If you’re out there struggling to meet your New Years resolutions: hi, me too. <Insert Anti-hero lyrics>. I told myself I would write an issue of Submerged Science every week! Maybe you haven’t even noticed that hasn't been happening, but this is only the second edition this year. There is a reason: I got a little busy getting the deepest scuba certification that exists :) Self high-five. The course is called hypoxic trimix, and I finished it over a couple weeks in January.
Completing this course has been a goal of mine basically since I started rebreather diving and I feel a huge sense of personal accomplishment having it under my belt. So I’m sorry that Submerged Science took a backseat for a few weeks, but I’m restarting my attempt to write one every week! There is so much cool stuff going on in marine science right now.
Let’s get on to the science!
Turning the Tide
Well-written popular articles in marine science
Many people know that sharks have been around since the dinosaurs, but did you know that sturgeons have been as well? Well, maybe not for much longer, as they’re having difficulty surviving the human era. There are many threats facing these caviar producers, including loss of habitat to lay eggs, ship strikes, and of course, harvesting spawn-ready females for their eggs. Saving the sturgeon is going to test our conservation prowess.
Andrew S. Lewis, The New York Times
While I am generally a fan of ecotourism, there are many ways to do it wrong. Many times there are unintended consequences to large numbers of people clamoring to see some natural phenomenon that they paid a lot of money to witness. In Norway, a whale-watching industry has sprung up so rapidly that the region has not had time to implement rules to keep both humans and whales safe. The result is pure chaos.
Egill Bjarnason, Hakai Magazine
Salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska are getting smaller, and scientists are trying to figure out why. They’ve discovered the small sizes are in part due to slower growth rates at sea before the fish run up the river to reproduce. Warming waters are simultaneously reducing food supplies and increasing caloric needs for salmon. But smaller salmon are better than no salmon at all, which is happening in other parts of Alaska. A beautiful photo story featuring cardinal-red spawning salmon.
Some Science
Fresh discoveries and peer-reviewed papers
It’s difficult to imagine how a very land-based animal like a rat can have a noticeable effect on a very ocean-based animal like a fish, but it’s happening. Invasive rats on tropical islands are making nearby reef fish more peaceful. With some impressive investigating and experimentation, scientists have figured out that (*deep breath*) rats are eating seabird eggs and babies, reducing seabird populations, meaning less bird poop, resulting in less nitrogen flowing into coral reefs, making seaweed less nutritious, so farming damselfish defend their gardens less aggressively.
In another impressive ecological chain, sea otter recovery is having negative consequences for deer on an island in Alaska. The link between them turns out to be coastal wolves. The return of sea otters has reintroduced a historical food source for the wolves. This new source of nutrients is great for the wolf population, who then spread out to eat more deer.
These days, there is a tech solution for everything. Fish markets are a decentralized, chaotic atmosphere where it is difficult to know whether the price you’re paying for a species is reasonable or not. Without centralized communication, there is a lot of paperwork and even more wasted fish. An online trading platform has the goal to fix this by tracking the worldwide seafood supply chain. The data collected would help customers assess sustainability of their seafood and aid governments in fisheries management.
Alex Christian, Wired Magazine
Fun and Fascinating
Thanks for reading! Remember to drink water, eat plants, and don’t be too salty.
Til next time,
Sarah
If you liked this post, consider sharing it with a friend.
If a friend sent you this email, they are now your new bestie. And you can subscribe yourself by clicking the button below.
See previous newsletters here.
Have a suggestion, or just want to say hi? You can email submergedscience@substack.com or hit reply.