Coral
Some coral reefs are keeping pace with ocean warming
Some coral communities are becoming more heat tolerant as ocean temperatures rise, offering hope for corals in a changing climate. After a series of marine heatwaves hit the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in the central Pacific Ocean, a new study finds the impact of heat stress on the coral communities lessened over time.
Read MoreMauritius incident was world’s first major spill of very low sulfur fuel oil
“When we analyzed several other Low Sulfur Fuel Oils, we found some contained higher concentrations of toxic components than the oil discharged in the Mauritius spill, so more research will be needed before we can conclude that all the oil types within this new class pose less of a threat to marine ecosystems than heavy fuel oils.”
Reef Solutions Virtual Seminar: Coral Eco-Immunity in a Complicated Disease Landscape
Nikki Traylor-Knowles, University of Miami Sponsored by: Reef Solutions Catalyst Group This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/99455286823…
Read MoreSurviving extreme heat
A team led by Anne Cohen, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, received $1.75M in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how coral reefs survive extreme heat events caused by climate change. The multidisciplinary project taps into expertise across four WHOI departments to uncover the oceanographic and biological processes that enable corals to survive marine heatwaves.
Read MoreWhat Happens to Marine Life When There Isn’t Enough Oxygen?
In September of 2017, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution postdoctoral scholar Maggie Johnson was conducting an experiment with a colleague in Bocas del Toro off the Caribbean coast of Panama. After sitting on a quiet, warm open ocean, they snorkeled down to find a peculiar layer of murky, foul-smelling water about 10 feet below the surface, with brittle stars and sea urchins, which are usually in hiding, perching on the tops of coral. This unique observation prompted a collaborative study explained in a new paper published on July 26, 2021, in Nature Communications analyzing what this foggy water layer is caused by, and the impact it has on life at the bottom of the seafloor.
Reef Solutions Seminar Series: Considering the Variability and Evolution of Coral Reef Systems
Stuart Sandin, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Sponsored by: Reef Solutions Catalyst Group This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting:…
Read MoreLoss of Oxygen in Oceans Detrimental to Marine Life; Scientists Show How Deoxygenation Rapidly Affects Reef Ecosystem
According to Phys.org, Johnson and her team snorkeled down the water, and there they found the peculiar layer of water that has brittle stars and sea urchins, which are uncharacteristically perching on the top of coral reefs as they are usually hiding.
Impact of Hypoxic Ocean Waters on Marine Life
Investigators suggest that loss of oxygen in the global ocean is accelerating due to climate change and excess nutrients, but how sudden deoxygenation events affect tropical marine ecosystems is poorly understood.
What happens to marine life when oxygen is scarce?
A new study co-led by WHOI postdoctoral scholar Maggie Johnson looks closely at the changes occurring in both coral reef and microbial communities near Bocas del Toro during sudden hypoxic events, which occur when there is little to no oxygen in a given area of water.
Read MoreDoctoral Dissertation Defense of Thesis: Assessing Anthropogenic Noise Impacts and Relevant Soundscape Cues for Marine Invertebrates: Leveraging Squid and Coral Reefs as Model Systems
Ian T. Jones, MIT-WHOI Joint Program Sponsored by: Academic Programs Office This will be held virtually. To register, visit https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0kcumurjIpHN3lZLsk8PEyvAKFxRe7D02_
Read MoreReef Solutions Seminar Series: Integrating Resilient Reef Restoration to Recover Florida’s Coral Reef
Erinn Muller, Mote Marine Laboratory Sponsored by: Reef Solutions Catalyst Group This seminar will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting…
Read MoreMC&G Department Virtual Seminar: Investigating Coral Exometabolites and Their Ecological Significance on Coral Reefs
Laura Weber, WHOI Sponsored by: MC&G Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom meeting: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/94496409234
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminars
Eukrhythmic: Leveraging the Metatranscriptomic Landscape to Reproducibly Detect and Describe Marine Protistan Communities Arianna Krinos, WHOI Comparing Estimates of Larval…
Read MoreA Rusting Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Yemen Is an Environmental Catastrophe Waiting to Happen. Can Anyone Prevent It?
Viviane Menezes, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, has described the Red Sea as being like a “big lagoon” with “everything connected.” An oil spill at any time of year would be disastrous, she says, but seasonally variable weather and tidal patterns make contingency planning difficult. In the summer, Red Sea currents would drag an oil slick south, threatening Eritrea and Djibouti, and potentially entering the Gulf of Aden. In winter, circular currents would swirl more of the oil north.
MC&G Department Virtual Seminar: Incorporating Microbes in our Understanding of Community Ecology on Coral Reefs
Anya Brown, WHOI Sponsored by: MC&G Department This will be held virtually. Information will be posted when available
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminar: Bleaching Inequality in Acropora Corals: A Transcriptomic Approach
Sarah Lemer, University of Guam Marine Laboratory Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/91641545976?pwd=OTVXU2V5bDFUdkZXNnM2Tm5sUlBBdz09…
Read MoreNOAA Live! Webinar: Fin-tastic Fun with Coral Reef Fish Surveys in South Florida and the Caribbean
Erin Cain and Jay Grove, NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Key Biscayne, FL Sponsored by: NOAA & Woods Hole Sea…
Read MoreNorthern Star Coral Study Could Help Protect Tropical Corals
Worldwide, coral reefs are in crisis. Researchers at WHOI and Roger Williams University are finding that studying the recovery of this local New England species from a laboratory induced stressor could help better understand how to protect endangered tropical corals around the world.
Read MoreNOAA Live! Webinar: Texas Corals, and Mantas, and Sharks, Oh My!
Kelly Drinnen, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Galveston, TX Sponsored by: NOAA & Woods Hole Sea Grant This will…
Read MoreWhy Are Scientists Studying Coral’s Smell?
All living things release volatile chemicals, and many species have adopted specific volatiles as communicative signals. Scientists have long studied their function in terrestrial organisms.
Biology Department Virtual Seminar: Social Evolution in Coral Reef Fishes
Theresa Rueger, Boston University Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87126683291
Read MoreNOAA Live! Webinar: Cold Dark Secrets: Discovering Alaska’s Deep-Sea Corals and Sponges
Pam Goddard, Vanessa Lowe, Rachel Wilborn, Pat Malecha, and Jerry Hoff, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle Sponsored by:…
Read MoreMarine Policy Center Virtual Seminar: Coral Reef Governance: Case Studies from Southeast Asia
Kelly Heber Dunning, Auburn University Sponsored by: Marine Policy Center This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/95141281254?pwd=b1BFY3VFa1hhVUZyMnJ0NnBNcS82dz09 Meeting…
Read MoreSome open ocean waters teeming with an abundance of life
Since Charles Darwin’s day, the abundance of life on coral reefs has been puzzling, given that most oceanic surface waters in the tropics are low in nutrients and unproductive.
