Researchers will study how ocean currents and river nutrients affect deep coral ecosystems on the West Florida Shelf – one of the Gulf’s largest and least-studied habitats. Funded by the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program, the project aims to support sustainable fisheries and conservation of these vital, little-explored habitats, which are home to economically important marine life. The research will guide science-based strategies for protecting the gulf coast’s long-term ecological and economic health.

In pre-clinical tests conducted at the University of São Paulo, compounds called batzelladins were effective even against strains of Plasmodium that are resistant to conventional antimalarial drugs.

New research into the anatomy of blue sharks (Prionace glauca) reveals a unique nanostructure in their skin that produces their iconic blue colouration, but intriguingly, also suggests a potential capacity for colour change.

Researchers from the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK) have suggested that a combination of sewage overflows and coastal winds could be sending billions of airborne microplastic particles into the world’s coastal towns and cities. Their study has for the first time drawn together existing research which has highlighted the presence of microplastics in sewage overspills, and the role of the wind in picking up and transporting sea spray and sea foam into the air and onto land.

The Greenland shark – the world's longest-living vertebrate – is most often associated with cold Arctic waters. However, a new international study led by researchers from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Copenhagen shows that Skagerrak probably serves as a nursery area for young Greenland sharks. The study also points out that Greenland sharks are not born in Greenland or anywhere else in the Arctic.

We investigated the composition of fish life history strategies across 14 major rivers worldwide and found that variation in environmental factors plays a key role in shaping riverine fish assemblages and life history strategies. In the Yangtze River basin, we observed a shift in environmental conditions from stable to unstable states. These findings highlight the potential of life history strategies as effective indicators for monitoring riverine ecological conditions.

Ecosystems are characterized by interconnected structure and functions. A study published July 8^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Casey Benkwitt at Lancaster University, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that restoring seabird populations via eradication of rats may help coral reefs by restoring nutrient connectivity in disrupted food chains.

Are opinions on controversial political issues as divided as many people perceive them to be? Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen and the University of California Merced have addressed this question in a study recently published in PNAS Nexus.

While well documented in the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctica, much less is known about killer whales  (Orcinus orca) in Australia. However, orcas are actually sighted year-round in all coastal states and territories and a new Flinders University study has now mapped this across three key regions.

Research led by Flinders University’s Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab (CEBEL) models the distribution of killer whales in Australian waters, shedding light on habitat preferences and uncovering ecological distinctions between populations.