What’s going on here? Trials for a new fishing technology are taking place that use light instead of fish bait. The method attracts scallops as well, meaning this could be a promising alternative to dredging. What does this mean? Scientists from Fishtek Marine have been working alongside fishermen trialling the use of LED lights in pots to catch crabs and lobsters. Surprisingly,…
What’s Going On Here? To start the year off on a positive note, we’re celebrating the UK’s 2021 marine conservation successes. According to The Wildlife Trusts’ marine annual review, a high number of humpback whales and other sea mammals were spotted in our waters. However, the conservation group also warns that human activity and the climate crisis are increasingly harming our marine…
What’s Going On Here? Scientists have warned that the eastern ice shelf of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier could shatter within the next decade, accelerating melting and sea level rise. What Does This Mean? West Antarctica’s Thwaites glacier is about the size of Great Britain and sheds circa 50 billion tonnes of ice each year. Earlier this week, The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC),…
What’s going on here? We know there seems to be a day for everything (today is actually a day to celebrate the Ball Point pen), but we couldn’t let this year’s World Oceans Day on Tuesday wash past us without a look into the deep blue. Listen up policy makers – the evidence base for a thriving ocean is growing quicker than…
This grassy green marine plant is well known within the rockpools and beaches of our coastlines, but did you know about the additional benefits this plant can provide? We’ve taken a deep dive (excuse the pun) into how seaweed is helping us turn the tide (sorry, I’ll stop now…) on climate change in a variety of curious ways…. Seaweed as an important…
What’s Going On Here? Researchers extracting sediment core from the seabed on the south-eastern Weddell Sea made a surprise discovery, when their camera sent down the borehole revealed a life-bearing rock – 16 sponges accompanied by 22 unidentified animals. What Does This Mean? The footage of the boulder shows it is home to at least two types of sponge and other organisms,…
What’s Going On Here? In a world first, an ocean initiative has been formed by 14 governments who are leading the way to sustain healthier, more prosperous oceans. The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy is the biggest collaboration on oceans to date. What Does This Mean? Like-minded world leaders with sustainable ocean management at heart have recently released their…
What’s Going On Here? A recent paper in Nature Communications has found that the world’s oceans could be absorbing significantly more carbon from the atmosphere than previously thought. What Does This Mean? The ocean is a carbon sink and absorbs around 25% of global atmospheric carbon dioxide through a process called the ‘ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux’. This amounts to about 2 billion tonnes…
What’s Going On Here? The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is melting at such a high rate that even if global heating were to stop today, the ice would continue to disappear. What Does This Mean? According to a new study conducted by scientists at Ohio State University, the world’s second largest ice sheet has reached a tipping point, whereby annual snowfall is…
