To protect the diverse marine ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region, we need to understand the full picture via collaborative data integration efforts across institutes and different disciplines.

Recently, a research group led by Prof. SUN Xiaobing from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, investigated the impact of multiangular polarimetry on the quantification of marine aerosol remote sensing applications.

Microorganisms in the Black Sea can produce large amounts of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O). However, this gas never reaches the atmosphere because it is swiftly consumed by other microorganisms, which convert it to harmless dinitrogen gas (N₂). Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have now investigated this process and identified the key players involved.

Researchers from Kumamoto University and collaborating institutions have discovered a new species of deep-sea sea anemone that builds shell-like “homes” for hermit crabs — an extraordinary case of mutualism and co-evolution in the ocean depths.

Most sharks in UK waters survive catch-and-release fishing when angling best practices are followed, according to a new study.

Scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography have described a new way to produce large amounts of xanthommatin, a natural pigment, in a bacterium for the first time. Xanthommatin is the natural chemical compound used by octopus, squid and other cephalopods to change the color of their skin. Researchers in the Moore Lab at Scripps have found their nature-based approach to produce up to 1,000 times more xanthommatin material than traditional methods. This breakthrough opens new possibilities for the pigment’s use in a wide range of materials and cosmetics — from photoelectronic devices and thermal coatings to dyes and UV protectants.

An adult great white shark has just one predator: the orca. Until recently, orcas have only been observed regularly preying on these sharks in South Africa, where they usually prefer to hunt larger adults, which provide more food once caught. But now scientists have observed a specialist shark-hunting pod in the Gulf of California repeatedly targeting juvenile white sharks, flipping them upside-down and taking out their energy-rich livers to share with the pod. They could be taking advantage of a local shark nursery to hunt younger, less experienced individuals which are easier to catch and subdue. 

Plankton are tiny and highly diverse marine organisms that can act as indicators for the health and biodiversity of ecosystems in the face of factors such as climate change. In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers used a technique called ultrastructure expansion microscopy to extensively study the cellular structure of over 200 planktonic marine microbes. The study, recently published in the journal Cell, was part of a plug-in project for the EMBL-led Traversing European Coastlines (TREC) expedition, and takes the first steps towards a planetary atlas of plankton.

A new species of jellyfish has been discovered! Researchers at Tohoku University named this venomous creature Physalia mikazuki, after the crescent moon helmet worn by Sendai’s feudal lord Date Masamune.

The project will combine natural records around the Eastern Hemisphere tropics to better understand monsoon rainfall patterns across Asia, Indonesia and Australia over the last millennium — and how they might look in the future under a changing climate.