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.
Next time you need an excuse to go fishing again, feel free to the Redmap excuse: "It's not fishing, it's research!"
Hugh Richardson is an avid diver, travelling up and down the coast in search of WA's best dive spots. He's also a Redmap member and has logged some unusual sightings online.
There was a summer spike in strange marine sightings in the South West/Capes region [of WA], as fish typically found in the State’s north made their way down via the warming Leeuwin Current. Spanish mackerel, marlin and redthroat emporer were just a handful of fish species recently spotted along the South West coast, all of which generally favour the warmer northern waters, writes the Busselton Dunsborough Times.
The summer of 2015-2016 was one of the hottest on record in Australia. But it has also been hot in the waters surrounding the nation: the hottest summer on record, in fact. Read the full article in the Conversation AU.
THE coral wonderlands of the Abrolhos Islands off the Mid West coast, and the fishing industries that rely on them, are at worse risk of damage from climate change than previously thought. New research has shown that coral larvae carried on the Leeuwin Current from elsewhere are unlikely to bolster the fragile reef system which died off in vast quantities during the 2011 heat wave. The heat wave caused the first …
WARM sea temperatures have lured an assortment of unusual sea creatures to Tasmania in recent months – some slithery and others scrumptious. Anglers are buzzing over the larger numbers of sought-after table fish visiting the island, with catches of whopper yellowtail kingfish, snapper and broadbill swordfish. Read the full story in The Mercury.
It spans up to 3 to 4 metres, breaks the scales at 1000 kilos and resembles a giant flattened pufferfish minus spikes. Redmap has been receiving sightings of the unusual-looking ocean sunfish (Mola mola)! Read about the world's heaviest fish...
The fixed division of labor between crested penguin parents increases their chicks' vulnerability to food shortages made ever more common by climate change. The parents have been unable to adapt their habits to the challenges of increasingly frequent years of limited food supply and, as a result, will become further threatened by extinction. Read more at Science Daily.
Human-induced climate change is triggering changes beneath the waves that could have a long-term effect on marine food webs, a study suggests. An assessment of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic found the microscopic organisms' pole-ward shift was faster than previously reported. Read more at BBC News.
