Jérôme OLLIER’s Post

💡Want to learn more about marine survey data and outputs relating to offshore wind? Check out this post highlighting the latest instalment of the insight series on the Marine Data Exchange #MDEInsights

Looking for an uplifting story about feasible actions we can take to enhance ecosystem health and resilience? Check out our new paper published today that documents the benefits that sea otter conservation is delivering to coastal wetlands in California (see below).

Today, the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) released their Science Plan to guide regional data collection and scientific studies of interactions between offshore wind and wildlife on the U.S. east coast. Led by RWSC staff, MassCEC joined experts from Atlantic coast states, offshore wind companies, U.S. federal agencies, environmental nonprofits, and the scientific research community to develop these recommendations. The plan will inform independent and peer-reviewed science that can help protect wildlife and inform management and conservation decisions. A primary focus of the Science Plan is to encourage the use of consistent methods and data standards across the many research projects that are planned and underway studying marine mammals, birds, bats, sea turtles, protected fish, oceanography, seafloor habitat, and new technologies. Read the full Science Plan: https://lnkd.in/evVPjUBq and join the public webinar on February 9, from 1-2pm ET to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ebpq6uQ3.

How do you measure the impacts of a cyclone on the marine environment? 🌀 In the months following Cyclone Gabrielle, NIWA researchers carried out detailed marine surveys off the coast of Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti to collect valuable data before it was literally washed away. 🚢 The team used three main tools to investigate conditions beneath the waves: 🗺️ multibeam sonar for mapping the seabed 📹 a towed video camera for imaging the seafloor and its habitats 🦀 a sediment multicorer to sample the seafloor and the life within. Early findings showed parts of the seafloor were covered in sediment, and trawl surveys returned little biology but lots of wood debris. The data will be used to help build a comprehensive picture of Gabrielle’s legacy for the seabed. 🌊 Find the full story in our latest Water & Atmosphere issue here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gUqJG5aj

📰 Our submitted conference paper on the "#Age and #Growth of the Veined #Squid, #Loligo forbesii in the Eastern Ionian Sea" has been accepted to be presented in the 5th International Congress on Applied #Ichthyology, #Oceanography & Aquatic #Environment. 🌊 🔬Although #ageing, using a species' hard tissues, is a tedious and time-consuming lab procedure, it provides essential data on its life history. This is especially important in the case of commercial species, like the veined squid, for which this kind of information is necessary for their effective stock management and sustainable exploitation. 🦑 #HydroMediT2024

New mapping method developed for critical marine habitat - The University of Western Australia: Researchers at The University of Western Australia have led the development of a new technique for accurately mapping shallow and coastal marine habitats. https://lnkd.in/erZVrvgg

NEW SCIENCE: Global shipping threatens whale shark hotspots We've just published a major new study, led by Marine Research and Conservation Foundation scientist Dr Freya Womersley, that identifies the most dangerous areas for whale sharks around the world, in terms of ship strikes. The world’s merchant fleet has doubled in size in the last 16 years. There are over 100,000 large ships worldwide, and this number is expected to grow by as much as 1200% over the next 27 years. Our global threat analysis for whale sharks indicates that shipping is the largest contemporary threat to the species, and this study looked specifically at the priority areas for conservation. Across 26 countries, 107 whale shark constellations (home to >13,000 individual sharks) were mapped by 80 co-authors. These areas were then overlapped with large vessel traffic to rank them in terms of threat. Most of these shark hotspots faced at least some risk, and in some areas close to major shipping channels – like Musandam in Oman, where more than 2,400 vessels passed by in some months – the sharks are at critical risk of death from ship strikes. This study also models some potential mitigation strategies. The best way to reduce the threat to whale sharks is simple – ships can either slow down as they pass through these areas, during seasons when the sharks are feeding near the surface, or route around them (often the shark hotspots are very small, only a few square km). Effective management strategies can pave the way for coexistence between globally endangered whale sharks and the shipping industry that so many of us rely on. It's great to start zeroing in on exactly where, and how, conservation measures can have the most benefit. A press release for the paper is here: https://lnkd.in/gHQZrPUf ... and the paper itself is free to download and read here: https://lnkd.in/gYq5vqEd – Simon.

💡”Significant otters” The reintroduction of sea otters to their former habitat in California’s Elkhorn Slough has shown a remarkable payoff in #conservation efforts, slowing erosion of the area’s creekbanks and marsh edges on average by 69%. In a study published today in Nature, scientists show that sea otters’ appetite for crabs that eat marsh roots and dig into the marsh soil is bringing stability to a collapsing ecosystem. This is the first documentation that top predators can change the geomorphology of an entire ecosystem, which raises the question: Could the reintroduction of a former top predator achieve similar results in ecosystems worldwide?  This paper is by Brent Hughes, Kathryn Beheshti, Tim Tinker, Christine Angelini, Charlie Endris, Lee Murai, Sean Anderson, Sarah Espinosa, Michelle Staedler, Joseph Tomoleoni, Madeline Sanchez and Brian Silliman.   Sonoma State University Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment University of California, Santa Cruz UC Santa Barbara Nhydra Ecological Research UF Center for Coastal Solutions UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Moss Landing Marine Laboratories California Department of Water Resources Pacific Biological Station Simon Fraser University Monterey Bay Aquarium U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Read the paper here: https://rdcu.be/dxrRv Photo by Killiii Yuyan 

Check out this great pair of blog posts - with accompanying video clips - from our partners at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute on two important tools for observing the ocean: data buoys that have been in operation for decades and are bedrock components of oceanography in the Northeast, and environmental DNA, which is growing as part of the ocean science toolkit. https://lnkd.in/erbe7adk

In Case You Missed It: Here's a wrap of everything you need to know about blue carbon ⬇️ 🌊 Continental shelf seabed habitats cover 38 times more space than other blue carbon habitats like mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh. 🌊 Some ocean habitats absorb carbon at a faster rate than rainforests. 🌊 Understanding of blue carbon storage does not include ocean habitats found in the continental shelves..., something we’re seeking to change through our research! Convex Insurance Blue Marine Foundation ExeterMarine #BlueCarbon #Ocean #MarineScience #ConvexSeascapeSurvey