44 invading species 'loose' in North Atlantic, study shows

January 30, 2017 by Alan Williams 

Accidental introductions of non-native species has been of increasing concern since the 1980s when human-mediated transportation, mainly related to ships' ballast water, was recognised as a major route by which species are transported and spread. 

A review just published by PML Applications Ltd (the wholly-owned subsidiary of Plymouth Marine Laboratory, PML) and the University of Plymouth, brings together and updates evidence on invasive species for the NE and SW Atlantic Ocean, in order to assess the risk represented by the shipping trade between these two regions.

The study found that the pathways most frequently recorded as transporting invasive species are ballast water and biofouling for both regions, while aquaculture has also been a very significant route of introduction and spread of invasive species in the NE Atlantic. It also established that the number of non-native species that have become invasive with high ecological impacts are 44 in the NE Atlantic and 15 in the less well studied south-western Atlantic.

Cecilia de Castro, lead author of the review, commented:

"This study comes at a pertinent time, providing further evidence to highlight the importance of the IMO Ballast Water Convention, which has recently reached 35 per cent of world merchant shipping tonnage and will enter into force on 8/09/2017. Though countries such as the UK have yet to sign up, the convention remains a landmark step towards halting the spread of invasive aquatic species, which can damage biodiversity and local ecosystems, as well as potential economic problems."

Non-native species are a crucial issue that needs to be addressed to raise general awareness and publicity, alongside scientific surveys and monitoring, improved data availability, regulations, management tools, risk assessment, stakeholders' commitment, enforcement, best practices and constant surveillance.

For example, Chinese mitten crabs are officially listed as one of the World's 100 worst invasive species. They can cause damage to fishing gear and river banks, block intake screens, modify natural habitats and compete with native species, and it is this economic and ecological damage that makes this crab such an unwelcome arrival.

Read more at:

Greenland Sharks May Live 400 Years

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | August 11, 2016 02:21pm ET

Greenland sharks are slow. They swim through the cold waters of the Arctic and the North Atlantic at a sluggish pace that has earned them the nickname "sleeper sharks." Seal parts have been found in their bellies, but the sharks move so slowly that experts have suggested that the seals must have been asleep or already dead when the sharks ate them.

They're also not too swift when it comes to growing, eking out a mere 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) per year, studies have found. Researchers suspected that Greenland sharks' exceptionally slow growth meant that they lived a long time, but they had no idea just how long that might be. That is, until now.

A new study provides the first estimates for Greenland shark longevity, and shows that these slowpokes of the sea stick around a very long time — at least 272 years, and perhaps as long as 390 years on average, making them longer-lived than any other vertebrate in the world.

Finding the age of any type of shark isn't easy, and the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is especially challenging, according to study co-author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist and doctoral candidate at the University of Copenhagen.

Nielsen told Live Science that scientists use bony structures in sharks to track their age — and there aren't many. Some species of sharks have calcified vertebrae or fin spines, and these contain stripes that can be used to calculate how old a shark is, similar to counting growth rings in trees.

Greenland sharks, on the other hand, are "very soft sharks," Nielsen said, and they don't have any bony structures at all.

"Something new had to be taken into consideration to solve this mystery," he said.

Read on   

Whales benefit from action on ocean noise

By Pallab Ghosh, Science correspondent, BBC News, Boston

Scientists are working to reduce the noise levels experienced by whales from North Atlantic shipping.

The blare is making it difficult for the animals to communicate with each other, which in turn is affecting their ability to find food and mates.

The researchers have persuaded shipping companies to change their routes in and around the Boston area.

Sea captains use an iPad App that helps them to understand the locations of the whales and when to slow down.

The change in operations has helped to lower the din. Scientists hope it will also limit the number accidental collisions.

The waters off New England are a home to many species of whale. Many are now suffering because of increased noise levels.

Research presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) suggests that it has doubled each decade over the past 30 years.

The big din

Dr Mark Baumgartner of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution played me the sound of a passing container ship as a whale might hear it.

It was a thunderous, unchanging drone.

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21492500