The Coral Reef Ecosystem: educational outreach

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Coinciding with the end of the International Year of the Reef, Gerd Haegele, a biologist and film maker from Germany has released an educational DVD entitled “The Coral Reef Ecosystem”. In Gerd’s own words:

We are convinced that while it is important to raise awareness for these issues in industrialized countries, it is evenly important to support environmental education in developing countries where coral reefs can be found. We think a DVD can be a very effective and powerful tool in this effort. It could be produced comparable cheap (based on existing material) in many different languages, in a high number of copies and with the possibility to reach a maximum of people – and with the extra benefit of reaching even those who can’t read.

Gerd is currently seeking distributors for the movie, and aims to provide versions in local languages of developing countries for distributions by governments and NGO groups. I think this has a tremendous capacity to reach out to people and get the message across. Take a look at the youtube the trailer below, and check out Gert’s page for more information on ordering the DVD.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElakGZ6sQ_w&w=425&h=344]

(disclosure: Along with Christian Wild and Paul Marshall, I was a scientific advisor on this project)

Australian Climate Statement 2008

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The Australian Bureau of Meterology released the annual Australian climate statement for 2008 last week. Another warm year for Australia, 0.41°C above the standard 1961-90 average…

Overview

  • The mean annual temperature across Australia for 2008 was the 14th warmest on record (0.41°C above normal).
  • A warm year was recorded in most regions, apart from Queensland, northeast New South Wales and the Kimberley (Western Australia).
  • Above average annual rainfall was recorded across the Top End, eastern Queensland, northeast New South Wales and far west parts of Western Australia. Rainfall was average to below average in the remainder of the country.
  • Low rainfall over the southern Murray Darling Basin during 2008 further exacerbated the long dry spell in this region.

A warmer than average year
Data collected by the Bureau of Meteorology indicate that, overall, Australia’s annual mean temperature for 2008 was 0.41°C above the standard 1961-90 average, making it the nation’s 14th warmest year since comparable records began in 1910.

Most regions recorded a warm year overall, apart from Queensland, northeast New South Wales and the Kimberley. Particularly high temperatures were recorded across inland Western Australia and the Northern Territory in January, as well as western Victoria and southern South Australia in March, with a record-breaking heatwave during the first half of the month. Conversely, cool temperatures were recorded in southeast Australia during February and again in April, across most of the country in August, and across the southwest during November.

Australia’s mean temperature for 2008 was slightly lower than that recorded for the previous six years, partly due to a La Niña event that developed in late 2007 and continued into early 2008. Despite the cooling effect of La Niña, Australia has now recorded a warmer-than-average year for the past seven consecutive years. In line with the rest of the globe, Australia has experienced a background warming of about 0.9°C over the last Century. On 16 December 2008, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicated that the global mean temperature was also warmer than normal during 2008 (about 0.31°C above average), making 2008 the globe’s 10th warmest year on record. It is now 23 years since the globe has experienced a cooler than average year.

Australia’s mean temperature for 2008 was slightly lower than that recorded for the previous six years, partly due to a La Niña event that developed in late 2007 and continued into early 2008. Despite the cooling effect of La Niña, Australia has now recorded a warmer-than-average year for the past seven consecutive years. In line with the rest of the globe, Australia has experienced a background warming of about 0.9°C over the last Century.

On 16 December 2008, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicated that the global mean temperature was also warmer than normal during 2008 (about 0.31°C above average), making 2008 the globe’s 10th warmest year on record. It is now 23 years since the globe has experienced a cooler than average year.

More good legislative news from the US

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There is quite of bit of federal legislative action happening in the US that bodes well for marine conservation and coral reefs.   Rick MacPherson has a nice roundup at his always excellent Maleria, Bedbugs, Sea lice and Sunsets blog.

Also check out the Saipan Blog, for a great first hand account of how a small band of marine conservationist pulled off the conservation victory of the decade.  (also thanks to Rick)

Introducing the spookfish – the first known vertebrate to have evolved mirrored eyes

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Researchers from Tuebingen University in Germany have made a startling discovery by finding the first known vertebrate to have evolved mirrors, which focus light into the eyes. This odd vertebrate is a species of fish (Dolichopteryx longipes), commonly known as the ‘spookfish‘ or ‘barreleye‘. Although the spookfish has been recognised for over 120 years, it was only recently (last year) that a live specimen was captured of the coast of Tonga.

