Emily Tripp Senior Writer A study in a marine protected area in Belize has shown that fishing closures boost predatory fish populations, but don’t benefit herbivorous fish as much. The 14 year study was conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society in an atoll reef lagoon in Glover’s Reef, Belize. The fishing closures have aided in the recovery [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer In the first expedition to the “Dragon Vent” in the south-west Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered an incredible number of creatures. Some are known to live in these inhospitable regions and some are entirely new to science. The exploration was led by Dr. Jon Copley, a marine biologist from the University [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer In just the first two weeks of the New Year it is clear that the number of whale sightings will be much higher than previous years. To start, the annual southward migration of gray whales began early this year. In 2010 only eight whales were seen during the entire month of [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer The world’s first hybrid shark was discovered recently in Australian waters. The mating of the local Australian black-tip shark with the common black-tip is a potential indicator that sharks are adapting to climate change. “It’s very surprising because no one’s ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence [...]
By Henry Workman In the Atacama Desert near Caldera, Chile, fossils of 75 prehistoric whales were discovered amid a highway construction project. Estimated at more than 2 million years old but remarkably intact, the remains were found in an unusual cluster no less than 800 meters (or ½ mile) from the ocean. Theories are accumulating [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer Today, the first group of penguins affected by the oil spill in New Zealand was released back into their home waters. On October 5th, the cargo vessel, Rena, ran aground off the Astrolabe reef, spilling more than 400 tons of oil into the water and killing more than 2,000 seabirds. The [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer Happy Feet Two was released in theaters on Nov 18. While still primarily a tale about Emperor Penguins, this movie also features elephant seals, leopard seals, and most importantly, krill. The krill in Happy Feet Two are voiced by Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. The 30th Commission for the Conservation of [...]
By Henry Workman Research from New Zealand’s Massey University and Te Papa has produced footage revealing the hagfish’s one-of-a-kind defense mechanism. When threatened the creature will expel a mucus-like substance which interferes with the gill functioning of predators, causing them to gag and swim away. The study also yielded insight into the hagfish’s own predatory [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer The ‘breakfast breakout session’ titled “Shark Attack: ‘Human Kind at Its Worst’” at the SEJ Conference on Saturday was composed of a group of four people, passionate about sharks. The session title came from impressive words from Jean-Michel Cousteau who once said that “shark finning is humankind at its worst”. It covered topics from shark [...]
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