EurekAlert! Marine Science - News Releases

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jun-2025 18:09 ET (8-Jun-2025 22:09 GMT/UTC)

Database reveals vital ocean links to aid conservation

University of Queensland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have launched an interactive global map to show the migratory patterns of more than 100 marine species in an effort to protect at-risk wildlife.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, Australian Research Council

Scottish shrimp study illuminates new potential for bait-less fishing

University of Exeter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fishing pots fitted with LED lights catch significantly more shrimp and fish, new research shows.

Journal: Ocean & Coastal Management
Funder: UK Seafood Innovation Fund, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners

Only 0.001% of the deep seafloor visually observed in seventy years, revealing gaps and bias in ocean exploration and global biodiversity understanding

Ocean Discovery League
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a groundbreaking study published today in Science Advances, researchers from Ocean Discovery League reveal that only a minuscule fraction of the deep seafloor has been imaged. Despite covering 66% of Earth's surface, the deep ocean remains largely unexplored. The study, "How Little We've Seen: A Visual Coverage Estimate of the Deep Seafloor," is the first to document that, in decades of deep-sea exploration, humans have observed less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor. This total area is roughly the size of Rhode Island or one-tenth the size of Belgium.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: National Geographic Society, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Cabot Family Charitable Trust

The future of marine operations: Robots that organize themselves

Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Autonomous robots that organize themselves are the next step in working in and studying the ocean.

Journal: Science Robotics

Coastal mega-cities expose wildlife to ‘relentless’ boat traffic

University of Exeter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Coastal mega-cities expose ocean wildlife and habitats to “relentless” boat traffic, new research shows.

Journal: Marine Policy

Halo patterns around coral reefs may signal resilience

Dartmouth College
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in The American Naturalist links grazing halo patterns in coral reefs, as well as those in other patchy habitats, to the spatial patterns of the shelter habitat itself. The researchers found that grazing halos are distinct when the coral is clustered but merge into each other when the coral is dispersed. According to the lead author, "...gaining a better understanding of how halo patterns reflect reef community dynamics may be useful in reef conservation efforts."

Journal: The American Naturalist

Blue tips are red algae’s red flags

Kobe University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Some red algae exhibit structural color that gives their growth tips a blue hue and the rest of their bodies including their fruiting structures a white hue. Moreover, since the color-producing structures are located together with anti-herbivory chemicals, the Kobe University discovery is the first to suggest that red algae use colors for inter-species communication.

Journal: European Journal of Phycology

Ancient poems tell the story of charismatic river porpoise’s decline over the past 1,400 years

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Endemic to China’s Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless porpoise is known for its intelligence and charismatic appearance; it looks like it has a perpetual smile on its face. To track how this critically endangered porpoise’s habitat range has changed over time, a team of biodiversity and conservation experts compiled 724 ancient Chinese poems referencing the porpoise from historic collections across China. Publishing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 5, their results show that the porpoise’s range has decreased by at least 65% over the past 1,400 years, with the majority of this decline occurring in the past century.

Journal: Current Biology

Artificial oxygen supply in coastal waters: A hope with risks

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Could the artificial introduction of oxygen revitalise dying coastal waters? While oxygenation approaches have already been proven successful in lakes, their potential side effects must be carefully analysed before they can be used in the sea. This is the conclusion of researchers from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Radboud University in the Netherlands. In an article in the scientific journal EOS, they warn: Technical measures can mitigate damage temporarily and locally, but they are associated with considerable uncertainties and risks. Above all, they do not offer a permanent solution because the oxygen content will return to its previous level once the measures end, unless the underlying causes of the problem, nutrient inputs and global warming, are not tackled.

Journal: Eos

Research links trilobite body size changes in early Paleozoic with marine oxygen levels

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A recent study shows that marine oxygen levels were crucial to the evolution of Early Paleozoic trilobite body size, suggesting that oxygen may have influenced the evolution of other animals' body size as well.

Journal: Science Advances

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