New research shows that warm sea-surface temperature anomalies in the region can cause shifts in the marine environment where they feed, forcing the birds to travel farther and dive deeper for their food — and causing declines in their populations. Read more about the impacts of warming seas on penguins in The Washington Post.
Who wants to be a manta ray scientist? Project Manta's team will be giving a presentation this Friday in Exmouth! Please come along to find out about the research and how you can get involved. Where: Novotel Ningaloo Resort Exmouth and When: 30th October, 7pm #projectmanta #citizenscience Check out the Project Manta on Facebook.
A new method has been developed to estimate fish movements using ocean heat content images, a dataset commonly used in hurricane intensity forecasting. With Atlantic tarpon as the messenger, this is the first study to quantitatively show that large migratory fishes, such as yellowfin and bluefin tunas, blue and white marlin, and sailfish have affinities for ocean fronts and eddies. Read the full story at Science Daily.
New details on how birds respond to climate change have been revealed by volunteer bird watchers all over Europe. The information they've gathered shows birds respond to changing conditions in different seasons of the year. While some species benefit from these changes, birds that are adapted to colder regions stand to lose. Read more at Science Codex.
The Atlas of Life in the Marine Wilderness asks the community to record their local marine species diversity in order to monitor the seasonal and annual changes in marine species diversity. Read more here.
Fancy yourself a bit of an artist? Check out the latest Redmap marine design competition.... (Closes November 5th 2015)
Why is it important to get to know whales as individuals? Ted Cheeseman, of Antarctic tour operators Cheeseman’s Ecology Safaris, says: “Like most large whale species, humpbacks were heavily exploited by whaling throughout their range, but happily most populations have rebounded since receiving protection in the 1970's. The primary method through which this recovery is being measured is photo-identification, where the sighting histories of individually-recognizable individuals are used to estimate …
One of Australia’s key research focuses is the impact climate change is having on the cornerstone of the Antarctic marine ecosystem — krill. They are the world’s most abundant crustacean and form the staple diet of many animals, including seals, whales, fish, squid, penguins and other seabirds. Any threat to krill is a threat to the entire marine system. Read the full article at The Mercury.
Young East Coast fish are making moves to cooler waters, and researchers say that could mean changes for regional stock assessments. Read more in Scientific American.
A University of Queensland scientist is calling for volunteer divers to photograph the underside of manta rays in waters off the Western Australian coastline and upload them to Facebook as part of a research project. Read more at UQ News.
