Ocean Roundup: Seagrass Travels via Ocean Currents, Plump Leatherbacks Can Swim More Easily, and More | Oceana
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October 30, 2014

Ocean Roundup: Seagrass Travels via Ocean Currents, Plump Leatherbacks Can Swim More Easily, and More

 

– New research shows that seagrass has an incredible ability to spread over vast distances of the ocean, which gives them an ability to migrate with climate change and be able to recover from habitat disturbance. The scientists found that seagrass fruit and flowers spread by hitching rides on ocean animals, in animal feces, and in ocean currents. Phys.org

– A new Oceana report released today found that one-third of shrimp products sold in the U.S. is misrepresented—inaccurately sold as another species or mislabeled as being farmed or wild-caught. Oceana used DNA analysis to test shrimp species from restaurants and grocery stores around four areas in the U.S. National Geographic  

– A new study has found that plumper, larger leatherback sea turtles are more easily able to swim through the oceans than longer, slender turtles. This is the first study to successfully analyze forces on a swimming animal and measure how they move through the water, which will be helpful to understand as climate change shifts species’ ranges. ScienceDaily

– The Gulf of Maine’s northern shrimp fishery could see its second shutdown in a row after federal regulators recommended a fishing moratorium be extended. The report attributed declines in these cold-water shrimp to rising ocean temperatures. The Associated Press

Long Read:

This week marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which killed 70 people and cost $60 billion in damage. But since then, Congress has enacted few changes to better prepare the U.S. for future natural disasters—which are linked to climate change. The Huffington Post