THE Great Barrier Reef’s most popular tourist sites show just two per cent of coral has died off, with the rest in “positive” signs of recovery, despite the world’s biggest mass coral bleaching event on record. New research found about 68 per cent of reefs from Cairns to Lizard Island had varying levels of coral bleaching, but most of it likened to sunburn on a human body where the coral glows …
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is asking fishers and spearfishers to help spread the word and consider leaving plant-eating fish on the Great Barrier Reef to help build new coral colonies following the mass coral bleaching event.
PORT Macquarie families were involved in citizen science on Sunday as they participated in the 16th annual Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) whale census. About 165 whales were reportedly spotted at Tacking Point at Lighthouse Beach by residents and National Parks and Wildlife representatives. Read the full story in the Port Macquarie News.
Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin, biologist and jellyfish expert, is launching her new book Jellyfish: A Natural History. It is a gorgeous coffee table book with hundreds of splendid photos and lots of interesting tidbits of information about jellyfish, written to appeal to marine biologists and non-scientists alike.
Redmap is a marine ecosystem monitoring project based in Tasmania but covering the majority of the Australian coast. Behind the project’s success is a simple but innovative idea: that fishers, divers and other ‘citizen scientists’ feed the key data into the system themselves, logging significant sightings along with a photo of the find and location. Read the full story at ANDS.
Scientists on an expedition to Jarvis Island in the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument have found devastating loss of corals due to record warm ocean temperatures from April 2015 to May 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday. Read the full story in Mashable.
A surprising 60-year boom in global octopus, squid and cuttlefish numbers points to long-term changes taking place in the world's oceans, scientists say. Read the full story at ABC News.
Contribute to the Mola/Ocean Sunfish project at Murdoch University, by donating side-on photos of Mola mola for research purposes.
BIODIVERSITY will be the key to keeping global fisheries going as sea temperatures rise, the prestigious Smithsonian Institution has found in a study backed by Tasmanian-driven citizen science, writes The Mercury.
Research shows between 1984 and 2003 the growth of two types of marine fish and a coral slowed during El Niño years when waters were cooler, whereas in La Niña years, with warmer sea temperatures and generally more rainfall, growth rates increased. This would seem to spell good news as oceans are predicted to continue warming. Read more about this UWA Oceans Institute study.
