EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 12-Jul-2012

Science
The challenges facing the vulnerable Antarctic
A century ago, the South Pole was one of Earth's last frontiers, but now the Antarctic is under threat from human activity.

Public Release: 12-Jul-2012

Current Biology
Male sex ornaments are fishing lures, literally
Talk about a bait-and-switch. Male representatives of the tropical fish known as swordtail characins have flag-like sex ornaments that catch mates just like the bait on a fishing rod would.

Public Release: 12-Jul-2012

ISME Journal
Viruses linked to algae that control coral health
Scientists have discovered two viruses that appear to infect the single-celled microalgae that reside in corals and are important for coral growth and health, and they say the viruses could play a role in the serious decline of coral ecosystems around the world.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 11-Jul-2012

Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography
ASU ecologist receives prestigious global award for water research
Arizona State University professor James Elser today received the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award, the most prestigious global award in the aquatic sciences, at the July 2012 Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography meeting on the shores of ancient Lake Biwa, Otsu, Shiga, Japan. The Hutchinson Award is presented annually to recognize a scientist's previous five to 10 years of excellence in limnology (the study of inland waters) or oceanography.

Public Release: 11-Jul-2012

Evolutionary Applications
Hormone-mimicking chemicals cause inter-species mating
Hormone-mimicking chemicals released into rivers have been found to impact the mating choices of fish, a new study has revealed. The controversial chemical BPA, which emits oestrogen-like properties, was found to alter an individual's appearance and behavior, leading to inter-species breeding. The study, published in Evolutionary Applications, reveals the threat to biodiversity when the boundaries between species are blurred.

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012

12th International Coral Reef Symposium
New book inspires children to protect dugongs
Australia's children are being enlisted in the fight to save dugongs from the multiple threats of coastal development, climate change, and environmental pollution, thanks to the creative mind of marine biologist Dr. Mariana Fuentes. Launching today at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium, in Cairns her new book takes readers into the secret world of 'Dhyum', a real dugong living in the Torres Strait.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012
New coral reef crustacean described and named after late reggae performer Bob Marley
President Barack Obama has one. Comedian Stephen Colbert has one. Elvis Presley has one. Even computer software magnate Bill Gates has one. And now, Bob Marley -- the late popular Jamaican singer and guitarist -- also has one. So what is it that each of these luminaries have? The answer: they each have a biological species that has been named after them.

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012
NOAA plankton surveys, second longest in the North Atlantic, add to new global effort
NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center uses volunteer commercial cargo vessels as sampling platforms to continue plankton surveys begun decades ago as members of the new Global Alliance of Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys. NEFSC plankton surveys, the second longest in the North Atlantic, help monitor the health of marine ecosystems. Changes at local and regional levels can improve understanding of the impacts of climate change, ocean acidification and other phenomenon that occur on a global scale.

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012
First seabed sonar to measure marine energy effect on environment and wildlife
UK scientists will measure the effect on the marine environment and wildlife of devices that harness tide and wave energy using sonar technology that has, for the first time, been successfully deployed on the seabed.

Natural Environment Research Council, Defra

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
No matter the drilling method, natural gas is a much-needed tool to battle global warming
No matter how you drill it, using natural gas as an energy source is a smart move in the battle against global climate change and a good transition step on the road toward low-carbon energy from wind, solar and nuclear power. That is the conclusion of a new study by Cornell Professor Lawrence M. Cathles published in the most recent edition of the peer-reviewed journal Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geosystems.

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012

Ocean Optics XXI Conference
Kendall L. Carder named recipient of the Jerlov Award
The Oceanography Society is pleased to announce that Professor Kendall L. Carder has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the Nils Gunnar Jerlov Award, which recognizes contributions to the advancement of our knowledge of the nature and consequences of light in the ocean. Dr. Carder's achievements will be recognized during a ceremony on October 11th at the Ocean Optics Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Public Release: 10-Jul-2012

Ecological Applications
Copper making salmon prone to predators
Minute amounts of copper from brake linings and mining operations can affect salmon to where they are easily eaten by predators, says a Washington State University researcher. Jenifer McIntyre found the metal affects salmon's sense of smell so much that they won't detect a compound that ordinarily alerts them to be still and wary.

