Research released this week shows the oceans are continuing to warm steadily despite an a slowdown in the rate of warming at the earth’s surface, increasing the likelihood of extreme heat undersea, writes The Conversation. Sadly, these changes could spell the end for large swathes of Western Australia’s underwater forests and much of the marine life that depends on them for food and shelter. Read the full story here.
Australian scientists have assessed how 35 common fish species are coping with climate change, finding that most have to deal with new conditions and many are moving towards polar waters to find suitable habitats, writes The Guardian. Research led by the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) analysed the climate sensitivity of fish found off the south-east coast of Australia. Read the full article here.
Steven 'Sealberg', a shark with a naughty nickname, and a wine bottle all made it onto Redmap’s annual Top 10 Oddest Sightings. This list is completely subjective. And mainly based on strange-looking species, odd photos or sightings with great stories behind them...
Citizen science is becoming an important tool for monitoring changes in the earth's vast oceans. And the traditional world of science is starting to take note. Redmap has written an article for the journal The Tasmanian Naturalist! The piece reviews how Redmap is collecting a long-term record of verified observations of out-of-range species that adds to the data available from traditional scientific surveys. Read the full article here.
The coastal city of Newcastle is in the midst of a media frenzy, thanks to a string of shark sightings close to popular swimming beaches, writes the CSIRO. What's going on here? Read the article here.
Researchers have mapped climate change hotspots in the world's oceans to allow better fisheries management and commercial fishing decisions, writes ABC News. Australian scientists led by Dr Gretta Pecl [Redmap founder!] at the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) have developed an approach to help fishery managers and the fishing industry adapt. Read the full story here.
Redmap founder Gretta Pecl developed a method for rapidly assessing how sensitive to climate change our key commercial species are likely to be. In rapidly warming regions so much is changing - and fast - so we need quick methods to identify what species are most at risk in order to expend further research dollars wisely.
Warming ocean water is said to be melting the largest glacier in east Antarctica, underscoring climate change's assault on the continent's ice cover, writes the Sydney Morning Herald. Read the story here.
NOAA once again has had to rescale its ocean heat chart to capture 2014 ocean warming, writes The Guardian newspaper. Read the full article here.
Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins evolved different diets that reduce competition for food so they can better co-exist. But a new study shows that only one of these species has a flexible diet that is more suited to the rapidly changing conditions in Antarctica. Read which penguin is less fussy in The Science Daily.
