What In The Oceans Happened Yesterday??

3 incredible scientific discoveries you probably didn't see yesterday, plus Obama's Teddy Roosevelt-like action (incase you missed it this week).

Robots Observe Marine Life

youtube.com / Via bbc.com

British scientist created a series of robots that can map marine life across an area of 500km (300 miles) for 6 months at a time. These could give new insights into dolphin, turtle and fish school feeding behaviors as well as record various atmospheric and ocean changes.

El Niño Events Weaken Monsoon

theditherer.com / Via economictimes.indiatimes.com

In an Indo-French collaboration, scientist dated temperature changes in the surface waters of the Indian Ocean back to 1901 and have discovered that it is warming faster than any other tropical marine area in the world. The warmer waters could weaken and change the direction of the southwest monsoon as well as be detrimental to marine biodiversity. Scientists believe that this warming is a result of increasing El Niño events and weak La Niña events which are needed to help counteract the warming effects of El Niño.

Satellites Help Discover New Mountains

news.bbcimg.co.uk / Via bbc.com

A US-European research team has created a satellite imaging technology that can discover 25,000 new underwater mountains (on top of the 5,000 already known) around the oceans. Some of these mountains are as only 1.5km (almost 1 mile) in height. Why is this so important? This information could change fisheries management and conservation, since wildlife tends to congregate around seamounts. The topography of the sea floor is also important, as it steers currents and promotes the water mixing within the water column.

Obama Creates National Monument in the Pacific Ocean

wordpress.com / Via huffingtonpost.com

In case you missed out on the news: On September 29th, President Obama expanded the range and protection of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, to make it the largest Marine Protected Area in the World!! The media are comparing this action to the conservation of the Grand Canyon because Obama used the authority granted by congress under the Antiquities act to claim these islands as a National Monument, just like Teddy Roosevelt did in 1908 for the Grand Canyon. These Pacific Islands are located about a 4 hour plane ride south of Hawaii and host an incredible diversity and abundance of marine life. This includes large populations of manta rays, endangered silky and oceanic whitecap sharks as well as a vast array of other sharks, marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and thousands of year old coral. However, today still less than 1% of the world’s ocean is protected and scientists believe that we need to protect at least 20% to ensure healthy and productive oceans.