Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Curiosity and a fascination with nature have brought volunteers together to survey sea life under the pier in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, to help experts gauge what’s thriving – and what isn’t Photographs by Peter Flude Read more in this series The blood-red tentacles of the beadlet sea anemone seem to wave underwater, beckoning to be touched. I reach out a finger. Caitlin Woombs, engagement officer for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT), bounds over. “You know how it feels as if they’re sticking to you?” In fact, that’s the sensation of the anemone firing dozens of microscopic harpoons into your skin, in the vain hope that it can reel you into its gaping mouth, she says, flashing a broad grin. Contemplating this miniature drama is a huddle of volunteers, crouched beneath Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight. It’s an unexpected place to go searching for sea life, and yet it is abundant here. The pier is a veteran survey site in the Wildlife Trusts’ citizen science Shoresearch programme, a “long-term monitoring project that allows us to understand the wildlife on our shores, and track changes over time,” says Daniele Clifford, marine conservation officer at the organisation. The expedition in Ryde is one of 12 local intertidal surveys scheduled by the HIWWT for 2024, and one of hundreds more that are available to join countrywide each year, under the broader Wildlife Trusts network. Volunteers range in age and experience, and surveying is open to all. Volunteers with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust prepare to begin work Continue reading...

From bees to burrowing owls, many species are adapting to urban environments and, with a little extra help from us, more could follow suit In Sapzurro bay on the Colombia-Panama border, the blue land crab can be found scuttling around human infrastructure, burrowing in the nooks and crannies of the coastal settlement. The species, which can grow up to 15cm and ranges in colour from violet to bright cerulean blue, is considered critically endangered or vulnerable in this region, although it can be classed as invasive elsewhere. It traditionally lived in the region’s rich mangrove forests, many of which have now been urbanised – habitat loss that scientists have blamed for the crab’s decline. But when scientists studied the distribution of the species around Sapzurro bay, they were surprised to find it was still thriving in areas where vegetation had been eliminated: crawling in pastures, banana and coconut plantations, and scurrying below concrete structures. While burrows in urban areas were fewer and smaller, it had successfully built homes along sewage canals and among houses. Continue reading...

Retailer says ‘circular design’ collection is the first stage of an environmental overhaul of its products Fabric that shrinks or bobbles is a pet peeve of Britons who want to buy long-lasting clothes, with the low quality of high street fashion contributing to the 30,000 shipping containers of clothing and homewares dumped by consumers every year. With retailers tasked with finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of the clothing they sell, the first wave of products in a new range especially designed to “minimise waste and maximise longevity” has gone on sale at John Lewis. Continue reading...

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 24 June 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00067-5 Operationalizing climate risk in a global warming hotspot