Public Release: 9-Jul-2012

12th International Coral Reef Symposium
'We can still save our reefs:' Coral scientist
John Pandolfi keeps his optimism alive despite the grim scientific evidence he confronts daily that the world's coral reefs are in a lot of trouble – along with 81 nations and 500 million people who depend on them.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Public Release: 9-Jul-2012

12th International Coral Reef Symposium
Scientists join forces in call for action to save coral reefs
A consensus statement supported by over 2,600 scientists called for governments worldwide to take steps to protect valuable coral reef ecosystems. The statement was drafted by a group of eminent scientists under the auspices of the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University in California and was released at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia.

Public Release: 9-Jul-2012

Nature Climate Change
UNC research: Corals on ocean-side of reef are most susceptible to recent warming
Marine scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have linked the decline in growth of Caribbean forereef corals -- due to recent warming -- to long-term trends in seawater temperature experienced by these corals located on the ocean-side of the reef. The research was conducted on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System in southern Belize.

Public Release: 9-Jul-2012

Environmental Science & Technology
University of Miami-led study finds winds played important role in keeping oil away from S. Fla.
University of Miami-led study finds that winds played an important role in keeping oil away from South Florida. Article in Environmental Science and Technology.

National Science Foundation/RAPID

Public Release: 6-Jul-2012

International Conference on Zebrafish Genetics and Development
Zebrafish reveal promising mechanism for healing spinal cord injury
Scientists in Australia are studying the mechanisms of spinal cord repair in zebrafish, which unlike humans and other mammals can regenerate their spinal cord following injury. Their findings suggest a family of molecules called fibroblast growth factors could be a therapeutic target for encouraging nerve regeneration.

Public Release: 6-Jul-2012

GBIC 2012
Building global collaboration for biodiversity intelligence
A landmark conference has agreed key priorities for harnessing the power of information technologies and social networks to understand better the workings of life on Earth, focusing on how biodiversity can continue to sustain human lives and livelihoods. The Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference, gathering some 100 experts from around the world from July 2-4, identified critical areas in which greater investment and better coordination could give society much better, innovative tools to monitor and manage biological resources.

Public Release: 6-Jul-2012

Science
Scientists discover new trigger for immense North Atlantic plankton bloom
On this July 4th week, US beachgoers are thronging their way to seaside resorts and parks to celebrate with holiday fireworks. Across the horizon and miles out to sea toward the north, the Atlantic Ocean's own spring and summer ritual is unfolding: the blooming of countless microscopic plant plankton, or phytoplankton.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 6-Jul-2012

12th International Coral Reef Symposium

Coral Reefs
New research finds increased growth responsible for color changes in coral reefs
Research from the University of Southampton and National Oceanography, Southampton, has provided new insight into the basic immune response and repair mechanisms of corals to disease and changing environmental conditions.

Public Release: 5-Jul-2012
US Drought Monitor shows record-breaking expanse of drought across US
More of the United States is in moderate drought or worse than at any other time in the 12-year history of the US Drought Monitor, officials from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said today.

Public Release: 5-Jul-2012

Science
Scientists discover new trigger for immense North Atlantic Ocean spring plankton bloom
On this July 4th week, US beachgoers are thronging their way to seaside resorts and parks to celebrate with holiday fireworks. But across the horizon and miles out to sea toward the north, the Atlantic Ocean's own spring and summer ritual unfolds. It entails the blooming of countless microscopic plants, or phytoplankton.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 5-Jul-2012

Science
Eddies, not sunlight, spur annual bloom of tiny plants in North Atlantic
Researchers have long believed that the longer days and calmer seas of spring set off an annual bloom of plants in the North Atlantic, but University of Washington scientists and collaborators discovered that warm eddies fuel the growth three weeks before the sun does.

National Science Foundation, NASA

Public Release: 5-Jul-2012

Science
Climate change suspended reef growth for 2 millennia
According to a paper published this week in Science, natural climatic shifts stopped reef growth in the eastern Pacific for 2,500 years.

Public Release: 4-Jul-2012

Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Humidity increases odor perception in terrestrial hermit crabs
Max Planck scientists have found that the olfactory system in hermit crabs is underdeveloped in comparison to vinegar flies. While flies identify various odor molecules, crabs recognize only a few odors, such as organic acids, amines, aldehydes, or seawater. Humidity enhanced electrical signals induced in the crabs' antennal neurons as well as their behavioral responses to the odorants. The olfactory sense of vinegar flies was not at all influenced by the level of air moisture.

Max Planck Society, EU Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship