Census in the News 2008

The RRV James Clark Ross set sail on Jan 14, 2009 to study the chemosynthetic life of deep Antarctic waters.  This cruise, the first of three planned, is the kick off of the ChEsSo (ChEss in the Southern Ocean) program.  Utilizing the latest in deep ocean exploration technologies, ChEss scientists will search for vent and seep sites, record current flow around the sites and investigate biogeographic patterns of vent species in the region.  The expedition is collaborating with the Classroom at Sea Project and will be posting a cruise diary online.  For more information please visit: Chemosynthetic Life in the Antarctic.

The Census has been featured in a half hour television segment on the Canadian Broadcasting Coporation’s show “Land and Sea.” The show visited the Fundy Isles in the Gulf of Maine to film NaGISA researchers as they sampled the intertidal and subtidal zone. The segment provides an overview of the Census as a whole and a detailed look at NaGISA research in the Gulf of Maine, which is led by Peter Lawton, Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Gerhard Pohle, Huntsman Marine Science Centre. The full video, which features both above and underwater footage and interviews, is available online at the CBC Land and Sea website (requires Real Player to view): Land and Sea.

At the November 11-15, 2008, World Conference on Marine Biodiversity in Valencia, Spain, a large number of Census of Marine Life projects and scientists presented their latest research results in a five-day meeting that clearly demonstrated the enormous progress in the field over the last few years.

The 2,000-strong community of Census of Marine Life scientists from 82 nations today announced astonishing examples of recent new finds from the world’s ocean depths.

In the fourth highlights report issued since the global collaboration began in the year 2000, Census scientists say their work is:

•    Compiling an unprecedented number of “firsts” for ocean biodiversity;
•    Advancing technology for discovery;
•    Organizing knowledge about marine life and making it accessible;
•    Measuring effects of human activities on ocean life;
•    Providing the foundation for scientifically-based policies;

According to Ian Poiner, chair of the Census’s International Scientific Steering Committee and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science:

“The release of the first Census in 2010 will be a milestone in science.  After 10 years of new global research and information assembly by thousands of experts the world over, it will synthesize what humankind knows about the oceans, what we don’t know, and what we may never know – a scientific achievement of historic proportions.”

In an article soon to be published in Conservation Letters, Census researchers Brian MacKenzie and Andrew Rosenberg have sparked some controversy with the conclusion that Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks may be heading toward collapse, largely due to illegal landings.

The journal Zootaxa has recently released a special issue dedicated to Deep-Sea Biodiversity.  Edited by Census researchers Pedro Martinez Arbizu and Saskia Brix, this issue covers an impressive collection of results from investigations of abyssal regions around the globe. Australian deep-sea sponges, brachiopods associated with volcanic substrates, and isopods from the Antarctic are just a few of the many new taxa described in this edition.  This issue is available online: Zootaxa Special Issue.

New miniaturized tagging technology is allowing Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) researchers to shed light on the movements of juvenile salmon over vast distances. Originating at the site of their release in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, two little smolt were tracked all the way out into the Pacific and North to Alaskan waters, a journey of almost 3,000 km. POST's results are also challenging the accepted science regarding the affect of hydroelectric dams on juvenile salmon mortality.

Census researcher Sylvia Earle, dubbed “Her Deepness” by the New York Times, will be awarded the 2009 TED Prize for her dedication to the global ocean and its marine life.  With more than 6,000 hours underwater and four decades of exploration in, research on, and advocacy for the ocean realm, Dr. Earle’s work is dedicated to educating the public on the importance of the world ocean both in our daily lives and the health of the planet.  The prize is awarded annually in the spring at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conference and, in addition to a monetary prize, grants the winner “One Wish to Change the World”.

Recently published in Science, an article by TOPP Scientists addresses the connections between different populations of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic.  Studying the chemical composition of otoliths (ear bones), from both juvenile and adult specimens in various locations, researchers were able to detect chemical signatures, which serve as a kind of “birth certificate,” identifying where each fish was born.  Their results suggest that Atlantic bluefin tuna populations migrate and mix with other populations during foraging periods but return to home waters to spawn.

While systematically exploring three well-known coral reef sites in Australian waters, CReefs researchers have encountered a treasure trove of new species. On recent expeditions to Lizard and Heron Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, and to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, CReefs researchers conducted the first systematic inventory of these sites with the goal of providing a baseline from which to gauge future change in these habitats.