Coastal & Marine Conservation

"Some coralline algae produce a chemical that induces coral settlement, in which the larval stage in the water settles on the ocean floor to grow into an adult. This settlement must happen for reefs to recover after disturbance," said lead author Jennifer O'Leary, a research associate with the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

Abstract

How can we ensure the water that runs off our driveways and parking lots is safe for the environment? 2009 Switzer Fellow Brenda Zollitsch works with municipalities to address pollution that impacts waterways.

On my first major research cruise, the ship was hit by a hurricane. On the second, the weather was even worse. In one particularly nasty storm, I remember standing braced on the ship’s bridge late at night, watching bolts of lightning light up the world. Each one revealed waves taller than the ship extending to the horizon in every direction. We bobbed haplessly among them. At a time like that, it’s hard not to feel philosophical about the power of nature.

Today, four Massachusetts-based community organizations submitted a letter to John Bryson, Secretary of Commerce, requesting that NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) expedite important measures designed to further science-based management of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and fisheries in New England. "Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, an 842-square mile area spanning the approach to Massachusetts Bay, is home to over five hundred species of fish, sea birds, whales and diverse marine life," said Rob Moir, PhD, of the Ocean River Institute.

The plastics on Mahahual's picturesque beaches are more than an eyesore. They may threaten the fragile coral reef and mangrove ecosystems of the Yucatan Peninsula, said H. Bruce Rinker, an ecologist at the Maine-based Biodiversity Research Institute and science advisor to Sustenta.com. "If we turn our backs, we risk harming the integrity of those systems," Rinker said. Read full story

“Ocean conservation seems like a daunting problem,” says Johnson. “But the solutions can be simple.” Johnson received about a dozen emails from colleagues encouraging her to apply to Solution Search – an online platform designed to find successful innovation in conservation. “Everyone thought it was a good fit,” says Johnson. “Apparently, they were right.” Read the article

Nearly two decades after coming to the Hopkins Marine Station as an undergraduate in earth systems, Raphael D. Sagarin was again hunched over a tide pool identifying its briny inhabitants. His mentor, emeritus lecturer Chuck Baxter, stood on a nearby outcropping and called out helpful advice. It was a drippy coastal morning, with fog heavy enough to dampen paper and a raucous crowd of gulls hooting from the roof of the nearby lab. The shallow pools initially appeared abandoned at low tide, but a closer look revealed dozens of tiny creatures going about their underwater business.