Kyoto, Japan -- Humpback whales are one of the most popular species for whale watching. Since they are active close to the water's surface, groups of whale watchers can often see them breaching and diving during breeding periods. One popular whale watching destination is the Ogasawara Islands -- also known as the Bonin Islands -- a remote archipelago about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo. These isles serve as a key breeding ground for humpback whales, which migrate in large numbers every December to May to these coastal waters.

Scientists have identified one of the main habitats of humpback whales in the Ogasawaras to be the Chichijima Island group, also home to the archipelago's main human settlement. Yet exactly which areas around Chichijima are critical for these whales has remained a mystery. This motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University, the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to model the whales' distribution using sighting survey data.

The team examined visual survey data collected from vessels used by the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association in 2013 and also from 2015 to 2018. This data includes the locations of 160 groups of whales, totaling 234 individuals, that were confirmed during the five-year survey. The team then used two species distribution models to combine this data with topographic factors such as water depth, seabed slope, and distance from the coastline in order to predict the most suitable habitats for humpback whales.

How do animals benefit from living in colonies? By tracking over one-third of Adélie penguins in an Antarctic colony, we found that penguins often departed together and used information from conspecifics when searching for foraging sites. Individuals that had been unsuccessful on their previous trip were especially likely to reach new sites by using social information. These findings suggest that colonies can function as information hubs, helping animals make better decisions about where to forage.

A Boston College-led study suggests that enhanced mid-ocean-ridge volcanism may have released hydrothermal iron that fertilized plankton in the eastern equatorial Pacific during ice-age transitions. The work reveals a hidden connection among sea level, deep-sea volcanism, ocean productivity, carbon storage, and climate.

The use of historical art to see ecosystems of the past, owls as a pest-control strategy and more from ESA’s journals.

Rhodoliths may look like small rocks on the seafloor, but they're actually living algae that create habitats for marine life and contribute to long-term carbon storage.  A new study found that the deeper ‘low-light’ waters off Japan's Tanegashima Island harbor a surprisingly distinct and diverse community of these ‘living pink rocks,’ including four species completely new to science. Researchers identified at least 12 species in a small patch of seafloor 35–38 meters deep, but only three were also found in nearby shallow waters, suggesting the deeper habitat is not simply a continuation of the one near the surface.

Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony at the Dutch island Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off the Zeeland coast, with the exception of some males. NIOZ ecologist Rosemarie Kentie and her colleagues suspected the gulls were attracted by fishing boats outside the windfarm, and their bycatch thrown overboard. This turned out not to be the case: even during weekends, when there is little fishing, the birds rarely visit the wind farm. They published their findings in the Journal of Animal Ecology. “Why the gulls still avoid the wind farm fascinates me immensely.”

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) will lead a new national effort to grow and strengthen America’s seafood supply through aquaculture research. After a highly competitive application process, UNH, which has a long history of innovation in the farming of aquatic species, was selected to oversee the first-of-its-kind NOAA Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Markets (CIFARM). With approximately $13.5 million in initial funding, CIFARM will support research and partnerships that will make it safer, more environmentally friendly and cost-effective to produce seafood domestically. 

Marine wildlife trafficking is big business, raking in billions of dollars every year and threatening species’ survival and the health of ecosystems. But trafficked sea creatures are often concealed in ordinary travelers’ luggage or packages, which makes it hard to spot and seize illicit shipments. Now scientists have used a neural network, a form of AI, to teach an algorithm to spot three commonly trafficked products — shark fins, sea cucumbers, and dried seahorses — in CT scans of bags like those taken at airports. The algorithm, which had a 92% success rate in testing, could help detect marine wildlife trafficking at scale and stop the trade in progress.