As authorities grapple with the best way to respond to the tragedy, it’s worth remembering all shark mitigation measures come with both merits and drawbacks – and none is a silver bullet.
Certain combinations of genetic material are being conserved through the generations.
South Africa has an impressive record of marine biological research in protected areas, but the country needs to pay greater attention to the human aspects.
Doug Lang
Judy Mann-Lang, Oceanographic Research Institute (South African Association for Marine Biological Research); Bruce Quintin Mann, Oceanographic Research Institute (South African Association for Marine Biological Research), and George Branch, University of Cape Town
The social, ecological and governance objectives of marine protected areas need to be understood to enhance benefits to both people and the environment.
Marine alien species from all around the world can arrive attached to the hulls of vessels or in ballast water.
Shutterstock
What scientists learnt from analysing alien marine organisms that hitch-hike around the world on ships and other vessels that make their way into South African shores.
Cold-water coral reefs occur at greater depths than their tropical equivalents.
Sebastian Hennige
Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years — but not all sharks are equally resilient to changes around them. Why do some groups thrive, while others dwindle?
Mats of Sargassum seaweed off the coast of St. Martin in April 2018.
ELY Michel CC BY-SA 4.0,
Huge blooms of brown seaweed have fouled Florida and Caribbean beaches almost every year over the past decade. They originate in Africa and South America. and are fueled by human activities.
Blue sharks, which are prized for their fins, swimming off Cape Point in South Africa.
Morne Hardenberg
Alison Kock, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Sharks grow slowly and produce few young compared to bony fishes. In many cases, this means that their populations are fished out faster than can be replenished if not well managed.
Local support might be the most important factor for a successful marine protected area.
Anastasia Quintana
In the design of marine protected areas, new research suggests that it might be better to start small in order to gain local trust and support that leads to larger long-term benefits.
Tampa Bay’s sea grass meadows need sunlight to thrive. Algae blooms block that light and can be toxic to marine life.
Joe Whalen Caulerpa/Tampa Bay Estuary Program via Unsplash
Harmful algae blooms are an increasing problem in Florida. Once nutrients are in the water to fuel them, little can be done to stop the growth, and the results can be devastating for marine life.
This is not an imaginary future dystopia. It’s a scientific projection of Australia under 3°C of global warming – a future we must both strenuously try to avoid, but also prepare for.
Fluorescence images of Crocosphaera.
Mar Benavides
Mar Benavides, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
In the ocean, phytoplankton helped by diazotrophs play an outstanding role in withdrawing CO₂ from the atmosphere. But climate change is disturbing this delicate balance.
China’s signature foreign policy is controversial for lots of reasons. But the environmental damage potentially wrought by the project has received scant attention.
A major war between the United States and Russia could make global fish catches fall by as much as 30 per cent.
(Pexels)
The surprise decision is an important win for many Australians, but reform of Australia’s offshore petroleum laws is urgently required to protect marine environments.