discoveries of coral communities, new findings on the ecology and population genetics of the deep-water corals and communities, marine archaeological discoveries, and new data on growth rates of corals on oil platforms and shipwrecks. The results will inform environmental review and decision making.

US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, NOAA

Public Release: 30-Aug-2012

American Society for Microbiology 2012
Viruses could be the key to healthy corals
Proffesor Eugene Rosenberg of Tel Aviv University has developed a treatment for the White Plague disease that infects coral based on a medication developed to treat bacterial infections in humans. The therapy ceased the progression of infection in diseased corals and prevented the infection from spreading to surrounding healthy corals as well.

Public Release: 30-Aug-2012
Increased sediment and nutrients delivered to bay as Susquehanna reservoirs near sediment capacity
Reservoirs near the mouth of the Susquehanna River just above Chesapeake Bay are nearly at capacity in their ability to trap sediment. As a result, large storms are already delivering increasingly more suspended sediment and nutrients to the Bay, which may negatively impact restoration efforts.

Public Release: 30-Aug-2012

PLOS ONE
New DNA-method tracks fish and whales in seawater
Danish researchers at University of Copenhagen lead the way for future monitoring of marine biodiversity and resources. By using DNA traces in seawater samples to keep track of fish and whales in the oceans. A half liter of seawater can contain evidence of local fish and whale faunas and combat traditional fishing methods. Their results are now published in the international scientific journal PLOS ONE.

Public Release: 30-Aug-2012

Science
Study identifies prime source of ocean methane
Up to four percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: A bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet. The findings appear in the journal Science.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 29-Aug-2012

PLOS ONE
Coral scientists use new model to find where corals are most likely to survive climate change
Marine conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society working with other coral reef experts have identified heat-tolerant coral species living in locations with continuous background temperature variability as those having the best chance of surviving climate change, according to a new simplified method for measuring coral reef resilience.

Public Release: 29-Aug-2012

PLOS ONE
Eyeless Australian fish have closest relatives in Madagascar
Researchers from Louisiana State University and the American Museum of Natural History has discovered that two groups of blind cave fishes on opposite sides of the Indian Ocean are each other's closest relatives. Through comprehensive DNA analysis, the researchers determined that these eyeless fishes, one group from Madagascar and the other from similar subterranean habitats in Australia, descended from a common ancestor before being separated by continental drift nearly 100 million years ago.

Constantine S. Niarchos Expedition Fund

Public Release: 29-Aug-2012

Biology Letters
Climate change could increase levels of avian influenza in wild birds
Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, more intense rainstorms and more frequent heat waves are among the planetary woes that may come to mind when climate change is mentioned. Now, two University of Michigan researchers say an increased risk of avian influenza transmission in wild birds can be added to the list.

Public Release: 29-Aug-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
URI oceanographers find there is one-third less life on Earth
Estimates of the total mass of all life on Earth should be reduced by about one third, based on the results of a study by a team of scientists at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography and colleagues in Germany. The new estimate is based on revisions to the amount of carbon stores in subseafloor microbes.

National Science Foundation