http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A new alternative bait product that will help reduce the number of horseshoe crabs harvested from the Delaware Bay has been introduced. http://phys.org/news289123217.html Biology Thu, 30 May 2013 09:00:38 EST news289123217 Oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill acted as a catalyst for plankton and other surface materials to clump together and fall to the sea floor in a massive sedimentation event that researchers are calling a "dirty blizzard." http://phys.org/news282556534.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:55:41 EST news282556534 (Phys.org) —The number of sharks killed each year in commercial fisheries is estimated at 100 million, with a range between 63 million and 273 million, according to the research "Global Catches, Exploitation Rates and Rebuilding Options for Sharks," published in the journal Marine Policy on March 1, 2013. The article was co-authored by Dr. Demian Chapman, assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and assistant director of science at the Institute for Ocean Conservation at Stony Brook University. http://phys.org/news281607902.html Biology Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:27:12 EST news281607902 Critically endangered leatherback sea turtle populations in the western Pacific Ocean may be losing their last foothold of survival on the beaches of Indonesia, according to a paper published today in the scientific journal Ecosphere by an international group of scientists. http://phys.org/news281110560.html Biology Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:16:07 EST news281110560 NOAA Fisheries has concluded that a petition to list 44 species of cold water corals off Alaska as threatened or endangered does not present substantial information that listing under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted. The agency will not conduct a formal status review of the species. http://phys.org/news280054516.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Feb 2013 08:55:36 EST news280054516 A just-published study provides a first-time analysis of the value of forage fish, which are small, schooling species such as sardines, herring, and anchovies. Three kinds of contributions of forage fish were estimated: as direct catch, as food for other commercially important fish, and as an important link in the food web in marine ecosystems. The analysis showed these small fish contribute a total of $16.9 billion, as both direct catch and food for larger fish, to global fisheries annually, representing 20 percent of the global catch values of all marine fisheries combined. Additionally, the scientists found in 75 percent of the ecosystem models analyzed, at least one of the highly dependent predator species of forage fish, such as seabirds, marine mammals, depended on these fish for half or more of its diet, and in 30 percent of the models analyzed, forage fish made up three-quarters of the diet for at least one predator species. http://phys.org/news266487510.html Biology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:18:38 EST news266487510 The spiralling use of chemicals, especially in developing countries, is inflicting a rising bill by damaging people's health and the environment, according to a UN report issued on Wednesday. http://phys.org/news266047227.html Space & Earth Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:00:41 EST news266047227 Despite brutal cold and lingering darkness, life in the frigid waters off Alaska does not grind to a halt in the winter as scientists previously suspected. According to preliminary results from a National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded research cruise, microscopic creatures at the base of the Arctic food chain are not dormant as expected. http://phys.org/news249146696.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:25:13 EST news249146696 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a new species of sea snake in the Gulf of Carpenteria, northern Australia, which is unique in having raised scales. http://phys.org/news249029227.html Biology Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:50:30 EST news249029227 (PhysOrg.com) -- San Francisco Bay's tidal marshes may face a grave threat from sea level rise in the next century, according to a new study published by a group of scientists, including Professor of Biology Tom Parker. http://phys.org/news242998334.html Space & Earth Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:32:32 EST news242998334 A new study, led by PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO), projects a bleak future for San Francisco Bay's tidal marshes under high-end sea-level rise scenarios that are increasingly likely. PRBO and colleagues found that in the worst case scenario 93% of San Francisco Bay's tidal marsh could be lost in the next 50-100 years [with 5.4 feet or 1.65 meters of sea-level rise, low sediment availability and no significant restoration]. http://phys.org/news240761377.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:09:45 EST news240761377 The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone is predicted to be larger than average this year, due to extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring, according to an annual forecast by a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). http://phys.org/news227268633.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:10:54 EST news227268633 Increasing levels of ocean acidity could spell doom for British Columbia's already beleaguered northern abalone, according to the first study to provide direct experimental evidence that changing sea water chemistry is negatively affecting an endangered species. http://phys.org/news225548159.html Biology Wed, 25 May 2011 13:16:19 EST news225548159 Ecologists have long believed that fish tend to return to the same river where they hatched in order to spawn. But researchers at Ohio State University have determined that the old rule doesn't always apply -- not for Lake Erie walleye, at least. http://phys.org/news199625111.html Biology Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:26:08 EST news199625111 An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide. http://phys.org/news175867400.html Biology Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:20:01 EST news175867400 Years before an economic crisis taught everyone the risks of runaway growth, marine fishermen and fishery managers were already getting a crash course. http://phys.org/news174594185.html Biology Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:00:02 EST news174594185 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Great Lakes are in the midst of a remarkable ecological transformation, driven largely by the blitzkrieg advance of two closely related species of non-native mussels. http://phys.org/news166978895.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:40:04 EST news166978895