The oceans have changed more in the past 30 years than in all of human history. In many places, more than 75% of marine megafauna has been lost, and almost nowhere shallower than 3,000 feet has been untouched by commercial fishing.

These are just some of the stark facts presented by Callum Roberts, professor at the University of York and member of the Save Our Seas Foundation Science and Conservation Advisory Panel, in a new book titled The Ocean of Life. In an excerpt published this week in Newsweek, Roberts describes the extent to which we have impacted the oceans through overfishing and CO2 emissions, painting a disheartening picture of the future in store for over 70% of our planet if we don’t change course.

On the subject of ocean acidification, he writes:

The oceans have absorbed around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide released by human activity since pre-industrial times, mainly from fossil-fuel burning, conversion of forests and swamp to cities and agriculture, and cement production. If carbon-dioxide emissions are not curtailed, ocean acidity is expected to rise 150 percent by 2050, the fastest rate of increase at any time in at least the last 20 million…

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This weekend saw the official launch of theBlu, a globally shared art and entertainment experience. Inspired by the world’s oceans, “theBlu” is a living and breathing digital art exhibit of ocean habitats and species, created by artists and developers from all over the world. Its aims are to:

Use the power of the internet to connect geographically disparate people in a meaningful way. Empower a global community of artists and developers to create an extraordinarily beautiful and high fidelity series of apps. Support non-profit collaborators in their efforts to better understand and protect the world’s oceans.

It’s not easy to get an idea of what theBlu is exactly from the description, but we’ve tried it and it’s definitely worth checking out! theBlu is available as a free download for PC and Mac.

From social gaming to social responsibility

“theBlu” turns the internet into a globally-connected 3D digital ocean wherein every species and habitat is an original work of art created by a worldwide community of artists, animators and developers, including Academy Award winners Andy Jones and Kevin Mack, and students alike.

Exploring “theBlu” is as easy as browsing the web and includes information about species, exploration of geo-located…

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Ocean acidification happens as the oceans absorb excess CO2 in the atmosphere, causing the pH of seawater to fall. This has wide-ranging consequences for the marine ecosystem, among which are coral bleaching and preventing the shellfish shells from forming properly.

Jason Hall-Spencer’s groundbreaking SOSF-funded research on ocean acidification involves studying sites with naturally high levels of CO2, such as those near underwater volcanic vents off Italy. He recently discussed some of his findings and the implications of rising CO2 levels for the Mediterranean in C&EN magazine:

A fall in Mediterranean pH has major impacts on organisms that use calcium carbonate in their shells or corals. That’s because acidification—due to dissolved CO2 forming carbonic acid—throws normal ocean chemistry out of balance, resulting in corrosion of calcium carbonate from shelled organisms. In practice, this means that an organism’s shell will dissolve unless the organism can ramp up shell construction to counteract the loss. “If the organism is willing to put a huge amount of energy into shell production because it has tons and tons of food, then perhaps the organism can continue to exist.”

Hall-Spencer focuses on underwater volcanic vents around Italy and Greece because these are areas where…

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Last week, the head of the World Bank Robert B. Zoellick announced the establishment of a Global Partnership for Oceans to confront widely documented problems of over-fishing, marine degradation, and habitat loss. Speaking at the Economist World Oceans Summit in Singapore, Zoellick described the initiative:

This Partnership will bring together countries, scientific centers, NGOs, international organizations, foundations, and the private sector to pool knowledge, experience, expertise, and investment around a set of agreed upon goals. These goals can sharpen our focus, encourage common and reinforcing efforts, and compel us to measure performance. Together, we will build on the excellent work already being done to address the threats to oceans, identify workable solutions, and scale them.  We can also mobilize financing where there are gaps.

There are an estimated 350 million jobs worldwide that are linked in one way or another to the oceans, so it’s not surprising that the World Bank has taken an interest, bringing together major NGOs, regulatory bodies, and private funding to tackle these issues. But what about the specifics? The Partnership has identified four major goals for the next 10 years:

Rebuilding at least half the world’s fish stocks identified as depleted:…

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SOSF-sponsored marine podcast Naked Oceans is back for a second series, with this month’s episode focusing on life and death in the ancient seas. Listen in to learn about how life emerged from the oceans – and how it almost came to an end, as well as what the past can tell us about the future of life in the seas. As always, you can download the episodes for free at the Naked Oceans website or on iTunes.

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Deep-sea fishing, particularly bottom trawling, is one of the most destructive and inefficient ways of fishing. Though it provides less than 1% of seafood consumed globally, fishing fleets looking to capitalize on previously unexploited deep-sea fisheries are moving further and further off-shore, sometimes trawling in waters more than a mile deep.

In doing so, they destroy fragile deep water ecosystems, which are extremely slow to recover. Many species of fish and other marine life at these depths are characterized by long life spans and slow reproduction, making them extremely vulnerable to modern mechanized fishing practices like trawling – the equivalent of bulldozing the seafloor. Deep-water corals – some of which have been alive more than 4,000 years – sponges, and other animals are ripped from depths and then discarded as waste. Species targeted by deep water trawling, such as the orange roughy, are particularly at risk, as entire populations can be wiped out in a single season

A new comprehensive analysis of deep-sea fisheries, conducted by a team of leading marine scientists and published in Marine Policy, has sounded the alarm on the unsustainability of this practice ahead of the upcoming UN decision on whether to allow deep…

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In July 2012, the 12 th ICRS will welcome over 2,500 delegates from around to world to the tropical city of Cairns, Australia, to attend 1,500 talks and posters presenting the latest research on the world’s coral reefs. The Reef Sharks and Coral Reefs mini-symposium will focus on research into the ecological roles of reef sharks in coral reef ecosystems; the environmental, biological, ecological and behavioural factors affecting the strength and dependence of these interactions; techniques for studying reef shark ecology; and methods to monitor reef shark populations. The mini-symposium will also explore the implications of reef shark declines, and the ramifications of recent research for their conservation and management.

Registration opens: 1 August 2011. Deadline for abstract submission: 1 February 2012. Early-bird registration closes: 1 March 2012. Click here to visit the website for the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium.

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