Three new studies looking at ocean acidification have shed light on some of its effects on marine organisms.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, human activities have accelerated the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide mixes with water. The two molecules combine to become carbonic acid, making seawater more acidic. As billions of molecules combine and go through this process, the overall pH of the oceans decreases, causing ocean acidification.

The first study, from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and published Nature Climate Change, documents the the effects of rising CO2 emissions on the nervous systems of coral fishes. Based on several years of observations of how baby coral fishes react to an environment with high levels of dissolved CO2, researchers have found that elevated acidity levels directly interfere with fish neurotransmitter functions, impeding their ability to hear, smell, turn and evade predators. Prof. Philip Munday, one of the study’s authors, noted that:

“We’ve now established it isn’t simply the acidification of the oceans that is causing disruption – as is the case with shellfish and plankton with chalky skeletons – but the actual dissolved CO2 itself is damaging the fishes’…

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Semporna, Malaysia is home to many species of shark, from the extremely rare and elusive Borneo and hammerhead shark to the largest fish in the sea, the graceful whale shark.

A local group of conservationists and divers are petitioning the local state government to set up a Semporna Shark Sanctuary, which would cover some 83 islands, including the world renowned diving haven of Sipadan and its neighbouring Mabul island. Mabul-based divemaster and campaigner Oliver Ostick tells us that:

If we get 10,000 signatures then we can go to the government and have a great chance of succeeding.

Nearly 6,000 people have already signed the petition, so if you’re interested then please show your support! The initiative also has a Facebook page.

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Prof. Mahmood Shivji, director of the Save Our Seas Shark Centre at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, United States, and colleague scientists have made a remarkable discovery. Through sampling and DNA analysis, the scientists have further confirmed the existence of a cryptic species of hammerhead shark that looks very similar to   but is evolutionarily very distinct from the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini). Prof. Shivji’s group first reported the existence of this new hammerhead species in the western North Atlantic Ocean in 2005. Now,  using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences they have documented that this cryptic lineage also occurs in the western South Atlantic Ocean, extending its distribution >7,000 km from its only previously reported location.

Given its only recent discovery and close morphological resemblance to the real S. lewini, it is reasonable to postulate that the new Sphyrna species (currently called Sphyrna sp. since it has not yet formally been named) has been subject to similar fishing pressure as S. lewini, which is in the midst of a stock collapse in the western North Atlantic (Hayes et al. 2009) and listed as “Endangered” worldwide by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Baum et al. 2007). We therefore…

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Often called the “evil twin” of climate change, ocean acidification results from fairly simple chemistry and yet has significant implications for marine species and ecosystems. While scientists have resolved the details of many of the physical and chemical processes related to ocean acidification, they have not yet built a parallel understanding of the future of marine ecosystems in a more acidic ocean.  Acidification clearly interferes with the ability of some marine species to build shells and develop normally, but how do these changes in individuals translate to changes in populations, food webs, and entire ecosystems through both direct and synergistic processes? Save Our Seas Support Scientist Jason-Hall Spencer of the University of Plymouth, UK, is an acclaimed expert in this field. During the Annual Meeting of Advanced Science, Serving Society (AAAS), on February 18th, 2012, he will present the results of his last two papers on this intriguing subject. Following his paper in the prestigious Nature Magazine, he presents a new paper “Responses of marine benthic microalgae to elevated CO2” (Johnson and al. 2011).

More information on this and the Annual Meeting of AAAS can be found at the website of AAAS.

Read more about Jason Hall-Spencer’s SOSF…

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This whole year has been an extraordinary adventure for both of us.

When we started working for the Save Our Seas Foundation in January, we hardly knew what to expect.  Of course we had read about the Foundation’s fantastic conservation work, but we only discovered its true power, the Save Our Seas dedicated project leaders, during the past year. They are the people in the field who make it all happen!

Ocean conservation is not easy. Raising public awareness through research and education is a long-term process. But we’ll get there, step by step. This year has already brought several successes: An international status for giant manta rays, Historic protection for mantas in the Maldives, Shark finning bans imposed and loopholes closed, Shark sanctuary declared for the Marshall Islands, SOSF scientific advisor Nicholas Pilcher was honoured by the IUCN for his great work… We are extremely proud and happy that Save Our Seas has contributed to these achievements. The Save Our Seas Foundation and Save Our Seas supported project leaders were featured in countless magazines, websites and in documentaries. And we had the wonderful opportunity to educate many young and old people, showing them the beauty of the oceans and…

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A group of 19 scientists from five research organizations have conducted the broadest field study of ocean acidification to date using sensors developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

It is an important step toward understanding how specific ecosystems are responding to the change in seawater chemistry that is being caused as the oceans take up extra carbon dioxide produced by human greenhouse gas emissions, said its authors. “These data represent a critical step in understanding the consequences of ocean change: the linkage of present-day pH exposures to organismal tolerance and how this translates into ecological change in marine ecosystems,” the authors wrote.

“These pH time series create a compelling argument for the collection of more continuous data of this kind.” Ocean acidification research is a relatively new study topic as scientists have only appreciated the potential extent of acidification within the last decade. As greenhouse gas emissions have accelerated in the past century, the oceans have taken up about a third of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities. That excess beyond natural levels increases amounts of carbonic acid in seawater. Acidification also limits the amount of carbonate forms that are needed by marine invertebrates such as…

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Emails with the results of the review of project proposals were sent out on December 20th to all applicants for SOSF grants. If you have not received a response to your application, please immediately check your junk mail box in case your email filter has removed it.

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Thank you and best wishes for the festive season and New Year.

The SOSF Team

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