Ocean Roundup: Seals Can Pick up Pings from Acoustic Tags on Fish, Climate Change Making Crabs “Sluggish,” and More - Oceana USA
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November 21, 2014

Ocean Roundup: Seals Can Pick up Pings from Acoustic Tags on Fish, Climate Change Making Crabs “Sluggish,” and More

– New research shows that seals are picking up on the pings from acoustic tags on fish. Through experiments, the researchers found that seals located fish with acoustic tags on them more easily than untagged fish. BBC News

– Yesterday, an explosion at an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico just off of New Orleans killed one and three others. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said no oil was spilled and damage was limited. Reuters

–  A new study found oil in the carapaces of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that returned to the Gulf of Mexico to feed in 2011 and 2012 in the area of the BP oil spill. While the researchers say a direct link cannot be made to the spill (the researchers would have had to test the sea turtles’ blood right after the spill), they note there has been a decline in Kemp’s ridley nesting in the area since 2010. Houston Chronicle

– According to a new study, polar bears found along the Beaufort Sea declined by 40 percent during the first part of the 21st century, particularly from 2004 to 2006. Scientists note that the population stabilized towards the end of the study, but the number of juveniles steadily declined throughout the 10-year study. The Dodo

– New research shows that the porcelain crab may be able to adapt to climate change, but at a cost to their metabolism and reproductive abilities, among other effects. In lab experiments in warmer and more acidic waters, scientists found that the crabs adapted to the change but became more “sluggish.” The New York Times