State of the Oceans — Log 72
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
Images by Christian Miller
WHALES
This week, scientists unveiled two interesting new discoveries about whale behavior. First, researchers published a new theory that argues killer whales and other species may not migrate to feed or mate – but instead to exfoliate. Experts tracked orca whales in the Southern Ocean for eight summers and found that the marine mammals typically shed in warmer waters. In colder waters, orcas likely divert blood flow away from their skin, which helps them keep warm.
Also this week, researchers from Duke University found a relationship between gray whale strandings and solar storms. It’s possible that these whales possess some sort of magnetic sense that is “blinded” by the sun’s intense cycles. The sound of military sonar and other factors likely cause strandings too, but as the study’s lead author explains, “whales are stranding a lot more often when the sun is doing crazy stuff.”
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Covid-19 coronavirus has impacted every aspect of China’s economy – from aquaculture to air travel. In turn, the country’s carbon emissions are down by 25% compared to this time last year. In just three weeks, China’s emissions have fallen by 150 million metric tons, which is the equivalent of what New York State emits in a year. Due to restaurant closures, China’s seafood market sales have dropped significantly and shellfisheries worry that the industry will not recover for years. Also this week, a new study finds that methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry could be 40% higher than previously estimated. The good news: because more methane comes from humans rather than natural sources (e.g. volcanoes), regulations have greater potential to lower emissions.
CORAL REEFS
Parts of the Great Barrier Reef are showing signs of heat stress, raising the risk of another major coral bleaching event, scientists have announced. Corals host symbiotic algae called zoothanxellae, which they expel as a stress-response to heat. Without algae, corals have difficulty feeding and lose their vibrant colors, hence the term bleaching. Throughout February, currents off Eastern Australia have been 2 to 3ºC warmer than usual, leading experts to brace for the third major bleaching event in the past five years. The news comes one week after new study predicts that 70-to-90% of coral reef habitats will disappear in twenty years. Marine biologists are closely monitoring the reef, conducting diving surveys and working with citizen science volunteers to collect data.
INNOVATION
Researchers have created a device inspired by mangrove forests to help clean up floodwater. Mangroves thrive in marine environments thanks to unique adaptations that allow them to filter out the salt in saltwater. Replicating that process, this new design has potential to be an energy-efficient cleanup technology, but is still in its early stages.
GEOENGINEERING
A new study based on computer models suggests that a controversial method to fight climate change would not work. “Iron fertilization cannot have a significant overall effect on the amount of carbon in the ocean because the total amount of iron that microbes need is already just right,” according to the lead researcher.
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