The reason for their ellusive nature is that spookfish are resident in mesopelagic to bathypelagic zones (~400 to 2,500m depth), inhabiting the border between the photic and aphotic zones. In order to enhance visual acuity at such depths where sunlight barely penetrates, the spookfish has evolved an elaborate system of two sets of connected double eyes. One half of each eye points upwards, capturing the faint light from the surface, whilst the other half point downwards.

_45353036_spookfish1

The main eyes of spookfish (with the orange-yellow eyeshine from flash photography) are offset with reflective mirrors (indicated here in black) to focus light from above.

These “diverticular” eyes use an elborate mirror constructed of tiny crystals that focus reflected light onto the retina of the eye. Professor Julian Partridge, a co-author on the paper reasons that this system is the reason that the spookfish thrives in such dimly lit regions of the ocean:

“At these depths it is flashes of bioluminescent light from other animals that the spookfish are largely looking for.

The diverticular eyes image these flashes, warning the spookfish of other animals that are active, and otherwise unseen, below its vulnerable belly.

That must give the fish a great advantage in the deep sea, where the ability to spot even the dimmest and briefest of lights can mean the difference between eating and being eaten.”

picture-98

When viewed from the top of the head, the mirror inside of the diverticulum (marked with an arrow) is clearly visible through the transparent cornea of the eye.

Nature has evolved some absolutely incredible adaptions to environmental conditions – the really neat thing about this study is that it proves that image formation in vertebrate eyes isn’t limited to refraction, a trait that has evolved in nearly every other vertebrate (including mammals).

“In nearly 500 million years of vertebrate evolution, and many thousands of vertebrate species living and dead, this is the only one known to have solved the fundamental optical problem faced by all eyes – how to make an image – using a mirror” (Link)

Click here to read the full paper in Current Biology.

Harbor seal debunks AGW myth

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A harbor seal, presumably from the north Atlantic, showed up in Bermuda this week and effectively debunked the global conspiracy known as AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming).  William Weaver of the group Americans for Climate Truth said in a statement “scientists have reported that thousands of species were moving away from the equator, but this sighting is proof that animals are now moving towards the equator to escape the current global cooling“.  Weaver added, “this discovery overturns that IPCC “report” and the thousands of “scientific studies” that formerly supported the AGW hypothesis”.

Joel Swathmore of Save The Humans, issued a press release stating “this news comes on top of the fact that it got really freaking cold in my town a few weeks ago.  Both pieces of evidence clearly indicate we are heading into an ice age.  Saint Gore was wrong – the big worry now is how to keep the earth from freezing over. ”

Update (07/01/08): it appears that Michael Duvinak over at the Skeptics Global Warming blog doesn’t have much of a sense of humour… J. Roff

Update II (07/01/08):  OK, if it isn’t obvious, THIS IS A JOKE (although the seal story is real).  But I do think sarcasm is one way we can begin to point out the foolishness of some of the skeptic arguments.  And it isn’t uncommon to see believers of AGW make similarly dopey arguments, essentially confusing weather with climate.  “dude, what about that heat wave – must be global warming!”

Bush establishes three massive marine parks

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President George Bush has made good on his commitment to protect large areas of the Pacific from fishing:

WASHINGTON — Parts of three remote and uninhabited Pacific island chains are being set aside by President George W. Bush as national monuments to protect them from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history.

The three areas -totaling some 195,274 square miles – include the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa and seven islands strung along the equator in the central Pacific Ocean.

It will be the second time Bush has used the law to protect marine resources. Two years ago, the president made a huge swath of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, barring fishing, oil and gas extraction and tourism from its waters and coral reefs. At the time, that area was the largest conservation area in the world.

Read the entire story here

Update: no, this is not a hoax!

