Marine Technology Society (MTS)’s Post

Salps are a major predator of open-ocean microbes, but little is known about their taste in prey. Researchers SCUBA diving off the Hawaiian Islands collected salps and then quantified their predation rate of various open-ocean microbes. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/RfCP50R00Jq

#Journéemondialedelocean 🌊 #WorldOceanDay As I lobby to give a voice to the Ocean in the boardroom at Archireef and with the most amazing team, I am also particularly proud this year of the kids…. having passed their PADI open water scuba diving certification, my son becoming a sailor and both joining me on Freediving adventures with sharks in open water, as well as on Ocean activism- related work trips. Bringing the next generation of ocean lovers and leaders on this journey is critical, it is a journey we must all embrace for our future on this Planet. No matter how big or small, we can all make a difference. But it needs to start today, be with large companies or SMEs, embracing a nature positive strategy and investing in nature as an asset. #oneplanetoneocean #noplanetB #ocean# #naturepositive #corals #restoration

What’s missing from this edition of “positive ocean news” you might ask? Given the media headlines perhaps you were expecting Jersey’s decision on Marine Protected Areas as part of the Marine Spacial Plan to be considered good news? Given we are a signatory to the #30by30 pledge (protect 30% of our territorial waters by 2030) you might have expected this once in a generation plan to target that. Or even close to it. However our newish environment minister has scaled back the MPAs from the original plan from 27% to 23%. Including removing the proposed protection for over 50% of our Maerl beds. To be clear, an MPA isn’t a “no take zone”. You can fish and boat in MPAs, you just can’t dredge fish or tow mobile gear. Because this method is hugely damaging to marine life, the seabed and has issues with by-catch and the loss of fishing gear into the sea causing hazardous pollution. So the passing of the Marine Spacial Plan was not the good news it could have been. When this subject came up with a friend in the industry, these are some of the reasons given as to why the protection shouldn’t be provided: ⏱️ those fishermen have always fished there/dredged there 🪦 it’s all dead already 🚜 it’s like ploughing a field, it’s necessary for growth and getting oxygen into the seabed 💰 it’s only 6 boats from Jersey, you can’t take away their livelihood 🇫🇷 the French boats do it It’s really hard for me to gently educate and challenge this kind of thinking, where we think we have a god-given right to damage the planet, take what we want and deprive future generations of natural capital. It’s hard to present the science on blue and green carbon, the damage of existing practices on sea and land and the long term economic unsustainability of this activity. Yet not 5 minutes later we were talking about the catastrophic decline in abundance of fish and seafood, the species that have vanished from our waters and the invasive species getting a foothold in an unbalanced system. So it’s not great news for our territorial waters this month and I just hope the MSP paves the way for further protections and that those it has guaranteed are enacted very quickly to protect what we can.

Consisting of over 300 islands, Palau is an archipelago in the Western Pacific Ocean region of Micronesia. Known for its stunning marine life and crystal-clear waters, Palau is a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts. This Sentinel-2 false colour image captured on 31-10-2023 shows Koror, the commercial centre of Palau (grey and white), surrounded by multiple islands (red) and fringing coral reefs (dark purple). The job took 2 minutes to setup and run using buff.ly/4bqTTwt; traditional methods could take 2-3 days. The results can then be exported to PDF, or the data can be imported into your GIS tooling for further analysis. Want to know more https://buff.ly/4bqTTwt Want to try for free https://buff.ly/4cUNBH7 #environmentalmonitoring #coastlinemonitoring #remotesensing #satellite #satelliteimagery

"I'm not quite sure when you can call yourself a SCUBA diver. Every day I meet people with a different definition. Is it when you get your open water certificate from PADI? Or after you have taken your first breath on a discover SCUBA dive? Is it skill-based after completing a certain number of passable tasks? Or is it numerical-based, after succeeding in a certain number of dives? On that note - what is considered a successful dive...? After-all, if you have done 200 dives following bad dive-practise, sucking the cylinders dry, numerically you might be considered an experienced diver yet the opposite is more likely the case." GUE 2023-24 NextGen scholar Harry Gunning shares an update on his time as the scholar so far. Did you know applications are open for next year? You can learn more here: https://buff.ly/2FtTa1e

Today, I am fortunate enough to be attending the United Nations World Oceans Day. What is out of sight should not be out of mind. Marine biology, oceanography, marine science – fields still relatively new in the world of academia. In today's age of endless information, there's a ocean-wide disconnect between humans and nature due to technology. We can showcase the beauty and the devastation, but how do we close the gap? Connecting with the ocean through activities like sailing, scuba diving, surfing, or fishing can spark a desire to protect what we love. [Eco] tourism has made waves, bringing people to experience the ends of out planet firsthand. It's crucial to equip the next generation with knowledge and skills to safeguard our oceans. Water is wet, salt corrodes, pressure exists underwater, and you can't have nautical without knots. The oldest trades on the planet will give us the skills to protect and propell us into the future. Let's empower the youth to become stewards of our precious oceans! #MarineTrades #BlueEconomy #BoatCaptain #MaritimeServices #BlueEconomyWorkforceDevelopment #OceanConservation #NextGeneration #ProtectOurOceans #OceanStewards #ProtectWhatYouLove #MakeWaves #AwakenNewDepths #UnitedNations The Explorers Club #NewEnglandChapterOfTheExplorersClub

It's Big Butterfly Count time again! Just fifteen minutes watching and counting butterflies is not only super important for butterfly conservation, it can help lessen anxiety and boost a sense of nature connectedness. Sign up to take part for a quiet moment by yourself, or count with friends, families, and colleagues. It would be great to see workplaces counting butterflies in their outside spaces or nearby parks, bringing nature and wellbeing into the work day. Link to my blog about our research with Butterfly Conservation on the impacts of taking part in the 2022 count: https://lnkd.in/edh5F2DP

Learn about the origins of scientific diving in the US, and the development of early operational and safety guidelines for science divers as well as their role in undersea research.

Shipwreck rescue operation...

Linking the past to the present, this image juxtaposes ancient Assyrian reliefs depicting what appears to be early diving methods with a modern scuba diver. These artifacts suggest that the drive to explore the underwater world has been a constant human pursuit. Could these ancient depictions represent a more sophisticated knowledge of diving than previously thought? How does our current understanding of scuba technology connect to these ancient innovations, and what might this continuity tell us about human ingenuity and the quest to explore the unknown?