Scientists explore roots of future tropical rainfall
EurekAlert | 20 May 2013
(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) How will rainfall patterns across the tropical Indian and Pacific regions change in a future warming world? Climate models generally suggest that the tropics as a whole will get wetter, but the models don't always agree on where rainfall patterns will shift in particular regions within the tropics.
 Indian Ocean | Pacific Ocean | Climate Change | Research

Puffin nest cam: wildlife experts install cameras in burrows as census begins
Telegraph | 17 May 2013
A puffin census is under way on the Farne Islands to determine how many breeding pairs of the birds live at the main breeding site. Rangers are also installing cameras in the birds burrows to study the birds.    
 Atlantic Ocean | Research | Seabirds

Conservationists to count breeding birds after 'puffin wreck' winter
Guardian Unlimited | 17 May 2013
Nipped fingers and handfuls of guano will be the order of the day for wildlife rangers on the Farne Islands as they embark on an epic census on Friday to discover whether puffin numbers have plummeted after a year of extreme weather. The 10 National Trust rangers living on the islands must dangle their bare fingers down 60,000 puffin burrows in the next two months to determine whether breeding pairs have fallen after the worst puffin "wreck" for 66 years.
 Atlantic Ocean | Research | Seabirds

Microbes capture, store, and release nitrogen to feed reef-building coral
EurekAlert | 16 May 2013
(American Society for Microbiology) Microscopic algae that live within reef-forming corals scoop up available nitrogen, store the excess in crystal form, and slowly feed it to the coral as needed, according to a study published in mBio.
 Coral | Research

James Cameron to be publicly honored with Scripps Nierenberg Prize
EurekAlert | 16 May 2013
Ocean frontier explorer and world-renowned filmmaker James Cameron has been named by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as the recipient of the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest.
 Deep Sea | Diving | Research

Seabird bones reveal changes in open-ocean food chain
EurekAlert | 14 May 2013
(Michigan State University) Remains of endangered Hawaiian petrels -- both ancient and modern -- show how drastically today's open seas fish menu has changed.
 Pacific Ocean | Fisheries | Research | Seabirds

Scientists find impact of open-ocean industrial fishing within centuries of bird bones
EurekAlert | 14 May 2013
(Smithsonian) The impact of industrial fishing on coastal ecosystems has been studied for many years. But how it affects food webs in the open ocean has not been very clear. So a team of Smithsonian and Michigan State University scientists and their colleagues looked to the ancient bones of seabirds for answers, revealing some of the dramatic changes that have happened within open-ocean food webs since the onset of industrial fishing.
 Pacific Ocean | Fisheries | Research | Seabirds

Groundbreaking video technology to improve stock surveys
World Fishing | 14 May 2013
A new method of using video data collection to improve groundfish and flat fish stock surveys has been developed, which is showing promise to improve accuracy by increasing spatial coverage and to allow the conducting of surveys without fish mortality.
 Fish | Fisheries | Research

Study highlights under-appreciated benefit of oyster restoration
EurekAlert | 10 May 2013
(Virginia Institute of Marine Science) A new study shows that healthy oyster reefs would help to buffer the increasing acidity of coastal waters.
 Atlantic Ocean | Acidification | Research

New Robotic Instruments to Provide Real-Time Data on Gulf of Maine Red Tide
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 08 May 2013
A new robotic sensor deployed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Gulf of Maine coastal waters may transform the way red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) are monitored and managed in New England.
 Atlantic Ocean | Plankton | Research