Coastal & Marine Conservation

“Primum non nocere”, or “first, do no harm”, is one of the central ethical principles taught to medical students, and one that scientists and policy makers alike should embrace. In this context, to do no harm, we argue that a systems-wide, holistic approach to N and P control is essential. When develop- ing nutrient criteria for a given river or estuary, it is imperative for policy makers to remember that actions in one watershed will affect a neighboring or downstream ecosystem.

Ship strikes Social communication is necessary so that they can get together for important activities, such as mating, and it is unclear just what the ramifications of cutting off that communication will mean for them. But the ships are not just disrupting communication; they also collide with whales from time to time. Dr Dave Wiley who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has seen the consequences at first hand.

The National Marine Fisheries Service on Friday proposed listing 66 coral species in the Pacific and Caribbean oceans as endangered or threatened. Corals provide habitat that support fisheries, generate jobs through recreation and tourism, and protect coastlines from erosion, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco. Yet, scientific research indicates climate change and human activities are putting corals at risk, she said.

Ships travel around the world using shipping lanes. Whales can be in the same areas, raising the potential for collisions between the two, or shipstrikes. 2008 Fellow Leslie Abramson works with the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in San Francisco to coordinate a stakeholder process focused on reducing the risk of shipstrike on endangered whales off the coast of California.

Brian Beal, a University of Maine at Machias biologist, has been studying the decline of clam populations in the state and said warm weather, coupled with an extremely successful predator, historically spells disaster for clams. Green crabs, originally from Japan, were first recorded on Long Island, N.Y., in the mid-1860s and weren’t seen in Casco Bay until the early 1900s, Beal said. The green crab populations have been kept in check by severe cold snaps, Beal said, experienced frequently throughout the last century, allowing clams and other shellfish to recover.

Written by Collen Callahan I would like to share the below announcement about " Soak it Up! A Briefing Paper on the Impacts of Oil Spills and Leaks with Strategies for Sustainability," made possible through a Switzer Network Innovation...

Amy Clipp gave a webinar for us that offered ideas for bridging the gap between science and policy, with a particular focus on helping scientists apply their work in complex, political environments. Her stories are based on lessons learned advising the State of Louisiana on its 2012 Coastal Master Plan.

Because they spend so much time in remote waters, and don't survive in captivity, great white sharks are deeply mysterious creatures. But over the last ten years, biologists have been able to track them using electronic tags which record their position and depth, and the ocean temperature. On the face of it, that information can't tell you what the sharks are actually doing. But Salvador Jorgensen of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, and colleagues have developed a new statistical analysis that picks out patterns of behaviour from the tagging data.