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Motorboat in the Caribbean
Motorboat in the Caribbean (Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Coral reef fish breed better with less motorboat noise

They then followed the breeding of spiny chromis and discovered that 65 percent of nests on quieter reefs still had offspring at the season’s end, compared to 40 percent on reefs with a lot of motorboat traffic. On quieter reefs, offspring were larger, and each nest had more offspring by the end of the season.

Some juvenile fish on coral reefs exposed to motorboat noise have stunted growth and may be half as likely to survive as fish on quieter reefs, owing to the noise pollution altering their parents' caregiving behavior, said the researchers.

A slow-moving filter-feeder, the gentle whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea.
A slow-moving filter-feeder, the gentle whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea.

Shipping poses substantial threat to whale sharks

As whale sharks assemble in coastal regions to spend substantial time in surface waters, experts theorised collisions with ships could be causing substantial whale shark deaths. Previously, there was no way of monitoring this threat.

Scientists from 50 international research institutions and universities tracked both whale shark and ship movements across the globe to pinpoint areas of risk and potential collisions. Satellite-tracked data from nearly 350 whale sharks was submitted to the Global Shark Movement Project, conducted by MBA researchers.

Giant manta ray. Photo by Scott Bennett
Giant manta ray

How big is it? Drones assisting in manta ray research

A global breakthrough in recording manta ray information has been made by an Auckland University doctoral candidate. In a study entitled “How Big Is That Manta Ray?” published in Drones, Edy Setyawan outlined how a drone camera, with the addition of a PVC pipe in the ocean, can be utilised to accurately measure the world’s largest ray species. “I could see that from the drone there was some size variation, some mantas, they are bigger than the others,” said Setyawan. “It’s quite cheap using a small drone, but it can give us a big impact on manta ray conservation.”

The vaquita, the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world, is endemic to the northern part of the Gulf of California. This photo was taken under permit (Oficio No. DR/488/08) from the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT).

Critically endangered vaquita could survive if gillnet-poaching ban enforced

The vaquita is the world’s smallest marine mammal, measuring between four to five feet in length. A comprehensive survey conducted in 1997 counted 570 vaquitas, but today, 25 years on, a mere ten surviving vaquitas have been counted in the Sea of Cortez, the only place that the vaquita can be found.

Breaching humpback whale
Breaching humpback whale (pixabay license)

Southern Hemisphere whale-call research highlights need for MPA network

The “whup” and “grumble” sounds recorded by hydrophones moored in the Vema Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, 1,000km northwest of Cape Town in South Africa, suggest this location could be an important stop on the whales’ migration route to polar feeding grounds.

Most of the calls were recorded over a period of three nights in the spring of 2019, with low “whups” being heard most frequently. This is an important discovery as the “whup” is a contact call used by mother-calf pairs to help them locate each other. Furthermore, humpbacks also “whup” while feeding.

Panasonic Lumix GH6

It supports an improved in-body image stabilization (up to 7.5 stops) and upgraded video features. The new sensor delivers 14fps in AF-S mode (8fps in AF-C mode) when using the mechanical shutter, and 75fps (in AF-S mode) with the electronic shutter. The GH6 can record 4K/120p video at 10-bit 4:2:0. Furthermore, full V-Log/V- Gamut has been added, providing up to 13+ stops of dynamic range.

The GH6 features a 3.68M-dot OLED electronic view- finder and is equipped with dual card slots: a CFexpress (Type B) slot and an SD UHS II

slot.