Ningaloo Reef under the microscope

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r147412_519770ABC News, 5th December 2008

Scientists who recently completed the most comprehensive study of the Great Barrier Reef are now turning their attention to Western Australia’s coast, focussing on Ningaloo Reef.

An Australian Institute of Marine Science study recently found the steepest drop in coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef in at least 400 years, which the Institute attributes to rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification.

The study found that on current trends coral on the Great Barrier Reef will stop growing by 2050.

The Institute’s Dr Janice Lough says scientists are now conducting a similar study on Ningaloo Reef, using coral cores to provide information about the growth of the reef, similar to the way tree rings are used to date trees.

“Some of these should contain records between about 50 to maybe 150 to 200 years, of coral growth at Ningaloo, so we’re really interested to see whether similar slowing of growth is likely to be evident in the West,” she said.

“As with people if you listen to one person they can tell you any old story, if you get a lot of people telling you the same story, or a lot of corals telling you the same story then we will believe what they’re saying, and corals don’t have any axe to grind, they are very objective about what they’re observing in the environment.”

Manta rays

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http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2718705&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

2008 was the year that scientists realised that the humble manta ray (Manta birostris) might not be a a solitary species as initially thought. First described by the naturalist Johann Julius Walbaum back in 1792, the manta ray grows in excess of 7.6m (>25ft) and weighs up to 2300kg (~5,000lbs) – about 4/5ths of the weight of a Hummer SUV.

Andrea Marshall, a PhD student at the University of Queensland has been studying the ecology of manta rays in Mozambique for over 5 years, and his since identified over 900 individuals. Using genetic and morphological markers, her research showed that there are at least two different species of manta ray: the smaller common manta ray (as in the above video clip) specific to coastlines and coral reefs around the globe, and a second larger species of manta ray that is more elusive, and has broad migratory habits.

As Andrea points out, manta populations are frequently small in size, and intense fishing pressure can threaten the stability of local populations in a few years. The more common manta ray is particularly susceptible to unsustainable localised fishing pressures due to their restricted migratory ranges, whilst the larger migratory species causes problems with population estimates and conservation management to it’s broad home range. Manta rays are in increasing danger from the effects of fishing, and cartilidge and branchial plates (the characteristic mandibles or ‘lobes’ that protrude from the mouth) are sold for upto $50USD per kilo in Asia.

mantasatmarket-full1 andreamarketweb-full1

I filmed the video at the top whilst on fieldwork in the central Great Barrier Reef last year. The two manta rays (the smaller ‘common’ type) were feeding on an upwelling of plankton off the edge of the reef crest, and were happy for us to swim between them without being disturbed. Visit the homepage of the the Manta Ray & Whale Shark Research Centre in Mozambique to read more about the conservation and protection of these amazing creatures, or check out their blog (“The latest news on the biggest fishes“) over at wordpress

Nasa climate expert makes personal appeal to Obama

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obama_hansen4The Guardian, 2nd January 2008
One of the world’s top climate scientists has written a personal new year appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama, warning of the “profound disconnect” between public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem.

With less than three weeks to go until Obama’s inauguration, Professor James Hansen, who heads Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Professor John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the president-elect.

In it, he praises Obama’s campaign rhetoric about “a planet in peril”, but says that how the new president acts in office will be crucial. Hansen lambasts the current international approach of setting targets through “cap and trade” schemes as not up to the task. “This approach is ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat. It could waste another decade, locking in disastrous consequences for our planet and humanity,” the letter from Hansen and his wife, Anniek, reads.

The letter will make uncomfortable reading for officials in 10 US states whose cap and trade mechanism – the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – got under way yesterday. The scheme is the first mandatory, market-based greenhouse gas reduction programme in the US.

Hansen advocates a three-pronged attack on the climate problem.

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Declining calcification on the Great Barrier Reef – Radio Interview

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Glen De’ath and Katherina Fabricius, two co-authors from the recent science paper on the decline in coral calcification on the Great Barrier Reef were interviewed by Australian ABC radio this afternoon. Listen online below, or read on after the jump for a transcript.

[audio:http://67.220.225.10/~clim2165/cs/audio/20090102-am07-coral-decline.mp3]

update: fixed the link to the correct interview.
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