Do you have an idea for an online citizen science project? Inspiring Australia is looking for a great new idea for the 2016 National Science Week citizen science project. The chosen project will be built and produced by the ABC and promoted across their TV, radio and online channels. Read more here.
BEING more waterwise could be the first step we can all make towards helping two endangered WA freshwater fish species battle for survival during climate change. Read more at Science Network WA.
Coral reefs around the world are facing a whole spectrum of human-induced disturbances that are affecting their ability to grow, reproduce and survive. These range from local pressures such as overfishing and sedimentation, to global ones such as ocean acidification and warming. With the third global coral bleaching event underway, we now more than ever, need to understand how coral responds to these stressors. Read more in The Conversation.
Are you in Year 11 or 12 and thinking of becoming a marine biologist? Then check out the amazing Temperate Marine Biology unit run by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). The course provides students with key concepts in marine biology plus a real-world, research experience on Maria Island, Tasmania. And REDMAP is offering one student a scholarship for the field trip part of the course!
MARINE biologist Gretta Pecl and a team of Hobart scientists have found themselves hard up against the perfect natural marine laboratory — the cool but warming waters of Tasmania’s East Coast. With colleagues at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and CSIRO, their research to study the sensitivity of species to rapid climate change has clearly documented a significant shift southward in the fauna and flora inhabiting East Coast …
THE weather gods conspired to provide a rare chance to survey a remote and rarely visited section of north Kimberley reef recently, with footage that will inform the future study of reefs through climate change. Read the full story in Science Network WA.
RESEARCHERS have found strong temperature differences between the western Pacific and central Pacific—which are predicted to increase in future—intensify the magnitude of marine heatwaves in WA. Marine heatwaves can have devastating effects on WA’s marine life, according to the study’s lead researcher Curtin University senior fellow Dr Jens Zinke. Read more at Science Network WA.
WHEN manta rays (Mobulidae) are sighted along Broome’s beautiful coast, there’s always great excitement and sharing of photos on social media. So a presentation by manta ray researchers visiting Broome brought manta fans out in droves. Read more at Science Network WA.
Commercial fishermen and marine scientists are bracing for a possible ocean heatwave that could damage fish stocks and bleach coral reefs. Read more at the West Australian.
We know that climate change is driving changes in the world’s oceans. Currents are shifting, temperatures are climbing and the availability and dynamics of nutrient upwelling is changing. But the question is whether marine species can adapt at the rate at which these changes are occurring? Read the full story in The Conversation.
