EurekAlert! Marine Science

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-May-2025 21:09 ET (6-May-2025 01:09 GMT/UTC)

11-Dec-2024

New detoxification pathway for mercury in penguins

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international team of scientists led by the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France, has found that emperor penguins detoxify mercury with both sulfur and selenium, a new pathway for a marine predator. This new detoxification pathway for mercury has been unveiled in a study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Journal: Journal of Hazardous Materials

11-Dec-2024

Ocean’s “big data”: fusion of satellite data for better sea views

Journal of Remote Sensing
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking method (CSAC) to harmonize satellite ocean color data across various satellites, which paved the way for the generation of reliable, global-scale, long-term, bio-optical properties of the upper ocean.

Journal: Journal of Remote Sensing

10-Dec-2024

Researchers tag first Mediterranean shortfin mako shark

Virginia Tech
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This research by Virginia Tech documents the first-ever satellite tracking of a critically endangered shortfin mako shark in the Mediterranean, providing valuable data on its movements. This information is crucial for conservation efforts, helping scientists understand the shark's habitat use and role in the ecosystem. Researchers will use the collected data to inform further studies and develop effective conservation strategies.

Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science

10-Dec-2024

What happens in the ocean when two cyclones collide

University of Oldenburg
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In April 2021, two tropical cyclones, Seroja and Odette, collided in the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia. Two researchers from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, have now studied how this rare phenomenon affected the ocean. According to their case study, the rendezvous caused an unusual cooling of the surface water and an abrupt change in the direction of the combined storm. Since the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones are increasing as a result of global warming, it is possible that such encounters – and thus more extreme air-sea interactions – will become more frequent in the future, they conclude.

Journal: Tellus A Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography

10-Dec-2024

National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear

Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Grant and Award Announcement

William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS has announced the first round of subawards for the National Fishing Trap Removal, Assessment and Prevention (TRAP) Program. Totaling more than $1.4M, the funding supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.

Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

10-Dec-2024

Tiny poops in the ocean may help solve the carbon problem

Dartmouth College
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Some of the world's smallest animals and their tiny poops could aid in the fight against climate change. A Dartmouth-led study reports that clay dust sprayed on the surface of seawater converts free-floating carbon particulates into food for zooplankton, which the microscopic animals later deposit deep into the sea as feces. The particulates are the remnants of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by marine plants that re-enters the atmosphere when the plants die. This new method redirects the carbon into the marine food chain.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Astera Institute, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Schmidt Futures, NIH/National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation
Meeting: AGU Annual Meeting 2024

9-Dec-2024

New research reveals insights on climate-inspired urban design projects

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A pair of new studies by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the School of Architecture, shed new light on the potential of climate-inspired architectural and urban design proposals, termed "climatopias," to effectively address climate change challenges.

Journal: Environmental Research Climate

9-Dec-2024

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and partners discover new ocean predator in the Atacama Trench

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Characterized by darkness and intense pressure, the ocean’s hadal zone seems uninhabitable, yet dozens of unique organisms call it home. Each species discovered there adds a crucial piece to the puzzle of how life has evolved and even thrives in one of Earth's most extreme environments.

A new study published in Systematics and Biodiversity highlights one of those species - the newly named Dulcibella camanchaca. This crustacean is the first large, active predatory amphipod from these extreme depths. The species was discovered by scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Instituto Milenio de Oceanografía (IMO) based at the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

Journal: Systematics and Biodiversity

6-Dec-2024

How do marine food webs respond to increasing alkalinity?

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

06.12.2024/Kiel. To mitigate climate change, man-made carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions must be reduced as quickly and drastically as possible. Additionally, some of the CO₂ already emitted needs to be safely removed from the atmosphere. One solution is to accelerate and enhance the ocean's natural uptake of CO₂ by increasing its alkalinity. Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) mimics the natural process of rock weathering by adding ground rock, or its dissolution products, directly to the seawater. So far, little is known about the effects of this method on marine life. Now, a study by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has assessed the impacts of a moderate OAE application, showing that the effects on zooplankton are likely minimal and that the food web could remain stable. The results are published today in the journal Science Advances.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

6-Dec-2024

AMS science preview: Hurricane damage; kimchi and air pollution

American Meteorological Society
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research published early online in American Meteorological Society journals discusses waning inflow to western U.S. dams, marine heatwaves, historical hurricane damage in 2022 dollars, and the link between air pollution and the cost of kimchi.

Journal: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society