We are often encouraged to eat seafood because it’s good for us, but do we think about whether we eat the right kind? The oceans are teeming with variety and choice, yet when it comes to seafood consumption, we opt for a few favourites. This selectivity, at first glance nothing more than a food preference, in reality, … More Why we ought to eat ‘like a fish’
Written by Eve Dean The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has been portrayed as a ferocious ‘mindless eating machine’ for generations. Fears, fuelled by the media and movies, lurk in the back of people’s minds every time they step into the ocean. However, there is a creature who has, in recent years, gone head to … More Great white sharks: top predators or unlikely prey?
Written by Alicia Shephard In 2020 it was announced that the Great Barrier Reef had lost more than half of its corals since 1995, due mainly to warmer seas driven by climate change. But it was also the year that plans for a huge coral biobank were announced in Australia. The purpose? To provide a … More More than just a pretty reef: why corals are so important and how they might be saved
Written by Charlie Gregory Sustainable and efficient aquaculture practices will be essential to meet the demands of a growing human population. However, to achieve this the natural biological clocks of the organisms being cultivated must start to be properly taken into account. All organisms share a common theme, whether it’s a plant closing its leaves … More Circadian rhythms within aquaculture: on the path for a sustainable future
Written by Owen Harris Increasing awareness about anthropogenic climate change and mounting public pressure has led to many countries committing to reduce their use of fossil fuels and increase their development of renewable energy sources. Although the switch to renewable energy will have an overall positive effect on the global climate and natural world, the … More The effects of offshore wind farms on marine life
Written by Joe Baker On the 25th May 2020, George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, after a white police officer, Dereck Chauvin, knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes straight. This event, which has sparked worldwide protests and re-invigorated the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as countless other cases of police brutality have … More The black lives of marine biology
Written by Rebecca Greatorex As we continue to experience a global pandemic on a scale many of us have never seen before, I would like to discuss a rather overlooked group of animals which have also been affected by this global crisis – marine creatures. However, unlike us, they are likely to be affected in … More The potential benefits of COVID-19 on marine wildlife
Written by Jenny Hickman For centuries, the high seas have been a place of exploitation and misuse. The “out of sight, out of mind” attitude that pervades offshore activity has resulted in the ocean becoming steadily depleted of fish stocks and filling up with anthropogenic waste. For far too long it was believed that the … More How low can we go? The importance & impacts of deep sea mining
Written by Zuzanna Dusza Fisheries are critical to supplying a large proportion of the world’s animal protein, with demand for fish products increasing annually. As such, well maintained, sustainable and efficient fisheries and aquaculture systems will be crucial in order to continue meeting this demand in the future. However, it is clear that sustainable management … More Applying sensory ecology to fisheries & aquaculture: maximising efficiency whilst achieving sustainability
Written by Louise-Océane Delion Imagine if this morning while scrolling through twitter, you had read an article called “Our efforts to restore biodiversity will not make a difference”. An article based on a new scientific paper, saying that whatever we do, we are losing the fight to save our planet. That would be really daunting, … More Optimism for ocean recovery by 2050
