A Year In The Ocean

It’s been one year (well, just about) since Jess, Alexis and I started blogging about all things ocean on Saltwater Science, sharing our favourite facts, our most curious critters, and the papers that piqued our interest with you. This though, is only a snapshot of what we know about the salty underwater world, and the last year has revealed many more marine discoveries. So, what made the headlines?

Protecting ocean habitats and inhabitants

While plans for a massive Antarctic marine reserve were scuppered following opposition from Russia, the news isn’t all bad. Around the world, a number of marine nature reserves have been put on the map. Quebec has pledged to protect 10% of its seas by 2015, and created a 275-square-mile reserve in the St Lawrence Estuary in a bid to meet this goal. Morocco began to trial marine protected areas to support sustainable fishing and 27 marine conservation zones were established in England. And, most recently, the world’s largest marine protected area was created in New Caledonia – at three times the size of Germany, the reserve is great news for marine conservation!

Rethinking the way we fish

In July 2013 a report hinted that Europe’s fish stocks were on the road to recovery, a finding that, while promising, was also criticised as being a little premature. There have been some significant steps towards sustainable fishing in Europe since, particularly the changes made to the Common Fisheries Policy, which outlines the rules for European fisheries. The European Union aims to have Europe’s seas ship-shape for 2020, but there’s still more to be done. Better than banning discards, for example, more care should be taken to ensure unwanted species aren’t caught in the first place. Two new reports have revealed just how much further Europe’s sea strategies need to change to make healthy, sustainably fished seas a reality.

Some parts of the sea floor are rich in precious metals – the sort that are increasingly in demand to make high-tech items like the one you’re reading this post on. Last month, plans were made to mine metals off the coast of Papua New Guinea. If the project goes ahead, it will be the world’s first deep sea mining operation. It’s a controversial topic, particularly because we know so little about the deep sea and projects like this could mean ecosystems may be lost before they’re fully understood.

Whaling wake up call

The last year has seen an end to a different commercial practice – at least temporarily – with a suspension on Japanese whaling in the Antarctic. This development was widely covered on Scitable (exploring the arguments for and against it, describing the non-lethal ways to study whales and discussing the role of whales in the environment and the economy) as well as the mainstream media (here’s just some of the coverage on the BBC and in the Guardian). However, Japan is able to practice whaling in other areas and continues to do so under a scientific remit.

Ocean acidification, often referred to as ‘the other CO₂ problem’, has been highlighted as a major area for future research, even attracting a prize of $2 million for the development of an effective acidification sensor system. Further, a report published in November revealed that ocean acidification could trigger enormous economic losses due to declines in shellfish harvests and impacts on the marine tourism industry. While the researchers put the likelihood at the “medium confidence” level, the ocean’s chemistry is changing faster than it has in 20 million years – certainly cause for further investigations!

So many new species

Climate scientists spotted some new anemones hanging out beneath the Antarctic ice – the first to be found living on the underside of the ice, instead of a more 'sensible’ substrate. A tiny skeleton shrimp species – just a few millimetres in length – was discovered off the coast of California. They would look formidable if it weren’t for their size. A new species of humpback dolphin was proposed following findings north of Australia, a host of carnivorous sponges were pinpointed in the Pacific, a new order of giant anemones was named and more besides!

Scanning the internet to find these media marvels revealed a lot more than could make it into one post (how naïve was I to think you could fit an entire year of ocean science into one article?!), so this is just a sample what’s made waves in the last 12 months. What do you think were the most exciting findings, or the most important changes to how we manage marine environments, made this year?

Images

1) Bird’s-eye view of New Caledonia’s barrier reef. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen/Michon Scott via Wikimedia Commons.

2) Exploring mining potential on the sea floor. Credit: gnews via Flickr.

3) A coral reef, one of many under threat from ocean acidification. Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2011.