Cosmos Magazine: 3D sharks! New interactive online display brings oceans to life. “World of Sharks already introduces infographics, podcasts, species cards and topic pages. The latest addition to the website includes interactive 3D models of white sharks and manta rays designed by the Digital Life project based at the University of Massachusetts.”
Deeper Blue: A New Database Shows How Sharks Use The Ocean’s Depths. “While some species spend their entire lives in shallow waters close to shore on the continental shelf, others plunge hundreds of meters or more off the slope waters into the twilight zone, beyond where sunlight penetrates. This new understanding of how elasmobranchs — the scientific word for sharks, rays and skates — use the ocean will enable policymakers and resource managers the opportunity to examine the threats these animals face, and guide future management and conservation plans.”
Tohoku University: A New Database Visualizing Fish Biodiversity Opens to the Public. “Tohoku University professor Michio Kondoh has spearheaded the launch of ANEMONE DB – a new public database of fish biodiversity based on environmental DNA (eDNA)…. Unlike traditional biological surveys, where fish must be collected to be observed, eDNA surveys are straightforward, inexpensive and can detect rare or nearly extinct species. A simple sample of water taken from rivers, seas or oceans picks up DNA left behind by organisms and reveals crucial information, like population sizes and distribution.”
Dalhousie University: ‘It takes a village to build a whale’: Dal’s Blue Whale Project set to soar this fall. “Since 2017, Dalhousie’s Blue Whale Project has left a big impression on everyone who’s encountered it, from students and faculty to community members and volunteers. Now, just months away from the blue whale arriving at its final resting place in Dal’s Steele Ocean Sciences Building, there is a buzz of excitement around the university.”
The Guardian: Researchers use whale photo archive to help protect important WA calving site. “Researchers are combing through thousands of whale photos to help protect a calving site off Western Australia’s coast that was severely impacted by the whaling industry. The researchers believe that Geographe Bay off south-west WA is an important calving ground in need of environmental protection, and are using a 30-year archive of images to determine how many southern right whales have visited the area over time.”
KNDO: Washington launches new website to track recovery efforts for orca population. “The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office created a new website to track recovery efforts for endangered Southern Resident orcas. The website has information on putting in places the recommendations made by the governor’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force, general information about the whales and suggestions for how people can help save the orcas and resources for school curriculum.”
University at Buffalo: These stunning 3D models of coral reefs are a crucial research tool. “Where do coral larvae, called planulae, like to settle? What seascapes help youngsters of different coral species flourish? And do varying species compete for the same microhabitats/spots on the reef? To study these questions, University at Buffalo scientist Ángela Martínez Quintana has created stunning 3D digital models that visualize the surface of coral reefs in painstaking detail. And these artful re-creations aren’t just beautiful: They’re also filled with data on the distribution of young corals, known as recruits, that scientists are analyzing.”
EurekAlert: Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds, “GLUBS,” will help monitor changing marine life. “…a team of 17 experts from nine countries has set a goal of gathering on a single platform huge collections of aquatic life’s tell-tale sounds, and expanding it using new enabling technologies – from highly sophisticated ocean hydrophones and artificial intelligence learning systems to phone apps and underwater GoPros used by citizen scientists. The Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds, ‘GLUBS,’ will underpin a novel non-invasive, affordable way for scientists to listen in on life in marine, brackish and freshwaters, monitor its changing diversity, distribution and abundance, and identify new species.”
Mashable: 11 extraordinary underwater photographs that bring the depths to you. “The winners of the annual Underwater Photographer of the Year competition have been announced, annually diving into the dark depths to introduce us to a world beneath the surface of oceans, pools, rivers, and lakes. Celebrating underwater photography since 1965, the UK competition features 13 categories including wrecks, portrait, wide angle, macro, behaviour, and marine conservation.”
Yale Environment 360: A New Tool Shows How Much Dams Will Alter River Temperatures, Threatening Native Fish. “A new online tool reveals how more than 200 planned dams worldwide will alter river temperatures, potentially rendering waters too hot or too cold for native fish…. Scientists analyzed the impact of 100 existing dams to create a machine learning tool that would predict how much 216 planned dams will alter temperatures downstream.”
Christian Science Monitor: Blue whales: An acoustic library helps us find what we can’t see. “Reverberating through the ice shelves and gyres of the Southern Ocean are the undersongs of the largest animal that has ever lived on this planet, the Antarctic blue whale. Telling tales of the hunt for krill, of navigation and seduction, these tunes can carry for hundreds of miles. And the world is listening: Moored around Antarctica is a loose ring of passive acoustic monitoring devices, or PAMs, deployed by various academic institutions. Released by oceanographic research vessels, the devices sink to the seafloor where they record a remote and often hostile realm that is practically out of reach of scientists.”
Oregon State University: Meet some of Oregon’s most recognizable gray whales via new OSU website. ” Scarlett is known for the large scar on her back. Equal bears the mark of a boat propeller injury. Roller Skate’s fluke was damaged due to entanglement with fishing gear. Solé has a favorite foraging ground she returns to each year. Each of these gray whales was nicknamed by researchers in the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute…. Now they want the public to get to know some of these whales, too.”
Geographic: Social media is providing crucial data to study and monitor marine species . “Visitors to the stretch of coastline from Donegal to Antrim, Northern Ireland, are often treated to the sight of bottlenose dolphins leaping from the sea surface. Pictures of their acrobatics accrue thousands of likes on social media, but amateur photographers are often unaware that their images are generating powerful data.”
WWLP: New tool maps birds, fish in offshore wind areas. “While federal and state officials eagerly pursue a rapid and significant deployment of offshore wind turbines to generate cleaner power along the East Coast, scientists and advocates on Wednesday unveiled a new mapping tool designed to give developers, regulators and the public a better sense of the natural resources below the surface in the neighborhood of proposed wind projects.”
Arizona State University: ASU center announces first-ever global coral reef maps. “On Sept. 8, the Allen Coral Atlas met a major milestone by completing global habitat maps of the world’s tropical, shallow coral reefs. A combination of satellite imagery, advanced analytics and global collaboration has resulted in maps that show the marine ecosystems’ benthic and geomorphic data in unprecedented detail. With eyes in the sky, the technology recognizes geomorphic, or seascape structures, up to about 15 meters (52 feet) underwater and benthic data, or the composition of the ocean floor, up to about 10 meters (33 feet) underwater.”
