Symbiodinium Thermophilum: Hot Reef Savior?

Hot reefs and even hotter megafauna

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the New York University Abu Dhabi identified the symbiotic algae in corals from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the world's warmest coral reef habitat. 

"We found that commonly applied molecular methods did not give enough resolution to distinguish the dominant symbionts of Gulf corals from those in other parts of the world's oceans," explains Professor Jörg Wiedenmann, Professor of Biological Oceanography and Head of the Coral Reef Laboratory at the University of Southampton. "However, when analyzed by alternative molecular biological approaches, we found pronounced differences that set this heat tolerant species clearly aside. We named it Symbiodinium thermophilum in reference to its ability to survive unusually high temperatures."

"Understanding how corals survive under the extreme temperatures in the Gulf will give us important insights into the ability of reef corals to handle the heat stress, which is threatening their survival in the oceans that are warming up in response to climate change," explains Wiedenmann. "We monitored the symbiotic partnership over several seasons to ensure that this association was stable through a range of thermal conditions," comments Professor John Burt from the New York University Abu Dhabi. "We can confirm that this new type of alga is the year-round prevalent symbiont across several dominant coral species from the Abu Dhabi coast of the United Arab Emirates.

"It gives hope to find that corals have more ways to adjust to stressful environmental conditions than we had previously thought," adds Professor Wiedenmann. "However, it is not only heat that troubles coral reefs. Pollution and nutrient enrichment, overfishing and coastal development also represent severe threats to their survival. Only if we manage to reduce these different forms of stress will corals be able to benefit from their capacity to adjust to climate change." 

Article here. 

Shark Tourism Design Concept, Access and Education

Shore based shark tourism research hub

Our design teams vision for resort based shark tourism. 

Globally, shark tourism is worth over $800 million and in some places like the Bahamas responsible for close to $20 million per year in direct revenues.

LEED certified barge concept with solar/wind power and rehabilitated shipping container education hub. It's a "just add sharks" full concept.

Shark-based tourism provides economic benefits in areas that can support sustainable tourism ventures with adequate infrastructure and relatively reliable shark sightings. The tourism operators collect direct revenue from the activity and some governments receive additional taxes through permit, entry or tag fees. In Fiji, direct taxes from shark divers in 2010 were approximately US$ 5.9 million (Vianna et al. 2011).

Large deck space and education center view

There are also indirect economic impacts, or ‘economic multipliers’, benefits to the local economy through salaries paid and goods purchased (Orams 2002). For example, a tourist pays to stay at a local hotel, the hotel uses that money to pay for goods and services, which in turn serves as income for secondary and primary industries within a country. Tourists visiting Gansbaai, South Africa, to view great white sharks make up 50% of local business sales (Hara et al. 2003).

Shark-based tourism can also help regional communities through non-peak tourist seasons. On the Ningaloo coast of Australia, whale shark tours are an important source of income for these remote communities because they run on the off season (Jones et al. 2009). The impact of well managed shark-based tourism could provide significant economic benefits for the communities and countries that develop them.

Labor to spend $100 million on reef?

Big Question of The Day - How does a government spent $100 million dollars protecting a reef?

OPPOSITION Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement on Green Island, off the Cairns coast, on Wednesday after taking a reef tour in a glass bottom boat alongside her environment spokeswoman Jackie Trad.

Ms Palaszczuk said a "high-level taskforce" would provide recommendations to government to determine how best to spend the $100 million over five years. The taskforce will have several targets, including reducing nitrogen run off by up to 80 per cent in key catchment areas by 2025. But Ms Trad would not be drawn on what concrete initiatives the $100 million would be spent on and whether the taskforce's targets would be legislated.

"We will make that decision after we listen to the evidence, after we listen to the experts," Ms Trad said. "Unlike (Premier) Campbell Newman who has picked a fight with everybody in our community ... (and) who doesn't believe in the science of climate change."

Ms Palaszczuk says it's too early to detail exactly what the money will be spent on because it was just the start of Labor's reef plan. She says Labor will "absolutely" prioritize addressing debt and reveal its long-awaited fiscal strategy on Friday, 15 days before the state poll.

Full story here. 

Shark Conservation - Bright Concepts for 2015

Things we like for 2015 - smart conservation outreach for children.

Globally shark populations are under siege with close to 80 million sharks harvested each year for just their fins. If we are going to make a dent in this rather gruesome statistic it will take the next generation to understand sharks in a better way.

Enter a new book called, "Sharks Don't Scare Me!"

The 'Aquatic Aussie' is an adventurous character that will introduce children to his amazing world while making friends along the way. Beautifully illustrated, the series is written for children of all ages and promotes a healthy fascination for the ocean, its animals and the scientists that commit their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and conservation.

Great stuff.